i love my life...

...and all you people in it.

i'm only 21 and have experienced some pretty amazing things:
-singing "forever in blue jeans" on PCTV at the Neil Diamond concert with my best friend when i was 15
-traded a 5 buck pizza for Cold Stone with my little sister and her friend. i'm pretty sure the workers just thought they were cute.
-watched an owl take off in flight while driving in the Uinta's at night
-watched a moose running next to the car on the same drive

-gone skydiving

-backpacked europe

-witnessed nature at it's finest aka rock climbing/zion/hiking

-sung "desperado" with my best friend in front of half our high school

-crossed 22 things off my bucket list of 110

-hiked to the highest point in utah

-completed a triathlon

-completed 2 1/2 marathons

-rode my bike 448 miles through one of the most beautiful areas in this country

-watched a school come together to provide a dinner for 140 homeless people

-experienced making real music.

-lived in the greatest city in utah (cedar! if you were wondering)

-entered the temple and received my endowment

-raised $211 for charity:water thanks to YOU!

i could go on. i have a family who loves me and friends who inspire me to be a better person everyday. i lead a very privileged life. i attribute that completely to my heavenly father.

i've also made mistakes and done some really dumb things and had heartaches and hard times. but that is why Jesus Christ atoned for our sins our pains, making it possible to become perfect through Him and giving Him the chance to comfort us when we need it most. i have experienced the healing power of the atonement first hand, and that is why i am so excited to spend the next 18 months telling the people of santiago, chile about this "good news". i'm also very much looking forward to the next 21 years and (hopefully) more in this beautiful world.

p.s. thanks ali and brookie for the birthday shout-outs. i sure love you both. also, brooke, i love that song, so thank you for pointing out those lyrics so i'd actually think of them--

"hold on to what you believe in the light, when the darkness has robbed you of all of your sight."

i'll do my best.

peace+love

ain't no mountain high enough...

during the king's peak trip i did a little experiment/preparation for the mission. i didn't bring my ipod. shocker, i know. i couldn't listen to my music (or any for that matter) for 3 whole days. i barely survived, and unfortunately 3 days is much shorter than a year and a half. either way, these are the songs that were on repeat in my mental ipod for those 3 days.

Sound of Music - The Hills Are Alive (i think you have to click it....oh how i worship julie andrews)

...and brandi

it was a good trip.

sorry i've been slacking on tuesday's muse lately. i'll try harder, cause really, there is so much music to share.

peace+love

high uintahs

one time i hiked 34 miles.

...oh wait, that was earlier this week

7 miles up 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

find sick flip-up sunglasses behind a log

(attempt to) sleep

10 miles up 3,000 feet to the highest peak in utah

(13,528 ft above sea level)

experience altitude sickness

(at least i wasn't puking like that kid in the scout group)

10 miles down 3,000 feet

(attempt to) sleep

7 miles down 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

real food (+cell phone reception)

i love the mountains

peace+love

on the road again...

1. My dream vacation would be hawaii. or china to see all the amazing natural arches. did you know 4 of the worlds biggest arches are in china? {6 are in utah. i love this state} .

2. The best trip I've ever taken was baaaa, that's a toss up. carribbean cruise was pretty darn amazing because i'm addicted to the water. but europe. oh europe...i had some pretty darn incredible experiences. .

3. The most important items to take on a road trip are music and gummy watermelons .

4. The next trip I'm looking forward to is Phoenix, AZ on thursday with my bestie, alicia! .

5. If I had to pick one CD to listen to for a long road trip it would be josh ritter. or cat stevens. best roadtrip music for the west, definitely. .

6. The biggest disaster I've ever encountered while traveling was my mom would say when i was 3 driving from illinois to utah. apparently i was puking and diarreah-ing the entire way. but i'd say when some friends and i were driving up to logan for a football game we saw a pick-up truck that had rolled into the ditch in the middle of the freeway and caught on fire. we watched a guy pull the driver out. .

