7 for 7

Kristen and Kimberly are my closest friends here, and conveniently live across and down the hall. On many an evening, I stop by to say "hey," study for bio, or eat the salad I picked up at the Blue Line Deli for dinner that night. On one such an evening, an idea formulated to make an adventure out of the upcoming weekend by visiting 7 of the 13 LDS temples in Utah. Mapquest was employed, a route planned, and on Saturday at noon, we were on our way!

The team:

The Navigator:
With four pages of turn-by-turn MapQuest directions in hand, Kristen guided us safely through many many towns of Provo. We missed a couple turns, but felt pretty good about our ability to work the grid system in our favor.

The Driver
I took the wheel for this excursion, and though at first daunted by my first experience on Utah's highways, I got the hang of things, and stick-shifted us safely up and down mountains, rainy and foggy roads, and I-15.

The Backseat Distributor of Snacks and Beverages
We put our Dining Plus loaded i.d. cards to good use Saturday morning and purchased a delicious array of road-trip appropriate snacks, including Ritz Bits Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Wheat Thins, Teddy Grahams, baby carrots, and M&Ms.

The Temples!
#1: Provo
We started with close-by Provo temple. I love knowing that this is where my parents were married and sealed together for eternity. This is where our family's life on earth began, and that is beautiful. (I like Provo temple at sunrise best, though. It makes Provo look so much prettier than it is.)

#2: Mount Timpanogos
#3: Draper
We missed the turn, and drove up the big, steep mountain for a while before finding a place to turn around and get back for a second try making the right turn.
We couldn't park and walk around, because the Draper temple is in open house, but we drove around, parked illegally in the neighborhood, and snapped a couple quick shots before driving away from the man on a walkie talkie who was looking at us suspiciously.

#4: Oquirrh Mountain

Notice the sunshine in these pictures. This was the only time we saw the sun all day, and it was wonderful!

#5: Jordan River

In finding a parking spot at the Jordan River temple, we drove past rows and rows of full spaces, only to see three open ones right up front! Thinking it was my lucky day, I prepared to pull into one of said spaces, when we saw this sign, designating the spot for a General Authority. Oops! We laughed at my pretentious parking attempt, and turned around for a spot in the back.

#6: Salt Lake
Before visiting Temple Square, we stopped in for dinner at the Lion House, which comes about as close to Mom and Grandma's food as possible here. I had roast beef, mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup, and a famous roll. (I realize that roast beef and chicken noodle soup seems an odd combination, but I just took what seemed as close to Sunday dinner as I could get. It was so delicious. Mmm.)
What road trip (or any outing, study session, class, life) would be complete without a stash of Swedish Fish in my coat pocket? I shared, of course, and these little red fishies made for excellent post-Lion House snacking.
#7: Bountiful
It was getting pretty chilly by this time, but Bountiful temple was so beautiful.

The End

And Another One Down, And Another One Down. . .

Mia (girl from down the hall): Hey Emily! My friend is looking to move onto our floor. Would you be okay if she moved into your room?

What was I supposed to say? "Oh, sorry Mia. I'm slightly agoraphobic right now, and I'm enjoying the privacy and extra closet space a little too much. Your nice friend from home will just have to deal with her lame ward and lame floor."

It looks like I'm in for my fourth living arrangement of the semester. Woohoo!

Really, though, I think that it will be good for me. I was really disappointed until I actually met my potential new roommate, who seems really nice. I've cleared my stuff of the other half of my room, and I'm ready for something new. . .again. I mean, how could I expect anything to last more than a week and a half. haha

And Another One Bites the Dust

My roommate, Jessica, from last semester wanted a change for winter, so she moved over to a different hall in the first week of this semester. Haley, her replacement, proved to be an ideal roommate. Now, she was one of those girls who really didn't want to be here at BYU, and seeing as I am one who has been wearing BYU sweatshirts since birth, we were complete opposites. Our schedules were completely opposite, so it was like living in a time share dorm room. Not a problem. For the few hours I was up in the morning before class or work, she was sleeping, and luckily, she wasn't disturbed by the sound of my alarm, or the light of my desk lamp. Her alarm would go off some mornings, but I never actually saw her get up, only thrash violently for a minute before falling back asleep. I'm guessing that she eventually got up, because when I would get home in the afternoon or evening, she would be getting ready to go out for the night. This part of the day always provided some entertainment for me, giving me excellent anecdotes about the leather leggings she wore once with just a tank top, or her five pairs of snakeskin pumps. Once Haley asked my suite mate if her bra showed from behind in a particular sweater. Stacey confirmed the exposure, but instead of getting a new sweater or camisole, she changed into a leopard print bra, with the logic that "at least it will be cute!" Haha.

So, I was totally fine with Haley. Interaction was rare, but pleasant, and she kept her stuff fairly clean. Then came Friday, just a week and a half after she moved in. I was talking to John on my way home from work, and opened my door to find a completely empty other half of the room. She was gone. Split. Vamoosed. It was curious, though, seeing as she left no note, and I had no idea if she left BYU, or just Helaman Halls. I found out later that she moved into another hall with a friend from home, leaving me with a room to myself!

I now have twice the closet space, twice the shelving, and an extra bed that has already been used several times for movie and t.v. watching. I don't have to worry about my alarms disturbing someone else, I can turn on my lamps first thing in the morning, and I can keep the volume up on my music I LOVE IT! This is definitely a blessing, because not having to keep the room mostly dark in the morning makes getting up early and being productive in the morning easier. As a natural homebody, I will take this new situation in stride, and enjoy falling asleep to Harry Potter any night I so desire.

Another Reason Why the Snooze Button is Dangerous

I had a date last night that prevented me from getting to bed by 10:00, so I let myself sleep in today. However, I got caught in the cycle of the snooze button, and had the weirdest, most frustrating dream ever. I was helping Mom and Grandma with a cake buffet for refreshments after a program or fireside at church. The ceremony (I think it may have been a wedding) included the lighting of candles, and before long, the smoke from them set off the fire sprinklers. I, thinking only of the cakes, dashed off to move them to a safe, dry, location. While I was trying to organize the buffet the way Mom and Grandma planned, however, ladies from the Relief Society and one of the home schooled girls were just setting them out on tables with no tablecloths, and serving them messily to the hungry masses. I was so distraught because order was completely breaking down, when Mom came in and got upset with me due to the lack of tablecloths. Apparently, I should have done a better job with crowd control. I woke up feeling horrible for letting the cake buffet deteriorate so, and had to shake myself of the frustration and guilt before I could get up. Weird.

No Place Like Home

I may have to get my fix of Aromatics Elixir from the Clinique counter at Macy's, but I can enjoy the smell of Clorox after I clean my bathroom, I can starch and iron my jeans and t-shirts to perfection, and I can watch hours of "Gilmore Girls" while a crisp January breeze comes in through my window. It's not the same without Mom close by to share in the pleasure of mid-afternoon 20 oz. fountain drinks, but I'm doing the best I can with a tabletop ironing board, a laptop, and my "I Heart Mom" cleaning shirt.