grass underneath us, sky above

my favorite tree on campus is in bloom. it's a happy thing.

grass underneath us, sky above, we're in the middle, surrounded by love

today i love

i love the blossoms around campus (even though they smell like fish)

i love the sunshine

i love the fact that school is almost over

i love skipping physical science for more important things - like listening to francois dellatre speak (side note, he looks like a professor i once had, and he can't say "digital" to save his life)

i love leftovers for lunch (aLLiteration?)

i love french even though there is a lot of homework

i love doing homework on my bed and being able to stay awake for once in my life (probably because i fell asleep on the couch earlier, but that's besides the point)

i love pandora radio

i love when the roommate's boyfriend offers to cook us all dinner

i love the rooms (aka roommates...we're into abbreviations these days that don't make much sense out of context), especially karen who did my dishes last night

i love crêpe wednesday - every wednesday jim comes over and we make crêpes, and today we watched lion king, too (which i haven't seen in probably ten years or something ridiculous like that)

i love peeta - i saw the hunger games for the first time last night and holy cow i need to see it a second time to formulate a solid review of it, but as of now, i really liked it

oh man, anyone else in love? just kidding. this is what came up when i googled peeta.

that's what i'm talking about. and yeah. he has a really good jaw, just sayin.

but we can't forget about this guy, because hello, attractive.

so now that i've sufficiently made a fool of myself, i'll sum this up. even though i don't really like wednesdays (can you say class from 9 am to 8 pm?), i like today. it's a good day.

"i was born ready"

this has been an interesting week. on thursday evening, i flew from salt lake to the sacramento airport so that i could be with my family for my uncle russ' funeral.

it was possibly the best plane ride i have ever had. i sat next to an indian man named suki. we talked for the entire hour and a half that we flew, and he told me about his family, growing up in india, being a computer programmer, and how he travels at least once a week for his work. his favorite place he has ever traveled to is japan. he loves his family more than anything, and despite all of the traveling he does, he has made his family his very top priority. i told him that i go to byu, that i am mormon, and that i am still figuring out what i want to do with my life. he asked me questions about mormonism; i asked him questions about hinduism (which he actively practices). at one point, he told me that comparing mormonism and hinduism wasn't like comparing apples and oranges, it was like comparing apples and beef. i helped him see the similarities - the value of family, the concept that we live our faith every single day, and that our faith influences every single part of our lives. it was one of the most interesting discussions about religion that i've ever had, and hopefully he could see that hinduism and mormonism aren't like apples and beef (which struck me as a very funny comparison).

buuuuuut then we landed. and my parents were parked at the wrong terminal. and my suitcase didn't make it on the plane. (of course it was the ONLY suitcase that didn't make it.) i was rather grumpy. but, thankfully, there was a walmart nearby, so i got some make up and a floral grandma nightie - a house dress, if you will - and i was all set. and good thing i wore a nice outfit on the plane ride, because i had to wear it again to the service on friday. phew. that was smart of me, right?

(irony: my parents asked if i was standing near a woman in a pink poncho. i told them no. a little while later when my dad was in the wrong terminal trying to find me, i told him i was wearing all pink. hahahahaha.)

the service was really nice. stories were shared about my uncle, who was a big, tough man with a heart of gold. he was one of the most generous and loving people i've ever met; he was someone who genuinely cares about the people he loves. most of the stories were goofy. he was a big prankster. but there were also touching stories that showed just how deeply he cared and loved. we'll miss his pranks, his teasing, his generosity, and finding things turned upside down all over the house.

when my aunt janet asked the kids if they were ready for the service, janessa quoted her dad and said, "i was born ready." i was so impressed by the grace with which my aunt, little russell, janae, and janessa handled the service and luncheon. they were gracious, they smiled, they loved, and while they let others comfort them, they were unselfish and actually helped to comfort everyone else.

that day we spent with the cooks in their home. the kids all played basketball and other games outside, while we sat inside telling stories and laughing. i've always loved that aspect of lds funerals - even though it's sad, there is still so much joy. it's all about eternal perspective - knowing that we have eternity helps us to move forward and keep a smile on our faces.

i was also able to go to my bakery. can you say heaven on earth? because yeah. that is exactly what it was. i got to see the new layout (i haven't seen it since the remodel!) and i FINALLY got to have all of the deliciousness that i've been missing. and i got to see everyone. well, almost everyone, but it was great.

