remember how we know love was here to stay?

today is a beautiful day!

so beautiful, i decided to wear a skirt

& was then complimented on that skirt by the cool rock climbing girl in class.

pretty painted toe nails, white like the clouds. 

the grass is an enticing shade of tea green.

72 degrees & partly cloudy;

just enough fluffy clouds to lightly spot the sky but not hide it.

a gentle breeze blowing, preventing that "too hot" feeling.

"give yourself what you need.  sing a song, it'll make your day.

smile, smile, smile and believe.  sing a song, it'll make a way."

earth wind & fire playing on the ipod.

the light smell of fresh deodorant.

that feeling of being completely prepared for class & knowing your stuff.

peanut butter & jelly sandwich made with the perfect proportions of pb to j.

rescued a fat fly that was trapped in our kitchen window.

it's clean check day; the only day our apartment is ever spotless!

it's my favorite day of the week, thursday.

tomorrow i'm off to bear lake with the family.

yesterday the guy i've practically been stalking at the gym talked to me.

(ok, not really stalking, but admiring from a distance.)

remembering the funny dreams of last night's sleep.

cute couples holding hands & laughing with admiration in their eyes on their way to class.

wearing clothes that remind me of mom (maybe because i stole them from her).

22 days of school left!

22 days until life in utah begins!

pictures of smiling friends hanging on my mirror making me smile.

"but i would walk 500 miles & i would walk 500 more

just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles to fall down at your door."

now it's the proclaimers singing to me on the ipod.

an orange butterfly fluttering by.

"beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

eternal families!

smooth, cleanly shaven legs.

91% on my advanced first aid exam!

reminiscing old hugs & smiles from the kids in china.

"there is sunshine in my soul today."

sun kissed skin.

reminiscing on china in general.

choices:

to smile or not to smile.

to change or not to change.

i think therefore i am.

it's a jack johnson day.

man, i miss the beauty of a foreign country.

but no matter where you go, there is beauty all around.

"this is the estimation in which you hold me"

this semester i have been taking american literature: modern & realism.

we've (obviously) been reading a whole lot of modern or realist novels & poems.

& though these are beautiful pieces, that amaze me & constantly leave me thinking "man, i wish i wrote that..."
i can only handle so much, for so long.

i'm a romantic.

i need spurts of hope, love & beauty found in mankind.

i can only handle novels like as i lay dying by william faulkner for so long.

beautifully disturbing; remarkable... but nonetheless disturbing.

i think it's time to read pride & prejudice again.

kicks & giggles

my capstone teacher sounds like this guy:

(kronk)

my plant sciences class sounds like owen wilson:


oh & i love this commercial more & more every time i watch it

walk by my side

today is a difficult day.

bittersweet.

it is my beautiful mother's birthday;

a day to celebrate new life.

family

loved ones

brought into existence

by this wonderful woman.

a day to look forward to the memories ready to be made

in life

growing together.

today also marks one year since the death of sophie rose barton,

my sister's friend.

it's difficult to look forward to the future,

when confronted with the reality of death.

reminiscing.

mistakes made,

regrets hovering.

but i think something beautiful happened in sophie's passing.

she's created opportunity.

opportunity

to change

to celebrate life in a different way

to express your love all around

to reexamine your life

to smell the roses.

in saying this,

i want to express my love for my mother.

she is one of a kind.

she is strong

in heart

mind

& spirit.

20 years ago she was pregnant with me.

she had no idea what kind of struggles life, or i, would bring to her.

& here we are 20 years later,

mother & daughter

friends.

life has left us climbing mountains to get to this point.

but here we are.

mother & daughter.

together in life.

& though we don't know what kind of mountains we still have left,

we can do it.

i love you mom.

happy birthday.

 r.i.p. sophie rose

arms, legs, & soul

yesterday was an eventful day for me.

it's not often that i spend time with people besides my roommates up here.

first, i went to the gym with a friend, dani, & we trained for the triathlon that we'll be doing in two weeks time.  we ran 1.5 miles, biked 6 miles, then swam 6 laps.  after spending that time at the gym, we came back to my apartment & did p90x's ab ripper x work out.  sooo intense.

an hour later, dani & my old roommate kara dropped by to drag me out to the opening of rexburg's first & only (mini) water park.  after playing in the water for a bit, & laying out in the sun for a couple another couple bits, all the while being drained of any existing energy, we headed home.

it was less than 2 hours of slow rejuvenation later that i received an invite to go rock climbing with a new friend.  despite the pain of exhaustion i knew i'd be feeling the next morning, i decided to go.  erin (the new friend) came & picked me up along with 2 of her other rock climbing friends, rachelle & chelsey.  we went climbing at high-c (a fun rock amidst beautiful idaho scenery) for a couple hours, & then thinking we'd have a little bra-burning bonfire, we went off in search of firewood.

after filling up the subaru's trunk with loads of sticks & logs, we started off for a campfire location.  along the way, we began to change our minds.  instead of an hour of fire (with the approaching curfew limiting our time), we decided to just end with some ice cream.  after finding the location that supposedly offered sugar-free frozen yogurt, we found out that they had just ended that line of flavor.  sugar-free no longer an option, i decided to get a grilled cheese sandwich as a nice little treat.

after chatting about marriage (erin & chelsey are both happily married) & dating, we headed home.

after a long day of socializing & physical training, i was grateful to see a soft warm bed & fell fast asleep within the hour.

& despite today's exhausted & painful walk about my sunday activities, i am grateful for the time i spent with other people yesterday.  i am grateful for the strength i was able to find & exert from within myself.  i am grateful for the blessing that yesterday was to my life, physically & mentally.