Stuff from Summer - June

Stuff that happened in June. Summer came to Utah. Jason drew on my board at work. I've been given the nickname of Bubbles.

Meghan came back from her Euro adventures and brought me a treat.

I put Farmer Dad's blueberries to good use. The smitten kitchen recipe is great.

Other Meghan is a rower, and Meghan, Amanda and I went out to the marina for a learn-to-row day clinic that they did. I'm amazed we didn't tip the boat.

I love making these tostadas. 

And my AZ dream of Bahama Bucks finally came to Utah! It's far away in Draper, but one day I was in the neighborhood so....sour red raspberry it was. 

Snapchat. Ridiculous.

At least this one is cute.

At church one night we had a woman bring her Spanish friends to demo some Spanish dishes. Pan con tomate and tortilla - so good! I'm glad I went.

Anthony convinced me to go camping one weekend - the first true test of our relationship. Out in the middle of nowhere (well, not really, but...) in a place without an actual campground nor facilities (running water, bathroom), so it was a little challenge for me, but I survived for a night. We went to Stansbury Island.

We parked and walked up a little hill - he carried the stuff.

That's the Great Salt Lake back there.

I couldn't find the rainfly for my tent, so we got a little rained on the next morning. We packed up quickly and got to the car, then drove to the brine shrimp farm. That's why the water is all red. I still don't know exactly how that works.

View from the movie theater parking garage. We saw the Weiner documentary.

Lacey had chocolate pasta at her house and I tried it with ice cream on top. It's okay?

Becca loves America and had a Flag Day party.

Ensign Peak night with the youth from church. I think it was crazy windy.

All I wanted for the summer was pool access, and Meghan's place in Provo delivered.

We had a girls night at the rodeo in Pleasant Grove (I don't think I'd been to one before?) and found a delicious food stand right after.

Niece time! Hallie got a book from grandma about her travel to Texas.

More pool time.

Dear family friends from Oklahoma were in Utah for their daughter's wedding. Taylor and I went and it was lovely to see their whole family. It had probably been 20 years!

I made everyone go to food trucks one night. So great in the summer.

This one had a job interview near me and we had a milkshake date after.

Adam had a birthday! And Dana totally pulled off a surprise with friend and family meeting him at TopGolf. That place is fun.

Breakfast at Rye. And somewhere around here I volunteered at the Utah Arts Festival in the beer tent. I'm sure I took photos? I guess not.

Night hike in Brighton.

And some Real Salt Lake.

And I finally splurged and bought this eyeshadow palette. It's been a great investment.

One more birthday celebration for Adam - some Peruvian food! And then he did some stellar Spanish karaoke. 

That's it for June!

To Dallas! For Tanner's Wedding!

So little bro Tanner got married to Kimber in May, and the Utah siblings headed out together to celebrate the joyous occasion. It was about time they got married, and I'm glad to have another sister. Happier still that both brothers have chosen well.

Hallie was ready with her backpack, though she kept telling us it was too heavy.

Sisters on a plane.

We had a little mix up once we landed. We flew into Dallas Love, but the car rental was a DFW. After lots of phone calls and such, we weren't successful in switching it, so Tanner came to pick us all up. But with all the crap in his car, we barely fit into the grande SUV.

She's just chill.

First stop - dinner reunion with Grandparents Williams and Courtney's sister, Taryn and her little fam.

Hard Eight BBQ. Pretty good stuff.

Blurry pic of Kimber's fam. They're a good bunch.

To the hotel. Ho-tay-el, as Hallie said.

Dad brought me blueberries from the farm, and I was so excited. I still have a precious few left in my freezer.

Hallie looooves them.

She also loved swim time.

Kimber got Courtney and me cute gifts.

Off to the temple to seal the deal. It was hectic. Mom and Dad called me from there since I was leaving later, cause Dad forgot his recommend, and then I didn't know if we needed to give grandparents a ride or if they were already there, so I ran around the entire hotel and called and never found them. We were running late and as we pulled onto the street and were 30 yards from the parking lot turn in, a construction site had closed the whole street and we had to go way around, which took another 7 minutes. So dumb! At least they waited for us cause it was the only event at the temple that day.

Love these two bros of mine.

We headed to a nice steak lunch after to celebrate. And that was that - they're married!

Hallie was the first one up in the morning, always coming in to see Grandpa and get some blueberries.

We found a playground so we could meet up with Taryn again.

The last day I went with Mom and Dad to see the Bush Presidential Library.

Then some Torchy's, and Dallas was pretty much done.

We did drive by a Grandy's, one of my favorite childhood places. Wish I could've stopped for their chicken and cinnamon rolls!

What Day is It?

Whoa, things have been moving in a whirlwind for the last couple weeks. I walked into work on Monday this week so confused, actually thinking it was a Friday. The next day I thought it was a Thursday. I'm clearly all turned around.

I took on a holiday season job at a store in the mall, since I'd worked there in a prior life and loved it. I was at the mall one day and saw their sign for holiday help, and I got all inspired to apply for the fun of it and the discount. It's been good, but it also means a busy schedule. Lately I have been on closing shift on Thursday and Friday nights, and then working Saturday morning through most of the day. Weekend plans with anyone are shot, though I do manage to see Anthony.

In the middle of two jobs and holiday events, I've been scrambling to take the GRE and finish a grad school application. As of Monday this week, that is complete! I took the GRE on a Tuesday, so I was gone from work most of the day, and it made the rest of the week feel strange. I worked so much in the following days, somehow that weekend still made it to a coworker's dinner party and Anthony's Army holiday gathering, and give a short lesson at church. And on Friday Anthony had an outpatient procedure on his heart, and I took him to the hospital early and picked him up between my two jobs so he could get home and rest. I did enjoy being his caretaker, and I know he'd be just as good or better if the roles were reversed.

This week I've had a Christmas concert and took my Iraqi friends to Temple Square to see lights, and I had to interview a Georgetown applicant and complete another lesson for church this week, and I'm working even more extended hours at the mall this weekend, but hey! Sure keeps things interesting. I'm impressed that I'm actually showing up to the right place at the right time lately.....

And now, a couple photos from Black Friday adventures before I had to go to work that day... Back to the grind. Hopefully I'll catch up on this year's adventures on here before the end of the year!