New York City!

Since I've moved to Colorado, I've been saving up to go to New York. Most of the time when I get cash tips, I put them in a jar in my room for my "fun fund." I had quite a bit of money saved up, and then last year I used all of it for cash down on my car. I've spent the last 8 months building it back up so I could finally go to New York City. One of my best friends from Denver, Julianne, lives in Manhattan and I have been wanting to go out and see her. Because she drops back in to Denver to see her boyfriend a lot, it has been hard to figure out when I could go visit. About a month ago I finally booked a ticket out to see her. I only got to stay Friday til Monday, but we packed in a lot. However, I am sitting on my couch during snow day #2 for the week and am wishing that I had stayed longer.

Friday when I got in, I got on a bus toward her apartment. She was on a bus headed toward me, so we could take the rest of the ride together. Somehow I ended up on the wrong bus and headed toward Queens. I then got off the bus, walked a few blocks back to the airport, and got on the right bus. It wouldn't be an adventure for me if I didn't get lost at least a few times. We finally met up and dropped my stuff off at her place. We then went to the Museum of Metropolitan Art (the MOMA). Each floor had different themes (photography, painting, architecture, etc. We also went to dinner at this little hole in the wall Italian place, and it was delicious.

When I booked my trip, J hadn't realized that she had already committed to photograph a bat mitzvah in New Jersey. Instead of rescheduling my trip, I thought I would just explore the city by myself. J suggested that I take a bus tour through the city. Excellent idea. Unfortunately, it rained ALL day on Saturday. And the bus wasn't covered. I still had an excellent time, and got to see all of the major tourist highlights of the city and learn a lot of cool history. You could choose at each stop if you wanted to stay on the bus, or stop for the site. If you got off, there would be another bus later that you could get on. Because of the rain I wasn't really interested in getting off very often. I also didn't want to deal with getting lost. One stop I did get off at was Ground Zero. I stopped in at Paul's Chapel, which stands right in front of where the two towers once stood. The fact that it wasn't destroyed is a miracle in itself. This is where many of the firefighters, and survivors of the disaster came to sleep and rest. It is now covered in shrines to 9/11.


This is one of the ones that was very touching to me. It was a callaboration of flyers people had posted all over the city after that day. If someone was missing, family members would hang up flyers all over the city that had their picture, and a number to call if they had any details. This included people that worked at the World Trade Center, firefighters, police offers...

After I finished the tour, I decided to go shopping at H&M. I have google maps on my phone, so I looked up where the closest one was. Google maps on my phone is a little slow. I got lost, again. It took me about an hour to get there. Right before I got there I got completely splashed by a cab and was dripping wet. Then I arrived at the store to a sign saying that they were closed for a private event. I then spent another half our walking to the one on 5th Avenue, which was packed. I didn't get a whole lot of shopping done that day.

Sunday we got up and went to breakfast at Alice's Tea Cup. It was the cutest little tea shop, with the most incredible scones. We didn't have to wait for a table, so we had a lot of time before church. We stopped at a bakery that I've been eyeing called Levain. They makes breads, cinammon rolls, and the most incredible 1 1/2 inch thick cookies. Not cakey, no doughy, just delicious. Then we headed to Central Park. This was probably my very favorite part of the trip. It was THE most beautiful day outside. Sunny, perfect temperature, gorgeous trees. I love trees.


After that we went to church. The story above the church is the temple, so when you look up this is what you see.


After church we went to Brooklyn for Julianne to look at a few apartments. This might have killed my excitement to want to ever live in NYC just a little bit. Then we took the ferry so we could go past the Statue of Liberty. The night was just as beautiful as the day.


Monday was my last day, and we had a lot to do before going to the airport. We shopped on Canal Street, which is kind of like China Town. I was looking for a wallet, but couldn't find one that I liked. After we went to lunch with my friend Greg who I've known since middle school and now works in the city. We ate at the most delicious sandwich shop called WichCraft. I got to go back to H&M (dry) and got to do some real shopping. When we got back to J's apartment to grab my bags, there was a street vendor selling wallets. I was so excited, it was the one thing left that I wanted to buy and the perfect way to wrap up my trip.

