seeking equilibrium

So life is back to normal. As normal as it can be right now, I guess. That doesn't mean it's easy. I'm just ready for everything to move on, move along, and start getting easier. But I'm afraid that's going to take longer than I'd want. It might just take as long as I'm expecting. We'll have to see.

I miss my girls. Rachel and Rachel and Amber and Wistie.

Quotes of the Day:

Tyler: "We left the car so obviously open that no one would break in because they thought it was a trap."

and

Thea: "Let's compromise like an old couple. 'Ferd, I'm hot.'"
Me: "Am I Ferd, or are you?"
Thea: "You are. I'll be the old woman going through menopause."

and

Me: "I'm so glad I have an imagination. It makes it easier to space out on long trips."

and

Christina: "They're just on a trip. They're just on drugs."

travel savvy

My Washington trip is over. It was absolutely and positively amazing. I really wish I could back for another week! It was so much fun! I had the perfect last week with Tylor. I can't believe that will be last time I'll see him for over two years! I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do with myself now. But the years should go by really fast!

The last day I was there we went golfing. I had been wanting to go for I don't even know how long. It's been on my life's goal list for a long time. So Ty taught me how, and we went! It was a blast. I didn't do to bad, either. It was just a par 3 course, but it still made me feel pretty special!

Sunday before I left we recorded our country dance moves. My favorite were the lifts. I am really glad that we filmed them. It'll help me remember what I was able to do at one time.



So immediately from Washington I flew down to California for my grandmother's funeral. It was really nice, and I loved seeing my Aunt Nancy and cousin Patrick again. I hadn't seen them for two years. We went out to eat a few times, swam in the hotel pool, and ate chocolate cake. And of course, the next day, I had an eight hour drive home. It was long, but not too bad. Afterwards I realized that I was in four states in the last seven days. Washington, Idaho, California, then Nevada.

What a crazy summer.

Quotes of the Day:

Me: "Those skanks took my ball! What is so funny?!"
Ty: "Did you just say the word 'skank'?"

and

Me: "I hate this sport!!!"

and

Ty: "I love it when you wear white. It makes you look more like an angel."

and

Ty: "My 8 cow horse."

and

Drew: "I don't want to swallow it because then it will go away."

and

Waiter: "Thanks for coming folks. It was... interesting..."
Christina: "Are we weird?"

and

Patrick: "Julie, you don't NAME YOUR FISH?!!"

city lights are aglow

You want to know what's beautiful? Well, besides life? Looking over a giant city from high up and being able to see it from all sides. Ty and I went hiking the other day up a little hill between downtown and the valley. We went up to a little pond where there was a deck, and there were tons of bright blue dragonflies all around. It was really cute!

Then we went up a little higher and split off the main trail to another less noticeable one. We went up, and Ty made me promise that I wouldn't look behind me. We kept climbing, going over rocks and passed trees, and then he stopped me and told me to close my eyes. He led me a little further and finally turned me around and told me to open my eyes. I could see the entire city! It stretched all around from left to right. He pointed things out like downtown, Spokane's version of the Vegas strip, and a lake by his house. It was absolutely beautiful! We kept moving higher to see if we could get a better view, and finally decided to start climbing down.

We were walking and kept talking, and hadn't realized that we took the wrong trail. We looked around, and didn't recognize anything around us. I said that we're good as long as we keep going downhill, and that we'd eventually reach the street. Besides, it's not like we can get extremely lost, since we can hear and see the city. So a few detours and random trails later, we stumbled on the original trail head, and back to the car.

That was our adventure for the day! And it was fabulous :)

Quotes of the Day:

Me: "Thank you for playing me like an instrument."
Ty: "Thank you for being my instrument."

and

Jacquelynn: "You should teach Tylor that dance."
Me: "He doesn't want to learn it. He says he can't move his hips."
Jacquelynn: "I can't believe he said that! He's goin DOWN!!!"

and

Jacquelynn: "When you go back home I'm going back with you."

and

Ty: "Every time I go into the store, I see things I would love to get you."
Me: "I know. It makes me feel bad."
Ty: "Why does that make you feel bad?"
Me: "Because I want to give you the world, and it's kind of hard to do that if you've already given it to me."

last minute happiness

Well, I'm in Spokane, Washington right now. I wasn't supposed to leave to come until Tuesday afternoon, but my family had a major change in plans, so I changed my plane ticket to come on Monday. My mom called Southwest Airlines, changed my ticket, I hurriedly packed my things, and was out the door to the airport not much later. Of course, I forgot to pack a bunch of things, but I expected that, since I was in such a hurry. But it's all okay. I didn't forget my phone charger (thanks to my mom, who asked me at least 10 times before I got out the door if I had packed it), or underwear, or clean clothes, or pajamas. At one point in time I have forgotten to pack at least one of those items. How do you forget to pack clean clothes? I don't even know.

I am having an absolute blast down here! And guess what, it rained yesterday! I was so excited to have warm rain! We went on a walk barefoot around the neighborhood in it. There was a little park that we stopped at played at just down the street. Everything was soaking wet, so we also go soaking wet. But that was the best part.

