Such A Beautiful Wedding

Such a beautiful bride. Such a fun weekend.

Am I Turning Into A Boy?

This morning I started my day by going to the gym, drinking a protein shake, and cleaning my car. At least my gym work out consisted of the stair stepper and a pilates class.

Substantially The Same?

Not everyone could tell what I was for Halloween (Lady Gaga--in case you can't tell either). I got a couple guesses of Minnie Mouse, which I thought was ironic because that's what Courtney dressed up as. The hair-bow does sort of look like ears, but how does Minnie Mouse explain the rest of what I'm wearing?

Get Excited

Halloween will be good this year.

26

I turned 26 and it feels great!
I am so lucky to have friends willing to spend
the entire day doing whatever I wanted.

And then I spent a week in Hawaii.

Less Than Lofty Aspirations

Things I would like to accomplish (and by accomplish I mean if they just happen to occur I will think it fantastic):

1. Have a really destructive hurricane named after me (Katrina was probably my one chance at that, but I'm holding out hope)

2. Be featured on The Sartorialist blog (I only have a chance at this if I move out of Utah as I've never seen a photo from Provo on there)

3. Be the subject of youtube's most popular video one year

4. Earn a BYU intramural champion t-shirt (by earn I mean be on the roster--I don't have to be a valuable team member)

5. Be on the jury of a high-profile murder case (now that I'm in law school I'm unlikely to be selected for any jury, but maybe they won't ask me about that)

Happy 50th Birthday Mom!

For my mom's 50th birthday she wanted to go skydiving.

Naturally, we couldn't let her do it by herself. Here I am suiting up.
Piling into the plane.

Floating through the air.

(That could totally be me.)

Landed safe and sound--many thanks to Cliff.

Afterwards, incredibly impressed with ourselves.

It was so much more fun than I imagined and not nearly as scary.

I had only a moment of hesitation as soon as the plane door was open

and it was my turn to jump. If it had been up to me I would

probably have never left my seat, but I was shoved towards

the door while Courtney screamed "I don't want to do it!" and

before I knew it I was falling towards the earth.

It was such a rush--I would go again in a second!

Weekend Trip

Courtney and I took a road trip to Reno to visit our family

friend, Shondel, who has babysat us since we were three.

(Yes, she still babysits us.) We took a day trip to Lake Tahoe.
The weekend was filled with many laughs and lots of good food.
Thanks Shondel!

So Long Summer

Although the weather is still nice, classes started today--marking the end of summer.

To enjoy our last Saturday of freedom we went to a Salt Lake Bees' game.

We took advantage of the trip to Salt Lake and had Philly cheesesteaks at Moochie's before the game and after the game we had frozen custard at Nielsen's.

Mmmmmmm.

The Land of Enchantment

Santa Fe makes a delightful weekend trip!

A trip on which I did more than eat

(although there was plenty of that).

There are some cool things to see in New Mexico.

These are known as the miraculous stairs,

built in an old church without anything supporting them.

We did some hiking,

people watching,

and bird watching.

Petroglyphs!

I love traveling with my parents,

and not just because they pay for everything. :)

First Triathalon

Run 5 kilometers. Bike 13 miles. Swim 600 meters.

They did it in reverse order, forcing participants

to run across the finish line in their swim wear--not

my favorite part, but overall it was quite fun!

I Had Made It Two Years, But...

this morning while wearing a BYU Law t-shirt, a woman asked me the question:

"Does your husband go to BYU law school?"

"I do."

How Far Would You Drive For The Best Shaved Ice In Your State?

I will be driving 25 minutes to Alpine several times a week for the remainder of the summer.

Just the Motivation I Needed

Mondays and Wednesdays I work at the AG's office downtown. I have to show up between 9:00 and 10:00, which usually isn't too hard to manage. I try to leave the house around 9:00. Yesterday morning I was still in bed at 8:40 when I got a text from my friend Eli asking if I wanted to meet him for lunch that day. I thought, "I'd better get up, get ready, and get to work so I can go to lunch with Eli." Thanks, Eli, for helping me get the motivation to make it to work.
When I was younger I used to get offended when teachers at church and school would bring candy bars to bribe us to behave. I would always think, "I am not motivated by candy bars!" Now I would do almost anything for the reward of picking out a treat from a delicious bakery such as Gourmandise. Has food become a larger motivating factor in my life, or were they just offering the wrong type of food?

