Bicycle.

Tonight I went on a long bike ride at sunset, and I realized things.

I looked up at those gorgeous mountains that I live right underneath and I realized how beautiful the world is, and how many times I don't appreciate it.

I thought about time, and I remembered a day almost two years ago that I felt overcome by joy because I knew that my life was going in the right direction, even though it wasn't easy. I felt that same feeling tonight, sitting on my bike.

I also thought about that summer and I realized how those two years have flown by.

I worried about the future, but then I realized that I am still only 19, and the world is wide open in front of me. Whatever choices I make will be my own choices. I create my own universe.

I thought about these few weeks of summer that I have left and how I kind of want to fast-forward through them. Then I remembered words that are written on the wall in the break room at Plato's Closet, of all places.

"If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, then change your mind about it."

Sometimes I think my friend Annie, who wrote them, is the smartest person I know.

"He bet me I couldn't find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough." -Rita Mae Brown

Dear elder.

Meet my best friend and the boy I've been dating, give or take, for the past 6 months: Tyler.

He is leaving tomorrow for two years on an LDS mission to serve the people of Ireland and Scotland. I feel it's only right to relive a few of the memories.

• Labor Day weekend when a group of us headed down to St. George, stayed in Melissa's grandparents' house, and had all kinds of adventures that included caving, getting free Iceberg shakes, Insidious, the very first Game of Things, and hiking in Zions. I think, looking back, this was one of the best weekends of the whole year.

• Bonfires, hay rides, and playing "Never Have I" or whatever that game is called. 
• Modern Family and Game of Things on Sunday nights.
• I think what really solidified our friendship was when Tyler asked me to draw a beard on his face with eyeliner for Halloween. All I can say is, he came to the right place.

• Basketball games, Virgin Diaries, and bowling.
• The Messiah, which I doubt he will ever go to again, but I liked it!
• Temple Square during the first few days of winter break.
• When I got my wisdom teeth out and Ty was the only person that wanted to come over and watch movies with me. We watched Scott Pilgrim and skyped Marissa and I remember it being so fun... but that was probably just the drugs. I doubt he will ever do that again either.
• New Year's Eve. Even though Tyler got lost for like three hours, so I don't know if you can really count that as a memory but we do have a picture!

• Gymnastics meets, especially the time we thought there was one but there totally wasn't.
• Learning blackjack and then playing it all the time like the world was ending.
• All of our many, many movie nights: Fired Up, Sydnie White, Facing the Giants, Paranormal marathon, etc.
• Both being there when Marissa faceplanted into the wall at church.
• Going shooting for my first time ever!

• This video.
• Our first date (finally!) along with Mike and Dylan. Me out-eating everyone, winning Cranium, and watching In Time.
• Making the sushi bet during the Superbowl. Me winning it. Going to Ninja.
• The prank war. (It's still not over. A two year intermission won't stop me.)
• My favorite Valentine's Day ever. Double date to Texas Roadhouse with Daniel and Sarah, winning mini golf (we win everything), jumping in a freezing cold pool, Iceberg shakes, and watching Star Trek. Nothing can beat that. (Also, no, the cactus is not a hat.)

• So much Call of Duty.
• Geocaching.
• Institute.
• My birthday when we all went to St. George and partied.

• All the nights we spent watching Lost. Unfortunately we didn't get very far so now I have to wait two whole years to finish it! The suspense is killing me already!
• Hunger Games midnight showing.
• Skiing/snowboarding at Brian Head. Still haven't gotten over the windburn (whatever that is). Luckily Tyler didn't show an inch of skin so he was unaffected.

• Lunches and dinners in the dining hall.
• Sundays spent indexing at church... or in the dorms.
• Spring break! There are too many things to even name. Bellagio fountains, Truth or Dare at the hotel, flying water at Hoover Dam, sneaking into the pool, the hour long treading water competition for more sushi (luckily I haven't had to pay up on that), Fremont street, and driving the Mustang down the strip.

• Movie nights and game nights at Mike's house.
• Making dinners and the occasional cookies/brownies.
• Bowling bets.
• The drive to Draper when I got something in my eye, cried the entire way, and made Tyler steer my car for me so we wouldn't die. Then when we finally just switched places it came out.
• The Festival of Colors and the night we watched Indiana Jones. It's way up there on my list of favorite weekends.

• Our mini spring break in St. George with Janessa, Andrea, and Katey. Caving, glowsticking, swimming, and more Iceberg shakes.
• The nights we forgot about watching Lost when we discovered the Walking Dead.
• Free pancakes at Ihop.
• When I was house-sitting for my aunt: playing with their dogs for hours and playing N64 for hours.
• Double date with Marissa and Brayden. Making the best pizza and decorating the best Easter eggs.

