a night with parachute

1. let's be honest... editing pictures takes time. and sometimes i just don't feel like doing it. so tonight you get a collage. and that is all. forgive me.

2. i like cristian's hat. i want one.

3. will anderson, be mine. he is the lead singer of parachute and as dreamy as can be. some girl reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. i was pissed. mostly because i wished it was me.

4. local bands need more recognition. meet tessa barton and her band (her two brothers, luke and chas). they're from holladay and their music is perfect. we met them after the show and got them to sign a single for us. they're seriously incredible and i hope they play again soon!

5. a thirteen hour, one day trip to salt lake and back isn't really the smartest. it's exhausting and expensive. so why are juelaine and i considering doing it again next monday for mat kearney? because the music is worth it.

6. there is nothing in the world like being front row at a sold out concert. music is everything.

the last days

my days in rexburg idaho are coming to a close. and i'm more happy about it than sad (oops). since this is my last real weekend in rexy, i'm making it count. tonight i'm going to play phazer tag with juelaine, tiffany matt, jordan, alicia and zac (i only know half of them, cool). tomorrow i'm working a double, which doesn't sound cool, but it means money. and then monday night i've got the parachute concert with juelaine, katelyn and cristian in salt lake city. i cannot wait. it'll probably be my last concert before my mission and parachute is fantastic. if you're not familiar with parachute, familiarize yourself with these songs...

what i know

she is love

kiss me slowly

philadelphia

until the 15th, it's just cleaning, packing, crying, packing, working, packing, sleeping, and packing. it's gonna be a whirlwind of two weeks. but i'm so excited. here we goooooo!

frayed

picture, you're the queen of everything

as far as the eye can see

under your command

i will be your guardian

when all is crumbling

to steady your hand

don't let me go

i was here

give it up for my girl beyonce

was i the only one who got goosebumps and teary-eyed watching that? i'd like to think i've done something to make my mark on this world. i want to know that i changed somebody's life for the better. that all this time i've spent here being me hasn't been a waste. i'd like to think i've been good for something more. i want to leave this world a better place. i want to leave knowing i've done my best, and hopefully made somebody else's day a little brighter along the way.

the thing about music

once i met a boy late at night in a restaurant. after casual introductions and a little witty banter, we landed on the subject favorite bands. we agreed to disagree on the definition of "good music" after he told me, get this, lyrics don't matter. i beg to differ. the music behind the song is important. the way the melodies, harmonies, the voices and the instruments blend together to form a symphony of sound that resonates within you, that makes you feel so alive -- that all matters. but the lyrics do too.

the lyrics to my favorite songs are the words i'm afraid to say. that's why music is so relatable. lyricists find the words when we can't. feelings of sadness, anger, heartbreak, bitterness, hurt, loneliness, but also love, determination, empowerment, giddiness, strength, and youthfulness can all be captured in one line, verse, or chorus of a song. lyrics are for everybody. they don't always mean what the artist intended when they were written. there's always room for interpretation. words have rhythm and words have melody. they're raw, naked, soulful, they're everything.

"satisfied by your seduction like a handshake would do the job. never no how long i have waited, anticipated your smile to be pressed against mine."

whoever said lyrics don't matter is a fool. the lyrics are everything. thank you and goodnight.

no time

i haven't done tumblr thursday in forever, i know. but i just don't have time for it! finals + white glove + work five days a week + sleep = no time for anything. just know that brent will be here in 18 days to spend two weeks with me and also know that i am obsessed with this song. thank you and goodnight.

hey there december ;)

seriously though... december, already? december is snowflakes, christmas music, candles, chocolate dipped pretzels, hot cocoa, finals, christmas in vegas, and secret santa at texas roadhouse. bring it.


current guilty pleasure: justin bieber's christmas album
current color: black
(ugh blogger is being retarded and keeps putting in necessary spaces, forgive me)

current playlist: lots of gavin degraw and bruno mars

current read: my child development textbook

current drink: chocolate milk

current food: caesar salad, butterfingers

current favorite show: new girl

current wish list: new blue skinnies

current needs: someone to pay my rent... today

current triumphs: 3 pounds

current bane of my existence: school school school omg schoooooool

current celebrity crush: dermot mulroney

current indulgence: sleep, so much sleep

current blessing: kind strangers

current outfit: striped tank top and sweats

current excitement: brent is spending winter break with me in idaho

current mood: stressed, nervous, anxious

current link: i love aj... and eventually everyone else will too

tumblr thursday will most likely come later (that's for you chelsie and ashley), but right now i've got a hot date with some stats and spanish phonetics. ugh let's fast forward two weeks please.

