today i found out that i don't own a suitcase.

for some reason i've grown up assuming that people naturally owned a suitcase when they became an adult. i don't know how this would magically occur or why, it's one of those things that i never thought completely through, similar but not quite like the time i invented my own cereal with shredded cheese, apple sauce, and cornflakes. 

we are leaving for new york in 4 days and will be gone for 10-ish weeks and i'm not entirely sure what to pack or what to pack it in. the thought process for the last week has been something like this:

i should really start packing.

let's google 'business casual'

wow, this is a terrible color. what possessed me to buy this shirt? oh, that's why the tag is still on it.

this ice cream is really amazing.

we should really do laundry more often.

i'll just chuck this in the dryer.

hmmm... i think this shirt qualifies as business casual. check! one item to pack.

do i own a suitcase?

please oh please don't let me embarrass myself on the first day.

or get lost.

or be late.

or trip.

or get mugged.

WHY don't i own a suitcase?!

and it usually ends in a mild state of panic with a mound of clothes on the floor and me crashing on my parents' couch watching hgtv with glazed eyes.

i feel completely unprepared for this internship. especially after the past month. at this point all i really want is the house hunters re-runs to help me remedy the situation before friday. maybe suzanne wong can explain what business casual means. it seems like she would know.

don't tell my husband.

i made this print for my grandma last christmas. it perfectly describes the way she lived her life. i was out in my parents garden yesterday weeding (what?! i loathe weeding, but i love my mother, hence the weeding) and wishing i could just give the entire world this print and then maybe more people would turn out like grandma. and then, epiphany. because mike is backpacking this week and i have been making loads of irrational decisions in his absence, i realized that it's my business and i could give them away. genius!

so... until next tuesday (because we are flying out to nyc next week) if you want a copy of this print i will send it to you for just the cost of shipping on the one condition that you don't shove it in the back of a closet somewhere (unless you spend a large amount of time in the closet, and then that's ok).

just send me an email at avintageposter@gmail.com and tell me if you want it in 8" x 10" or 11" x 14" and which color you want. all colors can be found here. i'll send you a link to pay the $3.95 shipping (or $7.95 for international orders) and voila! you will get your print sometime next week. feel free to spread the word too, the more the merrier!

sweet sorrow

started writing this post last sunday. it's been pretty hard to finish it.

my beautiful grandma hammond passed away last week. after being told for several months that she was only suffering from allergies, the doctors finally found what they had missed all along: cancer. she was supposed to start chemo. we talked about what cute haircuts she could get before she lost all her hair. and then monday they said terminal. four weeks. hospice. and pulled the rug out from under everyone. we planned on going up to see her one last time before we went to new york. but by wednesday she had gone.

it was hard to be at her house in idaho over the weekend. to see the stacks of unopened get-well-soon cards and mother's day gifts. the scattered sewing projects around the house. thinking that at any moment she would walk around the corner and ask if we wanted a soda pop. and hear her say "well i'll be darned" after i finished telling her a story.

the funeral was perfectly simple and quiet - just like her. 

i wish i could give her one more hug. tell her how much i love her. how grateful i am for her strength and example despite all the heartache she was put through.

someday.

because if you don't acknowledge it then it doesn't really happen, right?

always check your sources

so... mike just emailed me this link... i should know by now that you can never trust the internet :) it seems like it's a combination of a few different quotes/ideas pieced together - although it still fits the situation - i am happy to admit that i fell prey to the wiles of the internet. so sneaky.

martin luther king jr. knew how to say it

i wasn't sure how i felt about the 'partying' over bin laden's death. it didn't quite seem appropriate. a member of my family posted this quote, and i think it is the most eloquent way to sum up the situation.

fare thee well, wymount

after two and a half years of living in our little wymount apartment we have officially said goodbye. we are crashing with mike's parents until we head out to new york in a few weeks, and we decided that when we come back in august we would like a change of scenery for our last year at byu. wymount was good to us (minus the mysterious smell in our sink) and we met some awesome people that we'll miss.

packing/moving with mike is a party. when we were boxing up the kitchen a few items mysteriously broke so he wouldn't have to pack them. then he started a fun game where he would hold an object over the garbage and as he slowly lowered it in i had to either a) identify what the item was or b) give at least two uses for it. i didn't win very often. and every time i put something in the d.i. pile i was rewarded with his charlie brown dance. i really love him.

hurry up june! we're a bit anxious to get out to new york.