I'm Yin, You're Yang.

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness;

All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Therefore having and not having arise together.

The long and the short offset each other;

The high and the low incline towards each other.

---Tao Te Ching (chapter 2)

Having and not having arise together...

I've been studying Taoism in World Religions and it is such a beautiful religion. Its all about balance between yin and yang, male and female, light and dark. Everything is relative. If I didn't know that this was true, I'd probably be melding into the Tao right now. But I can still love both.

Just one more thing. Or seven.

Lately I've been...

Reading The Chosen. I'm about to meet Danny's father...

Wearing boots. I like wearing boots, I decided.

Loving chocolate chip cookies. The ones with the large chocolate chips. Ohhh.

Drowning in schoolwork.

Listening to Pink Floyd. And I'm comfortably numb.

Backpacking. Camping on the top of Maple is extraordinary. Yes, extraordinary. Except for the part where we almost fell off a cliff. That part, not so good.

Thinking about marriage. And that it and I don't want to be friends for a long time.

Snow.

First snow. First snow! And this year the first snow of the season equals homemade cinnamon rolls. My mama started this new and fantastic tradition that the first snow will from now on always be accompanied by a fresh pan of warm cinnamon rolls. I'll tell you what, love love.

I'll also tell you what, I love love snow. I cannot even describe how much I love snow. But its a lot. Fran and I stood outside and stared at the flakes falling right out of the sky as I sang the song from "A White Christmas" in my head. You know... snow, snow, snow, it won't be long till we'll all be there with snow... I think those are the right words anyways. Snow makes the mountains even more beautiful and I about fall right over every time I look at them... Fran described them today as being dusted with powdered sugar... My favorite is at night, when the mountains are so bright because of the white snow that they stand out, brilliant, against the night sky. I will miss my mountains.

Oh, and Sags, here we come.

Harvest 2010

Our annual harvest party this year was incredible. Firstly, the whole team came (minus R and R), the moon was full, and the weather perfect. We sat underneath our honeylocust, strewn with white christmas lights, eating beef stew, biscuits, and honey butter. Not to mention Neil Young was playing "Harvest Moon" in the background. We talked and laughed. Incredible.

I Will Speak Finnish.

Finland is the official home of Santa Claus. Santa Claus. I'm going to be in the same country as Santa Claus for 18 whole months.

Another Bottle Down.

Fran and I camped on Antelope Island. I tell you what, that place is one big ball of desert and salt. I loved it.

It was here we discovered that buffalo are actually called bison. Imagine that, Yellowstone was wrong all these years.

You really do float on the Great Salt Lake. It is hilarious. You feel like an astronaut.

The sunsets are incredible.

Danish people, we learned, are very friendly. A whole carload of them shared their cherries with us.

Antelope Island is home to the nicest bathroom facility for an outdoor recreation area in the state of Utah.

They do a nice mixture of real bison with statue bison. The trick is figuring out whats what.

About face.

My mind has this problem of thinking. It thinks all the time, even when I don't tell it to. Sometimes it thinks happy thoughts, sometimes sad. Sometimes it thinks about people I try to avoid or moments I try to forget. It creates stories that haven't happened yet but convinces me that someday they will. Daydreams, thats what they're called.

And right now my mind is going so fast I can barely keep up.

But at least today it has occupied me with excitement for autumn, that beautiful season with scarves and sweaters and hot chocolate from Sags and picnics in sunny, crisp weather... new classes and new starts and new people. I love fall. Especially because fall leads to winter which leads to snow which is magical beyond all measures.

Think #2

If I could un-invent something, I feel like I'd un-invent the cell phone. Imagine, people actually talking face to face!?

Think #1

Reasons why I want (more than anything) to be a mountainwoman:

1. Spring water tastes so much better than water choked up by the city

2. At night the stars just multiply and multiply until there are so many you are mesmerized by the sight

3. The air is easier to breathe, it calms and frees

4. What used to matter doesn't matter

5. There are no people to judge or to stress or to be angry or fight

6. I would smell like campfire all the time

7. There is no time table, nothing to rush

8. There would be no mirrors or phones or televisions

And plus, food always tastes better when cooked over a fire.

Someday...

Thank you Confetti Antiques.

Once upon a time, in December, my family had dinner with my soon-to-be sister-in-law's family. There we had linzer cookies. And they were incredible. No, really, incredible.

