Autumn

A few weeks ago, some friends and I made an evening trip up Emigration Canyon to soak in the autumn colors. Here's a few pictures from our excursions. My photography is untrained and uninformed, so the pictures that do turn out well are basically happy accidents. The picture above is one of my favorites from the trip - I love the composition and the plants in the foreground and the shape of the clouds above the mountains and the glow in the sky and the lake in the middle.

Autumn is my favorite season

And we're having such a good one this year.

Winter Sunsets

Living up on the eastern slopes of the mountains, I'm regularly treated to some pretty spectacular sunsets. I wish I could capture them in all their glory, but I always fall short.

The frustrating thing about photography is that it's never as awesome in your lens as it is in person. Also, I'm still shooting on full auto. I'm not sure how to adjust my camera so I get a longer exposure and thus (hopefully) more saturated colors for shots like these.

This is what I did today instead of homework

We got a bunch of snow today - judging from how much I shoveled off our walk, at least half a foot. Then again, I do live up against the mountains, so it's possible those down in the valley got less snow. I was generously gifted a camera last year for Christmas, and one of my New Year's "I'd like to do better" goals was to use it more.

Isn't it gorgeous?

I'll tell you what's not gorgeous: shoveling it. The upside to shoveling, though, is that it keeps you warm. After just a few minutes I took my hat and coat off and was clearing our walk in just a t-shirt and scarf. Have a few artsy shots of my neighbor's retaining wall.

The sun's starting to peak out from behind the clouds...

And I'll finish off with a shot of my boots, because they make me happy and keep my feet warm and dry. Dry, warm feet cannot be overrated, especially in the winter.

I'd Like to Thank My Father for Teaching Me to Use A Screwdriver

When I left work last night, the view of campus looked like this:

Magical, huh? It sure was gorgeous, but it was also very, very wet. It was so warm that when you stepped in it, it melted under your feet. Good thing I shoveled the sidewalks, because last night the temperature dropped almost 40 degrees and all that slush turned into ice. My walk to the office this morning almost killed me (okay, I exaggerate -- it almost dropped me on my tush) at least four times from the hazardously icy sidewalks. On the upside, though, there was this:

Since the semester is now officially over, the office is, how shall I say this, extremely slow. At least one person came in yesterday, and I did get a few calls. However, today: zilch. Good thing I Had A Plan.

This is what my office looked like my first day of work back in August.

This is what my office looked like at noon after I spent the morning rearranging it.

Okay, it wasn't that big of a rearrangement, mostly I just switched the orientation of my desk. You can't see it in either of the above photos, but my office houses the office's library on a couple of bookshelves just out of the picture on the left. That means people are popping in and out of my office looking for things. In the previous orientation, that meant getting out of or back into my desk space was really annoying if people were perusing our collection, and since people do that pretty often, the situation was less than desirable. So with all the lovely time I have on my hands while the semester is out, I hatched A Plan to fix that.

I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. That desk is huge and while it's not massively heavy, it is unwieldy. The two parts are actually screwed together, a fact I found out after clearing it off and trying to move it. Unscrewing it was easy, and once the two parts were separated it was pretty easy to get them moved to where I wanted them. The hard part was getting them screwed back together. You have to hold the smaller piece in place to make everything line up correctly, and obviously I can't hold it in place and screw it together at the same time. (Believe me, I did try. I tried to hold it up with my legs and  screw it in (with my hands, obviously), but it was a no go.) No one else was in the office, and I couldn't just go pop into the Controller's office across the hall and ask some startled accountant if they'd like to come hold my desk in place while I screw it together.

The solution I came up with is, I think, certifiably genius. Or at least worthy of being dubbed "MacGyvered".

Yup. That's a camera tripod. Genius, right? Sometimes I just really love myself.

Well, that did the trick, and I had the two pieces back together. Then I spent about a half-hour wrangling the appalling tangle of cords sprouting out of the back of my computer into a manageable tangle...

