Ani

The Right Way to Celebrate

2011-11-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

Normally I am very "bah hum bug" about getting in the Christmas spirit before Thanksgiving. This year I've been VERY different. Even before Halloween I was sneaking Christmas music here and there (see my post about Halloween). I started to think about it a little more and realized you know what? I really need to give each holiday it's own attention. I can't be listening to Christmas music before we even celebrate the holiday that is 2 holidays before Christmas. So I backed off the Christmas music thing.

My friend showed me this lovely cartoon that helped me make a decision about when to start celebrating Christmas:

Last night, while hanging out with Jason and Alix, I decided to show them this cartoon. I explained to them how important it is that we give each holiday it's own time. Right after I finished my little spiel about the proper way to celebrate holidays my phone rang and this was the ring tone...

One Lucky Girl

2011-11-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

When I got home from the Halloween party at Kirk's (see last post), Jason surprised me with balloons, flowers, a card, and a gift! It was so sweet of him because I totally thought I wasn't even going to be able to see him on Halloween or my birthday (dang school). It was a really great way to start my birthday :)

When I got to work the next day, I had a meeting first thing in the morning. The vice president of lending of our company brought donuts for my birthday and then gave me my own pack of snickerdoodles. Then our marketing and business development guy sang me a few lines of the happy birthday song (just like they do at fancy restaurants).

When I got back from my meeting, I found my desk like this!

My very sweet co-workers decorated it and I loved it. Then they spoiled me with more of my favorite cookies (snickerdoodles) and ice cream. It really was the best thing ever. (I'm still enjoying those cookies to this day :))

Then my sista took me to Guru's for lunch. We got these delicious tortilla salads, sweet potato fries, and diet coke. Yum! This little joint does karaoke every Friday night (or maybe it's Thursday) and Alix and I discussed trying to con our boys into going with us :) Anyone else in?? Thanks for lunch sista! I loved it!

No we did not mean to match our boots. However, we tend to do this a lot :)

After lunch I had to head back to work. My work does this thing where they post pictures on our corporate website when it's someone's birthday. People I work with can click a little link to send you a birthday message. I liked getting "Wishing you a Happy Birthday!" in my inbox all day long. (The link just sends a generic message every time you click it. Some people were nice enough to customize the message.)

After work a couple of my friends met up with Alix and I at Carrabbas. We seriously love this place. However, due to the excess amount of food I ate throughout the day, I was not hungry for dinner. I ended up continuing to eat a full meal and dessert. Hey it's my birthday. I can do that. Dinner was a lot of fun. I seriously my friends! I feel so lucky to have such amazing people in my life.

PS I totally forgot to take pictures at dinner so these are the few I snagged on our way out. I'm sorry we didn't get a picture Caroline and Courtney!

Maren, Alix, and I after dinner. Matching boots!

Aleisha, Whitney, Chandra, and I outside of Carrabbas. Thanks for coming ladies!

One of the many funny stories from dinner:

Carrabbas knows us pretty well. SO well in fact it's a little embarrassing. We have been going there for the past 5 years for almost any special occasion. (Because it really is THAT good!) When Alix and I walked in on my birthday the owner greeted us at the door, "Celebrating anything tonight ladies?" Of course Alix told him it was my birthday to which he quickly responded, "Your meal is on us!" I was thrilled :) (Another reason why we love Carrabbas. They treat us so well.) Fast forward to the end of our meal. The waiter came around and asked us how we wanted the checks divided. Alix kindly volunteered to take my tab. When she got the check back from the waiter, to our surprise, my meal was actually NOT free... Alix and I felt a little jaded. Alix said that it wasn't a big deal and she'd totally pay for my dinner. I insisted that we flag down the waiter and tell him what had happened. After a little hesitation, I got his attention. When he came to our table we were speechless. Why? I'm not sure, but we couldn't think of what to say. We both sat there for a while not really saying anything meaningful. The waiter was very confused. It was really awkward and finally Caroline said, "She's supposed to get her meal for free." And just like that, he checked with the owner and I got my meal for free. Next time, Alix and I won't be the ones flagging down the waiter.
Apparently we can't handle it. :)

