Exactly 1 year ago

I dont have problems falling asleep.
Im usually out like a..... light? (I dont love that saying)
Last night it look a minute to fall asleep because my mind was running all over the place.
Usually by the time I get to bed its mushy and just flops in my head waiting for my eyes to close.

So many things have changed in the last year. That sounds cliche and doesn't even do it justice.

Last year at the time I was preparing to make daily treks to Vauxhall Alberta, I was going to be a teacher, I was wondering if my secret high school crush was actually liking me or if it was all in my head (dont worry 1 year ago self- you will officially be his girlfriend tonight), all I wanted was to go to Fiji- or some sort of adventure (Again- dont worry self you will get an adventure much bigger than Fiji), and I was painfully sick of Deathbridge.

This was last year at this time. It was Matts answer to the Preference dance. He wrote a poem- cut in pieces- duct taped it to lilies- wrapped it in tinfoil- and threw it in the snow behind my house. Kind of adorable- kind of exactly what a boy would do. It honestly blows my mind this was a year ago. In some ways I feel like it should be 5 years, and it sometimes feels like it was all just happening.


Its amazing to look back... even a little... and see where your windie, all over the place path actually takes you.

Im as happy as a clam these days.

I am trying to hard to soak it all in- how can things actually get better than this?

Were headed home this weekend for Thanksgiving and Matts uncles wedding. So excited... sad its not for longer... and a little scared. I feel like if we had the weekend with each of our families it wouldn't be enough- but splitting it between both! That's not even fair. I guess it will leave us wanting more at Christmas.

This is a scattered little assortment of thoughts.. I think the brain is turning to mush again.

Positivnessess

So work for the last week has sucked. And will probably most likely suck until the end of the month. And I think to myself... "this is so not fair, why do I spend the majority of my life working for some men whos main focus in life seems to be to intimidate me. I want to be with Matt, going on adventures and having fun being married." And then I thought... "no self. This is real life. And you have to learn how to be happy all through the stages of real life or you will be a grumpy old woman." And so.. a list of happy things that have happened this week. Mostly for myself.

1. Friday night camp out- Matty and I built a fort out of blankets and furniture, watched shows, and ate an incredible amount of candy and muddy buddies.

13. Nicole. Who spent a whole precious "visiting hour" on letting me and husband into her dorm. That girl is truly a hoot.

2. 2 girls nights! Kind of the first time I have left Mr Lowrys side since marriage happened. I have some amazing girls in my life. So fun.

3. My red slip cover that FINALLY got here- After fighting with the Target elves for like a month it finally arrived. The living room is SLOWLY getting cuter.

4. A personal domestic success. I made an apple ring recipe that is my great grandmas. And they were good. Dang good. And I entered the world of bylund-ladiness

5. Our Sunday school class told us that we are funner than their last teachers... I feel bad even putting that. Funner is not the point right? and sunday school is not a place for such competition. I even pretended not to hear it. But inside I smiled. And Matt and I highfived it later.

6. I discovered a "Scents Sational" Factory outlet 2 min from work. You know where I am at lunch. Our ghetto basement is smellin like a fancy bakery these days.

7. Matty made dinner tonight. Dang good dinner. Chicken Enchilada Soup? Ya, yum. Today was his slow day with classes, he made dinner, cleaned, did laundry... he says hes a "very domesticated man". I say I am a lucky lucky girl.

8. Wedding pictures got here!!! Brittany is amazing, they were so fun to look at! And will be in 50 years too!

9. Mountain West Burrito. O MY GOOD HEAVENS. So tasty. If you live in Provo- GO! If you dont live in Provo- COME visit me and we will GO!

10. Matt and I got our "Pass of all Passes" Hello Seven Peaks... ALL. SUMMER. LONG.

11. Sonic Pumpkin Pie Milk Shakes (again... not a food post)I have eaten an unhealthy amount of pumpkin shakes in my day. These might win. Maybe tied with Sammys Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake shake.

