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Monday, January 28, 2013

Lava/Soda Trip

I just love friends of friends. This weekend was full of friends of friends. Kari planned a quick trip to lava hot springs and Soda Springs, Idaho(where she's from). We met up after work and headed north. We stopped at a small diner in Milad for dinner before getting to lava. We spent a couple of hours in the hot springs. Normally I totally love that sort of thing, but I have an itty bitty cold. My ears refused to pop making it a little less enjoyable but still fun. After the hot springs we went a little further north for the night. We stayed up late laughing and most playing games, slept in a little, had breakfast, some people played some more games, and just had fun. The end got cut a little short when someone had a family emergency. Despite not feeling my best it was a really fun weekend. In a total case of blogger fail I only took one picture.on the way home.for#fmsphotoaday. oops. Thank you Kari for planning and hosting and thank you friends of friends!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

why I probably won't ever do a sock bun again

I feel like the sock bun is all over the place. Whenever I have a big ole bun people always ask if it's a sock bun...nope just my hair. I'm starting to get a little nervous about coming up with 28 hairstyles next month. In preparation for #monthofhair, I did a trial run of overnight sock bun=beautiful curls. Let's just say the sock bun is not for me. Also, these pictures are embarrassing, and i can't even believe I am posting them.

apparently you are supposed to put a sock bun in your wet hair, sleep, and wake up with awesome hair. i'm pretty sure i failed at the sock bun part. i have a heckuva lot of hair so it was huge and not tight. is it supposed to be tight?
after waking up what felt like 50 times in the night, this was the result. not cute=not happy. i mean seriously. what is this hair? where are the beautiful curls? i don't like sleeping with my hair up. it gives me a headache, and this was definitely not worth it.

i sprayed some beach babe and finished drying (oh ya, it was still wet when i woke up). i'm pretty sure i look like i'm trying to bring back the 80s especially with the faded melt i currently have going on. my hair was horrid and in a pony in no time. i was pretty sad about the failed sock bun

what did i do wrong? is is possible to have too much hair for the sock bun? HELP! any other ideas i should try now or next month?

Monday, January 21, 2013

weekend recap

technically my weekend is still going (thank you martin luther king, jr) for a few more hours. this weekend was FUN...lots of FUN. back in the day weekend used to be all about FUN and then i became responsible.

friday night was the long anticpated roommate reunion. we laughed and laughed and laughed.

i busted out of the inversion on saturday morning for a run up east canyon and little mountain. it's been a while since i've run 10 miles.  the uphill was a total butt kicker and exactly what i needed.

laurann got a little group together to go to morgan on saturday to eat at taggerts. it was my 3rd trip to morgan ever, and it was great. too bad the only picture i took of the whole night was the fire. we ate our delicious dinner by the fire and went back to laurann's house for the hot tub and nail painting.

apples were on super sale this week so i made some homemade applesauce. i just peel, core, and slice the apples and sprinkle cinammon. i love knowing exactly what i am eating, and it is really delicious. the recipe i found a while ago called for sugar, but it's not necessary at all.

today is a holiday so i get to pretend to be a stay at home. brianna and ruby and mikael came over for lunch. it's always a good time with those girls.

mikael is having a little babe sometime in the next few weeks so i made her baby gift today (tutorial coming). i'm dying about it.

monday night tradish is still on so i'll head over to celsey's in a little for dinner and the bach. this weekend was kind of my favorite. 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

roommate reunion

once upon a time we all lived in the turnberry apartments in holladay. jen was our roommate in provo but basically an adopted roommate in salt lake. nettie, michelle, kim, and i moved to salt lake and met sarah, shan, and amanda (who lives out of town). dy eventaully moved up. sarah married ted and kim married mark so shan and amanda moved in with us. sarah's husband ted's roommate billy (you following this?) married karen, and she is also part of this crowd and an out of towner. at one time or another we all loved together mostly with 6 at a time. life was a non stop party. we try to get together fairly often and keep in touch through weekly emails, but we finally decided to do a girls night. we met for dinner and dessert (no sugar january is still in full force). i love love love their husbands and kids, but it was so much fun with just us. we probably could have stayed talking and laughing and talking all night long.i'm one lucky girl to have such great friends. can't wait for the next one!







Wednesday, January 16, 2013

blogger party...valentine's exchage


   

i loved loved loved the fall swap i did. i not only got an awesome package in the mail, but i met some new blog friends. i just noticed alycia and a few other bloggers are hosting a valentine's themed blogger party. i am so excited! everyone should do it. i can't wait to do a little valentine's day shopping and meet some new bloggy friends.


Any blogger who wants to participate will e-mail Nicole their name and blog address.
Each blogger will be randomly paired up with another blogger, and will receive that blogger's e-mail and web address.

It is then up to those bloggers to give each other their shipping address, so they can send each other a little care package! (try and get to know your new blogging friends!)

