l&m porter.

new year. new me.

2012-01-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

well.
i didn't do any blogging in december.
so i have a lot to catch you up on.

lets start with the lights at temple square.
we went with our friends colby and dani.
it was a super nice night. and the lights were beautiful as usual.

next up.
m. played at open mic night at velour. he played some of his christmas music which is always a delight.

the week before christmas we went on a cruise to cabo and ensenada mexico.

it was glorious.

we got a handicap room. it was huge!

the entertainment on the ship was the best!

here we are on our way to the shore.

lands end. the most southern point of the baja peninsula.

m & l. cabo 2011.

on our glass bottom boat ride.

lovers arch.

here we are on december 22nd. jealous?

loving the beach.

m. heading into the ocean.

doing what lovers do on lovers beach.

terrible picture. and the only one from ensenada.

this is our idea of fancy.

there was a bird in the long beach airport on our way home.

i didn't take a single good picture on christmas. we were running around like crazy, but know that it was a wonderful day. we are both lucky enough to have wonderful families that always spoil us.
we picked out all our presents so there weren't many surprises, but it was wonderful. i love m.

new years came in a hurry this year.
we went to lava hot springs (two years in a row!) with a few of our friends. it was awesome. we had so much fun partying all day and all night. we even stayed in our jimmy jams for a whole day and didn't even feel bad about it.

the beautiful lava lodge.

it was so cozy and rustic.

we chopped some wood. (not the whole pile, come on.)

love you, lava.

happy new year.

we saw some fabulous local bands play some beautiful music the first weekend of the year.

the moth & the flame with book on tape worm.

the moth & the flame.

m. started in the PR program at byu.

he looked so cute on his first day. and he got a new backpack!

and. last but not least, i am now a red head.

it's true.

well. that is a very brief overview of the past month. we have been very blessed and are so grateful that we were able to spend so much time with our family and friends over the holidays. i am so glad that my WHOLE family got together for christmas. it was pure bliss.

i hope you all had a wonderful christmas and new years. and that your january is going well. i will be back sooner than later. until then, break some resolutions and set some new goals.

xo.

linds.

days 23 to 30.

2011-12-01T19:55:00.001-08:00

day twenty-three. baking.

my thanksgiving pie.

i am so grateful for my kitchen and that i can bake in it. our old apartment wasn't really baking/cooking friendly. i feared i would burn the house down every time i turned the phone on, so now that i have a glorious kitchen i am totally taking advantage of baking and cooking. i am so grateful that i am able to make delicious meals for my husband and that i am able to keep him happy. cause as you all know, the stomach is the way to a mans heart.

day twenty-four. sleep.

m. taking a pre-thanksgiving dinner snooze.

i am so grateful for sleep. honestly, it is one of my favorite things in the world. i am almost excited to go to bed every night. i live for the weekends when i am able to wake up without an alarm. grated, i still wake up around 8am, but to not hear my alarm in the morning is my favorite thing. i am also grateful that i am able to take lunchtime naps at work. they make my day. haha. that sounds pathetic, but when i am able to shut my eyes are 10-20 minutes at lunchtime, my day is a hundred times better. it boggles my mind why kids don't want to go to bed. i practically jump into bed every night.

kids are freakin nuts! (obviously i'm not ready to be a mom)

day twenty-five. my job.

this is my work desk.

sometimes i don't have the best attitude about work. this makes me feel bad cause i know some of my coworkers read my blog and probably think that i am crazy. but i am really grateful for my job. i am grateful that i have a stable job, that i work with great people and that i am good at what i do. somedays are long, which are the worst. but some days fly by, and i am beyond grateful. but mostly i am grateful that i have place to go and work and do something that makes a difference. i am also grateful for m.'s job. he loves it. we have been blessed with great jobs.

day twenty-six. birthdays.

m. blowing out his birthday candles.

i am so grateful for birthdays. i am grateful that each year, we are able to celebrate the life of someone and make that person feel so special all day. i love birthdays. they are just such happy days! i love making people happy and feel good on their birthday cause they deserve it. everyone deserves to be happy about their life and have someone tell them that they are awesome for just being them. way to go everyone! we all have birthdays! so that means that you are awesome! good job!

day twenty-seven. family.

this little doll is the newest member of my family.

i am absolutely in love with this little girl. i am by no means baby hungry, but holding babies is one of my favorite things in the world. i love my family. i love my nieces and nephews. my sisters and brothers. and of course my parents. i love that most of us live so close to each other and that we are able to spend time together. i love m.'s family too. i have been hanging around their house for so long and i am grateful that they never got sick of me. they are the best in-laws a girl could ask for. and the best cooks too! way to be awesome, fam.

day twenty-eight. salads.

chicken cesar salad.

i was not always the biggest fan of salad, but lately, they are one of my most favorite things. they are so tasty and you can put pretty much anything on them and they are good. i love that i feel more healthy when i am eating them and i am glad that m. is on a diet right now, so he doesn't even mind when we have salad for dinner every night. i am especially grateful for cafe rio and their amazing pork salad that i get every time i go there. that bad boy is the king of salads. FREE MEAL!

day twenty-nine. music.

m. playing practicing before his show.

i am so grateful for music and for the role that it plays in my life. i will be honest, the reason i love music is because of m.. he LOVES music. good music. beautiful music. he appreciates talented artists and i am grateful that he is always willing to support local artists since he has had so much support himself. i am grateful for all the people that support him and his music. i am so grateful that m. can write beautiful music for people to enjoy. i am so proud of all that hard work he puts into his music. and i am so grateful that he shares music with me. my itunes library thanks him also.

day thirty. you.

today is my last grateful day and i don't have a picture, but i just want you all to know that i am thankful for you. i am grateful that you all keep coming back and reading my silly blog. i am grateful for those of you that laugh at my silly comments and that you don't {hopefully} think that i am crazy. i am grateful to be alive. and i hope that you all are too. i hope you all know that you are special to someone, even if you don't feel like you are. bless you all. and thank you. for being so great.

xo.
linds.

day 22.

2011-11-22T20:18:00.001-08:00

day twenty-two. clothing

this is our closet.

yes, it is kind of a mess. but that is how it goes. it is clean one day and a mess the next. i am so grateful for clothes. for all the clothes that i have that never get warn, but take up room in my closet and make me feel like i have SO MANY CLOTHES! i am grateful for the clothes that i do wear and that they are slowly wearing out. cause you know what that means...i get new clothes! i am grateful that i am able to wear clean clothes everyday and that i have a place to put them when i take the off at night. if anyone reading this wants to send me on a shopping spree, i would be all for it. no questions asked.

days 17,18,19,20 and 21

2011-11-21T20:05:00.001-08:00

i have a lot of catching up to do.

day seventeen. memories.

m. and i at snow college homecoming.

m. was an ambassador at snow before and after his mission so he had to go to the dance. and he asked me to go with him. the day of the dance was a very memorable day. and not really in a good way, but the night was much better. the dance was lame, i made my dress, m. looked awesome and had a sweet stache, my hair was real short and my feet hurt by the end of the night {naturally}. this was a very good day and i am grateful for the memory that i have of m. telling me that he loved me. not for the first time. and not for the last. but from his heart. he loved {loves} me.

day eighteen. something new.

this is my husband. age 12ish.

i found this picture at my in-laws today and laughed my head off. it is so fun to me to find new pictures of my husband that i haven't seen before. i met him after he had lost all his baby fat and grew into his ears so to see these pictures is a whole new experience for me. i love finding new things. especially funny pictures. i am grateful that this silly little boy {who still loves basketball} is my husband. forever. oh how i love those ears!

day nineteen. best friend {s}.

these two gals are the best of the best.

i have been friends with these girls for about 7 years and we have yet to fight, bicker or argue. i love these girls. i am so grateful that i can call them my friends. they are each so special in their own way. they make me laugh harder than almost anyone can. they both have hearts of gold and have been lucky enough to have found their soul mates {both of which are going to be dentists!}. i cannot thank the lord enough for blessing me with these two beauties. {i need a new picture of the 3 of us. this was the only one i had on hand.}

day twenty. seasonal.

it snowed this weekend.

as you can see, it didn't snow very much. i was expecting more, but it hasn't come yet. i am not one to jump for joy at the first sight of snow. i love when the seasons change. i love wearing coats and gloves and scarves and being cuddly warm, but the cold is what i am never prepared for. with that being said, i am grateful that i am able to experience the cold so that i am appreciate the warmth even more. i am so grateful for each beautiful season and that i live in the heart of the rockies and in the middle of a desert at the same time. how does that work? i don't really know.

day twenty-one. where you sleep.

this is our bed.

yes, our comforter is very girly. a new one is the works. i am so grateful for our bed. it is so cozy. i am grateful that my parents got it for us when we got married and even moved it into our {old} apartment for us. we had to move it out, but that was way easier that getting it in. i am grateful that at the end of each day i have a place to rest my head. that i am able to be warm when i sleep and have a nice warm blanket on top of me. oh how i love my {our} bed.

days 15 and 16.

2011-11-16T19:32:00.001-08:00

day fifteen. technology.

yes, that's the x factor on tv.

i'm not huge fan. there're just nothing else on and m. is gone. i am so grateful for technology. i am grateful for my phone, for my computer, for my tv, for my camera, for the radio, for the fancy electronic instruments that allow m. to make his sweet, sweet music and for all the technology out there that is yet to be discovered that is going to change the world as we know it. can you imagine the world our children are going to grow up in? i am grateful that i am fortunate enough to have so much technology at my fingertips. sometimes i would like to get rid of all of it, but then i think about it and i think thats a really dumb idea. i love technology...but not as much as you, you see.

day sixteen. animals.

this is an insect.

let me be honest, i am not the biggest fan of animals. correction, i am not the biggest fan of pets. i think animals are great, but i don't want to have one. i am grateful that there are animals on the earth (and in space? who knows!) and that they bring so much joy to so many people. i am grateful that animals help make the world go round. it kinda freaks me out that there are animals that we don't know very much about. i guess it's kinda the same with humans. way to be cool animals. if i could, i would give you all high fives. but only if you promised not to eat me.

day 14.

2011-11-14T17:49:00.001-08:00

day fourteen. movement.

temple of heaven. beijing china.

i am grateful for this adorable chinese woman who was perfectly content twirling her long streamers in the courtyard of the temple of heaven. i am so grateful for movement. i am grateful that there are so many ways to interpret movement whether it be dancing, running, leaping, hunching, jumping, twirling, etc. i am grateful that most of us are capable of getting from one place to another just by placing one foot in front of the other. and for those of us that can't quite get around by ourselves, i am grateful that there are people in this world that help others move from place to place. i am grateful that the world is busy, moving, changing, evolving.

i love movement. but i hate moving. (good thing we aren't going anywhere for a while.)

day 13.

2011-11-13T19:44:00.001-08:00

day thirteen. hands.

our hands.

i am grateful for hands. i am grateful that i have all my fingers (and toes too). i am grateful for hand holding and thumb wars. i am grateful that m. has such strong guitar callused hands that make such beautiful music. i am grateful that our hands allow us to serve others. i am grateful for the many hands that have fed me throughout my life. i am grateful that i have a mallet finger (permanently bent) because that mallet brought me to my best han-ba-nan. i am grateful that there are so many things that we can do with out hands. give a wave, an i love you, and maybe if you're angry...that middle guy will creep up. oops.

i am grateful for my "bird" hands.

days 10, 11, and 12.

2011-11-12T09:54:00.001-08:00

day ten. nature.

this is an oldie but a goodie.

i am so grateful for nature. i am able for the time that i am able to spend in the sun while lying on the grass, that i live so close to the glorious rocky mountains that i could just go climb them if i wanted (i haven't ever wanted to yet), i am grateful that i am just a short drive away from one of the most beautiful canyons ever. this world is absolutely amazing and we are all so lucky to be here.

way to be awesome, earth!

day eleven. written words.

this is my journal.

i am grateful for my journal. i am grateful that i was so diligent in my journal writing for about 5 years. i am sad that i haven't done very well that past couple of years, but i am grateful that the world of technology has given me this lovely blog that i kind of use a journal. i am so grateful that i have the ability to write down my thoughts and feelings. i am grateful for all the beautiful ways that each of us can write from poetry to music to facebook posts. i am grateful that there are so many people out there that write words for us to read. i am a big fan of words and reading them.

day twelve. something old.

this tiny ring belonged to my great grandma.

it is super tiny and has a tiny diamond in it. i used to wear this necklace almost everyday. i never knew my great grandma. or my grandma. my grandma died when i was about five. she lived in california and my family lived in utah. we went for a visit when i was really little, but of course, i don't remember. i am grateful that i have this necklace to remind me of the great women in my life. even though i never met my grandma, but i kind of feel like when i wear it, she is there with me and getting to know me and who i am. i am grateful that i have something i can hold in my hand to remember her since i don't have memories to look back on. i am grateful for my grandma and that she gave me my mom.

days 8 and 9.

2011-11-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

day eight. favorite color.

this was my dinner tonight.

i am not really one to choose favorites when it comes to things like movies, colors, songs, etc. but i guess if i were to have to choose i would say green. there are so many shades of green that are so lovely. i especially love green in the spring and summer when the grass is green, the trees are green and the world is so alive. i am grateful for green and that is a sign of life. i am a big fan of life.

day nine. an inspiring person

this is my mom.

and this is the most recent picture i could access of her. it is from her visit to texas with my dad to see my sister and family. i am so grateful for my mom. she has always been someone that i have looked up to. she is the absolute hardest worker i know. she is smart, kind, funny, generous, and the best grandma in the world. i look forward to the time when she will be a grandma to my children. i am grateful that m. and i live so close to my parents. so close infact that we are in the same ward! (i am actually at their house as i write this). my mom is the greatest. and just so you know, she may be small, but she can and will take you down if you mess with her.

also. i have never seen her belly button. is that weird?

day 6 and 7.

2011-11-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

day six. books.

just a handful of my favorite books.

i am very grateful for books. i am grateful for writers and for how they can take me to whole different world with their words. i am grateful that there are so many creative and artist people out there that can write such wonderful words. and i am grateful that i can read, comprehend and understand the words that are written. someday, i will write a book. you'll see.

day seven. something funny.

meet the most friendly batman on the planet.

i am grateful for this guy and for joy that he brings into my life. i am grateful that almost everyday on our way to work, he makes up a new song about how much he loves me. i am grateful that he is there is the night to keep me warm and is there to laugh with me when i get the bedtime giggles. i am grateful that he only swears when it is appropriate or to be funny. i am grateful that he knows how to make me laugh even when i am in a bad mood. and i am grateful that he always asks me #1 or #2 when i go to the bathroom. i am so lucky.

days 4 and 5.

2011-11-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

day four. leaves.

pink leaves outside my house.

i am grateful for leaves. i love that they mark the changing of the seasons and that i live in a place where i am able to enjoy each and every season. i love especially love fall time and that crunchy sound that leaves make when walking through on them. i love that when the leaves are crunching it is fall time and fall time means that the holidays are coming and the holiday season is my favorite time of the year. i am also grateful for green leaves that provide shade on hot summer days. leaves are just like all of us; different colors, shapes and sizes. and all make the world more beautiful.

day five. the morning sky.

this is not a picture of the morning sky today.

this morning it snowed and i was not about to go outside into the cold and take a picture of the sky. i am grateful for the morning sky and that i am able to be alive every morning and enjoy the day. i must admit that i am not really a morning person and this time of year i am at work before the sun comes up which isn't my favorite thing, but i am grateful to be alive and to see the beautiful morning sky that is different every single day.

day 3.

2011-11-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

day three. happiness.

easter in china.

i chose this photo because the experience i had in china teaching the crazy and wonderful children was one of the happiest and most worth while experiences of my life. these children changed my life for the better. up until that point in my life, i don't think i had ever been that happy. to completely give myself to those children and to get their love in return was pure happiness. those children stole a piece of my heart and showed my what true happiness is.

and then there is this man.

the man that i call my husband. the day that he and i got married was the happiest day of my life. i know that everyone says that, but it absolutely was. he and i had been together for so long but when we were finally husband and wife was pure and absolute bliss. my heart was pounding, my eyes were watering, and teeth got so dry that my lips stuck to them. at the moment we became husband and wife was heaven on earth. happiness to conquer the eternities.

days 1 and 2.

