20 Years Young

Today I turn 20 years young.

I've been really excited to turn 20 for the last little while.

But for the past couple weeks, people have been freaking me out.

I heard one girl say that she cried because she turned 20.

I guess 20 is pretty old. I'm saying goodbye to my "teenage" years.

When you are 18 or 19 you can still get away with being a teen, but you are still considered an adult, so really its this way awkward in between age where are you are too young for some things and too old for others. So today I'm rid of that. I've hit the two decade mark.

When you hit one of these landmark times in life, its only natural to think back and see how far you have come. I've been on this earth for 20 years.

I learned to walk and talk.

I've performed in countless dance recitals.

I've been on 2 swim teams.

I've been a member of the Vista Heights Middle School Drill team

(& I have a sparkly fire costume to prove it)

I've survived High School.

I've been a big sister.

I've been a cheerleader, and a cheer coach.

I've learned to love reading.

I've sent my best friends on missions.

I've had 4 different jobs.

I've passed my driving test.

I've lived in 7 different houses/apartments.

I've finished 2 years of college.

I've lived in the Holy Land.

I've touched the great pyramids and hiked through Petra.

I haven't broken any bones.

& despite what everyone always told me... I haven't gotten married ;)

I think I've fit all I could in to those last two decades of my life.

I can safely say that I am excited to be twenty.

I had a great teenage life, and I'm ready to start my 20's.

I'm looking forward to the next 10 years, for the next round of adventures and new learning opportunities. I'm excited for my life.

Happy Birthday To Me.

Upper Class

Wait a min.

I'm about to be a Junior in College.

When did I get old?

I've been moved into my apartment for about a week now.

Moved in... not unpacked.

Its been nice to be back in provo.

I've got most of my stuff put away and the ironing board is up in the middle of my room as I try to smooth and hang the last of my cloths from my suitcase.

The groceries are put away.

I got Spencer to build me a bookshelf (what a man)

and I hoaxed Ryan to put together the TV/DVD player.

I've hung (almost) all of my frames.

I dropped a hammer on my foot. OUCH.

I've been to Yogurtland 4 times.

Found out the Zupas got rid of my favorite sandwich.

I tried putting up shelves.

& I gave up.

I bought all of my books.. used!

(The advantage of coming 2 weeks early, they still have the cheap ones for sale!)

& I think I'm just about ready to start actually living in Provo again.

I've been gone for about 9 months and Its crazy to see how much it hasn't changed at all, just because I've changed so much in that past 9 months.

We don't have internet in our apartment yet.

I'll be on that tomorrow.

In the mean time I'll be making little trips to the library where its still pretty empty and all the comfy chairs (with footrests!) are still available.

Also, I turn 20 in less than a week. What?!.

Today is the day!

Goodbye California.

Don't miss me too much while I'm gone.

I promise I'll come back in a couple months.

Hello Utah,

don't get too excited to have me.

I'm sure I'll get sick of you soon enough.

But I am excited to see you again.

P.S. a little song to brighten your day

Just a Thought

I'm so glad that I have a Heavenly Father that has better plans for me than I have for myself.

If I had always gotten what I wanted, or what I thought I wanted...

I think I'd be completely unhappy.

Thanks for keeping an eye out.

find that adorable print here.

&& find out why I am so happy here.

The Beach House

The Beach House is probably one of my favorite spots on earth.

My Grandma used to live there and most of my favorite childhood memories are going to visit her on the weekends and holidays. I remember fireworks on the beach, my dad scraping tar off my feet, my grandma rubbing a real live aloe vera plants over my bright red sun burns, playing dress up, eating donuts on saturday mornings, and watching my grandma paint.

After she passed away, our family inherited the beach house

& while we have been making some much needed changes recently,

I'm glad to know we are making sure it keeps its character.

Look at my trendy grandma with her cat eye glasses and my cute little dad with that hood on. My mom found these old polaroids and thought it would be cool to have them blown up and put on canvas. We think of them as a little memorial to my Grandma.

Last weekend we met up with some family friends for a long weekend relaxing at the beach. My mom grew up with Carla and I grew up with them as family. Its been a while since we've all been back together and it felt like a mini family reunion.

Just the usual fake love photos.

Sorry mom.

I know you would love to share grand babies with Carla, but its just not going to happen.

Showing off our good sides.

Lion Mask...?

Kiefer and Syd. Award winners for cutest brother sister combo. Just enough love without it being creepy.

While we were out there, my dad so graciously allowed my sister Paige and I to go fishing with him and Tracy. The girls going on a man date. We headed out on the boat for fishing at twilight and it was one of the coolest things ever. Watching the sunset on the ocean was one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced, it made you feel like you were a part of it all, rather than just watching it. We didn't catch any fish :( :( :( but it was still really fun. I didn't take too many pictures because I was afraid I would fall overboard with my camera.