Here are some more pictures from the trip.

light and dark

A few months ago I got to participate in a photoshoot at the salon. Julianne Brasher, who is an incredible photographer (and also an icredible friend of mine) had this idea. Basically, she put out shapes in cardstock, and we held them in front of very bright lights to cast shadows on our models. She wasn't sure if it would work, but it turned out awesome. Since we were using the idea of light and shadows we used a blonde and a brunette model. The shoot was more focused on shape than on color. My boss, Kara Forshay, did all of the hair and I was the make-up artist for the shoot. Models are Tylor and Alexandra.

twenty-three

My lack of posting hasn't been intentional, our shotty internet just makes it difficult to use the computer for reasons other than solitaire (I am getting good!) and charging my ipod. I am officially one year older, and I think a little wiser too. It's funny, I've always wanted to be 23. In my mind it has been the no-fail age. If you have a career, cool. If not, no sweat. Married? You're not going to get the "but you're SO young!" And if you aren't, you aren't getting set up with every last single person that all of my friends and family know. It has always seemed like the perfect, no pressure, euphoric age. And here I am..


I feel 22 was a milestone of a year for me. I won't say that it was a great year, but I learned a lot and feel that the not so great things helped me to mature. I was talking to Erica on my birthday and she said that 23 was the year that she felt like she was finally an adult. That is exactly how I've been feeling lately and I am excited that I am feeling a litttle more grown up.


I am really excited for the rest of the year. Megan is getting married next weekend and I am really excited for her wedding, and her bacherlorette party this weekend. My mom, Eric, and Carly and Kelly are (finally) coming to Denver next month. I am excited to show them my apartment, the new salon, and this beautiful city that I live in. I am also trying to plan a trip to New York City. Julianne left this week to go back, and I can't wait to go visit her!! I am also excited for football, halloween, and eventually the holidays. I love this fall weather, and am getting so excited for the leaves to change.

a little bit of an update

I have had a lot of fun things to blog about lately, but we aren't paying for internet so the connection is pretty in and out. So here is a short summary of what's been up.

About a month ago Victoria and I moved into a new place. We're a lot closer to downtown and in a really fun neighborhood. There are a lot of cool restaurants within walking distance to us. My favorite cupcakes shop, The Shoppe is just a short walk up the street. It's open til 2 am, which is good and bad all at the same time. I think we are finally feeling settled but are slowly adding new decorations.

At the end of July, John(Moore) and I went to see David Archuleta and Demi Lovato. I love, love, love little David. It was a really cute show, and it was fun to hang out with John. I felt a little out of place being there, willingly, without accompanying a child but I really enjoyed the show.

A few weeks ago the SF girls went to Las Vegas for The Gathering, which is a Paul Mitchell hair show. It was such a blast, I really love Las Vegas. I love to people watch, and there are plenty of people worth watching there. We Stayed in The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. The whole tower is suites, so we had nice big rooms with double bathrooms. My favorite thing about it is that when you get off the elevator you're in a tranquil lobby (smells like coconut), rather than in a noisy casino. While we were there we went to a club called Pure. Luckily, the night we were there the rapper DMX was perfoming. I also got to meet the guys from Questcrew, from America's Best Dance Crew. One of the guys is on PM's karate team, so they performed at one of our general sessions. A few hours after we got there my friend Brittany from school drove up from St. George so we could catch up. It was SO, SO, SO good to see her!! We took a cutting class the first day, and got to see Angus Mitchell, Scott Cole, and Takashi rock out some pretty cool haircuts. The second day we took a business class with Robert Cromeans, and a business class with a guy named Brent Golden who is actually in charge of opening up the Denver PMTS. We learned some cool stuff from them, and got some great ideas from other sucsessful salons. We ate dinner at the Mesa Grill, one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, one night and the food was different but tasty. We also at at Olives at the Bellagio, and that food was fan-tastic. The last night we were there we went to The Foundation Room of The House of Blues. For those of you who don't know, John Paul Dejoria (the guy with the ponytail) not only owns Paul Mitchell, but he also owns Patron Tequila, and is co-founder of The House of Blues. While we were up there, John Paul came and sat with us and thanked us for coming to the show. I have had the opportunity to spend some time with him on a couple of occasions, and am always blown away at how down to earth he is. I am really excited to head back to Vegas for the show next year!

