I've lost it. I've lost the blogging bug.
In fact, I've lost a lot of things in the last year or so (a lot of it being clothes and household items, but we'll ignore that for now).

I love and hate this time of life, when there are SO many doors open to me, and so many opportunities I can take. It makes making decisions really difficult. One day I want to do this thing, and the next, I want to do this other thing and forget about yesterday's thing.
My life continuously feels like it's in flux, that it's not stable enough for me to settle down on doing any one thing because I'll be changing again or moving again so soon.

Vague enough for you? That's pretty much how my life feels like. But don't start jumping to conclusions. Nothing is that serious.
Mostly I'm finding new hobbies and new things I want to do, or see, or BE, and I'll start it, but then can't or won't finish it.
I.E. I started learning to code back in January. I got through HTML and CSS and started on Java, and now I can't finish. (I blame my old computer for that one though--it was working so slowly it was driving me mad!)
I've also started and not finished at least three books within the last month or so. (But I did start and finish two books within a week, so, there's that).
And then there have been so many trips, and so many miles accrued in my young life (I swear to you, I have been on more planes in the last 6 months than I have in the entirety of my life, and that's impressive, seeing as I've lived in Utah for 8 years, and traveled back and forth between here and California several times while I was in school).

So I need to blog about:

Christmas Break
My DC (but really just Maryland) adventure
Spring Break (Grant's, not mine, since I don't get those anymore)
Summertime plans, potentially?
Whatever has been going on between all of the trips and vacations (aka, life in SLC)

So, sorry dear readers (maybe just myself?) for neglecting this here blog. I'm going to try to be better. Really. I told myself that I was going to be better at taking pictures this year. And I've already completely failed at that (I blame winter and Utah and seasonal depression)

Basically, this is my promise that I'll do better, even if that means downloading the blogger app to my iPad and blogging from there (since I don't upload pics to my computer anymore, and what's a post without pictures?)

Sundance 2014

I know, I know. I still need to post about Christmas break, and it was fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I have to post first about the Sundance Film Festival, because I just had a wonderful experience.

Ever since my time at BYU, I have wanted to go to the Sundance Film Festival. There have been films that I thought looked like they would be a good pick, but I never ended up getting tickets (it's SUPER difficult), and then come to find out, those are the ones that get picked up by big studios and released to a larger audience. (500 Days of Summer, Be Kind Rewind).

I finally went to my first showing a couple years ago. A friend had gotten tickets and invited me along. It was shown at the Rose Wagner in downtown SLC, so we didn't have to deal with the hustle and bustle of Park City. It ended up being a fantastic movie, though I don't know how big it ended up getting. I heard that Sony had picked it up, but from there, who knows.

This year, a friend from high school posted on his facebook page that his documentary had been accepted at this year's film festival. I knew immediately that I had to do whatever it took to get tickets to it.
When tickets went on sale last week, the only showing that wasn't sold out yet was for last night at the Tower Theater in the 9th & 9th district. I was happy to again, not be driving all the way up to Park City.

I had read early reviews of the film, and they all had great things to say about it, which made me even more excited to attend. Plus, to be able to see an old friend of mine again, after almost 9 years, made it more worth it for me. Plus, baseball. No explanation needed.

This film, "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" is about Bing Russell's venture into owning an independent baseball team in Portland, named the Mavericks. His son Kurt, also played for the team for a year before his acting career took off.
The documentary was beautifully put together, showing how Bing got into baseball (he was buddies with Lefty Gomez and Lou Gehrig as a boy!), how much he LOVED it (he made Kurt the star of his "how to" baseball video series), and the start of the Mavericks.
They had video footage from the 70s, photographs, and interviews with the batboy (filmmaker and actor Todd Fields), Bing's wife, his son Kurt, two writers from newspapers in Oregon, and a couple of the former players. They all spoke highly of Bing and of the team, and of their time there. It was funny, it was entertaining, and it made me nostalgic for a time that I never lived through. To a time when baseball was about having fun, and the fans knew the names of all the players, and the players interacted with the fans.
The directors did a great job of editing in the voice-overs and the interviews with the footage and photographs, to the point that everyone in the theater felt sad when the Mavericks were kicked out of Portland, because the MLB didn't like the way they were winning and making their organization look bad. We felt emotions because of the way they presented the story, and that, I think, is what a film should do.

