I love Pablo Neruda.

Honestly, with the majority of my being. I was already in love with his poem If You Forget Me which I relate to so much. It is precisely the way I am in relationships. Then I stumbled upon this little poem, and I fell in love all over again.

Love Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
So I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep. 

He's just so good at making you feel things. A lot of people wouldn't guess it about me, but I'm really into poetry. I don't have a lot of time to read it but I love well-crafted words. I can't get enough of it.

Besides that, I had the most amazing weekend with some really amazing girls. I may or may not add other pictures to this post later but for now this is all you get: 



A successful night of bowling in this fantastic basement alley.




A truly delightful authentic chicken enchilada breakfast prepared by the sweetest kindest native I have ever met!

The little things :)

Today something very exciting happened!

Meet my nephew, Malachi. He currently lives in New York with my brother, David and my sister-in-law, Ashley. And if you try to tell me he's not the cutest baby you've ever seen I will slap you and tell you to stop lyin cause you know where liars go.

I woke up from my nap to a text from Ashley that reads:

"We were looking through pictures with Malachi and found one of you. I said your name a few times pointing to the picture and then he said it back! Not perfectly but two recognizable syllables. Thought you would like to know :) he hasnt even said grandma or grandpa yet"

What now mom and dad!! My nephew loves me best. Well.. third best. After Dave and Ashley. But I'll take it!

P.S. I found a new asian youtube blogger to follow. (Each of those words is a different link) I do fully intend to marry him. 

Blechh

Valentine's Day never fails to ruin my February. Yes, the entire month. Every store has a big stupid display of heart-shaped goodies and corny stuffed animals as a gigantic reminder that you're desperately alone or that you're obligated to buy something for your significant other and it better be meaningful.

What a terrible principle to build a holiday around. If I'm in a relationship, I want him to do nice things for me because he wants to, not because he knows I expect it and he'll be getting the silent treatment and sleeping on the couch if he doesn't. I would gladly trade Valentine's Day for some extraordinary guy who spontaneously got me flowers just because it happened to be Wednesday and he figured I might need something to get me through the rest of the week or made me a really nice dinner just because at some point that day, I was able to make him think, "Wow. That girl is somethin' else." I realize this sort of thing doesn't occur to roughly 87.6% of guys (I don't hold it against you. You can't help your brain) thus presenting a primo opportunity for somebody to make money off of a holiday that gives them a chance to score some brownie points.

The fact is, this is a holiday for people who don't have any imagination or need a second chance to make up for forgetting their anniversary. But the way I see it, every day is another chance. There's absolutely no reason to wait for Valentine's Day to express your affection for someone.

Anyway,  I'm just saying. I refuse to participate. Except afterward, when the chocolate goes on sale.


On a side note, personal experience of the day: In my Book of Mormon class this morning, a girl was sitting in front of me and she had teased her hair so much  that I literally couldn't see the board. It was pretty amusing except that I really needed to see the board.