send it downtown.

i think everyone should experience this.

c'est la vie.

yesterday evening i made a fairly long to-do list that i decided needed to be completed by tuesday afternoon when my parents get back from the greatest city in the u s of a.

i told my mom before she left that the house would be unrecognizable [in a good way] by the time she and my dad got back.

i guess i like to clean now?

anyway, i got myself all excited to make the house all sparkly and then i woke up this morning

with

a

HUGE

HEADACHE.

i feel like this happens every single time i'm excited about doing something.

it's almost like the devil knows i'm going to be happy and slaps me with a migraine.

but, i'm going to be strong and arm myself with some excedrin and peppermint oil and do everything i planned to do today because i know that if i don't i'll be very upset with myself.

and i'll probably listen to the above song the whole time.

because there's nothing like dean martin to put headaches and misery at bay.

------

in other news:

-i leave for rexburg in about three weeks. ONE MORE YEAR.

-i purchased a lovely duvet cover at ikea last week and am super excited to decorated my new room. i even found some vintage fabric in my stash that looks perfect with it that i'm going to use for a pillow cover. and i'm planning on trying my best to recreate this for another pillow form i have lying around [although i don't know which color to use--decisions, decisions].

-obsessed with this song.

-just because i know something is right doesn't make it easy to do.

-what's with bath and body works christening all their newest scents with ridiculous names? i bought a sample bottle of lotion of their newest scent and i really, really like it, but i feel weird wearing a fragrance called Dark Kiss.

ew.

what happened to keeping things simple, bbw?

jo-gro

when i was in high school, i was a diehard josh groban fan.

i would take his eponymous album with me on every single road trip and close my eyes and listen to it over and over again.

and then closer came out.

and i fell in love with him all over again.

i remember sitting in my room and making up my harmonies to his songs hoping that one day i would somehow get the chance to sing with him and then we would fall in love and he would sing "when you say you love me" to me at our wedding and we'd tour all over the world together and take our children with us and are you getting a taste of how creepy i was[am]?

kirsten always said he looked like a muppet.

i disagree.

and i digress.

today i made chocolate-oreo frozen yogurt with hannah and the only thing i wanted to listen to, strangely enough, was josh groban. this might have had something to do with the fact that i caught the tail-end of "to where you are" when i was flipping through radio stations on the way to target today.

i was surprised to find that i had not only remembered every harmony i made up, but EVERY SINGLE WORD TO EVERY SINGLE SONG.

this particular song was my absolute favorite and was on repeat quite often during my high school days.

and i still like it.

and i still harmonize to it.

and sometimes i still imagine that i'm onstage with him in some huge arena filled with soccer moms and thirteen year-olds while i do the dishes.

well, it's official.

my major change petition was approved after approximately four months of waiting unnecessarily.

i am officially an art major with an emphasis in art history.

FINALLY.

CALLING ALL ARCADE FIRE FANS.

everyone should go to amazon and buy arcade fire's newest album, the suburbs, RIGHT NOW because it's only THREE DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE CENTS [$3.99!!!!!!].

what are you waiting for??

un ano

it's been exactly one year since this post was written.

one year ago, i was scared out of my mind in a foreign country meeting the children i now--to this day--love as my own.

one year ago, i had no idea how the lessons i would learn during my time there would affect my life or how much of a changed being i would become upon my return back home to the states.

one year ago, i cautiously stepped inside my first orphanage and was terrified of the workers i later grew to love and admire.

i miss cuenca more than i can adequately express and hope to visit again someday.

but until that time, i'll just be poring over my photos and journal/blog entries wishing i could be back.

cuenca, je t'aime.