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!).

Books, books, books. Have I mentioned I love them?

Dear Reader,

We now come to the final installment of my adventures in Portland. And I've just got one word.

POWELL'S.

Oh, heavenly beauty that is an entire city block and four floors of books. The largest independently owned bookstore in the country.

This is the picture book section. Well, part of it. It was just SO BIG. This is a picture book called "My First Batman Book." It's an interactive board book. 100% magic? Why yes.

And this was its companion book: "My First Superman Book." One with Natalie's favorite superhero, one with mine. It was perfect!

After spending a few hours in the morning looking through the children's section, Natalie and I went to get food from some of the many, many food stands of Portland. We ate in Pioneer square, said hi to this guy,

and talked to a group of missionaries passing through on their P-day. I love missionaries! One of the sisters had the same coat as me, so that was also cool.

Natalie and I walked a bit around Portland, passing through a toy store (have I mentioned that we have the maturity of ten-year-olds?) and the place where her dad works. Then--we returned to the most beautiful place on earth. 

For many more hours. We were so tired.

See?

I believe we spent about 7 hours or so in Powell's that day. It was a long time coming.

Aaaaand....I may have bought like six books. I had to. I promise.

For dinner we went to a haunted pizza restaurant. It used to be a hotel where a girl was murdered, but now they serve amazing pizza there. Yes it was creepy, no I would never want to work there, and maybe I would like to spend the rest of my life eating that pizza.

Afterwards, because it's not like we'd eaten enough food that day, we went to Voo Doo Doughnuts. It's this doughnut store where they put crazy things on doughnuts, like cereal and bacon. But not both on the same doughnut, don't worry. They have some boundaries. 

I took the cereal route. I figured, when would I be able to get a doughnut covered in frosting and fruit loops ever again? Probably never.

I didn't actually eat it until I got back to Honesdale. My flight left at like 10 or 11 or something at night. I slept on every airplane I was on (3) for the entire time I was on the airplane. That's how I like to travel. :)

The doughnut was absolutely amazing, though. Next time you find yourself with a doughnut, some frosting, and a box of fruit loops, I recommend you take the plunge.

So, in conclusion, I absolutely love Portland. And Natalie is the best tour guide! The city lived up to every grandiose expectation she's drilled into my head throughout our entire friendship.

Which is good. Otherwise things could have gotten awkward.

Portland: Part 2

Dear Reader,

On my second day in Portland, Natalie took me to see the beautiful Oregon scenery. We went on a drive to see this gorge

and the Multnomah Falls. (Which felt a little bit like what being in Rivendell must feel like.)

It was a fight against daylight though, since daylight savings time happened the night before. We rushed after church to see the sights before it got too dark. 

Then that night we watched a lot of TV. And it was awesome. Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Community, Psych . . . I don't think it's possible for Natalie and me to hang out without watching some TV show. That's probably why we are such good friends. . . .

We then went to bed and rested up for a truly magical and long-awaited day. I'll give you a hint--books may have been involved. 

Portland--aaaat last!!!

Dear Reader,

Natalie went through the temple this last weekend (because she's going on a MISSION! Sapporo Japan watch out!). Because I'm something of a temple junkie, and because Natalie is like the most amazing person ever, I flew out to Portland to go through with her.

I'd never been to Portland before, which Natalie constantly reminded me of these past few years. But no more! Now I've been! And I love it.

We'll do this trip in installments.

I left last Friday and had two layovers. One was for like 3 1/2 hours in Detroit--so I got to stop by home for a bit! When I saw Mittens I realized how different she looks compared to Bailey. As in--her tail is tiny and she's fat, and he has the poof of a raccoon. See for yourself:

(She wasn't really cooperating for pictures.)

Anyway. It was awesome to see the family. I also had a layover in Salt Lake...so pretty much I stopped off at every spot in the country that I've lived. Whatevs.

Once I got to Portland--the magic began!!!!

On Saturday Sister Crofts made us waffles before we headed off to the temple! And the temple was fantastic. It's seriously the best place ever and I'm so glad that Natalie's endowed now!

Afterward, Natalie, her friend Melissa, and I went to dinner at this really good restaurant on the waterfront. 

And then Natalie and I went to 23rd street to get gelato and stop by Lush (which I will forever associate with London, where I was when I discovered it). 

I was very tired by the end of that day, thanks to the jet lag. I got better, though. No worries. 

Stay tuned for Portland: Day 2!

Live long and prosper

Dear Reader,

So two weeks ago Natalie came to Honesdale. Woo! It's about time, that's all I'm saying. 

Even though I've lived here for a few months, I hadn't thoroughly explored Main street. There's a French restaurant that apparently is a little piece of heaven. And France. 

This sandwich was soooo good.

After eating French, Natalie and I went to an antique store. 

There was a lot of cool stuff there. Coke bottles, mirrors, figurines, traveling trunks, and....

Life size cardboard Star Trek characters.

 It's not weird. Why would it be?

I also showed Natalie where I work! Another little piece of heaven.

