bell's canyon.

Today, Peter got out of school early so we decided to hike up Bell's Canyon. We only made it to the first reservoir (steep hike + no water + heat + bad shoes) but it was still so beautiful. I'm glad I brought my new camera along for the adventure. I had fun taking pictures (as you can probably tell). I followed Peter around the lake as he fished, soaking in the sun and loving the scenery. Whoever hates on Utah has clearly not been to the mountains, or looked out their window for that matter.  

Ah, springtime in the mountains. Everything is so green and new and I love the sound of water rushing over the rocks. The only sad thing about this little adventure was realizing that once I leave on my mission, I won't see Peter for over 3 years. He's leaving on his mission next summer. This is lame. I'm gonna miss singing to the radio in the car with him and laughing about some silly little thing together. 

Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a few more fun times before I leave. I asked Peter what we should do before that and he said "hike and bake something." Cool. I think we can figure something out. 

life lately.

The moment when you suddenly realize it's May.

Yep. I didn't realized it until three days into the month, and only then because my neighbor asked me when I was leaving and I promptly told her May 30th and she said, "This month? How exciting!"

Right. Ooooohhhhh, riiiiiigghhht. That IS this month. [nervous laugh].

Where has the time gone?

I noticed yesterday while stalking blogs that I haven't posted in a while. That's because life's been sorta crazy lately/ I haven't taken any pictures and I feel like people don't read blogs unless there are awesome pictures accompanying the text. (Which makes me want either a really cute baby to take pictures of or an awesome camera that will make me feel like I'm taking awesome pictures.)

I guess I'll just have to rely on this incredibly cute baby I found on pinterest.

Life lately means being home.

Being home means constantly forgetting what day it is. Really, they all blend together. Monday feel like Saturday and don't even bother asking me the date.

Being home means getting stuck in slave labor on the days I don't work because, well, just sitting around and being lazy is not an option over here. So I've been organizing various rooms in the house, working in the garden, cleaning out the garage, and painting the fence/ shoveling gravel along the entire length of the fence. That last one's my personal favorite. There's nothing quite like dragging a wheel barrow full of gravel all day long.

Being home means hanging out with my brothers. The other day James and I got out this game we got for Christmas but hadn't opened yet. It was actually a fun game, partly because I won. (Yes, in the history of playing games with James, I actually won one of them!) I say "was actually" because after 2 winning streaks (I credit beginner's luck), I haven't won since. So now the game is "really lame." Haha maybe I'm a poor sport.

Being home means eating really good food. Curry, barbecue chicken, avocado salads, chocolate milkshakes, and black bean soup. Wait a minute....black bean soup?? I was a little nervous at first when I saw the boiling black goo. But once you add tomatoes and tortilla chips and avocados and bacon it starts tasting pretty good.

Being home means packing. For 18 months. Mostly, this just means I dragged 2 big black suitcases up to my room and now keep looking at them every morning in the hopes that they'll pack themselves.

Being home. It's a good thing.

life is beautiful.

Joy is what happens to us 

when we allow ourselves to recognize 

how good things really are. 

~Marianne Williamson 

Yay for happy weekends! They typically consist of food, family, sunshine, and babies. :) Yesterday, my cousin Jann's beautiful baby Eva was blessed. She is an adorable, happy baby with a tight grip. ;) She didn't make a peep when I held her, so that's a good sign. Seriously, though, babies are the best. I think it would do everyone in the world some good to hold a baby for twenty minutes a day. After the blessing, I got to see my cousins who came all the way from California. It was great to catch up with them.

Temple Square was beautiful on Saturday. The tulips were blooming and the grass is now officially green. I wanted to run around barefoot, but I restrained myself.

Easter arrived with a beautiful church service and then a scrumptious ham dinner. I thought a lot about Jerusalem. Oh, and there was plenty of Easter candy--chocolate bunnies, French and Belgium chocolates, tangerine jelly beans, dark chocolate eggs, cadbury eggs, and peeps.

