Welcome to the Neighborhood

After much procrastinating, I managed to move out of my Single Tree apartment and into my new apartment in the Neighborhood.

Things I like about the Neighborhood:

• I think
• There's a front and back door.
• Our pool - though it is showing signs of being eerily similar to the "Not tub" at the Omni. Hopefully they will take down the "pool closed" sign before it snows next month.
• The fireplace
• My bedroom is HUGE, and will look like it once all my stuff is actually put away and not in boxes all over the place.
• The full-sized bed. (I'm moving up in the world!)
• There are benches and picnic tables outside. Apparently this is optimal to keep me out of the parks reading late at night. I think it a fine idea.
• The location is pretty central, but still off University, so it's 1) quiet, 2) sort of secluded and 3) close to everything.
• I have a BIG window in my room.
• Parking is RIGHT NEXT to my apartment.
• My roommates all seem really, really cool. I'm excited to get to know them, and force them to be my new girlfriends.
• It already feels pretty homey, and I've only been there for two nights.
• The water pressure in the shower feels so good!

Things I do not like about the Neighborhood:

• The upstairs (where my room is located) is TOO HOT! The AC hasn't touched it, my piddly fan doesn't help spread the cold air coming from the one vent in my room. I've had to go to some pretty extreme measures in order to bear it: freezing cold showers right before bed, skimpy (read: no) pajamas, etc. I've turned up the A/C (down the temperature) and it only just occurred to me that I'm probably freezing my roommates who live in the basement.
• The space is a definite luxury in our apartment, with two girls on the top floor and two on the bottom and a whole floor separating us, we are not living on top of one another. This is a good thing, and should probably be on the list above, but: Since I'm trying to force my new roommates to be my friends, it is difficult when I never actually see any of them. I hope to remedy this next week by not being busy every night of the week.
• The kitchen is tiny. The cupboard space is meager and not well-organized as is. The drawers... let's just say that I'm probably going to manage to dump all the contents on the floor before I learn that they are not secure on a track. 
• The cable jack in the front room is on the side of the wall that I would prefer to have covered with the couch. I would like the fireplace to be open so we can use it... we'll see how this plays out later in the year.

I'll post pictures once I get my room put together. There have been goings away dinner parties, wedding celebrations and things like such as going all week, and I haven't had time to empty my car yet! Hopefully this weekend, if I don't drop dead from exhaustion!

The Sound of Water

I hit the snooze button a lot... and usually I go directly back into a fairly deep sleep. But this morning, I only went back to sleep. I could still hear water running through pipes because my apartment has walls that are only a little thicker than paper. The thing is, I don't know whether the water was coming from the washer which is on the other side of the east wall or the kitchen sink (which isn't close to my bedroom at all, but still manages to be ridiculously loud) or either of the shower or from the people above me and THEIR washer or their sinks or their showers or the apartments to the north of me and THEIR WASHERS OR SINKS OR SHOWERS or the apartment below me...

The point is, I felt like I was surrounded by the sound of rushing water. And if at any moment the pipes were to burst, I think I would be swimming out of my room and onto 820 North, where I oh-so-stupidly decided to move. Why?

The joys of BYU housing.

Why I haven't moved in....

A lot of people keep asking me if I have moved into my new place, or not, and then can't figure out why I'm still staying at the house. First of all, the house has completely spoiled me. Even turned upside down with all of Roberta's things out waiting for us to pack - it is still nicer than the apartment I am moving into. Plus, I like Roberta and Becca and prefer them over to roommates I do not know.

But besides that, (and besides the obvious: I just don't want to take the remaining few items, including my loads of laundry that needs to be done over to my apartment because that just means more moving and there is ABSOLUTELY no more room left under my bed - that is already on cinder block... * big exhale*) I don't want to move into this:

 

  

I am really not ready to move into this squalor. Those trash bags remained in that same spot for over three days. THREE DAYS! I would drop things off during my lunch break this week, and they would still be there. The kitchen sink is always full, and they leave food just sitting on the table open. Listen, I know that my room is always a mess - and it will be so more because I don't really have that much space to store anything - but I can't stand filth. *shudder*

So you see, I am postponing my inevitable appointment of becoming a Mom, garbage man and dishwasher.

And hopefully now you see WHY I am still sleeping at my old place, even though I don't have any more clothes to wear.

Moving Day

I've been telling the guys at work that I am moving since...November. I am fairly certain that is when I signed my contract in order to move in Single Tree. I paid the deposit. The next month I paid my first month's rent (for January) and I even dropped by once or twice on occasion. The guys would all ask if I liked my new place, my new ward, my new roommates, etc. Only, I never moved out. So I couldn't tell them anything.

