You Can Turn Off the Sun, But I'm Still Gonna Shine!

I caught up on reading my friends’ blogs this afternoon, and am relieved to know I’m not the only one who didn’t post enough (or at all) over the holidays. Between finishing up school, enjoying the holidays, and preparing to leave on my mission… blogging just took a backseat for the last couple of months. I’m still alive though and doing fabulously! I have a goal of posting at least every other day until I leave on my mission. (more if I can manage it) In two weeks though, I enter the Missionary Training Center! Crazy huh? It’s coming so fast! I am incredibly excited!

So finishing up school was quite the adventure… especially the last 24 hours I spent Rexburg. The Thursday afternoon before I returned home to Utah (Friday afternoon), I had finally finished all my finals (which were all projects, no exams). Brandt came over to hang out with Emily, Katy, and me to say goodbyes and play for a little bit.

We were having a grand time, and taking lots of pics, when suddenly the power went out. We already had the camera out, so Brandt and I pretended to be scared.

My friend in the dorms said that there were tons of little freshman girls actually scared… screaming freshman girls in the dark… I’m really glad I wasn’t there. We were a little confused, but one of my roommates’ mom called the power company, and discovered that an entire substation had gone down. The power was out across several towns. So we spent the next while creating our own power outage fun. We tested our cell phones to see whose light was the brightest:


We frolicked in the icy parking lot and went for a drive:


Then Brandt went home, and it was just Emily and I hanging out. I realized I might be in for a cold night considering all my blankets and bedding were in Utah. Justin came up Tuesday night and took all my stuff back with him. All I had for bedding was my little bean pillow and my new pink snuggie… Emily took pity on me and we decided to drag our top mattresses into the living room for a power outage sleepover. We used Emily’s awesome comforter and slept warmly with our matching bean pillows. The power did come on in the middle of the night, but we had fun in the meantime. We enjoyed some fun girl talk, and of course Oreos!

Even if my schedule for White Glove cleaning and wrapping everything up in Rexburg got set back because of the power outage… It was a fun adventure. Thanks to my awesome roomies and friends for making it so fun!

These Are the Moments, These Are the Times

After our temple session Friday night, my family and I set out to enjoy some quality time together in Rexburg. Our first initiative was to get some dinner at Craigo's- a Rexburg original pizza place. You can tell you're in Idaho when they serve pizza with potatoes on it :) I really like Craigo's and it was fun to share it with my family. After dinner we were all pretty tired, and went back to the hotel they were staying at for a little hot tubbing.

When we arrived the hot tub was fully occupied so my sister and I decided to try sitting on a ledge in the pool... it wasn't quite the same. It was however,, entirely entertaining. A father, two little daughters, and one little son (all probably age 10 and under) were playing in the pool. The father was trying deperately to keep his kids from bothering us or any other guests. The children were trying desperately to be normal, rowdy, little kids in the pool. We were splashed over and over and the little girls liked swimming over to us and explaining how they used to take swimming lessons and such. The boy was my favorite though, he was shouting across the pool to his dad trying to get some attention, and it sounded something like this:

"Dad! Dad! I'll swim for you! Dad, Dad! I'll swim for you! Hey Dad! Dad! I'll swim for you Dad! ....."like a monkey! or a soldier! I can swim like a monkey!.... or a soldier! ... or a monkey!... or a soldier!... Hey Dad! I'll swim for you!"

After half an hour or so, my mom eventually asked the current hot tub occupants if we could have a turn and they were very nice about it. The boys came out and joined us, and we enjoyed chatting and relaxing. The spot I sat in had like 5 awesomely powerful jets on my back, and it was SO nice.

Enjoying pizza and the hot tub~ (that's Amanda trying the "Spudalicious Pizza")

After the hot tub, we left the parents to get some shut eye and headed back to my apartment. The three of us had fun playing air hockey in my lounge. Amanda and I are pretty even in skill, and Justin can dominate both of us. The best part was while giggling uncontrollably, I scored 4 points for Justin (hitting the puck into my own goal) in rapid succession. After the fourth one, he and I both lost it and melted to the floor in hysteric laughter. It was fabulous :)

air hockey fun

We went back to the apartment to chill with my roomies. Brandt also came over to hang out with us and we mostly vegged a bit while Emily (roommate, not me) finished watching "Annie" on TV. Pickle headed back to the hotel, and the rest of us sat around being ridiculous, chatting, watching you tube, and letting Brandt entertain us. For a glimpse into our craziness, read some quotes of the evening in my sister's blog post.

chillin' at my apt.

