an ode to women:
anyone who knows me knows i don't really love women. their gossip, their drama, their dating, their crying. i've never been one to be surrounded by lots of "girlfriends." i have one or two at a time and its suites me just fine. in the last year or two of my life, it seems, tho, its turning around!! a lifetime of disgruntled thoughts towards the members of my fellow sex is fading!! hooray!
-i have one lifetime girlfriend. laura. literally in sunbeams @ church together at age 3 and i have no recollection of life without her.
-i have one girlfriend from highschool. kelli. so alike and so opposite. the reason we probably get along is bc we just can't do without each other at this point. and why would i want to?
-i lived in an apartment at college with 6 girls. jana jamie jen reily camille & me. i love them. i'm not sure what possessed me to live with that much estrogen in the first place, but it was the best.
-jamie jayne anne. they put up with me. we don't talk all the time. maybe sometimes we're not as close. but i KNOW without a doubt each of them came into my life on purpose.
-i hang out with girls. i actually call them on the weekends to hang out. meredith was essentially my "date" for Mamma Mia.
-i work with almost all women. i ACTUALLY like roxann & lenzi, etc etc etc... this is more of a feat than you may know.
-girls have picnics. meredith raime & i actually PLANNED to hang out. in advance.
-i am now the proud aunt of 4 neices in a row. kaylaigh mae rachel abigail evelyn lillieth maren sophia. so much pink. so many small bows.
-i have 1 sister and 3 sister in laws. the women of our family just became full. my sister melissa is my bestfriend, pantry, and tv show updater.
i guess i just feel the need to shout out to the women in my life. i do a lot more crying now than i think i have in my whole life. i cry when i'm happy. why my body does this, we have no idea. i wear heels and jeans. yes i do. i like big earrings and babies, have ovaries, am finally growing into only wanting one boy at a time, and definately am proud to be a woman... most days ;)

thank goodness for friends and roommates with connections!! a bunch of us got dolled up and went to a free show this weekend!! i mean, i sing and dance all the time anyway, and it was impossible to hold still with ABBA playing, men in wetsuits running around, and women in platform shoes singing and dancing! it was so fun and just so relaxed. i have had ABBA in my head all day!! between the dancing, singing, indiscreetly hilarious sexual references, heels, jeans, big earrings, valet(wait... no they wouldn't let us valet LOL), the clubbing(wait no , we walked passed the club...), and the food(Meredith's snack bags lol) it was a night to remember. ah, vegas... see that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen...

go to this link. i love this photography. and the people in it. kevin and kellie anderson. :)
http://photographybytof.blogspot.com/

My cousin Chris is my only cousin on both sides exactly my age. Not only are we friends by force, but also by choice!! I spent exactly one whole day getting the most wicked butt soreness bc we rode on his motorcycle up and down the PCH= about 90 miles up and down the California coastline in 11 hours. Basically the best day ever and the company wasn't bad either. :)
My siblings rock. Good for me they also married people who rock. Kevin & Kellie had this "PhotoBoof" thing at their reception- it was awesome. In fact, I love my family. Despite ourselves. Oh, and my dad and 3 of his siblings was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.
Since it WAS Kevin's wedding weekend I have to say he's amazing and I love him.
And I'd just like to publicly say I was in California for 4 days and I saw ZERO clouds. Zip. Nada. Cero. Nil. ZERO people!! Lets just talk about how awesome that was for just a second. ...It was awesome. Here's some pics of the proof. Me and my cousins sportin' awesome lines.
Last but not least lets take a moment to talk about my cute grandpa. He's basically the bread and butter of old men. He plays tennis 3 days a week, the man is 83 c'mon! He's on wife number 3 (Ramona is a doll) and he's a lover of poetry. He recited the poem "Crystal Stair" as his advice to the newlyweds. No one is like my grandpa. Gosh I love him.

this is an orange from whole foods. in consideration of the biggest loser in our office, donut thursday became fruit thursday. lenzi brought orange and apples from whole foods. because they're just better. this is me holding the orange i peeled in ONE PEEL. literally. i know we often use the term "literally" and in fact it is NOT literal, as in "i literally died". NO you didn't die, obviously you're telling the story later. But i REALLY did peel this orange in one peel. lenzi helped me have photo proof! looks like the fruit gods blessed me this morning- may they grace you as well...

i'm reading eat pray love by elizabeth gilbert. lately on my lunch i have left the office, taken a blanket and my book and driven to the park that is on the same block. i literally sit in the sun for an hour reading, completely absorbed in my own thoughts and the thoughts budding from reading this book and relax. today i read a section of the book about the origins of the italian language. did you know it came from dante?! who knew! she quotes dante's divine comedy; the last part of the book where he faces the vision of God Himself. dante's description of Him is the title of this blog. it took me a minute to recover from the shock of it fitting so well, as i sat in the sunshine feeling the warmth of the sun, the breeze on my back and the grass between my toes. i could do nothing but sit smile and be filled.