thoughts on a sunny saturday afternoon

A. My BFF Jamie got her mission call! She's going to Jackson, Mississippi and she goes into the MTC September 15. I'm so excited for her. She's going to be a stellar missionary.


B. I am in love with Salt Lake City. On Friday evening I went up to Salt Lake for a friend's wedding reception that was located up in the Avenues. I'd never been up there before and it was gorgeous. It had a beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley and the houses were so cute! I could totally picture myself living there and taking evening walks. Maybe one day . . . But if definitely reaffirmed my desire to live in a city.

C. I am quite sad that the US is no longer in the World Cup. But I have loved watching them play, and am now in love with Landon Donovan. I don't really like watching soccer all that much, (what kind of sport can end in a tie?!) but every 4 years I think I can get into and cheer Team USA on.

D. I've read some really interesting articles in the NYT lately and I wanted to share.
This one is about the French soccer team and their debacle.
This one is about the dismissal of General McChrystal and I thought it was a very interesting perspective and I quite liked it.
If you have some spare time you should read them.

E. I get to go see Paul in t-minus 23 days. It's going to be epic.

F. I got an A in my senior English course (495) and an A on my senior English paper. I'm quite thrilled to be honest. My paper was a comparison of Walt Whitman and Mark Twain and I specifically argued that both were feminists for their time, and I specifically looked at Whitman's "Song of Myself" and Twains The Diaries of Adam and Eve. It was a fun paper to write and research and I worked harder on that paper than any paper to date so it's nice to see my hard work pay off.

G. I'm currently reading Founding Brothers and struggling to get into it. I think it's because of the lack of a plot. I'm thinking about simultaneously reading The Hiding Place because my mother recently read it and loved it and is now making my (soon to be) 17 year old brother Parker read it.

H. Wimbledon is currently happening in London and I'm wishing I was there to watch it. Roger Federer is one of the classiest athletes and I think Murray and Roddick are cuties. It's amazing to watch the world's best tennis players- they serve the ball over 100 mph! That's insane to wrap my mind around, especially considering how awful I am at tennis. I live vicariously through others via watching sports instead of playing.

that is all for today folks!