Where Have All The Hippies Gone?

Do you know where they went? I am just curious. Today, as I was going through each of the over 1,000 pages of medical records and whiting out the bottom right hand corner (jealous?) my mind started to wander.... as it usually does. Are all those living on peace, love and marajuana now stuck in cubicles? Do they dress up in ties, and blazers, skirts and high heels? Clean shaven? Or are they the select few that every office has, where you know there is something about them locked in their past..... Are their love children hippies too? By this point, they probably have grand love children. Maybe they are stuck in the 60's/70's and continue on peacing and loving. If I ever do meet one, I'm sure they would have fantastic stories for me. Don't you think? I wonder what they think about those people that dress up like the stereotypical "hippie" for halloween. Offended? Disbelief? Entertaining? who knows! I think it would be interesting to see what someone put together if they were to dress up as me for halloween.... Lots of things to think about, and no point to any of them.

Alrighty Then

I just passed some guy eating snow off of the top of a pole...... He wasn't doing it nicely (by using his hand to grab a bunch and shove it in), he was on the phone, putting his face in the snow and going to town. Nice.

Pie = Pizza

After attending an exciting Jazz basketball game yesterday, I was able to finally visit a historic monument in the form of a restaurant.... THE PIE! I've been able to enjoy or should I say devour their wonderful pizza before, but only at a few parties, and never at the actual restaurant. Boy was that a cross off my bucket list with a smile on my face. The Pie is fantastic. It's a bomb shelter type building with writing covering every inch of the walls, funny posters, and a bunch of crazies. I loved every second of it. We did a half and half pie: half Hawaii-o Pie-o (or something like that) and half Stromboli. Let's just say that Pizza has stolen the number one spot on my list of favorite foods. Thank you for making my stomach stop talking, and for superbly satisfying my taste buds. Until we meet again, I will never ever be the same.

Smells Like Change

The year 2010 is almost over, stepping aside for the 2011 to shine through. I started my New Years Resolutions already.... and it's going to be a good year. :) This year was the year of "Why Not?!" of which I believe was carried out quite successfully. I always have a few regrets (failed attempt at saving the world, becoming president, digging a hole to China) but the year turned out the way it was suppose to. I've learned a lot, and I am grateful for ALL that happened this year.

HOWEVER.........

2011 = DOMINATION. New beginning of the decade. New items on my bucket list. New goals just waiting to be achieved. Once the new year does start, I'll finalize my list of resolutions and get cracking. I can't wait!

FOR NOW...........

I still have the rest of this month to wrap up the year of "WHY NOT?!" If anyone is up for some big adventures, give me a jingle. I'm going to go where no 2010 event has gone before. With only a few weeks left, it's crunch time, and I recommend you find something great to finish up your year as well. After all, WHY NOT?!

Thanks for the Giving

Thanksgiving is a fantastic invention. The best food you could possibly imagine, left overs for the next week, and family galore! Not to mention that one of my best friends, Miss Anisa Andrus came down to visit!! The world is brighter when she's around that's for sure. This year, we decided to live on the wild side and travel to California for Thanksgiving!!!! We went to visit our fabulous cousins and spend Thanksgiving with them. I don't think I could have asked for a better week to be grateful for. We went to the Ronald Reagan Library/Museum, ate until we fell asleep, went on a longboarding adventure, ate Del Taco enough that I am no longer excited for Taco Tuesdays, for now went bowling, made an In-N-Out run, hit up Target and Kohls on Black Friday and biked to the beach! The Ronald Reagan museum was fantastic, and I even bought a book about that great man! I decided that I'd like to collect a book on every president. I think I should know a little more about the men that have served our country. Plus, by reading their books, it gives me a bit of a history lesson too. Booya! Biking to the beach wasn't as "exciting" as my last time (adding yet another scar to my right knee), but definitely just as great. Riley asked me to promise that I would ride right next to her the whole entire time. Of course I said yes to those beautiful blue eyes! While riding at her liesurely pace she recited the 13 articles of faith that she had recently memorized. Man that girl makes me smile. We got to the fork in the road where we were suppose to meet up with the other half of the group, and my uncle suggested I go up to meet with the other group while he took Riley to the end. I looked at Riley, and asked if I could take Riley down and he go meet them since he was much more familiar with the trail. He agreed and Riley and I were off. A few minutes later Riley looked at me with a smile and said, "You promised me you would stay with me, and you kept your promise!" Maybe this is what it's like when you're a mom, but I got a warm fuzzy feeling inside and an urge to squeeze that darling girl into a big hug! Kids are precious...especially this little lady.

On our way back we got caught in a "crazy snow storm!" which consisted of a friendly trickle of little flakes.

Side note: Luckily it wasn't like the one that we barely missed on our way out to California. You know the one that was "record breaking", causing people to stay indoors and rade the grocery store for the end of the world supplies? 1 inch of snow.... Ah Utah.

I loved every second of the snow, until people forgot how to drive and decided to crash into each other. Thus, our drive took us about 4 hours longer than it was intended to take. Bleh. Despite the obnoxious car ride, California was a blast. Thanksgiving was fantastic and I have my wonderful family to thank for that.

Daringly Domestic

Today I learned something new! During my last grocery shopping adventure, I picked up a can of cream of chicken soup. Why? Who the heck knows why. Originally I thought, well.... my mom always has a lot of this stuff around... maybe it's good for something. Also, I feel like I always hear people say, "yeah you can dump a can of cream of chicken soup into anything to make a meal!" Not a bad start right? Continuing on throughout the grocery store I noticed a recipe on the back of the cream of chicken soup can. Curious, I picked it up and started reading. Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas! Mmm! As I continued through the recipe an idea dawned on me. Maybe I could make this.... Luckily no one can read my thoughts, because I'm sure if they could they would be instantly scared for whomever I invited to dinner. Running with this crazy idea I zoomed through the aisles to pick up all the ingredients for this fantastic meal. Living outside of my frozen meals and pb&j sandwiches can be scary and somewhat intimidating but I figured I'd be daring. Just this once. Well I got home, and laziness got the best of me. It took me a week and a half to try that recipe. Sad....I know. However, with a good day behind me and a dinner guest to be expected, I tried that new recipe! Guess what... it was AMAZING!! With Kaylyn as my witness, I share with you my victory. We had a grand old time eating our enchiladas (meal also complete with green beans, mixed rice, apple juice and an orange) and it shall go down in the history books as a miraculous success. MOM: I even cleaned up right after too.... who would have thought.

Maybe next time I hit up the grocery store I'll venture out to cream of mushroom soup... daring, oh so daring.