One day, Wes offered to help me move. It was out of genuine good-will. Now, I hate moving. And I hate moving other people more...so I really hate asking people to help me move. BUT - moving is also hard work, and not something that can be accomplished alone. When I move, I always wish I were part of the wealthy gentry back in the 19th century and had house servants to pack, clean and move all of my things. Because boxes of books are heavy. Furniture is heavy. And organizing is a pain. I have a lot of friends who have offered to help, but I hate asking because none of them drive trucks and they are busy with school and work of their own.

But the guys at work drive trucks. Big trucks. And they are guys. They offer to help me carry the 70lb box of paper and all the pop I buy them. And I never take them up on it, because even though I'm not a feminist, I am not completely worthless, either. I can handle paper and pop - But I totally let them take care of the armoire and the bookshelf and the other boxes that I am so sick of looking at.

I bribed them with pizza. They had already offered to do it, but I still wanted to make it worth their while, after all, they were giving up their lunch hour to help me. They didn't expect it, so that was more incentive to get them lunch. And then Kevin ended up offering to pick up the bill, anyway. So....that was really nice. We went over to the house and they had everything loaded in 15 minutes. We drove the three blocks to my new, more ghetto apartment, and they had everything unloaded in another 20. They even rearranged my room for me.

"We want to know what's in the big giant Victoria Secret box," Rob says as spokesmen for the group.
"Yeah, Rob really wants to open that," says Todd.
"I don't know guys. I think that would really make our make our work relationship a little uncomfortable," I replied, laughing - knowing that there was a nun costume and pirate costume in the box and not lingerie. But still imagining the comments that would come up because of the nun habit.

There was something very...gratifying having five guys helping me move. Did I mention that I love working here? They are so funny and so nice. (Well, nice probably isn't the best word for them...) Obliging? I wonder what the couple of girls that walked home from classes and saw these two trucks with five guys carrying box after box - they must think that I'm insane to have that much stuff. Even though, it really doesn't seem like much.

They were carrying in my armoire and had to tip it to go up the stairs, and Rob is like, "CAREFUL, Rob has junk down there!"
Todd quipped, "But not much, so it's ok."
"At least a handful," Rob insists, "And YOUR hand was way too close," (he was talking to Wes).
"For heaven's sakes, I wasn't anywhere close to that," Wes insisted.
"Close enough," Rob said.

And then we came back and had pie - because William helped me make three pies last night and the crust actually turned out! This is thrilling for me, because I have never really made a good crust. And finally, I've learned most of William's secrets. And I'm just so pleased with the crust that I can't even stand it. If the guys hadn't told me that it was good - I would have been sad. But they liked it. I made Derby Pie, which, is basically like a giant chocolate chip cookie. I didn't bake it long enough, so it is a little more liquidy than I would have preferred - however, I did add walnuts to it. Can I just say that nuts are really delicious? They totally made the pie 68% better. (Sorry, Mackenzie... you can't have Derby Pie with walnuts, but I recommend it for EVERYONE else.)

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1 pdg. chocolate chips (small)
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. nuts

Directions

Melt butter, add chocolate chips, mix flour and sugar.
Add eggs, vanilla, and nuts.
Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake 25 minutes in 350 degree oven.

*I baked my pies for 45 minutes, and it still didn't seem like enough. I also mixed everything differently, but that's because I didn't know how... so I guess this works.

I'm now 93% of the way moved in. And I might even sleep in my new apartment....tomorrow.

Counter

I put a counter on the bottom of my page. The only problem is, I don't know if the 40 new visits have all been me, or someone else.

Ah well, it doesn't matter. Readers, stalk on. Or stay updated. I like that you do. I was sad to see that I missed my one year anniversary in the blogging world. Not that it is such a great thing that it needs to be commemorated; however, I will say that I have fun doing it. I go back and read my posts sometimes, and I think I'm funny. Even if you don't.

Just a little update - for those of you that don't know. I'm finishing up my final semester at BYU: taking two classes that I have been putting off for quite some time. Or, actually, I've been putting off GIS. I've attempted stats several times. If I make it through alive, then I'll be done. It's an exciting and terrifying thought.

I moved in with my friend Becca and her mom. I have a bedroom that may or may not be bigger than my parent's bedroom back home. Even though, it still looks as though it is Becca's walk-in closet. My room has been clean for a full 24 hours. Everything is put away. My bed was even made. And if I put off the laundry for a few more days, it will remain that way.

As far as the new ward goes...well, let's just say that it wasn't too successful today. We looked up what ward we fell into by way of boundaries and found that our ward started at 9:30 a.m. This is not different from the Omni ward; regardless, we found ourselves with little time to get ready and be able to show up on time. Since first impressions are everything, we opted out of the 203rd mystery ward, and tried the Arlington's 223rd (I'm making that number up, but I think it's close) ward that met at 11:30 a.m. We had our picture taken and filled out an information sheet and even participated with our insightful comments ("Fast offerings," Becca says. My comment was a little longer - and more profound...). But we will probably not be back. Besides the fact that it is NOT our actual ward, Becca and I are inherently judgmental people. There were maybe three attractive guys in the ward and they were all flocked around the Forever XXI sales models. Sigh, I think the real problem is that Becca and I have gotten used to a certain sort of celebrity within our ward at the Omni. We have a few people that actually appreciate our attendance and shower us with love and hugs and praise.... We realize that we can't expect that same sort of treatment in a new ward... but that doesn't stop us from wanting to get it anyway.

