adios twenty-ten.

my people, my people. 

life of 2010 is coming to an end.
with that said, imma gonna allow you to enjoy
some photographs of people and memories of this past year
that allowed me to have the best of times.
p.s. my christmas was splendid. strangely, i took no pictures.
it's because i was too in the zone with my family. honestly,
i was enjoying every moment from the snowed-in cabin at sundance.
to the "greed" compositions. i have the best family, and i sure do love them to death.
and yes, i know these are a lot of pictures...listen, i had a really fun time this year.

i really hope you all had a great year.
i know i sure did and i am so thankful for my family and friends
who made it turn out the way it did.
im a really happy girl.

snowed in.

i hope to find the roof top of sundances cabins looking somewhat like this photo.

i hope to wake up during my christmas vacation, look out my window and feel like it's christmas and seeing a view as beautiful as this. gahhhh how awesome is this photo????

christmas is upon us all. i can FEEL IT!!

give me a break.

you guys. i am in a serious need of a break. but i can't complain because im on the homestretch. just three more days and im free. just a week and i'll be kicking it sundance style up in a cabin with my family for christmas. just two more weeks and i'll be kicking it back like above in sunny california for new years with life long friends. so i can't complain but i will tell you this much...

i don't think you'll understand the state of mind im in right now. i literally just pulled an all nighter due to a 3d design project that is due in an hour from now. i have not gone to bed, i have not experienced shut eye and i could crash and burn any second. although, i will say... i do love the outcome of my fancy pants tissue chandelier. here she is : 

im a proud mother of a new light fixture. next step is a trip to ikea for a lightbulb. 

happy monday to you all. i promise you that i will be found in my bed the rest of this busy day and no one will wake me. so good day, and good night. 

rachel rabbit. 

dad's root beer.

disclaimer before i begin this post: to my friend jay tibbits, if you or anyone who knows him reads this... i just want to say, i wasn't stalking you on facebook. you're facebook status revealed itself on my mini-feed which resulted in a really great five minutes of laugher. so i thank you. 

i guess my disclaimer explained the story behind this post but i'll go a little more into it. i was on facebook today, and up popped my friend jay's facebook status saying, 

"just drank a Dad's root beer."

simple enough. not much else needed to be said about this status. he drank a Dad's root beer. that's great. until i realized people began to comment like no other. and their comments reminded me of how incredibly hysterical the human minds imagination is. get a load of this whole conversation of Dad's root beer. 

comments in response:

"i once drank a Dad's root beer in japan. beat that." 

"i once had a Dad's root beer float in japan." 

jay - " i once swam in a pool of Dad's root beer and drank it as i soared underwater and it went through my nose and there was also a big ice cream iceberg that i could bite. oh yeah, and that was in the mediterranean. on that same trip i discovered a lost tribe of israel 

and cracked open a fresh Dad's root beer for them. a week later after hiking east and swimming to japan, i once found myself in a hot tub of 7 japanese politicians, let's just say they loved the Dad's root beer i began to share with them."

"ah that was good but check this out. this one time when i was hiking mount everest, on my way back down from reaching the top, i found a beautiful waterfall. to my surprise it was none other than the root beer known as Dad's. i did a double back flip to swan dive into a frothy root beer float pond. after, i was carried back to my giant hotel room on the backs of 12 natives. i bathed and lay in my robe on my CA king size bed, sipping none other than Dad's itself." 

jay- "that was great man, however, it reminded me of this one time when i was in spain. i was bare back riding this bull down the streets of madrid, one hand on the rope, the other on the Dad's root beer. after a solid hour run of downtown, i somehow... ended up in paris, where me and 4 beautiful french women elevated ourselves onto the eiffel tower. as we reached the peak, enjoying this great moment, we all embraced and began to french kiss, in this whirlwind of greatness, from above a fresh brewed can of Dad's root beer was showered onto our faces as we shared a taste and shook our hair into the wind. the experience was unforgettable." 

"once my plane wrecked in the sahara desert. i was the only survivor. after days of walking without food or water, i knew that i wouldn't make it. i collapsed and waited to die. the next thing i knew there was a bright light all around me and i was being carried in someone's arms. i heard a deep voice that said, "DRINK" and a curious elixir was poured into my mouth. strength returned to my body. "Who are you?" 

