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.