Thoughts from the Last Week

There are sometimes in your life in which you really really want to just run away from all responsibility, and just fly. This week I have had many of those moments.

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As a disclaimer for this post, my brain is 99.9% fried, so I apologize for my lack of good spelling and/or grammar. Also, it is literally just a list of thoughts that ran threw my brain this past week. Enjoy

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Ahh! The world is out to get me.

This car that looks like a box had better get out of my way, or else....Real mature, trying to run me over. Excellent.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Adios, Professor Davis. Never again.

Please take this book away from me. Sorry we're not buying it back. Just one more way Professor Davis put his oppressive stamp on my life. Beautiful.

I just want the next 5 days to happen without me being aware of them. I'll just deal with what happens.

I was told I had a beautiful smile and it made my century!

Relief. Exhaustion. Sorethroatness. Happiness. Joy. Pleasure. Warmth. Mind-stretching. Mind-explosion. Excitement for Next Semester. Pure bliss to know that the Federal Government wasted $300 on my un-buyback-able textbooks.

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One more test and then...

Nothing. It's going to be awesome.

The Passing of Time

I woke up this morning, realized that it was the 21st of November and wondered how in the world that could be! Halloween was yesterday. At least it seems like that's when it was. Wow! How fast time passes when you're not thinking about it.

But oh how slow it passes when you are.

The last few weeks have been full of excitement, laughter, candy canes, sadness and tears, great friends, drama, complications, Lord of the Rings.

In a word--HAPPINESS!

I sit here thinking on what to type and my mind is moving faster than the speed of sound. It's hard to write about what has been happening in my life the last few weeks. I can say that the last couple of weeks have been some of the best weeks I've experienced in the longest of times. My friends and I decided we needed to experience the extended edition of Lord of the Rings, which always brings a smile to my face. School has been intense. I made a monstrous list of the things I needed to do before Thanksgiving, and ever so slowly have been checking things off, which feels great! My time has been filled to the brim with good times. The Fall and I have bonded with the explosion of gorgeous colors as I've walked the Provo River and reveled in the beauty. I've acted like a Kindergartner as I went swinging often and enjoyed the crisp Fall breeze on my face. I spent an excessive amount of time with an exceptionally foolish friend. I lost myself in the moments.

All in all, life has been great. There is an emptiness in the air though as everyone leaves for Thanksgiving Break. Provo is emptying and it makes one sad. However, I am super stoked to leave Provo as well, to see my family and experience American Thanksgiving at home!

Voilá!

Fall is a beautiful season. The colors explode. The leaves dry out and fall to the ground, rustling around your feet. It's a tad cold, but that means that layers, scarves and hats can start being warm, hot cider can be drunk, and there is an excuse to stay indoors and read while cuddling under a blanket.

I love Fall.

Some of my more favorite colors are seen everywhere, bringing me joy each time I leave my apartment. The earth smells old and brings comfort to my soul as old books tend to do as well. It is just a vibrant season. One of the more prevalent reasons I absolutely die for Fall though is the orange deliciousness of Pumpkin. Cookies, blizzards, pie, bread, seeds. In all its glory, I fall. Even the word itself is cool.

Well, it snowed today, which put a damper in my mood. I decided that pumpkin would bring the party back, and thus chose to dive into the wonderful world of Pumpkin Bread. I know, I know, What's a girl like me doing in a world full of flour and baking spices?

Well, I decided to branch out and reach into my potential as a homemaker.

And it turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

So thank you, Mrs Lisa Rhodes.

Oh Birthdays!

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I turn 24 years old.

Seasoned and aged.

The greatest things are.

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I am a full-time student. I have a butt load of homework that I should be doing. I have a paper due Friday. An essay due in a week. A ton of reading piling up. Time running out.

But alas, my birthday is tomorrow. I can't seem to focus and get down to business. I think I'm going to just have to start my birthday early.

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Oh gosh, I don't even want to think about the consequences of that decision

Vacation

A couple of days ago my sister, roommate and I were sitting in the living room discussing where we'd vacation. We even pulled up the 50 Most Vacationable Spots list. My list compares but is 1000 times better.

(1) San Diego, California

The Pacific waves. The fresh seafood. The marine life. The Mexican food galore with the wide variety of salsa. The vibe. Can you even imagine a day of beaching, then restauranting at either a seaside table, filling up on mussels and prawns--maybe a swordfish steak OR a fresh Mexican grill where I eat All I can eat Salsa and chips before receiving some pretty sweet fajitas? O Paradise!

