my neck of the woods

Love Language: The Original Short Film & Fundraiser

2012-02-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

cute. worth watching.

caught in the middle

2012-02-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

dear lenka,

thank you for writing a song that sums up my life.

love, me

always caught between several goods...why can it never be a good and a bad?

and now, of course, it's got me reminiscing

people say list your pros and cons

look at reasons why i should and shouldn't

in reality, there's not any good reason i shouldn't

thus the debating beings...

one thing for sure - i'd get some awesome pictures

familia

2012-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

family pictures just before seth (elder wood III) left for the mtc

credits go to vanessa scott thompson

{thanks!}

hola familia

the parentals

matt's cd cover picture

jake & becky!

meh

cute little laura & blake

hello mccoy

seth

(best missionary texas will ever/has ever seen)

cute brett

if only

2012-01-05T14:01:00.001-08:00

got this awesome text from laura today

"it's 83 and sunny. come visit :)"

beautiful picture, laura.

if only i could leave work right about...now...

sugar plum fairy

2011-12-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

i enjoyed this

sandra bullock would be so proud of them

dreams are wishes your heart makes?

2011-11-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

if that's true then i've got some strange wishes...

last night i had a dream i was dating this guy

and we were in this beautiful place

{greece}

and we were smuggling this out of the country...

one day....one day....

especially the chocolate bit of it

oh, hello new song

2011-11-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

this is a new love of mine

{enjoy}

home{work} sick

2011-10-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

today i missed school. i actually missed it. for the third time in the period of a week, i’ve been sitting at work with everything done i’ve needed to do and found myself wishing I had homework to read through.

so today, while i had some time to kill, i went through some of the university photography pictures

{http://photo.byu.edu/pages/first-day-of-class-2011}

and realized that it felt like all the years I had spent at college barely felt like i had done anything. and though i do not miss the tests, or the papers, or the stress of college i found myself “home sick” for university life again…

the beautiful colored leaves on campus

the smell of fall the air

students weaving in and out of each other heading to work/class/their social life

naps on benches in the RB

staying up late with roommates

study groups that always seemed to be more of a social hour

the scent of candied almonds roasting in the book store

worry that the project you just presented/turned in won’t be up to par for your professor

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

car rides up the canyon wih friends

falling in love with new music

hot chocolate

i miss it all – the sights, tastes, smells and emotions that go along with fall and college. every once in a while i wish i could go back – then when i think about it i’m thankful i don’t have to

today though, i wish i was spending 8 hours there instead of behind this desk

dimples

2011-10-25T09:06:00.001-07:00

a friend of mine sent me this....

the girl he home teaches got this after a first date on monday night.

{she was kind enough to share}

hoppipolla

2011-10-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

i once choreographed to this song

the movement had to be inspired by nature (wonderful assignment)

so i drove up provo canyon in the middle of autumn

put this on repeat

and created a 5 min dance that would earn me an award from the dance department

every time fall comes, this song sticks in my head

{i also love the idea of going back into your childhood when you're old...}

through my eyes

2011-10-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

ok laura, this is mainly for you.

autumn through my eyes

it's my new artistic outlet since i'm not exactly dancing all the time...

{enjoy}

i need a new facebook picture and i think this one will win

favorite #1 {this is one of my favorite trees}

favorite #2 {one of the last warm days up at the cabin}

these two {up and down} are my #3 favorites...yes, tied

who am i kidding...they're all favorites for different reasons

one day i'll actually take a photography class. till then, i'll just keep pretending

10/4/2011

2011-10-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

yes, it's late right now and i'm incapable of coming up with a clever title

so....it is what it is

still, with nothing to blog about

(lots of things on my mind as well as to say, but majority of them i probably shouldn't share with the world wide web)

my job conflicts with my calling.

big time.

still not sure what to do about it.

like most things, i'll figure it out.

and while i'm figuring things out best i can, i use some of my creative outlet to help me think

this time in particular - photography

here's a sneak peak of what was caught over conference weekend

evolution

2011-09-27T08:49:00.001-07:00

finally...something to blog about

dirty dash 2011, soldier hollow

it was 47 degrees when we first got there

team...sassafras...

pre-10K mud run/obstacle course picture

post 10K...pure awesomeness

bean, the middle bald guy, is my favorite in this picture

we all gave our shoes away at the end...no use keeping them

and yes, i'm the barefoot one.

new love

2011-09-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

i've been listening to this for a while

this week, though, it's been a favorite

{enjoy}

here but gone

2011-08-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

happy birthday, dad

you are loved

{and missed}

surfin' usa

2011-08-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

once upon a time i went to california

and i went surfing...

and i totally rocked it

our group with our awesome teacher, katy

{down front}

learning!

{i'm on the left}

stood up on the second attempt...

and stayed up for 15 seconds...

and attempted to turn

{be proud, i recovered big time after this little mess up}

it was awesome

props to sydney prather for the photos. she and katy were super chill. we talked for an hour after the lesson and they invited me (and my friend thomas) on a surfing trip with their friends to a cove you hike into. pretty sure they are some of my new favorite people. we left before we could play with them but i'm hoping i'll meet up with them again randomly.