2011-11-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

30 days of gratitude. in photos.

day one. my favorite food.

ice cream. not just this kind. any kind really.

i am grateful for ice cream because sometimes at the end of a long day, i can eat some ice cream and it makes everything okay. of course, this isn't a very healthy food for me to call my favorite, but i cannot deny my love for the sweet {chocolate} ice cream treat.

day two. smiles.

like the one on my sweet niece lily. such a doll.

there are about a million smiles i could put up here to show you, but i wanted to put this one up cause i took it this weekend and i thought it was the sweetest thing. i am grateful for smiles. i am grateful that they can brighten someones day and are so easy to give away. so go ahead, give someone a smile and let them know that you are happy to be alive.

october is ending too quickly.

2011-10-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

six days til halloween. four days til my family party and i have no idea what i am going to be. m. and i had/have an idea, but i don't really have the motivation to make the costume. so. do you have any easy ideas? ha.

before we get to halloween let me tell you about the past week.

the biggest news of the week is.....

the construction in front of our house if finally done (at least for now)! we don't have to wait ten minutes to get our of our driveway anymore. the huge lights are gone, which means the generators that run the lights are now turned off an not buzzing all night and the loud clanking of cars going over those huge metal hole covering things at all hours of the night is over! i could not be happier. thanks for being so happy for us. we are happy for us too. ha.

so. last tuesday after my post, m. and i decided to have a little dessert night and went to our favorite frozen dessert spot. coney's frozen custard. i have never realized how much i love custard. i have always been a huge fan of ice cream, so naturally, i knew custard would be right up my alley. i think it might win over maggie moo's or cold stone or any of those places. if you haven't checked out coney's yet, you totally should. we always get this:

it's called a concrete. we get chocolate custard and mix in reece's peanut butter cups. the chocolate on the pb cups gets crunchy, but the peanut butter stays smooth and creamy. i want one right now. too bad m. took the car to band practice.

m. and i don't text a lot during the day. usually because he is in class or working and i am always working. so at some point during the day when one of us has a minute we will text a little love to each other. last wednesday m. texted me just after i came back from lunch. here's how it went:

it totally made me laugh. i am the worst at texting so auto correct always catches my mistakes, but m. never makes mistakes, so this made me laugh really hard. he was being so sweet, but his frustration came through and it was just hilarious. i love that bag of bones.

the middle of the week...the middle of the week...oh! m.s cousin got married! it was a wonderful ceremony in the provo temple. it was really neat. let me give you some background. m.s cousin served his mission in mongolia and met his now wife, then fellow missionary when they were both in the mtc. she was at the mtc (via mongolia) on her way to serve in indiana. so they met, didn't keep in touch on their missions, got back in touch afterwards and from opposite ends of the earth he helped her with her english via email, after a while they started talking less about english, more about each other and eventually fell in love. he went back to mongolia, asked for her hand, she (and her family) said yes, they waited for forever to get her visa, she finally got it, came to the US on her birthday, they got married one month later. it was a very special day for them and we were so happy to be there for them.

on friday night, m. and i decided to have a night in. we made dinner together, which i foolishly didn't take a picture of. we made breaded curry chicken with rice pilaf and steamed carrots. it was absolutely delicious and our house smelled like curry the entire weekend.

we were going to go out for dessert, but then i remember that i had bought some pumpkin and wanted to make some kind of pumpkin dessert, so we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

they were delicious. i made them bite sized, which made way more than we could eat so we gave some to our neighbors and both of our parents. after we gave out all the cookies, we watched district 9. it was on tv and m. recorded it for us to watch. it was good. have you seen it? if you have, keep reading. if you haven't you can skip this next part. okay, so ya know how the main guys fingernails fall off, cause ya know...? well, that made my fingernails hurt SO bad during the entire movie. i know that is kinda weird and you probably don't know what i mean, but it was not great. the movie was, my achy fingernails were not.

we didn't have any plans during the day on saturday, so m. went to the skatepark with one of our good friends from high school. i went and hung out for the last little bit and watched them skate. neither of them had skated in a while, but it was a really nice day and they had fun. here is proof that they haven't completely lost their skating ability.

the one on the right is m. (sorry he is so small and in the shadow). the one of the left is our friend shad.

on saturday night we went up to slc and met up with some of our friends. we went to the popular waffle joint called bruge. we got the famous german chocolate stuffed waffle with some vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

it was delicious (and a little expensive), but overall it was a good time.

our dear friend hofe is always a crowd pleaser. he isn't married or dating anyone so he was came on a blind date, and pulled out this little number to show his date. obviously he isn't shy.

that is his hoodie. the zipper went all the way around the hood, so the boys decided they would help him zip it all the way up. so yeah, they succeeded and of course, hofe had to see so they helped him out and put his glasses on his face for him. boys are so silly.

we went and saw captain america after all this went down. i can't say if i liked it or not cause i slept for about 75% of it. i have seen too many superhero movies in too little time. i'm not all that into them. i give it a "meh" and that it.

and lastly, here is the wreath i made for m's cousin. the one that got married last week. i like how it turned out. i wish i had made a few more flowers to put on it, but i ran out of time.

when i put the finishing touches on it, i had a hard time giving it away. i guess that means that i will just have to make another one! yay for crafts!

okay, so back to halloween, give some ideas stat! it's okay if you don't, i won't be mad.

well guys. i think you are great. thanks for reading my silly words and coming back every week.

i will most likely have more exciting pictures next week since all the halloween festivities will be going down. stay tuned.

xo.

linds.

this is turning into a tuesday thing.

2011-10-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

helllloooooo. (think seinfeld)
how are things on your side of the screen? good, i hope.
all is well in these parts and i have much to say so i will get right to it.

first off!
the best news of last week!
m. got into the PR program at byu! finally our lives can be in motion and working toward something!

he was relieved and so was i. i wanted him to wait for me to open it with him, but he couldn't so he called me and said "yay, i got in". and then we hung up and went on with our day. we should work on our celebratory skills.

secondly.
i have been really bad at wearing my wedding ring. since i don't wear my ring to bed, i put in on before i leave the room in the morning but lately i have been worried about taking my birth control pill (cause forgetting that is worse than forgetting my ring) in the morning so when i leave our bedroom and don't go back in, i don't wear my ring. the other day i didn't wear it to work and i felt weird so i made one out of a strip of paper.

i had to make a couple cause it came off when i washed my hand, but it did the job and it was so colorful. but not as sparkly. ps. i have worn my ring everyday since this incident.

third.
we had almost no plans this past weekend and it was a good thing too cause we were both feeling under the weather. m. more so than myself. he was sick all friday night so i made him some soup and he felt a little bit better, but the secret remedy to healing my husband does not come in syrups and pills. it comes in pizza. i bought him a frozen pizza, baked it, and taaadaaa, he was healed. it was a miracle.

fourth.
since the pizza healed m. on friday night, we actually left the house on saturday. we watched the byu game, against my will. and i am not ashamed to say that i slept for most of it. we wanted to do something on saturday night since we stayed home the night before. so, for the first time, we used our beloved poaps! we went to trafalga in lehi, and stood in line for about twenty minutes to ride the go-carts.

and then what did we do? we left. ha. we had our fun and didn't want to ruin it with anything else so we hit the road. we met up with h.&b. for dinner and then they joined us in watching THOR at our house. it was an okay flick. i was surprised i didn't fall asleep. cause i always fall asleep.

fifth.

monday night, m. was gone to band practice and i had been wanting to make some fall decorations, so i called up my mom and off we went. i got my supplies and the decor was in the works. i glued, glittered, and glittered some more and ended up with...

the most glorious and sparkling pumpkins this house has ever seen! i want to make more just because i love everything glitter, but i will resist. i must tell you though, i already have pinecones set aside to glitter (yes, to glitter something is a verb) for christmas! yee!

six.
the pumpkins had to dry some before i could touch up the glitter, so my mom and i made the most delicious banana bread. you see, i don't like bananas, but i am a sucker for good banana bread and the bread we made last night was king of the banana breads. i mean, just look at house high it rose. and that golden brown, shiny crust on top, yeah, that is pure sugary goodness.

oh man, my mouth is watering, how about yours?

seven.

work has been super busy the past couple of days, yesterday more than today and by the time i get off, i am nearly exhausted. for some reason this afternoon on the way home, i was awoken and suddenly feeling very patriotic. maybe it had something to do with this.

doesn't that make you want to just rise up out of your drivers seat and sing the national anthem for all to hear? yeah me neither, but check that out. this guy does not mess around. ps. sorry if this is your car.

life is going real good around these parts. m. is at the gym right now. i was planning on going with him, but i remembered at the last minute that i had my visiting teaching to do. so i am just here, my stomach grumbling, watching an episode of 30 rock for the 25th time and not even being sick of it, listening to the dryer nearly finished with my laundry that i am completely dreading folding and secretly thinking i might even just leave in there for a few days, and totally wishing that i had a picture of the cutest wreath i made for m.'s cousin this week. i'll show you soon. m. has the pic on his phone. stay tuned.

well bloggies. i hope life is going great for all of you. if not, watch this video. it might make you smile.

our neighbors asked us to feed their dogs while they were out of town. m. found them playing in this unusual place when he brought their food out. and their ways of getting down are quite inventive as well. silly dogs. i hope this vid made you laugh. it gets me every single time.

alright. this post will suffice until next week. stay tuned until then.

xo.

linds.

i can count to ten.

2011-10-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

sunday is here. and almost over. and this is going to be quick.

1. i totally sucked at going to the gym this week. we had a lot going on and i was not motivated at all. this next week will be way better.

2. i am a little stressed right now because we are waiting to hear if m. got into the PR program at byu. we find out tomorrow so the stressed will be gone soon enough.

3. we had our ward primary program today. it was great. the kids are great. but the two hour practice on saturday morning was a struggle.

4. speaking of saturday. it was the most lazy day i have had in a while. and guess what, it was great. i went grocery shopping, then we moved our mattress into the living room and watched community and took a nap. awesome.

5. saturday night we hung out and had dinner with m.'s cousins. he has 5 cousins born in the same year, but we only hung out with two of those cousins. one cousin is married, the other engaged and to be married later this month. it was a great time.

6. we stopped by our friends house after the cousin dinner. we watched the byu game which, i was not too thrilled about cause like i said a few posts ago, i am done with football. but it was fun to hang out and see our friends new apartment. it is adorable.

7. we saw the movie 50/50 on friday night (btw, i am just realizing this is not in chronological order at all, but i am too tired to change it. sorry). anyway. 50/50 was really good. a lot of swears in the first half, but the second half was way good and brought a tear to my eye. i give it a thumb and a half up!

8. m.'s mom gave us a ton of pasta tonight. i don't know when we will ever eat it all, but i am way happy to not have to buy any for a long time! and we like pasta in this house, so if you want to invite yourself over for a pasta dinner, feel free.

9. there is major construction going on on our street, right outside our house actually. it is great! psych. it is so loud and annoying and getting out of our driveway is a little bit of a challenge and a little dangerous. but we are still here, so unless you hear otherwise, we survived the construction.

10. just to end this on a nice round number, let me just tell you that i love my dear m. and the life we have together. he is the whole world.

alright. i gotta go to bed guys. i didn't even sunday nap today so i am feeling quite fatigued.

i'll have something cooler to post during the week. stay tuned.

xo.

linds.

it's two days past sunday.

2011-10-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

i meant to write on sunday like i usually do, but i was feeling a little under the weather and yesterday m. had an insane amount of homework which left me with no computer to use. someday we will have two computers.
so alas, i am here now! aren't you glad?
alright. lets get down to business.

this past week has been pretty darn good.

on tuesday i went to the mother-daughter relief society with my mom. it was fun. there was food. fun. and these delicious cupcakes. yum. i can't pass up a good cupcake. or a bad one. yub!
the middle of the week always kinda blends together, but thursday came and i was so happy cause i got to hang out with some of my best girl friends from high school. we haven't gotten together in WAY too long so it was awesome to hang out and catch up.

here we are at los hermanos. (this is right before amanda left her entire order of nachos on the bench and they got thrown away. sorry manda.)

friday was a very long day at work. i was looking forward to the weekend a little too much and time went SO slow. m. and i don't text a lot while we are at work, but we were having a little too much fun on friday. check out how clever we are!

OH! i forgot to tell you! we got a new couch! i said a couple posts ago that we sold our old one, and we got our new one on monday. it is awesome. super comfortable and fluffy.
since we don't have our ottoman anymore, we decided we had to get rid of our old rug and get a new one. so off to ikea we went! we found a super shaggy rug. m. is in love with it. it looks real nice. now we just need to get a coffee table! we did a little rearranging and our living room. come over and see it!
after ikea we stopped by m. mission reunion and chatted with some of his mission friends. that is always really fun for me. not really, but i do it cause i love m.
OCTOBER! saturday morning we got up to watch conference and got a call from m.'s parents inviting us over for breakfast (which was more like brunch). since we hadn't eaten yet, of course we were in. we cruised on over and had some delicious food. m.'s dad is a king in the kitchen and always has something delicious up his sleeve. here is brunch.

hand rolled corn tortilla. homemade beans. fried egg in salsa. pico. avocado. sour cream. cilantro.

y.u.m.

m. and i went up to slc on saturday afternoon and i bought some boots from rachael of ande monster vintage. she went to snow college with m. and we hadn't seen her in a long time so we hung out and talked for a bit. she is so sweet. seriously one of the nicest people ever. and i am in love with the boots i got. i'll post pics soon. yay boots! thanks rachael.
i hung out with my best hannah on saturday night. we hadn't hung out in a while so it was great to hang out, just the two of us. no husbands allowed. okay, they were at priesthood, but they still wouldn't have been allowed. she is so great and i miss hanging out with her. both of our lives are pretty busy, so we don't don't get to see each other as much as we would like so it is always good to just spend a couple hours together. love you han-bone!
sunday morning hannah and her husband b. came over for breakfast and to watch conference. it was great. we made some delicious breakfast burritos and blueberry muffin and enjoyed conference together. life doesn't get much better than that.
have i told you that i have recently been selected as the head of the PPC (party planning committee) for my department at work? (just call me angela martin and give me some cats!--no don't really) i haven't ever been a super big Halloween lover, but it is fun to plan stuff for my department at work. look out work buddies! it's gonna be a good month!
in other news, we are totally using our gym passes. we have gone every mwf after work for the past couple of weeks. m. is losing weight like crazy (boys are so lame) and i am feeling good and getting fit. go us!

isn't life just the best? sometimes i get so caught up in wanting it to be some other day, wayyy in the future. i really need to work on enjoying everyday for what it is. cause really, everyday is great. big thanks to everyone that reads this silly blog. you make me feel special and i am grateful for you.

i love m. i love my family. i love my friends. i love the gospel. i love life. and i hope you do too.

well, that was my week. not crazy exciting, but good enough for me.

until next time.

xoxo.

linds.

i am 65.

