What a Ride!!

It's Thursday night and I feel the most relaxed I have literally for weeks! I have a few pending assignments, but no pressing deadlines-- which hasn't happened since the beginning of October. I'm enjoying the break. I know another reason for my relative stress-free time is that elections are over!! Since interning at the Utah Legislature, I have worked for Rep. Greg Hughes doing administrative stuff; it has been a great few-hours-per-week job-- until the beginning of this month when trumped up ethics charges were brought against him (as an aside, I now think of the word "ethics" as profanity-- I seriously hate that word). Since the middle of October, this election has all but consumed my life. I don't know what I thought campaigning was, but I assure you it isn't what I've been doing for the past couple weeks. As a little glimpse, I have:

- Hand-addressed around 600 envelopes
- Stickered around 1,500 door hangers
- Walked 5 neighborhoods
- Stuffed and stamped hundreds of letters
- Gone 42 hours with getting only two hours of sleep (thank goodness for Diet Coke)
- Worked out of the back of a truck in a parking lot in West Valley at night to continue stuffing and stamping letters to be handed to the post man as he’s walking to the door so they would go out the next day (that was actually an adventure I will never forget…)

And I assure you my efforts significantly pale in comparison to those of many. Needless to say, this campaign has been a whirlwind education. I am so grateful for the opportunity, however. I met and worked with so many truly great people. I learned so much about what goes into a campaign-- both the good and bad. I gained a sincere appreciation for anyone who is willing to put their neck on the line and run for office. While it's been a great experience, I am glad it's over. It was nerve-racking on election night as we watched the numbers come in, but also the sweetest victory as we saw that all of that work payed off!!

Update

I will make this a combination of things I've been meaning to post on. First of all, I need to get this tag thing done that Linz made me do. It's actually been sitting in my email since I wrote it up during my summer job, but the one time I tried to post it, my computer literally died right before I went to hit the 'post' button. So here it is: (btw, these survey things are my favorite... yeah, not so much)

Joys:
(1) Learning. Be it by reading, lectures, travel, experience, example, personal relationships—I find learning invigorating and I love it.
(2) Nature. Especially looking at the stars. Which actually reminds me of a funny memory... looking at stars for Linz's astronomy(?) project at Rock Canyon Park and almost being run over by a giant tractor tire... sorry for the tangent, but good times :)
(3) Nielsen's Frozen Custard. If you haven't ever tried it, it is a must before you die. I recommend a concrete with cherries and almonds, but that's just a personal preference-- anything you choose would be delicious.

Fears:
(1) Failure. I would guess that this is not a unique fear, but succeeding and approval from others I think is one of my most motivating factors.
(2) Aliens. I have still never seen the movie ET because it freaks me out. Stories, shows, and movies involving extra terrestrials give me nightmares and still make it so that I have to fall asleep on my back so that I'll be able to see anything that could attack or something.
(3) Driving on Mountian Roads. When roads have a steep drop off to one side, I always feel like the car is going to fall off and roll down the mountain. Needless to say, I like it when DOT puts up guardrails.

Goals:
(1) Make it through grad school. While I am absolutely loving the MPA program so far, it is getting a lot more rigorous and crazy.
(2) To travel to all 50 United States. I think I've been to about 25 so far... so I'm like half way there.
(3) I have a terrible habit of always twirting my hair or playing with my earrings. I think it's becasue I always need to be fidgeting with something... but it is my goal to stop.

Obessions/Collections:
(1) Organization. Those who have lived with me will attest to this. I love organizing and getting rid of stuff—even other peoples' stuff. When I was in high school I semi-dreamed of being employed by the tv show Clean Sweep.
(2) Okay, I'll admit it. I love literary period dramas (usually BBC). Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, George Eliot—I love them all. It may be my feminine sensibilities shining through, but who wouldn't love great entertainment filled with romance, intrigues, and subtle (or not so subtle) critiques of social problems?
(3) I don't really have collections of anything [see first Obsession], but I guess you could say I collect charms as that's often what I buy from the places I visit to add to a charm bracelet my grandma gave me years ago.

Surprising Facts:
(1) I am not an outwardly confrontational person, in fact I generally avoid confrontation. But by nature I think I am very argumentative. While I don't usually don't engage in outward confrontation, inside my head is an entirely different story: I am always formulating debates, analyzing arguments, and rethinking conversations.
(2) I'm addicted to talk/news radio. I have been ever since I discovered the amazing radio feature on iTunes where you can listen to radio stations from all over the country. My favorite is the Washington Post channel. I'm not sure it's entirely helpful to hear the traffic reports from the beltway, but I love it!
(3) My latest topic of research has been food storage and survival. I have been reading a series of books, The Great and Terrible, that tell a story of the last days and some actually very plausible things that could happen in the US. The thing it makes me think of the most is how I would be prepared for such a situation. So if the US is ever attacked and terrorists knock out all power and computers in the country, stick with me. I can build a solar water still to purify drinking water cuz I learned how to by watching videos on YouTube :)

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The other thing I want to post about is my birthday. I know it was a little over a month ago, but look at this amazing cake Linz made for me. It's a fire! Seriously, how cool is that?!

July!!

Finally! Yep, I know that's just what went through your mind :) I finally updated my blog-- but would like to point out, I'm still within the once-a-month range :) It has been a very busy summer, so I'll list some of the highlights:

1. First time in Vegas! Went with my family for the 4th of July and to see the musical, Jersey Boys (absolutely loved it!). It was hot! (110 degrees). The first night, I wasn't in the best mood and didn't like the city. I believe the thought that was going through my head was, "great, a homage to gambling, sex, and alcohol-- just what this world needs." The next night when I wasn't so hungry, tired, and ornery, it was a lot better. However, I decided it is a good thing I don't live in Vegas because I believe I have the potential to be a slot machine addict-- I had a fun late night with my mom. This also brings me to the 4th of July-- the best holiday of the year!! We decided not to stay in Vegas-- too hot and way too many people. We ended up in Cedar City at the Shakespearean Festival and instead of watching fireworks, enjoyed a great rendition of Taming of the Shrew. The play was great, but just not the same to celebrate the 4th with the Bard as to watch great fireworks.

