on the eve of departure

things I will miss about this apartment:

• my beloved cottonwood trees!
  
• en-suite half-bath
• living at the end of a cul-de-sac
• living within walking distance of Albertsons & Cafe Rio
• birdwatching on the balcony, even though the railing isn't super stable and the couch is probably thirty years old and the new flooring still smells a little like glue ten months later...

things I will not miss about this apartment:

• the unfathomable shower setup
  
• the ugly dark blue carpet and the ugly textured walls
• seasonal ant infestation
• bent window screens that let flying bugs in
• the crappy, er, vintage kitchen: hole in the roof of the microwave, crooked burner on the stove, weak garbage disposal that gets clogged way too easily, fridge without a light, ugly linoleum floor...
• having to buy all new light fixtures because the ones provided were miserably inadequate
• scary electrical outlets that work only if the plug is hanging at a certain angle (not a normal right angle)

things I will miss about Provo:

• carefree midnight walks
• Wasatch mountains as backdrop
• Costa Azul turned Costa Vida, affectionately known simply as Costa
• giant sycamores in the "downtown" area
• Harold B. Lee Library
• wandering near the trainyards, again, without feeling threatened
• hearing train whistles at all hours of the night
• free New York Times on campus
• being able to walk to church
• four distinct seasons, even is autumn is brief and spring is schizophrenic
• low humidity - oh, how I prefer a Utah summer to a Maryland summer
• low cost of living (minuscule compared to SF bay)
• intellectual perks of being in a university community
• El Gallo Giro & Delipan - but the Mission District should make up for it. Taquería, here I come!

things I will not miss about Provo:

• it takes two hours on public transit to get to a decent-sized city
• infrequent and untimely buses (though they could be worse)
• minimal architectural interest
• singles stake leaders who think it's their job to make sure we don't leave Provo without getting married first
• the smell of Fast Food Row (Bulldog Blvd) on my walk to/from campus
• the electric fireworks at "The Corner"
• hearing or overhearing that so-and-so got married and whats-her-bucket got engaged, half a dozen times a day if out and about on campus
• no curbside recycling! to be fair, it is available for a mere $5/month, but not at the apartments I've lived in because of the way they are managed. it's sort of a pain to collect recyclables and cart them down to the dropoff site in south Provo. not that it's not worth it. recycling makes me feel happy.

things about San Francisco that I'm looking forward to:

• exploring the city
• seeing sights like these
• living near this guy
• SFMOMA and other major museums
• architecture
• convenient public transit
• La Taquería (best tacos north of the border)
• and the rest of the Mission/Little Mexico
• the hills
• views of the bay and the ocean
• plastic bag & bottled water bans (hooray!)
• liberal politics and plenty of treehuggers (okay maybe that's a stereotype but I hope it holds true!)
• artsy atmosphere
• did I mention the Mexican food? and Thai, and Indian, and Vietnamese...
• the prospect of meeting a cute, smart Stanford boy. hey, my sister did. and we all know that the only reason I'm going to California is to get married, right?
• um, it's San Francisco. duh.
• oh, and it's not Utah Valley. finally!

things about San Francisco that I'm not looking forward to:

• high cost of living (and no job yet!)
• no more midnight walks
• the hills (walking up them)
• hmm, yep, that's all I can think of.
  

California, Californiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, here we coooooooooooommme!
(that's for you, BreeAnn, Claire, Anna-Lisa)