12.In Matts Spanish class they sing a spanish song every class. He comes home and sings them while he does homework... cooks... melts my heart.

14. I had to spell out my last name like 3 times for people this week. A life long goal. "Is that L-O-W-R-E-Y?" NO FOO

13. Pintrest.

I feel better. Life is happy. And I can not wait until November....

SURPRISE

I love a surprise. It doesn't even have to be a good one. Any surprise.
And this week was full of some GREAT ones.

I was surprised when....

* I went to work Tuesday morning and found out the Payroll I was in charge of didn't ACTUALLY get paid.

* Boss man surprised me with some super ghetto speakers for my computer so I can "watch some sweet 80s Tiffany music videos"

* I came home from work on Tuesday and Matt is sweating up a storm in the garage trying to fix a bike for me.

AND has flowers for me. Yay for being married for one month.

* The guy that is supposed to be training me came into my office and stole all of my grapes. I loved those grapes.

* I realize that Matt and I can figure out a way to get a Costco cookityourself tortilla into every meal

* I see PUMPKIN SPICE MARSHMALLOWS. I love all things pumpkin. This was a special surprise.

* I get THIS in the mail.

How did Melissa know its been a life long dream of mine to receive a telegram... I am not sure. She knows about all of the cool hidden things you wish you knew about. It was not only super cool to get one.... it had some really sweet words in it too. This was a super great surprise.

* Matt and I search for Tomatillos at 3 grocery stores. Who sells out of those things? I don't know what they are used for other than Cafe Rio salad dressing....

*When Matt and I received a calling at church. That was a big surprise.

*That I have had to have spell check remind me how to spell surprise every time I have tried to type it on this post.... not a huge surprise.


Also.. Im a little embarrassed that I blogged about a melon. Sorry about that one.

Watalope

Ever heard of a sharing shack? There is one by grannies house and is a little hut people either drop off fruits and vegetables that they have too much up, or (in our case) pick up peoples extras (or garbage). Every time we pass the sharing shack Matt and I stop. (Thats where the decorative gord came from). So yesterday we stop and I get back into the car with this little beauty.

Matt, clearly flabbergasted, asks "What is that crazy melon you brought into the car?". We decide it is a Watalope. Half watermelon, half cantaloupe.

On we go with our evening and head to the grocery store. (Where we got a 10lbs. bag of potatoes for 98 cents!!! Its amazing how excited that made us). As we walk around we see our Watalopes twins... and learn he is a Tuscan Cantaloupe.

Back to the car we go. We get in. And O, the smell. Our little Watalope was stinking up the car with its overripe odors. Were driving home with the windows open, Matt holding the watalope, and me begging him to throw it out the window. He refuses, for safety reasons.

We then dwell on all the silly ways to kill Watalope.

I feel weird talking so much about a cantaloupe so I will skip to the end. We ended up throwing him off a bridge on BYU campus. I threw the little guy like a shot put right off that bridge. And it felt good. There were lots of people walking around for 10 at night... so it felt a little risky to cause an explosion of melon on their walk way.

A immature 17 year old activity? yes.

Matt is on the look out to see if we show up in the Daily Universe Police Beat.

My Matty

Just like I suspected... being Mrs. Matthew Lowry is a dream.

Day 1 - Perfect. My stress outs are not secret and Matt had been preparing me mentally for something going wrong on our wedding day. Because something always does right? wrong. I have the best familIES in the world. And some fantastic friends who all helped so much to pull it off. We didn't get married till 2.... lots of people thought that was because that was the only time left at the temple. Do they not know my mother? That time was booked a good week before we were even engaged the middle of April. No, I just don't wanna wake up at 4am to get my hair all did up.

Matt and I drove out to the Temple together, and of course got their early. Which was so nice because we got to spend some sweet extra minutes together. I love the Temple so much. I love that I can be with Matt for the rest of FOREVER. Such a huge amazing blessing.

