What do you get when you combine a guitar and a fish? A happy girl.

I'm the happiest that I've been in awhile. Not to say I wasn't happy at the beginning of this year, but I'm particularly happy now, you know what I mean?
I'm getting paid to do what I love to do and I can do it at home or wear jeans into the studio. I finally feel validated for my talents. Someone recognizes that I am capable of doing a good job and they offered me a position. I can't begin to tell you what a relief it is to officially be employed, even if it's just part-time for now. [For those who haven't heard, I'm teaching piano at Guitarfish, a music studio in Tigard and Hillsboro] I am near family and close friends and in a city that I can't stay away from, no matter how hard I try.

To my friends who are transitioning from school to work or from job to job or going through any other life transition, I want to let you know that life will get better. You may feel confused and overwhelmed. You may be thinking that you shouldn't be so stressed when life has so many opportunities right now and you should just be grateful and make a decision. I GET that. And I had some amazing amazing people who had so much patience with me and looked me in the face and said, "Michelle, it will be OK. It feels like the end of the world, but I promise it isn't." I am here to be that person, if not in person, then virtually, through this blog. Imagine me holding your shoulders and saying: "Hey. It really feels like the end of the world. It's OK to cry about it. It's OK to take a break from job hunting and going out to eat some froyo. Hey. Ask for help and then let others help you. Ask for advice, but realize that you are ultimately the source of your own happiness. You know what is best for you, so do what will make you happy, not for validation from others. Things will eventually get better." Now imagine me giving you a big fat hug. Now go get some froyo.

I am eternally indebted to my friends and family who put up with my antics and panic attacks and I'm grateful that they are still my friends after all that haha. I would be in an asylum (and still unemployed, to boot) right now if it wasn't for you. Thank you thank you thank you. Also, I know I've said this before, but I'm too stubborn to learn the first time: God knows me better than I know myself. He is so patient with me and knows what I need before I even realize that I need it. Thanks be to Him.

Life is good.

And Oregon is beautiful!

Rose Garden

Pioneer Square w/ street band

Cook Park

Cook Park

View of West downtown from OMSI

two holidays and a vacation

Sorry about the hiatus, guys--it's actually been productively busy! I'm zeroing in on my new apartment in DC and I have some leads for jobs there, too.  All I can say is that God knows me better than I do and He is patient enough to wait for me to get my act together.  Things have just been falling into place TOO well for it to be coincidence, you know?  I'm starting to get more and more excited now that things are becoming more real.  Especially since someone who also interned in DC recently pointed out that there is a good chance I'm going to be working in The Castle!

Is this real life?

As for the updates, let me jump back to, erm, Halloween. I had carved pumpkins at FHE and with my sister and on the day itself I was a vampiress and made about 100 cupcakes.  That's just about it.  Oh, and my family kept up the tradition of watching a bunch of scary movies the whole month and decorating the house super spooky.  A little neighbor girl came up to my mom one day and said, "I like your grapeyard."

the pumpkin that the Bigelow sisters mostly carved while I cheered them on.

my zombie pumpkin

mummies--my first time attempting pumpkin cupcakes

the graveyard--chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting

Then this one came into town, so we ate Mashitas, went shopping, and watched Breaking Dawn, Part 2.

my fortune at the mall: "Joy will come with the return of a good friend." awwww.

"the flash is too bright!" and so was vampire Bella.

For Thanksgiving, my family actually went out to California the week before Thanksgiving since my dad and I had to work on Thanksgiving.  Saturday, the first order of business off of the plane was going to In-N-Out.  That night, we ordered pizza and watched the BYU game.  

Sunday, the girls went to a baby shower for a family friend.  Then we had Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family and also Anna Peterson.  Yayyy Anna Petersonnn!!! I ended up driving back to Anna's in Santa Monica so we could have a girls' night and party.  Whenever a friend comes into town, her employer is always like "go out clubbin" or "go have some fun on the town" and we are always like "ok" then we run back to Anna's and get into sweats and watch Vampire Diaries.  That's why I love that girl!  

