I belong to dreams and stories in my mind

[disclaimer: I have dropped off the face of the earth, I know it. It started with frequent adventures at 1 in the morning, then finals, now home... where I eat tacos and ice cream and lay out with my family instead of blog. judge me, but it's secretly so fun. not secretly if i share it on the internet like this, but whatever. and I started this post about a month ago, and just finished. how people EVER write books is beyond me- i can't finish a dang blog post]

This post is dedicated to Brooke. 
Homegirl is this feisty ball of wonderful,
and that is really a pretty solid overall description.

I remember when I left for college, my mom asked,
"what am I gonna do without you?"
you would think oh... so sweet! but ehhhh mostly it was kind of like a cry for help
The question had nothing to do with my relationship with my mom, we made it just fine when I left.
[or better.. did any of you get closer to your mom when you left for college? I think maybe it's universal...]
It was about my relationship with Brooke.
You see, with lots of personality and sense of humor comes a little...feisty.
I somehow was just the right amount of ridiculous
to get littleone out of those funks that came with the fiesty.
And thus we bonded- me and all my ridiculousness, and Brooke and her sass.

When I was about to leave for college, [and by about... I mean months and months in advance]
and babygirl realized I would not live at home anymore, she moved in.
And by moved in, she slept in my bed every single night for probably 8 months.
When I was out for the night, she would leave notes on my pillow...
and often try to spoon me upon my arrival home.
When I was in for the night,
she would never complain about the lights being on when I needed to be up,
she just cuddled up and went to bed there anyways.

So that's about us. Pretty simply put- we love each other. She's dang cool.
When I came home a few times back, both Jess and I were shocked.
Brooke, who is our baby, was no longer a baby.
She had rounded some kind of invisible corner from little girl to young woman.
Ahhhhghghh. what?!
Little did I know there was more where that came from.
I got asked if she was my little sister the other day
[what?! I have 8 years on her! now I know how it feels, jess...]
aka she is lookin' old these days.
Which I guess kind of makes sense, because she graduated from 8th grade a few weeks back!
Which is the point of this post..... which I haven't gotten to until now.

So, without further ado, I will let you look at pictures...
which will subsequently prove my point about her looking so old.






[lookin like a babe these days, right?]

To my baby girl,
high school is wonderful.
It's a time in life when you honestly can do anything and everything...
and all at the same time.
As with most things in life, it will be what you make it.
And you will get out of it what you put in.
Be kind and be genuine....people will love you as they always have.
If girls pretend like they don't, just be a little sad for them.
For they have sorely missed out on having a friend like you.
But mostly, know there is a big sister in Utah who loves you more than most.
Thanks for being my friend, and loving me unconditionally, sweet girl.
You're gonna be great.

-Tay

Goodbye little brother, no wait... come here!

Little brother is the best.

The absolute, absolute best.

He is funny, and kind, and takes life serious enough... but never too serious.

He graduated high school this last week.

His graduation was filled with robes, gold chains, a speech... the works.

Every little girls eyes are riveted when this boy is around,

and mama's heart brims with pride and joy.

I, for one, am a very proud sister on account of this boy.

And we'll forgive him for not being able to take a serious picture for his life these days,

for such is the life of a seventeen year old boy.

Look out BYU.... he's coming this fall! 

Soooo much quality bonding to be done for he and I.

So many poor girls hearts to capture.

Taylor Ann

The best part of it all

I walked in last night at an ungodly hour.
It was around 3 in the morning...when no person should be awake.
So, naturally, nobody was.

I walked into mom's room to tell her we got home safely and crawled into her bed for a second.
She held my head in one hand, and rubbed my back with the other.
She told me how glad she was that I was home, and I remembered why home is the closest place to heaven.

Then I went and crawled into Brooke's bed to inform her of the same thing.
She wasn't coherent at first, but put her arm around me, as is customary for her to do to whatever object happens to be in her bed...
But when I gently told her again that it was me,
she immediately put both her arms around my neck, and held me tightly until i silently slid away to my own room.

I sat in my room for a while in those early morning hours, just being grateful for all the people I have.
I went out on the balcony and felt the wind on my face,
I teared up in happiness fo being back in the company of people who will love me forever,
Inside and out.
Mistake after mistake.
Imperfect, silly little me.
They don't care.
But you know what the best part is?
When I'm around them I don't care either.

 

Happy to be home again.

 Taylor Ann

Happy Spring Saturdays.

Saturday was one of those happy days.
I went to the temple, which never gets old.
Then I came home, wrote in my journal and fell asleep.
I awoke to the sound of playing games in the pool, and immediately joined the fun.
Laid out in the perfectly warm sun and went to sonic for big drinks.
Windows down always.
Went on a long motorcyle ride up the canyon,
and silently enjoyed the warmth on my skin and beautiful green of the mountains.
Screamed all the way through tunnels
and sat at Sundance listening to bluegrass artists warming up for their show.
We talked about how stubborn I am, boys, family, and snow-capped mountains.
Then went disco skating, which.... I mean how could you get better than that?
It rocked.
Then cute boys and jam sessions to ring in the night. win.







