red white and blue

well i'm a day late in posting this, but that's cause i was too busy enjoying my favorite holiday--the day where we celebrate our nation's independence!  but i did want to share a few thoughts i had while i pondered on why i love this holiday and this country so much...
-i am grateful for the constitution and the inspired men who established this nation
-i am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy because of it.  i can practice my religion without fear of persecution from the government.  i can vote and help decide who leads this country.  and a boat load of other great stuff
-i am grateful for the economy and the progressive attitude of this nation..a week ago i had anaphylactic shock and had to be rushed to the hospital.  it was scary, but i couldn't help but think how grateful i am for those paramedics and the fact that we have the medicine and availability to it that we do.  if it weren't for that medicine i'd be dead.
-i am grateful for the men and women who serve to keep this nation secure, and all the people who serve each other on a daily basis out of love and a desire to be good
"we are great because we are trying to be good" -senator mike lee (at the freedom festival patriotic service last sunday)

happy 4th, everybody!  god bless america.

peace+love

my future family photo

you know what today is, folks?  why, it's my favorite holiday!

boy am i proud to be an american...
i feel like i've always been someone who tries to live life to the fullest.  but, having lived overseas for a year and a half i really came to realize how blessed i am to have been born in a country where i can do what i want, when i want.  i don't have to work 12 hours a day just to survive.  i don't have to have a locked gate around my home and iron bars on my windows.  and i'm even more blessed to live in utah where i have access to hiking and biking and swimming at any free moment.

god bless america.

don't make fun, but for some reason this song always gets me choked up a bit...

peace+love

arachnophobia

there was this one time that i melted from the heat.

oh wait, that was today.

yesterday i woke up with a spider bite on my cheek. which means there was a spider crawling on my face that night. in my bed. with me.

then last night i was sitting at my computer and put my foot down in the corner underneath my desk. i landed right in a spider trap with 8 dead spiders.

the chaos that ensued went something like this:

me screaming looking up at the ceiling so as to avoid witnessing what i had actually done "KERRI! GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GETITOFF!"

"I AM NOT TOUCHING THAT THING!"

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GETITOFF! GET A PAPER TOWEL"

i felt like i was going to throw up for the next half hour.

on friday i got some new freckles at the lake. that night i watched fireworks on the roof of the rec center.

saturday i went for a nice long bike ride all inclusive with a nice little steep uphill right at the end. i rewarded myself with neilsen's frozen custard that night. except actually kerri paid.

and today i watched sound of music.

a good weekend on all accounts.

what did you do?

peace+love

consequence of sound

in case you didn't already know that i am mildly obsessed with zion national park and the fact that it's just so darn close...

memorial day weekend =

4:15 a.m. work

hike to angel's landing

experience several severely awkward moments... (so, do you do like, adult-type plays?)

eat delicious food at the pastry pub

SLEEP

church

thaw chicken

go to park

chicken still not thaw

attempt to bbq chicken

1 hour later, chicken still pink

eat it anyway and thank god for an amazing immune system

SLEEP

hike 6.5 miles to kolob arch (possibly the world's largest arch)

look at the arch for 1 minute

hike 2.5 back

play in la verkin creek

the sound of water+birds+wind+my own breath=ya, god loves me

hike 4 miles back to car with wet jeans

EAT

blog

SLEEP

did you do anything fun this weekend?

peace+love

it's the american way...

hmm...i have no explanation. but i have a feeling this picture was my idea.

4th of july 2 years ago, bear lake aka lake+fireworks+rasberry shakes+danger on the waverunner=perfect 4th of july--that's my cousin dougy on the left. he's on a mission in south africa and he gets home october 2nd. i'm so stoked! (p.s. ladies he is single) on the right is my old bff shawn. and the butt belongs to douglas' brother topher. what a weasel.

1. The very best thing about the summer is the 4th of July. parades, fireworks, baseball, bbq. it just doesn't get better than that .

2. My first crush ever was 1st grade = Travis Christensen. one day we stayed in from recess and my friend frankie kissed him, so i decided to as well. didn't want to be left out. .

