I'm taking a break from packing. Packing was invented by the devil. That's pretty much a fact. Anyways...


While I'm really excited to go back and see everyone, I'm also a little sad. There were MANY times when I wondered what the heck I was doing nine hours away from home in a strange city. There were MANY times throughout the year that I wanted to pack up, call it quits, and go back home to snuggle with Mommy. I never thought I would ever like Lethbridge, and it's definitely not my most favourite city, but it's become my second home.

Here are some of the things I would have missed out on if I hadn't come to Lethbridge:
-Conquering public transit on my own
-Women's Chorus
-Exploring downtown
-Happy notes and mix CDs
-Discovering the antique shop
-Institute Choir
-"Christmas Morning" at the university in front of the big tree
-Secretly mocking Steve during class... and Ian...
-Starbucks
-Truth or Dare until all hours of the night
-Wednesday Adventures
-huge New Years parties where we didn't know 3/4 of the people... and it was at our house...
-learning to do flowers for weddings
-Finding secret staircases at school
-Folding cranes with Yokino
-all-nighters
-Getting white socks!
-learning the Hoedown Throwdown
-ordering my first Ikea catalogue
-witnessing miracles
-dressing up all fancy and attending a cabaret with my friends
-Photoshoots
-Seuss-a-palooza
-learning to make friendship bracelets
-Valentines' Day cards and parties
-Educating my favourite Lethbians about Anti-Valentines
-Learning the official term for a resident of Letbridge is "Lethbian"
-Cooking experiments
-studying with balloons
-Big Bang Theory marathons
-solos
-Attending multiple plays, concerts, and ballets
-Being in multiple concerts
-Being educated about magical slurpees with ice cream in them
-Building a fort out of newspaper in the theatre lobby
-Knocking lots of things off of the Bucket List
-volunteering
-Walking across the city
-puddle jumping
-mocking theatre kids
-Expanding my musical tastes
-Blanket forts
-Getting REALLY good at taking stairs. (The university is in a coulee... It happens.)
-Getting REALLY good at Minesweeper.
-Carving jack-o-lanterns out of vegetables because of a pumpkin shortage
-having a joint surprise party
-TLF Thursdays
-Building a snowman army in the front yard
-Care packages from home
-Bridal showers and weddings
-fangirling over Glee ALL the time
-Getting to know my cousins better
-Culture nights
-U of L Bingo
-Discovering Magic One Dollar Bread
-Making a dress completely out of garbage bags
-trying sushi
-celebrating Beleaster!
-The creation of ABSIT
-Making peanut butter cups... and ratatouille...
-April Fool's Day Waffles
-getting to hear an Apostle speak!
-Balloon launch
-really scary auditions
-growing up a little
-meeting some of the most incredible people in the world :)

I shall be quite busy today running errands, doing laundry, tidying my room, getting ready to go home, and preparing for the mother of all sleepovers. :) Here are some songs that were very important for one reason or another this year:

1. Coachella- Brooke Fraser

I don't like when plans change. Especially when they're plans that I was looking forward to. But sometimes, it happens. Like last night when my plans for today were cancelled. I woke up this morning angry. I don't get angry very easily, and it's a weird feeling. Especially when you're angry with someone you normally aren't. Mostly though, I think I was disappointed. 

I do not own a car.
Then, in a moment of sheer brilliance, I decided to live in a house on the OPPOSITE side of town from the University. So I am a bus person.

It's not ALL that bad. You learn a lot of interesting things and see a lot of interesting people riding the bus. You learn to read maps. You learn to be self-reliant. You learn to check the number of the bus before you get on. You also somewhat get to know a lot of the regular bus drivers. (By get to know, I mean you recognize them and know what routes they're on.) I don't actually know the their names, but I have christened the more memorable ones with nicknames. Here are some of my favourites:

Handlebars: Handlebars is my favourite. He's old, but he has the most impressive handlebar moustache on the planet. Also, he's super nice. He drives from downtown to the University in the morning and always says hello to me when I'm on his bus. And he likes to tell funny stories to the passengers that aren't really all that funny.