Thank you everyone for making my birthday so special this year!
I love you all and feel like one lucky girl :)

All Hallows Eve

2011-10-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Good news! My friend Caroline gave me the idea to go to Rite Aid so I could find some bee costume things. So I went this morning before work and guess what?? All of their Halloween costumes were 50% off! Ya I'm serious! (Thanks Caroline!!) Unfortunately they only had little tiny bee costumes though. The first one I found was for an infant. I was pretty close to buying it (and wasn't exactly sure how I was going to incorporate it into my look) when I found one for older kids (like 8-12). Even though it was supposed to be a dress, it worked!

The top was really snug and the wings kind of cut off the circulation in my arms. Don't worry after my work party most of the costume came off. PS The reason why my feet are striped is because the little striped sleeves that came with the costume didn't fit my arms. It's all good. Kid costumes are a good way to go but be sure you try them on in the store to make sure you can still breathe while wearing.

Anyway, work was very fun today. We had a huge lunch party with lots of amazing food. My friend Rachel even brought her baby girl Olivia! (Cutest giraffe ever!) Tiffany's little boy Cooper came too! He was dressed as Thomas the Train :) Tiffany made the costume out of a box and it was so cute! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it. Here are some pictures from the work party...

Little Red Riding Hood and Kat Von D

A bumble bee and her darling baby giraffe

She's such a happy baby

A couple of "b's" (as Tiffany would say :)) and Little Red Riding Hood

Creative spider cookies by Sharon! (She used taffy to make the eyes!)

After work, Alix and Kirk invited me over for homemade tomato soup and movies and trick or treaters. I quickly accepted the invitation and headed out with Alix to buy the supplies. (Sadly, Jason had class and a really hard test tonight so we had to leave him out.) After some frustration about trying to find the right sun dried tomatoes, Alix and I got all the supplies we needed (including my favorite part - delicious bread for dipping!) FYI Smith's on Halloween night is a ZOO. I'm not sure why it was but I don't recommend going.

Moving on...

We slaved away in the kitchen while also enjoying one of my Halloween favorites, Hocus Pocus. The process was a little long but I think now that we've done it once, the next time will be a lot easier!

Here is the tasty recipe if you are interested: Creamy Tomato Soup.

I don't know why I was still wearing my bee costume. I think I felt slightly obligated because trick or treaters were coming and I wanted to be festive. However, after we got about 10 visitors and only 2 of them were actually dressed up, I took it all off. I think people should have to dress up to get candy. What's with kids coming not dressed up?? That is not okay. AND Kirk bought big candy bars because he remembers how cool it was to go to the houses that had those. Once we got a few trick or treaters, the word spread like wild fire that he had the big candy bars. Before we knew it, they were ALL gone and some of the kids were very disappointed...

Soup simmering on the stove (pre-blending)

The finished product :)

And it turned out amazing! We even made some orzo pasta and steamed fresh broccoli with lemon juice. So yummy! We will definitely be making this again. Plus, it's pretty healthy and you can basically add whatever vegetables you want. They all get blended together and you can't even taste them!

The night was an absolute success. Even Kirk and Alix dressed up! Alix was a scary zebra (mainly because she was wearing a striped sweater) and Kirk was a fox (or a cat, or a dog, or a baby lion). And yes Kirks mouth area is supposed to be whiter than the rest of his face. Unfortunately all I had on hand was cream eye shadow so it was a little too subtle... Oh well we tried.

We are finishing the night with a little Sister Wives and Up All Night followed by some cookies and ice cream maybe!

I hope you all have had a Happy Halloween!

Pump-ity-kins and My Unfortunate Halloween Ne

2011-10-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago Kirk, Alix, Jason, and I decided that it is about time we carve pumpkins. We usually do this every year but it turns out it's been 2 years since we've had a pumpkin party! Why don't we carve pumpkins sometimes? I don't know but sometimes I feel like I neglect Halloween a little.

