Fun Photos...and Happy Thanksgiving

Before we left Utah we took advantage of the beautiful fall season and had my wonderful friend Lauren take some pictures of us. She did a great job and I love the pics she took. Below are a few of my favorties.
Mitch was nice and took some pictures of Lauren and I too. We realized that even though she's one of my best friends I hardly have any pictures of her and I together. I miss you Lauren!

Today I'm thankful for family, love and true friends.

Sunday...

Being up in Everett has been amazing. I absolutely love getting to spend so much time with my in-laws and getting to know each of them more. Another thing I love is Sundays and getting to be in a family ward again. I've been in a student ward for many years now so it's a welcome change.

This ward has been particularly fun. For example, today at church one of the speakers was talking about different types of persecution in the Book of Mormon compared to today's times. He asked the congregation if any of them had ever been stoned. One older gentleman sheepishly raised his hand, while the rest of us looked confused. Promptly the speaker clarified stoned as in the Biblical sense. Hearing this, the man quickly lowered his hand. I could hardly contain myself. Family wards are great.

Mitch's Birthday...

Last week was Mitch's 25th birthday. Before we left Utah we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate store to get a piece of frozen dipped cheesecake. It was delicious. I couldn't even finish mine. If you haven't gotten one of these yet you should definitely try it out. I'm sure there are about 10,000 calories in it but eating a delicious piece of cheesecake dipped in chocolate on a stick is something everyone should experience at least once. On Mitch's actual birthday we were up in Everett with the whole fam. We had fun celebrating with the family, eating another cheesecake and opening presents.
Alex gave him an awesome gift, a light saber so they could play sword fight! Mitch also got a PS3 which I have to admit is pretty awesome.
I look forward to spending many more birthdays with Mitch in the years ahead. I can't imagine anyone I'd rather grow old with.

Must See Blog...

I was in tears laughing after reading the blog "It's Lovely! I'll Take It!: A collection of poorly chosen photos from real estate listings."
Seriously, you must look. It's both hilarious and horrifying. Go here: Lovely Listing.

Here's one of my favorites:



PHOTO CHECKLIST:
Front of house? Check.
Kitchen? Check.
Bedroom? Check.
Bathroom? Check.
Back yard? Check.
Orange teddy bear leaning against a fake soda can? Check.

Good to go!

(Post originally found here.)

Here are a few more of my favorites, this one and this one.

Obviously I'm still having a very slow work day! Only two days left, hooray.

Because I'm Bored at Work...

I now know my colorstrology. Another mindless thing to figure out about yourself when you have nothing to do.
I don't know that I would ever want to surround myself in these "Autumn Sunset" colors but I think the description is relatively accurate. I try to always be loyal and often have difficulty breaking commitments, even if they're small because I never want to disappoint. I wouldn't call myself a person who needs to be in leadership positions but I'm definitely intense (a word I like to substitute for other less attractive words such as bossy, tense, or high-strung- all things that I can be at times too, but don't worry, I'm working on them). Check out the link here to find your own colorstrology.Noting how much time I have on my hands I figured I'd show Mitch's colorstrology too. I love that it says he's "exotic" in his manner. It cracks me up, but it's true, he's "definitely not a run-of-the-mill person." Maybe it's just because I find him so irresistable but I agree that his "inner world is deep and mysterious." I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that wearing "slate rose" helps him move through life with trust and freedom though. Wouldn't you love to see him draped in rosy hues, yeah, me neither :o) Enjoy.

Goodbye Provo...

On November 12th our time in Provo will end.
It's weird to think how much of a home this place has become to Mitch and I. When I moved out here for school 5 years ago I didn't have a car, I didn't know where anything was, and I definitely didn't think I'd ever miss leaving it. Now that I've been here so long I've learned the back street short cuts, the best prices at each grocery store, and even gotten used to the mountains.
Most importantly I've made some really amazing friends that I will miss dearly. I hope I'll get to see all of you at least one more time before I leave!

Moving to Everett will definitely be a change but I'm super excited to spend so much time with Mitch's family and am really looking forward to Seattle's weather. The clouds and rain will take some getting used to but I'm so sick of this dry climate that the rain will be a welcome alternative. Plus, look how adorable Mitch's brother Alex is. I can't wait to get to see him everyday!

