happy engagement!

on the ride home from luke and tiffany's engagement party i told page, "i love engagement parties." 

that's definitely the only one i've ever been to, but i really do love them now. there's family, booze, beautiful strangers, and LOTS of food. 

i get my camera back tomorrow. thank god.

beautiful world.

lots has happened to turn my summer around for the better. 

there's been parties, friends, boys, beach trips, work, intervention, beautiful conversations, drunken conversations, adventures, sappy movies, thought-provoking movies, barbecues, roommates' boyfriends, amazing food, bike rides, books (this department's been somewhat lacking), amazing scenery from the deck, neighbors, and a wonderful, cozy full-size bed with purple sheets.

up next: two weeks in socal. tuesday through saturday in newport with my favorite not-related-to-me family, the henningers, and then saturday-thursday with my favorite related-to-me family doing absolutely nothing besides tanning (hello, skin cancer) and reading (who is mark twain by mark twain).

life really can't get much better.

a promise made...

1. i will not be afraid.
2. i will be the bigger person.
3. i will choose love and not hatred.
4. i will be happy.

sometimes i think that the more you say something, the more true it becomes.

love.

i am in love with amanda bynes and her onscreen boyfriend, vince, in what i like about you.

and i'm in love with tim mcgraw. his concert last night was fantastic.

try to keep a straight face.

after page googled for an australian, asian yelling man sensation, she sang this guy's song to herself and remembered that it was russian. she doesn't even know russian.

impressive. but so funny.

bit of heaven.

today, ashley and i took an impromptu adventure with our friends, steve and jack. 

they showed up at our house in a red jeep and decided to take us to big falls in pozo. wherever the heck that is. we hopped in and sped off to the land of the back woods and rivers. we picked up a straggler (christine) and continued on our adventure. the music was blasting, the wind was blowing in our hair (trust me- definitely not as glamorous as it sounds), the scenery was gorgeous... all of this gave me high hopes for where we were going. as we got further and further into the woods, we came across some creeks that we'd have to cross in the jeep. mud was splattering everywhere. the girls in the backseat were screaming and laughing. basically, i felt like indiana jones. we kept singing the indiana jones theme song on the way to big falls.

{quick picture stop on the way to big falls}

we parked the car near big falls and hiked up a ways. and rock climbed a ways. yes, we were that hardcore today.

big falls is definitely NOT big. it's a tiny little cove in the middle of the forest. the tininess of the place is what made it so special, i think. it's so secluded and secret. i loved it.

some hoodlums were already hanging out there, so we joined them. a couple of us jumped off of rocks and slid down some rock waterslides. amazing, amazing time. i took some pictures of the tiny hummingbirds that were everywhere. the hummingbirds were also what made the place so special. one of the hoodlums said that it was like their little heaven. take away the face that he was extremely drunk and slurring his words... it could've been a nice moment.

{cute little hummingbird with pink on its head}

the water was cold, cold, cold, but so refreshing. i jumped in quite a few times to cool off. it's amazing how hot and muggy it is in the woods.

after spending a couple hours with the hoodlums at big falls, we journeyed back to the car to go back home.

overall, amazing adventure. i hope i can go back someday.

me swimming in big falls.