three months and one day

That time

I thought I could not
go any closer to grief
without dying

I went closer,
and I did not die.
Surely God
had his hand in this,

as well as friends.
Still, I was bent,
and my laughter,
as the poet said,

was nowhere to be found.
Then said my friend Daniel,
(brave even among lions),
"It's not the weight you carry

but how you carry it -
books, bricks, grief -
it's all in the way
you embrace it, balance it, carry it

when you cannot, and would not,
put it down."
So I went practicing.
Have you noticed?

Have you heard
the laughter
that comes, now and again,
out of my startled mouth?

How I linger
to admire, admire, admire
the things of this world
that are kind, and maybe

also troubled -
roses in the wind,
the sea geese on the steep waves,
a love
to which there is no reply?

by Mary Oliver, stolen from Amanda


I just want to know, do we ever stop counting?

spring breaking it

For our first and last spring break we flew to Utah for a week. We mostly hung out with family and went out to eat (I'm pretty sure every day except Sunday, we are now really fat). We celebrated my birthday by going out to eat at La Jolla Groves (I was not too impressed, sadly), playing in a toy store, having a small party, and laser tagging. Aaron also suggested we babysit Brooklynn for the day, so we took her birthday shopping with us and my mom. She was pretty entertaining at the Disney store (capitalize store or no?) at the mall. So many princess dresses! We also got to go to the temple, which was great since going to the DC one is a full day trip plus a lot of tolls. Aaron also gave a presentation for the BYU pre-med club about interviewing and did an awesome job. 

Aaron and I then took off for St. George to go with his parents to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful! We did a bunch of hiking and saw some amazing views and I took way too many mediocre pictures. It was wonderful. Also, we met a French couple at the hotel breakfast, and I spoke to them in French for 10 minutes. I made a lot of pretty terrible errors, but it was so fun. 

Cue photo evidence of our adventures:

 My niece Brooklynn on a stuffed reindeer. It doesn't get any cuter than that (unless you use the "posterize" setting on your new birthday gift camera, right?!)

I haven't seen British candy since 2010! Lovely!

 Aaron regaling his audience with gruesome tales of neurosurgeries at my birthday party.

 Eating at Guru's- Brooklyn loves Becky. And her hair.

 I love laser tag so. so. much. There is zero sarcasm in that sentence. Seriously.

 The Graham Canyon! (I begin to abuse the vivid color setting on my camera.)

Vivid color abuse continues! 

 Aaron had a face-off with a moose/elk.

Attempt at the rule of thirds.

Thank you to our families and friends for all of the fun. I can't even say how great it was to be with everyone.

birthday princess!

My birthday was awesome, but I have to admit it's pretty hard to screw up a day filled with all of my favorite people and my favorite things (cake, glitter nails, princess crowns, etc.). 

A huge thank you to everyone who made it great!

an average morning in philly

A series of text messages I received from Aaron this morning:

7:45 Dude the south street bridge is gone! it fell in the river!
7:46 I am swimming across the river!
7:47 I got my hair wet!
7:49 Zombies! they did this!
7:50 It is cloudy! i cannot use the solar power to defeat them!
7:53 Falcon punch!
7:55 I made it to class! until next time zombies!

That boy.
As my grandma would say, "What a character!"

treat. yo. self.

Birthday wishes:

glitter nail polish. of any color. of all colors.

pretty cupcake liners.

artichoke tea lights from ruche. 

gold knot bracelet.

I feel like birthdays are a good excuse to get yourself some fairly impractical things, like everything on that list. I don't even bake cupcakes that often, and tea lights shaped like artichokes are kind of ridiculous (but really adorable). To my credit, my mom did get me an on sale cardigan and 4 lbs of yeast, both of which I will put to very good use.

If your birthday was a week from today, what would you be asking for? 

because somehow this has morphed into a pseudo cooking blog without the pretty pictures

I made some really great pretzels this afternoon. The recipe only made 8, and we've already eaten 4.

Me: Can we eat more pretzels now?
Aaron: This is why we can't have nice things.

(because any time we get treats in the house, we eat ALL the treats!)

Also, does anyone have a favorite pancake recipe? I've been making pancakes on Saturdays but haven't found a recipe I'm super attached to yet. Suggestions would be much appreciated!

former ballroom dancer and current chemistry phd student

I found this site yesterday called This is What a Scientist Looks Like, where any scientist can submit a photo of themselves showing that scientists are real people and not just old white guys dressed in lab coats.
Is this too scandalous to submit?

Knew I should've listened to Sharon and stopped playing with my skirt. 

sharing time

Three more thoughts for today:

1. I really loved this series of essays by C. Jane about her past relationships. You ought to read them.

2. Cooking mishap: Tortillas will stick to tin foil, and you will get really frustrated with your tin foil-studded enchiladas.

2. Cooking win: Yesterday we had a successful salmon and cheesecake experience (though not at the same time). Two birds with one holiday, guys! Salmon recipe here, chocolate cheesecake found here.

You got any links you want to share?