What a Perfect Sunday Looks Like

It's this, in case you didn't now, it's totally this!

As soon as we got home from church we slapped some sandwiches together and sliced some watermelon.

And then faster than ryan could change out of his black church socks we were on the road to paradise.

Where the sweetest little lake is nestled right into the mountains, and the ground is a blanket of pine needles under a canopy of even greener pine trees, where the birds practically eat watermelon out of your hands, where the air is perfumed with all that piney goodness, and nary a mosquito is in sight.

And we followed a little trail around that lake, and we set up hammocks in the shade of all those trees, and we lunched on a meal fit for kings, and we talked and laughed, and then we laid down and were rocked gently to sleep by the breeze.  

And it was one of those amazing days, where everything is perfect and the only emotion is pure and inexplicable happiness.

 

 

Our Weekend

Type found on pinterest long ago, if you know who the creator is please let me know so I can pass on all credit. 

June really barreled in out of nowhere!

Friday we snuck some of the worlds best gyros (I hope you are pronouncing that right) into the theatre.

We love sneaking in our own much more delicious food. So that way even if the movie is terrible, which this one definitely is, it's still an enjoyable experience.

And then we went home early to clean our house and do some laundry.

Cause, you know, sometimes even that makes for a pretty awesome date night.

Which was interrupted when our good friends had to rush to the hospital with their adorable baby and we sped over to babysit their oldest.

Which was scary, probably much more for them, but luckily all turned out all right. Thank goodness!

Saturday our young friend from Switzerland moved here and we helped her get settled in.

We squeezed a paper-bag-picnic in the park and some cleaning in.

And then we brought her home and ate tacos, lounged in our hammocks, and walked over to Aggie Ice Cream for some of Utahs finest frozen cream.

Sunday I wrestled out some prints of our Relief Society newsletter at church that simply were not cooperating.

On which I included my latest favorite thought - included for your viewing pleasure above - which we have dubbed our family theme for the month of June!

And then there were naps in the hammocks, phone calls to family, cooking, and then friends and their cute kids over for dinner.

Which remains a standing invitation for as long as they continue to bring with them the worlds most delicious brownies!

Not bad for the first weekend of a month that still feels like hasn't arrived yet.

Our Last Five Days...

...have been spent soaking up as much of Ryan's parents as possible.

The last time they were in Utah was four years ago. 

So we have a strong appreciation for every second we get to have them out here. 

We filled each day to the brim. 

Shopping, Hiking, eating, baseball games, movies, long walks, great talks, Rook tournaments, graduation ceremonies, temple visits, ferris wheels, baking, more shopping, more eating, more games.

It was a lovely visit! 

We are so glad they came.

And our fingers are crossed that the next visit comes a lot sooner. 

Christmas Lights

We got home from Europe and landed smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season.

The best of all seasons is really nice to come home to.

Our first week back was a scramble of jet lag, throwing christmas decorations up around our house, and hosting a christmas fondue party.

This weekend was the second of a total of 3 weekends we get to enjoy before heading to Canada for Christmas, so of course we felt it mandatory to squeeze in the Temple Square christmas lights. 

They are nothing short of magical. 

Especially with the first snow fall of the season.

And despite cold wet feet. 

We met my sister in the city that has become our halfway meet-up point and hit up some shopping hot spots. 

And then we descended on my darling aunt's downtown apartment for a dinner of warm soup and rolls. 

With the culminating event being the christmas lights surrounding the place where Ryan and I first talked of a married future together, and where we were eventually married by his grandpa.

We love this place a lot. 

Especially at Christmas time because we got engaged seven years ago a week from today.

So its full of nostalgia for lots of reasons.

It made for a really good weekend full of laughing, visiting, and all sorts of good christmas feelings.

It was all Very Medieval



Ryan had never been to see a castle before these castles. The day before we went to see them I asked him what his favorite part of Switzerland had been so far. He answered with "The castles we are going to go see tomorrow." His favorite memory had apparently not even happened yet.

While we were there, standing atop a spire in castle #2, I was gushing about how surreal it all was and saying how never before had I as vividly understood the impulse to live in a castle and describing which room in which tower I would instantly claim as my own given the chance and how lovely life would be from a castle perspective. It was at this point that, in all seriousness, Ryan responded with: "I feel like you are under reacting to how cool this is."

How silly of me.

The city is built tucked up right next to and in between these three castles so you can see the fortress walls (and underground tunnels beneath them) from almost everywhere in the city.

So many gorgeous stairs. So windy and so narrow. We had to work for this view, but it was totally worth it!

We timed our arrival to castle #2 perfectly. It was that golden hour before sunset when everything is warm and glowing and tinted with yellow haze. It was one of those rare instances when I desperately wished I could freeze time and just live in that moment forever.

