summertime.

As I was laying outside this afternoon at the neighborhood pool, I heard these two boys quarreling. One boy says to the other:

"I don't want to be out here. I want to go play my Gameboy."

They got in a little argument about one wanting to swim/one wanting to be inside. My thoughts?

Hey, kids? Play outside. Enjoy the summertime. Don't waste away the summer days on a Gameboy. Now, I realize I'm writing this as I am, very well, sitting inside. BUT, I have been outside prior to this blog post for almost three hours.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the summertime and kids enjoying the SUNSHINE. What are your thoughts? Do you want your kids to play outside? Or...sit inside on a Gameboy? Just sayin'..

an ode to Spain: Los Cahorros

Los Cahorros, located in Monachil, Spain, was a beautiful area! My friend Amanda and I hiked to the waterfalls on the day of our final. It was a beautiful place with crystal clear water. It took about an hour to hike in from the bus stop and then we continued on after the waterfall and did more exploring. It was one of the prettiest placed we'd seen and we both wished we had known about Los Cahorros sooner. On the way out of the hike, the weather was perfect to just hop in the river to cool off and then continue hiking out. One of my favorite days in Spain!

an ode to Spain: graffiti.

I came to love the graffiti in Spain. Here are some of my favorites that I saw while I was there:

an ode to Spain: Ronda.

Photos from my favorite city, Ronda.

an ode to spain, part 1.

Well, I was finally able to sit down and edit some pictures from Spain. It took me a few hours (I had over 1,000) but it was fun to remember all the amazing places I saw while there. Enjoy!

D.C. in photos.

Since I have a free moment before my sister arrives this afternoon, I thought I'd post a few recent photos of D.C. Enjoy!











(my sister made an awesome little chart for me to track where I have gone in D.C. So cute!)
(went to frozen yogurt last night after a 30-minute-dance party, which you can tell really took a toll on my hair. But it was definitely fun.)

D.C. has been a blast! 3 more days here and then it's back to UTAH.

peace.

independence day.

I am not sure if it because my family has many traditions associated with this holiday or just because this is the time to celebrate America, but the fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. There seems to be a similar trend among some of my siblings.

This year I was able to celebrate it at the nation's capital. What an amazing experience. To start the day we rafted down a nearby river that was nice and warm, went to an afternoon bbq, and finished the night off with an amazing firework display. While waiting for the fireworks to start, the group of about 12 of us began to sing. We sang "My Country Tis of Thee," "God Bless America," "God Bless the USA" (Lee Greenwood versionWe listened to it every year without fail growing up and impressed everyone as we sang the whole song, word for word. I love it), and "The Star Spangled Banner." As we started to see the national anthem, we all stood up in honor of our country. Right as we are singing "o'er the ramparts we watched," the fireworks began shooting off in front of us. Perfect timing. Magical.

We were sitting on the lawn next to the Jefferson Memorial and had an incredible, unobstructed view of both the fireworks and the beautiful Washington Monument.

I am so proud and blessed to be an American. Oh and this video is for my mom :)