2011-09-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

happy sunday evening.
it is already getting late, and by "late" i mean after 10pm, (it is 10:05pm right now, so basically i am 65 years old cause 10pm really isn't that late for normal people.) so this is going to be a short, but sweet post.
this week....
we.
1. joined the gym. we are both a little unhappy with our current work out routine. or lack of one. and we are going to get fit, for life, and for our cruise in december.
2. sold our couch and matching ottoman on ksl. it looked nice and felt nice to sit in...for like ten minutes. it was one of those modern, super low back couches that looks awesome and then you have it in your house and it's the only real piece of furniture to sit in while watching tv and you realize that it is probably the worst couch ever. so yeah. we sold it. and bought a new one. we are picking it up tomorrow. ode to joy.
3. our friends colby and dani, (and i am only saying there names in hopes that they will read this and be inspired to get their own blog. cause duh, blogs are like the best ever) got married on saturday. their reception was super awesome. classy and fun. yay marriage.
4. m. had a show at sammy's in provo. and what i mean by "at sammy's" is he played on a stage facing a wall, where all the sound bounced off the wall and didn't sound too hot. oh, and there was a sweet old timer band playing at the same time at the intersection on center street where about four people in lawn chairs were watching. so yeah, it was a good show. meaning they did a good job. but that venue is the worst. and the restaurant portion of sammy's does not earn my approval either. i waited a half an hour to get some chicken strips and sweet potato fries. totally wasn't worth it. never again sammy's. never again.
5. got our POAP's or pass of all passes. only 30 bones and lasts for an entire year. hello seven peaks next summer. and about a hundred plus rounds of mini golf at trafalga in the mean time. boo yah! if you happen to have gotten a POAP too, let me know. we will POAP it up with you any day.
6. i am too lazy to go back and erase the number 6 that i wrote and i don't have anything else to write. so that is all for this week. my eyes are already tired from looking at the computer for the ten minutes i have been writing this. i feel tomorrow will be a very long day at work.

i'll have some pics next time. proms.
xo.
linds.

raindrops on roses and feet prints on car hoods.

2011-09-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

sunday is here once again and i am once again sitting on the couch, in front of tv while m. writes his daily song.
this week was real good.
lets find out what happened, shall we?
okay!
the beginning of the week was kinda slow. work is always busy so monday, tuesday and wednesday always sort of blend into one. and one very long day seems to go very slow.
i will tell you that i almost no motivation at work, which made it very hard to concentrate.
i bought the "this american life" podcast app a couple weeks ago and have been listening to that pretty much all day at work. there are so many interesting stories to listen to. if you have never listened to it before, you should look into it. i really enjoy listening to what happens in the lives of regular people from all over the US. it makes me excited to move out of utah and get to know people like the ones i hear about in the stories. sometimes the stories are sad, sometimes they are happy, sometimes they make me laugh out loud at my desk, which is would be embarrassing, but everyone does it, right? don't lie to me, i know you've done it.
i bought some more fabric a couple days ago and i am going to make a bunch (okay like 3) skirts this week and try to sell them. if you are interested, let me know, but i won't be mad if you don't.
i was really looking forward to friday because right after work, m. and i headed up to logan because i went with my sister wendy to the "time out for women" event.
it was POURING rain when we left and i was dying of laughter. i don't know why it makes me giggle so much. i just think it is so funny when it rains so hard and you can't see and everyone is getting soaked. it is mostly funny when people are trying to hurry and get out of it but for some reason it takes them forever and they are just dripping. ha. funny people. funny wet people.
here we are on the road. obviously m. loves driving.

anyway. time out for women was awesome. my jr. high choir teacher, ms. macy, was the musical entertainment on friday night. she is so great and gave some great lessons about being a mother and what it means to be a mother. she feels that you don't have to give birth to someone to be there mother and you don't have to only look at the woman who gave birth to you to be a mother to you. mothers are everywhere and there are so many amazing women that will take care of you and look after you. i love mothers. way to go all you moms out there. gold stars all around.
we drove by the logan temple on our way back to wendy's. it is so lovely.

saturday was a long day, but great. i wasn't prepared and didn't bring anything to write down my thoughts, but there were so many good speakers. it is really inspiring to see so many wonderful members of the church do so much for other people. sometimes i feel like i am just floating along and don't make a difference to anyone. i learned this weekend that we always need to believe in ourselves, we need to live by our beliefs and we must always believe that everything will be okay in the end.
m. and i hung out with our long lost friends, danielle and kyle after i was finished with the conference. they are going to school in logan so we don't see them very much. we went to dinner at the restaurant where danielle works and hung out at their apartment on saturday night.
after dinner we stopped by the good ol' deseret industries. m. decided he had to purchase an organ. cause that's normal, right? it was just barely too big for our car, so my sister had come in her trusty van. we couldn't bring it home, cause again, too big for our car. so m. will have to wait to play with it. i hope it is worth the wait.

we were at di for a little too long and got caught up in the records. aren't we so dreamy?

i am embarrassed to say that we watched the byu vs. utah game on saturday night. i have really have nothing to say about it. it was a great win for utah. a pitiful game for byu and at the end of the game, the only thing i felt was ridiculous that i sat and watched the entire thing and i wished i could have taken a nap instead. i am done with football. it is too long for me. i could have crafted so many crafty things in that time.
it was my dear friend tifaroo's birthday on saturday. i was sad that we didn't get to spend time with her. we were in logan and she was in st.g. being a beautiful bridesmaid for her friends wedding. she is an amazing person and has such a good heart (and the best smile). happy birthday tifaroo. i love you!
ps tif. this picture is over a year old. it was the best one i could find so lets get a new one together soon, deal?

well friends i am tired so i am gonna hit the sack now.

i hope your week was as exciting as mine was. which wouldn't be too hard. ha.

thanks for reading. bless your little hearts.

xo.

linds.

ps. we found these little feet prints all over our car this morning. i was laughing so hard. i guess a little critter crawled through the mud and then decided to walk all over our car. humerous.

i can't believe i forgot!

2011-09-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

hey guys!
i totally forgot to tell you!
i finished my very first sewing project with my birthday sewing machine!
i made a skirt and it is totes awes!
here are some pics.

up close(ish)

(bad quality photos. it was kinda dark. we need to buy lightbulbs.)

and a little further away.

the best part of the skirt you ask?

POCKETS! pockets are a must.

LOVE IT!

thats all i had to say. so long.
oh! ps. did you watch the miss universe pageant? i need to work out.

i need a kitkat.

2011-09-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

hello my fellow bloggies.
it's sunday once again and here i am waiting for m. to finish writing his song of the day. i think he is almost done, so i am going to make this quick.
this week was...l...o...n...g.
i only had four days of work (yay for paid holidays!) but it felt like a regular week. probably because i was looking forward to the weekend, but also dreading the weekend. you will see why in a moment.

nothing too spectacular happened during the week. i did get a raise at my work, so that was the best news ever. m. and i are now making the same amount per hour. it only took me almost 2 years to get up to what he started at. haha. it's all good though.
we bought our plane tickets that will take us to california, which will then take us to cabo and ensenada come december 17. i cannot wait! i love me some vacation time! yeee!
friday night we splurged and went to cafe rio for date night instead of our favorite cafe rio knock off restaurant costa vida. i got a salad, which was huge, of course, and as soon as we got in the car to go home, i was on the verge of puking that salad right back up. but don't you worry, i am the queen of not throwing up. and that is something i am very proud of. hehe.
yesterday we went and saw that new movie "contagion" it was pretty wild and fairly accurate when it comes to how diseases can spread so quickly from person to person and continent to continent. i won't spoil anything for you. but i will say that i don't know if it was psychological or what, but i felt way sick during the movie. like the same kind of sick the people in the movie were feeling. so sick that i didn't even eat my kitkat!!
i took a long nap after the movie because m. had to go into work for a few hours yesterday morning and i couldn't go to sleep after he left, which was around 7:30 and who wants to wake up at 7:30 on a saturday? not me, thats who. so instead of sleeping in, i just took my nap. don't judge me.
we went to trafalga in lehi (formerly liberty land) and played some glow in the dark mini golf with some friends. we were all given black golf clubs which made it nearly impossible to see, but it was cool and all of our teeth were glowing green and my freckles were comin out like nobody's business. cool. it was super fun and i freakin rock at mini golf. challenge me, i dare you.
we spoke in church today, which is always awesome. not. i totally dread it every time and even though our talks were only ten minutes, but still. i get so shaky and nervous and of course i cried which is not what i was expecting, but come on, i cry during glee, why wouldn't i cry during my talk? one of these days i will have control over my emotions. i blame the birth control. haha. i should probably do better next time and not prepare my talk the day before but it is over now and all is well.

life is good, life is great. and i am a tired child. i will leave you for now, but i will be back next week. i have some pictures to post but my phone is ALL the way over there ------> on the counter and i am wayyy to lazy to go get it. i'll post them soon.
have a good week everyone. we will be heading to logan on friday after work. i am going to the "time out for women" spectacular with my sister. it should be a grand time.
thanks for reading. or not cause there weren't any pictures to look at.
laters gators.
xo.
linds.
ps. i know today is september 11 and i didn't say anything about it. no, i am not heartless, i just posted my thoughts last week. check it out if you want. god bless america.

it's september?

2011-09-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

guess what guys? it's september already. how weird is that? i tell you what, this year is going by wayyyy too fast.

right now i am sitting on the couch, listening to m. playing music from the other room. he is working on his month long project to write one song everyday and post it for all to hear, whether it is good or bad. he's only 4 days in, but is doing great!

the tv is on, and honestly, i'm not really paying attention to it. the program that is on is a special about september 11, 2001 because as you know, this year marks the tenth year since that dreadful day.

i was in 8th grade when the towers fell and left a layer of debris over manhattan.

i remember that day ten years ago, parts of it more clearly than others. i woke up, got ready for school and came down to find my mom sitting in front of the tv watching reruns of the first plane crash into one of the towers of the world trade center. to be honest i didn't know what to think of it. i was only 13. what i supposed to know about the world trade center? i knew nothing about what a terrorist attack was.

when i got to school, it wasn't a regular day. it was different. the halls seemed quieter. all the teachers seemed to be in sort of a daze and nearly all of my classes were spent watching the news, trying to find out any information about how what had happened any why those airplanes flew into the towers.

just before i went to choir, the towers fell. and everything fell silent. we were all only kids, but we knew that something terrible had just happened. i remember feeling really sad. feeling like i just wanted to be home with my family. i wanted to be safe.

i don't really remember the rest of the day. i remember going to choir and finding my teacher, ms. macy, crying, nearly overwhelmed with what had happened. she turned off the tv midway through class.

so many lives were lost. so many people lost sons, daughters, wives, husbands, friends. it makes my heart ache to think of children growing up without their moms or dads. husbands losing wives and parents losing their children.

i feel so selfish sometimes thinking that i take advantage of my parents, my family, that are nearly all so close to me. i know i don't tell them that i love them as much as i should, but i hope they know it anyway. i hope they know that my life would, in no way, be the same without them in it.

i am grateful to live in this country. i am grateful for those who fight for this country. and although i don't know anyone who died in the attacks on september 11, i am grateful for those who were lost in the debris of the towers. they will never be forgotten. they can never be forgotten. september 11 will never be just another day that comes around every year. it is a day for heroes.

i didn't mean for this post to be so...emotional. i had no intention of writing anything like this, but it's too late now i suppose.

i hope you all had a wonderful week. tomorrow is labor day. no work! yee!

next week i'll be back. with more to say. pictures to show. and things to report.

until then. stay great.

xo.

linds.

birthday week!

2011-08-28T20:35:00.001-07:00

hello friends.

i am back again, although it is not as soon as i had hoped. but i have a good explanation that i will get to later on. so lets get started, shall we? yes.

this week was my birthday week. my actual birthday was on monday, but the celebration got started a little early.

m. put together a birthday party at our house with some of our dearest friends. they are all so great and i was so happy that so many of them were able to show up.

the highlight of the party was the game that m. put together. he spent 3 hours after church putting together a mad-lib type story called "lindsey's birthday adventure." everyone that came to the party participated in putting the story together and i must say that it was brilliant and so much fun. i will post the story later.

here are a few pics from the birthday party night.

this is m. reading the the story.

i blew out all the candles in one blow, so my birthday wish is definitely coming true. ps. that candle came all the way from china. okay, it didn't come, i brought it with me when i came home. and it was/is awesome. can't you tell!

and here is a picture of just a few of the people that came. sorry if you were there and aren't in this picture. we were having so much fun that we forgot to get one with everyone.

these photos are the proof and reason why i didn't post last sunday. i was having too much fun with all my pals. and eating lots of cake!

the next day, monday, was my actual birthday and naturally, i used my last vacation day of the year and didn't go to work. i slept in a bit, but was woken up by my dearest husband who couldn't wait any longer for me to open my present. mostly because he had to go to work. to my surprise, i opened a big huge box to discover...

a sewing machine! exactly what i wanted! i have the best husband. if you didn't know.

after m. left for work, i went back to sleep, because i could, and then went a got a mani/pedi at a spa in provo. i didn't take a picture, cause my nails were wet, but my feet are so soft! and my cuticles are flawless. win!

i went to di following my visit to the spa, because it wasn't time for m. to leave work yet. i found a cool stand up book shelf that i bought and am in the process of redoing. it is going to rock when i am done. i will post a picture when it happens.

m. and i just hung out for a while, i took a little nap, cause it was my birthday and you can do whatever you want on your birthday. we went to dinner and then stopped off for some custard at coneys here in af. have you ever been there? talk about delicious. i had no idea.

here we are enjoying our chocolate and reeses peanut butter cup concrete.

m. had band practice after the custard so i went to my parents to find that my sweet mother got me an awesome sewing box for all of my new sewing stuff. best birthday presents ever!

the rest of the week went by pretty slow, but there were some high points. like when i came into work on tuesday to find this... yay!

and i got to hang out with this little gem of a friend. (sorry bad quality photo)

and saw this super sexy guy play some super sexy music.

i got to pinch these adorable cheeks!

and hung out with my hunkahunka burnin love all day on saturday.

this is us at m.'s cousins wedding. it was lovely.

ps. have you heard/seen the crazy rainstorms these last couple days? m. wrote a little story about our adventure with them. check it out here: mrorsontape

i hope your week was as good as mine! school starts for a lot of people this week. if you are in that boat, i wish you the best. and hope you don't have too much homework.

until next time. you are cool for reading this. and i thank you.

more pictures to come next week. stay tuned.

xo.

linds.

year one. done.

2011-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

hello friends. i am back once again and as promised, here are the pictures from my fourth of july trifle. i guess it was delicious because it was gone before i even got to try any, which is a good thing i suppose.

moving on...

as most of you know, m. is in a band call "Soft Science" they are kicking butt and have been playing a lot of shows the last couple of months and are in the process of recording their first ep. it is so exciting! stay tuned for more soft science news.

here is the first song they have recorded. so sit back, close your eyes, and listen to this sweet sound.

Needs by softscienceband

onto the next!

m. has been growing his beard out since the middle of june and for our anniversary he decided he would finally give in and shave it off. but not just any ol' shave. we went down to provo and he got an old fashion straight edge shave. it was quite tedious. but his face was like a babies bum afterwards.

we have officially been married for ONE YEAR as of last week! it has been, by far, the best year of my life. people always say that the first year is the hardest. i disagree with this. our first year was so easy. the greatest year i could have asked for.

m. is the best husband ever and planned a weekend up in park city for us to celebrate our first year of marriage. since our anniversary fell on a thursday this year, we decided to take work off on friday and spend the day together. pure bliss. we went to pc after work on thursday and had the best time just being together. and not working was pretty great too.

summer is almost over and honestly we haven't done a whole lot. we are excited for christmas time because we booked a cruise to mexico that will be little taste of heaven in the middle of winter.

this summer has been productive in some ways though.

m. learned how to unicycle.

we went to the pool.

m. went down the REALLY big slide.

we watched fireworks.

and best of all. we were together.

i love m. with all my heart.

there is no she without he.

and no me without m.

til next time, which will be next sunday (we are setting aside time just for blogging).

xo. linds.

what is up with us.

