in review: 2013.

Oh man. When it comes to New Years I'm the sappiest of the saps. I might as well have the word "nostalgic" written across my forehead because, during the week between Christmas and New Years, I tend to do a lot of reminiscing. I reflect on the good stuff, the hard stuff, the things I did well, the things I can improve on in the next year, etc. But a whole post about that is coming tomorrow. Today is all about happy memories!

So without further ado, and before I burst into tears about another year ending, here are my top ten moments of 2013:

10. Visiting Denver and Breckenridge, Colorado. What a beautiful state! Denver pretty much captured my heart in a way only a few cities have. And I spent the trip with the best people, so, bonus.

9. My birthday weekend was superb. You only have one golden birthday in your life, so I decided to go all out on mine. Even if that meant sending my roommate to the hospital. 

8. General Conference weekend with my family. In April we all got together to take Devin mission shopping and attend General Conference. It was one of the last times we'd all be together for two years, and it was just a good, good weekend. 

7. John FA-REAKING Mayer. This had been my dreamiest dream, to see him in concert, in my favorite place in the world {who knew that 5 months from then I'd be moving there?}.

6. Going cabining. I love cabins, and I love the Hansens' cabin. S'mores, footie pajamas, and gorgeous nature walks. It was a good weekend.

5. Giving Robin Sparkles a run for her money. This was probably the most serious I'd ever been about having an epic Halloween costume, and I think it paid off. 

4. San Francisco. Guys, two weeks and I'll be living there!!!!! I can never get enough of this city. 

3. A weekend outside. Hiking Timp was one of the most physically challenging things I've ever done, but the payoff was so worth it. Will I hike it again? No. 

2. Christmas with my family. Maybe I'm still feeling the post-Christmas blues, but last week was a good one. 

1. Saying "sayonara" to Elder Justesen. That was a hard day! But to see how he's changed and grown up have been worth it. 

Thanks for the memories, 2013.

See 2012 in review here. 

my views at christmastime.

How is it less than two weeks until Christmas? You know that scene in "The Grinch" where all the Whos are shopping in Whoville, and a voice comes on the loudspeaker letting them know there are only 14 hours until Christmas, and all the little Whos start freaking out? That's how I feel. Not because I haven't gotten shopping done, but because I love Christmas, and with each day we get one day closer to it being here, and one day closer to the whole season being over. It's a little bittersweet.

So I've been doing all that I can to take advantage of this Christmas season. Seeing the lights, watching the movies, trimming the tree, the whole shebang. I don't want December 26 to leave me feeling any regrets. So here are a few of the ways I've been celebrating. What have you been doing?

If Christmas lights could stay up all year, I'd be one happy camper. They just make everything look so much prettier! And those icicles outside my window are about as tall as me. They're beautifully terrifying. Also, how do you like my first Christmas tree? Next year's will be real, I promise. The last photo is just for kicks, my coworker knows how much I dislike Miley.

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season, wherever you are! And I'm hoping you don't have to deal with snow.

Stay tuned, next week I've got some REALLY exciting news!

Phew. I feel like this post was all one giant sentence, but I got caught up typing and knew I just needed to say something on this blog.

writer's block on a dull tuesday.

I've been sitting here for an hour with my fingers itching to type, but nothing's coming. Isn't that one of the most frustrating feelings? So instead, we have the next best thing...pictures! Here are some Instagrammers from the last few weeks that haven't made it onto this here blog yet. Enjoy!

Does anyone want the recipe to that pumpkin chocolate chip bread? Because it's pretty life-changing.

a cabin in the woods.

This weekend I spent time with some great friends at a cabin in the woods of Utah. When I say cabin, I mean cabin in every bare sense of the word. No electricity, no running water, no Wifi {NO WIFI}. And I'll be honest, shutting yourself off from the outside world for a little while is the best kind of therapy. It's a little too easy to get glued to your phone or computer these days, am I right?

How can you beat that view? There's something about camping or cabining. Living in QUIET. Being able to hear yourself think, you know? I think we all need that every once in a while. 

