rise and shout

images found here, here, here, here, here, and here.

We watched the BYU game last night. I'm not a BYU football fan (Go COCKS!) but I do like to cheer them on and see them win. It is my alma mater, after all. Seeing the shots of Provo on TV sent me on a Google search through time and memories that made me trunky for that quirky, beautiful place that I called home for four years. I learned so much there.

six - the difficult things

images found here, here, here, here, here, and here.

(just a few of my favorite buildings on campus. two of the library because it is just that amazing. don't believe me? just check out this mural on the fourth floor.)

BYU was difficult, not academically, but because it was so far away from home. 2,101 miles away to be exact. One of the more difficult things I've done was deciding to go to school here. I wasn't thrilled with the distance or the stigma of what I thought going to school there would be like, and for my entire youth abhorred the idea of attending school there. I guess you could say I had some trouble realizing that this really was the place for me to go. But I figured it out, and it was the greatest decision ever. 

6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced? | thirty things

to speak to the past

Dear Alyssa,

You just turned sixteen, and can finally go on dates with your boyfriend, but you can't see the situation - and the fact that you won't ever actually go out anywhere with him - and really, this never was a good idea. You will meet your husband at BYU; you know, that school that you never wanted to go to? (yeah, you'll end up there). 

BYU will be a wonderful experience, even though you think right now that it's the most ridiculous place in the world. You will make the most amazing lifelong friends there who you can always count on, and who will remain just as amazing after you all go your separate ways. You'll also meet a teacher in your major (which will be English, by the way) who will change your life. 

Don't worry about the silly high school things that are happening right now. None of it really matters in the long run. Keep working hard in school (but nobody really needs to remind you to do that). Several of your good friends will carry through to your adult life, and they are great. Don't worry about what will happen next in your life because everything is going to work out exactly as it's supposed to. And you'll love it.

Love,

Alyssa

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could. | thirty things

"Sigmund Freud had two white tigers. One of them attacked him."

Just one of the many gems from this tumblr that increasingly makes me lose all faith in the future of our society. And then a personal favorite: "Mary Antwinet is famous for saying “let the meat cake.” She was a leader of the French revelation. She was very popular and fashionable until she died from guilty."

I don't want to believe that this is real, but that nagging feeling tells me it is.

one day at innisfree / one day that's mine there

My notes from class: "Innisfree. Find it. Go there."

I once had a professor tell me that everybody needs their own Innisfree, whether it be a physical space you go to, or just a state of mind you can visit. Everybody needs that place Yeats describes where you can escape to and find peace. It's essential to life. Essential for the soul. And if you can hum that post title, don't bother searching too much more; you're probably already there.

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, 
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; 
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee, 
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

::

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

::

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree | W.B. Yeats

the food.

Curse craving food that only exists in Provo.

Cafe Rio.

J-Dawgs.

Slab Pizza.

In-N-Out.

Communal.

If anyone out there wants to buy me something, put it in an ice-packed cooler and overnight it to me, it'd be greatly appreciated. Mean it. Really.

jai ho*

Was reading through some old (read: ancient) blog posts and ran across some links on one of my musings to some pretty amazing things that happened in my life (read: happened Winter semester 2009). Those few months were perhaps the most magical time that has ever happened in the history of the world. Seriously. We're not sure how we passed our classes, or why we did what we did, 

but we know one thing for sure: it was magic.

Anyone remember this?

Or how about this?

Remember when we listened to this on repeat? And this one too?

And we cannot ever forget the awesomeness that was ten at ten.

It will forever top the list of everything that is awesome.

From no boys allowed forts and adventures in the wee morning hours of finals week to the best friends a girl could ask for, it.was.the.best. 

*in honor of the jai ho lap, of course, because who could forget that magic?

my family is in town!

Once upon a time {today, in fact} I walked across a stage in a silly looking cap and gown, and received a nice diploma cover. {Spencer did too}. Thank goodness we're done. Hallelujah. Can I get a witness?

just kidding.

 

 

happy day.

finals, finals, finals.

i guess finals week can't go by without at least one major scare. i think it's a rule. my school uses blackboard. if you don't know what it is, it's basically a website for the school that has your class information where you can take online quizzes, turn in assignments, etc (if the professor chooses to have you turn in things that way). well, for my religion class this semester. everything we did was on blackboard. every.single.thing. we didn't turn a single thing in during class. so, naturally, our class blackboard page decided to randomly shut itself down during finals week. i was okay with that for a second, until i panicked and thought "ohmygosh.what.happened.to.all.the.grades?" i frantically emailed my professor today asking what happened to all of the grades, and if he has them recorded somewhere else. i want credit for all of the good grades i got on the quizzes and projects i worked hard on and turned in. my professor emailed me back, and said that they're working on getting the site restored right now, and my grade won't suffer even if things were lost because of the website. that made me feel better. i was really concerned there for a minute.

Monday!

Only two tests left and I will be done with college forever.

Graduation is Thursday and Friday.

It's kind of surreal that I'll be graduating this week. I don't think it's really set in yet.

In other news, nothing makes me want to get out of Provo faster than going up to our new place in Salt Lake. We've been moving things for the past few days, and really only have clothes and the big furniture left. I'm going to Wal-Mart today to buy all of the cutsie things to go in our place. You know, lamps, curtains, a new shower head. (we'll not talk about the one that's already there. nightmare material). Every time we go up there, I just want to stay. I'm so excited for the prospect of living downtown. There's just so much more to do in the city than in Provo, and everything is within walking distance of our place.

Oh, and we'll be getting kittens. That's the best part.

two::weeks::left

 

please pardon the post-shower hair

Today I got this letter from the College of Humanities congratulating me on my upcoming graduation. They're so happy for me, want me to look back on my years here, blah, blah, blah. But the cause of the real excitement was that lovely butter-yellow paper behind the letter. It contains the details of the College of Humanities commencement. Where to be and when. What to have with you. etc. It's as if that little yellow paper made it official. I am graduating. It's real. It will actually happen Friday, April 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm. Then there was the little tidbit about how after the ceremony, "you will have the opportunity to acknowledge faculty members". My thoughts went immediately to my favorite: Gloria Cronin. I may or may not cry when I have to say goodbye to her. She is, in a word, brilliant. No kidding. I've learned more from her than all of my other English professors combined. She is like a walking encyclopedia, and a delight to talk to. She has had the biggest impact on my entire academic career. It's rare that you come across someone so fabulous, and I count my lucky stars that I was able to enjoy four amazing classes from her. I love the relationship I have with her. Sometimes, I will just go sit in her office and chat with her about life. She gives the most incredible advice. I can't really rightly explain how much of an influence she's had on me. I guess it's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. All I can really say is that it's been a privilege knowing her, and learning from her. She treated me as a peer, not a student. Made me feel intelligent and my ideas important. There will definitely be a void when I'm not attending her classes anymore.

{Thank goodness she's teaching a Toni Morrison course Spring term, and has extended an open invitation for me to come play whenever I'd like.}