what happens when aunt courtney comes to town?

keyboarding sessions and lipstick kiss marks on that oliver grey cheek. 

clearly, i'm the favorite aunt.

hey fools.

while my vacation isn't over for another 48 hours,

here are a ridiculous amount of pictures.

none of that even made sense.

but i don't really care...

the sweetest hearts: olli g, and little miss taytum tots.

 gaming. we should get a medal for our gaming, no?

...and herbas with the mountain dew. really, primo?

 there were ten pies. made from scratch. minus the pumpkin. because it is a sin in this family to pass up a costco pumpkin pie.

maizey and taggerson. the most opposite dogs on earth are also the best of friends.

some authentic texas barbecue... praises be to the pork rib gods, and hard 8 bbq.

heyyyyy, julie sister. i like your terrorist hat.

 the blueberry-eyed baby, snickers, the suffocating elf on the shelf, and a baby cousin all grown up.

that last photo collage was completely random...

i apologize?

w/e.

thanksgiving has been good to me.

reeeal good.

thanks, teJas.

love you forever.

i thought it was a goner.

 

luckily, i was wrong. 

long live the lense cap. 

happy thangts.

thank you, chuck-a-rama for providing such succulent turkey.
and honey baked ham. :)

thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving.

i am happy to have such wonderful family and friends. they are lovely, and plus, i don't know what i'd do without them.

thank you for such a beautiful life.

and i think i should put in a plug for how i am so thankful for my traveling privileges.
because we all know that i love them so much.

i went to rome for 24 hours. and it was awfully wonderful.
saint peter's basilica in vatican city.

i'm grateful for my dad, the colonel. he works so hard.
...and then he takes me to places that i have dreamed about since i was a little girl.
he is quite the dad. and also, he's the best.

rome was just breathtaking.
i loved the streets damp with rainwater, and the italian people existing beautifully with their dark features and green eyes. and they were speaking italian. i melted a little sometimes.
it was all just beautiful.

a baroque angel in the vatican. would you believe that heavy texture?



michelangelo's pieta. i know.

the pieta.
and i saw it. with my very own blue eyes.
i couldn't even speak. though it is encased in glass, i still felt so close that i could touch it.
i am a lucky, lucky girl. really, i am.
spoiled rotten really...

we also went to the colloseum, the spanish steps, and the trevi fountain.
we ate gelato in the pouring rain, and a roman man whistled at me.
it was one of those things that i'm glad happened, just so that i can say it did,
...but please let it never happen again.

i got a small and brilliant taste of la cite eterna, and i look forward to going back again someday.


but for right now what i'm focused on is saying my goodbyes to this kid.


ohhhh prom.

it's hard to imagine.
two years without being able to call austin and tell him stories that only he'd think are funny.
that's two whole years of finding my own music and not stealing it from him.
two christmases and two birthdays with the absence of gifts that come from the classy aisles of the d.i.
two summers without del teezee runs at one in the morning.
two autumns without surprise logan visits.
two years without our best friend.
in fact, i hate imagining it.

but then i think a little harder. and i think about how selfish i am.
if he can give up his time, of course i can give him up for two years.
after all, it's only two.
and it's two years of time very well spent.

last night, we went out with all of the other crazy people in hunt for the jollyest givings in the retail department of black friday.
it sure was an adventure. and it's one i'll remember for a long, long time.
aust and i laughed at all of the moms pushing and shoving to get their sales.
we waited in line after line to purchase our spoils.
and were quite successful.
it was great.
and i'm sure going to miss him.

so here's to you, russia.
take care of my best friend, and make him be good.
turn him into a missionary and tell him to preach the truth.

wednesday's the day, folks.

then i realized that these things are great and i have never noticed before.

today i am grateful for wikipedia and highlighters.

how else would i have finished... almost finished... 9 pages of american institutions exam review... 141 terms... 200 years of american history...
in 9 hours.
i owe my grades to you, wikipedia and highlighters.
unless those grades happen to be below C's...
and in that case you can just have them.

so today, i am grateful for wikipedia and highlighters.

ohhhh and p.s. this next one is for yesterday

yesterday i was grateful for drinking fountains.
but not the warm kinds. those ones freak me out a little.
so i'm grateful for cold drinking fountains that quench my thirst.
especially the ones in old main.
i could swear they're fresh from the top of our logan mountains.
weird that i just said that. because they probably are.

thank you for drinking fountains. :)

as always... i only remember to show gratitude when it's november.
and also when my sister-in-law courtney reminds me that i need to in her posts.
so i'm following her example.

today i am thankful for clean laundry.

i am ashamed sometimes when i think about how i don't show enough thanks for silly little thingslike that that make my life just a little better. i take for granted clean clothes to wear every day. my favorite thing is the smell of detergent and fabric softener. especially when it is on my pajamas, helping me to fall asleep.

so today, i am thankful for clean laundry.