Absolutely terrible effort

I didn't mean to become such a terrible blogger but nearly 10 days have passed since I last posted and I'm pretty sure that equates to being a terrible blogger when it comes to blogging every day of a month.

No one is missing out on much, however. I spend my days at work (in the library) and then studying (in the library or at home). In just over a week I'll be in New York, though. That's quite exciting. Two months in New York City and then it's back to Provo.

I suppose another exciting thing is that I'm all set for graduation. I'll be walking at the ceremony in August and in December I'll be officially done. Pretty cool, eh?

And the final exciting thing I've done lately is finish designing a magazine. It was the final project (a group project) for my publication graphics and design class and it turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself. We present it to the rest of the class on Saturday night. There is perhaps no time more terrible for a final exam than 8-10 pm on a Saturday, except maybe for 7-10 am on the last day of finals, which is when my Spanish exam is.

So here's to a few days of me and my friends suffering through finals.

Better than okay

Margaret is perhaps the most profound person I currently know. We've seen each other only a few brief times this summer but we're only a phone call or text away from at least pretending to be in the same place. Yesterday night we were talking about recent events in both our lives. After sharing a story of my own she smartly replied, "I can neither confirm nor deny that any of it happened, but I can pretty confidently say that this is real life." It was meant as a funny thing, a reassuring thing, but it was the most wonderful sentence to hear last night.

being together means home

Today at church I heard some other profound things from friends. In the hallway as I was getting ready to walk home w/ my roommate Stacy I ran into Trent, Phillip and Grant, also known as The Egg and the boys of the house formerly known as Fiery Passion. I had only seen Grant thus far since June. Seeing Trent felt like coming home. He represents so much of what made winter semester and spring term the best they could be. Just talking w/ him for a few moments was so familiar and relaxing; I only talked to him once or twice over the course of the summer but falling back into what makes us us took a matter of seconds. I gave him updates on life and had the special pleasure of sharing with him that everything I had worried about in winter and spring was completely fixed. He just smiled at me and laughed a little bit, saying, "Didn't I tell you everything was going to be okay?" Those words individually are not profound or complicated. They're about as basic as you can get, but strung together in that question they mean so much.

we keep each other in line

As positive as you try to remain, it's hard to see things in a larger perspective. Back in May, August seemed terribly far away. The fact that I had to make it until August for things to start working out came across as ridiculously difficult. So no matter how many times Trent and Phillip and Grant told me that I would figure things out, I was still unsure. Often enough, "unsure" is a synonym for life itself; though I know they forgive me for questioning their wisdom at times.

making life better than okay

Currently, life is, for lack of a better word, awesome. My roommates are all hilarious and kind. The boys from freshman year are all back from their missions. Jordan and I talk every day. I have a new job on campus. Soon enough everyone will be back from summer vacations and such. I'm not just surviving life or getting by; I'm enjoying and savoring it.

Last YouTube video I watched: John and Rainn Wilson Talk Romance

Soccer time

This afternoon I met up w/ my friend Katie and a bunch of boys she knows to play soccer. Katie and I were in the same freshman ward and still try to get together to do awesome stuff every now and then. Point in case: when we went wakeboarding in October.

It was pretty rainy this morning and not too warm. That would not stop us, though. Around 2 o'clock it was getting a little sunnier but it was still not the warmest of spring days. Once we started playing, after just a few minutes or so the sun really did come out and it was a perfect spring day at the park with no worries for exams or what not. I'm not particularly good at soccer. I'm actually quite bad at it. But I love it, so I keep playing.

Getting outside was awesome, though. I've been doing a lot more running lately but it's always nice to change things up and actually run with a purpose. That's still my biggest issue with just going out for a run.

At this point I still have a few days until it's back to school again. Even then, classes start on Tuesday. And my only Tuesday class? Yeah, it's zumba.

But other than soccer, my day was quite relaxed. Tonight I'm going to hang out w/ my Italian friend Carson. I say he's my Italian friend because we had 101 together last semester. He's going on a study abroad to Siena this spring, so that's both awesome and sad. He's from Utah so if he'd stuck around we probably would have hung out a lot. This will be the last time I see him so we're going to play this Italian card game called Scopa and probably eat some snacks.

But now that I think about it, Carson and I might not even hang out for that long, so I imagine my night will be filled with . . . Hmmmm . . . Probably lots of YouTube. Because I'm not going home after this semester I don't feel this terrible need to see/hang out with a ton of friends, especially because a lot of them are staying spring as well. Lorraine and I both have felt the end of this semester has been quite anticlimactic. We're used to cramming as much fun as possible into the few days all of us have left together. Not this time around, though.

Last YouTube video I watched: Pillow Talk! A Day in the Life

Last Day in Wisconsin

Tomorrow I leave for Utah! You may think that means I am completely packed. My response to that: Um, sort of? All of my clothes are packed. All of my movies are picked out. Most of my books have been chosen. (Is it completely delusional to want all of my Harry Potter books? Possibly. Will that stop me? Probably not.) All of my photos for my photo wall have been chosen; I just have to pick up my new ones from Walgreens.

Here's a list of things I have yet to pack:

-My three pairs of safety glasses that will turn into racquetball goggles.

-The backpack of entertaining stuff I'll use in the car.

-Checkbook.

-Bedding, including but not limited to sheets, pillows, blankets, and the occasional stuffed animal. (I'm thinking about bringing my Spongebob and Nemo stuffed animals. Thoughts?)

-The binder protector insert dealio that holds all of my letters from missionaries.

-Various toiletries, mostly hair stuff and things for my contacts, possibly some make-up.

So as you can tell, I'm not quite prepared. I've got all day to sort everything out though. I'm not worried. But on account of this road trip, there may not be posts on Saturday and Sunday since I could possibly be in places without internets.

And I must mention this small point of anxiety before I leave you for the day: I've yet to get any letters in the last week or so. You can all guess at what that means but just so you know, it means that I will be freaking out that a letter will arrive tomorrow morning after I leave, at which point I will have to wait until probably Tuesday or Wednesday to get it forwarded to me. So we'll see how this goes.

Last YouTube video I watched: VidCon 2011 Get SORTED Part II (SORTED is a great YouTube cooking show. I highly recommend it.)

Lorraine

Here is an acrostic poem about my roommate Lorraine. She's a redhead so that's pretty hilarious in and of itself.

L is for lovely. She is completely and utterly lovely.

O is for outstanding. She is an outstanding person in general, as well as an outstanding student. She's kind of a genius.

R is for rad. Her awesomeness has helped me so much, in many ways. Being rad is a definite talent.

R is redhead. Her hair is a nice. Boys compliment it all the time. Just the other night my friend Jordan was helping me with my Spanish final (it was an essay, so don't freak out) and he basically told her that her hair color is really nice. Basically, she's a boy magnet.

A is for agile. Lorraine has run 2 marathons, a handful of half marathons, and even more 5Ks. So pretty much she's a beast as far as running is concerned. She's even turned me into a little bit of a runner myself.

I is for intelligent. Can you name a single person who is a double math and history major? I can! Her name is Lorraine.

N is for necessity. Lorraine has become a necessity in my life. I can't live without her. And I won't be thanks to the fact we'll be living together for the 3rd year in a row.

E is for excellent. Everything about her is excellent. She's made my own life excellent as well.