baby d is so excited today!

^ "what? you mean i'm getting my own room?"

^ "and i don't have to sleep in the same room as mom and dad?!"

^ "that sounds awesome!"

^ "i'm going to love looking at that one blue wall my mom and aunt helped paint while i fall asleep (without crying all night)."

^ "hopefully my puppies will sleep with me in my new room too!"

^ "i think aunt anna took this picture in the dark...

but aren't i ADORABLE?!"

^ "i'm going to miss my friend chepi..."

^ "...but now that i'm starting to grow out of my clothes..."

^ "...i need a room of my own to sleep in!"

^ gosh. remember when he was just this big?

yum + 1 more.

^ extra raspberry cream cheese frosting obviously meant i had to make more cupcakes today. these were of the yellow cake variety (with mini chocolate chips mixed in). each is garnished with the raspberry frosting, 3 small raspberries + 15 mini chocolate chips.

still a few of these left...

if you want one, let me know!

yum x 2.

my 2 most recent culinary creations:

^ banana nut bread.

(why does it look so weird in the picture? i don't know.)

^ chocolate cupcakes with raspberry cream cheese frosting

and garnished with chocolate chips and a raspberry.

four things...

...you didn't know about my little brother.

1. he is secretly indiana jones.

2. he is part of a mighty warrior tribe.

3. he LOVES bacon.

he gets it with his grilled cheese sandwiches ( :

4. he's the best brother ever!!

love you, DK!!

do something nice today. please and thanks.

i don't normally do this kind of thing, but it's really easy and i know and really like the guy who's doing it. my friend Austin is competing for an amazing job in Los Angeles, and is very close to getting it. but now he needs YOUR help (i already voted...duh).

It takes literally 5 seconds to vote for him - Click Here to VOTE!

austin was an anchorman on the byu daily news when i was just starting the broadcast journalism program and he's super-perfect for this job. plus, he said if / when he gets it, he'll invite us all over for a party. wouldn't that be fun? you're invited too...but only if you vote!

slowly but surely...

i'm becoming a real-live college graduate.

...but not TOO quickly. guess they're trying to keep me from getting too excited about being an adult too fast. so thank you, BYU -- way to keep me growing up at a good (read: really, really slow) pace.

^ step 1: get diploma when you walk across the stage at graduation!

JUST KIDDING. it's not a real one.

^ step 2: get miniature diploma in the mail 3 months later

(shown next to my driver's license for the sake of comparison)

i mean...seriously? i just graduated from COLLEGE.

you think i can't handle a full-sized diploma??

gosh. well, maybe in another three months...

luckily, the waiting game is pretty much what my life has come to.

at least i have some things to amuse me while i wait...

^ like my family!

(suffering through chinese food + chopsticks just because i like it)

p.s. as a child, eating "ethnic food" meant having hot dogs.

and maybe cereal.

p.p.s. i know those aren't really ethnic foods. that's the point.

p.p.p.s. daniel dropped one of his chopsticks about two minutes after i took this picture...maybe less. the rest of the family fared slightly better with their asian silverware (woodware? plasticware?).

shooting stars, parts 3 + 4.

have i mentioned how much i love space / meteor showers / etc?

yes. i have.

if you don't know by now, you must not be listening.

on sunday, i went up to vivian park with some friends and we saw a bunch of shooting stars. then last night, i was at sundance with some people from my ward and we got to check out the perseid meteor shower. i saw NINE shooting stars and it was just incredible.

and guess what?

now i have nine wishes.

plus, a guy i went with mentioned how all the stars are there all the time (even during the day) and we just can't see them. i know that's true, but i'd never really thought about it. if only we could open up our eyes enough to see them all the time...that would be so cool.

can life get any better?

i submit that it cannot.

beloved heartbreakers.

"failure is the fabric of life. scientists call it entropy, where nature tends from order to disorder. things fall apart. dishwashers stop. cars die...each morning ends in darkness. for the majority of ohio's sports fans, each season ends in darkness, too. but a light has been lit for those who adhere to the scarlet and gray faith. those blessed buckeyes have begun."

