I Could Definitely Get Used to This

Yup... Summer. This is how I get to spend my lunch breaks. Chillin at the prettiest place in Utah every day, just soaking up the sun.

The only thing that could possibly go wrong with this picture is if my legs don't get slightly darker by the end of the Summer...

I love you Summer.

Ben F, I love you too.

If Ashley kicks you off I will find you.

p.s. Sorry Mom, Ben F. isn't a real boy. Sorry to get your hopes up... (Bachelorette)

Flooding

This post is for you, Erin! :)

My old roommate Erin is from Minot, North Dakota... and if you have been watching the news lately, you've probably been hearing about the flooding going on over there. Their poor town is inundated with water. So sad...

She thinks that the house on the left is her house:



Please keep her family (husband, 2 little girls and baby on the way) and her town in your thoughts and prayers! This is going to be a long recovery for the whole town, so they'll need all the help they can get...

Expelliarmus!

In case you're wondering... Harry Potter 7.2 comes out July 15th. Depressing and exciting all at the same time. What's one suppose to do with oneself once all the books have been read (long ago) and all the movies have been seen?

Well, looks like the only viable option is to go to Florida.  

Wait, what?

Yup, that's right. I'm going to HARRY POTTER LAND (aka The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) this fall! I'm so excited I can barely stand it! 

Even though I'm a Muggle I can still pretend to be as cool as Ron, Hermione, and Harry:

Pretty sure this will be the greatest adventure EVER!

Hypocrite Land

I am kind of embarassed to admit it.... but I am an avid watcher of the Bachelorette this season. I've never been a fan of the Bachelor/Bachelorette in the past. I thought it was the dumbest show that existed - especially when it was the Bachelor. Nothing irks me more than seeing a flock of girls fawn over one guy (girls in Mormon land are annoyingly way too used to that). But... somehow... I ended up watching the Bachelorette Premiere with my roommates this year... and... (dot dot dot) I've been hooked ever since. Speaking of 'dot dot dot' I'm pretty sure Bentley is the biggest MD I've ever seen. If you don't know what an 'MD' is... check out this blog link:

http://mormonchildbride.blogspot.com/2011/05/unfortunately-not-endangered.html

This show is turning out to be quite entertaining, who knew? My top three guys are JP, William, and Ben F.... I don't think Ben F. was on my radar until he showed up on an episode wearing a beanie... I'm not sure what's up with guys with shaggy hair and Beanies... but I love it.

Anyway... now that we've all lost a few brain cells let's move on to something more interesting.

I am leaving in approximately 4 hours to see this youngster:

Pretty sure he's the cutest little boy in the world! I'm so excited to get to spend some time with Jordan and Alyssa and their cute little family. I'm still slightly in shock that I'll be getting another nephew in a month. Alyssa's pregnancy flew by for me (but she probably can't say the same thing)...

Cops: 3 ... Fire Department: 1

If you must know, that is the number of times the cops and fire department have visited our house since the beginning of the year.

Nope, my roommates and I aren't a wild and crazy bunch. I mean, come on. Look at me. If you know me, you know that I haven't gotten in trouble in my life - my roommates are the same way. Well, I guess I have gotten pulled over once (if you can call that getting in trouble?). BUT, that was in high school. In my Mom's van. On my way home from prom night, in my prom dress. Luckily I looked sweet and innocent enough that the cop let me go without a ticket, especially since I told him I was late for curfew...

Anyway, in case you're curious, here are the events that caused my roommates and I to get to know the authorities a bit better:

Cop Episode #1: One night our friend Gabe decides to come over and show us his new gun. Unfortunately for him our neighbor was feeling suicidal and cops were outside our house. Once they saw him outside with a gun, they were on him like white on rice... bad timing my friend, bad timing... apparently Gabe doesn't like having police dogs attack and guns pointed at him? Hmm Weird.

Cop Episode #2: This was a few weeks ago - it was really late at night and we were all in our respective bedrooms getting ready for bed. I heard a persistent LOUD knock on our front door and automatically decided to ignore it, since... I was in my pajamas. Whoever was knocking could wait until the next day, right? Luckily my roommate decided to open the door and found an irritable cop waiting for her at our door. Yahoo... apparently somebody called in our neighbors bonfire (neighbors that we share a backyard with) and complained to the cops... thanks Kelsey for taking the brunt of the cops irritableness... (the Cop didn't believe that we weren't the ones who started the fire). Which, thankfully, led to a musical scene in our bathroom the next morning when Kelsey and I started singing 'We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel. Good song, good song.

Cop Episode #3 and Firemen Episode #1: This happened at mine and Kelsey's birthday bonfire last Saturday. Apparently we throw rockin parties? ha ha just kidding... but seriously. We decided to light a little fire in our backyard and turns out we have quite the cranky neighbor, seeing as he called the Cops AND the Firemen on us. Bleh, whatev. We weren't doing anything wrong, so we didn't get in trouble. It was kind of funny though, seeing firemen examining our bonfire to make sure everything was Kosher...

