Freedom Trail!

Alright, I've been back for almost 3 weeks now so I figured I should get some pictures up from my trip! For those of you reading this that don't know where I went...I went to Boston for 11 days in May. Kalli and Steve graduated so Mom, Dad, Kiersty, Seth and I all flew out to Boston to celebrate with them!

None of us except for Dad, have been that far east so it was an adventure. These pictures are from our first real day there. It was just Kalli, Steve, mom, dad and I for the first few days. This is Thursday May 19th, we went on the Freedom Trail. Thats basically just the walking tour of historic Boston. It was pretty amazing to see all of the history. I loved walking around Boston, its so old and there is so much history in the city. We started out at Boston Commons and worked our way up to the North End, which is basically the Italian district. We ate some amazing Italian food and got some wonderful cannolis from Mike's Pastries...yummm! Anyway- so this is definitely the short version, I could go on describing what all we saw and did, but it would be super long! So, my favorite part about the freedom trail? It's really hard to narrow it down. I really enjoyed it all. I think it's amazing to be in the places where our nation was born. I know that they are just buildings and it's been hundreds of years since they were used to build a nation but it's really just amazing to think about it. We did go inside Paul Revere's house and I've got to say, it sure made me grateful to not have to live back then! I can't believe how many people they could fit into such a small place. I am extremely grateful that growing up, I didn't have to share my room with like 6 other people....just 2!

Slightly Delayed...

So this post is like a month overdue but what can I say? I got distracted with a new haircut! So the three of us, Sasha, Breanna and I, decided to head to Utah for conference weekend. We left Thursday with the intent of arriving at a somewhat decent hour.....those plans did not work so well for us. We didn't end up leaving Tucson til like 5pmish. Then, we made pretty good time to Flagstaff. Unfortunately, none of us had ever really driven that route and all we had to go on were google map directions. So google maps took us close to Page, Az but then sent us on an alternate route through some place called Marble Canyon. These are where the lovely pictures were taken. So, we had planned on stopping in Page and filling up because we were getting low. Only our directions took us west of Page to this lovely town with one gas station that closed early and didn't have a credit card reader. So, here we are stuck in this town with no gas available and our gas light was on and Page was like 40 miles away still...in the other direction! Fun right? So what else do you do when you're stuck in a small town that all closed down for the night and you're almost out of gas? Well, you contemplate lots of things including knocking on doors at the Marble Canyon Lodge and seeing if anyone wants to drive you to Page and then praying that the car will make it to Page on the gas that is left in the tank. Well, that is what we did, and we now know that Breanna's car will go at least 50 more miles once the gas light comes on! It's probably not really the best way to test it but...we're unconventional! Anyways, despite losing like an hour driving back to Page and then back through Marble Canyon we still got to Payson in like 12 hours...at 6:30am! Then, I went and spent the rest of the weekend with Ellen and family, Kiersty and Brittany. I would've included Seth but he was cramming for finals so, I really only saw him for a few hours! Friday, I hung out with Ellen at Dillards and then Kierst, Britt and I went and saw a movie. I'm sad we don't have a theater like that one in Tucson. It's like 1.50...or 3? for a movie and then the treats are either 1 or 2 bucks depending on the size. It was a pretty sweet deal. Then on Sat, we went shopping and ran errands and met up with Ellen and the girls for Girls Night Out. Surprisingly, we shopped more and had a great dinner from Bajios! I miss those here too. To my dismay, as we were getting ready for bed on Saturday night it was snowing! And despite Kiersty's reassurances that it would stop, I woke up to this on Sunday morning!

Thankfully, the snow melted while we watched conference and our drive back to Tucson was pretty much snow free. At least snow free on the roads. But after our lovely experience on the way to Utah, we decided to go back to Tucson through Vegas. And we never let the gas tank get that low again. I'd say we all learned pretty good lessons from this trip! And, this has nothing to do with lessons, but I finally got to see Kiersty's house-decorated! I've heard so much about it and seen so many pictures of it, but it doesn't do it justice! She did such a good job decorating it! I like to think that I was helping with it, since I was on the phone with her while she picked out so much stuff for it! Anyways, it was a great weekend, and as always, over too soon!

Short and Sweet!

As you can see, I cut it off! On Friday I just decided, I'd thought enough about it, I'm gonna do it! So i went in to cut it and realized that my hair was shorter than I thought. You have to have 11 inches to donate so I told them to cut 11 in off.. Then I saw how short it was and got a little scared! But I'm actually really happy with it. I think I might go back and add some shorter layers in to give it a little more texture/body...Any thoughts? And should I cut bangs again or leave them long?

Help!

Ok, I've been thinking of cutting my hair again. I need your help. This was what I did to it 1 1/2 years ago. I was thinking about maybe this length but with some more layers. I don't know if I'll do the bangs again. Right now my hair is about a foot longer than it is in this picture. So, should I keep it really long and just do some more layers or go back to a shorter cut. I love the long hair but I just get so bored with it. I'm lucky and it grows out fairly quickly but still....Help! I need some opinions friends!

Oops

I realized that my last post sounded a bit dire and I should clarify that I just had some news delivered to me by a close friend that I was not prepared for at all. I am doing ok I am just saddened by the news and was still a bit in shock when I wrote that.

BLINDSIDED

That's pretty much how I feel today. I was told something today and feel completely unprepared for how to deal with it. It will take some time but I sure hate that feeling. Not knowing how to deal...

30 Years Ago Today.....

.....MHARI LYNAE WAS BORN!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big sister! I don't know that she will really appreciate me announcing her age but....too late! Anyway- I just wanted to give a little shout out to Mhari on her big day! I hope James spoils you on your birthday and Andrew gives you a little break from running after him and cleaning up the DVD's!

For those of you reading this Mhari is my oldest sister and she did her job well. I didn't have any older brothers, so Mhari filled that need! She helped us jump off the roof onto the trampoline....something that happened frequently after church when we raced to beat our parents home. She sat on top of us and held lougies above our faces...she instilled a deep love for pretty much all things 80's-minus the clothing! Although, the 80's hairstyle definitely was part of our lives for awhile! She's shown that ketchup and mustard paint can actually look good in a house! She has the cutest little boy that was ever born-I'm not partial or anything. She introduced me to corn dip and fritos, which is AMAZING!

I could've shared some amazing Mhari stories but I don't know that she would fully appreciate it. Instead I'll just say that again, Mhari, I hope you have a great birthday. Thanks for all the things you have taught me and for the great example you are to me. Love you and let yourself be spoiled!