2. I started a salsa class! As in the dance, not the Mexican condiment. It's been a lot of fun and while this is my first attempt at learning dance, I feel like I'm gradually getting the hang of it. When I move back to Provo in a month, I'm hoping to find a place that teaches lessons and/or just has a fun place to do salsa. If you know of any, let me know.

3. Also began an LSAT prep class. Law school has been a dream/goal since I was in high school, so I'm taking the beginning steps to get there. I don't know exactly what the future will bring, but I'll be able to say I don't have any regrets that I didn't try. And I love my class! It's a lot of fun and i actually look forward to it during the week! My favorite sections right now are the games and reading comp. sections. Over the past few weeks, I've been doing better and hopefully will continue to do so as I'm working to get faster.

4. The movie, Mamma Mia! came out last week! Listing this as a highlight of my summer may justify my obsession with Broadway shows. But this has been one of my favorite shows since I saw it in high school, so I was very excited. I must say, they did a good job. A lot of fun and if you like the music of Abba, I would totally recommend it!

5. I've also been on somewhat of a craft/cooking-spree lately. While surfing the links on Rachel's blog one day at my highly productive job, I found a pattern for the cutest baby dress. I immediately wanted to make it and luckily have one friend, Suzannah, who has a newborn baby girl. Luckily Lydia is still small enough that the pattern fits and she is adorable! This is a picture of how the dress turned out. There are a lot of other little projects and recipes that I found and would love to do-- if I get to them, I'll post more pictures.

Back for a Utah Summer!

This weekend I went on a YSA camping trip at the Heber YW camp. It was a fabulous time. There was a campfire and I learned a new pyro trick using corn starch-- enough said, it was a good time :) Saturday morning, however, we woke up to this:
The bottom picture say "June 6." It was good packing snow, not good write-with-your-finger-in-it snow. Ahh, Utah weather!

GRADUATION!!!

Thursday and Friday of this past weeek were graduation!! And I'm thrilled! I ran into a friend after Commencement who told me I haven't bee n a student for like a year; I told him I was a full-fledged student up until Tuesday when I found out I passed my Indepent Study class from hell. But it's done, yay! It felt great-- as I was sitting through the ceremony I was remembering how high school graduation didn't really feel like a big deal and realized this graduation felt a lot more significant. I feel like I'm glutton for punishment as I'm heading back in the Fall, but for the summer at least, I'm relishing in the feeling of no homework/papers/exams/whatever!




The classic BYU grad shot










Beautiful flowers sent by my grandparents in Atlanta who weren't able to make it out to Utah.

All's Well in the World

So I feel like all's well in the world again because I have a set direction and life plan for for the next little while. Yesterday I found out I was accepted to the BYU MPA program. It was a little nerve racking because I got an email from the Marriott School saying I should have received a message regarding my application status, but I hadn't. So I called the program advisor who told me this is going to be really anticlimactic, but they will send a letter saying 'congratulations, you're accepted' tomorrow. Oh well, I was just glad to find out because it's been like Limbo waiting for the past month. And I get to return back to my home sweet home, the Tanner Building. Yay!

New Beginning

As I type I am sitting in the Utah State Capitol on the last night of the session (and therefore my internship). It's been an 18 hour day, so I'm exhausted, but thoroughly grateful for the experience I've had working here. I'm also amazed at how quickly 45 days passes! I think more than anything, working at the Capitol has reaffirmed my love for government. I find the legislative process utterly amazing-- and even more amazing that bills are passed through and governmental progress is made. I've had more insight into the process of law making than I could have imagined, and it's incredible. I feel sad that just as I feel like I'm getting the hang of working here, it's over. But that's how most things are, I guess.

As this experience ends, I'm also pretty reluctant to realize that this is it. This is the final part of my undergradute experience and that feels really strange to think I'm done. It's kind of like in two hours I will enter the "real world" -- (though I always hated when my professors used that phrase in classes). I'm sure it's no different than a birthday when you wake up and are another year older, but don't feel significantly different. Regardless, it's the turning of a page in life. So tomorrow begins a new stage (...ie looking for a job... joy).

[isn't the Capitol beautiful?-- picture is of the rotunda]

Update for the New Year

So I happened upon Ashley's comment a few days ago, and it's true, this update is *shamefully* overdue. It even took me a while to remember how to make a new post (I know, bad). But a quick summary since the last post: I stayed on at my internship over the summer at the Dept. of Ag in DC which was so great! My biggest feat there was getting the signatures of 13 ageny heads on a project-- while it seems relatively simple, that was by far the hardest thing in my eight months there. I traveled to the Hill Cummorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York City when my sisters visited me in DC, Boston to visit friends and ended up having a fantastic side excursion to Maine, and Atlanta to visit my family there. I then came back to Utah to finish my last semester of classes at BYU and had a crazy busy, but great time. Overall, 2007 was an utterly fantastic year! Last week I quit my job at Independent Study a day early (extreme happiness for me!) and my mom, sister, and I went up to Rexburg to go through the temple open house (picture). It was absolute beautiful! I've since moved back home (still adjusting) and I'm looking forward to an internship at the Utah State Legislature starting later this month... I'll for sure post pictures from that!