Image Map

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

never ever ever


even though my mom always told me to never say never, i'm linking up with neely to bring you ...

NEVER EVER EVER will you EVER hear me say..
1. pizza sounds really good right now
2. i really want to go camping
3. i'm such a daredevil
4. let's watch all the lord of the rings movies (or any of them for that matter)
5. some people look just as good with no makeup
6. i feel weird with painted nails
7. that's too much sparkle
8. i didn't make my bed today
9. holiday birthdays are fun
10. even though i can make it, i'm definitely buying it (although sometimes i should just buy it)

what are some things you would never ever ever say ever? link up your post or respond in the comments. can't wait to see what everyone has to say.
Photobucket

Sunday, April 28, 2013

the sponsor part of blogging {blogger roundtable part 2}

one of the highlights of spring break (yes i know that was a month ago) was part 2 of the blogger roundtable.  part 1 was so so so much fun so even though it meant driving to utah county on a day off, it was well worth it. the topic this time was sponsorships...when to start, how much to pay, how much to charge, what to expect, etc. the topic generated a lot of great conversation. i am not at the point where i feel like i can devote the time required to accept paid sponsors, but i will happily button swap or product review. 

the night was lots of fun. i met more fun bloggers and got some really great information. i am so happy bonny and elizabeth put this thing together.

the lovely hosts

we really do sit around a table and talk blogging all the night long


thank you bella the blog for the non iphone pics which i actually got from bonnie's blog

if you want to swap buttons or have me review your product, let me know

Photobucket

Saturday, April 27, 2013

monday memories

jess is starting a new serious...monday memories. i think it's a great idea and will probably join her from time to time.
so...it's not monday, and this was last week, but i'm posting anyway.
we got together to plan our st. thomas trip. mostly we all pulled out our computers. they all looked up stuff, and i looked at twitter. also, nothing really got planned. everyone started playing some dice game, and i continued looking at twitter and documenting the whole thing on instagram.
meet kari, cheryl, julie, and laurann. they will make more appearances on the blog especially the st thomas posts
niki was in town from texas for the weekend, and i was lucky enough to see her. we took this picture in the worst lighting possible...who knew. 

i went to dinner with one of my fave bloggers bonnie. i seriously about died when she suggested we hang out. although i do know her in real life now, i was still straight up dying. we could have stayed at dinner for hours and hours more than we did chatting it up about life and of course blogging. in an epic case of blogger fail, we did not take a picture. i'm still mad about it.

i got an impromptu text to meet up for lunch with in and out of town friends today. it was fab even if i was in my biking clothes.

speaking of biking, remember how i switched my bike pedals to clips last year and never rode again?!? unfortunately i have a 30 mile charity ride next week. i had big plans to bike today until my bike had a flat tire...again. please bless i don't die next week.

i'll be back pretty pronto with more memories...maybe even on monday next time.

Photobucket


Thursday, April 25, 2013

I Read a Book...kind of

The book club book for this month was The Happiness Project. Unlike most months I actually read this one...at least most of it. I still have a few chapters to go, but I really really love this book. I'll be back with a full review when I'm all the way done.

Monday, April 22, 2013

infused water

I had something completely different in the works for today. I was almost done with the post when all my content was suddenly gone. That post will have to wait for another day when I have the energy to re create. Today I will leave you with my new fave...strawberry and lime infused water. Trust me..it's delish. Throw in a few sliced strawberries and a thin slice of lime, and you'll think it's summer. It's especially helpful when you refill your water bottle at work and the water tastes like swimming pool. Let me know if you try it.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

on my mind

today's fat mum slim #fmsphotoaday prompt was "on my mind." she makes the list a month in advance so obviously she had no idea that most people probably have had a lot on their mind this week (marathon bombing, plant explosion, missing child. etc).

as a runner i have definitely had a lot on my mind this week. i have experienced a wide variety of emotion...anger, fear, horror, pride, relief, calm, and believe it or not even joy. i could go on and on about the negative emotions i have felt and will probably still continue to feel, but what is the point of that? it only makes things worse.

