skypey skype

I normally skype with my family every Sunday, but due to my family's obsession with going to our beach house, they don't have internet. No internet=no skype time.
While I was talking to them on the phone, I remembered these pictures from one Skype sesh.
Happy Sunday, everyone!

my brother found some old glasses

and my personal favorite...

the story of us

In high school, I remember wanting so badly to like Taylor Swift because my eternal crush adored her.  But I couldn't do it.  I couldn't stand her voice at all.
But. I'm not in high school, anymore, and I've been converted.  I LOVE T-Swift.  yeah, her voice hasn't improved much, but you gotta admit: the girl's talented.
This music video I stumbled upon this evening strengthened that love.  #1: Especially since this is totally applicable to my current love life situation. #2: I have a thing for cute nerds.  #3: The girl piano player is my musical hero. I want to jam like she can someday.

my best friend's wedding

It breaks my heart to think that I haven't been back to Oregon since Christmas break.  I'm most likely going to end up in the northwest because I can't stand to be away from it; these past 5.5 months are proof of that.  This weekend was proof of that.  I packed in as much Oregon goodness as I could in 2 short days. 
Ready?
Thursday, Seth, Anna and I hit the road.  Let's just say that it freaked my mom out how quickly we got to Tualatin from Provo haha.  I've done this trip 8-9 times and I'm NOT a roadtrippin' type, my friends.  So the quicker to Tualatin, the better.  The first Burgerville we came to, we hit up.  If you visit Oregon, go to Burgerville and get a milkshake and whatever is in season.  After the wedding Saturday, we gave everyone in Annie and Bryce's family directions to the nearest Burgerville since they heard so much about it.
We dropped Anna off in the city, which means I got to see Portland at night, which is beautiful.  Miss it.
I had some typical sister/brother time with Spencer and rocked Guitar Hero and watched "The Walking Dead" (zombie series...freaky crap, dude). 
I would add pictures from this day, but I didn't want to intimidate you with how hot I look when I road trip.

Friday, I Zumba-ed with mother at Club Sport, ate at Panera for lunch, and shopped. until. we. dropped.  Annie's family had a dinner at their place that night, and it was soooo funnn to have all of the Oregon friends together again IN OREGON in Annie's house. 

Saturday, Anna and I got our little bridesmaids selves ready.  Anna, momma, Syd, and I went to get our nails did.  Then Anna and I ran over to the Temple for the big occasion.  While we were waiting with everyone outside, I said, "Sheesh, you guys. I can't believe that Annie is getting married."  And then Seth, who got to be at the sealing, said, "Michelle. They're already married."  It hit me then, I think.  If I was the crying type, I would have cried when Annie and Bryce came out, just because I was so so happy for them.
Then pictures, pictures, pictures.  And taking pictures while everyone else was taking other pictures.

{Oregon lovelies}

{fab 4}

{she was so gorgeous}

Naturally, we were starving after smiling for all of those pictures, so we went to Mashitas, the best local bento place.  They asked us why we were matching.
Then off to the reception!

{annie and bryce play scrabble like it's their religion...isn't this a cute idea for them?}

then home for some much-needed family time, including losing at speed scrabble.  I'm an English major. Doesn't that mean I should dominate every time?



Sunday, we went to the first hour of church to see wardies that we haven't seen in awhile.  Especially Anna, since she hasn't been back since she moved 3 years ago. 

Car time the whole way home.

I was asked today why I love Oregon so much.  This will need a whole separate post, but just know that I miss Oregon terribly every time I'm away from it and I feel...relieved?...the minute we reach the gorge on the drive home.  It's my drug. It's my home.  And I miss it already.

good deeds

I was sitting on my couch, watching TV, eating dinner after a looong day at work.  I was thinking about all of the stuff that I have to read/do/think about tonight.  And the next night. And the rest of the semester. (notice the infrequency of blog posts recently?).  My roommate Sarah was walking in and out of the apartment.  She came in one time and handed me a cute plate with coffee cake on it.  I exclaimed: "Oh how nice! Someone left us a treat!"  And she said: "No. I think it's just for you."  And the card with it read:  "Michelle: You are awesome. The end. Enjoy the coffee cake and keep the plate!"  On the outside it said the famous British saying:

It shocked me that Number One: someone was thinking about me.  Number Two: Someone so thoughtful who was thinking about me thought it was a good idea to give me an unsolicited treat.  Number three: It couldn't have come at a better time. Number Four: They used a British saying.  Number Five: They gave me sugar.

thank you so much, you kind stranger out there!

where were you?

I was still asleep, since NYC was three hours away.  I first remember how important of an even this must have been if my mom was waking me up before I was supposed to get ready for school.  Our T.V. was on; also not a usual occurance on school day mornings.  My mom ushered me into my little brother's room.  He was 8 at the time, making me 11.  Still groggy and confused, I tried to pay attention to my mom who explained what was happening.  That's present progressive "-ing", meaning it was still going on.  There was still mayhem in some part of the world.  My mom gently relayed to us that some bad guys had attacked the United States in New York City.  She then asked if we wanted to stay at home. If we were too scared or uncomfortable to go to school.  On the way out, I caught a glimpse of the T.V.  The live images of the planes crashing into the buildings has never left me.  I caught the footage of the second plane just as I went out the door.  I didn't fully understand it, but there were people my age who were worried about things that only people older than us worry about.  I was 11 and I knew that something bigger than us was going on.
As I got older, I was able to more fully comprehend what damage had been done.  When you're 11, you don't know about death counts or terrorism.  Just about the sadness in the faces of the fleeing.  When I was 17, my family took a trip to NYC.  Six years later, and Ground Zero was still at ground zero.  The museum, the memorials, the ever-present notes and fresh flowers proved that you don't forget the things that are bigger than us.  The pain subsides, the clean-up is finished, but the fear lingers.  At the end of the museum, there was a section where you could write notes to the families of the victims.  I don't remember what I said, but I mentioned this topic of remembering.  I remember being scared.  I remember for the first time hearing all of the details.  I remember seeing.  I remember being shocked at the amount of hurt that can be caused because of that bigger thing, that bigger "cause".  I also mostly remember being grateful.  Grateful that I don't have to walk down the street and worry about a car bomber.  Grateful that I saw that, no matter how much evil there is in the world, good always counter-acts it.  People will step up to do what they need to to survive and to help others to survive, even if the fear of the bigger things hang over their heads.  Americans have always run towards the fear if it meant defending the good. 
Tonight, I was at a friend's apartment with a group, watching a movie about good vs. evil ("Megamind").  A line in the movie says, "You should never judge a book by its cover. You should only judge people on their actions."  In the case of 9/11, not many words were said, but a whole lot of action did the trick.  When the movie finished, we were walking out and a bunch of people exclaimed: "Hey! I just got a text about Osama bin Laden being killed!"  I felt the fear, again. Fear for retaliation and what the next step will be.  I felt the gratitude, again.  Gratitude for the brave intelligence officers who have run towards the fear for the past 10 years trying to acheive justice for what was done.  But I also felt relief.  Relief that justice was served and hearts  of the victims' families could be put to rest.  Relief to know that America is still defending our freedom against terrorism.  It moved me so much, that I had to stop writing a paper to write a blog post.  Because, like four years ago, I remembered where I was when 9/11 started and I didn't want to forget where I was when it finished.

{memorial @ ground zero}

{antenna from one of the towers and front pages to newspapers from across the world dated 9/11/01--Newseum, WA DC}