...and put everything back together. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with myself for getting it all right on the first try. I didn't even have to hunt for the reason why my second monitor wasn't working or (fake) swear at my printer for doing wonky things. Nope, it all turned back on perfectly.

Here's the view from the back corner of my office, looking out the door into the hallway leading to the rest of the office. You can see the bookshelves I mentioned above behind the lamp. And that's a picture of one of the bridges over the Han River in Seoul on my computer desktop.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I feel accomplished.

Night Hiking: NOT a good idea

None of these are from this hike (my camera's  dead). They're from my mission.

It's officially fall here. It's been getting gradually cooler and the leaves have been starting to display hints of color for weeks, but this last Wednesday it was like someone suddenly flipped a switch and it was autumn in earnest. The daytime temperature dropped about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit and the nighttime temperatures dipped into the low forties. I woke up Thursday morning shivering (I only had one blanket on my bed and my bed is right under the window) with a cold nose for the first time since probably March. Since autumn is my favorite season this isn't really a bummer. I enjoy cardigans and sweaters and hoodies and I almost always wear long pants anyway.

But that's not the point of this post. Or rather, that's only to give you the necessary background for this post. Along with the gorgeous autumn leaves and the cooler temperatures comes the only thing I don't like about fall: less light. It gets darker faster. Well, a friend and I, hearing how gorgeous the canyon was with all the fall leaves, decided to leave right after work to go do a hike up there. We'd decided on a 3-miler that winds up the mountain, across the top of a small ridge, and back down again. Since it's not an up-and-down hike, we'd also have a 1.5 mile walk back to the car once we got back down the mountain: all together, 4.5 miles. We got there in pretty good time, and we started up about 5:30. The thing is, that hike is steep. And I am out of shape. Plus, I like to stop and admire the scenery from many different angles on the way up (and rest, because I'm very out of shape).

The rumors weren't wrong -- the trees were stunning and the views on the way up the trail and at the top were gorgeous, especially as the setting sun sunk behind the mountains. The problem is that we were only about halfway done by about 7, which is when (right now) the sun starts to set in earnest. On top of that, instead of hiking east to west so we'd be on the west side of the mountain coming down, we'd hiked west-to-east and were making our way down a very steep path in the rapidly fading light. And we hadn't thought to bring a flashlight. Or rather, we'd thought, but hadn't turned that thought into action. Let me tell you, coming down a mountain when you can barely see five feet in front of you is a little nerve-wracking. Thankfully (and with the help of some whispered prayers), we made it to the bottom right as full dark fell. That still left us with a 1.5 mile treck along the river at the bottom of the canyon to make it back to the car in the dark. With no flashlight.

Well, obviously this story ends well since I'm here to update about it. But it certainly wasn't my finest hour. Nor am I particularly anxious to reprise the experience. Once was one time too many. And it was great to sit in a car with headlights (the climb up did something painful to my left hip flexor, and the climb down made my knees and toes very unhappy). However, it was almost worth it for the chance to see the amazing fall foliage up close and breathe in the crisp, autumn air. On the other hand, my poor legs hate me today, particularly that hip flexor. I've been hobbling around like an old person and avoiding stairs (a challenge, since I live in the basement). Next time I'm going to take a sturdy walking stick with me. Gandalf's staff with the glow-y crystal would have been handy.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Fall leaves at the traditional Korean village just outside of Seoul, 2008.

Autumn has always been my favorite season, and this year is no exception. The weather has been cooling off lately, which gets me all excited. I've been trying to wear my sweaters for the last week or so. It's still too warm to really pull that off, but I know I shouldn't wish the warm temperatures away; come January I'll be begging for them to make a comeback. Until then, however, I'm reveling in the crisp evening air and the occasional smell of woodsmoke that drifts through my window.

