What I Brought Back With Me

The things I brought back to Utah far outweigh the things I left in Oregon. As with the things I left behind,  I have both physical and intangible things that I have brought back with me. I brought back with me a few stunning additions to my art portfolio, a pink petunia named Princess, some pretty sweet sculptures, trinkets and friendship bracelets from friends and many other things that I can't remember now.

Most importantly, though, are those that are untouchable. Ditching my baggage allowed me to more clearly understand myself and what I want. I also gained a kind of freedom and confidence that one only knows when they let go of the issues that weigh them down. It is that freedom and confidence that I have brought back to Utah.

I have also brought back the memories and experiences that cannot be replicated or replaced. Some of these happened on random nights when my roommates and I were just hanging out in our living room. Others were more poignant conversations with professors that continue to shape my artistic expression. Unfortunately I was unable to bring these incredible people back to Utah with me, (although I've done my best to convince them to move out here) but the memories of the experiences we shared will suffice until we meet again.

Thank you, WOU, for giving me what I needed to move forward and to grow.  The time I spent in Monmouth, however brief, will forever hold a special place in my heart.

What I Left Behind

Today was the first day back to school for me.  As I walked around the UVU campus I got thinking about my time at WOU.  As I think back from the time I packed my bags and started my journey, to packing it back up and heading home I realized there are things I left behind, and there are things I brought to Utah with me.

Some of the things I left behind are physical; a sculpture that I was never able to pick up that is now officially property of WOU, a pretty sweet photo booth backdrop and probably a few small car parts in the parking lot.

The most important things I left behind, however, are those that are intangible.  Stepping out of my comfort zone allowed me to evaluate who I am and the things that matter to me.  When I moved to Oregon I had a lot weighing on my heart and my mind.  Being in Oregon allowed me to distance myself, not just physically, but emotionally as well from the things that had been holding me back, allowing my true personality to shine.

Being at home I was afraid that the things that I had been able to free myself of in Oregon would creep back into my life.  As I embark on a new school year, however, I am realizing that I was able to leave my baggage in Oregon.  Sorry, Monmouth, it's yours to keep now!

Finals Week-Already?

This is the weekend before finals week-my last weekend in Monmouth-and I can't believe how quickly this term has flown by.  I've been so busy with school, school activities, hall government meetings and hall government activities that time has just slipped through my fingers.

This term I:
-Attended the WOU Drag Show
-Celebrated my birthday
-Attended the WOU Pow Wow
-Attended Earth Day celebrations
-Celebrated G's birthday
-Attended Luau
-Took a quick trip home
-Attended several residence hall events
and
-Helped put on the Arbor Water Park end-of-year traditional

So I guess it's really no surprise that this term has flown by so quickly.  Even as I write this I am hoping to get down to Arbor Park's last program, S'mores Galore, before all the marshmallows are gone!  As busy as this term has been I am so grateful for the friends I've made and the experiences I've had while here.  More reflection will come in a later post, but for now I'm going to continue enjoying the company of my new friends.

Here are some pictures that sum up this past term pretty well.

Message I got from Hermes during the #WOUDragShow

#WOUDragShow

My birthday cake!  21 Forever!

Navajo Taco at the #WOUPowWow

Won this beautiful choker at the #WOUPowWow

The piggy bank I made at a program at Heritage Hall!

Going home for Mother's Day...

and to say goodbye to Stephen.

Love this view from Battlecreek Falls.

Gianne performing at Night in the Tropics.

After Luau.

Girls' night out at Ginza!

The photo boot backdrop we made for the Arbor Water Park traditional.

Spring Break

It was so nice being home over Spring Break. I saw a lot of people I had been missing very much and was also able to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday with her, but the best part of being home was being able to watch my brother open his mission call for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Most of my time at home was spent getting preparations ready for my grandmother's birthday party. She, reluctantly, let my mom and me be in charge of the decor. Knowing that she loves lighthouses and wind socks I thought it would be fun to incorporate both things into a garden theme. So while we had family around we let everyone paint their own lighthouses. As you can see, it was a great success.

Originally, I wanted to have two large hoops for the wind socks with progressively smaller hoops to represent my grandmother's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, I ran out of time, but the idea was still there in hoops that did get progressively smaller; I just didn't have the right number of hoops. The end result was still very nice and gave a great feel to the space.

But as I said before, the best part of being home was being able to watch my brother open his mission call. He has been called to serve in the Cincinnati, Ohio mission and will report to the Missionary Training Center on May 13, 2015.

I'm going to miss him like crazy, but he's going to make one incredible missionary!

