photo a day.4

October 15, 2012: I failed at taking a single picture this day, so here is a screenshot of a pretty brick wall in a condo we found this day that is too expensive for us to buy.

October 16, 2012: Yet another rainbow across the sky.

October 17, 2012: Another day I almost failed--or you could say I failed because this picture is boring.

October 18, 2012: I had to Google "What is liquid smoke?"

October 19, 2012: Bu-rri-to. Bu-rri-to. 

October 20, 2012: I didn't know these were still available for purchase...

October 21, 2012: What a cutie. If I had had a camera on hand, I would have taken a picture of one of our 5-year-old primary girls helping one of our 5-year-old primary boys try to button his top shirt button as they were sitting on the stand for the primary program.

photo a day.3

October 8, 2012: The Q

October 9, 2012: Aaron never turns down a chance to play on a playground or swing on a swingset...or do something else crazy and perhaps slightly dangerous

October 10, 2012: Time for a new filing system...and I am so excited to organize it!

October 11, 2012: Center Street, Provo, UT

October 12, 2012: Rainbow on our way to Park City. (Stay posted for other beautiful stormy pictures from this day!)

October 13, 2012: Tanger Outlets, Park City, Size 17.

October 14, 2012: Alpine Loop. Family and Friends--when planning a trip to Utah, make it in October. (Again, stay posted for more pictures of gorgeous fall colors)

photo a day.2

October 1, 2012: Aaron shaves.

October 2, 2012: The mess that is, and seems like it always will be, my study.

October 3, 2012: Aaron watching the debates. Yes, he is hugging the blanket with anxiety. And the disconcerted look on his face means Obama was speaking.

October 4, 2012: Qualtrics party at Provo Beach Resort. I killed Aaron at bowling.

October 5, 2012: I randomly get asked to fill in for a sick dancer, learn a duet in 30 minutes, and perform it 4 times in one night at the Museum of Art on BYU campus.

October 6, 2012: Mid-conference break on a beautiful day.

October 7, 2012: Homemade fall wreath.

photo a day.1

With the dawning of my 25th year of life, I thought I would attempt to take 365 pictures--one per day for the whole year. Sometimes it will be a challenge to remember to take a picture, and sometimes it will be a challenge to choose just one to encompass the whole day.

So, here we go!

September 28th, 2012: Aaron got me matching PJs!

September 29, 2012: Shot with my new f/1.8 lens at Liberty Park in Salt Lake

September 30, 2012: Swingin'

ring the bells!

Though there was, actually, no singing at the wedding, even though it's potential was mentioned, there was a wedding. My brother, Ryan, and his 11-year partner, Kim, got married over Labor Day weekend.

We realized that the first time I met Kim, I was 12 years old. She is an amazing woman and I love her and look up to her in so many ways.

Kim's stepmother, Deb, ordered a bunch of flowers from a wholesale supplier, picked them up from the airport in Chicago, and drove them up to Madison. Once they got here, we set to work right away making boutonnieres, bouquets, and other flower arrangements. I got to make Aaron's boutonniere, and he made my bouquet. He was very serious about the creation of his flower arrangement, and everyone was super impressed with his masterpiece.

My dad was the "minister" for the ceremony, thanks to some online church-type-thing that he signed up for. The ceremony was really sweet, I think I cried the whole time. The fathers on both sides spoke, and then Ry and Kim had prepared some things to say. Ryan read a part from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. I had never heard it before, but it was so beautiful.

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden. 

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. 

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast. 

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart. 

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love. 

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. 

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

it's about time

First of all, I am curious to see what you may have thought with a title of "it's about time". Please, share your thoughts.

What I really intended with that statement was a segway into saying it's about time that I post something. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything amazing to write about, and definitely no pictures to go with that lack of amazingness.


A while back--the first week of July to be exact--Aaron and I road tripped to Wisconsin. I brought my camera, and yet I took no pictures. We really just "hung out"--spent some time with all the many family members that were there: Mom and Dad, Ryan and Kim, Dave and Adrienne, and Maggie and Paul (the dogs). If only we could have planned that better and got Stevie out at the same time.

The trip was unlike any trip home I have ever had. First of all, my parents were completely remodeling their bathroom, putting it out of use. That left two bathrooms for 8 people and workers stomping and banging around most of the days.

Then, the day before we were scheduled to begin our trip back, we discovered that this

was infesting my brother Ryan's lungs. That somewhat visually appealing purple mass is Hodgkins Lymphoma. Not so pretty anymore, eh? I was able to stay a little while longer, but Aaron did have to get back to work. He drove the whole way back to Utah by himself! I was really quite scared for him, especially when I called him and he said he had no idea where he was. (His iPhone had lost service, since he decided to rough it and take some random back roads.)

As you might imagine, the trip was full of way more tears than I was expecting, but lots and lots of love, too. Witnessing two of my sweet family members struggle with this mysterious epidemic we know as cancer has added a huge bullet point to reasons why I believe lots of the things I believe. 

Like that the most important thing we can do in our lives is to love everyone around us. My dad and my brother are two of my greatest role models for this. Kindness is never a bad thing. 

Like that family is really an amazingly wonderful thing, and that our greatest joys and successes come through our families.

Like that there are things in life we can't control, no matter how hard we try, and all we can do is learn to face uncertainties with hope and a smile.

Like that my family will be mine forever.

The day the doctor called with Ryan's pathology report, we all ended up just sitting around the family room shocked, but trying to be happy that at least his cancer was curable. I remember my dad saying lots of profound and comforting things to us all, and I can't express how much I wish I had had some sort of spy recording device to save and remember what he said. One of the things that did stick in this terrible memory of mine was so beautiful that I still am thinking about it. It went something like this:

"I don't know exactly how to explain it or what this means, but somehow, I think the answer is love."

these are not my babies...

...though that would have been a pretty spectacular secret to have kept all this time.

These are my friend's babies. Until recently, Amber and her husband, Eric, lived in our complex. They just moved away to bigger and better things in Seattle. I had been "helping" Amber with her twin boys, coming over and sitting around while they slept so that she could run on the treadmill without worry. "Helping" really just meant an excuse for me to hang out with Amber, and an excuse for me to play with cute babies.

Before Amber left, we took Roy and Bruce (her babies) to a splash pad--a place outside where lots of screaming kids play in a little area with water squirting up out of the ground at not-so-baby-friendly pressures. Needless to say, the boys hated it. We didn't get any pictures of them screaming in the water, but I was somewhat proud of a few of the pictures I took after the trauma was over. 

Don't worry, I won't post too many pictures of someone else's kids. But you can't help but smile at really cute babies, right?