Truly, how much do you wish you could just spread a blanket out right here right now and watch the clouds slowly pass by overhead with a good book, a simple picnic, and the warm hand of someone who loves you? This is my very idea of paradise. 

The entire fortress sat atop this giant pile of rock we would call a mountain.

This is the long narrow passageway they carved out of the base of it through which you walk to get to the elevator.

Obviously the design of this more recent elevator addition was designed with a very traditional concept in mind, in keeping with the historical context of the site and the architectural details of the Swiss homes surrounding it. 

Just hanging out in a moat like it's no big deal.

And walking castle walls like it's nothing.

And sitting on medieval cans like it's commonplace.

(This stone gutter served as the sewer system and ran down and through a variety of toilets and wash basins on different floors and levels. And the current century one, pictured below, was built right into one of those tiny castle rooms, see how Ryan's head grazes the ceiling?)

And ascending moss covered turrets like it's perfectly ordinary.

I wish we had time to do everything twice.

Italy

This weekend was the first time we ever stepped foot on Italian soil.

It didn't seem at all like our first time.

The area of Switzerland we live in is as far south as you can get without actually being in Italy.

We are surrounded by Italy. 

We can see Italian mountains from our house. 

The lake we live by flows in and out of Italy on 3 sides.

There is a tiny island of Italy encircled by Switzerland less than 15 minutes away from our little corner of Montagnola.

We basically breathe Italian air.

Everybody we meet speaks Italian.

Every meal we have contains something Italian.

So our first time in Italy was not a completely foreign affair.

It was a lot like Switzerland, but at the same time it wasn't anything like Switzerland.

The streets looked the same only with faster traffic and much more dense. 

The tunnels were the same only slightly less cared for.

The lakes and houses and mountains looked the same only the colors seemed to be a bit hazier, and pinker. They say it is the Milan smog but I think it does wonderful things to the hillsides.

They look gentler and softer.

It's almost like living in a watercolor painting.

The trains are the same only much less predictable. 

The people look and sound the same only they are warmer, and louder, and assertive in a way the Swiss never are.

The food is the same only there's more and you can access it better.

Everything is available more widely, and later into the night, and longer throughout the day.

There are carts, and boats, and restaurants on every corner to satisfy any whim for the delicious.

The same way that the people who serve you make themselves visible.

They push in, and shout out, and cut through, and shimmy alongside, and reach over, and laugh out.

Italians will not be ignored. 

They make themselves noticed. 

Discretion will never be an Italian characteristic.

But it's this authenticity that is so endearing about the Italians.

And yet I find their quieter, gentler, more delicate Swiss counterparts equally endearing.

I cannot pick a favorite, they are so alike and yet so unique from each other, these two countries.

I think I shall continue to love best whichever of the two countries I find myself in!

Our Weekend

1. Made laundry detergent

A new batch of laundry detergent was long overdue. So I made our favorite and then felt compelled to spend my saturday washing a whole pile of laundry. 

It honestly never even crossed my mind to make laundry detergent until I first stumbled across the idea here. Now I feel like such a schmuck for ever paying $15+ for the store bought stuff. It's not just because it's cheaper (which it is) but it's so pretty (hello flecks of yellow) and doesn't smell detergent-y, which I love. It has a delightful lemon scent going in, but your clothes smell nothing but clean coming out, which is just how I like them! 

This double batch costs $9 and lasts just over a year. It's crazy I tell you! You only need a single tablespoon of detergent per load. Plus its fun to make. Grating the fels-neptha soap using our cheese grater feels therapeutic. And then I pulse it in the food processor because its fun (I love using a food processer) and creates a smaller, faster dissolving size. I double the recipe and use:

2 cups borax

2 cups arm and hammer super washing soda

2 bars fels-neptha soap

2. Saw Wicked

We don't mind being last on the bandwagon for stuff like this, it builds the anticipation I say. So we were plenty excited for our first glimpse at Wicked. 

Discussing our favorite parts afterward Ryan said: "It's so fun being sung to". I wholeheartedly agree. But my favorite thing is the atmosphere. I love the excitement of being at a live performance, and all the people all dressed up, eager and enthusiastic about the very same thing. The cheering, clapping, standing ovation excitement, I love it. 

That and waking up this morning with all the songs running through my head, I've been humming them all day. 

3. Our first taste of the copper onion

Best cheese plate ever. Homemade pasta. Wagyu beef. Burger cooked to order. Cardamom bread pudding with ricotta. Amazing, every morsel!

 

4. Bed at 8:30

I can't remember the last time I was both tired enough and able to go to bed so early. But the fates smiled down on us,  the stars aligned, and it was divine!

We Climbed in Rocks & Under Mountains

And it was the highlight of our weekend.

880 stairs in under an hour.

We stood beneath a 900 mile fault line and didn't even flinch.

Nobody fell to their death and, despite no jackets, none of us froze.

Because what is even the point of going all the way to Idaho if you don't buy some lottery tickets?