Day 9-A picture of your friends

Been friends with these girls for 12-14 years. Wish we all lived near each other. I miss them.
Part of the Utah fam (minus some other faves) :) They keep me sane.

Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Hmmm... I have mostly only traveled to various places in Mexico, St. Thomas, and the Caymans. I am going to choose my most recent traveled place.... Riviera Maya in Mexico.




Joel and I stayed at a fantastic resort in the Riviera Maya. It was a short drive to Playa Del Carmen but secluded/less touristy, the way we liked it. It was an all-inclusive Palace Resort that was also ADULT ONLY! Our room came stocked with a full bar a hot tub/jacuzzi and a hammock on the balcony not to mention several pools to choose from. :) I highly recommend it for other couples! The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of good snorkeling locations nearby.

Day 7-Favorite Movies

I don't know if I can actually list my fav movies... seems like they are always changing. So instead I am listing ones with some of my favorite quotes. :)


The Notebook:


So it's not going to be easy. It's going to be really hard. And we're going to have to work at this every day. But I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, every day.

The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. That's what I hope to give you forever.

It was real wasn't it? You and me. Such a long time ago we were just a couple of kids. We really loved each other didn't we?

I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough.


Meet Joe Black:




And what I dream of is a man who will discover her, and that she will discover a man who will love her, who is worthy of her, who is of this world, this time and has the grace, compassion, and fortitude to walk beside her as she makes her way through this beautiful thing called life.

There's not an ounce of excitement, not a... whisper of a thrill. And this relationship has all the passion of a pair of titmice. I want you to get swept away out there. I want you to levitate. I want you to sing with rapture and dance like a dervish. Be deliriously happy, or at least leave yourself open to be. I know it's a cornball thing. But love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. And I'm not hearing any heart.'Cause the truth is there's no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. But you have to try, 'cause if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike.



Forgetting Sarah Marshall:




Just watch the movie as a whole. Too many quotes to list :)




Tombstone:



Yes, it's true. You are a good woman. Then again, you may be the Antichrist.

You gonna do somethin' or just stand there and bleed?

He's down by the creek, walkin' on water.



Almost Famous:



Look at this: an entire generation of Cinderellas and there's no glass slipper.

I didn't invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella.

When and where does this "real world" occur?

William:I have to go home
(Penny waves her hand)
Penny: You are home

I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriously, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy

Yall know I am addicted to taking photos of EVERYTHING ... so here are a few faves :) I could seriously choose over 100 photos so I will do my best to only have a couple... haha!


This photo is from our Annual Girls Christmas Celebration that my high school friends do every year. This was 2007 and the first Christmas home since I moved to Utah. I feel like this picture says so much about the night and I can't help but laugh at it.


Donnie... oh Donnie. My friends and I became regulars at a local bar near our home town... and we met Donnie. He became one of the crew. He sat with us every night and participated in our conversations. He even joined us on the dance floor a few times. Donnie would always tell us we were his pseudo-daughters since he rarely got to see his own. We were always doing spontaneous random things and I think this picture represents that for me. If I remember correctly, this was the night that Donnie told us he was moving to be closer to his daughter. I wonder how he is doing now.


REESE! My adorable niece! I only get to see her twice a year but she talks to me on the phone sometimes. She is just the cutest, SMARTEST little two year old you will ever meet! My sis took this photo last year when she was at the pumpkin patch. It's been one of my faves ever since!


I had to add this photo because I think it sums up our wedding/relationship in a lot of ways. We were just so excited to be married and the photographer caught this candid moment as we exited the ceremony.


I LOVE this photo. I got teary-eyed the first time I saw it and it always makes me smile. I love that it was a candid photo and that it basically sums up my dad and I's relationship. I think I will always be a daddy's girl and I love how happy we both look.


My home away from home! I love this photo because these people are my home away from home (minus a few amazing people). J and I go to as many Real Salt Lake soccer games as possible. They won the MLS Cup last year so they have been a pretty big deal in Utah. I think more than anything it helps me not be too depressed about not getting to attend OU games for the past four year.