7. My favorite traveling memory is driving to southern utah a million times when i was little to visit my grandparents. i used to have a hard time sleeping anywhere but my bed. so everyone else would be asleep as my mom was driving through the desert or zion and she'd listen to van morrisson or gladys knight. i'd just lean my head out the window and stare at the stars that you just can't see in the city.

.peace+love

i left my heart in salzburg

one year ago i was traipsing here

{from ali--thanks girl}

now, i'm cycling here{via}

in case you were wondering...yes, life is beautiful

peace+love

i love paris in the springtime

lately i've been tortured by the travel bug...so, this weeks muse is inspired by:

FRANCE

oh how i miss that beautiful country...almost a year ago i was there for far too short a time. i may hate learning to pronounce the language (really, what is with all of those silent consonants at the end of every word that come with no rhyme or reason?), but i love the food, the music, the food, the countryside, the cities, and the food...i want a banana+nutella crepe right now. unfortunately i can't give you a crepe virtually, but i can give you a variety of french songs i love, so here they are:

of course, carla bruni "quelqu'un m'a dit"...ah, her voice is so tender and mellow

my favorite franco-israeli jewish singer, yael naim (okay, really only one line of this song is in french, the rest of it is hebrew...but come on, it's about paris)

and french melodie: faure's "les berceaux" sung by the famous opera mezzo, janet baker.

peace+love

a letter from mrs. jarrah

thanks for:
sharing my bed
inviting me to backpack europe
and being my source of sanity for the last 4 days of the trip
being my shoulder to cry on (and not judging me...seeing as i don't cry)
my favorite christmas present ever aka chocolate soy and jr. mints
bringing my other favorite roommate to visit me in cedar
being a mutual friend with ingrid michaelson
and jim bianco...and cary brothers...we're cool
participating in my spontaneous ideas
really understanding my taste in men
having a great (similar) taste in music
1 a.m. study session at the hospital
staying up late to watch LOST
being a fan of my music
loving me for me

i mean really...what kind of friend leaves these kinds of notes on my bed/table along with a box of jr. mints?

"My dearest Kelli..
good luck on your finals this week! When you are done you can run away with me to a deserted island forever... love Sayid"

there aren't many people who really know me better

congratulations to the soon to be
Mrs. Kelsey Elaine Cole.
i hope we can still have sleepovers sometimes. i know how much you love the memory foam.

{click to enlarge}

peace+love

vienna waits for me

hundertwasserhaus - vienna, austria
i know i'm not really big into picture posts, but...remember europe? remember how i didn't bring a camera? well i may have failed to mention i bought one for vienna since i knew i'd have two days there by myself and needed some visual documentation...the quality is less than ideal, but i like the rustic look--keep in mind these were taken by me with a disposable camera that didn't have a flash...enjoy!

entertainers in the jewish quarter and the holocaust memorial
people watching at one of the million beautiful parks around the city
oh how i desperately miss that gorgeous countryafter three weeks of living out of a backpack, sharing a bedroom with complete strangers that probably don't speak english, trying to sleep on a train or in a train station, and putting up with one tough travel companion, i've never been happier to not be on a plane or train headed anywhere but home

oh, and here's a pic at the top of angel's landing with my greasy hair and two dear friends, erica and bryce
peace+love

it's me against nature

i was a 9th year...you may say i'm too old, but i strongly disagree...plus it's my calling...officially, girls camp assistant director...the real reasons i keep coming back:
-watching the bishop dress up as a girl
-4th year overnight hike:
indigo: "what's this?" picks up white object from ground, discovers it someone's used toilet paper...i watch indigo run back to our campsite screaming "does anyone have hand sanitizer?"
-first years - energy/enthusiasm/innocence in a cute little package that doesn't sleep...ever
-piuta - GORGEOUS....i love nature and discovering new things even after 5 years there
-pranks - the gutsy first years sewed my sleeping bag in half...
-snipe hunting - plenty of screaming during the hunt and even more confusion when we tried to explain that it wasn't real
-a week away from boys
-no reception = no phone calls = no one asking me to work for them
-a rare thing at girls camp, but in our ward there was NO DRAMA
-never ending singing...really, there is no way to escape it so you must embrace it
-and last but not least, did i mention no boys? no cell phones, no make up- for some girls, truly, man vs. wild
peace+love

vienna waits for me...

