Relief

I shoveled the snow on our walkway the other day. And our neighbor's walkway. I'm not overly fond of our neighbors so I figured I might as well shovel their walkway. It worked...I felt pretty good about myself and our neighbors. Then I woke up the next morning and it was all for naught because we got another 4 inches of snow. I haven't re-shoveled anything since.

We have about 8-12 inches of snow outside now and it's still coming down. It reminds me of the year we got  married, only now the I-15 core construction is done so I don't have to fear for my life as I drive it. Not that I drive in the snow, that's Andrew's job. Someday I'll practice snow and ice driving, but the opportunity hasn't come up yet because I can walk everywhere I need to go so Andrew always has the car.

I love the snow. It's all powder so I can't go build anything with it. I already learned that lesson when I was 12. I tried to make a snowball and it kept falling apart. My dad laughed at me. The powder is fantastic though and Andrew can't wait to go skiing. I'm relieved that it snowed this much. After last winter I was afraid we'd get no snow again and Andrew has a ski class this semester so that would really suck. Looks like he'll have plenty of snow though. Sundance has 50 inches of base snow right now and Alta has 76. Last year Alta had barely reached 76 and it was already February.

The other good news is that with all the snow, our snowpack is back up to normal. We had a dismal snowpack last winter and we barely escaped disaster because the winter of 2010-2011 lent us such a huge snowpack that it kept our reservoir levels up. This year the snowpack is already at 100% for the Provo watershed and 120% for some of the northern watersheds. I think we'll be OK this summer. :)

And also, gas is less than 3 dollars a gallon now. Sad that I find that relieving I guess...but it is a relief nonetheless!

White Christmas

I finally got the White Christmas I've been hoping for pretty much all my life. It wasn't snowing on Christmas, but we had a decent storm come in Christmas Eve. It sorta set into motion a huge chain of events that may or may not have worked in our favor. The end result was that I realized white Christmases aren't nearly as magical as I thought they once were.

It was snowing pretty hard when we left for Andrew's aunt and uncle's place. We locked ourselves out of the house, but that's not important. The drive there was slow but not bad. Then we headed up to Park City. Due to several setbacks brought on by snowy conditions including driving up Point of the Mountain (If you think its bad to drive around it in a snowstorm, try going over it) to borrow a 4 wheel drive car from someone and realizing when we got there that we needed a 4 wheel drive car to get us to the house to GET the car. Andrew and I have chains so we were OK until we got to Park City, but his aunt and uncle needed the car. It took us about 4 hours to get there. To put it in perspective, it only took us an hour to get home.

So that was our snow adventure on Christmas Eve. None of this is what shattered my magical image of white Christmases though. What ruined it was being married and enjoying having my husband home. I realized that for me to have a white Christmas, someone else's husband has to spend the day running the same route in the snowplow keeping the road clear and safe for everyone else. Pop. Image shattered. I felt really guilty actually.

But in the end we had a great Christmas, I got many new kitchen appliances and equipment that I don't have room for, and we borrowed a lock pick kit from our friend and got back into our apartment. And now it's snowing again and it's not Christmas so everyone is back at work and I don't feel guilty enjoying the snow. :)

There Are More Hoorays Than Not, Right Now

In fact, the world is full of mostly hoorays. There's only one thing I can complain about and that is almost over, thank goodness.

I had the flu yesterday. At least I think I did. I actually had a fever this time. It came on really fast so it went away really fast. I won't bore you with details. Andrew gave me a blessing so I'm all better. I also took NyQuil  It was gross, but I didn't trust my tummy to handle any pills. It also meant we had to miss the Powell family Christmas party...that was a big bummer. But it also means we have 4 bottles of Martinelli's all to ourselves. =P

My hoorays are that it's snowing! It started last night but I was in bed and didn't want to move. I'm glad its still snowing so I can see it. I think it's starting to let up now, but we got a good 2 inches here in the valley I think. And the forecast calls for snow on Christmas eve. HOORAY!

Also, I got an A- in my english class. Pretty good since I was shooting for a D-. =P I tried to keep myself from panicking by telling myself that I could get as low as a D- and still pass; it's just a general anyhow so it doesn't matter. However, I was so scared of failing that I put all my effort into the class. As a consequence, I didn't get very good grades in my other classes, but that's life. I ended the semester with two A's and two B's. Technically 3 A's but one was a 1 credit class and those are usually just pass/fail and do nothing for one's GPA.

I didn't re-apply to the photography program this semester so I can't add that to my list of not-hoorays. I'm seriously debating re-applying...I didn't have the motivation to do anything this semester. Even take pictures. You may have noticed a lack of pictures on my blog lately...


I also went to the doctor today and got a new prescription for Zoloft and a couple more ideas that might help me. As it turns out that's why I've been crying so much lately over stupid things. But it seems like the Health Center has a light therapy machine that I can rent to help me through the winter months. I love the snow and everything, but with our apartment so cold, we have a heavy blanket up over the only window to the living room, and our bedroom doesn't have a very effective window either.

So hopefully this will all lead to many more hoorays and more motivation to do things.

I did manage to roll up my sleeves and clean the kitchen. It's a Christmas miracle, I have counter space again! Of course, it's partially due to the kitchen-aid being over at my brother-in-law's apartment. I need to go pick that up. But still, there's space, the cupboards aren't threatening to spill out on me every time I open them, and there are no dishes in the sink! The only thing preventing me from going in there is that it's cold. Really cold. And also that if I go in there and cook, the sink will no longer be clean. =P


Also on a list of hoorays, CHRISTMAS!

