cruisin'.

good news for me....happy dance happy dance!

i just signed up for my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE!

seriously though...i am so close to being done. & that means it's time to start planning my congrats to myself present!

luke & i are hoping to go on a cruise in may (depending on when sweeps are at my work, since you can't request vacation during that time) to celebrate me finally being done with 6 years of classes, homework, tests & headaches.

it's been a long time coming, & quite the wild ride, as i'm sure most of you will agree.

i am so happy to almost be done & close that chapter of my life...i'm sure you all are too hehe. going on this cruise AND graduating are crossing off two huge things on my bucket list, & i'm so excited!

before i grow up & continue my job, all while looking for opportunities elsewhere, we are hoping to hit up a cruise out of GALVESTON, TEXAS, so we can see my brothers & their families before we go.

anyone have any travel tips or tips on what kind of cruises you prefer? any suggestions on what places to visit, & why?

all suggestions are much appreciated. we can't wait for this! especially me, since it means i'll finally be graduated!
(well almost..i'll walk in the spring, & do my senior seminar over the summer. but still! it counts!)

my little texans.

so texas is determined to take everything i love away from me. okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but still. my older brother & his fam moved to texas back in april, & i found out last week my other older brother is moving there too, & therefore taking away the one nephew i have close to me! ROAR! it's very good for them, a job is nice & you can't really be picky in this job market, but i'm still just a liiiiiittle bit bitter about it!

i am hoping to head out there in december for a visit, but one of my professors is proving to be difficult in letting me have the time off (she has a final scheduled for the last day of finals...if i leave after that i would only be able to stay for 2 days. i have to use my vacation at fox 13 by a certain date in december. it's messy.)
anyways, i've been really missing my nephews & niece lately, even if my youngest nephew hasn't even moved there yet. my sis in law posted a bunch of super cute photos from their visit last month on her blog & i just had to share:

 

at the zoo.

 

grace & "baby pressin." she was SUPER excited to come out & see him. aren't they the cutest!?

 

team "orange crush" at the triathlon this year. more pictures here.

 

throwing grace in the air at my sister's wedding! aka getting my work out for the day. she loved it!

 

with luke, who matthew & grace love...sometimes more than me. i only get a little jealous..

 

& one last hilarious photo....of my victory yell when i snatched my sister's bouquet out of a little girl's hands. i'm kind of a brat....

farewell summer...

this summer might top the charts as the BEST SUMMER EVER. i think i say that every year, but seriously, this summer's been phenomenal. i have enjoyed every second of no school & found it kinda hard to go back this week. here are some of my favorite summer memories...ones i will never forget:

 

-i started off my summer with the BEST road trip of all time to colorado to see tom petty play. 

-went to record store day and took luke's dad's car for a spin.

-shaved my cat to look like a lion.

 

-was introduced to the DELICIOUSNESS that is lucky slice pizza in ogden. nomz.

-went to logan for my brother's graduation, & my nephew's baby blessing.
-celebrated cinco de mayo with ogden friends.
-lots of hikes & walks to the park.
 

\

-went to lagoon to celebrate our niece kaylee's fifth birthday.

-saw SEVERAL bands we've been wanting to see live for ages: the civil wars, holy water buffalo, iron & wine, horse feathers, & mumford & sons.

-hosted a benefit concert for the tears foundation.

-QUIT MY JOB AT STARBUCKS and got a big girl job.

-got a summer job at criddle's cafe & spent the summer eating copious amounts of breakfast.
 
 

-made friends with the odd entertainment at the arts festival.
-also went to the pride festival as well as worldwide on 25th festival. (we really like festivals, in case you didn't know.)

-lots of mornings on the patio with luke, drinking coffee & talking about nothing.

 

-homemade pizza & wine night with ally...out on the patio, again.

-my dear friend emily moved to ogden & i showed her the ropes. 

-went to our good friend chase's wedding..in june...in the rain. freezing.

-birthday parties: mikki's, kristin's & ben's!

 

-went to PRIDE 2012 & celebrated the future of freedom & equality with my starbucks coworkers.

 

 

 

-flew to seattle to watch chelsea fc kick the sounders' butts. see more awesome photos here, here and here.

-took my dad & sister on the ogden valley garden tour  for their birthdays.
-celebrated the fourth with parades, lots of food, family, swimming, & sleeping through fireworks (dang early shifts!)
-did the family triathlon, even with a good attitude!
-went to the zoo...saw lots of bears yay!