The Pack Family! I don't think it's even possible to love them more than I already do! :)

Day 5-Your siblings

My Sis. I don't know what to say about her. I don't think it's possible to sum her up in only a few sentences. She is amazing. Growing up, we were complete opposites. Probably still are in a lot of ways.



She was outgoing. I was shy.
She was confident. I was insecure.
She was always baking yummy goodies. I could only cook an egg.
She was tan and beautiful. I was albino and awkward.
She didn't play sports but could out do any guy on football statistics. I was a competitive gymnast and didn't understand football until half way through my sophomore year of cheer.
She listens to Sports Radio instead of music and even gave me an iPod she knew she would never use. I am a music fanatic and am ALWAYS looking for new songs/artists.




We definitely had our ups and downs with our relationship but the older I get, the more I cherish her and her friendship. She has always supported me no matter what and did a lot of standing up for me at various times in my life. I know she has always been my biggest fan and the first person to defend me if I have been done wrong by someone.




I love her a ton and continually hope I can follow her amazing example in life.

Day 4-Your parents

My parents... are WONDERFUL! I was very blessed when God placed me with them as a baby! They have worked tirelessly to instill values, love and faith in my sister and I. We don't always see eye to eye but they love me regardless and have always been there no matter what! I know I can always count on them in life for anything that comes my way.



I love them and cherish them more than anything! Just hope they know how much I love them :)

Day 3-Your first love

My first love... this was a tough one for me. I didn't know which to choose... my first real life love (crush), my first celebrity crush, my first adult love.... which one....

I decided to go with celebrity crush ... to make things easier ;) I'll start with my first three really memorable crushes as a young kid...

1. Devon Sawa
From CASPER and NOW & THEN. I was so in love with him. Thought his crooked little smile was heavenly :)




2. Leo DiCaprio
Titanic... Saw it three times in theaters and I was HOOKED! Thought he was the bees knees to say the least. And he was an artist! Yes ... I was in love. And seriously contemplated naming a child "Rose" .. lame, yes.





3. Brian Littrell
Backstreet Boys... believe it! I knew the choreography to EVERY song... watched countless hours of their ALL ACCESS videos and even more hours of all the videos/interviews I taped of them off the TV. I was going to be the future Mrs. Littrell..... embarassing? You bet!

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Megistentialism....

My sister actually came up with the name when her and I were discussing that I wanted to get back into writing. It's a play off my name and Existentialism.

The definition provided by Answers.com ...

Existentialism:
n.
A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.

or as Wikipedia states:
Existentialist thinkers focus on the question of concrete human existence and the conditions of this existence rather than hypothesizing a human essence, stressing that the human essence is determined through life choices.

So there is my story about my name :)

Slacking off.. big time

CRAZY... that has been my life lately... CRAZY! I found myself once again DREADING doing any blogging. Between the ups and down career wise, J's last two shows with his band, my parents visiting Utah, and renovations... I haven't had time to do much of a n y t h i n g. So, since my last test wasn't working... I'm going to try a new one :)

Found this on my friend's blog. You can check it out here.

So.... here goes nothin' ...

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite tv shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Bible verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-3 Wishes
Day 30-a picture

DAY 1:

Well, since only two of you actually read this, I will make it short ;)

I'm 27 and am an Okie living in SLC. Met my husband at a concert in OKC in 2006 and after only seeing each other four times EVER ... I moved to this lovely state in 2007 to be closer to him. We got married in 2008, bought a house in 2009, and a puppy in 2010. I love my husband, my family, my friends and my little pup more than ANYTHING.



