grateful.

 

i am so grateful to have the family that i do...and the good friends.

i've grown so much this past year and it's all because of the amazing people i've surrounded myself with.

i'm so grateful for my nephews & niece... everyday they give me a reason to smile. when i'm having a bad day i look at pictures i have of them saved on my phone & i can't help but feel better.

i'm grateful for my parents, always supporting & loving me even when i put them through hell & back.

my siblings & sisters-in-law for being amazing & becoming more my friends than family over the years.

for all of them putting up with my feisty temper, my potty mouth & my tendency to overreact to...everything.

i am so lucky!

happy thanksgiving, friends. i hope it's a great day for you all!

mikki's baby shower.

over the weekend my friend mikki had a baby shower to celebrate the birth of her third daughter, who is coming in january (or sooner, depending on how baby scout feels.) it was such a fun baby shower... the first i've been to that wasn't a family one, so it was very different than other baby showers. either way, everything was adorable & it was so fun!! congrats mikki, bryan, paikea & hunter! i bet paikea is up in heaven keeping an eye on baby scout until she gets here.

 

the adorable decorations & nomz.

 

chit chattin' with friends.

(it was a boy & girl  baby shower...totally never heard of a baby shower where boys were invited.) 

 

we played a game where you had to chug a beer out of a sippy cup, first one to finish wins.

as you can tell by my face, i was NOT pleased. & got my butt kicked.

my friend jenny, sitting next to me, won!

 

pretty pregnant mikki.

 

spiderman was our mascot for the day. he even wrote his wishes for baby.

 

all of the presents for scout!

 

mikki's daughter hunter...taking full advantage of unlimited cupcakes.

 

hunter greeting kristin's son micah at the door. they're the cutest little kids.

all in all a very unique baby shower...so excited to meet the little one! 

 

 

weekend.

 

you can't even see it in this photo...which is why i posted this one first (for my family who is probably going to cry. see it's not that big!!!!) i got another tattoo this weekend, with this lady:

 

i've been wanting to get something on my wrist for a long time, but i was torn cuz i had SO MANY IDEAS. i finally settled on one: guess which one is mine:

 

if you guessed the candlestick, you win bragging rights! everyone has been so surprised the tom petty lyrics one isn't mine. i do want a tom petty tribute tattoo..but i want one on my other foot.

i would have gotten it done last weekend if i didn't remember how much the foot sucks getting done. sucks! 

 

ally being brave.

 

i love love LOVE it!!! it's so cute. & more girly than i was expecting. & it didn't even hurt..bonus.

happy weekend for sure! 

sunday brunch.

 

sunday we had luke's best friend amy & her girlfriend over for brunch. we had bloody mary's, cinnamon french toast & hash browns, with peanut butter cookies for dessert.

it was the perfect way to end the weekend, even if i had to leave the fun early to go to bed at 5 pm (yuck). thanks for coming ladies! & thanks to luke & amy for cooking... so glad i have a guy who can do all that...so i can watch from the couch ;P 

Weekendin'

 

ally blowing out the candles on her birthday cheesecake. she turned 24 yesterday & we celebrated with her mom (my landlord), her mom's boyfriend, & her brother. we ate edamame, ginger chicken, rice & cheesecake for dessert! YUM.

it was a lovely weekend, filled with family, friends, lots of food, and my kitty cat. the weekends always go by WAY too fast... and midnight on monday always comes way too soon. luckily i only work overnights twice this week... wednesday through friday i'm filling in for the nightside crew and i'm SO EXCITED to be reunited with the people i've worked with the most.

here's some highlights from the weekend: 

 

kickin' it with nesta pants, my little tiger. (she is grounded, by the way, for ripping holes in my bike tires. little stink.)

 

catching a million of preston's big smiles (& tears) on camera.. this kid is gettin' to the funnest stage of babyhood.. he's startin' to try to crawl around, make noise, smile & laugh. 

these were all taken saturday, at alex's goodbye dinner. he leaves this morning for texas :( it was great to have one last  hurrah before he moves... there's a lot of big changes goin' on in our family...soon enough there will be more family members out of state than in utah i think. we'll see. 