{that would be sweet}

'a' is for adventure

2011-08-17T23:13:00.001-07:00

'a' is also for august

august is my month of adventure!

wedding receptions

{all over utah}

girls camp

{4:30am drive to idaho for camp bartlett scout reservation, no make-up, hiking up and down a 30% grade hill at least twenty times a day, sleeping on the cold ground, 5:30am polar bear plunge, 9-mile hike, riddles riddles riddles, campfires, skits, songs, games, excellent food (thank you camerons and reeses!), canoeing, rafting down the bear river, flag raising/lowering ceremonies, singing along with the scout songs, pranks, late night talks (with the other leaders? yep, and yes, it made me feel young), getting everyone up early to pack to go home, stop at bear lake for raspberry shakes, sleeping in the car on the way home}

cabin with the family

{walking/hiking, cleaning, eating, laughing, playing games, watching "the sandlot", morning 4-wheeler rides, crazy downpour in the middle of the night, no make-up, cell reception :) drive home}

what's next?

california

ready or not, here i come!

{stay tuned for more...}

love³

2011-08-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

sunshine + summer + chacos = tan line

a bad picture, but i love my z's

patriotic celebration

2011-07-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

i'm a little late putting these up...

whitney, elliot and stella came to stay with us for a few days!

stella and i played dress-up. a lot.

some of the dibble gals:

marie, mom (ruth), ellen

cute mom...always so good with the babies

cousins!

(sorry the picture is blurry...)

she has excellent faces

i just happened to grab this one

singing sisters

mary ellen, anna, margaret, emma

we didn't know her but my mom said she could sit on our blankets with us

she was a pain

wouldn't stop talking

and ate all our grapes...

but she had great dancing shapes

men of the family!

i like this

pretty sure these guys are best of friends...and they're second cousins

audience member: "yay, grandpa!"

choir member: "which one?"

golden

2011-07-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

a friend gave me this...and i love it:

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."

-Stephen King

viva las vegas (and the new mrs. brockbank)

2011-06-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

brenda and i at the beginning of our adventure

viva las vegas!

hahaha oh brenda. she hates beaver now.

we made it safe...

and we helped make sarah's bouquet!

pretty purple

fuzzy, but the new mr and mrs brockbank

roommates!

brenda's friends a.k.a. bryan's roommates

the purcell clan

kissy picture
this one seems to fit more...
story time in the back seat
we've always been the best at these kinds of pictures

summer adventure #2

2011-06-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

adventure #1 - stake youth conference

on to adventure #2....
sarah ann purcell
{this lady here}
gets married this weekend!

down in this little town

so brenda and i (the one in the middle) are trekking down to attend
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
while we wish katelyn (the one on the left) could get work off and come with us

once i get back, bring on adventure #3
{laura and blake}

long distance hug

2011-06-19T22:07:00.001-07:00

happy fathers day, dad

love you

miss you

love, your little girl

photo booth fun

2011-06-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

this one time i went to my friends wedding...grant & amber

thomas was my date

{and part of the wedding party}

i loved this idea...and i think i will have it at my wedding

the end of the world

2011-05-24T09:47:00.001-07:00

well...maybe not

rainy day song

2011-05-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

a favorite

this song always fits well into a rainy day
i love the acoustic version
{but this one is just as good}

something

2011-05-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

something borrowed, something blue, something old.... looking for something new
i feel i've plateaued and i'm not quite sure exactly how to get rid of it
and times i feel out of place
like this cute little pig in the red boots (let's be honest, i just really wanted to put this picture into a post)

and other times i feel i'm right where i need to be
but for right now i'm just....looking for something new

lately

2011-05-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

here’s a little update from the past two weeks:
happy birthday seth and mom!
snow?
country dancing, country dancing, country dancing
mountain biking
sandwiches on a truck bed
family easter picnic
campfire
roasting hot dogs
watching “rio” – excellent job on the color, dave!
late night talks
austin & makelle dutch oven dinner and hoe down
orange leaf
hires big h burgers
cathedral of the Madeline
stuffed pizza
carl bloch exhibit round 2
country dancing, country dancing, country dancing
moochies philly cheese steak sandwich
bowling
adding/checking off bucket list items
temple square lunch break walks

wedding receptions (3)

soaking up some sun

the best things

2011-04-20T10:43:00.001-07:00

in the movie white christmas, danny kaye sings that

"the best things happen while you're dancing"

i agree.

i love dancing

right now i'm remembering just how much i love (and miss) dance

{country dance, in particular}

and to me that is one of the best things because it makes me truly happy

dreamer

2011-04-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

i've always been a dreamer

when i was younger {and now} one of my favorite things to dream about was being able to fly

with my dreams, one thing has always been the same...

it's amazing how one thing can change the way that you think or what you dream about

one word

one phrase

one advertisement

one random meeting

one memory

one person

one story

one song

funny how something small and quick can impact dreams of the future; how they can make you think about charting your own course and ratlling the stars

i still dream

{now i just need to decide not if but how i'll follow them}

mr. wind

2011-04-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

dear mr. wind

yesterday you came barging unannounced into not only my neighborhood but my house as well. you caused quite a ruckus.

while reading, the attic entrance in the corner on the ceiling of my room started to open and shut, open and shut

first a little,

then a little more,

slam down,

open all the way and shake a little bit,

slam back down,

open up a little bit more...

it scared me half to death and for some reason i figured that running downstairs would make it more safe, so i ran and went looking for someone

and found kirk in the garage...

