working 2 hours a day is awesome.

though probably not good for my wallet. since switching to prn, i've had some free time. it's great. last week the only work i did was dental assisting for a dentist i cant stand. but this week and the next 2 i am full on hours at pcs, so i know it's gonna get crazy again. it's so nice to be able to pick my hours, and not have to work sundays!  though i can't wait till i get back from china and can earnestly look for a real job that i love, or maybe start school up again...

i haven't gotten much done lately. i still have not bought a dresser, or been able to get all my clothes organized at all. i still haven't gotten my passport. still need to get the oil changed on my car.  haven't taken many pictures lately.  

'why' you ask?

because it's spring. because things are blooming and green and good smelling, because the weather has been in the 60's and 70's more often than not in the last 2 weeks. because lurve is in the air and i'm once again part of a couple (isn't it weird how easily you slip back into that? back to 'i hold hands with the person walking next to me' and 'he's gonna call to see how my day was after he's done with work' and 'i have somebody to cook with again'). when i'm single, it's like i can't remember what any of it's like and when i'm not single, it's like i've been not single forever.  

i'm getting cabin fever. happy valley fever. i need out... a weekend, camping in moab, another trip to california, maybe a trip somewhere else? i get so bored here sometimes, i hate being at home at this apartment. i miss my little brother.  head on over to that blog there on the right to see him picking his nose, driving, and mowing the lawn.

NIE NIE!

last night late, after i got home from playing trivial pursuit with austin and friends, i knew i wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon, and that nobody was around that late to play (cath, come home!), and so i settled in for one of my favorite 2 a.m. pastimes... reading NieNie's blog...

if you want to be instantly inspired, grateful for your life, learn how to be a little bit better, click my "i read nie nie" button there on the right... i seriously would pay my friends and family to backread her blog, i can't say enough how much it's inspired me and shaped who i am/want to be. 

anywho, today i went over to Cafe Fresh to find the brown rice sushi that i love so much (they were out) and ended up waiting for a wrap to be made. as i walked away from the cash register i caught glimpse of a slim woman in red, in burn bandages. she wasn't so recognizable  ( compared to all her pictures from her blog) but i knew instantly that it was her. a glance to the left proved me right when i saw her sister lucy at the counter- ever feel like you know somebody who's blog you read? haha. i got super nervous, i wanted so badly to say hi to her and tell her how much i adore her and want to be just like her. instead i settled for sitting at the closest table to wait, and trying not to do anything stupid. i was so nervous just to be near her that i completely forgot what i'd called my mom about when she returned my phone call. 

                  read it and weep... for love. and happy. 

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2007/04/perfect-day.html

                 but most of all, this one- it's a dream come true- and she realizes it. this one's my favorite:

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2005/09/and-my-blog-will-go-on-and-on.html

if you really and truly don't know NieNie's story, 

absolute best thing ever.

my favorite musical, a huge flashmob with kids and old people and everyone in between, a remix, so amazing. watch the whole thing. 

some old, some new

sunday night. i took a lonnnnggg nap today. which means i won't be able to sleep for a few hours... bleh. i get so bored when i don't work. though once i start back up again this week i know i'll be so tired and not wanting to be there. plus i think the sun's gonna return after a weekend of cold rain. thank goodness! 

anyways, these are some, some are old, some are new...

my favorite place in utah... i listened to a podcast where they were talking about the self portrait and narcissism, it was interesting. so i was sitting here on this log and some people walked by (i've never seen anybody out here) so i got nervous for a minute. but i don't think they could see me through the brush. and they turned around and left. ha.  i'm blurry, everything else is not. not sure how i managed that.

kami and matt are graduating this week from USU, so we took a couple of pictures for them to put on a little announcement thing. lately i'm obsessed with shooting into the light. i'm trying to get better at it...

these are all from the HOLI Festival of Color at the local Hindu temple.... basically 15,000 byu/uvu white kids who pretend to be cultural and throw colored chalk at each other and start mosh pits and throw crowd surfers around. it was cccrraaazyy. (this is where i got my finger broke... it's still big.)

