just a random picture

My hair smells good. It's because I went here and touched up this:

The Aveda line smells better than any other product. Minus Moroccan Oil hairspray. I've been using Aveda for years. Come October 9, though, it's back to the all over dark brown.

remembering

I wanted to write while I was thinking what I’m thinking and feeling what I’m feeling. My blog entries are mostly for my own benefit. A few nights ago I decided to read from one of my journals. I opened up to a date a few months before I finished my mission. I don’t have words to adequately say how I miss it. I remember thinking when I was done that I would never have done it over, knowing what I knew then. Tonight I thought, I’d give anything to be there again, doing those same things.

I remembered people that I love in a way so different than how I love anyone else. I remembered miracles every day. I pictured houses, street vendors, high-rise buildings, busses, dirty city streets, the feria, graffiti, mountains, smog, beautiful dark brown eyes. I heard the metro passing by, cars honking, rain clapping against tin roofs, children yelling, strangers making kissing noises, doors closing, heartfelt thank yous being exchanged. I remembered how it felt having someone tell you that you were like an angel to them. How I wanted to be a better person and how I set goals every day to try to do that. How I was asked to do things I never thought imaginable. I remembered feeling unbearably alone at times. I remembered how much help I received from unseen powers. How I looked to the examples of so many great people God put in my path. How I prayed. How the scriptures became essential to me. How my faith was beginning to grow unshakeable. How obedient I wanted to be and tried to be. How inadequate and imperfect I felt. How for the first time I’d ever done anything entirely for someone else. How I’d never before felt happier. I remembered the sound of Presidente Moran’s voice and what his powerful testimony looks like in action and how much I love him and his family—how they’ve helped mark my life. I thought of lessons learned that I’ve since forgotten and need to remember again.

I bought a ticket to go to Chile in September. I got teary eyed thinking about it. I'm so happy to go back.

new faves

Sometimes I'm a bit of an insomniac. One of those moments would be now. It's almost 2 am and my alarm is set for 4 hours from now. (That probably won't happen.) Here are a few things I'm recently obsessed with. And I give credit where credit is due.

Exhibit A

This is not something you will regret buying. My aunt Kristen (whom I recently told knows everything about everything) showed it to us. Smelt it. Bought it. In love with it.

Exhibit B

"Elaine was concerned that Gary was drinking too much soda, so she kept them by her feet at all times. To retaliate, Gary threatened to loosen the umbrella buoys."

Welcome to Catalog Living. I find this blog laugh-out-loud funny. Jenny blogged about it first and now here I am stealing her idea. It takes images from catalogs and writes about the people that live in them. I'm still laughing.

Exhibit C

Karma boutique. Darling. Bought a shirt there. Probably my favorite of all the hundred I frequented on Saturday. 85 S. Main St, Pleasant Grove, Utah. Again, the relative who could probably win Jeopardy introduced us.

Exhibit D

The new neighborhood. More room. More privacy. More new. More up on the mountain. More better.

sister day

My sister's name is Laura. I call her Elle. No one else does. She lives a few hours away and it's always nice when she comes down. She and her bf were newly engaged (as in, it happened on Friday), so it was fun to see her and take a little looksie at this:

We had a successful aunt slash cousin day, shopping at all of the local boutiques. We went to at least a hundred and I'm amazed that they knew about all of these, as I'd never heard of a one. Boutique shopping, in my opinion, is fun just for the pretty bag you get out of it when you make a (usually expensive) purchase.

[Steve and Elle. The only thing non-ridiculous about this picture is my new burnt orange heels that she's sporting.]

Next it was the in-laws' family bbq that I crashed. It was fun being able to meet Steve's family at their place and enjoy some great food.

Then came the real fun. Moving day for Amanda. While I had planned on packing all morning and moving in the afternoon, family time took precedence. We did not start packing or moving until 9 pm. We finished around 1 am. It's not quite done yet, but it feels homey.