Putting the dead in dead week

First off, I need to apologize for the amount of time it has been since my last post.  Dead week really killed me.  In addition to being sick, I had two big projects to get done and also preparing for my friend to come visit during finals week.  Since then my life has been pretty hectic but I've finally found some time to sit down and write a new post. :)

Rather than tell you all about how awful finals and final projects are I'll just talk about how amazing it was to have my friend here for finals week!

I picked him up on a Sunday from the Portland airport and we immediately drove to Seattle.  While in Seattle we visited the Space Needle, Pike's Market Place and took a ride in an enclosed Ferris Wheel gondola.

(the rain was falling in my eyes...)

While he was here we also went into Salem and spent some time at the capital building, we visited both the OSU and U of O campuses and wandered out to the coast.

Somewhere in the midst of all this fun I did manage to take a final and complete an 18-page paper.  The biggest lesson I learned, though, is that if you have to go through final's week, it's best to do it while you have a best friend by your side!

The Importance of Tipsy Nachos

It was one of my first weekends in town and my roommates and I were all still getting to know each other.  The alcohol had been flowing and as we searched for food at 1 am we ended up pulling out nacho cheese sauce, guacamole and mango salsa.  Not having any tortilla chips, we used some Nacho Cheese Doritos that we had lying around.  This weird concoction ended up being amazing and became known in our apartment as Tipsy Nachos.

Since that first weekend Tipsy Nachos has been the catalyst for new friendships and been the proverbial campfire around which secrets are shared.  I wouldn't give Tipsy Nachos up for anything now and I'm grateful for the connections that have been made through them!

The big surprise!

In my first post I mentioned briefly that on move-in day my brother and I were able to surprise my Aunt, Uncle and cousins.  The best part of the surprise?  We got to surprise them again and again!  Not knowing my uncle's church schedule, we thought we'd show up a little after 4.  Unfortunately, that's when they have choir practice, but my cousin Chad opened the door.  At first he looked at us with a very confused look on his face, kind of waiting for us to tell him who we are and why we were standing on his porch.  Finally it clicked and he welcomed us in to watch football.

After hanging out with Chad for a while, my uncle and two of my cousins got home.  Without much of a glance, my uncle said hi and began to tell us what dinner plans were.  Then my brother looked at him quite earnestly and said, "Uncle.  Come on."  At that point he dropped everything in his hands to hug my brother.

While that was going on my cousin Hannah began putting the pieces together and she hugged me.  Followed by Lili.  Then I made my way over to hug my uncle.

Joe, my brother, and I were settling in and getting pretty good at Fruit Ninja on the Kinect.  This is about when we were able to make our second surprise of the night!

Around dinner time my cousin Kimber, her husband Ray and their kids Ben and Freya arrived.  Kimber recognized us immediately and gave us hugs!  I still can't believe how much Ben has grown since the last time I saw him!

The last surprise came when my cousin back in Utah began Skype-ing her family back home.  Joe and I popped our faces into frame and she was pretty confused for a minute.  Kind of funny that I'm here while she's in Utah.

After all the surprising and catching up it was fun to feel myself so welcome in their home.  I'm starting to feel like I'm just one of the Monmouth Boyacks!

Meet the ladies of Spruce 201

For me, the scariest part of moving out here was not knowing with whom I would be living.  It took me a while to even decided I'd brave on-campus living.  Being able to have my own room in an apartment setting, however, sealed the deal and I decided I'd give it a shot.

I'm not lucky enough to ever really gamble; on anything.  But this time I totally lucked out.  I could not have hand-picked better roommates.  Each of my three roommates is crazy, fun, and amazing in their own way!  Get ready to meet the other girls in Spruce 201!

Dani is new like me.  We both moved in on the same day and are both finding our place in the apartment.  She's your basic white girl, which I say in the most loving and sincere way.  She loves coffee above just about above everything else.  Chipotle might come in a close second on that one, actually.  She has a record player in her room on which she plays her vintage Beatles record that she scored in some record shop in Portland.  Side note, she was in Portland trying to get her typewriter fixed.  Yes, she has a typewriter.  And yes, she actually uses it.  She's a total hipster from Southern California.  :)  She also plays for the girls' soccer team here and has a killer sense of humor.  I'm so glad that she's the one helping me find my place here.

Next up is Ka.  One of my biggest fears was that I'd be rooming with 3 18-year old girls and I'd end up mothering them.  Ka, however, is 28 and is super fun.  Like me she comes from a big family.  She's the youngest of 9 kids (an even bigger family than mine)!  Ka is a bit of a scientific anomaly, in fact I think scientists are in the midst of studying her, in that there is a large black woman stuck inside a tiny Asian body.  This girl has more sass and attitude than anyone I've ever known.  She also says the most ridiculously hilarious things, like when she told us all that we need to go to Rio so that we can get us some Jamaican boyfriends!