2011-07-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

well. it has been some time since i have posted anything. i have found myself consumed by pintrest and whenever i remember to post something, i find some awesome craft that distracts me for half the night. my apologies.
let me catch you up on what has been happening with us.

we recently moved into a basement apartment in a nice house, which has air conditioning aka. heaven. and are loving having two bedrooms and a lot of extra space. our old apartment were great, but it was time to get something a little bit newer. and a added plus, m. can now stand up straight in the shower without hitting his head on anything! it is so wonderful!

m. got a new job a couple months ago. it seems like he has had a lot of different jobs over the last couple of months. but he is settled at the one he has now and is loving it. and get this, it is just two building down from my work, so we meet in the middle and have lunch together. it is so great. i mean, i love taking naps on my lunch break, but getting to sit and chat with my husbandear is so much better. {we do miss our neighbors though. i guess since we aren't neighbors, maybe we can just call ourselves friends now. but i'll have to check with them first.}

everything is the same with me. still working at the same place, and wondering almost everyday why i am still there, but it is a good job, i am good at it, and it is super convenient. so i suppose i still be there for a while. at least until m. is done with school and we can be real grown up and have babies and all that other stuff that comes with being a grown up. i am wanting to make almost everything that i see on pintrest. someday i will around to making some of the crafts i have on my list. until then, i am just happy decorating our new house and dreaming of having all the money in the world to decorate with. someday.

m. has a new band called soft science. they have been making music together for a few months now. they competed in the summer battle of the bands and made it through the preliminaries and came close to winning, but had a computer mishap during their last song. it was a bittersweet ending to their night, but they were able to learn a lot and the band sure came together (after a few swears of course).

our anniversary is coming up next month. i can't believe we have been married for almost a year. time sure flies when you have fun. and i must say that the past 10.5 months that we have been married have been some of the funnest months of my life. we have had a lot of challenges and trials, but we have learned so much and most importantly, we have grown closer together because of the challenges.

the new photo at the top of our blog was taken by the {wonderful} Jessica, of raeportraits. she is one of my dearest friends and took these photo along with our wedding, engagement, and bridal pictures. she is ultra talented and we have set a goal to take pictures with her every year. i already can't wait until next year.

tomorrow is the fourth of july, and i am making a patriotic trifle. it is going to be amazing. i will post pictures of the finished product. stay tuned.

big love to you all. i will do better at posting and taking pictures. come back. it will be worth it.
xo.

and your bird can sing.

2011-03-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

my goodness, time sure flies sometimes.
and i have not been doing a good job at keeping you bloggies updated on what has been happening with us.

let me give you the run down.
first off.
it was employee appreciation day at work.
rumor was, breakfast was to be served.
mason went to gandolfo's a quick bite before work.
and to our surprise, it was the big g what was servin' up breakfast at my work.
so i got one of these.

everyone else got an upstate.
suckas!

secondly.
i have been incredibly craftish lately.
m's sister tatum is having a baby next month.
she has a baby shower a couple weeks ago.
i made her one of these.
(it's a car seat cover incase you can't tell)

i loved the fabric.

three.
my sister wendizzle came down this past weekend and we had a craft party all day saturday.
and hobby lobby aka crafters paradise opened in af. hallelujah.
she made a few things.
while i made this.

which turned into this.

which ended up as this.

the most adorable wreath that took FOREVER to make, but it's ok cause i am in love with it.
ok not in love, but i do love it.
m. loves it too, which made me happy.

well, i feel like this post was pretty selfish. i said i would update you all on us and i pretty much just talked about what i have been doing.
let me tell you about m. real quick seeing as how his promise to post something on here has yet to come to pass.
he is doing good.
he has about ten march madness brackets. and is rated number six thousand something in the US. i don't know how that works, but anyway, that is cool.
school is almost over, which is great, but he is going to summer school. so that will be fun. i guess.
he is applying for new/another jobs. and the PR major at the brigham young uni.
speaking of byu, he likes how they play basketball, but has told me numerous times that he doesn't like the way jimmer plays and would not like to play on his team. i guess it's good that he just play intermural basketball.
m. played a show a couple weeks ago. go here to watch a video of one of his songs.

we are looking forward to april 1st and the benefit concert to give children in haiti clean water. it will take place at velour in provo. costs five dollars and there will be free stuff, like food. please come and support the children if you can.

we think you are great even if you don't leave comments on here for us to enjoy. just keep on reading and know that we appreciate you.
and if you have any grand photoshoot ideas, please share. we are taking family pictures (aka. engagements pictures minus the engagement but pretty much engagement cause we don't have any kids or dogs or anything. but bonnie the bonsai will be included, she is our trunked child after all.)
bless you all.
big love.
xo.

Post script: I take back what I said about m. and byu basketball. Apparently i was mistaken about what he thinks about the jimmer. My bad.

better late than never.

2011-03-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

my v. day gift finally arrived.

it was a long wait.

but worth it.

i am in love with m.

viva.

2011-02-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

this weekend m. and i joined h&b for a wonderful trip down to viva las vegas.
it was a real nice time.
let me show you what we did.

we sat on a big chair.

and stayed in here. it was modern (as you can see by the wall art and blue wall.)

we saw some lions up close and personal.

and watched this water dance.

we thought about going up there.

but ate food here instead.

and we couldn't leave without seeing this.

and finally, ended our weekend with a visit here.

there was great shopping to be had between all the sight seeing. and i'm happy to report that some real treasures were found.

would i consider this weekend to be a success?
decide for yourself.

on the way there.
on the way home.

i'd say yes!

xo.
l&m.

getting better.

2011-02-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

happy v.day weekend everyone.
(this is l. not m. as promised, but his post is coming soon.)

to celebrate this l.o.v.e. day weekend, m. and i went out to eat at
cedars of lebanon in slc.
the food was, quite lebanese and tasty. and a little pricy, but still good.
we went to sweet tooth fairy for dessert and boy oh boy was it tasty.
i could eat there famous cake balls all day long. yub!

well, first off, i would like to inform you all that m. and i now have a child.
her name is bonnie, the bonsai tree.

she is beautiful.
we love her.

m. got a valentine surprise from your truly.

i love him. for more than 52 reasons, but there were only 52 cards in the pack.
well, i have a feeling there are more valentines surprises to come, but i don't want to give anything away.
but rest assured, there will be more pictures coming. soon.

give a little love away this weekend.

xoxo.
l.

taxman.

2011-02-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

big news friends.
m. has decided to join me on this blog quest.
so, every once in a while, you may see a post from him.
cute, huh?

ok. so it's february. taxes are due in april? i have no idea. i should probably be better at being an adult. too bad.
we got our tax statements and everything is ready to go, but who wants to sit down and enter numbers into the computer and get things taken care of long before they are due? not me, thats who.
have you done your taxes yet?
check yes or no.
if yes, high five.
if no, don't worry, there is still time.

so let me tell you some stuff.
first. we hate our apartment. it is a fine place to sleep, but everything else is a pain in the caboose. but, we have five months left to deal with it. who knows, maybe we will love it by then. yeah right.
second. we are in need of another car. do you have one that you want to sell to us? a nice one, with not too many miles, and isn't too expensive or too old. am i being too specific?
third. we have been going to the gym. m. is learning how to jump high, and i am just running and elipting and biking and you know, the usual. it's cool. we are getting fit. today we sat in the hot tub after we worked out, and didn't even shower off before. shhh, don't tell.
fourth. we have been married six whole months this friday. what are we doing to celebrate this momentous occasion you ask, going to salt lake to eat lebanese food, of course. how else do people celebrate? i've never had lebanese food, have you?
fifth. i really want to take more pictures, but what do i have to photograph and what is the point of photographing when i don't even have the internet to post them on my blog. answer, there is no point. dear internet, don't be so expensive so we can afford you.
sixth. we are at m.'s parents (thus the reason why i can post this), m. is currently watch the jazz game. i don't think they are doing well. some quotes that confirm my thinking: "holy frick cj, what are you doing!," "millsap you idiot!," "oh my gosh jazz what is the deal?!," " gosh dangit jazz." uh oh. unhappy husband alert.
seventh. i saw a package of starburst that were all red and pink. can you say heaven? who care about orange and yellow anyway?
eight. whattheheck was up with the superbowl? ok, i don't care about the game, but the halftime show what out of control. give me a break fergie, you cannot sing. and those black dudes and that asian guy are, how you say, dumb as dumb can get. the superbowl commercials were ok, everything else, forgettaboutit.
nine. i have a lot of ideas for crafts up my sleeves, but could use some more. share with me your crafty skillzz and knowledge homies.
ten. we are in love with modern family. have you ever watched it? it is hilarious and touching, like full house, but on a whole new level of awesome. no kidding. m. laughs out loud, which is the test to see if something is really funny, and i am secretly in love with how stupid phil is. he kills me. watch an episode. or all of them.

well friends, this post was incredibly boring, but i wanted to give you something to read to let you pass the time whilst you are working, pooping, peeping, falling asleep, waking up, wasting time, waiting for your husband to come home, waiting for your husband to go to sleep so you can secretly shop online, waiting for you favorite tv show to start (modern family), distracting yourself from looking at steven tyler on american idol (scary!) waiting for the shower to heat up, trying to keep yourself from falling asleep on your way to work, wasting time on your lunch break, or whatever else!

post from m. next time.
hooray.

love love love.
l.

magical mystery tour.

2011-01-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

hello dear friends.
i am back once again.
and as i promised i have some pictures to share with you.

happy birthday to my dearest husband.
on nov. 26. yeah, i am way behind on my blogging, i know.

i am going clear back to december for this first one.
m. and band. (they have no name) played a christmas concert.
in turtlenecks and christmas sweaters.
it was lovely.

we made some gingerbread houses, out of graham crackers which completely changes the name and feel of what they were intended to be, but regardless, it was fun. and this picture was taken as our house was literally crumbling in our hands.

ps. i just noticed m.'s face. real cute, huh?

then it was christmastime.
and our tree shown round about our tiny little apartment.
it was quite bright.

and our p.jams were pretty neat too.

then came 2011 and a trip to lava hot springs.
we stayed in here.

it looked like this.

and ate breakfast here.
it was about the same as eating an old shoe for breakfast.

more concerts, more concerts.

then we went to the sundance film festival.
we saw no films, but ate expensive pizza.

and lastly, let us not forget that the superbowl is upon us people.
do i care who wins?
no. just as long as i get to hang with this guy.

i'll do better to stay more updated.
until next time.
peace and love.
and hugs too.

xo.
linds.

new.

2011-01-07T10:51:00.001-08:00

it's the seventh of january and i am already posting something new! am i doing good or what?! i am pretty proud of myself.
anyway. i don't have anything in particular that i plan on writing about, so i apologize if this sounds like rambling. because it kind of is.
ok, i think i've gather my thoughts enough so let me stop this rambling and give you all a little taste of the goals that i have set for myself. and a few that m. and i have set together for the upcoming year.

for me:
one. find some new hobbies. learn how to make and create new things.
two. exercise. i know this is a goal for most of the u.s. population, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a good goal.
three. enter and run some kind of race. maybe a 5k. maybe a half marathon. maybe a ragnar. i'm not sure yet, but that is a big goal for me. cause guys, i hate running. a lot.
four. sew a new dress for tif's wedding. a yellow one. and a maybe a few other things too.
five. be a better wife to my husband. he does so much for me and sometimes i don't do enough to show ow much a appreciate him.
six. don't get preggers. we don't want no babies right now.

and for the m. and i:
one. read the scriptures everyday.
two. go to the temple twice a month. totally do-able.
three. go on a vacation. texas!
four. get away at least one weekend a month. or every two months, depending on what is going on and how much money we have.
five. speaking of money. save money.
six. get a new car. not a new new car. just a new one for us. one that is reliable and 2006 or newer. too specific? nah.

well, this is a good enough post for now.
next time: pictures!

xo.
linds.

the fool on the hill.

2011-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

it's a new year.
and that means new resolutions.
new things to look forward to.
and lots of things to look back on.
for this post, i thought i would share with you all a few highlights from this past year.
i will apologize in advance for the lack of pictures, i'm using my husbands computer because mine is currently out of service thus; i have very few pictures to choose from.
anyway. here we go.

january:
m. came home. seeing him after those two long (but fast) years was one of the happiest moments of my life.
we back bf/gf. officially. it was magic.
m. went to snow college. i missed him, but i make the trek to spc (san pete county) and all was well.

february:
our first valentines day together in a very long time. l.o.v.e.
i visited e.town again. and again.
han bone and i nearly got stuck in e.town when h.bone broke my car key off in the door of the car. not good. but don't worry, we made it back to provo in time for hans 8am class.

march:
m. and i talked about getting married.
ten of us piled into the nissan armada and went on a mega road trip to st.g. and viva las vegas.
we set a date. secretly.

april:
this month went too slow. i was looking forward to way came in may.
m. asked my dads permission to marry me. (he said yes)

may:
school was out, scream and shout.
m. and i got engaged. ask him the story. he's good at telling it.
we called the temple. set the date in stone.

june:
we took our engagement pictures. had a blast.
i got my dress. he got his suit.
hannah went to arizona and came home an engaged woman. i cried a little bit.

july:
bridal pictures. nearly ruined by a storm. we prayed hard. the weather was perfect.
planned the honeymoon. new york and boston. lovely.
i moved into our apartment with my dearest tifaroo.

august:
tif moved out. our new bed moved in.
bridal showers and bachelorette parties! yay!
i went through the temple for the first time. it was beautiful. and so surreal.
august 11. the best day of my life. m. and i became one. forever.

september:
brenden came home from az. hannah went through the temple.
h. and b. became one. her mom made her dress. it was a very happy day.
tif turned 23! pizza pie cafe party.

october:
chelsey moved to az. we miss her.
m. and the band played at fork fest. it was a very warm day of october.
fork fest led to meeting s. and k. haslam. yay neighbors.
we got on our very own phone plan. we are total adults.
hallo.ween. hallo.cami. we dressed up as uncle jesse and prego aunt beckie from full house. awesome.

november:
we said goodbye to grandma noni. we love her.
m. turned 22. there was a surprise party.
thanksgiving was filling.
i gave in and we bought at tv.

december:
school was out for m. he was ready.
our first christmas tree. from grandma noni. it glowed through the window.
tif and joe got engaged. best ever.
presents. love. family. peace. joy. complete.

this of course was a very brief overview of the past year.
there are so many things that i cannot remember at this time,
but i want you all to know that these days, the ones that we live each and everyday are special. they mean something and sometimes we have to work hard to get something out of them, but everyday is beautiful and i am so grateful to share it with you.

i hope the next year brings you joy and happiness. make goals. make plans. have fun.
big love to you all.

xo.
linds.

VOTE!

2010-12-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE AND GO VOTE FOR ME AND MASON! #10!

fail.

2010-12-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

hey everyone.
so obviously i totally failed at the 30 day blog challenge. i really wanted to do it for all 30 days, but without the internet at my home, i found that challenge to be completely impossible.
but let me assure you that i will complete all 30 blog day challenges, they just won't be in 30 days, obviously.
for those of you that believed in me. thank you so much.

and ps. i didn't finish harry potter. i actually totally stopped reading it all together. another fail up in here. w. (w.= whatevs)

well. i g2g-go-guys.
until next time, thanks for reading this super lame post.
peace.

day eight.

2010-11-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

short term goals for this month and why.

one. finish reading harry potter seven. reason: because i have started it three times and have yet to finish it.
two. get masons birthday planned and all his gifts purchased, wrapped and ready to go before his birthday. reason: because i would hate to put of something that epic as his birthday plans. and i was it to be awesome, thus; requiring a little more time than one or two days of planning.
three. get all of my christmas shopping done. and if not all of it, at least all of masons shopping done. reason: cause then i won't have to worry about getting him anything else and we can spend all of december watching christmas movies and not worrying about what gifts to buy.
four. not fall asleep at work. reason: because i really shouldn't do that in the first place.
five. don't go crazy with all the holiday treats. reason: i don't want to turn into a treat-o-holic. or a fatty.

i think that is a pretty good list. i mean, most of my goals are long term, so it was kind of hard to come up with the list for this month, and these are things that i am sure i can accomplish. i believe!

til day nine.

xo.

day seven.

