Standalone player Get Ringtones

Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones

Monday, June 29, 2009

Out smelling the neighbors roses




There is a house just a little bit down the street from ours and they have to most beautiful roses. Everyday I drive past their house and can't help but check out the flowers. So me and Dave went for a little bike ride on our tandem bike down the street so that I could get some pictures of the roses. I'm such a sucker but they are just too beautiful!

Birthday BBQ

Spencer, Amber, Me and Dave
Finding the car in the dark

My brother Spencer and his wife Amber threw me a little birthday BBQ up the canyon and we had so much fun! We had the best hot dogs, bon fire and chocolate birthday cake!! We played a little flash flight Frisbee with our glow in the dark Frisbee and just enjoyed each others company. Thanks for an awesome time guys!!!

My Birthday at the Aquarium

Stingray Pool
Dave in the boat
In the boat
Dave in front of the sunken ship
Hiding in the rocks

Birthday at the Aquarium
I'm 28! I have been telling my husband for the past 6 months that I wanted to go to the aquarium and we have never been able to get around to going so for my birthday I asked Dave if we could go do that. Of course he said yes and took me there on my birthday. I was in shock. I love the ocean and I especially love to learn about what lives in the ocean. To me, the ocean is the most fascinating and wondrous place. There is so many things that are unknown down there. The life under water that some will never see in this lifetime and an underwater world that will never be discovered. It blows my mind and so when I got the opportunity to go to this wonderful aquarium and see things in front of my eyes that I have only seen in a book it was a pretty incredible experience. My very favorite parts were the octopus, he captured my attention and Dave had to pull me away to see the rest of the stuff there. Also the jellies, the string ray pool where I got to actually pet the stingrays and the shark tank. I love every single bit and would definitely go back again. Hopefully soon I can go to the ocean to see some of it there.

Aquarium continued

Stingray Pool
Jellies
Monster Fish
Giant Lobster
Octopus

Real Simple is Real Simple

My kabobs

Dave and Me
Ready to eat?

Who has discovered Real Simple magazine? If you have not you are missing out! I got a subscription to this magazine called Real Simple and it is like the bible for women. I am totally addicted. It talks about so many things that help us as women be better women, wives, friends, mothers, housekeepers and chefs. So much information on organizational tips, health and beauty and recipes all the way down to just a good daily thought. I was soaking up the sun at the pool the other day with my new copy and came across a kabob recipe that I could not resist. I came home that night and sent Dave to the store with a grocery list. And so our Divine dinner of kabobs were made. I even BBQ them myself and they turned out amazing. I put steak, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, onions, green pepper and shrimp on the skewers and BBQ them. They were finger lickin delicious! So if you haven't checked out Real Simple I strongly recommend you go get a copy IMMEDIATELY!

Canyon Adventure

Picnic from KFC...Yummy!
Me and Dave at the spill way
Getting soaked from the spray
Dave enjoying the water
Just hangin by the river


Our Canyon Adventure
When the heat is too much in the valley we head to higher ground to cool off. We took a ride up to the Upper Falls above Bridal Veil in Provo Canyon and it was such a nice evening. We took a picnic courtesy of KFC and played in the river. Our kids love to get into the river to cool off and get a drink. On our way back down the canyon we noticed that the spill way was open and the water was gushing out as fast as possible. Dave a ridden past and said that there was a nice spray of mist coming off and we should go check it out. So we unloaded the dogs and started walking over to where the water was coming out of the mountain. Little did I know that this so called "spray" Dave was talking about was more or less like a shower. If you stood in front of it just right you were soaked in a matter of seconds. So both of us hiked up the small hill to brave the freezing cold drench all for a good picture! It was so worth it!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Bob the Builder

I bought a new dresser for my MANY clothes and assembly was required. I asked Dave to help me and he said sure. He came out and opened the box...I did the assembly! :-) It took me about 3 hours but I did it and it turned out to be a dresser which is good, I would have been disappointed if it turned out to be anything else...like a disaster!

Mr. Adventure




There are no words to describe how I feel about this man or how much he means to me. It is beyond explaination. He is my everything and it makes me so happy to see him enjoy everything his heart desires. He deserves it!

Car rides for everyone!