15 Facts:

• ONE: I am adopted and just barely met my bio-sibs a couple years ago. I would like to see them again if I am ever in OK more than four days at a time
• TWO: I could probably eat potatoes at EVERY meal... mashed, loaded, baked, fried...so many options :)
• THREE: I ADORE crab and shrimp but developed a shellfish allergy in 2007... boooo :(
• FOUR: If someone asked me my ideal job, I would want to get paid to give gifts to people all the time
• FIVE: I prayed for the perfect puppy for about 14 years... finally got her in January... LOVE her!
• SIX: I am obsessed with research... I spend all day listening to podcasts and researching articles on the internet
• SEVEN: This was the first year that I have actually been out of gymnastics longer than I was in... (13 years in, 14 years out) ... and it made me sad.
• EIGHT: We had ALL Beatles music during our wedding ceremony! My favorite was walking down the aisle to a piano version of "Hey Jude" ... it was the perfect song :)
• NINE: If I could go back to school and start over, I would have seriously considered being an Archaeologist.... still a dream of mine.
• TEN: One of my goals in life is to publish my own children's book
• ELEVEN: I have liked the idea of vampires for a LONG time and am annoyed how many people have jumped on the band wagon
• TWELVE: Getting a large vanilla Dr. Pepper at Sonic can brighten about any day!
  
• THIRTEEN: I CONSTANTLY feel torn between two different dreams in life - Traveling (just up and leaving with J and traveling the world, working odd jobs along the way) or Settling Down (having kids and settling in a place to raise them near family/friends) ... The responsible and safe VS the irresponsible adventure I suppose
• FOURTEEN: I have an obsession with black, deep red and slate gray .... as in, I would paint every room those colors, buy all my clothes in those colors, etc. I have to restrain myself to choose variety
• FIFTEEN: I am extremely spiritual and pray often. I am NOT religious and think the constraints of religion are unfortunate and unnecessary.

Well... Day 1 down.... Day 2... we will see....

Post 2- Something that inspires you.

You've probably noticed I haven't blogged in a while. Mostly because I have been avoiding this post. (Second Post of the 30 Post Challenge and I'm already avoiding... terrible, I know).

This has been a problem with me lately. Trying to find something that inspires me. My job is stressful and constant so I haven't had very much free time for creativity. So instead of something awesome that I would have if I was a little less busy, I'll give you my current "Keep Me Sane" Inspirations I have in daily life.

Knowledge -
Lame... but so true. I have been like a knowledge-suck recently. Anything and everything I can get my hands on. I read articles at stop lights and research topics while sitting in traffic. It's addicting and I've been feeling a little OCD about it. I recently installed a TIME Mag app on my phone, so between CNN, MSNBC, TIME, Google, Discovery Health and Perez Hilton..... I research at least 25 different subjects a day.

I'm sure you're wondering how this inspires me... It keeps me searching... searching for something better. Some sort of new health plan, lifestyle, money management, travel destination, style or home decor, etc. It keeps me always striving for something more interesting to add to my life and I read a lot of parenting info for future reference.


For PERSONAL inspiration - the answer is easy.... my relationships.

I have amazing friends who are all embarking on different journeys in life. I love it! They inspire me on all different levels... to be a better friend, co-worker, individual.

My family inspires me everyday with their unwavering faith... both in God and in each other. They keep me striving to be the best sister and daughter I could ever be.

And of course... these two:



J inspires me everyday to be a better wife and life-long partner. He challenges me by trying to help me get back to my creative energy and inspires me by being so confident in his own creative nature. He also has made me realize the importance of being "present" in every day life and with those you love. And of course Cleo... inspires me to work out our parenting styles now before we have a our own little bundle of joy.

Hopefully I won't avoid the next post for so long... Post 3- The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why.....should be easy. That is, if I can reduce all of my favorite songs to the 5 I like best..... ok, maybe it'll be tougher than I thought. ;)

Post 1- Guilty pleasure.

Guilty Pleasure. Hmmm. I don't know if I will be able to define A guilty pleasure. I have SO many. I'm filled with little obsessions that keep everyday interesting... I will name one of my top ones.

