hearts: part IV

It was that time of day in the summer when the air reaches no temperature.

There was a woman sitting next to me whose husband's arm was around her shoulders while this song was playing. Thirty-something years together under their belts. I loved them for it.








And for the fact that because of them, my own shoulders weren't lonely that night.

hearts: part III

Please let me wear my over-sized orange Tennessee Volunteers shirt (the one that used to be Whitney's future brother-in-law's) with my gray sweats. When I answer the door, hug me tight and give me sympathy for something that deserves none. Let my voice crackle and die. Lay my head in your lap and play with my hair.

"And your ringtone is playing right now and i wish you were here"

today consisted of:

forgetting (after the twelve-hundredth time) that i burn if i'm in the sun for two seconds, resulting in bright red arms and cheeks.
eating broccoli with sadie. realizing that sadie and i are very similar in very weird ways. we can live off of broccoli and watermelon (only if the broccoli has seasoning salt on it).
eating three huge marshmallows. two roasted, one not.
celebrating new beginnings for many different people (and in many different ways).
augustana.
sunshine (the first utah has seen in what seems like a year).
grass-stained feet.
lemon drops.
and the text i got while adam loaded his parents' fire pit into the back of his gold corolla. the sun was already gone, but we could still clearly see the lilac bush in the front yard. i jumped for joy inside while my whole soul smiled.

[and it's even infinitely better than last time.]

p.s. and my ringtone is here comes the sun by the beatles.

title

i love mornings.

they remind me of des boulangeries in france and road trips.
of wet grass and knowing that there's more to the day than you've already experienced.

i also love the fireworks of flowers at the temple,
but that is possibly unrelated to mornings.

(they're still great anyway.)

in the tradition of my art friend, brittany, here's my to-do list.

TO-DO TODAY
study for history of design exam
study for french exam
work on mission prep take home test
clean room

ACTUALLY DID TODAY
went to ikea.
went to the other side of utah lake.
watched the full-bellied moon.
lost at speed.

greetings from ikea.
i bought tupperware.

you know....every single moment was worth it.

i got this text from this lovely person this morning.
"what if i served in virginia? there'd be fireflies! :)"

four of my favorite things:

missions.
virginia.
fireflies.
and sadie.

midnight update: i should really be in bed.

please enjoy the fact that someone likes to wear flannel as much as i do.













happy wednesday.

i can't say my favorite color's cerulean

random things i'm finding out about myself:

i love the smell of laundry. the laundry aisle is like heroine for me.
i paint my nails. a lot. right now they're orange.
it is my goal to finish an entire new york times crossword puzzle.
i can't get over how much i love drawing.
my 18" x 24" newsprint pad is like a shield for me. i feel invincible with it.

i love love. i'll tell you otherwise and pretend to be callous, but man alive, i certainly love love. all of its silly, giddy, pink and scarlet, taylor swiftness.

i love falling in love with small things in people. any people. not just people of the male persuasion.

i'm not as much an open book as i once was.
i like going to bed at eight and getting up at six. i would do it every night if i could.
i don't like parties.
i don't like eating frosting right out of the can (or tub; whatever that is) (but i like doing that with ice cream).
i don't like my feet.
i don't like hollywood.
i watched jurassic park for the first time when i was four. i laughed at the part where the t-rex eats the person in the bathroom. i laughed because i was so scared.

i seem to literally (and figuratively) fall/hurt myself whenever i start liking a guy that shows any reciprocation.
i am only competitive in two things: art and catching the bouquet at wedding receptions.
i love tulips.
and i love hydrangeas.
i love fireflies. (i think they're magical.)
i love my hometown.

i love how my middle name is the french form of the name "mary."
i want to backpack through europe one day.
i only want to drive a stick-shift for the rest of my life.


i sometimes wish on stars. mostly i just end up praying.


p.s. can we just talk about how cute these two are? and so good for each other. you should have seen her taking care of him after she smashed cake in his face.

inigo montoya

this weekend is going to be full of eating. drawing. sketching. all things that i love to do.
and watching movies. because what's better than sketching, being warm in your sweats, and watching a movie?

right now, the movie count is at three.
angels and demons
you've got mail
("happy thanksgiving back" was the motive behind that one)

and

(personal favorite)

the princess bride

please enjoy this video. not exactly reflecting the true loveliness of that movie, but it's combined together with something epic.

blizzard.

and there i sat.
watching buttercup and westley fall in love
while i got charcoal on my hands
and wore my new moccasins.