and the attic entrance in the garage was doing the same thing as it was in my room...i laughed at myself.

not cool, mr. wind.

we've had fun in the past and i don't want to ruin our friendship but i would really appreciate it if you wouldn't scare me like that again. please.

thanks

{love, me}

decisions

2011-04-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

for weeks now i've been telling my laurels this

{in more or less the same words}

you got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course. stick to it, no matter the squalls! and when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you're made of, i hope i'm there, catching some of the light coming off you that day

why is it that we, as humans, are so good at telling others to be the best self they possibly can and have courage to shine as bright as the sun but when it comes to testing our own sails we hesitate?

recently a friend wrote me saying that if i want to go back to china he and his wife have a teaching job for me i love to travel and love the though of going back to china

months ago i would have jumped at the offer and left in a heart beat now i find myself thinking through things, wondering...

is it really what i'm suppose to do with my life right now?

i have a job

i have a place to live

i have access to a car

i have access to a carbut that isn't good enough for some people so they're always asking questions and i've been thinking about some of those:

grad school?

mission?

job closer to provo/orem?

dating?

singles ward vs home ward?

if i leave for china, i put all of the above on hold

not to mention i won't see my family for one year

talking through things with a friend i've come to the conclusion that i'm not afraid.

i'm not afraid of leaving my home

my family

my job

my friends

and moving to another place i love to experience a different taste of life

but that the older i get, the more conscious i am of what i do and where it will put me in the future; how beneficial it is for me at this point as well as in the months and years to come

so...no

i'm not scared of going to grad school

moving back down to provo

going to a singles ward

putting myself out there in the dating world

or living in a foregin country for a year

but i am going to think quite a lot before i leap in any direction...this time, at least

next life

2011-04-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

on thursday i went to my cousin margaret's piano concert at weber state

amazing

so i've decided....

in my next life i'm going to be able to do this

(among many other things)

one year older

2011-03-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

{24}

*taco stand celebratory lunch with my big brother matt on friday

*byu senior project concert friday night - katelyn's piece was beautiful

*24 sweet rolls from shirley's, 24 candles, 4 of my best friends, 3 new pairs of earrings after the dance concert

*moleskin journal (actually my christmas gift i never got) from thomas and grant

*early morning cleaning on saturday

*the family singing while preparing lunch

*costco trip with mom

*bouquette of flowers

*blake and laura singing to me over the phone

*secret deliveries to some of my laurels

*young womens general broadcast - seeing the video i helped create at work

*country dancing with brenda (didn't realize just how much i truly missed till i got there...and i was dizzy from turning more than i have in the past 48 weeks)

*finding out bryan kissed sarah

*getting stuck in 45 min traffic at 1am on my way home

*laughing with seth in sunday school

*3 beehives telling me i should do toothpaste commercials

*cutting strawberries for my cake (my favorite)

*nap time

*ward choir - stake choir

*the weather going from hail to snow to sunshine

*playing with the dogs

*eating and laughing with my family

*skyping laura and blake

*opening gifts (mostly ones i bought for myself and gave my mom to give to me)

*eating the delicious cake

*popcorn

*movie

*bed time

all in all, it was a fabulous birthday weekend

i am now officially 24 years old

{and i love it}

my lovely laurels

2011-03-23T11:32:00.001-07:00

so it's overdue

but everytime i'm with all of them i don't have a camera

so i swipped this off of narumi's camera before she went back home to japan

we're missing 3 in this picture- a total of 11 laurels that i teach

and i love them

all of them

left - right: amber, amanda, emilee, (narumi) kate, ashley, camilla, megan and caitlin

{missing: jessie, emily and cami}

new friend

2011-03-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

a bad picture but...

in a few days, the 'friends' match to this necklace will be on it's way home to ishioka, japan

after it spends a few days in disneyland

with this cute little girl

meet narumi suzuki

she's 16

she is excellent at playing the piano

she loves aladdin and pudding

she's called me 'sister' for the past two weeks

and as much as i hated sharing a room with brett

i'm going to miss her

a confession

2011-02-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

i miss china.

a lot...strangely

i can't tell you how many times i've looked up the price for a ticket to fly back and visit

i actually did while i was writing this - $617.00

i really really REALLY want to go back

but nobody really understands why even when i try and explain it to them

and though i do miss the strange foods,

being famous because i'm in a group of white americans from BYU and having random people asking to take pictures with me/us,

emailing my family of my adventures,

seeing things more ancient than i can really imagine they are

and these girls...

these are who i miss THE MOST

dear friends in xi'an. silly boys.

great teachers in xi'an

cute little cafferin

jerry, sam, angela, liu tian wan and zhao pun cho

excellent travel buddies/shopping friends/amazing dancers/picnic-ers in beijing

mary and susie in beijing

oh lizzy

my mongolian boys! beautiful voices.

almost famous in november

2011-02-24T20:30:00.001-08:00

my dear friend brooke snow teaches photography lessons

every once in a while she'll ask me to come model for her class

i went in november and needed a driving buddy

to venture up to smithfield with me

good ol' rob smith volunteered

{good times}

here are some of the pictures

enjoy!

yay for jumping!

typical of our friendship...i say things i think are funny, he glares at me, i shrink

they made us hold hands. crazies. but i like the picture.

i. heart. my. headband.

