Hope

To you

the person who told me it's not like I see it,

or like I want it to be. 

To you

the person who told me, 

"Never..." 

"Not you..." 

"Not this time..." 

"No..."

To you

the person with the answers, the knowledge

To you

I say,

"Don't be so certain."

I have hope.

Terrible Yellow Eyes

A friend shared this link with me. It is the most wonderful thing I've stumbled upon since sliced bread. It makes me smile, a lot. Check it out, share it with your kiddos, and get even more excited for October 16th!

Nephews make the best dates

I wish everyone had a nephew. Nothing beats spending an evening with darling, intelligent, fun children that you get to drop off to someone else at the end of the night.

The boys chose to go to Maddox Drive-In, in Perry. They were so busy talking about worm holes, black holes, evolution, and dogs that we eventually had to leave ... and finish our food on the go. Yes, I took the next two pictures while I was driving on the freeway, in case you were wondering.

If you'd ever care to see the red cocktail sauce pictured here, you can see it embedded in the carpet of my car anytime. 

Then I had the bright idea of the Farr ice cream parlor in Ogden on the way home. But they had been there before. I don't know why I thought I would have been the first person to think to take kids there. (Sometimes I live in a dream world.) We accidentally ordered some HUGE portions of ice cream and ended up in sugar comas just trying to make it to the bottom.

[Aren't their smiles the cutest?!]

[Yes, I'm actually posting this super flattering photo. The boys said I needed a picture of myself, but I wouldn't let them hold my camera with their sticky hands (I know), and this is the awesome photography we ended up with.]

In other news:

In the past 8 days I have been called a brat/snob three times.

I was told by a boy that I don't feel and that there is a cold, dark cavity where my heart should go. 

I had an Emma moment last week. Not the kind to be proud of.

I celebrated Taco Tuesday on Wednesday at work, for which I made homemade guacamole dip (thank you, Erika!)

I went on my first bike ride of the summer, on the Legacy Trail with a great friend and my bottom only hurts just slightly today. I never knew I could be so excited about an un-sore bottom.

My cankles have subsided. I'm considering throwing a Welcome Home party for my real ankles. 

And a good friend encouraged me to not be so indecisive in life.

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

Thus, I have started making decisions. And we'll see where those go.

Turning 26 Never Tasted so Good

I actually turned 26 while I was in Heidelberd, Germany. But I held off on birthday celebrations until I returned home for obvious reasons... It's got to be hard to find my Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip birthday cake mix in Germany! Also, there are so many more people here to celebrate me. 

And because I only turn 26 once...

I went with some of my good friends to eat at Taggart's Grill.

I ate, and shared (some) delicious chocolate cake.

I posed for really awkward photos... because I can.

And now I'm just trying to adjust to remembering my new age, 26. It seems like ever since I turned 23, I can't seem to remember how old I am. Just a few months ago, in fact, I told someone I met that I was 23. And I really thought that I was. You can imagine my shock when my friend called me the following day to tell me that I hadn't been 23 for over 2 years. 

They say that you lose your mind as you grow older. I just might be living proof.

Since You Been Gone...

So I've been out of the country for a few weeks. I was too busy to blog while getting ready for the trip. (You can thank me later for not boring you with the details of packing.) And since I've been home, I've been just trying to catch up on life and get back on a somewhat normal sleep schedule.

I went with two friends to backpack all over Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I kept a journal and took pictures while I was there. I plan on posting some of the more interesting and entertaining journal entries I kept while I was there. So here's one for today to wet your whistle:

6 June 2009

Capri, Italy

In Europe everyone wears bikinis at the beach, and I mean EVERYONE! Everyone also smokes and drinks (I realize that's an inaccurate generalization in hind sight). We see kids that look about 12 walking around with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. Perhaps that's how they all stay so thin so they can wear their bikinis. I, on the other hand, keep reaching into my backpack for gummy bears, or "pandas," as they call them here in Italy. Maybe I should consider taking up smoking.

