This is for McKenzie

It has obviously been sometime since I last posted something on this thing. Life has been a bit busy since school started in late August. Besides classes and my job, Student Alumni Board and ASUU take up most of my time. Erica and I managed to pull off the most successful Homecoming Week the University of Utah has ever had. It was monumental, we had an actually crowd for the Pep Rally, which means I kept my promise to Coach Whittingham, we sold out the dance, 1200 people got in and many more didn't. Everything went off without a hitch, no incidents at the dance, alcohol related or non, and even though SongFest ended 25 minutes ahead of schedule, Coach Boylen saved the Pep Rally with his amazing emcee skills. It truly was a REDvolution this year. The biggest yet. Next year's senior class president and vice president have some big expectations to live up to.
Now Homecoming is over and life is slowing down for the moment. I have time to read, time to sleep, time to write, time to breathe. It's a bittersweet ending though, this thing I've spent the last 5 months of my life planning is over, the week I pourred my heart and soul into is done. What's next? It's a bit odd to have time to do homework, and not have 8 meetings every week, and leave ASUU when the sun is still illuminating the sky. I halfway miss the "till 2 a.m." nights and bribing that pizza guy to give me his product so Erica and I didn't starve to death. Luckily, there's still football, the Rivalry Week Food Drive, and lovely things in the Spring to look forward to.
Fall Break is almost upon the U, and everyone I know is extremely grateful for the break. I'll spend my break revising the papers I didn't get A's on (which NEVER happens except now, which makes me wonder what I've gotten myself into). I know it's bad news when MATH is my best class. Somethings gotta change, so I'll revamp over the break and come back with exceptional writing for the rest of the semester. That's the plan at least. There are very few things I dislike more than having to revise and resubmit papers. This is unacceptable and it's pissing me off. I'm better than this. Last fall, the resident Poet Laureate actually gave a copy of my paper to everyone in my class as an example of what to do. I am BETTER than this. I will be better than I have been. Math cannot win, I must excel in what I know, and I know writing. I'll show Straley and Horwitz who they're reading. I don't write B- papers.
Oh, and, McK, since you're the only one who reads this thing, I love my housemates and living in Officer's Circle! We stay up too late and laugh and talk and are all friends. The Hum House is fantastic and I love living there. I'll be rather sad when I have to leave it in May, but I'll go directly to London for 5 weeks which should help ease my suffering.

First Night, New House

Here it goes.  Here I go.  Away from comfort and familiarity... to unknown and uncertain.  As I sit in my (new) room in the Humanities House I am listening to Chantal Kreviuzak sing "Leavin' On a Jet Plane" and I wish that I could be back in my own bed at my parents house.  Or in my own bed in a house with Steph and Mehgan somewhere.  But I'm not.  Mehgan is in Florida and Steph's in Millcreek and I'm on campus.

It's not that I'm afraid... that's a lie, I'm TERRIFIED.  I'm afraid of the unknown that's gaping in front of my life and swallowing the next 8 months of my life.  I'm afraid my new roommates are going to be stuck up and elitist.  I'm afraid I'll be subpar compared to them.  What if I lose touch with all my old friends and don't make new ones?  What if I don't make time for things like friendship and dating and fun?  "Things can move at such a pace, the second hand just waves goodbye".  I don't want that to be my experience in Officer's Circle.  I'm afraid it's what I'm going to make it and I'm not sure how to stop that from happening.  Plus, I swear the clock said 1:07 five minutes ago.  Perhaps it's a sign that I need to slow down, refuse some things that I'm asked to do, leave behind a commitment or two.  Or perhaps it's telling me to go to bed because it's one a.m. and it's been a long day, and tomorrow promises to be the same.  

Though I'm afraid, I'm excited for the next 8 months.  I think good things will happen while I'm here, things that couldn't have happened if I was safe in my own bed somewhere else.  I think I'll enjoy a much shorter commute to campus, since I'm already there.  I'll have at least 2 new friends in Victoria, my roommate, and Heid, my RA.  "Life's what you make it, so let's make ir rock."  I hope I'll over come my fear and make this situation the best ever.  "La la la la la la la life is wonderful..."  For now I just need to sleep.  