The End of Summer

Summer has never been my favorite season. I much prefer the milder temperatures and back-to-school bustle of autumn. But the thing I do love about summer is the long hours of sunlight, and sitting on the porch lazily watching the sun set and swinging my feet. Summer evenings are especially gorgeous here in Utah, when the sun sets in a blaze of red-orange-yellow-pink glory behind the mountains. I love the slight chill that creeps into the air as the sky gradually darkens, and the ch-ch-ch-ch-ch of the sprinklers as they spray arcs of water across the lawn.

My last year of undergrad starts Monday. The evenings are getting chillier, despite the 90+ degree weather we still have during the day. September is less than a week away. Autumn is right around the corner now.

I Wish I Had a Camera

Photo here

We got quite a bit of snow the other night. In fact, it all came down in the space of just a few hours -- when I went in to volunteer at the English Learning Center, it was raining lightly. Two hours later when I left, the snow was above my ankles and it was covering my car faster than I could brush it off. I couldn't find my fuel door, even. I wish I had a camera, a nice one, so that I could do the beautiful scenery justice. It's been years since I've seen mountains covered with snow. Photography is one of those things that I wish I was good at, because I love pictures; but I'm just not. I especially love light in both photographs and films, and good lighting can make the difference between average and amazing. Maybe one day I'll take a class and improve my skills, even if I can't be great.

Recently I've started volunteering at the English Learning Center here in the city (which was, coincidentally, founded and is run by one of my neighbors from my old neighborhood when I lived here before) and also as an English conversation partner for a USU international student. As you'd expect, most of the students at the ELC are from Spanish-speaking countries, but there are also quite a few from other places; Wednesday night there was a boy from Somalia, a girl from Myanmar, and another girl from Georgia. My student is Korean (yay!) and through her I've gotten to meet other Korean students. There are quite a few more than I thought there would be, though not as many as are at BYU. It's nice to have people to talk to about things like dramas and music and TV shows that no one here watches or listens to, and they think I'm cool instead of weird for doing it. But anyway. The point of all that was to share how much I'm enjoying helping people learn English. I think I'm pretty good at explaining things understandably, mostly because my parents always taught me about my own language when I was growing up, and so I have a greater awareness of it than most people. Plus, I know what it's like to be on the other end and be the one learning rather than the one teaching. I think it makes me more patient and understanding. Or at least I hope so. Learning another language is hard, and there's so much you have to learn from experience and hundreds or even thousands of hours of listening and speaking. But I love seeing the light of understanding in people's eyes when they finally understand something they've been struggling with for a long time. I love teaching for that reason. Because as admirable as it is to help people attain stuff, if you help someone attain understanding, you've changed their life forever and given them the tools to help themselves. 

What Is to Come

Fall has been lovely this year. It's hard to believe that it's the middle of November; it's been unusually warm and bright this year. Green leaves have lingered on the trees far longer than I can ever remember them doing so before. Of course, I've mostly experienced it through the window, since I spend the majority of my time at home with B, but I still appreciate the sunny days and the splendid view outside.

It's hard to imagine that five weeks from now I'll be leaving this area for good, at least for the foreseeable future. (What a funny phrase that is -- how much of the future is actually foreseeable? None of it, really.) I'm not really thrilled about starting all over -- again. In the last five years, since I left home to come to SJC, I haven't lived in the same four walls for longer than six or seven months. Moving yet again isn't exactly thrilling, as I said, but hopefully I can stay in one place for at least a year and a half this time, while I (finally!!) finish up my undergraduate degree. I've even decided not to reapply for the CLS program and try to go back to Korea next summer, which I would love.

I'm nervous about starting over, honestly. I don't think I'm good at making good first impressions, or friends, for that matter. I think I am a good friend, at least I try to be, but I always find the initial stages very difficult. I think part of it is that I lack confidence that I'm an interesting person, someone that other people would voluntarily choose to be around. It's amazing how far-reaching the effects of a few years and some bad experiences in elementary and middle school can have. Plus, being a 24-year-old junior in college, when most people my age have already graduated and gone on to jobs or graduate school or families, doesn't exactly make me feel better.

