rainbow sign

Remember when rainbow cakes made the rounds on the internet a while ago? Tasha's birthday was last Wednesday so for the world's most colorful woman, I decided to try one.

And it worked! (because it's actually really easy)

Easy and awesome, my favorite combination.

Plus, for the occasion Wyatt did his Spike Lee impression,


and then his old man impression,

and then his sweetest baby in the world impression.

rocky mountain high

I know I'm behind, but I have one more thing to say about our trip to Colorado Springs.

It is that Colorado is stunning.

Many years ago in college I took a class called Literature of The American West. As someone who had never camped or climbed or outdoored much I think for a long time I unconsciously felt that I couldn't love the mountains or nature as much as the people who did any of those outdoorsy things could.

But the class gave me the chance to open my perspective of what it really meant to live in and love the beauty that surrounds me. And I realized, I always had.

Because not that many generations ago I come from Europeans who came to America and settled western farmland and I love that heritage. Because I was born with lungs that feel comfortable breathing elevated air, and grew up in a city nestled right up against mountains. And because I had parents who took my siblings and me to national and state parks throughout a handful of western states and taught us to appreciate not only our home, but also the deserts and forests and sheer space that extended beyond the valley in which we lived.

But even as such a cheerleader for the West, somehow next door neighbor Colorado has slipped through the cracks. And when I went to visit Katie last December the trip was short and our drive back to Utah was in the dead of winter and mostly through dead Wyoming (sorry Wyoming).

So I wasn't expecting this time around to be so awed. I didn't expect to stand on the top of a 14,000 ft peak and see out forever and ever.


Or to be in a place so high that clouds came up from rocks beneath you like mist out of a geyser.

I didn't expect to feel the altitude straining my breathing on a long bike ride.

And I didn't expect that coming home along the Colorado River would be so tight that I'd wonder with ever turn how anyone ever originally came through those passes, let alone build roads and highways.

New Mexico, I've still never visited you, but I hope you know you have a lot to live up to.

old before your time

Isn't it amazing when an artist says something you feel and it hits you like a ton of bricks on a Saturday afternoon?

I didn't make a summer mix, but fall is already happening. Mailing addresses if you're interested please ejcliffordatgmaildotcom.

EDIT: I'm not sending these until about mid-September, so I'll take addresses up through then!

she lives on a mountain

I have visited Katie in all the various places she's lived since she left Utah...which actually means various neighborhoods in just Huntington Beach and Boston. But whatever. We usually spend some time seeing sites and shopping. We eat so much food/treats and sometimes do some sort of fitness. I meet her friends and we see movies. And, I wear her clothes and we spend too much time getting ready.

Always I've done these visits by myself.

So while I didn't realize that a trip Aaron and I planned to visit Katie in Colorado Springs last week might possibly turn into a sister trip, well, it kind of did.

Luckily, I got a great husband! Aaron sat patiently while I tried on all of Katie's clothes and we took too long getting ready. And he likes sites and fitness and food and movies so the rest worked out nicely.

Plus, having Aaron meant we didn't have to take awkward pictures of each other...instead, we got awkward photos together!

beg steal or borrow

Aaron and I got back from Colorado Springs yesterday where we were visiting sister Katie. It was great and of course I have all sorts of photographic evidence of the fun we had.

But before I get to that, I need the world to know that I totally beat Plants versus Zombies.

I realize that for anyone with a phone capable of games this is old news, but since I only ever iPhone when I steal Aaron's at church, I was only introduced to PVZ last Sunday...and maybe I played for 3 hours straight after church.

And then maybe I played like 3 (or 4) of the hours on the drive to Colorado.

And then maybe I played when Katie and Aaron were trying to talk to me all weekend (couldn't they see I was busy?!).

But then Sunday morning I got to this screen!

And for the 3 minutes of the zombie music video, I felt like a million bucks.

I think professional athletes and I have a lot in common now, that must be what winning a gold medal feels like.

when I drink

Since this is more often than not my car cup holder situation:

Imagine my delight when I noticed this the other day:

That's double water, b*tches!

on the couch

Remember our couch that was supposed to come in 2 weeks but was taking like 2 months?

It finally came!

First we did what anyone with a 2 new couches would do...built a mega-couch to nap on of course.

Then we moved them to places that seemed more suitable for everyday use.

But it took a great coffee table, getting the last of my junk from my old place, and having dinner guests from church over last night to get everything finally put together.

The big couch,

the little couch,

and a corner for my chair

below my favorite, newly framed ostrich.

Now there is just this pile of pictures left (in the front room that is).

future reflections

Last night Aaron and I ate dinner at Alberto's (what's new). I was mid nacho-to-mouth when I heard my name. I looked up and there stood a Nate I once knew. A Nate I knew when I was 17; a Nate who was my first kiss.

Yes, I was totally old by the time I got into the kissing game, but that is besides the point. The point is that it was weird seeing First Kiss while eating Mexican food with Last Kiss.

After Nate walked away Aaron asked me a bit about what I was like at 17 and our conversation shifted to being young in general and fitting in. I had a good time in my teens because I was involved with school activities that interested me and I had a really great group of friends. But sometimes I kind of wondered where I fit in...which I think probably everyone felt at some point in their youth. And since I wondered what I needed to be like, I had all sorts of funny ideas about what someone I ended up with needed to be like too. He had to like the same music as me. He had to love America and literature. If he had long hair and was some sort of outdoorsy rock climber that would be dreamy.

But college and a mission and just getting older all helped me figure out me. I grew into myself. I am often TOTALLY self-conscious and play the Everyone-Else-Is-Cooler-On-The-Internet Game, but even when those insecurities sneak in, I am comfortable in my own skin. I like the things I like and the person I am. I can be hard on myself when I think about my own expectations, so while there are places like career and education that I think a younger me would be surprised/disappointed about, I also think there would be a nice deep breath that I managed to chill out and find my place (which incidentally is usually on my couch, in front of the TV).

And I think being cool with being me is why when Aaron came around and wasn't into reading and thought some of my favorite, cutest shirts looked like grandma shirts, then that was all okay. It was better than okay, because every time I thought our such different tastes and likes would get in the way of our relationship progressing...they just didn't. Whether or not Aaron likes Wilco, I still like Wilco. And whether or not I want to skateboard, Aaron still wants to skateboard. So not worrying about those differences meant I could look at the person Aaron is and fall in love with all the goodness and kindness inside him instead of looking for someone with stupid hippie hair.

For 17 year old me, First Kiss Nate was a dreamboat. But I'm glad that 28 year old me was the one picking by the time Last Kiss Aaron came around.

come running

We went to Idaho last weekend.

Because brothers Logan and Christopher and husb Aaron competed in all of their first Olympic length triathlon (Olympic length means the swim is 1 mile, the bike is 25 miles and the run is a 10k).

There was uncle time,

one shaved leg time,

and creepy motel time.

The morning of there was handsome time,

family time,

Wyatt cheering time,

Logan venting about getting a flat tire time,

and the sweet reward of finishing time.

Not shown above:
-All of the young, Mormon wives from Utah cheering on their husbands (I realize Kristen and Tasha and I were there, but it was weird to feel grouped...blah, blah, blah, I'm not comfortable with some of the categorizations that come with getting married)
-Seriously, how creepy that motel was
-How much Mexican food all of the boys ate after the race! Congratulations!