and i'm back.

it's the first day of spring quarter and my what gorgeous weather we're having.

this past week came and went in the blink of an eye. i went home thursday after my last final to spend some time with my family. after some troublesome car problems my mom was kind enough to drive me back to davis. the following morning my grandmother passed away. she had been sick for the last few months, she had intestinal cancer, and it was just a matter of time. she was living with my parents instead of a convalescent home, as per her request. it was an incredible experience that brought my family a lot closer, and i'm fortunate for the time i was able to be there. it's been tough being away from home during all this, but every time i go back my family makes me feel as though i never left. i went back the weekend following her passing, the service was held on saturday, march 28. it was so nice to be surrounded by so much family, there was so much love in our house. my grandma was an amazing woman, her church bishop referred to her as a "fierce angel." she will be greatly missed.
spring break was everything i could have asked for. i worked a little, i relaxed a lot. i saw friends and family everyday. i scrapbooked and shopped and slept in. and now i'm back, ready to finish my last quarter at uc davis. here goes nothing.
this ring was my grandma's. we have the same birthstone - peridot. i'll think of her every time i see it.

yay i'm done with finals!

starting RIGHT NOW i have no more school obligations until march 30. what ever will i do with my time off?

*go thrift shopping
*paint paint paint
*etsy update :]
*scrapbook
*hang out with my little brother
*read a million blogs a day and get lost wandering through flickr without feeling an ounce of guilt that i should be studying!

mainly, just some relaxation would be nice.

tonight i'm looking forward to the office!
and tomorrow i'm going home for the weekend to visit with my family. and of course i get to see this wonderful boy :]
this was my take on the new scrap outside the box challenge - rubber bands!
yay for spring!

oh, the one with the good handwriting.

the other day my roommate came home and told me about this conversation she had with her boss, dior. dior has a lab on campus for plant research, and as a side job she corrects homework from my plant biology class. when chelsea found this out she said:

chelsea - "oh, my roommate mallory is taking that class!"
dior - "which one is she?"
(weird right? this usually isn't a problem, but oddly enough there is another mallory in my class)
chelsea - "mallory phillipy."
dior - "ohhh, the one with the good handwriting."

:]

btw, dior is also a very talented artist.
check out her prints on etsy, they're very plant-inspired :]

and my printer is on the fritz, making it near impossible to accomplish all the crafty projects i had in mind for procrastinating. ok fine, i'll study for finals.

oh yeah, i made these.

these are a few layouts i did at kari's birthday crop.
this one is for the new creative type challenge - a stitch in time{s new roman}
*the "proud" got lost in the light of my scanner, click on the image for a larger (and better) view
and this one is just for fun :]

my hero.

what an incredible weekend.

i went to bakersfield this past weekend to support my little brother, dylan, in the california interscholastic federation (CIF) state championships for wrestling. it was unlike any tournament i'd ever been to. 6,000 people showed up to see california's best wrestlers compete for state championship titles. dylan had a rocky start, losing his first match in overtime, but came back to win his next six matches in a row. The second match was won by technical fall (meaning he was ahead by 15 points) and the third and fourth were won by pin fall, both in less than one minute. Day two was even more nerve-racking, his first match would determine whether or not he would place in the top 8 and go home with a medal. using his signature move, he got his opponent into a cradle and pinned him for the win. he won his next two matches, one of which was against the first place winner of the north coast section (NCS) competition the weekend before. his final match was against the kid that beat him in his first match. he wrestled harder and smarted, and was in the lead after the second round, but ended up losing 10-8. it was an amazing match though, he did his absolute best and for that we are so incredibly proud.

my little brother is now ranked 4th in the state :]

dylan was in the contra costa times last sunday, so of course i had to get a copy. on the inside of the back page was this picture and an article that still makes me tear up when i read it. my favorite part is when they quote him:

"This morning I didn't have any expectations for myself," Phillipy said. "I just wanted to wrestle and see how far I could take it. A medal would've been nice but as long as I tried my hardest, I wouldn't be disappointed with myself and it got me fourth place."

he also got amazing reviews by the same author on the east bay prep corner blog. ben enos was updating this blog all weekend, and spoke very highly of my little brother:

"Ladies and gentlemen, if someone is wrestling better than Dylan Phillipy right now, I’d like to meet them."

and

"You can talk championships all you want but what College Park’s Dylan Phillipy is doing today is incredible."

it fills my heart with so much love and pride, this kid deserves all the praise in the world. he's worked so hard to get to where he is now. i feel so blessed to have been apart of that.

i love you dylan <3>**pictures from the contra costa times