why, hello there.

i'm stopping in for a moment to say hi. i can't promise i'll be blogging much this month or next as my school schedule is harder than i ever imagined it would be and i simply don't have time to do it all anymore.

but i did want to wish my father & greg's father a happy day yesterday. i love the men in my life. i am in awe of them and their ability to make all of us feel safe, secure and cherished. i grew up with a truly wonderful father who has made all the difference in my life. i love that he is in love and obsessed with the utes. i love that he can bbq a perfect steak and plant a gorgeous garden. i love that he still loves to boogie board in california and ride roller coasters at 6 flags and is a complete kid at heart. i love that he gives wonderful advice and inspired blessing & that i have no doubt i can always always rely on him.

and i also cannot wait to make my sweet husband a father someday. i have no doubt that he will be the best.
hope you all had a lovely weekend celebrating with yours.

roses from pansey.

when i think of my grandpa, i always think of roses.
roses and raspberries. that's what he reminds me of.

we picked the raspberries with grandpa barefoot in the backyard. over the years, we learned exactly how to tell when they were perfectly ripe. we'd fill our bowls to the brim and then grandpa would douse them in cream...a family tradition.

the roses were for the girls in his life. we all got big bouquets on valentines day, mother's day, birthdays and sometimes just because. i still remember how special i always felt when he would stop by with two bouquets, one for my mom & one just for me.

today, when i visited my grandma, she sent me home with dozens of beautiful roses from their garden. she just kept snipping and snipping until i finally had to stop her. when i told her i couldn't take them all she smiled and said that nothing would make my grandpa happier than to see her sending me home with armfuls of fresh flowers, because that's exactly what he would have done.

now my little home smells just like theirs always does.
and when i look at the roses i feel so loved by both of them.

dreamy.

yummy barbecued salmon with friends.

laughing so hard with holls that mascara was smearing all over my face with the tears.

seeing her fall to the bathroom floor during our attempted makeup correction when one of us said something that immediately brought the hysteria back.

french toast at park café saturday morning with my love.

washing the cars in swimming suits in the afternoon heat.

reading at the park for hours while the pups sprinted and pounced.

a trip to the swing sets as the sun was setting with the whole city twinkling below us.

clean house, movie in bed and fresh roses in my living room.

sitting quietly on the lawn watching the storm roll in over the valley on a perfect summer night with my little family.

wish all weekends were exactly like this one.

oops.

bought hunger games the other day (which was a splurge, i'm an avid library user & rarely shell out the cash for my own copy) only to return 3 days later (when i couldn't secure a copy of book 2 within 5 minutes of finishing book 1) to shell out another $20.00 for the sequel. so, i now rightfully own both of these:

and then i went to payless to check out their bo-go sale (which is usually horribly disappointing, in my opinion) and accidentally fell in love with & bought these sandals. and then, as i was walking out of the store, the black version caught my eye & i accidentally bought those too.

my bad.

cheer up, charlie.

g had a bad day today. when he walked in the door an hour later than he usually does, it was clear that he was completely exhausted. he held me longer than usual in a hug & i could tell that the long hours, hard work and all the stress, stress, stress is finally catching up with him.

i felt bad. so, in an effort to cheer him up, i put him in the car and drove to the brand new red mango that just opened up near sugarhouse park! i put my arm around him in line and then, as we ate, he asked me to tell him everything about my day, because he didn't want to talk about his. i told him stories about yoga and about our crazy dogs chasing cars and tried really hard to make him laugh. and then i kissed him and told him that everything will work out just fine. because it will.

summer nights.

here are just a few photos from our weekend at the cabin. i obviously didn't take very many pictures, which explains why all of these are from the same night and basically consist of me following around little makayla with my camera. she is one olsen who is always happy to smile for me!

we had a good couple of days barbecuing, chatting, taking walks, making smores by the fire and watching the pups wrestle. and i have to admit, besides all the fun with family, my favorite part of the weekend might have been the 3 hour nap i took with my love on sunday after church. even if we did get teased by everyone else when we woke up just in time for dinner, it was definitely worth it.  looking forward to lots more summer nights spent just like this...

remembering.

i have to admit that memorial day means more to me now that my grandpa is gone. i miss him. i long for his advice. i think about him daily and i ache for my sweet grandma who is lonely for him now.

but even though there is still some sadness, yesterday was a good day, because it was just another reminder that life continues, families are eternal and love extends beyond the here & now and into forever.

i know that i will see him again and i know that she will see him again, too. it makes me smile to think of the lovebirds being reunited one day and never having to spend another moment apart. just as it should be.

and grandma, i am loving your stylish cameo and perfectly chosen lipstick. i can't help but think that he was looking down on you and thinking that you look as beautiful as ever.

bromance.

these pictures are for my brotha, jon.
jon left a comment on one of my previous posts that said:

"I like looking at your blog for all the pictures of greg. I like looking at pictures of greg. I like greg."

cool story, jonny.
here are more pictures for you to look at.

i like.

i like this picture of g.

i like his casual smile.

i like his scruff and his wedding ring and the sunshine streaming in.

it's not in focus or well-taken, but for some reason, when sorting through our pictures, i always find myself staring at it, because this is what g looks like to me all the time.

i like my new britney spears perfume that i finally gave in and purchased. yes it's true, i have now contributed to her fortune and supplied her with more cash for hair extensions, but the stuff smells good. g (aka the perfume hater) even commented on how good i smelled, but i didn't have the heart to tell him who it was i smelled like.

i like my new cycling class and the fact that my instructor likes to blast lady gaga, beyoncé and katy perry and say things like "during this ride, i want you to think about what makes you special" even though he's a guy. 

i especially like the look on all the other guys' faces when he does such things.

there are a lot of things i don't like right now too, but i'll spare you. nobody wants to read about my zits, or my crazy classes or that girl in my fcs class who won't stop popping her neck every 5 minutes, right?!

what do you like?

sweet.

thanks for all the sympathy for my patheticness, friends. i am now happy to report that things are looking up! we got to tend those little lovers last night & they both decided to be perfect gems and go to sleep exactly when they were supposed to and be happy and sweet the entire night. we absolutely adore them.

and then, this morning, kenz & ry made us our favorite captain crunch french toast & anthropologie returned my dress without any tags or a receipt. and as if that wasn't enough, apple gave me a new ipod touch for mere pennies & the u took back my parking ticket!

can you believe it?!

i guess my luck is changing for the better. 

have a fabulous saturday!