This is one of the many ways Brandt entertained us (that's Amanda blogging in the background):

Amanda and I tried to be cool and watch "Brothers Grimm" while we had our sleepover in my living room. It didn't really work. We crashed too quickly. I was SO sleepy when it was time to wake up. The fam headed out around 9:30 Saturday morning which was far too soon. I already miss them! It made me feel very loved to have them all in Rexburg with me. I love them SOOOOOOOO much :)

A Heart Don't Forget Somethin' Like That

In preparation for my mission, I was able to go through the temple for the first time last night. It was a very special, spiritual, and sacred experience. I know I won't remember a lot of what happened, but I will always remember how I felt. One of the very best parts? My whole immediate family was able to be there with me. I'm the youngest and the last to go through, and it was such a sweet moment to see my beautiful family all together in the Celestial room of the temple. I love them so very much. Even with leaving out details, I do realize this is a rather personal post... it just makes me so happy that I just have to share how happy I am and why!

Here is my amazing little family in front of the Rexburg temple last night:

When I Grow Up, I Wanna be Famous

My first photo shoot for Mormon Artist magazine has finally been published! I'd tell you more about the magazine and what they do... but it's probably more effective for you to just go read it on their web site.

Photographing Jack Weyland was a lot of fun. He's a very sweet man, who's pretty shy about the whole photography thing, but was a really good sport! My favorite photo from the shoot is the angled black and white one, so I was really happy they chose to use it.

Here's the article featuring my photos :)

And here's the home page of the magazine :)

Just Haven't Met You Yet . . .

It's that time again!! Song of the week! I was right about Wednesday's being crazy overwhelming though. I really don't have time for this, but that's why I need to do it. It's healthy to take a break and enjoy a little music.

I'm sure a lot of you have already heard this song, and hopefully already love it. Regardless though, you should definitely check out the music video. I'm always a fan of breaking into song and dance in everyday places. I wish it happened in real life on a regular basis. (I mean... including people besides me... it's not as fun when you're the only person singing and dancing. And yes, I really do sing and dance in random places, including the grocery store.)

Gotta love Michael :)

Roommates! Meet the Roommates!

I have some pretty rad roommates this semester. Here's a little about each of them.

Emily (yes, we have two Emily's) is 18 and is from Maryland. She's a Mechanical Engineering major and is very smart. She's also very talented at painting cool nail designs, and she happily helps me make my nails look awesome on a regular basis. She really likes Toaster Strudel and Spaghettio's .

(enjoying some magical hot chocolate!)

Chun is also 18 and is room-roommates with Emily and is from Korea and California. She's also incredibly brilliant, and just applied for the Nursing program. She has a rice cooker that speaks Korean... we're pretty sure it's throwing insults at us... possibly plotting to explode and kill us. Everything Chun ever does is pretty much adorable.

(Chun trying on some 3-D glasses we bought)

Vanessa is 19 from Malad, Idaho... and I have no idea what she is studying or if she even knows. She is off track, and just working this semester. She likes having fun, dancing, dressing up, whatever! She's pretty cool.

(Chillin' while we watch a movie)

Lauren rooms with Vanessa. She is 19, from California, and engaged to be married in less than 2 weeks! She's not around all that much, being busy with school, wedding planning, and being engaged. She's also applying for the Nursing program.

(Lauren w/her fiance Allen)

Last but certainly not least, is my roomie Katey! She's 19 (almost 20) from California. She is hoping to get into the Photography program, and is a very talented photographer! She and I had fun doing a photo shoot together a couple of weeks ago... and we pretty much have fun together all the time. She loves all things Johnny Depp and has an awesome sense of style. I could brag about her forever. We were basically meant to be roommates and she rocks my socks.

