BRITT

2012-01-28T11:38:00.001-07:00

Today I said, "This feels like home." Big moment for me!

My room!

2012-01-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't it stellar?! I just adore it. I have my Van Gogh wall (four paintings) and blue theme. I found this ratty old chair in the basement, cleaned it up, and threw a sheet over it and stuck it in the corner by the window. I love it. :) The only thing that's lacking is my bookshelf (yet to be built) and all the books I brought with me! Those may have to wait till I move into a bigger place, which will hopefully be summertime... But for now, I'm comfortable. :)

One year ago...

2012-01-21T14:35:00.004-07:00

One year ago I had no idea what I was going to do with my major - or my life - and no idea where I was going to live once I graduated; though I knew it wasn't going to be Utah. This is just one more way in which the Washington Seminar changed my life. It gave me personal and professional purpose, as well as a wicked place to live.

Now that I'm here f'or reals, people are constantly asking me, "Why D.C.?" to which I reply, "Why not?" And being here, everything feels so comfortable! I don't adore the place (you can see the front of the house in a picture below - eek!), but it's all right, and even quaint in its own way. I have made one friend and she's someone who it feels like I've known my whole life! Even the interview I didn't get because my data entry test scores were too low (sorry I'm not good at just sitting at a desk, Law Firm!) feels totally comfortable.

My ward seems pretty cool. I've been hearing amazing things about it for a year now, so I have high expectations. Institute was pretty fantastic. I'm taking Teachings of Joseph Smith and I love that we don't have a set text; just various readings. I'm really looking forward to this class.

2011 2012

As for the job search, I met with a few recruiters last week and they all sound pretty hopeful about finding me a job. I feel like I can finally understand what Katie meant when she talked about enjoying her unemployment last year. It really is quite freeing! Yesterday was what I call my Memorial Day, because I took the metro to the city and started walking. For hours. I saw the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial (from afar), D.C. Qar Memorial, and the long-anticipated Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which was awesome. It's a three-part sculpture with him carved out of a piece that is carved from the middle of the stones, if that makes any sense. It's quite lovely. I also had lunch at the White House. :) That is, in front of the White House. I love living in D.C.!

I also visited the law firm where I interned last year, which was a very rewarding experience because all they did was praise me for about an hour and tried to convince me to come back to work for them. It was an amazing experience, for which I will forever be grateful, but now is the time for me to break out into the legal field and branch out a little more. I'm thinking white collar/corporate...?

(Not all of my attempts at self-picture-taking were successful.)

This is to convince people to visit me for the Cherry Blossom Festival in early April!

2012-01-20T21:28:00.001-07:00

New pics from my new life!

2012-01-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to download the "before" picture from my phone:

2012-01-16T18:50:00.001-07:00

I didn't get a "before" picture, but here's the "after:"

And yes, those shutters open up to a mirror! Proud of me? :) Mom talked me into buying it and I love it!

If I Were Queen by My Brightest Diamond

2012-01-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

2011-12-31T18:15:00.003-07:00

2011-12-17T16:15:00.001-07:00

"Above all, you must illumine your own soul with its profundities and its shallows, and its vanities and its generosities, and say what your beauty means to you or your plainness, and what is your relation to the everchanging and turning world."
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Color Test

2011-12-17T14:36:00.002-07:00

WHITE: You value law, order, community and light. You love to protect the social order and the rule of law. At your best, you are just and protective. At your worst, you are authoritarian and dogmatic. Your symbol is a sunburst.

The Personality Test

2011-12-14T16:44:00.004-07:00

I think it was Katie that convinced me to do this. So here are the results. It's says I'm a visionary. Hmmm....

PERSONALITY

INTJs easily understand complex relationships and use these insights to organize their world in logical ways. They believe in themselves and won't be swayed easily from their viewpoints. When they go into action, they are business-like and at times impersonal. INTJs like order and can be determined in their drive to see their inner vision realized. Being visionaries, INTJs enjoy the complexities of new challenges and become bored quickly with unchanging routine. They are independent and may appear a little difficult to get to know until a deeper relationship has been established.

