the end

This is it, I made it. Some times it was a real pain to post every day. Other times I found it quite fun and entertaining. I am glad to say I did it and I'm even happier to say I'm done. But don't worry, I'll be back.

This is also the end of our trip; we're heading home in the morning. Several things happened this weekend that have made an impression on me. I will forever be grateful for these experiences and the way they have shaped me. Thank you St. George for never failing me. Each time I visit, you give me another reason to love you more.
I'll leave you with some pictures of our motorcycle ride.

a picture story

Andrew organized some scooter races.


















Of which, Eric was the winner. But we all got medals and prizes made by Andrew.


















Some gorgeous weather and fall colors.























A cute kid






















Some "good sauce buddy"






















Bump (the car) pulling Curt

















Bump in action






















Beautiful St. George

absolutely nothing

my activities for the day

sleeping
sewing
eating
wii-ing
shopping
cafe rio-ing
playing
sewing
eric-ing

and loving every minute of it

tomorrow's agenda: more of the same thing + motorcycling and martinelli's (but not at the same time)

good food, good family

We are having THE best time in St George. We spent the afternoon eating and visiting... so nice. It rained all day (which I personally love). But it also allowed for us to spend lots of great time together. Eric's family is funny, I laughed so much today, it makes me happy. Curt's helicopter and the projectiles made for some good fun. And I think we determined I am the best at all the Wii sports games.

and then there was st. george

My love for St. George all started on a beach in Hawaii. Because that's where I met Eric.
I had never spent any time in St. George until I met Eric. In the past 5 years (since I've known Eric) I've probably been there at least 20 times. That's probably not even a fourth of how many times Eric has been there.

We are heading to St. George today for Thanksgiving weekend. In the past when we have gone to St. George for Thanksgiving, we have been coming from Salt Lake. This means that we would be going from really cold weather & snow to a little bit warmer weather. But this year we are coming from California. Which means we will be going from perfect weather to cold weather. My brain is trying to adjust to this. But I couldn't be more excited. I haven't been cold in a long time. I am excited to be cold and have to wear a big warm jacket to keep me toasty.

One of the best parts about our trips to St. George is the drive. For me at least, Eric would probably disagree because he's the one driving. But we get to spend some great quality time together.

One of my favorite Eric quotes was said in a phone conversation with him a couple days before my first visit to St. George. I asked, "What do you do in St. George?" He answered, "What don't we do in St. George?" I have since learned that anything is possible in St. George!

Eric proposed to me in Snow Canyon, right outside of St. George. Another good Tiffany quote came from that experience. After he proposed we got back in the car to drive back to the condos. I proceeded to tell Eric, "You always cease to amaze me". He got a good laugh out of it.

St. George is also where Eric did his first real triathlon.

Thank you St. George for all the wonderful times. I can't wait to see you tonight and spend some time in your presence. You hold a special place in my heart.

twilight

nablopomo number twenty-four

i don't feel like blogging. here's a picture.

i love this picture {taken at troy and mindi's wedding}

maybe, just maybe, you will get something better from me tomorrow.

randomness

I deep cleaned the apartment yesterday, it felt so good. As part of that, I reorganized my whole sewing area and it's way more functional and use able.

I counted the current projects I have going on right now... it is 7. Oh if I were made of time... and didn't have to sleep.

Eric held our friends new born baby several times in church today. He looked way too good with that baby in his arms. He did not want to give the baby back.

I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight. It turned out pretty decent. I like it when that happens.

Current music LOVES = Jonatha Brooke and Kendall Payne

St George in 3 days, here I come. Paid vacation rocks. I am looking forward to doing nothing except reading, sewing and hanging out with family. Oh and I can not wait to go to Lazy Daisy Cottage... the best quilt shop around.

One thing about Christmas I love - Laughing with family
One thing about Christmas I don't love - Eric's gift guessing ability

My mom recently reminded me of a time when I convinced her to feed me in bowls... on the floor... like a dog. I was 10 and this continued this for several weeks. I can very clearly remember this time in my life. What can I say, I love animals.

Eric eats root beer freezes right in front of my eye balls. This proves how strong my resistance to sweets has become. Try and tempt me... you'll see.

I am grateful for my heart.

Ki-yi

Good job Utes, you played a fantastic game. We enjoyed it.























Just be glad this is me posting and not Eric.

thank you

I am grateful for

my contacts, so I can see
friends that make me laugh
a blue sky and sunshine
opportunities to serve others
lotion

Polebridge

Today I was craving some snickerdoodles from the Polebridge Mercantile in Polebridge, Montana. This craving prompted my post.














