A Mom Moment

Dear Reader,

So today is Mother's Day.

I basically spent a good chunk of yesterday buying all the presents my mom was getting today from all my family members, driving my brother to and from a church activity, grocery shopping for today's dinner and the cake I made, baking the cake (and partially burning it....), wrapping the presents I spent the day buying (which distracted me and is the reason the cake got burned--but don't worry it actually still tasted good), and then waking up early today to help make breakfast for my mom, go to church and come home quickly to make dinner for my mom, then decorate the cake (it was elaborate), and then having to clean up from all the dishes of each meal.

(The cake.)

After all the festivities, I was talking with my parents and I was saying how I had done all that work and had been basically running around all of yesterday and today and I was exhausted and my siblings didn't really seem to fully appreciate all the work I had done.

And then, I had an epiphany: All of the things I did over the past two days is what my mom does everyday and she rarely gets thanked for it.

Zing! Yup, karma gets me again.

So, thank you, Mom, for everything you do. Especially the little things that I don't remember to thank you for. You are wonderful.

A Year with Highlights

Dear Reader,

Well, as exciting as being unemployed and living in a van by Utah Lake sounds, I will have to postpone any such plans at least for the next year.

And why is that? you may be wondering. Well, I'll tell you.

You may have heard of a little magazine called Highlights (Yes, the one in every doctor's office):

Well, for the next year I will be working diligently at their magazine as their (paid!) intern!

I report to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, next month (exact date still to be determined).

AAAHH!!!! I am so excited. It's a dream come true! I am so ready for an adventure.

Also, I'll be working in an 1860's mansion. Uh, what? Yeah, you heard me. It is that awesome.

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.

How important is college really?

I mean, honestly. When I was in elementary school I was learning important life lessons from the Animaniacs. And they are just full of knowledge. Like knowledge about the universe, for instance.

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.

Getting My Nerd On

"Any doubt of our nerdiness went out the window as soon as we imagined a crossover of Dr. Who and Merlin." --Natalie

Oh BBC. So many nerdy shows, so little time.

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.