wedding weekend update.

i think i have attended more weddings in my short 20 years than most non-mormons attend in their whole lives.
such is the life of a provo-ite!
this weekend my good friend and roommate jordan got hitched. i've talked about her a lot on here- you probably already know her and that she got married. and that she likes eating peanut butter out of the jar. but that's beside the point!
jordan married stefan, a real winner, on friday, july 29 in the slc temple. it was a beautiful day, the couple was beautiful, and the cake was pretty much beautiful, too!
much to my dismay, i whipped out my camera to snap some paparazzi pics, and my memory card was nowhere to be seen. boo. i stole these from kelsey. she'll probably have a better recap in the next couple days, so go take a gander at her blog for more deets. anways, the wedding was real classy. instead of a reception in utah, jordan just had a dinner at the joseph smith bldg, and everything about it was phenomenal. mental note: skip the dancing and eat good food. oh, and make sure your aunt is an exceptional florist.

here we all are, minus sam, who is playing world explorer and galavanting around brazil currently.

here they are- mr and mrs stefan jimenez. in love and currently soakin it up in the cayman islands.
again, i can't get over kelsey's photography skills. congrats to the happy couple!

right when i got home from slc friday night i packed my bags, set my alarm, and at 5 am saturday morning i was on the road for home. why? wedding number two for mr and mrs eric story!
cloey hardy is one of my best friends from boise, and definitely worth the drive home! she was married in the twin falls temple earlier in the day, then made the trip back to boise for her reception later on that night. again, no memory card, so a phone pic will have to suffice. (i obviously should have brought kelsey...)
it was good to see all my friends at home, too... and ask all the married ones if they're pregnant yet.

tomorrow it's buh bye boise and back to provo until christmas. it's been great being home and making kourtni drive me around, cooking this, this and this, and getting family lectures on family finance on budgeting. ayyyyyy.
oh, and going on this run along the boise river. it's been a long time since i've run along this trail, and the whole thing just brought back memories of high school cross country and summer shenanigans.

 dirt! not cement! it was a good change from the concrete jungle that is university avenue...

 the rapids i never made it over without falling off my tube... and reminded me of the one instance one of my friends and i failed the rapids and ended up out of the river, tubes slung over one arm, running as fast as we could on the above path to catch up with skilled friends who had gone with the "every man for himself" mentality.

and the greatest high school hang out known to man in the summer. and the best point to jump into the river (when the cops aren't around, mind you.)

thanks again, boise! see ya when the weather changes.

to the best dog ever.

last night my parents had to put down our family dog, griffey.
as many of you know, i am not an animal person. however griffey was the only animal i'd ever touch without thoroughly washing my hands after. he was that great.
we got grif in the summer of 1996, right around the time we we acquired my sister, lindsay.
he had so much personality and spunk, yet was loyal and obedient and well mannered.
except when he peed on the flower plants. and the sides of the house. and children's legs. (kidding)
in these days, my mom simply referred to him as, "that damn dog".
it was endearing, i promise.
i remember him swiping food off the counter
inching onto the carpet and off his designated hard wood.
he'd climb up on top of the doghouse and bark early in the morning
ruin our trampoline cover when he jumped on it
jumped over fences
shrink at the sight of the broom. (no we didn't beat him with it)
and run away to visit neighboring girlfriends at the most inconvenient times.
he had the worst breath, and i was always yelling to have lindsay take him out.
lindsay was his best friend- this picture was swiped off her facebook.
he was obviously he had his moments, but we loved him all the same.
he was in our family pictures (to my mother's disproval)
was a loyal running companion and obedient "heal"er
in his old days, he was cute, senile, and lovable. he let damncat walk all over him, and they were friends.
grif, it was great growing up with you. thanks for being the best dog ever. we love you.

dear future husband

sometimes i think of things i want my future spouse to know, like mental post it notes. like how our children won't be sporting any gaudy fake flower headbands, or that i won't drive a minivan with a decal family on the back of it. pc computers will be frowned upon... and that dishes should be rinsed out if they are going to be left in the sink. today i want FH to know i am adept at fixing cars.

i changed a tire yesterday. in a skirt.