(at a black light dance party)

Those are the girls I live with! We have a lot of fun together, and learn a lot from each other. It's a fabulous apartment!

If Only it was Saturday, Saturday!!

(Oh how I love that song by The Rocket Summer!)

I love the weekend, and even though this weekend was far less productive than it probably should have been, it was especially enjoyable and rejuvenating. My favorite accomplishment of the weekend? Making homemade lasagna from scratch! I have a really awesome authentic sauce recipe from my mom, who got it from my grandma, who got it from some Italian guy or something. It's delicious, especially when made with real fresh ingredients like fresh garlic and parsley. Fresh onions are excellent too... but my eyes react really easily while mincing them:


The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but trust me- LOTS of watering.


It was also pretty amusing that while I was making the sauce Saturday- my roommate Emily was making Spaghettio's on the adjacent burner. The juxtaposition was amusing:



This is a photo of the partially eaten final product... the photo makes it looks nasty, but I promise it tasted like heaven:


So here's some highlights of my delightful weekend...


-Grocery shopping and playing w/ Brandt and Katey:


-Brandt letting me drive his car everywhere we went- I love driving and miss it!

-Going to Comic Frenzy (improv comedy show) w/ Katey and watching Brandt perform:

(not sure where our pics and videos of him peforming went?)

-Saturday and Sunday sessions of Stake conference

-Napping because church started and ended way earlier than usual :) , here's my roommate Emily during her nap:



-Dinner w/ roomies + Brandt + Landon:


-After Sunday dinner activities including cleaning up, playing "Big Booty", playing the "laughing game", massage/back scratch train, overall craziness and relaxation:

I have no legit explanation for this video... except maybe insanity? Enjoy ;) :

-Dessert swap w/ the boys from Delta Phi 3 and girls from Mountain Pines 308:

(pics will be added later)

All in all- you should be jealous of my weekend. I have some really amazing friends and roommates am really really grateful to have them in my life right now.

I Don't Mind, if I'm in Texas

BIG NEWS!!!!

This post is a little delayed... so most of you probably already know this... but in case you didn't... I'm going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I have been called to serve in the Texas Houston East mission for 18 months, and I enter the MTC (missionary training center) on January 13th.

I'm so incredibly happy and excited about it! It just feels really really right, and that's the best feeling in the world. I'm also delighted that Beaumont, TX (where I lived from ages 2-10) is right in the middle of my mission. I don't think there's another area of the planet that I love more than where I'm headed :) (as much?- yes. but more?- no.)


Here's just a few pics of my super supportive family and friends after I opened my mission call:

(video of the opening to be posted later as well as other prep updates)

There were more people there, whose support I appreciated so much! I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive as I prepare to serve. It really means so much to me, and I love you all!!!

Hey Soul Sister!

I think I'm going to start posting a song of the week... and I might try to to do it every Wednesday.... because today is Wednesday and I'm posting a song right now. Not only that, but Wednesday being in the middle of the (crazy, busy, overwhelming) week, it's good time to take a breather and appreciate some sweet tunes.

This week's song is "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, and it is amazing. My friend Davita was singing it in ceramics today and said I should look it up. I'm SO glad I did. I've just listened to it at least 4 times, and just can't get enough! Some songs I listen to over and over just because I love them, and others because they have such fascinating lyrics that I can't fully understand its brilliance in just one listen. This song falls into both categories. Enjoy!

I'm a Rainbow Today- All the Colors of the World

I hope this isn't too shocking for any of you, but I have a confession to make.... I'm a total nerd. At first glance or meeting, many wouldn't think that about me. That doesn't make it any less true. Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that I am indeed, very nerdy. One example of my nerdiness? I LOVE new office and school supplies! (new folders, pencils, erasers, post-it notes... the list goes on) They make me so happy! I partially blame my mother for this. Due to my special brand of "Art Nerdiness" this love exponentially increases for new art supplies. (Paints, fancy tapes and adhesives, charcoal- you name it!)

