Thoughts From the City

You may laugh at my title, thinking that Provo isn't really a big city, but in comparison to home, it is really different. I have found myself alone a lot recently. My roommates are busy and have their own friends, and I'm still getting into the groove of things - you know, making new friends. So there have been a few nights/evenings were I have had alone time in the middle of thousands of people. It has made me think.
Jottings:
"Today I got home, and no one was here. So I sat on the balcony with the light of a streetlight and the stars shining on me. There was the sound of cars, a breeze in the tree, people talking and laughing, but I felt beautiful solitude. Some people claim they only find true solitude in the wilderness. I also love the solitude of the city. When I have inner peace and quiet, and the immediate world is quiet, but I can hear the world still moving, people still living, and I am silent and still like a rock in the river, I can find peace. I love the peace that comes when I am alone. The completeness. I feel fulfilled."
It sounds weird, but there is a similarity there between being quiet and still in the middle of the chaos of a city and being quiet and still on a mountain looking at the stars. In both places I can be quiet, feel peace, and see how small and insignificant I am. The city doesn't stop just because I do. All those lights and busy people living their busy lives don't really care about me. And when I go star gazing I feel minuscule. Both give me humility and perspective. We all need those moments now and then, acting as a rock, before we join the rest of the water flowing down the river.

Changes!

Hello everyone. Look how good at blogging I have been recently. :)
Anyway, a lot has happened!
First of all, my family finally got texting. It really isn't that big of a deal, but it has been awfully convenient already. I like it. Part of the deal was that I got a new phone, too. My old phone somehow never had reception, so it is nice to have a phone that works. My new phone is red, and has a slidey keyboard that makes texting extremely easy. It is the Samsung Intensity and looks something like this:

So fun. I love it already. It is my new toy. I can put music on it, and the speakers really aren't that bad. It has a 2 gig micro SD card.
Second piece of news. I had my last day at Macey's. That's right, last day. As in, I quit. For several policy reasons, Macey's didn't let me just switch to Seasonal Employee status like they had in the past. Sad day. I cried when I left, as always, which is ridiculous, but I loved Macey's. I have many friends there, and a ton of memories. I kinda feel like I grew up at that job. Of course, I have quit once before, so we'll see. Maybe I'll end up working there again.
Then, Willie moved down to college. I am so excited for him, as well as being a little nervous for him, but it is finally time where all of his worried family has to back off and let him do it himself. No five moms. Just Willie. Go Willie!
And then I moved down to BYU! Woot. It is different this year. Claire got married, and Sarah and Mari moved out, so I have three new roommates (that we actually hand picked). I like them a lot. It will be a fabulous year. My schedule looks kind of scary, though. I have Multi variable Calculus, Modern Physics, Meteorology, and the History and Philosophy of Science, plus a few others. We'll see if I survive. If I do, I will learn a lot, and have a fabulous time. A lot of it depends on if I find people in my classes to study with. You will definitely be updated on it.
Sad story: I love having a lot of pictures on my blog, but when Annie and Neal visited, Joseph decided to throw my camera. It still mostly works, but I think the shutter is broken - as in, it doesn't close. When I take a picture, it is washed out and stripey. As in, my camera is fine, except that it can't take good pictures. Fail. So we'll see if pictures from my phone are good enough.
Anyway, there you go! I am back at BYU, and very happy, although I miss home a little because it was one of the best summers ever. I guess I will just have to make this one of the best school years ever to make up for it. :)

A Beautiful Day

Claire and Devin were married August 14, 2010.
I will miss my lovely roommate, but Devin deserves her, and they are very happy.

Honestly, it was one of the most beautiful and relaxed weddings I have ever been to. Usually there is a few bride-zilla moments, some hair loss by the Mother-of-the-Bride, a few mishaps in food and decor, and some extremely stressful moments for the bridesmaids. Not so, at Claire's wedding. Everything went perfectly. The bride was cool and composed all day. Everything turned out, and the reception was lovely. I was able to help, but also was able to relax and laugh with some of my favorite guests. Here are a few (well, a lot) pictures from the big day.

Waiting...

And here they are!!

A Radiant Bride

The food was AMAZING. And Beautiful, too.

The sign in table

The gift table

They hired a videographer. He was fun to watch.

On the way to cut the cake, Claire's shoe slipped between the boards of the deck. Good thing there was a lot of Cameras on hand. :)

Devin's sister had to give them instructions on how to cut the cake.

Wow. What an action packed picture. :)

First dance

This little boy watched them dance almost longingly. He was so cute. He got to dance with Claire later.

Dessert was amazing!

Stacy got Erilyn laughing really hard.

The videographer got them to do some pretty strange stuff.

Bridesmaids

They finally left! It took forever to chase them out of the door, strangely enough, but we finally got them to leave.

It was such a beautiful day! Everything turned out and was lovely. Congrats Devin and Claire! I wish you the best! You'll still see a lot of me. :)

Tea Party for Claire

I should have blogged long ago, but I still need to post pictures from Claire's Tea Party Bridal Shower.
I had fun picking out stuff from the DI, finding mismatched china and a tea pot for cheap. That was half of the fun. Thank you Annie!

Devin and Claire: A perfect Pair

cute Brittanie, my co-hostess

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the fabulous food. Adorable Claire and Sarah show it off for us in this picture: shortbread thumbprints, little sandwiches, and pound cake.

Erilyn always makes cute cards

Claire was excited about getting an apron.

Can I say that I love this picture? We had fun taking pictures of everyone with Claire in an old fashioned picture frame. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry.

All of us together! What a happy party!

Although less people turned out than I expected, I still think it turned out. The sandwiches by Brittanie were lovely and delicious, and all of the people who came were adorable (I felt a little over dressed because I didn't know what everyone else would wear, but I had fun wearing a tea party dress).