I always knew that if I ever walked out of a Temple after getting married it would be awkward a heck. What do all those watching eyes expect? I am not really sure. But I do know that I was right in my perdition. I was awkward. But thrilled. So it didn't matter. We had a ton of special people there to help welcome us into the world as newly weds.

After a few (some might say a lot) of pictures we hurried back to Lethbridge for the Partay. What I pictured? No. A bit better. I had a blast.

I have always heard people say O it doesn't matter if you show up at _________s wedding, they won't even know you were there. FALSE. It was so so so nice to have friends and family together. Haliaka and Courtney (My bridesmaids) both drove forever to get there... and my Granny and her husband and an Aunt and Uncle and my cousin Haley and her husband Trevor all came up for the event. Not a short drive... especially when your trapped in a rental van together. And Bud is driving. I owe them. I got to meet a ton of Matts family as well which was awesome after hearing so many stories. Overall... perfect day, fantastic people, sealed to the love of my life. Success.

But... that was only Day 1. Honeymoon time.

We were at The Cliff at Snowbird. Yet another gracious gift by my parents. We got there at 4 am. Gross right? We walk up to the front desk.

Front Desk Man: Can I help you? (with a tone of confusion)
Me: Yes, we are here to check in. (with a big tone of excitement)
Front Desk Man...in his sassiest tone possible: Really, because I don't have anyone else left to check in tonight. Are you sure you are at the right place?
Me: Yes. Im sure. The papers are in the car.
Me: snotty rude 4am glare.
Matt: Calming pat on my back
FD Man: Well...

Idiot found out reservation. We found out that "The Cliff" is apparently a little classier than Super 8. Everyone else there was retired and not on their way to be poor students.

We unload our stuff... and Matt goes to give FD Man the key for the Valet parking guy in the morning (Classy huh). The entire time FD Man apologizes for not making us feel welcome and judging and blah blah blah.

The rest of the week was fabulous. We went on a Zipline and Alpine Slide (MAttski still has some bumps to prove it) and one of those crazy trampoline jumpy things (As uncomfortable as they look.)

We rode up a tram to like 11 000ft i think? At the top of a mountain. It was glorious. Mostly because I didn't have to walk up it :) There were gophers EVERYWHERE. But all the signs called them "potguts". Random. And really funny.

And then Matt rode a Mechanical Bull. Hilarious. I hooted and hollered the entire time.

Friday we went to grannies and met mom and dad and opened all the registry presents that had been ordered online. From here on out Christmas might be a bit of a let down. It was glorious.

Since then we have done a lot of unpacking. buying. setting up. planning.

MAtt started school Monday, and I started work. The days when we had nothing to do and could stay with each other all day long passed WAY too quick.

But real life with Matty is just as fun Honeymoon with Matty.

He is wayyy better than I am being married.

For instance..... yesterday I pull up to the house and there he is waiting for me outside! Heart melts. I blabber on about this as we go into the house. I turn the corner into the living room. There sits lover boy at the table with dinner all made an waiting. WOW.

.....today, I get home early from work and think now is the time to shine and my wifely duties. We end up with too much pasta in a pot, a burnt cookie sheet, and apparently I fried up a decorative GORD to feed my new husband. 20 Points Matt.

Conclusion: The last week and a half has been the best week and a half I have had in the last 22.5 years. Also I love my HUSBAND. More everyday. And I am so happy he looks right over all my sillinesses. Like feeding him gords.

Were going to the zoo zoo zoo

There has been lots of planning and choosing and spray painting and gluing and picture taking and... it was time for a break.

The obvious getaway... The Zoo.

We have been planning to do this for months... like 4 of them (were children). I was super excited and sang the "Were going to the zoo" song on a regular basis for the week before. Ill admit it, the night before I had my grumpy pants on. In a big way. I was just pulling into my driveway from Matts house when he called. "Summer Sausage or Turkey Breast?" In yet another attempt to please his bridezilla Matty was up at 1 in the morning making our lunches for the next day. Heart melts, grumpy pants fly off, zoo-excitement returns.

As a rule, all great adventure days begin with a fatty breakfast sandwich.(how terrible is it that food has such control of my emotions?)

