Come Thou Fount.

SO this is one of my favorite songs. Ever.

And this is one of my favorite performances of this song. Ever.

John Allred:

Listen here:

Come Thou Fount // Allred // Sessions at June Audio

Min 2:44 gets me every time. 

Lite-rail.

Hawaii did a lot for me but one thing it did was make me a believer and appreciator in public transportation. Rather than drive down town to ASU or work every day, I utilize the lite rail that has a park and ride just 3 miles from my house. Granted it takes about 45 minutes each way but it's saving me in gas, driving time, and gives me an opportunity to either zone out or study or listen to music, etc. 

ASU alerts.

NOT really what I want to wake up to in the morning, especially since this is where I park my car while I am down town at work and/or school so ATLEAST four times a day I am getting to my car late nights at this very location. Safe?! Probably not. YIKES!

...and the clouds have it.

If there is one thing that I just love about Arizona (besides October -->May), it would be the sky. It's a different "Big Sky" than Montana. It's big, it's colorful, and the clouds are always putting on a good show. Well, when they are out. It's either crazy clouds, or clear blue sky. I love it! And the sunsets here...not to put Hawaii to shame...But they are amazing colors or pinks, oranges, blues, purples...I am obsessed with sunsets as it is, so when they are so full of vibrance...
...it makes me melt. 

Cowboy Miles Francis.

Danielle sent me this picture of Miles today and I about died:

Can it get any cuter than this?! NO. 

Gosh I miss my Murphy's. 

Boston is too far away. 

Devastation.

I have the most terrible news. My boyfriend married his girlfriend in a secret wedding last weekend. HEARTS ARE BREAKING ALL ACROSS AMERICA, INCLUDING MIND!!!!! Why does she have to be such a fox and have such killer legs? Grrrrrr.

Monday is baaaaack.

Starbucks tries to create the "third place", being that home is 1 and work is 2. Well, being that my third place is work, my 2 has become this lovely place: 

It's a small campus which has really helped the transition from Hawaii, I take the lite rail to school every day which, yes, is a 40 minute commute, but I am not paying for gas or parking, searching for a place to park, or having to deal with other drivers. I can just sit back, zone out, and think about the day to come. It's a nice, plus I feel somewhat more green for doing it. 

#hippieatheart

Need a pick-me-up?

We are all deserving of a treat once in awhile:

The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate is back and deserves to be in my belly!
I rewarded myself for being an hour late for work this morning. Ok, not rewarded myself per-say but I needed a pick me up to get me going and this little guy did just the trick! No caffeine required! :)

(and it's delicious hot or cold!)

Waves...

This couldn't me any more applicable to my life...

My journey has been and continues to be a magical one. 

Didn't I just move here?

Well I am MOVING again. Yes, that's right. Again. I swear I am plagued by awful landlords who think only for themselves and not their tenants. Our crazy home owner (who has been a pain in my arse since day one) came over last night to tell us the house is for sale and we have three weeks to find a new place. I realize there has to be some sort of law against what he is doing but when it comes down to it, we are all sick of his games and lies and inconsistency so in a way, we are somewhat relieved to be getting out. The situation isn't ideal BUT...hopefully better things are to come. THE HOUSE HUNT BEGINS!

Tunes I can't resist.

See this bearded wonder?

Meet: Ray Lamontagne.

(my latest obsession)

He isn't new to my ears but for some reason lately, he is all they crave. 

His voice is sultry but rugged and he knows how to keep a good yet original beat. 

Vocals, banjo, guitar, base guitar, piano, and harmonica.

This folk singing New Hampshire native is my new musical best friend. 

Current favorite songs set to repeat:

1. Empty

2. Be Here Now

3. Beg Steal or Borrow

4. Trouble 

5. You Are the Best Thing

6. Let It Be Me (OMGoodness, melt my soul)

Alas, he is married and has two children but a girl can be in love with a man's voice, right?

En fuego.

The sky was on fire last night!!!!

The heavy cloud coverage to the east made it reflect

the sunset in the west and it was amazing. 

Light show in the sky!

AZ so far...

I miss Hawaii terribly. I would be lying if I said I didn't CRAVE it most days. But I don't regret leaving. I left while I still loved it and I am so grateful for the time and experiences I had there. That doesn't mean that I am not very happy to be in Arizona...because I am! I love it here. The sunshine every day (almost every day...some rain has been nice!) reaffirms my love for beautiful warm weather and I am glad I made this my new home! So much to do, beautiful sunsets, lots of movement and action (which was hard to get used to!). I love it here and I am really excited for what is to come...adventures, baseball and basketball games, school, work, life, people...

Here are just a few photos of random sites in AZ thus far:

New work Danskos. Who knew footwear could make such

a difference in your shift!