Funny story: Alix and Jason finished their pumpkins in about 15 minutes. However, I took about 3 hours hours to finish mine and Kirk took 4 hours... Kirk and I probably need to calm down.

I love this picture of them :)

Kirk carved a QR ode into his pumpkin that linked to his contact information. What a true entrepreneur!

He looks so happy but I think secretly he was kind of thinking about how hard it was going to be to make this.

Kirk's almost finished product. After this Kirk, Alix, and I ended up painting the QR code part bright purple to make it so the phone could scan it. For some reason I didn't get a picture of the finished product. And I am sad to say that unfortunately the code didn't actually work. Very sad day for Kirk. But it was still really awesome!

I decided to PAINT a pumpkin this year. I think I wanted to do this mainly because I didn't want to get all messy (I know that's lame but seriously pumpkin carving is so messy) and my pumpkin seemed too small to carve.

But it was actually really fun to paint! I think I'm going to do this every year instead of carving it :) Don't judge me.

I thought I was done and then I found some white puffy paint and sparkles...

Ta da!

After Alix finished her pumpkin she slaved away making these delicious oven roasted pumpkin seeds. One of my favorite parts about pumpkin carving night! We tried to find Halloween music so we searched Spotify for the word "Halloween" and ended up listening to every song relating to Halloween ever made. We even listened to the theme song from the Munsters (do you remember that show? I think it was on Nick at Nite) and Ghost Busters. Don't worry, we listened to Thriller like 8 times. Needless to say we had a blast.

My sad Halloween news is this: I don't really have any plans for Halloween night. I usually try to get into the holiday but this year I just haven't really. It's so weird! I think I'm over Halloween already. I need to get into the Halloween spirit but I think I ruined it because I already started listening to Christmas music and I'm totally skipping over Halloween...

But it's okay because every year it's a tradition for everyone at my work to dress up for Halloween (so at least I'm doing that :)). My department came up with the idea of dressing up as bumble bees. I have to get up at 8:00 am and it's already 1:00 am and I still don't have a costume yet... Alix said to just dress in all black, find some wings, and an antennae and call myself a fly. I'm thinking I might do that. If you have any ideas or donations let me know!

Happy Halloween!

Procrastination and To Do List's

2011-04-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

It seemed like yesterday I was moving into my first apartment at BYU with Katie. I can't believe I am going through my LAST week of finals. How crazy!

Katie and I freshman year :)

However, I'm still not done...
You're going to think I'm so lazy... I am having the hardest time finishing my finals.

I have already started 2 papers and 2 study guides. I've also taken my strategic management final called CompXM (since when is a final allowed to take 7 hours?) and took the first part of my political science final. So I feel like I've done a lot already.

But check this out... this is what I have LEFT to do...

*Finish a 4 page paper on Rousseau

(Roo what? Ya that's how I feel.)

*Finish an 8 page paper on Rousseau and Nietzsche

(What? Who are they? Ya that's how you know you're in trouble.)

*Study for my religion final and take it

(Ya my professor gave us a study guide but it's comprehensive and involves memorizing... LAME.)

*Study for my business law final and take it

(Another comprehensive final which means there is so much to memorize and it's hard.)

So although this may not seem like a lot to you - the biggest problem is that I have to have all of this done by Wednesday at around 5pm because my mom comes into town that night. I have to pick her up from the airport and I don't want to have to come home and finish finals while she's here you know? Also, my graduation is on Thursday and Friday and my dad and his family will be in town those days. Can you see my dilemma?

So that means I have 48 hours to finish everything. Is that even possible? We'll see if I can do this!

In the meantime... Alix has been making amazing dinners and bringing me diet cokes as needed. Also, Jason has been motivating me with pretty tulip flowers (flowers happen to be my favorite thing in the world)

so excited!