Make sure to ship out your care packages by an appropriate date, so that the other person will get their packageBEFORE February 7, 2013.
Then make sure to write up a post about the person you met, and what they sent you! &Don’t forget to link it up to ALL FIVE of the blog Hosts, to spread the love and meet tons of new bloggers!
Hope we can all meet some new people in the blog world, spread smiles with some gift giving, and spread some blogging love for 2013!
**Must be at least 18 to participate, thank you for understanding**

Sunday, January 13, 2013

2013 goals

as previously promised (on multiple occasions) i am finally posting about my goals for the year.



i talked a little about this in my recap from 2012.
Last year somehow turned into the year I really felt like a grownup. Even though I do plenty of fun things, it seemed like I spent more time being responsible and less time having fun. I have a hard time balancing life most of the time. and I will basically never say no even at my own expense. Although 2012 was a really great year, I want things to be different this year. I know I will still be responsible and dependable, and I also know I am at the stage of life where that's kind of how things are. I haven't ever picked a word as my theme for the year before, but looking back at 2012 my word was very unintentionally RESPONSIBLE. I wanted to be more intentional this year so I picked FUN meaning I want to have fun doing whatever I am doing. i want to enjoy life more and not waste everyday looking forward to some future day. I don't expect my life to be a party all the time, and I don't even want that. I just want to find more joy in whatever I am doing. So, I have a goal to have fun everyday whether that is a fun work appointment, good workout (I know that's not fun for everyone but it really is for me), dinner with a friend, or an overnighter with old roommates. I've already been trying it and so far I feel a lot happier. If anyone wants to do something fun, let me know.

along with having more FUN/enjoying life a little more, i have a few other goals for the year...

daily fun (see above) (i'll be posting on twitter)
document 12 runs (the Generation Gap running group i run with has a lot of really awesome standard runs, and they aren't written down anywhere. hopefully next year's goals will include putting together a book)
spend less (i really want to move to the cash system for spending money. i planned to at least use cash for drinks this month but so far it hasn't happened. need improvement already)
send birthday cards in the mail (make sure i know your bday and address if you want a card)
write in my journal at least once a month (i used to be so good, and have gotten so bad)
monthly goals (1 per month all year)
Jan...no sugar January
Feb...different hair everyday (i did this last year, and it was a pain in the booty. however, i am bored with my hair, and this will force me to stop being so lazy and bored)
March...taking suggestions
April...something to do with autism awareness month
May-Dec...still thinking

i'm excited about 2013. i talk about goals every single day with the families i work with, yet i sometimes struggle with my own. if you posted about your goals, i am sure i have seen it since i am way behind on posting. if you didn't, what are your goals for this year? do you have a theme word for the year?

tomato basil soup

i posted this picture on instagram for my #fmsphotoaday picture. i got some requests for the recipe for the tomato soup i made.


this recipe came from old roommate nettie who i think got it from her former co-worker's wife. so sorry joy. i have no idea how to properly credit/link you to this recipe.

i usually double the recipe to make a giant pot of soup
4 tomatoes peeled, seeded, and diced (i didn't actually peel, seed, or really dice)
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil (have you seen the basil in the tube? that's what i used)
1 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c butter (doubled everything except the butter)
salt and pepper to taste
medium onion chopped and sautéed
shredded parmesan cheese

place tomatoes and juice in stock pot over medium heat. simmer 30 minutes. purée tomato mixture with basil and onions. return to pot. place over medium heat and add butter and heavy cream. season with salt and pepper. heat, stirring until butter is melted. do not boil.

this is perfect for the bitter cold weather we are experiencing right now.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

about the weather

I know I live in Utah. I get it. It snows here, but seriously.... Since when does it snow THIS much? And since when is it THIS freaking cold. I'm dying!






I need to get out of here...like yesterday. Who wants to go somewhere?

Thursday, January 10, 2013

beach waves

what is the time limit on when it is no longer acceptable to blog about new year's resolutions??? i might be getting close. will you give me until the weekend to do it? this 5 day work week is sucking the life out of me, but i promise to do it before the end of the weekend. mostly i want it documented to keep me accountable.

in the meantime, i tried out a new hair product...

i was in line at urban outfitters today and saw this beach babe sea salt spray. my hair has some good potential in the right conditions (living in the dominican republic), but in dryer than dry utah, there is no such thing as beach waves. whenever i get super lazy and let my hair air dry or sleep on it wet, it's basically a frizzy mess. i was pretty excited to try out this new product.

i tried it out for the first time on saturday. i got out of the shower and needed to leave ASAP so i put it in my soaking wet hair. it wasn't awful, but i didn't love it.

i tried it again last night. my hair was much less wet and i went to bed with wet hair. it was still wet this morning so i sprayed some more and used the blow dryer a little. it's so darn cold here, and i didn't want to have frozen hair. my review...i like it. my mostly air dried hair definitely looks better than it ever has before. it is way less frizzy, and i actually kind of liked it. i don't know if my hair looks like i've been at the beach all day, but it kind of feels like it.

it was only $8 which is far less than a lot of other products i buy so for the price i would recommend it. i will definitely be using it again.


disclaimer...no one paid me to review this product. i bought it myself and am expressing my own opinions about the product.

