cars really should have scooters, in case of an emergency

road trip number 2 of this summer. and it's only july.


friday

*the starbucks girl got my drink wrong, but i liked it even better than the one i ordered
*sat next to the dearest little granny on the flight...we chatted up a storm
*i didn't forget to pack a single thing. i'm so proud of myself.
*found a little black jacket for my bridesmaid dress 20 MINUTES before my flight left
*my mother gave me a pat on the tush before she left the airport because "you might do something naughty in the next month and i won't be there to whip you"

sabbath

*finally got my fingers on the footage from the shoot...edited for hours
*one of the best youth potlucks i've ever attended
*preacher henry...haha, we made a new friend
*sneaked back in the church and played an antique baby grand with sound quality so warm and clear my own song almost made me cry
*marcos took me for a ride in his convertible. my hair styled itself into a neat little nest and i got a bug in my mouth, but it was worth it. SO AWESOME.

sunday

*at 7:00am, andrew walked by me as i slept. "um, heather, i think you might have missed the wedding...it's noon."
i instantly flew up and shrieked...haha, silly me. i forgot you can't "fly up" in a sleeping bag. ended up rolling right off the couch. once on the floor, i finally opened my eyes and realized it was still early light.
andrew scooted out of there quickly...wise man.

*mr. jones and i chatted about tasty recipes and washed dishes this morning. it was great fun...between him and henry i have new faith in men's culinary capabilities
*bran and i got to the wedding right on time...i firmly believe it was nothing short of a miracle
*JOELLE IS HERE, JOELLE IS HERE, JOELLE IS HERE... ran into my kindred spirit after 2 years. we picked up right where we left off and talked nonstop while sweeping the leaves off the aisle. love that girl.
*lizzy and i helped each other squeeze into our dresses and tied flower bouquets and sashes and
checked each others pantyhose for runs and curled each others hair. thanks to each other, we looked great.
*the ceremony went splendidly well after only 5 rehearsals. hannah was a gorgeous bride, and the ceremony was so serious nobody would have guessed the groom had spread duck tape over her mouth just 30 minutes earlier.
*i didn't burst out laughing over the bible boy's bored facial expressions during the vows. it was very hard, but i held it in and looked all the world like a serene bridesmaid
*"caught" the bouquet
*the girl's and i covered the entire get-away car with pink flowers, banners, soap hearts, streamers, and HONK FOR THE HAPPY COUPLE in soap letters. we were pretty happy with how it turned out.
*adam, bran, and i visited taco bell that night in our wedding clothes. "so, are you like...a square dancer?" the cashier girl wanted to know, in reference to my pink dress and heels. yes. yes, i am. and you must be the mall security guard, since you're wearing a black uniform and a name tag.


monday

*more video editing...
*...editing...
*rode with marcos to olive garden in that beautiful car
*preacher henry met up with us and kept us hanging on his every word as he shared his story
*breadsticks at midnight

tuesday

*arrived at tante ushies a little after midnight. i'm back in springville...i'm home, now.
*mm, soft pillow
*mm, horizontal surface
*mm, ice
*got to give my doggy a hug after 3 years. foxy is such a fat little dog...i've missed him

wednesday

*bran and i drove around springville, hugged our old neighbors, and took a peek at the house that built me. my sierra nevada hills look the same...wished so bad i could slip through the gate and run to all those dear little creeks and trees i used to play in.
*drove on to town...got burritos at that place we loved, saw the church we were raised in, and visited our friends
*sneaked into bran's old community college and played the mecca of all pianos. in the darkness of the auditorium, we wrote a song on the same piano that inspired bran to write in the first place
*met up with the Rose Family, who have been our best friends for so long they ceased being our friends and became family.
*curled up in their living room, just like old times, and looked at the pictures from their new life in africa. bran and i had a quiet drive home as we discussed mission opportunities...

thursday

*spent the morning in a bubbly hot tub until all the driving kinks had worked themselves out
*golfed with uncle bruno. after i blasted a few bomb balls into the neighbor's yard he showed me how to softly and sweetly nudge them into the hole
*foxy and i went for a run around the hill, and then we sat on the porch and pulled the slivers out of our shoes and fur. *sniff* it's just like old times...
*watched the world cup with uncle bruno. i caught him up on all the teams and he made bets on who would win. it was with belgium chocolate, so i figured it was a safe gamble
*tante ushie picked her fav team based on how buff the players were. i love my great aunt.

friday

*played baseball with my cousin before breakfast. he had a nerf bat and he was about 4'3", but it was a fantastic game none the less.
*left for north hollywood at noon. sneaked back into the college to play the 6ft grand one more time for good measure
*grandma and grandpa welcomed us with open arms and a huge german/mexican dinner. the house hasn't really changed at all...it's the one place that stays frozen in time
*bran and i wrestled with the footage again. finally decided to re-shoot...well, this will be fun
*stayed up 'till late shooting ideas back and forth with bran. somehow, the conversation turned into fart jokes. i love my brother.

