all good things must come to an end.

after practically living in vancouver for the past seventeen days, i decided that the olympics in their entirety were

what do you think?

the closing ceremony was weird/hilarious, but it was also a bit unfortunate to have to come to terms with the fact that my nightly workouts on the elliptical will be far less entertaining. oh well, until 2012...

*photo taken in the toronto airport, during a layover on the way to the UK in 2007.

today, my heart breaks.

sometimes, life makes no sense.

i have been wrestling with feelings of confusion and heartache all evening as i've learned details of the shooting at my old middle school today. growing up during the columbine shootings, school safety and evacuations were constantly emphasized, and the aftermath of the tragedy still impacts our community to today. i guess i just never thought such tragedy would strike in the same place twice... even throughout all of the lock-in drills and warnings about safety, i never thought that such violence would occur again in littleton.

today, two poor children were shot as they were leaving school. thanks to a few courageous staff members, no one was else was injured. and thank goodness that no one was killed.

but this event is disheartening, nonetheless.

i wonder why children of such innocence must suffer so greatly.

i think of the children soldiers in sudan, kidnapped and turned into animals-- taught to ruthlessly kill their own people and commit acts far beyond their maturity level.

i think of thousands of children recently-orphaned after the catastrophic earthquake in haiti... having lived their entire lives in poverty, only to lose their families and homes in the earthquake.

i think of the young girls in afghanistan and the horrendous manner in which they are treated simply because they are female.

i think of the two teenage boys i know that are battling cancer... having to fight so hard and deal with such emotional circumstances at such a pivotal age.

i think of all of the children around the world suffering from AIDS, starving, living in slums and in poverty.

and i can't understand it.

i think i would lose all hope for humanity if it weren't for my faith in Christ and for the knowledge that God has a bigger, better plan for all of us. i know that these trials, however unfair and lasting they may seem, will be short-lived once we reach the glory of the eternities.

as i am ruminating all of this, i think a little of my own struggles with illness.

life can be so hard. but i take comfort in this:

"and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

-romans 8:17-18

i've been craving...

some of colorado's finest gluten-free pizza.

look what this (insert delicious tasting food)-free diet is doing to me!

once i am off of this crazy diet, i may just be begging my parents to take me back up to the mountains to indulge in some culinary goodness.

photos from our trip up to beau jo's in december. yum.

who knew...

that this little lady is lds?

way to go, torah!

not only did you capture olympic gold, you might've been one of the few daring (or potentially a little bit crazy) fly high all on your own... no drugs necessary.

she says, "I'm a Mormon but I don't think it affects me as a snowboarder. Mormon is in fact a nickname because our church is the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. We believe that Jesus Christ and the heavenly father God are two separate beings and the main difference between us and other Christian religions is that we have the Book of Mormon and the Bible. For me it's just a way of life - I don't drink, smoke, drink tea or coffee, or have sex before marriage. I've never drunk or smoked but I'll go out to dance and stay up late and then drive home at the end of the night."

maybe i've got some double corking in my future, after all.

(okay, we all know that this is highly unlikely. but at least i've got a role model of someone insanely cool to look up to, right?)

seriously, so good.

i may or may not have a ginormous crush on shaun white.

what do you think?

did anyone else see his incredible performance tonight?

i am in awe.

*image via guardian.co.uk.

family lovin'.

our little jaunt to utah was an excellent way to spend a snowy february weekend, me thinks.

our days were packed with activity... i am a little bit surprised i made it through alive! (especially throughout all of our alpine adventures... you'll see what i mean)

we spent our days...

in-n-outing

showin' family valentine love.

catching up with old friends.

lots and lots of olympic-ing...

sledding in the beautiful utah mountains.

making many heart-shaped goodies!

now do you see why i love my family so much?

once upon a wednesday...

i went to get a much-needed haircut

from a member of this heavy-metal band (turned mormon).

he was an excellent hairdresser, and i can pretty easily say that he changed up my look.

what do you say?

also, upon this wednesday... i zumba'd, worked more on a little exciting future photo project, and watched some excellent gilmore girls episodes with the mother.

how was your wednesday?

*photo via vote4rewards.com... sorry it is so small; it just really creeps me out... that's all.

snow days.

not that i don't appreciate the moisture and everything, but wasn't the winter wonderland supposed to delight us all in december?

but really, who am i kidding? it's colorado, after all... the first time i ever got a snow day was in sixth grade... in april!

we've been enjoying the snow (more or less) and praying for guillermo as he's snowed in back east!

i just hope that our trip to utah this weekend doesn't get snowed out!

post script: my lack of blogging has been due to nothing other than activity... i am back on my feet! i'll fill you in asap and let you know what little pieces of sunshine have been making my days.

vampire weekend is cool.

why can't i be this cool?

diet woes.

while talking with a friend last night, he said something slightly sarcastic.

feigning devastation, i told him that i was going to go ease my pain with a pint of dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free ice cream.

his response: "so you're going to go eat an ice cube?"

i told him i was going add a bit of rice, to add some flavor.

but touché, nonetheless. touché.

please, envy my (EVIL) diet.