Sittin' by the Lake Watchin' the Sunset

This is my special spot where I go to watch the sunset by the lake. I have had a lot of really awesome quiet moments in this spot, including opening my mission call. (Yes, I set up the self-timer and put my camera on an icy tree root ledge in order to take this picture.)


I have 14 days left at Wellesley, in Boston, and as a college student. AHHH!

Here is a list of all the things I need to do in the next two weeks. I thought I should make a list to kind of put things in perspective, and then I thought, why not make the list on my blog so I get the extra benefit of people feeling bad for me?!? Just kidding (kind of), but check it out:

• Write a 15 page editorial travel writing piece
• Edit my previous three travel writing pieces (marked up to high heaven by my professor) and put them all together in a nice little portfolio
• Do a presentation on antisemitism in the life of Albert Einstein (this is tomorrow, and I haven't even started the extensive research it requires)
• Write a 20 page paper on antisemitism in the life of Albert Einstein
• Come up with some kind of creative project for my religion class involving Genesis 22
• Write a 15 page paper about Mormonism and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac
• Do two statistics problem sets (honestly nearly impossible problems)
• Take a stats final... and I really have to ace it to do okay in the class
• Write a paper about a 20th century physicist
  
• Take a physics final
• Appreciate the heck out of Wellesley and this life and school and Boston and my friends and my classes and everything I have come to love here
• Prepare to go though the temple
• Go through the temple and receive my endowments
• Make an itinerary for my good friend Josephine's visit to Utah
• Take a 1.5 day trip to New York City
• Do everything I have always wanted to do in Boston and haven't done yet
• Start shopping for and practically preparing for the mission
• Babysit one last time and say goodbye to the Larsens
  
• Sell stuff I don't need or want to bring home with me
• Pack up everything I own that's left
• Go in one last time for my internship at Romney for President
  
• Write love and appreciation letters to all the people I will be leaving; Christmas presents
  
• Take pictures with my friends in our caps and gowns (pretend graduation)
• Catch up on my Book of Mormon reading
  
• Leave my mark on Wellesley! Be the person I have always wished to be here!

Yeah. It's going to be a fun and productive 14 days. Oh, I love it here. I am a little surprised by how much sorrow I am feeling about leaving. I am grateful for it. I am grateful for all the things this place and college experience has given me as a person. I have been so enriched! I am starting to appreciate every detail of this place and time of life as it all winds down so quickly. Now check out all the things I have to be grateful for in this place and time:

• My sister/best friend who lives on the other side of the city. Saydi feeds me with companionship, advice, love, and food. And Jeff is one of my best friends too, he is so fun to talk to, always comes get me at the T, and teaches me about all kinds of things (usually having to do with Myth Busters). Hazel and Charlie run to the door when I get to 112 Sylvan and hug and kiss their Chi Chi. When the Shumways come to Wellesley for dinner, they intrigue and entertain the whole dining hall, girls who need a little dose of the good life in front of them. I am going to miss so much spending time with the Shumways: watching movies on their 12" TV, sleeping in the guest room, putting Hazel to bed, eating Saydi's delectable culinary creations, dancing in the kitchen, tickling Charlie, drinking hot coco and talking, etc etc. I love these things so much that I even will miss the ride to Oak Grove on the Orange Line and running up the stairs at Kendall T station praying my guts out that the bus hasn't left me (again) to wait in the cold another hour to get home to Wellesley.
  
• The most beautiful campus in the world. I love walking around the brick ivy covered buildings when the bells are ringing in Gladenstone Tower, staring out the window of the library as the sun sets over the lake, and waking up to the rising sun through my old windows in my castle dorm room. Autumn this year was stunning and long, and now it is super freezing; bone-chilling. My last semester wouldn't be complete without that bitter cold, so I'm glad it finally really cooled down. It did finally snow again, although I hesitate to call this sleaty, icy, icky precipitation snow. But I'll take what I can get.
• An incredibly stimulating academic environment. All my professors know me by name. This kind of education has become so normal to me over the years, but I know it's really not normal but extraordinary. I am continually astounded by my peers here at Wellesley. I love the fascinating involved discussions we get into in my seminars and the brilliance that I can see in my classmates. I love being around so many diverse people and learning from their different views. All the girls here are so tolerant and also appreciate my different-ness.
  