You lose things as you travel north. First to go is the cell phone connection, lost before you’re barely out of town. Then the power lines disappear, then the driveways. No houses, no streetlights, no billboards. When you lose the pavement, you’re still just a dozen miles out of town, “but you have the feeling you’ve crossed a boundary”. And still the road tracks north.

Left behind is the town and all the hurry-up that means. Out ahead is wildness, if not wilderness, the unknown. It’s like some ancient metaphor, this road serves as penance, stripping away worldly distractions one by one before you can find what really matters. And there, at the end of the road, the rapture, heavenly manna. Fresh-baked bread. And cinnamon rolls. And sinful huckleberry bearclaws, piping hot straight from the oven.

















A lot of people see Polebridge as a utopia, or a place so special it’s outside the real world. Maybe that’s because of what they must leave behind on the way in. Or maybe because life here is a choice, deliberately made. I didn't write this, but I had to use it because it described so well why I like this little place so much. Original article here.
Polebridge was one of the many places we stopped at last August. It is hard to express the feelings I felt during our trip. They were felt so intensely and strong. I had never felt like that in my life and have not felt like that since. I felt complete, free and inspired.

We pulled into Polebridge on August 25th on our way to go backpacking in (the bear infested) Glacier National Park. The long empty road to Polebridge was relaxing. Once there, we checked out the "Merc" and explored the 2 dirt roads in town. We snacked on some A-mazing cookies and then napped in the car. We ate dinner and then left the little town to find our campsite near the lake for the night.

We then backpacked for 4 days in Glacier. (that deserves a whole seperate post)

After we finished our backpacking adventure, we headed back to Polebridge. It's the only road back to the world. We decided to fill our empty stomachs at the only restaurant around, the Northern Lights Saloon. It was delicious and the town is so laid back. We chatted with other traveleres who had just backpacked the same trail as us.

Before our backpacking trip, we had decided that after backpacking we would treat ourselves and stay a night in Polebridge at the North Fork Hostel. We showered for the first time in days in this little tiny bathroom in the owners home. Also, there is no electricity. We used a candle as our light.

We found the tiny old cabin we were to sleep in, behind the main Hostel house. It was old, had no heater and had a bunk bed and 1 queen bed in the tiny space. But it was the coziest little thing you could imagine. And it was better than sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. This is what I wrote in our travel journal that night...

Well here we are. We made it out alive. A little tired and sore though. I am sitting inside our hostel cabin at the North Fork Hostel in Polebridge, MT. Writing in my book by the light of the kerosene lamp. Eric is laying in bed falling asleep. I am happy. Life feels so calm and complete.

I love you Polebridge and I love how you changed the way I look at life.

green boots

I have these green boots that I got for my birthday, I think it was 2 years ago.
{i love them. they make me happy.}
{eric does not love them. they do not make him happy.}
Actually, whenever I put them on, he groans. He thinks they are ugly and he tells me so. I still wear them and get compliments on them all the time. Funny thing is, the last time I wore them, one of Eric's good friends and training partner told me he loved them.
{i said HA, to eric's face.}

They are flat which = very comfortable. And they are green {more of an olive green.}They are unique and totally different than anything I have. {that's why I love them.}
They are the first thing I want to wear when the weather gets cooler. I wear them with as many things as possible. As soon as I slip them on my feet I smile. They are called {Irregular Choice.}
{i feel more eclectic when i wear them. i feel stylish when i wear them.}
I like when an item I wear makes me feel good.

Meet my green boots. The picture doesn't do them justice.

I miss ...
Beating the Richards and Finlaysons at home run derby
Summer days in Hawaii with Eric
My old bedroom at my parents house
Cold Utah water
Rusty
Playing soccer
Walking home from school in the rain

I love ...
The 80 degree weather right now
Living in an apartment
Working at a University
Our ward
Sarah Mclachlan
Sharing a root beer and watching TV with Eric
Reading in bed

I am looking forward to ...Utah beating BYUSt George and Thanksgiving
Meeting baby Camden
Beating everyone in the kicking competition
Christmas and New Years
Seeing friends and family in Salt Lake
Seeing some snow again and being cold enough to drink hot chocolate

some lyrics and a project

some lyrics - Yahweh by U2Take these shoes, click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes, and make them fit