can't stop, won't stop

this song has been stuck in my head for days

and i'm not even mad

the feeling of complete and utter defeat

i caved.

i did it.

i'm weak and pathetic and should be shot in the foot...

i'm a firm firm firm believer that christmas doesn't come until after thanksgiving. this means that no trees, lights, or stockings go up until after november 25th. and certainly no christmas music should be played. but yesterday, on november 17th, i listened to justin bieber's christmas album in its entirety... twice. kill me now please. i'm embarrassed and ashamed and my mom would seriously judge me if she knew. but before you hate more than i know you already are, listen to this...

ugh, love him

the most random of all posts

this lyric has been stuck in my head the last two days...

"and all at once the crowd begins to sing, sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same"

this video is pure gold. and by pure gold i mean i-cant-stop-watching-because-i-love-aj-and-tori-and-the-biebs-so-freaking-much.

and last, but not least, this has been my life the last couple days...

loving my job, and these two

freezing my behind off with chelsie at cory's championship soccer game

this may not look like much to you...

but it's my newww haaaard driiiiiive!!!!!!!!!

i represented during the kansas/kentucky game last night...

but it wasn't enough, kansas lost :'(

and this morning i missed three classes (on accident)

but when i finally awoke, i curled up in cory's blanket and read my scriptures

and it was fantastic

and i didn't even regret sleeping through class

and thus ended the 48974819th year of the reign of the judges...

oh haaaaai november

it seriously blows my mind that it's already november. where the heck has this year gone!? i like november. for me, it means... leaf piles, hot apple cider, vegas for jess and kyle's wedding, mid terms, kentucky for thanksgiving, finally getting to see my family (i said goodbye to them when they moved in july), and the second to last month of school! here are my current favorites...

current guilty pleasure: leg warmers

current color: gray

current playlist: justin bieber's new christmas album, angels and airwaves' new album,

current read: hunger games, i started it in ecuador...but had to give up

current drink: raspberry peach lemonade

current food: cornbread muffins, baked potatoes, and homemade caramel corn

current favorite show: desperate housewives

current wish list: fall clothes

current needs: a new hard drive

current triumphs: having the record for bev averages and upsell percentages at work

current bane of my existence: my messy room, late work

current celebrity crush: benjamin gibbard (he and zooey split up!)

current indulgence: a full tank of gas

current blessing: the check my mom sent me in the mail, gratitude practicum in D&C

current outfit: work shirt and gray boy's sweats

current excitement: my weekend has started, vegas tomorrow!

current mood: overwhelmed, but trying not to worry about it

current link: everyone knows i love aj... all i want for christmas is to meet the man!

that one time

remember how i went to see death cab for cutie with amber? well the radio station took a picture of us with them and then they didn't send it to us. how rude! that was in the voice of stephanie tanner, if you couldnt tell. anyways, eventually i gave up on trying to find it. but today i decided to check just in case, and IT WAS THERE! please love this with me for a second...

i miss my long hair :(

skinny love

no song could describe more perfectly how i feel right now

snapshots of lately + sunday thank you's

thank you to my mother,
for the massive check she sent me last week

thank you to the phillips family,
for my chapstick, skittles, nail polish, picture, card, and "we ♥ paige" poster

thank you to brant,
for getting my name painting done so fast so i could have it before i leave

thank you to juelaine,
for getting our hotel arrangements made (for our trip to california/disneyland)

thank you to the creators of aloe vera,
for providing me with soothing relief after i got so burnt at the lake saturday

thank you to the members of the paola ward,
for loving my family and me for the last 5 years, it's so hard to leave!

it's weird how much he likes monopoly

thaaaank youuuuu brant doerfler

walker's lunch on thursday... 5 whole doritos, no more, no less

the note my mom sent me with my check

my favorite part is the "make healthy choices" ...love her

mine and suzanne's scrabble board

highest point word: "caved" by me

for 57 points

sometimes i send amy pictures of my clothes

and apparently make awkward faces

my hair needs highlights

not this color though, icky

breakfast after pilates saturday morning

blueberry pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup

courtesy of suzanne

delish

i sent this to my mom and the text said
"i cut my hair"

she believed me for a little bit i think

not sure what the weather's like everywhere else, but it's rainy/stormy here

enjoy your monday!

tunes on tuesday

this week i decided to join ashley on her weekly tuesday music post. mostly because a really exciting album was just released today. i think i may have once or twice talked about my obsession with aj rafael. maybe? welllllllll, he's this fantastic youtube sensation. he's filipino and  so incredibly talented. and he's releasing his first full-length album today! it's called "red roses" and you can buy it here on itunes, or here on amazon.

