The Art of Packing Light

So on this the eve of the eve of my departure to foreign lands I am consumed with jealousy. Jealousy? You may ask. Why would one who is about to venture off into the paradise formerly known as Italy have cause to be jealous? And well I see your point. My life is about to be pretty dang awesome. However, I am utterly filled with envy towards Mary Poppins and Hermione Granger. What I wouldn't give to have the ability to expand my bag and stuff all of the contents of my life into it and yet simultaneously suspend them in a state of weightlessness.

Packing geniuses! 

Lets just say packing has not been easy.

One suitcase. 50 pounds. The next 3 months of my life. Mission impossible.

After carefully shopping for every possible thing I could need and laundering every single item of clothing (some I didn't even know I owned) I began to sort it all out. 3 piles: definitely Italy, maybe Italy, and heck no! that stays in the states. After fitting all of the definitely pile into my suitcase I realized that I still had a significant amount of room for the maybe pile. So after deciding that my orange pants should were worthy of the voyage to Europe I began to fill my bag to the brim. After sitting on it my belongings were crushed to the point that I could safely close the zipper. Then came the weighing. And gosh darn it my bag was 5 pounds too heavy.

What to do? What to do? The answer: sacrifice my back. My carry-on backpack is now about twice as fat as I am and almost as heavy. So If I return from Italy looking like a hunched over 100 year old grandma you will know why.

P.S. Hope you like the new more travel-esque look of my blog.

Perpetually Single

Don't worry this blog post is not some whiney rant about my lackluster dating life, it's a tribute to this magnificent, wonderful, marvelous, spectacular, remarkable, phenomenal, prodigious, breathtaking, extraordinary, unbelievable, amazing, stunning, astounding, astonishing, awe-inspiring, staggering, formidable, impressive, supreme, great, awesome, superhuman past year. (Yes, I did just copy all of those synonyms from the thesaurus)

In our apartment we like to joke that we are perpetually single. We are cursed (or I prefer blessed) to always be in the friend zone. So I thought that our mantra would be the best title to this post. Don't worry, we've loved being single. This past year with all of our friends has been exactly what we needed.

So basically this past year has been the best year of my life. I already did a tribute to the school year in April, but this spring and summer has blown that out of the water. It's been great to come home from work and be able to spend the rest of the evening doing whatever I want. As a result I have gotten so much closer to my already existing friends and made some fantastic new ones. I am so grateful for these people. I love that we can do crazy things together, but that we can also enjoy just sitting around and talking. This summer I have been blessed to have incredible roommates. We had great roommates during the school year, but this summer our apartment has reached a whole new level of awesome. We were all close and there was literally zero drama. I can't even think of anything that would cause drama. It was great to continue living with Kathryn and Jordan. I love those girls! They are some of the best friends I have ever had. We are all so different, but somehow we manage to make it work and have a blast. The rest of my friends have been amazing as well. The mancave and Kevindrew are like the older brothers I never had. Everyone has just been so awesome and open to doing strange things and having a blast. Basically, life has been great.

Thanks for a great year! I'm sure going to miss it, but only nine more days until my next big adventure!

Mass Exodus

So this last weekend my ward experienced a mass exodus away from Provo. Everyone was on vacation! Two were in Russia. One group took a spontaneous journey to St. George. Another group went to Havasupai. A few traveled withe their families to Nauvoo, Colorado, Oregon, and California. I went to Washington!

Bright and early Friday morning Chad, Connor, Alli, Natalie, and I set out on our journey. A drive that is supposed to take around 14 and a half hours ended up taking 17. A small gas tank and even smaller bladders led to many stops. The longest stop (this one was actually planned) was in Portland. We stopped to eat dinner and experience the magic of Voodoo Doughnuts. Let me tell you, Portland is weird and I love it! It was fun to be out of the BYU bubble and see all sorts of different people. Finally, at about 10:30, we arrived at my house. We were joined there by Hannah!

Blue skies.

 Yum!

Car ride.

Friday brought rain and a trip to Seattle. I am actually really glad that it rained. Is there any other way to truly experience Seattle? Together we explored Pike's Place, fed seagulls on the pier, admired the Space Needle, and "conquered" the International Fountain. I love Seattle! Such a cool city. That night my parents threw a belated birthday party for me. My cousins and high school friends came. It was so nice to see everyone. We ate lots of good food and I got lots of things I needed for Italy. The highlight: getting to drive a mustang. Aww yeah! After the party we went to see "Dark Knight Rises." It was pretty dang good.