This morning on my way to work I noticed that the crossing guard was dressed up as a clown- red nose and all. For about five minutes I was really confused. Then I remembered it was Halloween. I guess I haven't quite gotten into the spirit of Halloween this year. Hope you all have a safe and spooky night!

Hawaii...

If I could only go back! I loved every minute of it. We were able to do tons of different things but still had time to sit back and just lay on the beach. We spent the first few days in Waikiki just walking around the beach and shopping at the International Market. After that our days were filled with trips to the Bishop Museum, Dole Plantation, Pearl Harbor, Laie Temple, Polynesian Cultural Center, Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head, North Shore...and the list goes on and on.

My two favorite activities were probably the catamaran sail and the North Shore. We had the beach all to ourselves and those big waves gave us all a run for our money, knocking almost everyone of us down at least once. Seeing my mom knocked over and crawling away laughing was a particular favorite :o)

Mitch and I were never able to get our fill of coconut shaved ice either and I think we'll still find ourselves craving it for the rest of our lives. We also found a cheap Mediterranean restaurant that had the most amazing gyros. I could go back just for the food alone. My plan is that Mitch and I will somehow inherit a beach house and live there for the rest of our lives. Keep your fingers crossed.

Pictures just can't tell how amazing the trip was (except maybe our crazy faces in the snorkeling pics, ha). I'm so incredibly thankful to my parents for inviting us to come with them. I loved spending so much time with them both. Just seeing my dad wear a pair of shorts was pretty eventful in and of itself (I've never seen him wear a pair of shorts in my life, the closest I've ever come is seeing him in swim trunks and even that's only happened a handful of times). Mitch and I were able to spend a lot of time in the evenings just sitting down visiting with them and it made me so happy to be there with them. We appreciate them taking us so much and we can't wait to see them again soon!
P.S. Doesn't my dad wear the coolest hats?

I wish...

I could sit in one of these all day.

Mitch's brother Russ in serving his mission in Guatemala right now. He bought this silk hammock from a jail. Sweet. Doesn't it make you want to lay out on a breezy evening with nothing but a good book?

Did you hear that?

They've chosen a temple site for the
Greater Kansas City Area!

Finally, a temple in the homeland! Hooray.

I really love the Gospel.

Traffic School...

"No officer, I did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign back there. Yes I slowed down, yes I could have stopped, I was probably going .0002 miles an hour as I turned, but no I didn't fully stop." This was a three way stop mind you. There were no other cars around and I endangered no one. Nevertheless the laws the law.
Consequently I spent and hour and a half on Monday evening at traffic school. Quite honestly it wasn't that bad. The instructor was entertaining and we basically watched youtube videos the whole time.
This is what I learned:
-There are a lot of crazies on the road, and no matter what you do you can't always avoid them.
-You don't need to leave two car lengths between you and the car in front of you at a stop light (although a lot of people in Utah think you do)...but you should leave enough space to see the back wheels of the car in front of you hit the ground.
-Getting thrown from a car really stinks and usually does your body harm...wearing your seat belt is a good idea.
-Talking on the phone/eating/texting/or any any other distraction while your driving can be very dangerous. Starting next year if you're doing any of the above and get pulled over for a violation or accident it will result in an added major violation/ticket for careless driving being added to your record (but you still can't be pulled over for doing any of these things on their own).
-The average person's perception/reaction time is 1.5 seconds. Don't follow too closely or you won't give your self enough time to get out of the way if there's an accident in front of you.
-If you see an ambulance/police car/fire truck/or any other emergency vehicle behind you with it's lights on move out of the way! Pull off to the shoulder and let it pass. We watched a video taken from one of these vehicles and NO ONE moved, it was insane! They kept honking but everyone just kept driving like normal. It took the emergency vehicle almost 5 extra minutes to get to it's destination because nobody yielded to it. And the person it was going to didn't have an extra five minutes, it cost them their life. Can you believe it? Sad.

In high school my friends used to tell me I drove like a grandpa because I was so slow and by the book. It looks like I should revert to my old ways: full stops, no speeding, and patiently waiting for all the slow pedestrians/students to cross the street (living South of campus is a nightmare sometimes). Here's to me being a better driver, cheers!

Yard Sale Finds...