After looking at our schedules for the summer and seeing that we will both be missing quite a bit of regular church (meaning, not attending our own ward) we have decided that it might be best to stick with the Omni, and worry about making new friends in our new ward...later. Maybe August-ish.

That is, if I am still in Utah.

To do or Not to do

Finals are here again.

To do:

• Study my brains out
• Pack
• Move stuff over to Roberta's (where I'm moving to)
• Clean
• Laundry

Things I've actually done over the last few days:

• Co-thrown Kira's bridal shower
• Celebrated Chris' birthday
• Discovered a new movie: Under the Greenwood
• Worked on my book
• Packed 1/2 my clothes
• Cleaned the bathroom
• Took a bath
• Took 1 final
• Finished ALL my classes
• Made an S CD for Kira
  
• FTC
• Had my handwriting analyzed
• Located a lost favorite book
• Cleaned out the trunk of my car
• Made arrangements for a couple trips: Here I come OHIO, CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, and IDAHO!!!
• CURSED at the SNOW!!!
  
• Turned down free Shirley Temples and a trip to get yogurt...all for the sake of studying
  

I foresee a problem.

Guess I'll get on it, right now.

agitabas

(that's "we are moving" in Latin)

It's a common theme among Provo-ites at the end of winter semester. Everyone is moving. Usually I'm involved - only if my final(s) are on moving day too... - but this year it is different. It seems as though everyone is moving away!

And I have too much stuff. How is the relevant? Well, I've been packing for 40 hours over the past few days (OK, maybe there were some breaks in there, and a trip to Sam's Club, and some burst of creativity that inspired me to write for a little bit... There's no studying in that 40 hours, so don't even look for that.) BUT there is also A LOT of packing in there too.

Back to my lament: I guess I should be used to everyone moving away, as it seems to be the story of my life. I've had so many "best friends" move away. The first friend that I can remember moving away is Tawny Johnson. I have really great memories of going to her house on Sundays and spending the night, playing Mancala, and saving her life by running to her house from the neighbors to retrieve her inhaler. She was the first asthmatic I've ever met. I don't know what happened to her. Then the Wrights, who move to Utah and changed their name to the Belnaps. I did not keep in touch with Ashley, but when my parents come to Utah, they always make a stop at the Belnaps, who are just as fun and crazy as I remember them. We had fun times with that family! Of course, then there was the Schwendiman family. I was devastated when they moved to sunny California, even though Paige was pretty excited about it (at 12 years old, I felt very betrayed by that, Thanks a lot Paige!) We kept in touch for a while, and then just didn't. It has been really cool to be able to reconnect out here in Provo, only to watch her leave for Nevada this summer. (This time, I'm not betrayed...don't worry. I'm very excited for you guys!) Jessica Bradfield moved to Arizona after 8th grade. Karen Zelnick and a BUNCH of people left for college throughout my high school years, along with others who left for missions. I've survived them all.

But now... now I am being abandoned as husbands get jobs or go off to med/law school, or whatever the reason is. Courtney is leaving for California, Jessica is headed to New Jersey, Reina left for Massachusetts. Laura is headed to Salt Lake (OK, so that's not that big of a deal... but with the price of gas SKY ROCKETING, who knows when we'll see her?) Jared is headed back to Ohio before turning in his mission papers, and James has been on his mission for a while now. It's just insane!

And I'm moving across town. From the peaceful, traffic-retarded (meaning, there is none) to the hustle and bustle of 500 West (I might shoot myself) where there are lights, and speed limits... The best part of course, is that I am moving back into BYU approved housing, which means NO STORAGE space and as I pack box after box after box I'm wondering, where is this all going? There is no way it is going to fit under my bed, even if I put it up on 8 cinder blocks! How did I accumulate so much stuff, and why can't I throw any of it away (I did gather 2 trash bags and 1 box of clothes/stuff for DI and throw away a small amount - just not enough to make a dent)? I've lived for a year with basically my own bathroom and a whole extra bedroom for storage space - that's not including 2 closets that I more or less took over, and a basement storage area! What is all this crap!? Surely it isn't crap, because as I packed it up, I knew I could not part with it.

And as I've been packing and readying for the move on Monday (we have to be out on Monday) I have NOT been thinking about my final, which is ALSO on Monday (go figure - as mentioned before, it would not be moving day without a final. I'm surprised, though grateful, that there isn't a plane ticket involved as well.) Factor in the lack of a truck, the fact that I can't move into my new place until NEXT week, and that stupid final... and you've got my life right now.

Awesome, huh?