Then Ty and I taught some cha-cha to the single adults in his stake. That was pretty fun, too. I loved dancing with him again. That was the best part of the night.

So we've watched three movies already. One called Down Periscope, which was hilarious. I didn't think I would like it because it's a military movie and I usually don't really like to watch those. But it was really funny. I think my dad would really like it. We might have to watch it when I get back. Then we watched Just My Luck, which Ty almost slept through. I've seen it a bunch, and still think that it's really cute. It's just fluff, as my mom would say. And we also watched the last half of Live Free or Die Hard. Which I hadn't seen. I think watching just the second half was enough. It's definitely a guy's movie.

So I am just having the best time ever! I think we're going down to Coeur d'Alene in Idaho to the lake there this afternoon. It should be fun!

Quotes of the Day:

Me: "It feels like I've wet my pants."

where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies

I just watched a movie the other day, one that I have wanted to watch for a long time. I had been weary of watching it until now because of what people had told me about it, but I had been wanting to see it for forever. Especially since I had the soundtrack already, and all the songs came from my very favorite band.

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
they slither while they pass,
they slip away across the universe.
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
are drifting through my open mind,
possessing and caressing me.

I really really loved that movie. It made me very happy and I'm addicted to the music, as my mom could tell you. I'm sure she's involuntarily listened all the way through the soundtrack a gazillion times because I've played it every waking moment. It was a little crazy in the middle, but I think that's one of the reasons I loved it so much. It sort of reminded me of the beginning of Moulin Rouge. Except for the Mr. Kite song. That was just plain weird and what my nightmares look like.

So I also saw the new Batman movie with Thea yesterday. It was really good. I liked the first one better but this movie was pretty good, too. Actually anything with Christian Bale is good. I love Christian Bale. I have to say, the Joker scared me to death. I think he is the most evil bad guy ever in history. He isn't just the normal, stereotypical villain. He was emotionally and mentally traumatizing. It hurt to watch what he was doing to the people. I'm pretty sure there will be another Batman movie because they set up the next villain already. It'll be a good one hopefully. And I really want that one policeman's kid to be Robin! I was telling this to Thea. I think Robin would be really cheesy to put in the movie, and would definitely seem to go against Batman's character to have a sidekick, but I want him to be Robin so bad! It would make me mucho happy.

Quotes of the Day (or week):

Michael: Trying to identify the artist of a painting during a game of Cranium: "Van Gogh! ...Who cut his ear off? Oh, Van Gogh. ......OH the guy who rhymes with that hot actor... Titanic... Dicaprio... Leonardo Dicaprio! ...Cappuccino?"

and

Michael: "Gorbechev. He broke an empire. Like, a big empire. Like China. Except for Russia."

and

Maggie: "Humpty Dumpty sat on a freakin' wall!!!"

and

Me: "Please don't make me die. I have a life!"

and

Michael: "Okay, Allison. What do we do?"
Me: "I've never played Cranium before I don't know."
Michael: "You don't know how to play? Well I don't either!"
Me: "It's your game!"

french dipped zebra

Random occurrences over the past few days make me happy.

I went up to a door that said "PUSH" on it and stood there waiting for it to open.

There were two older men passing notes to each other and giggling during Sunday School.

It's shocking to go anywhere other than BYU because you see the world, and it's not pleasant. Specifically typical women's clothing. I really just want to dress them. (More ugly butt monkey girls).

Some old guy my mom doesn't know randomly came up to her in Rite Aid today and told her a story/joke in the middle of the store.

The old guy was picking up his drugs from the pharmacy.

The guy at the Costco gas station was really nice and helped my mom.

I got a French dip sandwich.

Did you know there is a zebra on the Idaho U-Haul?

My brother Tyler went onto my family's Netflix account and added "Most Extreme Primate" to our queue. We didn't know he had until it showed up in the mail today.

Um, I'm sure more has happened. I just don't really remember.

burn the floor

So I just got back from seeing an amazing ballroom dance show in Reno with my parents. It was Floorplay, and it was done by an Australian troupe called Burn the Floor. I had a hard time sitting in my seat just watching. I wanted to be up on the stage with them! They did mostly Latin dances like cha-cha, samba, many rumbas, Paso Doble, jive, and mambo. Then there was a bit of standard; foxtrot, quickstep, West Coast swing, and a tango. I was surprised that they didn't do any waltz.

After the show we went to the lobby and there were three dancers out there. I got to talk to them a few minutes, dance with one of the guys, and ask them questions. I loved talking with them.

Here are a few dances from the show:

This samba was the opening number. The guy who is singing is one of the guys I met after show and got a picture with.



This girl had the best rumba I have ever seen in person. It was gorgeous. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her feet. They were turned out and her toes were pointed, and she had over-extension. And her legs were so straight that they looked like they were bending the wrong way.