The directors did a Q&A afterwards and people had some really good questions, asking how they got interested in the story (Bing was their grandfather), what happened after the Mavericks were moved out of Portland, if there are any reunions, and I asked the ever important question, whether they got picked up for distribution (in the process of working out details). It was really great to see my friend again, and yes, he did recognize me when I raised my hand to ask a question, but I went up to say hi and give him and his brother a hug after the Q&A session.

I'm so proud to know such talented people, and not only that, but to have the opportunity to support them in their endeavors.
I hope that they're able to get the film distributed so that everyone can go see it. It really is a fantastic film!

Here are some good links talking about the film, and interviewing Chap and Maclain.

https://www.facebook.com/mavsdoc

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/13/kurt-russell-sundance-baseball/

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5876754/sundance-2014-kurt-russell-nephews-talk-the-battered-bastards-of-baseball

End of 2013

How can it already be the end of the year?! The past year has been one of the best, with a lot of learning opportunities and chances for growth and reflection.
I'm excited to see what 2014 will bring, but it's been fun to reflect on the events of the last year.
During Christmas break, I was driving with my mom and remembering where I was a year ago, and the feelings of this time of year, and what I wished for 2013. I'd have to say, although it hasn't been perfect, it's been pretty good, and I'm pretty pleased with how this year played out.
I said I wanted to be more bold, and I think I accomplished that, so much so, that it still astounds me that my life is the way it is.

Now that it's been a month.....I'll finish my recap of Thanksgiving Break :)

Saturday was game day! I was so excited to go, mostly because Grant and I had never been to a game together! We talked about meeting up with my friend from HS, Allison to pregame with her, but we slept in, and didn't head out until around 10 (oops!) and the game started at noon.
We put on our warm gear, and headed over to campus where we parked and caught the bus up to the stadium. We got to walk through part of campus, which was neat for me to see, and then ended up on Greek Row, which puts all other Greek Rows I've seen to shame. There were students EVERYWHERE. We stopped at the LDS Institute because we heard there was hot chocolate and donuts :) It's literally on the corner among all the frats and sorority houses, haha. Seems ironic. We then followed the ebbing flow of students and fans down the streets to the stadium. The place is ginormous. It just towers over you.
I was surprised by the short lines getting into the stadium, they sure do know how to run the place. We had tickets in the student section, so we got in, picked up our pom poms and wolverine hands and headed to our seats behind the endzone. They were pretty great seats, with the warm sun shining on our faces, and students surrounding us. When that stadium filled, it was quite a sight.
Michigan definitely played the game of their lives, but alas, they fell short in the last seconds. It sure was a good game to go to, but I do wish they had come out with a win.

After the game we went home to, what else, watch more football and just relax.

Sunday I got to attend Grant's ward, and meet some of his friends out there. They have a late start church, so when we got out, it was time for dinner. We decided on going back to downtown Ann Arbor, and then seeing a movie. We searched for some top rated places and decided to go to a little place called Frita Batidos. They were Cuban inspired sandwiches and milkshakes and were suuuuper delicious. It was in a cute little spot, with picnic tables to encourage mingling. We sat along the wall and played dominoes while we waited for our food. Neither of us really know how to play dominoes.

After eating, we went to see Ender's Game, since Grant hadn't seen it yet. He enjoyed it, but was only a little disappointed that it wasn't exactly what he envisioned when he first read the book at 14 ;) I loved it, even the second time.

On Monday, I lounged around while Grant spent the day working in the studio. We then left to go back to campus so I could see where he studied, and to play with PUPPIES! Therapy Dogs of Michigan work with the school to bring in some therapy dogs during finals week to help relax the students. It was so much fun to play with these dogs! I felt better being with them, and I wasn't the one stressed about finals!
Then, we met up with Allison for dinner, again in downtown Ann Arbor. This time, we just took the bus from North Campus to downtown; it's so close! It was nice catching up, since I hadn't seen Allison in about 6 years or so. Things haven't changed much :)

Tuesday was my last day, and it was spent in the studio with Grant. He had finals to prepare for and classes to attend, so we couldn't do much before I left for the airport. Though it was sad to leave, I felt better knowing that I would be seeing him again in two weeks.

A Time for Giving Thanks

In August, I had bought a plane ticket to visit Grant in Michigan for Thanksgiving. He hadn't even been out of Utah a week, and I was already planning the next time I would see him. True love, maybe?

