nantucket!

hi, hello.

a few weekends ago i drove down to hyannis with some lady friends, we boarded a ferry, and then 2+ hours later we were in nantucket! it was a little colder than i would have liked but we needed to go before friend mel moves so we went earlier than we probably would have done otherwise. for the first little bit i was kind of depressed that in still looked wintery in most parts (which you won't really see because i didn't like taking pictures of that) but as soon as we started walking around i quickly forgot about my sadness and became obsessed with all of the shops and homes and whale paraphernalia errrrrywhere. 

 i loved this back road so much

nevermind the dead trees LOOK AT THAT GREEN GRASS

 that little house in the background was a sandwich shop we ate at for lunch and the tiny little shed with a door next to it was the bathroom (cutest outhouse there ever was!) and they even sold nantucket nectars drinks! i looked down as i drank it and blurted out "hey guys, we're here!" (referring to nantucket) which made me feel kind of juice famous. also, i just noticed that little lighthouse on the label. it is the very same one in the first picture of this post! CUTE.

they had the best flower boxes 

(which is something the east coast is really good at in general) 

 coffin park. uncomfortable.

we perused so many fun stores.

 how about those doll chandelier things hanging from the ceiling? classy

 i spy tennis rackets

 i still mourn the fact that i didn't buy a whale plate

 i went to the second floor of a book store to find all of my friends just reading their hearts out. i had no idea half of them were even in the store, apparently one by one they went up the stairs and just never came back down. one even read the entire book "of mice and men" hahah weirdos

the world needs more cobble stone, brick, and flower trees.

 self-time fail/success

 kristin is way good at holding lots of stuff

 these guys and that sign!

 and then it was time to head back because the last ferry leaves at 5:30 in the off season. 

don't be deceived by amber's smile, we were sad.

then the "we realized we had not taken even one photo together the whole day" picture happened right before going home. so glad we snuck it in there! 

and then just like that our nantucket day was over. 

thank you for joining me! on a photo recap of this lovely day. 

God knew i lived here, so he put a little bit of utah in malden massachusetts

so after seeing how warm it was today (yes! today! this might be a blogging first) i knew i should probably go for a run and do it in the early afternoon rather than later (like usual) when it gets really cold and sad. i had my phone with me so i wasn't super worried about getting lost so i went the opposite direction of where i've gone before.

within about twenty minutes of my run i saw this above and was immediately intrigued. 

as i came over the little hill i saw this

and this. what? another little hidden pond?

and this nice bosnian lady feeding the birds who thought i was russian?

by this part i was already really happy about my discovery.  you can't see it from the road so i didn't even know it existed!

but lucky for me it just kept getting better and better. 

look at that nice moss all over those rocks!

after walking up to it i found an even higher spot to climb to (i use the term climb loosely) 

and when i got to the top (it took five seconds) i felt like i was in utah hiking again (kind of)! 

i was so happy i had to sit right down and take a bunch of pictures of myself being so happy about it and then i laid down and stared at the pretty sky and felt the sun on my face and really couldn't think of the last time i felt as happy as i did in that moment. interesting how i've been here in boston and seen so many wonderful things and yet i'm happiest when i feel like i'm back home in utah. ..interesting. 

i loved my pretend mountain. 

i kind of thought the fun was over at that point because my day had already been made but as i continued to explore this magical place i found a trail. A TRAIL. not a brick trail made for tourists to easily check out 16 different historical sites but a real life in the woods trail. it felt too good to be true! i think i might have even looked around to make sure i wasn't being punked before i began jogging on it. 

it eventually led me to this part that really felt like i was in utah and back at my family cabin up snake creek canyon with all the leaves on the ground and that drop off. and then as i walked through it (i couldn't jog anymore, i had to take it all in) i smelled it. it smelled exactly like it does at my cabin and i think i got a little choked up  (okay i did) because i was so happy. i just kept smelling and smelling and wished i could capture the smell like i would capture a picture because i wanted it to last forever. 

i didn't realize it until i saw the pond but i kind of went on a real hike! look how high i was! 