Monday, the brave ones went to Universal Studios.  I was excited about the rides but not excited about the Jurassic Park ride.  But, you have to admit, I'm brave because at least I face my fears and go on the Jurassic Park ride, every time we go, anyways.  This time, I was feeling more confident because, well, I'm not 12, and also because I knew what was coming so I could close my eyes if needed (I'm not 12...).  But then they changed the ride. So I DIDN'T know what was coming and I was 12, again.  I hate Jurassic Park.

We got to go on the new 3D Transformers Ride, which was epic and I hadn't been on the Mummy ride, either, which was epic.  And I survived Jaws and King Kong on the studio tour. So, all in all, a pretty awesome day.  That night we watched "The Birds" in honor of the references to Hitchcock's movies during the day (we also survived Norman Bates on the studio tour).

Tuesday, we ate breakfast at my most favorite place on earth, the Egg Plantation.  Seriously, you haven't lived until you have tried their strawberry stuffed french toast.  I crave that stuff every day. Then, some of us went shooting.  That made me feel pretty BA.  Wish I had taken pictures.  That afternoon, the ladies had high tea at The Tea Gardens, which is beginning to become a tradition for us.  My grandma is British and she still drinks tea religiously every afternoon, so we decided to make it an outing for the girls.  

herbal raspberry tea for me, please!

our individual teapots.

Thanksgiving Day, we were back in Oregon hiking and eating.

The day after Thanksgiving, I co-hosted Annie's baby shower.  It is so crazy that she is due this month! BABIES.  

Lindsay---Annie and baby girl Kunz---me

I made that.

Besides that, I have been hanging out a lot with these people:

And babysitting a lot of little people.

to the beach on a whim

Annie texted me yesterday to see if we could meet up for lunch today and I was like duh so this morning I was like hey Annie where are we going to eat and she was like today's Bryce's last day before staring law school. wanna go to the beach after food? and I was like duh.
And that, my friends, is a run-on sentence.
And these are pictures from my fun day.

preggo!

proposal rock beach, neskowin, or

it would have been nice and warm if it wasn't so windy!

uhh...which way are we supposed to go?

Bryce's first time at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I may have taken multiple cheese samples and I can't confirm that I ate a lot of ice cream.

eccentric small coastal towns. gotta love them. like Jesus loves you.

this is happiness

This last August, we took Petunia, our loving/funny bulldog to the beach for the first time ever in her life.  She LOVED it.

My mom loves to remind me how cold and land-locked I am in Provo by texting me every once and awhile: "Have a great day! Heading off to the beach house!"  Gag me with a spoon.  This happened to me this week right as Utah decided that it's time to be cold.  

Then she made it worse by sending me this video.  

http://sz0144.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/IMG_1764.MOV?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=151660&part=2

I miss my doggy and the beach and my family and Oregon.  There lies my true happiness :)

"I'm headin' back home to the west coast"

I've had this stuck in my head all day because it's TRUE!!
Coconut Records, "West Coast"


I got a text from Momma yesterday that said: "Sooo I was thinking you get on a flight, we go to the coast, fly to London, and frequent some pubs..."
And I thought that was just about the best thing one could do to be totally happy.

a weekend trip worth blogging about

Remember how I went to Oregon for the first time since Christmas the weekend of May 20th? And it was awesome?  Well, I got to do it, again a few weeks ago.  It's been awhile, but I've been busy.  Forgive me.
thursday
So that I could enjoy my weeekend with my family and be ready for finals week, I pushed myself to finish a lot before I left for Portland.  So, naturally, I passed out the minute I sat on the plane and woke up the minute we plane started decending into Portland. 
My brother had his Court of Honor with Austin Porter and they had a slideshow with pictures from the boys' lives.  A few of them were of my brother and I and I suddenly got emotional seeing us growing up together.