sabbath

*slept in. YOU KNOW UR JEALOUS.
*watched 3abn reruns
*convinced the kittens to eat a little food
*slept
*WORLD CUP. YAYYY.

sunday

*bran took me on a tour of hollywood.
*i remained mostly unimpressed until i stumbled into a holistic alternative veterinarian clinic.
OMW, I AM STILL SOOOOO EXCITED. the cleaning lady seemed surprised to see a teenage girl knocking on the window. she unlocked the door, expecting a pet emergency, only for me to bounce inside, take one of all the pamphlets i could find, scribble down my email address
and giddily insist that the doctor contact me, and then go skipping out the door.
before i left, i noticed the doctor had 6 books on the table. i was pleased to realize i'd read every one cover to cover.
today, i was in the presence of one of my dreams.
*bran met with a few directors while i filed all the footage and began planning the new shoot in story board format. he came back slightly drunk from 5 cups of strongy strong coffee...poor guy is pretty tired of driving
*made bran tea back at the house while he napped on the couch
*watched THE WORLD CUP amidst bran's snores. it blended in with the bee swarm, though

monday

tante wally and uncle alloweise stopped by with another german cousin i've never met before (was he even my cousin??) and english suddenly stopped. we sat around the table and drank coffee and ate german bread and bran and i tried to keep up with the german conversation. i offered a few words to the conversation but mostly i sat and grasped the words i could understand while it flew out of their mouths. germans are speedy talkers. after a few minutes, the conversation paused while they sipped coffee.
"oh, i get it!" i brightly put in, "you're talking about traffic tickets, aren't you?" they looked at me blankly. i should learn more nouns and less adjectives.

tuesday

*i made the mistake of informing bran that his style is too sloppy. panicked, he stopped at the next outlet mall we came to and i helped him shop at DKNY the rest of the afternoon in apology.
*arrived in scottsdale at 10pm. my boys were waiting for me, though...the moment the car stopped they ran outside in their sponge bob pjs and wrapped their chubby arms around us.
*jake could hardly sleep in his excitement...i've never heard so many excuses for an 6yr old boy to get out of bed
*bran had a frustrating phone call and it put his brain in a sleep-defying cycle. i sat next to him and we wordlessly sipped coke. we didn't have to say anything.

wednesday

*"HEATHER HEATHER HEATHER HEATHER HEATHER HEATHER HEATHER, HEATHERRRRR. get up, get up, it's mornin'. get your swimming suit on...let's gonna go in the pool!!!!" jake at 6am.

tuesday

*bran and i took the boys to the mall in our sweats. we went to all the fancy schmancy stores and acted like dignified hillbillies. jared went in Gucci and demanded that all his purchases be dyed neon blue, and i requested only a left foot shoe in Chanel because, "my pony lost his leg in hydrotherapy".

wedneday

*went to jared's singing competition. we screamed and cheered ourselves hoarse for that kid with the booming pipes.

thursday

8-11pm at the waterpark. just the boys and me. it was epic.

friday

bran: jared, put your shirt back in. there's a lady in the car.
J: psh, there's no lady. it's just heather.

my cousins are so kind.

sabbath

*wore jared's hat today. he wore my leather jacket. the situation suited us perfectly.
i'm like the big brother he never had...

sunday

*the boys and i made a fort in the backyard. i taught them how to play ninjas vs. pirates...jared and jordan stuck plastic swords in their sponge bob pj's and jake and i wore back bathrobes. we had an awesome battle. jake even covered his face with ketchup for added effect.

monday

*my incredible brother set up an appointment for me with a top notch vocal instructor who really evaluated my voice. EXTREMELY excited with what he said...bran and i sang with the windows rolled down the entire way back to the town house.

tuesday

bran and i feel like we're getting sick

wednesday

yep. definitely sick.

thursday

*back in north hollywood. poor bran is really stressed.

friday

*made a few slides with ideas for the new promo. bran was impressed...we talked all evening. getting excited, now.

sabbath

*felt a lot healthier this morning. we drove through the hills to malibu beach with the windows down.
*bran stretched out on the sand. i buried myself in it. we slid on sunglasses and were wonderfully lazy.
*grandma came out in her little one-piece swimsuit and went skipping in the waves, giggling like a giddy teenager. bran and i just looked at each other. our 72 yr old grandma is awesome.
*walked along the beach with bran. we talked about how much we hate it when food gets under your nails while you're eating. love that guy.

sunday

*wrote a song today. i didn't like it so i started a new one. i didn't like that one, either.