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. I've been really busy at work, and it's tiring but it's also really good for my paycheck! I am getting excited for fall, we've had a really weird summer. I can't believe it's already back to school but I guess that doesn't make a huge difference to me. Time is just moving by so quickly. I can't believe I've been in Denver for 2 1/2 years!

Jury Duty

A few weeks ago, I got quite the dreaded piece of mail. Jury duty. For a lot of people, this might seem like fun, or an excuse to get out of work for a few days. In the state of Colorado the ONLY way to get out of jury duty is if you are the primary care giver of an elderly person whose life might be endangered by your absense. You are allowed one postponement a year, but I didn't want to use it and then get picked for a day where I actually had something going on.

I showed up at the courthouse at asbout 8:30 on Monday morning. They offer discount parking at the city center, which is about a 10 minute walk. I waited in line for about 10 minutes for security, and made my way to the waiting room. Several people came in an took groups of people to court rooms to pick their juries. At about 10:30 the woman told us that there were over 300 people that showed up, and we would probably all be used at some point in the day. She offered us a 15 minute break, so we scattered for coffee and bathrooms. An HOUR later, she showed back up and called another group. Then another. Then my number got called.

We entered a courtroom, and 12 of us took seats. We had to read off answers to a list of questions. I purposefully tried to distract myself, because really, who wants a juror that isn't paying attention? When I answered my information she had me repeat my age several times, making it obvious that I was at least 5 years younger than everyone else. The guy on trial was very close to my age, which I think he considered to be a good thing. When the lawyers came over to drill us with questions I picked at my nail polish, played with my shoes, made myself to appear as unabservant as possible. I guess they've seen that trick before, because I was picked.

The case was over a guy who had gotten in a fight with a security officer downtown last summer. Does stuff like this even need a jury? He was being tried with disturbing the peace, interference, assault, fighting in public, and threat. He was with his brother that night, and supposedly was threatening to kill some people. His brother had a gun. We were told that the case would be over with by the end of the afternoon, but by 6:00 we weren't even ready for closing arguements. I was very stressed out because I had a men's cutting class on Tuesday at 10 and a client at 12:00. I missed the class, but made it back to the salon in time for my client. The second day was closing arguements and deliberation. We found him guilty on 3 of the 5charges, but didn't get to stay in the courthouse long enough to find out his punishment. I haven't been able to find any info obline either.

As stressful at missing work was, it really wasn't too terrible. Everyone on our jury was super super nice. The defense lawyer was terrible, so watching him was actually really entertaining. I can't say that I would really want to be on a jury again, but it was cool to experience. And now I can say I've fulfilled my civil duty for the year.

A little late...

For those of you who don't know, Salon Foushee is moving. And by moving, I mean it already moved. The original plan included us working through tomorrow, and moving after work. However, due to issues with the landlord we are completely out of the Coal Mine location and will be reopening on July 1st at the new Belleview location. I will post pictures as soon as we have everything into place!

While caught up in all of this craziness going on, I never made a Father's Day post! It is a little late, but I think it is only fair because Eric came into my life a little late! Just kidding Eric, but I love you tons! I am going to try and squeeze out 20 facts that I know about this awesome man.

1. He is great on the grill! I love his ribs, but he makes a lot of other great stuff on there too.

2. He loves the show According to Jim, and in so many ways reminds me of Jim Belushi.

3. dubbed the song Just Another Day In Paradise as our family song.

4. he can build/design/remodel ANYTHING,

5. his feet are pretty "damn" hot.

6. he doesn't like celery.

7. he gets along with EVERYONE

8. In highschool when I encountered a few minor fender benders, I always called him first because I knew he'd be calm and help me calm down.

9. He loves football, especially the University of Utah.

10. He served his mission in Tennessee. His younger brother also served in the same mission at the same time.

11. he does a great impression of "Bruce."