Monday, January 7, 2013

celebrating again

i know i said i was going to be back talking about goals for the new year, and I am...just not quite yet. time got away from me, and the post isn't done yet. it's coming though.. i promise.

is anyone sick of birthday posts yet?!? ok good because you can never celebrate too much I say. a few friends went to cheesecake factory on friday night for one more celebration. we had a great time and at the end of the meal the server brought out the cutest little treat. such a fun night!



Sunday, January 6, 2013

new year's poppers

i saw this idea online somewhere(if i knew where i would totally link it, but unfortunately i did not save it) and literally threw it all together a half hour before i left for new year's eve parties. it could have been so much better if i had more time.

basically i took a wrapping paper roll(if you plan ahead toilet paper rolls would be way easier) and cut into smaller pieces. fill roll with candy, confetti (made from cutting up pieces of shiny paper), whatever. wrap with wrapping paper. make tab from washi tape and homemade baker's twine. seal roll with washi tape. the tutorial i saw actually cut the TP roll and sewed the cover paper so it would tear easier...way too much work if you ask me. these were way cute but didn't work super well. i didn't do the tab very well so pulling it didn't actually open the thing. oh well, at least they were cute right?!?



Saturday, January 5, 2013

New Year's Eve

I generally really really love holidays, but I could just skip right over New Year's Eve. I used to get really stressed out about plans, and now I kind of don't care. The more low key it is the better. I started the night off by stopping by a hot chocolate party hosted by Brianna and Byron. Too bad I didn't take any picutres because it was so cute. My friend Laurann has hosted several parties in the past and did again this year. It was so much fun. We ate, played a game (I know. Hard to believe I played a game, but I did), got in the hot tub, and attempted to watch a movie. It was very low key and very fun. Julie and I slept over and spent the next morning watching a movie and being lazy. It was the best! Thanks Laurann for hosting.

playing a game with a made up name. not only did i play, but i actually won.

i saw something similar to this on pinterest or somewhere and literally threw it together. another post coming.

after a failed attempt to watch pitch perfect at 3am, we watched it the next morning.

how was your new year's eve? did you do anything fun?

I'll be back tomorrow talking about goals for the year.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

sea world

when we went to sea world earlier this year we didn't really plan on going back even though we had passes for the year. since chelsea and jeff moved to california and i was there for the holidays, we decided to go one more time. it was so nice to be an hour away.

i posted a ton of pictures on instagram (@aubreyzaruba) while we were there, but i also took my big camera.  it was rainy part of the day so i didn't get as many pictures as i wanted but did take some.

first stop...pet show

second stop...snow land. the kids weren't really sure what to think.

 karlee loves rides. karson is a little more timid, but he did go on one ride with me.

 blue horizon show. they added beluga whales to the end since the last time we saw it.


it started raining at lunch and kind of kept raining on and off the rest of the day. we finally decided to leave, but then it stopped for a bit. we decided to go to the shamu show, and of course it started raining while we were waiting for it to start.


 i managed to get a good picture of one of the very few times they jumped out.

even though we got rained on the second half of the day,we had a good time, and we were glad we went.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2012 recap

i am in complete disbelief that 2013 is already here. it seems like just a couple of months ago i was recapping 2011, and now 2012 is already over.

2012 very unintentionally became the year of responsible. even though by the world's standards i have been a grown up for over 10 years, 2012 was the year i really felt like a grown up. it might seem a little strange, but i seemed to spend more time doing grown up things (laundry, grocery shopping, preparing church lessons, cleaning the house, etc) on weekends than having fun plans with friends.

i was responsible at work.

i was responsible at church.
i was responsible at home.

even though i spent a lot of time being responsible, i had a great year. it was really productive, and i did some great things.

january...started the year with a spending freeze. monday night tradish was in full swing.

february...started fat mum slim's photoaday project. did my hair differently every workday. met up with my mom in vegas for a long weekend.

march...wore a hair accessory every day. nettie got married.

april...celebrated autism awareness month by wearing blue all month. spent spring break in st george and vegas.


may...ran the race for the cure and threw a circus themed baby shower with celsey for jenny and lindsey. went to sea world with chelsea and fam. started 100 days of situps.


june...chelsea and fam came to visit, used my 7 peaks pass for he first of many times. youth conference.


july...baby kyler was born

august...spent the first week in vegas 

 september...back to vegas for kyler's baby blessing, gardner village to see the witches with anne and brianna.


 october...vegas for fall break (pumpkin patch, bellagio). dressed up like tetris for halloween.



 november...ran my first post surgery 1/2 marathon. made 1 of many gender reveal cakes. thanksgiving in st george and vegas.


december...holidays in vegas and california


2012 was a great year. i got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. looking back on the year i feel so blessed and look forward to another great year in 2013. stay tuned for my goals for the new year and a more intentional word of the year.