RESEARCH:
I'm a bit of a knowledge whore, I guess you could say. Terrible to use "whore" in a post but I really don't know how else to describe it. I ADORE researching stuff. And when I say "stuff" I literally mean everything and anything! Thank the Lord I have an unlimited data plan on my cell phone! This past month, my data usage was just over 89,000! ... I don't really know what that means but J's was only about 67,000 so it has to be a lot of use in a month! Anytime a random question comes up (such as "where did that phrase even come from?" or "what year did such-and-such happen?") I AM ON IT! I often tell J I would like to go back to college and get another major JUST so I can research and write papers on things. Lame. But EXHILARATING at the same time ;)

Just to give an example of how painfully fun research is to me, I will give you a quick story...
When we lived in Vegas, I begged a friend who had been to Area 51 to take a group of us out there. He promised me that he would take us... IF ... I could find him a specific vehicle. He gave me a year, make, model, color, interior, price range, tire details, distance of purchase, etc. After only 30 MINUTES, I emailed him the EXACT vehicle! He was stunned to say the least... but unfortunately never upheld his promise.

Twitter, embarrassingly, feeds this research need. CNN updates are probably my favorite thing in Twitterland! I read an article and then click on another one, then another one, and just keep clicking until I realize I've been researching meaningless crap for a half hour. Another aid to this guilty pleasure are the How Stuff Works podcasts! I am obsessed! And listen to them over and over. You can check out their site here. But BEWARE if you download them on iTunes - totally addicting.

My personal favorites are:
Stuff you Missed in History Class
Stuff you Should Know
Stuff Mom Never Told You

So that is one of my top guilty pleasures. What's yours?

Old, New, Borrowed and Two Years Later...

As I mentioned previously, two of my best friends from high school and one of my best friends from Utah got married recently. Through all of the nuptial activities I surprisingly received a lot of comments about our own wedding. Now don't get me wrong, J and I loved EVERY bit of our wedding ceremony and reception but we know that it was ... well... WEIRD. Growing up in Oklahoma gives you a very specific mentality about weddings. They need to be classy, upscale, detail oriented and fabulous!

As Joel put it when telling some of our friends about our big day: "You know those weddings that you see on TV that you don't think really exist? That was the wedding we had!"

Needless to say, Oklahoma weddings often seem to have something to prove. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything negative about the wedding culture in Oklahoma. It's just that seeing the wedding culture in Nevada and Utah has opened my eyes to just how lucky it is to be married in a state with such a high standard.

Joel and I assumed most people wouldn't understand our wedding and I expected the jokes and scoffs I got from so-called "friends" at our reception. BUT (to my surprise), two years down the road and I have received so many loving compliments and comments.

As one of my friends said: "Weddings always seem to be classified. There are awkward ones, tense ones, funny ones, etc. Yours definitely fell into the romantic category."

ROMANTIC?! Does that mean people got it!? At each wedding I have been to this season, I have been told that! I even had some of my parents' friends tell me it was the first wedding they had been to where they could tell the couple was completely and truly in love. My response was Shock and Awe.

Our wedding was every bit of weird! J grew up LDS but hasn't been a practicing Mormon since about 10. I grew up non-denominational Christian but have not found a church in Utah yet. Regardless, we wanted someone to marry us who truly knew us (both as individuals and as a couple). So.. we settled on our Native American Medicine Man who had done all of our premarital/personal counseling.




We had a Native American ceremony complete with Eagle feathers, smoke and a Pendleton Blanket Ceremony. (You can imagine the initial push-back we received from my parents). My dad read a Native American prayer too... which meant a lot to me!




We wrote our own vows which were utterly beautiful :)


Side note:
I know what you're thinking.. BLANKET CEREMONY?! The ceremony is the Native American equivalent of lighting a unity candle. Basically, the two mom's each bring a blanket that is representative of the individual and place it on each person's shoulders. Then, the blanket is removed by the Medicine Man and replaced with one blanket that represents shedding your individuality and becoming one under the Creator.


Besides the ceremony, we had completely nontraditional wedding music too. I walked down the aisle to a piano version of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.



J's lovely sisters sang the Beatles "In My Life" during the blanket ceremony.




And after the kiss, the wedding party exited to "When I'm 64" ... again... by the Beatles.




So after growing up in a culture where picture perfect weddings are the norm, you can imagine the negative feedback I expected to receive from people who were petty and immature. Surprisingly, only one group of "friends" responded in that way. And two years later, I'm realizing... people got it. They got us. They felt the love, sincerity and passion that J and I wanted to encompass our PERFECT day.






I couldn't be happier to be continuing the journey of life with J. Can't wait to see what God has in store!