The next three months were rough though, waiting for November to arrive so that I could be reunited with Grant. Fortunately, I had a trip to California and Las Vegas to keep me satiated until Thanksgiving arrived.

Have you ever planned a trip so far in advance that by the time it gets there, you're less excited than you were when you started planning it? I was kind of to that point. Plus I had to get through one of the most arduous weeks ever before I was able to leave. But leave I did. And for 6 whole days. To be with my favorite person in the whole world!

I arrived in Detroit Wednesday evening, and through some miscommunication and misunderstandings, we didn't have quite the reunion that we expected. But regardless, I was there, and he was there, and that was all that mattered, right?

It felt surreal to me that I was in Michigan, because I had only ever seen Grant in Utah (minus our trip to California), so it was hard for me to imagine him being anywhere but Utah.

We got back to his apartment where he announced that he was finally able to give me my surprise--tickets to the Michigan-Ohio State game that Saturday!I love football. And though neither of those teams are MY teams, I was excited to be at one of the best rivalry games in the nation, and to be going with Grant.

After that little treat, we ordered some pizza (11 at night at this point; nothing else was open!) and watched Monsters University. It was so funny!

Thursday we took our time getting up, relaxing, watching some football and TV (we missed the parade--oops!) and then finally decided to start making dinner. We tried to keep it casual, since it was only going to be the two of us: chicken, potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls, corn, stuffing, and salad. We forgot about the stuffing. And the potatoes were a little too creamy. But we didn't care. One, it was food. And two, we were together. And for that, we were grateful.

After eating and cleaning up, we headed out to the local movie theater to see Catching Fire. We had both waited to see it so that we could watch it together (all together now: AWW!)

We loved it. I thought it meshed well with the first one, and did a great job of sticking close to the book. There were some minor things I wish that they hadn't left out or changed, but overall, I enjoyed it.

Friday was our day to explore Detroit. There's so much to see there, and so much we wanted to do, and very little time to really do it, that we wanted to set out early, but that didn't really happen. And, we didn't really plan well either ;) But we did what we could, with what we had. We headed downtown first, where we got a little bit turned around. Grant doesn't know the city very well, and I had never been, so we were lost about where to start. We ended up using Comerica Park as our starting point, where the Detroit Tigers play. It's a cool stadium, and right next door to Lions Stadium. We then trekked through the streets to find a good central point for us to park and then walk. I was amazed by how few cars and people there were in such a major city. Granted, it was daytime on the day after Thanksgiving in a city that's mostly dead, but still. I definitely wasn't expecting to be that empty. The center of the major business portion of Detroit forms around a roundabout, where the city had decorated a tree for Christmas, and laid out an ice rink not unlike the one found at Gallivan Plaza. We headed to a building that Grant had seen on his school tour, called the Guardian building. It's art deco and beautiful. Tiled, colorful ceilings, beautiful stain glass. One portion of the building looked tiled, but it was actually a painted canvas, which lessened the sounds of echoes that would normally occur. It was magnificent.

As we walked out and up another street to head back to the car, I found that the hot dog place I wanted to go to was just around the corner: Lafayette's Coney Island and American Coney Island. We stopped for lunch at American, and though we weren't impressed by the hot dogs, the fries were pretty good, and the ambiance was cool. It was definitely a "Detroit" thing to do, so I'm glad we stopped.

We got back to the car and drove to a residential area that's called Indian Village. The homes there are beautiful, and huge, and HISTORIC! All of my favorite things! Also, you can find them for under $200,000. Because why? Well, because no one wants to live in Detroit. Except me. Because it's pretty cool. And 7 bedroom homes for $200,000!! We also drove along the US/Canadian border, and saw from afar, Belle Isle, but I didn't bring my passport, so we couldn't go, unfortunately. Grant was good at pointing out cool buildings, and some of the history, and we saw a lot, and I mean a LOT of abandoned homes and buildings as we drove out of downtown and over to the Central Station that was closed years ago. The desolation was incredible. Whole lots just empty, overgrown with weeds and grass, streets of homes, some occupied, most not. Buildings that had burned down, or just fallen apart on their own (apparently that's what happens to buildings when they're left alone). I wish I had taken pictures, but it was slightly too cold to even think about rolling down the window, and ya know, Detroit. I was scared of getting shot, or something.

The Michigan Central Station was incredible. It has had a huge office tower behind the main concourse, which blew my mind--I mean, what would they use that for? All but a few windows were gone, and there was fencing and barbed wire around the entire complex. Graffiti littered the building, and there were light up snowflakes gracing the facade. Quite the contrast.

