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.

Man I wish I had a crystal ball.

Dear Reader,

I watched Eat, Pray, Love tonight and, as it always does, it got me thinking about life.

With the impending graduation (less than a month away) and no job prospects, no plans after BYU, I've been thinking a lot about my life and what on earth I am going to do with myself in it.

And it's terrifying.

I've spent so long in school that I don't even know how to function outside of it. For my whole life I always had a goal I was working towards, and now that I'm graduating I've reached the end of my planning. Now all that's left are transparent dreams and flimsy hopes that may or may not come true.

I'm just afraid of being stuck. I'm almost 23. Assuming that I live until I'm at least 75, I have 52 years left of my life to fill. How am I supposed to know what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life? And how do I avoid doing all the wrong things until I figure out what I am supposed to be doing?

I just don't want to live with regrets. I want to try everything, go everywhere, and, at all costs, avoid becoming stagnant.

Parents always tell their kids to dream big, that they can be anything they want to be. It's nice to know that we have a fan club of at least 2 people, but honestly, how many people actually aspire to what they end up doing for the rest of their life? Our society needs people to work the less-desirable jobs, but what if I end up as a barista at Starbucks, or a greeter at Walmart for the rest of my life? I couldn't live like that--unhappy and barely making enough money to pay the bills.

Ah, and this is where the root of our problem is: Money. Of course. What everyone hates and loves. It runs our lives. Let's put it this way, if I had endless amounts of money I wouldn't think twice about moving to London and attending pastry school for a year, or traveling to every country on my bucket list, or getting a masters degree in children's lit, or opening an animal shelter, or moving to Paris to learn French and get fat on pastries, or opening a bookstore that only sells children's books (all things I want to do, by the way. Except for the getting fat part. I just want to eat tons of pastries and lose weight at the same time. As long as I'm dreaming, right?).

But in reality I will probably move home for awhile. Hopefully find a job and move out of home. And be stuck.

Hence, why I must move to an interesting city. I think I wouldn't mind so much what I do for a job as long as I'm around people I like and have fun things to do (for free!).

DC, anyone?....