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.

'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!

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.

Stretched Too Thin?

So currently I'm sitting in the women's locker room at BYU, in my ballet leotard and pink tights, trying to seep out the last second of productivity before my ballet class.  And I just got back from the paper, where I had to wait around for the sports page to get done because a reporter got his article in HOURS too late. And before that I was studying for four hours, trying to get my seemingly endless reading done, as well as completing a midterm that could end up taking 7.5 pages of text, and later I'll continue working on a freelance job that has come when I have no time.

And I just had the realization that I forgot that I committed to helping a professor with his research. Blast.

It's going to be one of those weeks. Again. Again.

I keep hoping that next week won't be as busy as last week. Such pathetically false hope.

And I think it's so sad that I view the Texas Rangers losing in the Wild Card game as a blessing because I just don't have time to watch baseball right now. That is sad that this is the saddest realization of all.

But at least I like my job, my program, and my freelance job, right? Right?




And incidentally, I don't know how to punctuate anymore. Thanks a lot, AP and APA styles for ruining my perfect Chicago conventions.

Busy

Grad school is exhausting. And super busy. And I always have work to do. And I'm always sleep deprived.

But it sure is good to be in school again.

My First Day

Today was the first day of school. Technically I started my grad program today. But I actually started doing some reading on the I-15 where I was parked last week when a dump truck's tire blew and I was stranded for two hours. And I had my orientation for my program on Friday and met my other cohorters. And the only class I had today was beginning ballet.

Soooooo today wasn't really a big deal to me. But I was on campus all day between dropping in on a personal finance class with my girl Emily (which made me realize that I want to be good at personal finance, so I'll take that class later) and attempting to do some super boring reading. Then I had my first official day at my new job in the newsroom. They found out that I know how to use InDesign and now they want me to help out on the design as well (yay!!). It's kind of fun working in a newsroom. I had a blast writing captions today.

But despite not actually starting my program today in the traditional sense of taking classes that pertain to my program, it was weird to be a student again on campus.

I'm still not sure about this whole grad program thing. It's a bit overwhelming and nebulous to me. I'm sure it'll be great and I know it's where I need to be. But the unknown terrifies me.

Tomorrow: six hours of class. Wish me luck.

Airports

The past week has been an absolute whirlwind. Here's a synopsis of things I did:

-Wrapped up all my projects at work...mostly
-Trained my replacement....mostly
-Quit my job
-Went to the doctor (the levels are much better and I may be able to start eating normal food again!!! [even though I already am for the next week, huzzah!])
-Played volleyball
-Played volleyball
-Played volleyball
-Played volleyball
-My forearms got really bruised from playing volleyball...It looks a little sketchy.
-Went swimming
-Bonfire
-Moved
-Cleaned, with no AC. Yep. It got up to 85 degrees. That was amazing...
-Took a walk in my favorite place in Provo
-Assembled a dresser by myself, using an awl for the first time last night around 1:30 a.m. (that was fun)
-Started my new job in the newsroom, copyedited yesterday, did the layout for the sports section for tomorrow's paper. Check it out. I'm sure it will look completely different from what I started with...(Loving my new job in the newsroom, ps. It's going to be amazing. I feel like I'm in His Girl Friday the whole time I'm there.)
-Changed my address
-Went up to Salt Lake to hang out with my dear friend Allison, who just moved from Boston and is on her way to Seattle. So good to see you, Al!
-Slept in my new room for the first time
-Started breaking in my new mattress, which I love
-Played with my roommate's dog, Kaya. She's gorgeous.
-My stake was split and now I'm in a completely new ward....It should be an adventure.
-Went to multiple wedding receptions then up to Centerville for a ward activity including a giant slip and slide
-Drove to the airport twice
-Received an adorable knit penguin from my dear friend Emily. It's keeping my nightstand company while I'm gone.
-Made it to the airport and now I'm on my way to Boston to see Bruce Springsteen!!! I have been having a hard time keeping my excitement in check. One more day!

That about sums it up. I'll be back east for about a week. I'll let you know how the adventure goes!