Engagement

OK, I figure I need to write one of these. Sorry if cheesy stuff makes you cringe. I get it. Cheesy stuff makes me cringe, too. But this isn't too cheesy!

Some background info: Dave and I were planning on going out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday night. So, I thought maybe this could happen on Saturday, but it was pretty far in the back of my mind. We've been dating for three years, so we've talked about marriage at various times in our relationship. Every time we did, though, we came to the conclusion that we would like to get married eventually, but further down the road when the timing felt right. We've been on the same page for a while, but there have been a lot of reasons why it hasn't felt right to pull the trigger before now. So, when we made plans for this Saturday, I wasn't trying to read too much into things. Also, we did not go ring shopping.

Friday night, Dave got my friend Lauren Hunt (what a sneaky mom) to convince me to work on a paper at school for a few hours. I'd been up in Salt Lake at my internship all day, so I didn't really want to be at school, but she used her wiles. I went home around 6:00 because Dave and I were planning on hanging out with some friends that night and I wanted to change clothes/get a little less frumpy. I got to my door, and there were flowers and a note on the doorstep that said "I'm so excited for tomorrow night." SNEAKY Dave.

I walked in, and right away I spotted a few things around the room. Cheetos. Hot tamales. Plane tickets. Movie stubs. Postcards from when I was in England. A speeding ticket from our drive across the country. Alllllll stuff that we've both collected while we've been dating or things we have inside jokes about. There were things out on the counter for making homemade pizza and chocolate fondue with fruit. (We made pizza on our first date and had chocolate fondue.)

So then Dave comes out from the back of the apartment wearing the same outfit he was wearing on our first date (don't ask me how we both remember this -- guess we're weird), and I'm thinking "It is ON."

And on it was. He said his piece, asked me to marry him, and bam! We're engaged. We spent the rest of the night watching a funny collection of youtube videos he'd put together that was representative of our relationship (geez, that sounds really nerdy). Lots of Tina Fey, some songs, some segments of Sleepless in Seattle... (my freshman friends are getting a kick out of this right now). We made some phone calls, hung out, and talked about how crazy it was to actually be engaged.

Big surprise: no tears! I didn't cry because I was so surprised. He didn't cry because he was borderline giddy the whole time. He thought it was so fun that we were getting engaged, and he thought it was hilarious that I didn't know what to do or say.

So, there you have it! I think the story suits us -- nothing too flashy, kept it private and sentimental.

Also, here's a better picture of the ring.

I'm pretty impressed he picked this out on his own. I told him a long time ago that I like classic rings, and that I like yellow gold and raw white gold. He went with raw white gold. I like it because it's kind of a mix between gold and silver... not super yellow, but still matches my other gold jewelry. I don't feel like you can see the color really well in any of the pictures I have, but here's a fancy site with a raw white gold wedding ring, if you're curious.

Dave! What a guy!

It's go time

Fame!

A few years ago, BYUSA launched this "redefining service" campaign to get students thinking about different ways to serve each other. My friend Dan took the photos, so he put his friends in them. One photo showed someone handing Allie something she dropped, another was someone holding the door open, and my photo was supposed to be of someone comforting me when I got bad news. Mine never got used (I'm guessing since my acting chops are sub-par), but lo and behold... 4 years later, here it is on campus.

 

I'm glad a friend of mine told me about "some poster with a girl that looks like you, sitting on the steps" or I never would've known!

 Please don't start treating me differently now that you know I am a model. I just want a normal life. 

Dad comes to Utah

My dad came to visit Provo last week. He's on a road trip out to Vegas for a safari convention and then to Texas to do some fossil hunting and pig hunting. He is a complex man, I tell you. In addition to being complex, he also has fortunate timing. The Sundance Film Festival was in full swing, Erwin Chemerinsky (a rock star in the constitutional law world) spoke at the law school, and I was called on in my Copyright class. Lucky Dad!

Dad arrived a full day early. Was I surprised? Nope. Dad runs on "German time." He's almost always early. So, given his Friday at 8:00pm ETA, his actual arrival time of Thursday at 2:30pm was pretty much par for the course. I spent most of Thursday showing him the law school and introducing him to friends.

On Friday, we went to the law school in the morning to listen to Erwin Chemerinsky speak about how the Supreme Court fails to communicate well, which was excellent. It was so funny to watch all the professors looking up at him like groupies. Once the Chem was done, Dad and I drove up to Herriman to find the house that was painted to look like the house from Up.

That tree behind my head makes it look like I have a bad case of static hair.

We ate dinner at Settebello. Check out the face below -- he was pleased. We ate pizza in Naples together, and I swear to you that Settebello measures up.

On Saturday, we woke up at the CRACK OF DAWN to see an 8:00 movie in Park City. We saw Atomic States of America, which we all really liked. We went into it expecting it to be pretty one-sided, but it actually gave a balanced view of nuclear reactor towns.

 

After lunch, we drove up to Salt Lake to see The Ambassador, which we all loved, too. Mads Brugger (Danish journalist/filmmaker who made The Red Chapel) actually bought an African diplomatic title and filmed this documentary to show the corruption and bureaucracy in African politics. It's crazy, funny, frustrating, and sad all at the same time.

