And in this moment, I swear we are infinite.

FINALLY the trailer has come out for the movie version of one of my 

FAVORITE books!

Coming soon, with Emma Watson's beautiful face and all, to a screen near you:

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

This book is just so honest and adorable and really makes you think about life in a much simpler, more straightforward way.  A way that we tend to forget when life and all its responsibility and expectations get in the way.
"We accept the love we think we deserve"

I. Am. So. Excited.

In other news.

Guess where I was all day?

Just lying on another crystal clear blue water beach in none other than

MONTE CARLO, MONACO. 

Feast your eyes, friends.

#MonteCarlo2012NoRegretzZzzZz

All my love, B.

Another perfect day (warning: picture overload!)

Ok I apologize.  There's no way I cannot post about this day. It was just one of those that was so very full in so many ways, and I feel so so so blessed to be here! (And sorry again, I apparently love the word "so"....I could get a little more creative, but it's 2 a.m...I guess it just goes to show the depth of my gratitude for today!)


After lounging at the pool in the sun for an hour, it started pouring rain (weird) so we ran inside, but made sure to watch the storm-watching it just come down on top of the palm trees was strangely such a gorgeous thing to see!


After it finally calmed down, we headed down to the beach (Miami Beach-pretty funny to find that all the way in France!) to check out the CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE WATER and do some impromptu modeling. The beaches here aren't really what you'd think a normal beach would look like.  They're not sandy-the "beach" actually is just made of a bunch of pebbles that require some pretty skilled coordination, but it is still so so beautiful. See for yourself!


It's pretty clear why they call it the Azure Coast now, isn't it? It's so BLUE! :)

After that, we got some last minute necessities for the apartment (some TP and some extra ingredients for our fish and rice with zucchini and lemon dinner) and some baguettes and oranges! -we thought we looked too cute walking home with our groceries, we took some "not staged" photos of us walking up the hill.

And then we ran into one of the most beautiful puppies I've ever seen! His name was caramel and we had so much fun playing with him and speaking with his owners-an adorable little french girl and her mama.

Then I found a single dandelion growing out of the grass and just had to pick it up!

After eating dinner, we headed downstairs for our "Family Home Evening" (an LDS monday night tradition where families get together to have a spiritual thought and an activity), and we celebrated the 24th birthday of one of the only 4 men who came on the trip.  Sadly no photos were taken of this event, but I had a chocolate creme puff that was TO DIE FOR (as per usual when it comes to french pastries of any kind).


Then came the highlight of the evening-we had planned to go down to the edge of the coast where there is a chateau and some ruins and a breathtaking panoramic view, but unfortunately after we arrived the area was closed.  So instead we got one of our other "assignments" done and walked through Old Town Nice.  SO gorgeous! We bought some amazing gelato (strawberry, salted caramel and sweet cream for me!) and then headed to the coast. 

We ran into some amazing back streets and an entire square full of gourmet seafood restaurants that smelled AMAZING.

When we got to the coast, I got chills from the scene that awaited us.  I so wish it was possible to capture what I saw in a picture.  That moon-I haven't thought as profoundly about my life as I did whenever I would turn my head and see this moon, how clear it was, and how the reflection made a path through the water that came right up to the coast. Amazing.

I had an amazing 45 minute walk back up the boardwalk in the cool night air.  The temperature was perfect, the coast was lively, and I spent time with two of the most beautiful girls I have ever met.  Not the greatest picture (still trying to figure out how to do good night photos on this camera)

Today just made me reflect on how hard I worked to get here and how grateful I am that this dream became a reality!  I remember having given up on this dream altogether but then suddenly receiving a spiritual impression that I needed to apply anyway, and I know now without a doubt that this is where I was meant to be at this time in my life.  Heavenly Father saw need that I be in France this Spring, because this is where I needed to learn the life lessons that are necessary to this time in my life. And oh how I have learned.  And made lifelong friends.  Walking up the coast tonight reminded me once again that Heavenly Father truly has my needs in mind and puts people and experiences in my path to help me attain the highest level of happiness if I put my trust and faith in Him. I know that no matter how worn out, poor, or jobless I am when I return home, every single second I spent here was absolutely worth it.


Even if you're not laying on a beach next to the Mediterranean sea right now, go outside, look at the beautiful June sun and thank Heavenly Father for all the beautiful things that are in your life.  There are so, so many.

All my love, B.

Some NICE photos (I know, so very punny.)

Greetings loved ones! Here are some of those photos I promised from yesterday!

To give you a basic timeline since Saturday:

We landed

Waited an hour and a half for our bus that was reserved by accident for the wrong day

went to our apartment-style hotels

figured out our dinner group

went grocery shopping

Got food for 3 days for 6 people for 84 euro. THAT was amazing-15 euro per person for 3 days!

Made dinner-cuban food and rice!

Went to the pool

Watched Sleepless and Seattle

Slept

Woke

Went to church

Went to the Matisse Museum

Went to the Chagall Museum

Walked home (loooooong walk when it's a fast sunday!)

Took a much needed nap

Made spaghetti for our break-the-fast dinner...it was fantastic!

Watched Win a Date With Tad Hamilton

Homework

Sleep

Class

Homework/Blogging!

Amanda and I and our matching color scheme at church!
Me: Dress/Belt-YiNess, Shoes-TOMS, Cami-F21, Necklaces-LiaSophia
Amanda: Dress/Shoes-DownEast

Streamers in the park!

Orange(?) trees outside the Matisse Museum

Ancient Roman ruins at the park

So turns out I got some wrong info-YESTERDAY was french mother's day-NOT last sunday.
So here are some more festive Mother's day streamers for celebrations in the park!

On the walk home

Living the good life

Loving all the palm trees!

At first, the city of Nice was called Nike (like the shoe)-which is a greek word for Victory-
as far as I know, Nice was never owned by Greece, but this picture kind of reminds me of those grecian towns all stacked up by the sea!

So many of these old houses mixed in with the new-and of course beautiful flowers everywhere!

I am experiencing so many mixed feelings right now.

On the one hand, I am so anxious I can barely stand it to get back home to be with my sisters and brother, go rock climbing, eat with my best friends, and go back to school shopping with Mama.  Then to go on my road trip back up to Utah for summer term, to go camping, climbing, Salt Lake-visiting, wedding-going, and all the other fun things Utah has to offer this summer.

But on the other hand-I am mentally preparing myself for the inevitable meltdown that is sure to come when Friday night comes and I start packing up to leave this beautiful country.

But for now, I'm just going to ignore it all and go to the beach :)

All my love, B.

Nice to be in Nice!

Hey all,


Sorry it's been so very hectic lately! But after a bus tour with so many beautiful castles and an indescribable level of stress in trying to get my suitcase under 44 pounds, our group has finally landed in Nice, France! We'll be here for the next week to finish off our program.


I hope to have a bit more downtime to blog now that we're just hanging on the beach (yes!) and hopping over to Monte Carlo for an afternoon, but if not.....I'll be back next Sunday!


And internet reception is sooooo bad here, so I'll have to post pictures later :(


Just imagine a bunch of coastal, bright colored, Mediterranean pictures below to tide you over until then!


All my love, B.