You can imagine my excitement then, about my recent purchase of a set of 132 Prismacolor Pencils! That's every color that Prismacolor currently makes. For those unfamiliar with these pencils- they are super high quality colored pencils that blend amazingly well. They are one of my very very very favoritest art mediums. The reason I had to buy them is actually a little sad. The large set that was given to me as a gift in highschool somehow disappeared. I'm still hoping that it is only temporarily misplaced, because it was a huge set that I added to... worth lots of money and very important to me. My mother and I were unable to find it in either Utah or Idaho though, so I had to buy a new set to use for a school project.

I'm so in love with them! Look how pretty!:




More examples of my nerdiness:

1- They didn't come color sorted like that.... I did that myself.
2- Logically one would just sharpen them as needed, but I was so excited that I sharpened every single one of them before I ever used them.

I used a very effective electric sharpener for that process. I was not crazy enough to try to sharpen them all using this little guy that came with them:



I also am not sure why they included a couple of blue oil pastels... there was no advertisement or explanation included. And I actually haven't tested them yet so they could be something else, but they look like NuPastels.



So what project did I need these for? It was one I developed myself for my Secondary Methods class. I designed my own project and lesson plan for a drawing class and then created an example of what my students would do as the assignment. The drawing itself is fun and cool and all that jazz, but I was most excited about the feedback I got about my lesson and project development. Both my teacher and the class hotshot gave me lots of great feedback about the appeal my project would have to students and how well it incorporated the 4 components of Discipline Based Art Education. After that critique I called my mom and cheerfully announced, "I'm going to be a good art teacher!" Here's a photo of the final product:




*New Prismacolor set------------------------------------------------------ $115
(actually a really good deal)
*Drafting Tape and Illustration Board-------------------------------------- $10
(ish)
*Feeling like I may one day actually be effective in my chosen career?------ PRICELESS

Can't You See That It's Just Rainin'?

The weather here in Rexburg is fairly unpredictable. There's a popular saying that explains "if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour- it will change." That doesn't always hold true, but it can be pretty accurate. A couple of weeks ago (I believe it was a Wednesday), as I was preparing to walk out the door and head to my 8 a.m. Head Drawing Class, I realized it was sprinkling. I knew full well that it could stop at any moment, but I also realized it could start coming down harder just as quickly. I decided I should take an umbrella. I ran to my bedroom closet and (in the dark because Katey was still sleeping soundly) grabbed the first umbrella I could reach. I slid it over my wrist and headed to class lugging my large portfolio bag, and art supply tackle box.

It started raining harder, and as I walked quickly through the final stretch to the Spori building, the wind also increased considerably. I was pretty soaked by the time I got to class. It's a three hour class though, so I had plenty of time to dry before I had to brave the outdoors again. As I left the building, rain was coming down pretty hard. I decided to open the umbrella. The umbrella I had grabbed is a very cute shade of pink, but rather flimsy. (Not flimsy by normal standards, but flimsy by "able to handle Rexburg wind" standards) I pointed it into the wind and headed to the library to print some assignments. Running on very little sleep, I quickly zoned into my own little world as I trekked across campus.

Suddenly, I was pulled out of that world... someone was talking to me. It was a young man, complimenting my umbrella. I'm fairly sure all he said was, "I like your umbrella" but it really caught me off guard. I tried to say "thanks", but I'm really not sure if it actually came out or not, at least in any audible degree. My face must have portrayed the confusion I felt as well. I had not been prepared for human interaction. (Yes, I do realize that is silly seeing as I was walking in the heart of campus at 11 a.m.)

The encounter was incredibly brief, but as I left the library to head back to my apartment, "Umbrella Man" was still on my mind. Later that evening he still kept popping into my head. What was it about this boy?! I figured it out that night (as I ridiculously compared him to a recent crush that was sitting in my living room). Umbrella Man, though good looking, wasn't extraordinarily physically attractive. He did however have an extraordinarily kind personality. I can't explain it very well, but it was so easy for me to sense what a caring, kind, genuinley sweet guy he is.

The tragic thing? I'll probably never speak to him again. I don't know that I'd even recognize him if I saw him. My ridiculous confession? Even though, I have 2 or 3 other umbrellas that are tougher and more sensible than that pink one (all of which are very cute)- that is the one I carry in my backpack every day. I secretly hope for rain, even though I know it will be cold and windy and unpleasant. I hope against hope that as I walk into the wind, Umbrella Man will cross my path and compliment my weather gear once again.

