why hello there.

Alright, alright, I realize that it has been 19 days (nineteen days! Wow.) since my last post. My apologies.

I made it home to Provo, huzzah! What a wonderful, wonderful thing it was to see my brother to pick me up, and to spend three nights with my sister Julie. I realized that the Vancouver trip was the longest I'd ever been away from ANY of my family. And now I have real empathy for home-sickness. :)

Flying home was quite a feat; I had to decide what was worthy to bring home from the assorted possessions that hadn't made the first cut going back to CO when my mom helped me move out of my apartment. One particularly funny moment was when Julie was helping me weigh my suitcase (Southwest flies two checked bags for free, up to 50 lbs each. Of course that's the way I'm going to go.) and I had to heave the bag off the scale fast enough for her to be able to see the weight before it quickly disappeared. She was kneeling on the ground and with a great heave and "ugggh" I hoisted the bag off the floor, and she yelled (because why would you speak softly in such an intense situation?) "SIXTY-SEVEN!" and then we both crumpled into laughter because my bag was 17 lbs too heavy and the whole situation was indeed rather humorous, with her on the floor and me hefting my bag around.

But I finally made it! I'm FINALLY home. In my home town. We've lived in this house for 13 years, which is amazing. I get to share our unfinished basement with my parents for the time being, as my brother-in-law, sister, and their two sons are living with us while he does an internship for his MBA. It's great to have such a full house! And who doesn't love waking up to the inquiry of a 2.5 year old, "Is Carrie waking up?"

So, with what have I been filling my days, you ask? I will tell you.

I am lucky enough, blessed enough, whatever you want to call it, to have gotten summer employment. But not just any job. Pretty much a dream job. A treasured teacher from high school hired me on to paint murals in his kids' bedrooms. I know, right? The hours are totally up to me, as long as I'm getting the work done, and I'm doing something that I LOVE (I usually don't even notice that I've skipped lunch until it is almost time to leave), I get to hang out/get entertained by his lively kids, and I have wonderful employers. It really is the experience and opportunity of a lifetime, thus far. It is so ironic because I usually tell people I don't like painting, but I guess that's usually a lie. Because I've found that I do.

Besides painting, I get to play with my nephews. Today we celebrated my nephew JJ's half-birthday, because his birthday falls on the day after Christmas. He's getting rather smart, pushing every possible button (he opens the garage door for Grandpa every day when he gets home from work) and stringing together quite intelligent phrases. Here's a conversation I had with him today.

(I was laying outside on a blanket in the shade, reading a book, and look over to see JJ smiling at me through the screen door.)

"Hi JJ!"

"Hi Carrie..."

"How are you doing?"

"I am doing well. Carrie doesn't have her shoes on."

(awkward pause) "Well, I don't need my shoes since I'm on the blanket."

(he opens the door) "I want to sit with Carrie on the blanket."

"Go get your shoes then."

"Does Carrie want to go get my shoes for me?"

"I don't know where your shoes are."

So he comes out regardless of his shoes, and we sit on the blanket together and laugh and have a grand little time. I love that little guy.

Indeed, I was outside reading a book. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to be exact. I decided that I wanted to read all 7 before I go to Florida for a family reunion, so I've been hammering them out this last week. I don't care what anyone says, I still love reading Harry Potter. Maybe that's because I grew up with him. But I'm cramming them in so I can have a remainder of a summer to read other works of literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, summertime classic) as well as do those things all return-students need to do, like go through all their stuff and watch movies and other summertime things.

One crazy thing we did was paint our dining room and living room in one night. We started at about 7 PM and wrapped up around 2 AM. It was actually a lot of fun, despite being hot, sweaty work (our AC conveniently broke the same day).

