Moving Violations...For Real This Time

I live in Provo, Utah...home of some of the crappiest drivers you'll ever find.

Yesterday I was driving though a parking lot when all of a sudden a girl in a black '03 Toyota Corolla backed straight into me. Lindsay and I both held back explicatives and I calmly backed around into a parking spot. I was worried to see what damage had been inflicted on poor old Gertrude. But then I found how wonderful it is having a twenty year old car. There might have been a couple scratches, but not a dent. Oh it's kind of sad that they stopped making cars that sturdy. So thank goodness the other girl's car only had a few scratches on the bumper and she admitted it was completely her fault. We parted ways without involving police or insurance companies.

So, thankfully my situation resolved itself just fine. That wasn't the point of this post though.

The point was that people in Utah suck at driving.

Biggest pet peeves I see on the road:

• Not using a turn lane. FREAKING DANG IT PEOPLE. This one will get me to yell at you every time. See that lane right there? The one with the arrow? Ok, that one might not have an arrow, but it's still obviously a turning lane. Oh, so you are turning here? Well then why the crap are you not in that turning lane? Get out of my freaking way.
• Swerving lanes. You see those lines on the road? Well, you're supposed to stay in between them you know. And when you want to move out from between that particular set of lines and into another, turn your blinker on and let everyone else know what you're thinking. Because contrary to your belief, nobody can read your mind.
• Running red lights. It's true, Utah has trained their drivers to run red lights. The traffic lights here stay yellow for like twice as long as the lights in any other state. So twice as many people can make it through the yellow light. And then at least three more can just go ahead through the red light because they saw it when it was yellow. Ha. Idiots. I hope I don't ever get broadsided in one of those intersections. I will sue.
• Parking lots. I swear that Utah has some of the worst parkers in the entire world. Everyone is crooked. Enough said.

That is a very abbreviated list. I am very surprised that this is the first car accident I've had in the two plus years I've lived here. I wish people would get a clue on the road. I would feel so much better about life.

I just walked past next door and the scene I saw through the window was as follows:

Girl lying on love seat with laptop.
She was probably on facebook.
Boyfriend is sitting in a chair that is about 2 feet away from the television screen.
TV is on ESPN.

Thoughts running through my head as I walk by:

"Man, I hope that one day I can be in a relationship where my boyfriend and I are so uninterested in each others lives that at the end of the day we both kick back in the same room and participate in different activities without any conversation."

Ok, perhaps it's a bit of a presumption that isn't quite correct, but still. I would much rather have a relationship where my significant other and I are sitting together on the couch, maybe even touching in some way, and we're talking to each other about anything and everything. The tv could even be on and we could be talking about that, but point is...we're talking. And acknowledging the existence of one another.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like that's more of what it's supposed to be like.

In Love...With School

That's right. I said what nobody thinks a sane person could ever say. I love school.

That has not always been the case. Heaven's no. True, I was one of those kids who generally enjoyed school as an elementary student, but then you hit middle school and for whatever reason it's no longer wonderful. I think that's one of the many reasons I want to be an elementary school teacher, so I can teach kids when it's still wonderful. Or maybe I should be going into secondary ed so I can make school still be wonderful after moving on...eh whatever.

The past two years of college have been both good and bad, speaking specifically about academics. I have had classes I've loved. I've had classes I've disliked. I've even had a couple classes I've loathed. Dr. Kimball's stink eye and stupid hip hopping TA for American Heritage sure make that last list. Anyways, for my first three semesters I plugged through my GEs, occasionally getting to hit up an el ed class that doubled for a GE credit. Some of those have been my favorite classes that I've taken, such as Children's Literature. I have not enjoyed any of the science classes I've had to take. But I plugged through, managed good grades, and entered the elementary education program for Winter 2010.

The first couple months of the semester were hell. Yeah, I said hell. And I mean it. I honestly don't know how I physically survived. I would wake up super early to get to class at 8, be on campus, usually actually sitting in a class, until 5, and then I went to work from 5-9. After work was usually some form of socializing just so I could stay sane, and then at midnight I'd finish the rest of my homework. Flipping through my journal from that period of my life I constantly see phrases like, "Didn't get to bed until 3" or "Stayed up till 4:30 to finish all my reading." Saturdays were spent at the library. It was awful.

But again, somehow time passed and I survived. After that first week when my fellow el ed roommates and I seriously thought about dropping out and going to Paul Mitchell I realized that I liked what I was doing and after time the work load lightened considerably.