when i first heard the news of the bombing on monday, i immediately got online to check on a friend. fortunately i was able to find out right away that she was ok and later in the evening heard she finished the race.

a marathon finish is such an amazing experience. after finding out my friend was ok the next thought i had was oh great i just signed up for a marathon 2 days ago. a few days later i am actually really happy i signed up for a marathon. runners are already coming together to show support for boston and to KEEP RUNNING!

i got home from work that night forgetting about the giant pile of laundry on my bed. my new york marathon hoodie was on the top of the pile. it's hard to put into words how i felt. i will most likely never run the boston marathon ( i am way too slow), but i did run a really really big marathon, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. i was seriously overcome with emotion seeing that piece of clothing.


the salt lake marathon was today. i didn't have plans to watch the race at all, but i happened to park my car along the course when i went running this morning. i am so glad i was there. i saw the first runners come through. the first 2 men were wearing shirts in support of boston with KEEP RUNNING on the back. i probably saw 10-15 runners in shirts from the boston marathon 5 days ago. running one marathon is such an accomplishment, but to run 2 in less than a week is so amazing to me. races are always super emotional for me, but this was exceptionally emotional. the weather was terrible. it was freezing and so so rainy, but people were out there. the running community is huge, but it is incredible to see how small it is at the same time as people come together to show support for a cause. my friend who ran boston on monday ran today. i literally had tears in my eyes talking to her this afternoon about the experience.
i may never be fast enough to run the boston marathon, and i may never run another big marathon again, but today and everyday i felt extremely proud to call myself a runner. i feel joy thinking about all the good memories i have from running. aside from the sheer horror of the whole situation, i find some comfort in seeing people come together and to make a statement that people will forever KEEP RUNNING!

***several local running companies including the salt lake running company and wasatch running have put together runs on monday evening to benefit boston. how amazing to see that put together in just a few days.
***i am feeling extremely inadequate to teach sunday school tomorrow following such a rough week. say a little prayer:)

what are your thoughts about all of this? what's been on your mind this week.



Friday, April 19, 2013

way way later post

is it ok to blog about something 5 months after the fact? ok good because I'm going to. i never got the pictures and forgot all about it. oops!

a couple times a year my running group gets together off the road. we wear real clothes and makeup and barely recognize each other. shawnie hosted the Christmas party this year. i love these ladies so much and always enjoy spending time with them on or off the road.



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

celebrating world autism day

world autism day happened while we were on spring break so we celebrated a week late at work. we had so much participation this year. the multipurpose room was covered in blue decoration. it was so cool to look at basically all of our staff and see so much blue.




much of the staff...so much blue

my team (team A) also known as team awesome



i really really love this kind of stuff and i'm so glad i work with such a great time that is willing to do it with me

autism is such a crazy, fast growing disorder. it made me a little emotional to see all our staff come together in celebration and support of autism awareness

Sunday, April 14, 2013

weekend recap

it's been a few weeks since there's been a weekend recap around here. i'm trying really hard to love the weekdays a little more, but i really do love the weekends.

friday lunch is one of my most favorite days of the month. good food+current and former co-workers+chatting=great time. always. we went to melty way. it just happened to be national grilled cheese day so it was perfect timing. although i don't really like melted cheese, i do really like grilled cheese. it was delish! if i wasn't afraid of gaining 5 pounds every time i ate there, i would be eating there regulary.


i can't even believe i am posting this thing. i signed up to bring a baked item for the young women girls camp fundraiser. this was definitely not my best work (don't tell anyone i totally cheated and used canned frosting), and i made them promise not to tell anyone i made it. i feel like i need to make another cake soon to redeem myself. anyone need a gender reveal?!?

i was really really happy with bijou market this year. sometimes my i can make that syndrome goes completely crazy at things like that. there were quite a few things that i really just can't make. it's always fun to see what everyone is making.

saturday morning was absolutely perfect for a run. we did my favorite start in olympus cove and run to liberty park run. i love love love it every time. my past couple of weeks of running have gone pretty well. so well that i decided to sign up for the big cottonwood marathon in sept. maybe you saw the embarrassing post on facebook. i didn't know it was going to post like that, but it did save me money on the registration fee which i guess is worth a little embarrassment.

i already posted about girls night with my old holladay roommates. highlight of the weekend for sure.

i also...
 bought a plane ticket to get from st kitts to st thomas last month (phew i was getting a little nervous)
caught up on blog reading
read a few chapters of the book club book (that's pretty much a miracle)
and finally caught up on the laundry that's been taking over my room

how was your weekend?