monday

*drove into sacramento. bran spoke with AOY 'bout the new promo. i re-used the old footage to try to lay out a story board.

tuesday

*driving....

wednesday

*getting nervous. bran is quite the tourist. he stops at every outlet mall and picks up handfuls of traveler's brochures at hotels to check out. wrote the lyrics to "let me go home" on my arm. he got the hint...

thursday

*watched a group of jocks get out their shiny trucks with their dates at a gas station. one guy was busy by his truck, so i turned around to see what the problem was. he helped his grandma step out of the high seat and lovingly escorted her inside on his arm. cheers for busting stereotypes, my good man.
*IN SPOKANE. (!!) so excited i could scream. the fields are so thick with lupine i could drown in it.
*rolled down the windows to smell my mountain air...i've missed this clean stuff. every turn in the road makes me fall in love with washington all over again.
*got home at 9. sat down on the floor and let my doggies give me kisses and ran inside to hug mom and dad. the neighbors came by to welcome us home and tony introduced us to his new fiance. everyone was talking and hugging and congratulating and showing pictures and laughing and there couldn't have been anymore love squeezed into one house without it bursting
*bran and i eventually fell asleep. he drifted off over his computer, while editing his precious pictures until late. i was curled up in bed with my kitty i'd smuggled inside. it's so nice to be home.

day 67

dear world,

i am taking a 'vacation from the internet'.
my brother calls it grounded, but i grounded myself.
i have too many things to love about everyday to bother scribbling it down.
but i'll be back in a little while.

loves.:.

day 65

*found lovely little flip flops on sale
*my purple dinosaur radio. it's clunky and old, but so faithful
*LIZZY!! you know it, beebee.
*ran around barefoot for THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR.
*i'm loving summer. wish i could just hug it.

the part where 365 days becomes 395 days

dear world,

hello, it's me.
sorry it's been so long.
i do realize that i have neglected my daily gratefuls, but do not fear, i haven't stopped writing them. once i am in an area where i have speedy internet, you'll see them annoyingly start popping up again.
a bit busy right now...be back july 19.
so, see you then.
bye.

day 53

this conversation made my entire day.

18:48Me

hey girl!

what's up?

18:48Angel

nm u?

18:49Me

i've worn my PJ's all day.

shh, don't tell anyone

18:49Angel

lol

i got white skinny jeans

they are awesome!!!!!

i got them yesterday

18:50Me

whoa!

girl's got STYLE...

18:50Angel

lol im wearing them

and a black tank top

so i look like a skinny cow

18:52Me

okay, so i'm not just wearing pjs, but they're MY DAD'S

i like them cause their so big and floppy

18:53Angel

hahahaha

18:53Me

they cover my hands when they're cold

they are blue plaid

and sooo dorky

18:53Angel

haha i wear my dads sometimes when i want to

18:53Me

**highfives**

18:54Angel

dude, huge pj's make me feel like a gangsta

18:55Me

omw, I KNOW

i always rap in them

18:55Angel

yess me too

18:55Me

i'm such a white girl, though

i sound pretty stupid.

i'm like, "yo, i got me blue jammies...yo, yo"

18:57Angel

i love it lol

i usually end up singing to one of my brothers cd's haha

but it is always fun

18:58Me

i can do a really cool sunglass flippy thing to it

it still looks kinda white girl...

18:59Angel

we are so white

18:59Me
psh, i know.

day 52

*sleeping in 'till 8. it wasn't so bad...everybody slept in.

*sleepily watched tyson lose to himself in his video game. i forget the name of it. but one dude had a blue circle on his head

*sleepy krysti, "we should go eat something."
"yeah, i agree."

...20 minutes later....

"we should go eat something."
"good idea!"

...40 minutes later....

"we should go eat something."
"mhmmm."

*5 sleepy kids piled in the car IN OUR PAJAMAS and rolled down the windows and SANG ALONG TO THE RADIO and went to TACO BELL and ordered FROZEN MARGARITAS and then sat in street and watched the neighbor kids SHOOT A CANON with water balloons, all at NOON. can summer get any better than this? i say not.

*new record: i wore pantyhose for 29 solid hours. when bran and i finally got home, i pulled on my dad's pj pants and ran out in the yard and kicked my legs around in ecstatic freedom.

wage a battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

day 51

*up at 3:30am. picked up our equally sleepy friends...off we go

*"what time are we supposed to be at the wedding?"
"noon."
"it's 10:30."
(awkward silence)
"whew, i knew i shoulda taken my time at that light back there..."

*sarah: "ugh. my hair."
me: "ugh. my face. i look so sleepy."
"i'll do your makeup if you flat iron my hair."
"deal."

*crawling around in a children's play gym in our skirts and heels. best 20 minutes ever? YES.

*meeting someone for the first time that would prove to be a fantastic and amazing friend...you know who you are