story time

One time I was in California, and we were walking the Huntington Beach pier.

I saw a group of people: an Asian news reporter & an Asian cameraman, interviewing an Asian man, and there may or may not have been some observers (who were Asian).

And I said,
"Guys! Maybe we'll be on Asian television!"

And Kyle said,
"Um, that's ABC News."

And it totally was.

#bestdecisionweevermade, pt. 1

It is hard to write about happy things and I don't know why. It has taken me entirely too long.

On the 2nd of May, Brittany and I tricked some boys into driving us to the SLC airport (donuts were the trick).

Juan was at the gate next to ours. He was headed back to Colombia. 

He hugged us and cried a little when he left. And asked us to take care of his boys (in our ward). He's great.

I then declared that morning, the airplane, the trip itself, everything, the best decision we ever made. And it stuck. I really couldn't get over it the whole weekend. For some reason (and the reason was not Disney Land), the whole weekend was ridiculously magical. Ridiculous.

Anyway. We got on the plane. I sat next to a young man who hates flying. Like a lot.

A short hour and a half later we landed in LONG BEACH! Which, by the way, may be the cutest and most magical airport I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of airports. It was all outside! And the palm trees! It made me miss home a little. 

Kyle, whose family so graciously let a bunch of college students stay at their house, picked us up from the airport and the party started continued. The rest of our group started driving when we went to the airport so we had like six hours to kill. (Target may have been involved once or twice.)

So we went to Huntington Beach! Magic! I literally could not handle myself. We barely talked the whole drive down the PCH. PCH! Anyway. We walked the whole pier, went and got tacos (fish for me, of course), then laid out for a while. I'm 95% sure that's what my heaven will be like. Pure joy. The other 5% is the guy who insisted on tanning his bum crack.

Then we went grocery shopping for our barbecue to welcome the others to CA. We're so domestic.

Even if we walk past the bread twice. Chippies!

Dinner. Pool/Jacuzzi. Aladdin. And by Aladdin, I mean, I fell asleep on the floor and somehow found my way to the air mattress.  

Friday we drove to Crystal Cove State Park. It was the rockiest beach I've ever been to and it was gorgeous. I got hot like I always do and we took a lunch break at the Shake Shack/Baja Fresh.

Then we went to a different section of the park that included a cozy walk under the highway. It was gorgeous again. But then it got cold, so we went home to change.

And we went to... (!!!)

my abnormal drinking habits

I'm cafe hopping today because being in the library makes me ill, and I have a test to take tonight.

During my first leg I encountered the power couple of all power couples. 

She had the greatest shaved head, and he had the most legit stars&stripes skinny jeans.

They sat for a few minutes eating/drinking things I'm not cool enough for, 

when he suddenly looked up at her and said, 

"Wanna go on a road trip?"

AND THEN THEY LEFT. TO GO ON A ROAD TRIP.

I want that.

Then I left and got another drink, and I remembered this day:

(I carried all three of these around with me all day and people thought I was crazy. I am.)

If I had money, this would be every day. I love to drink things! And I love Sonic ice!
Also, I have a weird obsession with Mawka Moka's Chai Latte. So if you want to buy me something...

my true feelings about BYU sports do not apply to tennis

 Did you know I played tennis?

I did once. I think I took lessons for one season.

I'm not very good, but I love it.

Here at the Villa, I happen to have a friend who is very good, and is obsessed.

So, we watch tennis.

 

At the BYU Men's matches, you get free pizza. 

At Spencer and Daniel's intramural match, you bring your own pizza,

and wear shirts that say Team Dancer (or Spaniel).

Tips: 

bring a charged cell phone: you love tennis, but 5 hours is long, and you don't want to interrupt the Asian

whistling is a good alternative to cheering

men named Daniel might not like the attention, but don't let him blame you if they lose

pizza

and then all my friends were missionaries

Slowly, but surely, everyone I know is leaving me. 

It's awesome.

Jill went into the MTC at the end of January.

She's in NORWAY now.

We skyped the day before she left to pretend that we were still living together.

That's probably the best picture of us together, ever.

My oldest nephew Austin left the beginning of February and is now in MEXICO!

Tears and guilt from this proud aunt who has yet to write him.

Oops.

My dearest Kar Kar left me exactly one month ago today.

Soon the people of CALIFORNIA will have her, 

and love her just as much as I do.

(I had this whole bff photo thing planned, then we cried, so...)

2nd roomie Jess left for the SPAIN MTC on Monday.

Ooh, this girl is ready. I'm not even worried about her one bit.

I think I love missionary letters as much as my missionaries do.

My favorite Justin sent me a birthday letter all the way from the Philippines!

In this letter I found out that he contracted Dengue Fever in November and nobody told me.

I was freaking out for days and telling all our friends, and everyone already knew.

Maybe they thought I would overreact?

He was only in the hospital for a week, guys.

Anyway, it was a solid letter. 

The best part is that last week, the Church changed its policy

(pretty sure this is now Church-wide, and not just by mission) 

and now all missionaries can email their friends (time permitting, of course)!

So next time anybody is in the hospital, I might find out before they're dead.

I am so proud of all my friends. It's kind of amazing what we're witnessing in the Church right now.

I will also take this opportunity to answer everybody's question: I would love to, but not right now.

i can choose my own capital letter

Last night I had the privilege to hear human rights activist Jen Marlowe speak.

She is awesome. I mean, anybody who just does exactly what they want to do is awesome.

This is her passion.

She was even deported from Bahrain last July.

I want to be deported!

I loved everything she said, but my very favorite thought of the night was that people often talk about

"refugees with a capital R, and victims with a capital V,"

but that can't be right.

Humankind has been victimized, but no one is Victim.