We get to the Zoo... and notice that all of Calgary had decided to join us there. It was CRAZY BUSY.

How awkward is this picture? We wanted so badly to get a picture with a Giraffe. Harder said than done... especially with dozens of children flocking around our feet.

We both have peacock radar on these days... the reception is peacock themed and thus we buy anything with a peacock feather on it. Meeting Mr. Peacock in real life was super exciting... maybe too exciting? I lost control of my emotions, started chasing the bird to quickly and Matt had to bring me back to life with a disapproving "Tiffany!"

Is it sad that our favorite part of the Zoo was the butterfly room? Seriously so cool! There were thousands of them everywhere. I walked around with my finger out hoping one would land there... it didn't, but Matt almost got him to land on his head.

Around lunch time we decided to hit up an elephant show. So while we ate our tasty turkey sandwiches we learnt all sorts of fun elephant factoids. (Like that they have giant fat pillows in their feet and dont make a sound when they walk- glorious right?) After the show we went and got right up close and personal with the elephants.

When you first walk into the Zoo there is the "Jurassic" area on one side and the "Canadian" area on the other. As a child we would always run past those to get to Africa, Australia ect. Matt and I did the same thing. And just like when I was a child we ended on the Canadian section. And Im not sure why. Its kinda lame. They have an exhibit of "ground squirrels". Really were going to devote room to a gopher? No, the gopher needs to be shot. The bear was alright... but Waterton provides a better view.

I had set some very high hopes for the Zoo. Extremely high. And they were surpasses - very rare. It was so fun to get away for the day and not HAVE to do one thing. It has been a weird summer... less summery more weddingy. I am happy about that, but it was nice to switch it up for a day.

Also, we are getting married in 11 days. Were almost to the single digits people!!

Jellystone

I had last saturday off work. Yay, sleep in! No, not sleep in. I hear mother coming down to my room... she opens the door and says "wake up were going to Jellystone!" and walks out of my room. Understandably confused I yell "WHAAAAT is Jellystone". "It's where Yogi Bear lives" and then she runs upstairs. O, right. Of course, Yogi Bear.

Once I came to my partial senses I knew were were headed to Montana for a Smith Family Hike. Mother loves Glacier, smith family hikes... and mostly the huckleberry ice cream.

It just isn't summer in Southern Alberta until you have been on a hike.
We went down to Glacier last weekend for a hike mother described as a "quick 20 min walk around the lake". 3 hours later it occurred to me I have never been told the truth about a looming hike. But it was a good time.

Smith girls in a lake.

Is that a bear? No no its pops. Cooling himself in a swampy stream. "This is what we did on the farm"

I might have been misled about the a adventure I was taken on... and my father might have ate all of his lunch by the time we were 10 min in - and then started eyeing ours...and we probably bought all the huckleberry ice cream in the park (making for some disappointed non-smith children)... and Nicole and I likely bickered in the backseat for an hour while we waited at the boarder... but overall a successful trip to America.

Chickens

Matt started back at the chicken factory today. Which is a happy thing. A summer job is kind of an important thing for both of us this year. Downside... I work 9 am - 4 pm, Fiance works 3pm - 12am. The only window of hangout time is a bit on the undesirable side.

I think to myself its ok... its only for 47 (47!!!!) days. And then we will be married and see each other all of the time.

O. Wait. No... we will not. He will be working to get smart like Einstein and I will be working to get rich like Bill Gates.

So I decide this is probably how life is going to be for about the next 45 years.

I guess it makes those little windows of hangout time all the more precious.

For now... I return to listening to our wedding playlist and looking at our pictures. I wish that could pass for only slightly pathetic.

Stats

June 22 2011 means....

Knowledge of Matt Lowrys existence for 8 years
Friends for 5 years
Dating for 7 months
Engaged for 2 months, 1 week

Wedding in 1 month, 28 days, 16 hours

Excitement level.... through the roof.
Stress level.... also rising.