P.S. peeps, in my personal opinion, are nasty. But my brother loves them, so what can we do? :) The way I see it is, it's all sugar, but if you're going to get fat eating it, the stuff better taste pretty darn good. And peeps are just like eating straight-up sugar with no flavoring. So I'll stick with my European chocolate thank you very much.

P.S.S. When we were little, my mom hid Easter baskets around the house for us to find in the morning. And we always had a huge Easter egg hunt in the afternoon. I loved racing around my grandparents house in St. George looking for the eggs. I always got less than my brothers, though. They are legit Easter egg finders.
My mom didn't like the Easter Bunny idea when we were little, so we always knew the Easter Bunny didn't exist. Which is funny because we still believed in Santa and fairies. Go figure. Anyway. The Easter Bunny still kind of creeps me out. And I think I have some solid reasons to back up this fear.

Exhibit A:

Seriously? That is the creepiest bunny suit
I have ever seen. It's like the killer bunny
from Mounty Python. (source.)

Exhibit B:

Yeah, kid. I would be trying to get away
too. I'm so glad my mom didn't make
me go through that. (source.)

Exhibit C:

And finally, the Easter Bunny at the White House. Don't be fooled by their
smiles. Look closely at Natasha--she's giving the bunny a worried look.
And Malia looks a little scared too. Plus, notice the wide gap between
the family and the Easter Bunny. Need I say more? (source.)

Happy Monday!

sun today, snow tomorrow.

the weekend consisted of...

sunshine, rain, snow, hail, wind, sunshine, clouds. in no particular order.

hiking a little ways up Mt. Olympus with Peter and pretending to make a movie.

watching quite a bit of this.

playing with peter's clicky-camera (or as Nicole likes to call them, Digital SLR cameras). I really miss using Danielle and Nicole's one in Jerusalem. Focusing the big lens and then pressing the button and hearing the "clicky" noise is so. awesome.

listening to James talk all about tour and feeling a little jealous.

spending half of Sunday making cinnamon rolls. huge time commitment. huge success. proof? my dad ate three in a row. and then proceeded to tell us that if we kept making them he'd get fat. good thing they take forever to make.

eating pork burritos with the cousins.

finishing the hunger game series. i know, i've read them before. but i forgot most of the details and what with the movie out and everything, i figured it was a good time for a refresher.

playing the ultimate april fools joke on my dad.

teaching ginger to roll over. hooray!

happy monday!

That awkward moment...

...when you call every. single. person. in your family in a row and NOT ONE of them answers their phone. And this includes the home phone. And none of them call you back, either.

This might be a sign that I spend maybe a little too much time at home. But home is just awesome. And funny. And comfortable. And clean. And full of food.

Plus, there's a cute little ball of fur that greets me every time I walk in the door. This past weekend I might have gone a little crazy with videos of her. See for yourself.

Happy Wednesday!

my monday night at the provo police department.

Before I delve into the police department story (don't worry, I didn't do anything illegal), 

let me tell you about my weekend. It was great. (Hence happy Calvin.)

First, I got to go home and chill with my family. 

Second, I didn't do any homework all weekend long. Not quite sure how smart that was. ;)

Third, I went skiing with my cousins at Deer Valley. (Dear Snow, why didn't you come one day earlier?)

Fourth, I ate real food cooked by my mother.

Fifth, I drank hot chocolate on a snowy day. 

Sixth, I watched a movie with my family...

Which, by the way, was hilarious. Not the movie. Actually the movie was intense and slightly creepy. I got it because the names Jude Law, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, and Marion Cotillard were all on the box. Sounds good, right? The movie was about some crazy pig-bat disease (don't ask) that starts spreading around the world like a modern-day outbreak of smallpox. Anyway, back to the funny story. Earlier that day Matthew got sick, so when we went downstairs to watch the movie, we found him dying on the couch. Halfway through the movie we're all freaking out because everyone's dying of this infectious disease. Suddenly I realize that Matthew's sick, too. I yell, "Oh no! Matthew's contagious!" Then Peter and James are like "Stay away from us! We don't want to get sick and die like Kate Winslet." Then my dad realizes he's sitting on Matthew's t-shirt so he jumps up and rushes to the bathroom to wash his hands. The whole rest of the night we'd occasionally yell "contagion!" (that's the name of the movie) and look at Matthew with terror. He just rolled his eyes. It was awesome. 