The term judging does not mean judgmental (being critical or negative) - the emphasis is on making decisions.
People with a preference for Judging want their lives to be predictable so they make decisions quickly. Judging-types tend to be organized. Law is a good occupation. In INTJ's occupations, they often work by themselves or in one-to-one situations. The job rewards them for wanting to understand their work and to take the time to delve into it. In other words, they are working with their strengths.

Preference Clarity Graph






	Preference Clarity Strengths

Update

2011-12-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Pulling a Katie: pictures in the mirror

Dinner at roommate Lori's house (purple skirt) in Salt Lake

Sammy (wearing black in the last picture) decorated all our doors with wrapping paper and stockings!

I'm done with classes! I'm not sure it's totally sunk in yet. These are all the books I studied for my 40-page paper and 15-page paper. Eek!

Shake It Out by Florence + the Machine

2011-11-30T17:19:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs&ob=av2e

2011-11-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I love interning here. Once in a while I'll wake up on the wrong side of the bed (at 7:00 in the morning!!), come to court, and not want to be happy because I think of how everyone I deal with are criminals and rule-breakers who have no respect for the law, so they should not be respected. But the vast majority of the time, I believe everyone should be treated with respect and deserve help when needed. So many people come into the courthouse extremely nervous because they don't understand what's going on or what they need to do. That's when I turn on my smile, sit up straighter, and ask if they have any concerns that I can help them with. I just love helping people! Even the big scary men that come in for domestic violence charges (though I want to hit them with the giant hardback Utah Code book) deserve our respect and aid. We give surveys to defendants who have talked to the judge, and one question is what the most helpful part of the court system was. Several people have asked for my title (intern) or first name so they can write it down. I've been called delightful, an angel, and today I was thanked profusely for my "friendly face." Helping people using the law has to be the greatest thing ever. I am so excited to work in DC in the legal field. I talked with a professor at the law school and she said that most people who go into law say they want to "help the world," but that I was different because I seem to genuinely want to help "people" - individuals, one-on-one, personally. She said that's unique and just awesome. Now if I could just get a job as a paralegal!

Phil

2011-11-07T15:05:00.004-07:00

My new car.

2011-11-02T18:10:00.002-06:00

I don't love holidays, so I usually just dress up a little, as needed. I got my Batman mask from a Cocoa Puffs cereal box and thought it'd be fun to wear it as I handed out candy to kids. It was fun!

Dad tried to teach me how to golf. Again. I like to think I'm getting better, but that still remains to be seen.

Something else I learned was that Rook really isn't that bad. Megan swears it's been about four years since I last played. It was Dad's second-to-last night, so I did it for him. :)

Sunday dinner.

Early birthday present: BYU Creamery apron!

It was good to see Trevor, again, too.

Parents Weekend Pictures!

2011-10-23T17:26:00.001-06:00

Dad showed us around the Eyring Science Center, where he spent his BYU days 30 years ago.

We walked all around campus taking pictures. Cuz I'M GRADUATING!!!!

I love Mom.

I couldn't have done it without them. Love you guys!

Road closed? But all MY roads are open!

Lead me, guide me...

That's the SWKT in the background, where I spent most of my time because it's where the Political Science Department is, and thus, most of my classes.

That's my "home away from home!"

I did it! Mom's pretty excited, too.

Mom: "Gaze into your future." Me: "I can't. It's too bright."

I made it to a BYU football game! About time, seeing as I've been here for almost three years. And those are all new shirts. :)

I looooove that foam paw. Rawr.

I have the funnest, kindest, smartest, coolest parents ever!!

