End of an Era

Today, Bishop Babcock got released.

He’s been the bishop of my ward for the last three years… and I’ve been in my ward for four, so I was around for his entire service. He’s been there for me through a lot of hard times. I think of him and his wife as friends.

It was very sad to hear the news today. But when the new Bishop was called (Bishop Graves) I could feel the Spirit testify that he is called of God. Since I am moving in a month, I won’t get to know him very well, but I know Shauna will be in good hands next year.

This evening, the Babcocks had a farewell barbecue at their house. Lots of people showed up, including several that used to live in the ward but have moved away (some even that are married came back!). It was a little unreal, seeing all those people, remembering all the  good times I’ve had in this ward… and recognizing that I’m leaving it now, too.

Good things are ahead, I think. But it’s always hard to close a chapter of life. At least it went out with style. The party was like a scene out of a movie—a reunion with so many people I’ve come to know and care about over the years. A nice recap before I move on.

I’m going to miss the Babcocks. I’ll miss the 9th ward. But I’m excited to see what lies ahead.

Dream Journal: Terminator + Back to the Future

So, here's another one for my crazy dream collection. I should note that I've never actually seen the Terminator movie (any of them, actually). My basic understanding is that the internet came alive and took over the world, and it sent back robots several times to kill Sarah Connor and John Connor to stop the resistance from happening (but they always fail). Oh, and John has to send Kyle Reese back in time [spoiler alert] to save his mom, knowing full well that Kyle will die in the attempt.... but also that Kyle will father him, so he has to go back or else John won't exist.

Somehow in my mind that got mashed together with the plot of Back to the Future... Guy goes back in time, accidentally prevents his parents from meeting, and has to convince them to fall in love after all.

The dream:

I was part of a time traveling agency, stationed in a secret bunker somewhere. I was constantly being sent on missions to go back in time and save the world. We were battling some kind of evil robot army (robots which looked eerily similar to the evil robots from the Lego Movie), which kept going back in time to try to alter history. It wasn't as straightforward to fight them as (to my understanding) it was in the Terminator. History was in constant flux from our efforts and theirs. We were never quite sure how the time stream would be effected and what they would try next. We just did our best to go back to key times and try to patch things together. We were happy when we got somewhere before the robots did, and we were also happy to get there after they had arrived, because then we'd made a correct guess and we could correct what they did.

We were led by a brave female Captain, whose name I never learned. One of the key members of our team was a guy... I never learned his name either but let's call him Kyle-Marty. We got sent back in time to help KM's parents meet. A difficult operation set sometime in the 1930s, I would guess, but we pulled it off, despite a lot of interference from the bots. Then for some reason we activated his parents as operatives and took them back to our headquarters with us.

Our next few missions were dicey. They passed by in a blur. Each time we'd go back, only to find that the robots had altered time in a way we hadn't expected, and we were scrambling to figure out how to fix things.

Finally we received specialized orders. It was time for KM to be sent back in time to go meet his future wife, Theresa (time travel is complicated. Also, in a time travel society, apparently you can come from anytime or marry someone from any time). So. First we acted out the plot of Back to the Future, why not throw in the Terminator, too? KM's parents joined our team to help out. (How weird would that be? The twenty something newlywed version of your parents coming along to help you in your dating life.) The Captain and the parents went back first to get things in position. Then KM and I tried to jump back... but we were attacked by robots and our time machine was damaged. We were supposed to meet everyone early in the day, but we didn't arrive until 10 o'clock at night, and by then the robots were in place to catch us. All we could do was flee back to headquarters.

And in the shadows behind us, one of the robots followed. She (it?) transformed to look like a human girl named Kim. Her mission was to try to keep KM from ending up with Theresa, by falling in love with her instead. In one of those magical all-knowing dream moments, I knew that she was a real threat. KM believed in the work that he did and he was committed to our time traveling cause. But, he hadn't met Theresa yet. She was the best woman for him, but if he met Kim first instead and fell in love, he would end up resenting being pushed into marrying Theresa because the time travelers said it was the the right thing to do. Then he'd turn to Kim instead, never guessing that she wasn't even a living person, and ruin the time stream by not traveling back to get together with Theresa. (Oh, the strange drama of dreams!)

At this point, I became an observer in the dream. I saw KM rush back to headquarters, a woman colleague (representing me, I think) at his heels. The guard at the door tried to wave them both down to ask about Kim, who was following along behind them, but KM was too stressed to stop and talk. I caught a glimpse of Kim morphing into some kind of monster, about to attack the guard, and then we were inside the building, and KM's parents were mad that he hadn't shown up in time to meet Theresa. KM apologized, we started to regroup a new plan, as meanwhile Kim broke into the building and made her way towards KM...