• A great job and a fun and flexible internship. I have loved working for the Larsens, a great family in the town of Wellesley that treats me so well and are good examples for me. I babysit their four-year-old Olivia and she has lit up my life so much in the past few years. It has been a delight to watch her grow. My job is so great because it is really flexible, I get to go to a beautiful home and have a lot of fun with one dang cute little girl, and the pay is real good. I also get to go into Romney for President once and week and it's just fun and exciting to be part of the campaign. I have to say that I loathe making those calls asking people for money, but I make the most of it and have had some interesting conversations with people from all over the country. The other interns are really cool and the office atmosphere is a lot of fun. Plus, the internship gets me into the city and I LOVE THAT. I have had some great times just wandering around in the North End or along the waterfront after work. I love riding the T to North Station and people watching. Romney for President has certainly allowed me to develop a deeper love for Boston. Which brings me to my next point,
• BOSTON! I can't tell you how much I adore this city. I have loved getting to know it better this semester. There is something about Bean Town that cannot be found any where else in the world, a certain charm that is impossible to duplicate. I love the cobblestones and brownstones in Beacon Hill, the quaint stores on Charles Street, the Common and the Public Gardens, Back Bay and Newbury Street cafes, the Italian treats in the North End, festivals in Harvard Square, the view out the windows of the train of Boston's skyline when the T crosses the Longfellow Bridge, Fenway and the Red Sox spirit, the pedestrian only streets at Downtown Crossing, the MFA, the views from Bunker Hill and Mt. Auburn Cemetery...I love Boston.
• I have great friends here. With all the comings and goings, it has been hard to cultivate really deep and personal relationships. But I have found several dear kindred spirits, and I have learned so much from all the girls that I have spent time with. I have a wonderful group of friends that understand my obsessive picture taking and that entertain me to no end in the dining hall or the library, who will do crazy things with me, who appreciate me and teach me and bless my life so much. There is also a great group of Mormon girls on campus; this semester we have had a particularly awesome and dynamic group. There is a wonderful and real sense of sisterhood at Wellesley. Also, there are so many girls here that amuse me so much. I never cease to be entertained.
• I also have great people to associate with in the University Ward. The people that I go to church with every week and truly incredible. There is so much to learn from all of them. We always have stimulating and uplifting meetings. Last Sunday the fast and testimony meeting was off the hook! Seriously, it was exquisite and divine. I think when I look back at my college experience, one memory I will remember most fondly will be overflowing with the spirit and bursting with happiness in that warm Longfellow park chapel, among remarkable people. Sometimes I wish I could be more involved in the ward, but everything that I have been involved with has been truly wonderful. This semester I feel especially blessed when it comes to the bishopric, who are, with their wives and families, such great leaders and examples.
• Friends and family back home... so stinking awesome. I love that I am always making calls to keep in touch and I always have someone (lots of people) to call when I need someone to talk to. The most sublime of these conversations are with my nieces and nephews, people that bless my life tremendously. Throughout my life I have truly been blessed with association with spectacular people. My friends and family are so strong. This semester several family members and friends have come out to visit, and that has been so so great and fun. It has made my last semester so much more meaningful, full, significant, and beautiful. This weekend I am so excited to see Mom, Dad, Jonah, Aja, Aniston, Elsie, Eli, Noah, Kristi, McKay, and Saydi, Jeff, Hazel and Charlie and to share the experience of receiving my endowments with them. What a divine blessing!
  
• Most of all, my developed relationship with Heavenly Father. I can't believe how much I have grown and learned these past few months. Ideas and concepts have been made clear. I am able to feel and understand things that I never thought I would be able to feel or understand. I have grown closer to God and to godliness. I have recognized a lot of weaknesses and began down a path to making them strengths.
• Wicked awesome sunsets! Like the one I witnessed tonight!!

So so cold!

The "beach" covered in snow!

Home to the castle...