 sometimes when you're doing something of this nature in provo boys just show up. apparate. right out of the thin air! one definitely did.... (and i tried to not make any skirt incidents happen) but he just stood back and instructed while sam and i did the grunt work. 

by the end my bangs were sweating and i was proud. 

i almost was sad to see the guy at les schwab change it. that thing was like a badge of honor! 

i off to do some more internet searches. 

because it rained and they closed the pool

today as i was trying to find some recipes i took a gander down at my recent searches and decided you can tell a lot about a person from the things they look up on google.

i would say this search of my recency (is that a word? i hope so... add that to the search queue) basically explains myself over the last week or so. 

speedy peterson is dead?! suicide?! what the heck! now there is one less living famous person from idaho.

i bought couscous this week and made this delicious concoction of couscous, mushrooms, apricot preserves, and a ton of steamed broccoli. it was good, promise. if i woudn't have been so busy stuffing my face i would have snapped some pics. oops.

can you tell i had baking on the brain this week? well i was jordan's bridal shower yesterday so i had to get my culinary on. did i ever mention that i very much dislike baking? i'm not much for measuring and i like substitutions so baking just really isn't up my alley. cooking, now there's a different story. anyways, i made these.

 lingerie cookies. there is no other way i would rather spend my night than to stay up til 2 am frosting four dozen heart cookies into humps and other lady lumps. the things we do for friends!

these little devils. thank you pinterest. while i may have been cursing these reese's cheesecake bites up and down for their affinity to fall apart right on contact, no one was harmed in their making.

tragus piercing? yeah... some girl was complaining about hers on facebook and i just wanted to feel in the know. i think i'll keep my tragus how it came. thanks!

bridal shower gifts and games? like mentioned above, jordan, my old roommate and pal is getting married on friday. it's crazy. it's absurd. she is moving up in the world.  we  kelsey threw her the best shower ever. food galore! lace! frilly things! dirty talk! too many pictures! it was everything a good bridal shower should be.

 the last single lady embrace. EVER.

 janky lingerie dress up? you really have no idea.
here's to you, jordan devereaux jimenez.
and here's to you for being the best host ever, kels.

veginaise? i was searching it because it was a cool word and i wanted to know how to spell it. and i am slightly scared of it, but secretly want to buy a bottle and mix it with tofu and call it egg salad. (kidding. but i have seen recipes. it's a real thing, people).
as for the sea world schedule...don't remind me. i still shudder at the memory of copious penguins standing around their cardboard antarctic habitats.

i advise you to go check the things you're recently searched now, too. you'll love it. it is just the thing to kill time when the rain quite literally rained on your seven peaks parade.

tales from the road.

strange things happen on roadtrips. sometimes you eat strange things. sometimes you play strange games. sometimes you walk into a gas station wearing no pants.

let me expound.

friday night we drove from san diego to las vegas. the drive was long, and for some reason i decided it would be a good idea not to change out of my swimsuit for the whole ride. i think that brainchild was fueled by lack of sleep and pure laziness, but i digress. we stopped at a rest stop, it was kind of late, and i was feeling a little delirious. everybody jumped out of the car to use the bathroom, and for some reason i thought it would be perfectly acceptable to throw on the shirt i had been wearing that day over my swimsuit and call it good. i threw on some toms for good measure and marched right into that gas station.

wearing no pants.

let's just hold on one moment and pose a question to the audience. have you ever had one of those dreams where you go to school and forget to wear pants? you just roll up in your underwear and it's the most embarrassing moment of your life? i definitely have those dreams... and friday, it happened in real life.
don't ask me why i thought it would be a good idea to walk in there wearing no pants, but really i didn't even connect those dots in my head until i was halfway into the gas station and everybody was giving me the once over. all eyes turned and stared. i felt them from every which way as i made a b-line for the ladies room.

in the bathroom while waiting for a stall, my mom assured the lady washing her hands that i usually didn't dress like this. i gave a weird grin and tried to pull my shirt down to make it look like some teenie bopper short dress or something, but no matter what i did, it still looked like i had simply forgotten to put on pants. no hiding that naked truth.

