a weekend update.

the weekend began when the workday ended.
can i just say how glad i was that the work day was done? fridays are a godsend.
britni and i loaded up and beat the salt lake traffic! we talked and ate too many girl scout cookies. and cabury mini eggs. and trail mix. but i ate an apple, too, so all that is cancelled out. when we got hungry, i spotted a sign that said there was a subway off the exit, so we got off and travelled those 3.2 miles to get some food. hey, when you're in a small town, those 3.2 miles are totally worth it. you know what wasn't worth it, though? getting back on the freeway in the pitch blackness and realizing about an hour later that you're, indeed, on the wrong freeway. detours through pocatello are nice, though. moments when you want to do a serious face palm make you learn.

saturday morning my sister and i went on a run together. she's a good runner! she's got long legs! we both survived, thank goodness. later on, my mom and i went to see the lady who made this whole weekend trip possible- melissa cole. my first knocked up high school pal! her baby shower was awesome and i am jealous of all the sweet threads and toys that baby is getting. i am not jealous of her inability to breathe easily. props to you, melissa. everyone is growing up. my friends all have huge rocks on their fingers, are buying houses, and making babies. my own sentiments can be expressed like this:

all the baby shower fun was followed up by a much anticipated trip to see the artist. such a great movie, people! that is, if you like silent black and white films with dramatic music and a lot of dancing. (is there anyone still out there?) we enjoyed it! after the movie we went home and sat around for a good hour trying to decide where to eat dinner. we ended up at lucky 13. such a great decision.... i ate like i'd never seen food before. seriously, why does my appetite exponentially grow when i go home?

sunday was church and hugs and goodbyes. britni and i drove back to utah and made a pit stop at the shiny new brigham city temple. it's beautiful!

and that was the end to a very good weekend. boise, i love you! thanks to baby cole for making this trip possible.

the lorenzo's challege.

school starts tomorrow! i can't hardly believe it. somebody hand me a paper bag!
i'm blogging from the airport... my plane decided to take a nap in spokane or something, so we get to chill here til it comes. meh.

can i just talk for one moment about how much i like my boise friends? on the real. they are the best... mostly because we only congregate around food, and today a mere lunch date turned into us meeting at a shady-ish pizza place called lorenzo's and deciding to complete our own "challenge"- the lorenzo's challenge! you know, like eating the big jud's one pounder, but a heckuva lot different and excluding all meat.

 challenge: finish your piece of pizza.
challenge accepted and completed.
since we were more or less putting this plan into motion, we brought our own pictures to start lorenzo's very own wall of champions.

the owner was confused. we pulled out our scotch tape, scoped out a good wall spot, stuck those bad boys smack dab in the middle of it all (yep, that is definitely me at junior prom) and left. from the parking lot, we watched the owner go over to our table, check out our pictures, and just walk away. we fully expected here to rip them down and come running out the front door shaking her fists, but i think she dug the idea.

you're welcome, lorenzo's. we have started a revolution. so here is my spiel about lorenzo's- hit it up! it's delicious and the lady that owns it is nice and friendly and calls you by name... plus they have ice cream cones with names like "blue goo". sadly, i didn't indulge... but that doesn't mean skyler didn't. if for nothing else, go check and see if our pictures are still there! ... or better yet, take the challenge and add your own.

back to provo for the win!

**update. flight now delayed until 8. a five hour delay? my life rocks.

honey i'm home

getting here was quite the debacle, but i am proud to report that I AM HOME and i just must say that i stink at airports and flight in general. i won't go into it too much, but let's just say i only arrived at the airport 30 minutes before my flight, barely caught the luggage lady attaching a tag labeled PHX instead of BOI to my 6 lb overweight suitcase, and nearly lost both my driver's license and my mind through the process. those places turn me into a BASKETCASE.