..................................

Now, on to my crazy night at the Provo Police Department. 

Last week in the mail I got all the visa stuff I need to fill out for my mission. And I discovered that I also had to get FBI cleared (including fingerprinting). I'm not quite sure why. Anyway, I realize today that I need to get the FBI application in the mail asap because it takes them 6-8 weeks to process the information and if I don't get it done in time, I'm delayed entering the MTC by 6 weeks. Which would be super lame. So, I looked around the interwebs and discovered that I can get my fingerprints done at the Provo Police Department. I rush over there at 5:30, thinking it wouldn't take to long. Hahahahahaha.

I arrive at the police department, and can't even find the door to go in. That should have been the first sign. Eventually, I find the door and walk in. To the right of me, I see this little reception room surrounded by glass with at least 10 people squeezed in there. And some of them look scary. I'm like, "That couldn't be where I get my fingerprints." So I walk down the hall until I find the receptionist desk and ask her where I get my fingerprints done. It's right back in that waiting room where I didn't want to go. Of course.

So, I go back in there and everyone just stares at me. I go up to the desk and the following conversation follows.

Officer: "What can I do for you?"

Me: "I need to get my fingerprints taken."

Officer: "Ok. I need some ID."

Me: "Here you go."

Officer: "Thanks. What's the reason for the fingerprints?"

Me: "FBI clearance."

Officer: "Ok. One second." [Leaves to go fill something out.] 

Random guy behind me: "Are you joining the FBI?!?!?!"

Me: "Um....nope."

[awkward pause]

Random guy: "So what are you doing??"

Me: "Going on a mission."

Random guy: "Oh, cool! That's weird that you have to get clearance."

Me: [courtesy laugh] "Yeah, I guess."

Then, I went and waited. And waited. And waited approximately 1.5 hours to get my fingerprints done. Fortunately, people watching in the police department kept me entertained. Here are some things I observed.

• A very mad guy complaining about the line. And I don't even know why, because he was ahead of me, people. Seriously.
• Some woman talking to an officer about this lady wanting her flat screen TV back. But the woman wouldn't give it to her unless she personally came to get it, because apparently there was a warrant out for the TV lady's arrest. Yes, it was a very confusing story. But it kept me entertained for 20 minutes. 
• A boy came up to me after getting fingerprinted and asked if I was going on a mission. I told him yes and then we both said where we were going. He was so happy and his happiness rubbed off on me and then I wasn't so impatient about waiting in the long line because, hey! I'm going on a mission. :)
• And finally, my favorite moment. A mom came in with her little son and they sat down next to me. The little kid sat there all quietly and then suddenly he starts singing at the top of his lungs, "Baby, baby, baby, oh! Baby, baby, baby, oh!....you'll always be mine!!!" His mom tells him to be quiet. I was shaking with laughter because how often do you hear a 3 year old break out into Justin Bieber? Personally, I thought he sounded better than Bieber. It was hilarious.

And that was my adventure at the Provo Police Department. Hopefully I won't have to visit there anytime soon.

Who are you? Excuse me, I think the question is, who are *you!*

I went home this weekend. And it was awesome.

Here are some highlights from my two (or too) short days in Holladay -->

Eating thai food from Pawit's. Seriously, it was time for something besides Mexican, Chinese, and Italian. Did I tell you I'm in love with curry?

Sitting around the kitchen table at dinner, while my mom read to us from Where Will You Be 5 Years from Today? It's a book that's supposed to inspire us to plan our future and live our dreams or something. The following conversation ensued: 

Mom: Ok, here are some questions the book asks that can help you identify your top values. I'm going to ask you the questions and then you can respond. First question, "What are the three things I like most and least about myself?"