• Our soccer team! So many good memories.
• Double date with Marissa and Chase to see Titanic and play games.
• Ty getting his mission call.
• The Mustang car show in St. George.
• Camping. Tyler was sick, it was freezing, our tents got flooded, we didn't sleep, and we went home early, but someday we'll be able to laugh about it. It might still be too soon though.

• Running through the sprinklers and playing that stupid game of sardines that I'm still mad about.
• Skyping when I was in France.
• Drive in movie, days at the park, swimming, volleyball, Will Smith movies, Game of Things,  sparklers, and whatever else we have done in the past month.

He has taught me to take risks and do so many things I thought I would never ever do. It's seen in the way I now get excited whenever I see a Mustang, how I can play hours of video games, and know how to shoot a real gun. Even though I still don't think sunscreen is poisonous for your skin or think buying a bullet bike is a good idea, maybe someday I'll come around. Who knows?

What I do know is that I'm going to miss this boy. The people of Ireland and Scotland are one lucky bunch. See you in two, Ty.

The chair by baggage claim.

Yesterday I was at the airport. As you may or may not know, I grew up - and when I say "grew up", I mean I spent the majority of my elementary school years - in South Carolina and made many friends that I now follow on Instagram. So two kids from families in my ward in SC were coming out to good old Utah to go to EFY (Especially for Youth, it's a church camp) so my mom and I were kind enough to go pick them up at the airport.

Since these two strapping young boys are minors, my mom got a free pass through security to go meet them at the gate. Our conversation with the man at the ticketing counter where she had to obtain that free pass went something like this:

• Mother: So I'm picking up my friends' kids and they said I'm supposed to come here to be able to go through security..?
• Ticket Man: Okay, what flight and what are their names and your name?
• Mother: (Tells him, he gets confused, figures it out, etc.)
• Ticket Man: (Gestures to me) Is she going with you?
• Mother: If she can, she will, but if not that's fine.
• Ticket Man: Well we usually don't allow it, but I can make an exception. (Looks at me) How old are you?
• Me: Nineteen.
• Ticket Man: Okay I can't make an exception. I thought you were quite a bit younger than that.

This is the part when I got super offended, told Ticket Man he could shove it up his you-know-what, and stalked away muttering "people these days" under my breath. Not really. I just smiled and laughed and went to sit in a chair by baggage claim.

The chair by baggage claim is where the magic happened. I sat down on that black, worn out, yet surprisingly comfortable leather, folded my legs under me, and proceeded to text my friend Mike to pass the time. However, I had the good fortune to sit down by a family that had a couple of cute little kids that came over to say hi to me, which caused me to look up just in time to see another family come down the escalator, fresh off a plane.

This wasn't just any family, though. From where I was sitting I could make out the black name tags on the front of the father's suit and the mother's blouse. I had just enough time to deduce that oh, this was probably a mission president and his family coming home, before they were attacked by the crowd of people waiting at the bottom of the escalator. As I watched the many tearful hugs shared by loved ones reunited, I myself even got a little emotional. It was so beautiful and so perfect.

When everyone had finally been hugged and kissed, the whole group got together to take a picture. Keep in mind, this family didn't blend into the crowd. There were probably about thirty people there, all dressed up and carrying balloons and signs. So this was when I turned my attention to the other people passing by. Everyone coming off the escalator was staring, and I saw more than a few people crack a smile when they realized what the situation was and saw the happiness this family was radiating. I even witnessed one girl stop and take a picture of her own with her phone, and then keep walking as if she didn't just document the homecoming of random strangers.

Basically, the half hour I spent sitting in the chair by baggage claim made a huge impact on me. While I have always wanted balloons and signs (or maybe a boy with open arms and a heart-shaped pizza) at the airport when I come home from a long trip, it wasn't jealousy that I felt. I truly was touched by the love and raw emotion I witnessed. Tears of joy are the best kind.

It makes me happy to know that for every farewell, there has to be a homecoming.

June bug.

It has been a whirlwind of a week.

I guess today is Thursday, so I'll start with last Thursday. I had shifts at both Plato's and Cowabunga on Thursday and Friday, totaling 24 hours out of that 48 that I spent working. 1 hour was spent showering/eating, and the other 23 were spent sleeping. Living the dream.

Saturday I spent the entire day running errands (post office, grocery store, bank, mall) and setting up my volleyball net from hell that refused to stay standing. I eventually conquered that foe, though, don't worry. Then I went to Erin's bachelorette party for a while until all my friends came over to my house for a little get together before Tyler's farewell. It was supposed to be a pool party but past experience has taught me to never expect anyone to swim. I took some lovely pictures with my out-of-style disposable film camera that always gets me lots of weird looks.

