The Latter Weeks of August

These past few weeks have been craziness!  I started another job, this one at Fotofly.  I do customer service there and I just love it!  But that, on top of my Roots of Knowledge job, on top of SCHOOL that just started.... life has been busy for sure!

I'm loving my jobs and I'm loving school.  It is really great to be back in the art program.  I'm taking graphic design, 3D art, karate, ceramics, museum studies, and a special education course to prep me for the education program I'll be starting next semester.  I've enjoyed all of my classes so far, though some more than others!  Karate is definitely something new for me, and it is so challenging!  Turns out my body isn't very in sync with my mind, so I've had to work really hard for that class, but it has been good for me.

Bailey is doing great!  He switched departments at Womply because he felt really done with sales.  He is in Product Operations and he likes it way more!  He also started night classes which I thought would stress him out, but he's really enjoying them and doing well in all of them.  He's finishing up his generals, but has started a few upper division Political Science classes.  He's starting to think about the internships he has to do for his degree, and that has been kind of exciting!

I can see fall approaching quickly and I'm excited for the season change, but also a little nervous.  Fall is my absolute favorite, but it goes so quickly and then there's winter and I HATE winter!  So I'm trying to enjoy each day's weather, knowing that soon I'll be scraping my windows and freezing to death every day.

Anyway, life is good and we are happy.  Here are some of the fun things we've been up to recently!

Kess, Traedon, Bailey, and I went to get hot pot!  Oh my gosh I have missed hot pot so much!  It wasn't quite like our favorite hot pot restaurant in China, but it was pretty darn tasty.  I was so happy!

Jeff is home!! We were so excited for his homecoming and to see our dear friend!  He absolutely loved his mission, and we loved hearing about it.

That day was also momentous because we got to meet Kylee's fiance!  I am so excited for them to get married in January!  His name is Tad and we really enjoyed getting to know him.  He's really cool!

The solar eclipse happened on my first day at Fotofly.  It was really a great bonding experience, staring at the sun with all these people that I just met.  The eclipse was a little anticlimactic, but still really cool!  There was kind of a weird feeling in the air, and it seemed like everything went quiet.  Also, the shadows were really fuzzy and super crazy.  Check out these leaf shadows!

WE GOT A NEW CAR.  Oh my gosh I can't believe the day has finally come.  Welcome to our family this cute new 2016 Chevy Sonic!  We feel like we are living in luxury with this killer AC!

Also apparently the trunk is pretty cool too, and a good size.  Here are Kess and Traedon hanging out in there!

I love Ayla!  She is freaking hilarious these days!  And super sweet.  Now every time she sees me, she runs to me and gives me a big hug!  Here she is trying to drive my grandpa's side by side.

There was a big event at UVU which pointed everyone in the direction of the Roots of Knowledge Gallery.  For the first time since I've worked there, they've needed the whole team of docents at one time!  We normally work solo, so it was really great to spend some time together and get to know each other!  These ladies are awesome!

Camping With Mitch & Katey

We have so loved having our friends Mitch and Katey in town!  ILP was a great chance to meet friends from all over the country, but now we are all sad because it is so hard to hang out when we all live in different states!  I much preferred living on the same floor with all of these people who came to be our best friends.  Luckily we trapped Mitch and Katey into having to come to Utah by sending some of their luggage home with my mom.

They've just been camping out in our living room most of the week, but yesterday we decided to embark on an adventure!  We packed up the trunk with way more than anyone needs for a night out, and were headed up American Fork Canyon!

Last night was so much fun, just hanging out around the campfire and eating food.  We reminisced on our Chinese adventures and planned about a million more trips to go on together!  I absolutely love having friends that are as adventurous and spontaneous as us (except Mitch and Katey are probably more adventurous and spontaneous - they told us about their night they spent in a bathroom in Europe when they couldn't find a place to stay)!

We tried to stay up late, but it is hard to stay up much later than the sun goes down!

After a peaceful night of Mitch blowing up a glass jar by trying to cook bacon in it (perhaps around 3am), we all arose to start our hike!

I picked Scout Falls because I love the beginning of that hike with all of its wildflowers.  Plus it is a short one and we are all getting kind of old.  It still wore us out!

We finally made it to the top and just sat for a while enjoying the view!  Mitch and Katey both kept gushing about how beautiful our mountains are, and it made us so proud.  Utah is gorgeous!

Oh, and the waterfall was cool too.

After our hike, we headed back home and Mitch and Katey departed for Texas.  We wish we had longer, but hopefully we will adventure together again soon!

August So Far

I love summer!  It has been so nice enjoying the last of it before school starts on the 22nd.  Here are some things that we've been up to.

We went up to Audrie and Arissa's birthday party!  It is always fun to hang out with them and their cute dogs.

I've been so happy since the baby goats have been relocated to our yard!  They are the cutest things ever!

Sometimes they try to visit us at our house.

Good news!  We found out tonight that Bailey made it through the Primary Elections!  He placed 3rd.  He needs to get to at least 2nd to get in the council in November, but for now we will take a break from campaigning!  We are so grateful for all of the support we've received from our family and friends, no matter how far they may be!  Here are Shey and Petro supporting us all the way from Oregon!

Mom sent me this picture the other day and I love it!  Look how cute and little my parents were!

One of my favorite things to do in the evening is go visit with my grandma and grandpa under their pergola.  All of us kind of flock there, and we always have a good time chatting, laughing, and eating snacks!  Here we are enjoying some of Seiji's homemade pickles.  He seriously makes the best pickles!

Katey and Mitch came to visit!  We are so excited to have them in town!  They will be sleeping in our living room for the next few days, and we hope to fill those days with fun adventures!  Tonight we went to Top Golf, where I had never actually been before.  I suck at it, but it is fun!

Ladies Trip 2017

I already told you about our main events for Ladies Trip (The Shakespeare Festival!), but what is Ladies Trip without a little bit of shopping?!

And by a little bit, I mean a lot.  We all just shopped and shopped!  Last year I wasn't so into the shopping, but something go into me this week and I bought quite a few things.  But that's only because I found killer deals, like who can say no to $3 shirts?!  I bought 2 shirts, 2 skirts, a dress, and a mini backpack to spice up my purse life.

What else does one do on Ladies Trip!  Eat!  And eat lots!  We ate at Sizzler's, Wingers, Wendy's, Subway, and of course - Costa Vida!  We all felt extremely full by the end of the trip.

We ate ice cream every day of our Ladies Trip.  The first day in Beaver, as we stopped to buy squeaky cheese (yum), yesterday at Sub Zero (our Sub Zero at home closed down, so we were excited to find one open!), and today at the Red Barn on our way home.

Like last week's trip, this week's ended with ice cream.  We had such a fun Ladies Trip!  Ladies Trip would have to be one of my favorite traditions.  I love to be able to spend the time with my favorite ladies; watching TLC, swimming (we had morning aerobics classes, taking turns being the teacher!) and laughing all day long.  I feel so blessed to have such awesome women as my family!