As another season is near to close...

Starting off... not frozen!

2nd half warmth! Thank goodness for hot chocolate!

frozen victory!

Utes struggled in the beginning, but made big plays when they needed to and came through to victory. Yeah for the "W"!

Rock on...

One thing that always brings happiness to me are smaller venue concerts. If the performer is the size of an ant, I'd rather just listen to their cd, unless it's outside in a relaxing park, in the warmer months.

I was able to join some besties last night where we were able to rock out to Lifehouse and their openers- Alyssa Bernal and Kris Allen (from an American idol I didn't watch, but for those who were curious! As always, Lifehouse put on an amazing show.



Kris Allen


Kris Allen bandie


Jason Wade- lifehouse





I will be deaf from this happiness one day, but it's worth it... I hope!

breakfast cereals

My department at work decided to be breakfast cereals... we won 1st place for the group contest! what's cereal w/o a spoon, cptn crunch, snap, crackle, and pop, milk, honey bees, cinnamon toast crunch chef, trix rabbit, toucan sam, and wheaties!2 of my best buddies. yes... i put the costume together... i did not buy it already made.

Had to add this! A guy in my department decided to be the cowboy for the the crazy painted horse that sits outside of work. I loved it. Made me laugh all day. We had to get some pics with him and his horse!

supporting my roots

I'm so glad when the suns are in town, glad as I can be! It's hard to pass up an opportunity to see my boys when they are in town, so my buddy Sean and I geared up and went to the jazz home opener... suns went home with the W. Wahoo!

rainy days

it had been a while since j and i took off for a small adventure. one sunday evening, we headed up the rainy canyon to enjoy the ride, company, weather, and beauty around us... and why not finish off the adventure with drenching oneself!

Fall

One reason I love fall besides the leaves, ciders, pumpkin everything, spirit of change in the air, festive parties, etc. is football! I took along my sweet friend Ashlee and we endured the constant rain and cold as we cheered on my utes. I love great weather games, yet fun to spice it up with a little craziness!





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Take me out to the soccer game

It's been great getting to know my lil Sis from big bros big Sis. She's such a delight. Since I don't have lil tikes of my own, it's been fun to have her around in life and have someone to "care" for. Hard to explain, but it's been great so far and I'm looking forward to good times ahead. This weekend we went to the Real soccer game. We had a great time. She consumed a whole bag, yep whole bag of cotton candy plus some of a snowcone. Big sisters can let that go, right?!

Surprises in the day

Brighten the mood in every way! :) I was greeted by these little goodies when I got in to work. What fun! Next up... Paying it forward! Who's day are you going to make a little brighter today?

Meet William

Lil' "will" as I call him, born to my Sis Melanie and her hubbie oct. 11. Can't wait to meet him in person.

Greetings

My lovely sister greeted me at the door with her delicious homeade filled cupcakes. I'm thinking I'll wipe out of my memory how many were consumed over the weekend. On down to my room was my traditional birthday balloon awaiting my arrival with my favorite swedish fish attached at the bottom from my mom. Deliousness was consumed the following afternoon as the fan headed to famous daves for my birthdy lunch. Thanks for the warm welcome and making me feel special on my day!

Celebrate

Today I am celebrating the blessing of amazing people in my life. Thank you for always being there for me.

I came home to a nice surprise last night. Pedals leading from the door into my decorated room. You lovely ladies know how to make a girl feel special and make her day. Thank you!

once in a while

you need a break, right? but, here is a new post! i'm not going to play catch up, as a lot has been missed, but maybe you can figure out some missing pieces along the way!

This last weekend I had the opportunity of going to Boston for a conference I applied to go to on my own free will. It went along with my profession of child life. The conference was amazing and well worth the whirlwind trip. I left slc Friday at 730pm and made it to Boston at 5am. I got ready for the day at the awesome airport facilities, then stepped foot outside to capture Boston in it's wee hours as I had until 9am when the conference began. I think I was the bums alarm clock! I took many pics along the way, but those are on my camera... you'll have to enjoy my few phone pics.