After the train station, we took the long way through the outskirts of town to get to the Motown Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts. We decided we didn't want to pay to go to the museum, so we were content with just driving by so I could see it. It literally is this tiny little house, next to other little houses, across the street from a hospital and other businesses. Pretty trippy.

The Institute of Arts was cool. It was super busy for a Friday afternoon, probably because everyone wanted to go check it out before all the art was liquidated for the city's bankruptcy case. It's so sad. But there are definitely some cool pieces that I'd be willing to pay good money for ;)

After that, we only had a short amount of time before the cider mill we wanted to go to (or really, the only one that was still open for the season) closed. So we hopped back into the car and took off for Rochester Hills, where we drove through their cute downtown area and storefronts covered with Christmas lights. We drove on this two lane road that wove through leaveless trees, to this little cider mill off the side of the road. We tasted some cider, and then picked out two pints to take home: holiday and cranberry. They were delicious. But it was slightly anticlimactic. 

We left Rochester Hills for another set of hills: Bloomfield Hills, where the temple is located. We didn't go inside, but it was nice for us to be able to see a temple outside of the state of Utah. It was gorgeous and so so tiny. I loved it.

Then, home, where we crashed on the couch watching Star Wars.

Being together is one of our favorite things. If all we do is sit and watch movies, we're pretty happy.

Saturday, the game, and the rest of the week to come.

{Pictures are all on facebook. There weren't many. My apologies. I just got too distracted with fun things and the cute boy next to me to even think about pulling out my camera or phone}

a quarter of a century

On this, the last day of my 25th year, I'd like to reflect on, what I think, has been my best year thus far.

I started out the year in one of my favorite places: DC. I decided prior to my birthday that I didn't want to be where I was, so I bought myself a ticket to Maryland to spend the weekend with family. We explored parts of DC that I had never been before, ate delicious mongolian BBQ in Chinatown, then went to a DC United soccer game. Attended church, twice, had dinner at my grandparents, along with cake, drove to Philly for the day and saw the Liberty Bell and all things history, ate cheesesteaks, and explored the city.
On my actual birthday, I took to the Red Line to get myself downtown, alone, where I again, explored some of my favorite spots, and found some new ones. It was the best, not having anyone else with me to contradict my plans, or argue about being tired/hungry/not wanting to do something. Plus, the day was beautiful: fall colors, with summer heat, minus the humidity. Being anonymous, on my birthday, in a huge city, was such a refreshing moment. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We later had dinner at Founding Farmers, which was also fantastic.
My last day, I tagged along with my uncle to his jobsite, got to wear a hard hat (and looked good doing so), ate at Ray's Hell Burgers, and got shakes at Good Stuff Eatery. MMM.
Clearly, the best trip and birthday ever, right?

Things kind of progressed from there. That isn't to say that there weren't some lows throughout the year, but I think the highs outweigh the lows.

I started ballroom dancing for the U this semester, so that kept me busy, energized, tired, and in shape, all at the same time. I met awesome people, and really fun experiences dancing. I even had someplace to go for Thanksgiving this year because of ballroom.

I was able to go home for Christmas, which is always a good time, and was reminded of how much I love California.

But I think the bulk of my good times came after the New Year: Grant and I started dating (and then subsequently broke up for a short time--definite low), I continued dancing, we saw an MLB game in Salt Lake (Mariners v Rockies), I went to RSL's home opener, family came to visit a couple times, Grant graduated (YAY!), we both moved (BOO), but we took a weekend road trip to California and DIDN'T kill each other, and also got to see a Dodger game. We spent as much time together as we could before Grant took off for 6 weeks in Chicago.

I learned what it's like to have a long distance relationship, but how the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder" is indeed true. I learned what it takes to not fall into a deep, dark hole when I'm alone. I also learned that if I don't want to feel alone, that I really need to put forth the effort.

I took another trip to California, where I watched my little brother graduate from high school (where have the years gone??), and I attended the temple for my first time with my mom and grandparents. We celebrated my little sister's impending nuptials, as well as my brother's Eagle Court of Honor.

Once Grant got back, we again, spent as much time together as possible, enjoying the rest of summer, the Utah weather and sites. I headed back to California (I'm hitting a record on the amount of time I've spent in California this year, and I'm not even mad about it!) for Kiana's wedding and enjoyed good food and good times. Had to say goodbye to Grant again (sad face), but this time for longer, as he was moving to Michigan.