My family and I (partly out of joke) started the "James and Taryn's Wedding is Only Eight Weeks Away!" Fitness Challenge today. Everyone sets their own parameters, but has to do it 6x a week, and the winner at the end gets a book paid for by the losers. Whether it sticks or not, who cares, our treadmill is getting his exercise. :)

I know this was a massive blog post, but hey, I like to ramble, especially at night when I know I'm supposed to be sleeping.

I'm in love with my summer. It is going wonderfully.

Until the next late-night urge to blog, may you eat lots of ice cream, enjoy the summer breeze, and wiggle your toes in the grass.

Word of the Day: yen \YEN\ , noun; 1. A desire or craving; yearn.

Miss Oula, Montana.

Hannah Montana's got nothing on Missoula.

Well, that's a really biased opinion, because quite frankly, what does Hannah Montana have on anyone?

Missoula is not too shabby. But the real gem is simply Montana. I loved driving through it!

We stopped at some little city in Idaho that I can't remember the name, and kept driving. I kinda passed out afterwards so I don't have much commentary on the day.

But I have decided that I need to live somewhere mountainous and with lush forests within an hour drive. I love the mountains. End of story.

Tomorrow we hit the road at 6 AM and head into Yellowstone! We've heard rumors that it is snowing there right now, so our two-night trip might get cut into one night camping, one night hotel. It'll be an adventure either way.

But that means that my next blog post could be from the comforts of Provo, UT. It is sad to see the end, indeed. I've made some great friends. But oh how I praise the day where I can do laundry for free, eat good, healthy, free food, and sleep in my own bed. :)

This is our little place in Ucluelet, BC. The owners were really generous and fun people, and apparently the entire town knew them and approved of where we were staying. The girls stayed in this house and the rest of the group stayed in cabins down a little ways.

The drive from Ucluelet to Vancouver was magical, I thought. I half expected a velociraptor to jump out at attack our vans.

We stopped at a grove of redwoods in between Vancouver and the US border for a little road-trip break. That has been the nicest thing about this trip; everyone appreciates an opportunity to get out and investigate cool nature formations or take some photographs. If you look closely, I'm in both photos.

As I said before, I loved Washington country. It was stunning! And so much like home for me. I was happily taking shots of the scenery and then looked at my camera, and I completely did not see this giant gnome until it was in my camera. I laughed out loud with surprise and woke some people up, but man. What a great, giant gnome.

Welcome to Vancouver!

This is Priscilla's project, where she blends into the environment. We spend some time doing this the first day, and it was actually a lot of fun seeing what we could pull off.

The market was awesome, I wish I could have spent more time there. I wish there was something like that closer to home, because it is such a fun atmosphere.

This old man was pretty funny with his accordion, and the other old man had just ripped off a giant piece of his hot dog and thrown it to that sea gull.

More photos to come, I've got to go to a class meeting right now.

Word of the Day: ambuscade \AM-buh--skayd\, noun; 1. A trap where concealed persons lie in wait to attack by surprise. also: the persons so concealed or their position.

When? At Chee. Duh.

Right now, I'm sitting on the most glorious carpeted floor in the lovely Motel 8 of Wenatchee, WA. Sure, some of you crinkle your nose at the sound of "motel", but let me tell you. It is NOTHING compared to where we were staying in Vancouver. And this motel feels pretty new, so I have no complaints whatsoever. :)

We left Vancouver this morning at 8 AM, made one last pit-stop in a Petro-Canada gas station and spent all our Canadian money on canadian candy bars. I saved a toony for memento sake, because those are actually pretty cool coins. But then we headed toward the US border. Woo!

We had wondered if we were going to get in trouble for our various fruits throughout the 4, 12-passenger vans, but decided to see what happened. Well, we got to the border, and we all had to pile out of the vans, leave all our possessions, and wait out the inspection. We took up the entire processing queue, so after a while one of the attendants asked us to stand against the wall so the other travelers could get processed. As usual, such a large group attracts the attention of everyone around us, so we made some small talk with the (safer-looking) people waiting for their inspection as well. One family had been there for an hour, so ... we were kind of worried.