{i have a new headband fetish}

this is my favorite of him

probably because of the truck

taken by brooke. love her.

we do laugh lot

for real

litte rob. ok, ok...so he isn't really little

he's actually quite tall

i believe i can fly

rob in his natural habitat

nature

fun times with hair

robert thomas smith, everybody

my mom likes this one

a favorite of mine

jake & becky

2011-02-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

february 19, 2011

jake and becky bourne

mt. timpanogos temple

the newly weds....literally

yay for friends!

becky's family

becky's dad congratulating the couple

i love how she's looking at him

kirk, becky, jake, mom

the new familia

(minus blake...stupid work)

becky and siblings

cute laura!

we partied all day long.

fun to be with family!

disney + love = genius

2011-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

this is a new favorite disney movie of mine

romance, action, humor, cute pet chameleon

what more could you want in a chick flick?

disney + love = genius

people meet one day and fall madly in love with each other after a day or two and they even have a duet-theme song that they sing together

awesome

since today is valentines day...

ode to love

it's an emotion - an ability - that everyone wishes they had

you don't hear people whining or crying because they've never felt angry or guilty

people crave love

giving it

receiving it

but it's not always how disney says it will be

(which is really too bad because i'd love to burst out into song with a handsome young man)

i want to be loved

i want to feel wanted

{don't you?}

and i will be someday

someday

someday i'm going to be here in this picture

with cute red shoes

but not today

and i am ok with that

all i can do now is live my life from one adventure to the next

and have one heck of a time doing it!

{you should too}

in the mean time...thank you, disney, for helping me dream

it's fun

and though i've had some dreams come true, it's time for a new dream

happy valentines day!

6 months

2011-02-12T12:56:00.001-08:00

in honor of the "put the color of your bra as your status" last year

and "what kind of drink are you?" this year on facebook

i've decided to do this instead....

just over 6 months ago

after finding a suspicious lump

i decided i should see someone about it

"well, it's hard to say but from what you're explaining to me and from what i can feel it could be cancer"

pretty sure my heart dropped down past my toes

breast cancer at age 23?

life would definitely be different

about a week after that, i found myself on a table in the american fork hospital

getting an MRI

(and now i wish i could have asked for photos of the results)

three "masses"

that's what they told me

one semi-large and the other two quite small

connected like a chain

result of MRI - same

could be cancer

could be nothing

"we should do a biopsy to get a confirmation"

next: a needle gun (with one needle inside another)

6 clicking sounds

and feeling a blood trail down my side and back

my chest was numb for hours

the bruise remained for about a week

the scar from the biopsy is still there

after two weeks the results came: no cancer!

the tumors are benign

and they are still inside of me...like a battle wound or souvenir

{one of the happiest days ever}

i should be sleeping...

2011-02-05T23:02:00.000-08:00

so i should totally be sleeping

but a friend sent me this today in an email

and i've been singing it in my head ever since then

....and i still am, at 12:05am

song of the day

2011-02-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

for starters, i woke up with this song stuck in my head

then the same crazy guitar man on TRAX played this while we rode to salt lake

and as good songs usually do it put a smile on my face...which is why it's one of my theme songs

once a theme song, always a theme song

happy tuesday!

pick-me-up

2011-01-31T13:21:00.000-08:00

after eating lunch i was waiting for an elevator to take me back up to the 20th.

ding

a few people came out while about eight men walked in. i started to walk into the elevator when i was grabbed from behind by an elderly sister missionary who was standing there with her husband.

she had bushy white curls and pasty hot pink lipstick on but she was so excited to see me.

strange – i have never seen her before.

“i have to tell you, i think you are absolutely beautiful. i see you walk into work every day and i always think you are stunning! don’t you think, honey?”
“yes, i do. tell you what else i think – any boy who doesn’t jump at the opportunity to have her for himself is missing out on his greatest happiness.”

wow

i was speechless. i still am, actually.

i thanked them each several times and crammed onto the elevator filled with men and tried not to smile too big.

{it’s going to be a great day}

oh sarah, how i love you

2011-01-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

here's the text i got from my favorite sarah yesterday:

i'm running a molecular modeling program.
every time you run a simulation it outputs random quotes for fun
i like this one

"times have changed.
in the bible when an ass spoke
it was considered a miracle."

{thanks, sarah}

4 hours south

2011-01-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

two weeks ago today i went on a little adventure....

sir ryan van wagoner invited me to go down to st george with he and his friends for the weekend

terry smith's house was gigantic!

{and so empty...tons of rooms, only mattresses and 3 couches - nothing else}

the view was amazing

it was so much warmer than home but

there were still chunks of ice on the back porch

the view again - looking north

terry took crystal lyman. she and i shared a room. good times.

we hiked to a cave in snow canyon and climbed to the top of a boulder. so we took victory pictures but my suggestion of taking muscle pictures didn't fly

{this is ryan}

he. is. great.

hide and seek

2011-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

ok, so i'm not hiding anything

but i think it's funny how when you're not looking for things, they show up

lately i've been finding a lot of things that i wasn't looking for

and i have loved it

like this song:

sad day

2011-01-07T11:57:00.001-08:00

today i left my waterbottle on trax

it is sad. very sad.

if you see him, please tell him to come home!

