Santa Monica

I am taking a break from studying to finally write this post. If I don't do it now who knows when it will get done. Two weeks ago three of my girlfriends and I took a girl's trip to sunny California.

My three beautiful friends; Amy, Hailey and Chelsey needed breaks from being wonderful mothers and wives and I needed a break from studying and work, so off to Santa Monica we went. We hit up every cupcake store we could find, even getting sick at one place. I think we would all agree that Sprinkles in Beverly Hills was the best. We stayed right by the beach and could see the Santa Monica Pier and ocean from our hotel window, at least Amy & I could. It was a perfect weekend. The weather was great, food oh so delicious, poolside views of the ocean and muscle beach relaxing and entertaining, and the company to die for. I love these girls so much and had so much fun RELAXING with them. The little detour on Sunday was an extra bonus, thanks girls ;).

4th of July

Most years we spend 4th of July in Bozeman. It is always so beautiful, fun and great to spend time with family. This year we floated the river as a family and had a blast. The Madison is a beautiful river and perfect for a leisure float. We were lucky enough to see pelicans, otters, a fawn laying by the river and the coolest was a moose. No joke there was a moose hanging out drinking in the river, it was so awesome. Too bad non of us had our cameras with us. On Saturday we played outside most of the day and had a BBQ. The boys have always lit the fireworks, but this year Dee and I got to do it, so fun. As usual it was so good to see everyone and the time was way too short. I think if I lived in Bozeman I would spend everyday hanging out in my parents backyard. More fun to come tomorrow!

Catching up

I have not been around too much lately and when I am, I am usually studying. I also had the worst cold I have had in years the other week. Just to shed some light on how bad it was I had a lab test two weeks ago that I took with a 100 degree fever (not the best idea I know, but I didn't realize it was that high and didn't really have another option). I did fine on the test, but not as good as I would have liked. In my delirium I did things like choose D when your options were A through C (woops!) or I would look at something, identify it in my head, but on paper I filled in something completely different. I had a little melt down when I returned to class and saw what I did. Did I also mention that my pervy professor was terminated the last week of class. We are guessing partly because he said some very disgusting things in class (school is so different in Utah thank heavens) and because he was failing most of the class. For the last four days we had a different professor with a different testing and teaching style, very stressful. Luckily she said we could drop our lowest grade, a lovely tender mercy, so my A stands. I am still recovering from the cold and even have a nerdy inhaler that I am supposed to use for a while. I have found myself saying "Ah I need my inhaler!" several times lately. I am turning over my contacts for a lovely pair of bottle capped glasses with tape across the middle and a pocket protecter and you can find me in the periodical section of the library if you have any questions, comments, or constructive criticisms.

The Reunion

So my high school reunion was more enjoyable than expected. I really was using it as an excuse to see my mom and my cousin Amanda, but ended up reconnecting with some good friends. Amanda and I got ready together beforehand and it was so much fun. Totally reminded me of high school giggling in the bathroom, helping each other with our outfits, and going silent when my uncle came in the room and giggling when he left. Aw, I guess a part of us never grows up. Being a little nervous we wouldn't have anyone to talk to Amanda and I were ready to go as soon as we walked in the room, but ended up having a blast. I took a few pics but mostly was too busy chatting and laughing. I have known some of these people since I was like 5 or 6. I have to mention that seeing my mama was the best part though. She's wonderful and I miss her so enjoyed spending every minute with her.
Tara, Amy, me

Kristal, Amanda (with baby on board), me

A Long & Winding Road

Last weekend I went up to Montana for my high school reunion. The drive there was about as memorable as the reunion itself. Missoula sits in a valley and isn't that easy to get to no matter what time of the year. In the winter you have to go around the mountains and it takes 9 hours. In the summer you go over the mountains, but it's constant climbing and winding for 7.5 hours. Usually I drive with Ben and Becky so I don't pay much attention. But this time I drove all by myself. Between the constant weaving (at one point I got myself a little car sick, didn't even know that was possible), the steep drop offs into the river far below making me feel like I was about to fall in at any moment, the deer jumping in front of my car, and the rain I was a wreck when I pulled into town. I have also concluded that getting up at 5:45 to go to school for 5 hours and then work before hitting THAT road is less than ideal. Knowing the road a little better made the drive back a lot more enjoyable. If you can actually look around it is one of the most beautiful drives anyone can take. On a side note everyone in Idaho has always wondered how I could drive by Stanley and not marvel over the mountains. Now I am not at all down playing the beauty of those mountains because they are indeed breathtaking, but hello I grew up in Western Montana, there's mountains everywhere. I forget how amazing they are and what a small little valley Missoula really is. A lot greener than the sage brush of the foothills in Boise.

Hitten the Trails

My original bike buddy is my friend Scott, he worked at the bike shop with me and taught me how to downhill mountain bike. Last summer he got hit by a car while on his bike and broke his arm. He has a couple screws and a rod in his arm and a year later it still hasn't healed. We were hoping to hit Sundance while I was here but he still can't mountain bike. So we took a casual ride up to Bridal Veil falls. It was a perfect day for it and although less exciting it was still fun. I love the Utah mountains and had forgotten how beautiful they are in the spring. Again all these activities are going to make it very hard to go home and sit in a classroom all summer.


Amy and I love teeny bopper movies, they are so fun, innocent and make us giggle. We have been counting down the days until we saw 17 Again, and tonight was the night. I am a little embarrassed to say that we now have HUGE crushes on Zach Efron, is that even legal? We could not go to the theater without our usual kid combos, but tonight we must have been really hungry because we walked away with a lot more than either of us needed to eat. The best part was when two cute little old ladies walked in with their snacks excited as we were, I think our futures flashed before our eyes. Here's to being 70 Amy and still giggling over teeny bopper movies. All this for 2 people.

Fun in the Sun

I have been in Utah since Friday and have loved every minute of it. Amy and I have been so busy hitting up garage sales, consignment shops, eating, making jewelry, getting our tan on, eating, watching kids, latch work pillow making, eating more and of course chatting. It has been so much fun and I'm never going to want to leave. Yesterday we took Carson and Carlee, Amy's adorable kiddos to the pool and had such a blast. Why didn't they have such cool places when I was little? Last night I did take some time away and had dinner with my friend Clinton, who I love. We live in two very different realities and his remedy to all that bugs me is a trip to Europe, Panama or to just move back to Utah. He makes me laugh and I love when he can fit me into his busy schedule.