2010-11-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

and then came the seventh day:
a picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you.

meet m.
my best friend.
my one and only.
my husband forever.

i first met m. in ninth grade. we had math together and although i have no memory of math really, i remember choosing this guy, my future husband, as the guy with the best smile in all of the ninth grade. and still think it's true. he has a smile that makes me melt and a laugh that is hilarious and contagious at the same time.
we have been through a lot together and since that day he first kissed me, january 24, 2004, we have been best friends ever since. he has seen me at my best, and seen me at my worst and never has he ever made me feel less than what i am. he has brought me up from feeling like nothing and has made me so happy that i feel like i could soar with the birds. of course, our lives haven't always easy and although neither of us are perfect, he is the one that i feel is as close as they come. he is perfect for me. in every way. he is the cheese to my macaroni.
i love him more than ever.

to m.
i'll be your branches.
if you'll be my roots.
and together we are a tree.
reaching ever upward.

xo.
l.

day six.

2010-11-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

the sixth day is entitled:
your favorite superhero and why.

well, to be honest i was never one for the cartoon superhero. i mean, i grew up in delta and the only tv i really remember watching was full house and the rest of the tgif lineup.
but if i were to be honest and tell you who my real hero is, i would have to say my dear mother.
she is a true saint of a woman. she is the most loving and kind person i have ever met. and even though she is kind of crazy at times, she makes me laugh, at her and with her. she has a heart of gold and loves everyone she meets almost instantly. she is strong, in both body and spirit. she would be willing to do anything for anyone at the drop of a hat. and she is a woman that i truly admire. she has been through a lot in her life and from a young age, she has cared for both family, friends, and strangers without a single complain. she may be small, but she has the biggest heart of anyone i know.
i love my mom and she is the image of who i want to be when i grow up.

to my dear mother.
you are my hero.

xo.
linds.

day five.

2010-11-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

day five:
a picture of somewhere you've been to.

the epic land of china.

although china was amazing. and there are about a million photos i could post.
my most favorite place i've ever been:

i hope you can go there too.

xo.
linds.

day four.

2010-11-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

i told you it would be sooner than later, didn't i.

day four:
a habit you wish you didn't have.

well there are a few habits i wish i didn't have but i will share one with you.

i wish i didn't doubt myself.
i mean there are a lot of things that i know i am perfectly capable of doing, but when it comes down to actually doing it, i doubt myself. i doubt my abilities because i am okay with just doing what i am doing. i am not very good at pushing myself into doing new things even though there are so many things that i want to do. i just lose that little bit of faith that i have in myself that will push me over the edge and make myself do it. there are a lot of things that i have on my to-do list but i just kind of doubt that i will finish the specific project or keep on reading the specific book, or succeed in what i am doing that i just don't do it. i know this is a super lame habit, but it is one that i have that i'm not very proud of and putting it on here is, i hate to admit it, kind of embarrassing and just might be what i need to push me over the edge and actually have faith in myself that i can do whatever it is that i am trying and/or wanting to do.
so thank you 30 day blog challenge for letting me put this habit out there.
and look out world, i'm coming.

xo.
linds.

day three.

2010-11-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

yes, i know it has been some time since i posted day two, but like i said, i have no interweb at my current abode, so here we go.
day three is...

a picture of you with your friends.

here is one of me and my best friend.

and here is one of me and my best hannah.

and with my best jess. and han again.

and my best tifaroo.

and all these guys that i love a whole lot.

and these gals.

and these ones too.

and of course there are many other friends to be had on this lovely blog post, however; most of my photos are not on my computer so i apologize if i do not have a picture of you and me on here. it isn't because i don't love you.

day four will be sooner than later.

xoxo.
l.

day two.

2010-10-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

i am feel ambitious today.

and i don't know when i'll be able to blog again,

so i may as well get a head start, right?

day two is:

the meaning behind the name of your blog.

well. to be completely honest, i didn't know what i was going to call my blog when i first started it. my first post was called "introduction" which is a song by the beatles. and from that post is where it all started.

words of love. it what the blog became.

and since that time, every title of my posts have been named after a beatles song. if you didn't notice.

the song, words of love. was chosen for the title because that is what i want my blog to be. i want it to be full of words of love, of life, of laughter, of happiness. i want to do just like the song says and hold you close and tell you how i feel. i want to be honest. i want to be real. i know i don't have a lot of readers, but i want those that do read to leave my blog with a smile on their face and maybe brighten their day a little bit. i want you readers to know that i'm just me, a regular gal that loves life and wants to make it beautiful.

so, for those of you that do read.

i thank you and think that you are wonderful.

bless you.

xoxo.

please please me.

2010-10-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

well. it's taken a while for me to get here,
but happy 100th post everyone.

to celebrate my 100th post,
I am going to start the thirty day blog challenge.
but i am going to tell you right now, that i won't be able to post everyday,
because we don't have the internet at our house.
not because i don't have the drive to do the challenge.

ok. let us begin.
day one.
a picture of yourself and fifteen things about you.

this is me.

and these are things about me.
one. i love my husband more than anything.
two. my current favorite item of clothing is: cardigans.
three. i have the greatest family. including my inlaws. best ever.
four. i work at a law firm. no, i'm not a lawyer. maybe someday.
five. i want a sewing machine for christmas. spread the word.
six. my favorite tv show is the office. but i have a secret love for glee as well.
seven. i love the gospel.
eight. my husband and i dressed up as uncle jesse and prego aunt becky from full house for halloween. awesome.
nine. there is a very likely possibility i will have twins.
ten. i live within ten minutes from my parents and inlaws.
eleven. my husband is one of the smartest people i know.
twelve. i am slowing working up the courage to sing in front of people. like a crowd of people.
thirteen. just for my husband, i love the jazz! whoo, go jazz!
fourteen. august 11, 2010 was the best day of my life.
fifteen. i wish i had more talents. like the one this guy has.

til there was you.

2010-10-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

let me tell you a story.

a love story.
about a girl named lindsey.
and a guy named mason.
who recently became one.

this is them.
in celebration of their new marriage.

and here they are with all the ones they hold most dear.

here they are with the ones that brought them up.

and here, with the friends that mean the most (including the one taking the photos).

thanks to everyone who was there to celebrate with us on the best day imaginable.
i'll post open house pictures soon.
until then...

here they are again. husband and wife.

now and forever.

to m.
you are the sun.
and there was no world.
til there was you.

xo.

i need you.

2010-09-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

here are the pictures i promised you.

oh, how i love him.

photos by raeportraits.

across the universe.

2010-09-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

hello world.

contrary to popular belief.

i.am.alive.

i have been out of commission for a little bit but it is only because i have this thing called a husband that i have to feed and take care of and stuff. no he isn't a baby, but i do enjoy taking care of him and loving him all the days and such.

well, let me catch you up on what is going down in our town.

we still live in af. we just can't get away. at least not yet. it is convenient since i work here, and that is why we are still here at the moment. we live in the upstairs of an old, old house. it's small, yet cozy. and very original and hard to decorate but we've tried to make it our own the best we can. i don't have any pictures or i'd post them. sorry.

our wedding was AMAZING. we had the most relaxed day. our families were all there. our best friends were there. our best wedding photographer was there. we ate great food. and just had a great time. and now we.are.one.

we went to the NYC for our honeymoon and stayed busy the whole time. it was a little crazy, but we didn't have all the time in the world, which we would have liked, but it's all good and it was simply the best. we saw m.'s favorite band play, saw the typical sights, saw phantom on broadway. spent a lot of time shopping. walked a lot. and i mean a lot. ate delicious food. and a lot of red velvet cake. and watched a lot of cake boss at the hotel. awesome.

we came home to a new bed. thanks to my parents. thank you very much! and i legally changed my name. hello l.k.p.! yay! the saturday upon our return was our open house, which was super fun and again, there was great food. and so much of it. if you didn't come, we're sorry you missed out on all the good food. if you feel the need to get some for yourself, go to braza grill in murray. you won't be disappointed.

well. let me end this post with this.

married life is the best ever.

waking up with that big bag of hunka hunka burnin' love next to me is wonderful.

making him breakfast while he shaves is the best.

listening to him write songs and him asking me to sing with him and being so happy that i did, is the cutest thing ever.

arguing about stupid things that then laughing at how stupid they are is hilarious.

him picking me up from work is the greatest way to end a long day.

making dinner together makes the food taste so much better.

cuddling with him while we sleep even though it's about a million degrees makes my heart so happy.

knowing that he is mine. forever. is bliss.

there is nothing better than being married.

alright friends. i've got a husband to get to.

xo.

linds.

ps. i took ten minutes trying to put up pics.

it didn't work.

next time.

proms guys.

penny lane.

2010-07-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

i wish i lived on penny lane.

instead i live on center street in american fork.

and i no longer have internet access, which is the reason for why i have yet to post anything regarding the wedding.

but let me assure you that all is well and that 25 days from now,

i will be

lindsey porter.

hooray.

until next time my friends. send me your address or something.

and i will send you an invitation to my wedding.

much love. from me to you.

xo.

linds.

flying.

2010-06-12T11:40:00.001-07:00

it's finally here. the day you've all been waiting for.

august 11.

m.pie and i will be one.
words cannot describe how excited i am.

as you may have guessed, the wedding plans are cruising along rather nicely.

of course, there are still about a million and a half things to do, but they'll get done. and everything will be simply lovely.

as for now, we've got to find m. a suit. and a ring.

until next time.

we're engaged. and you're great.

xo.

linds.

all you need is love.

2010-05-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

and a ring.
and a date.
and a dress.

and i have all of that.
cause i'm getting married!

yes, it's true. i'm officially engaged to the one, mason t. porter. i honestly about to burst i am so happy.
do you want to hear the story?
alright, here we go.
so it started on friday, may 15. we had a date planned. a secret date. and "the best date of my life" is as m. described it to me.
i went to his house (because is without a vehicle) and he grabbed the picnic basket and we were out the door.
we went to what we had thought to be adventureland park, behind lone peak high school, but as it turns out, it has a different name. regardless of the name of the park, that is where we went.
we set up our picnic blanket near the lake, and in the middle of a whole bunch of gnats. we couldn't get away from them, but they left us alone after a while.
the first course: chips and salsa. mango.
second: apples.
third: sandwiches. no mustard on mine. he remembered.
beverage:
we talked for a while and it started to get cold, and m. had to blow his nose so he went to the car and got some tissues and in the meantime i got bit on the lip by a mystery bug. my lip got swollen and red and super attractive. yum.
m. kept talking about climbing a tree. something i hadn't really heard him talk about but only a few rare times. i gave him some ideas of trees around town, but none of them were good enough, so we decided to take a drive up the canyon.
we drove up to tibble fork and told stories of adventures in the canyon and had some good laughs and then headed back down.
we stopped at a picnic area and walked around for a bit and followed a trail that led us to another parking lot (lame). so we went on a adventure of our own and ventured across the bridge and hiked up the mountain. good thing we were both wearing our best hiking shoes (not!). it all worked out and when we were nearing halfway up the mountain we decided to stop. m. was on much higher ground than me standing next to a tree, when he pulled out a knife. suprise! i didn't even know he had one! he told me to come up, so in my trusty boots, i did and together we carved L + M into the tree. he carved the L, i carved the M (it took me a really long time).
after we finished with the carving, we went a few feet below where we were, onto level ground and talked for a bit. and m. was really worried that i was going to fall down the mountain so he was holding me real close. cute.
after a while of talking i gave him a kiss and thanked him for the best date ever, and he said "you're kissing me and i haven't even asked you yet!" my reply "haven't even asked you what yet?" (i'm way good at english. haha). he got the ring out and said "i haven't even asked you: will you marry me?" my eyes were welling with the most joyful tears and i said "of course i will". we just stood there for the longest time and i was in total disbelief.
i am still in disbelief that we're engaged! to be married! do you even believe it?! eeeek!
we've been best friends for six years. can you even believe that. it's perfect if you ask me. completely and utterly perfect.

we are way awesome and didn't take any pictures after the proposal, but here is one of my ring, just for you.

amazing, eh?

more pictures to come.
but in the mean time, let the wedding plans begin!

and thanks for reading.
xo.
linds.

it's all too much.

2010-04-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

i just wrote an entire blog post.
and was completely disgusted with myself.
all i did was whine about this and that and blah blah blah.
i'm a woman, alright. and yes, we all deserve to let it all out every once in a while.
but i will not do that here.
that is what my pillow is for.
and that is where all my blah blah's and whines will stay, eh? yay.

i will though, tell you all that i am in
l.o.v.e.
with a certain
m.t.p.
and let me tell you a secret.
i think it's probably going to last a while.
but shhh.
he doesn't even know it yet.

alright my secret keepers.
until next time.
lets all just keep this on the dl.
and lets be friends again.
i'm sorry i've been a away.
i blame in on my 8-5 job.
being a grown up totally blows.

xo.
linds.

love you to.

2010-04-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

dear blog world.
sorry i totally suck at writing to you right now.

life is freakin nuts! in a good way.

because i'm missing him right now,
here is a song for my m.pie.
because it's true what it says, you know.

home is wherever i'm with you.

x.

linds.

with a little help from my friends.

2010-03-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

well hello there.

it has been some time since i have written, but don't be thinking it's because i am too cool for you. it's simply because there are about a million and a half things going on right now.

since i can't really catch you up on everything that has been going on, let me just tell you about spring break and what went down during that long awaited week of fun.

there were smoothies. with this guy.

a score of 13, 000, 000 at lord of the rings pin ball.

naps in the sunshine. on the trampoline.

brilliant displays of music. from two amazing musicians.

road trip! to the st.g.

party at the spinny park in the crazy wind.

a lot of snoozing in the car. hi tif.

good times in sin city.

the nissan armada and it's crew.

and of course, march madness.

spring is here everybody. it was about 60 degrees today. can you believe it? lets all just go sit outside for a while, alright?
also, life is absolutely amazingly wonderful. and let me just say, that it's probably going to stay that way for a while. and i'm totally ok with that. yay.

xo.
linds.

dizzy miss lizzy.

2010-03-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

oh my.

there has been much that has happened between my last post and now.

first off.

i have been hanging out with these guys.

they're bff's, if you can't tell. and they have really cool tattoo's.

secondly, i went down to etown. to watch this guy play some music.

with these guys.

it was a great show. truly.

i got home from etown and about five hours later, went to the hospital.

and put on this outfit. and this wristband.

and has this (gall bladder) taken out of my body.

everything went well. and when i woke up i had these, and these, and these.

i was so surprised.

let me just say that the recovery is going well. i am crazy tired, and it is way hard to breathe but it will be excellent to be able to eat any and all the foods i want.

in other news. i'm seeing this,

on friday. i can't wait.

get back.

2010-02-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

what is up with the weather lately?

i said in my last post that it was feeling like spring and all of the sudden mr. snowy blizzard came back in an angry fit and dumped a new blanket of snow on us northern utah folk. where does he get off?

i'm just a little annoyed.

but.

i just realized.

today is my half birthday.

i'm going to go eat some ice cream to celebrate.

but before i do that.

let me just tell you all a little something that you may already know.

life, is so great.

also. i'm going to make a dress soon.

do you have any ideas?

you like me too much.

2010-02-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

hello all.

life is just so great. if you didn't already know. the sun has been out almost everyday the past little while. i can feel spring coming, can you?

i can't wait to be able to hang out outside and not have to wear a coat all the time. ode to joy.

in other news.

i'm selling all my snowboarding gear (only used once, and it wasn't even by me) if anyone is interested in purchasing it. if you are, let me know and i'll give you the details.

anyway.

this is us and we are we.

and that is a fedora on m.pie's head.

don't we look good?

thanks.

also.

happy valentines day in three days.

love love love.

linds.

this boy.