 My old AZ house when I lived here long ago!

Every friday night my friends have a game night at their

house and I happened to catch this sunset on my drive out!

My dear friend Jeremy owns 3 houses which he rents out 

to college students. He is obsessed with Goodwill 50% off Saturdays

because he can score sweet furniture for CHEAP. 

However, I didn't realize how serious this task would be.

This photo was of him telling me if I wanted to do this with

him, I needed to KEEP UP!

My first AZ sandstorm!

My first day at my new store!

I forgive them for spelling my name wrong...

...for the first 4 weeks!

Drive home from work... 

 Feeling the postal love from Hawaii and Idaho!

Still in shock that I can buy all this healthy food and

not pay an arm and a leg like I did on island!

Sweating to the oldies with my honu.

So I went to a pool party and started talking to this guy. 

Turns out he is from Billings MT and we have several 

friends in common including my cousin Weston and BF Kolter!

Tati stopped in AZ for a brief visit on her way back to Hawaii.

Max's first IKEA trip!

A crazy rain storm that hit PHX out of no where and

then left faster than it came!

 I love waking up to rain...reminds me of HOME.

 A little visit to the NIKE store in Scottsdale.

Another amazing AZ sunset.

2am blog sesh.

At 11pm tonight I decided to finally update a little more on my blog. I had an itch. Well 3.5 hours later, I am forcing myself to close the Mac and sleeeeeeeeep. I need to keep up better. I realize this now. 2 am doesn't feel good when you are running on a total of about 20 hours of sleep for the week. Eeeep. 

GOOD NIGHT. 

Syd's 5 hour stay!

My old Hawaiian roommate and dear friend Sydney had a 5 hour lay over at PHX and it worked perfectly with my schedule because I didn't have class OR work so I picked her up and we had lunch at PJ then came back to my house and had some much needed girl talk before she flew out again. And not just that but she did some yoga stretches and adjustments on me that were amazing! She's pretty much an acrobat yogi goddess. I love her!!!

(see, an acrobat.)

Sept 11.

This day is still so fresh on my mind. I wonder if it will always feel this way? I still remember those awful days to follow. So much emotion and fear in the air, even all the way over in Montana. There were those in our small community that were directly effected by the attacks. It was scary. It was a fear that was definitely felt all over this country. The date makes me reflect on those that lost their lives in the towers as well as trying to save those who were stuck in the rubble. I can't imagine what that city went through in the weeks and months and years directly after the attack but I am grateful for the rally of our country and the rebuilding of lives and cities and families.

I really liked this quote in the days following 9/11:

"Any fool can blow something up. Any fool can destroy. But to see those guys, those fire fighters, those policeman, and people from all over the country literally with buckets...rebuilding this city. That's extraordinary...and they can't shut that down..." -Jon Stewart

I hope we can always remember, never forget, those who lost their lives, those who continue to lose their lives, those who fought for lives then, and continue to fight for lives now. September 11, 2001 forever in our hearts.

Keeping up with the E's.

When we went and saw Jason Mraz at the Shell in Honolulu, we knew the show would be recorded for the tv station E! as a part of their "Opening Act" reality show. Emma and I tried to be as noticeable as possible to try and be seen on TV...and it worked! Even if we were just in the background, we still made it on TV!!!!! HA!

Lucy's AZ trip.

My good friend Lucy flew down for a four day weekend over her birthday to visit me in Arizona and to shop til we dropped! She came down with a $700 limit with the combination of saved money and birthday money. She has two kids and is sick of feeling like a frumpy Mom who only wears basketball shorts and tshirts. AND because there is literally no where to shop in Billings Montana, we took advantage of all our resources here...and successfully! In two days we blew through about $720 between Forever 21 and Nordstrom Rack, and man did we make that money stretch! She seriously got so much stuff! It was so fun to basically dress her and style her however I wanted and in the size I dream of being without worrying about money. It was just as much fun for me as for her, although I didn't go home with a huge suitcase full of new clothes and shoes! Ha! We had PF Changs for her birthday, and made frequent visits to In-and-Out Burger and Chipotle. It was such a fun weekend and nice to have a familiar face for a few days! Lucy inspires me in so many ways..she is an amazing wife and mother, such a strong woman, hard worker, etc. I love her and am so grateful for our 15 years of friendship! 

OH so quick funny side note, we are all jacked her first day

to go and get started spending some cash and we get in my

car and it won't start. 

Nothing a new battery can't fix!

 First meal: Chipotle!

 Bday dinner lettuce wraps at PF Changs

 Nords Rack...mature photo!

 Lucy's first time at IKEA!

 One of her many outfits...

 Saying goodbye at the airport!

We realized we didn't take a single picture of the two of us!