(i'm showing how i'm almost as tall as the tree if you didn't get it)

utah!

 it turns out that i was actually at pine banks park and that park will never know how happy it made this utah girl today. 

as i walked away i came across my favorite cemetery that i was telling you about! it is so close to the park, i just never knew because i never went down that part of main street. i could have been loving this place for a whole month if i just went a few blocks further than usual. so many analogies began running through my missionary trained brain at that moment but i'll spare you. 

since i now knew where i was i decided to walk back home through the cemetery 

i found this little thing and decided it would make a good seat to enjoy the weather and this nice day a little bit longer (while continuing to listen to jonsi and bon of course)

 you see the past few days i've been really stressed about finding a job. coming out here i wasn't too worried because i had a couple options lined up. well now that i'm almost two months into this journey, all those fell through and it just isn't turning out quite how i had imagined. and since i thought those would work out i didn't spend too much time looking elsewhere so this past week i've just felt panicked and unprepared and confused as to why i felt so good about moving here. 

but as i sat on that hill and thought about all the nice things that happened that day i was reminded that God knows me and he knows my heart. He is aware of me and all things, like it says in the doctrine and covenants, will give me experience and will be for my good. since i assume most of you are my family and friends i feel okay with saying that a part in my patriarchal blessing blesses me to be one who loves nature. it also says they (meaning God's creations) will lift my soul as i take advantage of them. i thought that was so odd because i never cared much for nature but as i've gotten older my love for it has grown to the point where i feel confident saying nothing makes me happier or has the ability to fill me with such peace and comfort. with that being said, i really don't think it was a coincidence i found that park today! so hooray for being lead to a miniature forest and then back to my favorite cemetery and being able to enjoy it all since it felt like spring. God really is the best! i can't ever say that enough. 

nice december happenings part dos

looking so anime and enjoying brisk winter walks and temple nativities

all i want is for this candle cleaning out ears thing to happen to me. IT IS THE COOLEST

 i love the pretend temple square lights the mtc has going on

 virtual baby shower for grace

friendship of the future!

sollis christmas party kid gift time

my favorite part of this picture is how all the adults are talking over kamden and korbin yelling "fake snow!" as they continuously throw wadded up wrapping paper in the air.

 sometimes (okay one time) i worked 16 hours (which is the equivalent of four shifts haha) at the mtc and i didn't even care because when i looked outside i saw THIS.

one more picture to remember a lovely and food-filled christmas eve with the margetts

 aaaaand then fast forward to opening christmas presents with the moysh babies at 6am christmas morning. kamden was thrilled to take a picture with aunt megan.

 i need them to never grow up.

 creepy uncle jace with his harold zidler mustache

and uncle sean and grandma janie were all very tired as you can see.

after that i headed home, showered and got ready, and went to a lovely sacrament meeting and wished that every christmas day was a sunday. then my parents and i went out to visit my brother rick and his family and of course my new lover, kato.

 haha bffs

 mindy made some hot chocolate that screamed "take a picture of me!"

..you know the type

and we ate a lovely brunch and just enjoyed talking and laughing and playing with new toys

 and marveled that on december 25th a little boy named tirk could go outside in his diaperto harrass his puppy and not even feel a little cold. whaaaat?

 next up was to visit the beck's household. the only picture i took to document it was the one above. my nephews friend made it for him and as you can see did it with just writing "highland rams" over and over again. i feel like my christmas present to boys in highschool were not that cool.

but anyway. the rest of the night was spent opening presents (finally got around to it haha) and watching "bucket list" with ryan and the parents. it was a very lovely christmas.

 the day after christmas was spent at ryan's cabin (as previously mentioned in this post) and also going over to the beck's for a delicious smorgasbord of food and an intense game of signs that went on for a good two or three hours. it was really the best.

and then the next day brynne and tanner came by for a quick visit before brynne chopped all her hair off and they headed to st. george. it was great to see them and i'm glad they fit me in to their busy schedule!

 last week's weather was really the best. i feel great about how warm it has been and the skies lately, as previously mentioned, have been the best. this was my view as i came out of the jordan river temple last friday.

 and because the weather was so nice i just stood outside the temple and watched the sky and just died over it. sometimes i just don't understand how God does it.

 new years eve was filled with two shifts of work (from home! can't beat that), my dad's birthday breakfast, and going to snowbird for the torch parade and fireworks!

 it was so fun to see everyone come down the mountain with their torches and then see some good old fashioned fireworks which somehow are even better when seen in the mountains

 and just when we thought it couldn't get better they had free hot chocolate! we love them for that.

afterwards we went to our favorite texas roadhouse and then went back to my parents house and looked through an old box of my school work and marveled out what a crazy child slash teenager i was. maybe one day i will post some of the dramatic and anger filled journal entries from my junior high years but until then you can just trust me, i was nuts.

annnnnd that is the end of nice december happenings (i think).

and now let's hear it for 2012!

which i'm kind of grateful is finally here because i have just been writing 2012 on everything for the past month.