Love

My cousin , Trisha, used to spend a lot of time with me. We used to see each other at least three times a week, sometimes more. During our time together, I realized that she was always singing new songs about empowerment and loving life. She would show up every week with a new favorite artist, arrangement, or song. And she would just sing to herself as she was going about her business. I'm just now finding those songs she sang and I love them every time I hear them: they remind me of Trisha for one thing, and they make me feel so good for another.

The artist I re-discovered today was Sara Bareilles (I didn't realize just how many of Trisha's favorite songs were by this artist). It's happy over here in my music-filled bedroom.

Here are my two favorites:

You're welcome.

Pieces #7

I basically have two favorite things when it comes to treats: sour gummy worms and strawberries. If it were possible to live off those two delicacies, I would. Sometimes, it's a bit like I'm trying to prove that this very thing is indeed possible. Get me those two lovelies in the same vicinity as me and I am one happy girl. It's good to know that I'm easily pleased :)

Life's A Happy Song

This is pretty much how I feel right now. Life is so good! I don't know where things are going to go, and I don't know the details, but that's totally fine. I'm so happy! Basically, people are wonderful. The end.

Life Facts

When a guy is honest it increases his attractiveness by a power of 10. It is seriously the best.

Guys, be honest. It's so worth it to have girls find you that much more attractive.

A Fix

So I was craving chocolate tonight. Like get me anywhere as long as the chocolate is good there kind of craving. I rarely get those.

So my mom and I walked the couple of miles to Kneaders to get a chocolate treat (because my mom is great company and will do that with me).

If you're ever need of rich chocolate heaven-ness, get the burnt almond fudge cheesecake. It is seriously to die for! Plus, it was exactly what I needed tonight (even if I originally thought that was a triple chocolate cake from Costco). You will (probably) love it. Unless you hate chocolate (in which case get the strawberry cheesecake). Or cheesecake. Or happiness.

Love

Oh my goodness you have to listen to this right now because this guy is phenomenal! This is one of my favorite songs and he does such a good job covering it! I'm serious. Watch it. Right now.

Told ya so. You're welcome.

Saturday Hikes

A few weeks ago, I decided that I was going to be ambitious and organize a hike every Saturday. I'm shocked that I've actually kept up with it. . . even if it has only been a few weeks. But here are some pictures from the hikes. It really has been so much fun. . . Hiking is one of the things I love most.

This is Timpanogos falls. We'll be hiking to the peak of this mountain in a few weeks. . . I can't wait!

The view from Timpanogos falls. I really do live in a beautiful place.

This was on the way up to Battle Creek falls. If you're looking for an easy, beautiful hike, this is the place to go. The guy in the picture is my friend Ryan.

This is also on the way up to Battle Creek. Harrison and Ryan kind of got into my picture. At least they were happy so I couldn't be upset.

This was after I told them to move. I love waterfalls.

I think Harrison was showing me how big a spider web was.

Sometimes caves make comfortable shelters. Sometimes, it's a tight fit.

We made it to the falls! I didn't get a picture of the entire waterfall, though. Bummer.

Harrison decided he was a sloth. 'Twas grand. 

This morning, we hiked the Y in Provo. Every time I do that hike I receive an embarrassing reminder that I really should exercise on a regular basis. I feel so out of shape trying to get up there!

But the view is worth it.

 

Elise is the best hiking buddy. She was so proud of herself.

This is my friend, John. We had a good time quoting Brian Regan.

We're so cute!

I don't usually ever exercise, but if there was a way I could hike regularly throughout the year, I might change my long-held avoidance of the practice. Life is good.

Let's Talk About Love

For those of you who don't know. . . Britton and I broke up about a month ago. We decided that we weren't going to make each other happy and that it was best if we let each other go and find happiness. Consider yourself caught up.

Now for my thoughts.

It hasn't been an easy month. It's been full of much healing, many tears, and many, many angels in my life. It's been hard, but I know both of us have grown leaps and bounds from where we were a couple of months ago. We aren't mad at each other, and we still want the other person to be happy.