12. his pies are DELICIOUS! He once gave my sister Aubrie and our cousin Brittany and their dates pie making lessons.

13. he enjoys camping and fishing

14. once we went to St. George for spring break, and he created this awesome game that entertained us for over an hour. The game consisted of who could make it to the end of the hall without making the motion sensor light flash.

15. He likes chick flicks, and even watched Twilight with us last time I was in SLC.

16. In addition to all of the other delicious food he makes, he makes really great breakfast. I love, love, love his hashbrowns.

17. When we all lived at home and went to church together, after the sacrament he would pass out the flourescent green spearmint gum to our whole row.

18. He hasn't really figured out facebook yet and on his birthday thanked everyone for the birthday wishes signed in under my moms name.

19. he loves being a grandpa and his grandkids love how silly he is

20. And most importantly, he makes my mom so very happy! He is such a great husband to her, and such a great example to my little sisters.

I love you Eric, and I hope you had a great time on your trip!

In The Kitchen

I've talked a lot about food, but I have yet to actually show you anything that I've made. I have been semi obsessed with several food blogs lately, but one in particular. Cookie Madness... This chick is a trooper, she bakes something basically every day! Sometimes several things. She mainly bakes cookies, but she also has baked up some pretty tasty looking treats! I have been looking for an excuse to make a few of her items and finally got to try my hand this weekend. Last week sometime she posted her "Favorite 5." This includes her 5 favorite chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, brownies, etc. One of her favorite brownies caught my eye so I decided to put it to the test. They were a huge hit, and fun to make. Messy to cut, but mainly because of all of the toppings on top. Here's a picture of how they turned out, along with her recipe.



Caramel Filled Brownies

1 cup whole pecans (more or less, RR uses 1 ½ cups)
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter (8 oz)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (14 oz) bag of caramels
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pecans on a cookie sheet and toast for 7-9 minutes or until aromatic. Let cool. When cool, chop.

Meanwhile, line a 13×9 inch pan with Release foil or parchment paper. You could also just line with foil and spray the foil. Make sure to spray the sides so the caramel won’t stick to the sides.

Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and repeat until smooth. Let cool for about 5 minutes. While chocolate cools, in a separate bowl beat sugar and eggs on high speed of an electric mixer for 3 entire minutes. Beat in vanilla. Stir chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Using a mixing spoon or wire whisk, stir in flour and salt. Pour about half of this batter into the lined pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Cool for 20 minutes. While first layer cools, prepare filling.

Unwrap caramels (ack! Why don’t they make unwrapped caramels!) and put them in a saucepan with the 1/3 cup of cream. Heat on medium low, stirring often, until caramels are melted. Stir about half of the chopped pecans into the caramel. Pour the caramel mixture over the brownie layer.

Spread the remaining brownie mix over the caramel filling. It is kind of tricky, so do your best, but don’t worry about covering all the caramel. Scatter chocolate chips and remaining pecans over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for another 20 minutes or until the top batter appears set but not dry. Allow brownies to cool completely (this should take a few hours). I like to cool them and then chill them because it makes slicing easier.



I also made another recipe she has introduced me too. It's delicious, but a new concept. It is kind of a candy, like a toffee, but filled with trail mix like items. One of those items being Frito chips. Yikes! I know.. Fritos! But it's a sweet and salty candy, and the Fritos are more of an accent than a main ingredient. I left it in the fridge until we left today, and it got kind of gooey in the car even though it wasn't that hot. I think if I know it's going to be sitting out I would freeze it to make sure it really sets up nicely. Here's a picture, and read the recipe so you get the concept and don't just think I'm a total nut.



Frito Candy
2 cups of pretzels
1 cup Frito chips
12ish mini peanut butter cups (I used 6 big ones, they are a little gooey. Either way, you might want to toss these in the freezer ahead of time to make the chopping cleaner)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 cups semi sweet/dark chocolate chips

Break pretzels and Fritos. Don't crush them, but break them. This will make breaking the candy easier. Chop peanut butter cups. Toss mix, and lie flat on a foil lined pan. You want it to be spread pretty thin. Melt butter, and add brown sugar. Bring to a boil for one minute. Pour evenly over mixture. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and scatter chocolate chips on top. Put back in oven for a minute or two, until chocolate chips are soft enough to spread. Spread evenly over the top. Cool, then refridgerate to set. Break into pieces.