And a pretty cool cha-cha. This cha-cha is a lot better than the beginning cha-cha that I know! :)



I loved this Salsa!!! Those guys are SO amazing!

silence

So my cousin Isaac, his wife Sydney, and their two boys George (3) and Thomas (2) are here visiting. They live in Dubai in the United Arab Emeritas, and are here for the summer visiting family. I was really excited to see them and to play with the boys. They are adorable :)

Last night I got to hang out with some old friends from high school; Michael, Sam, Nick, and two of Michael's friends. We went to Katie's at the Carson Valley Inn. It was fun and I got lots of new quotes.

So I don't have much else to say. So I guess I just won't say it. Goodbye.

Quotes of the Day:
Michael: "Stop talking about that. It's not a game for women. It's not even a game for men!"

and

About Shia LaBeouf in Indiana Jones
Nick: "He's fine."
Michael: "So, do you mean fine like he's hot or like he's just an okay actor?"
Nick: "He's a horrible actor!"
Michael: "Oh so then you think he's hot."

and

Michael: "I like your mom. And I like your mom. And.... I like YOUR mom! And I like your mom. I DON'T like your mom."

and

Michael: "OH you mean your... FIANCIE!"
Me: "Fiance?"
Michael: "No, FEE-AN-SEE!"

and

George: "Pirates cut out bellies."

sew tragic

My fingers are tingling and I am just DYING to do my yearly sewing project. Although I wasn't planning on doing one this year. I've done one for the past three years. This is what I want to do this year:

A late 1800's Victorian style dress.

Here is my vision:
The bottom dress is a dark midnight blue- I was thinking some kind of silk-like fabric; muslin, or a taffeta. Then for the overlay, a very sheer white/blue. And of course a shimmery sheer ribbon for the bow.

The best thing about this dress is that I wouldn't have a problem wearing it to church. But the main reason I wanted it is for a party.

The Breaking Dawn midnight release party at Borders is in a few weeks. I'm dressing up like Rosalie. I came up with three options at what I could wear to the party.

1) Pre-vampire Rosalie lived in England in the late 1800s. I was thinking of doing that era. I could wear this Victorian era dress and maybe wear a sweet hat and bring a parasol.

2) Modern day Rosalie when she went to prom at the end of Twilight. "Her vivid scarlet dress was backless, tight to her calves where it flared into a wide ruffle train, with a neckline that plunged to her waist." Of course, my dress doesn't look like this, but it is a formal. And it is red. And it is floor length.

3) Find a dress that looks like a wedding dress. Then hold a sign that says, "Edward loved Bella. But then he met me." Thea liked this idea the best. We are going to go look at a white formal dress I saw at the thrift store the other day for her. I think she might do this. It would be really funny!

I don't know I think I'm really partial to number 2. I think that would be a lot of fun. And I would be the best Rosalie there. No 6 year old will beat me in the costume contest this time! Dang you, 6 year old Hermione... dang you.

Anyway, I do have a sewing project lined up, although it's not that exciting. I'm going to make a long standard ballroom skirt. It shouldn't be too hard, and it'll be a lot cheaper than buying one. At a dance shop they're around $50 to $60.

However... the dress wouldn't be that expensive to make. And wouldn't be that hard. It's only 3 yards for the dress, and a 2 3/4 yards for the overlay... Don't let me talk myself into it. And don't let me go in a fabric store unattended. Or with money. Even if I am attended.

Okay, I compromised. I'm going to start working on a cross-stitch instead. I'm going to Wal-Mart in the morning and picking one up. Much less expensive, and will take a lot more time than making that dress. *grumble* I could have that dress whipped out in 8 hours. It's a simple design. A cross-stitch will take double that at least. Well, I'll be glad to have something to do.

shooting

My dad and I went shooting yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun! I hadn't gone in a long time. We took the AR-15, a .22 handgun, the glock, and a .22 cowboy gun. My mom came, too, and watched. We all had a good time. There were some other guys at the range and they were quite impressed that I was shooting the AR. "She's shooting an AR!"

wall-e

I just got back from seeing Wall-E tonight. It was SO cute! I just want to scoop Wall-E up and give him a huge, squishy hug! I loved the whole movie. It made me cry. It was just adorable, but it was all because of Wall-E's character. And, I got a free watch. I went with Hannah, Lydia, and Emily, and we all got free watches. We're going to wear them to church on Sunday.

I really, really want Wall-E.

just many random quotes

About Danishes
Grandma: "Pick some muffins. Or get some of those things. You know, those things. With stuff on top. The things with stuff on top. Um, it begins with a 'B' and has stuff on top..."

and

Mom: "He was just trying to be... to be..."
Me: "retarded?"

and

Me: "Is this a turtle?"
Mom: "It's me. Swimming."

and
Me: "The traffic is so bad in Provo. I'm kinda glad I didn't have to drive in it."
Michael: "Loan."
Me: "Uh, yeah, so the drivers are way crazy in Provo."
Michael: "Loan."
Me: "What?"
Michael: "Say the place where you're from again!"
Me: "Provo."
Michael: "Loan! Don't you get it?"
Me: "No."
Michael: "Provo. Loan. Provolone!"

and

Thea: "Bunny rabbits!"
Me: "Oh I thought they were ducks."
Thea: "How does a bunny rabbit look like a duck?"
Me: "...I don't know..."