Chocolat

if you haven't seen this movie, you should.*

it is one of my absolute favorites. i love the costumes, the character development, the lighting, the scenery, and everything that makes it. but most of all, i love the moral; this quote sums it up pretty well: "...we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude....we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include."

yeah, you should watch it.


*Note: There is one scene that I skip every time I watch it, but I still really love the movie.

What Ever Happened to Silence?

when i was about 4, my mom invited a friend of hers and her two daughters over for a play date. as my mom tells it, i marched into the living room where my mother and her friend were talking, and exclaimed:

"mami, can you tell them to be quiet?"
"what?" she, was shocked at my lack of manners
"can you please tell them to be quiet?"
"and why do you want them to be quiet?" she laughed
"because, i need to think!"

may i remind you, i was 4.

now, 6 days shy of 22 years old, i still have the need to just be quiet. especially at night.  but when you live in an apartment, with 5 other women it is kind of an issue. so, what ever happened to silence? why can't we do homework without music on? why can't we walk for ten minutes without i pods in? i suspect that there is a bigger issue. in an effort to get done as much as possible as quickly as possible, we multitask which really translates to doing a bunch of things in an incredibly mediocre way. if you focus on the task at hand you might enjoy it for what it is and you might eve do a better job.

so, people of the world, live in the moment, enjoy everyday.
you'll get fewer ulcers that way.
also, keep the noise to a minimum.

okay, so now that is over here are some pictures of the coolest cloud i have ever seen. i would call it a cloud wall.enjoy.

Project Inspire Final

even though it happened about 3 months ago, it still sticks with me, and often when i feel like my world is too cluttered, i think of the views i got to experience there. so, here's to the last days of project inspire. 

on our last day, we worked on another trail. we hauled larger rocks, that would later be crushed and covered with smaller rocks and dirt in order to make the path, 'cause apparently, these trails don't just show up. it was hard work but it was fun. i carried rocks, dug up and carried dirt, and i filled water bottles in a stream colder than any tap  water i've ever had. and now, the picture show. 

rock smashers

beauty

drinks anyone?

love

love, love

L in a model pose

our last trek out of the wildreness

 ten minute ride back to the high school = naptime

some people play volleyball

i loved doing this. i met fantastic people and figured out that i have much more physical strength than i thought i did. it also did wonders for my self-esteem, emotional health, and general sanity. i recommend spending time in nature; it prepared me for the adventures that came in chicago, which will be blogged about shortly.

Findings

sometimes, when you search for things you find everything but the thing that you were looking for. then you are faced with the responsibility of what to do with all that you have discovered. so what's a healing-hearted girl to do with the email and the attached email address of an ever distant father? an email sent at the date of a high school graduation, almost five years ago. an email that explains that there is much to be said that should only be said in person. what am i supposed to do with that?

Project Inspire. part 2

so it's been a while since pi, but i have to blog about it some more.

we camped out at a high school, yes, a high school. we looked like squatters. it was great. we stayed in tents and did all of our cooking outside. for whatever reason those in charge decided that it would be best to do all of our cooking in dutch ovens... except it wasn't an oven, it was a stove. we ate a lot of burnt food, but after a day of hard labor, i was grateful.

day two of pi was all about moving rocks and digging small trenches. for the first half of the day we moved an enormous pile of rocks in order to make  a trail wheelchair accessible. because of some legislation that is put in place to protect the wilderness, we were not allowed to use any equipment that had wheels.  we did, however, get to work with a mule which i thought was pretty cool.

the second half of the day we worked on digging drains on dirt trails. let me explain. since trails don't build themselves, they have to be kept up by the nice people of the forest service. when it rains, these dirt trails can become flooded. in order to keep these from falling apart, the forest service creates paths through which the water can be carried away, drains.

so, we hiked up a trail, shovels in hand, and dug drains in teams. it was difficult, dirty, and draining, but so fulfilling. it was the feeling of doing something and being a part of something bigger than myself. it made me so happy to be doing it. and it made me think, "one day i'm going to bring my family here and say 'i helped do this'."

okay, time for pictures.

please disregard how tired i look and look at that sunset.

look at that sunset

we fill the buckets and dirt-bags with rocks and dirt and move them to the trail.

spreading gravel and dirt on the trail. the bearded fellow is thomas; the personification of the phrase "workin' hard or hardly workin'"

almost done

pounding it out

pounding away

'i've been workin' on a trail all the live long day'

oh my goodness, i forgot this guy's name the one with the glasses in on the left, in the hat. he grew up in california. the epitome of californian, complete with sentences that end in "ya know, man?" he was great.

flowers at lunch

"and it was like...ya know, man?"

beautiful

the crew, sans thomas

Secrets

i just bought a plane ticket back to slc.

i'm going back to rexburg.

i haven't told my mom.

she's going to freak out; she thinks that i'm going to stay in ny for the next three months.

its only going to be three weeks.

i'm so screwed.

gulp.

Here and Now

so i'm actually in chicago right now doing this thing called summer jam. i love it. it is fantastic. it is going to change my life. i will totally blog about it, but i'm incredibly exhausted. chicago is amazing. i love it here. i'll blog about that too.

i hope you are doing really well, whoever you are.

s