{i miss him already and it's only been 5 minutes...}

soundtrack

2010-12-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

what would your life soundtrack be like?

a few friends and i decided we would attempt creating one

but once we started we realized we needed more than one cd...more like 7 or 8

each year just before new years eve we draw a genera of sorts (happy-go-lucky, easy going, sing-along, chick flick and holiday tunes) and then each brings a cd for the others full of songs relating to their assigned "topic" of tunes

ready for a new one, girls? i have a feeling this year is going to be good

c-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s

2010-12-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

when i was but a youngster, christmas meant one thing-

that i'd be getting lots of toys that day.

i learned a whole lot different when mommy sat me down

and taught me to spell christmas this way:

"c" is for the christ child born upon this day

"h" for herald angels in the night

"r" means our redeemer

"i" means israel

"s" is for the star that shone so bright

"t" is for three wise men, they who traveled far

"m" is for the manger where he lay

"a" is for all he stands for

"s" means shepherds came

and that's why there's a christmas day

amazing

2010-12-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

this past week, the provo tabernacle was gutted by a fire

sad story...such a historic place filled with thousands of memories specific to provo, the LDS church, and other faiths

this picture of Christ was taken around noon on friday

after it was taken, the room where it was again took flame

after fighting the fire again, the portrait was recovered

though beams had fallen in the room, smoke had filled the room everywhere and water was sprayed into the room, the picture had no water or smoke damage and was never hit by anything that fell

the picture was burned all around Christ, but He is still there. {interesting that it is his right hand that also has no burn marks but a path of light that leads upward}

what a reminder this time of year

christmas time is here!

2010-12-08T11:56:00.001-08:00

{ just a few of my favorite things}

christmas means laura comes! isn't she pretty?

christmas lights

{simply put}

a classic

snow!

{again}

a classic

deliciousness

{hot chocolate = love}

he says it's the worst movie he's ever made. wizard, it's the best.

i heart scarfs

pretty poinsettia

one day i will sing like rosemary clooney

oh, christmas tree

it's a musical now...interesting...

dear karen,

i love your voice.

that is all.

mittens! i love mittens!

{once more}
a classic

don't get caught...

something to cuddle up next to

moooooooooochies

2010-11-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

first stop visited on my tasty adventure list {see previous post}

moochies sandwich shop

sooooo good! especially with the jumpin' jalapeño sauce

good friends, good laughs, DELICIOUS food.

{i got the philly cheese steak, extra onions and mushrooms}

definitely, if you haven't gone yet, you better go...probably now.

ready? um...

2010-11-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

a friend told me that the reason my dating like is no bueno is because

i seem to be perfect for everyone...or everyone just thinks that it's a good idea.

{everyone but me}

great.

truth be told, i don't think i'm ready to welcome anyone into my heart just yet.

he also told me this is one of my theme songs...sing it to me, michael

food, glorious food

2010-11-19T14:18:00.001-08:00

a love of my life is food....which is sometimes a problem

i recently stumbled across a website that really caught my eye:

http://www.dininginutah.com/saltlakesbestbreakfasts.htm

and it's my new goal to eat at every single one of the restaurants listed on this website.

so, from here on out, i'm going to tell you just how good each place is

let the eating....begin!

just one person

2010-11-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

woke up with this song in my head

a very wise teacher of mine use to play this at the end of class once a week...

just some musical food for thought

speak now

2010-11-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

on sunday we talked about being an example to those girls younger than us and this is what came to my mind first...

ode à ma mère

2010-11-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

working with the savior of the world has helped me realize many things about myself, the people i work with, preferences i have…things like that.

perhaps the greatest lesson i will ever take away from this experience is as follows:

while watching the spanish version of savior of the world {el slavador del mundo} i became quite intrigued with a certain scene in which mary is talking to her mother. i thought it of how amazing mary’s parents – especially her mother – had to be to raise such a person worthy of being the mother of Christ. just think of the examples of faith, love and patience her mother must have been through every day life that had to have molded mary into being chosen above all other women.

in the middle of these thoughts, my mind turned to my own amazing mother and all of the things she ever did, large and small, that i have learned through her example. right then i grew thousands of times more thankful for her volunteering my siblings and i, the seemingly annoying reminders of little things i need to do, making me do things to experience something new….all these things reaffirm that whatever my mother does, she does out of love for me. tears came, and i was happy. i have an amazing mother, just like mary. and though i am no mary, i hope i can one day make my mother as proud of me as mary’s mother must have been of her.

thank you, mom.

{i truly love you}

a list of sorts

2010-11-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

this is something I should have added a loooonnng time ago, but we’re just getting to it now…probably because it is long

i have slowly whittled away at this list and these are what is left that i have yet to complete

