because blogs are slightly less self-indulgent than other forms of social media while still being completely self-indulgent, i'm going to show you some pictures that mimi and i took up the canyon yesterday. (and because i have a terrible horrible project i'm avoiding until the very last second).

look at how pretty utah is! 

after doing too many hair flips during our photoshoot and spending too much time picking at split ends rather than take notes during my literacy class this morning, i've decided: my hair needs re-vamping. people! help! i have had 'make an appointment at a salon' on my to-do list since last week. keep in mind, 'shave legs' + 'say goodbye to dying cat' have been on there for a while now, too. very important things to remember! 

this is all coming from a very rash and impulsive (borderline emotional?) christina because i think my lady days are pending and also, we could maybe chalk it up to my dying cat. keep in mind that i cried on my drive home tonight because of a 5 seconds of summer song.  welcome to the secret life of the american [young adult]. so bye. 

p.s. after much prayer and consideration, i've decided that lorelai isn't maybe the best mother, she's a good one and she makes me laugh. 

ox/C

it's sunday afternoon and i'm still laying in bed.

Here are some things about me.

1. I'm currently playing a game called "how long can I not work out for?" The last time I seriously considered working out, I ended up paying a visit to the ER with Andrew due to his ribs getting in the way of someone else's foot.
So I took that as a life lesson: don't work out, or you'll end up in the ER

sidenote: one of my biggest regrets of this life is that i didn't document our night at the hospital. i take pictures of a nice-looking road sign, and i don't take pictures of the one night my boyfriend is in the ER??

2. Right now, it's 12:42 on a Sunday, my hair is in a turban, a bowl of pistachios & sliced apples is next to me, I'm watching Season 1 of Gilmore Girls, and loathing the fact that my church doesn't start for another 1.25 hours.  So, I will continue to sit braless and content, debating whether or not Lorelai is a good mother or not. Also...not that I'm a fan of teen pregnancy, but there are definite pros to getting knocked up at 16 - mainly, you look HOT even when your kid is in high school. Curse my morals, they prevented me from all dreams of being a MILF.

3. My left hand still smells like an onion that I chopped for dinner two nights ago. Being domestic is fun and exciting and smelly.

And now, the exciting stuff.



:: last weekend, we partied!! weddings, birthdays, woohoo!

my party people!

:: and this weekend, we went to a haunted house [before which we took a party bus with other classy folks (?), during which I cried and screamed and loved every second, and after which we smashed shot glasses in the alleys of slc and did other hoodrat stuff...for real).
:: then, i picnic'd hiked, soda'd, and got way too into a game of murder in the dark. i love my weekends, i really do.

skrillex skeleton. heyyy mr. dj!

p.s. I'm actually getting into Gilmore Girls? 15 years too late, but whatever. K bye I'm finally going to go get ready for Church. 

Over General Conference weekend we enjoyed beautiful weather--what felt like possibly the last warm weather of the season. I'm half scared of the colder weather to come and half optimistic about it. Yes, sweaters! Ack, slush! Minus my lack of sleep and time to shower (WUT) it was a pretty perfect weekend. So now I'm going to rehash all of it, in detail, with photo illustrations, starting with Sunday and working our way backwards, because multipart posts are cool. Come on, yes they are. 

Aside from a major disagreement in my family regarding an issue involving the movement of my croquet ball, it was such a beautiful Sunday. I spent both sessions eating yummy food and lounging downstairs with my family + A. I finally got out of my pajamas at 7 pm only to go to Ramsey's apartment to lounge some more (read: watch YouTube videos and cuddle with Mimi).  And the perfect Conference weekend came to a close by watching New Girl and late night chats with A, which are always my favorite things.  

like, of course we had to do this, ya know? of course.

Saturday was perrrrfect and exhausting and happy and emotional and  ahhh.  It was a busy morning as we prepared to receive 4,334 personal revelations - honestly, guys, this was my most favorite day of Conference, ever.  We spent the whole day in Salt Lake attending both sessions with A's family and it was great! But as you can imagine, I was actually exhausted by 5 pm when I finally landed on Mimi's bed while the boys (guys? men? idk) attended Priesthood session. And a quick nap with my leading lady gave me just the energy I needed to make it through the rest of the evening, which included an aaaamazing dinner at Brio (I could live off of their salmon for the rest of my life and I'm not even sure you'd hear me complain), a quick drive-by at an IDP to see old friends, bonding with MORE old friends at A's apartment, and finally winding down with A, watching...I actually have no idea what we watched. IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK.  

Ok.  It's exactly what you think. We were making out because WE HADN'T KISSED ALL DAY. Gosh.  

Fridayyyy! I spent most of the day with my favorite kiddos - and I'm going to say this without sounding as creepy as possible:

I love little boys.  

Ok?

I mean, honestly. Look at them. 

While I was nannying, I was in correspondence with A about dinner plans. And if you remember this story from last year, you'll understand why I was dyinggg when he sent me this screenshot of a convo he had with his family. lololololol. 