anyways, i got home nice and safe to a city free of both snow and cares. yay. what did i do to celebrate my boise? ate a load of chex mix and set out on a 21 mile run with diana. feel free to re-read that last sentence, but you aren't dyslexic and that wasn't a typo. a couple weeks ago she told me about her harebrained scheme to run 21 miles on her 21st birthday, and for some sick reason i agreed... and so that is why i found myself running for 3 hours, 49 minutes, and 48 seconds yesterday.

 as sick as it sounds, it really wasn't that bad... things actually went pretty well until mile 17. that's when my legs started screaming and life started to suck. before that, it was actually kind of fun! the greenbelt is wonderful and i am jealous of all the people that get to take advantage of it's sheer greatness on the daily! anyway, what a way to celebrate, eh? i figure for all that, i am now exempt from working out for the rest of christmas break.... and not because i want to be, but because right now i can hardly walk.

will somebody please rub my feet?

i'm locked out. it's cool

having wifi rules. 

so does having your car held hostage in boise.
followed by having the privilege of driving your mom's minivan back home. (to utah? where is home? who am i?)
but only as much as having zero music the entire time and resorting to super classy josh groban for the last four hours. yep. that desperate. josh, your spanish accent could use a little work.

i guess i should preface that all by saying i made a special trip to boise this weekend. my car needed a little tlc, my teeth needed the plaque scraped off, and my sisters had a homecoming dance i needed to take pictures of. high school is great place.

i drove down on thursday.
brought greek food to my mom, spied on her class, and watched kourtni and lindsay in homecoming court on friday.

me and the models. but really

i just found this on the camera and laughed a lot. 

went on a long run with my parents, ate gourmet fries and burgers, and played paparazzi for homecoming on saturday

purple fries. totally normal.

idaho fry co.... i was a little skeptical, but it was gooood

just passing the time, taking pictures of my home/farm.

the parents

the couple

cutest baby. i just couldn't pick only one

:) or should i say >:(3)

this picture is proof you should never ask a sixteen year old boy to take a picture

clearly, enough was enough.

and then drove home in the ss honda odyssey today.
what a weekend! upon arriving home, i was greeted by letters from two of my missionary pals. two! i never get letters. what are the odds? elder pittson sent me this beauty

"i included a picture i found of you being all vegetarian and whatnot." classic. i miss my buddies.
have a wonderful week... and bear with me as i try to change the layout of this blog over the next few days... it needs an update.

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.

i've got all these mental posts written in my head right now

greetings from back here in the beehive state! i had a great weekend full of food, fun, friends, excitement and family, sunburns, shopping, etc etc and obviously hardly anything written on here. bear with me, okay? and get ready for a smorgasbord of posts this week.

this guy is the main reason i headed up to boise this weekend. ladies and gents i give you elder skyler larsen straight outta france! he is so great. and yes, that cardboard cut out may or may not really be mr. barack obama.

his homecoming was full of cheeses and baguettes. i highly doubt there is anything better. it's fun/weird to have friends coming back from missions. it makes me feel old as the hills and, not gonna lie, pretty unproductive in the last two years. anyways, great to see old friends and have high school reunions in the best city ever.


as for the highlights of monday? i have three for you. 
so this weekend i learned to make almond milk and i may or may not be kind of obsessed with it right now. life was so much better this morning with a little bit of that drowning my cinnamon life. it makes waking up sooooo worth it... i am already excited to wake up tomorrow and feast on it. 

i am pleased to announce that after working almost a full year at my current job i now officially have my very own name tag! it is cool.

 and i went grocery shopping, which makes me happy. the food items i am most excited about? peaches, bananas, broccoli, a lime, some avocados, yada yada mostly i just feel bad for the checker (and people in line behind me) whenever i go to winco because she usually spends about 15 minutes adjusting her glasses and trying to key in all my bulk foods.
i'm real difficult.  
now off to bed! another day, another dollar. have a great tuesday

christmas break... in numb3rs. (heh)

one fabulous time in Boise meant:
one huge chunk of my hair burned to a crisp by a very hot straightener. (probably in need of one haircut)
one of the best books read. and two more to go before class starts up again... hunger games. so fantastic.
one perfect pesto pizza made on Christmas eve.