but i add to the list...pretty much every day

~things to do before I die~

o ride in a hot air balloon
o be famous for two weeks
o write a song
o get married in the temple
o be a model
o cut my hair short
o be on tv
o go hunting
o scuba dive in australia
o go on a mission (single or with husband)
o invent something useful
o type 90+ words per minute without mistakes
o hike all the highest peaks on the west coast
o have choreography performed by a professional company
o hike through the grand canyon
o go through the english chunnel
o run a marathon
o do a triathlon
o become fluent in another language
o sky dive
o hike through waterfalls in south america
o learn how to play the accordion/bagpipes
o sew myself a dress
o go parasailing
o take baking/cooking classes
o get stuck in an elevator with someone famous
o learn to fly
o have something named after me
o work with baby animals
o drive a fire truck
o have a song written about me
o go lobstering
o live in alaska for at least one month
o visit all seven continents
o visit church history sites in israel
o put as many stamps in my passport as possible
o perform in the conference center
o be quoted
o visit a live volcano site
o touch a cloud
o save someone’s life
o stay in an expensive hotel in the most expensive room
o design clothes
o drive a race car
o live on a ranch
o go to a horse race
o play the slots in las vegas
o swim with dolphins
o visit the hottest/coldest places on earth
o climb redwood trees
o learn how to surf
o ride on an elephant
o backpack through europe
o visit a rainforest
o go in the tunnels under the capital in dc
o own a duck
o eat unique dishes from every country/state that they are famous for
o sing in a karaoke bar
o learn to ice skate well
o create a line dance that becomes popular
o pop out of a cake at someone’s birthday
o perform on the streets of new orleans
o road trip from east to west coasts, visiting small towns and places unique to each state
o break down a door
o drive the pch from washington to caifornia
o visit the san juan islands
o go to a shaker village in kentucky
o ride a gondola in venice
o go pearl hunting
o own something expensive
o go to a space shuttle launch
o be in a submarine while it’s under water
o go on a cruise
o be at the finish line for the iditarod
o go to a state fair not in utah
o take photography classes
o go spelunking
o get a masters degree
o go on the whistler zip-line in canada
o be a mom
o own a flying squirrel
o become part of a tribe
o go to the top of the space needle
o be in two places at once
o kiss someone randomly
o visit maine in the fall
o create a holiday tradition
o visit all 50 states
o donate blood twice a year every year
o ride in an authentic steam boat
o go to the seattle tulip festival; pike’s market place
o be an extra in a movie
o send a message by bottle
o see a lunar eclipse
o go a day without talking while surrounded by friends and family

theme song...

2010-11-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

ok so i guess it's not really a theme song, but i have always absolutely loved this song

peas in a pod

2010-10-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

i smile because you're my sister.

i laugh because there's nothing you can do about it.

same

2010-09-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

I am just like every other girl –

I want to be swept off my feet;
I want to feel important;
I want to be carried off into the moonlight;
I want to be surprised;
I want to have butterflies about someone;
I want to feel pursued;
I want to feel powerful;
I want to be speechless because of something that was done or said;
I want to be respected;
I want to know what it is to love and be loved;
I want to travel the world and experience new things;
I want to be seen as who I am and not what I look like;
I want to be able to have enough confidence that I can walk up and talk to a cute guy;
I want to feel thin in anything I wear;
I want to eat delicious foods and not feel like I’m gaining 20 pounds with each bite;
I want to feel like and believe that I am the most beautiful person in a room – to have everything stop because everyone is looking at me;
I want to be incandescently happy;

next step in life: figuring out what makes me so different than every other girl

3 favorites? HELP!

2010-09-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

I NEED YOU TO TELL ME YOUR 3 FAVORITES PLEASE! ASAP!

so he says

2010-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

today, a friend explained to me my dating life to me:

many have called but few are chosen

sad, true, funny

he's a genius

i like it

16 years

2010-09-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

16 years.

it's been 16 years.

16 years full of

would have's

could have's

should have's

story telling

looking at pictres

speckled with various emotions

no matter how often i hear of his love, kindness, honesty, integrity

no matter how many pictures and stories i have from his lifetime

i will always miss my dad

Монгол Улс шуудангийн тамга -:- 蒙古烤肉 -:- mongolian barbecue

2010-07-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

not for the weak stomached people...

we drove into mongolia one weekend for a 'special experience' as jiamin said
after several hours on a bus, we ended up in a community of yurts
dust blowing like crazy
motorcycles, one truck and lots of horses
it was a restaurant/living place

the people from the school we were with wanted us to experience this.

at this restaurant, you kill your own food
truth!
they asked us if we wanted to watch but because of the translation differences people thought they were sheering the sheep instead of killing it.
everyone walked out with their cameras, but once the man made the first cut (6 inch cut from throat down) while the sheep was still alive all but three of us ran back to the yurt.

we took pictures and watched
after a few steps, the man cutting and skinning the sheep motioned to us saying that we could try
so i did

i helped gut and skin a sheep in mongolia

we could watch them prepare the food for us as well
best mutton i've ever tasted.

hands down.

and we ate it in a yurt

新朋友 -:- xin péngyou -:- new friends

2010-07-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

some new friends

each of which i have fantastic memories with

i love and miss them all

students in xi'an

mary and lin lin

cafferine! she was a big time favorite

jason spent a few hours with annie and i one afternoon and insisted on buying us anything we wanted to matter the cost we really liked him

top: aaron, jarry, annie, sam, nicole, angela and shannon
bottom: liu tian yuen, me, zho pung cho and kennedy

my favorite teacher in xi'an (susan) and cafferine.

a family that wanted to take a picture with annie and i. stuff like this happened all the time

her english name was cherry. i kind of liked that.

