So long, 2011!

Dear Reader,

2011 is over! Sometimes it's hard to believe. And then other times I feel like it's already about October 2012, since that's where my brain is at Highlights. (We work 10 months ahead.)

This year has been exciting. Let's relive it!

January:
I began my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. This was both exciting and terrifying, partly because I'd missed school during my eight-months-of-internships break and partly because I would be graduating soon, and mostly because I had no idea what I was doing with the rest of my life after graduating happened.

February:
February was slow. Like Februarys usually are. But I did make lasagna with Natalie.

March:
I participated in the Divine Comedy music video "Firebolt" which proves that wizards are real. If wizards are college students running around with sparklers and stuffed owls.

April:
I GRADUATED!!! And then left Provo for Michigan. And then had an interview with Highlights for an internship, which I guess went well because they gave me the job!

May:
I moved to Honesdale and began my internship at Highlights! I also took a trip to DC to visit Natalie on my birthday weekend when I turned 23. And I found the apartment I was going to live at in Honesdale which meant I didn't need to live in the Highlights cabins anymore:

June:
I went to NYC with Natalie and Amber! And I adopted Bailey.

July:
I hit up DC for the fourth. Nothing like Independence day in the capitol! Especially when it rains really, really, really hard. I went to Chautauqua Writer's Conference for work where I spent 8 days on staff working really, really hard while mingling with awesome people.

August:
I went to Philly to a Death Cab Concert and then visited Natalie and the temple in DC.

September:
Natalie came to visit me in Honesdale!! And I went to pick her up in Philly.

October:
It was finally fall! My favorite season. And I went to a pumpkin patch, ate cider donuts and drank cider. It was the perfect fall experience!

November: 

I went to Portland to go with Natalie through the temple! This trip was long-awaited and sooo worth it! Yay Powell's!!

December:
I helped plan and throw the ward Christmas party, oversaw the craft room at Highlight's Holiday Open House, and then drove home to spend Christmas and New Years with my family!

So I got a college degree, landed the most awesome internship, and traveled to some of the country's most awesome cities all in one year! I think it was an excellently productive year. Here's to 2012! May it be just as exciting--and even better (if that's even possible!).

Graduation Means . . .

1. Bouquets of flowers and gifts of congratulations

2. BYU blue robes and a hat with a tassle

3. Twenty-one boxes mailed back home

4. Hours of packing and an empty room

5. Dinner out with family, gorging on meat

6. But most importantly a diploma, meaning it's official:

I finished college!!!!!!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering what my plans are for post-graduation life, check out friend Sabrina's blog. There is no way this plan can fail.

Sparkler Wars Part Dos

Dear Reader,

As I mentioned awhile ago, I participated in a movie Divine Comedy made for one of their shows where we basically pretended we were wizards and ran around like crazy with sparklers.

Well, after a long wait, they have finally posted the video:

And the best part? Natalie and I are actually featured in one of the shots! (At time 2:36. I'm the goofball wearing a yellow scarf.)

So, yes. Another bucket list item checked off.

Perspective

Dear Reader,

Because I move away from Utah three weeks from today, I've made a bucket list of things I need to do in Provo before I leave. One of the things on my list is to hike the Y (which I've never done before even though I've been here 5 years).

Today, between conference sessions, friend Jacqueline and I decided to check that item off my list.

The starting point. (Also, what I would look like if I were to cut all my hair off. Not really a good look for me.)

We made it! It was a pretty steep hike, but today was beautiful weather (perfect, even), not too sunny, not too cold, and the view from the top was amazing. (Plus I have hair again. Always a good idea.)

1. My home

2. The JFSB (my second home)

3. The JKB (my third home)

Sitting on the Y (cement layered in paint), I pondered perspective. A lot of cliches came to mind: the journey to the top is hard, but it's worth it in the end; nothing good comes easy; with the right perspective you can see the bigger picture; etc., etc., you get the idea. And yeah, they may all be cliches, but cliches are cliches for a reason. Once upon a time they were actually clever ideas that were so true that people used them until the ideas died.

Anyway, perspective. I think the biggest perspective I learned was that from way up high, the hill that BYU sits on is like nothing at all. In fact, it really makes me think that I should never complain again about having to walk up to campus (even though it really does suck because it seems super steep when you're walking it, even if from way up high it looks like campus is just on flat ground).

Also, my apartment looks way closer to campus than it actually is when you look at it from the Y. (Note the above image.) Not only that, but campus seems way closer together. Which it's really not, I assure you. Not when you have to run across it to class in ten minutes.

So anyway, I am really glad that I hiked the Y. It was awesome. And going down was way fun cuz Jacqueline and I pretty much ran the whole way (it took 11 minutes! Way faster going down than up).

And we made it back in time for the second session of conference! Well done, us.

Ah, to be a child.

Dear Reader,

Today I was walking through the BYU Bookstore and I saw a small child dressed like Spider-man. He was just chilling, all, "Am I dressed like a superhero in spandex? Why, I didn't even notice. This is just a normal day for me."

It made me really miss the days when we could dress up however we wanted and it didn't matter.

He inspired me to wear my Superman pajama pants tonight, but it really just isn't the same thing at all.

Sparkler Wars

Dear Reader,

What do sparklers, college kids, and Harry Potter all have in common? They are all necessary ingredients for an epic night.

Last night Divine Comedy was filming for one of their hilarious short videos. I have no idea what it's actually going to be about, but a whole group of us showed up dressed Harry Potter-y, they gave us sparklers and told us to run around like we were in the midst of an epic wizard battle with sparklers for wands.

Pretty much it was amazing. I mean, who doesn't love running around with sparklers for an hour pretending to be a wizard? I'm pretty excited to see what the video looks like.