Now that you're hungry, I'll talk a little bit about today. Today the girls from Salon Foushee drove to La Jara (outside of Alamosa) to bless Neva's headstone. I have been dreading this day.. but knew that it was something I needed to do. Everything about it was making me nervous. I bake when I'm emotional, which explains my over the top treats. I stood in front of my closet for what felt like hours this morning. What do you wear to something like this? Peri and I left my apartment, and I told her that I didn't want to go. She didn't want to either, I don't think any of us did. Because I wasn't able to be there when the burried her (they also had a closed casket funeral), it still has seemed a little unreal. Seeing her burial plot, and her headstone would make it feel a little permanent.

We met up with the girls in Castle Rock and left from there. As we were getting into Colorado Springs we were routed off the freeway because of an accident. As we went over the overpass we could see the remnants of a terrible accident and the car grew quiet. The images I have engrained in my mind of Neva's car hit me like a brick.

We got into La Jara after about 4 hours and met at the cemetary. What a green, beautiful place. Her headstone was beautiful. They put her picture on it, and there was a sweet poem on the back. A Catholic Priest gave a sermon, and read from the Bible. How lucky I am to have such strong faith that I will be able to see my dear friend again. It was a comfort to be surrounded with her family, and to visit the home she grew up in. We are lucky to have each other at work. I think of her every day. She left an incredible impression on me, and everyone that knew her. I am so lucky to have known someone worth missing so much.

Momma

Happy Mother's Day! I hope everyone is able to appreciate their own mom today, and will continue to do so for the next year. I am going to snag Jacque's fabulous idea and tell you 25 things about my mom.

1. She is an amazing cook. She makes delicious homemade bread, lasagna, chicken spaghetti, cakes, Christmas treats, and THE best peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches.

2. She likes to camp and fish.

3. She loves limeades.

4. In Texas when people would call and talk to her on the phone forever, she would have us ring the doorbell so she could pretend she had to go. The door we used to enter/exit the house didn't have a doorbell, but whoever was on the phone never seemed to make that connection.

5. She works as a Special Education teacher, and is very passionate about giving those kids a great education, and great environment to learn.

6. She isn't afraid of PDA, "No making out in the kitchen Mom!"

7. She tries hard not to hurt your feelings
me: Mom, how do you like my new hair cut?
mom: Ummm... well.. what look are you going for?

8. She is afraid of heights, and I have inherited that same quality.

9. She loves babies and kids. And they love her too.

10. She is good at planning stuff. Everything has to have a plan, and she's great at delegating it.

11. In highschool she didn't care if I skipped classes as long as I had A's.

12. She is sensitive to all of her kids different needs and wants.

13. She has style. She tries hard to do her hair like I do it, and doesn't use cheap make-up.

14. She is madly, hopelessly, in love with her husband.

15. She loves playing games. Canasta, Mad Gab, The Fruit Game, Poker.. Even is some of them make her look silly.

16. She likes everyone to be included, and goes out of her way to make sure no one is left out.

17. When I was little she would pay me money to rub her feet and play with her hair. She had this red round brush that would always get tangled in her hair.

18. She went to BYU (twice) but is a huge U of U football fan.

19. She doesn't really like cereal, but when I was little she would eat this cereal called Raisin Squares. I loved it too, and still put raisins in my shredded wheat cereal.

20. When we lived in Texas she loved garage sales, and had several of them at our house.

21. She always wanted a house that had a wrap around porch, and a cocker spaniel. No porch yet, but when she and Eric got married he had a cocker spaniel named Dennis.

22. She used to take us to Longview shopping ALL day long on Saturdays. We got to go to the mall, Target, and Sam's club. Such a treat.

23. She stayed up late checking my math homework for me all during elementary school.

and for my 2 favorite things about my mom...