 I can't get over it. Nature. It's pretty neat.

Also, guns are fun {when used properly, of course}. And my aim, which isn't fantastic just yet, is better than I thought. Girl power.

And getting shot in the hind quarters with a BB gun hurts more than you might think it would.

We went for a little nature walk, played Apples to Apples and card games, and lived in our onesie pajamas. Best purchase of my life, those Batman onesie PJs.

Why is it that when you're at a cabin, food just tastes so much better? Right? Pancakes are fluffier, hot chocolate is sweeter, roasted marshmallows get that perfect golden-y crispness you just can't get by heating them over your stove. Cabin food forever!

A weekend at a cabin is the best, is what it is. Thanks for a great trip, Hansens! 

a little gc weekend.

My beautiful, warm, quiet, peaceful weekend just ended, and I'm a little sad about it. You know those weekends that jumpstart you and relax you at the same time? This was one of those weekends. I think most of it had to do with watching General Conference. {You don't know what that is, or maybe you missed a session or two? Lucky you, it's available right here!} Questions were answered, food was eaten, and fun was had by all. My kind of Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday

I rolled my lazy self out of bed, may or may not  have stayed in my PJs {because as most Mormons know, it's almost against our religion to actually get dressed over Conference weekend}, and watched the first session with some friends. And snuck in some rounds of Words with Friends when the choir sang. It's fun watching with people because great discussions come out of each and every talk, and I absolutely love that.

For the second session my friend Lauren got a few of us tickets, so we were able to head up to Salt Lake. There's something a little bit magical about that city during Conference weekend. If you've been, you know what I'm talking about, right? It's exciting to see so many people, hear different languages, run into old friends.

My friends realized during our trip that I'd never had a Dunkin' Donuts donut before, so they dragged me to the one that just opened up downtown, where I proceeded to stuff my face with the Boston Creme. And !!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say about that. You can easily win me over with a good donut.

Whenever I'm in Salt Lake I always stop at Chipotle. Someone tell me why Provo doesn't have a Chipotle? Can we petition that? I'm being serious. It's just one of those places that makes me feel like I'm near home. And while we're at it, let's get a Dunkin' down here, too.

Since Nordstrom Rack is next to Chipotle, that was an obvious stop. If you'd like to chip in for the Alexa Really Wants This Beautiful Michael Kors Leather Jacket That She Feels Was Made For Her fund, please inquire below. All donations would be greatly appreciated. ;)

Someday...

Saturday night was spent at Guru's singing, or in my case, croaking, karaoke.  I realized pretty quickly that I'm not as talented as I think I am when I'm singing alone in my car. Also, who knew that "Titanium" is that tough to sing?

So. A delightful Saturday spent with delightful people.

Sunday

You know those days when you wake up and just want to be alone? Not in a bad or negative way, just in a...way? I woke up this morning feeling like that. So I watched Conference alone in my room, with my favorite blanket and my pumpkin candle burning, and I loved it. 

Then I took a solo drive up the Alpine Loop to look at the Fall colors. So much for being solo though, everyone and their mom had the same idea to take a drive. But it was just me in my car, with my music, and it was magical. And LOOK at those colors. Utah, I have my thoughts, feelings, and opinions about you, but you sure know how to do Fall right. 

I've learned something about myself recently, and that is that I like me. Does that make sense? I'm comfortable just being with myself. I've always been a pretty independent person, but I'm not independent out of necessity, I'm independent because I just like being with myself. I like the way my thoughts wander when I'm alone, and the way I can compartmentalize them when no one is around to distract me. Don't get me wrong, I love being with people, but sometimes it's nice to be by myself, and be okay with it. 

So that's it. What a weekend. I hope yours was just as fun, uplifting, and inspired as mine was. Here's to Monday!

P.S. This might have been my favorite talk. What an inspired, wonderful man. 

swooning.