2011-10-19T11:22:00.001-06:00

I had a realization today. I. Am. Smart. I’m also surrounded by clever people who are not only book-savvy, but also street smart. I always liked to think that my lack of cultural knowledge (and not understanding sarcasm to save my life) was a charming quirk of mine. Yeah, no. I got laughed AT and was called pathetic yesterday because of this. When did people get mean? Anyhoo, I was sitting in class today, talking to a classmate who I think is one of those intimidatingly intellectual people about our test. I play mahjong during class (the teacher spends 90% of the class period talking about random stuff and 10% percent talking about real political science) and I got a 97 on the test. She comments and asks questions all the time and she got a 90. I just take great comfort in knowing that I may not remember everything I’ve learned in the past four years and two months at college, I have learned a lot and I KNOW a lot. Hence, the realization that I’m actually quite smart. And I definitely speak a more advanced level of Spanish than I thought. My 95 on the first Spanish test and a 95 on my 15-minute presentation, plus Spanish-speakers thanking me profusely at my internship at the courthouse have taught me that. So here’s to DISCOVERy about oneself! “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.”

Shakespeare: it's an obsession.

2011-09-28T18:31:00.002-06:00

2011-09-28T10:30:00.002-06:00

Goal: perfect attendance (and being on time) for all my classes.
Reward: skip class on Halloween and go to Logan!
This is harder than I thought it would be.

2011-09-25T20:28:00.003-06:00

Click here to hear what I'm listening to ("Lonely"). I love Yael Naim's music. See also "New Soul."

Dory

2011-09-20T16:06:00.001-06:00

Having short-term memory keeps life interesting. Case in point:

I spent 15 minutes copying some pages in a book, which I then sent to myself as PDFs, and then went up a floor to my favorite spot in the library, opened by email, and saw that I had 21 messages! I flipped. I thought that something had happened in the family or maybe the world and everyone had emailed me about it. First of all, who thinks like that?! Secondly, they were the pages I had just photocopied and sent to myself. I'm an idiot.

Second case in point: I typed "Dori" into the title of this post, but then I decided I should check with imdb.com to see if I had spelled it right. So I opened a new tab in my browser, and by the time it was ready for me to type in the address, I had forgotten what I was doing! Hahaha

Life is good.

2011-09-18T23:16:00.001-06:00

I was terrified about teaching today. Gospel Doctrine! I don’t know anything about the kind of details involved in the New Testament, which is what I’m to teach about. The class was HUGE and packed. And full of really cute guys. Distracting! I was so nervous and I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had so much information to cram into such a short time – it was messy, but I think I did okay. I worked really hard on it. But when I got home I fell apart because I felt like failure. Then I received this Nice Note from a girl after ward prayer:

“BRITT! Thank you so much for your lesson today. I really appreciated how much you used the scriptures. I could tell you really love the scriptures, and that brought the Spirit. I look forward to more of your lessons.”

I have never met the person that left this note, but I love them so much right now. How thoughtful is that? The Church is true! J

My friends talked me into going to a marionette show Saturday morning, which actually turned out be a quite beautiful - literally and figuratively (story-wise).

Break-up jeans

2011-09-12T18:44:00.003-06:00

(For Katie: how did I do?!)

Birthday weekend

2011-09-07T22:27:00.001-06:00

Every year I talk a little with Fred Adams, the Utah Shakespeare Festival founder, but this year I finally mustered up enough courage - and confidence in my nerdiness - to take my picture with him! He directed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and it was fantastic. Very ostentatious and fantastical, kind of like him.

My amazing mother bought all my Shakespeare tickets for my birthday. Thanks, Mom! She even saw "Richard III" with me, which meant a lot to me. I think she even enjoyed the play more than I did! Richard was a little too attractive; I envisioned him as an old bitter cripple.

I looooooooove Shakespeare. If I could meet one historical figure, it would be him. Fer sher.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and presents! Trevor - You gave me the gift of music, something that means a lot to me. Katie and Jen - I use that water bottle every day. It's so cute! And I already painted my nails. :) Megan - I can't wait to use this set to decorate my new apartment with! It turned out so great; it's totally me! Mom & Dad - "Color oustide the lines." Thanks for always encouraging my quirkiness. Grandma - Those $2 bills remind me of what a novelty you are. Thanks for your love!