The Written Word

Today, the random thoughts deal with the subject of Journals. As I was driving to work I wondered if the written word would soon be extinct. Will the "written word" become the "typed word?" Not very catchy right? For years and years and some more years we have treasured the old journals from our g-parents and/or ancestors. Heavy duty-hardbound journals consisting of: exquisite penmanship, yellowed pages, and words like "thither and felicity" popping up occasionally. Yet another You've Got Mail reference.

I use to write in journals; you know the whole pen and paper thing. Of course how often I wrote in my journal would depend on the young women lesson we had on Sunday, or an inspirational devotional I had attended encouraging a new found commitment to write in my journal every single day! Many new found commitments, most of which were short lived.

A little while back, my friend Spencer suggested that I keep a journal online in the form of an email address dedicated to only my journal. That way I can type the journal entries meaning that I might actually write more consistently. Brilliant! I'm going to write in my journal every single day! Many new commitments, most of which were short lived.

So back to my original thought process which was, what will happen to journals in the future? Are our grand kids going to go rummaging around the attic, find a box of flash drives, blow off the dust and jump for joy at their find? Sad day.

I am vowing to you, that I will try and physically write in my heavy duty-hardbound journal at least every so often. I figure since my commitment is so ambiguous I can't technically break my it as easily as before. I also extent the ambiguity to you, to help save the written word!

No picket signs or pitch forks needed.

203!!!!

You see this picture and think, Nice! Way to go Hailey! Although, BYU basically hands those out like candy during leagues... so what's the big deal? Well I'll tell you what the big deal is. Last night, bowling league at BYU was EPIC. For some time now I have invested time, money and stress into bowling. Mostly for entertainment purposes, but the deep down competitive gene I carry is always striving for the ultimate goal. Breaking 200. Long shot I know, but you gotta dream big right??

Well my friends, after a long road filled with tears, a sore arm after bowling 12 games straight, and bulging arm muscles I didn't know existed; I have finally acheived my all time goal of breaking 200!! 203 to be exact! Looks like their is a new number on the block competing to be my new favorite?? gasp! I tell you, this was no walk in the park and who knows if it will ever be duplicated. I went through each frame, picking up a crazy combination of strikes and spares until the last two frames. Then I choked. I was sweating like a sinner in church. haha okay not really, but it was a little warm in there, and I've always wanted to use that phrase. Here's proof that I'm not just making this up..... Great name eh? :) It took awhile to be able to completely comprehend the magnitude of what I had just done, but when the realization hit I felt so giddy I just could not contain myself! Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of all that went down at that moment such as: jumping, screaming, smiles and looks of disbelief on the faces of the other team. Now maybe in other bowling alleys you would get a pat on the back, maybe even a high five from those around you if you had just broken 200. Not at good ol' BYU! They gave me this super cool shirt for free!!

Oh, you wanted to see a close up?? ;)

I do have to say, that I could have never done this without the support of my biggest fan. Even when the rest of our team is emotionless, you're always there to cheer me on and share my enthusiasm!! Thanks Kay!!

So uh....Anyone wanna go bowling??

History Certainly Does Repeat Itself

I'd like to think that I'm not the only one that has a list of those few chores that I despise doing. Those chores that cause you internal pain to even think about and you'd rather give up your first born than do. Alright, maybe that's a bit dramatic.... Thankfully I have only two chores on my list that match the criteria previously described. So far.

1. Changing my bed sheets, including but not limited to: washing all the sheets and pillow cases and then REMAKING my bed. bleh.


2. Loading the dishwasher, including but not limited to: the inevitability of touching sick nasty food that oozes off of the places you would never expect and wonderful smells. eww

I realize that these chores are everyday chores, and that I will eventually have to suck it up and complete them on a regular basis. However, that does not change the fact that I hate every second of performing them.

Yesterday I had a small victory over #1. After having my sheets washed and ready to go for a week.... I finally made my bed!! I was hesitant to post this since my mom reads it sometimes and I was sure she would disown me as her daughter if she found out how long I had slept on my bed without sheets... Sorry mom. However, she already found out so the cat is out of the bag! We went shopping yesterday, she decided to come inside to wait for me and she saw it all. The glorious sight that was my clothes infested room. I say was with an emphasis because you can now walk freely in my room and see the floor! It's a Christmas Miracle. Guess what else, I'm still owned!

Let me tell you, making my bed was no easy task. I had to call in a reinforcement to keep me motivated. Kaylyn accepted the seemingly impossible task and performed with excellent statements of encouragement. Secretly I was hoping she would be so annoyed at my snail-like pace that she'd end up doing it for me. No such luck. Looks like I was just spoiled when Jake use to make my bed for me. Of course this was during the time that he and Karlie were dating, so there may have been some ulterior motives but who cares! Such a good man.

I don't know how to express how much I despise making my bed besides saying.... I despise it. Having to walk around the bed a bajillion times and sometimes climbing on it, then counting to three before you hurry and do a lift, tuck and jump maneuver to get that far corner taken care of. Plus, for my flailing sleep patterns, the next day the sheets will just be untucked and shoved to the bottom of the bed anyways! I should learn how to tuck myself into a burrito baby and maybe that would solve it...

I post about this to prove that I am now sleeping on my newly made bed, complete with sheets and pillow cases. See mom! No more bed bugs!

Until next time.....

"It's The FINAL Countdown"

In a matter of 4 days one of my best friends will come home from his mission!! Elder Dustin Day has honorably served the past two years in beautiful Brazil, spreading the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Portuguese! I cannot even wait to have him back and to hear all his mission stories! It'll also be interesting because he is one of the first of our friends to come home from the mish. Once he comes home, they all start coming home! YAY!!!!!! I cannot even wait until the day when all of us are reunited! I am so proud of all of those boys. I couldn't have asked for better examples. I'm also excited to see how weird they are... haha Missionaries are always a bit odd when they first get home, Can you blame them?? but the RM's I meet nowadays I take their weirdness as their normalness since I didn't know much about them before their mission. When my friends start coming back it'll be funny to see the changes! Weird or not, I'm so excited!! From a good song which Anisa has been singing for the past week, "It's the Final Countdown!"

Legal Influences?