And after bonding and laughing over dinner [at my real favorite restaurant], A and I drove up to a friend's house for a devastating (I think...I'm not sure I watched even a second of the game) BYU game, followed by hot tub hopping all over Provo. A hot tubbing experience I kind of want to forget, forever. 

pammy sue smith.

There's a grown-up version of sneaking a treat into your mom's shopping cart at the grocery store. 

It's called sneaking a treat into your mom's shopping cart on Amazon. 

*Pam, if you're reading, stop now* 

A couple days ago, she gave me her Amazon password because she has Amazon Prime and I need a planner, like, last week (I did not plan on my cat throwing up all over the week of September 21-27, and I literally mean all over that week. I missed some assignments because cat throw up obstructs my vision, so thanks a lot, Binky.)  Anywayzz. Being a responsible child, I don't actually purchase things on her Amazon, which she should really be thanking me for, because I have that power at easy access.  Instead, I just sneakily leave things in the cart, because if I know Pam - and folks, I know Pam - she makes weekly orders on that things cause I think all of our gifts/books/tools/groceries/life is ordered on Amazon.  So I think between Dansko clogs (lol cute mom shoes) and a new toy for my niece, she won't notice that she's also buying me a phone cover. Oh and a book.  Thanks Mom!

p.s. This was Pam the other night scrolling through her Instagram on my bed (and by my bed I mean the guest room bed because as of late, I don't enter my room due to a spider infestation. And by infestation I actually just mean 3 spiders. BUT STILL).  Isn't she cute?!

ox/C

p.p.s Yes. I live with my parents. I'm 21 and my mom still has the ability to walk in my room at midnight for girl talk. This is a good thing and also a bad thing. 

life is so happy!

Ok I'm loving busy weeks.  And dating someone.  And having busy weeks because I'm dating someone.

Seriously. At no other time in my life would I sacrifice sleep for an early-morning round (game? match? help) of tennis because HELLO my bed.  But I'm seriously nailing this whole white girl thing these days by eating salads and playing tennis.

Except take salads out of the equation.

But yes, tennis! My new love.  It was Ellie's birthday and she wanted some tennis partners, and boyyyyyy was I honored to be asked. Mostly because what is tennis? I didn't even really know, thus the reason I googled the only tennis term I knew ("love") on my way to the tennis court so I could at least try and fake it.

On Friday night I stopped by Mimi's place because it's been too quiet recently and I was worried about her.  By that I mean we hadn't seen each other face-to-face since Sunday so it was time for her to be in my life again.  Next thing I know, we're laying in her bed with bellies full of Chili's wearing matching pajamas (...that Mimi failed to mention she owned before that night, and I thought we were best friends) watching Puppy Party on Netflix + Pinteresting + eating Laffy Taffy's.
To anyone who said their college years were the craziest years of their life...


-__-

Also, have you guys realized that I take pictures of almost everything I see? Seriously. I come by it honestly. Pam is a serial-picture-taker. I think Christmas 2003 has breath-by-breath documentation of the entire day and I'M NOT EVEN JOKING. On vacations, she takes pictures of everything she sees out the car window.  The tire store. A 20-story building. An overpass.

Idk, guys.


Thennnn, after lots of texts, phone calls and even a FaceTime later (I love FaceTime, I feel like I look wayyyy cuter on the phone?), A came back from St. George on Sunday and whisked me away on a picnic!

Ok so actually, his car broke down so I picked him up.

And I packed the picnic.

But hello! Still romantic! Alpine Loop on a rainy fall day is my love language.

things and stuff from the weekend.

Good weekends create happy souls. Ya know? Honestly. Thursday - Sunday night was an absolute dream.  

First off, my leading lady turned 23, so of course we celebrated with freckled strawberry lemonades and onion rings at Red Robin. Then Melissa, Mimi and I made Dave sit patiently in the car while the three of us laughed and acted like idiots in the parking lot for...way too long. Ever since moving with a more mature (read: parental) crowd, I realize how much I miss goofing off with my gal pals. We can talk about waxing and boys and weight gain and split ends and just girl things.

Then, after hugging Mimz and her 22-year-old life goodbye, I set off on an adventure.
To corn fields.
In which I almost got attacked by a guard dog and a serial killer.
I mean, probably. A and I just heard a dog growling as we were mid-corn-stalk-make-out and we tore out of there before either had a chance to ruin our lives.

Friday, I spent the day in an elementary school and my gosh I have never been so excited to have little kiddos of my own.  In a classroom, that is.  Ok. And my womb. But there's an order to these things, I'm told, and I can't get ahead of myself here. So stay tuned, on both accounts.  BUT I'm 95% certain I am the worst. I can unfortunately see myself sitting there and trying to get the kids to gossip with me because why was Lily crying after recess, anyways?!

Saturday, I decided to grow up and actually do some homework, but a girl can only take so much of real life, ya know? So A made my dreams come true when he suggested a bunch of us go to the Mona rope swing!

we're not really sure why we looks so oddly discolored. 