Gizmo hanging out the car window
Annie keeping her eyes on the road
Bruce out the window
Taking a swim in the river

Our dogs love to go in the car! When the words "who wants to go for a ride in the car" are announced it is none stop caous till we are back from the ride in the car. Barking, whining, crying, tails a waggin' and running around like someone put in a quarter. Its so exciting! We took them on a ride up the canyon so they could play in the river and run around like a bunch of maniacs. They run and run and run til they are so wore out they can't run anymore. They all love to hang out the windows and let the wind blow threw their hair. Its such a great feeling to see them have so much fun and then when we come home have them curl up next to us on the couch to snuggle. These are some of the moments that even though they can't tell us I love you we know that they do. We love our little guys!

Provo Canyon






We went for a drive up Provo Canyon to a spot Dave found on one of his bike rides. It was so beautiful up there and his spot was amazing. It is so green, the river is movin' (FAST) and a perfect place to see all the hidden water falls. Anyone who could not appreciate the beauty of nature and this world is unfortunate. The mountains are so majestic, the trees are so alive and the spirit of nature is so warm and comforting. It is a special place to be.

Stop and smell the roses



Dave and I love nature and are especially fond of the beautiful flowers that bloom in the spring and summer time. Dave happened to come across these huge red roses on his bike ride and we stopped by to have a picture. They were so gorgeous and made for a photo.

Orem Summerfest 2009

Me watching one of the bands playing
Me and Dave enjoying the evening
Parade time!
Me and Dave at the parade.

Orem Summerfest 2009
One of my favorite things about summer getting under way is the Summerfest. I love it! It is so much fun and there is always so much to do. Dave and I went over to the festivities on Friday night and we had so much fun. There was great entertainment, stuff to buy and good food to eat. Whose ever had a funnel cake?? HEAVENLY! The rain did make it's presence know for a bit but luckily we had a perfect seat under the entertainment tent to keep us dry and happy. Saturday we thought for sure that the rain would definitely ruin the evening parade and late night fireworks but it turned out to be very enjoyable and we got to watch the parade and enjoy the fireworks from our front porch. Summerfest is a favorite of mine and signals that summer is on its way!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

My Gardens

My Gardens
My radishes, pea pods and squash.
Growing Growing Growing
First 2 radishes I pulled

My Garden
I planted 2 little gardens this spring all from seeds and man it was hard work. For those who work in the yard or do gardens you will know that the first yard work day after winter is pretty extreme. Weeds, weeds and more weeds! My yard was unsightly this spring. I have a spot on the north side of my yard that I have planted gardens in before and have just put down new dirt and gone to town. This year I decided to go major and use the dirt already on the ground...not that easy. I got digging and pulling weeds out and there was a whole sheet of ground cloth down. So I had to cut and pull this all out before I even began. 4 days later I had blisters on my hands, my feet hurt worse than standing on them all day to cut hair in steletto heels and I felt like there was no end in sight.  Finally I got it all ready and planted my gardens. Everything that I have grown I have planted from seeds including my tomatoes, which makes it feel all the more rewarding. Before I knew it I had cute little starts poking through the ground and I was so excited. Everyday I would go out to water and drag my husband out to look at my garden growing even if he couldn't tell how MUCH they had grown from the previous day, I could. He tells me how proud he is of me which means the world to me to hear. Everyone that comes over I take them out to admire my little garden. I'm so proud of it! It's been about 1 1/2 months since I planted and I have already pulled out radishes. My squash and peas are growing great but nothing yet. I  have 2 little tomato plants and about 5-6 cantalope plants also in growing mode. I have also been very dedicated to the lawn being mowed and weed whacked (I love to weed whack!!) Pulling weeds that never end and giving drinks of water. I always notice what people's passions are. Everything from art to being organized and I have never found something that my heart longs to do until I started working in my yard and gardening. What an amazing experience. It seems so like...well work and it is, hard work but its so full filling to me. I feel so at peace when I'm outside. I forget about my troubles and worries, I forget about my stress and just let my mind be free. My husband came back from a bike ride one afternoon and I was out in the yard. I asked him how his ride was. He said it was great and told me about all the things that he thought about. He then asked me how my yard work was coming along and I told him about my progress. He asked me what I think about when I'm out there and I told him the truth...nothing. I think about nothing. Its a wonderful place to be...FREE!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Feeling Good vs. Looking Good