Changes

A very wise man once said, "Some things will never change."  Well, all my respect to 2Pac, but he was very wrong.  Things change all the time.  I believe Arby's once stated that "Change is good!".  No offense to Arby's (although their roast beef makes me sick) but not all change is good.  And you may be wondering what all these pop culture references have to do with anything, well, I'll tell you.  In the last month, a lot of things in my life have changed.  I find I don't do overly well with change.  Though this is going to be a change that will lead to the next adventure in my life, I'm not sure I like it yet.

I've been accepted to live in the O.C. Tanner Humanities House at the University of Utah.  This means I'm moving out of the apartment I love, where I've lived the last 15 months of my life.  I'm sad to leave it.  When I'm home alone, I walk around in the silence of these old walls and take it in.  The red accent wall in the living room, the French doors leading to the stairwell, the built-in china cabinet in the dining room, the hardwood floors... I love it here.  I don't want to leave, but this is a change I must make and I know that it has to happen.  So I'll leave the 2 sets of steep stairs, my lovely black and white couch, and the perfect singing window in my closet (think "Enchanted").  Soon I'll live in an 1870's house that has housed military officers and Olympic Athletes and now the finest students at the University of Utah.  11 strangers, picked to live in a house... find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real.  (Sorry, I can't stop with the pop culture!)

It's going to be a strange world not living with my best friend Stephanie.  But we're both doing what we have to do, and between our schedules, we'd never see each other anyway except for when we'll make time to see each other once school starts.  I have a lot of on campus responsibility this year (Student Alumni Board, Homecoming Committee, LDSSA Campus Relations, Senior Class Vice President).  Between meetings, class, work, and tutoring, it only makes sense to live on campus too.  Still, I'm going to miss the dancing in the kitchen, Steph "stretching" as soon as I walk out of my room, watching Disney Channel on Sunday afternoons and laughing at all the jokes... I'll miss it all very much.  Just like I'll miss Steph very much.  

Sometime change is good.  Sometimes change is excellent, exactly what needs to happen, something you can't wait to have happen... that doesn't mean it's always easy.  Then again, nothing worth having is ever easy.   

Giving In to Peer Pressure

I finally did it. For years I've resisted "blogging" because I thought it was for married or people with a lot of free time. But my life is such that I am now going to be a "blogger". I'm not married so I suppose this means I've got time... on my hands. Ok, not really, I've got too much to do to actually have free time, or so I think, but this upcoming year is going to be quite the adventure for me so here I go... blogging.
I don't actually even like the word "blogging" or "blogger" or "blogged". Don't ask me why. It's probably for the same reason I don't like the word "flatter" or any of it's cohorts. What that reason is, I don't know, but the word "flatter" is irritating to me. It's like opera or Kenny Chesney, listening to it makes me want to run a cheese grater across my forehead. Back to the topic, I've seen some really neat blogs, and I hope I can make this one fit into that category. If it starts to get boring please let me know so I can make sure I spice things up a bit.
I really considered a blog after I saw my good friend McKenzie Newton's (xoxo!) blog about her life in college. I liked the idea, but my life wasn't that exciting. Then came May and I became Vice President of Senoir Council at the University of Utah and entered the wonderful world of ASUU. I knew the next year of my life would be incredible, between Senior Council, Student Alumni Board, LDSSA, school, and work (and my now apparently non-exisitent personal life) I reconsidered a blog. Then another wonderful friend, Mallory Hill (xoxo!) told me I should start one of these things because she had one and that should be argument enough. My lovely roommate Lacey Collom (xoxo!) is keeping a blog while she's in Africa for the summer, and reading her blog really made me want one of my own.   So I gave into peer pressure and now here I am, in the bloggershpere. Hope you enjoy.