Take this shirt, polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt, and make it clean... clean

Take this soul, stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul and make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh... always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh... still I’m waiting for the dawn

Take these hands, teach them what to carry
Take these hands, don’t make a fist

Take this mouth, so quick to criticise
Take this mouth, give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh... always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh... still I’m waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn
The sun is coming up... the sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh... always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now... why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city, a city should be shining on a hill
Take this city, if it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart, Take this heart
Take this heart and make it break


a project (i listed it 5 days ago and it has already sold!)

dear ole crimson

We sent to San Diego on Saturday to watch the Utes play SDSU. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed watching the game. I love going to sporting events, I think they are so fun and exciting. I normally love eating hot dogs at games. But for the first time we didn't because we couldn't make ourselves spend 14 dollars on 2 hot dogs that probably wouldn't even fill us up. So instead we spent 6 dollars on cracker jacks and 5 dollars on water. Not the best idea, but whatever. After the 62 to 14 victory, we ended up finding this cool Italian pizza place that had amazing pizza. All in all, it was a good day.

Good job Utes and we look forward to you ending the season with a 12-0 record next weekend.

Us in all our red glory

another day

This is the first time since NaBloPoMo started that I've had problems coming up with something to post. It doesn't help that I have been gone all day in San Diego (yes, it was a perfect, beautiful San Diego day). So here I sit at 11 pm on the computer, exhausted, with nothing to post about.


Here are some observations from my day

-Sometimes it's not easy to say I'm sorry. I needed to say "sorry" earlier today and I really wanted to, but I had to force the words out of my mouth. But once I did, I felt a lot better.

-San Diego is practically perfect in every way

-Eric is a people person

-I can not function without my iphone (I know, sad)

-I have really cute nieces and a REALLY talented sister in law

-Eating at sporting events is so overpriced. Six dollars for a lousy hot dog and five dollars for a bottle of water, come on!

-Eating dinner at a restaurant picked by an iphone application, in an area you've never been to before... can turn out good and be fun.

-Driving around your husbands mission areas time & time again and getting to witness the joy on his face talking about that time in his life, never gets boring.

sisters

DEFINITION

A female who has both parents in common with another
One that is closely similar to or associated with another

Congrats to my sister Stacey, on the new baby boy!

two good things and a thought

number oneA couple days ago I put on these black slacks I haven't worn since last winter. When I reached into the pocket later that morning, I found 10 dollars. I was excited to find some cash. But what was even better, was the mood it put me in for the rest of the day. I was all cheerful and bouncy, making people laugh and having a jolly good time. Isn't it amazing that something so small can put a positive spin on things and change your attitude altogether. I love it. I wish I could find money in my pocket every day so that I would always be positive and cheerful.

number twoI fit into my skinny jeans! I wasn't trying to for any particular reason, but last week I decided to try them on and see how they fit. Bam - they fit and and it was a joyous occasion. It opened up several more outfit possibilities and it just feels good. I ran around the house proclaiming to Eric, "I fit into my skinny jeans". Fitting into clothes you love always makes you feel amazing. I guess all the no candy and desserts has finally paid off. YESSSSS!

thought
The other day I was driving home from work and had this thought, "I am only 23 years old, I have so much more life to live, lessons to learn and things to enjoy". Sometimes I get stuck. My brain only thinks of the immediate future and what I am doing the next week. Then I have these moments of thought that I just described and I feel young and free. The world is mine to conquer and there is so much more to me/myself that I have not yet even discovered. How exciting!

ms kaya

Some of you may not care to see or hear about our cute rattie Kaya. But every once in a while I get the urge to post about her. I thought I'd follow that urge today.

Kaya is now two years old and the older she gets, the cuter she gets. All she wants to do is snuggle us. As soon as we take her out, she finds a spot on our lap and lays down to snuggle or sleep. If we stop petting her, she finds a way to move her body under our hand. She moves a lot slower now and has mellowed out, which is so fun. She still comes when we call her, it's really cute. Her favorite treats are nutter butters, grapes and cheese. When we are home we keep her out all the time (her cage is so lonely) and she usually just chills with us while we talk or watch TV. She also likes to groom us by licking our fingers and hands. We are good to her and she is good to us. She is a great companion and I would take her with me everywhere, if I could.

halloween, part 2

There was some talk that I needed to produce some pictures to prove that I wore my costume to work. The proof is in the pictures...

















Yes, I am pretty much the only person that dressed up. But you know, life is more fun this way.