But, again, I've learned a lot during that time, about myself, about my interactions with him, about communication, and how important it is in relationships, whether they're close or long distance.
I've also gotten to spend time with Bryce, who is now in Utah for school, and with Brianna, when she comes to visit.
Overall, I've had a good year, and part of that came from knowing and dating Grant (thanks hon!)

Though 26 sounds much older than 25, I'm excited about what's to come, and the potential for my life.  And even though I'll be spending most of this year away from Grant, I know it'll be great if I make it great.

So, bring it on, 26. I'm ready for ya!

Music Monday

I've been struggling with updating this thing lately, so maybe if I start out slowly and do a Music Monday, it'll get my creative juices going and I'll be able to blog again.

Thanks to an awesome boyfriend who's all about new music, I'm always informed of great new stuff. I'll credit him with some of the following songs/artists:

CHVRCHES--By the Throat

CHVRCHES--Gun

James Vincent McMorrow--Sparrow and the Wolf

The Paper Kites--Young

Yesterday, I went and picked up my brother from school in order to take him to the airport for his first of many trips home this semester to get his braces adjusted (lucky boy!). It seemed strange to me, a little, to have to pick him up to take him back to Salt Lake with me. Probably because it was the first time I had to do that. This is the first time I've had more than one family member near by.
But what was the most interesting part of the whole thing, was not being back at the dorms (I was just there a week and a half ago...), or even being in Provo, it was seeing how different my brother looked, after just a couple weeks in college. I thought I had left a boy at the dorms two weeks ago, only to realize he was already a man.
There are a few things he still has to learn, but those things will come. He'll learn, either by someone teaching him, or by him experiencing and testing himself.
Here was this little boy, who was now grown up, wearing grown up clothes, going to college. He wasn't my baby brother anymore, and at almost 6', he definitely wasn't little anymore.
As we started the drive to Salt Lake, early, to avoid traffic, I asked him about school, how he liked his classes, what things he had been doing, etc. And unlike earlier years, he couldn't stop talking. He had stories upon stories. And though he still has his ridiculous sense of humor, his stories were real, and serious, and grown up.
We talked about last week's BYU game against Texas, which we had texted about the day of, but talking in real life, was great. He talked about the delay, and how his friends thought he was lame for wanting to sit in the cold and the rain in the stadium to watch BYU football. Like, they couldn't believe he didn't want to stay home and watch it on TV. But he's smarter than that, and he told his friends that, "hey, it's a ranked Texas team, and you can bet I'll be sitting in the stands for that. And it's the first home game." So he left. And went to the game. And I know it's a small thing, but I couldn't have been more proud. I realized that my sister and I had an effect on him, and had instilled in him a sense of pride for your football team, and a sense of importance to certain games. He might not know every little detail about college football (yet), not like us, but he pays attention. He knows the important players and individuals in the game. He knows the importance a game like last week's means to a program like BYU's. And he was proud of the fact that he went. And he enjoyed it. And wouldn't have missed it for anything, not even for a monsoon (which is what they had).
We discussed the details of that game, how great it was for the program, and how terribly ESPN is portraying it, claiming Texas lack of ability was why they lost, instead of crediting the strength of certain players, and BYU as a whole. We discussed the rankings, and how disappointed we were in USC's loss, and how much we dislike Lane Kiffin.

It was such a fun conversation, and it made me appreciate how my brother has grown, and how his sisters have influenced him. I'm proud of him. Especially when he dresses like this:

dog days of summer

Today, I have back pains and no motivation to do anything productive except count down the hours until I can crawl back into bed. ....I guess that's not really a good use of my time, but blogging is? It's been a while so I thought I should update on what's been going on.

I got back Sunday from my third trip to California in about as many months.
The first was mine and Grant's road trip for Mother's Day (and a Dodger game), which I talked about already.
The second was in June for a whirlwind weekend (isn't that how they all are nowadays?). I flew in Wednesday evening, late, so I crashed for the night, before getting up the next day and getting ready for Bryce's HS graduation. I can't believe my little buddy is graduated from high school and getting ready to move to Utah for college!

Friday my mom, me, and grandparents headed down to LA so that I could go to the temple and receive my endowments! (read about that here) It was a beautiful day, overwhelming (and anyone that's been knows what I'm talking about...) and tiring. It was definitely a long day, but a good one! We stopped at Olive Garden afterwards where Grandpa treated us all to dinner. Yum! And much needed after a long day (I WAS STARVING!)

