fast times in the mile high city.

i feel like the title above is a little misleading... or sounds like the sequel to night at the roxbury.it's 6:30 am, so let's just go with it. with the way this weeks schedule looks, i figure blog now or it might be brushed aside and become the red headed step child of memories. 

first off, i just have to say that i love colorado. it's pretty! it's clean! people wear their workout garb all day and there are ample places to park a bike. there are running trails less than 100 meters from my aunt's front door. there's public transportation and a cafe rio. really, i think a combination of these things are the only necessities to life. 

on saturday, britni and i boarded a jet at million air airport. in provo, utah. no, we are not high rollers, but leaving from an airport proclaiming "million air" and having to walk outside on the tarmac to board the plane made us feel pretty fly. (and in need of some aviators)

oh, skymall... i need this.

 my aunt aly collected us from the airport and we went on a fieldtrip to krispy kreme on the way home. 

we then embarked on to highlands ranch, co, where my family lives, and proceeded to spend the day stuffing ourselves with chips and salsa for lunch, shopping around for hours, and having a repentance dinner of salad at cpk. oh, and i started getting a cold, how lame is that? i always get sick on trips, and that is a fact.

 sunday we hung out and went to church, watched the baby, and went to my aunt's house where a lot of good eating ensued, followed by a lot of laughing and pinterest. it's safe to say we've converted my aunt.

i kind of think this is exactly how a 17 month old lives life.

 monday i went trail running. it was so great, like i said above, there are many paths and trails that all connect in the area my family lives, so i was able to go crazy, with a little help from my gps. (what did people do before technology?!)

 later monday britni and i rode the light rail to real denver and proceeded to  chew that city up and spit it back out in a good 8 hours time.
 we went to the "taste of colorado" fest and got free eats and watched cooking demos.

we rented bikes and rode all over the city

we spent a couple hours inside of the coolest bookstore of our lives

we had the best ice cream ever. ever. little man's chocolate coconut, you are something else.

we had sub par food at a crappy parisian cafe. 

we met black rappers who wanted us to be in their music video... and wanted pictures with us, after ordering us to "putcha shades on!" oh, and told us to look for them on mtv. done deal.

we did touristy things like ask people on bikes to take pictures of us in front of rando buildings.

we tried to go see boyz to men... but decided against fighting the crowds.

all in all, it was a great day in the city, minus the fact that everything was closed for labor day.

tuesday morning i went on another run on these remarkable trails i just can't stop talking about. all the runners i passed were all smiley and wave-y. sometimes they would try to talk to me, but i had my headphones in so i just pretended i understood and gave them a little laugh. i still wonder what they all said to me.

 back at the fort my aunt made us award winning smoothies. mental note, get a vitamix.
later, we took a field trip out to my uncle's work and stopped at the red rocks amphitheatre, which is breathtaking, by the way.
 we found out zac brown band had been playing all weekend, and we were sad to have missed it, seeing as britni's cousin is in the band, and we could have scored some great tickets. boo. maybe if we had gone the red rocks would have collapsed on us? yeah we'll just go with that.

you can't hear it, but he's saying CHEEEEEEESE

later, we ate at a mexican restaurant and more chips and salsa ensued. then it was back to the airport and onto a smallish plane to finish our travels. we landed safely in provo and patted ourselves on the back for a trip well done.

 all in all, this weekend taught me a couple things. colorado is beautiful. i have a wonderful family who are great hosts/tour guides. when you have a cold and there is already pressure in your head, the descent on an airplane is pretty painful.  i am going to suffer this week for being irresponsible and not going to school.

i hardly care because my trip was completely worth it.

colorado and family there, thank you. you're wonderful.

inspired.

i just stumbled across these and think they definitely need some sharing.
new motto.
secret crush on all three guys.
3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

= a trip of a lifetime.

move, eat, learn

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

excitement coursing through my veins.

the deed has been done.
the flights have been booked.
we really have no idea what we're doing.
brit and i are going to denver over labor day weekend.
i've never been to CO and i think it's high time i get a little taste of this place.
priceline negotiator, i love you.
flights straight outta provo to denver, i want to kiss the person who created you.
my sheer denial of school starting and a prolonged summer weekend? i'll take it.
let the countdown begin.

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.

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.

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.

"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!

red rocks and calf cramps

this is me getting artsy with my phone down in moab this weekend during the red rock relay.
what is this, you ask? a 70 mile relay split between 6 (in our case 5) runners down in moab, ut. pretty awesome, i might add.
we started at 9 am and passed the slap bracelet baton all day between two uncles, aunt, and cousin of mine. i ran two legs of the race, one at 7.2 miles, the other at 7.3. it was killer, but great times all around. while our runner was running we played water boy in the car, driving up a couple of miles, taking lots of unattractive pictures (this is a warning to you, carolyn. that ONE PICTURE you took is on lock) and eating clif bars, banana chips, and uncrustables.
ten-ish hours later we were finishing our race and i could barely walk. note to self: just because your socks have the nike swoosh does not mean they are running appropriate. good company, great scenery, and awesome atmosphere made for a satisfying weekend.
that and all the great food (minus the moab brewery. that place is crap) and a stay at green river's finest. five stars, baby.

 moab, ut. need to get back there. robber's roost? i'm thinking i'll pass.

park city, ut

last thursday britni and i followed the usual daily summer regimen.

me- so do you work today?
britni- no. do you?
me- nope. let's go somewhere.
britni- i don't have any money.
me- i'll drive. we won't spend any!

our travels took us to park city.

we laid on the grass and ate our picnic of assorted vegetables and peanut butter and mystery jelly from the fridge while discussing our dislike of pets and how we will make our kids eat vegetables.

when we had gotten our vitamin d we went up to old town and walked all over main street. we gave fashion advice to old granola women in an overpriced consignment shop and ventured into the family history center where the sister missionary tried to persuade us both to go on missions. we were barked at by an old man quite literally and pretended we were rich by trying on things at a boutique that boasted "nothing over 100 bucks" upstairs in their bargain area.
185 bones for this fur? pocket change.

our trip was not complete without a little pit stop at the outlet malls where i found some steals at gap... guess the no money spent goal was out the window. oh well.

and then we headed out of town.
in the wrong direction. before long britni was getting a little leary of my navigational abilities, wondering why had she "hadn't seen that lake before" and exclaiming things like, "wow i feel like we're in another country!" when i started seeing "ogden 35 miles" and "cheyenne exit ahead" i second guessed myself too. a little help from my gps and my fears were validated. we promptly turned around, and i patted myself on the back for my stupidity.

thoughts for wednesday

the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. 
-st augustine
i haven't really gotten sick all winter, but i have come down with a bug as of late.
the travel bug. and the fact that tix to costa rica are under 470 right now is not doing much to break this fever. isn't it ironic that the best time to travel is when you're young and single, yet you have no money when you're young and single?
so many opportunities! so much time! so little moolah.
time to find a second job.... or seek out that estranged multimillionaire great aunt i keep praying will come out of the woodwork