Gianne is amazing!  She is smart, funny, and full of energy.  We both like to dance and once spent 3 hours on a Saturday "playing" Just Dance.  Playing is in quotation marks because it was too much trouble to play the game using the app so we just looked up YouTube videos of dances and mirrored them without scoring any points.  Being from Hawaii, Gianne is part of the Hawaii club and is teaching a hula for the upcoming luau.  She's even letting me tag along!  Like the other two, Gianne also has a great sense of humor.  She's also super gullible which makes for some really funny experiences.  Like when Dani told her that she (Gianne) was adopted, and for about 2 whole seconds Gianne believed Dani, then confusion set in.  In high school Gianne also wrote an essay about bananas titled "This Girl is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S". She got an A.

So, basically, I live with three of the most incredible girls on campus and I couldn't be happier.  Most every night we end up laughing until we start crying and/or getting stomach cramps!

The deal with my car

Driving up to Western Oregon University; my car packed to the gills, my brother by my side and a whole lot of car troubles.  We were making great time and were looking forward to lunch in Boise when we heard a terrible noise and my car decided it no longer wanted to move.  Stranded near Twin Falls, Idaho we were able to find a mechanic who was open on a Saturday and was able to tow us into town.

The diagnosis was that my AC compressor had seized up which shredded the serpentine belt.  A used compressor was nowhere to be found and a new one (around $1300) could only be located in Boise and would be available Monday.  Looking like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place I talked to my dad who asked to speak to the mechanic.  My dad suggested that they try a shorter belt that could bypass the AC compressor and allow me to get back on the road and into Oregon before my move-in time (which was Sunday at Noon).  The mechanic agreed to this and was able to locate a shorter belt.  After spending nearly 3 hours past closing time in his shop, and taking the nail out of my tire, the guys at Addison Car Care sent us back on the road.

We lost about 4 hours dealing with the breakdown, but I had a lot of support from back home, both in my nuclear family as well as in my BACA family.  We had only broken down for about 15 minutes when I started getting calls from BACA members in Idaho offering their assistance.  I don't know that 20 years ago I ever would have guessed that I could be nearly anywhere in the country and be mere miles from a BACA brother or sister.  But that's another post for another day.

Without further complications we made it into Salem, Oregon late and crashed hard.  The next morning we got some breakfast then headed out to Monmouth (about a 15 minute drive).  We drove to the few places we needed to go around campus, got all my stuff moved into my apartment, then headed out to run some errands and see the Oregon coast.  About 1 mile away from campus my car started acting funny.  I pulled over and popped the hood and was absolutely heartbroken to see that my new serpentine belt had walked off its track.  We got towed back to my apartment complex and tried to figure out what to do since no mechanic is open on a Sunday.  I tried to put it out of my mind so that I could focus on surprising my cousins, aunt and uncle.  Luckily the Boyacks live within walking distance from my apartment.

The actual surprise is a story to be revealed in another post, but for now I'll just say it was quite funny and long-lived.  Very kindly we were invited to stay for dinner, over which my car troubles were brought up, as was the fact that my cousin's husband Ray is a mechanic.  A fact that I had totally forgotten.  In exchange for babysitting Ray offered to take a look at my car.  After several trips to AutoZone and a more complicated issue than was originally thought, my car finally started running again!

I was so excited to finally be able to go grocery shopping and to get the few things I still needed.  The next day I went out and my car wouldn't start.  By this time I was beginning to get a bit frustrated and wondered if I'd be stuck in Oregon forever.  Luckily it was only a dead battery and after a quick jump start I was on the road!  Of course, just a few minutes onto the road and I got pulled over, but he let me off with just a warning. :)

Unfortunately, I'm still dealing with some weird electrical issues (one of which being that my headlight sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, which is why I got pulled over--it wasn't working at the time).  But my car is running more often than not and allowing me to get from point A to point B without too much trouble.  Lucky for me campus is small enough that I do pretty well without a car, and it gives me some much needed exercise as well!

I am here

Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to assure myself that I'm not dreaming.  Or find one of those maps with the star marker that tells me definitively where I am.  I almost feel like I've been transported to another world.  Then I realize that it's not a dream; that this beautiful campus and beautiful city are a mere 800 miles away from home.  And despite feeling like a magical teleportation that brought me here, it was actually quite an ordeal.

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the deep fog that rolled in on our way here that made the move feel so otherworldly, but now that I'm here, settled, and my car is (finally) running pretty well, Western Oregon University is starting to feel like home.