Sunday was Tyler's farewell which was accompanied by Marissa coming up from Cedar! My week got ten million times better as soon as I saw that face. It has been way too long. We hung out at Ty's for a while, came home for dinner, and then met up with Tyler and Spencer at Draper Park to play on the playground and forget life for a while. We played one last Game of Things that night, watched Jumanji, and reminisced about the past year of friendship.

Props to Marissa for this picture!

On Monday, Tyler left us for California, so Marissa, Danielle, and I went to Seven Peaks. I splurged on another film camera - waterproof this time - which I think was well worth it! We also met a little boy named Blake who wanted to be a man and go on the biggest slide. I think he liked it, judging from the way he screamed "That was AWESOME!" after he reached the bottom. We made a quick visit to City Creek afterwards, ate a delicious meal prepared by the one and only mother of yours truly, and then Marissa and I watched Sister Wives (featuring SUU and my great friend Sydnie) and Holes (which we thought was a good movie but, ten years later, realized how cheesy it is).

Tuesday, Marissa also had to leave me, and I had another 12 hour day at work followed by another 12 hours of sleeping.

Wednesday I thankfully just had work in the morning at Cowabunga. I even got to hand out churros and Fanta to a bunch of screaming kids. Afterwards, I went swimming for a while and then went to Market Street for calamari with my mom. You can never get enough seafood, you know. We saw Brave after that; cutest movie!

And finally, today. I woke up and cleaned my room so I could at least say I did one thing productive. I laid out by the pool and read for a little while before finally jumping in and then playing fetch with my dog. I watched Juno until my mom got home from work. We went to Asian Star for dinner. Then I went to Erin's wedding reception.

I can't believe one of my best friends is married. Danielle and Erin are the only reason I made it through high school. We have been through school lunches, dances, Pepperwood parties, sleepovers, soccer games, pep rallies, boys, birthdays, graduation, and so much more. And now one third of our little friendship trio is married and on to a whole new stage of life. It's so crazy and so exciting.

Also, it kind of begs the question: Who's next?

The return.

My friends, the thing we all thought would never happen has happened. I'm working at Plato's Closet again.

I know some of you may be confused because I just said I was working at Cowabunga Bay, and that is true. I'm also working at Plato's. And it's so great.

I'm going to be honest: I wasn't that excited. I was happy to leave, and we all assumed I would never go back. But I need more hours since I have to pay for college or something like that, so here I am, working two jobs, and I absolutely love it. Going back to Plato's was just like going home. I worked there for two years in high school and the girls there became my second family. Even though most of them are gone now, Plato's Closet is still a place that I feel like I belong. It's a fantastic feeling since I am running low on those kinds of places this summer.

It's been hard to be optimistic lately because there isn't much to do around here in the summer. Or ever, really. All of my friends are leaving on missions, getting married, and going on to bigger and better things, and I am just stuck here working my life away and waiting for school to start again in August. To think that I still have two months of this is more than a little discouraging. I wish I knew what I was doing with my life.

"This is how we go on: One day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time." -Unknown

Appreciated.

Well, I have officially been back in the USA for seven whole days. It's a little weird, but also super great, to be speaking English full time again. Even though the ads on the side of my Facebook page are still in French, but then again sometimes I don't even notice. It takes some getting used to!

However, there are other facets that don't take much getting used to again. France taught me to appreciate many little things that I take for granted in my daily life here in America. For example...

• Showers. I'm sure you all guessed this would be on the top of the list since I was whining about it for four weeks straight. Seriously, though, is it really that hard to attach the nozzle to the wall? Come on, France. Keep up with the times.
• Ice. This little, often overlooked luxury was nowhere to be found in Europe. I just wanted my water to be cold!
• Water. Not that water is hard to come by there, but I'm just used to my water glass never even getting close to empty at restaurants. I'm such a spoiled brat.
• Driving. Even if I had a car in France, I would never ever drive it. That terrifies me. But I was so happy when I got behind the steering wheel of the Darth Evader for the first time in over a month. I love driving.
• Closets. As much as I love living out of a suitcase...

That being said, there are a few things I miss a lot about France:

• Crepes. No explanation needed. I'm an addict.
• Walking. I walked everywhere and I walked so much that I feel like I can't stop. I have taken my dog on one to two hour walks a couple times and he is dying by the end of it. I could keep going for like four, probably.
• Humidity. My hair hated it but the rest of me loved it!
• Nude beaches. (Just kidding!)
• French. I actually do miss speaking it all the time. There are some things that just can't be said as well in English as they can in French.
• The food in general. Also known as the real reason I went on that trip.
• What am I talking about? I miss it all. (Except the showers.)

My life back in good old Sandy/Draper sadly is just not as exciting. I started my new job at Cowabunga Bay serving food to waterpark goers. It's pretty fun.

I have also gone rock climbing, seen a couple movies, and made s'mores. Seeing all these faces again was probably the best part. (Note: None of these pictures were taken this week. I'm sure you can tell by the fact that my hair is a different color in every single one.)