2011-04-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been so bad about blogging lately. Life is crazy! I've been so busy! But don't worry - by the end of next week I will officially be a college graduate. I'm so excited! Just wait until then and I'll fill you in on everything. In the meantime, watch this! I'm kind of really excited for this movie. It looks really cute and magical. Ok stay tuned, this blog will be much better in about a week =)

My New Boyfriend

2011-03-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

GUESS WHAT? Senator Hatch invited Mark Zucherburg (you know... the founder and creator of Facebook?) to BYU. Ya. He really did. It was seriously the coolest thing ever! Almost as cool as seeing Jimmer at Costa Vida (that's a story for another day). So since I had work today, my lovely friend Brooke saved a seat for me on the 10th row! It was so sweet! My friend Kelsi from work was so nice and offered to drive me over (since it was POURING down slush all day). I ran in and got to sit right in the front it was so awesome! (Thanks Brooke and Kelsi!!) When I got there I was so excited for Mark to come out (ya I call him Mark). I was already star struck and he hadn't even walked in yet.

Because I was so excited, I video taped his entrance. (Sorry it's on my iPhone so not so great quality - a little uneventful but it was exciting I promise!)

I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen when he entered but I knew I needed to document it for some reason. Anyways... it was really neat because they just asked him a bunch of questions that students posted on BYU's Facebook page. One of his main thoughts was that people needed to be passionate about something and not just try to meet the various requirements for things they want to do. They should go above and beyond and make things happen. It was really inspiring. He also talked about how Facebook allows people to connect all over the world that otherwise wouldn't have been able to as easily. He talked about how these relationships might help bridge the gap between countries, regions, societies, and cultures to make for a more peaceful world. It was really awesome to hear his insight on how much Facebook has changed the world for the better (especially since sometimes I get really annoyed with Facebook and how people are less social in person because of it).

Mark Zucherburg and Senator Hatch at BYU

So SERIOUS! He really is though. He didn't really crack any jokes. Maybe like 1 or 2.

If you feel inspired to... here is a video of him talking about some inspiring things. Sorry for the bad quality again. All I had was my phone... :)

All in all, I would date him if he asked me out (mainly because he's worth $13.5 billion).
PS The Extent of Mark NOT Being Serious... 1. When asked what was the most beneficial course in college for you, he responded... "Well... I didn't really go to class"(AKA he dropped out of Harvard and never went back to school) 2. When asked how Facebook could influence and improve education he said... "Can I ask you a question [Senator Hatch]? I never get to talk to senators."
That was the extent of him not being serious...

Jewelry Collection Find

2011-02-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend Alix and I went on a little shopping trip to the Riverwoods. Well, actually I should say we went on a little shopping trip to Soel Boutique at the Riverwoods (basically this is the only store we care about going to when we go to Riverwoods). We love this little boutique. It always has such cute clothes and inspires us to expand our wardrobes.

Unfortunately during this trip we didn't find any clothes that we really wanted... but we did find some classy bangles that we really liked! They were brushed gold and had pretty charms dangling from them. Some of them had charms with cursive letters, some had block letters, and some had charms representing months of the year. We fell in love with them. As I looked at them more closely I noticed a little charm dangling from them that said "Alex and Ani"! What?? Our names? Maybe Alix's name isn't spelled right but seriously?! It was the coolest thing ever. It is a jewelry line called Alex and Ani and the jewelry is actually really pretty. I looked more closely at the website and found out that a mom named this jewelry collection after her first two daughters, Alex and Ani... Coincidence? No. It's not. Alix and I need to contact this lady and become the new spokespeople for this brand... :)

Don't worry. We're definitely going to invest in these cute little bangles.

Old and Small?

2011-01-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

So funny story...

I was in a class last week and this guy sits next to me. He looked over at me and asked me my name, so of course I said Ani. He asked again, "What's your name?" Then I said, "It's Ani." Again he asked, "What's your name?" By this time I was like okay, even if he couldn't hear me couldn't he read my lips? Being the nice person that I am I said (a little louder and trying to enunciate better), "It's ANI." Then the guy said, "Oh I thought you said Awning."