Also... that I have become a complete cheese-ball. Sorry.

Little Sister

I am starting to realize that change is what life is. Don't get too settled into any stage. My once fuzzy headed, slightly chubby faced, little kid smelling sister is grown. It was kind of mind blowing to watch her go through the many graduating rituals. As we have got older it has seemed that the 4 year age gap has shrunk. Graduation weekend I feel like it was eliminated.

Nicole amazes me. I find her wittier, and smarter than most. I can no longer blame her academic success on my teaching her the Alphabet before she could walk. It is very possible this girl will take over the world.


Our little family is going through so many changes. So exciting, and I love them. But sometimes they kinda just make me wanna cry.

Temporary Return.

So this one time Matt Lowry purposed to me. And then he left the country.


The last 3 weeks have been weird. I spend all day planning a wedding and never see a finace. I started to feel like maybe I had made the whole thing up. (And some nice man had agreed to play along and talk to me on the phone for hours.)

Somehow work and life and everything worked out so I have been able to be in Utah all this week. Matt came home last Friday for Maikal and Brittneys wedding. Which was fantastic. I hoped in the Lowry mobile Sunday morning and came back to Utah with them. My mom and sister get here Wed night to start Wedding Dress shopping!!! Weird. Exciting. Trying not to be too picky.

Its so werid being in Provo and not having one thing I HAVE to do. I met Matt on campus yesterday and walking around by myself I kept feeling like I needed to go do a derivative or write a paper. I didnt. But Matt has enough homework for both of us. He is super busy with school. Yesterday we sat in the library and both read. He read Bio text books and I read Bridal magazines. Poor boy.

My mother sent me with a hefty Utah to-do list. A car is required for most of the do's. Matts car is a standard... Tiffany does not drive a standard. Until now. On University. Stalling in the middle of intersections. More than once. BY MYSELF. I think I will be walking from now on.
He once again showed his superior teaching and patient skills. But this pupil needs a heck of a lot more practice.

Matt is in a Marriage and Family class so I went with him last night. Some how we got voluntold for a demonstration infront of the entire class. O Hi, Im not actually a student here. The class was on communication and we were to give examples of validation. So we stand infront of strangers and compliment eachother. Kind of akward. But it was cute. Matt made all the girls "AWWWWWW". Ya. Hes mine.

This week has already been amazing. I love going around and doing the silly little things with Matt. How he makes every little task a fun adventure, I am not sure.

But it makes me super excited for life with him.

Crayons and Wine Glasses

What is this you ask?

Its Matt and I celebrating Easter. I LOVE dying eggs... and Matt claims he hadn't done it in 15 years. Thus, it was at the top of our to-do list before he left for BYU, right beside rolling every penny in the Lowry house.

To class it up a bit, we added Martinellis.



Great care was given to each egg. (But you can't really tell by the finished product)



We finished all the hard-boiled eggs... but hadn't got our dying-jollys in yet. So we started dunkin the uncooked ones too.



We decided that when we have kids we will dye eggs with them... put them to bed... and then dye our own.

LOVE

I just wrote an obnoxiously long post on some recent activity in my life. Its cheesy, drawn out, and meant for my journal. I have opted for a more precise method of sharing the same message.

The friendship rock of 2007.....




Has become the love rock of 2011





As of August 20th we will be Mr. and Mrs. Lowry. It feels like a dream... a far fetched dream... come true. I could not be more excited to marry my best friend in the entire world.

February Wish List

I didn't make a wishlist for Christmas and apparently I am in a needy mood. So here is my delayed wish list.

1- To be in Utah March 4th for Rylies wedding. If I had a demand list I would put this one there. I don't know how I will get there or who I can convince to come with me, but it needs to happen.

2- I would really really like if the Chicken Factory didn't steal my boyfriend everyday from three till midnight. Kind of cramps my style.

3- To follow tradition, I have another outlandish summer adventure planned. I would really like this one to work out. And I would like the $4000 needed to make that happen.