But I am grateful to be moving closer to my extended family. It's been a decade since I've lived in Utah, and almost four years since I've been back; it will be good to see my cousins, uncles and aunts, and grandparents again, and more regularly. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to save money and help my grandparents out at the same time, as well as the chance to be in a place where the influence of the Church is strong, learn about my family history, and take the time to learn about Church history more thoroughly. Not to mention, I have the chance to study what I want to study. (Though sadly, despite Korean being in the USU catalog, they don't actually offer those classes at the moment.) Who knows what other opportunities lie waiting for me to discover them?

It Seems Like All I Ever Write About Is Snow

Yep, that's right: it's snowing. Again. That makes three snowstorms of fairly major proportions (at least for this neck of the woods) in a week and a half. A week and a half! When some winters it doesn't even snow at all! And if you remember, there was another big snowstorm here back in the middle of December. Four snowstorms in one season? 말이 돼?!?

So what have I been doing with this windfall of extra time? Given that I can't go to work and classes are canceled, surely I've been doing something productive like finding a cure for cancer, right? Wrong. The most productive thing I've accomplished since last Thursday has probably been shaving my legs.

I know, I know. I'm hopeless.

But now, to spice things up, I thought I'd compile a short list for you, entitled:

Some Reasons Why I Watch Kdramas

1. The men are hot. (I never claimed this would be a meaningful list of reasons.)

2. I like romance. Kdramas are usually full to overflowing with romantic cliches. 

3. I'm a snob. I like that I can (mostly) understand Korean.

4. Did I mention the men are hot? And always doing romantic things for the girl?

5. I like that family ties are strong and meaningful to many of the story-lines. It's an aspect of life that is often missing in popular American television.

눈이 또 왔어

It's snowing again. Apparently it's supposed to be a major storm; they've even canceled all the public transit after four today and all day tomorrow. From other reports people have been cleaning out the grocery stores and probably racing to get gas and other such things. Seriously, what better argument do you need to have a food storage? Of course, here I am, a college student living in the dorms -- my food storage consists of half a jar of peanut butter, some seaweed, a package of saltine crackers, and some craisons. Oh, and I have some ramyeon. And tea. And a summer sausage, from Christmas...so I probably won't starve, but I can't say I'll be very nourished, either.

This week has not been a good one. I would think that going to the temple twice in the last two weeks would improve the quality of my life, but strangely I think I've been stupider than usual this week. Not even the thick curtain of falling snow coating all the trees and turning campus into a life-size snowglobe can improve my mood right now. Not even not having to go into work today can improve my mood -- mostly because I actually bothered to put on make-up, and now I'm miffed that I have nowhere to wear it.




Actually, I think I'm just miffed at everything. Everything I can think of seems annoying right now, even watching kdramas. *gasp*

I miss my family. I wish I was home. *sigh*

눈이 왔어

I grew up in places where it snowed. A lot. First Logan, in the Wasatch Mountains, then in Bozeman, where we played outside on the playground before school until the temperature dropped to zero degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius). Then when I was in middle school we moved to Tennessee, and I haven't seen much of the snow since. I've missed it. So many of my childhood memories of winter involve bulky snowsuits, lost mittens, our boots making wet tracks on the floor, the cold wind stinging our cheeks, sledding, snowmen, snowballs, snowangels...anything you could possibly make out of snow. I love the hush that covers the earth when the snow comes, and the soft, pale grey of the sky when it falls. I love the crunch of it under my feet, the white frosting that covers everything and makes the winter world into a winter wonderland.

