Last minute adventures

Sunday night at 11:00, I decided El Dorado Hills and San Francisco sounded a lot better than Provo. So I changed my flight and off I went.



I've never been further north in California than LA. I was amazed by all of the different climates there. We went for a drive to the snow, I was wearing flats so this is about as far into the snow we went.


We went exploring and found this old gold mine, again I had NO idea that it was so green in Sacramento. Beautiful!
On Tuesday we spent the afternoon in San Francisco! I've never been here before, and it was such an adventure. I've never seen that many homeless people in my life. I'm happy I got to go when it was decorated for Christmas in Union Square.


It was a little bit wet and rainy, but combine a little rain with walking all day and you get me with soaked hair. We hung in there till the sun went down but then it just got super cold.

This is a park in Jonathan's neighborhood, look at that view! And that grass! I learned something about this kiddo. He is 100% in love with his dog. I've never seen him as happy as he was when he would play with her.

Jonjon working on his photography skills.


Self portrait fail :) Too much zoom!

Again, the boy with his dog. So happy.

After a fun couple days, the journey home began. After 12 hours, 3 flight delays, getting stuck in the snow once I got to Provo, and calling a tow truck at 3 in the morning, I finally made it home. What a day. I had such a fun Christmas in Arizona, a great adventure in California, but it's always nice to come sleep in my own bed and get back to the grind.

Utah, no way!

Remember how I said I didn't want to go to Utah in the morning?

Well change of plans, looks like I don't have to after all. Stay tuned.

Holiday traditions

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

Here are a few of mine:

1. Gift giving

2. Secret Santa gift exchanges



3. Playing with the train under my parents' tree

4. Gingerbread house contests




5. Making gingersnaps (don't mind the math related decor', or the xbox controler)




6. Going to see the lights at the Mesa temple

7. Christmas carols

8. The shepherds dinner with my family. We all dress up as shepherds and eat things that they might have eaten back in the day.

I'm not ready to go back to Utah tomorrow :(

Christmas present to myself

Mr. Velvet blazer from Jcrew. Lovin it every day

Home for the holidays

First order of business:
My nephew Parker and my new niece Veda are the loves of my life. I want to play with them all day everyday. Seriously.

Parker being SO excited with the toy dinosaur

Me and Veda out to lunch, she is such a little social butterfly and gets to go out on the town
Acey and his baby in a manger. Are you kidding me, this is adorable.

Aunt Teddy and Aunt Willi with the little snuggles

I don't ever want to leave them!

Less/More

Just 4 more days

"we women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. we have

to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is

comfortable for us. we have to develop the maturity to stop trying

to prove something. we have to learn to be content with what we

are."

Marjorie Pay Hinckley


Remember this post? Still working on it. E always seems to post things
I've been feeling too, and it gives me strength in numbers.


Happy Sunday, 4 more days until I can go home to thisand this

And more hair

There's something great about having multiple friends who A: can do hair, and B: are much more stylish than myself so they can make me look presentable.

Thanks Japes for adding more color melting to my hair

Livestrong

This website is great. It changes lives, I'm pretty sure.

What to do when its blizzarding and you're home alone in Provo

A whole lot of this:
And this...

And of course this

And taking two days to make this:

Thanks to Cathy, Jacie, Lindsey and Greg, this week has turned out pretty spectacular. Lots of cooking, way too much eating, and being bundled up for the blizzard that never came.

Lindsey, Greg and I basically took all night to make the most amazing banana cream pie, and had it for breakfast the next morning at their home in Park City.

What is your favorite kind of pie? Me and Lindsey spent all morning talking about how disgusting Greg's favorite pie is, so we decided to take a poll. Look to your right and vote!

Thanksgiving

This picture was taken in 2008, the last time I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

I wish I could be there with you guys :)

I'm really grateful for so many things in my life. Spending holidays alone is never ideal... but I'm grateful for the job that I have even if I have to make sacrifices for it.
I'm grateful that I am getting an education, so my job in food service is only temporary.
I'm grateful to know that I will graduate college in just over 4 months, and after that the world is at my fingertips.
I'm thankful that I can do hard things, that I can choose responsibility over what I want sometimes.
I'm thankful that I have learned to choose what I want over responsibility, sometimes :)
I am so grateful for all of the support my family gives me. I have amazing Grandparents, parents, and siblings who would do just about anything for me.

Happy Thanksgiving friends and family, wherever you may be!

Smart wedding

Lindsey and Greg's pictures turned out amazing. View more here




The handsome groomsmen

Welcoming her outside the temple


Bridesmaids :)



The rest of the pictures are stunning. Check them out!

Babies.

Because I'm not able to be in Arizona for this Thanksgiving week, I went for a quick weekend trip. You know why? Because Acey and Jenny have given me a new baby niece :) Her name is Veda Joy Nixon, and she was born on my mom's birthday, November 16th.

Acey is just about the cutest dad you have ever seen and he and Jenny love her so much. It's adorable.

I'm pretty sure I would have taken her back to Utah with me if I were allowed to.



Going to Arizona is always such a treat, and I'm happy I got to spend time with my parents. Even though I didn't spend much time in Gilbert, it still feels really great to be home.

On another note, guess who's baaack? Jared Hardy. I can't believe this kid is home from a mission. So good to see you buddy :)