This is an "awning"

I was surprised that upon first meeting me this guy he is already making fun of my name. A little annoyed/surprised I laughed and said nope it's Ani. Then he continued to tell me that was a really weird name. At this point class was getting out and so I stood up to put my coat on and my bags. Upon standing I hear this guy say behind me, "Wow that girl comes in small!" At first I was like is he talking to me? Then I look back and yep he's looking right at me. I'm thinking... Excuse me? Comes in small? Am I like abnormally short? Ya I know that's probably not what he meant but that's kind of how it sounded... I just laugh in response... Okay then... this SAME guy asks me how old I am and so I tell him (PS I'm 22). He then says, "Wow you're old!" Okay what? Who is this guy? So I have a weird name, I'm abnormally small, and I'm old.... Cool. I've never had a more interesting introduction in my life.

I can see why maybe he'd make fun of my name, or even my size, or okay sure fine I go to BYU you can make fun of my age... but all at the same time? Weird. I don't like that. It's okay thought I'm not that bitter about it.

Apparently I'm weird, old, and small and I'm fine with that.

NYE 2010!

2011-01-08T00:33:00.000-08:00

This year on New Years Jason and I decided that we wanted to find something really exciting and fun to do! So that day I Google'd "New Years Parties in Utah" and found a lot of fun ideas. I guess every year Salt Lake City has a big party with dancing, live entertainment, art, food, and all kinds of things. There was also this Latin celebration that I was trying to convince Jason to go to. You can reserve a table for you and some friends, eat dinner, learn Latin dancing, and then dance the night away. Jason was really nice and kept saying he'd totally be up for anything - but I could tell he was a little hesitant about anything that involved dancing all night =) I think we both really wanted to try something new. As the night progressed we started to realize that the perfect New Years this year would ACTUALLY be to relax, not have to drive anywhere, just hang out, and watch movies. So after all that searching we decided we'd make dinner, rent some movies, buy some treats and poppers, and enjoy the night with Kirk and Alix.

So later that day Jason and I went to Smith's all bundled up in sweats and basically anything we could find to keep us warm (because going to the car these days can make you freeze) and grabbed some sparkling cider, treats, poppers, and some plastic party wine glasses. As we were debating which flavor of sparkling cider to buy, my lovely friend Caroline ran into us. She asked us what we were doing and, a little embarrassed by our lack of festiveness, we said not really much and she told us she was having a small little party and invited us over for her NYE celebration. We told her we'd definitely come by and went home to have some fun with Kirk and Alix before we went.

Once we got home, Kirk and Alix decided that Costa Vida sounded much better than making dinner. So we all jumped in the car and drove the few blocks down to Costa Vida. After Kirk covered the bill because Jason and I both forgot our wallets (usually one of us will on occasion but both of us? that was embarrassing :) thanks again Kirk! Don't worry we paid him back) we all joked around about getting a picture in one of those little photo booths outside of the bowling alley. Because Kirk was the only one with his wallet :) he found a couple dollars in his wallet and decided to do. The pictures on the booth made it look like you could totally fit 4-6 people in one picture. Once the camera turned on we realized this was going to be very difficult and this is how it turned out...

After a few hilarious and intense games of Scattegories with Kirk and Alix, Jason and I headed over to Caroline's for some more games and friends. We got there just in time for a classic game of Battle of the Sexes and food and drinks. We had a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to see Caroline and Chelsy!

Jason's first picture of 2011!

My cute friends.

After the party Jason and I headed out for the night. On our way out of Caroline's apartment Jason found this!

a serious igloo.

In the igloo! It was actually warmer inside it!

Even though it was warmer inside the igloo, don't mind our freezing cold faces and eyes.