This post will make more sense if you keep in mind that I work at a law firm, and I'm taking law classes in school. More or less, I'm surrounded by all things legal. (technically we all are... but I'll stop this tangent right here ____) Now that you've been forewarned, I will begin. Sometimes I wonder about Causation. For example, I purchased a f'real strawberry banana smoothie today, and out of curiousity I looked at the ingredients. I wondered, have producers always had to include the ingredients on the side of each product they make? Or was it a lawsuit from some peanut allergy that caused every product to list its ingredients on the packaging? P.S. those that are allergic to peanuts should just choose to never eat anything. Ever. Harsh? Maybe, but I'm pretty sure that every package containing food has that little warning at the bottom saying, "May contain some traces of peanuts." Mmmm Strawberry Banana Peanut smoothie... What?! Really, you have to cover your butt and say there could be some peanut traces in my watermelon sucker, or frozen lasagna meal? Anyways, I wonder if a lot of safety precautions and such are brought on by lawsuits. I'd like to think that Target just put handrails on the side of my bathroom stall only as a courtesy to their valued customer but sometimes I wonder. Taking this wondering to the next step I create a lawsuit in my head that would cause stores to put handrails next to toilets. Too many people fell in huh? :) Think about it. Or don't.

By the way, my smoothie was fantastic. Just sayin'

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For Reals This Time.

I have anxiously anticipated this day for quite some time..... Monday teased me with some rain/slushy almost snow, but today we received the greatest blessing yet. SNOW! I checked the weather this morning and loved seeing the little image of snow flakes falling. While I was getting ready for the day I started the cocoamotion. Thanks Kar! I made sure to be prepared, so I dressed in layers. Thermals - of course.

This morning was a very eventful morning and here is how it played out:

My LAST follow up knee appointment with Dr. Wallentine. The verdict....... drum roll please.... I'm cleared!!!!! He said everything looks great and I'm good to go! I contemplated admitting to him that I have infact been playing soccer since October 18th Best. Day. Ever. and figured it would probably be for the best. Of course, this was only because he had already given me clearance... oops. He asked about how soccer has been going and I told him honestly. FANTASTIC! I feel great, my knee doesn't hurt, it feels perfectly stable, and I can run like no other. The first time I stepped on that soccer field I will admit I was shaking like a leaf, had visited the bathroom 3 times in the past 20 minutes and prayed A LOT. Once that game started and I began running around, all my cares went away. I felt free. By the way in case you didn't know, our bodies are amazing. While I wasn't able to walk for awhile the fact that I can run full force was liberating. Bringing me back Dr. Wallentine made sure that I knew to keep up on strengthening my knee and assured me it will only get better from here. Isn't he so great?!

Once I left Dr. Wallentine's office, my smile got even bigger when I stepped outside. Carelessly falling snow flakes greeted me and I responded with a cheerful "Good Morning!" I thought, it's only 8:04 am and I wonder how this day can get any better. I stopped by WalMart on my way to school to pick up a super cute umbrella for Kaylyn and I (zebra for me, purple and lime green polka dots for Kay) and headed to class. While I was driving, I glanced upon a single duck eating among 15 goats. so random, but so great.

What's up ahead for the rest of the day:

Bowling League. Yeah that's right, I'm super nerdy and bowl in a league at BYU. :D Someday I'll have my own ball, shoes and personalized bowling button up. It is sooo much fun! Spencer, Adrian and I are on a team and I'm not gonna lie.... we DOMINATE!! So far we have the best record out of the league and on many occassions have beat a team by 140+ pins.... Mostly due to the amazing bowling skills of the rest of my team, but I try to help out as much as I can. Hopefully today I'll be able to beat my high score of 179 and break 200!!

That'll be the day.

Big Foot!!

I sighted the big hairy one today! As I was driving to work today, I heard a motorcycle approaching. I looked in my rear view mirror and did a double take. Big Foot was riding a Harley and swerving in and out of traffic! He zoomed past me and I couldn't help but let out a laugh despite my surprise. I sped up just a titch (only speeding just a little...) so that I could get a better look at him. I was able to snap a picture, and even though you can't see it very well, it's him! I have proof! Well Mr. Foot was stuck behind a few cars and so I ended up passing him. I thought to myself how odd that was as I continued driving the speed limit. At about the Belt Route exit on I-15 I looked to my left to see Big in the fast lane waving frantically at me. I offered him back an excited wave and laughed. To be honest, his face startled me. P.S. How can someone ride a motorcycle with a huge plastic mask?? After waving he made a gesture that suggested that I "call him." I gave him the thumbs up and he sped off. Aaahh not only did I see Big Foot, but was given an open invitation to reach him telephonically! I laughed to myself and thought, "I'm grateful that people like that are given to us. We are always in need for entertainment to break up the monotony of life and to put a big smile on our faces." Thank you Big Foot. You were a blessing to all of us on I-15. Today is going to be a good day.

SNOW!!!!!

The first snow has fallen, and the world looks like Christmas from my window. :) Today is going to be a great day.

Thermals: Check
Red Peacoat: Check
Long Soccer Socks: Check
Boots: Check
Hot Chocolate: Check
Cheerful Mood and Smile on Face: Innevitable

Sure Fall was great, and technically it is still Fall, but Winter has made its mark. I decided I like my seasons to be assertive and consuming. Go Winter! Especially in Utah, it could snow any day of the year. This is Winter's way of saying, "Don't you forget about me. Sure you can go have fun on the beach, but you just wait. I've got some good stuff planned for this year." I won't ever forget. Snow Men, Sipping Hot Chocolate while reading a book, CHRISTMAS, Thermals, Scarfs, Coats, Sleigh Rides, Winter Wonderland, Sledding, Snowboarding? The list could go on and on!

Yes, some of you may not like the snow very much. Maybe you don't like that you have to scrape your windows before you leave each morning, or that the bottom of your pants usually get soaked and never seem to dry. I only have a few words of advise to you sad people. Love the snow! Embrace the snow! Bend down, grab a handful of that fluffy white stuff and shove it in someone's face. Or eat it, which ever you prefer. It is what it is, and you've got to deal with it somehow so you might as well love every second of it. Tell yourself that you love that you have to shovel the snow at awful temperatures with nosesicles and frostbitten fingers and then plaster a frozen smile on your face. Fake it until you make it. Soon, you'll be just as excited about Winter as I am. Oh yeah, it's possible.

A Little Octobering

Yesterday Spencer, Kaylyn and I carved pumpkins!! You can't go through October and the Halloween holiday without some crazy pumpkin carving, so we carved! My dreams for a pristine, beautifully spooky pumpkin carving were sent packing when Kaylyn insisted that we carve them freestyle, rather than from using a stencil. What?! Leaving something this important up to my creativity?! I won't lie, I'm an idea stealer. I may add a few variations to call it my own, but anything creative that I've done, has been done before.... Needless to say, this challenge was... well... a challenge. I tried to imagine carving cute little ghosts (those kept looking like bowling pins), a spooky haunted house (I could almost get the house part), or even frankenstein (aka lego man). Each one was a failed attempt and I was only drawing them out on a piece of paper. So..... I resorted to carving a face! Turns out the brainstorm wasn't storming very well and so we all ended up carving faces. Kaylyn was the one that started it all, so looks like she gets the credit for this one! Here they are:

I'd like to call it...... Jack O' Lantern

Kaylyn's pumpkin knocked my socks off! She carved the man from the Nightmare Before Christmas (or whatever it's called). She did a great job!! (wait... his name is Jack?)