orange curd filled donut, pain au chocolat, chocolate almond croissant, pain au raisin, sweet monkey bread, macarons, a hoho, brioche, pretzel brioche, hot cross buns...heaven.

and a trip home would not be complete without a stop at the st helena branch, of course. i got to talk to the wonderful 84 year-old corky, and she said, and i quote,

"i got a cataract removed from my eye. first thing i thought when i looked in the mirror was, 'lordy, i have so many wrinkles!'" 

oh, i love that woman.

so now i'm back in provo, back at school, doing all the stuff that goes along with it. and i came to the realization today that there is one month left. just one month. that's all. i feel pretty good about that.

ps five months until paris.

i refuse

i'm so cold.

shivering, in fact.

but i refuse to put on my jacket.

why, you ask?

1. i'm inside

&

2. it's the first day of spring, dang it!

things that made me laugh

so what do you do when all you want to do is be with your family?
look at funny things on pinterest, of course. it doesn't make me want to be with them any less, especially right now, but this is pretty helpful. 

enjoy :)

i'm pretty sure this was, and still is, me.

500 days of summer

anyone get the "hook" pun? anyone who has seen arrested development, that is?

"that awkward moment" + burning cars + ps100 + my water bottle

i usually roll my eyes when people post about "that awkward moment" but...i think this one is funny. probably i think that because i came up with it myself. anyways.

that awkward moment when you push your glasses up your nose, only to realize you are wearing contacts.

yep. that actually happened to me today. three times, to be exact.

on to other things.

today in my paris prep class, dr hurlbut told us, and i quote,

"there really isn't much violent crime in paris. they like burning cars, but they don't burn people."

i had to laugh at that...i didn't really know how else to react, to be honest.

this week i'm also doing a lot of physical science stuff. like an online vocab quiz (i hate those things), and i've been to three, yes THREE reviews. i just get nervous that each ta will teach us something different or will teach a concept better than another...so i go to all of them. ha. good news is, i have about 12 pages of intense notes to study from, as well as the text book, class lecture slides, and all that other good stuff out there. (that's actually not the greatest news because that's a lot to study, but we'll pretend that it is for now. maybe if i tell myself it's great, then i'll start to believe it and actually like physical science. ah. one can hope.)

another good thing is that i found my water bottle! i bought it back in february with a gift card from target, and i love it. it's teal and the lit pops up so i can drink from the little straw thing. it works really well for me. except it doesn't work well for me when it's lost. so today i decided to look in the wilk at the lost and found center and lo and behold, there sat my water bottle. i should probably run it through the dishwasher before i use it though. who knows where it's been since tuesday.

and that's been my day in a nutshell. i also had pizza for dinner from little ceasar's which was fantastic. because it also included crazy bread. yum. well, i think i might do an early bedtime tonight. time changes are so hard to deal with. please don't judge.

pi(e) day

today is pi(e) day.

jake easley gets home from argentina today.

i ate lots of pie.

i laughed with friends.

we made double chins together.

here are the photos.

some of our pies

massacre

ted's asian pose

yeah

our diet starts tomorrow

our best friend jim

alex enjoyed the pies too

this is funny, too:

sometimes heather throws away my milk. i have to take drastic measures to protect it.

summer, get here

forgive the length of this post. but i am so ready to play in the sunshine all day.

i'm ready for the pool:

playing cards

watching marco do crazy things in the pool

going to bbqs

"look! i'm a kid from swim lessons who just got water up his nose!" this is really very accurate.

i'm ready for the bakery:

bastille day celebration

peach melba donuts - the love of my life

bringing home leftovers. score.

i'm ready for family and friends:

my loves

the morgan clan last summer

my entirely too large baby brother

making 32 quarts of strappleberry jam with my olive

oakland temple with the fam bam

being with my amigas

loving the three amigos

taking photos in the bathroom

forgetting not to laugh

being photogenic

seeing these two reunited after two years in argentina [he's really coming home TOMORROW?!]

spending hours trying to figure out this window art

nerf guns on the back of the jeep

dinners at jolé

 and the valley:

wearing flip flops

seeing this

and this

and these flowers

and this horse

and more wild flowers

part of me wishes i were staying in provo for the summer, but i know home is where i need to be. and i'm so excited. and so ready.

 and fun side note, my cousin scott gets home in about a year.

¡¡sco-tay!!