2010-02-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

so.
i have been thinking a lot about this boy that i kind of, like--ok, love.

and i just want to share with you all (whoever you are) some tidbits of why i love that big ol' hunk of man i call m.

i chose twenty two reasons. because twenty two is our best number.

one. he is the strongest man i know. in heart. spirit. body. and mind.

two. he loves his family. and misses them when he's away.

three. he loves me. and tells me everyday.

four. he's the greatest friend. to me and everyone.

five. he's driven. and will be anything he wants to be.

six. he doesn't give up. nor will he ever.

seven. he doesn't believe in lucky numbers. but his is two. just like mine.

eight. he's super funny. and tells way good jokes.

nine. his left leg is 3/4 in. longer than his right. and he totally owns it.

ten. he is a great listener. and a great talker.

eleven. he appreciates the arts.

twelve. he speaks french. enough said.

thirteen. he has the most beautiful voice. and he loves to share it with anyone and everyone.

fourteen. he can grow a mean beard in less than a week. can your man do that?

fifteen. he loves the gospel. and honors his priesthood.

sixteen. he's going to let me wax his chest someday. it's going to be epic.

seventeen. he's ridiculously good looking. and he knows it.

eighteen. he's not a crier. but he's got a big shoulder to cry on if you need it.

nineteen. he sees the good in everyone.

twenty. he is genuine. in every sense of the word.

twenty one. he wants to be the change in the world. and i know he will be.

twenty two. he is mine. and doesn't want to be anyone else's.

and i'm totally ok with that.

m.pie. you are my best friend. i know you'll never read this. but je t'aime. toujours. toujours.

happy love month everyone.

spread it loud and proud.

xo.

linds.

it's only love.

2010-01-24T19:47:00.001-08:00

dear world.

let me tell you a story. it's about this girl. lets call her l. and this boy. lets call him m. (yes i get the irony that l, could be me, and m. could be mason. but lets get past that and move on with the story) and today, marks the day that the two of them have been best friends for not one, or two, but six years.
yes, i know that is a very long time. and it has been quite the roller coaster ride.
l. has had a lot of time on her hands today and has been thinking about the past six years a lot today and has come up with a few highlights that have gone down between m. and l.

let me enlighten you.

2004:

sophomore year. m. and l. had chemistry together. coincidence? 1.24.04. what a great day that was. they went to the hypnotist. bliss.

2005:

junior year. they both turned 16. on december 3 they went on their first date. to temple square to see the lights. it was freezing. but they got hot cocoa. happiness.

2006:

senior year. life took a turn and they both needed to grow up. they did. and when graduation came, they were finally on a hanging out level again. wonderful.

2007:

m. was at snow college. l. was at uvu (formerly uvsc). m. went to washington. l. did not. they saw each other for two days that summer. magic.

2008:

m. left on his mission to montreal. l. stayed here. work work work for the both of them. they wrote a letter each week. patience.

2009:

year two of m.'s mission. l. went to china. they wrote each week. they grew up. and grew closer together though the space between them was farther and wider. strength.

2010:

he is home. and found out his left leg is 3/4 inches longer than his right. and he lost his appendix. deal breaker? never.

they're together and not going anywhere. perfect.

what is next for 2010, you ask? well, it's only january, but i'm pretty sure this year is going to get better and better as the seasons come and go.

for the record: l. is so blessed to have m. in her life. he's the man. for real, everyone. a real manly man. and even though the doctor had to shave half his his chest for his appendectomy, he still has more hair on his chest than anyone else l. knows.

and that, dear world, is a real man.

alright world, i guess this is the end for now. until next time. keep on being awesome.

and be sure to say a prayer for the souls in haiti.

they need us. that includes you.

xo.

love.

lm.

ps. february is almost here, do you have a valentine?

two of us.

2010-01-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

well.
to keep you all up to date, life is still great. and gets greater everyday.
basically.

i live for the weekends.

i mean, i love the weekdays and don't get me wrong, i am enjoying work and school as much as ever.
but the weekend is where all the fun happens.
and i get to see this one guy that i kinda like.

he and i, we're just so happy.

can you tell?

i've just seen a face.

2010-01-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

so.
i have this friend.
her name is jessica rae {perry} schaack.
you see, she takes photographs in her spare time.
and recently she took some photos of hannah and myself.

everyone needs to check out her photos. click HERE.
she is living proof that beauty is all around us because she has a way of capturing that beauty in every photo she takes.

what i am trying to say here, is that she is incredible.

bless you jess.
and thank you.

ps. for all of you that are wondering, i officially have a b/f now. and we're so happy together.
sorry there aren't any pictures to document the amount of happiness that is going on, but honestly, it's the most happiness i've felt in my life.

xo.
linds.

a day in the life.

2010-01-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

alright bloggies.
here's the update i promised.
let me just start of by stating that:

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

and i am so happy.
the reunion with the one, m. t. porter, went down last night (saturday january 2, 2010) at about 5:45pm.
you see, i had been planning on going to the breakfast party that was going down at the porter abode, but unfortunately did not get a phone call until around 5:32pm, which i later found out was because m. did not have a telephone and didn't want to see me until we could actually hang out. great idea!
so, i waited around all day and was very patient (sort of) and finally when the phone call came as previously stated at 5:32, i immediately headed over to the porter house. it took me 11 minutes to get there. it was a very long 11 minutes.
i walked up to the door. i could hear my heart beating. my hands were shaking. i saw him through the window sitting at the kitchen table. he looked exactly as i remembered. my eyes got watery. i rang the door bell. his sister dayne answered. he came walking through the dining room. i felt like i was going to melt. he was wearing a vintage canadian hockey jersey. it was blue. he asked how i was. i said i was great. he put his arms around me. my eyes watered some more, but my giant smile didn't let the tears leave my eyes. we embraced. my heart was thumping against his chest. i was worried he could hear it. he didn't let go too soon. and when he did. our eyes met and my heart skipped a few beats.
he is home.
we sat in the kitchen, ate quesodillas with his family. it was like no time had passed. i just kept on looking at him in disbelief. i couldn't believe he was there. i had to touch him a few times to make sure he was real. he was, of course.
he touched my leg a few times as we sat at the table and made jokes and laughed at each other and everything else that was going on. i was surprised and instantly twitterpated. i had the giggles going wild inside of me.
as the night progressed, the two of us, along with some friends and family, went to the porter basement and watched the beloved jazz take on the nuggets. it was a long game. and unfortunately it didn't go as we all had hoped, but that didn't put a damper on the night. after all, the night was far from over.
post jazz game, we made our way to the gibby abode. with a pit stop at the millers house, and then the smith house where we heard a tragic story of "the battle of the bands: the death of macbook." following the tragic story we made it to the gibby house where the 11 (or so) of us that were there, squeezed into the theatre room, which became very muggy and hot after about half an hour. gross. and watched "taken". a pretty violent movie for m. to watch after 2 years of not watching any. but, when it was all said and done. the movie was enjoyed and all was well.
he is home.

let me just sum this up by saying once again that i am so happy.
life is so great. and i am so grateful that m. served a mission and is home and is happy and heathy.

i hope all of you had a wonderful january 2. i know that mine was unbelievable.

xo. linds.

golden slumbers.

2010-01-02T06:32:00.001-08:00

happy new year everyone!
i can't believe that it is finally 2010. this past year went by way too fast, but i am totally looking forward to 2010.

ok. so.
it's 7:27am on saturday january 2nd.
why am i up this early you ask?
because my best friend, mason t. porter, is home from his mission!
he got home last night around 10pm and the anticipation of seeing him is about to make my heart explode.
my hands are so shaky, and my heart goes through spats of beating about a million miles a hour
which makes me even more nervous.
i don't know why i am so nervous. i mean, he's just another guy, right?
haha. yeah. good one.
we have written a letter to each other every week since january 2008 and to think that two years have passed,
dozens of notebooks have been used, nearly gallons on ink have turned into words and finally, it's all over.
of course, the letter writing doesn't have to stop, but the whole, going to the post office to get a 75 cent stamp is all over.
don't get me wrong, i'm not sad about this, it's just a little surreal.

ok, so on to the question for why i am up so early?
well, you see, there is a breakfast party going on at mason's house this morning,
and yes, i was invited, but i am waiting for mason to call me, and that alone is why i am up so early.
my brain is going crazy and my heart is going to beat out of my chest.
those are two contributing factors as to why i can't sleep.
it's ok though, who really needs to sleep anyway when there is an extremely handsome man waiting to see them?
not me, thats who.

alright blog and blog readers, wish me luck.
and hey! lets all make this year a little greater than last year. deal?
excellent.

xo.
linds.

It's that time again.

2009-12-25T13:02:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
I hope it is filled with love and laughter.

Big love. From me to you.
xo.
Linds.

act naturally.

2009-12-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

hey everybody!

guess what! i got a real-life grown up person job. it's great. i'm making actual money for the first time in 2009. good thing it's almost over.

i'm working at myler disability (the myler of myler disability is my bishop, but let me assure you that he did not get me the job. i am completely qualified). i'm working as a front office worker and it's a total party. so, if you know anyone needing a social security or disability claim (or you just want to give me work to do) just give call the 1-800 number on the website and there's a one in 4 chance that you'll talk to me. cool beans.

in other news. it's almost christmas. i've done absolutely zero shopping. anyone want to go with me? pretty please?

moving on. there are only 15 days until mason comes home. how wild is that? i'm about pooing my pants thinking about it, mostly because it's coming so fast. everyone send yours prayers his way so that he has a great last couple of weeks and ends his mission strong. thanks a million.

well. i'm pretty exhausted from my big person job and all this waking up early and working all day has turned me into a grandma and i now go to bed at 10pm. and that is soon. i'm out of here people.

stay well all.

and happy happy week before christmas.

xo.

yesdnil.

i me mine.

2009-12-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

dear friends.

can you believe the holidays are upon us. it is a little hard to believe that its december 10th. i'm telling you, this has been the fastest, craziest, most surreal, best year of my life. so far.

school is almost over, which is great, but not great because that means that in a few weeks i have to pay thousands more dollars for another semester. i have no money. it's pretty awful, but hey! that's the life of a college student, right? right.

so i have been thinking about a lot of random things lately, and i would just like to share some of those thoughts with you. feel free to stop reading anytime you want.

1. i really hate when people abbreviate the word chicken as chix. i don't know why but it makes me SO crazy and little annoyed.

2. i have had my fingernails painted for about a month and half. maybe longer. they haven't been the same color all that time, but there hasn't been a day when they were their normal (nude) color. wild.

3. there are only 21 more days until m. returns. it is so hard to believe how quickly time goes. two years? really? fastest two years of my entire life.

4. the other night i had a dream that i was driving somewhere, but i was driving in reverse. i'm not very good at driving in reverse, except for when i'm backing up (which is usually the only time i actually drive in reverse). in the dream i was going wild and going all over the road. believe it or not, i didn't even get in a wreck in my dream. i am an amazing driver.

5. my car (glen cocoa) is about to bite the dust (or snow). he's having a hard time starting up in the mornings and is prone to shaking ALL the time. maybe he's just cold, who knows. but i'm not feeling safe when i drive him anymore. time for a new car.

6. on my way to school the other day, i was sitting next to this girl who was on her computer. i'm kinda nosey (my bad) and i looked over at her computer screen and to my surprise, i noticed that she was writing a "dear john" letter. it was pretty brutal and said things like "jordan gives me everything you never did. and he doesn't want me to work. ever. i can just hang out and shop all day." and "let me go, ok? cause you can't have me back." "i chose jordan, not you. and i can't change how my heart feels." uh. a little harsh don't you think? i felt bad for reading it after that. poor missionary.

7. the other day, ok like two weeks ago, hannah and i were coming back from a Christmas card delivery and heard this song on the radio. it blew my mind! it made me feel awful. probably the WORST Christmas (season) song ever.

8. speaking of Christmas song, my favorite one is "the friendly beasts" by sufjan stevens. it is beautiful and is about CHRISTmas, not santa (i think santa is great though).

9. for the second time since i have been home from china, i ate with chop sticks. i had some ramen noodles (chicken flavor) and guess what! i am the still bombtastic at using chopsticks. i actually think they are easier when eating noodles and rice (which i have only had twice since being home!). huzzah!

10. i really don't like being cold, but i like that snow and christmas means that christmas is almost here. and if christmas is almost here, it's almost new years. and if it's almost new years, my best best friend will be home! can you believe how quickly time flies?

sorry if this was BORING to read. i told you that you could stop anytime you wanted. anyway. i've got to go to astronomy now. hopefully we'll look at some stars today! if not, i'll be sleeping.

xo.

revolution 2.

2009-12-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

life in general is pretty crazy. i am a full time student, which takes up a lot of my time but surprisingly i still find more than enough time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the world.
as i have been looking back on the past year, i have come realize that i have done so many things that i never would have imagined myself doing.
for example.

i went to china. who does that? i mean, a lot of people do but i didn't go for me. yes, i knew that i was going to be a different when i came home, but what i didn't realize was that i am a totally different person. i am still me, of course, but my view of the world has changed.
i became a cryer. i knew this isn't something that someone should put up for whoever to read. but i am truly one of the most emotional people i know. i don't think it's a bad thing, not at all. i actually like being able to cry when something is awesome, or sad, or inspiring, or even hilarious. i find that it makes life a little more interesting when i cry out of no where.
i was able to grow closer to my family. this has always been a goal of mine. not because i am distant from my family but because i feel like there is always reason to be closer. the weird thing is, it was while i was in china that my relationship with my family grew stronger. it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
i came to the realization that life is something to celebrate and every day there is something exciting going on. yes, some days are less exciting than others, but we all need to laugh and clap and cheer about the fact that we are alive. we are living, surviving, and loving. how lucky are we.
i have the greatest friends. i know that i'm not always there for them when they need me to be, but i want them all to know that i always want to be there. when they are happy, sad, angry, heart broken or on top of the world. dear friends, i love you all. and i am here for you when you need me.
i don't have anything to lose. in life in general. i think a lot of the time i keep myself from doing things because i feel like i am going to miss out on something else, but the fact of the matter is, there is never anything to lose. only more and more experiences to learn and grow from. bring it on, life!
i gave my heart away to 33 little asian children. i went from getting all their little round faces confused, to knowing who was laughing even when i wasn't looking. each of them changed my life more than i ever imagined and miss them everyday. i will never be the same person i was last year, and because of them i am better than i was.
i learned to say when i'm thinking. this isn't always the greatest thing to do. but i feel like there are so many people out there that tell people things that they don't necessarily believe. i want to be someone that just lays it all on the line and says what i'm thinking. if you don't like that, too bad for you.
i learned to roll with the punches. life is so unpredictable and if we get too caught up in worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow or in the next six months, life gets too messy and we get ahead of ourselves. i learned to just live in the moment and enjoy it. embrace it, take it all in, and breathe in deeply the fresh air of unpredictability.

well there you have it, just a few examples about how i grew more over the past year than i could have imagined. and the exciting part is, i don't even know what the next year is going to bring! hopefully something exciting (you'll be the first to know). for all you who read this blog, thank you for reading it and thank you for being so great. cause really, you are all so great and i am so lucky to have YOU in my life.

bless you.

xo.

don't pass me by.

2009-11-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

improv everywhere has done it again.
this video is hilarious.
what i wouldn't give to live in new york and be a part of this.

please tell me this made you laugh.

sun king.

2009-11-26T17:45:00.001-08:00

today is thanksgiving.
happy thanksgiving. i'm thankful for you.
today is also the birthday of elder mason t. porter.
he's 21 today and thats a big one.
i'm not there to celebrate with him, but guess what
he'll be home in one month and we'll celebrate then.

this post is just a little shout out to my best friend in all the world.
happy birthday mason.
you are the sun.

because.

2009-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

i had way too much fun on yearbookyourself.com tonight. i really should have just gone to bed. heha.

i only wish i had that hair. and those nails.

sorry about my 5 o'clock shadow.

there's a squirrel in that hair.

haha. i was laughing way too hard while i was doing this.
the end.
xo.

what you're doing.