(with my jackson hole wyoming sweat pants).

please excuse this ambiguity

perhaps it'll be the first time [in nine months] i've been even relatively nervous.

perhaps.






but no perhaps about it
i know it will be beautiful.
the sky was especially cerulean today.
the leaves were fiery.
and the air was like biting into an apple:

sweet, refreshing, and alive.

fireflies take two

and here i am holding a firefly.
you can't really see it, but it's right by my chin.
i love them.

fireflies and hydrangeas

a shack outside the back window.
it was raining.

i'm not sure where the east coast specifically the virginia/dc area has been all my life. it's like the first time i went to paris. i couldn't believe that such a secret had been kept from me. the cobbled streets, the architecture, how incredibly remarkable the eiffel tower is.

that's how i'm feeling about dc right now.

i was arrested by humidity the second i walked outside. and then i was overcome by the man trying to get us to take a shuttle instead of a taxi. we took the taxi instead.

pretty sure we passed the pentagon on the way to where we're staying.
also pretty sure i lost a year of my life on that taxi ride. not that he was scary. i'm just paranoid. and totally from utah. not used to riding in a taxi with a strange man at the wheel.

the man ended up being a tender mercy.
we didn't know where we were going, and he didn't either. he was patient as we drove around town until our friend called us. then he knocked off some of the charge for the baggage. bless him.

and then there were the hydrangeas. i remembered france. there was a yard where there were pink ones and blue ones and purple ones.

they're my favorite.

and i saw a firefly for the first time. right by the abandoned iron on the lawn in the park that reminded me of my second home in england.

oh dc. where have you been all my life.

to read more about my escapades, check out sadie's blog.

Smell of wine and cheap perfume

About a week ago, I walked out of my apartment to head to my humanities class, and right when I stepped onto my porch, I heard some music from somewhere. I looked around, kind of confused as to where it was coming from, when I realized that the guy walking down the sidewalk in front of my apartment had the song "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey playing full blast on a phone or something that had a speaker on it, so everybody could hear it. Honestly, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was almost empowering, to say the least. It was like he had is own theme music going down the street....like when Rocky goes running up those steps and the Rocky theme is blaring in the background, but not quite as cliché.

Then, today, while I was doing some procrastinated homework in the front room, the sound of the piano next door came through our paper thin walls (a common occurrence in our apartment...although the piano music is usually really pretty...much better than our loud TV that I'm sure they hear until 2 AM). I stopped what I was doing and listened closely, because I knew I'd heard the song before. After about three seconds of intent listening, I realized that it was none other than "Don't Stop Believing". Again...I thought this was freakin' awesome.

I've always had this special connection to the song. In my art class in 9th grade, my art teacher would play all sorts of music. Most of the time he played the scores to the latest epic movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings. But, occasionally, he would pop in Journey. Now, growing up with all sorts of '70s and '80s bands (including KISS, Styx, Queen, etc.), I had heard Journey a few times, but I didn't really start liking them until that art class. "Don't Stop Believing" incorporated itself into my life as this pick-me-up song (I need those, occasionally, when I'm feeling really crappy about things). It also got more engrained into my soul when I had my little summer "romance" after the 10th grade, and then went to the Journey concert with my dad a few months after that (Coolest. Thing. Ever. We went to the concert in a limo because I have rich family that I don't ever talk to and he bought us AMAZING tickets and rented a limo. Rad stuff.).

Plus, this song just kind of hits me right now (ya, I'm going to get cheesy for a second...allow me my moment). I'm stressing over finals and assignments and all sorts of things, and in all honesty, I gotta keep thinking that things are okay. I can't stop believing that things are going to be okay (ya...I just said that...mock all you want, I don't care). On top of that, I just need to remember that I can't stop believing with other situations in my life as well.

So, here's to awesome songs from the '80s...here's to things working out in life (they always do...even if things take a while to work out, they always do)....and here's to not dying during finals.