thanks mom.

I.AM.ADDICTED.TO.PINTREST.

so cool. check mine out. follow me.

http://pinterest.com/cortneyw/

Stoked.

It's been awhile since I posted on this thing. Sorry for the 3 of you that accidentally stumble upon this blog.

*sigh*
Summer is around the corner and I couldn't be more excited.
The winters seem to last forever here in Utah and I have been over the snow since January.
Beautiful days driving with the windows down and perfect nights walking around in flip flops...it really is the most delicious thing. I sound so much like a Californian right now.
This summer is going to be great.

June=my best friend Molly comes home from her mission and I can cry just thinking about it.
August= family vacay to YOSEMITE.


If you have never been to Yosemite you HAVE to put it on your bucket list.
Yosemite is my favorite place on earth.
My favorite childhood memories come from Yosemite (and summers in idaho). We would go all the time when we were all little and a few more times as we were older, but it's been awhile and this summer my WHOLE family--babies and all are going.
River Rafting, hiking and seeing "the falls"....my favorite is going on bike rides through the woods. I remember hoping on my bike and taking off towards the horses and staying there forever and just petting them. Or riding to The Village to get a scoop of ice cream.
So great.
Maybe this time I will try hiking Half Dome....


uhh....or maybe not??

We weren't invited...

..to the party that obviously happened in our backyard.

Stef, Aleksi and I have noticed some foot prints that were left behind in the snow by some nightly guests.

With the exception of the last few days (that have been like 3 degrees) we have had decent weather, for a Utah winter. The sun came out and melted away almost all of the snow on the ground.

Thats when I found piles and PILES of this...

Yup. Little hispanic children sneak into our backyard at night and dump cans of black beans EVERYWHERE.

****

So I guess our "foot prints" were more "hoof prints", because I counted--no joke-- probably like 10 piles of these little deer droppings on only 1 side of my yard.

Every party has a pooper. And this party must have been BoOoring because there is a lot of poop.

cravings.

Urban Dictionary describes the word Crave as...

" having an overwhelming desire and need for a certain thing. "

Some of my cravings would include: chocolate, sleeping, a cute boy to cuddle with, thrift store shopping, being creative, Molly (my bff)...

But NEVER have I experienced a craving such as this...

These boys are THE funnest boys you will ever play with and they live WAY too far from me.

etsy?

(The pictures are not great. I didn't have any roomates home to model them at the time I snapped a few shots. sorry.)

Saw some earmuffs at a boutique in Park City, UT.

They were charging like $45 for them.

I made them for $2.00

I probably shouldn't have mentioned how much I made them for, but would you buy them for like 10 or 15??

Moms are the best medicine.

What is it about being sick or hurt that makes you want your mother?

(My older sister and I asleep on my mom)

I was throwing up all night last night and most of the morning and the first call I made today was to my mom. I'm 24 years old and my mom is hundreds of miles away, but yet there I was wishing she was with me.

I love moms. I especially love MY mom.

There is a certain comfort that only mothers can provide and I think no matter the age we will always need it.

hola.

I only took 1 year of Spanish in high school. Which I totally got an A in by the way.

Do you know what you learn in your first year of Spanish?

I do.

Colors and School Supplies.

When I first moved to Utah when I was 19 I applied to work at a mexican restaurant. They asked me in my interview if I knew Spanish and I was totally honest and said "No....UNLESS someone wants to talk about school supplies...in which case, I'm their girl."

I was hired.

I would sometimes just say all the spanish words I knew and would pretend like I knew how to speak the language.

" Hola amigo, lapiz cuaderno boligrafo papel la mochila??"

If you have never taken Spanish or don't remember your first year of Spanish..let me translate.

I just said: "Hello friend, pencil notebook pen paper backpack"

They got the biggest kick out of me, the little white girl or should I say the little BLANCA girl...

****

Today at work (I work at a scrapbook store) this hispanic woman came in.

I greeted her and asked her if I could help her with anything.

She just looked at me and said "espanol??"

I shook my head and apologized. Thats when the charades began. She dug into her purse and pulled out a pencil. She then pretended to be sharpening her pencil...

I gasped. "Oh! you want a SACAPUNTAS?!?!"

Her eyes got nearly as big as the grin on her face.

"SI!!!!!!"

We laughed.

Unfortunately we didn't have any pencil sharpeners for her to buy, but she didn't leave until I taught her how to say pencil sharpener.

Looks like my first year of Spanish paid off.

Adios, amigos.

I've been thinking a lot lately...

about how DESPERATE I am to put another stamp in my passport and trust me if money wasn't an issue my passport would be full.

Someday I will have money. Someday I will see more of the world that was created for us. I think often about my short time living abroad and how much I miss it.

It's funny though because halfway into my trip in China I would go out and lay in the middle of the playground and look up at the night sky and see planes and imagine myself on them going back home. I missed home so bad. I missed my family, my friends, American food, warm showers and private bathroom stalls. After being home for awhile I realized how silly that was. My family will always be here, so will my friends.

America will always offer hamburgers and pizza.

My beautiful cousin Erin is currently living in Ecuador. She had only planned on staying there a short time, but after much consideration she decided to stay there longer. She emailed all of us recently telling us of her decision. She was told some great advice by a friend and the quote has stayed with me.

"There's too much to see right where we are to chase places we miss."

I wish someone would have shared this with me when I was living abroad.