the best part of this story was it was like a slow moving nightmare. most of the time when you do something semi-embarrassing, it's easy to weasel your way outta there... but when you're not wearing pants and you have to get back from point b back to point a, well, that's a different story. walking back out to that car in my garb was pure slow motion fueled by more stares from barstow locals and travelers.   moral of the story? don't wear your swimsuit on a roadtrip and think other people will understand. or maybe it should be that shirts are not dresses, nor should they be paired with toms. or maybe you just shouldn't let me loose at gas stations past my bedtime.

kind of reminds me of this one time in madrid...

let's just hope these moments don't happen in threes.
happy monday

this time change got me all messed up

1:40 am.
not tired. at all.
we made it safely back to ut from our adventures down to ca, and it was a great time! now that i'm back i am a little overwhelmed about what to write.... so expect many a california post, okay? i gained a couple of obsessions over the last seven days. let me tell you of them
1. the beach. i snapped this down at venice beach- those are my sisters running around (and most likely acting like weirdies making bird caw noises or something) but yeah, it was just so pretty. and so cold. but so pretty nonetheless.

 2. this shirt. so remember "honey i shrunk the audience" at disneyland? the 3d movie where mice run across your feet and stuff? well it is gone, sadly, but was replaced with something about tenfold better... a 20 year old 3d movie/dance directed by george lucas and starring the king himself, mj. it was so. weird.  and so strangely enjoyable. the best moment? when michael comes on screen and a little boy up a couple rows from me in the audience said rather loudly, "MOM IS THAT A GIRL OR A BOY?". awesome. anyways, i just had to pick up a shirt to commemorate the experience.

and my dad's face when i showed it to him. (or maybe that look had something to do with waiting in line at space mountain for 2 hours?)

 3. san diego temple. i've seen it in pictures, heard all the hoopla about it being the best, and well folks, i am now a believer. it's so big and white!

 4. trader joe's. TRADER JOE'S. after bugging my dad about a trillion times and sneaking it into the gps a time or two, i finally got my fix. oh, and did i mention that i kind of fell in love, too? cuz i did. i need that place here in utah. or idaho. i'm not picky- i would buy a jet just to fly there weekly or monthly or something just to stockpile their smashed s'mores and lentil chips. it's that good. this salad completed me.

 5. mission beach. falling asleep to crashing waves, navy seals running right out into the ocean, homeless guys checking out my mom, watching my fish sister master boogie boarding, getting sunburned in the most awkward ways (think sunglasses tan to the maximum)  it was just all so awesome. as i was falling asleep i was planning my next trip down there. get there!

and every post needs some not so awesome things to counteract the euphoria you may be experiencing, right?
the list of not awesome things:
1. seaworld and the zoo. as much as i dislike animals, i dislike it more when they are caged up in little spaces and look weirdly sedated. not my style. the dolphins were cool though- i'll give seaworld that. but real talk- don't even try to tell me this lackadaisical heap is a happy and healthy functioning gorilla.

2. hotels that don't have continental breakfast. if i become president of the us my first order of business is writing this into hotel legislature. there is nothing worse that smelling delicious smells coming from the lobby only to be stopped by a sign that says, "seat yourselves!" then "all you can eat breakfast- $11.95." joykill. i will go back upstairs and enjoy another bar. or cheerios. or peanut m&ms. (okay so maybe these were just our treats from disneyland... but some mornings breakfast looked pretty dang similar)

3. eating it hard on a morning run. yeah, i may have taken a tumble and gotten a nasty cut up elbow in disneyland. my arm was sore for like 2 days. oh well, when you're running in a place like this, it's a small price to pay.