23

2011-09-02T11:48:00.000-06:00

Last First Day

2011-08-30T15:54:00.000-06:00

Verdict for my final semester in Provo: Busy, but benefitial. I hope I still have time to play!
SPAN 451: Latin American Literature (8-page paper)
PL SC 375: International Organizations (15-page paper on the International Court of Justice)
PL SC 450: Political Theory Capstone (30-page paper on the International Court of Justice in Latin America... or in China. Which should I do???)
Creamery on Ninth East work: Walk around and feel powerful.
Justice Court internship: Sit around and feel helpless (it's a learning curve).

My life, come Monday...

2011-08-25T22:34:00.000-06:00

SWKT: Political Science Department

Provo City Justice Court: Internship

Creamery on Ninth East: Grocery Supervisor

DISCOVER the power within yourself.

2011-08-14T22:13:00.000-06:00

Quotes from Sunday:

"Is that a ham?" "Yeah, a ham that's shaped like America!" -K-B

You're like a little fortune cookie quotebook. -K to B

Your family is awesome. You are awesome! -T to B

Trevor and me

2011-08-08T14:12:00.000-06:00

Thanks for dinner last week!

Katie and Scott

2011-08-07T18:07:00.005-06:00

Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys!

Ryan and Chelsea

2011-08-06T18:46:00.004-06:00

Thanks for the therapy session!

2011-08-04T13:09:00.001-06:00

When I worked at a law firm, I would go to court, hand over a Petition or Motion for one our cases, and that would be the end of it. A few days later, I could find it scanned in the court system so I can access it online anytime. Well, working for the Court is a little different. Today I ventured down to the basement and met some lovely people who gave me some not-so-lovely work to do. I sat and took out staples for about half and hour straight (about 400 pages). I hurt in places I didn't even know I had, like in the crook of my elbow. Do YOU even know where that is?! Ouch. Then I got to scan more than 700 pages of stuff that lawyers had filed with the Court! Like I used to do in D.C.! The work was tedious, but I do quite enjoy my internship at the Provo Justice Court. Granted, it's only been one day, but I'm so excited to work there! The people are so friendly and the Judge is very personable. He calls me Britt. :)
In other good news, I am the new Grocery Supervisor at the Creamery! I am graduating in four months, so it won't be a long-lived promotion, but it's a good note to end on, don't ya think? I am so happy.

2011-08-04T07:14:00.000-06:00

Baptisms with Chelsea in Salt Lake.

Then lunch at the Lion House - yum!

Megan was CRAVING Magleby's award-winning chocolate cake from Provo! So I brought some up from her and as soon as I had a bite of it, I was craving it all weekend, too!

We played games in the park and ate tootsie rolls.

I just love these two.

Don't live every day as if it were your last. Live every day as if it were your first.

2011-08-01T14:54:00.002-06:00

Paulo Coelho

Birthday Wish List

2011-08-01T14:53:00.000-06:00

Bardisms by Barry Edelstein
Aleph by Paulo Coelho
Toe socks
Aluminum water bottle
Black's Law Dictionary (latest edition)
Homemade birthday blocks
Advice on graduating college and living on my own in a new city with a new job

September 2.
23 and proud!

Demolition Derby

2011-07-24T21:52:00.001-06:00

I hadn't seen my best friend from high school since December, when I left for D.C.! We drove to Kamas Saturday afternoon and had dinner with his family in their cabin before going to the Demolition Derby.

It was my first time to one of these and it was incredible! Total adrenaline rush, which I was not expecting.

The guy we cheered for (he was in the Torontos' ward).

Hiking the Y

2011-07-18T19:48:00.000-06:00

Katie helped me cross this one off my Bucket List!

Panguitch

2011-07-18T18:45:00.000-06:00

2011-07-13T15:14:00.002-06:00

I'm graduating in December. So excited.

And more than a little freaked out.

I've been especially worrying about getting a job as a paralegal upon graduation; but now I'm feeling pretty good. Actually these past two days my heart has been bursting with happiness.