2009-11-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

i am once again in astronomy. but this time, it is far less interesting than last time...if that is possible. einstein is no longer on the screen, but fortunately the galaxy is. pretty, eh?
i had a whole lot of time between classes today, which was good because i was able to study for my std test. yes, std's. yummy. on the other hand, all the the time between classes allowed me to take a finer look at the great people that attend utah valley university, home of the wolverines.

the first kind of person i came across is your typical "nerd". you know the ones, with their pants up a little too high with their white socks sticking out. they typically haul around one of those rolling backpacks and they always seem to be pondering something a little too hard which causes their brows to furrow up and every once in a while they talk to themselves. loudly. most nerds, as we all know, typically have glasses, however, i wear glasses and do not consider myself to be a nerd.

the second kind of person is the ever popular "dude bro". oh man, these guys are my favorite and bring so much life to the hallways of uvu. they seem to "know" everyone and are still wearing their hollister shirts with the collars popped. i don't know why, but i can't help but laugh when i see these guys strutting their stuff down the hallways and checking out every other guys collars as he walks past.

my third encounter was with your classic "i don't care what i look like/i'm a new-age hippie" person. however, you can tell that they put a little to much thought into matching their vegan shoes with their hemp shirt and their greasy long hair with their unkept fingernails. i get that they "don't care" what other people think, and it's obvious that once stop wearing shoes in the hallways and they get to the point of "i'm not wearing underwear" that they've completely given up any thought about what they're putting out into the world. yikes.

the fourth kind of person that i've had the wonderful opportunity to witness is the "i go to school, but don't go to class" person. we've all seen them. they sit on their computers all day long, and no matter what time of day it is, they are completely unaware that there is anything going on around them. often times, they are watching movies online and laughing a little too loudly for where they are. as i type this, one of these champs is sitting next to me. watching battlestar galactica. awesome.

there are a few more types of people that i have seen roaming the halls of uvu. but by far, my favorite kind are the "old people going to college" type of people. i don't know why, but in my mind, they are always super sweet, and pay super close attention to everything that goes on in their classes. they too have the rolling backpacks, because their backs aren't strong enough to carry all those books. they walk slow and it totally sucks when you get stuck walking behind them, but they are always super friendly when you accidently look at them for too long and the two of you make eye contact. oh old people. they bring so much joy to my life.

as you can tell, school at uvu is quite an adventure. don't you wish you go here?

don't let me down.

2009-11-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

i have been inspired by my dearest tiffaroo to make a list of my top movies of 2009. it has been quite the year, and i was out of the country for most of it. with that said, here we go.

in no particular order.

where the wild things are.

i've seen this movie twice and i can't wait to see it again. the emotions i feel when i watch this movie are so raw. it is not a love story, it's not an action movie, no an adventure movie. it is beautiful, in an unconventional sort of way.

(500) days of summer.

i know i've mentioned this movie time after time. but i love it. it isn't your traditional love story, but it portrays love and relationships how they really are. love is rough and tumble at times, but in the end, all is well and the trees will bloom again.

julie and julia.

i wasn't sure what to expect when i saw this movie, but i totally loved it. it made me want to cook so badly. and made me want to have a laugh like julia childs. it is funny, cute, somewhat romantic, and makes me really hungry.

star trek.

i love this movie mostly because of the circumstances of seeing it. it was the only movie i ever saw in a chinese theatre and trudged through pour rain to get there. it was hannah's birthday and was so great.

this is it.

michael jackson was amazingly talented. it's a shame that he's dead, but at least he left some great music for all of us to enjoy and dance to.

and here's one more just because.
amelie.

yes. i know that this movie isn't new. it's actually a couple years old, but i just recently saw it and absolutely loved it. it is beautiful and charming. i want to have a photo booth in my house. and be someone's secret admirer.

and as for the worst movie of 2009.
my sisters keeper.

absolutely, positively terrible. i have no other words, but to say that i absolutely hated this movie. i'll never see it again, or will ever have any desire to.

welp. that's it people. the year isn't over, so this list may change, but up until now, these movies are at the top of my list.
until next time.
peace and love.

rock and roll music.

2009-11-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

i'm at school and i should be paying attention, but astronomy is just so boring. oh wait! einstein is up on the ceiling. i'm a little more interested now.
so i just took the liberty of reading the blog of my dear friends jason gibby and jason davis. and $BiggiB$ listed his best and worst albums of the year. because of his post, i have been inspired to share with all you my, my best albums of the year.

enjoy.
in no particular order.

where the wild things are. beautiful and fit the emotions of the movie so perfectly.

monsters of folk. m.ward. conor oberst and mike mogis (of bright eyes). jim james (of my morning jacket.) brilliant and lovely.

andrew bird has done it again. this album is wonderful. if you haven't listened to it, i suggest you do.

as tall as lions. big thanks to tifaroo for letting me steal this album from her.

500 days of summer soundtrack. this movie is touching and beautiful. and the music makes my heart beat faster.

and as for the worst album of the year.
lady gaga. live ep. or regular album (released dec. 2008). everytime i hear one of her songs, i am one step closer to gouging my ears out.

ps. it's been over an hour and einstein is still on the ceiling. obviously we've covered a lot of information in astronomy today.

pps. only 57 more days til i see THIS face! i can't wait.

i'm happy just to dance with you.

2009-10-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

dance party! with some of the coolest people i know.

magical mystery tour.

2009-10-28T17:13:00.001-07:00

last weekend was the annual "moultrie family halloween party." it was, once again, a huge hit and a whole lot of fun.

as you can see. we all get really into our costumes.

my mom and dad were biff and lorraine from "back to the future".

wendy and kids were, the woodsman, little red riding hood, the wolf. and a fairy.

joel was "jason", michelle and mckenna were fairies, and ty was buzz lightyear.

natalie and cody were "business and casual joel", ruby was cinderella, lucy was a pumpkin and jack was venom.

chelsey and randy were dorothy and the scarecrow. and their girls, madilyn and norah, were munchkins.

bryce went all out and made some hair pants to become "mr. tumnis" from the chronicles of narnia. brittney was a black angel and baby blake was the cutest little tiger i ever did see.

hannah and i were circus freaks. the bearded lady and elephant girl. (check out that beard!)

kaelynn and marcy were the best of both worlds, aka, hannah montana and miley cyrus.

and toward the end of the party. most of the kids got their faces painted! whoo!

i must say the party was a huge success. now all i have to do is get thinking about my costume for next year.

i'm down.

2009-10-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

just for you:
a few of the best websites. oh they make me laugh.

FAIL blog.

People of Wal*Mart.

Awkward Family Photos.

did i just make your day? you're welcome.

i feel fine.

2009-10-21T15:51:00.001-07:00

so. hannaH and i have been growing out armpit hairs out since october 1st. and yesterday, we got them waxed.

hannah's were pretty "wild."

but she didn't even shed a tear.

mine were pretty gross too. and came off in one clean swipe.

i know i'm smiling, but it hurt real bad.

do i recommend armpit waxing, you ask? absolutely. four week of no shaving. holla!

any time at all.

2009-10-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

this is one of the best videos ever.

improv everywhere. grocery store musical.

it made me smile so big.

sea of monsters.

2009-10-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

if you haven't seen this movie yet, please do.

it is amazing how differently we see the world now from when we were children. if only the adult mind were so simple.

black. bird.

2009-10-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

i took chelsey's family pictures a couple weeks ago.
these are a few of my favorites.

cute family.
thank you for letting me take your pictures.

the inner light.

2009-10-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

this blog is beautiful. if you ever have a minute, click here and read stephanie's story. she is inspirational.

eight days a week.

2009-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

it's been a while since i have posted anything. the main reason being...i've been hanging out with these little girls for the past nine days. probably the longest nine days of my life. being a mother is hard work. but totally fun.

lucy.
ruby.

she's a queen.

2009-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

to the greatest woman i've ever known. and the greatest grandma in the world.

i know you weren't my grandma, but i love you like you were. and deep down, i wished you were.

i love you grandma. see you soon.
xo.

every little thing.

2009-09-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

this little boy is perfect. he came into the world on 09.09.09 at 12:27pm. and i am lucky enough to say that i am his aunt. his name is blake scott moultrie and his dad is my brother.

i can't believe that bryce is a dad. he is going to be the sweetest dad in the whole world. when he came out of the room to tell us the delivery news, his eyes and nose were all red from the tears of complete joy that he let out at the sight of his son. brittney is so great and i am so glad that she is a part of my family. the two of them make great parents for this little boy.

sea of time.

2009-09-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

dear january,
please come soon.

love.
lindsey.

owl city
"vanilla twilight"

The stars lean down to kiss you
And I lie awake and miss you
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere
Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly
But I'll miss your arms around me
I'll send a postcard to you, dear
Cause I wish you were here

I'll watch the night turn light blue
But it's not the same without you
Because it takes two to whisper quietly
The silence isn't so bad
Till I look at my hands and feel sad
Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly

I'll find repose in new ways
Though I haven't slept in two days
Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone
But drenched in vanilla twilight
I'll sit on the front porch all night
Waist deep in thought because when
I think of you I don't feel so alone

I don't feel so alone
I don't feel so alone

As many times as I blink
I'll think of you tonight
(Tonight, tonight, tonight...)

I'll think of you tonight

When violet eyes get brighter
And heavy wings grow lighter
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again
And I'll forget the world that I knew
But I swear I won't forget you
Oh if my voice could reach
back through the past
I'd whisper in your ear:
"Oh darling I wish you were here"

birthday.

2009-08-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

hey everybody! guess what!
i'm 21!

this year for my BIG 21, hannah and tif planned the ultimate day!
it started with:

gandolfo's for breakfast.

with love from the j.rad voglesberg.

followed by:
making of homemade icecream cake.

chocolate ice cream with mint oreo's. delicious.

followed by:
a picnic in the park.

with two of my most favorite people.

followed by:
snow shack snacks.

and a pinata!

followed by:
BOWLING!

birthdaygrl. if. and han. we dominate the bowling scene.

followed by:
dinner at applebee's.

and birthday dessert!

followed by:
a walk through the cemetery.

to find someone with my same birthday. we found someone!

followed by:
my awesome barbie birthday cake.

made by my crazy talented sister.

followed by:
a surprise birthday party!

planned by my two greatest gems.

thank you for the best 21st birthday in the whole world!
i love you all. to infinity and beyond.

all together now.

2009-08-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

well. it seems as if i have been doing a terrible job at keeping everyone (who is interested) up to date with everything that has been going on. that being the case. let me share with all of you a little taste of what august has brought my way.

best day of august! so far.

hannah and i got ice cream from the ice cream man!

i went wakeboarding for the first time! and totally stood up!

we stayed up late, and froze our booties off, but saw the craziest meteor shower!

tara got married! and i caught a small part of the bouquet.

incase you didn't know. i dominate at the pogo.

and also. this is my new niece, makenna. she's two months old and crazy, crazy cute.

august is half way over now. and the second half of the month should be a total party. literally. my birthday is in six days! school starts in eleven. and i even kind of have a job! party over here!

something.

2009-08-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

everyone should see this film. it is beautiful.

money (that's what i want).

2009-07-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

hello dear friends. it has been nearly a month since i have written on this here blog. i wish that over the past month i had a lot of wonderful adventures that i could share with you. it is true that i have been on some wonderful adventures and have had the time of my life. and it is also true that i am lacking in the adventure category seeing as how i have yet to find employment. it is hard looking for a job everyday. i would be lying if i said that i look everyday, because i don't. but in my dream world, i have a job and it is awesome. until i face reality and realize that i am running out of money. slowly but surely.
but. lets not focus on the fact that i am running out of funds. let me catch you up on things that have been going down the past month. in no particular order:
*i went to delta for the fourth of july. it was a total party, but i will never again make the mistake of going down to watch the parade. it is awesome, but when you have to give all the candy you collect to the little kids you're with, it isn't as fun.
*i traveled down to the upside down ocean town (if you don't know where that is, i'll have to show you) and had a gay ol' time hanging out with my best buckaroo and kristacakes. it was the best weekend i have had since being home. i sure missed those bundles of joy while i was away.
*read "the perks of being a wallflower" and realized that life is beautiful. i really liked that book. it was sad and a little unbearable at times, but i enjoyed it. it made me realize how easy life is for the most part.
*i hung out with my sister a lot. the sister that i am closest to. she is great and has a great heart and i love her a lot, she has just made some decisions that were really hard for me to hear. i understand where she is coming from for the most part, but it made me sad to hear her lose faith. i hope that someday she'll come back to the truth, but she said that she wont and that is what hurt the most. but no matter what, i love her though. and her darling family.
*i went to a bon fire and reconnected with a bunch of old friends from high school. isn't it so great to see people that you haven't seen in so long, and it is almost like no time has passed? i love times like those. party over here.
*i inherited a giant bag of jewels that used to belong to my grandmother. i don't remember my grandma because i was little when she died, but having her jewelry makes me feel like i know her a little bit better. and i know for certain, from the jewels, that she had great style.
*i've seen three stellar firework shows. oh how i love fireworks. it is amazing how happy they make me. i always feel so giddy when i see the fireworks light up the sky. it is a magical thing for me. probably the closest i can get to being a wizard/witch.
*speaking of wizards and witches, i saw "harry potter and the half blood prince" the night before it came out. boom! i have connections. i've also seen it two more times since then. i love it. can you tell?
*i went boating for the first time in a long time. with the singles ward. it is so fun. i love boating. what i wouldn't give to have a boat in my family. that i could use whenever i wanted. my jobless life would be much more exciting.
*i went on a motorcycle ride with my dad over the alpine loop. that is, most definitely, one of my favorite drives in all of utah. it is beautiful. nature, gotta love it.
*on pioneer day hannah and i went crazy and decided to be pioneer, minus the outfits, and churned some butter, baked some homemade bread, and made some fresh strawberry jam (haha. we're really poor). we are such great pioneers and had the best time. no wonder pioneers were such happy people. hehe.
*i received some wonderful letters from the one, mason t. porter. he is in montreal on his mission and having the time of his life. he only has 6 months left and i am about pooing with excitement. i mean, i want him to have the best last 6 months, but i can't wait for him to be home. party!
*lastly i talked in relief society about my experience in china. if you haven't ever experienced anything like that, it is hard to relate, but let me tell you that china was awesome. i miss the kids more than i ever thought i would. and apparently i miss china as well because i cried as soon as i started talking about it. obviously china made me very emotional. embarrassing, but true. i get teary eyed over the weirdest things. oh well. i'm not even mad.

well. i hope that just about catches you up on my life as an unemployed, almost 21 year old, living in utah county. pretty exciting i know. i hope the past month has kept you all happy and healthy and swine-flu less. until next time.
peace and love.
xo.

end.

2009-06-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

so here's the deal. just after my last post, the chinese government went crazy and decided to go ahead and block a ton of websites. including blogger and sometimes anything associated with google. because of this extremely inconvenient ordeal i wasn't able to access my blog, and thus; was not able to post anything about what went down my last couple months in china.

over the past two months i:

saw the misty mountains of yangshuo.

had the most awesome birthday party for hannah. fireworks included.

met some new friends.

took class pictures.

got my fortune told. it was a good one.

dressed our kids up and watched them graduate.

had the most awesome pool party.

and then we said goodbye. it was hard to leave but i am happy to be home.

let me just sum up by saying that: I LOVE CHINA. it was one of the most life changing experiences i have ever had. i grew so much while i was there and i miss it very much. i have a greater appreciation for all of my worldly possessions and an even greater love for my family. i am so blessed to have such a wonderful family that loves and cares about me. i missed them all so much while i was away and i am so happy to be home with them. i love you family. you're the best!

it won't be long.

2009-05-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

well.
it's been a while since i've posted something. there is really no excuse for it except that i have been feeling terribly overwhelmed lately. not in a bad or good way. i just have and as things move slowly back to normal, i feel like i can breathe.
let me catch you up on what has been going on in china.

1. i rode my first sleeper train. it was much more comfortable than the seat i had when we went to sanya. i don't know why they don't have such comfy transportation in america. i mean, i'm sure they do, but i think most people choose the alternative and get to their destination in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days. but, if sleeper trains ever become available, i'll be one of the first people in line for a ticket. where will i go, you ask? that, has yet to be determined.

