on living in provo

some days i can't stand living in provo. sometimes i can't believe how crazy this place is, how not-like-real-life it is. but some days i feel so incredibly lucky to be here, like i can't believe how many amazing experiences i've been able to have in this quirky little city.

today was one of the lucky times.

i was driving home from a wedding reception, down grandview drive, where the road curves and you can see all of the green tall trees in provo and a beautiful park with a stream running through it on the right. and then i looked up at the mountains, which i definitely take for granted, and their verdant majesty. and then i passed some of the spots i love: the hospital, with its cafe open all night, the little bridal store where i am currently employed, the brick oven, all of the places i've ever lived during college, the hammock where i spend my afternoons, the ramp i walked everyday for two years, the beautiful campus where i learned so much about life.

and then i started thinking about all the other provo spots of which i have cherished memories: the dollar theater, which has provided me endless hours of entertainment, helaman halls and the cosmo connection where i faithfully bought toilet paper and cinnamon toast crunch every week, various ice cream/frozen yogurt places around town, the temple, los hermanos, the south campus stream and trail, the rb, the manavu chapel, the tabernacle, denny's, the road leading up to seven peaks and that scary abandoned building, the miller lounge, our neighborhood costa vida, lavell edwards stadium, night games locales, the walk to smiths, smiths, thai village, various pools and hottubs around town, the orem in'n'out, the riverwoods, particularly la jolla groves and tucanos, but also the pavilion where we saw sugar ray last spring, the byu bookstore, the el salvadorean pupusa place on center, the university mall (technically in orem, but this is my list so oh well), the provo d.i., y mountain, fat cats, the taj basement, mike black's house, sammy's (i have a lot of memories at restaurants...), the sweet tooth fairy, the tree streets where i drove around for an hour trying to find nienie's house, the adorable yellow house on 7th north, the provo towne center red robin, the castle, the de jong concert hall, banana leaf, rock canyon park, where i watched tangled outside but also where i performed a scene from as you like it with my study abroad buddies.

there are a lot of things about provo that i love. and i might not want to live here forever, but for now, i need to remember that it is pretty awesome.

p.s. i don't know why the pictures are spaced weird. pictures in blogger is one of the things that gives me the most frustration in life. but, if you are interested, these photos are in, basically, chronological order of my time in provo, starting with the most recent and ending with one of my first pics of freshman year :)