21 November 2012

A Life Snapshot

So it's the beginning of Thanksgiving break. But I'm still on campus. Surprise, surprise. I'm in a computer lab in the Brimhall. The building is pretty much empty. Actually, all of campus is pretty much empty. There were about five cars in the parking lot I usually park in. Typically there are about 150. And I even got to campus at 10 a.m.

Currently it's just me and another grad student in the lab. He's the year ahead of me and I don't remember his name. We aren't talking. Obviously.

I'm also trying to find good fonts for a bridal shower invitation that I probably should have finished designing/sent out in the mail last week. Oh well. Jillian will forgive me, right?

And I just wrote a letter of recommendation for one of my former employees for grad school. That was weird. I feel like I'm too young/underqualified to recommend someone for something that I'm currently trudging through.

Oh, and I'm wearing a plaid flannel shirt and no shoes while doing these things.

And listening to One Direction. Proudly. Happily. Teenage-girlishly.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

12 November 2012

'Hold on to what you believe'


Here's a sneak-peek into an editorial I wrote for this week's paper. Special thanks to the friends who helped me with an article close to my heart.

http://universe.byu.edu/beta/index.php/2012/11/12/hold-on-to-what-you-believe-2/

Enjoy!

10 November 2012

First Snow

Today I left my apartment dressed like the professional I am and ready to be a moderator at the Mormon Media Symposium. I had dutifully checked the weather to make sure that nothing catastrophic was coming my way during the day. I stepped outside to the damp air and the wet ground, careful to make sure I had brought my umbrella for the expected rain. I had even brought a change of shoes (tweed Toms) to switch out of my black heels after I was finished at the symposium. Prepared am I, no?

No.

My first couple of hours at the symposium were so pleasant and I even ducked into the Morris Center to see my former coworkers and current friends whom I haven't seen since quitting my job and going back to school. We had a lovely visit and I went on my way, aware the my shoes were getting a bit damp in the rain and slightly worried that I was going to end up with mud spots on my white pencil skirt, but confident that I was prepared-ish for the day.

And then the snow came. Turns out, today was not just a light rain that made me feel like I was in Portland for the day. No, no. It snowed all day. Not just snowed but snowed. Fortunately an acquaintance from my program gave me a ride from the Conference Center right to the door of the Brimhall. (This is normally a twenty minute walk.) By this time it was dumping snow and I was cursing the time I had put in to straightening my hair. Foolish move, Thomas.

I stayed in the Brimhall safe from the snow, watching it come peacefully down to the earth, covering the world in a blanket of white.

But then it was time to make the trek back up to my car. It was literally twenty minutes, uphill the entire way, in the snow. By the first five minutes my shoes were completely soaked through and my feet were sliding around in them, making it difficult to walk. But don't worry, it was already difficult to walk in my pencil skirt. But fortunately, I had an umbrella and a hood on my coat and my legs and feet started to go numb. And eventually I made it safely (and free of mud stains) to my car—which I then had to wipe three inches of heavy snow off of.

I was vastly unprepared for this day and a bit grumpy that it ruined my plans to see Emily in Midway. I did not feel like Lorelai Gilmore about the snow today—until I was coming home from a friend's house tonight, found that some random person took our covered parking spot (rude), and parked my car in the street by my house.

When I got to my doorstep, I took a minute to look around. Everything was quiet, as only it can be during a snowstorm. Every sound muffled by the celestial enveloping snow that made everything so lovely. All the world was white and perfect and beautiful.

And I was grateful to be a part of it. Welcome back winter. I forgot that I've missed you.