I love Boston's richness in history. I walked by the graveyard where many politicians are laid to rest. It was crazy to see people such as Paul Revere and John Hancock to name a few whose names were engraved upon the headstones. I saw the house of where the Boston Tea Party was held. There were so many buildings with rich meaning and I enjoyed reading the explanations and all that had gone on as I walked along the freedom trail that day. You can't leave the Boston Red Sox out of history! :) After my galavanting along the freedom trail, I made headway to Fenway Park to see the holy giant. Following that my free time was spent and off I went to the amazing conference of life is good playmakers. It focused on how to implement playfulness and joy in the lives of children who have experienced trauma and/or illness of any sort. If only everyone could attend a conference like that... the world would be a better place. Here's to me attempting to make a dent in it!

I was back on the plane Sunday at 5pm and in slc at 930pm. Loved it and can not wait for AZ next weekend... high school reunion here I come!

a peek at the 4th weekend

Yeah for family being in town on a holiday! My sister Melanie and her clan were in Bountiful for a few days with her in-laws before they headed out with them to Bear Lake. I was able to snag some time with them before they took off.what's a 4th without a little parade... Annabelle loved it. I don't know how she didn't get clobbered with all the other kids charging for free candy... salt water taffy= apparently the cheapest candy out there because that's pretty much all there was!sistas!... In case you couldn't tell!we also stopped by the cemetary to pay a visit to Joshua, my nephew's grave. He is Caleb's twin. It was nice and tender to be there with the family. After the parade in Centerville, I headed to the pool with my friend Ashlee. We cleaned ourselves up and met up with others for a nice quaint dinner with more friends at Normandie's in Holladay. Following our 4 course meal, we headed to my house to get front row seats to the Holladay fireworks. It was the perfect location. We sat on my balcony and the fireworks were shot off in the field right across the street from me. We had purchased some sparklers that they called "color sparklers" at the stand... stay away! These things are explosive! I have quite a nice burn which people at work today even asked me what it was... not to mention a few added layers in my hair from it being singed off due to another particular flying off said sparklers... sketch!

Jess and I cooked up some dinner for Melanie and family on the actual 4th. It was Annabelle's birthday on the 2nd, so my dessert was a birthday cake for her.

creative james.

It's true... I'm horrible at blogging!

So how about I cheat and have you look at my friends posts to see what I've been up to! :) its just a game of catch up! like:

http://jessa-ann.blogspot.com/2010/06/give-me-open-road-wind-in-my-hair.html

http://jessa-ann.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-saturday-afternoon.html

http://tyandlyndsgardner.blogspot.com/2010/06/tylers-birthday-bash.html

http://tyandlyndsgardner.blogspot.com/2010/06/memorable-memorial-day.html

http://brittnjacob.blogspot.com/2010/05/cinco-de-mayo.html

I promise promise promise the next one will be my own and so exciting!!! Thanks j, Britt and Lynds for your hard work on my blog today! Hahaha...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dear Dad,

I can't even begin to express the amazing man that you are. The never ending care you provide for our family is remarkable. You're first priority has always been to make sure everyone else has been taken care of. You are very detail oriented, never missing a beat of what your family needs and the steps necessary to complete them. You're certainly one of the hardest workers I know... truly. Whether it is family needs, work, scouting, church callings, rotary- you put forth your full effort and somehow manage to keep life all balanced out... not quite sure how you do it! I do one thing and I feel like life is crazy! It's very admirable of you. You've been an example of finances, living within your means, secular and spiritual education, dedication, and passion. I really can't recall you speaking an ill word of anyone and you're always willing to serve others around you.

Most importantly dad, you've been an example of how to love and keep loving, serving our loving Heavenly Father and being worthy of his blessings, honoring your priesthood, loving your family, speaking kindly, and staying focused on the main goal of eternal life.

Thank you. Thank you to you and mom for the constant love you send my way. Thank you, for all that you have done for me- you've set the bar pretty high for the types of guys I date (maybe that's the reason I don't date?).

You're amazing... never forget it. I miss you.

Love,
Kris

Since Spain...

I have kept very busy. I have yet to find a weekend where I haven't been out of town.

I got in, went to Eden a few days later for Memorial Day Weekend. Went shooting for the first time in my life! Went to hang with a bestie (who else but my holiday buddy!) in Ptown where we went to a friend's BBQ for lunch, followed by a BBQ I held for dinner.

Logan was the next weekend where Mel, Kirk and I hit up some delish Mexi food, went to a farmer's market, a cheese factory to seek out some squeeky cheese, getting their garden ready... ok, so I took the passive approach on that one, but not intentionally! When my body wants to sleep it wants to sleep! J came up to get a break from Ptown and so we all went and got pizza, did church and then BBQ up a delicious dinner.