I couldn't believe there was a real igloo outside of her house. I've never seen one in real life. Jason was brave and ventured in first to make sure it was safe and wouldn't cave in on us (I might have been worried about that...) It turned out to be kind of warmER inside and the igloo made me want to go out and play in the snow. I feel like I've been hiding from all of the snow because it's so cold. However I'm now inspired to go snowboarding, sledding, and playing in the snow because it's fun I think. I remember when I was little I loved it! We LIVED for snow days - even though in Washington that meant about an inch of snow and a full day of no school =) But seriously what happened? It's time to love it again.

So in the end we didn't do anything exciting and fabulous in Salt Lake or anything but New Years turned out to be a lot of fun and I'm so glad I spent it with fun people!

That's my New Years Eve story =)

what breaks are for

2011-01-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

I know what you all are wondering... Yes I used to suck my thumb like 24/7 and yes Alix is wearing a Keiko the whale t-shirt. I put this picture on here to represent what I've been doing lately... being lazy =) Yep that is exactly what I've been doing since Friday afternoon and it's been amazing. And even before that (even though I've been working) I've had a lot more free time since I'm not in school. I love love love not being in school. I can't wait till I graduate and all I have to do is work. I'm definitely going to try to get the most out of these last couple of months though.

I have a lot to tell you though and school starts on Tuesday. However, for now I'm going to be lazy for a couple more days and then I'll get back to business.

Hope you all are enjoying break too!

To All a Good Night!!

2010-12-25T00:04:00.000-08:00

This is what I got to do on Christmas Eve this year.

A little family affair at aunt Glenda's - spaghetti, laughing, and singing Christmas songs...

As my mother would say... if you want Santa to come you must...

Thinking Late at Night

2010-12-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

So I have to tell you this funny little thing that happened to me that I just remembered tonight...

So, my dad used to sing me this song (from the picture above) when I was really little. We used to visit him during the summer when we were younger. I remember almost every night when he would say good night he would sing me this song. It was one of my favorite things. One night (when Jason and I first started dating) Jason started singing this song to me (he might kill me for saying this but oh well). It was so cute. I may or may not have started tearing up a little bit too. It totally took me back to my childhood days when my dad used to sing me that song. That is one of my favorite moments with Jason I think. I love when you have magical moments with people like that.

Funny little picture of Alix and I with Santa one year... We didn't get one this year so I had to use this one.

Alix and I are in California for Christmas this year. I am having so much fun with all of my family. I really feel so lucky to have so many people who love me and care about me. Just to give you an idea, our mom and little sisters are here along with all of my mom's side of her family. Then my dad, Sarah (step mom), Sarah B, Toria, and David J (siblings) live 15 minutes away from my mom's family (plus all of my dad's extended family lives around here too). THEN Jason and his family live about 5 minutes away from my dad. So you might be able to see that this week, although very fun and exciting, has been really hectic and stressful too. Each day Alix and I are trying to make it to see everyone we can, as quick as we can, for the longest amount of time possible. We feel like we've been spreading ourselves so thin and everyone's been getting the short end of the stick. For example, yesterday we picked up my mom and little sisters to spend some time with them and take them Christmas shopping. After a couple hours, we dropped them off, then drove back to my dads for dinner. Shortly after that we rushed back to where my mom and sisters were to go to my cousins bridal shower for a second dinner and games. Then today we rushed back and forth to go shopping for dinner supplies with my dad, then we took my mom and sisters to a movie, then we had to make it back in time for dinner and shopping with my dad's family. This is the first time we've had to split up a visit between the two families equally and we realized we're really not very good at it (yet :)). A couple days ago, I got so stressed out about trying to spend time with everyone, get to places on time, and make everybody happy that I kind of broke down in the car with Jason. After complaining about how hard it was to juggle everything Jason gave me the best words of wisdom. He said, "Look at it this way, you have so many people who love you and want to be with you that you can't even find enough time to see everyone." After he said that, I cheered up and realized that although I am torn between all of my wonderful friends and family out here, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I am so thankful for all of my family and feel so blessed to be able to have the problem of not being able to spend enough time with them all - what a great problem to have =) I want all of my family to know that I love all of you very much and I'm so glad I'm spending this time with you (even though we are coming and going so much). You are all so special to me and I'm thankful to have each of you in my life.