But alas, we only had to wait about 15 minutes. They gave us a little public schpeal about which fruits and vegetables are not allowed across the border, gave us a wave, and we were on our way. Back into the country!

It was an interesting feeling, to be back on homeland soil. Canada doesn't look any different, and the people don't really act different (except I did notice they are WAY more pedestrian friendly. They have huge street signs signaling a public crosswalk, and if you get within two feet of that crosswalk, all the cars stop well in advance. It was pretty impressive, I have to say. New Yorkers (or Utah drivers, for that matter) could learn a thing or two in that department.), but there is something about being home that is so satisfying. It is nice to know I belong somewhere.

We drove Highway 2 through beautiful Washington forests and countryside. I actually fell in love with the drive, because it was very similar to the I-70 drive through the Rocky Mountains, but more lush and closer to the road. The forest just towers over the road and you feel so minute in these majestic forests ... absolutely beautiful. I could live in there.

We didn't stop in Leavenworth, which I kind of regret now, because it was the craziest little place I've ever passed through. The entire place is a Bavarian village, and all the buildings, font, and colors were the same germanesque theme. Even the Safeway sign was in the same font as the town. It was crazy.

Wenatchee feels like a smaller version of Aurora, so it has been nice to be here for the afternoon. I think we all were pretty tired of the clothes we have been wearing for the last month, because as soon as we dropped our luggage, a good chunk of us headed to the Target just across the street. I got myself a cheap bathing suit and some shorts to go with, and courtesy $6 from Target for a mistake they made 3 Christmases ago, it was even cheaper. Hooray!

A quick jump into the pool, a discounted meal at the Denny's because we were staying at the hotel, and a relaxing evening collaging has made a wonderful stay here in the supposed Apple Capital of the Nation. Or something like that. :)

and you would think that because I have great internet, I'd be able to upload pictures. But, yet again... no cigar. I promise, a huge upload will happen as soon as I can stand it.

Word of the day: ruth \ROOTH\, noun; 1. Compassion or pity for another. 2. Sorrow or misgivings about one's own mideeds or flaws.

Fancouver!

Is my favorite version of Vancouver that I’ve seen thus far. And it has only been two days.

This city is definitely interesting. The air is really clean, most of the buildings are made of glass, and there are people everywhere running, walking, biking, yogaing, ultimate fribseeing, rowing, ... it’s a really healthy city. I haven’t seen very many overweight people at all, actually. At least compared to other places I’ve been. And it was HOT yesterday with my jacket and jeans, I was in a t-shirt and loving the sun. It was great.

We’ve spent some time working on other students’ art projects, so that’s been helpful for them and we still got to see this city. I would like to see a comparison between pre-olympic vancouver and now, because a lot of the area is nice and had to have come from the olympics this last winter.

There is a fantastic market we attended this morning, and I liked it better than Pike’s Market in Seattle because there was so much space to move. That is definitely one thing I’ve noticed; we Americans know how to cram into space. It got crowded at the market around lunch, but for the most part it was really easy to maneuver and get around people.

This afternoon we went to the Vancouver Art Gallery, and that was really interesting. The featured exhibit was one based on the evolution of women in society, and there were, among others, lots of Degas pieces. Good art man, good art.

Then a friend and I just toured the city some more, walked a LOT, and came back to our hostel. It is definitely an interesting hostel. Well they’ve all been interesting, let’s be honest, but this one has 1 womens bathroom for an entire floor. That is two toilets and one shower. Talk about stressful. But you make do and don’t breathe in the air, because only the mormons follow the rules about not smoking in the rooms. ;)

Tonight we’re going to watch the glorious sunset (I’ll never get tired of it) and then pack up to head out early tomorrow morning. Tonight is my last night in another country. I keep forgetting that I’m in a different country.

I guess you do what you can, eh? :)

I was planning on posting some pictures, but the internet is being uber flaky, and it is taking forever to upload photos. Maybe I'll do that late tonight when there is less traffic, but right now I gotta blast to the skybus!