Saturday morning we celebrated Kiana's impending nuptials by throwing her a bridal shower. It was a tea party theme, so there were cookies and sandwiches and fruit and cupcakes and cakebites. And lots and lots of flowers. We have wonderful ward friends who helped make it possible. Brianna did most of the planning and baking, and boy is she a rock star! It was fun and enjoyable. The weather and view were amazing!
Saturday night was recovery and preparation for Sunday.












Sunday was Father's Day and it was so fun to be able to celebrate with my Grandpa there! We had a traditional Pie on the Patio at church, then we were able to all be there for Grandpa to ordain Bryce to the Melchizedek Priesthood! That evening, we celebrated Bryce again when he received his Eagle Court of Honor with his best buddy Aaron!
We had lots of goodies then as well--we were basically sugared out by the end of the weekend!

On Monday, my last day, I enjoyed sitting by the pool, riding bikes/scooters with Bryce, eating my favorite 3 Amigos burritos and just hanging out before going and getting Toppers Pizza with the family for dinner. Whew!

Time back in Utah went slowly some days and quickly other days. With Grant in Chicago, I never really knew what the days were going to be like. I had some fun days with friends, and my roommate, and some lonely, long days. Thank goodness for technology though! Grant and I texted every day, called every few days, and used FaceTime every once in a while--those were my favorite! Seeing his face reminded me why I liked him :)
Figures that the last week before he came home would be the longest of the 6 weeks. Having him home has been the BEST! We have so much fun together, and it's nice to be close again, even if it was for just a short amount of time.

Now my third trip to California, I left late Wednesday night and arrived late in Long Beach. I crashed early, knowing I would have to get up early Thursday. On Thursday, we accompanied Kiana to the Los Angeles temple so that she could receive her own endowments. This time, her fiance Riley was there, along with his parents, and a couple friends of the family. It was a great day! And all those that have been--there's a new video! It's wonderful!

After another long day in LA (stupid traffic!) we headed home and to the beach for a BBQ with Riley's family so we all could get acquainted. It was great to get to know them all and to be together. My uncle Larry and his daughter Maren had flown out for the festivities, so it was awesome to have them there too.
Friday was spent preparing for the last minute wedding things. Lunch at Panera, running around town getting things, moving items to the Neff home where the reception was going to be, cutting a gazillion pounds of fruit, getting manis and pedis, skewering 400 fruit kabobs, finishing chalkboards, making decorations, and staying up until 3 AM (Brianna stayed up until 3:30 because she's a BOSS)

Luckily the sealing ceremony wasn't until the afternoon, so we had time in the morning to sleep and get ourselves ready. We got Kiana dressed, hair and makeup done, and then the rest of us had to get ready. I ran to get the flowers, and then we all headed to the temple where the bride and groom were a little late (food stop!) The ceremony was beautiful, and I was so glad I was able to be a part of it.
Afterwards, we had lunches outside while waiting for the couple to emerge, made by our good friend Cindi, and once they came out, we spent about an hour with pictures (standing for that long in heels was probably the worst idea I've ever had...I'm feeling it now!) and then we headed home to get the last minute things over to the reception.
It all ended up being wonderful. The details and the work put into the reception by not only my family but all of our friends in ward was incredible. We couldn't have done it without their help!
They looked so happy :)
After a long day, we cleaned up and headed home to unload the cars and go to bed. We didn't get there until about midnight, and Brianna and I needed to be up at 5 to take me to the airport--I told you it was a quick weekend! Obviously I'm glad I could be there, but I was sure excited to get back to Utah to spend more time with Grant.

When he picked me up from the airport, we chatted a bit, and then headed up the canyon to Solitude Mountain resort where were took a chairlift ride up to the top and then explored the beautiful mountains and the cool temperatures that we had been missing in the valley.

We didn't spend too much time there because we were both tired and hungry, so we headed back down and went to another canyon, Emigration this time, to have lunch at one of our favorite places, Ruth's Diner! Go there if you're in town! It's delish! Then we went home and took a three hour nap :)

Time is quickly catching up with us though, summer is coming to an end, and we still have lots we want to do before Grant moves to Michigan! We'll spend most of it just seeing friends and saying bye to them, but hopefully we can fit some fun stuff in too!

happy days are here again

I've been MIA. I know. But life has been crazyyy since I last posted way back in April. (I can't believe it's June. Like, really. Why couldn't time have slowed down just a little bit??)