What a great time of year.

I love you and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas with your family and friends.

FINALS week - blah.

2010-12-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

As of 12:00am tonight, it is officially finals week.

I'm nervous, scared, and stressed.

But here we go. I have no choice.

Feeling Christmasy Tonight

2010-12-10T23:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'd like to say, Merry Christmas everyone.

I really like this version of Silent Night by Taylor Swift. I've pretty much been listening to it over and over tonight. Listen to it. I think you'll like it too. Definitely.

Shop Even If You Shouldn't...

2010-12-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Why is it so fun to go shopping during this time of year? I mean ya it's busy and crazy but for some reason it just makes me happy to walk into a store and look for cute things (even though I can't afford any of them) and just see all the pretty things to wear.

So I went out to dinner and shopping with my best friend Katie the other day (who is pregnant!! with her first by the way and I'm so excited I can't even contain my excitement!!)

I love this girl so much!!

and I left with a few things I probably shouldn't have...

First thing...

This cute little cowl neck dress from B.P. really is as cute as it looks. Perfect with leggings and boots and gold earrings.

Second thing...

This gray Banana Republic Heritage Collection dress (on sale) with pretty gold details on the front and sleeves. So cute with leggings and boots (my favorite thing to wear right now).

I almost really wanted to get this too...

But guess what? It's not cute on. Not at all. Its like really thick and makes you feel fat. It makes you look big in all the wrong places too. I don't know how they made this girl look cute in it. They must have cinched it in all the right places but even in this picture if you really look at it - it looks big. So in conclusions, great idea but not cute on. I guess I'll keep looking for a cute ruffly off-white coat.

All in all, shopping is my big weakness and I love it and there are really cute things to buy right now. Lovely.

100 Miles an Hour

2010-12-07T23:24:00.001-08:00

Before I begin I'd like to thank those of you who left comments on my last post. I don't know why but getting comments is so fun when you blog and I know I blog stalk and don't leave comments but I think I will start doing that now because it makes it more fun =) I wasn't sure how to respond to each of you so I wanted to just say thank you and I love you all!

Okay so I just have to tell you that this is how I feel about today...

You might be saying to yourself, "I don't really get it" and that's ok because it might not make that much sense but it's supposed to represent going crazy and running around like crazy all day long. If you look at the title of my post and combine that with this picture it might make a little more sense...maybe? Let me explain, basically I woke up really early to go to work. Even though I wake up the same time very day to go to work for some reason today felt a lot earlier than other days. Almost as soon as I could sit down at work, we get a call from UCCU's call center because they have reached maximum capacity of calls waiting in the cue. (Basically this means, so many people are calling UCCU that we are actually turning people away). Apparently today was the day that everyone received replacement debit and credit cards due to a third party compromising some people's credit card info (fraud is so annoying). Anyways... so Rachel, Brian, and I rushed over to Riverwoods to help this craziness. We ended up staying there the entire day it was so busy!

As soon as I got out of work I rushed home, got changed into the comfiest sweats I could find and rushed to my humanities class. Then right as soon as that class got out I had a meeting for a presentation tomorrow. I left the meeting around 10p, ran over and said hi to Jason, and finally got home at like 11:30p. I finally feel like I can sit down and breathe but I still have things to do tonight before our presentation tomorrow.

Basically it was a super crazy day. I felt like I was running around everywhere. I totally have more stuff to do and I choose to blog. I promise you I am still the world's biggest procrastinator and I don't know how to fix it but it's ok.

That presentation I was telling you about for market strategy... well we had to make a commercial for it. So one of my favorite people (Scott Knudson) made this little commercial for me for my marketing strategy class. Take a look!