And Spencer was so nice to make ours look good! ;) Jokes his turned out awesome too!

The knives definitely add a certain something.....

Sheesh I love that girl.

Clever Spencer... haha what a cool dude.

With this many pictures it looks like I just spoke 7 thousand words.... but in case you didn't pick up on it, we had a blast! Thanks October.

Oh! To go along with the Octobering, I got to work and found this little present from my beautiful mother.....

It was "yummy!" Thanks mom!! Isn't she so great?

Look Who's Legit!

Today has been a wonderful day, and I will tell you why it has been so wonderful. I just received my very own set of personalized business cards!! They are so beautiful and professional! I've provided you with a picture so that you too can enjoy the greatness of my now legitimate career.

You really thought I would post my information on the internet?!?! Got ya. :) Well this is a picture of the back of my business card thus proof that it has normal dimensions of a business card, and therefore is a legitimate business card. I'll let your imagination do the rest. I'm excited to be able to hand them out and say, "Here's my card, call me anytime if you have any questions or concerns." Wow I sound more professional already.

Second item of legit -ness is that I finally bought a gym pass today!! Wahoo!! I've always figured that I would keep active and in shape by doing sports or other activities and that I would never need a boring old gym pass. HOWEVER, I've always secretly wanted a gym pass. I can't wait to join in with the other sweaty people, participate in some intense exercise classes, and to acheive my goal of being fantastically fit! You can probably expect to see a few more posts with the phrase, "Oh yeah, I just got back from the gym." and know that my coolness level just increased by 4. DOMINATION! Now I've got to go find a cute gym outfit and buy some more make up.... ;)

Quick Glimpse

This may reveal to you how weird I am..... but oh well. I love eating peanuts. Don't worry, it gets weirder. The reason why I love eating peanuts is because when you chew them up real good (haha) it tastes like peanut butter! Now I know that this is no longstanding life mystery as to why crushed peanuts taste like peanut butter, but it still fascinates me. It's not like you can eat a grape, suck out all the juice and it will taste like a raisin! thank heavens Nor can you eat corn tortilla chips and taste corn on the cob. Thus, the resounding conclusion is that the correlation between peanuts and peanut butter is like a sibling relationship. None of this step brother twice removed stuff. Thank you to the peanuts and those who came up with peanut butter for keeping it o' nat-ur-al.

Kyle.....?

Yesterday was Kyle's Birthday!!!!!!! Oh what a splendid birthday it was for Kyle! Who is this Kyle person you ask?

I don't know.

When the reminder on my phone beeped "Kyle's Birthday!" I instantly sent my friend a text wishing him Happy Birthday. Although I did hesitate in doing so because he recently got married. (Awkward situation of are we still friends even though I am a member of the opposite sex and you are married?) I figured a nice little Happy Birthday text wouldn't do too much harm so I proceeded forward. Well it turns out that it wasn't my friend Kyle's birthday, but he welcomed the mistake as an excuse to catch up. Not my intention, but hey it made me look less retarded. So to you..... Kyle..... Happy Birthday yesterday. I don't know who you are, but I apologize for making you think that I missed your birthday. I even consulted with facebook to try and figure it out and got nothing... Epic Fail.

From now on, I will no longer be on a first name basis. That last name will be permenentaly stuck right behind it. Don't be weirded out if I decide to use your full name when I talk to you in person either. Besides, full names are fun to say. Especially if you have a very sophistocated name.

"Don't they know you are suppose to have a last name?

It's like an entire generation of cocktail waitresses."

You've Got Mail

Agreed!

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and

it is better to be absolutely ridiculous

than absolutely boring."

~Marilyn Monroe

10-10-10

What a fabulous day!! If you haven't noticed the date of today is 10-10-10. If Karlie was as obsessed with her favorite number as I am with mine, she'd be having a big celebration today! No matter, I'll have a nice little blog celebration for her. :) Besides figuring out three different things that I can do each 10 times in a row, I had a fantastic Sunday! Today was fast Sunday which has come to be my favorite Sunday of the month. This has not always been the case, quite the opposite in fact. I loathed fast Sunday. Jordan, Parker and I would sneak fruit snacks in our pockets to church for the times that we were too hungry to think straight. We just wanted to save our grumbling stomachs from being a distraction to others right? We were so courteous, even at a young age... Now, my focus for fast Sunday has changed from the lack of food in my tummy, to being more sensitive to the spirit. It's weird how we grow up huh? Who knew... Today the spirit was so strong through every person that got up to share their testimony. I'm grateful that I was able to be in that sacrament meeting and for those that were there with me. I believe that we are all put where we are at for a reason. Our choices have gotten us there, but the people around us have been divinely placed in our lives. I hope that we all stop and think of 10 things that we are grateful for in our lives today.

Here is my list:

1] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, My Heavenly Father and Savior
2] Family
3] Friends
4] Trials
5] Perspective
6] Vans shoes
7] The life that I have to live, laugh at and love
8] The movie "UP"
9] Nature: making pictures beautiful
10] Seasons

Also, just for the fact that this is a cool day, I'll show you a cool picture that my brother sent me. He's a pretty cool dude himself :)

Look carefully.. it's a bit deceiving. :)

Gene Kelly Says, "Good Mornin'!"

Listen to this song and smile. This is what I wake up to each morning. :) haha I was searching for a good alarm sound and thought, what gets you out of bed like good ol' Gene Kelly?! You would think that I would get sick of that song playing every morning, especially when it means I have to get out of my nice warm bed but in fact I grow to love it even more each day! This song's tune is extremely contagious so I subconsciously whistle it in the shower and as I get ready in the morning. It definitely starts my day off right!

Although..... I have to admit something.....

I've never seen Singing in the Rain
all the way through...

I've seen parts, but I've never sat down and watched it! I know, I know, I can feel your disbelief and anger and I definitely have those same feelings towards myself. So, to make things right in this world again, watching Singing in the Rain has made it on to my bucket list! Any of you are welcome to watch it with me if you'd like!

Speaking of rain... I LOVE RAIN! What I love even more than rain is snow; but I can be patient.... hopefully. Just like my good friend said it best in here, I can't wait to go puddle jumping in my rain boots! They are cute and polka dotted and all rain boot-ie :) Thank you Target! I also love the rain for how it intensifies all the colors around. All the grass looks nice and plush, yup the word plush just happened even though the sky is a tad more grey the clouds are still magnificent, and my lovely car looks extra fantastic ;) You can't forget how great rain smells though.... That is another favorite. Can you have too many favorites??

