bye may! hi june.

herrroooo!

let's first discuss how much boston loves memorial day. 

they had 33,000 flags placed in the commons all weekend to represent every fallen service member from the civil war to the present. 

is this blowing your mind? this isn't even all of them. it's crazy to think how many people gave their life so that we can be free. 

i need you to know two things. 

1. i LOVE that little white house with that huge tree and pink flowers and i feel happy i get to walk past it everyday. 

2. i ate swordfish for the first time in my life and didn't hate it! not even a little bit. 

swordfish w/ banana rum chutney, avocado and tomato salad, and mashed sweet potatoes = a meal i still think about and it was like three weeks ago. 

okay i guess three things. 

3. natalie and i finally (after probably three months of trying) got our volunteer badges for the VA. 

we not only get to hang out with elderly vets but also get to feel like we are on alias. 

the last week of may consisted of lots of outside friend time, toscanini's ice cream, and this gal below:

but my face is sad because she moved back home to arizona which makes me SO sad. 

mel, come back!

can we talk about this guy for a second? 

i was cutting through harvard business school to go home around 10pm one night when the man above came up to me asking about where something was. he then somehow started talking about some app which then brought up something else which then brought up the fact that i am mormon which then led to us sitting at some outdoor table discussing it for over an hour.  he was kind of crazy and somewhat inappropriate in the types of questions he was asking but it felt nice to defend my faith and hopefully he listened to at least some of what i said. 

anyway.
the last week of may was graduation fest 2013 and there were SO many moms and dads and chairs everywhere. 

here is a story. 

so maybe one time i was trying on my one-piece swimsuit (trying to debate if it would make it's debute this year or not) when it started rain storming outside. i was so thrilled with this that i forgot i was in my swimsuit, immediately turned off my lights, turned on bon iver, laid on my bed, and just listened while i watched the lightening and pouring rain out my window. a few minutes later i looked down and thought it was the funniest that i was still in my swimsuit so i took these photos and awkwardly sent them to friend christine and am now posting them on this blog. the end. 

the temple is the greenest right now and it is the best. 

these houses are also the best. 

i was walking to my friend carly's catholic school kids pop recital and accidentally turned down the wrong street. i was way happy this happened because it was the most beautiful and lovely detour (and the best time of day i might add!). it was nice to discover somewhere new, it is one of my favorite things to do. 

one night i came home to find this. maybe i'm not good at those little sticky hangy things because they hate holding up this strand of lights. 

i walked into my boss' office to find three of our executives being match teams. so cute.  

one of my more favorite parts of spring = our parkway boyfriend is back! i need to not be in a car when i pass him one time so i can actually sit and talk with him. i just love him. 

can you spot the random spanish man asleep on our lawn? re-roofing our house is tiring i guess. 

the last night of may was spent with kristin, boston, and our bikes. 

if that is what my nights are like for the rest of the summer i definitely won't be mad about it. 

(and i don't know how many more times i can say it without sounding trite, I LIVE IN A DREAMLAND)

the next morning a few of us drove up to portsmouth new hampshire for lunch on harbor

then we drove a few more miles and BLAM! we were in kittery, maine. 

i think maine was born to be foggy and rainy, it was perfect. 

(if you look closely you can see a very iconic lighthouse on the tip of that land - there was another one too but i wasn't very good at taking pictures of them)

 

we only explored for a few hours but it was delightful. 

there is just so much to experience and see on the east coast! i'm glad i have friends who love to go and see new places just as much as i do because let's be honest, i've become an adventure addict. 

easter weekend

easter weekend was full of nice things. 

saturday started off with a little church cleaning and then a relief society birthday party with our bishop's wife. probably only 6 or 7 girls showed up so we had an informal discussion about things her and her girlfriends wish they had known at our age and then how her and Bishop met. i'm glad i went because i really enjoyed everything about it. 

that afternoon i headed to blue hills reservation with some friends to hike. it was a beautiful afternoon to hang out with neature. 

 (also - i just barely noticed that "will u marry me" is written on the wood above our heads! makes the photo even better/more classy)

 

it was so nice to be outside in the (somewhat) fresh air, i've definitely missed hiking and the smells that come with it. the views from the top of the summit were pretty incredible (minus the part where it isn't fun to look at dead sick winter trees). we are definitely going to go back in the fall because it will probably be 30923 times better. but - what the fall time might not have is that giant beethoven friend. how are some dogs as big as a medium sized bear? i was dying. also, i like that in the above left picture you can see jamie handing a random stranger an easter egg filled with candy. we offered everyone we saw easter eggs which either thrilled people or creeped them out..i felt satisfied with either outcome.

 guys SOMEBODY IN BOSTON HAS MY BIKE. we walked past cortina and i immediately grabbed her and felt sad that my real cortina is just sitting aimlessly in my parent's garage thousands of miles away. boston would look so good on her but i just can't risk her being stolen!

 saturday night i went to john's ward talent show because he emceed the whole thing. he was clever and happy and right in his element so it was fun to watch him. my pictures of him are kind of blurry and lame so instead i'm including this photo because i need to forever remember my friend ashley mitchell walking in the room wearing nothing but a short onsie and bath robe. 

this is so terrible that i took a photo in church but i had to so i don't forget what a nice sacrament meeting we had. our bishop cancelled our sunday school (which meant i got out of teaching!) to have a two hour long musical program with a few speakers in between. i am consistently amazed at how much talent we have in my ward and i feel very grateful and lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful and gifted people, their music and testimonies made the meeting so nice. 

post-church prom pictures

our easter afternoon included the ensign (because do you remember who finally renewed their subscription?!) and some nice talks and videos from lds.org. this portion of the day was my idea..if you couldn't already tell haha

(and brynne they had that sweet deal at our tj's too!)

 that evening we had a delicious dinner with a few friends. it was supposed to be out on their roof deck but it was super windy and freezing so i took a picture of those brave souls and then went back inside. 

luckily they had a couch pretty close to the door of the roof deck so we just sat there and watched everyone freeze outside while we enjoyed our meal and each other inside. i was sad to not be around any family yesterday but felt content/happy just holding j's hand, talking and laughing with friends, completely dominating our adult easter egg hunt, and facetiming with my dad and niece mickayla. 

it was a very nice easter sunday. 

and then that brings us to today! because for two posts in a row i am telling you about things in a timely manner. after work i could not stop loving the clouds and sun setting shadows nor could i stop loving these seattle babies of mine whom i haven't seen in way too many days to count. 

technology deserves a big round of applause for making living across the country from your family somewhat bearable.