Ever since then I've been wanting to make them, but to no avail because I didn't have those mini cookie cutters to do the centers. Yes, I have been quite devastated. BUT then Ands and I went to Confetti Antiques, our hometown fave, and in a big basket of tin cookie cutters I found just what I've been searching for. I give five stars to Confetti. We also found a cookie cutter shaped like the statue of liberty. The fourth of July is already the greatest, but think of watching the fireworks while eating a statue of liberty. The level of greatness would just skyrocket beyond anything you could imagine.

And so this week, I will make linzer cookies.

They call me a body artist.

I keep lists of things to remember, on my arm of course, so as to ensure I won't be forgetting what I should really be doing with my life. Today's list includes 1) read The Hunger Games, 2) go to the Wandering Wardrobe, and 3) pay a visit the Springville Art Museum.

Want to join??

The Best Thing.

My sisters are the two most beautiful people in the entire world. I've never been happier with anyone else. We laugh. And laugh. And laugh. I'm so excited to hang out with them for the rest of my life!

He Also Wears a Sailor Shirt.

I saw this picture of Picasso in a book the other day, he was wearing an outfit of all plaid. Plaid pants, plaid shirt... I fell in love with it. I tried to find it to share with you, but to no avail. So I found this picture instead. He makes the cutest grandpa, I say. An insightful grandpa too... he said "Anything you can imagine is real." Not to knock my grandpaps, they are infinitely amazing, but wouldn't it be cool if they threw that statement in over dinner??

Two Quotes and a Painting

“Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as the treasure most dear.”

- Orson Scott Card

Ah, and there is the secret.

And my other favorite thing? To come back home.

New favorite. Gorgeous colors. Gorgeous brush strokes. Gorgeous story.

This is not a post about bicycles.

How can you not love riding bikes!? (fran...) My bike's name is Thunder Peak. My mama bought it for me at a garage sale... and boy did she hit the jack pot. It may make you pedal harder than other bicycles and sometimes the gears malfunction, but thats besides the point. It takes me through the river bottoms and down this grand dirt path through the cornfields and past the beehives. AND the break cables are painted green and pink and maybe a purple too. There are paint speckles... confirmation that yes, one's mans junk is another man's treasure. Although I'm not a man.

Yes, I too fall in love often.

Don't get me wrong. This rain, I love it. But there is just something about the way that summer can steal your thoughts and fill you with a feeling of carefree and childishness and invincibility. Its seductive, summer. And oh I love it.

And thanks to the big guy for taking this gorgeous photo of my mountain, he has a way of capturing moments and places in such a true way. He's the limit.

Pizza, I Like You.

For heart day we made heart pizzas. On a scale of 1 to 10, so good.

And of course, the day cannot go on without sugar cookies. We cut custom hearts... none of this cookie cutter business. My sister, she makes the best frosting in the entire world. Sister, I love you. And your frosting.

And to think, St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. Party ideas are already forming.

Hello, Is There Anybody In There?

Do you ever get those weird notions in your head and you feel somewhat wary about sharing them because the people you tell just can't think outside the box?

Well, I definitely get those weird notions in my head...

Lately, its been that I feel like I'm on surveillance camera. So weird, I know. Not in a Brave New World sort of way, I don't think the government is out to get me or anything. It just pops in my head. But its in random places like when I'm walking to my car in the morning to go to school or jogging down the road. Maybe I have some unsurfaced anxiety that is coming out in the form of phantom surveillance cameras, I don't know.

The end.

Only 7 More To Go

Today I found my lists of 8 I made a while ago...

eight things i am looking forward to

1. my date with joe and spence tomorrow evening. we're going to stumpy burger.

2. the rain that is promised to come tomorrow

3. finishing East of Eden

4. sledding

5. getting hot chocolate with french vanilla from sags

6. crocheting leg warmers. preferably some burnt orange ones.

7. when time heals

8. moonlit nights when the mountains are covered in snow. my favorite

eight things i did yesterday

1. went for a run in the morning canyon wind

2. ate peanut butter and jelly on my saltines

3. sewed the endbands on my book

4. thought about creating and creating and creating

5. wrote a letter that i'll probably never give

6. taught piano. and loved every minute of it.

7. went to heinselmens. bought some thread and met some great ladies.

8. had a good talk with a good friend

eight things i wish i could do

1. i wish i could play the harp. how gorgeous would that be?

2. i wish i could fix cars

3. i wish i could live without sleep. i'd have so much more time to do things!

4. i wish i could forgive and forget a little better

5. i wish i could love myself a little more

6. i wish i could travel the world. over and over and over again.