I know it's silly, and that even if I did see him again he's probably married or something. He's definitely a nice idea though. Someday I'll find an Umbrella Man to keep: the kind of guy who would notice something as silly as a pink umbrella, a guy considerate enough to offer a genuine compliment, a guy who warms my rainy days just by existing, a guy who carries the sun in his pocket and shares it everytime he smiles. So here's to my Umbrella Man- may he continue to brighten the world, one person at a time :)

Writing this reminded me of one of my favorite paintings by Jack Vettriano:

And Don't You Worry What the Bitter Hearts Are Gonna Say

I'm currently participating in a Practicum project for my Book of Mormon class. I had the option of choosing from 4 areas and I chose language. This means for two weeks I am following 4 rules, creating a plan of action to follow them successfully, keeping a daily journal of my progress, and writing a review of my experience at the end of the two weeks. My 4 rules are:

1- no complaining
2- no gossip
3-no sarcasm
4-only say positive and uplifting things about others

So far I've been doing really well, and it's been a really good experience. I have complained twice though... both times it was about Head Drawing. While doing my homework I told my roommate Emily, I was drawing a "stupid skull". And when I talked to my mom after class yesterday, I whimpered that "drawing was hard". I went on to tell her about some of the success I'd had while drawing that day, and was mostly positive, but I definitely started with a complaint. Apparently my attitude about my Head Drawing class is a weakness.

Along with that realization- here's some things I'm understanding better, because of this assignment:

1- Bad things happen, and talking about them isn't complaining. What makes the difference, is attitude.

2- Though I don't believe sarcasm is always inappropriate, thinking a little more about when you use it, can help one be a little more sensitive to those around them.

3- Being positive really is contagious.

4- I know that I'm already an optimistic person.. but my roomie says that this project has increased it. That's okay with me, because I really like being happy :)

You and Me Together, Workin' on Forever

It's time for me to do a little back tracking and post about some of the awesome stuff that happened while I was too busy to blog. The subject of this particular trip down memory lane? The wedding of two of my very best friends! Daniel and Elissa Larsen were married on Saturday, August 15th in the Bountiful,Utah LDS temple and I couldn't be happier for them!

Daniel and I have been really good friends since high school, and I met Elissa right when they started dating. She and I hit it off, pretty much from day one, so I was a big fan of them as a couple. That came in handy when Daniel stressed after realizing how young Elissa was. I don't think I did that much, but Elissa likes to give me credit for helping him come to his senses and not worry about it. It also came in handy when I helped Daniel plan and arrange the big proposal :) I may or may not post that complete story another day, but here are some pics from that evening:


I was given the wonderful privilege of taking their engagement photos. They turned out fabulously, and we had so much fun taking them! Here's a collage that I created with some of the photos and framed as a gift for Elissa's bridal shower. The quote is a favorite of hers.



Their wedding day came so fast (though I'm sure the wait seemed much longer for them). I was so excited for them! One might ask- what is the role of a girl who is basically best friends with both the bride and the groom? On their wedding day- it was very multifaceted. My main roles were bridesmaid, babysitter, and photographer.

The only major trickiness was how to take pictures that I needed to be in. This was solved by my wonderful brother agreeing to be my assistant for the photography outside the temple. For group shots I needed to be in, I simply set the shot up and left him to press the button. He was also a good sport about carrying my junk around.

The whole day was perfect and wonderful and full of interesting adventures. Luckily for everyone involved, Daniel and Elissa are the most chill bride and groom ever, and stressed out about absolutely nothing.

Adventure #1: Traffic

Pretty much everyone was late to the temple. (Except those who stayed the night before up in Bountiful) I rode up with Jason (friend and groomsman) and I think we were about 40 minutes late. It was bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway. We never did figure out why there were so many cars on a Saturday morning, but at one point all the lanes closed except for one, so that didn't help the situation all. Jason handled things pretty well, and I was in a chill mood- knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Things worked out. People got there, and most importantly- Daniel and Elissa got married :)

Adventure #2: Bug (this is a small one)

A large bug ended up in the train of Elissa's dress. For some reason, Pickle was the one who ended up in charge of evicting the creature from its new home. Jason and Daniel were apparently in charge of supervising. These pics are priceless.