Last Week

My top 3 of the week were:

3. Living in a hotel all week. Someone else made my bed and tidied up my room each day. I had access to a pool, hot tub, and sauna. I was right downtown so I got to feel like a city resident for the week.

2. Eating out every meal. I really got to explore the many culinary options Salt Lake has to offer, which are better than Provo's. I visited old favorites as well as made some new discoveries. If you want to meet me for lunch or dinner in Salt Lake, I know where to go.

1. Going by the name "Anastasia." I was helping with the registration of an event my mom was doing for work and had to wear a name tag. For some reason I decided to use a fake name and see what happened. Probably 1 in 3 people commented on it. I felt kind of bad because it felt like I was lying to people as I answered their questions about where the name came from and nicknames I have, but it kept me entertained. I had no idea you could receive so much attention just for a name. I am going to name my future daughter Anastasia because then she will be popular her whole life.

A Few More Checked Off The List

I wish I has an internship here this summer.
Perhaps someday I'll have business that brings me to this building...

If I worked on Capitol Hill I would be a frequent customer at Good Stuff Eatery.

I've been wanting to visit the Holocaust Museum for a long time now and I finally got the chance this trip. I like that the museum starts with a detailed history of the Nazi rise to power. This allows people to answer for themselves the question: "How could this atrocity happen?" With the many groups the Nazis targeted I doubt anyone couldn't think of a close friend or family member that would have been affected if living in Europe at that time. I left the museum with a reaffirmed commitment to be aware of what is going on in the world, especially what is being done by my own government. The majority of the population did not actively participate in the Holocaust, but allowed it to happen by standing idly by.

Duck Duck Beach

The preparation consisted of four hours at Costco

figuring out what to feed a group of twenty for a

weekend at the beach. Spending time with my friends

always makes me happy and combining it with

Duck Beach was a spectacular idea.

I've been so excited for the opportunity to wear

this romper ever since I bought it. This is how I

spent most of my time. I occassionally took a dip

in the ocean to cool down and play in the waves. I

also wandered around some to say hi to friends

staying at other houses.

The houses in the Outer Banks

are absolutely beautiful.

I really think I could spend all day every day at the
beach. Instead of taking the bar next summer I
might just move to North Carolina and hang out. I hope
this was just the first of many Duck Beach weekends.

DC So Far

Has been great!

We'll start with food highlights: Our arms are full of empanadas.
Next time you're in DC, Founding Farmers is a must.

What's better than touring the monuments at night?
Touring the monuments in a thunder and lightening rainstorm!

Divide and Conquer

Two friends had birthday celebrations going on Friday night. In an attempt to make everyone feel loved and supported, Emily, Danielle, and I used a tactic my twin sister and I discovered in high school. For Young Women's activities Courtney and I figured out that only one of us needed to show up and we both still got credit for it--we each only had to attend every other week but no one complained because they sort of thought we both went all the time. So Emily went to Pirate Island and Danielle and I headed up to Red Iguana for some of the most delicious mole dishes ever.You know how for a person's birthday restaurants bring out a free dessert and sing? Have you ever thought to yourself, "What if we brought a cake we got elsewhere and had the restaurant bring that out?" Probably not because it is (1) awkward and (2) illegal (against food regulations). Well, the party planner insisted on just that. She asked Danielle if she and I could "pick up" a cake and bring it to the restaurant. Our respose, "OK, we'll make something and bring it if you want." (I only buy $40-50 birthday cakes from bakeries for myself). So our friend is carrying the cake into the restaurant and hands it to the birthday boy. When the party planner shows up to the restaurant (late) and sees the birthday boy holding his own cake a look comes over her face that could melt ice. She promptly removed it from his hands and handed it off to the server to keep in the kitchen until we were ready for it. I have a lot of respect for people who want something they've planned to turn out exactly how they envisioned it in their head, but my only suggestion for them is: do it yourself. Once we were back in the car Danielle and I were patting ourselves on the back for how well the cake (chocolate torte topped with raspberries, actually) turned out. Our friend in the back seat adds, "It was better than I was expecting because it looked dry, but it wasn't." Thank you for keeping it real.
After dinner Danielle and I headed back to Provo to catch the tail end of the other party and play some arcade games. Ski ball of course,
some basketball,

and air hockey!

I bought I pirate hook for my finger with the tickets I won.

On the way home Danielle and I spotted some unattended Christmas paraphernalia set up on the side of the road. We pulled over and rifled through the stuff laughing hysterically while trying to figure why on earth it was there. I really am so fortunate to have good friends that make anything and everything fun.