It's weird going from nonstop new and captivating experiences all day every day in Europe, to coming back to my parents' house and not having much to do but work. I plan on making the most of it though, which is why Danielle and I made this summer to do list that we can turn to in our moments of extreme boredom.

• Tennis
• Swimming
• Draper Park
• Draper trail
• Geocaching
• Scootering/Ripsticking/Biking
• Learning to cook
• Floating the Provo River
• Hiking
• Dance Central
• Make videos
• Rock climbing
• Cowabunga Bay
• Drive in movie
• Camping

Also, I am adding on paragliding and skydiving, since they are on my lifelong bucket list and what better time than this summer? So, if you're ever bored in June, July, or August, and within an hour of Draper, let me know! I have a plethora of fun things for us to do.

PS: I forgot to mention that I have a new little thing on my sidebar! I finally got rid of that music playlist because it stopped working, and let's be honest, it was kind of annoying anyway. So I made a little list underneath the follow button (which you should click) that lists my five favorite songs of the week, with links to YouTube so you can listen to them with the click of a button! I will be updating it every Sunday. Just because, you know, I like good music, and other people like good music. So we should share our good music.

Nice is an understatement.

Well, my time is France this summer is drawing to a close. Luckily it ended with one of the most extraordinary weeks I can remember.

Monday May 28:
The group went to Ventimiglia, Italy for lunch and mostly just to say we went to Italy. We ate a delicious meal (caprese salad and calamari for me) at a restaurant right by the water, then spent some time on the beach, got gelato, and walked around the town a bit.

Notice the man in the background that tried to sell us
knock-off sunglasses moments after I took this picture.

The only thing I know in Italian is how to order gelato.

Tuesday May 29:
Started off the day at school, which was ten million times better than in Paris. Afterwards, Sydnie, Ariel, and I ate some amazing margarita pizza on the beach, followed by taking a nap in the sun and going swimming despite the fact that there were thousands of jellyfish eggs in the water. At least that's what we deducted they were after doing some research. I went running, which was magnificent, and then we watched tennis with Colette over dinner: Serena Williams verses some unknown French girl. The French girl won after a long streak of "avantages" and "equalités" and Colette was very pleased.

Running alongside this sea: Perfection.

Wednesday May 30:
After school our group headed a few towns over to the little ville of Eze. It's a town famous for their medieval city and perfume factory. We climbed to the top of the medieval city and ventured into the "jardin exotique", or exotic garden, which turned out to have some of the most gorgeous views.

Who has dreamt me?
Who has created me?
To whom have I said yes?

Sometimes I think the prettiest thing in the world is when
you can't tell where the sea ends and the sky begins.

We made a quick stop at the perfume factory and then headed down a path for what was supposed to be a 45 minute walk to Eze sur mer, the part of the town by the beach. It turned out to be a hike down a huge canyon but it was honestly one of my favorite parts of this whole trip. To be in the mountains and the trees, hiking down to the beach, and every once in a while get a glimpse of views like these... it was surreal. My calves are still knotted and sore (I was in flip flops. Who's surprised?) but I would not have it any other way. When we got to the bottom we found that there weren't any restaurants open, so we hopped on the train and took it one town over to Beaulieu for a three course dinner of escargots, lamb chops, and ice cream. Perfect day in my book.

Thursday May 31:
School in the morning, as usual, and then Sydnie and I made a beeline for the promenade alongside the beach and rented rollerblades. Apparently rollerblading is a favorite activity of the French, so we had to do it at least once. Even though it didn't exactly help our already sore legs and may have resulted in numerous blisters, it was a blast. After an hour of that, we went shopping for a while and then headed to the beach again. It was cloudy so we didn't say long before heading home for dinner. That night we walked down a few pedestrian streets and watched painters and street performers do their thing.

Rollerblading picture fail.

Friday June 1:
Might have skipped out on school two hours early... but it was our last day in France, what do you expect? Sydnie and I went to the marché to finish up our shopping and then spent the afternoon at the beach. There were no jellyfish eggs to be found this time so I swam for a long time, until my limbs started falling asleep because of how cold the water was. I could swim in the ocean forever, though. There is nothing better in the world.

Tonight we went to an opera, or tried to. We were on the very back row and I'm pretty sure that opera house doubles as a sauna. We could barely make it through the first act without passing out so we opted out of the other two thirds and (bet you can't guess) got crepes instead.

It's time to bid a final adieu to the Mediterranean, the Eiffel Tower, the cafés, the baguettes, the Metro, the showers, and the Nutella banana crepes made on the street. It's been one of the most amazing and life changing experiences for me, and I know that even after I leave it will continue to teach me. So, here it is: Au revoir. But I know it's really more like an à bientôt.