Word of the day: Occidental \ok-si-DEN-tl\ adjective; 1. Western. 2. (Usually initial capital letter) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Occident or its natives and inhabitants.

And maybe the next time I have good internet I'll post lost of photos. But that might not be until PROVO. wooo

adios.

Super Sunday!

I wrote the following post last Sunday, but couldn't get it to post. So please imagine reading this on the sunday previous. :)

Today was awesome. Let me tell you about it.

Every first Sunday of the month is designated as a Fast Sunday, where the members go without two meals and dedicate their time and energy to coming closer to God and donating the money they would have spent on those two meals to the church, who in turn give the money to local families that need it. Since we’re on the road and not in a specific ward, we’ve got no where to give that money, but we still took the time to fast and had our Sacrament Meeting in our little house. It was an awesome, awesome experience; the spirit was very strong in a very intimate setting, and I won’t be forgetting my experience anytime soon.

Today I visited the Ucluelet Aquarium, and I have no idea why I didn’t take my camera! It is the pride and joy of this little town, and surprisingly enough, it was actually quite impressive. It was about the size of a U-haul truck bed, and the tanks were fairly small, but the fee was only 5 dollars and the staff were incredibly knowledgeable. They catch everything locally in the spring and let it go in the fall. Sea Cucumbers are the weirdest things. They’re massive, squishy, stretchable blobs that use their muscles to get away from sea stars that will eat them. But they were bright purple and orange a red, about a foot long. The octopus was sleeping in the corner, the crabs were all over the place, the sea stars could move two meters a minute, and the little hermit crab made me think of Jaws. I touched one in his honor. (Ask my father.) It was really awesome. I like sea creatures, as creepy and slimy as they are.

Aren't these things weird? They had probably 20 or more of them. And they're squishy. really, really squishy. It was weird, man.



An orange Sea Pen. Yes, this is an animal, not some tacky plastic aquarium object. These were my favorite because they were so bizarre.

And some of them are tasty too! We had a sushi rolling party tonight, and I rolled my first ever sushi. The first one was vegetarian, and a disaster ... I ended up eating a lot of it in a big mess with my fingers. But the next one had cooked salmon in it, and it didn’t look too bad. I liked it. (Aren’t you proud of me, Mom?) And then we had tempura, which proves the point that anything covered in a tasty batter and fried, is going to taste good. No wonder fish and chips this week have been great, and sweet potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli ... other sushi ...

A lot of food already. And then! Because today was Priscilla’s birthday, we had brownies and ice cream. That was lovely. I’m always good for ice cream.

And then!

Michelle made Samoan pancakes, and those were covered in Nutella and raspberry jam. Incredible. And have you had a nutella-filled strawberry? treat yourself tonight. amazing.

I am on the verge of liking seafood. I at least don’t turn my nose at it anymore, which is progress enough. And this whole time I’ve wanted to sail a ship or be a pirate, with all the coastal stuff around here. Oh the sea! Being such a land-lubbard my self, no wonder I am fascinated by the sounds of the ocean.

I ATE SO MUCH FOOD. and it was awesome. :) And I got a change to talk with a guy that works here and does surf lessons from the Netherlands. He’s 18 and set his heart on traveling, and we had a good time talking about our lives. And I remembered that I’m in Canada. hah.

We watched a slideshow of our best nature photography and of pictures from the trip, that was a lot fun. It was just great today, which was great timing because I was beginning to look forward a LOT towards my return destination.

Last night we had a bonfire on the beach, and that was beautiful. I’ve always wanted to do that, and now I have. This trip is just knocking off goals left and right.

The countdown begins. Less than 7 days on this venture of mine. I’ll do my best to make it worth my while!