Marketing Commercial by Scott

My 2nd Blog Initiation =)

2010-12-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I've really posted a REAL blog post. I feel like I've been so busy with 2 jobs and school full time that I just don't have any time to keep up with a blog and write about things that are going on in my life. Well, that's all over. I'm ready to blog again. So consider this a fresh new start to my blog ok? Ok.

So since I've been gone for so long here is an update of my life:

1. I'm still in school. (And the picture above was for the books... but I'm in love with the ring too) Yes I know, I should have graduated last April. I promise I have a good excuse... Here's what happened, one semester I wasn't sure if I wanted to major in business anymore. I decided that maybe I should try to take some other classes to see if I had any other interests... maybe? Well, after a semester and a half of doing this, I realized I really did like business and I got back on track. So basically this put me a little behind. But don't worry, come April 2011, I will be a college graduate! Oh ya!

2. I still work at UCCU and I can honestly say that I love it. But before I go on I just have to explain that we took this picture because we needed a picture for our work Christmas party. Brian (the only guy) didn't really want to take the picture because he felt like he was too tall. So to make him feel better we stood on some chairs. In the end, we didn't turn our pictures in on time so we didn't even get to use this awesome picture :) Anyways... I can't believe I've been working there for over 3 years! I've been able to work in a lot of different positions and am now one of their corporate trainers with these wonderful people pictured above =) I really love coming to work and although I am freezing every day at my desk, it's my favorite job ever. (On a side note I'm also a TA for the Entrepreneurship Lecture Series. Why do I work 2 jobs? I have no idea. I thought it was a good idea at the time but now I feel so busy it's insane.)

3. A lot has changed with my family this year. My mom was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's in May. At the end of the summer, she ended up moving to California to live with her brother and his family. I feel like this move has really helped alleviate some of the stress of life as a single mom battling this disease. My two little sisters moved with their dad to Oregon. They are almost 13 and 14 years old and are doing so well with all the changes that have been going on. It is a very sad thing to have happen to us but we're doing our best and feel so blessed to have loving friends and family close to us. And I am loving the holidays this year - an excuse to spend time with everyone and just have fun =)

I know I have more to say but I think this is all that I want to talk about today. Just for fun here are some pictures from our trip to California for Thanksgiving.

My Dad totally has chickens and roosters. He lives out in the country and just thought it'd be fun to have them. The kids tricked me into walking into this chicken coop then pushed me towards the wild chickens and roosters to get this egg. I was so scared! I have no idea why. They don't hurt but it was pretty funny.

Here is David J showing this rooster who's boss. Apparently (according to David J) the rooster pecked him which meant he had to hang him by his feet. Seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Here is Alix and our cute little second cousin I think? I'm not sure what to call her but she is our cousin's daughter. She is a doll and loves kitties :)

More pictures with my cousin Angie's darling girls. The little one with me had so much attitude I loved it. She was hilarious. Both so so cute!

My aunt Glenda with the little one (sorry for the bad quality - I only have an iPhone to take pictures right now...)

Notice the picture on the back of this car... A lady with 2 cats :) (Usually in Utah you see this little sticker with a family of like 20 and 3 dogs - gotta love California)

Bebe and her cute braid at my aunt Jana's house in California.

We decided to take some fun pictures before Thanksgiving dinner. I loved spending time with my sistas.

Dolly and I before Thanksgiving dinner. I love how she doesn't smile in pictures right now. We take a lot of "gangster" pics with her =)

My mom, Alix, and I when my mom came to visit us in Utah. This is at the cutest little toy store at Riverwoods. That tree was made of all candy. We may or may not have tried to lick it...

loves

2010-12-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

I think we all could learn a think or two from this little woman.

=)

2010-10-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

embrace life

2010-10-04T14:59:00.003-07:00

do one thing...

2010-09-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

dancing in the rain

2010-09-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

the truth of the matter...

2010-08-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

i just like this =)

2010-08-10T18:34:00.001-07:00