san juan, puerto rico

me on ambien for the red eye.

pretty sure this was my favorite leg of the trip.
http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll/qscr=dspv/htid=5041
check the pictures of the hotel we stayed at because the best part about this joint was its beachfront. they had their own little private beach complete with cabanas and perfect sand.

okay so most of these pictures were taken by colby and we have recently realized how fetching awesome our camera is. some of these do it justice and i will be sure to point out just how artistic we attempted to be. this is the fort in old san juan. this was america's first defense against anyone coming at us from the southern hemisphere. tres cool. unfortunately was closed for visitors by the time we arrived, but we got some great pics of the outside.

ps the water was beautiful. graveyard pic below showcases nicely.

this is me being sweaty and humid after trekking all over old san juan for... oh i dunno... like 2 hours while we looked for a pastelería (bakery) to get us a nice puerto rican treat. we ended up back at the restaurant at our hotel where they have this smokin hot chocolate cake with strawberry sorbet. literally smokin hot - "caliente chocolate cake".

we found the coolest little niches that were crying out for artistic portrayal.

sunset.
surprisingly early, like 7 pm.
and san juan got scary quickly afterwards. they let the freaks out at nighttime i suppose.

tomas being photogenic. he is brooke's hubs and the best ping pong player we know.

see! this is the beautiful ocean! bury me here!


brooke modelling for an anthropologie catalogue. what you cant see is the fetching steep drop off at the edge of her feet. she is a scout.

colby at the fort again - apologies for the messed up timeline of photos.


the girls at the fort doors.

mikey! the jet blue employee living the dream. literally, he just decided to join us for our short day in san juan because he can fly for free - he says its like taking the bus for him practically. anyways, we called it even because he rented the car and charmed the locals and we let him crash at our pad.

sigh... colby being... colby.


tomas, brooke, mikey.

i loved it! will be returning someday i hope.
stay tuned for the next vacation post about west end, bermuda.

merryn's wedding

hi all.

im a tad behind on my posting - vacation posts arriving shortly, but i must post chronologically methinks. that and the fact that i still feel like im on the damn boat rocking to and fro. anyways, good friend and pretend sister was married a few weeks ago and of course i felt the need to document as best as i could.

classic joe, ruining all things fun and female.
featured here: me, karleah, angela.

annika and friend.






dear brand new givens family:
thinking about you often and hoping you are creating a peacefilled life together. my one and only piece of marital advice i can offer is that men (sorry colt, maybe you will be an exception??) often say things without ever meaning them/understanding just how mean/selfish/jerklike they really sound. so thus my advice to you both is have rewinds of your conversations - schedule times to re-do the talks that go horribly awry. after a few hours or maybe even days, a beautiful thing called perspective suddenly blooms in your spouse's mind. anyways, love you guys. take good care of each other.

desi

ps: shout out to baby autumn - woo!

why lionel richie holds the key to my heart

because he is all things vacation.
this is my memorial to all of you not joining me for my rockinest grad vacay. love you all. will have many photos and stories and a wicked tan when i return.

Lionel Richie - New Music - More Music Videos

spot the graduate

can you find me in the pic above?
friday was commencement + convocation for me and everything was perfect. it was a beautiful day, and my parents, colby and his parents and grandparents, and my sis + baby were able to come to celebrate with me. afterwards, things got a little "blue" at my party hosted by the inlaws.

me and nicole, the Utah girls, also the only ones in the fam who cuss and we attribute that to our liberal arts education. woot! for being the two college grads in the lynes clan!!

the day would be incomplete without a victory dance of sorts. even though my future as of right now remains a tad cloudy and the economy and various other factors have made it difficult for me to find gainful employment, i find myself feeling extremely grateful and humbled that i was blessed enough to complete this journey. i always told myself i would finish for nobody and nothing except myself - because i made that promise to myself - but im grateful for the support of my friends and my proud family. the speakers at commencement put it better than i would ever be able to. please see:
http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=050809-2
Brittany Ann Gadbury - student speaker whom i danced with for a year
http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=050809-8
and remarks by David McCullough, the second cutest old man right behind Pres. Hinckley.

and to the other graduates out there:
"Always tip the maid."

pete's big day

my nephew is being baptised tomorrow!

firstly, i cant believe im old enough to have an 8 year old from the next generation in my life - im constantly reminded by my sisters to "can it" though. but it does blow my mind to think about meeting him as a brand new baby when i was in like ninth grade, i think... and now he is such a talker, the sweetest big brother, and a great example to the younger cousins.

the sweet kid asked me to be the speaker at his baptism too - the holy ghost, a myriad of things could be said. i especially like the notion of Comforter, that my Heavenly Father communicates peace and happiness and solitude through Him to me. that because He is a spirit He can speak to my spirit directly, in ways not even Colby, my mom, or best friend can. how blessed we are to have these occasions in our lives where we can remember the simplest of gospel promises, because we see the young ones we love committing to them.

children bring a very special spirit with them into our lives, and i love my nieces and nephews sooo much - and my awesome/strong/patient siblings for creating them and dealing with them day to day. i love this gospel because of the knowledge we are given that we will all be together always - even pete the spiderman impersonator extraordinaire.