(2) Prince Edward Island

The Beautiful Nova Scotia coastland. The romantic atmosphere. The Lobster. Sure it's the home of Anne and Gilbert, which adds to its appeal, but it's gorgeous up there on the Southeastern tip of Canada!

(3) Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower. The Louvre. The Arc de Triumph. The Notre-dame. The Seine River. The French Accent. The french cuisine. The pure fact that you are in Paris trumps it all.

As I sit here and think about where I would love to go, I really can't throw the fact that I really am okay with what I've got out of my blasted head. How is this possible? The idea of traveling has always obsessed my soul. I would die to get back to Europe. I would die to see parts of this crazy world we live in: Egypt, St Petersburg, East Germany, Australia, Alaska, Israel etc.

However as I sit pondering on where I would love to visit, all that really matters is ocean, great food and great company. That tends to make me think island or coastline. There are only limited islands I would deign with my presence. Hawaii is definitely out--I mean, active volcanic activity, me, are you serious? Sorry but definitely not on the top of the list for me. I thought Caribbean, but the more south you get the deeper you get in rice, bean and big bug territory. Me and rice don't mesh well, as well as big bugs and I. Then my mind traveled to the South Pacific (like Fiji) but I don't think the Island food is for me either. The Rice. I love, and I mean absolutely die for, fish! But the rice just ruins it. So that leaves me with the Eastern and Western Coasts, but we all know the better ocean (aka the warmer ocean) is the Pacific. That leaves me with Southern California.

So, San Diego, you and I belong together! It's official.

What I would do to see the Pacific Ocean right now!!

Especially as the tell-tale signs of winter sit in.

BYU vs Florida St

Last week, BYU was eaten alive by Airforce. It was the 11th of September so sure, Coach Mendenhall probably told the players to lose so that we could all attribute Airforce's win to an outflow of intense patriotic zeal.

But that was Last week.

It aint no September 11th anymore.

This week we play Florida State.

However, BYU's loss at Airforce broke down my faith a bit, but I have repented. I decided that I needed to show my school pride. Maybe, if I plastered myself with paraphernalia my pride and support would give them an extra push of enthusiasm and would win with flying colors. I mean they're going against Florida St. They are going to need all the help they can get.

So, Bring on the T-shirt and Cap!

Life is Great - When you have people to Share it with.

Who would have thought I'd only been at school for 2.5 weeks? It feels like I've been doing the same thing for ages.

It's only been close to 3 weeks but already so much has happened. My September has been nothing but boring.

It's been

unpredictable

hilarious

physical exerting

up

down

spiritually uplifting

rejuvenating

beyond freaky

stressful

obnoxiously irritating

but never

boring.

It all started 3 weeks from Thursday. It's interesting how each of my terms or semesters here at BYU increase in insanity through the people I interact with. Can you even imagine how Boring life would be without people? Sometimes, I, at least, wish other people did not exist. I mean sometimes people make you mad, sad, angry. Sometimes they disappoint you, lie to you, use you. Sometimes your life is just complicated when others play a role. But honestly, life would be super boring without people. So no matter how much at times, we might wish that other people would just leave us alone, People make life interesting and the world goes round.

Some of my most memorable moments of the last 3 weeks involve people. These memorable moments have both been super positive and exhilarating, and lame, but the exhilarating seriously trumps the lame.

For example, I moved into a new ward and have met a whole new group of people, each person with their own unique personality. Living with my sister is a treat. I have become "bestest friends" with Melissa Waldron and we've had our own share of adventures--including loving Robert Downing Jr in the role of Sherlock Holmes. 4 members of my MTC group religiously follow our tradition of Saturday volleyball. The mysteriously, perhaps beautiful, world of calculus has been introduced to my over eager mind by a wonderful Professor. My job is complete human interaction and I love it. I have amazing, sometimes hilarious, "companion study" with one of my awesome friends twice a week. Through that friend wanting to cheer me up after one of my not-so-great-experiences of the past few weeks, I enjoyed the insanity of a blind date, which consisted of perfect french toast, apple-cinnamon syrup, ninjas, and poetry. I went to FHE and had 7layer Bean Dip and played a crazy Name game.

All in all the great has definitely trumped the lame. Thus far, Fall Semester 2010 has been great.

Sure, I've lost my bus pass causing me to have to replace it with a $25 fee thanks to my mom who covered half of it. Sure, my mind has been stretched as I've tried to come to terms with Calculus. Sure, my roller coaster has definitely taken me for an intense ride.

But it has been great. And has definite potential of getting even better.