The Sunflower State

This weekend has been so much fun! Brent and I flew in to the Kansas City Airport on Thursday morning and have spent the last few days with Brent's family. My cute little sister-in-law Kathryn was baptized this weekend. I was able to play the piano for the program and Brent actually confirmed her. She is so precious. :) Brent's family is so great. We've spent every other day with his mom and then spent the other time at GP Joe's house out in the country with his dad. They took us out to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Kathryn, Siobhan and my birthday and it really was a good time. 


I love all of my wonderful family. The time we were able to spend with them this weekend was so great and I am so excited to see the other half of my family in two weeks! 

"The Love 

of a 

Family is 

Life's Greatest Blessing"

 (The birthday girls)

(Quinton, Kathryn and Dalton)

Rainy Days

So, I lost our camera charger and its been really sad because I have not been able to take any pictures. We bought another one and it is on its way. So for the mean time, I will just have to be really descriptive.

Friday night Brent and I finally went to go and check out the planetarium here on campus. I didn't even know that one existed. Brent had heard about it once or twice. So for 2 bucks a person, we got to go and watch a pretty cool show. I recommend it for a cheap date night.

It has been pretty rainy the last few days. I was able to get a good run in on Saturday. My 1/2 marathon is a little under 3 weeks away and I am only at 7 miles. I am hoping to get to around 8.5 miles without stopping and then at that point just finish out the last 4.5 miles slowly stopping whenever I need to. I am really excited because it sounds like some of my family is going to be able to come and support me. I am really nervous but also excited for the race. :))

My old roommate from freshman year got married a few weeks ago and I attended her Provo reception this weekend also. We got a picture taken and as soon as I get a copy from her I will post it. She looked so beautiful! I am so excited for her :)

Red Roma Tomatoes

Gardening is probably one of the most rewarding hobbies to have. I am so excited for our garden this year. We have some pretty good stuff to look forward to. 

1. Tomatoes

2. Sweet Banana Peppers

3. Zucchini 

4. Green bell peppers

5. Sweet red peppers

6. Jalepeños

7. Cilantro

8. Strawberries!! 

Brent and I bought the plants on Monday and planted them yesterday! They are sooo small right now. It's cute. We spent about $40 bucks on them which is more than I expected but oh well. Maybe next year we will try growing the plants from seeds. We'll have two years of vegetable gardening under our belt by then which will pretty much make us veterans. 

(the sweet red peppers and the banana peppers)

(the green bell peppers and the jalepeños)

(zucchini)

(tomatoes)

(the entire garden minus the strawberries and 

the cilantro--we haven't planted those yet)

Garden Flowers

May Thirteenth Two Thousand and Thirteen.


I love my mom(s) and am so grateful that I got the chance to talk to them yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't get to speak to my own mother for very long, but I had a beautiful opportunity to speak to my grandmothers. They are all incredible women and I am very grateful for them in my life. 

The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous. I was able to get my flowers planted and I am so excited about them!! I am probably going to buy some more flowers when Brent and I go to buy our vegetable plants tonight for FHE. I thought to myself this weekend while I was planting them that I must be getting old; I actually enjoy yard work and taking care of a garden and I used to hate it when I was younger. Take a look at some of the flowers (Sorry about the quality. These were from my phone.)

\

I love them! :) 

Boise Youth Spectacular!

So, my husband is awesome and doing so well in his classes this semester. :)) He has Spring term and Summer term and he will be on his way to on IT degree by April of 2015. Because of the conflicts in his school schedule, we didn't think that BYS would be possible for us this year. Being counselors is something that we really want to do and we were super bummed when we thought that we weren't going to be able to attend.

But, we got permission from Brother Spjute to turn in our applications a little late if we need to. This weekend we are going to think long and hard and decide whether it is best to go this year our not. 

Watch this video. Seriously, who wouldn't want to be there?

After re-listening to President Eyring's General Conference talk, I have been looking for opportunities to serve the Lord by serving others and this is the ultimate opportunity. I want the Lord to take care of my loved ones who are struggling right now and President Eyring's promise towards the end is pretty cool.