This morning on the way to take Mitch to work we saw a huge yard sale off 900 East. Even though we only had about 3 minutes to spare we stopped by to look around and learned that all the profits were going to a young girl with diabetes. As you know Mitch and I are currently trying to get rid of stuff, not trying to accumulate more. But sometimes you just can't help it, especially when it's going to a good cause...right?

Here's are loot:













Now I just need a dresser to put this on!

Is it wrong?...

Is it wrong that a part of me was happy when my car wouldn't start (again!) this morning?

NO CAR=

• no work
• getting to spend the day at home with Mitch (which of course prevented him from studying or doing anything productive, oh well)
  
• eating a nice, fresh lunch (nothing frozen or left over)
  
• laying out in the park
• reading a book
• taking a nap
• cleaning the kitchen (something that had been on my to-do list for a while)

Maybe I should pretend my car won't start every day.

Moab...

We went to Moab for the holiday weekend. It was a perfect spot for a little get away. We drove down early, early Saturday morning (we got up at 5am-I don't know what we were thinking) and headed to Arches National Park. After spending the morning hiking we had a little carside picnic and by afternoon we retreated to our campsite to swim and set up. We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out Indian Rock art around the city and walking through the shops in town (the rock art was pretty amazing but none of the sites were well marked which was disappointing. If you ever go down to see them you'll want to print off a locater before you go).
A nice big storm rolled in that evening providing a nice show of lightening and strong winds. After making sure our rain fly was secure we attempted sleep. Sunday morning we headed back to the park and enjoyed the cool, stormy morning. Overall the trip was excellent and despite the heat the first day I think we both loved it. Sometimes it's just good to get away, even if you're not going very far. Happy Labor Day!

Congrats to Jonathan, Kimberly & Audrey...

My little brother Jonathan and his wife Kimberly and little girl Audrey were all sealed in the Houston Temple at the end of July. Mitch and I weren't able to go but my parents sent me a cd of pictures and I couldn't help but post a few of them. Doesn't Kimberly look like a princess? I love Audrey's pretty little white dress too. I'm so happy for them all!After going to the temple my family was able to take a quick trip to the coast too. Now all the babies have taken a dip in the ocean.

Why I love posting items on KSL/Craigslist...

Since Mitch and I are moving in the next couple of months we decided to go ahead and list some of our furniture on KSL and Craigslist. This may seem a little early to be selling furniture but the truth is our stuff just isn't that nice and so we wanted to post it for a higher amount early and then slowly go down from there if we needed to. Especially since we thought it would take at least a month for some of our items to sell.

Well to make a long story short we posted 5 different items around our house, two being our matching dressers. We bought the dressers two years ago at Target for somewhere around $80 a piece. Not too bad right? We had to assemble them ourselves but other then that we felt like they were a bargain. So we posted them on Sunday night for $50 each or $90 for the pair. Sounds reasonable, right? I figured we'd sell them before October. Wrong. By Monday morning I had about 15 email responses and tons of messages requesting the dresses. I was actually kind of sad about this, I mean what would we do with all our clothes without a dresser? Obviously I hadn't thought ahead when I posted these. So after battling it out we finally got an offer for $150 cash for the pair. Sweet! Part of me wanted to tell the couple buying them that they could just spend another $20 and get them brand new but I'm not crazy so I just took the money and kept my mouth shut :o) So now our clothes are lined in these three big tubs in our bedroom. They're not the most convenient way to store clothes but for $5 a piece, they'll do. Moving might turn out to be more fun then I expected!

What's your Visual DNA?...

While perusing another blog I came across this link quiz to figure out your household style. Just click here if you want to try it out: Visual DNA
The website is mydeco.com and they have some pretty cool stuff, nice if your trying to shop your style on a budget.
Here's my results:


















I wouldn't say mine was completely accurate (I would never consider myself trendy) but I did like a few of the pieces. Especially the dining room and office area. I love the bookshelves, especially over the doorway!
It made me realize what sort of things I like to look at and what sort of things I'd actually like in my home...sometimes they're two totally different styles.
I usually like to stick with neutrals and then add a little color here and there in smaller amounts... anything too big and bright would be too loud for me and I think I'd get tired of it faster. But color is still really important and I tend to like yellow/orange or blue/green in little bursts.
I doubt I'll be decorating my home so lavishly for many years but it's always good to have a plan. You should try it out. It's fun.

Graduation...

