Life Lately- Spring Term

Staying in Provo for the summer is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Life for the past couple of months has been fantastic.

At the end of winter semester we rented a puppy {yeah, you can do that} in order to dispel the melancholy that the departure of many had left us with. It was the end of a good year and we needed a little pick-me-up.  It certainly did the trick. He was so freaking cute. It was kind of ridiculous.

{his name was Toby :)}
[he was a little sleepy]

This girl graduated. And I had to say goodbye to her for a while. It was hard to think that she wouldn't be back at BYU in the fall.  Luckily she's sticking around Utah for grad school, so I'll still get to see her :)

We had a weekend and then we started in on spring classes. It was pretty weird not going home after winter semester. My brain was definitely not a fan of this plan. I've never really struggled as a student, but focusing is like ten times harder when your brain keeps telling you that it's summer and that you shouldn't even be in school. Plus, it's super compressed so staying on top of everything is even more of a challenge. But I survived, as did my GPA.
Besides school and work, the first couple weeks of spring term were peppered with intramural soccer games, ultimate with the ward, and concerts. At the end of May I went on my first mountain bike ride with Marissa and Ian. I may or may not have crashed. just a little bit. it wasn't too bad. just a couple good bruises and a bit off the knees.

The following weekend I went on a YSA river rafting trip to Moab. It was fantastic. I decided to go not really knowing anyone else going, which is not something I would normally have done. I rode down with a bunch of random strangers. Upon arriving I was happy to see some people from my ward there. I helped them set up their tent and then Megan (a girl in my ward) and I set up out sleeping bags next-door. tents are overrated. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself since I didn't really know anyone. But I didn't have to worry about that for too much longer. Two guys from my ward saw me by myself and told me that I could hang out with them. Those were beautiful words for my poor shy soul to hear. Little did I know that they would become some of my best friends in the ward.

{the view from my sleeping bag}

{the rafting group}

That night we went out to the road and tossed around a frisbee. We were in the middle of nowhere camping on private land so there was very little light pollution. We walked down the road a little bit to escape the few lights that were there and then sat down in the road to look at the stars. It was incredible. There are so many stars. The rafting part was way fun. the boats were equipped with water guns and buckets so naturally a water battle ensued. The ride home consisted of aloe vera gel, good music, and a snacky-snack at Arby's. good times :)

some other pictures:

{twinner roommates}
[Springville Art Days festival- sweetest animal hats ever]

Other adventures included: singing a solo at my chorale concert, trying In n Out  for the first time, going to a giant wooden playground, watching obscene amounts of the tv show 24 everyday for a week, and writing a 9 page paper 2 days before it was due {due to the aforementioned activities}.

I think it's safe to say that spring term was a success. 

I made some great friends and some fantastic memories :)