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Girls Night/Afternoon

our last roommate reunion was so much fun, we knew we had to do it more regularly. shan suggested and planned our afternoon of pedicures and an early dinner at cafe rio. it was so much fun and the time went by way too fast. can't wait for the next one!

we basically took over the whole place which made it extra fun



all our toes

no one really ate lunch so we were all starving...cafe rio is the perfect place for that

i'm already excited for our next get together in a couple of months.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Hellobox



lauren of pink on the cheek organized a super cool thing called hellobox. basically you sign up and get a blog friend for the month. you get to know each other throughout the month and send a little gift. my partner was jessinia from seaglass and ribbons. she is serioulsy darling! we were both a little crazy during the month and ended up sending and receiving our packages on the same day at the very beginning of april. i love everything in my box.


if you want to make a new blog friend, head on over to pinkonthecheek.com at the end of the month and sign up for hellobox. you won't be sorry.

Monday, April 8, 2013

spring break

spring break was absolutely 100% fab. i decided to stay in town/be productive. it was a great week and only encouraged my dreaming of someday being a stay at home something.

the current working girls pretended to be stay at homes with the real stay at homes at a fun fun fun play date


i did a bouffant bun hair tutorial for charity...pics to come

i made abby's homemade honey mustard dressing for the most delicious chicken

april's goal of wearing blue everyday is in full force

organized and shredded papers, papers, and more papers...mostly retirement statements

blogger roundtable part 2 happened..full update coming soon

ran outside during the week...it was the best

cleaned..like really cleaned the entire inside of my car

co-worker maria took me to rancho. i actually really liked it and will most definitely be going back.

i loved loved loved spring break. i could probably have another month off and fill it with all kinds of stay at home stuff, but luckily i really like my job because spring break is over.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

churchy things {faith}

remember a while ago when i posted some churchy things?!? some of the other bloggers involved with the book or mormon blogger project have decided to do a churchy post once a month. since everyone else is doing it, i figured i would too.

this weekend, instead of going to the church building for 3 hours like we usually do, we get to watch church at home. it is general conference this weekend meaning we have 4 sessions that are 2 hours each where we listen to leaders of the church talk about all the things we need to know right now. it's pretty amazing actually.
photo credit lds.org

lately i have been thinking a lot about faith. what does that even mean? and what does it have to do with me? dictionary.com says 

faith

  [feyth]  Show IPA
noun
1.
confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2.
belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3.
belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religionthe firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4.
belief in anything, as a code of ethicsstandards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someoneconcerning honesty.
5.
a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.

i have always been taught that faith is a hope of things that are not seen which are true.  most of the time i feel like i have a lot of faith. i'm a pretty religious person. i have faith in God and in Jesus Christ. lately i've been thinking about faith in terms of the plan for my life. it's interesting to me that when it comes to other people i can have complete faith that somehow things will work out for them, but when it comes to myself  i sometimes have a little harder time. one thing i know for absolute certain is that there is a God in Heaven who knows and loves each one of us. He has a plan for each of us, and even though life may not be turning out exactly the way we have planned, it is turning out exactly the way it is supposed to. i know that. i really really do, but sometimes it is hard to remember. when life isn't turning out the way you planned, it is hard to remember that it is turning out the way it is supposed to. if we have faith in God and do our part, things will work out.  when i start to doubt, i think about 