24. She LOVES getting good deals. If you tell her you like her shirt, she tells you where she got it and how much it costs. She loved coupons when I wad little. She loves the clearance racks. I make fun of her for this, but have inherited that same quality from her.

25. She is the most giving person I know. As busy as she was when I was little, she volunteered in my classroom. She helped out people in our ward that didn't have money. She bought me stuff when I complained that I always got me hand me downs, even when we didn't have the money. She is always happy to give to someone else, because she knows that there are always people that are worse off.



I love you Mom! Thanks for all that you do for me, you are the best mom ever!!

blizzard

Last Thursday started out as a pretty normal day. I woke up exhausted, but put on my gym clothes to head out for the gym. I could hear cars outside my window, and recognized the sound of tires on pavement- not tires sliding in slush. I peeked outside and let out a sigh of releif that we hadn't gotten the "8+ inches" the news had promised. Phew.

So I packed up my stuff (I get ready for work at the gym, due to it being 15 minutes from my house in the direction on the salon), and poured myself some Kashi. Shortly after I head that Cherry Creek School District had cancelled school on account of it being a snow day. But where was the snow? It certainly wasn't at my house. It turns out that the storm was supposedly delayed, and expected around noon. A storm big enough to cancel school, even before it had started? I got a little nervous. I headed to the gym (which is west, toward the mountains) and as I got closer there was a little more snow. The gym is basically all windows, so while running on the treadmill I could see that the wind was picking up and the snow was coming down. Within an hour it was coming down hard.. I got a call from the salon saying that all but one of my clients had called in to cancel. The salon is even further west, and they were already experiencing a white out. I haven't had a snow day since Texas, what a fun surprise! I continued to workout because really, a snow day means a lazy day with plenty of junk food. After over 2 hours of cardio, and watching the storm blow in I headed out.

I now understand what a "white out" is. I could barely see the car in front of me, and was dying of heat with my defrost blasting. Cars were all over the road.. hazards blinking, tons of cars stranded on the side of the road. My usual 15 minute drive turned into over an hour. I live at the top of a hill which was scary in itself, since that same hill takes you to the freeway and there was mass confusion due to stoplights without power. It turned out that everyone got sent home from work at the same time.

By the time I got home Victoria had found out she was off of work too. What a lazy day. We watched tv, surfed the net, took naps.. just about everything. I was highly disappointed that both Ellen and Oprah had been replaced with local news and the latest blizzard report. Around 8 we couldn't take the silence anymore. We called every restaurant within a mile to see if we could get out of the house. The only thing open was Old Chicago so we got to eat some delicious pizza and watch basketball. There was no one on the roads by that time so the ride was slow but not too scary. I can say I've survived my first (and hopefully last?!) blizzard!
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The T's and the P's

When I was about 16 my mom and I were chatting and (from my recollection)out of nowhere she suggested that I marry someone tan. Her theory on this was that though all of her brothers and sisters were pale, those with tan spouses had tan children. Now let me explain to those of you bronzed babes- this isn't just a vanity plea. I remember many blistering sunburns from the scorching sun. Sunscreen in my eyes at Six Flags and Lagoon. The older I've gotten the more I appreciate my fair skin. I like my freckles and red hair. I slather on sunscreen underneath my make-up, and know that my skin will thank me later.

I often get the question, "What are you looking for in a guy?" Now even though I am not sure I really know the answer to that question I have normally smile and respond with, "tall*, tan**, and temple worthy." I mean really, what else does a girl need? Actually, I just found out.

My boss recently heard some hullabullo on Oprah about a new book by Steve Harvey called "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man." In his book he depicts where women go wrong, and what to look for to know if your relationship is for sport or for keeps. I would recommend this book to all of the ladies out there- single, in a relationship, engaged, or married. So from this book I add to my list "looking for." In addition to a guy who is tall*, tan**, and temple worthy- I would like a man who will profess, protect, and provide. If you know a single gentelman who fits this criteria, feel free to send him my direction.






*I am 5'11" without shoes on, tall is considered this height or taller.
**due to my attraction for red heads, this is negotiable.