At the beginning of Summer Term, I was talking to someone in my Spanish class and she told me she's done three internships! What a bizarre idea. Then I got an email inviting me to apply for an internship for the Fall at the Provo Justice Court, where they deal with misdemeanors and small claims. Mom was adamant that I apply. Then I went in for training on Monday and met with the judge on Tuesday, when he said the internship was mine if I wanted it!

(Judge)

It fits absolutely perfectly in my schedule and I'm so freaking excited. I can already tell it's going to be change of mentality, coming from working at a family law firm to working for the court. I figured it out while talking to Dad about it - it's two sides to the same coin: the side where you defend good people to whom bad things have happened; the other side is punishing the bad people. Both times you're working for the people (Dad made sure to clarify). This time it feels kinda funny to be punishing the bad guys instead of defending the good guys (and sometimes not-so-good-guys), but it sounds like the judge tries very hard to do what is best for the defendant. What an amazing opportunity.

This is how I'm feeling right about now.

I have to add that the morning I was to meet with the judge my alarm didn't go off, but I woke up abnormally early, anyway. I mean, somebody wants me to have this internship, don't they? :)

Now, if I could just secure the supervisor position at work, I would really be bursting with joy:

But we'll see. And if that doesn't happen, how could I possibly be more blessed than I am right now?

2011-07-07T15:17:00.002-06:00

Remember how Katie used to always call me Pain and Megan, Panic (like in Hercules)? Well I've realized that maybe now I have proof that I really am super sensitive to pain! I ran into an escalator in Hawaii two years ago and I have a dent in my leg from it. I was climbing out of a boat in Bangkok and scraped my knee a couple months ago and now I have a scar from that! I burned my finer in Colorado and there's a light spot now; I cut my leg on an open can and there's a scarline from that... The list goes on! My skin is just sensitive. Proof! Ha.

2011-07-04T23:40:00.000-06:00

As graduation hovers over me like a black hole, with an abyss of my new life on the other side of its vacant wormhole, I begin to dwell on the things I feel like I might regret upon my leaving this stage of my life. Examples: minoring in Chinese, as well as my current Spanish minor; working harder in that ONE class; gone to more football games - things of that nature. But the more I think about it, the more the thoughts that say "you don't actually regret any of those" comes into my mind and take over my increasingly downtrodden mind and spirit. Take a lookee: minoring on mandarin would have put me back a year (eek!); I worked during football games and had fun with the fans getting ice cream after the games (woot!); it is said that employers don't really look at your transcript anyway (besides, I worked HARD in each and every one of my classes).

I've always kind of taken pride in the fact that I listen to the general population's own regrets and try to avoid those. Examples: take a year off after college before grad school and travel. Traveling has always been a part of my life, so I don't feel the need to take a year off to just do that- it's already sprinkled throughout my year (see earlier post). I plan on working, though, for a few years before applying for grad/law school. People also say that college is a unique time in your life and you should take advantage of the lifestyle. So I enjoyed some fun classes and am graduating a semester late. I also did Study Abroad, another special experience they say to take advantage of while in a school setting. I even came to BYU because everyone has said it's a special place, nothing quite like it; a unique opportunity for LDS students. So I transferred here when the timing was right for me.

I have studied my passion (political theory), kept up my language skills (Spanish AND Mandarin), studied theater in London, interned in Washington, DC, roomed with best friend... I feel pretty good about graduating! And though the black hole known as my December graduation is slightly frightening, it's ten times more exciting than scary because I have done all that I wanted to do.

No regrets here!

Obsession Confession

2011-06-26T19:50:00.002-06:00

What can I say? It is something I can really sink my teeth into.

2011-06-22T15:09:00.002-06:00

I know that people don't really read blogs; they mostly just look at the pictures. But my current situation causes me to forgo such normalities and enter the world of rebelliousness. Current situation: can't get pictures off my camera.