Proverbs 3:5-7

 aTrust in the Lord with all thine bheart; and lean not unto thinecown dunderstanding.
 In all thy ways aacknowledge him, and he shall bdirect thycpaths.
 ¶Be not awise in thine own eyes: bfear the Lord, and depart from evil.
so my goal for this next month is to really put this scripture to practice and trust in the Lord with all my heart. feel free to check up on me and ask me how i'm doing.
how about you? what do you do when you feel discouraged?
some of my mormon blogger friends are posting churchy things today too. check it out...
Photobucket

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Easter Orphan Dinner

i haven't been home for easter dinner since 1998...i'm serious about that and also basically just revealed how OLD i really am, but brynn usually has dinner most sundays and major holidays with her in town family. this year her parents were gone so she decided to host an orphan easter dinner. we had the yummiest food...roast, ham, funeral potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, asparagus, cake, and more. there was a ton of food. we had such a fun time sitting around the dinner table laughing our heads off.


we even had festive headbands...bunny ears, flowers, frog ears, etc. which led to lots more laughing.




thanks so much for hosting brynn (and for cooking red meat). 

Friday, April 5, 2013

5 fun facts Friday




i totally had some good ideas earlier in the week, and now i can't remember any of them.
note to self...write it down

i love all the random 5 facts going around instagram and blogland so i'm linking up with megan for another/final round...

1. i love love love hoodies, but i always feel weird wearing them. utah is rainy and cold today so i'm wearing a hoodie. we'll see how long i last before it's driving me crazy.
2. ive never seen most of the movies everyone is supposed to see...princess bride, pride and prejudice, goonies, ya know all the big ones
3. after a rainy run this morning instead of washing my wet hair like most normal people, i just sprayed some beach babe and called it good
4. i don't like pizza...yes i am american
5. i can craft with the best of them, but i can't draw to save my life...maybe one day i'll show you

what 5 random facts do i not know about you? come on..i know you're dying to share. head on over to megan's blog and link up or leave your facts in the comments.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

if you need it...

people ask me all the time what in the world is in my big purse. the truth is, people tease me all the time about such a gigantic purse...until they need something out of it. i don't know exactly when it became my job to carry around any and every little thing people could possibly need, but now people expect it. so...i'm linking up with lauren from pink on the cheek and carly from lip gloss and crayons to answer that burning question..

what's in your purse?


there's obviously a lot in there
right now i'm using this big huge bag from h&m
a few elastics, 2 clips, pack of colored bobby pins
socks
vera bradley sunglasses case with sunglasses
iphone ear buds
stride gum
keys
ipad
clinique cosmetic case (complete with tissue, floss picks, lint sheets, shout wipes, powder, bandaids, tums, hand sanitizer, more bobby pins and hair elastics, floss, clippers, eye drops, tweezers, advil, lotion, tampons, and 4 things of lip gloss)...told you i have everything
cold medicine and vitamin c 
vera bradley credit card wallet
hobo wallet
enough pens for a classroom and a comb
march madness bracket that's been dead for days
little notebook
checkbook...does anyone still write checks?
little snack bag with almonds
sometimes my iphone is in there but it's usually in my back pocket

holy crap...when i write that all out it is ridiculous. like i said, if you need it, come find me.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

world autism day

autism is everywhere these days. you can barely have a conversation with anyone that doesn't have some sort of connection to autism. even though i have a cousin with autism, it wasn't until i started working with kids with autism that i really started to learn more about it. since today is world autism day, i am dedicating my teeny tiny bit of the internet to autism.


when i started working with kids with autism in 2001 the rate of incidence was 1/188. in just 12 years that rate has increased to 1/88. it is crazy! autism is everywhere. it is such a huge part of my life. autism has challenged me personally and professionally. it has given me some of the best experiences and some of the worst. it has taught me more than i would have ever thought possible. because of autism, i have amazing relationships with some of the most wonderful moms i know. autism is without question impossibly hard, but it has blessed my life in so many ways.

so today, i encourage you to take a minute and learn a little more about autism. do you know about autism? if not, go here to learn more. Autism Speaks is one of my favorite places for all sorts of information. like i mentioned yesterday, i'll be wearing blue in support of/to raise awareness about autism. i would love to have some people join me for a day.
Photobucket