Boom. Roasted

I didn't really care about the superbowl this year, but it's always fun to get together with friends and have some good food. As for The Office, I think that might be my favorite episode yet. I'll be making my list of people that I would make out with before I'd make out with Michael Scott. However, I won't be sharing that list with you here.

I often mock the fast and testimony meetings in my ward. They are a little less predicable these days, which I consider to be a good thing. The last few months have been a lot more sincere, and a little less for show. I found yesterdays meeting especially uplifting, and left feeling spiritually fed. The pulpit was graced by several newer members, who bore testimony of their new found truth. I was recently reading a blog post written by my friend Zack. We attended EFY together at least 5 years ago and his outgoing personality left a deep impression on me. Though I don't keep contact with him I love reading his witty blog entries. His last entry seemed to be especially insightful and I would encourage you to read it. It can be found here: everydayiseasterinmycloset.blogspot.com

I have been reading the conference edition of the Ensign for the last week at the gym every morning. What a great way to start the day! It amazes me how having a positive attitude can turn a dull day into a great day. Also, a friend shared this video with me this weekend. I shared it with my mom, and thought I should share it with everyone. Just remember- it's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game.

A Historic Event

As much as I like to open my big mouth.. I just want to say that I am proud to be an American today and excited to see Obama as president. This is a huge historic event, and I feel blessed to be able to witness it. I have only been able to see part of his speech from this morning but am excited to see it in its entirety.

I finally got a car. I shouldn't say finally since I was only looking for a couple of weeks. But wow, I am relieved to not have to shop anymore. I made the great mistake of test driving a Mazda 6. It was smooth and fast, still zippy and sporty. I felt at home behind the wheel.. and the dealer thought I was a sucker. When he tried to get me to pay $1000 over sticker price I laughed in his face, and kept on hunting. I drove a few Hondas. A Corolla. Even a few American cars... nothing compared. So I found myself a 2005 Mazda 6 and am loving every second of it. What power!

Recently, I discovered a fun little fitness website called sparkpeople.com. It is a social network, and a nutrition/fitness site. It's cool because you can log all of your food and exercise, read message boards, post pictures, etc. I have been doing that for about 2 weeks now. I am following a low fat (30% fat )diet, not eating sweets, counting calories, etc.. So week one I was down 5.5 pounds, and now at the end of week 2 I am down another 3. That's 8.5 pounds so far this year. I am feeling great, and really enjoying the gym. Except for that darn stair climber... I freakin hate that thing, but put in my 30 minutes a day regardless. I am thinking about running a half marathon in September. I am looking for people to run any races with in the meantime, so let me know if you're interested.

People

I have had a lot on my mind lately, and it's hard for me to sort out my thoughts. I've been doing lots of journaling of my own, and felt like blogging my thoughts tonight. I have been (and still am) so caught up in trying to buy a car that I haven't even slowed down to do anythign else. So here I am, test driving a car tonight.. I have the dealer in the back seat, my most wonderful friend Alan in the front seat... and I'm rambling off about my ipod, the laptop I just purchased, and it clicks to me how many "toys" I have accumulated lately.

I have recently been rereading my favorite book, "What Happy People Know." I live by this book. I practice what it teaches, and try and share what it has taught me with everyone. I am constantly recommending it to clients, friends, and family, and even gave a copy of it to one of my friends for Christmas. It's great, pick it up when you have a chance. I've been recognizing how many people use some thing to fill voids in their lives. For some people it's something more destructive like drugs or alochol, others it can be something wonderful like love, affection, and companionship. And there is most definitely those of us who fill our lives with things.. clothes, toys, make-up, etc.. At some point I think all of us have used at least one of these things to "heal" us, without ever trying to fix the problem.
So what's the point? Here we are, our ultimate goal being perfection, aspiring to be like our older brother Jesus Christ. How is a new purse, or a large serving of chocolate cake, a new house, a new boyfriend, a new tv, going to help us achieve that?

I am so greatful for the incredible people I have in my life. Mainly my mother, who I have never known to really want anything. Okay, so that is an exageration, but honestly I can't ever think of anything big that she's ever asked for or expressed desire for. When we ask her what she wants for anything, her response is usually, "I want a clean house." Only ever replaced with the even more selfless, "I want my children home with me," or "I want my daughter to be happy." I would say that no matter what the circumstance my mother has been an incredible example of being genuinely happy. I am so lucky to have such a great family.