one whole season of modern family watched in one day. (record? probably. it is just too funny!)
one patriarchal blessing received finally!
one too many cookies eaten.
two trips made to the dollar movie meaning two huge bags of caramel corn eaten before both movies started.
two new mattresses for my sisters.... meaning no bed for me. three great nights on the couch!

two recipes tried out of one new vegetarian cookbook. mmmm it's a good one.
two married friends kicked out of the VVC. so good to see my high school buddies :)

three basketball games and choir concerts attended. yep i have talented siblings.

four eyes. (next week the glasses come!) i spent a good two hours at the eye doctor picking out the perfect specs to fix the problem these huge pupils in my eyes cause.
four trips out to the mall to do christmas shopping/returning. the boise town square mall and i have a love hate relationship. the good deals are the love. everything remaining is the hate.
four days spent alone in my apartment til the mates get back... there is not one living soul in all of Provo.
five chickens in the backyard providing all sorts of great eggs I wish I had to eat in Utah.

six burgers from Red Robin and a family night out. (thank youuuuu giftcards.)

six people jumping around in the living room whacking each other in the face playing the best game ever. Just Dance.
seven (billion) texts sent to my favorite boy in san diego. (sunday sunday sunday)
eight hours of sleep achieved nightly. mmmmm
nine AM workouts almost every day at the best gold's gym in the country. I wish I could have fit that gym in my suitcase.
ten minutes it took me to unearth my car from the 6 inches of ice and snow that covered my car upon arriving back in Utah.
countless pictures taken, times I laughed, times my mom and I stalked people on facebook, and times I realized how great I had it. Thanks for the good times, Treasure Valley and my great family. Love you :)

the weekend. and a couple woes

after a blissful 4ish days in my hometown, we meet again, Provo.

Ahh what a weekend it was. I like Boise a lot, and I wish I could have hung around longer. Jill and I arrived Friday afternoon after a dicey car trip home thanks to some very hot weather beating down on poor Dorothy and causing her temp gauge to rise and rise along with Jill's fear her car might blow up. We were thankful to arrive in one piece! Friday night after Mom made delicious black bean burgers I was introduced to "the girls" who are the newest 5 members of my family- the demonic chickens that live in the backyard, enjoy hopping fences, and freak me out a little. After playing chicken round up we treated ourselves to Blue Cow. I loved it.

Saturday morning we hiked/ran around Table Rock followed by the famous Mom's pancakes, ran errands with Mom and the girls, reunited ourselves with the best burritos in Boise at Pollo Rey, and then I floated the river with my favorite Boiseans. Our river adventures are always a little dicey, and this one was no different. Hey, there is no good story to tell if you get out with no deflated rafts, broken oars, or a couple scrapes, right? Later Saturday night Lindsay, Payton, and I conned Dad into taking us to eat at Flatbread with him and Mom, and then I spent the rest of the night with more friends just sitting outside, playing catch up, and eating lots of s'mores.

Sunday brought church, then I made Spanish food for my family for dinner. Much to my delight, most everyone liked the paella, and although no one liked my mushrooms, the tortilla was burned, and I had some close calls with my chocolate flan, it was fun to be reunited with my olive oil, salt, and vinegar. (And I missed Spain. A lot.) The rest of Sunday we lounged around all day, then got the bikes out for our traditional Sunday ride. (I seriously wonder what people think when they see all of us parading down the streets on our cruisers, all gang-like...) To end the night we made a fire in the backyard and made more s'mores. Life doesn't get any better.

Monday Mom and I went to the gym, I went to the dentist for a little cleaning (best feeling ever) and then had my library adventure. I tagged along with Mom as she ran errands the rest of the day, did some cooking, caught Bachelorette finale, and a went on a nice night walk. Lovely, I'd say.

