a new favorite quote.

God gave us memories, that we might have June roses in the December of our lives. --James Barrie

the dodo's.

desiree and i at the dodo's concert.

the twilight concert series has easily been the best part of my summer. spending every thursday with kaysville and logan friends together, listening to live music for free. it does not get much better than that.

four years old.

yesterday my sweet little nephew turned four years old.

so hard to believe!! he is such a great little kid. he loves to help his mom take care of his little sister grace cosette. he loves to make her laugh. he helps his dad in the yard, and when dad's out of town, he does a superb job of being the man of the house.

i love this little boy for many reasons. he makes my whole day when he comes running up to me and says, "hi laur laur!" he gives the best kisses and loves to hold hands. he loves to tell stories and play with his aunts. every once in awhile when i'm having a terrible day, i swear he can tell. the last time i was in an awful mood he came up to me and said, "jeez laur laur. you are so pretty."

i am the luckiest aunt ever!!!

here he is just a couple days ago.

for his fourth birthday he got to go to lagoon with casie, rachel, kylie, his mom and my mom. i was really jealous i didn't have a lagoon season pass so i could've gone too!

here they are with a parrot on casie's shoulder. the parrot gave the birthday boy a kiss :]

as awesome as his birthday was, i can't help but reflect on what a cute, tiny little boy he used to be:

he always makes me laugh.

a future musical prodigy?

2 years old.

happy birthday chunky monkey.

definition of a good friend.

lately i've been thinking about my friend aaron.

i don't want to get sappy... because that's not how me and aaron are.

in fact we don't even really hug. haha.

and yet this person has come to mean more to me than most of my other friends.
ever since i moved home from logan i've found myself missing him the most.

it's funny, he used to be so mean to me. he used to make me cry, make fun of me, etc etc.
i never thought i would like the kid. ever.
we became friends a couple years back, after the name-callings and such ceased. but even then i never thought he was that big of a deal... how very wrong i was.

lately i've realized how much i need aaron. the kid has my back unlike any person i've ever met. it's ridiculous.
he is proof that there are such things as decent men in this day and age. that's hard to believe, especially after all i've been through. yet he proves it time and time again, by being a genuine person who never wants to cause harm to anyone. respectful of women, a great listener, fun, and patient, he is there to help you get your mind off things any day of the week, and never expects anything in return.
i try to be there for him as much as he is there for me, but i'm pretty sure it's impossible. he never asks for much from anyone. the kid is one of the best and greatest friends you could ever hope to have.
i have no idea how i got lucky enough to have him fill the shoes of "best friend". and he's done a fantastic job of filling those shoes. he's proven to me that there is hope, good people, and fun times in my future.

find strength in pain.

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

....

love.

i just love this little kitty.

i didn't see her all weekend and i missed her!

i ended up going up to logan for the weekend, which was good because i work the next few weekends, and won't be able to go up.

highlights from the weekend:
-staying up far too late... both friday and saturday night
-sleeping with persephone the dog. who is adorable, by the way.
-ally lighting her hair on fire. [hahaha. kind of a traumatic experience. hopefully
will be funny at a later time..]

-dancing to the faint, modest mouse, and old crow medicine show on aaron's porch.
-aaron's porch in general..my favorite place in logan.
and last but not least.... i got to see:

the one and only SOREN!!!
i was very sad to say goodbye to soren, as i blogged/whined about a few months ago.

he came out this week to visit from new mexico, and i think it's safe to say that all of logan was super excited.

he is so great!! a genuine good person, who wants nothing but the best for everyone in life.
if only everyone were that way..

BEIRUT.

yesterday was kind of a bad day at first.

but luckily i had something to look forward to...that was how i got through my day.

and FINALLY, after a ridiculous afternoon consisting of tears and flat tires,

i went to beirut with my good friend patton.

[notice the suit and bowler hat. win.]

beirut just happens to be one of my favorite bands. and they came yesterday as part of the twilight concert series...so it was free. the best kind of concerts are the free ones.

and of course, they didn't hesitate to amaze me. 

they are definitely incredibly talented. if i could sing like the lead singer... or play the accordion.. life would be so good!

taken by hannah.

spot mike in his bowler hat.. and you can see just how close we were.

it was breathtaking. i can't wait to see the dodo's next week!

meet scout.

the beautiful new kitty cat.

i named her scout after to kill a mockingbird.

and i am in love with her already. [so is timmy]

they love to run around together in the backyard. they're basically best friends.

love!

musica.

edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

a fabulous new find... they've pretty much become a new favorite of mine.

be sure to check out their song HOME. it's amazing! also watch them perform on david letterman.