I moved. To Capital Hill. It's a cool little spot, away from the city, but still within walking distance. It's quiet and peaceful. And I have the most amazing view. I'll have to reacquaint myself withe Salt Lake, and find new things to do.

I spent all of May with Grant before he left for his 6-week internship in Chicago. He moved to Highland after graduation, which made things a little more difficult to get together. A 30 minute drive back and forth was not ideal, but we made it work. He worked downtown every day, so he would come hang out with me after work most days. Others, like weekends, I would go down to Highland.
We had lots of fun, and were able to enjoy at least part of the summer together. Photos will be posted. Or, follow me on Instagram @_kaylove_23 and see some of the better ones there.

We took a trip to California, sort of last minute. It was nice to get away and enjoy some time together without the stresses of school (for him) or work (for me) getting in the way. Plus, I got to show him all the cool things about California (and even enjoyed new experiences myself!).
We spent time with my family the first day, and watched my stake's variety show, enjoyed a TO staple: Toppers Pizza, then spent Saturday exploring Los Angeles: Getty Center (gorgeous views! and an architecture exhibit--perfect for Grant!), DTLA--Disney Concert Hall and the 500 Days of Summer bench, the LA Temple (I'm going through on Friday! EEE!), ate ramen for lunch and had Diddy Riese for dessert, spent time at the beach reading The Great Gatsby, explored the LACMA outdoor installations and then went up to the Griffith Observatory to see the view of the city from the top of the world :)
Sunday we went to church with my mom (Mother's Day and all) then headed out to LA again for the Dodgers/Marlins game--Grant's first Dodger game!
It was a quick, but enjoyable trip. And we learned that we can survive 4 days together without killing each other, so that's a good thing ;)

The rest of the month was spent exploring Salt Lake and Highland, watching Arrested Development, going to baseball games, swimming, and just hanging out.

Unfortunately, we've got to spend 6 weeks apart, but I'm going to California on Wednesday to help distract me, at least for a little while, and he's got this amazing opportunity to work at a major architecture and design firm in Chicago.

So that hopefully explains my absence. Though, I don't imagine I'll be back for good. I've got nothing else planned this summer minus my trip this week, so there isn't much to update on.

And now, onto pictures! (Sorry if they're repeats...)

Lemonade, CA, and this guy: couldn't ask for anything more!

The bench at Pershing Square from 500 Days of Summer

This light installation at the LACMA: LOVED!

Dodger fans (especially after they win!)

View from the hill by my house. It's pretty awesome.

Memorial Day: Reading on the grass in front of the Capitol

Our true "first date" was at this restaurant downtown, Pallet. We've now gone for dinner, lunch, and dessert! Best.dessert.ever. I died.

Cedar Hills fireworks for Grant's last night in town before leaving me for 6 weeks in Chicago :(

decisions

i'm moving. again. i didn't think i would be, but i am.
i'm restless. i want change (but not too much change).
maybe this time it'll only be for a short while. maybe after that i'll move somewhere more permanently.
i'd like for that to happen.

i'm yearning for the east coast. my heart aches for it.
i want so badly to be out there. but there are so many possibilities for my life in the next year, that i don't want to make that change, just to have to change again shortly thereafter.
that's a lot of change.
and there are so many events in the next year as well, i don't want to miss out on them just because i'm 3000 miles away.

utah is a nice locale. it's close enough to home that i can drive or fly (and not spend a bajillion dollars) but still far enough away for me to feel independent.
but then again, there aren't many airlines that fly into and out of Salt Lake International, so flights anywhere else are more expensive.

i'm scared of the possibilities in front of me. scared of change.
but also looking forward to all the new experiences i could have. being somewhere different excites me.
it's hard feeling so torn about a decision: being both happy and sad. scared and excited. can't there just be one emotion? too many of them is overwhelming me.

change is good though.

and making a decision, one thing over another, or multiple things over multiple other things, isn't a bad thing either.
making a decision is just that--making a decision. even if it doesn't work out, it's not a negative thing. it doesn't mean that my life is a disaster and i'll never figure out what to do. it just means that i had a lesson to learn, and now i get to decide where and/or when i'll learn my next one.
thinking that way makes me feel slightly less stressed. but just slightly.