Sometimes the most inspirational things are in the simplest words. My husband made a comment to me the other night that really touched me and I realized how simple our conversation was but how much a few words effected me. He said "It's more important to feel good than to look good." I'm sure that if you are reading this and you are a woman, at some point in your life or most of your life self esteem and confidence is a hard thing to deal with. It is definitely something that has given me grief more than once. When I started doing hair I was so engulfed in a world of nothing but physical beauty. Hair, skin, nails, clothes, body image. All of these things were basically shoved down my throat. I was always reading "hollywood" magazines, Cosmo etc. I got to a point that when I would read these things I always ended up feeling crappier by the time I was done. I picked myself apart constantly and compared what I looked like to what I thought I should look like. Even down to whether or not I was having sex right. I found that my self esteem and self confidence was going down the toilet. I noticed also how often I would have clients come to get their hair done and I was bombarded with pictures of celebrities that the client wanted to look like. Honestly, this is my own professional opinion but people can't just pick a hairstyle cause it's cute on Jennifer Aniston and expect it to work and look the same on them. Topics of conversation were always centered around what is going on in Hollywood and if I had a wishing well at my station I'm sure I would be rich based on nothing more than unrealistic wishes. I decided to make a packed with myself that I would no longer read "hollywood", follow "hollywood" or associate myself with any more of its trash. I found that I felt better about who I was and what was on the outside. Being skinny is not as important as being healthy, having long hair is  no better than having short, my face was a blank pallet and there is no right or wrong way to wear makeup. It's ok to have some cellulite, smile lines, a zit, no makeup, flat hair, wear slippers all day with pajamas that don't match and my Victoria's Secret is granny panties and a sports bra. To this day, I have no idea what's going on in "Hollywood". I don't care what the new fashion phenomenon is, to me it's whatever I feel comfy in. I don't care who is dating/married/divorced/cheating/rehab/arrested/DUI/Hot/Not in Hollywood. I have an indescribably wonderful husband who loves me for who I am and tells me everyday how beautiful I am just the way I am. Don't get me wrong, feeling beautiful on the outside is important but only if your beautiful in your own eyes. Sometimes is hard but I try each day to cherish the body that I am in and the beauty I have been given. 
I strongly feel that Hollywood is corrupt. It teaches young girls who are discovering themselves inside and out that they are nothing unless they look a certain way, act a certain way and be somebody other than who they truly are, grown women worrying about stretch marks, wrinkles or a little weight gain. It's never about so n so doing something honorable and respectable. Its about who's going to jail, who got drunk and did something stupid, who's going to rehab for the 3rd time, who's involved is some sort of love triangle. These are the reasons that we want to follow these people's lives? These are the people that we are supposed to admire and look  up to? There are some stories that are worth hearing and some people that are worth being famous for their work and acts of kindness. If all you have to do to be rich and famous is act like a clown, I will pass. I put a challenge out there to women who feel this way to put down the hollywood smut and look inside your heart and find who you truly are. Spread your beauty in whatever way you feel beautiful. Compliment each other from a sincere place in your heart and lets start seeing the true beauty inside each other. Lets be strong, confident and let our lights shine bright. Admire people who are worth being admired. Hard work that is passionate and alive, kindness that brings a tear to your eye and beauty that is natural and graceful. Nothing is more admirable that someone who has found their own beauty, helping someone else find theirs. It's more important to feel good than look good and to me this means it's more important to have a sound and peaceful mind, have a body that is healthy and strong and a spirit that lifts moods and brightens rooms rather than a fashion trend or at the minute beauty remedy or expensive clothes. It's ok to buy a shirt at Walmart and even more that you got it on the $3 clearance rack. It's ok to buy a lipstick or eyeshadow at the Dollar Store, if you like it thats reason enough and hey its a dollar.  It's ok to still pluck your eyebrows and shave your bikini line and if they get a little unkempt and out of control that's ok too. Its ok to have some regrowth or split ends and chipped nail polish even a little cottage cheese areas. These are the things that say so much more, I got a deal, I enjoyed an extra scoop of ice cream, I was busy reading a book, working with my hands in the yard or I just didn't feel like it today. It's ok to be you and to be everything that makes you, you.

Monday, June 1, 2009

World Superbike Races 2009

Me and Dave 
He is so handsome!!!
Just me

Dave and I went up to Miller Motor Sports park to  watch the GP world superbike races and can I just say...WOW!! We had so much fun and the races are insane. How about racing a motorcycle around a track at 200 miles an hour??? NO thanks for me! The day was perfect! The sun was shining bright and I was with my bebe! 

Timpanogos HS Class of 2009

My family at Luke's graduation
Me and Dave at graduation

I can't believe that Luke is graduated from high school! Not that I'm surprised he made it through but that he is that grown up. Its so crazy watching your siblings go from being little kids to adults. Also, 2009 is my 10th year being out of high school...so glad I'm done!!! 
Congratulations Luke!! 
Timpanogos High School
Class of 2009