 We also did the world's fastest tour of the Conference Center so I could show Dad the tabernacle. The roof was open, so we checked that out, too.

 View from the top.

On Sunday, we relaxed. Dad taught me how to make a salmon dish. He also witnessed the estrogen fest that takes place in our apartment every Sunday night when law friends come over to watch Once Upon a Time. Side note: Lauren Hunt only watches it ironically. She doesn't actually like it.

On Monday, we went to the BYU Paleontology Museum. Dad was in heaven as he was pointing out some of the fossils he's also found.

Buds.

 He found this same bone.

We also ate at Cafe Rio, which all Hunters still consider to be inferior to Chipotle.

We went to my Copyright & Trademark class, and Dad got to listen to me (and Greg!) talk about CCNV v. Reid, which I'm pretty sure is now his favorite Supreme Court case. After all, we pretty much made that case come alive. I became Reid.

We ate at Banana Leaf on Monday night, which serves Sri Lankan and Singaporean food. I've tried four dishes there now, and I have yet to leave unsatisfied.

All in all, a really great weekend with my dad. He bought me lots of groceries at Costco, taught me how to cook something new (and easy), and generally spruced up my drab existence here (his words). It was the best.

Next up: Jeff, my favorite brother, who is coming in a few weeks!

Christmas Vacation: HOST PROTOCOL

Get it? Because it's a play on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol? And I was playing host to Dave? A little funny, right?

I'll say right now that I'm too tired to come up with witty captions for the photos below. I used up all my energy coming up with that awesome opener. Apparently, law school just never gets easier -- not even in your last semester. Copyright & Trademark and Environmental Law may have been a mistake. Also, I'm taking Accounting for Lawyers. Accounting. For lawyers. Let that sink in. I'm not sure a more boring topic exists. (No offense to my accountant friends, who I now admire even more than before.)

Dave came to visit Virginia over the break, and we checked out the new MLK Jr. Memorial. It's right on the Tidal Basin, so there's a great view of the Jefferson and Washington Memorials.

 

We walked over to the FDR Memorial, too. I love this memorial. It's divided up into four sections -- for Roosevelt's four terms -- and each section has quotes and artistic representations of the time period. Water is a big part of the memorial; a rushing waterfall for WWII, a still pool for Roosevelt's death, etc.

This depiction of Roosevelt in a wheelchair was a big deal. The original memorial never showed him in a wheelchair on purpose. People petitioned and raised enough money to add this sculpture about 10 years ago. We look like friends, don't we?

 Eleanor! We are so alike!

I kid, I kid... I wish we were more alike. She was one sharp lady.

After walking around for a while, we went to Chinatown and ate at Nando's Peri-Peri. Cat, Joey, and I used to eat at Nando's in Oxford. We'd been eating all English food for a few weeks, so the day we discovered Nando's was glorious. Portuguese flame-grilled chicken with African peri-peri sauce = much better than anything English. What are the odds that the only US locations of Nando's would be in DC and Maryland? I thought that was pretty lucky.

 I am too tired to figure out how to rotate these right now. Whoops.

Dave liked Nando's. You already knew that because of his face, though. Sooo.

Aw, man. Looking at these pictures made me a little homesick.

On the bright side, my dad comes in two days! If I was going to come up with a movie title for that post, it would be "Double the Hunter, Double the Trouble." Yep. It makes no sense, it doesn't even play off an existing movie title, and it doesn't rhyme. Probably time to get some sleep.

(Our Relief Society Presidency is changing)

This e-mail was addressed to me, Caisa (the RS President who was just released), and Lyndsi Godfrey (our roommate who recently moved to Boise). Some background: I am now Cat's VT Supervisor. Melody (her old supervisor) is now in the RS Presidency. Moore and Rogers are the other members of the RS Presidency. Enjoy.

Dear Powersthatbe:

Since time is of the essence, I will get down to brass tacs.  There has been a slow and steady power shift in the lady leadership of the 160th.  At first I thought it was only a natural changing of the guard but then I realized it had to be something more.  After extensive research, I have found that we are in the midst of a hostile takeover - an elaborate plan to overthrow the puppet-regime that could reach as high up as, dare I say it, Sheri L. Dew.  

Things first became suspect at the end of July 2011.  Melody must have pleased the hegemony with her inquisitive questions because she was moved into a new position of considerable power.  She was replaced in her old dirt-and-nails position by none other than Sam Hunter.  Sam had been innocent until now, as we had worked together throughout the summer on a grassroots campaign for justice.  We were as anti-establishment as a comic-con concert supporting Ron Paul's monologues of an R.L. Stine novel.  

Once Sam was pulled into the fold, I knew I had to watch my back.  By going after one of my strongest allies, I knew that they had more power than I could ever imagine.  I thought they wouldn't be able to break her but..slowly but surely, things began to change.  Suddenly, Godfrey left town without warning or explanation and Hunter was watching my every move. Something had to be done.  I knew I was surrounded.

