Thanks to September: 

I love Balboa Bars.

Max dressed up as Mickey Mouse.

I lost my voice at a football game (who am I?)

Sweater weather. 

The end.

a person who has good thoughts

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

-Roald Dahl

hanging out with my muddy buddies

Soooo lets talk about fall break. Even though most of us aren't in school anymore, (and fall break is nonexistent at the Y) it has morphed into somewhat of a tradition amongst the "muddy buddies." This year was a special treat because:
1. Sundance is GORGEOUS this time of year.
2. I think I ate the best homemade pizza EVER.
and 3. Even though we brought scary movies galore, we spent the entire weekend talking around the fireplace 'til the early hours of the morning. I don't think there is anything else I like more than the combination of all of the above.

(is this real life?!)

(watching them hike up stewart falls nearly gave me a heart attack)

(as Heaston would say, "Good day Brother Joseph")

I used to think that my group of friends would be friends forever - that somehow/someway life would take us all in the same direction, and we'd always be in touch and all of our relationships would remain the same. But boy was I wrong! Missions, marriages, moving different places, maturity, the passing of time and so on has changed us all. And I know well by now that friends come and go, things change, and life carries on - and that it's all a good thing. A very good thing. But with that being said, this is also why I consider it somewhat serendipitous (maybe even a tiny bit miraculous) that the few of us left have all stayed friends for nearly a decade (!!!) and counting.

I fell asleep one night this past weekend next to the fireplace while everyone stayed up late talking about all sorts of things, like the best restaurants we've ever been to and the blessings that come from fasting and prayer - and right before I fell asleep I made a mental note to say a quick thank-you-prayer because I realized that there is almost no greater blessing than to be surrounded by people who, as President Uchtdorf put it, "lift where they stand."

So life will keep on changing, and who knows where we'll be five years from now - but in a world where good friends are hard to come by, I count my lucky stars that I've had them for this long.

happy birthday mother dearest

I know parents are well known for bragging about their kids, but I think I'm better at bragging about my parents.

And yes, my Mom was/is/and forever more will be one sexy lady - and because she would kill me if I posted her drivers license picture, and because my dad wouldn't let me a tape a Tim Riggins poster to their bedroom door (who wouldn't want a good morning birthday greeting from him?) I will instead share a photo of my mother as Miss July at BYU back in the 80s - she hardly looks a day older ;)

Happy Birthday Mother Dearest, I love you!
Thank you for being my bffaeae for life.
(and making sure dad never starved us to death ;)

september 11th, 2001

A few months after September 11th, I remember my family was held up at the LAX airport for a few hours due to a delayed layover. My sister and I got to go pick out a few magazines while we waited for our flight home, and I can still remember seeing this picture for the first time in Time Magazine. I've loved it ever since.

"On a normal day, we value heroism because it is uncommon. 

On September 11th, we valued heroism because it was everywhere."

back to school = makes me miss hawaii

Without fail, every single year right around September I get reaaallllly nostalgic about BYU Hawaii. I mean really, really nostalgic. Not that I didn't love school in Provo, but what are you going to miss more? Studying at the beach or in your cinder block dorm room? (the answer is beach, obviously)

don't mind these ghetto pictures from 2007 

i think my digital camera back then had a screen that was 3x3 cm - yes, centimeters

I've written about my freshman year before, as a newly 18 year old adventuring out on my own in small town Laie - and even after all these years it remains one of my sweetest memories. I can still remember as if it were yesterday, walking into my first college class: English 101 (I was already completely sunburned from spending too much time outside) and I remember introducing myself amongst other classmates who were from all around the world - some places I hadn't even heard of. I remember thinking (maybe the first time in my life) that there were a million other places other than Utah that I would want to see and travel to and live one day (hint hint Max ;)

Last fall, Max applied and was accepted into BYU Hawaii -- and trust me when I say that that was one of the hardest decisions to turn down... ever. But for a hundred other reasons at the time, we knew it would be the smartest (although not the most exciting) to stay here. So here we are! Good ol' Utah. And we've been blessed far more than we deserve so I can't complain, but days like today the idea of a new adventure sounds more than wonderful to me.
(especially if it's in Hawaii)

see you next year summer

This summer might have been one of the best. The night I took this picture (just a few weeks ago) will be one of my favorite dates I have ever had with Max -- and yes Mom and Dad, I'm only more convinced that California and year round warm weather is calling my name (they were both born/lived in California/Hawaii and so I will never understand HOW my family ended up in snowy Utah ;) But seriously.

And Max begins school tomorrow morning and our summertime wreath is coming down today, so we will end it all by going to see Herman's Hermits in the park tonight (I'm Henry the VIII I Am? Anyone?) - a part of my soul belongs in the fifties and sixties too.  

So that's it. Happy, Happy Labor Day! And goodbye most wonderful summer! We'll see you next year.