a little snow

what better way of celebrating being in boston for one month than a blizzard?

i tend to get weather warnings from my mom which is how i heard about this one. not until thursday afternoon when we kept hearing about schools closing friday, public transit shutting down at 3:30, no cars allowed on the roads after 4, that we got a little nervous about what was actually coming.

we holed up friday, prepping for the worst. can i just say i'm a little sad so many people don't have food to last them 3-4 days that all the grocery stores would be left empty.  literally empty.  who needs whipping cream during a blizzard?  the wind blew all day friday but no significant snow. that night was like christmas eve, wondering what we'd wake up to the next morning.  well here was my first view:

couldn't get the door open it was blown up probably 3 feet.  so seven of us in the house got busy shoveling.  three hours later we finished.  we even had a couple virgin shovelers on staff. they held their own ok. 

probably got 3-4 feet total but hard to tell with all the drifts. church was cancelled sunday with a street parking ban in cambridge and so many people still shoveling out. not too upset since i was scheduled to speak. instead i went with my landlord to their sacrament meeting that's right by the temple. saw this on the way out:

amazingly with the city shut down for three days (roads and airport shut down until late saturday night, public transity not fully running until monday morning) they got the roads pretty clear. the same couldn't be said for the sidewalks where i get to wait for the bus. . . 

because i've been a slacker at posting you're getting iphone pics

design center, part 1

not sure how many visits it will take for me to get through all eight floors of the design center, so here goes part 1 from yesterday's visit.

way out by the waterfront stands a building, eight floors high, full of designer show rooms. still trying to decide the target market for this center, i was only slightly overwhelmed.

floors one and three (elevator wouldn't take me to floor two . . . ) were full of furniture manufacturers with walls and walls of custom upholstery, bathroom fixture and tile manufacturers, and antique shops. highlights: personal tour of your german kitchen (a little too modern for my taste, very ikea looking), brookline village antiques (home of the antique grandfather clocks), the bright group (i didn't dare touch anything, including the $107,000 secretary. yikes!), and trianon antiques (beautiful french furniture and chandeliers). 

i think i'm going to wear my giant fur coat, pearls, and pointy toed shoes next time i go to fit in a little better.  better get used to this kind of thing. not the fur coat by the way. or maybe?

destination wedding

yep, you read that right. just putting it out there right now that if i ever get married, y'all better plan on buying a plane ticket because the boston temple is seriously gorgeous.

i want to get into a routine of going to the temple every week and with not having school until next tuesday thought it would be perfect to start this week. except that the temple is closed. shoot. so then i found out they needed volunteers to help clean. so i found a ride and got a personal tour of the temple before i was ever able to go through for a session. what a cool experience. can't wait to go back next week.

a country girl on public transit

i had a hard time deciding if i should bring a car to boston. i knew i wouldn't need it to get to school every day, no parking and crazy drivers, but what about church that can quickly become a 2-3 times a week event, or just exploring the area (which i plan to do a lot of)? so i'm in a trial period of seeing if i can survive without it. if my first day is any indication, better get that thing shipped out here asap.

thursday and friday i had orientation for school. wednesday was spent unpacking and figuring out the bus system. i had every possible route to school figured out. adjusting to it taking me an hour to get anywhere but that's beside the point. what i didn't devote as much time to was figuring out how to get home. i figured i'd just do the same thing but in reverse. was that naive of me?

so there i was on my way home after orientation, about 6:30. i'd bought a month bus/subway pass that morning that i was protecting with my life. rode the green line to the red line, just missed my regular bus connection but there's another bus in thirty minutes that's a little different route but i could handle it. i couldn't handle it. so worried about missing my bus stop, all i focused on was my street, pleasant street. as soon as i heard it i jumped up and exited the bus. by this time it was about 7:45 and dark. i had to dress business casual for school so yep i was in heals to top it off. and i had no clue where i was. i pulled out my phone multiple times trying to see where i'd gone wrong and figure out how to get home. an hour later, after going the wrong direction, twice, wondering why there weren't any sidewalks along the busy street, being grateful no one knows me to know i was completely in the wrong place, and praying the guy running behind me would just get up the guts to pass me and not kill me in the process, i made it home. my feet were dying. and my landlady and roommates got so upset with me for not calling. but you better believe i know my neighborhood now.

collecting my things from my first day at school, i realized, "where's my bus pass?!" i searched hi and low. every pocket. three times. somewhere in my exit from the bus to making it home, i'm assuming one of the multiple times i pulled out my phone to check a map, i must have pulled it out. and lost it. a perfect ending to all lessons needed to learn for a first timer on public transit.

bottled water

bound to be a crazy exciting post based on the title. sorry just have to remember these things. 

i have this thing about tap water. and bottled water really. it has to taste like it just came from a mountain spring. nothing added. just good. enter boston. the city. of course the water doesn't taste like it came from a mountain spring. there are no mountains in sight. needless to say i can't drink it. enter problem #2: i don't do bottled water either. i planned on just dehydrating to death. then natali mentioned trader joe's bottled water. i was skeptical but wasn't going to make a big adventurous move only to die from gross water. and it's cheap. and it saved my life. 

so now i'm that girl that doesn't care about the environment (i'll be honest that part didn't really change. . . ) and drinks bottled water. i pick up 1.5 liters every time i go into town. yep, that girl.

a little goodbye

sometimes i don't change things because i'm afraid of what i'll miss. goodbyes are never easy especially when this last year has taught me more about loving and caring for people, and yes getting attached, than i ever thought possible. how could i leave that? my nieces and nephews are young, how can i miss out on them growing up? but i have to grow up too. and sometimes that means leaving family and friends behind, saying a prayer of faith, and moving across the country to pursue a dream. 

it's not easy to leave a place that taught me to love and to do so in ways even i didn't think possible. to leave a place where my testimony of my savior's love grew immensely and was manifest time and time again for others as well as for myself. and to leave a group of people that taught me to accept love, that i was cared about and had something to offer. how could life be any better than what i was already experiencing? 

but with work being such a big part of my life, a part of my life that i did not love or even somewhat enjoy, and a part of my life that i had complete control over, a change was needed. good things take work and sacrifice and an investment of time and emotion. and i need to continue making investments of myself to see those good things in all areas of life.

i shouldn't doubt that the lord intends to continue blessing my life and good things will continue to come, for me as well as for those i love and won't see as often as i once did. 

but still, goodbyes aren't easy.