Word of the Day: Fathom \FATH-uhm\, verb; 1. To penetrate the truth of; comprehend; understand. 2. To measure the depth of water by means of a sounding line; sound. noun: 1. A unit of length equal to six feet (1.8 meters): used chiefly in nautical measurements.

P.S. a shout out to my brother, as today (June 7th) is his birthday, and he’s taking the LSAT today. Good luck bro, you’ll be awesome. And happy birthday.

U got a Clue? Let.

This is the service I get in Canada. I laughed. :) Shout out to rogers hall, I guess.

Victoria was actually rather uninteresting, in my opinion. It felt very ... organized and compartmentalized for tourists. If that makes any sense. I didn't really have any luck with photography during our stay.

This is their Parliament building. Notice the art students behind the bush in the bottom right, learning how to use a 4x5 camera.

Victoria was our half-way point of our trip, I think everyone got hit with a wave of exhaustion. Everyone had their moment of shame during our two days there, so we are very happy to be out of that city and in this chill, relaxed area. Victoria was very tourist-centered, and our hostel was also a lounge/bar/cafe. Joe Ostraff put it best when he said, "That hostel was hostile." It was totally safe and clean, but just not comfortable. It felt like a major tourist city, without any real purpose to living there. I'm glad to be out of it.

Ucluelet has been a great change of pace. We're in Surfers Inn, and the owners also line up wetsuit/surf board rentals, and lessons. I haven't decided if I want to spend the money yet or not ... :)

This town has the same square mileage as 3 BYU campuses. We've walked around and checked it out; it is definitely small town, but very beautiful with some character. The ocean is just out the window, and there are fishermen and surfers here and there. This is the first place I've seen young people (besides Seattle ... but they were mostly inebriated.) which also has been refreshing. I'll be happy to be back on campus again with thousands of people my age.

Today we went on a nature hike along the coast, and Michelle, Laura and I explored the rocks. It felt like we were crossing over Mordor, and I was just expecting some slimy creature to crawl out of a hole. It was beautiful and adventurous, and I suggest good-natured exploring for any adult. It is an amazing stress-reliever to feel like a kid.

We went to a city about 30 kilometers from here ( I know, I've already converted to the metric system. But I usually forget and don't think about how 80 km/h is very different than 80 mph. :) and it was a cute town as well. This place is just covered with podunkness.

On the art front, Joe is having everyone in my class gather collage material that appeals to them, and then give it to me to collage with. I'm really excited to see what people give me, and what I can create.

This house we're staying in is so cute. There are several rooms with bunk beds and a kitchen, fireplace, and wrap around bench in the living room that fits probably 12-15 people comfortably. I like the cabin feeling, it makes me excited to go home to Colorado and take advantage of the nature there.

So far so good! I have to admit, I'll be ready to see my family again, and have a different choice of wardrobe. And eat real food. But things are still great.

Word of the day: ... same as the post previous.

Day 21.

Wow, it is day 21. That is crazy.

I just wanted to do a quick post tonight before I go to sleep. :) Because man, do I need sleep.

Ucluelet, BC is a tiny fisherman town. I feel like it is Boulder on a smaller, fishier scale. Lots of things to do in the wilderness, and the locals are fairly interesting.

Someday soon we'll have our third nature critique, so I'll wait until after then to post some pictures.

The weather here has been quite pleasant, considering it usually rains all the time here. But I'm loving the sun!

A few points of interest from the last few days:

1. got to feed wild seals. Literally, throwing them frozen pieces of fish into the open mouths of wild seals at the dock. That was pretty sweet.

2.In Victoria, some of us were wandering around the city and came upon a cathedral. We decided to check it out and could hear the bells ringing, and found that it was open to the public. We got to watch 9 elderly folk intensely focus on playing the bells, it was awesome!

3. Everything is so GREEN and lush. I love it.

Well, I'm slipping into unconsciousness. Time to go to bed.

Word of the Day: Manichean \man-i-KEE-uhn\, adjective; 1. Pertaining to a strongly dualistic view.