Peter, James, Charlotte (responding individually): blah, blah, blah. blah, blah, blah.

Dad: blah........blah.......blah. Did I tell you about that one time?.... oh, yeah, blah......blah.....blah.

Mom: Great. Ok, here's the next question, "Who am I?"

James: Who am I? Excuse me, I think the question is, who are you!!! We're in a war, man! There's no time for stupid questions!

Dad, Peter, Charlotte: [break out into hysterical laughter] hahahahahaha

Mom: [shortly joins laughter] haha

James: [looks smug :) ]

And that, people, is why I love my family. Oh, I've trained my brother well in the art of quoting movies. ;)

Watching The Help and denying that I cried during it. Although I might have during the very end. "You is kind, you is smart, you is important." The movie made me realize that it's not very often I go to a movie nowadays where I leave feeling good and inspired and uplifted. I've decided there's something wrong with that. (Speaking of good movies, you should watch We Bought A Zoo. Soooo good. Plus Matt Damon's in it. That is all.)

Playing with Ginger in the freshly fallen snow. (Yes, it actually snowed!) I'm convinced she's a polar bear or something. We'll just send her outside to do her business and she never comes back! She loves to bound through the snow and eat icicles. Peter, James, and I spent 30 minutes making snowballs and then having her chase after them. Once she gets to the snowball she proceeds to destroy it with her whole face. 

Hearing this conversation:

Dad: Peter, I'm going to keep you home from school until you finish that online health class.

Peter: sa-weeeeet.

And this one:

Dad: Ginger, it's a good thing you're cute, or we'd have sold you a long time ago. 

*we're still training the dog, and it's a long road...

And *almost* getting my mission papers in. I just meet with the stake president on Tuesday and then they are sent off to church headquarters. Ahhhhh! I have a feeling it will be pretty hard to focus these next couple weeks waiting for the call. :)

I'll just be sitting, waiting, wishing...

Dreaming of a White Christmas.

I'll be home for Christmas. 

You can count on me.

2 finals down, 1 to go. 

The end is in sight!

That means going home

is just around the corner. 

I can't wait to:

talk and laugh with my family

eat the good ice at Cafe Rio (oh, and also a chicken salad)

drive by myself in a car

get a good book from the Holladay Library

go skiing and sledding

play in the snow (please let there be snow when I come home!)

bake something delicious

hang out with friends

go Christmas shopping with my mom

turn off the lights at night and watch our lit-up Christmas tree

listen to Christmas music on the radio

sleep in my own bed

But, lest you think I'm too trunky,

here's 11 things I'm going to

desperately miss

about Jerusalem:

sunset over Jerusalem. 

sunsets 

friends I've made

7 shekel falafel at Damascus Gate

the Garden Tomb

having church overlooking Jerusalem

exploring the Jewish Quarter

people watching in the Old City

date bread

the prayer call

the Garden of Gethsemane

Bethlehem

at Shepherd's Field, near Bethlehem. 

Take time to be holy.

This weekend is general conference. I'm excited to hear the words of our great prophet and leaders of the church.

I'm going to miss cinnamon rolls and watching conference in my pjs and being with my family.

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.  ~Thomas Jefferson


Happy conference weekend!

This is what you shall do.

"Love the earth and sun and the animals, 

despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, 

stand up for the stupid and crazy, 

devote your income and labor to others, 

hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, 

have patience and indulgence toward the people, 

take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of me,

go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, 

re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book,

dismiss whatever insults your own soul, 

and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."

~Walt Whitman

I first saw this quote spread across the walls of my 11th grade English class. My teacher, Ms. Bishop, fueled my love of reading and writing by sharing this quote and other insightful words from poets and authors throughout the year. I love how someone can say something so simply, yet with so much power. I wonder what it would be like, if we could talk like that? Without any likes or ums or fluff; just all the right words. Mark Twain explained it well when he said, 

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."