New beginnings.

January 12, 2009

First week of school down. How many more to go? Thank heavens it’s my last semester.


Life since DC has been a whirlwind, to say the least. I got back from Washington on a Saturday night and was working at the BYU Bookstore the next Tuesday, up until Christmas. Christmas came and went, and it was lovely. However, I feel like my real Christmas this year came in July and August, when I was in Israel. I will never forget what I learned there, nor it felt to be in such historically significant places.

The rest of Christmas break was spent reuniting with friends, skiing, and—most of all—working on a massive research paper I still had from my internship in Washington. That was due the first day of school, so I spent several days getting that done while letting preparation for school go by the wayside.

The weekend before school began, my best friend, Heidi Lambert, flew in from California to stay a few days in Utah before heading to the Jerusalem Center. We were worried that with the current state of the Israel-Gaza conflict, she wouldn't get to go, but I dropped her off on Tuesday morning and she got there safely the next day. I’ve already gotten to talk to her on the phone once, and it was so wonderful to hear about her first impressions of the Jerusalem Center, of Israel, and of beautiful Jerusalem.

Last week was a flood of events, and I felt barely able to keep my head above water as I treaded through the homework, classes, moving back into my apartment, and somehow figuring out how I fit into Provo and BYU and into the social scene. Fortunately, I have my friends nearby, as well as my sister Ashley, who lives just one block away in the Enclave apartments. It’ll take some readjustment, but change always does that to me.

This weekend was a welcome break from the hectic week. I got to spend some quality time with my Jerusalem friends, and on Saturday I spent several hours working on homework before deep-cleaning my room and heading to my dear friend, Jami’s, wedding open house. She looked absolutely beautiful, and it was so fun to see her in her dress. And Sunday was, of course, wonderful because of church and President Monson’s CES fireside. The prophets’ messages are always so timely.

So, here I am back in Provo. I guess I knew I would be coming back, but I hadn’t actually imagined what it would be like once I was. Provo is only a bit different than how I knew it when I left…but then, I am quite different from how I left. While my blog is called “Kristen’s Big Adventures,” some may not see Provo as much of an adventure. Typically, I wouldn't, either. However, I believe that life is what you make it, and I choose to make this, my last semester, something of a new adventure (before the next one begins, of course).

So here's to the new semester; to the new year. To the end of my last adventure, to the start of a new. [I wonder what lies in store beyond this last adventure that has been BYU for four years now...]

Cheers to the New Year.