Changes.

Man there are a lot of changes when you move from the little Mormon bubble of Rexburg to the city of Spokane where you attend a Catholic school. Here is a little list of the things I am trying to get used to.

- having to drive EVERYWHERE I go

- having so many stores to choose from

- not knowing where anything is

- not feeling safe outside at night

- being told to not to go to certain stores by myself at night

- having to make sure everything is always so securely locked

- having crucifixes on the walls of my school

- living in a house with so much space (it kinda creeps me out)

- having my own room and so much privacy

- not having quiet, considerate neighbors

- only knowing a few people in the whole city

- attending such a small singles ward

- not having everyone I know go to school

- feeling really old because I'm a college graduate now

- not having all my best friends just around the corner

- having to pay $12,000 a semester instead of less than $2,000

- having classes that are 4 hours long

- having such a beautiful old campus (no offense BYU-Idaho but you've got nothing on Gonzaga)

- having tons of side streets with uncontrolled intersections (no stop signs or anything, its madness!)

- seeing homeless people on the side of the road

- getting to hang out with my sister all the time

- not having any memories with Griffin here

Some of these changes to my life are good and some not so good, but overall I am super happy and really enjoying my time here. I'm sure once school starts I will have even more changes to get used to... wish me luck!

I love being outside.

I wish I had more people to hang out with so I could go outside more. Or I just wish that I still lived right next to a park. Cause that is just the best thing ever. An instant place to be outside, relax, and read a book. But I do have Mel and Glenn here and last week we went on a hike. It was really fun even though we got lost and didn't go on the trail that we were trying to. We're going to go again and try to do it right. lol. Here are some pictures from our little adventure.

There was a sweet suspension bridge at the beginning of the trail.

That little person on the left is me. This bridge was super long.

Glenn liked to go off the path and at one point climbed up pretty dang high. (That is me and Mel down on the path.)

Part of our hike was really beautiful.

And then when we got lost it was pretty desolate. Welcome to eastern Washington. Oh how i miss the west.

But overall it was a good time and I can't wait to do it again.

What I'm made of.

Today Griffin said I'm made of 90% sass, 10% beautiful, and 10% awesome. That is an interesting mix and apparently I'm made of 110%. I suppose that means I'm extra special. I asked Griff why he likes me if I have so much sass and he just said that he likes sass. That works for me.

Settled in.

I fell nicely settled in to my new place so I figured it was about time that I take some pictures to share with all of you and tell you how things are going. So I have been in my new house since August 1st and things are going really well. It has been a huge help (and a lot of fun) to have my sister right here with me. She lives really close to me and I go hang out with her every day. I have just been relaxing, getting settled, getting stuff done for school, working out, talking to Griffin, and hanging out with my sister Mel and her boyfriend Glenn. Life is pretty good.

Here is a little tour of my house. Starting with the outside.

This is the front. (Yes my house is peach. lol.)

The front yard is bursting with flowers. I feel like I live in the secret garden. It is so amazing and beautiful.

The older woman that manages the house lives in it too and loves to garden. She did everything to the yard and takes care of it all herself.

Here is the side of the house with even more flowers.

The back showing part of the garden that is there.

The back garden is full of lots of fruits and vegetables including lettuce, raspberries, and strawberries.

There is also a gazebo in the backyard. This is my favorite place to eat lunch and read books.

The plants in the backyard go even further back than I show. Its great to live somewhere with a yard and even better for that yard to be an exploding garden.

Now on to the inside.

This is the living room. This place came fully furnished. The women who runs it is older so everything looks older but is still very nice. I kinda feel like I went back in time but I like it. (The front door is to the left behind that chair.)

When you go through the living room, you then get to the dining room which no one uses too often.

Through the dining room, there is another table in the kitchen that most of us use.

Here is the kitchen. Its pretty big and has two refrigerators so everyone's food easily fits. Love that.

Then you head upstairs. (The stairs are off of the living room.)

At the top of the stairs there is a little loft that is nice and open. It's a great little place to hang out.

And then of course there is my bedroom. I have just a small one but its really all I need.

First we've got the bed. I was pretty glad I didn't have to buy one and that even my bedroom came with all its furniture.

I also have a desk which is really nice. The stack of books on the right will be going in a shelf, but I have to wait for Griffin to bring it to me.

And then of course I have a closet and a dresser. Since I have the smallest room, I also have a big closet in the hall to use for storage. I love that because it means I have no clutter in my room.

Well I hope you enjoyed the tour. There are five bedrooms in the house, three are upstairs and two in the basement. Right now there are four of us living here including the woman the manages the house. All my roommates are really nice. I am very happy here and just trying to adjust to all the changes and get myself ready for school.