my last few months

I refuse to apologize for not blogging for the past few months because: 1. You probably didn't really mind and 2. I don't really feel that bad. Turns out that shoving everything you want to do, and all the people you want to see, and the errands you have to get done into your day when 9–5 (plus travel time) is taken from you on a daily basis is actually pretty difficult to do.

So what might you ask has happened to me in the past 2 1/2 months? Well stuff made me happy, and stuff made me sad, and a few more things have made me feel anxious (just kidding, that's just my perpetual state of being), and something made me really happy (but also kinda anxious, obviously), and that's enough about me and my feelings, huh?

But, in case you still feel like that just wasn't quite enough information (but I've already given you so much!), I'll walk you through a few more things that honestly you probably already know about because of social media:

I got to be there for my best friend when she got sealed to her other best friend in the LDS San Diego Temple, and it was magical and wonderful and made me feel all jittery and excited and happy for her. I was all kinds of worried that I was going to feel bummed and alone at the wedding, but honestly I felt nothing but the best vibes because I think I was just too dang happy for my Hily to think about anything else.

I checked out some fish with my guppy KatieMac, and I just wandered around looking at fish and feeling like the most blessed human alive to have a best friend (it's a tier not a title, yeah I have a few) who understands me so well and who is willing to make fishy faces at fish with me and understands when I send her crazy long vents one day and gushes about how perfect everything is the next day and never complains about it.

I made a great escape from Provo and headed down to St. George, and I just didn't really take many pictures, because sometimes I'm just feeling so good that I don't want to look at the world through a lens, but I just want to be wherever I am fully and completely and without having to think about lighting and looking good. This was one of those trips and I liked that a lot about it thanks to the people around me and good ole' mother nature. Feeling happy is nice, don't ya think?

And then this weekend my parents came to visit me in Utah, and we skied and snowmobiled, and it was really amazing. Not just because we had fun, but because it's always nice to be reminded that I don't just love my parents, but I actually really like them. Plus, sometimes I convince them to take selfies with me, which is cool.

Well, I feel like that is all the information that the internet is privy to. I've had people tell me before that they know more about me from my blog than actually interacting with me, and that kind of made me sad. So, I've been trying so hard recently to be a more open human in real life and to every once in a while talk about my feelings and tell people nice things, and it's hard, but I'm trying, and I really think I'm getting better and maybe that's also why I have been so absent on my blog and social media for the past little bit. So maybe I'll blog again tomorrow and maybe I'll never blog again (but probably not cause I actually am now remembering how much I enjoy this), but until them I hope to see you in the non-internet world too.

peace. love. and catching up.

my first Jazz game

I've sort of got this list going of things that I want to do before I graduate from BYU and leave Provo. It's not a real list because it's more of a thing where I occasionally think to myself I should do that, and then I store it in some sort of mental compartment that I 100% forget about until it becomes relevant again. But, a lot of the things that I have been thinking I should finally do have just been kind of happening for me without any real effort or planning of my own. It's actually almost a little weird. I think this is the universe's way of preparing me to leave Provo. (knock on wood because now that I just said that I am going to be in Provo the rest of my life, what?)

One of these things was to go to a Jazz game, because it seems like something I should do. I just don't really care a ton about professional basketball. Ok yeah, maybe not at all, sorry!! I didn't grow up in a basketball loving family (but not basketball hating either, basketball indifferent?), maybe because no one in my family is particularly tall so we are not the best basketball players ourselves, who knows? (mental note I should go to another BYU basketball game before I graduate...) Kudos to you if you love it. I support you and think you are great.

Anyways, Hilary's brother-in-law offered her some tickets to a Jazz game, so why not? I actually didn't even make it till the last quarter because of a meeting that went quite long, but I still wanted to go sort of just so that I could say I did. (Don't worry I know that that is a little weird.)

 Even if I was only there for a rather short amount of time given that it takes an hour to drive up to Salt Lake, I still enjoyed it. 

The Jazz lost. But, I suppose given my Georgia pride, I should be a Hawks fan anyways. Are they any good? I don't know, but I don't really think so? Help me! (Can we talk about college football instead? As a southern girl, that's the stuff I grew up on.)

Regardless of my professional basketball ignorance, I had fun. I can't believe I didn't make any jokes about jazz hands when I was there. 

Well in conclusion, GO JAZZ! SPORTZ!

Oh, and aside from the conclusion! I also walked out on frozen Utah Lake which I had never done before for some reason and had also made mental note to do. What? It was beautiful, but also very cold (yeah that's probably why I've never done it before).

peace. love. and sports.

my sundance festivities

One of the wonderful wonderful benefits of living in Utah (that I am going to miss greatly should I be somewhere else next year) is the Sundance film festival. This was my third year going (didn't get to go my Sophomore year because I was on my study abroad in Paris--which is a pretty fair trade off I suppose). Hil and I have made a tradition of going up together and staying at her sisters house. It's perfect that we both love weird indie films and that we don't mind waiting in cold lines to see them.

First of all, I just love the atmosphere at the Sundance film festival. There are so many different and interesting people there, tons of stuff going on, and it's really just a fun environment (interesting, stuff, and fun....I'm really making you feel like your there aren't I...). When we first got there we parked in the free lot, of course. We heard that it was going to take a long time for the bus, so we just figured we would walk because I mean, how far could it be? Well it could be 2 miles. Woops. But, we had fun walking even if it was much much further than expected.

As a fantastic bonus, it actually wasn't that cold this year. It got a little chillier at night, and I was grateful for all my layers, but it was nothing compared to standing outside in below freezing and snow. This was especially nice when we were waiting in lines, which oddly is one of my favorite parts about the Sundance Film Festival. You always wind up chatting with the people in line, and they are usually pretty interesting people that you would never of struck up a conversation with if you had not been forced to patiently wait next to them to see if you were going to be let into the theater. 

You used to have to stand in line for several hours to get on the wait list which was annoying, but if you were dedicated you got to see the movies you wanted to see. Now, they have changed to an e-wait list system. It's great because you don't have to stand in the cold. It's awful because you just have to hope that you click the button faster than anyone else. After several very frustrating attempts when we didn't even make it on wait lists, and one failed attempt at being number 80 in line, we finally got spots number 23 and 24. We actually jumped up and down and cheered in the middle of the road.

The movie that we ended up seeing was God Help the Girl. We knew pretty much nothing about it going in, but were pleasantly surprised. It was a dramady with some musical aspects laced into it (yeah that's the best description I can give you). It was directed by the lead singer of Belle and Sebastian and starred Emily Browning. Since it was the premier of the film, afterwards the director and cast came out and did a Q&A, cool cool cool.

People always ask, did you see any celebrities? Here are my thoughts on celebs. I guess it's cool when you run into them, but I would probably never go out of my way or wait in some sort of incredible crowd to meet one because honestly they are just people. But, there are many directors and actors that I truly admire the work of. I know he's not a huge name, but I was rocking down the street and all the sudden realized I just passed Mark Duplass just standing on the side of the road chatting with some of his friends. So, I really awkwardly stopped, introduced myself to him, and asked him if we could snap a pic together. I loved his films Your Sisters Sister and Safety Not Guaranteed and after our pic chatted with him for a minute about some of his work. He was a super chill guy, especially given that I totally just butt into his conversation with his buddies, woops.

I can't believe this could be the last time I go to Sundance. I really hope it's not!! But, should this be my last time, it was at least a perfect visit. I only made it into one movie, but I have made notes of a bunch more that I suppose I will have to wait for to come out in theaters, or redbox, or download, or something like that. 

peace. love. and film.