This weekend I did a lot of swooning. You know, the weak in the knees, flushed face, perma-smile swooning. I swooned over my favorite music and my favorite city, I swooned over the people and the smells and the views, the kind of swoon that comes from being back home, in a place you love, a place that's yours.

My friend Chrissy and I made the 13 hour trek to the Bay Area, where we met up with my little sister and rushed ourselves to the Shoreline Ampitheatre to see John Freaking Mayer. Say what you will about him, but I will defend his music to the grave. Every girl says she has a Taylor Swift song that she can relate to, but I have a story for every JM song. Slow dancing in a burning room? Check. Edge of desire? I've been on it. Gravity? Do I even need to comment? ANYway, I've wanted to see him in concert since I was 13 years old and bought "Room for Squares," but somehow it's never worked out. But this, this tour I would not miss. I almost did, but thanks to someone upstairs knowing that this has been on my bucket list for almost half my life, I was able to go.

Via

And it was perfect. Everything I hoped it would be. Guys, his lyrics. His LYRICS. So swoon-worthy. "So good you didn't see the nervous wreck I used to be. You'd never know a man could feel so small. And you never look at me like I'm a liability, I bet you think I've never been at all." Right? RIGHT? Taking time off and moving to Montana just to write sure looks good on him.

Can you tell I have a little {massive} crush? Forget writing about it, time for pictures.

Go see him. Just do it.

the dynamic quad.

As I was thinking about it today, this photo above might be the last one of the four of us together as we are right now. When Devin comes home in two years, there might be some new people and the family dynamic will be completely different. That thought is a little bittersweet, don't you think?

I love the four of us. I love Tyler, the quiet, observant older brother, who influenced me in every way possible — music, movies, food, etc. I miss driving with him in the early morning hours to Seminary in his Jeep, where we bonded over all sorts of things once our tiredness wore off. We both share the trait of not wanting to talk to anyone for a few minutes after we wake up, and we were both aware of the consequences if one of us tried to make conversation too early. ;) I love his willingness to listen, and I love most his unexpected, hilarious one-liners. The guy is FUN-NY. I'm so lucky to have him here with me whenever I need him.

I love Whitney, the vibrant, curious little sister, whose love for travel and art inspires me. She can take a photo like no other, and her singing voice is divine. I've never met someone who is so able to stand up for herself and others. The girl is fearless, and so kind at the same time.

And I love Devin. Sweet, sincere Devin. Devin, who is so excited to change the lives of people in Tokyo. I don't think you could ask for a better youngest. He's the very best. He is what made our family complete, the mac to our cheese, the cherry on our sundae. He can be relied on to liven up any situation, to bring a smile to anyone's face. He's just the sweetest, and I miss him fiercely.  

I'm sure lucky to have these three. They are my people. We get each other, we rely on each other, we share our parents' personality traits and looks. We all have the same offbeat sense of humor and sarcasm that can probably be attributed most to our dad. 

Families are the greatest, aren't they? Here are some more photos saying good-bye to this sweet guy:

^^ Here you have him, always willing to lighten up a sad moment. :)

^^ Our awesomeness can be attributed to these two people because they're pretty great.

 ^^ So ready to go!

 ^^ See you on the flip-side, Elder Justesen. You're going to be missed.

And happy birthdays to Whitney and Tyler this week. You both deserve the very best!

of moving and movies and spring and stuff.

I'm here, I'm here! Successfully moved in {not}, and life is pretty good. This last week I've met some really great people, seen some great movies {RDJ and DiCaprio in one week is almost too much for my poor beating heart}, and next week I'm going home for a few days for the little brother's mission farewell. When did this all happen? He leaves in less than a month? What?

Anyway, until I have something of substance to write about, here are some pictures. Enjoy! 

^^ summer days

^^ summer nights

 ^^ I designed this front page!

 ^^ london was four years ago. ???

 ^^ perfectly moody

^^ celebrating wildlife

Here's to a great weekend. I will be spending it at the pool, doing whatever I can to avoid unpacking my kitchen.