Check it out here:

Anyway, I am hoping that Brent and I will be able to go to the temple this weekend and have time to think and pray about whether it will be best to go to BYS this year and devote a week and a half to this wonderful program for youth. We loved every minute of it last year and would love to be a part of it again this year. 

This weekend should be filled with lots of good stuff: the temple, gardens! (we're going to go and get the plants for our garden AND I am going to plant some of my flowers around the house), Mother's Day and also, I am hoping that we will be able to go and get our Seven Peaks Water Park Passes. An awesome perk of living where we do is that since we are so close to the park, we get 2 free passes each year. Love it! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. :)

First Y Hike of the Summer

Brent and I had a wonderful date last Friday and hiked the Y! We left from our house which made the total mileage about 5.8 miles. It took us about 2 hours and it was a lot of fun. 

We left our house around 8 PM and got to the Y at about 9 PM. It was quite the uphill jaunt as you can see from this picture. So, we took it slow and took some breaks. 

Here we are in front our our cute little house getting ready to start!

An awesome shot from halfway up the trail. At about every other switchback once we headed up the trail, we would stop and take a break for a minute or two. I had seriously forgotten has steep some of the switchback are. But even so, it's a perfect little hike. Not too long, not too hard and the views are cool, especially at sunset. 

Just chillin at the top of the Y :)

When we got down, Brent and I were both starving. So even though it was after 10, we stopped at the Little Caesars right by our house and got a $5 pizza. I calculated it later and just from that hike, mapmyrun.com told me that I burned just under 800 calories!! No wonder we were hungry! 

I'll go ahead and check that off the bucket list! :) 

BYU Women's Conference: Day 2

I am pretty lucky to have the student job I have. My boss is seriously the best. We get performance raises every semester. Shifts are flexible with school classes and during the Spring/Summer we are able to work full time. Awesome, right?

Well, part of my job includes helping with onsite registrations for some of the conferences that BYU puts on. In all honesty, it's really not too bad. We do work long hours and have to deal with grumpy or unhappy sometimes, but how is that different from a lot of other jobs? On the plus side, we are provided with lunch and sometimes breakfast and dinner depending on the day or the specific conference. And usually, they don't skimp on food for us (sandwiches from Goodwood, Cafe Rio burritos, pizza, tons of snacks, etc. ) Another cool part is that after 40 hours we get time and a half. So it is also a really good time to make some extra money which is always nice :)

So why am I writing about this...

As we speak, I am sitting at the Marriott Center here in good old Provo, UT hearing muffled speakers from inside of the arena here for the like 1999957th annual BYU Women's Conference. It is day 2 which means its almost over.  And I'm bored. Yep, that's pretty much it. Now you know lots of cool information about my job that you didn't know before. You're welcome.

At least that as I sit here, I am getting paid time and a half (wooooot).

Looks like my Cafe Rio has arrived. g2g :)

This Summer, I willl....

Summer Bucket List

1. Finish Online Classes (this is probably the most boring thing on my list...but it has to be done)
2. Run a half marathon! (June 8th, 2013!!)
3. Get in shape (i.e. run a half marathon)
4. Go jet skiing
5. Get tan
6. Go to Seven Peaks at least 2X a week
7. Read 6 (non-text) books. Like real, actual books
8. Read the New Testament for personal study
9. Hike the Y three times
10. Hike Mount Timpanogos during the day
11. Hike Mount Timpanogos at night!!
12. Write a blog
13. Plant a flower garden
14. Plant a vegetable garden
15. Go to the zoo
16. Go camping and make smores!
17. Have lots of BBQs
18. Dye my hair (ombre perhaps?)
19. Go to Lagoon
20. Go on a road trip (or two...to Boise of course) 
21. Kiss in the rain
22. Run in the rain
23. Find someone to serve everyday
24. Learn something new
25. Be money smart
26. Have a water fight
27. Go to Stadium of Fire and watch Kelly Clarkson and Carly Rae Jepsen LIVE 

Okay...I am pretty sure that there were a few more but my mental lists have let me down. I can't remember any others! But I will keep editing this list as I remember them. So excited! :)