3. This may sound really silly but i'm like a little kid answering the phone when it comes to checking the snail mail. once i figure out what time the mailman comes to my complex, i'm the first one out the door with the mail key. sad thing is, most of the time there's nothing for me .

4. I squeeze my toothpaste from the end of the tube of course .

5. My absolute favorite "comfort food" is i don't have a comfort food. i have comfort music. sometimes i get the coconut chocolate brownies at pastry pub though. mmmm. i think i'll go get one now .

6. A random fact about me is that my absolute favorite flower is sunflowers and i'm allergic to them. it's so sad. .

7. The one piece of technology that truly makes my life better and I couldn't live without is my iPod. is that really surprising to anyone?

peace+love

meet ruby...

top 10 reasons i can't wait for summer:

1. this weekend, i got a road bike
i feel like that's the only reason i need...i just have to keep reminding myself "only 3 more weeks, 3 more weeks..."

did you get anything fun for easter?

peace+love

easter inspiration...

i really hope you'll take the less than five minutes to watch this no matter what your beliefs are. it is really beautiful truth that brings hope to everyone on this earth.

happy easter!!!

peace+love

april fools...

peace+love

elementary love

my love life was more exciting 9 years ago on this day (not to mention i was way more committed then, seeing as i liked the same boy for 2 years), so here is the Valentine's Day entry from the infamous 5th/6th grade journal:
"I am so happy. Colton likes me and the reason why I know is Whitney was being nice at our game, Sami was too & Sami told me that somebody said Colton gave me a Valentine. That's not true. Then she said all the 5th graders are saying that he likes me. Then Whitney hadnt heard Sami talking to me and she said I know somebody that likes you and I said who, she said Colton and I said ya Sami told me all about it.
I didnt flirt with boys at the ballet. We had to wait longer for the ballet to start then watch the ballet. The ballet was short but waiting was long."

what is your favorite valentine's day memory from elementary school?

peace+love

aud lang syne

besides backpacking for three weeks to europe (best part of the year), i decided to transfer from the beloved byu, my padre moved to boise for work, scott and mattie moved in, mom went back to grad school again, and i did an amazing internship with an amazing choir aka one voice children's choir...i imagine 2010 will bring a few big changes, but i will take them in stride and just keep breathing.

i'm pretty sure last year my only resolution was to be a better/more frequent blogger and by my accounts i've dominated that one.

2010 resolutions:
-it took 3 years but i finally got the freshman 10
-the book of mormon was translated in 59 days from a different language. i know how to read in english
-"let us all speak kind words to each other"
peace+love

happy birthday, jesus

happy christmas
from our desperado hearts to yours
i hope it is a warm (on the inside) one full of pinching cheeks, ugly sweaters, lots of snow, slobbery kisses, and funny mugs.
but most of all, lots of love

peace+love

goodbye quasimodo

the day before thanksgiving, my family had a "pre-holiday party"...aka deep clean the house. i was working at my old job that morning and unable to attend. a day later, i opened our game closet only to find all of our disney vhs' were gone. snow white, sleeping beauty, cinderella, oliver and company, beauty and the beast, even the hunchback of notre dame were all missing! all the classics. when i inquired as to their whereabouts, i was informed my family had taken them all to D.I. when i expressed anger about this dark deed i was told, "that's what you get for not being here to clean."

fast forward (vhs style) to today

i went to D.I. to get some holiday garb for an ugly sweater party tonight. as i walked up to the checkout line, i heard the man in front of me say to the cashier, "yes, these'll give my daughter endless hours of happiness." i looked at the counter to see what he was buying. to my horror, i saw 10 of my old disney movies. as i watched my childhood slip away, bar code by bar code, it was all i could do to keep myself from grabbing the videos and running for the door. my hands were twitching, then i remembered i'm not very quick on my feet right now.
i suppose it is the season of sacrifice.

i just hope that girl appreciates the pot of gold her father is giving her this christmas.

peace+love

i'll be home for christmas

finals are over, pretty sure i aced them all, and i'm home for the holidays (possibly the last time for 2 years)...

i love living in southern utah. on the drive home i made my routine stop in fillmore at maverick for a potty break and drink refill. i followed a highway patrolman into the gas station. the man holding the door open for us called him by his first name. the highway patrolman called the first man i saw in there "dad". pretty much everyone in there knew his name. then this nice old cowboy helped me get my hood open so i could check my oil.