P.S. don't mind the subtitles in who knows what language that is on the bottom of the youtube video.... weird?! haha

Ice Anyone? Apparently I've Got Some To Spare...

Why is it that every time I buy a drink with my meal at any restraunt I go to fill the cup with ice and without fail I do the following: Fill the cup up with ice, look in the cup and ponder whether or not I have enough ice. I decide I need some more ice then once I have filled my cup up I realize I don't want that much. So I dump out some ice and proceed to filling my cup with liquid. To be honest, I probably have the same amount of ice in my cup at the end, as I did when I decided I needed more. I go through this habit every single time... WHY?? Apparently I'm an intentional ice waster. Looks like someone needs to go green and repent of her ways.

Another one of the Wonderful Firsts!

Today was the day that I developed my own film!!!! To document that this is in fact true, I have included pictures as proof. It is amazing what it takes to develop film! The person that invented digital film is a genius.... However, true film is quickly winning my heart. I like that I know what is happening when I take each picture and that I am learning how to think before I click. Thinking... weird concept... If you have the chance to learn film photography I HIGHLY recommend it! Or just take a class from Barb Frazier. She's absolutely amazing. You can really tell which teachers truly love what they do. Her obsession with photography is contagious! Anyways, stay tuned for when I finish the developing and have actual pictures to show! (That is if they actually turn out) Cross your fingers!

Falling for the Fall Weather

FALL: The leaves are turning, mornings are colder, and school is getting more intense. The only thing I like about the aformentioned, is the first of those three things. For most people, when asked what their favorite seasons are they will automatically say Fall and Spring! Why?? I think that the changes of scenery during Fall and Spring are just fabulous, but I need consistency people!! Do I wear a jacket? Geez I don't know, I'll be able to see my breath when I leave in the morning, but by 1:00 pm I'll be roasting because it's sunny and a bajillion degrees outside. If you couldn't tell, I love Summer and Winter.....the extremes. :) this doesn't reflect my personality does it...? Let's just say that I can't wait until I can wake up, immediately put my thermals on underneath my pants and know that I'll be just the perfect temperature the whole day. Oooh there are so many things I'm excited for when Winter comes.... Hot chocolate, SNOW, sweaters made with love in every stitch, etc. I'll resist posting about one of my favorite seasons until it's actually here.... but just be prepared. Once Winter actually comes there will be joy hitting you in the face from my posts.

I. can't. wait.

Bargain Burglar

I have a problem. Looks like genetics have proved to over-rule common sense.

Let me set up the scenario:

I look in the fridge with my stomach a-grumbling but only to find.... nothing with my name on it. Off to my favorite place on earth! The GROCERY STORE! Much like most women can spend hours at the mall rushing from store to store in complete bliss; I feel the same love for those numbered aisles at places like Maceys, WalMart, Target and WinCo (that's for you Jake). For some reason, I enjoy pushing my little cart up and down each aisle checking for any possibility. On average, 1-2 hours are needed to complete this vigorous search for goodies. Now you are probably thinking to yourself, "self, what on earth could be wrong with this situation??" I answer to your self with one word. Bargains. Maybe another word? Sales.

I have an addiction to anything that is, "half off, today only!," "buy one get one free," "20 for a $1," and the list could go on and on. I tell you what, those guys in advertising love people like me. They are brilliant. Flash that big yellow sign in front of my face, direct me where to go, take as much of my money as you'd like and I'm the happiest person alive. One problem with this is that my bank account doesn't seem to like this Bargain Burglar. Hey even if I can't pay my rent because I just spent it all on food, I'll at least be alive! You can live anywhere - some person's floor, cardboard box, but you can't live without food. Recently Maceys was where I last found the burglar. Everything I got in my cart was on sale or found through a really good deal, but those $1's surely added up. Another problem, is that I end up with 10 boxes of cereal when I only needed one. You had to get 10 boxes if you wanted the deal, and I couldn't pay 0.32 more for the one single box I needed! I had to buy 9 more that I didn't need! Status update: I am now currently eating cereal for every meal, and will be for the next 4 months. At least I am starting my food storage right? Yes... good intentions....

Anyways, before I ramble on much longer, I leave you with this warning. If you ever go grocery shopping with me you will

a) learn to never come again unless you enjoy being bored

b) be held responsible for containing my will to take advantage of every bargain I see, and

c) quickly watch your bank account deplete because I will have convinced you that you need every item of food in your cart. :)

Do I Hear Jingle Bells??

Today I saw Santa Clause at UVU! We passed each other, I gave a smile his way and he replied with a cheerful, "Good Morning!" We both knew he was Santa Clause, but he didn't have to worry, I wouldn't give away his secret. Besides to the whole entire world wide web.... secret safe with me big man. I don't blame him, getting some education on his down time. He must be really smart because he chose to attend UVU...

This will be my second sighting of Mr. Clause this year! Early this summer, about July or so, I saw Santa driving a Subaru in Mapleton. Looks like he's taking his job to the next level and personally investigating each person for his naughty or nice list. Hard worker that man is. Mrs. Clause hit the jack pot on that one.

Interesting that he chose a Subaru though...

When I Grow Up I'm Going To Be A Typewriter-ist!

Meet my new friend.

Isn't she SO cute??

I instantly fell in love.

$35 on ksl.com from the cutest little lady I've ever seen.

Plus a super cool carrying case?!

I still need to come up with a good name for her. Any suggestions? Not only am I so excited for the new possibilities this elegant antique has brought into my life, but also for the fun letters I get to type! One day I plan to head to a beautiful park, camp out on my cute little blanket, have my typewriter on my lap and have the greatest day of my life. New definition for the word bliss.

Could you bear (bare?) with me for two more of my favorite things about this typewriter??

1] My life is becoming more and more like my favorite movie You've Got Mail. yes!
2] It even 'dings' when you get to the end of the sentence. AAAHHHH!!

LOVE.