The first sign of internal unrest came from Godfrey before she left. One night, she broke. She told me about the years of training, the world-wide goals, and so much more that give my night terrors to this day. The next day she was gone.

The rumblings have gotten louder and it looks like the whole thing could be crumbling from the top down.  Caisa will soon be gone and we will be subject to a new dominion, with new rules and new dangers.  I have since been able to turn Sam and she has become a double agent.  By continuing to feed a stream of misinformation about VT reports, and fellowship progress, she has been able to gain the confidence of Moore, Rogers, and even some people over in the EQP.  

After this email, many of us will have to go underground. Sam will miss the open fields and hygiene norms.  We hope we can find Godfrey before she becomes the Manchurian Candidate.  This isn't the end - it is only the beginning. 

Long live the revolution. 

Cat

It's here!

For the unaware, I have been sick with a cold, an ear infection, and pink eye for the last 5 days or so, which has meant I've been pretty gross. It also means I've spent zero time at the law school since Thursday. Tonight, however, I trekked over to the JRCB in order to spend 4 hours debating over the new Law Review Board in one too-small room. Not an easy transition back into school life.

Now that the new Board is picked, though, it feels like Christmas morning. I really have enjoyed my time on the Law Review, and I've loved working with such truly impressive people on a daily basis. But, I am not going to miss making assignments at 11:30 p.m. any more than I'm going to miss pink eye. Which is not a lot.

Meeerrrrrrrry Christmas!

Home for Christmas

Never too late to post about Christmas, right? 

Here you have it, your guide to my Christmas break in Virginia.

THE TREE!

My mom's tree. Notice the star? It's a S. Hunter original, circa 1991 (preschool). Timeless. And... technically a Star of David. The ornaments on this tree span over three decades -- homemade ornaments from school, ornaments from vacation spots, jobs, etc. One year, my mom got me an ornament that says "Santa, I can explain," and my family thought it was sooooo funny (apparently this says something about me?).

Side note: I woke up one morning to find my mom trying to glue this ornament back together:

The parallel was not lost on us. It was pretty funny.

THE LIGHTS!

The first weekend I was home, we went down to Richmond to go on the Tacky Lights Tour again. These houses are so over-the-top. We asked one family about their electric bill, and they said it's around 4,000 dollars. Four THOUSAND! I pay a little over that in rent for a year.

THE COOKIES!

Later that week, I made gingerbread cookies with Lucy and Leo, who have only gotten cuter since the last time I saw them. Leo has started going to speech therapy because he has trouble forming words, and it's incredible to see how much progress he's made already. He learned to say "Atta" (my name in the Collins family) when I was home, which was one of the highlights of the break for me. 

THE HANGOUTS!

I had a job interview in D.C. one morning, so I met up with Allie for lunch afterward. If I get hired, we'll be able to meet up for lunch all the time!

I also hung out with this little cutie, my niece Kayla, who incidentally has given me pinkeye:

And some Oakton Stakers (+ Mike):

And watched hockey and many football games with my brother:

I hung out with Jaclyn, but unfortunately only have the picture below to prove it. Every time someone in our group goes to France, they bring back Mi-cho-kos since we were all obsessed with them on study abroad. That's friendship -- using up precious suitcase space to bring back lots of chocolate for your friends.

 

CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!

Christmas Eve eve, we went to dinner over at Dad's house. We've had dinner at my dad's house on Christmas Eve every year since I was 4 or 5. This year, my dad wanted to let my brother and sister do their own thing with their families on Christmas Eve, so we did this all on Christmas Eve eve.

Lobster bisque and prime rib. Ron does not mess around. 

We opened presents after dinner. Some background: I was really excited about my gift to my dad this Christmas. He's a New Yorker, so he's particular about his deli meat. I found out you can get all the ingredients for a sandwich overnighted from Katz's Deli in NYC. It cost a small fortune in shipping, but it is one of my favorite gifts I've given someone.

 

Pastrami, rye bread, half-sour pickle, deli mustard. 

He sent me these pictures the next morning after he ate the sandwich for breakfast.

 

Like I said, I'm pretty proud of this present.

CHRISTMAS EVE!

Little cuties were so excited.

 CHRISTMAS DAY!

 Leo got drums...

 

...and has now started a family band.

How awesome is this picture?? My mom. What a lady.

I got some very cool presents from some very thoughtful family members. Some of them:

Side note: the add-a-pearl necklace is something I've wanted ever since I saw Sleepless in Seattle when I was like... 8. You add a pearl at big moments in your life. I'm just like Annie Reed! Thanks, Mom. Side note number two: the Mindy Kaling book is hiiiiilarious. I've laughed out loud reading this book far too many times in public already. I wish she was my friend in real life.

 Also, this is a picture of my mom dressed like me. This wasn't on Christmas Day, but it felt like Christmas Day (because it was so funny), and I'm not sure where else to put it.

THE DAVE!

After Christmas, Dave came to visit. I'm going to make that a separate post, since I don't have the pictures from him yet and since this is already really, really long. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of Christmas Break, which I will call Christmas Break: HOST PROTOCOL!