i found aj a few years ago and fell in instalove with him. back then he was doing mostly covers of songs people requested to hear, and then he started writing and recording originals. and finally he got enough support to record a full-length album, and without a record label. i happen to think that's kind of impressive. anyways, i just really love aj rafael. and feel that the whole world should be a part of the magic that is his musical talent and ability. here is a preview of the whole album, and a couple of my favorites... enjoy!

the entire thing is phenomenal but here are links to the videos of my very favorites:

we could happen

without you

500 days

when we say

so, if you feel like putting $9.99 to good use, falling in love with some new music, and following my suggestion, gooooo buy it! i promise it won't be a waste. that is all. happy tuesday.

recap

being home from college, i detest weekends. i don't have any friends in kansas right now. they're all in utah or idaho at school or working (like amy, cassie, juelaine, and betsy), or in california for summer selling (like calaigh), or living in kansas city doing music things cause their band is all big and cool (like sean). you catch my drift. basically i'm left friendless.

this weekend wasn't too terrible at all though. saturday i was with kate and sam, who i happen to really adore. i've never enjoyed two kids so much. we went to the pool, and then watched how to train your dragon and popped some popcorn. i honestly don't know how i've lived so long without seeing that movie. it was fantastic, and now i want a pet dragon. i wonder if my apartment manager will be cool with that. 

sunday i wore my new dress. have i ever mentioned how much i looove target dresses? they're my absolute favorite. and this dress has pockets! dresses with pockets are one of my favorite things. 

my primary class was a little roudy, but i'm going to assume that was just because they missed me when i was gone last sunday. and maybe the super nice weather. but mostly they missed me. because of my absence i got extra hugs from ruthy, which i love. and susie drew me a picture. i love 7 yearolds.

we had the missionaries over for our sunday meal, which consisted of spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, corn, salad, and left over funfetti cake. we talked to the elders for about an hour or so after we finished eating, about everything. they both go home so soon (three weeks for one, and two months for the other)! my mom gave them advice about dating and marriage, hadley did a little show-n-tell (of basically all her belongings) in an effort to "show them who she is" ...i don't know, i wasn't sure where she was going with that.  and i promised to make them both a list of all the music and movies they've missed out on for the last two years. 

it was a quality sunday. oh! and i skyped with amy and betsy, and fell asleep talking to cassie. i miss my people. 80 days til i'm in utah, everybody. 80 days.

also, two more things. i'm obsessed with this blog and this song.

the end

how was your weekend?

baby you're a firework

i feel very strongly that everyone would benefit greatly from watching this

...its perfect

you'll be in my heart

so i was sitting in sala uno yesterday

and i was listening to one of our mix cd's

and all of a sudden,

this song came on

and for some reason,

it's making it easier for me to let go

backstreet boys and head lice

last night my 10 year old dreams came true as i sang my heart out to the backstreet boys and fell in love with nick carter all over again. then, this morning i woke up with lice. but we'll get to that later. lets just swoon over the backstreet boys for now.

we decided to take a ridiculous amount of pictures beforehand because we knew we'd be gross afterwards, we're so cute

the arena filled up super fast and i was surprised how big it was

we had the absolute worst seats on the planet

we couldn't even see them half the time, but thats okay

omg nick, so beautiful 

then they came out with grey jackets with big sparkly red "B"s on them

i want

getting home was an adventure

but it kind of made our night

seriously though

greatest night of 2011 thus far

and that was my night...

...and then this morning

oh this morning

i was at shift with macie and my head was so terribly itchy

so macie's like "tell the nurse it itches"

and i did

and i told her i thought i had los piojos (lice)

and she checked

lo and behold,

i had lice

so i've spent all afternoon getting my hair washed with special stuff,

combed out, 

and washed again

this is neat

my foreign valentine's day

today is my first valentine's day not home

i've never been a fan of valentine's day

until this year...

i woke up at 7 and snoozed for an hour

we went to skg and made valentines with the girls

we listened to spanish love songs on the radio the whole car ride

i sent ethan a pizza with pepperonis in the shape of a heart

cause im not creative, or rich

so that was the best i could do

now we're about to go to afternoon shift with the babies

and were giving all the workers flowers

then coming home to talk to/skype with amber

and then were gonna have a love movie marathon

with pizza from i'vonnes

it's gonna be a great day

go kiss or hug somebody

happy love day all!