DC

The day after I graduated from college, my sister Kylie and I left on vacation to DC. We called it "Revenge Trip 2016" since both of our husbands are going on their own different trips this summer without us. We spent the majority of the time in museums though, so I don't think they were very jealous ... But we had a blast!

Right after we landed, Kylie's friend and our host picked us up and we took the walk around the tidal basin to see all the monuments. AT NIGHT. Which is something I love doing. Night is magic.

I learned that Lincoln's hands are (loosely) doing ASL for "A" and "L" because the sculptor's son was deaf. Cool, right?

The next morning we drove out to see the DC temple, which is probably my favorite.

Next up: Capitol Hill and Eastern Market

The only cherry blossoms we made it in time to see, oops.

ART!!! My art history minor super paid off and I just love impressionism/post-impressionism ahh.

National Archives to see important documents.

The next day we hit up the Air and Space museum! So many planes in there, just wow.

Probably the only museum Shae would have been into, haha.

After the Renwick, stopped by the Obama residence.

Oh, really good food throughout including Shake Shack (above) and a sweet cookie bar at whole foods (featured on my instagram).

National Cathedral, Library of Congress.

Not pictured: MORE MUSEUMS.  If you're in DC, you HAVE to see the Newseum. The museum about the history of the news. It was my favorite. The Philips collection at Dupont Circle was great too.

After 4 days of straight walking, we ended our trip by WALKING some more around the tidal basin again, but only after resting at the Jefferson with our shoes off for like an hour. Ahh. Twilight was a nice time for the monuments too.

Revenge Trip 2016, you were great. Trying to figure out how move to the blessed east coast right now... 

"Don't cry over spilled milk. But if your car dies you're allowed to cry a little bit." - Shae

Sometimes you have great weekends and sometimes you don't. This weekend my phone shattered, my car engine died while I was on the freeway, and I received my bill for my ER-kidney stone visit (crying emoji). 

When things like this happen on top of my other woes, I sometimes feel so hopeless and like my life just is the crappiest. I have to very actively try to look at the bright side of things. 

At least I didn't die in a fiery car wreck and I just happened to break down at the Pleasant Grove exit so my dad was able to come help me out in just a few minutes. At least I had my phone for a full year and a half without ever dropping it, which is pretty good if you ask me. At least it was just a kidney stone and not something more serious, and now in the future I'll be able to identify that pain and I'll know what to do and won't have to go to the ER again.

I know my trials are really not so serious and so so so many other people are in worse plights than myself. But I just try to remember that any trial is making me a better human and my future self is going to be so much stronger than my current self. And maybe I'll even be able to help others with what I've learned.

Being a person is really hard, you know? But we're all here because we knew we could handle these things and wanted to progress. We wouldn't progress if it was easy.

That's all. I love my family and my husband for taking care of me.

Wonder

On our trip to DC we went to check out the Renwick Gallery, which is like right around the corner from the White House. They have a sweet contemporary art exhibit up right now called Wonder ft. some really sweet pieces.

 These are made out of index cards. Index cards!

Artist Gabriel Dawe did another rainbow installation in the museum at BYU, too. It's even bigger than this one.

Giant nests. So cool I want to put blankets and pillows inside and hang out in them.

This thing represented the geothermal record of the tsunami in Japan. It changes colors and everyone just lays down on the ground underneath it. So relaxing. 

Not pictured, intricate wallpaper made out of insects. Not pictured for a reason. Ahh.

Everyone needs to go see that exhibit. Especially the Obamas because they are, like, right there.

Cara and Dallin

Recently one of my friends from freshman year of college, Cara, asked me to do a series of little paintings to give to her husband for their wedding. It outlined their super cool and exotic love story (their first kiss was at the Sea of Galilee, whaaa?) in eight prints that she framed in chronological order. I thought it was a really sweet way to preserve such special memories, and it was super fun to do.

springtime in sicily

This is me, two years ago, waiting for the bus near the hotel where we had church in Catania, squeezing into the little bit of shade I could find. I'm starting to think spring is my favorite because it reminds of me Sicily and one of my favorite parts of my mission.

It wasn't my favorite because it was easy or fun all the time. We had cockroaches in our apartment, it was hot and I forgot how it felt to not be sweaty, and my companion and I had a huge whiteboard filled with contacts we had found yet still struggled to make appointments, but it was a huge period of growth for me.

Sitting at my rickety desk every morning for personal study, I understood the Book of Mormon in ways that I hadn't before. I lived with three fun, hilarious girls and we often wondered if President knew when he assigned us there how much fun we would have together every night. Talking to strangers isn't my thing, but I remember feeling so elated after reaching out and having a meaningful conversation with someone on a bus or at a park. I felt the Lord's love for me and I literally didn't have an ounce of bitterness in my heart toward anyone and I loved myself, too.

I was surrounded by missionaries who would become my lifelong friends, and I had a clear vision of what my goals were. I started to become a lot more confident in the fact that being on a mission was the right thing for me and I felt the goodness of Jesus every single day.

On Sundays even still, when I put on a skirt but no name tag, I reflect on my mission, the people there, (the food I ate!!!), and the experiences I had,  and how drastically different my life would be now without having done it. I'm forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for granting me the opportunity to receive all those happy blessings.

Oh, I also met my husband out there in Catania but that's a post for another day. :)

lilacs (?)

We have the sweetest wall of lilacs growing outside our apartment door.

these are lilacs ... right? Obviously I need to brush up on my herbology. 

Life right now consists of me doing random video coloring and watercolor jobs whilst looking for a consistent job and Shae studying like all the time for the DAT. He's the most diligent person I have ever met.

I just got back from a vacation in DC, which I'll post about soon,

And spring is continuing to be my favorite season.

thanks for the quote RL

Working on calligraphy and being kinder to myself.

ALSO I'm going to be opening a shop soon because I guess people want my watercolor/gouache/calligraphy stuff and they need a place to see it all.

So that's fun! Stay tuned.