Moving Forward:
J and I have had a lot of discussions lately about my creative passion and reigniting my love for painting/writing/crafting/etc. I feel stuck when it comes to being creative. So, in order to hopefully reignite some passion, I was thinking about taking this 30 Post Challenge! You're supposed to do it every day but since I run out of time to blog usually, I am going to do it in 30 posts! I'm going to do my VERY best to stick to it too :)

Day 01- Guilty pleasure.
Day 02- Something that inspires you.
Day 03- The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why.
Day 04- What you imagine paradise to be like.
Day 05- A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life.
Day 06- Earliest thing you can remember.
Day 07- Favorite cover of your favorite song.
Day 08- Someone you think would make a good president.
Day 09- Five things you want to see change.
Day 10- A dream you had this past week described in detail.
Day 11- Favorite picture ever taken of yourself.
Day 12- Your favorite musical artist’s life story.
Day 13- A memory that never fails to make you laugh.
Day 14- Best mashup you’ve ever heard.
Day 15- A moment, phrase, or song that has changed your life the most.
Day 16- Something that you want to do within the next five years.
Day 17- What you want to be remembered for.
Day 18- A picture that makes you feel.
Day 19- A passage from a book that has touched you.
Day 20- A band that you immediately liked and the song that made you like them.
Day 21- Your favorite medium of art.
Day 22- Someone you would give your life up for without question.
Day 23- Most awkward first impression you feel you’ve ever given.
Day 24- Something you did as a child that other people remember you for.
Day 25- Something you would do if no one stopped you or if you knew you wouldn’t fail.
Day 26- Your definition of love.
Day 27- Your definition of the meaning of life.
Day 28- A moment you remember being completely happy in and a description of why you believe you were. What is your definition of happiness?
Day 29- What you live for.
Day 30- Ways you believe you have grown over the past thirty days.


Wish me Luck! :)

SL Bliss

Even though I have lived away from Oklahoma since 2007, I still get homesick. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss my favorite restaurants and hangouts.

This is the first summer I've actually not been intensely homesick and sad! I love how outdoorsy people are here and have been relishing in the beauty of the state. (It helps that we've had gorgeous weather).

Since I never get to use my season tickets for OU football and they RARELY even play them on a TV station in Utah, I also go through MAJOR OU football withdrawals. Luckily, REAL Salt Lake games help fill my OU void. The games are awesome! The stadium holds just over 20,000 people so it's only about 1/4 of the size of OU's which is 82,112. That makes it the 14th largest college stadium in the US. The record attendance for OU's was set during a 2008 home game against Texas Tech University, with 85,646 in attendance!





Anyways, REAL won the MLS Cup last year so it was a pretty big deal. They also have a franchise-record unbeaten home streak of 20 games. AND... they sell beer :)






Joel and I have started embracing the UT Trax system as well. I liken it to a clean, above-ground subway. It's a ton of fun and super cheap way to get from downtown to just about anywhere. AND, there's a trax station about a ten minute walk from our house!

Utah is also a great place for outdoor events. They had a ton of festivals and outdoor festivities downtown. Their farmers market is awesome and busy! AND always a good source of free entertainment :)





They also have a Twilight Concert series. Every Thursday evening, they bring bands in to perform live outside for free! That's right ... FREE! The first one of the summer was Modest Mouse... about 40,000 Utahns attended! There were so many people that the park was labeled at capacity and they had to count people in and out of the gate. CRAZY!

I'm sad to say that it's officially August which means summer is coming to an end. Summer is my favorite time of year so I am VERY sad to see it go! I'll just have to seek out more fall entertainment. Here's to hopin....

Cleo Commotion

Since J and I are not ready for kids yet... we have a pseudo child - our little Shih tzu/Maltese, Cleo. She is a hoot! And so far has a 100% approval/like-ability rate among friends and family.

Well today, I was cleaning the house and heard a bunch of ruckus coming from the hallway. Now she likes to eat socks and cardboard... and recently woodwork, so ruckus is not much of a surprise. BUT... she usually follows me around and checks on me every few minutes to make sure she hasn't been left alone. (Yes, our dog has major separation anxiety). Finally, I hear her run into several kitchen walls and she comes bounding into the dining room in a freaked out manner ...