         "....I am Dad...."

i don't remember anything after that. i woke up in a nigerian hospital, sure it had all been a dream. the nurse brought me my lunch and i took a sip of the drink and i thought i heard someone whisper "I will always be with you." i looked at the blue and yellow label. 

it was Dad's root beer." 

and that my friends, is how they left the conversation, and i was dying. 

i really hope you found humor in this. 

happy saturday, and while you're at it, grab a Dad's root beer. 

it's only fair. 

im in love with the texans.

sometimes, i can't get enough of my roommate nik 

and her texas fever. sometimes i can't get enough 

of niki from dallas and her buddy chadwick. 

the two of them make such a great duo and though 

i know they'll never elope, i really wish they would. 

that's all i really have to say. i just wanted to let you all know

that i love my roommate nik and her fellow texas mate. 

yeah, i've been to africa.

               it's 2:22 in the morning. i should be in bed, but because i know myself so we'll i tend to do the stupid thing, and stay up just a little bit longer, you know... see how further into the night i can go before i just crash. so here i am, taking a step back into what seems like another life when i traveled across the sea to africa.

               it's strange. this picture is really of no importance. it's just a normal wednesday night in ghana, africa on the beach enjoying our weekly reggae night. my buddy tyler is most likely punching in his american digits into his new ghanaian friends phone, waiting for the five cedis calling card to kick in some time in the future. apparently, im in deep thought while kicking it with my close friend from the trip, sirus, who owns a drum shop just down the road along the sea. everyone is in the moment, and we are all acting completely normal, no big deal. we kind of forgot the fact that we were in africa. this particular moment was not just some out of the blue night, it was a common thing i did during my life at that time, and that is what is so strange to me.

              people ask, "hey, have you been out of the country much?" (this is before my parents moved to england) and I'd say, "surprisingly no, but i have been to africa." what? just hearing me say that statement alone still makes me step back today and think how unreal that is to me. sometimes, maybe, i make it a big deal that i've been to africa. but i've got to say... it's not a common trip people take, and i've seen things in my life that a lot of people only hear about on the news or see in national geographic and by no means am i boosting about my experience, but im more so in awe over the fact that till this day, i still can't take it all in.

             honest to goodness, being in africa during july and august of 2009 was the best place i could have been. i don't think any other time in my life from here on out can out do what i did in africa. if someone offered me a trip to say, i don't know, thailand... i feel obligated to politely turn down the offer because i can't one up my trip in africa. obviously, i'd never turn it down, but you get my drift.

           since that adventure, every person who i introduced myself to, whose photo i snapped, whose hug i was able to embrace and whose story i was able to learn of, continues to impact my life today. i have never felt as alive as i did while in africa. it's like a whole other life i've lived. and im very grateful for that opportunity of going over to ghana. so when i look back on this candid shot in twenty years from now, i will still catch myself in awe, saying, "weird, that's just me, hanging out in africa. that's all." why? because the things i saw and the people who changed me will never fully settle in and feel like something from the past. every memory i have of them is an initial reality check of life and how it should be lived and whom you're life should be lived for and who you should focus on other than yourself. now i'm not saying im this perfect selfless person because im far from that. but i thank my dear friends in africa for their life long reminder and example of every lesson in life that should be learned of. and to them, i say thank you.

    

mikey baby.

just look at this album cover of mjs new cd

MICHAEL

featuring: lenny kravitz, 50 cent, and akon 

look at it in awe, get yourself pumped, 

because i've already found a sneak preview of each track

and word from the wise.... 

MJ IS BACK. 

michael joseph jackson 

is a genius. forever and always. 

xoxo

p.s. red jacket mj on the left shoulder of 

THE mj looks like

bruno mars. 

singing in the rain.

earth to readers. if you dont know by now

i secretly wish i were a performer/entertainer. 

if i could be anything in the world (minus a

hardcore ghost hunter) i would be an actress/singer/dancer.

i would do it all. i really live for theatrical performances. 

i secretly envy certain people in the entertainment business who

do this for their career every day. i think this is why i am such a teeny bopper 

deep down and shamefully obsess over certain celebrities, but COME ON

how could you not want to be a part of a production like this?

one way or another, i am going to try and get a family gathering and recreate

this "umbrella/singing in the rain" scene from glee. 

and if i can't make that happen, then i'll just hit the shower

again and keep performing in my bathroom, all alone by myself. 

just like i do every day. 

i wanna be a star. that's all. 

christmas devotional.

thanks to my friend, brooks, a group of about twenty, 

were able to attend the christmas devotional up in salt lake city

last night. we were blessed with floor seats. yes, floor. 

i can't even begin to express how beautiful the christmas decor was

and the feeling you were overwhelmed with as you walked in. 

there sure was a lot of hustle and bustle getting to the conference center, 

but to be honest, i didn't really mind. the rush of the crowds

made it feel more like the holidays.
the mormon tabernacle choir did it again.
sometimes, i really can't get over how beautiful they sound.
they really are angels. and it felt so good to see the leaders of our church
speak and spread christmas cheer!
it was a grand ol' holiday night and i just love downtown salt lake.
i really think i could live there. i know i told my dad once upon a time
that i couldn't, now i change my mind.
but i think i only could reside there throughout my college years.
and that's all.