I had a girl at work come up to me during work today. She told me that she had a personal question she wanted to ask me. She made sure that I understood it was very personal. I am willing to answer personal questions, but I have a limit. There are some things that I don't feel comfortable sharing to people I don't know all that well. But I told her I would probably be willing to answer.

The question she asked me kind of caught me off guard:

"Do you still love Britton?"

This is actually something I've thought about quite a lot recently. The answer is yes. I do. I want him to find happiness, I was hurt when he was no longer prominent in my life, and I'm not angry. I truly wish him no ill. So yes. I love him. And I always will. I feel like, when you truly love a person, you can't turn that love off like a faucet. It will always be flowing, always be there.

But the great thing about love is that loving one person doesn't distract from your ability to love another--if anything, it enhances that ability to love. When you love someone your capacity to love others grows. Love is something that keeps growing. I can love Britton for the rest of my life and that doesn't mean I will love the  other men who come into my life any less.

That's not to say that I will always love Britton like I did when we were dating. The nature of that love has adapted to our current circumstance. I love Britton as a teacher, a good man, and a friend. He was able to teach me a lot about what I look for in a relationship and what makes me happy. He was able to show me that there truly are great men out there. We were able to teach each other in a way that was beautiful and remarkable.

I learned a lot about love because of how we treated each other.

And I feel that I am more able to love more deeply. I know that I have that capacity for love, and I know that that capacity can grow. Love is something that will grow to fill the space we give it. And sometimes it finds a way into the places we don't realize we're allowing. It's kind of like a weed that way, but it's not at the same time because the definition of a weed is something growing where it's unwanted.

Love should never be unwanted.

Love is a beautiful thing. I am so grateful it's something we're able to experience here on earth. Because true love is a thing of God.

Do You Want To Get To Know Me?

'Cause here are some random facts:

1. I will always be up for french fries or ice cream. Or both! I have a mild addiction to them :)
2. I still clip box tops from my groceries even though my school hasn't benefitted from them since I was in elementary school.
3. I love A Capella groups, arrangements, and such. I would love to be in an a cappella group sometime in my life.
4. I still take naps almost daily.
5. I clean when I get bored.
6. I am an English major.
7. I say I prefer reading books (which is almost always the truth), but if an engaging television show catches my attention I become useless.
8. I am a hopeless romantic and still half-hope that my prince will come find me and that my life will be like a fairy tale. Probably all those books I read ;)
9. Whenever I get a text I get excited and ask (out loud) "Oh! Who loves me?" It's rubbed off on Brittney. Of course, this does have its downside: when neither of us gets a text we say, "Nobody loves me," which is, of course, absolutely false.
10. I struggle staying awake at work each morning--I have to be there at eight AM. This wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem if I went to bed earlier. . .
11. It took me about five failed attempts before I was able to cook rice and have it work. I still get scared when a dish requires rice.
12. I absolutely adore socks. Fun socks. It's a small thing, but it makes me so happy :) 

Note: This is a post from last semester that I never posted. I guess I never finished it. But I like how it is right now so I'm posting it tonight.

Downloading

I do this thing my parents call downloading. I've always done it, and I doubt I'll ever stop, it's that much a part of me. First, I'll give you a definition.

Downloading:

The act of coming home to someone after the day (or even a part of the day) is done and telling them about it. Subjects may include, but are not limited to, fears, tears, smiles, stories, and people.

My mom used to have to set aside forty-five minutes every day after school so I could tell her about my day and all that was on my mind. I've gotten shorter and have cut that time down by a little over a third.

If I can't download, I shrivel. I feel loved when someone listens. I feel loved when I can share my life with people. If I don't have the opportunity to do that, I feel myself shrink away into myself.

Luckily, that hasn't happened very often in my life. I've always been surrounded with people who (at least act like they) are excited to hear about my life. So I've been okay. I just hope I can continue to surround myself with people who are excited to hear my silly stories and fears. Because when I have that, almost nothing else matters.