My name is Rachel. I like to dance.

(I also like Yo Gabba Gabba. And watching it with Henry and Hyrum on an otherwise tired Thursday.)

When the cats are away, the mouse will...

• swim twice a day.
• tan by the poolside.
• read by the poolside.
• go on multiple walks/runs.
• go to Trader Joe's.
• make homemade guacamole.
• proceed to eat homemade guacamole for every meal.
• brave the freeway/crazy LA traffic twice.
• visit her grandma.
• nap.
• try to find Anthropologie.
• get profoundly lost/scared.
• cry.
• somehow make it home.
• listen to Arcade Fire's Suburbs on repeat.
• go to church alone.
• wish she had friends here.
• wish the cats would come back.

Awesome-town is a whole lot more awesome when H & P are present. Utah, please return them.

What is on my mind?

This poem. This poem is on my mind.

My new everything.

My new home:

My new house:

My new housemates:

My new Volvo:

My new swimming hole:

My new dress:

My new(est) album purchase:

Wedding Weekend.

(From the camera of miss J. Ecker.)

Updates.

Twenty-two days ago I bid farewell to Boston and made my way home to Utah. My brother Joe arrived from Reno the following day, with his little family. It was nice to see them. Thankfully, the rest of my Utah time was similarly nice and similarly relaxed. I ran through sprinklers with Eden, sat on front porches with Alicia, wished Kayte Brown happy birthday on her birthday, hugged Sam Dickens, listened to Bright Eyes with Jess (per our friendship tradition), discussed philosophy/grad schools with Derik, and spent as much time with Meg as possible. I also ate frozen yogurt nearly twice a day with my sisters and/or mother. I would not have wanted it any other way.

Then, last Tuesday I repacked my bags and road tripped it to Palo Alto. It was a long drive, but not a bad one. Emma and Emma sat in the front singing along to Abba while I sat in the back completing two books. When we arrived we went to a restaurant with Meg and Jared, where I ate the best Mexican food I have eaten in years. The next few days were filled with wedding things and friendship reunions (as well as the occasional trip to San Francisco). Everything was beautiful. The wedding was beautiful. Pictures will be forthcoming. It was also particularly nice for me to be at the Oakland Temple, as the last time I was there I was a missionary and the first time I was there was for my brother's wedding.

Now I live in Valencia, California with another brother, and another sister in law. I love them too, and their son Henry. It seems as if I will be playing nanny part-time while I continue to look for a job/figure out my life. We will see how it goes.

Meggie is getting married in the morning.

And I couldn't be happier about it.

Summer Reading.

Reading now:

The Naming of Things

A conversation tonight on The History of Love reminded me that if I were ever to have a daughter I would like to name her Alma.

A son: Soren.

Two cats: Kitty and Levin.

I have been gone too long.

The other evening I woke to my niece screaming. The niece I lived with from the time she was 5 months old to over two years. The one whom I LOVE.

After ascending the stairs in the near dark I found her alone in the bathroom crying. Her mom was working a graveyard shift, so I took her to their room and tried to comfort her. She refused to be consoled, and could only say, "I want to sleep with Charity, I want to sleep with Charity," in near hysteria. I felt bad about waking that requested sister as I knew she had to wake up early the next morning for work. Ede became even more emphatic: "She said yes." Trusting a screaming, 4 year old child, I slowly opened my sister's door.

Graciously Charity welcomed her in.

The following day I told Lia about the incident, before asking Eden why she wouldn't sleep with me. She turned to me, and in the snootiest voice imaginable answered, "But Charity is my aunt," to which I responded with some measure of sadness (and snootiness), "Little girl, I am also your aunt."

California here I come.

Right back where I started from.

I've been packing my bags for the tenth time.

I've been up on the roof again.

Birthday Baby.

Little E. celebrated her 4th birthday today, with popcorn, parachutes, playmates, pinatas, face paint, cupcakes, balloon swords, and so forth. It was crazy. Crazy cute.

Question of what to do on a Friday night... Answered.

Morning Routines.

Ede and I, seconds after waking.

Last Boston night, I ...

felt a little somber.

sat on fire escapes.
ate grilled veggies made with love.
(as well as vegan cupcakes also made with love.)

made heart shapes with Katie.
made faces with Beth.
went karaoke-ing.
walked home slowly.

*photos courtesy of the lovely Beth and Katie.

Red Letter Days, pt. 2

July 27 Fly West

July 28 Philosophy garden party

July 29 The New Pornographers

Aug 9 Eden's day of birth

Aug 10 Cate's Cake Dome Party

Aug. 14 Meg and Jared's wedding

Aug. 16 Move to LA (!)

Aug. 24 Mockingjay comes out

Bike fail, pt. 2.

Next time I think it is a good idea to ride a bike in a pencil skirt, remind me that it is not.

Bike wrecked.

My bicycle and I had a hard go tonight. I was peddling down Washington Street on my way home from Whole Foods with grocery bag in basket. This would normally not be a problem, but because it was nighttime, and the height of the paper bag was blocking my light, it became a slight problem. I attempted to fold the paper bag down, while continuing to peddle. For reasons I am still unsure of, the previously trustworthy basket chose this moment to come undone. It fell to the pavement, and with it the paper bag and parcels.

Imagine: apples, vanilla soy yogurt, and olives strewn across the middle of a busy Boston intersection on a Saturday night... Absurd.

This initial fall was also responsible for causing the true catastrophe—I simply wasn't prepared for it. Afterward numerous cars pulled to the side of the road and passengers and pedestrians alike came streaming to my side to see if I was okay. They were kind. They picked up my groceries, my basket, my bike, me, and brought everything to the side of the road. Not a single car honked. (Somehow this was the most surprising to me, as it was in Boston, after all.) One woman offered me a ride. I told her it was okay, that I was about a mile from my house and could walk home. I did so, and on that walk discovered that my leg was bleeding.

That was the worst of my personal injuries, so I felt okay. And it was one of those moments when it seems like everyone in the world is a good person. I love those moments.

Anything is possible when you're in the library.

BYU made this video. It is good. It also made me want to work at the HBLL even more than I already did. (Thanks Jake for sharing it.)