The Sweet Life on University Avenue

Yesterday, Kaylyn and I hit the jackpot! After getting free food from her "welcome to Nursing" dinner we decided to wander down University Avenue (UA) to kill time before we got our groove on at the BYU dance that night. We didn't have to walk far to find a glorious treasure; the Cherry Lane Boutique. This gem is located on the corner of UA and 500 (I think?), diagnal from 7/11. It's small, but when you walk inside, it is jam packed with beautifulness. We happen to decide to take a look at this place on it's very first "Ladies Night!" Everything was discounted, door prizes were given and they had little demonstrations on how to tie scarfs, and taste testing!! Pretty sure we scored. We walked through the boutique admiring the crazy hats, pretty scarfs and fun jewelry complete with ooohs and aaaahs. When it came time for the taste testing, I was a little reluctant to join as they were tasting jam.... Like we are 80 years old and playing kanasta. Let me tell you, this jam was not for the faint at heart! It was completely amazing. Her jam wasn't like normal jam, but in crazy flavors and combinations. She had 7 spicy jams that you could use as marinades for pork chops or to dip your chicken nuggets in; She had crazy fruit jams like pineapple pear berry; and then she had dessert jams.... apple pie and carrot cake jams. YUM! You may think that this lady is crazy, which she quite possibly could be, but she was fantastic! She told us all the fun ways you can use this jam which was helpful because the extent of my knowledge of jam is that it goes on toast. A whole world of possibilities was opened for me! My favorite was the carrot cake and the spicy roasted garlic. Carrot cake jam you serve on cinnamon graham crackers for a little appetizer which = an explosion in your mouth! Oh man I loved every second of it!! One day when I start cooking for reals, I'll incorporate my new found love to make my food fun and unexpectedly great! It'll probably need the help.

While taste testing, I realized that if this lady wouldn't have been completely obsessed with her product, then I wouldn't have been as willing to try the jams or even purchase some. Energy is contagious and I'm so grateful that I caught hers. It gave me comfort that other people obsess over crazy things just like I do. ...Foreshadowing to a future post about Vans shoes....

The night continued on as Kaylyn and I went to a BYU dance to make fools out of ourselves. It was a blast! I even learned how to swing dance! Or rather learn to hold on as I was being spun around like a top. :) After a great night of excitement and new discoveries, I leave you with the montra that has been stuck in my head ever since.

Do what you love and love what you do; or

Live a life you love, but also love the life you live.

I couldn't remember the correct wording...

Let the Stalking Begin!

School has started. Yay! I am taking two classes this semester, Civil Litigation and Photography!! I could live in each of those classes and be happy for the rest of my life. Civil Litigation is everything I would have ever wanted a career class to be. I know all the law jargon he's talking about score! and I do everything we talk about in class on a daily basis at work! Who knew that I could take a class that would relate so much to real life? Weird. Now my photography class could easily be considered my guilty pleasure, my hearts one true joy, love without limitations, but let's not get carried away. Inevitable? I've always dreamed of being this fantastic photographer, super creative and owning my own, "Domination Studios," so this class is a step in the right direction. My teacher is super great and told us on the first day that her one huge dilemma in life at the moment is: Her Lego Hair. :D I love crazy people, and she's one of the craziest. One day I hope to be exactly like her.

ANYWAYS, the reason for this post is because I find something extremely fascinating about the human species. Yes, I do realize that I belong to this group, but for this matter I wish I could grow some feathers to fly south and join their species. Let me explain. UVU has crappy parking. Parking is available, but only for those with classes starting from 7-8 am or 6-9pm. Any other time you find yourself circling the parking lots hoping that someone decided to drop out of school leaving you a prime spot. There is however, one other opportunity for openings. Classes usually end 10 minutes before the hour and for those 10 minutes you have movement amidst the parking lot. Since everyone is catching on, it has become a feeding frenzy trying to snag a spot from someone leaving. The human species has turned to desperate measures and de-evolutionized to stalking. Stepping foot onto the parking lot and walking towards your car you will be instantly followed by at least 2 cars; the rest kicking themselves for choosing the wrong aisle to camp out in. Few will roll down their window and ask if you are leaving and where you parked, but most will drive at 2 mph right behind you as you walk to your car. Once I had gotten over being creeped out by these followers, I decided to have some fun. Sometimes when I know I have parked clear out in the middle of nowhere I will take my keys out of my backpack, turn towards a random car -car behind me instantly turns on his blinker trying to beat the car coming from the front of me- fiddle around like I'm trying to find my key, look up as if I lost something and walk back towards school. I snicker to myself as the car disappointedly drives forward looking for someone else to stalk. Other times I will walk towards a car-ensuing the same reaction to the car behind me- and continue on over to the next aisle making it impossible for the previous car to stalk me, but attracting two other cars in the next aisle. I continue towards another car and then walk into the next aisle. I have just created at least 5 car stalkers in a matter of minutes! For some reason this brings me joy.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll grow up and actually go straight for my car to allow a hurried student to take eagerly take my parking spot.

Never.

One Step Closer to Stardum (sp?)

Eureka! I've found the secret to having vibrato when I sing!! Driving to work through American Fork over the construction!! I can see my dream of being a good singer come into focus....

You see, I have made it a habit to sing every song on the radio at the top of my lungs, complete with elaborate dance moves while driving to work each day. Yes, I have gotten many looks from passing cars. I've even got a few pig noses from little kids smushing their face against the window trying to get a better look. Despite the stares and pointing fingers, nothing relieves a long day at work like practicing my American Idol debut. So if you want to fine tune your vibrato and battle it out with Mariah Carey, stay to the left and head north through Lehi and American Fork. For the sake of my singing career and those sitting next to me in church, I pray the construction never ends.

Warped Tour 2010.... EPIC

Last year Warped Tour left me in such a fantastic state of twitterpation that I could not resist attending another year of all that greatness. Much to my dismay, most of my friends were unable to attend with me, but no worry, I convinced a few poor and unfortunate souls to tag along with me as I jumped from band to band like a child in a candy store. Yes, I really am that obsessed with this insane event. I convinced Kaylyn, Jordan, Parker and Adam Lutz to join me, and just like last year, we all made shirts for the occasion! They turned out soooo great! I've got some pretty creative friends/siblings. :)
Well turns out that almost all the bands I wanted to see overlapped other good bands, so we had to make a tough decision and find the top 3 bands we wanted to see.