Adventure #3: Dead Car

During the ceremony and the photo shoot we had outside the temple.... Jason left his car headlights on. When we returned to the car, it wouldn't start. fortunately, he had jumper cables, and it didn't take long for a kind family to stop and help us out. We were only a little late to the wedding luncheon.



Adventure #4: Bleeding...

While riding up to the wedding, Jason informed me that his arm was all scraped up from a long-boarding crash the previous day, and that he may end up bleeding through the sleeve of his shirt. I shared with him (from my vast depository of random knowledge) that if he bled into his shirt, the best way to remove his own blood was with his own spit. There's something about the composition of your own saliva that reacts with the composition of your blood to effectively remove it from fabric. He was impressed, and rightfully so. It's a useful thing to know.

Later that evening while taking a few couple shots before the reception started, I pinned Daniel's boutonniere on his lapel and poked my poor little thumb. We took a picture:

I wiped the blood away and proceeded with the photo shoot. I began arranging Elissa's dress when we realized I was bleeding all over the skirt!! smears and drops everywhere! So what was I to do?..... that's right...I licked it out.... all of it. I did a pretty spectacular job, if I do say so myself. I wish we had taken pictures. And in case any of you are wondering.... wedding dress does not taste very good.

The reception in Orem that evening was lovely as was the second reception they held in Idaho two weeks later. That whole weekend was spectacular and possibly deserving of its own blog post at a future date.

I love working as a photographer so much, and it doesn't get better than getting to capture treasured memories for those you love most. Here is a small sampling from the very immense collection of pictures of the various wedding festivities:

I just love Elissa and Daniel and wish them every happiness in their life together. I'm so glad we're friends!!

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster

***note- despite my better judgment, I decided to type this up directly in the blog window instead of a word processor... bad news bears. I was almost done with the post when I somehow clicked away from the page and erased everything! Ack!****


I’ve been a horrible blogger for the past couple months! My life got pretty crazy towards the end of the summer, especially with work, but with other things as well. Then I moved back up to Rexburg to go back to school, and things haven’t really slowed down. I don’t anticipate a slow down any time soon, but am going to try to make time to post regularly, regardless of my intense schedule.

I am back in Rexburg, attending BYU-Idaho, studying Art Education. Life in Idaho is fabulous, and I love it here, but I do miss Utah, specifically the people in Utah. I was able to visit over General Conference weekend, and see lots of the wonderful people I love. I’m hoping to visit again very soon and pretty regularly throughout the semester. I tend to be able to visit home quite a bit during Fall semester. For those of my Utah friends reading this, you’re always welcome to come visit me in Rexburg as well! It’s only 4 hours away :)

School takes up the majority of my time right now as is prone to be the case for college students. These are the classes I’m taking this semester:

ART 414- Secondary Art Methods 2: This is the second half of the methods class for Art Education. We cover a wide range of concepts for teaching art, particularly at the secondary ed level. In this portion we deal with a lot of curriculum development, assessment, and things of that nature. A large chunk of what we’ll be doing throughout the semester is developing our own projects that we would use in a future class, and then creating them ourselves. It’s fun for me to have so much control over what I’m creating for a class assignment. It’s been awhile since I’ve had that! I’m currently working on a project for a drawing class, using Prismacolor pencils.

ART 212R- Head Drawing: It’s what it sounds like… drawing heads. It’s way more intense than most people would think, and is very time consuming. My teacher openly admits that his class should be worth more than 3 credits based on how much he packs into it. It’s going to be so so good for me in the end, but right now it’s still kicking my trash. (This is the class responsible for my first all-nighter of the semester.)

ART 220- Ceramics I: This the first of a few ceramics classes I'll be taking. So far I'm LOVING it! Working in the clay is very therapeutic, especially for a kinesthetic learner like me. I love hands-on work. We'll see how well I do on the potter's wheel, but if I get that down, I pretty much plan to rock ceramics :)

FDREL 121- Book of Mormon Part 1: We're studying the first half of the Book of Mormon. My teacher, Ross Baron, is incredible. I love every minute of that class, and every assignment he gives us is an extraordinarily valuable and enriching experience.

