Tribute to my Grandpa

I know I have a whole lot of catching up to do, but most importantly right now, I want to pay tribute to my Grandpa Ossmen who passed away Monday night. At President Hinckley's funeral, I remember one of his daughters saying that her dad was a pretty cute old man. I have to say the same for my Grandpa. He was a remarkable person. I see his immense strength in the fact that he lost all of his family by the time he was 24, yet went on to be happy and successful. I think as a result of this, family was everything to him and over the last week especially, I've realized just how close my extended family is. We are a great support for one another-- something I think is directly attributable to my grandparents. I admire him for hanging in there so long to take care of my Grandma. My favorite pictures of Grandpa are the ones when my grandparents were dating and in so many he is looking so lovingly at my Grandma. My Grandpa was a great example of love, service, great work ethic and had a strong testimony of prayer and tithing.


I am grateful for the support Grandpa was to me as he and Grandma were there at every piano recital, every singing group performance, graduations, and school programs. He was also so encouraging of me in my education (my fellow Cougar fan!!). My favorite memories will always be of our great family parties and Grandpa reading the Bible Christmas story every Christmas Eve. I'll also always remember when I was about 6 years old and he said I was stubborn. In my 6-year-old mind, I thought this was like calling someone a bad name and took offense (thus exhibiting said stubborness). Now as I look back, I like to think my stubborness came, at least in part, from Grandpa :) We're just strong-willed. Grandpa, I love you and will miss you, but am so happy for the opportunity you have to be reunited with your parents and brother.

Catching Up on my Life

So I'm doing a little catch up. What else is new? Since my last post...

I survived my first semester of grad school! Hooray! I'm told continually that the first semester is the hardest, so it feels like an accomplishment it's done. This semester I had the privilege to be part of team Trofast (shout out, guys). Sadly I don't have any pictures-- actually I'm realizing I really do not have pictures of anything from last semester-- guess I didn't do very well taking my camera with me. Anyway, it was a great team and while we had our rough patches, we made it through. And what's more, we aced our final Econ project! (if you had told me that was going to happen earlier this semester, I NEVER would have believed you) Other memorable projects were taking pictures for our "Junior's Day" montage and hammering out our IHC project-- both of them-- literally right before it was due. I think more than our academic conquests, I will more likely remember the fun meetings in the "bat cave" (Scott's basement) and being inducted as "one of the guys"-- I didn't grow up with brothers, so that was an adventure! I'll also remember the hilarity that was Scott's stories... that made me laugh uncontrollably :)

The holidays were wondeful. And welcome breaks from school. Thanksgiving I spent with my mom's family. I painted a picture of a turkey for a game of 'pin the feather on the turkey.' I wish I had a picture of it... oh well. That did make me decide I need more creative outlet projects as I really enjoyed painting it and loved my little Tom Turkey. Christmas break was even better because I didn't have to worry about final projects. I also have no pictures of Christmas Day. None. Seriously, that's slacking. Early Christmas morning I helped with a service project with my family and we got home, spent about an hour opening presents and all went back to bed. This year does mark a milestone in my life-- the first year my mom did not videotape my sisters and me coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought us. For the record, I'm 22 years old.

I saw another musical! The Light in the Piazza at Pioneer Theater Company. It was wonderful and had such beautiful music. It definitely made me want to go to Italy! I had looked at show tickets for about two weeks. Then the second to last day of finals, I looked again, saw five fantastic seats (one for each of my family) available, bought them, studied/learned everything for my last final, packed for Christmas break, took my last final, got the best score of all my finals, and made it to Salt Lake-- all in the space of five hours! Seriously, I was impressed myself :)

So I'm now two weeks into a new semester. I was sitting in class last week and felt really excited about what I was learning. You know, that feeling where you're learning something that's not particularly exciting (in my case it was performance measurement) but it just makes you happy inside because in some weird way, it's like the coolest thing you've ever learned. I realized it had been a long time since I felt like that. So I'm happy to be in classes again that I can get excited about.

I'm looking forward to the start of a new Legislative session where I get to help again (seriously, has it been a year already?!). I'm also looking forward to days of warmth. Anyone else sick of winter? I know we're barely half way through January, but really, I'm ready for spring :)

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 :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!