- rob oller, the columbus dispatch

it's true. the buckeyes have been known to break my heart on many an occasion. but i can't help it...i love them just the same. and for every heartbreak, there have been countless good memories -- last year's rose bowl victory. the 2002 national championship. the 80% win percentage over the past 10 years. the sweater vests. finding the love of my life: james laurinaitis. plus so many fun OSU parties here in utah...giving us a reason to hang out with people from back home and eat lots of peanut butter and chocolate.

^ two of my favs: dane sanzenbacher and brandon saine.

it's buckeye time, baby. bring on football season.

^ p.s. here's my #33 (james laurinaitis) and coach tressel. james plays for the st. louis rams now but i still just love him sometimes ( :

what did i make this weekend?

1. a house.

(before our wall)

...putting up a wall with the boys.

2. orange chocolate chip muffins.

3. friends in provo canyon at midnight.

4. POOP!

just kidding. that was dustin.

plus i went to an owlz game with emily!

more clouds ( :

things that matter.

i've been feeling very claustrophobic lately so i decided to go through everything i own and get rid of stuff that i don't absolutely need.

if you know me, you may be surprised to hear that i'm actually super sentimental and have a difficult time throwing things away. ask my parents -- they have boxes full of crap (read: yearbooks, sheet music, art projects, notes from bff's, pictures, notebooks full of short stories, poetry and random writings...the list goes on and on) still stored in their basement, waiting (sort-of) patiently for me to return and reclaim them. i'm trying to keep this from becoming a problem on both sides of the country so that's why i'm doing this here.

some things i can't bear to throw away: pictures. show programs. books. birthday cards. love (?) letters. ticket stubs. stuff like that.

there are few actual school-related things i've elected to keep. about 97% of them fall into two categories: stories i've worked on (with the news or my writing classes) and theatrical endeavors (from classes, projects and dozens of other shows i worked on over the years).

i don't think i'm nostalgic...i just like to remember things. since i have a terrible memory, this is the only way i know how. and even though looking back isn't the best way to look forward, i can't help it. everything i've done...everything i've seen and everyone i've talked to and all the things i've learned...it's made me who i am today.

cloudy with a chance.

i've never stayed in utah for a full summer, so this whole totally dry thing has been pretty awful. i realize that i live in the middle of a giant desert, but still. i feel so...parched? thirsty? in dire need of rain? whatever. but at 5:30 AM this morning, my prayers were answered.

was it...could it be?!

...RAIN! and THUNDER! and LIGHTNING!

(basically everything i could have hoped for and more)

silly weatherman who predicted sunny skies for the next few days...

also. i've been obsessing over clouds lately so here are some pictures i've snapped over the past few days.

5th place = doom.

i am SO ANGRY with TV lately. in the past week, my two favorite people (billy and brad) have been voted off their shows ("so you think you can dance" + "the next food network star") and each have landed in the dreaded 5th place slot. neither of them seemed angry, but i am.

here's why.

^ this is billy. he was awesome on "sytycd" and wowed the judges with his versatility and awesome skills. he's a contemporary dancer who always pushed the envelope and did cool, edgy numbers when he could choreograph himself. and yet...he got voted off. this is stupid because he's a way better dancer than lauren (who is seriously only on the show because she is the last girl standing) and now they are left with 4 lame contemporary dancers. BORING.

^ this is brad. he was one of the best chefs on "tnfns" but got voted off since the judges seemed to want 2 boys and 2 girls to go to NYC for the next phase of the show. he may not have been the best on camera, but that can be improved on with practice (trust me). some things that can't be improved on? being TOTALLY CRAZY (i'm looking at you, aria and tom) and having emotional breakdowns every other day (herb and aarti). bobby flay...we're officially fighting.

anyways. what is the moral of this story, friends?

if i love you, 5th place is the best you can do.

sorry. but it's the truth.