Peach Season is Here!

I know I haven't posted anything in two months, but I've decided not to dwell on the negative. Now, on to better things.

For a little less than a year I have waited anxiously for the time when I would drive by my favorite local fruit stand and see a big sign announcing that the first crop of fresh, juicy peaches had arrived. Saturday was my lucky day, and (as one of my friends would say) I panicked and bought a whole box. They are the best peaches I have ever had, and are destined to become freezer jam by tomorrow morning.

So, some of you are probably wondering what has been going on in my life; why I'm still in the United States instead of being swept off my feet by some gorgeous italian stallion with dark eyes, olive skin, and run-your-fingers-through-it curly hair... well, to make a long story short, going to Italy just never felt right. When it comes down to it, its as simple as that--although for a while it didn't seem like a simple choice at all. The closer I came to going to Italy and the more efforts and preparations I made toward it, the more sick to my stomach and confused I would feel. For some reason, when I made the decision to stay in Provo, I felt peace. And even though I still don't know all of the reasons why I couldn't go to Italy and why I needed to stay here, I know I've been being blessed and that I am where I'm supposed to be. One of those blessings came two days after I arrived back in Provo after my visit home; The Monday after I returned I updated my resume and took it to the one place in Provo/Orem that I could see myself working at. Tuesday morning I was awakened by a phone call from the owner of Culinary Crafts (a catering business located in Orem) telling me that they had received my resume and would like me to start working that day. I had never imagined it would be so easy to find an internship, but I definitely know that the Lord's timing had everything to do with it. I have had a really good experience there; the people are friendly and enjoyable to work with, I don't have to listen to mariachi music, and I work the early morning shift which means that I have afternoons and evenings free to actually enjoy my summer. I really couldn't have asked for a better situation.
Some other blessings I've received:

• The money that was going to go toward my Italy trip was magically transformed into a new car, which I needed even more than I needed the best pizza in the world or a curly-haired womanizer in my life. I've decided to name the car Guiseppe, which is the name of my contact at the place I was going to be staying in Italy. I thought it was only fitting.
  


• I got to go to my roommate/ very good friend Heidi's wedding. It was the most beautiful ceremony I have ever been to, and I'm so glad I didn't miss it!


• I get to be roommates with Noelle Pitcher, who is an amazing person and now a great friend. I think we both needed each other this summer, and our friendship is another confirmation to me that this is where I'm supposed to be.We went to a new art museum. Very abstract.

On July 4th I went tubing with Noelle and her family down the Provo River. It was freezing cold, but a fun adventure!

Chacos rock my socks off. I mean, if I had been wearing socks, they would have... except I would never wear socks with chacos. That would be so offensive...

• My parents and Matti came for a visit, and we had a fabulous time. Matti and I went to the American Idol concert so she could drool over Jason Castro and I could salivate over David Cook. Just a little.Matti riding the Trax... a public transportation nightmare that we'd like to forget, and which eventually necessitated us calling a taxi to take us back to my car after the concert was over. If only the driver had been wearing a turban, maybe we could laugh about it now...At the concert with Mr. Poptart... apparently he's the Idol mascot or something.

Jason Castro

David Archuleta--who, consequently, is to blame for my temporary loss of hearing, and was almost to blame for the murder of the girl standing right behind me screaming with a greater lung capacity than I ever thought was humanly possible. I guess she thought she could out-scream the other ten-zillion fans who were there shouting "I love you!!!!" at the tops of their lungs. She very nearly succeeded.

David cook

• We also went to Park City as a family and had a great time playing there together. First we went on the alpine slides (which are not as exciting as I remembered them being from my childhood).

Then we went through a human maze. I was the first one out, and it took me all of 30 seconds. Not that exciting. However, it was funny when Matti somehow ended up coming back out the entrance after about 5 minutes.

We also tried out the new roller coaster, which was by far the best attraction there. We were pulled up to the top of the mountain on these tracks in a little go-cart type thing. At the top of the mountain we released the brakes and zipped down the mountain (some of us screaming the entire way). Here is a video my dad sneakily took while he was still being pulled to the top:

I know... I'm a dork.

Wildflowers

I had a great time with the fam, and am so glad they were able to come!

• I went to Llama Fest at the Hare Krishna temple with Noelle. Good food, good music, and...Llamas. Does it get any better than that?Tell me how that makes sense?
  
• I've been able to read a few books for fun, including "A Curse Dark as Gold", which I highly reccommend, and "The Host" which I found to be a surprisingly deep and compelling story. I'm currently starting to read "Those Who Save Us", which is about the after-effects of WWII on a German woman and her daughter. Actually, that wasn't a good explanation, but I'll come up with a better one for you once I've finished the book.
  
• I have re-developed a healthy addiction to Speed-Scrabble, and have acquired a new addiction to "Spoon Me"-- a yogurt place just down the road that opened a couple weeks ago. Their yogurt is the real deal, complete with pro-biotics and natural sweeteners. Life is looking good.