Good-bye home

I am completely finished packing except for the jeans I'm currently wearing which I'll be wearing to work later this afternoon. My suitcase is all packed, though I won't even be bringing it w/ me right away. It's being brought along later thanks to some of my family who is driving out to Utah soon after I leave. I think the hardest part of packing has been deciding what shoes I'm going to wear to the airport. I decided on my new Birkenstocks.

I figured I best write this post now because I plan on going to bed as soon as I get home from work tonight. I'll need as much sleep as I can get because my flight leaves bright and early at 6. I'm not too excited for that but I figure I can sleep a little bit on the plane. Usually I don't sleep on planes but I might be exhausted enough to legitimately nap.

Tomorrow will be a crazy day even once I get to Utah. I'm already trying to cram in some fun along with the job interview I have that afternoon and the cleaning/minor packing I have to do in order to move to my new apartment on Friday. I will definitely sleep very well Thursday night.

So this is it. My last post from Wisconsin until Christmas, or possibly Thanksgiving. It's a possibility but not one I would bet on. We'll see how things go. But anyway, see you soon my lovely Utah friends!

Last YouTube video I watched: An Open Letter to Students Returning to School

Summer packing & last adventures

I've spent a little time the past two days putting my clothes and a few other belongings in my now-weathered suitcase. It's been on quite a few trips now, many to and from Utah. The most exciting thing about packing today is the fact that I'll be able to fit my wonderful memory foam pillow and the suitcase won't be over the 50 pound weight limit. I'm very excited about this fact.

Packing is always interesting because it really shows you what things you like/need the most, especially when it comes to clothes. There are some shirts and pants I most definitely need and others that are nice to have but just aren't necessary. I've found that to be the case with a lot of my t-shirts. There are still things at home in my closet so I don't need to bring everything from here. It's hard to decide what to bring and what to leave though since I don't know how I'll feel a month from now and I don't doubt wanting a lot of the things being left behind in my closet in Utah.

Of course some of the hardest things to leave behind are books. I love having a lot of my books here in Utah because they make my room feel like a home. Luckily my brother and I both have all the Harry Potter books or I'd be real sad. This will also give me the opportunity/force me to read books I haven't read before.

Besides packing the last few days have been spent doing awesome stuff with awesome people. Becca and I made Swedish pancakes the other night at, like, eleven. They were delicious of course. Lorraine and Laura came over to enjoy them with us.

Lorraine, Becca and I also went to a birthday party for a friend, though the real purpose was to see Amber. She lived in the same building as us freshman year. Becca and her were also roommates sophomore year. It's always lovely to see Amber and just catch up on life. It's great when we all get together because suddenly all these inside jokes come out that we usually forget about, and then we just laugh really hard and people are confused as to what's so funny.

Thursday afternoon I got lunch with Jeff. We went to Cafe Rio and it was glorious. I seem to always forget how delicious Cafe Rio is until I go again. It was just the two of us which was lovely. We sat for a long time just talking about life and such. We're really good at transitioning between all sorts of topics of conversation. One minute we'll be talking about BYU football or basketball and then we're talking about his roommates' dating lives and then we'll be having some spiritual/churchy conversation. It's great times with Jeff and I'll miss our little hang outs.

Perhaps the best thing of this past week was hanging out with Jordan one last time before I leave. Actually, it is definitely the best thing that happened this past week. He came over yesterday morning and we went to the park and threw around my frisbee for an hour. Then we got shakes at the creamery. It was the first time he had the flavor graham canyon since getting back from his mission so he was super excited and he was not disappointed. We ate our shakes at my apartment and then watched most of the Sweden/England soccer match. At halftime we shared our friends' awkward engagement pictures and had a good laugh. I also shared some of my new music with him. Jordan and I became friends primarily because we loved each other's music, but we stayed friends because we have a lot of other stuff in common as well. Saying good-bye to him was difficult since we've only seen each other a couple times in the past month he's been home but it's all right this time around because we can actually call each other and text each other whenever we want. Fall semester is going to be awesome and we've already made plans for some adventures upon my return to Utah.

So tonight is Mikaela's wedding reception. Lorraine and I will go to that and then visiting SJ's house to have a little fire and to eat s'mores. I'm sleeping over at Sara's house so tomorrow we can go together to see Matthew speak in church. This will be the first, and really the only time, I'll be seeing Matthew this spring. I'm ecstatic. Now that he's home the mail has little meaning anymore. For two years I practically lived for checking the mail, but those days are no more. It's weird to not have that constant anymore, though now that my friends who are girls are going on missions I'll still be writing plenty of letters, that's for sure.

And now a photo tribute to Mikaela and I throughout the years:

I'm pretty sure this is the first picture
Mikaela and I were ever in together

Congratulations on getting married today, Mik! You're awesome and I can't wait to hear about all your married life adventures with Calvin in Colorado.

Last YouTube video I watched: Watsky raps fast

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.)

Stuff I did today

I got to see the Brewers beat the Dodgers 3-1 tonight! It was awesome. My favorite part was when John Axford came out. He has awesome facial hair. Google that man right now and you will not be disappointed.

So, I also got a t-shirt from Pac Sun that only cost me 7 dollars! I love when that happens.

