go listen to this!

remember how i really love the avett brothers? i was so sad this summer when i couldn't go to their show in salt lake because i was coming home from lake powell. but they have a new album coming out, and the lovely people at npr have decided to give us a first listen to the album, the carpenter.

here's the single, too, "live and die." it's good.

love this commercial

in the absence of the olympics, i forgot how much i love this commercial for, of all things, the google nexus 7. i guess i'm a sucker for depictions of dads with their little sons. there's probably some psychological meaning in there somewhere...

stylewatch: polka dot jeans

it’s been a while since i did one of these, so i thought i would highlight one of my favorite trends of the moment. the proliferation of polka dots in the past year has aroused in me a long lost childhood love. my favorite swimsuit when i was a kid was this awesome pink and purple polka dot one piece. a real beauty. but anyway, back to the jeans. 

i’ve seen these all over the internet, and then yesterday, on the first day of school, i saw no fewer than two girls wearing polka dot pants. i probably would have seen more, too, but i was only on campus out and about for like an hour and a half. 

so, please come with me on this journey, through this gallery of polka-dotted delight. i’m on the hunt for a beautiful pair of my own.

i die over these jeans.

a more subtle polka dot print, but doubly awesome for the color.

images via my stylish board on pinterest and natalie holbrook's babble post on this very thing.

summer rainstorms

one of the best things about summer, besides the sun and no school and flowy skirts and sandals and being outside and the sun staying out until 9pm and ice cream and love in the air, is the summer rainstorm. i haven’t been in that many rainstorms this season, but this weekend i got caught in two in two days. 

saturday i walked to the other side of my complex in search of a party. when it turned out to be taking place in lehi instead of provo, i decided to take a walk around the block while i was out. i felt a few raindrops, but i kept walking, and within two minutes, rain was pouring down. i was getting soaked, but the combination of warm air and cool rain made me smile rather than run back inside with my hands over my head. 

and on sunday, i spent the afternoon on the balcony, and as i sat up there in my camp chair, the sky changed from bright blue to light grey to dark, muddy slate. the rain started slowly, again, but soon it fell hard and fast on the awning above me. i was covered and protected from the wet, but then the wind changed and i could feel the rain. 

this is pretty cliché, but i love the smell of rain and the smell of the world after it rains. everything is clean again. it’s exactly how i feel right after i get out of the shower and before i have to decide what i’m doing with my hair, which ruins the reverie.

first day of school thoughts

…which also, in part, apply to the first day of church in a new ward.  

•  everyone is dressed in their very best. the first day of school was always one of my favorite days because i got to show off all my new back-to-school clothes. i can probably recall, down to the accessories, several of my first day of school outfits from various school years through the ages. you have to wear your best, because you never know if the person sitting next to you in PDBio, or Sunday School for that matter, will end up becoming a really great friend…or maybe more. 

here i am this year. happy first day of school!

• i’m still feeling somewhat removed from campus life. i thought i already had my last days at byu, but now i’m back again. i was in limbo before, straddling the line between student and professor, but now it’s even weirder.

• i have one class this semester—the second half of new testament—and i purposely scheduled it at 9:00am so i will wake up at a reasonable hour and get things done. yesterday i hiked up to the jsb and walked into one of the stuffiest spaces i’ve ever inhabited. at first i thought it was just the crush of bodies on the first day of school, a bunch of sweaty college kids rushing around trying to figure out what is going on, but then my classroom, which had far fewer people, was a sauna. apparently, the air conditioning was busted on the first floor. needless to say, it was hard to pay attention in class in such a feverish state. hopefully tomorrow everything will be made right once again.

• i really am glad to be teaching again. i might not love everything about writing 150 as a course, but i love meeting new students every semester and getting to know them. i realized during training this year that it really will be awesome one day to have my own classroom, maybe even, dare i say it, a literature classroom, where can have my own assignments and read stuff i picked out. but, in the meantime, writing 150 is a pretty good gig, and i’m excited for the new semester. my students seem responsive. i mean, they laughed at most of my jokes, which is a good sign.

a holy place

yesterday i went to the temple, and then today i spent some time at the park right above the temple, and just being so close made me feel better at a time when i was feeling decidedly bummed.

i love the temple. i'm so grateful we live so close to one, and i hope (well, i semi-hope) i will be here to see the second provo temple in operation.

via a random ward website

learn more about the purpose of the temple and why we go there here.

what i've learned the past couple weeks

i posted early a couple weeks ago about how i need to find a job. i've been feeling the pressure all summer, but that week it all came to a head and i knew i needed to actually get on it.

dad knew it too, because he called me on sunday and put me on THE PLAN. those who have been in the employ of my dad know all about THE PLAN. basically, this just means that i have to actually make a plan, any kind of plan at all, which consists of me figuring out what i'm interested in and looking for jobs and putting out some feelers. over the summer, i knew what i had to do, but a potent mix of fear and laziness kept me in this perpetual state of obliviousness regarding a job.

so, i got to work. i sent out some applications, i made a list of possible jobs, i emailed the writing department secretary to see if i could possibly teach writing 150 again. and, blessing of all blessings, i worked everyday at the bridal store, which meant i had some cash flow to tide me over for a few weeks.

on thursday, i got the email: i could teach a section of 150 again.

while this is only a temporary solution (i mean, i still need to figure out what i'm doing with my life for reals), it does relieve a lot of pressure. and, even better, i found out this last friday that i am teaching another section , which is even more awesome.

what have i learned the past couple weeks? first, THE PLAN works. it worked on a smaller scale for me this time, but i know it can work on a larger scale as well. for instance, my friend was vicariously living THE PLAN as i was working it, and the same week i found a job, he accepted a for reals job, like one that could lead him to his career. so, THE PLAN is pretty good stuff. second, i learned/remembered that miracles can happen. it was no coincidence that i was able to work that whole week and actually make money when i was not planning to. i know that all of these things happen for a reason. and third, i am so grateful that i'm not alone in all of this. my parents are thinking about me, my friends and family are thinking about me, and Heavenly Father is definitely thinking about me. and, although i know that things don't always work out so smoothly, quickly, or perfectly, i am really grateful that this was resolved so nicely.

life is pretty darn good.