Neva has been on my mind a lot lately. I keep thinking of all of the funny things that she said to me throughout the years. Or how she would take naps in the break room, or her car, or wherever she could lay her head. How she about scared me half to death my first week of work telling me that if I didn't do my share of color bowls everyone would hate me. I still miss her presence every day. Peri had a client today who told her that since she had been in last she lost both her son and her husband in a car accident. When Peri told those of us in the back room we all gasped in unison, and I think our hearts broke all in the same way. After recently losing such a great friend, I can only imagine how she is feeling. How dare I complain about not having anything to wear, my grown out roots, or missing my favorite tv show? The Lord has blessed me with so many great things, and more importantly, so many great people.

car shopping

How frustrating. You would think in this economy, dealerships would be giving cars away.. I have been test driving, haggling, and I am totally burnt out. I found a car that I love, but the dealer just won't meet me at a reasonable price. He's definitely missing out on an awesome sale. So everyone cross your fingers that I will find something awesome and get a great deal on it.

2 of my very favorite shows started this week. The Biggest Loser is on Tuesday nights, and Real World is on Wednesday. There's nothing like watching a bunch of overweight sweaty people get yelled at by their overly athletic fitness coaches. The first few episodes are kind of hard to watch for me, but I love seeing everyone change over the 10 weeks. It's very motivating for me! And who doesn't love The Real World? Drama, drama, drama. This season there are 2 people from Salt Lake (they both went to East High), one is Mormon and one is not. I think they thought that would cause more drama than it probably will, but it's hard to tell so soon. Oh and American Idol starts on Tuesday! The auditions are always hilarious, and it's fun to guess which of the good people will make it through to the top 12(?). And a little birdie told me that a dear friend of mine makes it through to Hollywood. And no, that friend is NOT David Osmond. Just wait, she'll knock your socks off I'm sure.

This is random but I gave up sweets for the new year. If you know me, you know that I am a chocoholic.. but so far it's going really well! No crazy cravings, other than seeing a lot of recipes that I would love to whip up. My original plan was to only eat them on holidays and vacations, but I am in a little bit of a competition with a friend, so we will see how long I can go.

2009

Christmas came and went and I didn't even tell you all about it. Mostly because if you read this, I probably shared part of the holiday with you. I love being able to see my family, and I even enjoy being able to do their hair for them (despite of complaining about it). I really enjoyed spending time with loved ones, and catching up with old friends. I guess I will be back in a few short months of Chase's farewell... and then I am vowing to take a break from Utah. I need real vacation, so you will all have to come see me until I can't handle my Cafe Rio cravings anymore.

The new year is here, and I love that it is an opportunity for new beginnings. I am great at making and keeping goals, but my only resolution this year was to work on keeping my goals. So rather than making year long resolutions, I made a lot of short term progressive goals.

I'm not going to lie, 2008 was tough and I'm not sad to see it go. Some great things came out of the year- Harper being born, some weddings, Victoria moving in, work going well... I definitely recognize all of the many blessings that I received. But it was definitely the most trying year I've had. I had a lot of challenges that I still don't really know how I moved through. I made some stupid decisions, I had friends make stupid decisions, and here I am trying to move through the rubble and have a postiive attitude. I am a firm believer that the harder the trial, the greater the lesson. Wow, what amazing things I learned last year. In 5th grade I grew from 5'1" to 5'7". 6 inches in about 9 months. Talk about about growing pains. That was 2008 for me in the emotional sense.

I am vowing to make 2009 a great year. I am so lucky to have amazing people in my life. I am not worrying about people that don't worry about me. I met a friend a few months ago who told me he only had a few friends, but those friends were people he'd do anything for- and would do the same for him. I was talking to him right before Christmas and told him that I've realized how much I envy that. I would like to think that I would do ANYTHING for any of my friends, but I wasted a lot of time in 2008 that would certainly not do the same for me. Here's to strong relationships, real friends, and an amazing family.