ED 304- Education Psychology: I'm learning all about learning! We're learning all about how the brain and body work together during the learning process, what methods are effective, how male and female brains differ, and the list goes on. It's a brilliant class taught by a brilliant teacher.


So, that’s my schedule. Outside of school and homework, my time fills up pretty fast. I just finished my first photography assignment for a non-profit magazine called Mormon Artist. I did a photo shoot of the author, Jack Weyland for the upcoming issue. It should be released soon, so I’ll post a link for y’all to check it out. My portrait photography business is growing slowly, but surely and I enjoy it SO much. (Keep referring all your friends who need engagement, wedding, family, baby, whatever portrait photography my way :) pilmerportraits.com) I also am working as an Apartment Assistant for my complex which mostly consists of helping manage our public areas (laundry rooms, workout room, and lounge) and letting girls into their apartments when they get locked out. I’m serving as Music Coordinator/ Chorister in the Relief Society for my student ward at church. It’s a pretty chill calling and being all musical, is just delightful for me.

I know this post is rather long… but it still needs some pics! Here’s my cute little bedroom.

My bed and side of the room:

The view from my bed, including my awesome roommate Katey:

And for those of you (like my fam) who know me well, you’ll be proud to hear that my room really does get picked up and clean like that at least once a week :)

Big Green Tractor

Thanks to Jason Aldean- at the moment I can't think of anything more romantic than taking a ride on a big green tractor with an amazing guy. Kenny Chesney's classic made it sound sexy, but Jason takes it to a whole new level of being sweet and romantic sounding. Too bad I don't have any real prospects at the moment, not to mention one who has a tractor... But Hey! A girl can dream right?!

It's ridiculous how so many songs give me such unrealistic expectations! What songs have done that for you?

Hooray for Pizza Day!

(Before I begin my actual post I'd also like to add a hooray for the Aquabats and their brilliant songs including Pizza Day)

Weekend before last, I came in from mowing the lawn on a Saturday afternoon- hot, sweaty, and hungry. It was a fairly chill day for me, so I had time to make something, but not a lot of energy after all that yard work. It was about time for a trip to the grocery store, so the cupboards and fridge were a little lacking in easy prep food.

I first found some leftover shredded mozzarella, and thought it would be yummy melted on a tortilla. We usually keep tortillas on hand, but being so close to grocery day- we were out! I was bummed, but soon decided to let my creative juices flow and put together an easy tasty meal. I hunted around the kitchen some more and found the following:

-1 & 1/2 leftover hamburger buns

-a jar of spaghetti sauce

-a handful of shredded mozzarella

-a slice of ham

Here's what I made:

Yummy little mini-pizzas: Lightly toast the hamburger buns, spread sauce, add cheese and toppings, then bake on a cookie sheet (around 375) until cheese is melted. Perfect!

Can't Touch This!

This past weekend was pretty much marvelous for me- not perfect, but overall rather delightful. My original plan was to spend the entire weekend, from Thursday night to Sunday night, playing in Las Vegas with my brother Justin and my friends that live there. That plan however, died along with several others, following Justin’s knee surgery. He tore his ACL playing soccer and needed surgery to repair it. His recovery has been solid and fairly consistent, but more difficult and painful than anticipated. Considering his post-surgery state, combined with him dealing with Strep Throat earlier last week, we reached the inevitable conclusion that our Vegas road trip was a no-go.

So we decided to still spend some quality sibling time here in Utah, which included a fun little mini-trip to Salt Lake to play at The Gateway. Enjoy the following highlights and photos from our remarkable weekend:

Thursday Night-

Our weekend technically got started Thursday night with an exciting trip to the salon. Justin has naturally very curly hair (like mine only thicker), but has had it chemically straightened for the last few months just to switch things up a little. He decided it was time to return to the curls, and that the easiest way to do that would be to just shave his head. And logically if he was going to shave his head, he might as well rock the Mohawk for a few days! So off to the salon we went, where the fabulous Kristi helped Justin to fulfill his Mohawk dreams.




