cheers to 2011.

what a beautiful year it was for me. so hard to sum it all up, but i think it's safe to say it was the best year of my life. it brought a lot of changes in my personal life, & a lot of success for me!! what a fabulous year. here are some favorite memories:

in 2011 I:

-brought in the new year with a mustache.

-got to babysit the cutest kids i know.
-sang karaoke for the first time ever.
-went on double dates
-started dating LUCAS in january (and it's safe to say that was one of the best decisions i've ever made!!)

-went to the festival of colors for the third year in a row!

-watched the royal wedding with crazy hats on with my family.

-went hiking, biking, running & swimming!

-did a triathlon with my family.

-celebrated easter with my family.

-celebrated my stinky, chubby, spoiled rotten kitty's second birthday. i love you, Nesta Prime. you are my life.

-learned to make whoopie pies.
-enrolled at weber state university. now one year down, one year to go!

-celebrated my best friend aaron's twenty-first birthday.

-went sky diving! for the second time.

-got an internship at fox 13 news!!!! had many summer adventures with that including meeting elizabeth smart, being part of news writing & producing, writing fox 13's quickcast & learning how it all works!

-got six baby chickens and four more later in the year!

-took luke to see of montreal for his birthday.

-went to the zoo.

-went to my very first university of utah football game.

-celebrated the fourth of july with my amazing family. & getting drenched in the parade.
-other bands i was lucky enough to see live: the wailers, bright eyes, mountain hymns, matisyahu (again), explosions in the sky, and edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros.

-met ty burrell (who plays phil on modern family).

-listened to records....a lot.

-got hired at fox 13 news working as an associate producer & photographer.
-went on many sushi dates.

-moved to ogden with my bed hog kitty & boyfriend.

-went to park city with my favorite starbucks gang!

-gauged my ears, and also ungauged them within the year (ha!)

-got a tattoo on my foot of a beautiful sunflower from my favorite painting by brandon boyd. got it as a sign to remember to keep my head towards the sun, & that life will always get better.

-went thrifting with boy. went thrifting a lot in general.

-transferred to a new Starbucks store....very sad.

-celebrated Halloween with some of my best friends! (& dressed up as a flapper.)

-celebrated my 23rd birthday with my boyfriend's family. 

-wrote my first ever 30 page research paper, & got a B!!!

-also celebrated the birthday with my family. we are super cute.

-was asked to be my best friend's maid of honor at her wedding in a year. i'm SO excited about it!

-caused a fire extinguisher explosion at work, which resulted in the newscast having to end early, evacuation of studio, etc etc. (still not funny enough to laugh about yet. still humiliating.)

-survived windageddon 2011.

-went to arches national park with a lovely group of friends.

-discovered several amazing new bands, including The Civil Wars, Cage the Elephant, & Adele.

This year was the best of my life, which is so good because although 2010 was also great, it was probably the worst year of my life.

Proof that everything works out in the end! I'm so excited for 2012.

-see 2010's recap here and 2009's recap here.

Pet sitting!!

Meet my little buddies over the next few days: Jake the tortoise and Jazzy the standard poodle!
Luke's sister asked us to take care of these cuties and we were more than happy to say yes. I've definitely been wanting a dog these past couple months so this was the next best thing. I think I want a poodle now instead of a boxer though :) Nesta, on the other hand, is not so happy with the arrangement. She's taken to sulking on her bed in the corner. Poor little lady.

CHRISTMAS, part two.

CHRISTMAS. Part one.

It was the best Christmas ever, I'm pretty sure. Luke and I spent the holiday with both our families who spoiled us rotten. We are so lucky! Here are some pics of the weekend's events. My fave present?? The HUGE portrait of The Beatles that my sweet mom gave me. Boy do I love that woman!

Date Night.

Yesterday Luke and I went out to eat at Goodwood BBQ in Ogden and then went to see Christmas Village. It was cold but so fun! I loved walking around to look at the beautiful lights with coffee in one hand, and Luke's hand in the other! (go ahead.. Call me a sap.) i love how even after 11 (!) months of dating he still will ask me out on dates. I got pretty lucky when I somehow snagged this kid.. Can't wait for our one year anniversary next month!

11 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2011.

I did this last year and kinda loved it. Summing up my music tastes for the year was incredibly difficult though. I got introduced to so much new music this year (thanks boyfriend!) that I found it really hard to narrow it down to just ten albums. So I have eleven.. :)

1. Bon Iver's self titled album. Incredible. Give perth a listen. They sold this album at my work & I listened to it for months without ever getting sick of it. It's beautiful!

2. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
This Omaha native never ceases to amaze me. Such a powerful lyricist. Check out this song, all seven minutes of it.

3. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
This band is always great to dance to at parties.. I love the upbeat new age feel of the group. Their latest album was no exception.

4. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
These guys came to SLC this past summer, as well as released a new album that I could not get enough of.

5. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

The most beautiful music I think I have ever heard. This album could possibly take the cake for being my number one favorite album of the year.

6. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
I've always dug the weird vibes of Radiohead. With the exception of Creep, most of their songs are a bit out there, & that is what I love about them. Check out this music vid if you want to see just how crazy/weird/awesome they get.

7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

The song the album was named after will possibly blow your mind. I recommend listening to it while sitting down, or else your knees might give out. No joke, that's what happened to me when I first heard it. Sheer beauty.

8. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk

As if being a sexy old man & a badass TV doctor isn't enough, Hugh Laurie proved to the world that he's also a brilliant musician.

9. City & Colour - Little Hell

A favorite band of mine since high school, they finally released a new album that tops anything they've ever created. 

10. Noah & the Whale - Last Night on Earth

The best happy music you will ever need, these guys influenced my life this year possibly more than any other band. PLEASE give them a listen. They have something for everyone.

11. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What

Simon & Garfunkel is easily in my top 3 favorite bands, so when Paul released a new album this year I couldn't resist. Turns out he's still amazing, brilliant & incredibly talented.

I sure hope 2012 can top this...but I doubt it.