Rick and me on our way to get food after an exciting drive home from the temple

So you can imagine my unbridled joy when I came out of the temple this morning to find it snowing heavily and two inches already on the ground! Could anything be better than to be surround by lovely, sparkling, brilliant snow after coming out of the temple? The only thing that dimmed my enthusiasm for the snow was the two-hour drive home - the two-hour drive that normally takes only an hour. And the fact that because Rick's brakes are not so good after he had a little accident the last time he drove in snow, we went between 15 and 30 mph all the way home, sometimes slowing to barely 5 mph. And we fishtailed some, failed to get the chains on, and didn't get to have Korean food for lunch. I am a slight bit miffed about that. But still, we made it home in one piece, I didn't have to go to work because of the snow, and campus looks just like a snow globe! It's definitely picturesque. Too bad a bunch of meanies have already ruined the snow so I can't take a picture.

On the third day of Christmas...

Did you know, the twelve days of Christmas actually START on Christmas? They end on 6 January, or Epiphany, the day that tradition says the Wise Men came to see Jesus. Of course, it didn't actually happen like that...but then again, Jesus wasn't born on 25 December, either.

It's been so wonderful this last week to be home! I've missed it. And Christmas was even better! Not because of the presents, though I was excited to get a really awesome mixing bowl, but because for the first time in over two years my whole family was under the same roof at the same time. Well, the whole family plus Doug. :)

Things I Love About Winter

SNOW!

seeing your breath in the air

Christmas trees and the smell of pine leaves slowly permeating the house

making snow angels

the crisp, fresh scent of the air

bundling up in sweaters and coats and gloves and hats and earmuffs and lots of socks

(this one is infinitely more fun if you are NOT a missionary who has to constantly wear all of these - and more! - because you are outside all day and well into the evening)

Christmas!!!

winter break and going home and NO SCHOOL!

snuggling down in my bed in the morning when I wake up a little bit early

white Christmas lights

hot chocolate

when in Korea, getting to turn on the floor and having toasty feet all the time

"Friends are the sunshine of life"

Today is a good day. I love windy fall days, when the sun is clear and bright but not hot, and the trees dance in the wind like maidens with long, rustling scarves. I love the little nip and chill in the air, the brisk smell that comes with the cooling weather and signals the end of long, hot, humid summer. I love it when I finish class before 2:30 and I have the rest of the afternoon and evening open. I love the feeling of finally turning in a paper and knowing that it's not hanging over your head anymore. Today is good for all of those reasons.

But today is a great day because today I got an email from one of my investigators back in Korea. She's actually written me several times, the most faithful of anyone there, missionary, member, or investigator. She was actually a referral from another one of our investigators. At first I wasn't very optimistic about her ever progressing, but as we continued to meet with her we discovered that she wanted very much to be a good wife and mother. She has two absolutely adorable little girls who are about age seven and eight now. All three of them were so sweet, and so sad when I left Korea. It's always a real joy to hear from her. Now, I've just got to get her meeting with the missionaries again...

I'm always sad when September ends

...but I really do love October. October is such a yummy, plummy, mysterious kind of month. All the trees explode into color and the air gets crisp. People wear sweaters and hoodies and drink hot chocolate, and no one wears short shorts or sandals anymore. I never feel like the world is dying when autumn rolls around, like some; I always think of it as getting ready to wrap itself up in the chill, white blankets of winter snow and falling asleep. I sympathize. I love bedtime! I love getting into my jammies and snuggling down in my bed under my blankets. I love breathing in the cold air in the room, and the contrast between it and my lovely warm self. I love jackets and peacoats and hats and mittens and crunchy leaves and all that comes with autumn!

I love September!

Besides being my birthday month (only 1.5 weeks left!), September, along with October, are the most beautiful months of the year. Summer is definitely not my favorite season, and while winter and spring have their own charms, I shall forever be an autumn girl. And it almost seems that the weather itself is celebrating the advent this most lovely of seasons -- for the last few days it's been pleasantly cool, with a playful breeze keeping the beaming sun from being too hot. Pretty soon the leaves will start to change colors, and it will begin to get cool and then even cold and we'll all be snuggled up in our jackets and sweaters and get to drink hot chocolate.

Oh, I love fall. :)

thanks to this website for the photograph