what a trip!

Trip time!! As most of you know my dear friend Katie and I recently got back from the trip we have been planning for months and months. The whole reason for the trip was to make it to Beaverton, Oregon for Karinne's wedding, but we decided to make it an extra long adventure and go to a few more places :) so first on the list was Katie driving up to Boise friday afternoon where we hung out with my family and a few old friends from high school that night. Then Saturday we decided to start the morning off right with breakfast at Merritts. YUM!! After that we hit the road! 8-ish hours to Seattle :) Oh good times in the car. That drive is absolutely gorgeous once you hit I-90...so basically the last hour, but seriously, its actually breathtaking.
So we got to Katie's sister, Joanna's house and spent the evening with their cute little family, and then watched a movie. Sunday we went to church in this building that's literally nestled in trees...everything there is, its incredible. After church we had lunch and then went to Snoqualmie Falls which was awesome! Then later that evening we went to Lake Sammamish where Katie's 2 year old nephew took an accidental swim :) it was pretty funny.
On Monday, all of us went to downtown Seattle and visited the troll (as seen in 10 Things I Hate About You), walked around Pike's, had the famous little donuts, had fish and chips on the pier, did some shopping and had the most amazing waffle cones & ice cream on the water front. heaven! Then Joanna and her husband and kids went home, while Katie and I stayed downtown. We stumbled upon the Northwest Folklife Festival totally by accident but just happened to be the highlight of Seattle. Oh my gosh, so fun! Complete hippy fest for sure. We bought toe rings and got henna tattoos. :) There were awesome hippy bands, and we smelled wretched afterwards. It was so fun though. Then we went up the space needle! Yay! I had never been up, so that was cool. After wards we walked down the waterfront again, and made it to Joanna's by 8 for a late dinner. What and awesome day!
Tuesday we made the 4 hour drive to the Olympic Peninsula...just because we felt like it and had a spare 2 days before we planned on being in Portland. We decided to be really lame and go to Forks. I know...but seriously, we had a blast. The beach was absolutely worth the drive and we had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand. We stayed in a Forks Motel and ate a restaurant called...The Restaurant. We were silly Twilighters and we enjoyed every minute of it. I dont care what any of you think. haha Forks itself was ridiculous, we saw the whole town in 4 minutes, but the La Push beach, and watching the sun set in Port Angeles was soooo worth the drive. While there we also went to the Hoh Rain Forest, and one of the largest cedar trees ever...194 ft in diameter alone. It was epic.
Wednesday was when we went swimming in the ocean. It was super windy that day, so everyone on the beach was in pants and coats, and here we were, 2 dorks from Utah and Idaho in our swim suits screaming and running through the waves. People looked, and we laughed. After that we were on our way to Portland!
We had Wednesday night to visit with Karinne and her family, and then Thursday and Friday we spent preparing for the wedding! This was so fun! Lots of work but I seriously had a blast chatting with K-poo's awesome family. I love them! Her mom is adorable, I love all her sisters, her aunt is like the same person as my mom, and I got to see her ADORABLE neices and nephews. I spent Easter with them last year and seriously fell in love with those kids, so I had fun running around with them. but ya, weddings are quite the hustle and bustle. We made tons of food and decorated up a storm, but it was soooo worth it Saturday when my best friend Karinne married Mr Dalen, aka Du-dad. They looked so happy and it was so fun to see them all married and such! I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Karinne was absolutely gorgeous like always, and glowing with happiness. Im so happy for those two dorky love birds. Hopefully they have kids soon so I can be the #1 babysitter haha jk...but seriously. What a great weekend that was. We then left Sunday morning for good old Boise. Sad that it was all over, but very excited to sleep in my own bed :) Funny how that works...
Here is a slid show of some of the pictures from the trip. We took like 300, so its definitely only SOME of them, but you get the general idea. Hope you enjoy!

happiness is...fun shoes

now i intend to blog lots and LOTS about my FANTASTIC trip, but real quick i just had to share some happy news. i got home from my vacation on sunday and my mom had bought me a little something. she said she saw these and couldnt resist buying them, which im very glad because they are SOOOOO FLIPPING CUTE. haha i love them and their quirky-ness. here is a pic:

"there's nothing ironic about show choir."

glee!
oh its truly glee-full...is that a word?
hum...anyways, i found a new favorite show. it MAY even top grey's anatomy. i said MAY top...we will see where it leads.
but SERIOUSLY. this show is me in a nut shell.
its GREAT. its hilarious, plus full of music and cool choir nerd jokes that only the truly nerdy would understand.
i wish i could express how happy this show made me...maybe i can prove it to you by saying i immediately downloaded the single off of itunes?
yes.
i made me that happy. im so excited for the season to start in the fall!

im so happy...i could SCREAM

oh wait.
i totally did scream when they announced
KRIS ALLEN
as the winner of American Idol. Hallelujah!
Life is good.
And I love Kris!!