random girl at the forbidden city who wanted a picture. she said her name was sarah

english class pen pals! jade, lily, taylor, me, carrie, jade and miranda

the one on the left took every improvisation class with us. the one on the right was my 11-year-old partner one improv class. her name is xin xin

the teacher of the young students who came and danced with us - lacy

this is ruby. she also took each improvisation class with us

our long sleeve teacher, pearl! she came to byu last year for a semester. now she has a baby girl

dan and zhao lin. did tibetan dance with them

logan and ben and their "oh this is easy" picture

calligraphy teacher, star

lizzie! she was a favorite as well

momo and i

ah, the boys: tiger, ben, allen and michael

susan!

small moon, chase, me, catherine, ben, allen and michael

suzie and dan took chantelle and i out to eat soup one night. it was so delicious! while we were eating it started to pour rain and they didn't want to walk home in it until we told them that americans walk in the rain all the time. then we partied at our room till curfew.

beijing friends!

nathan, isaac, jacob and zack. inner mongolian teen boys who stole my heart easier than anyone else has. ever.

words

2010-07-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

i have been home from china for about three weeks now

and i miss it

real bad

i love being home and seeing my family and friends

but there is just something about the people there - they are so kind, generous, quick to help and willing to try new things and so eager to be a friend

i took just over 2,000 pictures

some of them are on facebook

but not all of them

and since i'd rather not put all those pictures on, i'll do it in shifts

so, shift #1: sings.

i didn't get all of my favorite ones because some of the funniest ones were in places where you could not take cameras

and since i am trying to cut down on the number of pictures i put up, i'll only do a few...enjoy!

our favorite = acting out the signs

genghis khan throws an implement. do you?

i kind of want to make a shirt of this

this guy has got to be the ugliest asian i have ever seen and he is on posters and billboards all over the place there! odd

sorry, you can't really see it, but it's one of those revolving doors and the picture with the little girl jump roping is for "no lingering." don't know about you, but i always jump rope when i linger

imitating the lounging man

this sign was also all over the place, sometimes with variations

内蒙古问候 (inner mongolia greetings)

2010-06-04T03:19:00.000-07:00

is is strange for me to think

that come monday

i'll be able to say

"see you next week"

it will be so nice to be home but i will miss my new friends in china so much!

i came, i saw, i conquered...the great wall, at least.

从有爱的北京 (from beijing with love)

2010-05-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

i'm in CHINA!

it's great! the internet has tons of things blocked so i found a website that allows me to come here but there's not much i can do

hopefully before i leave i'll figure out how to make it go faster...

see you in about a month!

all children must grow up

2010-04-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

too bad i'm not peter pan and can't grow up

{plus if i was him i could fly}

just starting my last round of winter semester finals at the good ol' byu
and now i'm looking for jobs

i'll be honest, i kind of hate looking for jobs

but at least i'll be done with college!

unseen footage

2010-04-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

just some little things taken by a friend.
she's in the last picture.
they were for a magazine for her school

ok ok...it was a project - design a magazine

it's not real.

{but i sure am}

{she did do a lot of photoshop though}

howdy, ya'll

2010-04-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

this semester i took a country western dance class

and i remembered why dance is my major

it's because i love it, i'm my best self when i'm dancing

and it makes me happy

{thanks, ian}

easters

2010-04-11T18:19:00.001-07:00

the annual family easter picnic up at the farm!

i didn't take many pictures because i my uncle was telling me about how my great grandparents eloped.

{and loving the fire}

anne & hd's grand kids built a fort out of some of the hay. it looked so fun but they wouldn't let me up because i'm too old. sad. i'm not old!

fire friends! matt and seth and i sat at the fire because there were 15 year age gaps on either side of us

mmm...marshmallows

seth eating is favorite baked beans

"i have made fire!" this is the best way to eat these.
i wish that j dawg's had a fire pit behind their little shack that you would go roast your own and then they'd put everything on it. then you get the fire and everything else exactly how you want it.
j dawg's = deliciousness

"this is gonna be my new facebook picture...she thinks my tractor's sexy"

strange faces

she's still there. i'll forever be remembered of what i looked like when i was 19 and all of my kids will say that she doesn't look a thing like me.

good morning toones

2010-04-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

sarah and i always have music playing in the morning

{these are our new favorites}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNwPzHvqauM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeYSkxQxcRM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66QJH7kxh_Q

april foolish nature

2010-04-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

it looks like december
and smells like october

as much as i wish it was really spring outside
i'm ok with it

{it's pretty}

march madness

2010-03-21T21:01:00.001-07:00

happy weekend-ness. let's start with saturday morning...

jake + ward basketball + elbow to the face = bit completely through the lip

laura, this reminds me of that terrorist outfit you once sported

a little tug tug by the doctor who looked like mike long but a bit more...poofy

total of 16 stitches - 10 inside and 6 outside
{or something like that}

three birthday beauties! march is the best...almost as cool as the matches in matt's mouth

i guess i'm the only happy one around these days. oh wait, jake was told to not smile.

now blow the candles out my dear and make your wish come true

gum!

yay gum!

ooohhhh...red cherry jam

woot! granola bars! we're totally college students

pomegranate bert's bees chapstick. thanks, seth!

happiness all around. and me practicing for the millions of asian pictures i'm gonna be in.

paige!

jake is home! still the same ol' jake.

kuzco's visit to campus

2010-03-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

llamas on campus! sometimes byu is pretty cool

hello llama

he's smiling with sarah

take that, laura. wahahaha!

