My Favorite Place

For all my world travels, there's a place I love the best. I can't shake the connection I feel to the landscape, the people, and the way of life. I think about this place a lot and wonder if I will ever feel at home somewhere as I have here.

I just finished watching Out of Africa, which is an amazing movie. I love the Columbia Basin and Washington like Karen loves Africa and her "farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills." People didn't understand her, and they for sure don't understand me, and that's okay.

Dad

Happy birthday Dad!!

It was my dad's birthday on the 21st, so yes this is a little late. I heard this song over Christmas break, and even though it is a song for the holidays, it describes my dad quite well. Click on the picture to get the link to the song.


Here are some reasons my dad is super cool:
-He can fix anything. He can even tell you how to fix it over the phone.
-He's super smart. He's the only one that can compete with my mom in Trivial pursuit. But it's more than that. He's an engineer, physicist, mathematician, chemist, architect, brick mason, entrepreneur, and lots of other things. You know MacGyver? He's got nothin on my dad.
-He's really athletic. Thank goodness, or else all us kids would be hopeless. Sorry, Mom.
-He's looks like Harrison Ford. They even have matching scars on their chins.
-He takes good care of his family.
-He wears flip flops. He's very chill and laid back.
-Whenever I see a Chevy Silverado, I think of my dad.
Love ya dad.

Deer Valley

So I've been quite the slacker. I haven't posted anything for more than a month. But I need to realize I can post even if I don't have anything profound to say.
I'm in the groove, listening to some piano music, and most importantly, it isn't my bedtime yet, so blogging it is.

I started at Deer Valley Resort almost a month ago and it's been my life these last couple of weeks. It's been my life not only because I really enjoy it, but also because it's required. Most of you who read this already know that. Here's what's been happening.

4:30 A.M.: I wake up and try not to bang around too much as I get ready so that my roommate, Holly, can still sleep.

6:10 A.M.: I catch the bus that takes me to Park City.

7:25 A.M.: I get to work and eat breakfast. Deer Valley treats their employees very well. We have our own employee dining room and there is free breakfast, cereal and bagels, every morning.

7:45: I go to work. My official title is "Skier Services Sales Agent." This means I help guests who come in book rentals, child care, lessons, and whatever else they might need.

The people I work with are great. Most of them are women and none are under 35. I'm the only full time agent in my area. I work 40 hours a week while everyone else works 20 or less.
I remember the first day of training and having that lost feeling that I've had at all of my jobs, and then reminding myself that in a week or so I would have it all down. And I was right. I now have the hang of things. But everyday I learn something new, which is great for fending off the boredom/routine feeling one can get.

Noon: I eat lunch in The Spoon, the employee dining room. We have all the menu options the guests do, but at a discounted rate and we pay by swiping our ID cards. I've had Tilapia, Rack of Lamb, Prime Rib, Crab, Risotto, and lots more. I've started to look like it too. I now pack my own lunches to save calories and money. I do have the lunch once a week when they have fish, because it's good for me. I can't get Mahi Mahi for $3.50.

1:00 P.M.: The afternoons are spent conducting "marketing research." I ride up the lifts with guests and ask them questions about the resort, which I record on a Palm Pilot. Then I ski down by myself, whichever runs I choose. Yeah, pretty rough, I know. ;)

5:20 P.M.: Work is done. I catch the bus back to Provo.

7 P.M.: I get home. I have a couple of hours of freedom to check emails, spend time with friends, or whatever.

9:30 P.M.: Lights out to be ready to do it all over again the next day.

The Savior

I've been pretty selfish lately, and even with the Christmas season, I've been having a hard time looking past myself.

It would be ridiculous to have a public site where I post about myself without acknowledging my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Soon we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior. He was born into this world to sacrifice everything for us and atone for our sins. I know that through his gospel I can have an eternal family. His life is a beautiful testament of our Father's love. I love him in return very much. I know he lives.

City Libraries

One of the biggest groans you hear from students is how much time they spend in the library and how they hate it so much. I'm glad that's not me.

I recently joined the Provo city public library because I have a lot of time to read now, which I absolutely love. City libraries are the best. Of course, this library is much bigger than the one in Royal City and I like that I don't have to wait weeks for the book I want to be delivered. Belonging to a library makes me feel good. I'm not sure why, but it does. I like that I can get pretty much any book (or movie) that I want, that it's free, and that my library card is small enough to be on my car keys so it's with me at all times.


I also like the people at the library. Mostly I just like to people watch. At BYU, just about everyone is white, 18-28, and LDS. But when you enter a public library you get it all. Homeless people, people with more tattoos than you can count, old people, and lots more. Today, there were two men playing chess between the C & D fiction section.
Going to the library is like a breath of fresh air. Even if that
air smells of old books and is a little musty.

Why Blog

So my cousin Paula convinced me to start a blog. It didn't take very much persuasion on her part because I had already been knocking the idea around in my head. Then I just decided to bite the bullet and start.

Of course I spent, and probably will spend, most of my time on the little details. Which pictures to use, font, color, things like that. Then I was stuck on the name. What do you title a page that will live for years and probably not change? It's like naming a kid. Don't mess up because the kid will have that name for the rest of their life. This blog isn't my baby; I'm not that attached. But I did want to give it a good and honorable name, as a reflection of its owner and contributor. ;)

Now you're thinking, "Why in the heck did she name it Suddenly September?" I will tell you why. My year revolves around summer. I love winter, but summer is definitely the best. But being a student, my year begins in September. Consider it my fiscal calendar. You hit the old grind of homework and tests. Christmas break brings some relief, but then you have to do it all over again. And then something magical happens...Summer arrives. No more worrying, no more paying ridiculous parking tickets, no messy roommates.

But summer is more than just not having school. It's having weather that makes you want to be outside all the time. The activities you want to do fill up the day. Bike rides, horse rides, lying beneath the stars, reading books, watching the sun set, camping, swimming, rodeos, barbecues, baseball, and tons of other things. Things that you wish would never end. But they do.


And before you know it it's over, and suddenly September.

Dream Big

In class today we presented on our dream jobs. I had a million things I could have presented on! REI Adventure trip planner, The Amazing Race travel agent, corporate incentive travel, personal travel guide to Matt Damon...the list goes on and on. I was excited to present and excited to hear what other people chose.

Then I got to class.

Community center event staff, high school teacher, aquatic center director for Provo....

Don't get me wrong. These are honorable and good jobs. But really? A professor tells you to choose whatever job you want or could possibly ever want, and you choose to talk about running a community center in Santaquin, UT? I have to defend my major to friends and family, on a daily basis, who think the only jobs I'll ever be able to get are limited to city parks or the YMCA. Recreation entails so much more than that. Now I know the jobs listed above are more realistic than mine and that many people keep their dreams to themselves in an act of self preservation, but I think we all need to dream big ever once in awhile.
No matter how ridiculous the dream may be.