4. mean parents. honestly i saw some of the most biznachy moms at disneyland. your kid is at the happiest place on earth! play your part and stop yelling! my parents were definitely not those kind. (thanks, parents... and hi that's my finger)

5. comic book conventions killing my dreams of experiencing downtown sd. alright, i hesitated putting this one on here because it was kind of awesome to see flocks of nerds running around in capes all over downtown. okay, really awesome.

yep it was a great trip. loved spending some time with my family and breaking away from my usual life! good times, let's do it again soon. hasta luego, ca.

ain't easy being green

i have hardly any apps on my phone. it is kind of pathetic.

however, i do use urbanspoon religiously. in fact, whenever i go somewhere new i am always urbanspooning to find out where the best place to eat is. 

it's both a curse and a blessing

anyways, san diego has about a trillion restaurants, so when i found a listing for a well rated vegan restaurant called "evolution" in hillcrest, i was stoked. i was so ravenously hungry and excited to eat, i didn't snap too many good pics. i guess you can say that when i am truly hungry, deliciousness of food is inversely proportional to the quality of my photography. 

or something? does that even make sense? i'm too tired and sunburned to make any sense!

anyways, i got a santa fe black bean burger full of lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, and guac with a side of sweet potato fries and homemade ketchup. my whole family came in to order with me. they all stood around looking all supportive and interested in the menu and food on display. it was a tender moment

 and then as soon as my order was ready they were promptly across the street ordering nice juicy burgers (that i am sure were definitely not grass fed) at five guys. 

and while they enjoyed their burgers, i hopped across the street to peruse through whole foods.

oh this family of mine.

top thirteen things from our trip thusfar

well folks, greetings from the hampton inn... a hotel in san diego a little less ghetto than our travelodge in anaheim. my phone is in the car. no pictures tonight.
however, there were a long list of moments i will not soon forget from our three day trip down at the ol' happiest place on earth.

1. walking into the park with my sisters and having one of the creeptown workers croon "hi, princesses"
2. the squealing coming out of my mom when we rode star tours for the first time... and her sweaty palms and feet before, during, and after.
3. the asian invasion at universal studios
4. one avid fan proclaiming, "we have to get to toontown before all the toons leave!!" to his less than enthusiastic wife
5. my dad's face during "it's a small world"
6. my dad's face during "the enchanted tiki room"
7. the plethora of porky women in rompers. (seriously, what the heck)
8. waiting in line at space mountain for, oh, two hours?
9. hearing, "please exit the tram on the left" and having my mom get out on the right.... and then be berated by the tram conductor until she exited properly.
10. the sign at our hotel warning guests that, "some chemicals in building have been found to cause cancer in california". comforting.
11. watching my dad try to mimic kourtni doing the "cat daddy" dance move. followed by his surprisingly good attempts at the jerk... however, probably more hilarious in reality than in writing.
12. the unholy amounts of powerbars, clifbars, fiber one bars, and almonds we've consumed. if anything is lacking in our diets, it sure ain't protein.
13. and our skills using googlemaps. my dad and i are a team, and i am finally learning right from left.... and to warn him about that left hand turn coming up before he's passed it. baby steps!

tomorrow we're off to the zoo!
good thing i love animals.

california dreamin'

well hey from so, cal! don't worry, it only took us fourteen hours to get here thanks to some bumper to bumper traffic from just outside vegas to about.... rancho cucamonga. (i just really like that name)
like stated above, today was just a great day of travel.
and i am obsessed with vignette, like instagram for android. (i don't need no stinking iphone) anyways, at least i was entertained the whole way, right?

my nails... dmv employee status. just like those of joy the baker

lavender fields

mmmm truckstops

coonskin capped 

because the beaver gas station deserved it's own montage

so we made a quick stop in vegas at my request, and guess who was just chillin by his car taking a smoke break and adjusting his hair piece?! the king himself, of course. viva las vegas

just the world's largest thermometer! (located right by the alien jerky shop, of course.)

 after a long day in the car, we finally made it to our lovely travelodge.

a special thanks to:
our gps, for never leading us astray... for a whole 14 hours
the albertson's in st george, for supplying lunch (i may or may not have eaten an entire bag of salad)
the king, for making 15 minutes in vegas fabulous
vignette, for making photo documentation easy as pie
this book, for keeping me sane during hours in the car 8-12
lindsay, for giving us some great laughs when she expressed her true feelings about how she likes being around more "white people" upon realizing that there is a thing called diversity in CA
and disneyland for greeting us with their nightly fireworks show. (even though from our hotel my mom basically just thought someone was getting shot in anaheim. it's fine)

tomorrow it's off to the happiest place on earth.
let's do this.

my summer lists: favorites

july 14: summer is officially half over.
let's celebrate it's half-life with a little reflection on the last few weeks through my favorite medium: LISTS.