And this is Giggy. He's my pal. He sits by my desk and keeps me on task. I am very fond of him.

We also walked the train tracks. Like a couple of awesome hobos. 

Yay for friends coming to visit! And small town charm. 

Philly tastes delicious.

Philly has historic lampposts.

Philly inspires creativity.

And Philly is where I picked Natalie up last Friday for a magical Honesdalian weekend. More to follow on that as soon as she posts the pictures. (No pressure, Natalie. It's not like we took 600 of them.) (Actually. We did.)

P.S. The pictures in this post were taken by Natalie (or at least with her camera), stolen/borrowed (with permission) by me, from her blog. Check it out here! It's coherent, beautiful, and informative. And she gives 95% more details about our trip. It's a win/win/win/win!

She can be taught!

Dear Reader,

So I was recently thinking how nothing blog-worthy has been happening to me lately and that I really needed to have an adventure. Well, I should be careful what I wish for. Because what happened was I got to try a some new things. And not all of them were gems.

First, while driving late at night I swerved and hit the side of the road with my tire and dented my rim. Luckily, Lehi was with me and his parents were nearby so they were able to drive us and my flat spare tire to the nearest gas station (which, also luckily, was pretty close) so we could fill that pupper up with air. Then Lehi changed my damaged tire with the good one and we were on our way.

It was my first time getting a flat (or damaged) tire and I wouldn't have known what to do. Plus it happened on a road that was kind of in the middle of nowhere (common for PA) with no streetlights and lots of trees. I wouldn't have lasted too long there. Thank goodness for Lehi.

Next, Lehi and his sister convinced me to go tubing. It was fun, don't get me wrong. But it also confirmed something I had been afraid of: If I were dangling from the edge of a 50-story building, clinging to the ledge for dear life, there is no way I would possibly be able to pull myself up to safety. I would end up letting go and falling to my death. Such is the curse of having zero upper-body strength. (That and being flung into the water several times because I couldn't hold on to the tube....)

Lastly, I went to get a blood test today and right after the nurse took the needle out of me, I started to feel woozy. She gave me some orange juice to drink, which I took a few sips of, and the next thing I knew I was lying on my back with the doctor holding my feet up to let the blood rush to my brain and I was pulling my skirt down, trying to stay modest. I wasn't even fully coherent and I was trying to stay modest. That's what Young Women does to you...

Anyway, apparently I was out for like 2 minutes, long enough for them to freak out and call the ambulance. After I woke up they cancelled the call. But when I sat up and felt a little woozy still, the doctor came in and said I needed to go to the ER.

Blurgh.

So I rode the ambulance to the hospital where I found out my blood sugar was normal, my heart rate was normal, my blood pressure was normal, and pretty much I just need to eat, drink, and rest and I'd be fine.

Shocking.

So I spent 100 bucks on a mediocre breakfast in bed while I watched Ace of Cakes and the Colbert Report, and felt guilty that I was missing so much work over something so silly.

Well...not that passing out while driving to work would have been silly. It was probably good I rested for awhile...

Anyway. What did I learn from all of this?

One: If I'm going to have a flat tire, have it when Lehi and his parents are around.

Two: Either start lifting weights, or just never get myself in a situation where I need to use my arms to pull myself to safety.

Three: If I'm going to pass out, do it in the doctor's office. They know what's up.

The greatest thing that happened from all of this is that I got to ride in an ambulance while I wasn't dying. I've always wanted to ride in one, but I figured the only way to do that was, you know, if I was not doing so good. So check that one off the bucket list!

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.

Attempting adventure.

Dear Reader,

Because there was no school yesterday Natalie and I wanted an adventure. It was, after all, our last vacation whilst in college.

But then we remembered we live in Provo.

And it's winter.

And nothing was going on because it was President's Day.

So we asked ourselves: What does one do in Provo? Eat and go to the dollar theatre.

Next question: Are there dollar theatres and restaurants elsewhere in Utah?

Answer: Sandy.

So we went to Sandy. And we took our Provo experience with us.

We ate at Five Guys (which they have in Provo, but I had never been to before) and it was good. Like way good. And even if I didn't believe that the food was good myself, I had dozens of signs and newspaper clippings all over the wall to convince me it was true.

We saw The Tourist at the dollar theatre. It was funny (and not playing at the Provo dollar theatre, so that totally justifies a 45 minute trip to Sandy, right?...). I recommend it if you're looking to suspend reality for a few hours. Or if you just want to look at beautiful scenes of Venice, Paris, and London. And wish that you were there.

A highlight of the night was that Natalie and I stopped by Petsmart on the off-chance that there just might be dogs there that we could see. As luck would have it there were several dogs with owners and a little girl even let us pet her puppy (which came bounding towards us, by the way. It clearly loved us. Or it wanted our leftover french fries. Whichever.).

Oh, and if you're wondering what it feels like to have a puppy running towards you, this will give you an idea:

I believe "pure joy" are the words you're looking for.

If you couldn't tell, I want a dog reals bad. (If you want more evidence, go here to Natalie's blog. She expounds on the topic further.)