I don't think I would have said that I loved school that semester though. All of my classes were fine arts classes and how to incorporate them into the classroom, so they were way fun, but I felt like not all of them were totally applicable. Then I certainly did not love school Spring semester. Ugh. I really don't know how I managed to make it through those two months on top of everything.

I spent the summer lounging by the pool, reading, working, and enjoying no responsibilities of school. And then that came to an end like everything else.

School started yesterday. I was sort of dreading it. But sort of looking forward to it as well. I did not know at all what to expect for my classes though. They handed us a schedule in March and said, here, sign up for these sections of these classes. So I hardly even knew what classes I was taking. So, yeah, I was just a little bit wary. Especially because they're all 2-3 hour long classes. That sounds like no good.

But then I showed up to my educational psychology class at 8 yesterday and I knew it was going to be an awesome semester. I got my homework done during my break after that class. Math in the afternoon didn't even seem so bad. I got that homework done at work. Work is going to be decent this semester with some new people on the crew and a nice fat raise that my lovely boss gave me. Today I had a literacy class that I think might be my new favorite class that I've taken. Got that homework done and came home and just laid out by the pool and now I'm about to head to work. It's Tuesday afternoon and I have no homework.

But that's not even why I love school. I love school because I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Talking and learning and reading about how kids learn and what we as teachers need to do for them makes me so excited to get in the classroom and start doing my work. I just smile to myself and feel so good about it. Teaching is going to be more than just a job to pay the bills. I'm so excited that all of my classes are getting me so excited for this.

And so that's why I love school.


p.s. Did I mention that I love school?

Nothing Short of a Miracle

Some people think that miracles are confined to Biblical times. I am here to tell you they are not. Miracles happen all around you, all the time; you just have to know how to see them.

Sometimes they're small. For example, class being canceled for the same night of your old roommate's wedding reception, so you don't have to lose the mandatory attendance points you would have had to miss. Or like a rent check not getting cashed for a couple weeks so you can finally notice you don't have enough money in your checking account and have time to juggle money around to avoid the extra fees of a bounced check. Sometimes they're a bit bigger like getting a 4.0 Spring semester when taking the maximum possible credits during one of the most ridiculous emotional roller coaster rides of your life.

Or they can be astronomically huge like the one I've witnessed over the past week.
Last Saturday night I was sitting at home by myself, watching about my fifth episode of Veronica Mars for the day when I got one of those phone calls that you only imagine in your worst nightmare. "Have you heard what happened to the Brooksbys?" Long story short, I found out that Ben and Nate got in an awful crash on their way home to Tacoma and Nate wasn't too bad but Ben's neck was broken. After a lot of praying, worrying, a little restless sleep, fasting, and more praying, it looked like everything was going to be alright. Not even a week later and Ben is out of the hospital, apparently not even having to wear a neck brace.

Do miracles exist? You tell me.

An Ode to 110

For exactly 365 days I have lived in apartment #110 at Roman Gardens in Provo, Utah.

Tomorrow my contract is up and I am being kicked out, all the way next door to #109.

It's been a wonderful year and there have been numberless good times in 110. Oh, all the things I'm going to miss as I make my new home in 109...

• The oven that heats at least 300° hotter than it's set at.
• The air conditioner/heater that sounds like a never ending incline on a roller coaster.
• The toilet that runs every 20 minutes on the dot.
• The toilet that doesn't ever flush properly.
• The dishwasher that sounds like it's choking whenever the cycle is ending and never quite gets the dishes all the way clean.
• The front window that first was sealed shut and now never quite closes all the way.
  
• The hole in the wall that came about by Nathan diving under the love sack.
• Until about a month ago the lock on our door was all janked up, thanks to Aaron trying to bust down our door. If our manager hadn't finally replaced the lock so that the door doesn't jiggled an inch when "locked" that would be listed.
• Clarence. He's our ghost that followed us to 110 from Heritage. Hopefully he will choose to stay and haunt the new girls.
• The time machine microwave, complete with time knob and huge start button.
• Sleeping on the top bunk right next to the window with the crappy blinds that fall down, causing the lights from brown stone and centennial and the sun to shine right in on my face.
  
• The uneven division of the bedrooms. (My room could fit in the other bedroom 2.5 times. At least.)
• A perfect view from the living room of everyone who goes up and down the stairs. Oh all the awkward eye contact.
• A kitchen that shares a wall with the married managers' bedroom.