fun in the sun!

well i am back from a wild adventure in the sunshine state. florida was fabulous. mixed with mom, brother, sister in law, 2 nieces, 1 nephew, uncle, aunt, 6 cousins it was quite the week!

this trip was filled with great and hilarious moments. i will just give a few highlights:

gorgeous beach at clear water where the water was so warm and had white sand

HaRrY pOtTeR wOrLd!!!!

butterbeer mustaches- the frozen butterbeer was ssooo good!

it tasted like butterscotch

dressing up in the shops at Hogmead

finding my wand

at Olliv

ander's

jurassic park- watch out!

shopping in fred and george's joke shop- zonkos

riley, emma and i had a girls day at epcot.

here is disney boardwalk

eating pizza in Italy. there were many many many attractive italian waiters.

our favorite was named fabio.

he probably thought we were blubbering idiots, mostly because riley forgot how to pay with a credit card.

norway vikings hunting a baby seal

i love emma's baby mexican hat

its a beatles concert in the UK!

in the magic kingdom:

holden was completely smitten with the princesses.

he told them he liked their pretty dresses and asked if they liked his monster truck shirt.

he also gave them some dirty pennies he found on the ground, which they politely tried to give back. but he wouldn't let them.

cinderella liked him so much that she gave me a kiss.

just look at that smug fac

e.

haha he couldn't stop looking at the princesses!

prisoners at Pirates of the Caribbean

best part of the flight was the southwest walkway. it was covered in pictures of their employees cheering you on. so funny!

the girls dressed in their princess shirts by the Dumbo ride

baby adelaide's favorite ride was small world. she was laughing, cooing, and totally entranced.

that face is priceless.

my brother's family in downtown disney

by Cinderella's Castle

ready to hit the pool with our awesome shades

on our last night mom and i stayed to watch the stunning royal wedding!

it was a great memory i will always remember watching the wedding of the century with my mom early in the morning.

I LOVED KATE'S DRESS- especially because it reminded me of Grace Kelly's.

i also loved all the hats worn by the guests,

it made me think of what i would wear if i got to go.

there were so many good ones, it was hard to pick my favorite.

but it was no competition to pick my least favorite.

completely horrid.

hands down the worst hat is a tie between Will's two cousins.

check out the pink one. so strange!

all in all it was another great family vacation. and once again it went by all too fast.

oh dear. now to start my summer job this summer as a nanny on monday

finals

in our apartment you can tell its finals week.

how?

it has manifested itself in our living room.

tiff, ash, skj and i made what we affectionately call The Birds Nest.

it is definitely the best idea we have had in a long time.

it is pure genius.

The Birds Nest:

-two couches pushed together

-all the blankets and pillows in the apartment

-put the fluffy comforters down first as soft liners

- use lighter blankets on top to snuggle with

-surround all angles and corners with pillows

-add your favorite people

and volia! an answer to all your wants and problems.

purpose and use of The Birds Nest:

-take the best nap of your life in it when you feel overwhelmed with stress or completely worn out from being in the library for hours and hours

-use it as a break from your bed and have sleepovers

- comfiest place to study EVER

this is such a great idea that more than just my room mates and i use this.

last night i came home from our apartment to find Nate (best guy friend in our ward) fast asleep in our Birds Nest. he even made reservations with all my room mates to save it especially for his much-needed nap. Our other friend Boston will get in and never want to get out. Our neighbors come and use it too.

we have started a guestbook. anyone that gets in the Nest also gets their picture taken. all the boys said we could take their picture but if we posted it they would have a fit. haha i guess they don't want the world to know how much they secretly love our little Nest, they don't want to admit that its their guilty pleasure. so i have refrained but we have quite the collection.

so if you need a rest and want to test out the magic of the Birds Nest, call my room mate Ashley. she will be taking reservation until next Tuesday.

the way to boys' hearts

today the universe stopped. something that NEVER happens.... ever.. happened 5 times today.

five humans told me how much they liked the color of my nail polish. doesn't seem like that big of deal. i mean nail polish is a tiny detail that most people don't comment on anyways but wait for it:

all five humans were boys. BOYS. BOYS.

one said that the color was pretty intense. psh- please! this is tame. he should have seen my 80's Barbie prom dress color. picture this: hot pink with blue and purple sparkles on top. it was blinding! oh such a good combo... anyways.

is it just me or is that super weird/awesome??? since when do boys paid any attention to girl's clothes or say something about it, let alone notice their nails. well it has worked out to be a great opener for flirting. once they say how much they like the color i say, "oh i picked it because it matches the color of my eyes. see?". i then hold my nails up to my eyes and the boys look into my eyes and get lost in my blue-eyed universe. (shout out to the fictionist band!) and then they fall in love.

so if anyone wants a score of boys to fall head over heels in love (or just get their attention) just paint their nails a sea foam green/ mint chocolate chip color. warning: it is a big responsibility. hearts will be broken once the color is painted.

happy birthday rachel buddy!

