Tommy

So I have a prophet. 

"I" meaning, we. and "we" meaning my church.

His name is Thomas Spencer Monson

and he's a prophet just like moses or Abraham but anyway, the next general conference for my church is coming up, so I've been making my way through last conference's talks. I usually listen to them on my phone while i'm getting ready for bed. and the prophet, Thomas S. Monson spoke at the very end, so his was the last talk i listened to. anyway. 

Wednesday night, i fell asleep while his talk was still going and so in my dream, president Monson was talking about freshly baked bread and depression, haha. 

that actually happens a lot; sounds from reality seeping into dreams. 

so don't judge me, it's a perfectly normal occurrence. haha.

anyway, so i'd been thinking about the Prophet all day on Thursday, so that afternoon i decided to paint him! because i haven't painted in awhile.

there's his original Navy picture on the left (Evelyn as my screensaver in the background :)), and my sketch on the right. i traced his eyes and nose because i wanted them to be perfect, and when i freehand, things get way too messy.

bada bing bada boom. and i was super happy with it, but when i came home from work, i saw that his poor eye on the left side of the picture hadn't dried fully before i did his pupil, and the darker color spread all over. ugh. 

otherwise, it was practically perfect and i was actually quite proud.

ignore the fact that they're sideways. 

so i tried to fix it. 

here's the final product. 

over all, i'm satisfied but UGH that eye still bugs me. way better than it was, though. 

not like he wants this portrait, but i'm gonna send it to him. 

just cause i can. 

and because i sent Boyd K Packer his last month and he wrote me back.

maybe good ol' Tom will, too??

hahaha i CAN DREAM, ALRIGHT.

now on to the silly things:

Dear Seth Johnson likes to edit my instagram pictures into 'romantic collages'.

shout out to my oldest sister who is a sewing WIZARD and made me these star wars pajama pants for christmas. HOLLA. and they match my ANH tee perfectly. 

ignore my thumb in front of the lense. 

the selfies have officially begun. sorrynotsorry. blame my glasses, i'm obsessed with them. 

also, this conversation between me and Oscar. gah, it's so tiny, maybe if you click on it you can zoom in

Oscar despises frogs. absolutely LOATHES them. 

i thought i was a comedic genius.

and finally, this letter that my mom found among old Christmas cards. 

from me to Derek circa 2001. 

TGIF

Family Reunion

First?

a side tangent.

How in the WORLD do people survive office jobs? HOW?

I am so grateful that my dad loves his job! because i would HATE to work ten hours a day doing something that i hated, and luckily, he loves being the farm manager. And i don't hate my job! I kind of like it! and the "co-workers" (am i allowed to call them that? I'm eighteen and they're attorneys of law... ) are wonderful!

it's just pretty... well... boring... and it really makes me appreciate the money that my Dad makes way more than i previously did (...n't....)...

really though, I sat at my tiny receptionist desk for nine hours today. NINE. welllll, technically ten but i subtracted an hour after adding up all the times i got up to check the mail or take out the trash or water plants or shred papers just because i absolutely could not stand sitting any longer.

I am also glad that whatever job i pursue in the future - Acting, teaching, or full time mom, i will never have to spend that much time at a desk. maybe some day years from now while i'm softly bouncing a baby to sleep in the middle of the night, on my feet, i'll wish i was sitting at my desk at Cota Cole. But not today guys, not today. Don't get me wrong, i love making money! I made 81 spankin' dollars today! and i'll make 81 more tomorrow! 

of course...they'll all be taken from me as soon as I get them because i got my first Ticket a couple days ago...I totally wasn't going 85 in a 50 zone. without my license or registration while blasting Billy Currington and already running late to work. psssh! who does that?

I made 81 dollars today by doing odd jobs around the office. I answered the phone a whopping ten times. the rest of the day was spent doodling for hours and braiding my hair seven different times. and researching books for my summer reading list. and singing every song from Seussical in quietly to myself. twice. and poking aimlessly around sparknotes.com

it was relaxing!

But?

bored. out of my mind. 

but uhmm, don't tell my supervisor friend that. I might just have to file more correspondence. any way, today i just gained a lot of respect for my brother in law Kent who has some how looked past the tediousness of office life and climbed his way to the tippity top of the business ladder all before he is 30 years old! what a tycoon. in the bet possible way. 

props, dog. MAJOR props.

_____________________________________________

now on to my family reunion!!