Well, hopefully that's the last we'll see of the authorities for a while. But, I guess if all else fails... the cops/firemen know exactly where to find us in case of an emergency?

Why I Wouldn't Have Made a Good Pioneer

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting this crazy girl in DC:

She had to work the Friday I was there, so I explored some of the Smithsonian Museums, the Holocaust Museum, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing by my lonesome. No biggy, I kind of enjoyed taking my time at the exhibits I went to without feeling rushed.

I think my favorite monument was the Lincoln Memorial. I mean, come on, look at it! It's amazing! And ginormous.

Although my favorite monument was the Lincoln Memorial, I think the Holocaust Museum left the greatest impact on me. Just walking into the building made me depressed - lately I've read a few books based on WWII and/or about Jews, so I felt a little more connected to the place than I probably would have had I not read them. The museum had so many pictures of Jews literally seconds before their deaths -- I kept looking at their faces, trying to see if there was fear in their eyes since they knew they were about to die. None of them showed emotion. I remember looking at a particular picture of a group of Jewish leaders sitting on the ground, just waiting for their turn to get shot - and none of them showed fear. It made me wonder how I would react if I was in that same situation. What a sad time in history...

Anyways, now that we're all good and depressed, I'll see if I can cheer us up a bit.

On my way to the Lincoln Memorial I came across this beauty:

Isn't that gorgeous?! Possibly the best rat tail I've seen in my life. It grosses me out just thinking about him washing that sucker. A long string of wet nastiness. bahaha

Oh, and in case you guys are wondering, you walk A LOT while you're visiting the DC area. I was told to wear comfortable walking shoes. Which I did. But, the soles on said comfortable shoes were not quite up to snuff when it came to protecting my dainty feet and what-not. So, on day 2 of walking 12 hours straight everyday, both of my poor feet ended up with blisters right below my toes (if you don't like graphic pictures, look away now):

Yeah, pretty gross. And painful. Want to hear a gross analogy? Once again, if you get grossed out easily, look away now... Walking on these blisters felt like walking on big, juicy, potato bugs, ready to pop at any second. bahaha. Hey, I told you guys it was a gross analogy!

My blisters reminded me of the pioneers... especially those Pioneer Children who sang as they walked... and walked... and walked... and walked... walking across the plains. And I decided I wouldn't have made a good pioneer. Two days into the walk across the country I would have thrown my towl in. Said something like "I've been turned into a cow... can I go home now?" (name that movie)

Anyway, my trip to DC was a blast! And thanks go to Kate for being an amazing hostess. And thanks also go to my buddy Cody who kept me company on some legs of my trip. I'd say the weekend was a success.

A Cheeto Kind of Day

Somedays are just special, you know? The kind of days where you walk through the grocery store or cafeteria and say 'I could really go for some Cheetos right about now.'

Well, that kind of day happened today. It was divine. I grabbed a a bag of Cheetos and ate it with my sandwich and mixed veggies. Fantastic mix, if I do say so myself.

I've always loved Cheetos. In fact, when I was a wee lass, I ate so many Cheetos at my Dad's bank picnic one year that I was sick later that night (TMI?). Since then I've learned to curb my Cheeto appetite a bit, just to avoid the 'being sick' part. Sometimes I can even make a bag of Cheetos last the afternoon (like today). So proud, so proud. Oh, and want some random Berkley Cheeto trivia? I've kept a certain Cheeto since my college years because it looks like a dude doing a push-up. No joke. So, if you're ever at my house, feel free to ask to see it. I'll gladly oblige.

Oh, and want to know what else made this Cheeto day extra special? It's my BIRTHDAY!! Between a few early morning happy birthday texts from friends, facebook well-wishers, emails, and my co-worker who made me this (and draped it over my desk):

I'm feeling pretty good about life. Feeling loved. Oh, and to top off the 'feeling loved' moment, I even got an email from TripAdvisor with the subject line 'Without you, we're nothing.' Looks like this is going to be a good year.

Katniss

So, there's this movie coming out in the near future called the Hunger Games. If you haven't heard of the book series, you've probably been living in a cave for the past few years. If you like to read (or even if you don't like to read), and you haven't heard of the trilogy, I highly recommend getting all three books. Yes, all three books. Once you finish the first book you will hate life a little bit until you can read the second book. And then the third book. They're THAT good.

Anyhow, I was Katniss Everdeen for Halloween in 2010. Yeah, maybe I was a bit obsessed with the books. And maybe nobody knew who I was at Halloween parties. But I had a blast being Katniss.

Today I saw a picture of Katniss. I've seen a picture of the actress before, but she was all dolled up and had blonde hair. Now that she's dressed the part, I think she looks amazing! I am 100% for this girl as Katniss. Now I just hope they can work on Peeta....