Farm Lovin'

I'm back out east right now and flew out with my niece and nephews for some farm time aka relaxation time, fresh air time, poop scoopin' humid time! We are all loving it out here.
J&B were down from NYC for the weekend. We went to the county fair, swam a lot, and scooped some more poop. J actually made a delicious strawberry/basil pie type dessert. Who knew he could cook right?
Getting ready to start another week and this one will have summer camp in it too! Party on!

Lagoon!

So yesterday was company day at Lagoon, so I got some tickets from work. I was SO excited because I used to go to Lagoon when we would visit cousins out here in the summer. I have so many good memories of it and I hadn't been back there since I was like 8 or so I think. I remember feeling like I was going to fall out of some of the rides because I was so small. Lagoon was on my to do list this summer, so when I found out last week I was getting tickets I was so excited.
It was everything it should be - funnel cake, getting a little sick on rides, waiting in line, ferris wheel, etc. Here are some snapshots - luckily G was able to come with me! Then we met up with my brother and his wife plus family and friends.
















Then around three we decided to go on Wicked and this is the consequence of riding twice in a row and not being able to check the security of a pocketed phone.

Luckily they found it and everything works except it doesn't get any service. That's the task at hand today - getting that all figured out.
Here is a video though so you can feel like you were at Lagoon too - don't get too jealous

mini golf

Last week we went on a midweek, awesome double date with one of G's really good friends from home and his almost fiance. We ran into them over July 4th weekend and decided we'd plan something for that week.
I really wanted to go mini golfing, so we handled the activity and they decided on a dinner place. We went to Zupas (YUM!) for dinner. During dinner we heard some good stories from their adventures in high school. One of them had to do with camping out in front of the church on the last day so G could be on time to seminary for once.
After dinner we headed out to Trafalga, which I just remember from when I was little and being with cousins. We started out mini golf track and the competition was fierce:



I got a hole in one on the first hole and was so excited, but it went downhill from there until my second hole in one (yeah that's right, TWO):

It turned out that the girls lost, which was really sad, but we made the most of it. At the end I got another hole in one since I got my ball into the pond. Perfect! Of course the obligatory photos in front of the castle. Some made it in there better than otherse.


We ended the night with some arcade tokens and winnings, which included nasty jolly ranchers. We all had a lot of fun together and I love mini golf!

Happy 4th

Some snapshots (most are stolen photos) to sum up the weekend:

Bestie Birthday

So I have this friend named Callie. She was born June 22nd. I remember that because it's 5 months before mine, but one day later. She's one of my favorite people in the world. This is our story. I was the super quiet one and she was pretty loud. We used to tell everyone growing up we were in the hospital at the same time and that's how long we've been best friends. We lived in the same town and were in some of the same classes until I moved when I was 12. After that we didn't really see or talk much, but come sophomore year of college we were both at BYU and the love was reunited as if we'd never been apart. That's when I thought about it and realized - Callie we're five months apart - there's no way we were in the hospital at the same time. She is still my oldest friend though. So anyway - she had a party and I was lucky to carpool up with Miranda. Miranda got Callie the present she's been dying for, which you can see in one of the pictures below. Callie's husband set up a bunch of minute to win it games, which we all competed doing and it was so fun. Here are some snapshots from a really fun night! (seriously, they know how to make a fun time)
p.s. did i mention it was her GOLDEN birthday?! yep, there was a golden refreshment table!

Love is in the Air

So it's wedding season in Utah right now - probably crazier than any other place on earth. I took some engagements for my old roommate. That was the first time I'd met her fiance too and we had a lot of fun. While we were in the park some confident little girl came up to us and gave us bubbles, which was really cute. I couldn't wait to get them on my computer and start messing around, so I thought I'd share a few fun ones. And a shout out to my assistant/2nd shooter who is a gem!

The Y

So I decided I wanted to hike and since it was last minute I decided to just go by myself. I've never hiked by myself so I kind of wanted to try it out and bring my camera along in an effort to pay attention to details. For anyone who hasn't been to Provo there is a big cement, white painted Y on the mountain above campus. Every year they light it for homecoming. There used to be a tradition of an assembly line up the mountain to paint it too. From far away it looks like this.

So I set off and found out my first mistake pretty quickly which was going in the middle of the day when the sun was out. (I found out later when I got back to my car it was 98 degrees) The Y hike is deceiving - it's short, but it's all steep switchbacks so it's harder than it seems.

This small group of girls I kept leap frogging ended up turning back, which is ridiculous because it's not THAT bad. There were points where I felt like I was going to barf between the dry air, heat, and incline, so I took my time to take pictures along the way.






Along the way at some switchback turns you see signs like this, but it doesn't give you any idea of how much longer you have to go.

Then I decided to try and take a self timer of myself. After many unsuccessful attempts I ended up with this, squatting cause I kept cutting my head off. It looks like I'm naked, but I swear I'm wearing shorts and a tank top.

It was about halfway when I had stopped to take pictures and then this guy stopped near me hiking alone also. I tried to keep myself busy waiting until he started again, so I wouldn't have to hike near him, but I could only take pictures for so long. So as soon as I stopped, like I figured he would, he starts a conversation with "Are you a photographer?" Now it was either try and make an excuse to get out of walking together, but none seem valid - saying you're turning back would be embarrassing and you both have the same destination. So I started walking and once I did he did too. Seeing how I was stuck in this situation I made the best of it and tried to make conversation. I do like to meet new people, but I kind of wanted to do my own thing. He said he hikes the Y every day and I wonder how many people he's met.

So we finally made it to the bottom of the Y. It's always fun to look out over Provo and be able to pick things out like campus, the football stadium, my house, etc.

Looking up the Y - It's pretty big when you're right there.

The parking lot far below, but not too bad though since I could still pick out my car.


By the time I got back I was exhausted and drank a lot of water even though I had a water bottle with me. The guy I met walked the whole way down with me too. Going down is one of the best parts because you see everyone making their way up and get to lie that it's closer than it is to help them stay motivated. It's hard to be when it's 98 degrees.

hiking in the Andes Mtns.

lil' rugby fans

check out these cuties from the rugby game. i spent more time looking at them than at the players probably. both are cougar fans - that's right.

drink Fiji

this is my new ad for Fiji water ;) you want some now don't you?