One month

In exactly one month I will be in this city:

Living in this building:

Sharing a room with this girl:

And working with this organization:

Am I ready?

Sisters

Due to time changes and busy schedules, I rarely get to talk to my family. But when I do, it's always full of ridiculous stories and laughs. Tonight, I was up late on a Saturday which is perfect timing to talk to my sisters after they are back from church (they live in the future). My littlest sister just got her wisdom teeth out, so that left us lots to giggle about. Along with stories of my brothers infected thumb that just popped with green goo and Coryne's anticipation of college.

I can't wait to see them in real life this summer. 

Pieces

"Does it break my heart, of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of, I never thought of myself as quiet, much less silent, I never thought about things at all, everything changed, the distance that wedged itself between me and my happiness wasn't the world, it wasn't the bombs and burning buildings, it was me, my thinking, the cancer of never letting go, is ignorance bliss, I don't know, but it's so painful to think, and tell me, what did thinking ever do for me, to what great place did thinking ever bring me? I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it."

— Jonathan Safran Foer

Sweet Sixteen

Dear Basketball team:

Thank you for being awesome this year. And advancing to the sweet sixteen. And making this season so memorable.

In honor of this momentous season, the roomies and I all bought Jimmer jerseys.

Emma is not in the pic, but don't worry...she had hers on

And I went to welcome the team home at the airport, along with several other provo residents.

It's a good time to be a Cougar

My best friend and her new best friend

I have mentioned Jordi several times on this blog. She is my best friend. 

I met Jordan approximately three years ago when she started dating one of my good friends. Our roommates were both on the fence about the living situations the next year, and so she invited me to live with her on a whim. Neither of us knew each other but we knew that we had so many mutual friends that it couldn't be horrible living with each other, right? So randomly, we moved into Liberty Square and became roommates. From the first day, we couldn't shut up. We talked all night long every night. And that's only the beginning of our friendship. Over the past two years we have been put on behavioral contracts, ended up in the ER because of a dare, backpacked around China, travelled to Georgia, roadtriped to St. George, laughed until we cried, gone on midnight adventures, had a ridiculous amount of embarrassing moments, helped each other through heartbreaks, cheered each other on, volunteered together, and built a friendship that I cherish so much. Her family has become my family. My family is her family. And for the past few days I've been able to help her now fiance plan their engagement. 

I had to steal a ring of hers so we would know her ring size, secretly text Brady, drive all around Provo with Brady and Jordan's siblings trying to find the perfect spot, and making sure that the whole time she had no idea. So this morning, while she was taking a test, Jake, Caylie, and I drove up to a park. We saw the perfect gazebo and Jake (being the bravest person I know) went up to the gate of this mansion and asked if we could use the gazebo for the proposal. Luckily they said yes. Little did we know, that gazebo belongs to Stephen Covey. NBD. We figured it out when he was giving us a tour of his house and we saw pictures of him on magazine covers, pictures of him with the president, and pictures of buildings named after him all over the walls. 

Anyways, the proposal was beautiful and my best friend is about to embark on a crazy new part of her life. And I'm so excited for her and Brady. And I just wanted to congratulate them. Because they mean the world to me, and even know I won't be able to crawl in Jordan's bed at night when I need to talk or steal clothes from her closet every day...I know that she couldn't be happier right now. And that makes me the happiest. 

Dear Jordi,

I can't wait to see what your life brings next. Thank you for being my best friend. The sitcom continues...

Teenage Angst

I've been talking recently with some friends about the songs that define our teenage angst. We all have the playlists that define our high school selves, and I thought it would be fitting to include a playlist of mine.

1. Seventy times Seven-Brand New
2. Fatlip-Sum 41
3. Bleed American-Jimmy Eat World
4. Mr. Brightside-The Killers
5. Control-Name Taken
6. Seven Years-Saosin
7. Alive with the glory of love-Say Anything
8. There's no 'I' in team-Taking Back Sunday
9. Konstantine-Something Corporate
10. The way we get by-Spoon
11- Rockin the Suburbs-Ben Folds
12-Mix Tape-Brand New

So there's my dose of angst. Begins and ends with Brand New, as it should.



Back in school they never taught us                        
what we needed to know
Like how to deal with despair
or someone breakin your heart... 


So is that what you call a getaway?
Well tell me what you got away with
Cause I've seen more spine on jellyfish
I've seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids
Have another drink and drive yourself home
I hope there's ice on all the roads
And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt
then again when your head goes through the windshield

Spring fever

Spring is emerging, and it is wonderful. The past few days the sun has graced the town of Provo and it has changed everyone. Everyone has come out of the woodwork and are now lining lawns and sidewalks with picnics, games of catch, and porch sitting. We forget about our homework and instead ride bikes for hours. It is magical.

Hangin out between our two favorite houses. 

Goliath Days

Some days I wake up scared. Scared of how I am going to get everything done and make it out alive.

Today...was one of those days. I woke up with meetings, an internship interview, work, a quiz, and a giant mid-term hanging over my head. But, I knew I just had to take it one thing at a time.

And you know what? Today was a fantastic day. I woke up to my roommate making chocolate chip pancakes, had a great interview, owned my quiz, had a surprise pizza party with old friends in the newsroom, got through my meetings, took my mid-term (not-so-sure how that went just yet ha), got Sonic with my roomies, and laughed. a lot. Oh and saw that I made a debut in this little gem:



So I am grateful for this scary day. Because I made it through. And came out on top. 

Kindred

This was posted to my Facebook a few days ago. I can't stop listening to it. It's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

Livin the dream

Wednesday morning I piled into a van with 6 other people and drove 12 hours to San Fran. I was traveling with co-workers from the Daily Universe and we were sent down to do stories on 3 WCC schools. We spent the days wandering campuses, falling in love with Stanford, interviewing provosts and student government leaderships, and getting hooked up with free lunches. It was a reminder that yes, I am a journalist. And yes, I somehow can pull off getting every interview I need plus more. And yes, I love it. 

At night, we explored the city. We visited the touristy places, but also ended up in sketchy parts of town playing in a dart tournament. We braved the city buses and took BART across the city. We frolicked in the warm weather and shared funny stories. 

And somehow we got the coolest group that went.

It was a much needed trip. And an incredible experience in journalism. 

Photos taken by myself and other members of the crew. Our main photographer was this lovely girl: 

Carolyn