I'm a little bit Country

I'm on a country kick and I have these songs on repeat:

Whatever It Is-Zac Brown Band

Wild At Heart-Gloriana

The Climb-Miley Cyrus (I know, I know, the song would be better song by someone else)

More Like Her-Miranda Lambert

(More on last weekend and the wedding activities later!)

Silver Lining

Snapshot reasons for why I'm happy:

• I get the shivers randomly throughout the day when I think about living in DC...excited shivers.
• Warmer weather is in the foreseeable future (even though today is COLD).
• I get to hear funny things come out of the mouths of 7th graders every week and it helps me remember what I'm doing.
• The comfort of loving parents and an intense game of scrabble are only 30 minutes away.
• Aubry is going to Mongolia on her mission, and we see priceless terrified looks come from her everyday after hearing new information about it. She will be the best missionary ever!
• I'm sitting in my Teaching with Technology class right now*, playing with the Mac Photo Booth and putting my knowledge to good use.
• Finding this blog has brought me hours of entertainment and fueled me with hope. They are an adorable couple, have an intriguing life, are moving to DC soon, and share my love of junk food. Why wouldn't I want to read it?
• I'm busy this week for all of the right reasons.
• My bangs are almost long enough to stay in my ponytail (for now I pin them back on occasion).
• I LOVE family get-togethers so Wednesday and this weekend will be good. Tuesday and Thursday will be good because of DC meetings. Today is good in general...and I'm getting Cafe Rio with Erin after class.
• I used to think it was cheesy or an exaggeration when Relief Society Presidents said "I love you girls"...now I get it.

*The above was written in class...so, 5 hours later...

I love my life. A while back I stopped saying the exaggerated phrase "I hate my life." When you have to rake dirt for 8 hours or you have 3 tests in a week or you get your heel stuck in the sidewalk crack, this phrase is likely to slip out. BUT because I realized it was stupid and not true in the least bit, I added the phrase "In this moment" in case it continued to slip out. It's true, there are bad moments. A little positive humor always helps; for example, when we were at Cafe Rio, a lady dumped her plate of beans and rice on Erin. I said something like "Well, it looks like it all brushed off your shirt" and Erin said "I have sour cream in my pocket." I replied with "Well ,then, at least there wasn't a tortilla that you had to peel off of your shirt." See. Easy. (Erin was actually really nice about it and we felt really bad for the lady but, anyway) Another way you can combat the bad moments is to remember to look at the overall picture of your life. All of the above bulleted items make for a good life, some of them are permament meaningful experiences, some of them just good moments. Either way these things and many more unlisted things make up a life that is worthy of gratitude. It's true, I may be striving for other developments to come about, but I can have the comfort of knowing that the heart of my life is good.

"No it won't all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good."-John Mayer

LOVE it

Can I boycott school?

For the last couple of days I have been yearning for two things: summer and Wyoming.

The weather here has been off and on warm lately, and I just want it to be summer already! No homework, no coat, no problem. I usually enjoy winter, in fact, I went snowboarding at Rock Canyon Park last night and it was great. It's just more about the principle behind the season. Ahhhhhh, freedom!

As for Wyoming...I just miss it. The thought of going home to a ward that's all small town friendly, with people I know, and places I'm familiar with, well that's the best combination. AND summer and Wyoming together hold a lot of great memories.

Here are some pictures from Wyoming summers past:

The Keefer Ranch. Wyoming is truly beautiful in its own way.

Behind the scenes of our Superman photoshoot

Extreme Makeover Home Edition!

Waterworld with the Branch. Who can resist competing in the TurboRacer, burning your feet on the hot cement, and feeling terrified in the Wave Pool?

Wheatland? We had a branch boating day here that was a blast. 50% of us walked away burnt to a crisp.

Camping at Kurt Gowdy (Emily has always been really coordinated)

Sooooo many nights longboarding. (I do not recommend doing so in the dark)

I love driving the skidsteer (and giving people rides, shhh!)

Rockies game, right behind Matt Holliday...where all baseball games should be. haha

'Nuff said.

BUT...Utah and winter are good to me too.