I've been working a bit more so our Christmas activity budget isn't so tight. Andrew and I also got about 200 back for our books. I think we're going to go to Gardner Village this weekend and also take the train to Salt Lake and wander around City Creek and Temple Square. It's been nice to have this whole week preceding Christmas off of school. It's much easier to plan holiday fun when you aren't trying to survive finals.

I hope your life and holidays are filled with as many hoorays as mine is! And I hope it is filled with a lot less flu and flu imitators as mine has been.

End of the semester reflections

I finished my finals. Last night was my last final and also the one I've been dreading since forever. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but for my persuasive writing class, I had to give a speech based on my final paper.

Speeches are terrifying for the majority of people, but for people with social anxiety, they are...really bad. Anyhow, to make a long story short, I got up in front of the class, barely said my name, started crying and breathing really fast, nearly passed out and finally begged my teacher for mercy. In the end I was allowed to give my speech from my desk. It was amazing what a change that made. I was hardly scared at all.

So I scraped through decently enough. I don't know when I'll know my grade. I ended up getting an 89 on my final paper. Not bad. I got points off for being nearly a page short but trust me, there was nothing left to write. I'll pass the class, but my grade is pretty iffy. If I managed to squeak out a B- on my final, I'll barely get an A. If not, I'll get a B+. Disappointing? Perhaps.

What is more disappointing is that I am on the edge between a C and B in one of my favorite classes. I was so terrified of failing this writing class that I put all my effort into it and neglected my other classes. I also put what energy I had left into one of my other classes because it was frustrating me. Fascinating, yes. Hard, definitely. I tried all semester and never got above a B on anything. So I put all my effort into two classes and used what was left for my last two. That's how the semester goes sometimes.

So odds are that I'll finish the semester with straight B's. Not bad considering it was a very difficult semester. It's a little disappointing to be that close to an A but whatever. It's over and I never have to take a writing class again! And whatever grades I get, they're grades I worked for so...I can't complain TOO much. :)

This Isn't Right...

Christmas is NOT supposed to be more stressful than finals. Is it? I mean I guess it can be...but I've never had a problem with it. At least, I haven't until this year.

My problem up to this point has always been "Andrew wants several expensive things and I can't afford to buy them all". This year it's "Andrew wants one expensive thing and absolutely nothing else". You would think that would be less stressful, but you would be wrong. Especially when this item is a piece of clothing that seems to be selling out extremely quickly so you don't have time to really figure out if you can afford it or not. And if it sells out, THEN what are you supposed to get?! There are literally no back-ups here.

And if he wants just one thing...so much for surprise...

Oy.

Some Things Just wouldn't Work Today

A while ago, Andrew and I picked up several seasons of old 90's cartoons at Costco. We grabbed Ducktales, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, and Talespin. We were watching Ducktales the other night when something hit me. Would they even be able to air this show on TV anymore without legal ramifications?

I asked that because Hewey, Dewey, and Louie had a friend on that show who had a rather unfortunate name. Doofus. But that's not even the best part. Doofus was fat, he ate everything, and he was kinda dumb.

Yeah...don't think that would fly on TV these days. But it sure is funny. Or maybe it's not funny and I'm just a terrible person. Who knows. =P

Finals with Built in Dates!?

Well, I'm back from hiding. I'm fairly on top of everything I have to do so I'm not quite so stressed. Next week is the last week of classes and most of my classes have their finals that week so it's practically the last week of school.

Anyhow, on to my finals with built in dates. This week I had to write a photo essay about something having to do with the culture of Provo. Honestly I'm not nearly as confident about it as I was when I started the idea and I pretty much feel like I am going to fail, but that's not important right now. My idea was to highlight the way that the specific culture of Provo is reflected in the restaurants. Originally I intended to go to all the restaurants and basically take a bunch of pictures of them. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut I had no money so I couldn't do that. I was able to go to a couple of them and the rest I had to stand outside like a creeper and take pictures.

Anyhow, last night, Andrew and I went on a progressive dinner adventure so I could collect images. We started at Slab Pizza and oh it was delicious! Their pieces are the size of a quarter of a pizza and they have a billion different varieties. Andrew got the "real" Hawaiian Pizza. My family has this pet peeve about people throwing pineapple on things and calling them "hawaiian", but this pizza didn't just have pineapple on it, it had spam. Now THAT is legitimately Hawaiian. I got a Thai Chicken pizza with peanut sauce in place of tomato sauce and our friend Nate got a BBQ chicken pizza. All of it was delicious. I can't wait to go back and try a new flavor!

After we finished our pizza, we drove down the street to the new location of the Awful Waffle, which, don't let the name fool you, is not awful at all. It's a place that opened up just a bit ago and serves authentic style Leige and Brussels waffles. We got the Leige waffles because they are amazing. We've never actually tried the Brussels waffles. =P

While we waited for our food, we discovered that the tables were covered in chalkboard paint. Nate started drawing a picture depicting UVU and Andrew followed up to represent BYU. I have to admit, Nate's was more interesting, but since we were so close to BYU campus I took a picture of Andrew's drawing. That and I didn't realize what Nate was drawing until I uploaded the photos to my computer.

After eating our waffles we followed it all up with drinks from our classic go-to: Spark. Since I was focused on capturing the essence of Spark I didn't get any pictures of us, but I was rather proud of this one anyway.

I was also proud of this one, even though we didn't go to the Velour. Or Muse. Or the Echo Theater.

And for my final in one of my other classes, I get to go Geocaching. Not sure how I got so lucky with these finals but I can't complain. Without them, Andrew and I would probably be watching a movie on Netflix for our date...again. =P