4- The never-ending-death-cold to go away. I have had it forever and I am just sick of feeling crappy.

5- A little bit of warmth. I'm not asking for much here... just stop snowing for a day or two and lets bring up the temperature up to a solid -5 (no wind). This -20 blizzard is starting to get a tad depressing.

Here is my delayed thank-full list from Thanksgiving

1- The daddy daughter date that is my week. Mother and sister are in Utah. Pops and I go to random movies, conduct food experiments, and attend bull auctions. He is a hilarious man.

2- Matt. He surprises me with flowers on my grumpy days and soup on my sick days. 3 months today!

3- Best friends. I have the best in the world.

4- My slow paced life. Its starting to get old... but no school, no work.. I have waited years for this!

5- Pooch aka my sister. I hang out with her more than any other female. Our frequent sleepovers and late night chats have really made me realize what a gem she is.

Its not a walk in the park.

My mom is wise in many areas. One of those areas is random activity-ing. I am sure as a teen she never suggested a movie or bowling. Her idea this weekend- snowshoeing.

It has been something I wanted to try for a long time. I think that is because after 22 years of life I am still searching for a winter sport I love (see previous post).

The idea is casually brought up to Matt. "O we have a bunch of those at my house" Of course you do. Friday night the YSA dance was cut (which I pretend to be upset by, but I'm actually a little relieved) and hunt down the large tub full of snowshoes.

I wanted to leave at 10 sat morning... Waterton trips are supposed to start at like 7 right? Matt says thats kinda early... how about 11. I rudely refuse that offer. It is set 10.

I get a call at 10:02. Waking me up. Maybe 11 was a really good idea.

We pull out of ol' 1202 at 11:30ish. And somehow end up eating Chinese food. So not a Smith thing to do- but Im glad we went with the Lowry way on that one.

We drive up Cameron road. Park. And realize we have no idea whatsoever about how to commence a snowshoeing activity. We strapped um on and started waddling around.


I felt like a pirate... or a bank robber. But that lil beauty is a must when its -30

Will just couldn't get enough of the white stuff.

She had beard envy

And here is when we finally made it to the North Pole. Matt investigates.

By the end of the 4 hour trek we were all 100% parched. Matt walks in the river to try and quench his thirst. Will goes to take a sip. Denied. Here they argue the likelihood of beaver fever. For quite some time.

I am a fan of this winter activity. I know Courtney Merrill is going to judge me for that, she will think everything about this particular adventure is the worst. My butt was less sore than after snowboarding, I feel like I got a good work out, and I could actually soak in some of the gorgeousness!


To those who had to put up with me on the adventure, I apologize for my negative attitude and constant complaints. Apparently thats how I show I am enjoying a winter outing.

Try It.

There are 2 things that I am quite sure will never be on my favorites list. 1. Sushi. 2.Snowboarding. Most people I know are personal insulted by at least one of these. I have tried both more than once because people they can change my mind. Sushi makes me feel like I swallowed a uncleaned fish aquarium. Snowboarding makes me feel like I want to die.

I have recently been given the title "Lowry Lover". Apparently there are a few of us around, and we have a love and fascination with all Lowrys. I would fight it if I didn't think it was true.

SO when a group of said Lowrys purpose the Snowboarding idea whats a girl to do? One more go at the blasted butt-bone breaking sport.

It takes a while to talk Melissa and I into it... or I guess just Melissa because I decided that I would do whatever she did. How old am I right? So she decides yes, we go around to homes gathering various winter gear and go to Wills to spend the night.

Talk talk talk till 2ish. Boys go out to sleep on the ground after they are told to leave, its going to be an early morning. Melissa and I get all cozy in our double bed. And apparently have a lot to talk about. All of a sudden its 6. But don't worry because we covered all of the most important topics. She helped me know where I stand.

The plan was to leave at 8ish. We get woken up at 7:40. Since when are these boys on time/early for anything? It was at this point I started to understand how important this icy ritual is.

We load in and begin the journey.