-watched lots of TV & did a whole lot of laying around.

 i bid adieu to summer 2012, one of the best...but i am not THAT sad about it. i'm very ready for hot coffee, jacket weather, fall leaves crunching under my feet, & beanie weather.

 

my little sister's wedding.

 

hard to believe my LITTLE sister got married last week, but it's true. i am so happy for her & chris & their adventures they will have together!

the wedding/reception was one of the better ones i've ever been to. here are some highlights:

 

i think casie & chris surprised EVERYONE at the party with their jump into my parent's pool. we had walked them out to the car to leave, & they drove around to the front of the house, came back into the backyard & SPLASH! i couldn't believe it...i stood there stunned for a minute before my brother alex threw kylie in & jumped in after her...so i figured what the heck? soon a bunch of us were having a "swim in your clothes" pool party. the best memory ever!

 

hangin' outside the temple with my favorite kiddies. grace was doing "baby talk" to preston & matthew was making a wish at the fountain. (he wished to know every dinosaur ever.) 

  

the whole familia. there are a lot more on our side than chris' side, as you can see.

 

bridesmaids!

 

preston & luke.

 

 

we shamelessly decorated casie's car PG-13 style. the condoms we blew up & put all over were a nice touch...especially when casie ripped one off & my niece grace started dribbling it like a soccer ball. oh the innocence of children..

 

how cute are they in their pink ties!?!? ah.

 

casie, slightly embarrassed, trying to get into her car.

congrats you guys! it was a beautiful day & a great way to end the couple weeks my brother's family was in town. i missed them immensely & already wish i could see them! fingers crossed for a trip out to texas in december.. 

CAUTION: niece/nephews picture overload.

it was so awesome having my brother & sister-in-law in town from texas this month...we've had so much fun going to the zoo, going to breakfast to eat delicious scones (twice), & i got the lovely opportunity to babysit the stinkers on more than one occasion... one of the benefits of being the only nonmember in my fam;)

while my sis was at the temple last week, i got to watch them at my parents house. it was a party & a half, as you can clearly see:

ok, so preston is totally bawling in this pic...but for the most part he was perfectly fine chillin' with his aunt laur.

smiles!

i let matthew take pics with my phone...which is why there are so many. i just needed to document that sometimes luke does, in fact, smile for pictures.

my grandma norda's jazzy wheelchair is by far the most popular activity at grandma & grandpa gardner's. it won't be too long before i'll have too many nieces/nephews to fit on the jazzy all at once.

grace thought she was so cool on the beach bike.

i'll have to post pics we took while waiting outside the temple for my sister's wedding. they're pretty classic too, & i miss my texas fam already!

mumford & sons.

it was a lovely evening last night at the mumford & sons show. i've wanted to see these guys live for years, & i could NOT pass up the chance to finally see them in the great state of utah! they were incredible, way better live than i was expecting...it was at the great saltair so the view was beautiful too!

my little sister gets married tomorrow & so ends the last few weeks of CRAZYNESS. it's been so awesome having all the fam back together but i am ready for school to start & to get back into some form of routine!

happy weekend!

worldwide on 25th.

last week luke & i also got to go to the worldwide on 25th festival! i love ogden so much! 25th street was filled with food from around the world, street dancers, vendors, even a parade! 

i thought they weren't actually people "from around the world," until my friend mikki tried to talk to some of the france dancers, & they literally spoke no english. it was crazy! (i was too shy to talk to them...which sucks. i need to practice my francais!)

we had indian food, peach cobbler (the best), sushi, & roosters... the perfect combo of food from around the world if you ask me.

the dancers were awesome, but what stunk is how freakin' hot it was. luke & i left by 6:30 because we were sweating. freakishly sweating.

we both said as we left, had it been seattle weather, it would have been perfect! sigh.

horse feathers.

i'm a bit behind on blogging as august has gotten the best of me & i'm SO SO BUSY!

but last thursday luke & i were able to go to the horse feathers concert at the ogden nature center.

horse feathers are an awesome band from portland..listen to them here and here. i feel like my dad would really like them because they have SO many songs with beautiful string solos. there's a cello, 2 violins, a mandalin, & an acoustic guitar.. rad.

it was a beautiful night out, with beautiful music. we even bought one of their albums on record! it's my favorite when artists release vinyl!