Everyone in Italy wears designer glasses, sunglasses, clothing, and accessories, I have seen maybe one pair of glasses while in Italy that didn't have HUGE designer emblems on the side— and they were mine.

Rome is absolutely filthy! It if weren't for the many ancient Roman attractions, I would refuse to step foot in that city.

I have had cankles since the moment I first stepped off the plane in Frankfurt. So just in case my pasty white skin isn't attractive enough, I have sweet, thick cankles to supplement it. Note to self: Google how to prevent and get rid of feet/ankles retaining water for future trips. It's surprisingly painful.

List of Items Lost, Stolen, of Misplaced:

Today- Andres' camera

Airport in Malaga- my really expensive, new trail shoes

Airport from SLC to Frankfurt- my towel

Airport in Geneva- my black flip flops that gave me wicked blisters in Munich (good riddance)

Hmmm.... I don't really recall why I wrote what I wrote. But I did. I'm sure those of you who have never been to Europe feel like you have been there now through the imagery and thoughts portrayed in my journal entry, huh? :)

Keane Observations

Tuesday I went

[here]

To see

[these guys]

with

[this girl].

And it looked a little something like

[THAT!]

It's surprisingly difficult to get a decent picture of the band when there are a million strobe lights. This was my best effort.

Concert Review: Hands down, my favorite concert I've been to. I loved both opening acts (Mat Kearney is one of my top ten favorites) and knew and loved all the Keane songs. Plus the absence of alcohol made for a much less obnoxious crowd. And I haven't been to a Coldplay concert, so this one remains the best until I do.

Music Suggestion: Keane- all of their albums, but especially the latest. Mat Kearney- pick and choose his songs on his albums (see me for specifics). Helio Sequence- not bad at all, but much better live.

Word.

Almost a Parent

No, this is not an announcement. I'm pretty sure you've got to kiss a boy or something along those lines to become a parent.

Anyway...

When I was in college I was a nanny of sorts for a family. Another girl about my age and I would take turns helping the mom with the kids on extra busy days or watching the kids on nights the parents had something. Over the years as I've become busy with a full time job and other things, the other nanny girl and I have stopped babysitting but have kept in touch with this cute family. I still take their kids every once in a while so the parents can have a date night and I can catch up with the kiddos. The other nanny girl does the same. Sometime over the course of the past few years the other girl got married and now has two kids. I didn't. This is confusing for the kids' little minds.

A few weeks ago I was watching the kiddos while the parents went to catch a flick. I was helping the five-year-old get his PJs on and get ready for bed. He looked at me and asked, "Are you a parent?" I took time explaining to him that I wasn't married like his other sitter that has kids, thus I had no children. 

He looked at me again and said, "So you're in high school?" 

"No, I've been out of high school for a while," I said.

"So you're in college?" he inquired.

"Um, no. I've been out of college for a little while. Now I go to a job all day," was my answer.

"And you have no kids?" he asked again, just to double check.

"Nope."

"Oh, I get it! You're almost a parent!" he exclaimed

"YES," I said. "I am almost a parent."

A couple weeks later, I was helping this same little boy put his PJs on again. We went through a similar dialogue. Except this time at the end of the conversation, he looked at me and said, "You're not married 'cuz you're saving your appetite for me, huh?" (while doing some sort of disco dance.) I could have died laughing. And then I felt bad, because he was completely serious. I grabbed his chubby cheeks, looked at him and said, "Yes. I want to marry someone exactly like you someday. Hopefully he'll be a  little closer to my age."

So although I don't have children to have given me cause to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday, I am almost a parent. So I almost celebrated. 

But to all of those actual mothers out there who raise these clever and entertaining children, thank you! Thank you for devoting your life to such a selfless, noble cause. And to all you Mother's Day greeting card writers who brought me to tears in the aisle at Walmart, I hate you. But I love my mother. She's not perfect, but she's better than any other mother I could have imagined. And she's a really great woman for putting up with me and loving me even after seeing me at my very worst... over, and over, and over. 

Happy belated Mother's Day, everyone!