i'm either having a really good day or a really bad day.

tay,

first things first.

please tell me you've seen the music video

that is currently posted here.

it might be one of the best things i've

ever seen. country and rap are like salt and pepper.

something funny that you said in your last post was

the part about the mountain being called "young maiden."

the fact that mountains have names over there

reminds me of somewhere.

oh, here. that's right.

any place that names its mountains has got to be rad.

anyway.

utah is, well, great.

better than great, if you ask me.

here are some great things about it:

1. the cooler, summer weather.

2. the occasional rain shower and overcast sky.

3. the hustle and bustle of the utahn summer.

that last one is my favorite point.

there is just nothing quite like the

hustle and bustle of a utahn summer.

speaking of hustle and bustle,

how 'bout them folks at google?

google+ and all that jazz.

you know what would be funny?

if our missionary friends got home

and facebook was gone, replaced with googlebook.

or whatever.

that would be a real hoot.

like, "let's go to facebook. PSYCHE!

facebook's gone. joke's on you!"

here's something else that's funny

from our favorite WRC employee:

top 10 things to say to break the ice with a customer:

10. i love your hair. may i run my fingers through it?

9. do those pants feel as tight as they look?

8. uh, no. you're totally going to crush that shoe.

7. is that her diaper i smell? may i check it?

6. may i hold your hand as we walk to the shoe wall?

5. does your husband always give the young girls

this much attention?

4. you've got something stuck in your teeth.

3. wow! how much do you weigh?

2. they look great on you! yes, it's supposed

to come out over the waistband like that.

1. that's, ibuyonlinetoscrewthelocalguy.com

oh, and one more thing,

bluejay

-the blue

+sunshine

-the shine

+something bug spray should have

-the last two letters

+the country andy is in right now

=

international cinema invite again

and a legit textersation.

odd.

well, that's all i've got. loves!

sprechen sie englisch?

First off, let me explain.
I know you posted on July 5th.
And I know that it is July 8th.
But life is hard sometimes.

Like when you are in a foreign country
where you have to go to
3 different stores
3 different times
before you get a SIM card that works.

But we only have
1 SIM card that works in
1 country
because they're not cheap.

So, hence, I am tethering

(for those of you who are technologically-impared
and don't know what that means click here
[sorry it's in German - like I said: life is hard sometimes.])

Enough explaining on my part.
How about this picture does some explaining instead.

Yep. That's the view from my window.
Well, hello there, Alps.

That particular mount is the Jungfrau -
translated to "young maiden."
She is protected by two mountains on either side
whose names translate to "ogre" and "monk."
Cool? You tell me.

Not that I speak German or anything though,
'cause I don't.
Unless knowing how to say "I am vegetarian" counts.
By the way, I'm yet to say that,
in case you were wondering.
And in case you are reading this and wondering,
"is she really vegetarian?"
I am.

There is a general trend here
of things being steep.
the Alps
the stairs
the prices

There is also a general trend here
of lots of driving.
I have been in 3 countries so far
(including Switzerland, France and Germany)
and that number will reach 5
by the end of the trip.

The other general trend would have to be
AMAZING VIEWS.
If I wasn't tethering,
I would post some pictures for you.
(Bet you feel dumb if you still
don't know what 'tethering' means)
Hopefully you'll get to see some soon.

Other highlights include:
- Stuffing my face with chocolate at a chocolate factory
(the winning flavor: "crement")
- Entering France just to buy some almond croissants
(reminiscent of last November...?)
- eating delicious cheese in the quaint village of Gimmelwald
(just to give you a feel for the place:
Less than 200 people live there,
the only way to get to it is by aerial tram or trail,
and there is a store that still lets you buy things on credit)

Obviously the highlights all involved food.
That just seems to be how it works.

Also, I have finished one book so far.
Reasons to Live
It was a winner. You'll have to read it.
Meaning you, specific (Taylor)
and you, general (hello there, follower).

Well, when it comes to slow internet,
I can only take it for so long.
And it has been so long.
So, so long.

Love you.
(once again, specific and general)
Can't wait to hear more about Utah.

Tay

the hunger games.

dear taylor olson,

did you know that some of our

most-read blog posts are from last november

when we wrote letters back and forth?

what does that mean for you and i?

don't care.

here i am in sandy, ut. just like always.

i'm going to do a load of laundry today.

i washed and vacuumed my car on saturday.

i'm reading a really good book right now.

those are the updates.

how was your 4th?

i wore a flag shirt to work yesterday

and everyone at work was surprised for some reason.

apparently they had no idea how much

i love this great land.

i lead them in singing the national anthem

just before we opened the store.

duh.

i had some cafe rio yesterday

with ally, natalie, lisa and julie

and then we sat around a fire, made s'mores

and listened to fireworks.

julie's house has a great ear shot of all

kinds of fireworks, so there was no need to see them.

here's a question: why not entitle your next

facebook picture album, "real busy" ?

here's another question: why haven't

we jumped on the "words with friends"

bandwagon yet? it seems like just our

cup of bandwagon. kind of.

one more thing: ally told her sister i was coming

over and her sister replied with,

"is that the more outdoorsy taylor or the one who sings?"

it's cool that she reads our blog.

so here is a "shout out" to her.

so, tell me something pretty about europe.

i'll make sure you don't miss anything stateside.

here i am, holdin' down the fort in utah, like always.

what would it do without me?

time for breakfast.

ciao.

p.s. the book i'm reading isn't the hunger games.

but the hunger games is sitting on my bed shelf,

so it gets the honor of titling this post.

p.p.s. is that a boyfriend belt?

did your boyfriend leave it at your apartment

when he left at 12:00?

kitty kitty. kitty kitty cat.

dear teeber.