And then I woke up.

Crazy, right?

Les Miserables

Melissa and I went to see Les Miserables at the SCERA Outdoor theatre. It was excellent--the performers were all very talented. I think in some ways I liked it even better than the movie.

There are so many deep themes to enjoy in the musical--so much of it is the law of justice versus the law of mercy. If there are any other Les Mis fans out there up for deep analytical discussions... let me know!

Cue epic musical number:

Fear--A poem written by high school sophomore Shelece

My mom had me go through some of my old stuff in my room at my parents' house, and I stumbled upon my binder from my high school creative writing class I took sophomore year.

Kinda fun to take a look at the past. :) Here's a poem I wrote on April 29, 2004.

Fear

The stars are only out of reach

If you never dare to fly.

Dreams are only impossible

If you never dare to try.

Is courage the lack of fear

Or the strength to fight it?

Is bravery the lack of doubt

Or the wisdom to hide it?

If you never face the darkness,

You can never reach the light.

If your strength is never tested

You will never know your might.

Life as a Summer Nomad

One of the best parts about my job is the flexibility it gives me. I do all my work online, so technically I can work from anywhere. For some reason I don't take much advantage of that except in the summer time. Last summer, I spent about half my time in Provo and half in the Springs.

This summer has been even more spazzy. From the middle of June till now, I spent a week in California, a week in southern Utah, a week at my Grandma's in Alpine, and a week back at home in Colorado. It's been crazy and exciting and fun. All of these places tap into the rush I got as a kid when summer vacation hit. "I'm on vacation? It must be summer! Time to party!" "I'm visiting Grandma's? It must be summer!" "I'm back in Colorado? It must be summer!"

I've discovered that I love to travel. Someday I want to make it out to more places that I've never seen.

But at the same time... all this travel has left me feeling a little confused about where I really belong. I've claimed Provo as my home. I've been there 8 years now. But, I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would this summer. Mainly because a lot of the people I care about don't live there anymore (although some of them still do, thank goodness!) I think I am more ready to give up life in the 9th ward than I thought, even though I've been there for four years.

I could see myself coming back to Colorado. I've loved being back here, catching up with Hayley and Lori, hanging out with my family every night... but, things are about to change here. Jason's putting his mission papers in, Kristie's headed to school in the fall... My parents will finally be empty nesters. My mom isn't exactly looking forward to that, but I'd feel weird coming back when it's just the two of them... even if I did get my own place.

And speaking of Kristie coming to BYU... Since Shauna came out to BYU, I've always been the older sibling on deck at the Y, the one people come to for rides to buy groceries or visit the orthodontist. I've always been really close to my family, and leaving them to go out to Provo was SO HARD. I was terribly homesick at first. I've tried hard to alleviate my siblings' homesickness (although I think they all handled the transition better than I did, anyways).

Anyway... part of why I stay in Provo is for them. But Shauna graduates in December, and Kristie hopes to leave on a mission during Winter Semester 2015.

I'm content to stay in Provo another year. But I'm not sure what the plan will be after that, and I'm scrambling to figure it out. I had a discussion with Kristie recently that gave me pause. She was wondering where she'll end up in the world... where she'll find work, where her husband will want to live... all that stuff we tend to ponder in college.

And it hit me that I am past that stage. I'm out of school, I've found my job.  It's time for me to plant my roots, and I better do it carefully, because there's a decent chance that I'll end up staying wherever I go for the rest of my life.

Is Provo really where I want to stay? I love it, but it's a transition place for so many people. So many of my friends have already left, and who knows how long the rest will stay?

Where will my family end up? I like the idea of staying close to them. But it remains to be seen if any of them will make it back to Colorado... and honestly, Colorado doesn't feel quite as much like home as it used to.

So what then? Give Arizona a try after all? In high school I always used to joke about moving there to avoid the snow. Or... finally go to California?

I know it's not a decision I have to make right now... but I think it's something I need to be thinking about over this next year.

Photo Shoot

So... my baby sister Kristie is a fashionista AND a amateur photographer.

Today she said the lighting outside was perfect for a photo shoot. She offered to do my hair, makeup, and accessories, snap some pics, and then edit them for me.

All this for the low low price of ABSOLUTELY FREE! So I had yes and we had a great sister bonding experience.... and now I have a bunch of great pictures I can't really post on Facebook because what the heck, why did Shelece do a photo shoot? What is she, a high school senior?

So... I am going to post them here (and only a couple of my favorites on Facebook). Sorry for the photo blast of myself. It's a little bit ridiculous, I know. :)

Edit: Apparently I am a total dork, because a large number of these ended up on Facebook... don't judge too much, kay? :)