Life Is Funny

This will be a short post, but I have a couple of updates. And while I'm sure barely anybody ever reads my blog, I still feel obligated to keep it at least marginally up to date.

First of all, the Civil Wars concert was INCREDIBLE. I am two for two for awesome concerts this summer (the first being the Black Keys). I love Joy Williams and John Paul White. They were so awesome, and so cute and funny on stage. They sound just as good live as they do recorded. I was completely entranced by their music the whole night. I have pictures and video that will hopefully one day make it onto the interwebs, but that probably won't be for a while, seeing as how crazy busy I am right now. They will come, though, I swear.

Second, I leave for California at the butt crack of dawn the day after tomorrow. Woo hoo! I still have a zillion and a half things to do before then, but then I will be off for ten straight days of vacation. I am so excited, and I need this so badly. A break from life will be wonderful.

And third, but certainly not last or least or whatever else it may be, I started dating someone*. That's right, folks, the five-year drought is over! His name is Andrew. I kind of like him.

*No, he is not the guy I've written about on the blog before. That guy is a doofus and never made a move. Andrew made all the right moves and didn't play any games. Therefore, he wins.

I'm Going Crazy

There are 16 days until my family and I leave for California. As exciting as that is, I feel like I'm going out of my mind in preparation for it. Work is especially stressful right now. Here is a list of some of the things that I have done or still have to get done before I leave:

• end-of-the-month editing rush
• researcher grades (I have to get them done early, during [or before] the aforementioned rush)
• train on and start tracking researcher grades
• promptly ask a coworker to track some of the grades because I will be gone when they are due
• plan an editing training session so I don't have to do it the day I get back
• get my absence from the all-hands meeting approved
• report grades (this is more something I want to get done because they've been sitting in my inbox for over a month)

I know most of that doesn't make sense to anyone else. But it basically means that I have a whole lot of shiz to get done the next couple of weeks. And this is all on top of some new responsibilities that I've been getting used to the past little while (like one-on-one follow-up sessions and even a presentation for another team).

I have also found myself with something to do every single night this week. I have had almost no time to just relax and chill. Granted, most of what is keeping me busy has been fun, and I love hanging out with my friends. But I also need some downtime. Especially so I can finish this book I'm reading that's really super exciting. I need me time.

I'm also waiting for this weekend when I get paid and when my credit card turns over so that I can finally go and buy some things that I need for the trip, like new shorts and a new swimsuit and some little odds and ends. After putting over $1,000 on my credit card in two weeks (hooray for car repairs), I basically had no money left for anything else. A pay day is much needed.

I've been keeping a running list of things that I need to remember to take with me on the trip, and it's surprisingly long. So many gadgets and their chargers. I'm terrified that I'm going to forget something that I really need.

But I guess I shouldn't complain. All of this prep work will be 100% worth it when I finally find myself in Disneyland, playing with my nieces and nephew and laughing with my parents and siblings. Not to mention that squeezed in the middle of the madness is the Civil Wars concert next week (is it really just next week? Holy cow . . . the three months since I bought my tickets have flown by).

Basically, I'm super ready for all the prep part to be done and to be on my way to 10 days of sun and fun and no work and maybe a little bit of magic.

Counting Down

Some reasons this summer will be awesome:

1. Two days until the Black Keys concert.
2. Twenty-four days until the Civil Wars concert.
3. Thirty-three days until I go to California for ten whole days.
4. Fifty-nine days until the Avett Brothers concert.
5. Seventy-nine days until I turn twenty-five. (I'm not quite sure yet if that's awesome, but I'll pretend it is.)

And that's just what I have planned right now. I'm sure there will be more countdowns in my near future.

p.s. Can anyone tell me why I've had an alarming number of page views from Russia lately? Even more than from the United States. I'm not sure what to think of that.

Nauvoo: The City Beautiful

Day Four: A picture of somewhere you've been.

In case you were wondering, this awesome photo was taken by yours truly. I'm cool, I know.

Nauvoo, Illinois, is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I love this place. I love the history of it and the feelings it evokes in me. I love, love, love the temple. It's absolutely amazing. I have yet to go inside or to do any work there, but I will one day. (That wasn't even intended to mimic the song. I am good.)

I was eleven the first time I went to Nauvoo. I was with my parents as we drove across the country to take my grandparents their car. They were serving a mission in Kirtland, Ohio. My parents decided that if we were driving that far anyway, we might as well make it a big trip and hit all the major Church history sites. It was an absolutely incredible vacation for my eleven-year-old self. It was one of the single greatest testimony-building experiences I had ever had, and Nauvoo sat squarely in the middle of it. I was reading the sixth Work and the Glory book at the time, which happens to be set completely in Nauvoo. It really helped me visualize where things happened and what was going on at that time in Church history. That was where I first gained a testimony of Joseph Smith.

Another awesome thing about that trip was that we rolled into Nauvoo on the first Sunday in April, which is General Conference, of course. And it happened to be the conference when President Hinckley announced the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple. It was pretty amazing.

I didn't get to go back to Nauvoo until seven years later, when my mom, my grandma, and I went to my cousin Dustin's high school graduation. I hadn't seen Cora, Dustin, Blake, and Robyn since the last time we had gone to Nauvoo, so it was super exciting to see them. Cora, Jamie, Robyn, Mom, Grandma, and I spent three days in Nauvoo during that trip, and finally seeing the temple was incredible. As you drive along the Mississippi River, the road takes a curve, and BAM! there's the temple. It seems to loom up out of nowhere. It's no wonder the Saints chose that spot for the House of the Lord.

I love Nauvoo. I love it so much. I want to go back, and I want to do baptisms in the temple. Heck, I'd love to get married in the Nauvoo temple, but unfortunately, all my family is in Utah, so that probably won't happen. 

I'm so grateful for the chances I have had to go to Nauvoo and to feel the incredible spirit of what the Saints left behind. It truly is the City Beautiful.

The Big Apple

Day 26: A photo of somewhere you've been to.

I think this picture is cool. Mostly because I took it. Not too shabby, eh? 

I absolutely loved New York. I went nearly four years ago, and it's still my favorite vacation. Granted, I haven't actually been on vacation since, so . . . yeah. 

The first time we drove into the city, it was a complete sensory overload. There is just so much going on. So much noise, so many people, so many cars. I never thought buildings could go so high or that so many people could fit on a city block. I just couldn't take it all in. It was a good thing we had ten days to try to see everything, though we still didn't get close.

I would love to live in New York. It helps that I'm an editor and all the best editing jobs are in New York, but even without that, I just love the city. I've always been a city girl. If I can't live in New York, I'd love to live in Salt Lake City. The idea of living out in the middle of nowhere is nightmarish to me. Seriously. I couldn't live south of Provo because that is just way too far away from things. I need my city fix. Going to New York City showed me just how much of a city girl I really am.