Rachie poo! Yesterday was your birthday! (sorry about the delay) But i couldn't not do a post dedicated to ya. so here it goes:


there are a about 34 MILLION pictures of you and i on my laptop. i couldn't possibly pick all of my favorites so there are just the ones that stood out to me.


wow- this is a little daunting. there is so much i want to say! how to begin????


Rachel Ann Reese:

you are simply amazing. so classy. so adventurous. so sweet. so charming. so lovely.
i count myself UNBELIEVABLY lucky to have you as a best friend.

i first met you walking up the stairs of olympus jr high on my way to Ms. Allred's English class. you past me and you were with Gabby and Alyssa. I knew you were friends with another cute girl in Allred's class with me (who turned out to be Alyssa). my first thought was: "wow. i have got to be friends with this girl." and i kept thinking the same thing every time i past you in the halls :)you have been there for all the momentous, life changing moments of my life. (like being on the phone with me at midnight and being the first one to know i got into byu. knowing when i got my first kiss. and of the biggest of them all: jerusalem)

we take hilarious pictures like this one of us being death eaters in a mosque in Jordan. we are pro at taking jumping pictures and pictures of yummy food because we are foodies at heart.

you are my field trip buddy. you stay behind with me to take pictures and we just travel in the same style. its great.

you CRACK me up so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i honestly don't think i could ever express how funny you are! we have countless and countless funny stories, accents, inside jokes and just wild times.

you work so hard at school and work. i am impressed by how you can keep it all together.

i love how sporty you are. i love your acts of service.

i love how sensitive you are.

i love how you make goals and then you make them happen!

i love how talented you are and in a variety of areas too!

i love going to BYU with you and "studying" in good old Harold B. Lee

your clothes and style are so adorable! i also love love love your hair!

you gave us the absolute best senior trip ever by letting us come with you to cali!

thank you for always listening to me and making me feel better

everyone who meets you wants to get to know you.

you are the best sister and so loyal to your family. i love that about you!

thank you for being so wonderful and spectacular! i really really really love you. like a ton. bless your cotton-pickin heart.

remember our last day at the Shuuk in West Jeru and you lost your voice so when you barked it sounded exactly like a dog? haha. one of my fav videos of you!

book love

I am a nerd because:
1. i spent the whole day at a book signing for my all time favorite author and book
2. i was number one in the stand-by line
3. i was in line from two to six. then from seven thirty to ten after his lecture for him to sign my book
4. i was more excited to see Markus Zusak come in the room than a new Harry Potter movie come on screen
5. i was alone and went by myself the entire time (which was awesome. i took myself on the best date i have ever been on haha)
6. i passed up the festival of colors with all my friends to go to this
7. i may have cried (i will tell the story and this one will make more sense)
8. my heart is still racing because i am on such a high from talking to him!

so the speech and book signing for Markus Zusak was at the Provo Library today. THIS WAS A HUGE DEAL because he lives in Australia. He got in from Sydney this afternoon and is leaving tomorrow morning. And within that limited window of blessed time he completed charmed me. Mr. Zusak is a New York Times Bestseller for a record amount of weeks and it took a lot of effort to get him here. He is enchanting!

so 500 people had tickets to hear him live in the ballroom and they got tickets weeks ago. i just found out about this event yesterday when good fortune smiled upon me. i luckily picked up a Daily Universe, which i rarely do, and they had an article on it. i called the lib and they told me that since i didn't have a ticket i could wait in the stand-by line and see if there are any open seats.

so i go to stand in line and there is one woman ahead of me. but then another woman gave the woman ahead of me a ticket. so she went home and i was now first in line. BOOYAH.

then at five when they were letting all the people with tickets get to their seats, a sweet grandma came up to me and said "look, i have a ticket for you." i was so happy that i gave her a hug. i got a really good seat and was in group F out of A - K for Mr. Zusak to sign my book after. i could not believe my luck!!!!the library decorated the ballroom so cute. the lights with the cards pinned on with clothes pins matched and tied in with one of Mr. Zusak's other book "I am the Messenger". how cute?!
Mr. Zusak was a spectacular speaker. He spoke on what inspired him to write "The Book Thief", how he writes and answered questions.