..
U
happy

life is grand

this is just my little blurb before i jet off to go to bed...yes bed, i have a cold which seems ironic since its very warm here...but such is life. hopefully i can sleep it away.
so as for my blurb on life:

i hate season finales...they stress me out. first private practice and then greys anatomy? i dont know how much drama i can take. especially when they leave you with cliff hangers like that. good grief.

also, i love kris allen. he fills me with an indescribable joy. he will go far. i hope he wins, just so i can laugh at adam lambert.

i leave for my trip on saturday! hooray for a real vacation, and fun. im stoked. actually, im beyond stoked.

i was working in the yard yesterday and guess what i found back there? my happy flowers, from this post. yes. it was joyous

and one last little thing: im excited for summer movies like this one. as well the obvious one like Harry Potter.

life is good. no, life is grand.

fan-freaking-tastic

i had a swell weekend. i felt i should share

my dear roommate kym and i had been planning a trip to the hogle zoo all semester, so we figured that this past weekend would be perfect since i was still in logan. so the hogle zoo is what started this little adventure, but that was only the beginning...or middle...whichever

i drove down to our dear friend jennifer jones' house on friday for an evening of celebrating miss sara michelles 20th birthday. hooray! we laughed, we played, we watched the office, ate taco bell, and concluded the evening with the one and only hugh grant in notting hill

"im just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her..." classic.

the next morning we had breakfast with jen's awesome family, and then made our way from draper to holladay to the hogle zoo to meet kym and the giraffes. this day just so happened to be the day before mothers day, so the zoo was covered with moms and children of all ages. it was a huge deal actually, complete with "Mom and Me at the Zoo! Bring your child into the wild" t-shirts...yes i got one--partly because all proceeds go towards new exhibits, and partly because i wished my mom was there with me.

so we spent most of the morning/afternoon there, having fun and taking pictures. then sometime around 3 we all went our went our separate ways, except for me and katie...she was stuck with me for 2 more days.

we went mothers days shopping, drove up millcreek canyon, took a mini nap, and then went to a crazy bonfire! this was definitely a blast. the fire was HUGE and there were some really fun people too...not to mention a few cute boys ;) but they go to BYU...gross. So ya, this bonfire was like an hour away from katies, and lasted for a long time, but it was definitely worth it. :) So So fun!

(dont worry...thats just our delicious energy drinks)

sunday was mothers day, and i was sad all day long that i couldn't be with my mommy, but it definitely helped that i was with katie and her cute family, and not all alone in my apartment in logan. i also got to take katie over to meet my dotty! i was soooo happy i got to see dott and talk with her for a couple of hours and introduce her to katie. it definitely made the trip :)
then monday i had to leave by noon or so to make it back in time to get ready and go to work. but we didnt leave without first making a stop to MOLCASALSA. yummy! i then made the drive back...it was hot, i have no AC, my ipod was dead, and i was DREADING another week in logan, but i will survive, only a couple days left and i can go home! and then bring on the ROAD TRIP!!!

turn to stone...ingrid michaelson

let's take a better look
beyond a story book
and learn our souls are all we own
before we turn to stone

let's go to sleep with clearer heads
and hearts too big to fit out beds
and maybe we won't feel so alone
before we turn to stone

and if you wait for someone else's hand
you will surely fall down
if you wait for someone else's hand
you'll fall, you'll fall

i know that i am nothing new
my words might not seem much to you
but brother how we must atone
before we turn to stone

listen to the song here...
Turn to Stone

knowledge

"True learning
is learning something
you will never forget."

happy flower

I found a new favorite flower courtesy of my FAVORITE blog:
greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com
they are called anemones, and basically I love them...a lot. here are some pictures:

the end.

Well...the semester is FINALLY over. I survived finals week, barely passing some classes, but passing none-the-less. In college C's get degrees! haha I never thought I would become that kind of a student, where as in high school I think I actually started crying if I got a C. Oh well...college changes a person, for the better and the worse :) haha anyways, the main point of this post is just to say hallelujah! Bring on the summer fun! What a topsy-tirvy year it has been. Definitely some struggles, but definitely some fantastic times shared with basically the greatest people in the world. I cant believe my college career is flying by so fast, and that next year I will be a senior! Wow. I'm starting to feel old!
So as excited as I was for this semester to be over, it was the classes I just wanted to be done with. But along with classes ending, other things change too. I have been avoiding thinking about these things but now here they are staring my in the face. My Katie left me yesterday, and she isn't coming back..I mean she will visit me lots (she better) but shes not going to school here anymore. She has been such a blessing in my life, and it will be weird to not have her up here with me next year. But we truly are kindred spirits and just because she is going to the U, doesn't mean she can get rid of me that easy :P This semester is also the last one I get to be roommates with my dear Krenny-Poo. Mr. Dalen is taking her away from me to get married or something...haha I'm so excited for them and I know they will be eternally happy, its just weird for me I guess. I am also not going to be living in Old Farm anymore. 2 years here is plenty, seriously, plenty...but I'm moving to a foreign place, about 2 blocks down the street haha, but still, its kind of frightening. I will have 3 roommates that I have never met, and a whole new ward, everything. Its kind of a weird concept to me. But I just keep telling myself that adventures lie ahead. It will be grand, but frightening either way. Who knew the end of a semester could mark such change in my life?! Its both exciting and nerve-racking, but Bring it on I guess! Luckily I have the summer to prepare! :S