---photos by Moon Fogg (and carly curtis, kelsey mordue, ali snarr, glen "coco")
i didn't bring a camera to Europe...
a. i would have lost is
b. if i didn't lose it, it would have been stolen
c. if i didn't lose it and it didn't get stolen, i would have broken it
d. there were 5 other girls with cameras snapping pictures as if there were no tomorrow

salzburg

making our way to the hostel after a long day (and a half for me) of flying

florence

bobli gardens (watching/laughing at moon walk over a 14-year-old couple going at it)

venice

top; the whole crew: moon, me, ali, heidi, kelsey (minus carly taking the picture)

bottom; public bathrooms...it's the way we lived for three weeks

rome

in front of the collesseum and feeling sleepy in the vatican museum

trivi fountain...no, we're not "heil"-ing hitler. we're tossing pennies

cinque terre

the crew in the most beautiful place on earth-tom smurro (our dad) taking the picture

paris

glen coco (one of the australians), the eiffle tower, me, kelsey

notre dame (my favorite cathedral we saw in europe-partially biased)...arc de triumph

amsterdam, the netherlands

tulip gardens and delicous waffles

interlaken, switzerland

vienna, austria

peace+love

gettting to know the self-timer

...what do you do when you have 6 girls traveling and no photographer?

...use the self-timer of course! (this was my first of many self-timing experience as made evident by the fact i am the only person not posing GQ style) lucky for me, i am a fast learner...

rain in venice....thanks for the awesome pictures ali!

...well, i am back at the pool for the summer, therefore those pasty white legs desperately need a tan as to not drive away patrons...(no, they aren't that bad in real life)

peace+love

...clean clothes and my own cozy bed

the glamorous:

• Salzburg.
• the waves crashing in Cinque Terre
• wandering through the tulip gardens in Holland
• sitting on a bridge on a warm night in Florence, listening to a street performer
• sticking my feet in the Mediterranean
• the sea of umbrellas in the streets of Venice
• eating cheese, fruit, and bread while sitting on the beach in Nice
• eating cheese, fruit, and bread with the aussies while sitting underneath the lit up Eiffel Tower
• gelato
• banana + nutella crepes
• getting into the Academia for free and walking straight up to Michaelangelo's "David" (no line)
• walking out of the metro in Rome and the first thing you see is the colloseum
• making a wich and tossing a coin into the Trivi Fountain
• a rainbow behind the Spanish Steps
• the Sixtine Chapel
• really, Rome in general
• hiking through the alps
• listening to the Vienna Boys Choir at mass

not so glamorous:

• Heathrow airport
• bedbugs in Paris
• overnight trains
• train bathrooms
• [not] sleeping in the train station in La Spieza with all the homeless and their cardboard boxes (one kept farting in his sleep)
• RAW salmon sandwich
• our hostel smelling like doritos-caused by our roommates bra and underwear sitting on the vent
• not knowing if we're going to have a place to sleep our last night in Paris
• paying for bathrooms and water
• tired and sweaty searching for Beethoven's grave in a MASSIVE cemetary
• went to the bathroom in that cemetary, looked in a mirror, and saw a spider on top of my head
• living out of a backpack for over 2 1/2 weeks
• homesickness

i'd do it again in a heartbeat

-pictures coming soon-

peace+love

blog break...

my blog is going on a break until may 12th...

why, you ask?

...that's why

peace+love