The Grand Concert

2010-03-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

sarah and i went to see brett in his grand concert

{choir, band, orchestra}

they did an excellent job, as usual

the orchestra was best i've heard from a jr. high in quite some time
the band did a great job as well
and the choir, oh the choir, they sang beautifully

...though i don't think it was nearly as good as it was when i was in it...

the little choir kiddies. don't look for brett, i took this picture before i realized that he was still handing out programs and not on the stage

how many teeth can you show in one picture?

stupid idea for a fast sunday

2010-03-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

baking adventures with sarah! we googled reese's peanut butter cups and looked at the pictures and then decided which one looked delicious and went from there...

{peanut butter cup cake}

sarah eating the reese's that are inside of the cake

mmm....chocolate-peanut butter frosting

layer number one with caramel and butterscotch on the top

corner view

with the second laywer

all frosted up!

all gone

reese's dark chocolate peanut butter cups

the finished product!

kinda bad shot but oh well

eat at joe's!

2010-03-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

today's adventure:

joe's cafe in orem. the club sandwich was very good. there was an "abc" omlet (avacado, bacon and cheese) that sounded way good but i didn't really want breakfast. maybe some other day...

worth it?

oh yes. he's a really funny guy from down south, very hospitable and loves his job.

greets you himself when you walk in

talks to you about what you'd like to order/gives suggestions of what to get based off of how you're feeling.

plus he asks to get a picture with you and puts it up on his wall.

i will be up on his wall with tom tom (thomas)

{awesome}

this is joe. joe loves to cook.

the infamous and amazingly good club sandwhich

tom tom, joe and me! woot!

freezin' for a reason

2010-02-20T11:44:00.001-08:00

yesterday i finally decided that i was actually going to do the polar bear plunge!

it didn't hit me how blasted cold it might be when it started to snow yesterday.

deer creek + 7 inches of ice + 3 inches of snow on the ground = stupidest and funnest thing i've done in a while.

{see for yourself}

they had to cut out a hole in the ice so we could jump in. there were people ice fishing everywhere and we were jumping inside...

the 5'x7' hole! see the ladder? we had to climb back out when we were done

some of the great costumes crazy people came in

starting to think that maybe this was a really stupid idea

andrew was super supportive..."i'm not leaving till i get a show!" ugh.

the divers getting in the water to make sure we don't die.

you guys are great.

jumper #1! they would call your name from the stack of release forms and i was one of the last ones to sign so i figures i'd be safe for a while

big splash

the water was maybe 6 or 7 feet deep. i touched the bottom.

but i was called as jumper #3. so much for backing out!

i had to run and jump or else i really wouldn't have done it.

climbing out

surprisingly, it wasn't cold at all when i got out.

it's not a cold face, it's a "wooohoooo!" face. trust me.

after i got out i started running around and people thought i was crazy. i'm not crazy! i just didn't want to freeze to death. duh.

nice butt shot. walking to the camper to change.

andrew's a good friend. he brought me hot chocolate...that was super watered down

yay andrew! don't know if you can see it, but he wore my purse for me

yeah! i'm a winner! totally felt like i could conquer the world when i got out. matt and i are thinking of making this a yearly tradition...

party in my mouth

2010-02-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

so there's a new little cupcake place in provo in brigham's landing. it's called the cocoa bean cupcake cafe. i found a coupon for it in the paper today and when i got to work i looked them up:
(http://www.thecocoabeancupcakecafe.blogspot.com/)

adrian and i decided that we needed to take a mandatory work field trip to see if they'd be worth ordering from in the future.

they have three sizes:
mini
regular
jumbo
{but regular and mini are only special order = not cool}

and are they worth it?
yes!
pure deliciousness.
although i probably won't be able to eat anything else the rest of the day because it was such a sugar overload. pretty sure i've already got a headache from eating one.

missing

2010-02-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

for months now, i have been missing my camera

sad story
the only thing that's usually connected to my hip
besides laura
is gone

if you see it, pretty please tell him to come home

i miss him

when i have free time

2010-01-18T13:32:00.001-08:00

sometimes i like to pretend that i'm good at photography.

it's fun.

in no particular order, just some things i've done:

let it be sung

2010-01-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

the playlist for today {pandora is my saving grace at work}

is the one and only
jack johnson playlist

it's one of my favorites to listen to
because it's chill
and the law students don't mind
and a few professors have even commented on it
{dean smith knew the words to one song}

the worst part about today is i'm so
tired

i don't know how i figure that staying out late

will help me be more awake the next morning
when i
stare at a computer screen
for hours on end

one day i'll
learn

(5) days of summer

2010-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

we moved laura and blake down to california!

honestly, it was the hardest thing i've had to do in a long, long time.
pretty sure i didn't have to go to the bathroom much on the way home
because i cried out any water i had in my body
or something like that
one of the worst days of my life...and the only way i'll do it again is if i move down to california to be closer to my little sister

here is a little taste of how amazing we are

....

2009-12-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

it's late. laura's still packing to leave in the morning, my bed is full of stuff so i can't crawl under the covers and she's still in there. and i lost my camera today. this week better be a good one.

we should be closed

2009-12-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

monday, tuesday and wednesday (today)
i've been sitting at a computer
all day at work while no other person is in the building.
it's dead!
really.
but we have to be open and it's ridiculous.
they actually told me to bring books and movies to pass the time.