Life Is Good

You know what? I really like my life as a student. A friend of mine made a comment last week about how she's so glad to be moved on from student life, but I really like mine. True, I don't have money so I can't buy much stuff or go cool places, but I have plenty of time, and time is something that I always feel so short on.

Through last Wednesday, last week really stunk. But then you know what happened? I finished, and all of a sudden I didn't have anything I had to do. I woke up when I felt like it on Thursday. I went to lunch with a friend for like two hours. I took a big ol' nap because I had plenty of time, and then I just hung out for the rest of the night. Do you remember on Ferris Bueller when his parents leave, and he goes to open the blinds to light up his darkened room and then there's just bright blue skies greeting him from the outside? I totally had that moment last Thursday when I went to my living room and opened up all of our windows and light just burst forth, and I realized that I had not care in the world at that moment. I loved it.

Then Friday I went camping with seven other friends in Zion National Park. I was worried that it might be kind of chilly down there, but the weather couldn't have been more inviting. It was gorgeous. We hiked into Hidden Canyon and it was so much fun scrambling up rocks, over the trail where the canyon obscures the light that might remove the snow, and just hiking and breathing in the beauty of it all. It's a funny thing when you're hiking, not to just put your head down and be so focused on getting to the next destination. I tried to stop every once and a while and bask in the sight around me. I guess that can serve as a metaphor for life in general, right? It's easy to be so focused on getting from one step to the next, worrying about not getting tripped up by some rock protruding in the path, but then you fail to realize just how amazing and great it is to just be in the present unless you can just pick your head up and look around you.

Then church yesterday was really great, teaching the elders, getting to know different people. Every lesson and talk felt perfectly suited to what I needed to hear. I love the leaders in my ward and the members that are all around. There are really so many great people.

Today I got up and cleaned my filthy apartment, and looked outside and decided I would run in the warmest part of the day just to feel the sun beat on my skin, and then I saw a friend of mine across the way on his balcony tending to his flowers. Funny, right? I yelled to him that we should go bowling or catch a movie when I got back. And I love Provo this time of year. I can't believe how many blooming trees there are, just everywhere. If you drive down 9th east to the temple there are a whole line of trees with these beautiful white blossoms. There are some similar trees on this street right over by my house and they have these gorgeous pink and white blossoms, and they just popped open in the last day or two. When I finished my run, my friend was still up there. Then we caught an afternoon matinee at the dollar theater. Honestly, is there a greater symbol of a leisurely lifestyle than watching a movie in the middle of the day and coming out to several more hours of light? (Actually, there is...going to the beach with the windows down, music blasting, and doing whatever you do at the beach, falling asleep to the ocean waves for a few minutes, and then coming home and hanging out in your bathing suit the rest of the day.)

Tomorrow I am leaving to go home. I'm going to buy some golf clubs, go longboarding, run in Peter's Canyon a couple of times, maybe run on the beach, catch an Angel's game, go to Magic Mountain, celebrate my best friend's birthday, and play with his kid and see my family. Then you know what I come back to? Golf class during the spring, trying to get into marathon shape, working on my thesis, and maybe finding another hobby to take up. Wood working? Who knows. Point is, I really dig on my lifestyle. Sure, school can really weigh me down sometimes, but I have so many long breaks and in betweens that allow me to do just about whatever I please. And I am so grateful for that.