This is what I found:



Yes, she had gotten her head stuck in an empty Kleenex box.

Priceless.

I would like to note that she was unharmed and after being freaked out for about five minutes, tried to wrestle the kleenex box away from me to keep playing with it.

Too much to do Tuesday

No time to write..



My first ride on Joel's new motorcycle :)

July is my favorite month!

I've had so much to say lately and haven't had two seconds to write about it. So much has happened in the past few weeks!


My 27th Bday!
My birthday has been a little weird for me since moving away from Oklahoma. I am REALLY BIG into Holiday Traditions and since my bday falls on a holiday (July 4th), it is extra hard to be in Utah. This year was the first year I have thoroughly enjoyed my entire birthday weekend in Utah!

My traditional Oklahoma Birthday goes like this:
Wake up SUPER early. Pick up donuts. Pick up Sonic drinks. Meet my entire fam at the parade (my mom goes at like 5am and saves seats for everyone). Go to our house or a relative's house for a cookout. Open Presents. Meet up with friends to watch fireworks. That was the routine for as long as I can remember! We NEVER missed the parade! Growing up, a large group of my parents friends would always meet us at the parade too. It always ended up being like 30 people and it was great!



My Utah Birthday weekend went like this:


FRIDAY-
Broke City show at Liquid Joe's with Royal Bliss. Joel gave me a birthday shout out from stage so people started buying me shots. I felt like it was my 21st bday all over again. The night was awesome! Some of my favorite females came to hang out so it was a great night overall.








SATURDAY-
Joel woke up early and left the house because he had a "surprise" for me. He got my windshield replaced! I was SO ecstatic! Since I drive for a living, my car is my office. I had a HUGE crack across my windshield that annoyed me everyday so I was so excited to have it replaced! We ate lunch at the Independence Weekend street fair in Sugar House. I love any type of fair or festival so I was super excited! That evening, we went to the hibachi place called BeniHana.



It is WONDERFUL and our little birthday tradition. After, we went to a martini bar and had some drinks. We drove to the studio where Joel does the mixing for his job. Sugar House park was WAY to crazy and the studio was on a hill so we sat outside it and could see the fireworks perfectly! It was wonderful! OH... and I opened presents this day too!



Joel got me the Amazon Kindle that I have been wanting and so far I give it two thumbs up! The books literally transfer to my kindle in about two seconds. He also got me a Flip so I can start videoing stuff. I haven't had a chance to get it out and use it yet, but I can't wait to start editing video! He also got me the "Roping the Wind" cd from good old Garth! Better believe it has been on repeat in my car for two weeks!







SUNDAY-
My actual birthday! Joel surprised me with a doughnut breakfast in honor of my family's tradition. We spent the whole day cleaning and preparing the food for my bday cookout.















When it was all over, we had about 50 people in and out through the night. It was a great Bday BBQ and since I hate cake, Joel even made me Bday Brownies! I was exhausted from cleaning all day though so I went to bed by 2am.



MONDAY-
We drove down to Utah County and met his family at his parents house for their family BBQ.



It was good to see everyone since it had been a while. After the BBQ, we went down to Provo's Freedom Festival and walked around. There were mainly religious or LDS oriented booths but we found a few good jewelry places.

Overall, it was a spectacular Bday Weekend! Thanks to all my friends/fam/husband for making it SO special! Love you guys!



Last weekend was my friend Hannah's wedding. It was great to be back home and share in her big day! I enjoyed getting to see everyone and just wish I would have had more free time while we were there. Joel and I literally started our days at 9am and didn't get a free (unplanned) moment until 1130pm EVERY DAY! Not much of a vacation, but WONDERFUL nevertheless. One of my long time friends, AJ, had her baby while I was in town so I was SO happy that we got to see her cute little Emma. (I'll post a pic when I get them uploaded).

Absolutely LOVING July so far :)




PS> Please ignore all of the "overalls" and "!" ... I'm too tired to care :)