Late June

Hiking with pals is a fun way to spend the day!

 

On this fun triple date, the six of us journeyed through the Tony Grove.  Legend holds that a large bear-sized mountain lion frolics in its trails, slumbers in its meadows, and snacks on its visitors.  So they named the grove after him as a sign of respect.  And they named him Tony I guess to make him seem nicer.  And they named him at all to make him seem real.
All the secret agenda of naming the grove has been successful, I think.

That sweet face on the left belongs to Rebecca Hansen.  Rebecca is great because she knows big words, but only uses them if necessary.  She'll ask you how your day is, not to make small talk, but because she's actually been curious about you.  Her second favorite holiday is April Fools because she gets to exercise her impressive non-malicious talent for trickery.  Her first favorite is Easter because she gets a new kite each year.  During finals week, she made special time on her schedule to have a who-can-get-dizziest contest with me.  She gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, even though she may know better.  She likes, or is really good at pretending to like, everything I bake.  She is the most intellectual, well-rounded, hard-working person I know.  She's undeclared because she's not sure which major will truly let her help the most people.  She has both the softest voice and the loudest laugh.  She's super great.

One time, I got contacts!  Seeing so well without glasses on my face makes me feel like a superhuman.  I wasn't expecting to feel like so empowered when I got them, so I was unprepared for the surge of invisibility that came with them.  I might have jumped into some public fountains, ran around campus, and gotten really gutsy.  I might not have.
But it reality, I did.
Also, the word "gutsy" is weird.

People are super supportive and empathetic when I they find out I'm new to contacts. But they don't say things like "aw man, contacts are a pain" or "ugh, that sucks".  Instead they say things like "it gets better" "it just takes time" "hang in there".  It's pretty intense.


In general, my life is so beautiful and overwhelmingly joyful all the time.  Truly.  Giggling comes easily, my steps spring into one another, I wake up smiling.  I enjoyed a live performance of the "Ode to Joy" and I could totally relate.  I've been so happy for so long, I even get nervous.  But then I'm like "THAT'S SILLY AHAHHAHHAHAHA" and I skip gaily, flowers in hand, into the orange sunset.  So that's my life lately!

"...et le singe est… est… le singe est disparu.”

I know that my first visit home from college was supposed to be full of angst and claustrophobia, but it was good days all around.  Arizona's beautiful, my family's perfect, and my friends are just awesome.  Not to say I don't love Logan, i just don't hate Mesa as much as I hoped I would.

When it came time for me to head back to school,  I guess I felt a need to act out somehow.

Sometime last year, I was driving in one of the few roundabouts in Mesa, feeling very European.  I made a mental note to shave in the near future.  Then I decided it would be very silly to put a mini Arch de Triumph in the roundabout, just like its location in Paris.  Granted, this idea is kind of obscure and not that funny, but I still laughed for a while before the idea scuttled into a deep corner of my mind.

Anxious at the thought of leaving my hometown before I even got around to hating it, the idea came back.  So I found an abundance of post-Christmas cardboard, some tape, brown packaging paper, and a complete disregard for sleep.

And then I took a whole bunch of pictures:

little baby

My dad served an LDS mission is Paris, so he was just mumbling in French

It added to the artistic process as I mumbled along in fake French (or, most likely, obscene French)

So there's that.
Next time I go home, I think I'll make it a bit bigger and put it in a less desert-y landscape.

P.S.  In news of much cooler things being built, this is a Mormon temple under construction.  Also, some cool kid.