albums:
yeah yeah yeahs- it's blitz!
arcade fire- the suburbs
bon iver- bon iver
the sounds- crossing the rubicon
kings of leon- come around sundown

books:
one thousand splendid suns- khaled hosseini
joy luck club- amy tan
the alchemist- paulo coelho
the omnivore's dilemma- michael pollan
east of eden- john steinbeck
water for elephants- sara gruen
the help- kathryn stockett

movies:
water for elephants
the king's speech
gone with the wind
bill and ted's excellent adventure
xmen: first class
jesus camp

places:
utah valley peds
seven peaks
yogurtland
idaho falls, id
provo, ut
boise, id
moab, ut

eats:
peaches & blueberries
zoi greek yogurt
homemade black beans
maranatha almond butter
sweet potato fries
lemon zest
fresh garlic

things:
cheap sunglasses
vegetable steamers
pinterest
front porches
black leggings
espadrilles
this american life
emily's record player
dollar movie tuesdays
cooking with friends wednesdays

blogs:
eatliverun.com
edibleperspective.com
ohsheglows.com
shutterbean.com
joythebaker.com
joannagoddard.com

accomplishments:
incorporating more vegetables
giving a talk in church
exercising 5+ times a week
making it to boise in 5 hours
a full 40 hour work week
minimal mosquito bites (subject to change tonight)

anticipating:
friends' weddings
california sunshine
hp 7 pt 2
red hot chili peppers album: 8/30!
slc twilight concert series: conor oberst
sundance theatre: the sound of music

goals for the remainder of summer:
writing more thank you cards
buying one new thing at the grocery store/week
buying a bountiful basket
stepping up the blog: new post series
keep basil plant alive
snap some more pics

t b c.

what are your lists, eh?

i am not one of those pretty runners

especially in the july heat.
one hour in the sun leaves me beat red with my shirt soaked through and through. (note to self: stick to light colored tanks)
sometimes i feel bad for the people that have to pass me. but hey at least i can give them a good laugh and something to tell their friends about when the conversation dies down (oh by the way you should have SEEN the sweat pouring off of this chick i saw running on university ave today...)
regardless, i don't really care.
especially since i downloaded this playlist from blogworld, as recommended by emily. get it and get running... dolly parton was never more entertaining.

in other news i got back in to yoga yesterday... if you can call it that. i don't know if it's just poser yoga they offer at golds, because i am pretty sure in a legit yoga class you wouldn't hear basketballs bouncing off walls and see sweaty muscly guys checking themselves out in the mirrors every time you came up for a sun salutation, but ya know, whatever. namaste and stuff.
really though, it was awesome. people say things like "oh yoga is so energizing!" and "yoga helps me really connect with myself", however, it did neither of those things for me. after our curly haired, barefooted instructor wearing a t-shirt proclaiming something about Saigon and beer finished his shpeal on breathing into your stretch and whatnot,  i just felt like a limp noodle and completely drained of all energy and connection.
i've got a ways to go. but maybe it will be an excuse to buy some new yoga pants? (i think i'd fit in better clad in some of those. they're all the rage with the males of the group... heh heh)

this morning i was all excited to make some rad granola because i finally finished off my last batch.
i burned the whole thing.
the pan resembled a mix of charcoal remnants and the crumb catcher underneath a toaster.
i suck at ovens.

can't wait for san diego in a couple days

via pinterest

but is it wrong to say that i am secretly most excited about this?

trader joe's, we shall meet soon.
and you better be all i have been dreaming you up to be.

white perusing blogworld

i took a tumble right onto this. via

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico 

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

so, what are you doing?

currently i am about dead on the couch. cause of death? death by delicious food. let's get to our favorite things as of this week, shall we?

1. this soup. this delicious gingered sweet potato concoction that forced me to pinch myself to make sure i was still living. i eat soup in the summer and i like it that way. seriously though, easiest soup to date. if you're interested i went off this recipe

2. mason jars as drinking glasses. as i type this my loyal friend is right here beside me. it's always great to drink out of a jar that has your name embossed  across the front, yeah?

