welcome back.

oh hey provo.

nice to see you again.

it's good to be back. 

it's different. a tad odd.

but im happy. 

 i've been living in the library.

trying to be studious.

& pretending like im smart. 

 going to dessert parties galore.

& living off of chocolate chip cookie dough.

oh, and yogurtland.

im not mad about it.

 playing with my sisters. 

probably more often than they would like.

sorry for being the fourth roommate cais.

being reunited with my besties.

& playing flag football & intramural soccer (question mark).

mommy & daddy come out next weekend (mmm sugar cookies)

& kelli smelly is coming out in a month and we get to go see mel on tour.

fall semester is being good to me.

i think i like this set up.

bloody ell, harry.

remember how i blogged because i thought my summer travels had ended?

wrong.

i have the greatest parents in the world,

(aka they get bored when they have nothing to do, so they take me places)

and the weekend before i came back to school we rode the hogwarts express to the

wizarding world of harry potter.

 defense against the dark arts. 

 the sorting hat.

 mmm butterbeer.

pretty sure i spent the majority of the weekend speaking in a british accent

screaming wingardium leviosa

& expecto patronum.

i like to pretend im actually hermione.

(and by that i mean emma watson. sorry im not sorry?)

did i mention i have the best parents ever?
i miss them already.

sisterhood of the traveling pants.

remember how i said my summer's been really hard?

well by that i mean--traveling is EXHAUSTING.

packing. driving. unpacking. flying. driving. packing. flying. unpacking.

it's hard work i tell ya. 

seriously though, this has quite possibly been the best summer of my life.

only maybe a little too short. that and i only traveled in the u.s. (i know, feel bad for me.)

but honestly. 

california. utah. home. hilton head. california. d.c. philadelphia. 

home.

i've always known i was a homebody, but oh my--i never want to leave.

i have it good. 

i came home to these beauties and nothing had changed.

we literally spent our first night together laughing for hours about absolutely nothing. 

it helps that we think we're hilarious.

i am so lucky to have such incredible friends.

hilton head. 

our annual family vacation spot. 

yes candice, there are islands on the east coast.

and this one holds a special place in my heart. 

this year you could say the dynamic was different, but that doesn't change our routine.

wake up. put on sunscreen (for those that wear it). on the beach by 9am. 30 minute lunch/diet coke refill break at 1pm. return to chairs til 4pm (or for the professionals, 5pm). shower. dinner. m&ms and movie. bed. wake up. REPEAT.

worshiping the sun is a full time job in our family. 

that and downing diet coke. 

my bestie came along for the adventure again this year.

and i could not have been happier. 

we celebrated our 3 year aniversary.

real romantic. 

i love this girl. she's has the answers to all my problems.

always has. 

california. 

miss melanie left the two of us this summer for this little thing that i suppose is kind of cool.

so you think you can dance.

annalise and i booked our flight and hopped on a plane.

made the trek cross country and landed in LA. 

it was seriously the experience of a lifetime.

seeing the show live.

being 5 feet away from cat deeley and neil patrick harris.

that and seeing my best friend having the time of her life.

i don't think i'll ever get over 40 year old ladies asking for a picture with mitch, her boyfriend,

or the flaming sales guy at nordstrom creepily taking a picture of her from across the store,

or the not-so-cute hairdresser offering to do her hair.

we kind of felt like her entourage.

it was hilarious. who would have thought? she's famous. 

i am so so so proud of her.

but to be perfectly honest, i'm ready to have my best friend back. 

(sorry im selfish)

we came home and annalise's family surprised us by picking us up from the airport in a limo. 

hilarious.

marina insisted on treating us like the movie stars we are.

is it wrong that i feel as much a part of her family as my own?

washington d.c.

when i heard ms. britney spears was releasing a new album i was elated.

finally. i was adamant about making it to this tour.

when i was 8 years old my best friend got tickets for us to go 

 &my evil parents refused to allow me to go with her.

now was my time. 

conveniently, my beautiful sissyter decided we should make a sisters trip of it.

however, brit's tour stopped in both atlanta and d.c. on sundays.

so we resorted to philadelphia.

i flew into d.c. and we played in her city for a the day. 

and so begun our weekend of treats.

i finally had my first sprinkles cupcake.

(pumpkin and chocolate marshmallow. mmm.)

we hit up serendipity.

&ate more cookies than i can count. 

(thank you kind amish people of philly.) 

oh my, kelli treats me right.

i'd never been to philadelphia

&as i liked to tell my father,

 this trip was about learning the history of our fine country.

we visited the liberty bell.

ran around like ben gates in national treasure.

&pretended to be rocky.

(he was a founding father right?)

so what. my family is a little movie obsessed.

but the real reason for the vacation was

 nicki minaj

whom kelli had no idea existed.

&honestly i think was a little mortified by her backup dancers haha.

 &the woman herself,

BRITNEY SPEARS.

i'd waited my whole life for this.

&she sure didn't disappoint.

i fell in love with the northeast all over again.

my desire to live in d.c. or nyc has been reborn.

the ancient roman architecture.

the green-ness.

the history.

the city.

i love it. all of it.

vacations. friends. family.

it has certainly been an eventful summer.

&i'm not ready for it to end.

nope, NOT ready at all.

playing mom.

oops. it's been a while. 

well i've had a real hard summer. and by that i mean....i am ridiculously blessed.

my summer "job" has consisted of watching my cousins two kids on an almost daily basis.

this little face wakes me up every morning. 

our days usually go like this:

breakfast. reading time. get ready for the pool. qt. pool. lunch. movie.

its been really hard on me.

i think i can be quoted saying,

"this is the hardest part of my day" while putting sunscreen on them.

but i continue to suffer for a good cause: my skin.

really. i am quite pale. you should see me. 

today, however, i decided to switch up the routine a bit.

so we crafted.

we melted some crayons.

&created silhouettes.

 i love this picture.

don't let them fool you.

they're only angels for about 5 minutes out of the day.

yup, that's more like it. 

 the finished products. 

they were supposed to be just silhouettes, 

but they were adamant about having their picture on there too. 

then they found the whole thing hilarious because it looked like they were "kissing themselves."

my little munchkins.

they wanted a "family portrait" with sparticus.

ah these two have been too much. 

from calling me "mommy" in public

to "let's have a naked dance party"

to peeing in the front yard, (yes...that happened)

parenting is quite the adventure.

&one i am no where near ready for yet.

thank you summer "job" for being my personal form of birth control.

so proud.

here's my little best friend montage:

we met in sixth grade. we became best friends.

she thought i was annoying. i was obsessed with her.

she wore "i'd rather be on vacation--abercrombie" shirts.

and i was jealous because darla refused to let me go into that store. 

[i know, i lived a hard life.]

we had sleepovers every week.

we watched what i like about you, lilo & stitch, avatar, hannah montana,

and ate frozen capri suns.

we did a school project using barbies. 

she wrote "i love ......" on my hand, and a week later i wrote it on hers.

she's been there for me through everything.

my first boyfriend.

my first kiss. [i literally ran over to her seconds after it happened..embarrassing]

my first car...my second car.

the worst times of my life, and the best. 

we've been separated for too long, but luckily she has fancy technology and would walk around with me via skype on her phone.

she has always been just a phone call away.

the days that school was just too hard, or homesickness really got to me,

i knew just who to call.

i love you with all my heart smelly. 

and i could not be more proud of you for living your dream.

it's about time the rest of the world sees you for just how perfect you are.

see you on the season finale. i'll be in the audience <3