Vin Diesel: I HATE riding the bus when Vin Diesel is driving. She's this little woman with blonde spiky hair, but apparently she doesn't realize she's driving a 40-foot bus, because she drives like Vin Diesel. And she makes fast hairpin turns. With the 40-foot bus. I haven't seen her around lately though. She's mysteriously disappeared... Hmm....

The iPod Nazi: He's pretty no-nonsense and super hardcore about listening devices. You do NOT listen to your iPod loudly on his bus. (He can't stand the CSSSSHHHHHH sound it makes.) It's not uncommon for him to actually stop the bus in the middle of a route, walk to the back, and demand they turn the volume down. Horribly entertaining when he does that.

Steve Irwin: He looks like Steve Irwin (obviously), but about twenty years older. That's basically what he has going for him.

Cute Blonde Lady: Original huh? I haven't thought of a better name yet, but she makes my life! I hardly get her, but she's always super happy and smiley and one time I had JUST missed the bus at the university, and she pulled up in an extra bus and said: "Headed downtown? Well hop on! I'll be your personal 40-foot limo!". It was awesome. So I like her.

 Then I glanced at the Red Cross display right beside the cranes. This quote on it made me so sad. I figured that even if I couldn't do much, I could help fold a few cranes.

I have not written in awhile. It's okay though. I think I have very good explanations. My life has become crazier than I ever imagined it would be in the second month away from home. Every day is busy and filled to the brim. Each day I wake up early, shower, get changed, and do my hair. Maybe makeup, if I feel ambitious. I grab something for breakfast and something for lunch, and then I'm out the door. It's about a half hour bus ride to get downtown, and then I transfer buses to ride the 8 minutes to the University on the other side of town. Besides all the normal stuff, each day holds something different. For example:

Monday: Anthropology, 2 hour break, Human Geography, 2 hour break, English, Women's Chorus, Family Home Evening at the church, homework
Tuesday: Linguistics, errands, homework, Skype date with Bestie Selene, Institute class at night
Wednesday: Anthropology, 2 hour break, Human Geography, 2 hour break, English, Women's Chorus, Homework
Thursday: Linguistics, errands, homework, Institute Choir, laundry day
Friday: Anthropology, 2 hour break (usually we watch a movie or have an adventure), Human Geography, 2 hour break, English, Sometimes an Institute or Ward Activity, homework
Saturday: sometimes sleep in, homework, get groceries, tidy room, help tidy house, errands, sometimes have an adventure with friends
Sunday: Church, Ward Choir, sometimes a church broadcast

And this is all without a part-time job yet. Phew.

I'm Mormon. We don't do coffee. And for a long time i believed in the following equation:

I am quickly learning that University is a strange, strange place filled with strange, strange people.

In my one of my classes, there's a guy with earrings the size of toonies stuck inside his earlobes. Hey buddy, Dumbo called, he wants his ears back. Seriously. Stretching those things out can't be healthy.

Last week I saw a guy who looked just like Justin Bieber, just a little bit taller, and a little bit more male. I thought about telling him this, but then I noticed that he was smoking weed. No wonder he's looking for Somebody to Love.

Also, there's this chick that sits in the PE building all the time who looks EXACTLY like one of the anime characters off of Dance Dance Revolution. She wears these awful hot pink and black gothic dresses, and long boots, and heavy dark makeup. And cat ears. Every day. Honest. I can't make this stuff up!

Honourable Mentions on my running tally of interesting people:

• three boys who look and dress exactly like Kurt from Glee
• five people that look like other people I know back home
• two people with tattoos occupying every available space on their skin
• One Dutch professor
• The crazy schizophrenic lady that yells at teenage girls and rides my bus once in awhile
• BOYS IN CARDIGANS. Hello. :)