I think I want to buy a sail boat now, I loved experiencing the beach from the ocean side of things. Plus, that Zach Effron movie convinced me to be a sailor so I could fall in love with a good looking sailor and sail across the world together.

Look at those colors. I didn't do any editing at all to this photo. Literally straight out of the camera. This is what it really looked like, then add in the sound and smell of the ocean and you are in heaven.

To me, the beach house is the epitome of summer.

Its the place where nothing else matters.

It sucks out all your worries and you have no choice but to relax and enjoy the sunshine, or the fog, but either way you are happy.

Low Key Famous

Last summer our family decided it was about time to take family pictures.

Our last formal family picture was before my little brother Scott was born and he is now 11 years old.

So yes, it was necessary.

We booked a session with Matt Clayton while we were up in Utah for a week.

I was way excited because I love love love his work and his blog and I think he makes everyone look like a Ralph Lauren model. With my impeccable timing, I managed to get super sick the day before our shoot. Lucky me.

Anyways, we got the pictures back and loved them. With the exception of my grey sick appearance and straight hair... why did I do that? Anyways, we thought our family wasn't good looking enough to make the blog. But one year later... we made it. On the Matt Clayton blog. Talk about feeling famous.

Check out the post HERE.

Also, if you are in Utah and need pictures taken for any reason: family, engagement, or just because you want a new profile picture... Call Matt. Seriously. Call him right now. Besides the fact that he is super talented, he is also really fun to work with, he makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera. Just do it okay?

Homesick

Dear Jerusalem,

I hope you know that I miss you every day.

I miss waking up with 3 (or usually 4 because Chels always made it in our room before I woke up) of the most incredible girls I've ever met. I miss singing and dancing with them, eating shekel shack candy, and watching The Sound of Music.

I miss Pita bread and fresh Zaatar.

I miss the feeling that every day counts, because you know how limited they are.

I miss painting at the Princess Basma Center.

I miss the classrooms with giant windows, where we tried to soak in every word we were taught. Furiously typing away on our computers.

I miss checking out at the bottom gate and walking past the playground to the bottom of the Kidron Valley. But I do not miss walking up it.

I miss stopping to buy gummies and love nuts.

I miss singing on Ben Yehuda street.

I miss pretending to study in the library and joining as many tables as we can so no one is left out at dinner time.

I miss pretending like I'm going to go on a diet and stay away from the Pita bar (Really Kaitlin... like half of these are about food)

I miss my Jerusalem family, and the never a surprise birthday parties in the loft.

I miss pillow puffs and workout videos. I miss the cooks and the guards, but mostly the teachers.

I miss the city, the people we meet on the street, the old man who walked us home from the post office, and the lady that kept insisting we take more candy because it was all she had to offer, and even the lady that said she could fix my skin problems with aspirin(?). I miss walking the streets and feeling sorry for the tourists in their bright colored hats and the small amount of time they had there. I miss marveling. I miss exploring. I miss tombs and sepulchres and Franciscan monks and camels and shittim trees and oil presses and Herodian stones and Greg's story time and even listening to Chaddy talk in that cat voice.

I miss it all. But every time I begin to miss Jerusalem, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being able to really experience Jerusalem, for really being able to feel like its my home.

Last night my mom made me Zaatar Chicken and tomorrow I'm going to see Matisyahu in concert. Just little things that remind me of home. I'm smiling because it happened, it really did happen.

A Room

You know that movie "The Notebook"?

Ever heard of it?

Well its really popular.

Basically its the closest thing to love a single girl can comprehend.

Its the love story of all love stories.

& It has the final word in all things love.

Well, everyone has their favorite part of the movie.

& mine is a lot less noticeable than the intense make out in the rain scene, or the adorable dancing in the street scene, or you know the falling in love montage. See why no girl can resist this movie?

My favorite part of the movie is when Noah is talking about building his future home and the conversations continues as such...

Allie: Well, what about me? Now don’t I get any say in this?

Noah: You want a say in this?

Allie: Yes, I would.

Noah: What do you want?

Allie: I want a white house with blue shutters and a room overlooking the river so I can paint. I want a big old porch that wraps around the entire house. We can drink tea and watch the sun go down.

Noah: Okay.

Allie: You promise?

Noah: I promise.

Years later, when she finally comes back to him, she wakes up and follows the arrows to find her room overlooking the river where she can paint.

It may not be as iconic as the other scenes of the movie. In fact, I couldn't even find a screen shot of the scene. But to me, that was the sweetest part. If that were me, I would sit there all day and paint with watercolor. I have no idea how to paint with watercolor, but if I were to pick any method of painting to be instantly great at, it would be watercolor.

So future husband, wherever you are out in the world, I would like to put in an order form.