summer

last weekend my roommates and i planned a themed get-together.

theme: "sophisticated night out"

details: everyone dressed like rich/preppy kids (think white pants with polo shirts, cardigans and popped collars).

activities: badminton (complete with regulation lines on a grass court, surrounded by lush vegetation) , lawn bowling, and croquet.

food: burgers (with healthy all wheat, cracker thin buns), chips, cookies, fresh cherries, homemade ice cream

overall success: a-m-a-z-i-n-g night with lots of fun people and laughter.

i will admit however, i did come home with a couple sore muscles (that i hadn't known existed before) because of the intensity at which the badminton was played. there were some competitive spirits to say the least.

my wonderful roommate kelsey was behind the whole night, and threw together a fantastic summer evening.

there may be round two this weekend.

date night.

my mother and i had a date this last weekend. we went to the symphony at sundance resort up provo canyon. we met up with some longtime friends that were in town from california and had a lovely time! it was my first exposure to the utah symphony, and i have to say i thoroughly enjoyed myself. we had a delicious treat of some buttery popcorn and yummy rice crispy treat (thanks to kate...it was the only thing that made the fact that there wasn't any diet coke available bearable for my mother. we both panicked a little when we saw that sneaky little pepsi sign). they played some classics as well as some beautiful and patriotic songs. the scenery couldn't have been better--we spread out our blanket and made ourselves comfortable, listened to the soothing music under the evening blue sky and soaked in the good vibes. the temperature was perfect and one bright star just above the horizon line of the mountain tops made it quite picturesque. we laughed, we cried, and we even got a glimpse of the sundance kid himself (that would be robert redford if you weren't sure ;)).

nap.

just woke up from a fantastic mid-afternoon nap. i am trying to motivate myself to climb out of my clean comfy sheets and into the livingroom to study for a math test. i have already procrastinated to the worst degree for this chapter in my college algebra class...but i think i can pull it together by saturday. hopefully. that is really the only point of this post--to give me an excuse to procrastinate a little bit more.

i spent last weekend in bryce canyon and it was amazing. i will post pictures soon and tell of our fun adventure.

rotten.

i am a rotten person. just like this dilapidated apple. you know when you are talking to someone, and you think you are keeping things lighthearted but then someone gets offended? and even though you try to fix it the phone call ends and you still feel rotten about the situation? that just happened. and now i feel awful because i upset a close friend. and then to make things worse i rubbed my bad mood onto everyone around me. i think i must go to bed and try to erase this night. hopefully i will be forgiven and everything will return the way they were. i fear, however, that our friendship will forever be changed over this silly quarrel, and not for the better. i think a little time away from provo this weekend will be good. i need to get out.

rain.

tonight i went for a run--in the pouring rain. i listened to this and this. and can i just say that it was one of the most liberating experiences? i felt like i was "sticking it to the man" by just putting on my running shoes and getting drenched without a care in the world. i ran up to the byu bell tower and had a really wonderful experience. it was amazing and hard to put into words. but i loved the feeling of looking up at the tall tower with the rain drops glimmering in the spotlights and gently hitting my face. i think i will do it again sometime.

upon returning home i stumbled on these photos i took with my little sister in november when we headed up the canyon to cut down our christmas tree. we were bored as we waited in the car for the rest of the family to run into the grocery store--so we had an impromptu photo shoot. i must say i love that girl more than anything.

bike rides in the summertime.

this is a bike on the beach in italy.

Tonight I went on the most delightful bike ride. The air was fresh like summertime and it felt good to be back on pearl...she treats me well. I am excited for the summer to be here so that I can continue the nighttime cruises. Next time I will hopefully remember to take a camera so I can document the experience. I am also dying to go to my favorite parking garage on byu campus and feel the wind in my hair as I coast down the perfect sloped cement.

The other night I saw this movie and I have been homesick for Italy for days. Tonight I opened up an Italian textbook and just started reading the dialogs. I am sad that I have forgotten so much, but glad that I can at least still read with a pretty decent accent (at least I think so? haha). Riding bikes tonight made me miss Lucca especially.

alpine

beautiful alpine mountains in may.

I went to Alpine today for a church activity--I decided that if I stay in Utah to raise my family, I would like to do so in Alpine. The mountains were breathtaking. The view was heavenly. I love the way the houses are nestled in the mountains...it kind of feels like one big hug. Love it.