when we get married

remember how i have a dream of being a wedding photographer?

oh you don't?

well i do.

two weekends ago i was lucky to live the dream for a hot minute.

my beautiful aunt flew me out to colorado

for a quick trip

(a very quick trip)

to take some pictures of her reception and her new family.

it was an absolute blast.

it was a wild day but everything came together beautifully.

i loved seeing how many people were so ready and willing to help out sue's sweet family

i loved meeting Greg and his darling children.

crash course in sign language? a treat.

everyone had such a fabulous time and sue and greg just seemed so blissfully in love.

and you know what,

i think the pictures turned out pretty good too.

enjoy.

 

i got to take a few pictures of the fam.

aren't they adorable

 gorgeous mother and daughter

love you suzy q.

thanks for letting me come.

change

fall.

utah does it good.

at least,

for that one hot minute when the weather hasn't quite turned cold,

and a sea of red moves slowly down the mountains

overtaking all that once was green.

the leaves are changing.

it's a fall phenomenon.

an autumn anomaly.

even an oxymoron,

beauty amidst death.

the leaves are changing.

their brief chameleon phase will end abruptly.

the leaves will fall,

giving one final flourish as they float with the breeze.

to be piled, perhaps jumped in, or maybe just stepped on.

forgotten almost as soon as they were noticed.

the leaves are changing.

it is beauty incarnate.

for one moment 

nature paints a picture,

all on its own.

green to yellow to orange to red.

a splendor so tangible,

so absolute.

fall.

it's almost delicious. 

it is a season to be savored.

the leaves are changing.

life is changing.

change is welcome

when you can find the beauty

within.

 p.s. who doesn't like dessert for dinner for a change?

chocolate waffles.

a perfect fall treat.

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.