School
Spanish Linguistics class
- I was totally pumped for this class because the material seems very interesting and it's all so new to me. Then I did the homework - oh my gosh. We had to watch a video of vocal chords moving around while the person was talking. It was the nastiest thing ever. As past roommates can confirm, I have a physical reaction to this kind of anatomy stuff. It makes me extremely uncomfortable and my stomach rolls up into knots. I could not watch it. Diagrams with black and white drawings - fine; I can memorize the pieces of the throat that way. I think...
Spanish Compositions
- This class seems okay. The maestra is a tiny little woman who talks so quietly and still expects us to laugh at her jokes, though none of us can quite hear what she's saying. I have lots of experience writing papers, though, so I think I'll be just fine in this class.

Work
- I'm back at the Creamery on Ninth East, should you ever feel inclined to visit. And whoa, is it busy! We've got EFYers, Freshman in their pajamas, sports camps kids, parents dropping their kids off at college, and the occasional 80-year-old that wants to tell you all about their days at BYU 100 years ago. But I can't deny that being back has some perks: I get to hang out with my old Creamery friends at work and make new C-friends; I don't have to be trained; my pay increased this semester; and I get a whomping discount on Cougareat and Creamery food (L&T wrap with grapes, anyone?).

Ward
- Sunday was so fun. This ward is very friendly and funny. Too bad I have to leave come Fall Semester.
- Went to a RS meeting and now I'm even more attached! The girls are the so generous and want to know everything about my life, including what it's like to be back in the States. I was taken aback by their questions because very few ask about what it was like growing up overseas, and even less ask what it's like to come back! Yay for new friends! Even if I am leaving the ward in five weeks...

And that's it! I like my little life. I go to class, study in the library, eat some lunch at the round tables and watch all the little teenyboppers run around, go to another class, eat dinner at home while reading Shakespeare, and then go to work for the night. There used to be four of us in the apartment, but two of them got married (I tend to have that affect on roommates, apparently), so now it's just two of us. Holla!

2011-06-12T06:25:00.001-06:00

(It's good luck.)

Bangkok, Thailand: We were five Americans, living in Malaysia, eating Chinese food in Thailand; best part: the common language between us and the Thai waiters was Chinese (which only one of us spoke - yours truly). I was the tour guide, which made things a little too stressed by our last day there. But it was a really fun trip. (Though I don't think I'll ever go back. Lol)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Mom and I tag-teamed as tour guides. It was so great spending so much time with family. Jesse and I would eat breakfast together, though we didn't talk much cuz we were so jet-lagged. Then we would go exploring/sight-seeing, come back for a swim, meet Dad for dinner at the Pavilion mall that housed our favorite restaurant, a Chinese place; finally home for games and five episodes of Castle!

Langkawi, Malaysia: Laid on the beach and got a tan; finished reading "Will in the World" while chillaxing in my favorite orange hammock on the beach; got served lunch by the pool...

Singapore: hotel room to myself sounded fun, but I'm already going crazy! Need interaction. Going exploring tomorrow all day and I'm gonna try to eat as much authentic Chinese food as possible, while practicing my Mandarin a bit. Then Tuesday I'm off to... home? Logan, then Provo for my final two semesters of college!!

This is where I get to brag about Dad. He works on the 52nd floor of the tallest twin towers in the world! Woot woot!

Grocery shopping with Mom. In the garage below our apartment. Out of a truck.

Very new experience for me: taking an open-air train with the locals. 25 cents per person. Oh and we got lost. But only for a bit!

Katie can sky dive, paraglide, climb the tallest mountains - but she CANNOT put her feet into water with fish that suck dead skin off your feet. I CAN!! SKADOOSH.

Heehee. I rode an elephant. That's twice now, baby! You should have seen its tusks.

Bangkok: temple after temple after temple. But they were all unique in their own way, and the Grand Palace was stunning. This one doesn't look that tall, but start hiking up the stairs and you will change your mind! (That's what I did.)

As I mentioned, I was tour guide. Sometimes we got lost. :) All part of the adventure!

Great trip with great people! (Megan, Jesse, Mom, and Dad)

mY fAmILy

2010-07-19T08:54:00.000-06:00