We must remember that people are a whole, and while life can suck rocks, we are so many things! 

So, I'm going to choose my own capital letter.

Because I am not Lazy,

I am not Failing College Student, 

and I am not Victim.

I am Erin.

WHAT UP

Yesterday was my birthday.
52 minutes ago was the first day of my 20th year and it was perfect.

I slept in (cramps. also, my birthday),
ate chocolate covered strawberries in bed,
was a superb grocery shopping companion for Cameron,
talked to all my favorite people,
and was thrown a great party with amazing cupcakes by my brand new roommate.

Seriously, she hasn't even known me a week, and she did so much for me today.
It was the best.

So please, head over to my instagram to see the ridiculous amount of photos I posted today.
It's worth it?

dirty thirty thursday

this new tradition was the perfect boost to a weird day.

thursdays are my new favorite.

thanks, wes!

(like, I seriously can't stop thinking about how great it was)

i live here

Our apartment is a little ghetto.  It looks like a motel, and I'm pretty sure the green carpet has been here since my sister lived here 20 years ago.  In college, you have to get a little creative to make your new home feel like home.  Because ours is a little ridiculous and a little adorable, I thought I'd share.

This is Justin.  Until today, he guarded our shelves of lady products.  Unfortunately, you can't see the swirling piano around his hips in this picture, but it is super classy.  One day we put a shaving cream mustache on him and it bleached a perfect little peach fuzzy line on his upper lip.

This is the gross stained wall beside my bed.  There's actually some grey paint in the closet that someone before us left behind, but who wants to take the time to do that?  Not me.  So, I printed off some favorite pictures from the summer and taped those suckers up.  Packing tape does not stick to walls very well, so if anyone has any better ideas, let me know.

I bought this linen calendar at my favorite Provo antiques store last year before it went out of business.  I love the thing so much.  The colors are amazing and coordinate with my quilt perfectly, so it hangs by my bed as well.  The problem is that no one else understands it.  I don't get why it's so hard. 

It's pretty!

Sometimes Taylor folds our toilet paper.  By sometimes, I mean once.  But it made me feel fancy.

This doesn't really count as decoration, but it was necessary.  We built a shelf!  Because we have ridiculous storage space in the kitchen!  That's one of my proudest moments right there.

At one point we had a lovely quote wall in the living room, showcased here by Taylor's killer shoes and Jess and Jill's wrestling match.  And the guitar.

Then our chair broke.

And we put the evidence on the wall.
And then the quote wall broke.

We gathered our favorite pinned quotes and stuck them above the couch with some decorative tape that also divides Jess and Jill's room in half.  I'm quite proud of this one.  Everybody (usually boys) asks if we made them ourselves and we just stare at them like they've never seen pinterest before ever!

I also made this adorable little taxidermy! tutorial here  It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, so we are thinking about making a colony (herd? pack?) to help him guard/head the dining room table.

And finally, my chalkboards!  I am proud of myself for actually completing a craft this summer and for actually using it.  The wood one is my favorite and it's in the entryway/kitchen.  The teapot is on mine and Taylor's door because we love tea and not wearing clothes.

my roomies are leaving me

To us, this is the funniest video in the world.  

Jess is so happy she doesn't have to go to the Provo MTC, and that she's not going to Norway.

Her family is freaking out (that's her mom screaming) because her mission president in Spain is their neighbor! Her mom served in Finland and they have lots of Norwegian heritage, so we had been teasing her for weeks that that's where she was going because she really didn't want to.

As Jill was opening hers, Jess joked that they were saving Norway for her.  And they did.

And then Jess is all over the place.

I seriously can't watch this without tearing up.  I am the most emotional roommate ever.

There's a reason I'm not posting any pictures of us. :)

ladies doing stuff, ep. 2

I should not be allowed to think I'm this funny.  

hey, internet

best friend hannah and i are starting a vlog!
we felt like we had things to say, and we like ourselves.

keep your eyes out for future embarrassment.

this is my life

via

say what?

Jill kindly reminded me that I have been absent from this here jig.  She's in Alaska and I think she misses me.  This is us eating JDawgs during happier times (study break, right?):

To make Jill happy, I'm going to share the best quotes from our first year at the Y.  Are Mormon girls the only people that do this?  Quote walls?  No idea, but we ran into many in Ptown.

---

In sacrament: 

"My topic is Christ in college. Probably not this college because beards are frowned upon here."

PoliSci Prof:

"BYU grads have issues with ambiguity."

Ryan James Waite, the Great:

"The CIA installed a camera in my pants, ok?"

Jess:

"No, he was more than a cow!  He was a bull, or a horse..."

Jill (& Barney Stinson, right?):

"Year awesome.  Awesome is my favorite word."

"They say you are what you eat.  I don't remember eating a SEXY BEAST this morning."

Taylor:

"I feel like I just ate a small seal."

"What if he had a beard on his elbow?  Scar, beard, elbow all in one place!"

And, yours truly:

"Do not let your light so hide under a bushel."

"The mustache brings him special power."

"I'm exotic!  I'm like European or something!"

---

Notes:

I'm sorry that more people didn't witness our hilarity this year.  Cause we're dang funny.  And we obviously need to work harder on the quote wall.

Jill does like saying awesome.  She's awesome.

The mustache in question does not, in fact, belong to Ammon the RA.

I miss being weird and being accepted.  Fall '12 baby!

Okay, I'm done.

hey, girls.

today is the last day of classes.

with the impending doom of finals upon us, 

i give all you girls a little relief and love:

this is my family.

i am a huge fan of family home evening groups. 

these kids are some of my favorite in the ward.

(also, please notice how I can't be normal in a picture ever)

this is our darling brother roberto, who was shopping or something while we photographed.

we still love him,