This past week, I've been in AZ for a Child Life conference for work. I was able to get in some family time, along with many enriching classes that have re-energized me and have given me some new ideas to apply in the coming weeks. Lucky for me, it was in AZ so I got to see the fam, save on hotel costs, and have a mix of work and the fam. What fun!

Some pics from the eventful past: bbq at my pad

j and i's excursion to provo lake

j in the sunset

first time shooter!

i wouldn't be too scared of this crew...

{more pics to come... ok, hopefully! We all know how good I am at getting around to it! Maybe you'll get another link to a web album! :) }

Alright... some none foggies

For those of you that would like to see some non-foggy pictures of spain, and haven't seen them all already, follow this link-

http://picasaweb.google.com/ktarh2o/WhereSSalida?feat=directlink

and find an overload of unedited, unorganized pictures... sound enticing?

I had great plans of putting together some pics for the blog, but since their aren't friends taking siestas and me blogging for something to do while they were doing so, I haven't quite found the time since so put some non-foggy, taken on my phone camera of the real camera's display screen... enjoy!

The enchantment of Segovia

Segovia is a beautiful city, filled with amazing architecture, castles, tradition, shops, and once again... Food!

The alcazar castle and aqueduct were breathtaking, along with other historic buildings. We went in the castle to see it's inner charm as well.

I love barcelona, but it is so packed with people that i feel it drowns out being able to notice their culture. Culture and tradition intrigue me as I can sit for hours just enjoying all that's going on around me.

In Segovia, siesta was definitely in full force as most shops were closed down for a good part of the day. As we ate our dinner, (we had to wait until 8 for them to start serving it) we were the only ones around eating a meal. I felt the whole town was out socializing one with another, sitting for hours on end drinking and eating their tapas. Segovia is a very classy town. Everyone out was looking very sharp.

Paella redeemed itself as I was served an amazing mixture of seafood and meats on top of the rice. The dish we had in Barcelona tasted like rice-a-roni with little seafood on it, yet this surpassed that... Now I see why people like it. I'm glad I gave it another try!

... Madrid tomorrow! Churro place San gines... Yes please!... And church while we're at it. :)

It's tomorrow and I'm going to bed but I'll update u on Madrid when I get back to the states probably!!! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Segovia Spain

The end of Barcelona

Last night, we hit up a club to enjoy the night life in Spain. Kind of crazy... Spanairds don't even start getting to the clubs until 2/3 in the morning and rock the night away until 6/7 in the am! Most are free until 2 as that's the popular time to go. Is that why they invented siestas?!!



We rolled in about 1 and stayed until about 430. It was a great time. Sad though- we got to the hotel to find Brent had either lost his ID & credit card or had it pick pocketed... Not sure. So we went back to the clubs we had been to and no luck. :( went to bed about 6 and had to check out by noon so it was a run on little sleep day... Not suggested by those grouchily impaired by having little sleep! :)


we walked through a lot of shopping areas and then headed over to gaudi's park. Wow... That place is amazing. It's incredible of all he did and yet he went bankrupt. So sad. His work is amazing. The park is quite a hike up a hill, but it's well worth it.


We then found a quaint restaurant and ate a pleasant dinner. Meals in Spain, at least Barcelona, are traditionally served first with bread, then your choice of 2 entrees, followed by dessert, all for about 6-10 euro.


This dish above was my favorite- caneloni or something?...
Course 2 was meatballs with squid.





And yummy flan for dessert... Not a flan lover usually, but this was delicious!

The others needed an Internet cafe, so I roamed around a nearby grocery store... Weird I know, but I find foreign grocery stores very intriguing!

Tonight we went to a "magical fountain" show that was gorgeous! A man would have been nice to have there... Maybe someday I can take one back!





I absolutely loved Barcelona. It was a very pretty, clean city. They are out every night spraying down the sidewalks and you see street sweepers all throughout the day. A few creepers way late at night... But that's what Brent is for! :)

So since I wrote this... We've since taken an overnight bus to Madrid to take a short train ride to Segovia for the day. While waiting for the train, we had a little of this:



See you in Segovia!

I'll try to be good and post some clear pics that aren't taken from phone, off a screen of a camera when I get back.. We'll see!