Happy Birthday Mom

I don't know if my mom reads my blog. I don't even know if she knows I have a blog. But, I'm going to post this for her anyway, because I love her and it's her birthday. So, everyone else out there, you don't have to read this if you don't want to, unless you wanna know about how awesome my mom is.

Mom, I could not even begin to list all of the reasons you're one of my favorite people. So, I picked five of them.

1. I know how important the Gospel is in your life. You let me see you reading your scriptures and saying your prayers. Thank you for that example.

2. You're one of the most surprisingly competitive people I know. I don't think many people would would guess this about you, until they start to play a game with you. I think it's fun.

3. You can't watch the end of a BYU football game if there are only five minutes left and the score is within seven. I can't count the number of games you have left the room, left the stadium, or sat down and hid your eyes so you didn't have to watch.

4. You're one of my best friends. If I don't call you everyday I get a message asking why not.

5. You have great taste in shoes. I know if I open a shoe box from you that I'm going to love them. If only we wore the same size...

I love you mom. Happy Birthday!

26 23

Just makes me happy

Pre Blessed Meals

Our newest million dollar idea. Katie and I went to my grandparents' house to watch the BYU vs Utah (Go Cougars!) game this weekend. The Elders were also there as one was a huge BYU fan. My grandma had reheated Thanksgiving dinner for us to enjoy as we watched the game. We wondered if we had to say a prayer before eating since the Elders were over. Grandma said it had already been blessed at least once so we didn't need to. Katie and I thought this was brilliant. Pre blessed dinners. Think about all the time this would save during dinner. No more waiting for the family to gather, no more fights about who has to say the prayer this time, no more laughing during the blessing (mom)...
We're pretty excited to market this one.

I'm Officially a Convert...

...To the Tim Tam Slam. I first heard of these amazing cookies from Jessica- a friend I met on my study abroad. She told me of their delicousness and asked me to look for them when I took a detour to London. Alas, they were nowhere to be found there. And now, two and a half years later, they have been brought to the United States by our friends at Pepperidge Farm. I had been told the only way to eat these cookies was by performing the Tim Tam Slam.

Instructions: Bite off both ends of the Tim Tam, use it as a straw to suck up your hot chocolate, and shove the gooey mess into your mouth as soon as the hot chocolate hits your lips.

Katie, who doesn't like soggy things, was skeptical. We tried it together over Thanksgiving break. She described it as warm, chocolate cake. I highly recommend it. And I highly recommend the caramel flavor to do so.

I never said I would update this often...

Turns out, I really enjoy blog stalking other people. Not in a creepy way- I do know them- I just really like reading other people's blogs. It also turns out, that as much as I enjoy other people updating their blogs, I am really bad at updating mine. So, here are the highlights from the past month and a half of my life.

1. College GameDay came to Provo. We spent the night in the parking lot, and then stood in a semi mosh pit for three hours. And I'm pretty sure we were too short to be seen by any of the cameras even though we were only three rows back. It was totally worth it.

2. I ran a half marathon. And by "ran," I mean jogged. And by "jogged," I mean I didn't walk at all. I do not mean that I ran it quickly. But I did finish and I finished under the time I wanted to finish in. It was great! I am already planning races for next year. The post race creamery chocolate milk is kinda a bonus too.

3. Halloween!!! Halloween is my third favorite holiday. Right behind Christmas and The Fourth of July. This year we decided to be both domestic and five year olds.

4. Cais and I decided it was time to road trip to San Diego to see our friends whom we always miss dearly. It was fantastic! We had the usual crepe, beach, and drive-in Friday. Saturday we ate breakfast at Kono's and went to Sea World so I could say hello to all of my old animal friends. That night we had a bonfire at Shores and played games. It was a great weekend, and definitely too short.

 

So I woke up this morning and it was snowing. I don't know what it is, but I lose all motivation when it snows. All I wanted to do today was this:

and this:

                                       

Good thing both of my classes were cancelled today.

Seriously Utah?

A lot of people questioned my decision to leave San Diego to come back to Utah. I was looking at the weather forecast today and started asking myself the same question...

Today 85° | 46°

Wednesday 48° | 36°

Thursday 52° | 32°

Friday 58° | 40°

Saturday 67° | 43°

I'm sorry, what? 85 today and then snow? What happened to our lovely 70 degree weather and fall?

Transferring to SDSU immediately.

 

Think about the love inside the strength of heart
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark
Climbing higher through the fire, time was running out
Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive
But you still came back for me
You were strong and you believed

Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.
Be strong. Believe.