3. old navy credit cards. i'm just trying to build a mountain of credit, okay? ha but really. i got a sweet deal on some new runners this week from piperlime, cuz you can use that card for all old navy, gap, banana rep, athleta, and piperlime purchases. and i got twenty bucks off. some new mizunos for like 60 bucks? my feet say thank you very much.

4. the girl in my cycling class today that was wearing high heels. imagine this now. you look over during warm up, and the girl in front of you is latched in and wearing some three inch stilettos. i knew cycling could make you crazy.

5. nerts. nerf. crazee six. whatever it is called it's fun. we played on sunday and me and my partner (who i like to call the silver fox due to his gray patches) won. i never win cards. it was kind of awesome.

well friends, strangers, family, i hope everything is great and that july is treating you like it would want to be treated. time to do dishes and find books to read for my long trip to CA this weekend. it's gonna be goooooood.

i am such a white girl.

saturday is a special day. why? no work! all play. (and laundry and cleaning my bathroom and whatnot) i like getting things done while i play, so today i went to seven peaks to finish reading, the help. 

anyways, i gave myself a couple of hours to get my task done and hoped a little color on my skin might ensue, too. 

due to my hue, this season has forced me to rock the one piece on most pool occasions.

today i got cocky and bore two inches of lily white torso. by this picture, i bet you can guess what two inches i am speaking of.

one day i will learn. til then, i might have to utilize my roommate's aloe vera plants growing in the kitchen...

"lighting! i'm obsessed with this summer."

is what my roommate emily exclaimed tonight upon seeing the flashes provo is rapidly becoming well aquatinted with this season. amen, sister.
rain=green=beautiful mountains=this place stays pretty longer.

this weekend i was once again on the road, but this time my little trip to idaho was in the opposite direction, over to idaho falls. my best frousin. (friend cousin, duh) just got engaged, so i just couldn't help myself. i just had to get over there, hear the story, see the ring, approve of the boy etc etc etc.
it was great. although it was good hanging out with the recent engagees, it was a little depressing to be reminded that most of my friends in southeast idahoare gone away on missions, to college, or other exciting summer destinations. so, naturally i did what any normal person missing their friends would do.
i hung out with their parents.

as for the new obsessions in my life? read on.
1. let's be blunt.

i got me some summer bangs, courtesy of the recent beauty school grad. ...still trying to decide if they make me look like i just got outta the sandbox.

2. cycling. this is my new favorite thing workout-wise. it's a pain in the butt, quite literally. it's changing the way i think about bikes.... like i didn't even know pushups on stationary bike were possible. 

3. utah changing their fireworks law. driving home last night on the freeway i had the best seat in the house! i think i saw every major firework display from brigham city to provo. ...however, i don't advise driving 80 and trying to watch fireworks in your rearview. bad idea.

4. the ominvore's dilemma. so for my entire 8ish hour journey this weekend i listened to this book on tape. it's so great. i am such a food science major because i really don't know anyone else that would enjoy learning about king corn and the problems processed foods, KFOs, and organic food regulations like i do.

5. my parent's trip to hawaii.

okay i'm not really obsessed with is so much as they are obsessed with sending me pictures of their fun every hour on the hour while i scan medicaid cards.
it's fine.

happy hump day tomorrow... even though i feel like tomorrow should still be tuesday. not complaining!

because sometimes i can't help myself

my thoughts exactly after working 10.5 hours today.
i must say... i am getting really good at "execu-gliding" around my workspace. translation: maneuvering myself to the shredder, copier, computer without even leaving my seat for one minute. too bad this isn't an olympic sport. in a book i read (translation: listened to on tape) called outliers, the author says you only have to do something for 10,000 hours before you become exceptionally good. all i know is that if i keep picking up shifts like i did this week, i suggest putting your money on  me in some obscure office olympics down the road.
 it's friday tomorrow!! (double fist pump)

sidenote: can someone explain to me why the people of provo has been lighting fireworks off without fail every night this week? did i miss the memo about the 4th of july becoming the new festival of lights or something? i'm sure it has something to do with the fact that aerial fireworks are now legal in utah. general public under 15- 1, firefighters/mother nature-0.  patience, people!