We wrapped up our evening with some exciting stops at Wal-mart and Walgreens. We’re cool like that.

Friday Morning-

I went to work for a few hours Friday morning, and then came home around 10:30 to take Justin to physical therapy. After dropping him off, I ran home to change out of the ridiculous outfit I wore to work. APX has dress up days every Friday and it was “Crayon Day”.

Ridiculous to wear in public- I know. So I changed and went back to wait for Pickle (Pickle= Justin, Justin=Pickle) to finish up w/ physical therapy. It took longer than expected, but I was able to chill and read, and notice the cute guy coming out of physical therapy. It was all good. After Pickle finished, drove home, and showered... it was time for our first attempt at Mohawk styling. It’s harder than you might expect, and it turned out differently every time- but by the third time I did it on Sunday, I was quite the Mohawk styling pro.

Friday Afternoon-

Around 2 pm, we were finally on our way to Salt Lake. The drive was up was uneventful , and I ended up sleeping most of the way. Justin woke me up when we were almost there so I could help navigate. As we drove through downtown we enjoyed taking note of some of the fascinating people we passed. Our favorite was this man:

He seemed like such a tough, manly man until you saw the fluffy, tiny, little dog he was carrying. Justin gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought it might be his girlfriend’s dog or something… That thought was only valid until we saw him and petting and rocking the doggie with the most sincere affection… and talking to it…. And giving it kisses… It just was quite tender and entirely amusing.

Our first priority was finding some food. We decided to try a cool looking burger joint called “The Counter”. It was A-MAZ-ING. I ordered a 1/3 lb. beef burger on a honey-wheat bun with honey-cured bacon, imported swiss, tomatoes, Bermuda red onion, mixed baby greens, and the most delicious buttermilk ranch sauce ever. I’m sure Pickle would love to comment on here and share what he ordered, but besides ordering the same meat and bun as me, all I remember is that he ordered his with a goat cheese spread. We also split sweet potato fries with horseradish mayo. They were quite heavenly, but our burgers were so intense that we didn’t even finish half of them. It was rather pricey, but worth every penny. It’s probably a good thing it’s all the way in Salt Lake or I’d probably go broke. We agreed that the restaurant was very “food network-esque” which only made it twice as enjoyable for us. We LOVE the food network.

We followed up lunch with a little shopping (more like store browsing though, because neither of us bought anything) and then a show at the Planetarium. We saw “Bugs! In 3-D” in their I-MAX theater. Not only was the show pretty rad, but we also got to rock the sweet glasses.

Before heading home we enjoyed a little photo shoot.

Friday evening-

The drive home was delightful. Traffic was pretty heavy, but Justin let me play DJ on his iPod and I’m pretty sure that was one of the best playlists ever. We rocked to Vanilla Ice, the Temptations and everything in between. We took a little break at home, and then headed down to Provo to see Stacy dance beautifully in her Pioneer Legacy show. The show is more than a little cheesy, but StaceFace is always fun to watch so it was enjoyable. Before calling it a night, we made an appearance at Deba’s birthday party. This involved ice cream cake, gawking over Justin and his “freakin’ Mohawk” as we lovingly referred to it all weekend, and modeling a sexy 80’s jacket.



Saturday-

Saturday was pretty chill. We both did yard work and did a decent amount of nothing productive. We restyled the Mohawk which Justin enjoyed displaying at his 5-year high school reunion. I ran some errands and finally finished finding shoes and accessories for my bridesmaid dress, before meeting up with Pickle to watch his indoor soccer team play. He misses playing so much.

Sunday morning/afternoon-

Going to church on Sunday was awesome in every way. Everyone loved Justin’s hair and we took some more pictures after we got home.

People kept mentioning to me how different Justin and I are. I can't say it's not true- we are very different. But in a lot of ways we're very much alike, and no matter what, we're definitely siblings. I just love us!

Sunday Evening-

It was time for the "freakin' Mohawk" to go, but before getting rid of it we had some fun coloring it, and then parting it different ways after it was washed. And then... the glory of the Mohawk was gone.

Our splendid weekend came to a close with a little quality time watching the food network. Thanks for a rockin' weekend Pickle :)