I'm off to see the District

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m., I will fly to Washington, D.C. for a four-month internship. Hopefully I will arrive there in one piece (after wrangling with all of my luggage, that really will be a feat). Be assured that I will drop all of my stuff and go skipping around the city the second I arrive (after a quick swing by the laundry room--thanks Andrea!).

Here is my address until December 12. If any of you would like to come visit me, that would be splendid.

Lynne Gabrielsen

Room 406

2520 L St., NW

Washington, D.C. 20037

(Mostly I post this here because I'm afraid that if I write my address down on a piece of paper it will be sucked into the black hole that is my mother's office, never to be seen again. At least on my blog my address won't go to the big recycling bin in the sky.)

I am a redneck. Literally.

After unexpectedly spending three hours in the 100+plus degree sun with no sunscreen, no shade, and no chance of going inside, I became red and white all over.

Being blessed with fair (aka "pasty, pasty white") skin, I burn more easily than anyone would expect. No one else I was with got even close to burned, and I got roasted like a marshmallow at girls' camp.

(Sadly, even though my legs are radiating heat right now, the burned portion actually looks normal in this picture.)

Luckily, a regimen of aloe, tylenol, cold water, and loose-fitting clothing has allowed me to sleep and wear more than underwear around the house.

My cell phone is a horcrux.

I just spent hours looking for my phone charger, which I threw into one of many boxes heading toward my parents house on Friday. I tore apart boxes of cookware, clothing, plugs of all sorts and size, lotions, and shoes--lots of shoes--to no avail. Why does such a little piece of plastic control so much of my life? Sitting amidst the strewn tupperware and laundry I pondered that question. Finally, I think I've got it.

My cell phone (and by extension, my cell phone charger) is a horcrux.

I've always wanted to live in Harry's world, and now I have unassumingly adopted a small part of it. (For those non-conformers who refuse to read Harry Potter, a horcrux is an object that contains a portion of a wizard/witches soul. It takes exceptionally dark magic to sever your soul an capture it in a horcrux, but it also conveniently makes you essentially immortal.) After examining the rest of my life, I have identified several other candidates for horcruxy (?). Ahem: my MacBook, my iPod, my expensive floss, my old pink slippers, my chapstick, my lotion, my copy of "Peace Like a River," my memory of "(500) Days of Summer," and the soundtrack to "The Last Five Years."

While some of those items may be intangible, they are all items that without which, I would cease to exist.

So, before you point out that horcruxes are, in fact, evil, just remember that while my soul might have been split to the point that the essence of my humanity is in question--

I am nearly invincible.

Okay, so dreams come true at Lake Powell, too

We (Rachelle and I) went down to St. George this weekend and spent all of Saturday on Lake Powell with Rachelle's parents and friends.

It was rockin. If you've never been to Lake Powell, look at these pictures and then imagine it 10 times more beautiful.

On Saturday, my face hurt from smiling so much and today my arms/necks/back/legs hurt from having so much fun on the tube.

We saw the beautiful sights, climbed some impressive rocks, and watched Kael land a backflip on the wakeboard! It was unreal!

Amazingly, we all managed to escape in one piece, no concussions, and no debilitating sunburns.

To sum up: Sitting in the front of the boat + sunglasses + warm/perfect day + Lake Powell = heaven on earth

As of today I've had 29 roommates

I am a senior at BYU (and have been for a few semesters), and I have lived in Provo since September 2006 (with study abroad and internship exceptions). Since I have lived here in "Happy Valley" I have lived with 29 beautiful girls at various times. We have had adventures together, handled breakups together, managed cooking disasters, and squealed/giggled together about exciting life news. I've lived with return missionaries, friends from high school, friends from Jerusalem, and absolute strangers.

But I love these girls and it's so exciting to see how their lives turn out!

Key:

[ ] roommate for more than one time period

* married/engaged

^ on a mission/ has a mission call

@ expecting a baby

Fall 2006-Winter 2007--45 Fox Hall

Britt Linde (in room)

Maren Christiansen

Paige Christensen*

Charlie Nicholes

Allison Funk

Spring/Summer 2007--Elms, W113

Jen Stewart* (in room)

Shannon Adams*

Emma LaSeuer^

Jessica Fisher

Lisa Owens

Katy Baxter*

Fall 2007--408, Jerusalem

McCall Barrick (same side of the room)

Amber Patterson

Rachel Mildenstein

Winter 2008--Elms, B208

Lindsey Porter*@ (in room)

Nicole Heder*

Lana Holt

Rachel Goodwin*

Jackie Quinn*

Spring/Summer 2008--Elms, B208

[Lana Holt (in room)]

[Nicole Heder*]

Ashley Esser

Randi Billings

Abby Tryon

Fall 2008, Winter 2009--Elms, B208

[Nicole Heder* (in room)]

Andrea Kinghorn^

Kelly Cook^

Emily Edwards

Kylie Pack*

Spring/Summer 2009--The Colony, 433

Rachelle "Roxie" Doxey (in room)

Jenessa Simmons^

Erin Meyers^

Nicole and I at a tennis match summer 2008

Fox 45 roomie reunion summer 2008 (l-r) Paige, Britt, Charlie, Allie, me

Summer 2007, "Deathmatch" with Charlie and croquet mallets

I won.

Roomies in Jerusalem. (l-r) McCall, Rachel, Amber, me

Summer 2008 Abby, me

B208 Girls' night! April 2008 right before three of our roommates got married. Lindsey, Nicole, me, Lana, Jackie, Rachel.

At Yoasis, Jackie, Nicole, me, Lindsey, Lana, Rachel

Summer 2008 at Vivian Park. I have been roommates with all of these girls at some point in time. (l-r) Erin, me, Nicole, Andrea

July 15, 2009. Dropping Erin off at the MTC--she is off to Thailand! Me, Jenessa, Holly, Erin

The Year 3000

Seeing as how I have been to the year 3000 with the Jonas Brothers and I have a fondness for funny words, I have to post my new favorite future quote, thoughtfully provided by Conan.

"In the year 3000, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will merge to form one super time-wasting website called YouTwitFace."

I guess he's been to the year 3000, too.

A Refining Fire

"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless."

--President James E. Faust