  

i love having weekends off because i can finally take advantage of the AWESOME farmer's market ogden has. seriously, if you're in utah & haven't been to this one yet you have to go. they have so many adorable crafts & delicious food! I had a pumpkin chocolate chip slice of bread & it was heavenly. 

hope everyone has a fantastic week! 

the daily grind.

here i am with fox 13's ben winslow (aka twitter king, aka utah's favorite journalist) right before the 9 o'clock newscast. also, i owe this guy my career.

it may not seem like much of a career yet, but i got my foot in the door thanks to this guy.

it's a dang good thing i know how to make a good cup o' coffee.

everyone at the station was super excited to have me back this week. i'm very excited to be back as well, but still, the warm welcome was all i needed to know i'd made the RIGHT decision. that, & not hearing "I WANT A MOCHA COOKE CRUMBLE FRAPPUCINO" 18 times a day.

anyway, i'm getting used to my new "daily grind." this job is a lot more stressful, but it's good stress...eustress, i guess it's called. i am doing what i love, & i couldn't be more excited! i have been doing this for over a year, but the full-time hours & lovely raise are truly a blessing.

hope everyone has a lovely weekend! i'm throwing a bridal shower for my little sister this weekend, working my last day at starbucks, & writin' lots of newsy-news.

the only downside to this job is that i STILL have no idea what a "weekend" is really like. also, i still work at criddle's cafe (the scones & good tip money are too good to turn down). sigh. someday i'll be back to only having one job...someday.

back to real life.

ally & i sitting outside enjoying the utah weather.

did i mention i hate utah weather, officially? it is far too hot, especially for someone who fries in the sun.

either way, it has been hard to get back to real life. wish me luck, cuz i need a LOT of motivation to finish working at starbucks, finish freelancing at fox, & still work at criddle's, all at the same time.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS.

well needless to say, i started my summer off right. immediately after finishing my last 2 finals on tuesday, ally & i headed out to broomfield, colorado to check an item off my bucket list.. SEE TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS LIVE!
holy cow, it was so much fun! ally & i got into town around 5, & after driving around for 2 hours & talking to some locals we found out there is a FIRE BAN in the whole state... unfortunate, since all the food we packed required being cooked by coals or a fire.
so before i had a meltdown (anxiety, anyone?) we found an ADORABLE bed & breakfast right in town, with a very cool name:

wildflowers just so happens to be the name of my favorite tom petty album, so we felt it was meant to be.

after we checked in we wandered around trying to catch all the wild bunnies... seriously. there were probably 50+ little bunnies running around this place. it was the cutest thing. i was in bed by ten, thanks to my sleep schedule being all messed up from working at starbucks, so poor ally resorted to calling her bf & eating chips in the bathtub so she wouldn't wake me. luckily i stayed up long enough to see the most amazing sunset:

ya, it was awesome.

the next day we woke up & headed to BOULDER! i've been told by about 10 people that i "belong" in boulder, & so i've been very curious to check it out & see what people mean. sure enough it's the best place i have ever been to. it reminds me of 25th street in ogden, but about 10 times that size & filled with people 10 times as nice. we had people wandering up to us all morning! they told ally they loved her tattoo, & i got about 10 compliments on my tie dye dress. there were little shops everywhere, selling just about anything you can imagine. i bought luke a carved elephant & a dream catcher for myself! the lady i bought them from even threw in a free bracelet. score!

there were marijuana dispensaries (haha), little cafes & tea shops, clothing outlets, antique stores, & even a 100% vegan/gluten-free restaurant!!! ally & i thought that was amazing, since she is vegetarian & i'm eating gluten-free, & finding places to eat for both of us was kind of a challenge! the restaurant was called LEAF & was so delicious!

a bumper sticker shop...i almost bought gigi another tattoo.

this guy was SO COOL! he could play the bass standing like that, & he could play the guitar while standing on his bass! skills.

ally & i wandering boulder.

excited to eat at leaf!

after boulder we headed back to broomfield & found a cheap hotel for 80 bucks, that even had a shuttle service up to the arena where tom was playing. so we headed up to wait in line & ended up in FRONT ROW for the show.

regina spektor opened for him & was so adorable... i was stoked to see her perform! however, nothing compares to the excitement i felt when tom & the heartbreakers came on stage. ally & i were screaming! it was by far the best live concert i have ever been to. he played a lot of his classics, like "free fallin," "i won't back down," & "runnin down a dream," as well as some older songs i was very excited about like "yer so bad" & "you wreck me." it was amazing! for the finale, he came back on stage & played "mary jane's last dance," which has been my fave song of his for at LEAST 20 years, & "american girl." 

here we are before the show with our friend AJ. we were so excited!

the best part of the trip might have been when i got this picture message on the drive home. luke (who i'm pretty sure missed me a lot ;) haha), bought this acoustic guitar for me to jam to! how sweet is that boy? i spent the majority of the drive trying to remember chords & songs i used to know.. it's been over a year since i played, so wish me luck!

all in all, a fabulous start to my summer.

st patrick's is one of my fave holidays...it's cuz i'm a redhead.

 i gotta say st patty's was the best this year. ally, luke & i went to a party at my friend's house, where they had set up a photo booth full of st patty's stuff! there were mustaches, hats, balloons, huge glasses, etc.. it was so much fun!!! after the party we went to a reggae concert in downtown ogden...love me some reggae! & i also love my friendlies in ogden. moving here was an excellent choice, i must say!
hope your st patrick's was fabulous & fun-filled!

me, kristen & mikki!

love this one. love this holiday, too!