COLD.

I finally got my fix of being C.O.L.D.

Oh man, it was so wonderful. We drove up to Mauna Kea, 

where we were literally above the clouds (14,000 ft).

I hadn't breathed that crisp of air into my lungs in sooo long.

It was such a different air.

No mold, no mildew, no slightly weird smell, no staleness.

I (quite literally) could not get enough of the freshness, the clean, light airy air. 

It was beautiful.

p.s. Fly back to Oahu on Thursday!

Adam got the call from NSA and he flies to Washington DC on the 22nd for what 

we hope is the last part before employment!

The In-Between Life

For awhile there I felt like I was living 

The Graduated Life.

You know, sleeping in past 10, reading each and every book I ever wanted to in the past 2 1/2 years that I didn't have time for, swimming in the ocean that's been calling my name for the past 2 1/2 years as well,

spending time with family, eating candy and not caring (though I pretty much do that all the time anyway), starting to plan for my trip to Europe, etc, etc, etc.

But now...

it's feels only like the waiting period. For whatever's next. Hoping and praying its a job!

Back of my head-ing it's more living with in-laws. 

However, on the plus side,

Adam started a temporary job working construction for a good friend of the family,

and since the construction site was  1 hr + from Adam's dad's house,

he offered to let us stay in their studio apartment to the side of their house.

It's been a blessing to have a place of our own again, one that's a bit more light and airy and roomy.

Unfortunately, the moldiness of it all is making us both sick.

So I'm working on that one today.

While Adam works all day,

I have recently begun to volunteer at the Humane Society.

I love it so far - I get all the cuddle time I could ever want 

(short of nighttime cuddles, which will come...oh, it's coming. And until then I still have Adam :)

Perhaps I'm still enjoying it because I haven't yet come to the day where I show up and one of them is gone -

and I"m not allowed to ask if he was adopted or not.

Sigh. It comes with the territory, I suppose.

But yesterday I played with 2 puppies and got 6 big scratches

Walked 3 dogs and watched the last one get reunited with its lost and found owner

and snuggled 8 kitties and witnessed one of them get adopted.

At least I'm staying busy!

Also, reading John Green. 

In-Between or not, we are still enjoying the journey.

p.s.

I guess while we are on the subject,

now is as good of a time as any - 

There is one particular adventure that I am already planning on for 2011. 

(oh boy, my heart is pounding just typing this.

it makes it so much more real writing it out)

I bought the ticket.

I'm going to Europe!

I'm going to Europe. 

I leave March 29.

I'm fulfilling one of my life-long dreams. 

Will be spending 2 weeks with my Dad in Italy, Germany, Austria,

and 2 weeks with my gurl bestie, Heather Renee,

who is studying abroad in England this semester. 

We will hit up Ireland, Paris, and Switzerland.

Any advice is much needed. 

 I have no clue what I'm doing.

Besides following my dreams!

14 highlights of 2010

14 because ... well, just because. And in preparation for this list, I reread all of my previous posts for 2010. And realized how utterly. b.o.r.i.n.g. this blog is. And I wondered why no one read it. Sorry to the few of you who do, and thanks for your love :)
In no particular order:

1. Surviving Winter Semester - 16 credits of English and 2 credits of online Church history. 16 hours a week working at the Reading/Writing Center. Ouch. Yet, it was also my first semester making dean's list. Go figure. 

2. Even better: Surviving a tsunami! (even if it was only a 3 inch tsunami...)

3. National Undergraduate Literature Conference - It made me see what all my work could accumulate to, made me proud to be an English major. Also, it was the first time I'd seen snow in over 2 years. It was so beautiful I cried.

4. Winning the Art Exhibit Competition at BYUH with my slideshow. I always need a morale booster every now and then.
5. Along with that, I did multiple engagements, 3 weddings, and a few family photo shoots, including a baby session. Every year I get better and more... liked. I love what I do and never want to stop.
6. Being in my first - and most likely last - play. My debut as a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz was just enough to lick any further cravings for the life of a star, thank you.
7. Horseback riding at Gunstock ranch. It had been a long time since I'd been on a horse, and it all came back to easily, and I remembered why I had asked every year for about 10 years in a row for a horse for Christmas.
8. Seely Family Reunion in Minnesota - so much fun to be with those old people again for my Grandparent's 50th anniversary. They are not your typical old people crowd - they are actually quite hilarious.
9. Disneyland for the first time with Noelani and her family. Not quite what I expected; for some reason I was picturing giant, heart-attack-inducing, 100 mph, Valley-Fair type of rides. And had to learn to "readjust" my expectations after my first sing-along ride. Still a grand adventure, though.
10. Nauvoo with the Erbes - Ben and Rachel are such Goooood friends. We love them. They helped us out BIG time when we were moving, checking out, and cleaning. We could not have done it without them. Even though we both drove 10 hours to meet each other in Nauvoo (them coming from Kansas, us from Minnesota), and even though we only got to see them for 24 hours, it was so worth it.
11. One year anniversary - It was a special day for us. Some parts were disappointing, but then we realized certain expectations were just silly anyway, and enjoyed the occasion. We learned what we wanted our anniversaries to be like in the future, and what we didn't want them to be like.
12. Deleting my FB account. To quote a fellow blogger with whom I have never spoken nor met, "Life is so much more life-y without it." And I still keep up-to-date with those that matter.
13. Temple rededication. It was soooo special to be literally 2 minutes away from the temple - even though we were only able to enjoy it for about 2 weeks. It was such a different spirit in our lives when the temple was open and we were attending.
14. And of course, graduation. All that hard work. So many nights of no sleep, stressing till I cried, sending mental daggers into certain teachers' backs, welcoming other teachers' friendship, writing paper after paper after paper until it was all the same paper. One big long book with multiple chapters saying the same thing with different names and characters. My family coming out was so fun, and I appreciated their sacrifices to support us.


For those of you still with me, I say Happy New Year! This last year was one giant rollercoaster, and I can't say that its over (seeing as we are still living with in-laws waiting to hear back from job offers and praying earnestly something clicks soon), but I can say that next year will be full of lots of blessings, surprises, and trials. It will be full of life!