Mitch graduated from BYU this past week! He's now an official English Major (minus that one independent study class left anyway). I'm really glad he decided to walk, it was so fun to watch him come across the stage. He looked adorable in his cap and gown.
Plus it's always a bonus to have family come in town. We had lots of fun with the Peterson's: swimming, dining, watching the movies and the Olympics, etc.
Bruce and Alex even caught a fish in the Provo River one day that we grilled and ate for lunch (don't worry, I'll be posting pictures of this later).
Richard G. Scott was the commencement speaker on Thursday afternoon and it always amazes me how lucky we are to have such men help lead and guide the university and it's students. I know BYU's not perfect but I'm very thankful Mitch and I have had the opportunity to attend this school together.

Thank you Michael Phelps...

Mitch and I were at the BYU creamery last night picking up a gallon of milk when they announced over the loud speaker that the next person to come to the dining counter and tell them how many medals Michael Phelps had won so far would receive a free large order of garlic fries. Now unfortunately Mitch and I haven't been able to watch any of the Olympics this year (except a few events on youtube ofcourse) but I'm always willing to take a guess when there's free food involved. Mitch hurried towards the counter ready to shout out any number when a nice little lady in our aisle whispered "Nine" in our direction. Hoping she was correct Mitch told the lady at the counter and sure enough we won. It didn't turn out to be the healthiest dinner but it was so fun to sit on those high top stools and enjoy the evening with Mitch and some greasy fries.
(I just heard word that Mr. Phelps received two more medals last night, making it 11 total, go USA!)

Our Utah Days are Numbered...

Many of you know Mitch and I are planning to move this November. He graduates next week and then we'll stick around a while longer while he finishes his independent study class and takes the LSAT.
Even though we still have 3 months left I have a feeling they will all fly by.
So in order to make the most of these last few months I want to know what activities/sites/etc. that we shouldn't leave Utah without experiencing. I know lots of you have lots of good ideas so please share!

Here's my list so far:

• Moab (Arches National Park): we've already reserved a campground for Labor Day Weekend.
  
• Salt Lake Temple: I still haven't been through a session here. Music and the Spoken Word.
  
• Aristo's Greek Restaurant In SLC: We've been here a few times but definitely need to go one last time before we move.
  
• Park City: Lots of shopping to do! DONE! What fun, thanks Lauren!!!
  
• Sundance (Foundry Grill)
• Bombay House. DONE! We actually went to the India Palace down on center street but I think its deliciousness was comparable to the Bombay House, and thanks for the advice, we ordered well.
  
• Roomate Get-Together
• Smart Cookie

(Thanks for all your input, hopefully I can keep adding to this list!)

I'm Aging...

Last Friday I turned 24. Yep, the big 2-4. I don't think there's really anything significant about turning 24 but I'll be honest it felt a little weird, like I was actually getting older. Over the past few months I've had a lot of things on my mind concerning my age and my future. You know, just trying to plan when I want to do this or that and setting goals for my life and family. It's always fun to think about what lies ahead.
Sometimes I find myself doing a little too much worrying while I plan though. I'll worry that maybe I should live on a tighter budget because I'm sure we'll need the money more later, or that I'm waiting too long to start a family, or maybe I shouldn't have graduated so quickly (although 4 1/2 years isn't what I would call quick), or that maybe I should hurry up and learn how to sew and cook before I ever even start thinking about expanding my family. Sometimes I even convince myself that I should be in graduate school in order to become some sort of professional and wait another 10 years before kids are in the picture.
Do any of you ever feel this way? Like you can't figure out the timing just right and are worried you'll start to fast or wait too long?
Anyways the point is sometimes I think I need to remind myself that there will always be millions of decisions to make and that usually there won't just be one right answer. What does matter is that every decision I make keeps me on the path I want to be on. And considering the fact that I've never been happier in my whole life I guess I'm doing alright, even if I feel like I really don't know what I'm doing at all.

P.S. Check out these awesome birthday gifts: Knowing the loser I am, Mitch got me a whole book of NYTimes Crossword puzzles. Now I don't have to wait for the University Newspaper.
And that delicious dessert your looking at is a dessert pizza, courtesy of one of my best friends Lauren. A big sugar cookie topped with white and milk chocolate chips and then seperated into four different toppings of caramel, marshmallow, Andes mints and Reeces Pieces. Yum!