Washingtonians in their natural habitat!

Elephant ears! Yum!

Struttin' our stuff

Pike's Place!

Peekaboo!

Rock out!

Eating seafood that I actually enjoyed!

The delicious raspberries that stained my shirt...

The gorgeous pier!

Off to Pike's Place.

Buddies!

Space needle.

On Saturday we took a trip to my second favorite place on earth (Disneyland is the first), Mt. Rainier! After realizing that the trail we planned to hike on was closed because of avalanche damage we decided to head off to Cougar Rock and the Nisqually River. After crossing the river we hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. Then we headed up to Paradise, literally. The mountain flowers were in full bloom and the day was sunny and clear. It was perfect! For me Mt. Rainier is almost sacred. I am always in awe of it's beauty and vastness. It humbles me to think that the being who created that gorgeous mountain created me too. We ended the night with an incredible dinner at the Copper Creek Inn.

The gorgeous dinner setting.

True Friendship.

Peponi

Gangsta lichen mustaches.

So happy to be there.

Trying to climb a tree...

My mountain.

Happy.

Stunning.

Meadow flowers.

The most epic shirt ever.

We spent Sunday with my family. After church we just relaxed, played games, and had a most excellent dance party. It was so nice to be with my family. I hadn't seen them in seven months!

On my Monday we headed back to Utah.

It was a whirlwind, but great trip!

10x2=20!

Ok so this post is a little over due, but I am twenty! Whoa! It feels great! I am finally in the same decade as all of my friends. It also feels kind of weird. I mean I'm in my twenties, that's closer to being a real adult. Strange...

So basically I had the best birthday ever. It was so full of birthday texts, facebook messages, and surprises. Thanks to everyone who showed their love!

On my birthday I knew that my roommates were planning something, but I didn't know what or when. As a result the entire day was spent in anxious anticipation. The only plan that I had was that we were going to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, Terra Mia. So upon arriving home from work I began to get ready to go to dinner. I complained to Kathryn about not having any cute shirts to wear and she just politely laughed at me... About five minutes afterwards my roommates and Kevin surprised me with a shirt that I have wanted for months, but had decided was too expensive to justify spending money on. I screamed. And I thought that was the only surprise...

After that my roommates, Kevin, Andrew, and I headed off to Terra Mia. I got my entire meal, a side salad, and gelato for free!! All because of my free entree card and birthday. And it was all SO yummy!

At Terra Mia in my new birthday shirt.

On the drive back from Terra Mia I started to get a little suspicious.  Jordan kept trying to distract me by pointing out every little thing we drove by and I saw Chad attempt to run stealthily across the parking lot with a strange bucket. But I knew that we had FHE next so I figured the surprise must not be until afterwards. Wrong! I showed up at FHE and the whole ward was there! People that I didn't even think knew who I was were there. They sang to me and presented me with a cake designed to look like the leaning tower of Pisa and a giant birthday card. Then we had the most epic water fight (shout out to Dan for acting as my noble steed). We ended the party with a couple rounds of sushi tag. After returning home bruised, beaten, and soaking wet I ended the night at the Mancave. 

My first week as a twenty year old has not disappointed. After coming home sick from a work camping  trip things were not looking up, but they ended up being quite awesome. Some highlights included game nights, roof climbing, fort building, and LLAMA FEST! Can I just say that llama fest was awesome? Not only did I get to pet and feed llamas, but I got a sweet llama shirt and a maxi skirt from a Hindu temple. Score! I feel like I am really living up to my hippy roots.

They call me the llama whisperer.

Next adventure: roadtrip to Washington!!!

Like a Plastic Bag

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag? Well actually, no, I don't. However, the song "Firework" reminds me of the 4th of July and that's what I'm blogging about. So, yeah...

Life has been quite good to me lately. I honestly cannot remember a time when I have been this happy. Well except for in Disneyland, but that's a whole different category of joy. So I guess it's time for an update.

The 4th of July was a most excellent day. I started out the day by watching the parade out of my bedroom. How convenient is that? I got a front row seat without having to camp out! Then I made my way to the Mancave BBQ. 'Twas nice to hang out with my friends and enjoy the sunlight. I spent the majority of the day at a BBQ with my friend's family. It was fun and nice to be around a family even if it wasn't my own. After the BBQ I headed up to the Y to watch fireworks with some friends. I ended the night with my first trip to Sonic. The shakes were good, but I was not impressed with the food.