7. i wish i could be like my gram

8. i wish i could drink wine. then i could have wine and cheese parties.

eight magazines i like

1. national geographic

2. better homes and gardens

3. teen vogue. embarrassing, i know. but somehow true.

and that is all the magazines that i know.

eight things on my wishlist

1. a dark room and an slr

2. a holga camera

3. a trampoline

4. a big plate of spaghetti

5. a violin

6. jazz piano lessons

7. a hammock.

8. a job for my pop.

And I was so happy because number 8 on the wishlist finally came true.

Catwoman is a Moron.

If I could choose my superpower, I'd definitely choose to have super jumping powers. That way I could jump across the world in one hop. And, when its late and I don't want to drive home, it would only take one bounce and bam! I'd be home. And when I want hami from the hami melon stand, I could jump right on over to Central Market in Houston, no sweat. It would be like I could transport myself, but with the joy of jumping through the air. No missing out on the scenery.

Cookie, I love you.

Usually trying new recipes involves me bombing something that I'd hoped would turn out amazing. But this time around, it worked! Maybe because its basically using a pre-made mix... but still, it takes skills to follow a recipe. I'm telling you what.

These cookies= the most amazing peanut butter chocolatey thing to hit your mouth. Please try them. Recipe here.

Dear Maggie,

Don't get embarrassed for my less-than-stellar blogging skills... mainly my sister is the only one who reads this. Well, not even mainly, she is the only one... But I love that you came to visit me. Now come visit me in real life. We will get a pastry.

Love,

Rach

Today my friend Morgan asked, "Are you one of those people who lives for the weekend?"

Although I initially almost answered yes, I thought about it for a second and realized that I don't. Not that I don't love the weekends, cause I do. It gives me a chance to catch a breath, maybe pick up the mess that has built all week. But you know, I think I'd miss half the fun if I only waited for the weekends to enjoy myself... its the listening to Bob Marley on the way to class, or being up every morning to see the sun hit the top of Mount Timpanogos, laughing at work, calling my sister, or being so excited all day to go home and eat a strawberry, its those things that I love, and whether they happen on the weekend or not, it doesn't really matter. So no, I don't live for the weekend. I'm living for now!

What about you?

Just a Turquoise Garage Door

"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."

--Hubert Humphrey

Somewhere, please???

The Ladies

Last evening we ate at Rooster: Dumpling and Noodle Bar. The dumplings, fantastic. I tried Ginger Spinach and Cashews, and a Beef something or other. The girls got smoothies with Boba. I love chillin with these ladies! By the way, isn't Brenda's new haircut great?? I wish I could pull bangs and look as good as she!

Things to Love...

asparagus

blank notebooks

sweater vests

walks

sunsets

sunrises

wide open road

bikes

mountains

rainstorms, with lightening

hammocks

cups of hot chocolate

books and books and books

constant laughers

people who think

goats

treehouses

pianos

laugh lines

wavy beach hair

sisters

homemade goodies

painting

handwritten notes

sincerity

cafes

bonfires

hummus

farmers markets

mittens

hay rides

photographs

Russian Tea Cakes

Yesterday, Buzzcut (my hilarious roommate) and I tried to master the art of French cooking... as inspired by Julia Childs. Laurelle loves the movie Julie & Julia, and after we watched it on Friday she bought Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Laurelle skillfully made Boeuf Bourguinon, which was fantastic. I am now in love with pearl onions, which is quite odd coming from a former onion-despiser, but they are just wonderful. My dessert had to switch from French to Russian because I wanted the teacakes, and if I don't say so myself they turned out very well! Check out the recipe here.

Lady!

Lately I've been doing my jogging up the Provo Canyon Trail. I love love love it. There is this great house that is on the river, with its own private bridge, and outside the home is the greatest hammock. It is this fantastic yellow with rainbow stripes and every time I run past I imagine my future home and its exactly the same. And on Friday, I could see in the window... there was this little old man just sitting in his recliner, lamp by his side, just relaxing and watching the river go by. Oh man, I loved that little guy. That is exactly the life I want... hanging out on the river with a yellow hammock outside.

Not only are my runs great because of this house, but since the path is fairly secluded I get the opportunity to dance every once in a while. Mainly when The Commodores "Lady, You Bring Me Up" or a great song by Earth, Wind, and Fire comes on my iPod... I can't really control it (that is not an exaggeration) and I just dance down the path! Its such a great feeling. And if you see the way I dance, its definitely not dancing of the normal person. And thats why its all the better.

Speaking of dancing, aren't these dancing ladies great? I love their hats and their swim suits.

Rice crispies really do snap, crackle, and pop!