Aprilist

Yeah, yeah, the month is half over, but this is my Aprilist.

1. Open my mission call.
2. Start recording Green Things.
3. Watch my favorite movie with Chris.
4. Go to Niels's mission farewell.
5. Give 10 things to charity.
6. Sing in church with Mom and Madelyn.
7. Write Maddison a letter.
8. Hang out with London friends.
9. Make dinner two times.
10. Keep my room clean.

Live Through This and You Won't Look Back.

(Image: David Daniels Photography)

(Image: Star Tales)

I learned something new today, about friends (which, yes, I am still blogging about) and about myself. I was writing a letter to my friend Mike, who is currently serving a mission in London. I've been in a weird kind of funk lately; I woke up this morning super stressed with absolutely no reason to be, and I feel dissatisfied with most things most of the time. I was writing about this and I asked him for advice when I guess I answered my own question. Looking for more interesting news to write, I told him about how the Provo Tabernacle burned down inside last month.

Next, realized the following:

a. I wouldn't be writing about ideas if I weren't writing to Mike. Sometimes the best friends are the ones who provoke thought. I have always been able to have deep conversations with Mike, gospel-related and otherwise, and I'm grateful that for a friend who I feel comfortable having those conversations with.

b. I don't know how else to say the second part without just using my letter. I'm just going to quote.

In some other news, the inside of the Provo Tabernacle burned down a few weeks ago, which was really sad. The good thing, though, is that the outside (which is brick, if you recall) is preserved, and it provides an opportunity for a great remodel and update of the Tabernacle now. I’m not sure how soon that will happen, but from the looks of what I saw driving by yesterday, they probably will remodel.
You can even see that as a metaphor! It’s like getting rid of old habits or things you don’t like about yourself, I guess. Sometimes you have to get all burnt up inside in order to make a clean start, and in order to progress from there. The inside doesn't even necessarily have to be negative. The Provo Tabernacle was a great building, and it served perfectly well for hundreds of years. But maybe it wasn't as great as it could be. It’s like exchanging something okay for something awesome. That’s hard, of course, because you don’t know whether the “okay” will even be replaced with awesome. I guess that’s where faith comes in. We have to trust that the Lord lets us go through trials and get a little damaged in order to make us and our lives greater than we ever could have been before. Maybe on our own, we can be decent, and even good. But when we submit our will to the Fathers’, and rely on him in the face of trial, he can make us great. I’m grateful for that.

Anyway, it's good to be learning things. I'm the worst at conclusions, so this is all I'll write.

Hola!

It's been a while-ish, but here are some things I've been doing (in list form, as always):

1. Glorying in this awesome vintage bag my Grandma Nora gave me over Christmas break.

2. Writing letters to my brother Collin, who is serving a mission in the Dallas, TX area. :)

3. Yesterday I went ice skating with two of my friends at the Gallivan in Salt Lake. It's the cutest little rink and I think we all had a fairly good time, despite falling over on the ice a few times.

4. International Cinema-ing. I LOVE INTERNATIONAL CINEMA, and the new season kicked off on Friday by sh0wing the last season's most popular films: Psycho and Pan's Labyrinth. Some friends and I saw Psycho last night, which isn't very scary the second time around. Anyway, I'm really excited for the new season!

5. Starting my new job! I've already said how excited I am about this. I get to work with some of the coolest people on campus, in my opinion. :) I've already made two posters and I'm going to have many more opportunities to develop design-wise.

6. Starting classes, which are going well, now that I've got my schedule figured out. I'm especially excited for... pretty much all of them? Astronomy, French and Italian Cinema (no french/italian required, thank heavens) and Vocal Training! Also, my friend Greta and I are taking a jogging class together, which will be a great experience!

7. Looking through my sophomore year notebook. I wrote a bunch of really cool songs when I was a sophomore, and I am increasingly more proud of 15-year-old me as I dredge them up and start working with them again.

7. Planning my amazing Maeser show, which will either be at the end of this month or sometime in February. I'm trying to pick a day when there's a "lull," as my friend Greta put it. Yesterday I found a bunch of songs on iTunes that have my full name in them, which I think would be hilarious to play before the show starts.

8. Cooking/trying to cook. The other day I made fried rice, which was a great success. I've always been good at making that, though. I'm planning a little dinner party for next week for a reunion with some of the girls I know, and I'm making curry. THAT should be exciting. Mmmmm... curry. And today, I am making muffins. From a box, though. Doesn't really count.

9. Missing David Tennant as Doctor Who. REALLY, REALLY MISSING HIM. :/ (Even though the episode with the new guy hasn't aired yet.) (Or at least, I haven't seen it yet.)

10. Being myself. We'll see if I can keep that up...

CRAP!

I forgot to post yesterday! So here is what I did, I guess, and I'll post twice today??

Anyway, I went in for training at my job in the TMA office (WHICH I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT!!!) and learned a lot about InDesign and how fun and amazing that office is! I'm so psyched to start work there. I'm going to get to do all these awesome design projects all year. I think I'm going to learn a lot, which is what I'm looking forward to the most.

Later, after that, Charné and I went on an adventure and got lost on the bus system until we got to the post office in Provo (which, thankfully, was where we were headed). There, we got a very important letter my mom sent to me which the postman, for some reason, thought I needed to sign for. Anyway, it was this big stupid mishap. We rode back to campus after that, and I went to the Student Employment Office and finally got hired OFFICIALLY. Maybe I can get paid before Christmas. That would be amazing, because then I could get everyone amazing presents.

After that, I walked home through the snow with the best intentions of being productive. And then I got home and just... wasn't. :/

Later, Charné, Marissa (our kind of adopted roommate) and I all went to a farewell party for two guys in our ward who are leaving on their missions soon. It was really fun. :)

We got home around two in the morning. And then I knocked out.

In a few random pieces of news:

I think I've finished my song in G... but I'm kind of afraid that it will say too much.

I love the Weepies. I LOVE them.

I can't wait to come home and feel the sun and see all the people I miss!

Letters That Are Not for Me

Some of you may know that when I was in eighth grade, I had a huge Billy Joel fetish. It was pretty serious. :)  I still love Mr. Joel's music, voice, and sincerity, but it now appears that my love of them has gone too far.

You will understand momentarily.

They ask you if you want letters from the Army and Navy and such, remember? Since I'm not interested in the military or any of that, I tried to thwart those questions in any way possible. And even though I'm pretty positive I checked "No" whenever they asked me, apparently, on one fateful instance, I enscribed Billy Joel's name onto a line meant for me. I don't remember it, but it must have happened because of what has ensued since.

Ha ha ha. Truth is stranger than fiction, huh? :)