states

states is mindy white's new band and consists of her as well as 2 of the former members of copeland. i was basically heartbroken when i found out mindy white was qutting Lydia. but this new stuff has helped me see the bright side! as long as she's still making music, i'm a happy camper. check out their song time to begin here. ps, isn't she gorgeous???

noah and the whale

this band is seriously amazing. their song blue skies has helped me a ton in the past couple weeks... it's all about keeping your chin up, cuz "blue skies are comin'."

i love them.

mmmmmmm....

i am currently obsessed with sushi. and lucky for me, i got to have it three times this past week!

the first time at tucano's... and it was delicious.

yesterday i went to sushi ya with my good friends adam, brenton and brenton's girlfriend bekah.

there is no better feeling than being stuffed FULL of delicious sushi.

we also saw Inception after dinner.. one of the craziest movies i think i've ever seen... it was ridiculous!

i highly recommend it.

lastly, this afternoon i went with a bunch of friends  to mikado's in bountiful. it was probably my favorite sushi of the three places i went to since friday!

i want to see the world.

a vacation sounds amazing right now.

I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then i could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back.

ps...i start my new job today!! i can't wait. life is different, but it is amazing.

i wouldn't have it any other way.

in the back of a mustang.

me and this gorgeous girl
[britney]
rode around in the back of an 09 mustang this weekend.

cruising with the windows down, yelling the words to songs on the radio,
just being myself.

she's so great!

my weekend was also great. i spent saturday celebrating my friend danny's 21st birthday.. it's about time he caught up with the rest of us.
my summer is going fantastic. things are still really hard, and super frustrating, but i'm to the point where i've decided i don't care. and this quote basically sums up how i'm going to live my life from now on:

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times a little hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe

i'm done putting up with those who bring me down.

media shmedia.

sometimes i wonder why i chose journalism as one of my majors. stories like this make me realize how unfair the media is. one false move, and the whole country/world is down your throat. if you work for fox news, you must say what they tell you to say [which is usually conservative bull]. if you work for cnn, you must say what they tell you to say [liberal, and usually bull as well].
where do we get the honest, unbiased news that america needs?? and why aren't reporters or editors allowed to tweet how they feel? do we forget they are people with opinions just as much as the next person?
utter bullcrap.

more nature..

island park, idaho

mammoth springs and beehive geyser, both in yellowstone

sunset while playing volleyball in k town

last but not least..my adorable niece grace.

my favorite quote.

LIVE AND LET LIVE.

i don't understand why that's so hard for some people to do.

if you don't agree with my choices, or who i am, or what i do, that's fine.

but all i am hearing lately is criticisms, whether to my face or behind my back, about my choices, my life.

and frankly, it's no one's business but my own.

it's truly sad when you have to go through something awful to realize

who your true friends are, or what you should do.

but there are benefits.

i've learned to live for me. and to not give a rat's ass about what anyone else thinks of that.

nature.

i'm sure this is obvious by now... but  i love nature.
the smell of pine trees, the ocean, campfire, and fresh air. the sun in your face. the wildlife and/or beautiful scenery all around you.
it's so relaxing and invigorating. my family had the awesome chance to stay at my sister-in-law's cabin in island park, idaho this past weekend.so while there we got to go to
yellowstone!
it was fantastic. and a much needed escape from the burdens of every day life. i have been having a hard time this month, with finding a job, accustoming myself to living at home, as well as insecurities and stress with  my friends.
it felt great to get out for a weekend and enjoy the fresh air and my cute family. here are some highlights:

we saw a huge grizzly bear while driving.. we looked closer and noticed she was actually a mama bear with:

her cub! it was so adorable.

this is a coyote who chased down a baby pronghorn. it was trying to hunt it, and the chase was intense! everyone was rooting for the coyote, and yet hoping the baby got away. which luckily it did...only by inches!

bald eagle.

another bear.

my cute family at morning glory pool!

mama, dad, kylie, alex, me, rachel, casie with matthew, jason with grace, vanessa and susan!

there's a lot of us.

me with my mom and sisters, and a herd of buffalo behind us.

i'm not exactly excited to get back to the worries of everyday life... however, i have some job interviews this week, as well as a fun weekend planned, so all is well.

HAKUNA MATATA.

i had never been to provo...

until the fourth of july a few days ago.

hannah invited aaron, ryan and i to go sleep on the streets of provo  for the parade on the 5th.

so of course, we did.

i got to meet most of hannah's wonderful family, chill with good friends all night, put my sleeping bag to good use, and i got to see what all the buzz is about.

they start the day out with a 5k and a 10k that was fun to watch.. the parade lasted a couple hours and was a blast.but my favorite part:

was watching the hot air balloons over provo.

it was beautiful.

here are some more pictures from the parade:

where we slept.

so much fun! this years fourth was my favorite of all.

i hope everyone else had a great holiday!