i made salad for lunch

and realized that some lettuce leaves are just terrible. i think it's the red ones, they're disgusting. a person could get fat off of salad because of all the extra dressing they'd have to put on it to mask the gross taste of some of the leaves.

other than that it's a pretty good salad. italian dressing is my favorite.

today i went to the bank, took back a couple of redbox movies, dropped amie off at work, drove around looking for more photo locations, and called my grandpa. so far so good. tonight i'm taking my girl yovanna rollerblading around provo. she's awesome, 13, i met her through a program at byu.

oh so many things to say today!!!

today i got my hair cut by my girl tricia of urban metropolitan hair salon. she's the bomb because i never cry when i leave her chair. she cut my hair exactly the way i wanted today, and also enlightened me to a life direction option i didn't know existed. more on that later if it works out.

i'm happy because now i can wear my hair in a pony tail without it looking like the tail of an actual horse. ps i'm not that tan, it's the lighting.

other noteworthy things, i consumed this entire container of mango tango in less than 48 hours. there are two reasons for this, (1) it was taking up too much precious fridge space, (2) it's the most delicious nectar i've ever had the pleasure of guzzling, and oh did i guzzle.

i've been waiting for this week for about a month now. yesterday i started working out at the gym again and i went again this morning. my plan is to go 5-6 days a week for a couple of months. reasons: my poor neglected and abused body needs it, also, i spent good money for the privilege of being able to go. after i went yesterday, i drove over to my favorite produce store around, sunflower market. oh my gosh oh my gosh, guess who i SAW there?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! stephanie nielson. STEPHANIE NIELSON. of the nienie dialogues blog. she is an inspiration to me. i've followed her blog for a year now. she and her husband were in a near fatal plane crash a while ago. she had been blogging for a while before, had quite the following because she is so fun to read. anyway, this blog is her journey. she was on oprah a few months ago telling her story, and she's just amazing. her blog has brought me to tears, made me laugh, and helped me appreciate simple things so much. please, do yourself a favor and get to know her!!! oh my gosh, i can't believe i met her! i have to tell you the story!!! hence:

i was sitting in my car on the phone with my mom, parked in the parking lot of sunflower market. i see a big SUV park, and a woman gets out. ohemgee it's stephanie nielson!!! i tell my mom "MOM! guess who i'm looking at, RIGHT NOW!!!!" she is excited for me. i want to run up and hug her but i stay in my car watching her get her boys ollie and nicholas out of the car. they are as cute in person as on the blog. also, nicholas has amazing cheeks. they go in the store. i am still on the phone, in my car. i get out. i finish the conversation with my mom. i keep an eye on the three people who don't know me but i know so much about. i am so stealth. nobody sees me as i subtly follow this most amazing woman around the store for 15 minutes. finally i find nerve and go up to her. "stephanie!" she looks at me and smiles, waiting to hear what i have to say. i'm sure she experiences this interaction everywhere she goes, but i can sense immediately that she cares about what i have to say. "my name is heather, i've been reading your blog for a year and i just wanted to say hi. i wish i had time to tell you how much you have inspired me. thank you so much." as i was talking, all of a sudden her eyes watered and she smiled. i started to choke up. i didn't realize this would be emotional for me, but it was, very. she said "come here! oh thank you so much!" and pulled me into a hug. OH MY GOSH!!!! i was so happy, i smiled so big. she's amazing. i looked at her boys. they looked at me. "are you helping your mom shop?" they silently held up two huge bags full of taffy. stephanie laughed and said "anything to get us through!" i laughed with her. she thanked me for saying hi, i thanked her for being amazing, we went our ways. i'm so glad i met her. oh my goodness. what a sweet, amazing woman. i'm so glad i said hi. by the way, even though her face has been burned and damaged, the absolute only thing you notice when you look right into her face is her eyes. they are BEAUTIFUL. they are really stunning. i wish that i'd thought to tell her that. whenever she posts pictures of herself on her blog i want to comment and say it, but she doesn't have commenting allowed on her blog. if i'd thought of it i would have told her.

goodbye

brittany and kirsten moved out. right before they did, they left this surprise on my bed:D it made me laugh so hard because i was very surprised, and they're funny!!!

today has been amazing

poem:

there once was a sunny day

i thought it would go away

but when i woke up

at next sunup

the sun was still bright and ama(zing).

i went for a drive, opened my sunroof and rolled the windows down.

today's soundtrack:

3x5 - john mayer

today was a fairytale - taylor swift

the space between - dave matthews band

solo - iyaz

and...

all music from OWL CITY.. which is significant and exciting because i'm GOING TO THE OWL CITY, LIGHTS, and PAPER ROUTE concert on monday!!!

(disclaimer: i was perfectly safe when i took this picture. don't worry, friend.)

then i went to the mall to find some summer clothes..

then i went outside to kiwannis park. i took a nap in the sun on my cute blanket.

AAAAAND, i read this book and found some answers:

other things i've done:

- ate a bowl of chocolate ice cream (i mean, seriously, how could this day get any better?)

- talked to a good friend for an hour, he is coming to town this weekend

- blog stalked photographers i adore

- i wore jeans ALL DAY! this is noteworthy because i live in sweats unless other clothes are an absolute necessity. i am in sweats now, but please forgive. it's evening now!

what an amazing day! it's not even over yet. it's still light outside, and it's after 6pm. what?! it's spring! oh my, i made it.. i didn't think i was going to but i did.

this is what spring should look like

these aren't from today, but today is just as amazing.. it's WARM!!!!!!! the sun is out. ahhhhh. this past week has been cold and snow and miserable. yesterday and today have been absolutely glorious. go outside and enjoy it too!!!!!!!

BIRTHDAY = 21 (not 20 anymore. no no.) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this collage is the documentation of my birthday yesterday, taken with my cell phone (because i don't have a normal point-and-shoot camera, just my huge nikons). by the way, i apologize for the second picture, this is when i was going to bed at 1:30am on the 12th. first ugly picture as a 21 year old. i need to mature.

my day began at 3:30 when i got this txt from my good friend heather hall: "you have a half hour before i kidnap you! dress warmly. very warmly. (& respond if you get this message... either way you're going to be napped." thus began my morning: kiwannis park w/hot chocolate on the Ring of Joy, talking, Iron Man at her apartment, coloring, and delicious breakfast:

later, my love janey took me to Zuppas for lunch, which we took up to a little overlook on the mountain (looking over the valley). we talked, then she gave me an awesome present: my favorite picture of Christ, EVER. she knows how much i love it, how i've wanted it soo bad! ahhh! i was so excited/happy about it. it's hard to express how much that means to me:

all my loves. we went to sub zero for ice cream and then they blindfolded me and then took me to one of our apartments for a party. it was SO fun. it was a perfect birthday. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

i was a bit overwhelmed by this point because i felt so loved. SO LOVED. i can't imagine better best friends than those God blessed me with. i can't say what i wished for when i blew these candles out, but honestly in that moment i had no idea what to wish for, i have absolutely everything i could ever need or want.

of course there was an addition to the quote board, how could there NOT be on a night like this?!

my love, ashley.

other loves, brittney, amie, kirsten:

i just liked kirsten's face:

my friend alyssa came to party for a while too!!!!!! AHHH:D

also a bonus, 55 loves on my wall:

walmart

i went to walmart and saw this SUV:

only at walmart.