Hey Monday, The Summer Set, The Rocket Summer, NeverShoutNever and mainly MAYDAY PARADE were the bands I wanted to see. Unfortuanely, we were only able to catch Hey Monday, The Rocket Summer and Mayday Parade. Since Mayday Parade was very last, we had a lot of time to kill..... So we walked around a lot, looked at each band's tents, etc. The weather had been great for the whole day, until about 4:00. We had a few hours to kill until Mayday Parade, and it started pouring rain!! Rain pelting us from all angles, feet tired from jumping up and down in crowds, and the beginnings of becoming farmers showing on our arms, I nervously looked around to our group. Do you guys want to wait it out until Mayday Parade? Everyone was trying to be nice to me, but I could tell that deep down they wanted to call it a day. The rain continued and I tried to keep spirits high by encouraging that the rain would stop soon. Rain, Rain, Go AWAY, Come Again ANY other day but today. It looked like there was no end in sight, but my fingers were still crossed. We couldn't leave before we saw the best band here! Especially when it had been kind of a crappy line up in the first place. I tried using the, "hey, at least we are making memories!" cop out, but that went over about as well as it usually does with me when my mom says it. Finally everyone thankfully agreed to stay. Whether it was out of pity for me, or out of belief that my life really would be over if we left, I didn't care. As long as we stayed. Thankfully, the rain subsided about 30 minutes before Mayday Parade was to start. Prayer really does work. Can I just tell you, that waiting in the rain was COMPLETELY worth it?? Mayday Parade was FANTASTIC!! Adam and I even shimmied our way up to the front, right behind the bar! Screaming at the top of my lungs and jumping around like a crazy person I had the time of my life. To my current knowledge, there is nothing comparable than an amazing concert by one of your favorite bands while you are squished in between a bunch of sweaty people. The best is when there are so many people crammed together that when everyone is jumping, you don't have to do anything to be moved up and down with the crowd. They jump for you! Same thing happens when you get in a circle of about 10 people and they all sit down on the person's knees behind them. Who knows how it works, but it's fantastic. One downside to being in an awesome concert at the very front along the bar. Crowd surfers. In a normal concert you'll get a few crowd surfers here and there that you can help heave to the front. Amplify that by a bajillion and you get Mayday Parade's crowd. One after the other, sometimes two on top of each other formed a continuous stream of crowd surfers. I'm sure this looked cool from above, but when you are the one underneath it is not so cool. When crowd surfers get to the front the bouncers just pull them down to the ground for the surfer to get out. Unfortunately this means using the front row as a slide to ease their fall down to the ground.

Dear Fat Sweaty Crowd Surfer Man:

Thank you for kicking me in the back of the head repeatedly and bending me completely in half over the bar so I can make your decent a little more comfortable.

Sincerley,

Hailey Francis.

Besides that, the music was fantastic, new bands were found and memories were indeed made. Here are some pictures of this fantastic day! Enjoy!

This Lady Is Good.... Psychic?

Last night Anisa and I went on a nice run (I'm going to estimate about 2 miles, because saying 1.589 miles doesn't sound as impressive) around Mapleton. I love running with her because we talk the whole time, which keeps me distracted and not thinking about each step I'm taking, thus making for a farther and more productive run! After that, we decided we would do some sprints like the old days. (knee did great! No limping!) After a few of those we were tired and decided to do some Abs of Steel and Winsor Pilates Buns and Thighs tapes. Those things are freaking hard! They try to counteract the intensity level by putting smiling flexatrons as your examples, soothing background music, and a calm voiced lady (rather a drill Sergeant) giving you instructions for the exercises. Nevertheless, Anisa and I followed every step and laughed at the ridiculous outfits they were wearing. As we switched from Abs of Steel to Buns and Thighs, we were not warned that the instructor would be telepathically with us through the tv. I will admit, a few times I would take the easy route, or only go halfway because my buns were burning! Immediately as I would drop my shoulder the instructor would say, now make sure you aren't letting your shoulder drop! Snapping my shoulder back in place I laughed with Anisa about how she had caught me. Then it continued. Make sure not to bend your knees, this makes it easier. Don't stop now, you only have 2 more left. Don't rotate your hips, keep them straight! Sheesh! What the heck lady?! How do you know that at this exact point I have stopped concentrating on using my powerhouse? It was a bit freaky. The best was when she would say, Now don't forget to breathe. This sounds retarded because we breathe all day everyday without having to be told to do so. However, whenever she would remind us, Anisa and I both let out a huge breath in relief. Why is it that we forget to breathe? The fact that these exercise ladies can get inside our brains to make us think that doing just 4 more leg lifts overpowers our natural instinct to breathe is.... a problem! :) I leave this with you to experiment and to be made aware the next time you pop in the good ol work out videos. See if you fall under their psychic powers....

FB

Sadly, tis true. The world of facebook (fb- as I hate to call it) is revolutionizing our imaginations. I could decide that one day I would like to have strong feelings towards animal cruelty, and the next that I am newly engaged for the 4th time this year. We all say that facebook is great to "connect with old friends," or to "keep in touch..." Don't worry, I try to believe those reasons are why I still have a facebook too. In reality, "connecting with old friends" means digging for gossip about who's engaged, who's pregnant, if their kids look like aliens, etc. To "keeping in touch" means looking through other people's pictures until you suddenly come to the realization that you have been staring at your computer for 4 hours and are now looking at a friend of a friend of their boyfriend's friend's christmas vacation pictures. Besides being super creepy, I've found looking at random people's pictures to be a bad in social situations. Hanging out with some friends I recognized one person, but couldn't place where we had met before. He had NO IDEA who I was, but I was sure we had previously met. It was only until about 20 minutes later that I realized I recognized him from pictures he had on facebook with my friends. The lightbulb clicked which brought the follow up question from him. So how do we know each other? Did you figure it out? Denial. You know I still can't remember, weird. Umm... well... cya! Not the most normal conversation starter: Oh we know each other because I stalk you on facebook. Yeah that's a croud pleaser.

I will be the first to admit that the world is being controlled by facebook, especially when it is being used as evidence in our law firm; but I still have my facebook account. Facebook and I are in a love-hate relationship you could say. Oh great idea! Relationship status, updated.

Motherly Instincts

Will someone please tell me what good thing can come out of this? Yes that is a mother with her kids in a stroller, and yes she is attempting to cross Highway 89 with cars traveling at least 55 mph past her..... WHY?!?!?!

As I shake my head in disbelief, I can at least say I've learned a valuable life lesson.

Don't be stupid.

Oh, and always remember to look both ways.

Almost as Embarrassing

Everyone has had one of those "I went to school naked/in my strawberry shortcake undies" dreams or rather nightmares. We all dread the day when one of these nightmares will come true. I was on a 20 year streak of awesomeness in this department until yesterday.... Let me set up the scene for you:

