So so busy!

Thing have been so hectic that I haven't even had time to write anything for awhile! First and foremost, I have to say Happy Birthday to my Grandma Dianne who is the coolest grandma ever. And not just because her name is my middle name! She is awesome and I don't know what I would do without her! She turned 65 on Wednesday, and spent the whole day at Lagoon with all of her kids and grandkids. And when I say she turned 65 that isn't exactly true, but I will always think she's 65. And I'll always think my mom is 35. I think they're probably okay with that.

My new roommate, Cary moved in last weekend. She is really cool, but she's crashing on the couch for a little bit until Peri gets her stuff moved to Jacobs. Things are going well, she is a really cool girl! She is actually married, but her husband is in the military so she is out here doing Teach For America. It's been fun having her around, I think we're going to have fun together!!

Last weekend was full of birthday celebrations. Friday night was Karen's brother Tommy's 30th birthday. Tommy is special needs, and so so so so fun to be around. He is always asking for girls numbers, and always asking for a pen to write down their number. As a gift some guys from his ward bought him a package of pens, and a little black book they called the "chick-tionary." Here's a picture of Karen and Tommy with the cake, and a picture of me and my friend Stephen who is home from BYU-Idaho right now.











Saturday night the salon girls went out to celebrate Peri and Kym's birthdays. We went to my favorite bar called Rock Bar. I love it because it's never been remodeled from the 70's. Also, they play lots of "old school" music. The dance floor is small so everyone packs on and has a good time. The night "Midnight Madness" was going on, which is a moonlight bike ride. People in Denver are really into fitness, including bike riding. I obviously didn't participate, but there were a million people downtown on bikes! It was so crazy, I've never seen anything like it!!









Other than that, I've just been keeping busy. Work has been jam packed, which is so nice. I love being busy, the days fly by.. and the paychecks are nice! I've been working out a ton still, and I'm really starting to enjoy running. I am so lucky to have such strong legs! I am sure I will feel the same way about my arms.. once they are actually strong! I am about to head out to a wedding reception which will be the first of MANY for the summer. I am so excited for my friends to be moving on and getting married, but it seems so crazy to me! I'll be back in Salt Lake for Peri's wedding so soon, it almost seems surreal.

dress shopping

I have been shopping for a dress for Peri's wedding for the last month or so, and have been getting frantic about it this last week. Her wedding is just a month away, and I have been stressing out about what I was wanting to wear. Originally I thought it would be fun to find a green dress, but lately I've been trying on just about anything that isn't ridiculously expensive. I went over to Park Meadows today, and FINALLY found one! I have probably tried on close to 100 dresses in the last month, so it was such a relief to find one that I liked. It is black, which is typical of me but it fit right and it's a little more dressy than anything I already have. And since i have about 348576 friends that are engaged right now, I am sure I will get plenty of use out of it.

It was Peri's birthday this week so I whipped up a meal of Dorito Casserole and "chubby brownies" via Peri's request. It was also my friend Chris' birthday so he came over for the feast. We got all caught up on Tila Tequila, and watched part of season three or The Office which is one of my favorite shows. Last year we were in Utah for Peri's birthday and had a joint party with our friend Crob. It's crazy to think that was a whole year ago!!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how things can change so quickly. Thinking back to last summer I had completely different friends, and was still relatively new to Denver. I still wasn't 21 and was counting down the Saturday nights til I could go out downtown. It's just so crazy to me how fast things and people can come into your life....and also how quickly they can leave. I have had a rude awakening lately, I realize that there have been some people that I took advantage of having around. I guess that learning those kind of lessons is part of what life is about, I just wish it wasn't so hard. I don't believe in regrets, but hindsight sure is 20/20. I recently read a quote by Marilyn Monroe that I have been thinking about a lot. It said, "Sometimes things fall apart, so better things can fall together." I guess that just means that good things have to come to an end to open up opportunities for things even better. I know things will fall into place, I just hate the waiting game..

Utah Pictures

Here are some pictures from Utah that I didn't put with the last novel I wrote.


Harper and I after her blessing





Hailey and I.. she was distracted by the swing set apparently





My Momma. I cut her hair shorter, and now we look the same




Grandma Di, one of my most favorite people on the planet






And this is from Denver, but last night I got to go dancing with my friend Natalie. Her birthday was last Monday and she was very excited to be 21. We hit up a lot of the popular bars/dance clubs in Lodo, and appreciated that we can have fun sober.

Aunt Kara

There are no words to say how much I love my family! I loved spending time with them in Salt Lake, and can't wait to see them again. I am learning to appreciate how important family is, and must say that I am lucky to have awesome parents, siblings, sibling in laws, nieces, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.

I must say that I have two of the cutest nieces ever. Hailey and Harper are so adorable, and I feel truly blessed to have them in my life. They are so very lucky to have so many people that love them, and to be raised by my wonderful sisters who can teach them the important things our parents taught us. Being able to be there for Harper's blessing was awesome, and a great reminder of how important the Gospel is to our family.

It's crazy how quickly "the little girls" (Carly and Kelly, who are now 14 and 13) are growing up, and how fast our family is expanding! I was able to get a really cool gift for my dad for Fathers day/birthday, I got a copy of The Proclamation To The Family framed, with a picture of my parents and each of my siblings matted around it. Eventually it will have pictures of each of our complete families. It's really cool and I'm telling you about it because it was so big and awesome that I couldn't bring it on the plane so it's sitting in my room all wrapped up! Hopefully it will be to Salt Lake soon and my parents can enjoy it!

I guess I could give a few details of the actual time spent in Utah.. Sam was kind enough to pick me up from the airport, since my mom was still at Girls Camp when my flight got in. We did some shopping and then I went to her house to cut her hair, and ended up doing her moms too. When I finally got to my parents house I spent the afternoon cutting and coloring my mom, Kelly, and Carly's hair. As the weekend went on I also did Chase, Erica, Eric, Grandma, Grandpa, Teresa, and Brady's hair. I also was able to give Hailey her first ever haircut!

I spent the rest of the weekend baking for the blessing, and trying to relax. Monday I got to go to lunch with my mom, grandma, and several of my aunts which was really fun! I also go to see two of my very good friends from high school, Michelle and Tiffany! It had been several years since I had seen them so it was extra special. Saturday while Erica and Tom went to see Tom's grandma, they dropped me at University mall so that I could drop in and see my good friend Adam. I met Adam at 80's night about 3 years ago and we've been really good friends ever since. Monday night I went to dinner with Kyle and Cameron, two of my good friends from Provo. I also got to spend time doing Teresa's hair.. I am doing her hair and make up for her wedding in October, and also for her bridal pictures in August. We also went and got snow cones with her fiance, Shane. I'm really excited that I get to participate in their wedding!

Even though I was in Salt Lake I caught up with two people I had met in Denver. I ran into Steffany from Arvada while I was at University mall, which was unexpected but awesome. And Sunday night I went to Draper to hang out with Brady, who was in my ward here and also used to come into the salon. It was fun to see them in Salt Lake, but definitely reminded me how much I was missing Denver! It reminds me that I am definitely in the right place, and am just lucky that my family is such a short trip away!