the day i felt perfection and like death all wrapped up in one

my eyes are droopy.
my nose is stuffy.
my throat is itchy.
and i am battling what is either the worst allergies known to man,
or a terrible and dreaded cold from H-E- double hockey sticks (ya, I just went all 4th grade on you right there)
excuse me while i go chop off my head right now....

all of this may be the case, but yet I can not seem to close my eyes.
because right now, in this moment.
i am happy.
and i am exhausted.
that combination is also known as perfection.

why you ask?
maybe because life is a strange, twisted and a down right fan-freaking-tastic journey.
and i am currently loving it.
i feel like for once i have control of the reigns and i can do whatever i want, and be whatever i want to be.
it is a strange, scary and simply exhilarating feeling.

there is no saying what will happen next week. or next month. or next year.
and the thought of that in the past would have had me in a down right, eye-gauging, panic mode.
but not now.
i'm not worrying any more.
what good does that do? i can't plan out the rest of my life like some fantastic musical, because
A. i'm not talented enough to go all rogers and hammerstein on you
B. i would end up disappointed when it didn't go as i planned
C. people might stare at me during every song and dance number....(actually i KNOW they would stare.)
D. and i have not found anyone to play the dreamy male lead yet

but seriously. my main man Jason said it best "I won't worry my life away...." because he is a genius, and that is the truth. there is no point in worrying whatsoever.

life is meant to be spontaneous, and adventurous and i think the past few weeks/months, and the way the rest of the week is shaping out, is a clear indication that i LOVE spontaneity and adventures.

it is the beauty in being where i am today. the trials i have faced, and have yet to face, well, today i am grateful for those. because these pot holes and bumps in the road, have allowed me to find...me.
and have allowed me to truly find the joy in all of this.

it is a beautiful thing. and is something i have been searching for...i am telling you kids, prayer works.

so here is to more blissful summer nights, full of awkward singles ward FHEs, top secret ice cream club runs, flirting with boys, talking for hours, stories in the parking lot, zumba nights, taco tuesdays, poodle head stare-downs, softball games, battle wounds, and anything else that comes my way.

just pray i don't snap at my students after so many late nights....

and just because a post wouldn't be the same without a video.... 

even if it is old news, went viral a while back, and is so totally yesterday,

i just can't seem to get enough. so here. happy day to you. 

nice day for a... white wedding

It is wedding day for my pal miss Katie Jane, and I am just as happy as a clam for her.
Extremely ecstatic.
Simply celebratory.
Pleased as punch.
Jumping for Joy.
*insert any other cliche/alliteration filled ways to expressed my happiness.
But seriously, her new man David is quite the winner we have all decided. And she is smitten. Simply smitten. It is quite magical really...

I love weddings, all the lovey-dovey-ness in the air, it is simply magical, yet I can't help but feel a tinge of slad-ness. You know, so ridiculously glad and overjoyed for my KJ dearest, yet somewhat sad that she is leaving the Single Ladies club, (no we do not call ourselves the 'Single Ladies club', but hopefully you catch my drift.)

sidenote: 'slad-ness' was a term coined during my senior year, yes, we choir nerds made up our own words....quite often in fact. we were performing the classic 'Smile' for our ballad piece (not a male duck) during a competition and one part goes as such: 

"Light up your face gladness,

Hide every trace of sadness"

Somehow we kept combining the two lines into 'slad-ness', partly due to mistake, and then due irony, and then out of pure teenage humor I guess. It drove Mrs. Schmidt crazy....so obviously we kept doing it. And it has stuck in my vocabulary of awesome words to use, apparently.


Anyways, back to KJ. Yes I have this tinge of slad-ness, but the joy definitely triumphs. As her sister said at the wedding dinner last night, "We are thankful to David for coming into Katie's life, and improving her reading habits... by diminishing them. Katie has found her real-life love story now."

Ah man! How can you not just die hearing that?  and let's not even mention how David talks about her, and how I basically started welling up like a crazy person. Ya, that's right. I am an emotional person, and I love weddings. Deal with it.

So here is to the perfect May 11th wedding for my dearest, darling-est Katie. Cause seriously friends, I love weddings. And Katie. And the month of May.

Ahhh, bliss.

I Won't Give Up...

Today I have come to the most interesting of discoveries.

Flirting gets you places.

Now don't get me wrong, I have realized this for many years, but have never taken into consideration that I have this power. 

Until today.

It was a simple January afternoon in Park City, Utah. Katie Jane and I were on a Sundance adventure. And two security guards were telling me I needed to be 'someone special' to enter this old building on Main Street. This old building on Main Street happened to be the 'Bing Bar.'  

It was then I realized that flirting was the only thing standing in the way between myself and Mr. Jason Mraz himself.

Yes. Thats right. Mr. A-Z was within reach and I wasn't going to let anything get in my way.

So I pulled out all the stops. I flirted with the security guard, even telling him I loved him... and landed myself in about the 3rd row, at a private, closed name-on-the-special-list, Jason Mraz concert where probably only 75 people at most were present.