My favorite part was when he said "You know you are a writer when you can answer yes to this question: 'if you knew your story would never get published, would you still write it?' and for me it is yes. Getting published doesn't make you an author, saying yes to that question does."
it was just so wonderful to sit and listen to a lecture on your all time favorite book and all its themes, learn the background and facts i could have never known if i hadn't have gone ALL FROM THE SOURCE HIMSELF. this was the first author i have ever met or heard speak.


then i waited in line for him to sign my copy of "The Book Thief". while i waited i made friends with two super nice moms who teach English and are having their classes read "The Book Thief" right now. we just sat and talked about why we loved the book so much, one of my favorite things to do- talk about books. then finally at ten pm i made it to the table! i got nervous and didn't know what to say. what do you say to the author of your favorite book that changed your life? its kind of a big deal.

he said hello and all of the sudden i got shy. but then i just said (i think, it was all a blur) "this is my favorite book. i just love it. thank you for writing this. i was really moved" then the woman next to him said, "i remember this girl. she was first in line for standby. she sat on the hard tiled floor since 2 pm to see you."

Mr. Zusak said in his perfect accent "Did you really? thank you. that means a lot. here i have something for you."i just answerd "well, your book really means a lot to me. i just had to come" next thing i know he is pulling out a copy of one of his new books out from his briefcase. It is an Australian copy, something you can't buy in America.

In "The Book Thief" he signed 'To Amy, thank you. here is to love, colours (note the spelling) and books." which makes sense if you have read the book. and the new book he gave me he wrote "To Amy. 2 pm Congratulations" That is when i started to tear up. then we talked for a bit more but i don't remember it all because i was just so excited. then a bunch of people came up to me afterward and wanted to see the book he gave me and ask me what he said. i couldn't stop smiling!

then since it was raining the nice moms that i made friends with gave me a ride home. so many little miracles made this amazing day happen for me. i am just so happy and grateful, i am just so lucky

Mr. Zusak signing my book. my favorite man on earth.

random bits of love/hate

the other day i found a hilarious crumbled up posted note on a table in the library that i was studying at.

one side said: "i love you but i hate studying. xoxo" with a heart.
the other side said "i hate you.. but i love studying." with crossbones.

i can't decide which side should be first. its funny either way.

for some reason this note started me down a long train of thought with lots of random connections. just thought i would share.

isn't it funny how mistakable love and hate are? people say they aren't but they totally are. why else would you put so much energy, effort and time into a single person? they obviously bring out some pretty intense emotions in ya. and the most intense emotions i think are love and hate.

i think Stardust puts it best:
"I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing."


farther down the rabbit hole we go because then i thought of a favorite quote from the play "Barefoot in the Park" by Neil Simon. this is a favorite movie/play between a miss katie johnson and myself. it pretty much sums up how i expect to be as a newly wed. HILARIOUS. really though- i recommend checking it out.
basically the plot is about this new couple that just got married and how they figure out married life. they live in a little crummy apartment on the top floor of a building that doesn't have an elevator, but to them its their little love nest. they are head over heels in love but they can really butt heads.


best part is when real life starts to happen. at one point the heat goes out in their apartment (aka hole in the wall) in the middle of winter and the whole day has gone wrong. they are in bed and just finished arguing. It is kind of Corie's fault why the heat went out and all night Paul has been trying not to blame her or get mad or admit that it was his fault. but Corie can tell and feels guilty. She knows Paul is mad at her and just wants him to admit to it. She turns to him as they freeze and says -

Corie: "Paul, do you hate me?"
Paul: "Yes."
Corie: "Then say it!"
Paul: "I hate you."
Corie: "And I hate you."

the way Robert Redford says it, is so so so funny! and Corie is a perfect reflection of how girls are sometimes haha. its just so great.

ok well hope this crazy brain train made sense to anyone other than myself.
sometimes i visualize my brain as a over flowing messy closet bursting of random junk and i am the only one who can navigate through all the mess. but since this is my blog, it seems fitting for it to match my mind.

i am a girl.

gonna capture the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGPL4J6IIJY

{check out this youtube video. just copy and paste it.
i. love. it. so. much.}