{the whole gang}

friday
Momma and I hit Club Sport to zumba.  If I could do only one form of exercise for the rest of my life, zumba would win.  I love to dance.  And I love loud music that gets you moving.  And I love to have fun when I work out so that I can forget that I'm working out.
Spence and the other grads in the ward had a party that night. And apparently it was a wild one because I can't remember what we did afterwards.

{uhhh we love Cold Stone a little bit}

saturday
The girls went to OMSI to see the IMAX movie, "Born to Be Wild." Super duper cute movie.  Baby orangutans and elephants on a large screen. Just think about it.
Then we visited the OMSI exhibit about Narnia.  They had costumes and props from the movies, plus some of C.S. Lewis' belongings, which was AWESOME for a bibliophila like me.
For lunch, the ladies headed over to Lady Di's Tea Shop in Lake O. It's owned by British ladies and so it's pretty authentic.  My momma's momma is still a British citizen and so she liked making believe that we were in the motherland.

{oh william}

{'ello guvnah!}

{traditional british breakfast w/ tea}

Then we all (minus Spencer) went to Russ's BBQ on Russell Street in Portland, a family favorite. I have the best story to tell about this place. I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom and the last girl before me had just gone in when suddenly this guy pops up out of nowhere. He shocked me because I don't know where he appeared from and then he started to talk in a voice an octave higher than mine. He opens with some witty comment, that I can't remember, then procedes to have this semi-one-soded conversation with me:


High voice man: "So I wasn't expecting to meet you in front of these bathrooms, but here we are."

Me: "heh heh, yeah, kind of a weird place..."

HVM: "So I can't figure this out, I'm trying to figure this out: Did you match your skirt with your eyes or is it your clear blue eyes that matches your skirt?"

Me: (thinking: is this really happening? I thought this only happened in romantic comedies with awkward cousins and middle-aged men with Erkle pants? And my eyes are definitely green...) "heh heh. I don't know"

HVM: "So what, are you here with your boyfriend?"

Me: (thinking: should I lie? No, he probably saw me in the middle of the room at a loud, large table with my family) "No, I'm visiting from out of town, just having dinner with my family. I actually go to school in Utah." (thinking: yeah, that'll do it. Prove that I'm at least 6 years younger than him and that I'm unattainable in a different state)

HVM: "Oh, so you're Mormon, then?"

[The girl in the bathroom before me was leaving and I started inching towards the door.]

Me: "Yep!"

HVM: "Darn, that loses all my chances of luring you in."

Me: "heh heh. Wellitwasnicetomeetyouseeyoulater!"

I shut and lock the door. I take about 4 minutes longer, listening for his footsteps or conversation to check if he has left. And I run to my dad's side as we walk out the door.

Me: "Dad, we gotta hurry up and leave."

Dad: "What, did you stink up the bathroom?"

Me: "Nooooo, some guy just hit on me."

Dad: "Oh."

{my lovely grandparents}

Graduation was boring, but Mr. Murray, our wacky physics teacher, spoke and he's so funny.

sunday
I went to my home ward.  They're great.
That night, I made Chinese food for my family (all 10 of us). 

Then back to Provo for--gasp!--finals!!!
I can't wait to head back to Tualatin. Again.

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.

Mi casa es su casa.

I will board a flight in about 7.5 hours from now that will take me to my most favorite state in all of the United States=OREGON. 
Annie and I jumped up and down like little girls last night. 
Tonight I get to see: My mom (it's been about 3 weeks), the rest of my family (3.5 months), my dog (3.5 months), and my bestie Seth Hall (it's been about 2.5 years. NBD.)
I'M SO EXCITED THAT I CAN'T BREATHE OR FOCUS ON ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{I heart Oregon}

Kristin Wiig demonstrates how I feel perfectly:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/114930/saturday-night-live-surprise