I discovered that Tangled is now on instant play for Netflix. I've been watching it throughout the day. It always reminds me of Becca. I think I mention her so much just so she can add it to her count, which she used to do. Do you still do that Becca?

I kind of started packing. I put all my shoes in the huge tote that I use for shoes. That's one thing accomplished and many more to go.

I best continue my packing now since tomorrow I'm going to a brunch w/ friends, longboarding, and walking down to Lake Michigan. Busy day! I've got to get everything awesome in that I can.

Last YouTube video I watched: Two Is Better Than One (Luke Conard did a fantastic cover w/ his friend Ingrid. Make sure to watch this one)

Oh, and today is also my half birthday, so fancy that!

Packing it all in

In less than a week I start the return journey to Utah. That makes this week the time in which I must pack away my life once again. Today it is in the form of sorting clothes I want to bring, all the while trying to watch Doctor Who on Netflix except the video keeps freezing at this one point even though the audio continues on. I actually wrote a post, probably almost exactly a year ago, all about packing.

So as I gather my belongings from throughout my marvelous orange room and my house, I also begin to pack other things: mostly adventures. My last day of work is Tuesday, which leaves me with Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to do whatever else I have left to do by way of having fun w/ my Wisconsin peoples. I've made plans for Wednesday and Thursday thus far and I'm sure Friday will fill itself up quite nicely as well.

The biggest challenge in packing in adventures is time. There never seems to be enough of it. Everyone has conflicting schedules so determining when I can do what with whom is frustrating. It all works out in the end but it would be so much easier if time could just be frozen the way I need it to be so I could see everyone I wanted to see and do everything I wanted to do when I wanted to see them and do those things.

I best be getting back to my actual packing of belongings now. I somehow acquire more clothes each and every year. It will be quite interesting to see how I fit everything in the way it needs to be.

Last YouTube video I watched: Pixar Medley

Packin' up

I literally just got home from work. I'll I've done is put on soccer shorts instead of jeans and brought all my snacks and toothbrush/toothpaste up to my room to put in my backpack. The only thing I'm bringing on my trip is my trusty orange backback. It's been everywhere with me since, I think, just before junior or senior year of high school when I got it; possibly even before then. I just know it's been a long time. It's most notable journeys have been multiple camping trips and London, England.

I'll only be in Tennessee from Saturday morning until Sunday evening but it's going to be so worth it. I imagine there won't be much sleeping. Oh well. It will be amazing.

I must get back to my packing now, whilst listening to Chameleon Circuit's new album, Still Got Legs. (What is Chameleon Circuit, you ask? It's a band that plays music about Doctor Who. And guess what else? They're actually quite good. It's proper good music, as David Tennant would say. Seriously. He said that about them.) I'm sorry for such a short post but duty calls. "Duty" being finishing putting stuff in the various pockets my awesome orange backpack possesses. Can a backpack even possess pockets? Well, I think it does.

Last YouTube video I watched: VidCon: Thoughts from Places

Summer Begins-ish!

Well, sort of. I'm done with work for the year so now I get to relax . . . right? Last night was my last day and it was AWESOME. There were 3 power outages, all very quick but fun nonetheless. I was working w/ my friend Allie so she made the night great; we sang Double Rainbow so could we really get more amazing? It feels great to be done. I'm already worried about not having money for school, though. Last year I worried as well but now that I technically don't have a job for a year all I can think of is "What will I do if I don't have enough money?" If I keep worrying about it I'll never be able to sleep at night; I paid my 10% so I just have to take it on faith. Already I've received blessings from that so I can't complain. [And now my mom is talking to me about money . . . Oh my gosh, STOP IT. I don't mind talking about money usually but the way she talks about it DOES NOT MAKE ME FEEL OKAY]

After getting off from work I went to my friend Megan's house to watch Lord of the Rings and eat pizza & cake w/ my other friends. It was fun. I saw the entire Battle of Helm's Deep and onward so that was good; I love the Battle of Helm's Deep. I slept over there and we ate unhealthy cereal for breakfast. All in all: a good night.

But now that work is done I just get to pack for school. I really don't mind packing and I'm going to attempt getting all my wardrobe in one suitcase. I know, very challenging.

There's a nice little picture of what my bed currently looks like. That is basically my entire wardrobe. We'll see how it goes.

That's what I'm off to do now: pack. And also, eat lunch.

UPDATE: Packing is not going so well. My brother keeps telling me I'm bringing too much. But I can't exactly leave a lot of the stuff behind; I say that sincerely, too. It's not just one of those "Well I don't really NEED IT but I WANT IT" things. I need my blankets, I need my sheets, I need my shoes. Well, that's 3 boxes right there buddy boy, what exactly do you want me to leave behind? I'll end up ditching a lot of clothes I'm pretty sure but oh well.

Another trouble I'm finding is deciding what I'll wear for the next few days after most of my clothes are packed away. Most likely I'll wear super old band t-shirts and random shorts from the back of my dresser.

UPDATE II: Packing is going VERY well. I know, it's a big change from before. I have almost all of my clothes in my good ol' black suitcase. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I actually love packing on account of how it is like Tetris. Hopefully, it will all work out.