2. i climbed the great wall of china. and when i say 'the great wall of china,' i mean the actual great wall. not that rebuilt garb that you see on tv and tourist photos. it was the actual-crumbling-under-my-feet great wall of china. it was awesome. by far, one of the coolest things i have done in my life, as well as one of the most exhausting. scaling the straight up cliffs of the great wall is something i won't ever forget. if you ever go to beijing, simitai will be your favorite place to be.

3. i got lost in one of the biggest cities in the world. that city being beijing, china. yeah, it's true. and me, being super travel savvy, never saw getting lost as an option. i thought that maybe if we just walked around we would be able to find our way, or at least find someone that spoke english. oh man! i was way off. there was no way of finding which way to go, because, strangely, everything was in chinese and everyone within a 2 mile radius of us could only speak chinese. but, as it turns out, we weren't exactly lost, the train station we were at wasn't the one we were supposed to be at. it's a long story, but no worries, we made it to the correct train station, found our way, and all is well. but let me warn you, if you ever get lost in beijing. stay where you are. walking around only makes things worse, and makes you really tired. and cranky. hug a tree. or an asian.

4. i got kicked out of a taxi, by a very angry taxi driver. you see, a bunch of us (ilp teachers) got together in beijing and went to the hard rock cafe for dinner. well, we had 9 people, and you can only fit 4 in a taxi, but when the taxi driver started driving, he was distracted and didn't realize that there were 5 passengers in the car. he started yelling really loud, in chinese of course, and getting really upset and pulled the car over and made us all get out. AND made us pay 10 yuan for the ride. well, things got worse from there, when we couldn't get any taxi's to stop for us. i think the guy that kicked us out, radioed all his friends in the area and told them not to pick up the 5 american girls walking down the street. it was a pretty scary experience walking down the streets of beijing, with no idea of which way to go and no one around to help us. but, again, we finally got someone to help us and made it to our destination safe and sound.

5. i spent more money in 3 days than i ever thought was possible. but don't worry, it's a good thing. and no, i didn't spend all the money on myself. i'm not selfish.

6. i felt really homesick for the first time since i have been in china. of course, there have been times when i've felt a little tired of being in china, but i have never felt physically sick and felt the need to go home. the day we got home from beijing was the first day of my homesickness. i'm still feeling the affects of it, but i'm still here. i feel so helpless, but all is well. i'm doing what i can, with what i have. and pretending to be in two places at once.

7. i payed my respects to the man who single-handedly ruined china's hope for becoming an independent nation. the man who brought the people up, but tore everything out from under them. the man that brainwashed the chinese into thinking that he was helping them, but in reality he was ruining their lives, one poor decision after another. let me just say that chairman mao, was the most self involved, self loving man and seeing the giant portrait of him at tien an men square and all the people bowing and worshiping him, made me feel very uneasy.

alrightl. i suppose that is the jist of what has been going on with me.
until next time.
peace and love. from the chiner.

a taste of honey.

2009-04-22T03:57:00.000-07:00

we were at the park a couple nights ago. i looked over and...

beheld this.

love me do.

2009-04-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

tanner.

lucy.

tony.

lisa.

jack.

happy easter. from all of us. a little bit late.

i'll follow the sun.

2009-04-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

this past weekend was vacation time again. HOORAY. we took full advantage of the days off and traveled south, to SANYA. a little slice of island paradise in the south china sea. it was wonderful.
let me give a taste of what went down in paradise.

1. i saw my first man thong swimming suit. it was on a man that looked very similar to santa claus, minus the man thong he had on. fortunately it had a great big smiley face on it. cute. and to tie everything together, he had a sweet yellow hat with a smiley face on it. i think maybe the thong and hat came together. who would pass up that combo deal?!

2. i ate more western food in a 4 day weekend than i have in two and a half months. sanya is a very touristy town and there were a lot of western restaurants near the hostel we stayed at. there was a crazy good western restaurant called "rainbow, bar and grill" that we ate at every night for dinner and a couple of nights for lunch. it was so delicious and a great atmosphere. they even had ice! and chocolate chips! yay rainbow!

3. i saw a dog with eye brows. yeah. for real. i'm not talking about hair that kind of looked like eye brows, i'm talking about actual eye brows. the dog was white, the brows were dark brown. it was the funniest/weirdest thing i have ever seen. i'm telling you these things can and will only happen in china. it is a whole different world here.

4. i had my first train experience, and i really hope that it was my last. it was terrible. it took us three hours to get to the train station, which is normal because it takes so long to get anywhere in china. when we finally made it to the train station we just happened to meet up with a group of ILP teachers from another school. they were also on their way to sanya. and, we all just happened to be on the same train, in the same car, and had our seats right by each others. we all got settled onto the party car. car number 4! and sat in our seats, for SO long! it was the longest trip i have ever taken and i never want to do it again. the train was pretty crowded and there were people everywhere. there wasn't a space open enough for another person to fit. it was a fiasco trying to get to the bathroom. oh man. i guess people can buy standing seats, which cost the same as the soft seats, but obviously aren't seats, and they just have to stand in the aisles and lean up against the seats or the people in the seats, or sometimes they squat on the floor and sleep that way. i don't know how they could possibly do that, but they do.

5. i went on my first chinese carnival ride. one night we were walking around on the boardwalk and saw these carnival rides and decided to go on one. the first one that we saw was the bungee ball thing that shoots you clear up into the sky. and the others were silly little rides. we decided to go on this one that was a big circle that you sit inside. everyone sits along the edges and it spins around. while it is spinning it tilts from one side to the other and then the guy that controls the ride makes it bounce at random times. it was nuts and we were flipping all over the place. i thought i was going to fall out at one point, but fortunately i didn't. it was crazy fun and the huge hamburger i ate at rainbow was on it's way up. not good. but don't worry, it went back down. and out. HAHAHA.

i hope that gives you all a taste of how my island adventure was. if you don't get the idea, let me just tell you: it was awesome.

until next time. i wish you, peace. love. and blue skies.

thank you girl.

2009-03-31T04:49:00.000-07:00

i was inspired by my dearest buckaroo, tiffani herpel, to compile this list.
i have much to be thankful for.

in no particular order:

1. i am thankful that tiffani inspired me to make this list.
2. i am thankful that i am in china. it is so hard, but i am learning more about myself than i ever thought i would.
3. i am thankful that there is change in everyday life. that life isn't the same everyday. even though somedays seem to be the same as the previous one, it is always different.
4. i am thankful for my family. i don't know if they really understand how truly grateful i am for them.
5. i am thankful and so grateful for the awesomely amazing packages and letters i get from my family and friends. you have no idea how good it is to hear from home.
6. i am thankful for my friends. all of you. no matter where you are. you have helped shape me into the person i am today, right now. so thank you, so much.
7. i am thankful for the little children i teach. i have learned more from them than i ever expected to.
8. i am thankful for rice. and that there is never a rice shortage in china. i think i would starve if it wasn't for rice, two meals a day.
9. i am thankful that we have a shower with hot water. i wouldn't ever shower if it wasn't for hot water.
10. i am thankful for the ice cold water i was my face with every morning and night. it helps wake me up and put me to sleep. i never would have thought i could get used to ice cold water in the morning.
11. i am thankful for my parents. for the example they are to me. for how hard they work to be sure that i have what i need.
12. i am thankful for all of my brothers and sisters. i know i'm not the greatest sister sometimes, but i hope they know how grateful i am for all of them.
13. i am thankful for all my nieces and nephews. i love being an auntie. good work with the reproduction brothers and sisters!
14. i am thankful for traveling in china. it takes so long to get anywhere, but will make everywhere at home seem so much closer.
15. i am thankful for prayer. and the fact that: i know it works.
16. i am thankful for missionaries. for their example and dedication. you are all so great.
17. i am thankful for elder mason t. porter. and for every letter i have gotten for the past 14.5 months.
18. i am thankful that american is a melting pot and that there are so many different kinds of foods. china far from a melting pot and there is one type of food. chinese. breakfast, lunch, dinner. it's always chinese.
19. i am thankful for the guard to our apartment building and how every time we walk by he gets a big smile on his face and salutes us.
20. i am thankful for the chinese. they make me laugh so hard. i think maybe i laugh a little too hard at times, but i really can't help it. 4 men squeezed onto one motorcycle is always funny.
21. i am thankful that i have the opportunity to be in china and gain an appreciation for all that i have back home. i will never take a western toilet for granted again.
22. i am thankful for life. that it is different everyday. that there are different challenges everyday that we have to get through. and that even if we don't make it through those challenges in one day, there is always tomorrow.
23. i am thankful for skype and that i am able to talk to my family on it. being away would be so much harder if i wasn't able to talk to my family.
24. i am thankful for chinese lessons. i don't take advantage of them like i should and i am about going crazy by the end, but i am thankful that i have the opportunity to learn a little chinese.
25. i am thankful for books. i really wish i had a book to read right now. we have limited resources here in china. you see, most of the books are in chinese. it makes it a little difficult to know what the books are about.
26. i am thankful for the asians and their long fingernails that scratch my head at the washee washee.
27. i am thankful that i got my moms curly hair. i would look a lot more homeless in china if my hair wasn't curly. thanks mom.
28. i am thankful that i have a bug net on my bed. and that i don't have any mosquito bites.
29. i am thankful for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints.
30. i am thankful for the people who enjoy my photography. there are times when i question myself and my skills, but when i hear that people enjoy my photos it puts the questions to rest. so thank you.
31. i am thankful for my computer and that i brought it to china with me. i don't why i ever thought to leave it home. that would have been the biggest mistake.
32. i am thankful that the big market has spaghetti and sauce. mixing spaghetti into my meals makes me feel a little more american.
33. i am thankful for the quick-e-mart and the 2 yuan ice cream.
34. i am thankful for mcdonalds hot fudge sundae. it always hits the spot after a long day in the chiner.
35. i am thankful for catherine and the funny things she says. idear. chiner. specier. the list goes on and on. she is a jewel and a gem.
36. i am thankful for my poopey pocket pants and that they keep me warm and keep me from getting mosquito bites.
37. i am thankful for peanut butter. i have never loved peanut butter and jelly more than now. pb and j is almost as good as rice sometimes. hard to believe, i know.
38. i am thankful for the truck that plays "happy birthday" every morning while it sprays down the road. it makes me smile as i roll out of bed and marks the beginning of another day in china.
39. i am thankful for sunshine. the sun is always shining in china. unfortunately it is always behind the clouds so i never get to see it, but when i do, it is so great.
40. i am thankful that we have to walk to the market, post office, bank...everywhere. i like having a reason to get out of the apartment and see china at it's best.
41. i am thankful for the porter family. they are a huge example to me and have given me far more than i deserve.
42. i am thankful for june 26. i can't wait to see my family and friends.
43. i am thankful that i am going to delta for the 4th of july. best demolition derby-fireworks show combo. if anyone wants to come, you are more than welcome.
44. i am thankful for the girls that i am in china with. i am learning more and more from them everyday. some of the stuff i am learning is insightful and extremely useful and some of it is completely pointless, but will be useful at some point in my life.
45. i am thankful for music. there would be many nights i lie awake if it weren't for the soothing sounds of fight! singing me to sleep.
46. i am thankful that i can sing as loud as i want, whenever i want here and don't care who hears me.
47. i am thankful that when i have to get mad at the kids at school. they forget about and are always excited to see me the next morning.
48. i am thankful. for technology. it would be so hard being here if i had no means of communication other than post mail.
49. i am thankful for optimism. there is no reason to be down when the sun is shining and you have been granted another day. take advantage of it. there is only one today, live it up before it becomes yesterday.
50. i am thankful that these 50 things came so easily. i thought this was going to be a lot harder than it was. PSYCH. your turn.

until next time.
peace and love. from the chiner.

i'm looking through you.

2009-03-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

i'm floating.
on a river called life.
one minute i'm floating.
the next i'm struggling for air.

i'm standing.
on a mountain called fear.
one minute i'm climbing.
the next i'm falling to the end.

i'm soaring.
in the sky called bliss.
one minute i'm high.
the next i'm two feet from the ground.

i'm climbing.
in a tree called knowledge.
one minute i'm in the branches.
the next i'm in the roots.

i'm walking.
through a street called unknown.
one minute i'm comfortable.
the next i'm unsure of everything.

i'm swimming.
through an ocean called beauty.
one minute i'm in awe.
the next i'm terrified.

i'm looking.
through a person called you.
for an answer.
of what to do.

run for your life.

2009-03-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

ni hao my american comrades.

i am still in china and it is still good. the sun is shining again and all is well. i love being able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

things in china have been good.
minus this scariest moment so far: here is how it goes... there were a few of us that made the trip to zhongshan city (about 2 hours away) and we were hanging out on walking street. you know, just shopping and people watching. we had walked up one side of the street and were walking back down the other side. it was pretty busy on saturday and there were a lot of people staring at us. we weren't drawing attention to ourselves or anything. that is just how it is when you are the only americans some people have ever seen. so we are walking down the street and i wasn't really paying attention to what was going on and all of the sudden kate goes walking past me really fast and mumbling about someone grabbing onto her face. and was followed by hannah and kaitlin telling me to walk faster. then, from behind me i hear alexis yelling something at someone. at this point, i was still not really paying attention to what was going on and out of no where i feel someone grab onto my sleeve. i turned around and saw this crazy asian woman staring at me with these HUGE creepy eyes and then hear alexis yelling "stop! stop! stop it!" and hitting this woman who is still holding onto me. finally the woman let go and we walked away. to tell you the truth, i wasn't really paying attention to what was going on and was still a little out of it, but alexis and i look behind us and the woman gets up and starts following us. so, we started walking a little faster, and so did the crazy lady. so we started running, and so did the crazy lady. she chased us for a good couple of minutes and we were weaving in and out of the street and finally went into a store. we waited for a few minutes and the coast was clear. let me just say it was a once in the lifetime thing (knock on wood) that i was chased by a crazy asian woman. i hope it never happens again.

we spent some time at the xiaolan city park. it was a great time. there were a ton of asians there and it seemed as if none of them had ever seen an american before. we were being stared at and watched the whole time. there were a ton of people that walked by and tried to snook a picture of us having a picnic. it was pretty darn funny.

this weekend i played some ping pong and badmitten. we went all out and showed off our stuff at the city park. we are terrible at both of those chinese sports, but the locals seemed to get a huge kick out of us. it was pretty funny. i have never had a crowd stand around and watch me make a fool out of myself. it was really funny to see a bunch of chinese men standing around and smirking. oh the chiner.
oh. speaking of the park...we were walking home from the park (guzhen city park) and around the park there are benches and things to sit on (because there isn't any grass) and we walked past some groups of people sitting and talking. we walked past this group of mothers who were breast feeding their babies and all of the sudden we see one woman...full on...and heard her say "hao chi, hao chi!" which means "yummy, yummy!". who says that to their babies when breast feeding?! it was the funniest SLASH weirdest thing i have ever heard. we were laughing pretty hard. maybe you had to be there. i mean here. in china.
also, while we were at the park i squeezed onto the lap of a statue of a man reading a book. it was like he was holding me and we were reading the book together. it was a great time and there were a ton of chinese homies watching me. such a great time.

this past monday we (5 of us) were still on vacation and decided to go out of town for the day. we got up early and took a bus ride for a couple of hours to foshan. a small little town, that is really a HUGE city, that we totally didn't expect. it was a really neat place and super fun (if you are ever in china, go to foshan). we went to these famous kilns called the "ancient nanfeng dragon kilns." it was crazy awesome. i thought it was going to be just a kiln...you know, a round machine that gets really hot. PSYCH. it was a HUGE kiln that can hold over 1000 pots at once. AND! it has been burning since it was first fired over 500 years ago. it was awesome. i was also able to make some pottery. on a potting wheel. it was super hard and took so long but i made a cute little bowl that will be great for eating rice out of. the people who run the kilns are going to fire it (in the ancient kilns)! i am so excited. chinese pottery. fired in an ancient chinese kiln. how cool is that?! there was a ton of awesome art at the kilns. it was like a huge museum and the kiln was the center of it. it was great. i highly suggest going there if you are ever in guangdong province.