• 
  

happy thanksgiving!
(i know they don't celebrate thanksgiving in france,
but it doesn't mean i can't celebrate.)

this is my second year being away from home
for thanksgiving.
there's no place like home for the holidays.
except new york.
or france.
those beat home.

as does texting someone on thanksgiving.
or texting no one.
one year anniversary.
look how far i've come.

• 
  

so, enough of that.
i'm in france.
(in case you're clueless and didn't know by now.)
what a great opportunity to practice my french, right?
wrong.
everyone we try to talk to in french
responds in english.
how do they know?
are we really that obvious?

• 
  

remember how i said i wanted to move into versailles?
i changed my mind.

this is the new future residence:

château de pierrefonds

there may be room for you
if you want to move in with me.

but just maybe.

• 
  

last time i visited paris
i climbed the 374 steps to the top of notre dame.
in case you were wondering,
there are still 374 steps.
yes, i counted.
both times.

some things never change.
like how much i love you.
and how grateful i am for you.

• 
  

on a different, but not necessarily lighter, note,
i managed to whip out 7 postcards tonight.
why do so many missionaries exist?
seriously, ctn?

• 
  

well, i'm off to bed.
i know it's only the afternoon there.
leave me be.

love,
teeoh.

p.s. can i not eat 2 pastries, a tart,
chocolate mousse and cream puffs all on the same day?
p.p.s. RUSSIA?!?!?!?!?
p.p.p.s. i had airplane food. 'nuf said.
p². p².s. why are you so dang creative?
how am i supposed to even try to match up?

excusez-moi de vous deranger.

tay-

so, you're technically in sandy right now.
i'm in paris.
well, technically outside of paris.
but paris will suffice.

here are the headlines:
1. my body is thoroughly confused.
i would tell you what i had (or almost had)
for dinner last night,
but i don't know when last night was.
i've had very little sleep
and i haven't brushed my teeth in over 26 hours.
but at least i was in first class.

2. ben coburn is less than 50 miles away.
approximately.

3. i haven't exercised since friday.
new record? perhaps.
i bet you're proud.

4. versailles.
vee & dad picked up me & mom from the airport
and we went straight there.
it was freezing cold, but beautiful.
can we move in?

5. can pastries not?
it's bad here. real bad.
p90x is so far out the window, it's in provo.

6. you got mail.
jk.
this would maybe be a headline
if we could actually check the mail.

welp.
that's paris for you.
at least so far.
it's been a whole 9 hours of non-stop, tired fun.

that and the fact that we are staying
in the. cutest. place. ever.

say hi to slc for me.
or technically sandy i suppose.

mucho looove,
steve i. taylor jr. cutie pie olson s.

p.s. cin forget my corduroys?

p.p.s. ok, if you insist,
i'll go on a date with you.

wut up, bruddah?

it's a world of laughter,
a world of tears.
it's a world of hopes,
and a world of fears.
there's so much that we share,
and it's time we're aware,
it's a small world after all.

karissa just got home from jerusalem,
and holly is back from ta-ta-ta-thailand.
ben is in tokyo,
and the other ben is in paris.
thatcher is in new mexico,
and shalaya is in colorado.
(annnnnd it's her birthday today---haps 20th, girl).
stuart's in missurah.
isaac's off to brassssil,
and so. is. millie.

there is just one moon,
and one golden sun,
and a smile means
friendship to everyone.
though the mountains divide,
and the oceans are wide,
it's a small world after all.

dylan is off to south africa,
and allie is already in africa.
the other ally is in india,
and lisa will be in london.
hillary will be in ohio soon,
and philip's already there.
we've got cousins in texas,
friends in alaska,
a gurl in washington,
and acquaintances off to
china, london, canada, and new york.

as for us,
and as we said before,
all roads lead to provo.
and that's just the way we like it.

it's a small world, after all.

---taylor & taylor.

P.S. did we even MENTION all our friends in logan???
well, consider them mentioned.
yeee.

crying/trying/drying out.

maybe this is the longest we've ever gone without posting,
maybe it's not.
we're not keeping track.

it's kinda, sorta, maybe summer for us at this point.

kinda: because taylor o. is still taking a few classes
at BYU for spring semester.

sorta: because utah hasn't invited summer to the party yet.

maybe: because summer isn't summer when we're not together,
and not with all of our friends.

that's right. we aren't living together.
taylor b. packed up and moved back to the big city last weekend.
taylor o. visited another city: paris.
just kidding. mexico city. but they're similar.
stupid volcano.

so what have we been up to lately?

well, taylor b. went to the train concert with ben.
probably the best concert she's ever been to.
pat crowd surfed, and invited some "fans" up on stage
to sing with him.
please. they didn't even know the lyrics,
and what was their reward? t-shirts.
and hugs from the band.
but no hard feelings.

obviously, taylor o. got a little sun in mexico with the fam.
and when we say a little sun, that is exactly what we mean.

school has been going well for t.o.
she hearts physical science.

taylor b. basically lives at work,
and she likes it.

we're excited for the summer to actually get started,
and for everyone to officially finish up with finals.
meanwhile we have friends all over the world:
london, jerusalem, tokyo, ecuador, ohio, albuquerque.
you name it.
pretty crazy.

we haven't seen each other in 2 weeks,
and we've been in the same state.
that is kinda, maybe, sorta a new record.
and we're all about new records,
and records in general.

"what are those for?" ---stanger.
"train." ---taylor b.
"no, those ones." ---stranger.
"the train concert." ---ben coburn.
(stranger lights up a cig).
"ohh. are there gonna be any good bands there?" ---stranger.

we love that---taylor & taylor.