red lips

sometimes i really like to wear red lipstick.

see photo below:

it all started in francy-pants,

where women wear lipstick like it ain't no thang,

so i could too. 

france+scarf+lipstick+chocolate=heaven

here, it is a little less...

appropriate.

or at least a little more wild.

especially when i rock it as an EFY counselor and get deemed 'the devil's wife'

but, i don't let that stop me.

i like red lipstick.

and somedays, i am just going to wear it.

like on my birthday.

i might even rock it in my ward directory picture.

and on regular school days,

despite the funny looks i get on campus.

although sometimes it keeps me from hitch-hiking a ride to the marriott center, and that is a pain.

i've learned not to worry myself with what other people think.

so i will rock my red lipstick

whenever and wherever i please.

okay, maybe i do care what this person thinks. but i'm pretty sure he likes it.

that's all.

skip. bo.

skip bo is one of the best games.
i remember the very first time i played it,
on the floor of the basement,
with the harts,
in that house with the stairs on 13th street.

i have played it countless times since.
won, lost, loved.
but never have i played it with such vigor and vim
as i have for the past two weeks.

emotions ride high during our nightly skip bo game.
winning is the goal.
whether we are playing with one card,
or giving mindy four extra because she gets at least 15 wilds every game,
it is always intense.


i am not sure if introducing skip bo to my pals
was a good idea or a bad one...
but i am not lying when i say it has become
a nightly routine.

prepare to get skipbo'd.

 beginners luck, practically proven

 smiles are for winners

 literally drew five tens. wild.

 intensity captured?

sweet shirt ryb.

 can you guess who is winning this one?

skip bo brings out the best (and worst) in all of us.
we'll see how long this lasts.

tradition, tradition.

hiking the Y.

13 seriously steep switchbacks up to a bunch of painted white rock.

about a 1000 feet of elevation gain.

every time i really think about it, it just seems miserable.

in fact the first time i hiked it, it was miserable.

(think middle of the night, pouring rain, practically crawling up the muddy trail)

my mom loves hiking the Y.

when she comes into town, we hike the Y.

it has become a tradition.

for the past three years on 

labor day

the most elite wake up a little too early to do some serious laboring.

we hike that Y.

and you know what,

it is never as miserable as i think it is going to be.

and miserable or not,

it is always an adventure.

whether we are pressing our luck

and getting prime parking

littering crunchy pear cores and getting scolded

looking good in the early morning

 making it to the top

 attempting a little upside down action

(it was traumatizing)

 running into good ol' kyle

 pondering how beautiful provo really is

 having a hard time actually finding where our house is

 giving short-lived piggy back rides

walking backwards in serious style

 or whipping out the best jumping shot in the history

 it is a tradition worth keeping.

until next year!

p.s. did you know no other college in the US of A has a larger symbol. the Y takes the cake!

my boys

watermelon,

sunshine,

family,

popsicles,

swimming,

friendship bracelets.

the definition of summer

but summer has ended. 

and school has started.

i'm not quite ready to let go of those sweet summer months. 

friendship bracelets are one of my favorite summer treats.

the ones from this summer are extra special to me.

why?

they are from my best boys.

my brothers mike and dave, my other brother ryb, and my main man anj all made me a bracelet. 

i love them.

(the boys and the bracelets)

summer, please don't end!


back to school cheesers.

i am me

i have a button nose.

i have a love of wearing things on my head.

i have eyes that are a little brown, but mostly green.

i have a sense of style i like to call eclectic.

i have baby curls that give me a halo of frizz when they go untamed.

i have little hands and little feet.

i have no middle name.

i am madeline bodine.

and i love who i am.

adorable

i have had two wonderful weeks of efy.

but do you want to know the very best part of those two weeks?

let me tell you.

i quite like this boy. 

i knew i wouldn't see him this weekend, so i asked him to come down and see me wednesday night.

(i was doing stay at home EFY so i had the nights off)

he said okay. 

madeline = happy

fast forward to wednesday at about 8:45 pm during personal scripture study.

i get a text.

'would you kill me if i didn't make it down tonight?'

madeline = not so happy

he has lots of packing to do and by the time he is done it will be too late to make the drive.

there is still a chance, but it isn't likely.

oh well.

i get over it.

i drag my feet as i leave our business meeting.

i get to my car and see a green piece of paper in my window.

it is a mini golf score card. what?

it has a note on it.

'hope you have had a good day so far. hopefully i will see you later tonight'

madeline = confused.

my phone starts ringing.

it's him.

i answer. still confused.

he says look to your left.

and he is there. across the street. laughing.

madeline = tricked.

madeline = ecstatic.

andrew = adorable. 

efy was good too.

i promise.

 i had two fabulous groups

beautiful girls

 bonding with bandaids

 and even an early birthday.

and right now i am in montana with my dear friend kayla. 

just for a day.

i love my life.

m.i.a.

i've been away for too long.

probably because i spend most of my time taking care of twelve chillins twenty four seven.

 it makes me a little bit crazy.

in the best way.

or perhaps it is because for my week off i am spending all my time maxing and relaxing in the place that i honestly believe is as close as it gets to heaven. 

at least it is heaven for me.

 so if i am not busy taking in beautiful sunsets

or trying to capture double rainbows,

i am feeling the cousin love

 or just being the ultimate prairie woman.

so finding time to blog is well...

difficult

can you blame me?