dragon office.

This is the office that the Chinese Flagship gave me to work in on campus. Good thing I got a laptop...

i love you.

I've always known that I love people and love to be around them. I told Jared at the very beginning of our correspondence that I knew I needed to have at least one "real" conversation everyday or else I'd get really lonely.

The freedom of graphic design has seemingly woven its own nets of loneliness. I'm in a weird gap in between semesters, working everyday to prepare my portfolio to apply to the graphic design BFA. And because my job with the Chinese Flagship Center at BYU doesn't require that I go anywhere in particular, it's added up to a lot of time alone spent in front of a computer in my freshly cleaned bedroom.

I don't mean to complain about the flexibility of my schedule; that's fantastic. But the lack of any routine has left me a little lonely. There are no coworkers or classmates to bump into in any regular way. Spending so much time alone has granted me exorbitant amounts of time to think, which only increases my desire to share my thoughts with others! It's a funny cycle.

I ran into my friend Annie on campus yesterday and the flexibility of my schedule allowed me to spend the rest of the day with her. I talked SO much. Good thing she's such a patient and responsive listener. It was only after I'd talked so voraciously with her that I recognized I must've been lonely at all.

I think that's the good thing about me and blogging. It allows me to uncap some of my thoughts even when I can't be with you.

cloned.

Meet my clone, Danielle:
(a funny halloween pic i pulled off of facebook, but still my favorite)
Actually, before I go on, I guess this story requires just a little catch up. I no longer work as a custodian, but found employment as a graphic designer for the BYU Chinese Flagship organization on campus.

This means a few things:
1. I bought this computer, because my life became too complicated without one:
2. Because I'm allowed to telecommute, I am going to Brooklyn for 2 weeks to romance with Jared:3. I wouldn't have met my clone if not for the Flagship retreat in Park City that I attended this weekend.

A Flagship secretary typed our names on the Park City carpool roster next to one another. I met her on the curb outside the JKB and helped her load her rolly luggage into my backseat.
Once we're buckled in, I decide to break the ice.

"So, what are you studying?"

"Spanish language teaching."

"So cool! How far are you into your program? Are you graduating soon?"

"No, I have about 2 years left. I've been in school for such a long time too. I'm a super, super, super, senior."

"Really? How old are you?"

"24."

"Ah, no worries, I'm 25."

"Really? Yay! I always feel so old on BYU campus."

"Yeah, me too. . . so what've you been doing? Why has it taken so long?"

"Ahhh. . . that requires that I explain my whole crazy story to you."

There's something about her tone of voice and choice of words that feels astoundingly familiar.

"Are you divorced?"

"Yes!"

"Me too!"

"No way!"

And she proceeds to tell her story, which ends up being almost identical to mine right down to the details. Similar length of marriage, similar marital problems, similar style of coping with those problems; everything.
We got lost on the way up and back to Park City. We covered a range of topics that I'd bottled up and set way up on the shelf of my memory.
The comraderie was instantaneous. I think I could burp around this girl without feeling weird about it.

My life is amazing.