This morning I packed up my stuff, went to the orthodontist to visit my good friend Dr. Jarvis, and then it was back to Provo. This is where the woes start. I've had invisalign for 2 years now. My teeth are not getting any straighter. I am losing faith in these plastic trays as the days go on :/ Is it too late to just slap on some wires and straighten these bad boys in a month or two?!

Anyways, that's woe number one, and woe number two happened tonight as I was sitting in my room eating some delicious Spanish almonds. I'd eaten maybe 5 or 6 when I looked down and saw a couple of ants crawling around on my bed. And on the box. And inside the box. And all over my almonds. Yes, it seems they like the sugary coating as much as I do, and much to my dismay, they infested my other box of almonds, too. So right now I am mourning the loss of the most delicious Spain souvenir ever. Sigh.

On the bright side, I do start my new job tomorrow! Aunt Carolyn hooked me up with a job at her office at the Timpanogos Hospital as a receptionist, and so tomorrow I officially get to erase 6 AM Marriott shifts from my summer, and acquire a real big girl job. Hopefully it goes great!

And now it's time for bed. Goodnight and good luck

currently

i am feeling waaaay hardcore as I sit here in the LIBRARY! stealthily stealing people's held copies of cds right from the rack and downloading them right onto my laptop.

then replacing them before any of the libarians catch me. muahaha

my newest additions to itunes? cage the elephant and lots of band of horses.

WORTH IT.

i love boise.

look what popped up onto the newsfeed...

Oh Jewel... thanks for making things clear for all our out of town friends :)

Particles, GET OUTTA MY AIR & Other Topics

I am so sick of this nasty inversion. It is really disgusting, and for once I just want to see the SUNSHINE and feel the WARMTH. January is the worst month of the year. I hear it supposed to rain a little, though, so thank goodness, maybe it'll wash away a little... and I won't feel so dirty breathing outside!

But onto more light topics! Like... college! Wooh! The latest news really is that I was accepted to BYU-I (big surprise, let me tell you ;) ) and tonight I completed the swamp also known as FAFSA. Let me tell you... how sweet it is to get that off the plate. So really, now all I am waiting for is FEB 1, also known as application & scholarship deadline. After that, I should be making my decision of where to spend the next four years of my life. ...deep breath...

Senior year is going ____ (insert word here). I have stumbled upon a great deal of senioritis since Christmas Break, and today is a milestone- 80 days and I am a free bird! However, as much as I groaned to think I still have a whole semester left, it's kinda fun. I got out of Psychology (hallelujah- it was not my favorite) and am now in CHOIR. Yes, CHOIR. Did you hear that? CHOIR! Hahahaha when I told a lot of kids I was joining, they just laughed at me, seeing as usually I am the first to criticize the "choir kids". But I have one word in my defense and reasoning and it is "DISNEYLAND". This one word is the reason that there are 75 students in 4th period choir. Yep, this year the Acappella Choir is going to Disneyland, and I imagine sing, too. April 1-5 baby! I am really excited. Who can pass up a good time with Mickey and ride through (and hopefully not get stuck in) It's A Small World? It's pretty magnetic!

If you've been reading my mom's blog, (which probably you have because you're probably my mom cuz she's the only one who reads this :) ) you'll see that she has a nice new addition to her background. The Race To Robie Creek Countdown! Now, let me tell you, I am a paper chain and countdown enthusiast, and really there is nothing better than pulling off a few links to your very own "Days of School Left" chain (yep, I do have one... call me a kindergartener) but to tell you the truth, seeing my mom's counter makes me wanna puke. I am so not ready to run this thing... and I will blame it on my IT Band. My right knee hurt a little after XC season, and I don't think falling down the mountain, aka skiing, helped it either. Anyways, now it hurts to run, walk fast, go down stairs, ect, and I so right now my "training" consists solely of the elyptical. Not my favorite. But alas, I just pray that soon I will feel better and be able to tackle the dreadmill, for there is nothing better than running 45 minutes at 5 AM on that bad boy. (Note the sarcasm, please) Wish me luck! :)