                                 a little johnny...

    this chalk gets EVERYWHERE and takes like 3 showers to look normal again
the beginning of the fight
everyone still relatively clean, and still clear air
waaaaaay too many people for my taste!

i really want to eat some cake batter, but i used my last 2 boxes for damon's birthday cakes. hmmm.... i do have a package of sugar cookie mix. any dough sounds good right now. 

secrets...

i didn't even mean for that middle picture to happen, i just was walking back towards the camera and accidently fired the shutter... when i saw it, the first thing i imagined was climbing through water, so i shot the rushing 'stream' next.

perfect days

the last few days in utah have been so perfect. the weather has soared past 70 the last 3 days and stayed cloudless. i haven't worked since saturday morning... 

i've spent more time outside in the last 2 and a half days than i have since november. 

yesterday i drove around just to be in the sun and feel the wind at the same time. down to mapleton, sprite and candy, over to lakeshore, pat green, up to orem, check some cellos, back to provo and up to the state hospital to see the orchards, keith urban, down to the park on center street. the one with the huge trees and the little tanks and weird statues. blanket over the grass (thanks Cooks, that import from mexico has totally made up in value- so worth spending a week alone with your 4 kids while you cruised the Caribbean), Story of Edgar Sawtelle (i'm trying to savor this book and take it slow, i know i won't want it to end) but i fell asleep instead. how could i not. damon finished his game of golf  (i drive with the windows down and sleep in parks, he golfs) came to meet me and we went and got frozen yogurt from Mav and went back to the park for a good hour. we left, we gathered cameras (he got a new lens, it' s big) and drove back up to the state hospital, walked around the castle and the pond where dozens and dozens were playing frizbee, picnic-ing, fishing, soaking... 

back down, to the temple at sunset, over to visit married friends. back to our neck of provo where we gave joe a ride on the window of my car, ate all the leftovers from picnics this weekend (including the Live Rich picnic which was so great and so good to see Marianne, and Derek's graduation picnic sunday evening) and then over to the boys house where they washed the kitchen to Mariah Carey and we watched the Office episode i'd missed. 

really, the last 3 days have been heaven.

Green Means Go

so remember some months back when i drove around provo taking random pictures of street signs, and stood on a bridge tracing cars and timing them to the rhythm of green vs. red and stood on a podium between racing trax trains all for the sake of my sweet friend catherine and noteworthy? 

look what she gave me today:

  so i spent the time after i left hanging out with catherine tonight driving around provo to listen to the album... sooooo AMAZING!  seriously, these girls are incredible. go over to their website

                      noteworthyladies.com

buy the cd. you won't regret it. and you'll get to see a couple of my pictures on an album jacket, and my name in print. twice.

thanks noteworthy. =)

things to heart

blizzard in the middle of april that dumped like more snow than provo saw all winter within 24 hours. and it all being almost completely melted away.

sweet tooth fairy cupcakes. damon had an interview this tuesday, and i went to the gym that morning, so i HAD to stop by and get us a couple of cc's. i picked strawberry shortcake. the thing is topped with a chocolate covered strawberry! i may have to sneak back over today before work.  i think i need to try this s'mores cc:

switching to PRN at work this week: yay for being able to go to church and have a semi life again! I'm already signed up for 2 weeks of nightwatch in early may- on transition (where the girls who are about to phase out of the program live- they are amazing!) which is so easy breezy and has guitar hero and 2 huge flat screens so i can actually stay awake.

um, hello keith urban's new cd? love it. also regina spektor. samson.

"sorry it's so late, i just wanted you to know that you're beautiful. sleep well"

     (i know, right?)

 i miss doing the dishes with my grandma. and the way her earlobes felt like velvet.

   i hate untangling hangers, such as the trash bag-full that i had tonight waiting for me at home

   i miss Easter at home when the whole family from my great-grandmother down would drive to fredricksburg and easter egg hunt and eat tons of food and walk around main street and go to sunday mass at the cathedral across the street.

   i am determined to get another cello in the next month or two.

   i am so excited for spring to get and stay here. i'm ready for parks and bbqs and night walks and sleeping with the windows open.

   i'm afraid my finger will never get small again. breaking my most important one was a bad idea. 

   i am missing texas bluebonnet season, which kills. 