Thursday we drove to Allison's to pick up Natalie Jean because we took her to her the family reunion! On the way to Allison's, though, we ran in to TERRIBLE traffic. it took us over two hours to go eight miles. awful.

so we didn't get to Allison's until like three in the dang morning.

as a result, we left Allison's like three hours later than planned because we all slept in. haha.

But it was worth it, trust me.

I love me some dang Natalie. she's hilarious. and wild and crazy and innocent.

and even when she's driving me absolutely crazy, and she's asking every single imaginable question on earth and she's squirming ALL through church - on my lap-  those big brown eyes get me every time. 

she's honestly the sweetest little thing. and her heart is so big and pure. She's just an innocent little kid! i don't want her to start kindergarten this fall and get all corrupted. haha.

she jumped right up to my side as soon as i woke up and told me ALL about how she was SO excited to go to the reunion and ride in the car and watch star wars with uncle Jonathan and i knew it was going to be a  very long, very entertaining ride. favorite quote? "Star Wars episode one: The phantom menace. that means a secret bad guy!! but we all know his name is Darth Mal!"

She cracks me up.

Finally we got to the good old ranch.

I was ECSTATIC. I'd been practically dancing with joy while packing. and for the last thirty minutes or so in the car i was absolutely giddy. There are just so many happy memories in this place and i was beyond ready for the outpouring of Hansen love. BOY, did i get it. let me tell ya.

we were welcomed to good old Hiko by this lovely sand storm. 

oh yeah, before we left Allison's mansion Derek was making fun of my sleepy hair. I had just rolled out of bed, don't judge me. I wear sock buns to bed, sue me. anyway, Derek thought it was hilarious to stick his arm through my hair and drag me around like a dang animal. actually, it was pretty funny afterward. just not during.

"P" for Pahranagat! the most fertile valley in Nevada, dawgs.

and as soon as we got there, we tromped around in adventures around the pastures 

Seriously though, the ranch is so happy!

We all eat dinner in this giant tin looking thing. a Quonset hut? i'd never heard the name of it until this year and i thought it was wild! 

I like the letter Q, have i mentioned that before?

I think it's because Quailman is my second favorite super hero. Doug.

any way.

There were probably six thousand little ones running around. and about four of them had dark hair. ALL the rest of them were little toe heads. typical Hansens. some of those kids' hair was so blonde it's literally WHITE. or even CLEAR like a dang polar bear.

guess what? i love this little bug.

My Dad has a cousin named Roxanne, she's a babe. seriously though, she's 52 dang years old and she looks exactly the same now as she did when she was 25. And her husband Dale is awesome too. they have a daughter named Jewel (Family Name) who is a musical genius. literally.

she played some BACH for the talent show. 

BACH, guys. she's like ten.

She played the Cello song. 

I could listen to cellos all day.

I am BEYOND jealous of her skills, it's not even funny.

the talent shows are always really silly and fun, and there are always gaggles of littel girls who get up to the mic and just giggle for a good minute or so before they start. and then they break out into even more squeals of laughter at the first sign of the audience enjoying the act. hilarious. and adorable, but also a test of patience. hahaha

For our talent, we sang the Spectrum song!

Toni recorded it for me but i can't get it to upload, so i guess you'll just have to creep on my Facebook for that one. sorry. It was really cute though! mom made little boards with all the colors on them and we held them up at just the right (well, we tried.) moment that the color was mentioned in the song. it was cute, if i do say so myself. And my adorable nieces Katelyn and Whitney sang the bedbug song, ahh the memories.

after dinner and the show, it was time to just relax with all the family. which is the best part. Just sitting. and talking. a lot of front porch sitting and a lot of laughing, of course. we sat in a circle on the family blanket with Rebecca and Eric while the girls ran around chasing bugs and telling "spooky stories". I love Eric and Rebecca because not only are the cutest  couple on earth, but they're also hilarious and they give the best advice in the dang world. 

and as the crickets sung me to sleep in my windy old tent, i couldn't wipe the smile off my sun beaten face.
I LOVE HIKO.
and so i drifted off to a repeatedly interrupted by freezing wind sleep. but the wind didn't even bother me i was just honestly so stinkin' content! But i was kind of frustrated that i kept getting woken up because we woke up at like 5 with the sun to climb limestone peak. That gets it's own post tomorrow because it may or may not have been the turning point in my summer.
maybe life.
you'll see.