Talk about a dream come true!

It was the most magical 70 minutes of my life... so far. Some of you won't understand or appreciate this, but this was a big deal for me. If you know me AT ALL, you understand this for 2 reasons 

A. I LOVE Jason Mraz with my whole entire heart

and
B. I don't flirt. I don't know how, and have been told so by a few people...nice, right?

But I did it today. 

We were led by a security man in all black into a dark a sketchy back alley type stair well, where I could hear Jason's sultry voice in the not so far off distance. Seconds later I stood in awe with my darling friend Katie Jane and we sang along and laughed, and I was just as happy as could be.

Observe:

 

and this new song from his new album, which he announced the name and date of AT this performance, is sure to be my favorite. it was probably my favorite one he did at the concert.

I know right?

Thats how CLOSE I was

I even saw Blythe Danner in her coke bottle glasses walk by later, Melanie Lynskey, and a couple other celebrities that I have already forgotten.

And if that wasn't enough, Liz and I drove back up a couple hours later and flirted our way into a free covered and heated parking spot! 

Cute boys in the parking booth. One had very sparkly blue eyes. Hum.... We also saw Joshua Jackson. That was nice. 

What a fascinating and downright happy day! Love!

Whit and Liz...and a famous person...not really, but thats okay. 

and if you are still confused as to why I love Mr Raz so much, this explains it all:

"Music is the medium I use to recover from life’s often deafening blow. I constantly reawaken thru music. The act of making music is how I tune in and/or tune out to solve life’s puzzles, trying to make the most sense of that which I can’t seem to stop questioning. In life there are problems. In music, if not a direct answer, comes a divine perspective." 

Taken from here. Simply Beautiful. 

How can you give Kris Kringle a parking ticket on Christmas Eve? What's next, rabies shots for the Easter Bunny?

a boise christmas never ceases to bring a smile to my face.
never a white christmas, 
but happy and charming none-the-less.
this christmas i pulled a 'dad' and saved all shopping till christmas eve.
awesome.
samuel and i went out that morning
and gretchen and i went out that afternoon,
it was great fun!
and i was done and wrapped by 4 o'clock.
just in time to watch some cheesy movies on the hallmark channel.
everyone was asleep by 11,
and we slept in till 9 am.
WHAT?
ya i know. first in ward family history...thats what happens when there aren't any little kids
(don't look at me!)
but it was still great!
we opened stockings, went to church,
(where samuel played child #2 in the program...crack me up)
and then we had more christmas afterwards.
it was quiet and happy and wonderful.
(and i smell really nice with my new perfume.)
after which we watched more cheesy movies
ate ham and cheesy potatoes

(potatoes with actual cheese...not cheesy as in reference to hallmark channel)

and even got dad and ethan to play loaded questions.
i say that was the best christmas present ever!
what a hoot!
we topped the night off by falling asleep watching home alone.

christmas 2011 was definitely a success

how about yours?

Source: potterybarn.com via Lorenza on Pinterest

tis' the season

We all know how much I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this time of year, but I am afraid it is slipping away from me faster than I can run through a pile of leaves! So I decided to make a list (which should come as no surprise, I have lists coming out of my ears...) of all my MUST-DO for autumn. And when that list is all checked off, then I will be able to welcome in the next happy season, complete with frozen fingers and slush soaked pants....(ewww, can you tell I am SO not ready for winter?)

1. Watch the following movies:

• Hocus Pocus, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Practical Magic, What Lies Beneath, Birds, Watcher in the Woods, The Village, Young Frankenstein, and any other deliciously scary and/or halloween-y movies

2. Make my favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies...they are heavenly and (weight watchers friendly) as well as any of the FANTABULOUS recipes that I have found on pinterest...mmmmmmmm
3. Find a pile of leaves to jump in to...or at least walk through and just enjoy that perfect smell.
4. Step on some extra crunchy leaves
5. Take pictures in the canyon
6. Go a Corn Maze and/or Haunted House
7. Go to a costume party
8. Carve a pumpkin WHILE watching It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
9. Make Grannies Chili...and maybe some cornbread
10. Go to a football game
11. Bake a Thanksgiving Pie
12. Stay in my PJs and read all day (with plenty of hot cocoa)
13. Finish of my autumn '11 playlist
14. Attempt to recreate some of the happiest of autumn crafts found via pinterest
15. Read the following happy fall books

• The Little Old Woman Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, Skippy Jon Jones In Mummy Trouble by Judi Schachner, The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg, Witches Broom by Chris Van Allsburg, Room on the Broom by Julie Donaldson, By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Caroline Stutson

happy days are here again...

this. was. absolutely. breathtaking. and perfect.

its moments like this that remind me just why i love glee.

serious. how perfect?!

(i found this video one of lea and chris singing, but its flopped for some reason. 

oh well. it really is fantabulous)

happy