Rain On

It was a case of cabin fever. Even though I hadn’t been home even ten minutes. Even though I have a mound of homework yet to be scaled. I think it was the rain that really did it; it was fresh and free, my apartment stuffy and confined.

When I first saw the rain out the window at work I actually craved a run, like the many wet jogs I took in high school. There’s something wonderful about running in the rain that I can’t even describe. It’s like you can completely forget about everything else and let go, only focusing on the rhythm of your feet hitting the sidewalk and water splashing on you.

But, because of time constraints I settled on a walk with my camera. I really have missed the weight of it in my hands since I haven’t taken it anywhere recently, so this was a good quick fix. I didn’t get anything amazing, but here are some of the small everyday things along my way that made me smile.

Jars being used at lanterns with candles in a tree.

Wet roses.

Green. During the short time I was in Vegas I longed for green.

Puddles. They’re just classic. I would have splashed in them if I didn’t have suede shoes on.

And of course newspapers just always make me happy.

Now I just want to curl up with a book. A book other than my family finance workbook, that is.

Georgetown in Provo

Apparently I wasn’t the only one having D.C. withdrawals, because a group of us got together and ordered a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake and had them shipped here overnight… Don’t judge. Shipping isn’t that bad when you divide it by 12. And it was totally worth it.

Evidence:

Delicious Friday.

Daydream Travels

Today was a beautiful fall day in Provo, but as I was stuck in forever-long classes I found myself wishing I was somewhere else. That it was still this summer when I was in these cities.

Here are the top 5 places I would like to be back at now:

#1 Washington, D.C.

#2 New York City (fab photo stolen from Peter Carroll)

#3 Philadelphia (let’s admit it, this sandwich alone would be reason enough to go back and stay)

#4 Baltimore

#5 Ocean City, Md. (who doesn’t want to be at the beach?)

And of course, I always would love love love to go back here:

It’s crazy to think that exactly two years ago last Monday I arrived at 27 Palace Court. If anyone happens to invent a way to teleport before me, pretty please let me know?

The High-Roller’s View

Provo isn’t exactly the same as Portland, so my sister created a list of things to see and do at home one more time before she heads off for her first year at BYU. So to check one thing off, after church today we took a quick trip up to Pittock Mansion. (For non-Portlanders, Pittock Mansion is the best place to go to get a view of the entire downtown area. The mansion originally belonged to the 1860 owner of the Oregonian and is now a public park. Fabulous place for a picnic. See table above?)

We brought my camera along because we like it. As usual, the whole experience is right here in the album. The narrated stuff is below. I make no guarantees for quality, but they should be at least mildly entertaining!

View Full Album

The day included an un-intentional yet fun mini-photo shoot of Amber:

(she said trees make her eyes look green)

Jumping pictures were a must:

But I definitely like this best:

They also have interesting flowers. And bees. (I may have become a little distracted. As usual)

One more difference between Provo and Portland? The mountains. This is what real mountains are supposed to look like. Nice pointy volcanoes. Just sayin’. Love ya Mt. Hood.

Great day.

Freedom Run

I can't ever run on tracks because I get bored of the scenery really quick. That isn't a problem here, and I love it. My new most favorite run route in the world is from where I live to the capitol building and back. It's about 8 miles round trip, but it doesn't seem nearly that long because there are all sorts of things to distract you, like monuments, museums, tourists and plenty of softball and dodgeball games. It's only a matter of time before I get hit by a stray ball, which just makes it all the more exciting. Unfortunately I only seem to have enough time to go the full route once every 600 weeks, but I was able to do it last night and it was beautiful. There was even a little rainstorm in the middle. So refreshing.

Here is a map so you can appreciate how wonderful it is and see all of the cool things I get to pass. Running in Provo is going to seem more boring than ever when I get back.


















Also, I found out how to get through my work's ridiculous security set-up (they said cia.gov was not secure!) to make this post. Bwahaha. But don't worry, I'm still being extremely productive. This only took a second.

Finally

Last semester for my photojournalism class we had to do an audio slideshow, so I did mine on the Provo Farmer’s Market because I am naturally attracted to such things. The one here has nothing on the one in Portland, but it’s still fun. Anyways, since the school didn’t have the right plug-in to turn the slideshow into a file I could use it was stuck in the computer lab until last night. For the longest time the only way I could show it to anyone was to drag them into the Brimhall building, but now it has been liberated from the third computer on the right and is here on my blog for all to see. I know you’re excited.

And thanks again to the lovely Katie Andrus, who let me interview her for this. It was in October so she probably forgot it ever happened. But she’s cool so you should check out her blog.

Here’s the video. It’s only a minute thirty, so you totally have time to watch it.

Or there's a better one on vimeo. It just doesn't want to cooperate and fit on my blog.

http://vimeo.com/9159898

The Call of a Cookie

Today, amid the insanity that is the last two weeks before finals, Annie and I took the time to drive 45 minutes all the way to Salt Lake City and then back for some cookies. Now, these aren't your ordinary cookies. They're Ben's Cookies. And they were totally and completely worth the drive, in case you were wondering.

Ben's Cookies were a special treat and weakness during our study abroad in London. There was a stand for them at our favorite destination, Covent Garden, that always had a way long line. We'd try to tell ourselves that we didn't need another one, but it never worked. On a cold winter day in London the warm, thick cookies were perfection. So, with all the crazy things going on right now, and even though I have no time to spare, getting these cookies was the perfect escape from it all. It's been almost a year since we returned home, and any little taste of London we can get is more than welcome.

We did also have a legitimate reason to go tonight, but I'm not going to put it here in case the person it concerns reads this. Although, I'm fairly certain they have no idea this blog exists. However, I think that even though these little breaks aren't always reasonable given the limited amount of time we have right now to finish important school work sometimes they're necessary to relieve a little stress and maintain our sanity. And I still have some cookies left to eat tomorrow!

On the way back we also stopped by In-N-Out, Provo's new Mecca, because neither of us had eaten dinner and we were starving. This was not London-like at all, but still fun. And it was a good way to put off the studying a little bit longer. Kind of like writing this blog entry now...

Also this is one of my all-time favorite relaxation songs that I'm listening to now: Don't Miss You At All, by Norah Jones

Homecoming: Special Edition

This past week we had homecoming, which was actually way more fun than I thought it would be. I wasn't here last year, and I didn't do much freshman year, so I couldn't even remember what all happened for it. I ended up doing lots of things: hiking and lighting the Y with a concert at the end, homecoming spectacular, ESPN's college game day (they came to Provo for the first time ever. I had to wake up early to go, but it was totally and completely worth it. Even if we did end up losing the game...), the homecoming parade, blue pancakes, and the football game. The one thing I didn't do? Write my law briefs for today. Somehow it didn't seem as enticing.

So, I have a ton of pictures of the week's events. Here's a few for you to get a little taste of what it was like to be in Provo.