Good-bye senior year (kind of)

Yesterday was the last day of finals for my (technical) senior year. Technically I should be graduating today but that's not really how college goes when you have to apply to get into your program. Regardless, finals are over and that means it's time for FUN.

After I finished my Spanish final yesterday morning, I went to lunch at Cafe Rio with Margaret. In June Margaret leaves for her mission to Japan. She and I grew up together and it seems like our families have known each other forever. It's weird to think about going home and not having Margaret there. She's one of those people that always makes Utah feel a bit more like home.

I also started packing for New York. The biggest problem I'm running into is, of course, shoes. I'm trying to be reasonable about what I'll actually want to wear for the 2 months I'm there but the thing is I really do wear  almost all of the shoes I own on a fairly regular basis. I'm only bringing one suitcase with me for 2 months away. I'm really not all that worried about not having enough clothes; though I do really like options for shirts, it's all about shoes for me.

Bronwyn's mission call opening was the highlight of the night, though. It was hilarious to watch her start reading her call out loud, stop a little bit to cry, keep reading and then finally read where she's called to serve only to have her stop AGAIN before she actually said it out loud. She's going to Salem, Oregon. It seems to be an perfect fit for her. I'm super excited to write her letters.

Peter and I then spent the rest of the night together. Finals kept us both terribly busy so we only saw each other at church on Sunday. It was great to finally sit down together with literally no responsibilities or stress left to bother either of us. After Bronwyn's mission call opening he and I went to In and Out. While there I ran into my friends Will and Braden! I've known them almost 4 years now. They're absolute gems, two people I  love talking with and who constantly make me smile. And while I'm not a crazy In and Out fan, I realized it's been quite long while since I had a cheeseburger and it sure was delicious, more so than usual I think. After eating we spent the rest of the night mostly talking.

Every now and then Peter and I try to come up with an "activity," something to actually do together, but when it comes down to it we're both more than happy to just sit on his couch talking for hours on end. And sometimes we throw in watching some TV show. Last night we watched an episode of Psych, a show I used to watch all the time but haven't seen in quite some time. I forgot how much I loved it! I laughed more watching that show than I have watching anything else in a long while. But like always, we went back to talking about life. Kirk and Kyle eventually showed up, at which point we eventually got on the topic of science jokes and Kyle told some joke he made up which I did not understand in the slightest but he thought was hilarious. That was the best part, the fact that he laughed so much at his own joke.

Friends who love

Last semester and already this semester I've had some pretty lovely experiences with friends who just do things for me when I ask them to and even friends who just do things for me because they decide to.

The first Monday back at school was fine until nightfall. I went to bed super early but couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I was just feeling too sick. So as I'm sitting there on my bed, wondering what to do, my dear friend Peter texted me, apologizing for not responding to a message I sent him that afternoon. Before I knew it, I was talking on the phone with him and explaining everything that was wrong. And because he's so wonderful, he decided to go buy me NyQuil. It wasn't particularly late at night, maybe only 10, but for someone who was sick it sure felt like it was super late. After bringing me the medicine he stayed for a little while, just talking with me and making sure I was okay. When he left he said if I wanted he'd come over the next morning to see if I was feeling any better. And that's exactly what he did.

The Saturday after that was just not a very good day. I wasn't really sick anymore but the day was just . . . off. I was sitting on the couch with Stacy moping and feeling so hungry. I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet and any food left over from before the break was gone. Becca came to the rescue that day. She herself needed food and she took it upon herself to buy things we could share and other things just for me, like Curious George fruit snacks and sweet potato fries. (She knows me far too well.)

No story of service would be complete without Jeff, though. The number of times over the past 2 1/2 years he's come through for me in a tight spot? So many. Jeff is my go-to guy in a sticky situation. He does everything he can to talk with me as soon as he can. He comes over whenever I ask him to. He lets me bum around his basement apartment in those rare moments when I get locked out of my apartment. (It just happened last week actually.) Jeff and I don't get to see each other nearly as often as we probably should but we're really good at stepping into each other's lives when we need to.

In general the boys of the Lava Lounge treat all of us pretty well. In recent weeks they've been especially great, though. They help convince me to go on trips to St. George and then make sure it's a fabulous time. They skip parts of church to talk with me in the hallway instead. They leave awesome parties to spend a little time with me and then go back to the parties to get me snacks. And every single thing they do ends with at least one great hug.

Margaret, however, wins the prize for greatest surprise. Just last week she dropped by the desk at work, leaving me a new CD and homemade chocolate chip cookies. That morning she sent me a message asking if I was working that day; I thought nothing of it since Margaret often drops by the desk. I was off doing something else when she actually came by but that almost made it even sweeter. It absolutely made my week.

These little moments of kindness happen all the time when I really think about it. Last week Stacy made banana bread for the apartment. Lorraine made pudding to share and then we watched The Office. Badger invites us all over for dinner a few times a month. I am blessed with an incredible family here at school. So if anyone I've mentioned happens to be reading this post: thank you for everything you do for me. And even if you weren't mentioned specifically: thank you as well.

Last YouTube video I watched: Photoshop Song

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

Reunited w/ Margo

Margo is not quite her real name but she goes by many names: Margo, Maggie, Maggie Jo, Marge, Margie. Her real name is Margaret. And she is awesome.

Last night was the first time seeing each other since the second week of June. That really isn't too long, only a month, but it sure felt like a long time. That probably had something to do w/ the fact that she was in Europe visiting all sorts of amazing places, like England, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, France, Holland and I think Austria. So while she toured museums and saw glorious art, I was stuck in Wisconsin putting cream cheese into boxes.


So of course we had to model in the gazebo at the park to commemorate our love. Luckily Chelsea was there for this reunion as well. (She's probably the best model of us all.)

Chelsea goes blue steel

tradition

And yes, Margo and I do have the same Birks. My pants are probably also extremely distracting.

So Margaret and I got to hang out for 2 hours. We hung out at the gazebo and at the playground and then at the pool while a bunch of other people went swimming. We talked about everything under the sun: her trip, my quick summer at home, boys, classes, church, family, clothes, music. It was lovely, as it always is to spend time w/ Margaret.

T-minus 11 days until I return to Utah.

Last YouTube video I watched: Call Me Maybe (Chiptunes cover)