~Weather: Hot, extremely hot, almost sauna like

~Location: Basement, privacy, generally undisturbed

~Variables: Blow dryer and curling iron adding to the initial statement

~Mental State: Scattered, Feeling the stresses of being late

While getting ready for church I put on my dress, starting putting my make-up on and realized that if I wanted to continue to wear this dress I better either wave my arms up and down like a chicken, or change into something a bit less binding around that area. For future reference, the dress I had chosen to wear required a two step process to zip up. Step #1 I could zip it up halfway and then would finish it off with Step #2 by reaching above my head and pulling the zipper up the rest of the way. Simple enough. So to cool off and save my dress from further liquidation I decided to unzip my dress, fold it over at my waist and continue getting ready in my cami. I finished getting ready, and prepared myself for the intense heat. Slipping on some high heels I checked in the mirror one last time to make sure everything was in place. Running out the door, I barely made it to church before the meeting started. I sat by myself and saved a seat for Anisa to come later. Shortly thereafter, Anisa slides in next to me and immediatley leans over to wisper, "Crystal stopped me on the way in and told me to tell you that your dress isn't zipped up all the way." I looked at her, feeling the embarrasment rapidly appearing on my face and asked if she'd zip the rest up. Step #2: Fail. I hoped and prayed that no one noticed, but then realized a few things. I walked in late meaning that everyone was ready to go, eyes ahead and would have noticed someone walking in front of them. I always watch people file in late and try to find a seat, so I'm sure there are at least a few other people out there who share that same joy. Also, Crystal and I talk on occasion, but definitely not all the time. If she noticed and thought it was bad enough to urgently catch Anisa to tell me, then it was bad... Thank heavens she is such a nice great, wonderful, thoughtful person. The whole meeting I couldn't help but feel embarrased. It isn't even that big of a deal, but I couldn't help it. Who knows what people saw, or if anyone even noticed, but I can now say that I'm getting closer to the granny panties nightmare coming to reality. Please tell me that this is as close as I will ever get...

Photo Update

I have a lot to talk about, but instead of using words, I'd rather tell you about what's been going on via photos! Here are some pictures from the 4th of July and my cute cousin Sophie:

[Max trying to steal a hamburger....]

Karlie's Weekend Bachelorette Party!! July 9-10, 2010 with Kaylyn Swanson, Anisa Andrus, Katrina Jensen (Morrey), Karlie Jensen (Mitchell) and myself!

Karlie and Jake Mitchell tie the knot~July 14, 2010
Well there are some pictures for the time being. This is taking forever, so that's all I'm putting up for this one. :) Karlie's wedding was beautiful, she and Jake are so stinkin' happy! Now their life moves forward with married people things like doing laundry, cooking meals, kissing, and etc..... ;)

Hopping.... No, More Like Bounding.

Yes, it is true. Though this is all the rage, and you will think that I only join to warm my hands in the warm fire of company, but I really am loving what I just saw last night. The movie Inception is probably one of the best movies that has come out in a long while.

Well one that makes me use the ol' thinker.

Princess and the Frog is freaking awesome,

but I guess it doesn't necessarily fall

under this same category.

more like the

pure bliss with NO brain cells necessary

category.

Anyways I highly recommend everyone to see this movie! Personally, I'd avoid seeing it too late in the evening because it is highly stimulating and jam packed with anxiety. Also, my dreams were really weird after I saw it. Probably could have done without that. So go, run to the movie theater! When you come out, maybe you can bound onto the bandwagon of Inception lovers with me :)

[Is it just me, or does the word "Inception" sound a bit.... uh.... interesting?]

Drive In, Tune In And Enjoy The Show!

Except for a small select few, they have been removed from the earth. As privileged individuals, Utah has a few to dot its surface and keep the magnificence alive. You may think to yourself, is she talking about In-N-Out? Win-Co Grocery Store? [Nope] Even though each of those are apart my favorite things list, I will save those for a seperate post. Today, I bring to you.....

--DRIVE IN--

MOVIE THEATERS!

Taylorsville City, on Redwood Road holds a facility so exciting I nearly need to use the restroom just thinking about it. This past Friday, a bunch of us drove up to this blessed city to participate in such greatness. There were 6 movies playing that night, 3 screens available. We chose Despicable Me AND A-Team. It was a double feature!! Can this place get any better? We found our parking spot, loaded in the back of the trucks, tuned into the right radio station and got ready for the greatest experience of my short, and uneventful until this moment, life. I kind of missed the first part of the movie though because Cameron Nielson and I went to go get some liquid. People were everywhere! I don't know how anyone can say that a drive in would fail in this economy. For the amount of people there, I might want to be so bold as to say that each family there probably had to have a raffle to choose which family member could go and who they had to leave behind. All those people they had to leave behind could have probably filled 4 more Drive In movie theaters! The movie was fantastic! One thing however, made the trip a bit less comfortable than it could have been if I were to be prepared. Pants, socks and shoes were not the best choice in 95 degree weather at 10:00 at night. Silly me for thinking that it would cool down in the middle of the summer! It was so hot that I had to keep moving around or else I'm sure I would have either melted like the wicked witch of the west, or caused water damage to the bed of the Swanson's truck. Despite the heat, we made it through, and had a grand ol' time!

Another great part of the night happened halfway through the movie! My cousin Sydney Conant has been in Utah (from California) for a few weeks, and stopped by to see me!! I love that girl, and wish she could be here always. Or rather that we could pack up everything here and bring it to California for the beach and beautiful sunshine. Although, I guess what makes California so great for me is that it is a vacation. Something that I don't get all the time, so I'll appreciate it.... right? Anyways, it was so good to see Syd, and have her hang out with us Friday and Saturday. (Saturday... shopping, pool party with singles ward, and outdoor movie!) I can't wait until August 17th when I'm leaving on a jet plane to spend a week with her family!

Ready To Run!

Today, is the day! I have been granted permission to stretch these legs out and RUN! Seeing that my motivation continues, I am getting closer and closer to being back in shape! I am 11 weeks out, and can already start running!!!! Now, I do have some restrictions which are to be expected. I am to try to understand what a pony ride feels like....for the pony. I am bound to that same circular motion, but preferrably on a track rather than a smelly stall thing. The "usuals" (morning SHS track walkers with their 5lb weights) will just have to move over as I come flying around those corners! Sadly I will have to leave my walker friends behind, but I'm ready to break free! As much as I loved being able to ride a bike, the seats are far too small for the junk in my trunk. Now I will just be able to walk funny out of soreness rather than uncomfort! Huzzah! I have a run planned for after work today, so we'll see how that goes. It will be interesting to take that first step, but so liberating! If anyone feels that they want to "feel the burn," let me know and we can make a trip to the track!

Imagine what it will be like when I can do bleachers.....

Happily Ever After is Among Us!

Tomorrow,

this CUTE chick: And this COOL dude:Are tying the knot and getting hitched! (So are these people in this beautiful picture....whoever they are!)

I'm so glad, grateful, happy, excited, for you two to FINALLY be married! :) You both are amazing, and such good friends! Kar, thanks for being the first to get married so that now we all know what to do. Isn't she so nice?! Jake, be good to her and always do cute husband things. I don't know what they are yet, but I'm sure you'll know what to do. I love you both, and I am so happy that you each have found your other half. Thanks for getting married in the temple, and setting a great example for all of us singles mingling out there. One day I'll be just like you two and then we can go on married people dates. I can't wait.

So here is to you, Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell:

Hooray for eternal happiness!