The beautiful view from our spot.

Nat and I watching fireworks!

Thursday brought rain!! It was beautiful! Also, quite literally the answer to prayers. With all of the fires in Utah it was certainly a blessing. The best part of having a roommate who also loves the rain is that you get to dance in it. 

We love rain!

I love this chica.

Friday brought the much needed weekend. To celebrate we attended the rooftop concert in downtown Provo. It was a Tom Petty cover concert. Shockingly it was actually really good and Neon Trees performed! However, the opening "rappers" were not so hot. "I'm throwing gangster signs, but I don't know what they mean." What. The. Heck.

Il Grupo

Feet!

Saturday was one of my friend's birthdays. Her roommate threw an epic party. It was a paint war! I have to say I much prefer paint fights to food fights. There was no puking involved this time and the smell was much less toxic.

Today was just a wonderful and relaxing Sunday and my last day as a teenager. I am so excited to finally be twenty!

Life is beautiful!

Officially Summer

The wonderful season known as summer has officially begun. Hallelujah.

After working two insanely long weeks I had a three day weekend! It was an incredible break and exactly what I needed to recharge.

I kicked the weekend off by filming a commercial thursday night. Jordan, Andrew, and I decided to participate in a shoot for a 5k that will be taking place in Denver. We figured that we would be a welcome addition. We have talents uniquely suited to commercial filming. My goofiness. Jordan's fun spirt. Andrew's photogenic nature. What commercial director could pass us up? Here is the super duper cool result:

Friday morning was wonderful. I slept in and did nothing. I can't remember the last time that happened! That afternoon I left for the coolest ward activity ever. We spent Friday and Saturday camping by Yuba Lake. Friday night was full of fried chicken, "bonfires," laughter, and embarrassing stories. I stayed up entirely too late talking, but it was oh so worth it. Saturday was spent on the lake!! There is just nothing like the feeling of being on a boat zooming through the water. It just means summer to me. It reminds me of all of the times spent at Bear Lake with my family. I got to try wake surfing, which I am assuming is really fun. I wouldn't know... I never got up. Although I am positive that is the water had been less choppy I would have! Most importantly I got to go tubing. Gah! Tubing is sure fun. Even if it beats your body up like nothing else.

Just chillin' on the shore

Can't you tell I'm having fun?

Hanging out.

Monday brought work... It was a very Monday kind of day. However, Monday night included a good game of sushi tag. Sushi tag is basically a race combined with wrestling. I am always amazed by how aggressive I become. This time I walked away with a black eye...

Another exciting adventure came on Tuesday night. A big group of us decided to climb to the roof of our apartment complex. A chair tower and few boosts later we all made it up. We hung out and laughed for a couple of hours. 

I live on the edge.

News Flash: In two months from today I will be walking the streets of Rome!!

Pensive

Disclaimer: Incredibly sappy post. You've been warned.

Home alone (well mostly) + time to think = a new blog post

I've been thinking a lot about how things change as time passes. One of my faults or gifts (depending on how you look at it) is that I get really emotionally invested in people. As a result I saying goodbye is really hard for me. And well it's that time again. Spring term is over and a lot of people are heading home or off on study abroad to see the world. Some of these people I've only known for two months and others I've known for almost a year. Some I know I will see again and others I probably never will.

I've said a lot of goodbyes in my life. Most of them are just little pangs at the realization that they're not going to be a part of my everyday life anymore. Others bring tears. And once, only once, a goodbye brought heart crushing pain. Another goodbye, the most nonchalant of my life, brought regret.

This time, however, the goodbyes seem less of an end and more like a beginning. Of course I will miss all of these people, but I know that there will be new people to meet. When I graduated high school I remember thinking that I would never find another group of friends to compare to the Nerd Herd. Those guys got me through high school. They were my everything for that time. But that's just it, they were everything for THAT time. I've grown up, I have new friends, and they mean just as much (if not more) to me. These friends are for this season of my life. There will be new friends for the next season. That doesn't mean that I will ever forget those friends. I'm not going to stop wishing them well. In fact I am quite certain that some of them will last into new seasons of my life. Perhaps others will  reemerge at later periods. I am just so grateful that I always seem to have the friends that I need for the moment. I am grateful to be blessed with friends who can support me and that I can support.

To everything there is a season.