I seemed to fit homework in there somewhere, but somehow it isn't as much of a pain when the rest of the day is so happy.
Here's to hoping this weekend is as happy.

Taylor Ann

How I get boys.

Last weekend I went to a wedding,
and I met a boy.
And by boy I mean group of boys.
They were circa 8 years old.
And I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure they thought I was cute.
We all stood at the candy table and they dared me to try the most sour candy.

I, of course, accepted the challenge and they patiently waited for my reaction.
I squirmed and giggled, and scrunched my face like a champ.
That's probably when they all fell in love. 

I should probably not egg little boys on like that,
but it's way too much fun to play along.
Plus, it makes you an immediate fan club.

I think little boys are the best.
Food stains on their shirts
Coolaid/juice stains on their mouths
toothless grins
shy, but bold flirting tactics
they win me over every time.
They are my immediate favorite in any crowd.



Yerri was one of the first, but I'm sure he won't be the last.
He held my hand,
curled up in my lap,
and danced on my feet.
All under a Peruvian sky.
I'm not really sure I'll ever be able to let that one go.

My mom teases that I will one day be a mother of all boys.
I secretly wouldn't mind so much.
[and I'm sure this will be so funny when I have all little girls...]
But that's just one of those things making me happy these days,
hope your weekend was as good as mine!

-Taylor Ann

and I hope you smile often

A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people that your heart is at home 

-Author Unknown 

Country Girl..

Before we left for California, I had a conversation that went something along the lines of converting Lauren to backroads and country music by the time we came home.

She liked country alright, but me? I love it.
I was raised on it...how could I not?
So it naturally became a challenge.
Regardless, I knew my goal could be accomplished when as we drive further and further into the mountains she kept saying things like...

"oh my gosh"
"you live here?"
"you LIVE here...."

After some off-roading and exploring, I couldn't see how she wouldn't be converted....








Then, as we drove away from home and I handed her the ipod for music control,
she turned on country music.
Mission. Accomplished.
Thanks for comin' with me, cowgirl ;)

-Taylor Ann

heaven on earth.

Have you ever felt like home was heaven on earth?
Like being home, if even for a few days, made everything better?
It's almost like your soul just craves the sanctuary that comes with being around
the people who know you. really know you. and the places you know so well.
There is no explaining yourself. There is no need for constant conversation. There is no stress.
Only people and places you love, and who love you in return.

I've had that experience a few times now.
The first was the summer after I graduated high school.
I had never been away from home longer than two weeks,
but I was independent...so I was sure it would be no big deal to leave home for the summer.
Oh, I was more than a little overconfident in my ability to be independent
and unaware of my youth and dependence on my family.
It got to be too much for my barely graduated self to handle- and one weekend, I needed to go.
I left directly after work on Friday and had to come back for work Monday,
so a short trip was what it had to be.
I couldn't drive fast enough.
We didn't do anything that special, just our normal dinner and a movie routine.
It happened to be a perfect summer night.
So a spontaneous thought brought about a spontaneous adventure-
and we brought blow-up mattresses to our (then) house pad and slept under the stars.

I think I cried when I left. I had never before realized how much I loved home.

This weekend was another one of those.
Heaven on earth. I was back in God's country with my people.
I was comfortable and happy and sat taking in the general splendor most of the time.
The colored green touched everything in sight, and sunshine flooded through every window.
We fell asleep to a breeze through the window and stars for days, 
and woke up slowly in the mornings to sunshine and birds chirping.
I scratched backs and did hair and makeup.
I gave and received good, long hugs.

It was only three days, but blissful they were.
And they somehow put everything back in balance.

oh hey LA

Ok, so I had to go home.
Remember when I did that last year?
Yeah, it was about that time. I was dying.
So we decided to take a trip, Lauren and I.

At first it was a surprise, but then it wasn't.
But since daddy knew, he bought us a hotel room next to his to lure us into staying with him in LA overnight.
[as if two twenty one year-old girls need convincing to stay in a high rise in downtown Los Angeles...]
We got into the room around 9pm and just stood flat faced at the window for at least five minutes.
Unreal.




We proceeded to eat a room service dinner and watch the Office before falling into bed.
What is it about roadtrips that make you so exhausted? Sitting in a seat? Not moving? Not sure.
The next day, we were more than happy to get on the road to Coarsegold, but LA was a great adventure!
There will be documenting of the rest of the trip when I get back to a little bit of normalcy.


Thanks daddy, for taking such good care of me :)

tay