A glance

Hello blog-readers!

I'm in the process of writing a Pearl Jam blog, but in the meantime, you'll have to settle for this sneak peek, and just read a letter to someone else, if you can do so without throwing up.

Dear Jacob,

I should be doing my homework, but I'm not. I'm blogging about you.

I should also go to theatre council in about 4 minutes, but I'm not. I'm gonna finish blogging about you.

I should be doing a lot of things, but instead I'm going to look forward to seeing you. In around 37 minutes.

I had a fun chat with Carrie today. She re-told me the story of her "date" in Alaska, to refresh it in my mind so that I can tell you. You will probably hear it in about 43 minutes.

In the meantime, I'm glad we're dating.

Love, Liz

PS: I really like this picture of us. Even though it's blurry, we both look so happy and tired. Which describes the effect of all of last weekend. And you look really good in that outfit.

The Countdown, Take Two

Okay, I already had a post up here about Pearl Jam. But I had to edit it just a little. Because since the time that I posted it, my love for Pearl Jam has grown. (Single Video Theory is to blame for that. And the entire Yield album in general.)

It continues to grow, inexplicably exponentially. Not that my love for Pearl Jam is inexplicable. But the exponential growth.

Anyway, I'm excited for this weekend. Here's why:

These guys:



Except LIVE, so it'll be more like this:



Oh, and did I mention I get to see this person?



And all of this will be with this guy:



Oh. And it all happens in...FIVE DAYS.

Yep.

Thanks, PostSecret. Some stranger somewhere spoke the same thing that's in my own heart of late.

Traumatizing Beauty

Wonderful as these changes are, I'm having more trouble than I had expected, readjusting to the new semester.

I went from 2 weeks of:
- having a 2-story, 7-bedroom house to myself
- not having to do anything but hang out with Jacob, and occasionally (rarely) work

to:
- having 5 roommates, 4 of whom I'd never met, as well as having the downstairs fill up
- having school, auditions, meetings, and bills

At first glance, it seems like it would be a pretty seamless transition. That's what I thought. But I find myself in a place of emotional...wonkiness.

Which would probably be helped by healthier eating and sleeping habits, but I'm a college student, and I haven't seen my best friend since April, and the Thorsons are here, and I like Jacob, and I've been poor for a while.

The most difficult transition is the one into being "social"...being around people, whether I know/love them or not. I haven't really thought about my behavior around more than 3 people at once in weeks. And I'm the kinda girl who needs her space...who needs her alone-time. It will take me a while to again get used to making an effort to get that. The more you get of alone-time, the less you need of people-time, at least in my case. I seem to be spending a few minutes disliking the world of people in general every day, until I get enough introverted time to help me avoid complete misanthropy.

I should be clear that I'm thrilled to be starting a new semester, and especially thrilled that Annie now fills a space in the bed beside me. I love my classes and my boyfriend, and it will be a great semester. I'm just grumpy about everything lately.

I guess it's time to serve my fellow man, follow the awesome examples of those around me, and show some gratitude.

IF's

The plan was that he would drop a friend off, maybe work on his lesson for Church tomorrow, then come back to kiss me good-night.

If we'd followed that plan, his friend wouldn't get the talk he needed.

If we'd followed that plan, I wouldn't have gotten on the internet and learned of an old friend's family loss, and written them a quick e-mail of whatever comfort I could think of.

If we'd followed that plan, neither of us would have been where we needed to be, when we needed to be.

Thanks to the powers that be...I'm grateful that the Lord occasionally rearranges the universe so that the needs of some of His children can be met in ways that defy coincidence. It's been happening a lot lately, and tonight I'm humbled by it.

Making lemonade

So lately, Jacob and I have embarked on what have turned out to be numerous "misadventures." Or adventures. Call 'em what you will. =) Even the best laid plans seem to go awry. Exhibit A:

What we planned: A nice, restful evening at home, watching an artsy, interesting movie we'd been planning to watch for a while.
What happened: The movie is crap. It has no over-arching concept or theme, but if there is one, it's something to the effect of "Life is pointless." We rant for a few, then return it that very same night, vowing to read more reviews before we watch a movie neither of us has seen. So that's disappointing. But nothing lemonade and chocolate milk from Broulims can't heal.

What we planned: A double date with Alex and another nice girl whose name I don't remember. The date was going to be exploring the ice caves and a nice picnic among the natural wonders of Southeast Idaho.
What happened: After driving for the allotted 16 miles, and several miles beyond that (like probably around 20), we decide that we had missed the turn. But being hungry by this time, we pull off to a sage-brush-free patch on the side of the road, bless our picnic lunch ("Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity we have to be in the middle of nowhere..."), and eat sitting cross-legged on the dirt. A large, distant rock draws our attention, so leaving our sweaters and flashlights behind, we traverse half a mile to climb and stand epic-ly on it. Which is fun. We go back to the car, start to drive home, get stuck in the soft, sandy dirt on the side of the road, push ourselves out of it, find another interesting rock, stop and climb that one, then drive back into town for gelato.

What we planned: Another picnic, this time in Beaverdick Park. (Maybe we should stop planning picnics...) It was a gorgeous day, so I suggested we take Bertha, the Honda Trail ct110 motorcycle I'm borrowing. Besides, Jacob had never been on a motorcycle before. =) We gathered food, a blanket, a copy of "Peter Pan" and hopped on the bike to enjoy the day and the park.
What happened: On the edge of town, I noticed the bike sputtering a little bit. So we pulled over, and I filled her with more gas. All is well. About 10-15 miles out of town, I notice that driving feels weird...the alignment is wobbly, and we're bumping around more than we should be. We pull over again; worse news this time. Flat tire. And I don't exactly carry a spare. Begin Plan A: Jacob would start walking, maybe thumb a ride; I would ride Bertha very slowly back into town, then drive Jacob's car back to pick him up. After about 1 mile on Bertha, I decide it's too dangerous, will take too long, and will mess up the wheel of the bike way too much. I call Jacob, who has been picked up by the first people he tried to thumb down, and they come and get me. Jacob and I ride back into town with Norm and Bruce, two elderly gentleman from Shelley, Idaho who own a stucco business. We discuss vacations to New Orleans, the recession, the importance of being kind to people and passing that on, and marriage in general ("If you want a successful marriage, someone's gotta surrender.") Once home, Jacob and I spread out our blanket on the living room floor, and eat our lunch, afterwards laying on the ground and looking at the ceiling, pretending to point out cloud formations. Still needing to go back for the motorcycle, Jacob and I call/text around, and finally enlist Gary Benson and his pickup truck to help us out. Which he does willingly and helpfully, the drive out and the drive back consisting of a lot of great rock music, and a lot of conversation about great rock music. I then e-mail Jordan to tell him the fate of his motorcycle, but in every prayer we thank the Lord for Bruce and Norm and ask that they be blessed for their kindness.

The movie and the flat tire were both today. Toward the end of it, I turned to Jacob and said "I think we had kind of a bad day. But I just didn't notice for most of it, because I was with you."

Oh, well. It's all part of the journey, I guess. And I do pray for adventures. And cliche though it is, when life gives you lemons...