National Treasure: Old Academy Life

I am currently sitting at the bar in my new apartment, eating grapes and watching my roommate make chocolate souffle. Yes, my new apartment has a bar. It also has a huge massive kitchen, recessed lighting, private rooms and bathroom, and a beautiful parking garage. My apartment is so big that I can literally pick up speed if I run from the front door to the opposite end of the living room. I had 20+ people over one night and it didn't even start to feel crowded. My apartment was officially built for parties. Old Academy Rocks.

My Huge Massive Bathroom... and it's all mine. Oh yeah- the shower and toilet are in a separate room... and I have two sinks. But I NEED two sinks, okay! Sorry for the cheesy self shot...

I finally got around to decorating... thanks Kels, for the pillow inspiration AND the curtains.

About Half of my apartment's living room area. Come Party!

And lest you think I've become a snotty rich girl after living the high life in DC, I happen to practically be SAVING money by living here. Let's just say that certain management companies get quite desperate to sell contracts once the semester has already started...
I feel right at home in the parking garage-everyone's license plates are PA, MD, VA, NJ- of course, I'm still the only DE- but that's typical (not only for BYU but home too... go to the nearest Target and you'll see more PA and NJ plates than delaware. poor delaware). East Coast is where it's at...

Okay so technically this is the west coast... but it's the only pic I have of me with my beautiful license plate.

This semester has been wonderful so far- my Public Policy Theory class is amazing. It's been fun to see old friends and make new ones, see my old students, attend the temple regularly, meet my new ward, and even drop off my friend at the MTC. However, I've developed a bad habit of needing constant entertainment. I guess it's not exactly entertainment, per se, that I'm craving- because the cravings cannot be satisfied with simple movies or television- I'm talking enriching, exciting activities. Fulfillment. So far, I've managed to keep myself busy for the month of January with the following:

Sundance Film Festival: Britt and I drove up to Park City and spent the night walking around looking for celebrities. We went to a delicious restaurant and both ordered fish (obviously we miss the wharf in Old Town Alexandria...) and then spent the night exploring Main Street. Park City is adorable- it reminds me of a mini-Georgetown... in the mountains. We saved the $25 on parking by parking wayyy down the mountain and hiking up into the city... we sort of missed all of the signs for the "free bus" to the festival. oops. But it was so much fun and I will definitely be going back.

*although we didn't see any celebrities, a gaggle of teenagers stared us down as we walked into a coffee shop. As soon as we walked inside, I heard one of the girls say "guys I'm pretty sure they're in a movie". Yeah. I'm pretty sure you're blind, girl. But thanks anyways...

Utah State Capitol Tour and Reception:

I can't believe I've lived in Utah for four years and never been up to the state capitol! I always loved fridays in DC- that's when we would meet interesting people, tour awesome places, and learn tons about our government and country. When the BYU Political Affairs Society announced yesterday's trip, I jumped on the chance to go up to Salt Lake. After all, why pass up an opportunity to wear my "cute suit", as Rachel pointed out?!? And there was free food involved. And the possibility of cute boys. Of course I went. I had a wonderful time with old Barlow friends as we toured the Senate and House chambers, the Supreme Court, the Gold room, Rotunda, and the Governor's office. We met the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, a few Legislators, and had the chance to mingle with some BYU professors and current Legislature interns. It was a fabulous day.

Kim and I in the Rotunda. It has beautiful artwork!

House gallery

The Senate Floor. We met with the Senate President and I got to stand behind his desk/shake his hand. Pretty neat.

Governor's Office. As everyone looked in, he walked behind us and into a meeting. I totally noticed him. He's not very good at being discreet.

So Gorgeous.

Dropping Amy off at the MTC: It was hard to say goodbye to the very first friend I've ever had in Utah- but I've already received my first letter from her, and I can tell that the next 18 months are going to be amazing for her. She is wonderful!

Sundance: It's that time of year again. Ski season. I'm in heaven.

I've also been keeping busy with volunteering at Timpanogos (where I used to work). Those kids melt my heart. I had to write a policy paper for my theory class and I wrote all about them. LOVE

It was St. Patrick's day, okay. I don't normally wear large green bows in my hair (or match them to large green sweaters.)

Life is good. It's fun being a senior and coming to the realization that I only have a few more months left to live the college life. I finally got over a 3 1/2 year crush- I didn't realize, however, that I was over it until I found myself crouched behind a cart in the bookstore, praying that this boy would not see me and come talk to me. It's ironic that I spent over three years dying to talk to him, only to wind up shuffling between large objects as I try to hide/escape from him. Interesting. I should probably not write things like this on a blog... but since I have a grand total of like two readers, well, who cares.

I was reflecting on my grand array of college experiences, both good and bad, as I sat in my apartment last week. I was actually sitting on my bathroom counter, staunching the blood flow that was streaming from my nose. We (me and my nose) hate the dry Utah weather and extreme altitude. As I thought about my college career and all of the crazy experiences that I've had, I was hit with a crazy random but profound thought. As gross as a nosebleed is, it helps you appreciate your normal mouth taste so much more. That nasty blood aftertaste you get after a nosebleed lingers all day, but the next day is sweeter than ever. Sometimes in life you have to have the momentary taste of blood so that you can appreciate the sweetness that follows. Gross comparison, huh. Sorry.

Well, my Friday night has been a success. And if you're wondering how that souffle turned out, it was AMAZING.