As a ps, after the rope swing, we went hot tubbing with Wendy's in hand.  Just for future reference, just in case someone feels like getting a kiss with a little extra gusto behind it at some point, buy me strawberry lemonade from Wendy's. If I'm being honest.  Just FYI.  JUST IN CASE SOMEONE SPECIAL IS READING THIS.

Then Sunday was the perfect cherry on top of a beautiful ice-cream-sundae week (did that really work? yeah i'm not sure either MOVING ON). We sat in comfy chairs and watched a temple dedication, ate fondue, played a vicious game of croquet, had an hour long jam session, and bawled over The Fault In Our Stars. Geeeeeez tears would NOT stop coming out of my eyes. Sorry, A ;)

another A post

Heyyyyy guys.  Remember A?  I would link back to posts about him, but there are none. 

Hahahaha.  I couldn't even type that with a straight face.  Like, honestly, go back a year ago and you'll find out probably more than you'd like to know about A. 

So here's a story for the strong-at-heart that are willing to read through the whole thing. 

About a month ago, I was ending things with a really great guy. It was hard and sad and I also know it needed to happen.  So, I reached out to A. Who has often been the person I like to go to with big things like this. He gave me great advice, coached me through the recovery, and even took me to lunch. After that, though, I didn't hear much from him other than the occasional "haha this made me think of you text!", which was normal. 

Then, last week, we made plans again.  To go on a run. This was something that even last summer when we were dating I refused to do - I am not a runner.  If I am running, everyone else should too. Cause it's likely I'm running from something, not because I am willing to put myself through torture just to be in shape. 

BUT I agreed. For whatever reason. We met after class, and he gave me a PB&J so I could fuel up before I humiliated myself in front of him. The whole 3.6 miles, we chatted - about dating, mostly. Not each other's dating lives, but almost everyone else's. It felt so comfortable. 

Over the next few days, we spent all our time calling and texting each other, making plans for the weekend.  On Friday night, a group of us went to the State Fair and I was so excited because HELLO ferris wheels and cute pictures and, like, The Notebook has that really cute scene? Where she pulls his pants down? Maybe cute was the wrong word there. Idk. Onwards! After a nauseating ride, losing a bet which resulted in me running up the steps of the capitol building singing the rocky theme song, and changing a flat tire, A and I ended up in the trunk of the SUV on the ride back to Provo.  *Note: this was when I confessed my first concert was Nickelback. I regret nothing. 

The next morning I awoke to thoughts of A andddddd quite a few texts from friends asking "So do you two love each other again?" As I brunched (ok we actually just had regular lunch but I feel like to cool-girl cred goes up when I say "brunched") with Mimi that day, I talked it all over with her: Of course I'll always like him. But anytime I've tried to make things work with him in the past, it backfires and we have to cut all ties. I would much rather have him in my life as a friend than not have him at all. This was my pep-talk to myself: if I was going to be spending so much time with him, I had to convince myself that being friends is FUN and GOOD and...sure!

So Saturday night, we all met up at the J's open house - so many happy tears! it felt like old times, all of us friends reuniting - and then went to Mimi's for treats and bonding. After a few hours of laughing and making new friends, A told me he was leaving but he invited me over for a movie that night.  I had internal struggles with this - of course I wanted to go! But I didn't want to get too invested in something I knew would end in yet another heartache, and I wasn't super pumped on that, having just gone through that. 

But.

I ended up going to his apartment.  No movie was watched, because all his roommates went to bed. In fact, I was a little confused why he invited me over because I was only in his apartment for a few minutes before we decided it was time for me to leave.  When he walked me out to my car, we started laughing and flirty-smiling (maybe that was just me actually), and as we hugged goodnight, I could feel him hesitate for a minute.  

Then. 

"Hey, wait right here for a second, I'll be right back."

I was so confused. I stood outside shivering, feeling a little nervous where this could go.  When he came back outside - sweatshirt and blanket in hand, that angel boy - he asked if we could go to the park and "talk."  Given our history, I knew where this was going.  We had had this conversation before.  Where we decide that it is just too hard to be friends, and since we shouldn't date, it was pointless and harmful to spend so much time together. So as we make our way to the grass, my heart beating so fast I thought my body was literally going to take off, I prepared myself. He unfolds the blanket, and out come a bouquet of roses. 

You guys. Roses. A bouquet of roses. People don't buy roses when they're about to break your heart. 

People buy roses when they're about to tell you they haven't been able to stop thinking about you for weeks, and how they have wanted to stop by your house and knock on your door and tell you that they want you back, and how they have never really gotten over you. 

They buy you roses when they tell you everything you've ever wanted to hear.  

So here we are! Of course, I'll keep you guys updated. Like, whoever you guys are. Also, pictures - for comparison's sake. Last year on my birthday, A took me to a fair and we rode a ferris wheel. It seemed only fitting that we pick up right where we left off. 

june.2013

september 2014

february 2013

september 2013. likeeee...i'm not positive that we've even changed.