Think about the chance I never had to say
Thank you for giving up your life that day
Never fearing, only hearing voices calling out
Let it all go, the life that you know, just to bring it down alive
And you still came back for me
You were strong and you believed

Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.

(Again today, we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, to help us make sense of our despair)

Wanna hold my wife when I get home
Wanna tell the kids they'll never know how much I love to see them smile
Wanna make a change or two right now
Wanna live a life like you somehow
Wanna make your sacrifice worthwhile

Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.

Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.

Think about the love inside the strength of heart
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark
Think about the chance I never had to say
Thank you for giving up your life that day

(The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here)

Believe by Yellowcard

BYU 14 OU 13

Um, best weekend ever! So, I was lucky enough to go to Texas this weekend for the BYU Oklahoma game and to see my family. Quick trip- I flew down Friday night and came back to Provo on Sunday night. So pretty much it was just Saturday. We went to check out TCU's campus ( I might have accidentally boo'd when we drove past the football stadium), played lawyer at Scott's school, walked around the water gardens,went to the stockyards (Scott rode the bull), ate at Joe T's (such good chips and hot sauce), and then went to the game.

It was incredible. I was just happy to be going to the game since I was assuming we were gonna lose. Mostly I was excited to check out the new stadium. But then at halftime, when it was 10-7, I thought, "Hm, we could actually win this game." Then Scott and I decided we were gonna be mad if we lost.

Crazy energy, tons of crimson, and many sore throats. So worth it.

For Mom

Because you giggle every time we drive by...

Thanks Mom

Conversation I had with my mother while standing in front of the wedding "decorations" for an unusually long time at the dollar store.

Me: You planning a cheap wedding?

Mom: Well, I don't know how long it's gonna take for you to get married and we may have run out of money by then so I thought I'd check out the options.

Thanks Mom

S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous

Those of you who know me well know how much I love Audrey Hepburn. Huge, huge fan. I intend to get married in the wedding dress she wore in Funny Face. Anyway, naturally I was excited that there was an Audrey movie marathon on TCM the other day. I sat down to watch My Fair Lady because I had never seen it before. Weird, I know for such a huge fan, but I was always stuck on Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Wait Until Dark. Plus, turns out, My Fair Lady is three hours long...

I enjoyed it. The music was great, and she was darling as usual. My only problem was with the character Freddy. Eliza first meets him when Professor Higgins takes her to the horse races, and he is quite taken with her. So much in fact, that he starts to hang out on her street at night. I thought this was creepy. My mom thought it was cute. "But he's in love!" she said. Then this conversation:

Eliza: Freddy, what are you doing here? (she says this while walking out of the house.)

Freddy: Nothing. I spend most of my nights here.

I'm sorry. He's talked to her once and now spends most of his nights hanging out on her street in front of her house. I stand my ground- creepy.

But yes, other than that. I still want to be her.

Seriously Miss Them

So, my brother Scott, his wife Katie, and their daughter Sarah spent about three and a half months living with my parents this summer. About a week and half ago they decided they had had enough and decided to go back to Texas. Ok, really they had to go back since Scott is starting his third year of law school (yay!). Either way, I seriously miss them. Conversations here just haven't been as funny since they left.

Katie to Scott: If I were going to eat you, I wouldn't stuff you full of cookies.

Scott: What would you stuff me full of?

Katie: Um, peanut butter?

Scott: Oh yeah, we used to go there to watch movies. Throw out some blankets, move the tables...

Mom: Blind kids?!?

Scott: No mom, blankets. Blind kids? That wouldn't be very nice.

Mom: You're the one throwing blind kids and making them move tables.

Oh and also, Katie taught me several more useful words in sign language to add to my small repertoire- shark, whale, dolphin, dinosaur, and Hitler.

Scott and Katie- please come back...

Yes, I've Caved...

Over and over again I have been asked why I don't have a blog. I have had several friends tell me that I go on way too many adventures to not have one. And yes, I have gone on many adventures. Most recently, I studied abroad in Paris, went to Kauai with one of my best friends, and spent the last 10 months in San Diego pretending to be a Shamu trainer. You see, my dad infused in me his love of traveling, and I often get restless if I am in one place for too long. A jealous coworker of his told him that if she died and was reincarnated, she would want to come back as me. That being said, my traveling days are most likely over for a couple of years as I am heading back to Provo to start my Master's. So, even though this may not be the most opportune time to share my adventures, I figure better late than never. (That, and I have been home for about a week with nothing to do and this is helping to pass the time)

So, here is a collage with pictures from past adventures as a sort of attempt to catch up. I can't promise updates very often, and I can't guarantee it will be funny, but now I can answer to all my friends, "yes, I do have a blog."