hanging around

How has it been 2 weeks since we've gotten together internet? Well it's not you, it's me...I've been busy. But I'm back now cus Tasha got an iPhone so I have to keep her full of content.

Also, summer has officially ended, so if you want to know how it finished I have conveniently summed it up below.


I found a drink machine OF THE FUTURE,

hung out with some sibs,

and learned Wyatt is so spiritual he is already praying.

Aaron and I fell asleep some Friday nights in our TV nest,

we saw Cindy's beautiful America,

and realized there was perfect coordination in attendance!

I watched family friend Reid Mumford riding in the Tour of Utah,

and took mature photos.

There was Janelle birthday face squeeze,

and outside pizza to celebrate a PhD.

There were grown up men immersed in intellectual reading,

and my husb involved in a potentially sketchy back rub chain.

I hung out with a delightful Morgan,

and continued to melt over that smiley Wyatt-face.

Aaron and I bought BFF bracelets at the fair,

I found this photo on my camera,

and Joel learned to skid on a fixed gear (but unfortunately/fortunately did not fall)

Not too shabby!

food party

Does anyone else get thrown with Monday holidays? I've thought it was Wednesday for like 3 days. Surprise, it's Friday.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store on my lunch to pick up groceries for dinner. But I got sidetracked with cereal that was on sale at 4 boxes for $5.

And Throwback Mountain Dew that was on sale at 4 packs for $10.

Hello being a grownup, your grocery life is awesome.

dreams

I just got this text from Christopher:

There is a girl on the other side of the intersection listening to Stevie Nix so loud I can hear it. You two would be BFFS.

Probably. Since it didn't happen last year, I've started saying my prayers that Glee will do an all Fleetwood Mac episode this season.

Oh please bless.

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!