 

   (also missing tornado season, which has started in tornado alley. and the startup of those texas evening thunderstorms that i love so much is just around the corner)

   

  i'm sorry to say that {you are were simply not the kind of friend i needed. two-way roads are my thing. it goes both ways, it takes two to tango. i was the one doing it all. and getting drunk-come-ons and stand-ups and grand stories in return. no thanks.'}

        nothing more and nothing less. it just took me too long to do something about it. if that's being close-minded or judgmental or self-righteous... maybe? but i think it was me finally being smart and walking away from a bad situation. 

       so maybe i'm just another person to add to the list of people who say those things to you. maybe one day you'll finally get it.

      either way, i've been happier since i last saw you than i have ever. and that's enough proof of a good choice for me. 

a window with a different view.

my bedroom window now looks at trees and mountain and sky and a couple of backyards. not university avenue and traffic and a dirty parking lot. it's strange to be in a strange bedroom. the last time i moved alone was over a year and a half ago. it turned out great, the girls in the house and the boys next door made for an amazing year.  this time may be different. from down the hall i hear my non-member roomate (been so long since i've had one of those) and her boyfriend who flew in from az for her birthday... it reminds me of when i first moved to the villa and had this weird crazy roomate who smelled horrid and her and her boyfriend would... whatever... to the celeb collaboration, 'where is the love?'. i kid you not. ask david. or kristi. 

it's strange to be here without jenn. life's not the same and it's only been a few hours.

i'm grateful to have a man around who's not a child. no more boys. i prefer the grownup kind, the kind who act their age, not their shoe size. who are reliable. and responsible. and kind to others... and a good example. somebody who makes me want to be a better person, not makes me feel like a babysitter/ride giver/pick up your pieces-er... he's so fabulous. if nothing happens past what has at this point, i'll be glad for a mold to use for other potentials. cause i enjoy not wasting my time with idiots. 

somtimes i have emotional days. like today. maybe it's because i'm female. maybe it's because the moon is so big. maybe it's because i'm a gemini. i'm grateful for my ability to bounce back easily (hearing damon say 'where is the bathroom' in korean, my friend joel's excitement over the puppy in my apartment, kurt and i eating ridiculous amounts of food for tucanos at lunch and then helping him hit on the checkout girl at allen's, my pig from color me mine that is just so precious...).  talk about tender mercies. 

    " We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance."  -Elder Bednar

Jake had his 3 year checkup yesterday. he is in the 93rd % for both height and weight. how did i get the short stick here? kristi and i will never be as big as he probably will when he's 10. 

(defying gravity)

the last week has been hectic, and tonight is too, but i thought i'd take a few minutes to hop online and update those who i haven't talked to lately...

last wednesday damon and i went up to logan to go to the post secret event with kami (and half matt, ha)... it was.. interesting. but the trip was definitely worth it for the 4 hours in the car to and from with damon (not many people you can say that about...), and the time we got to spend with my kami and her matt. 

work work work, then my mom came into town for a couple of days and we just did all kinds of stuff, like some shopping and a lot of eating and painting things with kurt and getting stuck on the salt flats- which happen to still be muddy. i'll have to put up pictures after the move, i'm not sure where my card reader is...

i'm in the middle of moving down the road, to a new condo, i'm pretty excited, but i hate hate HATE moving. the only thing  good about moving is using derek's truck for the day. 

life is good. so good. =)

(i wish my sister was here to play with me in provo though)

i don't usually go to church-y on here, but with conference weekend starting in a couple of days, i was thinking back to my favorites from last session- this one is definitely at the top of the list. the video is short and to the point.  sometimes it only takes a little more than 3 minutes to get yourself back on track.

Elder Uchtdorf is so great...