The Big Easy

In May I got to go on my first ever businesss trip to New Orleans. I went down with a group of co-workers for a couple days of conferences at the National Finance Center. It was such a great learning
experience as well as fun to see the city and try the fantastic food they have there! These are some sites from Canal Street, where we stayed. One of the most interesting things to see down there was the damage that is still there from Katrina. Driving on the highway, you can still see devastated neighborhoods that are uninhabited. They're like modern ghost towns-- it's very weird. On the drive home one day, we saw a neighborhood that flooded just from one afternoon of rain; it was a very humbling sight.

These are some sites from the famous French Quarter. St. Louis Cathedral with Jefferson Square in the foreground and an example of classic New Orleans architecture. The Quarter was a really cool place to see with all the shops and restaurants. I didn't dare wander down Bourbon Street by myself, but the rest of the Quarter that I saw was very neat.

Home Again, Home Again

I was able to make it home for a few days to visit people and take care of some business at school. It was a quick trip, but wondeful to be home :) I was lucky to be home the same weekend as my friend Charlotte's farewell talk in her student ward. After her talk, I wet to see Temple Square and the flowers were so beautiful.

Probably the highlight and my favorite... fire in Provo Canyon. We built that baby with no lighter fluid!! I picked up a few skills at Girls' Camp :)

Barlowites in Provo. From the look of my face, Aaron just said something incredibly shocking and D Scott either ate something sour or just hates the flash. Lindy's thinking hard about the roasting job she's about to attempt :)
Aww, keeping warm
An attrocity of the worst kind... cinnamon bears are better than that.
I like to call this 'el disgustingo.' Combination s'more, roasted cinnamon bear, and Starburst. Proud of ya, Stephane.

Whirlwind Tour of the East Coast

At the end of April, my mom came to pick me up in DC after my internship ended (well for the semester anyway, as I'm now continuing it through the summer). We had a wonderful time seeing the sites of the East from the fields of Amish country and Palmyra to the opposite end of the spectrum, NYC. The monuments of the National Mall by night... stunning.

Our next stop was Lancaster, PA, home of the Amish.
Monday must be wash day; there were lines of clothes everywhere that made for colorful displays of traditional Amish colors.
We enjoyed a nice ride on part of the beautifully restored Pennsylania Railroad.

My mom in our Amish buggy ride (and our guide who was so adorable)
Couldn't pass up a tour of "Chocolate World" in Hershey, PA!
Beautiful Niagara Falls, still with a lot of ice. Also my first time setting foot outside of the US (I'm on the Canada side here, quite exciting!)

We also made a stop in Palmyra, NY to see the church history sites. What a wonderfully amazing place!
Me and my mom in the Whitmer cabin, where the first meeting of the Church was held. It's amazing to think that room is where it all started.
Umm, yes, we're in NYC and this is what we do for hours... gawk at the American Girl Doll store. Yes, I'm 20; yes I had to wait in a line of 8 year olds to get my picture taken; and yes, I bought a new dress for my doll... which she looks pretty darn cute in, if I do say so myself.
Love of my life, Broadway. We were able to see Disney's production of Tarzan and it was amazing!! Needless to say, I loved every minute!

Baaarloooowwww!!

As of 4/21 I officially no longer live in the stake center/fishbowl known as the Barlow Center. It's a sad time, this has been the home of one of the best experiences ever! As someone far more journalistically savvy than I put it, don't be sad that it's over, but happy that it happened. I'm definitely happy it happened. Everyone
Ahh, hanging out in the hall :)
Last hurrah at Five Guys

Being Spontaneous, Yay!

So I'm doing a little catch up, but this is a little bit of what I did over Easter weekend. I had a great time going on a spontaneous roadtrip with my friend /big sister Emily to visit her cousin in Roanoke, VA. On the way down, we stopped in Charlottesville to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

For most of the drive down this is what we saw... farms and fields and cows. It was very picturesque.
We came across some funny signs, but this was our favorite... Tinkling Spring Rd. :)

Another interesting sight. This truck had maybe 100 fire hydrants on it.
We had a great time hiking part of the Appalachian trail to McGhaffe's Knob. Here's us on the knob.
Emily and her cousin Mei in front of Mei's cute cottage.
Beautiful springtime! There were dogwoods all over!