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!

Triathlon 2012.

well it's safe to say the last time i was on a bike was for last year's triathlon,

but somehow i survived this year. & our fam won again.....orange crush crushes!

here's some highlights.

& for those who aren't aware, my family does a "triathlon" every year for a reunion. we swim, bike & run...& eat a lot of food in between.

 

hangin' out with team texas, who are slowly stealing my brothers away from me (my brother alex will prob end up moving there too. i don't want to talk about it...)

 

luke & matthew were buddies, like always.

by the way, my boyfriend had such a good attitude for this... he was dreading it! but he was such a good sport. i owe him lots of kisses, sushi, & favors for the next few weeks. 

 

vanessa has loved every second of being able to see preston while they've been visiting! he loves her too!

 

papa gardner making "potato surprise." we had breakfast for dinner after all the events..yum!

 

matthew with his cousins CJ and zachary.

 

beautiful flowers at the park where the bike/run was.

 

grace's favorite cousin is alyssa, by far. she kept saying, "i go to lyssa's house?" or "where lyssa go?"

 

this drooly boy is the best. isn't he cute in his orange crush shirt!

someone told me it's all happenin' at the zoo.

i do believe it, i do believe it's true.

as simon & garfunkel say, the zoo is a pretty awesome place.

& the hogle zoo, which sorta used to suck, has gotten way awesome in the past year or so.

i went this week with my sisters, mama, sis-in-law, niece & nephew, & we got to see the new rocky shores exhibit! their bears are so awesome. the polar bear kept doing flips for us & the grizzly bears were hangin' out right by the glass.

we had such fun, it's a shame i had to leave early to go to work!

notice matthew's shirt he was wearing? i got it for him in seattle, & yeah. my nephew is the coolest.

sweet grace checking out the grizzly's.

tomorrow is the family triathlon, which sucks because today i am feeling not so hot (darn tummy). wish me luck that i survive.

please.

les artistes dans ma petit maison.

the other day my friend aimee was over. i worked with her at starbucks & she is one my favorite coworkers from working there. she asked me where all the art in my house is from... at first i was kind of shocked. my house is over 100 years old, the carpet is over 40 years old, nothing is updated, & there are holes in all of the walls. needless to say i've spent a LOT of time covering up wall space, but i've always thought my house was kind of...bachelor pad.

but since she asked, it seems like everyone who has come over has said something like, "wow that art is really cool!" or "where did you get this?" sooo here ya go, all. a lot of them aren't really "art" but mroe "covering up that huge hole in the wall." so enjoy!

luke's best friend amy painted this for his birthday. the pic is small, but this bad boy is HUGE. like takes up the whole wall, huge.

one of my dear friends annie let me buy this piece off her. it's simple and yet soooo not at the same time. this might be my favorite painting in my whole house.

PS she will paint you anything. if you have an idea of something, let me know & i will give you her contact info. she is brilliant.

to cover up the gross blinds in my living room, i painted clothespins and hung up the various polaroids i've acquired over the years. my personal favorite is the one of my sister casie & i on santa's lap..it's hilarious.

the toms flag is just until i can afford another frame for my vinyl covers (they're so expensive?!) the pic on the top right is a beatles montage my friend kendra got me in mexico in 2008. the other frames are 2 vinyl record covers that i want to keep in good condition, & also look awesome on the wall: pink floyd's "dark side of the moon" and the beatles "sgt peppers lonely hearts club band."

these 2 prints are the newest addition to my casa.. we are still looking for frames for them. we found them while wandering the utah arts festival this summer.. the artist is kendra baird & her work is found here.

so there you go. i'm definitely still working on my bedroom...it's the most bachelor pad room in the house. broken windows, blankets used as curtains, a towel hanging to stop the AC from leaking...it's a mess, guys. someday, though. someday...

august!

to me, august is always the month that goes by the fastest. it seems that way, doesn't it? it's the tail end of summer, so while i'm busy thinking "slow down, time!" it seems to speed up, just to spite me.
it also might have something to do with 3 of my siblings having august as their wedding month... so it seems to sneak up quick when you feel stressed out about helping out, remembering when everything is... also family reunions, switching jobs, starting school, switching around my sleep schedule... this august is going to be one of those where i blink and it's over!!
i'm going to enjoy these next couple weeks, and try not to focus too much on the job, going back to school, money, etc. my family is visiting from texas, my little sister is getting married, we have 2 family reunions (too bad i can only come to 1!). needless to say i am super excited to see the fam as much as possible this month!

i got to go to breakfast with these 2 cuties, their mom, & their (second) favorite aunt casie this morning. mmm granny annie's! scones, pancakes, and SOS...yes!

they have both grown SO MUCH since i last saw them in april! it was kind of shocking, even though i was expecting it! i love these little squirts.

PS notice grace holding her fan i bought her in seattle... i saw it & just knew she would love it! once she figured out what it was she kept saying, "oh, pretty!" & didn't want to put it down when we got home.