when i grow up and live in a big city, i might miss this.
peace+love

when bono had a beard

as evidenced by my last post, i love manly men. a beard is a sure sign of manliness. ooooookay, paulie bleaker probably can't grow a beard, but he doesn't need a beard to convince us he's the manliest man we all know. that's all besides the point. the point is, a beard represents more than manliness. most of my favorite male musicians have/had beards...

bon ivercat stevens

my bonnie irish boy, damien ricelocal liberal/comedian (for utah) drew danburry

my true love and idaho boy josh ritter always has a little stubble on his chin...mmmm

guitarist and croon me to sleep ray lamontagne

the beautiful, the talented, the married sam beam (of iron&wine)

the over-aged rockers that make up ZZ Top

even baby face emile hirsch can grow a beard (i know he's not a musician but he's handsome and i love him so he gets included)

and last but not least, the beautiful Leonardo DiCaprio...gag all you want, i could stare at this picture all day.

happy no-shave november
also please inform me of any handsome/amazing beards i may have missed

peace+love

double-odd day

10/31-Halloween:
"is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."
NOT my favorite holiday
nope...not even close

11/01-daylight savings:
the one night a year when we all get to sleep an extra hour.
closer to my favorite holiday

what would you do if you had one extra hour completely to yourself everyday?

i'd make playlists....lots and lots of playlists
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 the most wonderful time of the year...

i don't care what the song says, the truth is october-don't tell anyone, but last night we climbed to the roof of the buildings on main street via a tree...i ripped my pants as we wandered from roof to roof very slyly and very at risk-the police station is directly across the street from the block of buildings we were on...then we carved our names in a wood wall where dirty words and gang signs were spray painted...

-we bought a new kite that will actually work once we learn how to fly it (it sure is harder than it looks)--our previous kite was missing a stick, so we whittled one from a twig...it looked great but didn't really function...

-last but not least, it is finally truly fall and i couldn't be happier! my allergies mostly blew away with the wind last night, the leaves are changing, i get to snuggle in a ball while i sleep with my window cracked open, my apartment smells of pumpkin spice, and i wore a long-sleeve today...at long last, time for the cute wardrobe and my constantly happy mood

...and soon it will be winter
peace+love

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

last night i crawled through a cave in which the floor was covered with guano...unsanitary? yes. spooky? yes (there were lots of bats). fun? most definitely.

i am reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the fourth time--Atticus is the most fascinating character. amongst twenty other things i admire about him, one that sticks out this time around is his patience. when Bob Ewell spits in his face and threatens him with his life, all Atticus has to say about the matter is, "I wish Bob Ewell wouldn't chew tobacco".
in sunday school we read this scripture: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." - Proverbs 16:32
Atticus is able to take a case of a black man's word against a white man's in a time when victory for the black man was unheard of, and keep the jury out for hours. But more importantly, he made the town see that Scout is right, "there's just one kind of folks. Folks." Atticus is mighty.
and mighty handsome...
peace+love

stuck in the middle

i'm not a teenager anymore
but i made my last day of the teenage era (september 2nd) a monumental one...i
-got a job
-shed a tear
-played in the rain
-ate a raspberry tart
-listened to nirvana really loud
-studied and dominated a test...really, dominated
-read to kill a mockingbird relating most to scout probably for the last time
-slept in late but managed to get to class on time
-watched a lightning storm
-rode my bike
-night sat

nineteen was a very good year
peace+love

on my favorite holiday...

liberation day march/parade in italy (yes, i was there)

this independence day weekend i...

swam 3 times

got attacked by a tree while floating the provo river

ate way too much junk food

did not sleep enough

threw candy in a parade

watched one fireworks show

put on a fireworks show

unintentionally attended a "tea party" (i love politice...refuse to get involved)

heard "God Bless America" performed at least 6 times

heard "Proud to be an American" performed at least 7 times

and only heard the National Anthem once...sad, i know

roasted mallows

made the most perfect s'more this earth has ever seen...really

night sat

---pictures coming soon---

peace+love