Upon arriving at the hill my nerves are high. The boys engage in some hugging. What is this? excitement? fear of never seeing each other again? It didn't help the nerves.


First injury of the day... Wills finger almost gets sliced off. Surely more injuries are to follow.


Perhaps if I make Matt take a retarded amount of pictures with me we wont get out there till noonish.


Rentals


Matt thought that maybe by filling out my rental form he would find out how much I weigh. I told a horrendous lie. And he knew.


And then it began. Matt took me to the bunny hill and showed all sorts of patience. I was annoyed of myself... but he was a good teacher. I fell lots of times. But he just kept saying nice things. So I kept trying.

Then his board started falling apart... or it was on backwards... something. It required attention and gave me a nice long break. I wasn't mad.


At this point a feel bad. Matt hasn't been snowboarding in 2 years and his stupid girlfriend takes him on the bunnyhill all day? Not ok. So the burden that is myself is passed on to Melissa. Bless her soul.

Nervous feelings come back as we ride up the big kid chair. We both know that taking pictures is probably the best way to handle any situation


Then some magic happened. After much falling, Melissa and I dance down the mountain. Full out holding hands, turning, spinning, laughing. It was something special I think. It gave me a little taste of what snowboarding would be like without falling ever 2.23 minutes.

My dance partner. This was posed for. There was no falling.


Then its the best time of snowboard trips. Lunch.


Sometimes Matt gets a bloody nose and my deepest need for goggles lies in their ability to hold back my hair. Cute right?


I had had enough of the sport for a while. The kids go on to do some crazy pro-like moves I am sure.

On the way home we find this treasure


How could you not stop and take a picture right?

Despite my negative attitude, I liked this day a lot. Its a highlight of the Christmas break. Will I go again this year? probably not.

Melissa advised Matt and I that teaching each other a skill is great for our relationship. Perhaps the next adventure needs to be Country Dancing...

Coughorn

Christmas was fantastic. I have been wanting to blog about it... but procrastinating. Probably because Melissa did such a perfect job of capturing everything I just reread hers when I want to relive it and know that my Christmas post will be second grade to hers. I'm sure I will pretty soon though...
I just got done my first week of "real" classes at UofL (not a lone summer course or student teaching). Differences have been noticed between my Pronghorn life and my Cougar life. And now they will be noted.


- At BYU a girls wardrobe staple seemed to be stilettos of various loud patters, at the UofL the staple is yoga pants.
- UofL classes are slow starting. At BYU I swear we would have a test week 2. Here I am still getting course outlines handed to me.
- Much less smiling at strangers/door holds happen here.
- Males are much taller/stronger than at BYU.
- Upon switching schools the frequency of on-campus run ins has sky rocketed. My first semester at BYU I maybe ran into 3 people I knew. Here between every class I see no less than 5 people. And that is just counting the quality people I actually want to talk to.
- No one tells me how my Business class is going to pertain to the Gospel anymore...
- Every topic is now compared between Canada and the US, "Canada" used to be a word that made me turn my head
- Goodbye L&T, Hello Tim Hortons
- Obviously there has been an accent shift, but now I notice the Southern Alberta bulky sound.
- Apparently at the UofL we have a deep rooted fear of China and India taking over the world... its come up in half of my classes.
- Walking from ones car to class has become a near impossible task. It has been -30 and windy all week. Luckily Matt has been in town all week and thus I have been dropped off at the door to every class (heavenly) I am still not sure how I will handle the trek when he leaves me again.
- Diversity at UofL = 10 times that of BYU
- Sometimes you get the feeling at BYU that people think the first day of class is their chance to spot, sit by, and thus marry their future companion. Doesn't happen here. You sit where you can see not by hot guy.
- School sports have plummeted down the totem pole. Jimmer is doing fine without me, but not so much I without him.
- BYU smells of fruity classy perfumes, UofL smells of coffee and over-worn winter coats.
- The UofL loves their technology.

I dont know why I felt it necessary to make this ridiculous compilation of useless over generalized facts that are likely to insult at least one of my peers.