coffee breath

There is so much I've been slacking on for this blog lately. I went camping last Saturday with Ashlee and her friends. I absolutely had a blast. I had forgotten how much I missed girl time, and how much it is needed in every girls' life.

Also went to my first Bees game. Ashlee & Jake, Mickie & Eric, and me & Jeff. I had so much fun! I love those girls, they are seriously my best friends out here!

go bees

It's sad, today, Karen, Ben, and Avery are leaving Saturday to go to Minnesota for Ben's grad shcool. So today is the family's last dinner all together. We were supposed to go with mickie & Eric to rollerblade at the skating rink tonight, but, we had to put it on hold. I am so excited for whenever we do go (:

Jeff and I are going to the Vans Warped Tour Saturday! I am so excited!

I picked up scrapbooking again... at first I failed, but last night, I got a second wind, and successfully did 3 pages!

red beans & rice

Work is dragging slowly today. It's only ten, but it feels like it's two.

But... only 74 more days until we move into our TOWNHOUSE! Eeek! I am so excited. This will save me so much money in the long run. Saving on gas MAJORALLY and I'm closer to my hunny (:

I got four tickets from work to The Salt Lake Bees game tonight against the Sacremento River Cats. So Ashlee and Jake are meeting with me and Jeff. Plus, Mickie and Eric are gonna be there too! So, this should be fun. This is my first ever, Bees game.

Things are going good out here. I miss my family though, a lot. There are just days when I want to go lay on the couch at the end of the day with Mom and finish a crossword puzzle, or play some hard core mancala with her; Head over to my brother's and take my neises to the zoo; Go grab lunch with Nana, then get our CSI: Miami and AFV on; Go down to the beach and cut up with Daddy and Mama Kathy; Drive over to my cousins' house, and just do whatever we feel.

It's hard being away from family, I know everyone has to do it, but, I'm so far away. Missionaries are brave souls, I will give them that, and they have my respect.

back to the good ole days

Yesterday, work dragged on soooo slowly. BUT, it was well worth the wait for what me and Ashlee would soon venture on to. After work we hit up Barnes and Noble, and got a henna tattoo kit. Yeah that's right, Henna Tattoo Kit.

We had to make a few trips to Target, we'd get something, get back to Ash's apartment, then read a little bit more on the instructions, then head back. When we out the paste in the plastic cone, ash was doing her wrist star, and the bag exploded everywhere. There's still a nasty blob on her porch door. Oh well. The paste looked like staright up baby poop.

It was such a great night. And of course we had to make a McDonalds run a little later in the night.

So, before we crashed (with a little Dawson's Creek in the background), Ashlee had the brilliant idea of wrapping our henna tats with suran wrap and medical tape... haha. Love that girl.

So the tats didn't turn out too great... yeah. BUT, we did it and that' all that matters. The are there, they just look like rusty orange blobs. Ash's foot one turned out pretty great! I love it.

through hell for henna

Yesterday was awesome, even though work went slower than molasses on a hot summer day. (Had to throw some southern in here today). Me and Ashlee took our lunch together. We just chilled at her apartment. Then we walked down to the apartment office and guess what...

WE ARE MOVING IN A TOWNHOUSE TOGETHER, WITH KASSI ALSO, SEPTEMBER 6!

I am so excited! It's less than a mile away from work, so this is good in so many ways. Plus it's behind Super Target!

I talked to Will Miller yesterday, finally. He's like my big brother, I love that guy. I hope he'll come out and visit soon.

Our Trip to South Carolina

This is going to be long blog... so get comfy.

The flight was fine I guess. No stop, straight to Charlotte from SLC. BUT... we had to dodge bad storms, so we zigzagged down to Texas and back up, causing us to be close to 2 hours later than arrival. But, needless to say, we got there safely. We had to wait about an hour in line for our rental car, ends up we get a ford focus, ha, but it was new and way nice. We got home in Central about 4:00 a.m.

SO...

Friday- Friday morning we got up and went to see Jack, Jen, Kathryn, and Anna! We visited for a bit and then took Kathryn to Build A Bear. We had lunch at Zaxby's, my all time fave place (they don't have it out west). Kit Kat did so well building her stuffed animal, she participated, and it made it so much more fun. She got a dinosaur and named it Miss Dinosaur. We picked out a fairy outfit, panties, a night night shirt, bunny slippers, and a small sister dinosaur for Anna Belle to match Kathryn and Miss Dinosaur. Kathryn talked non stop to Jeff on the way back from Greenville. After I put Kathryn down for a nap, I played with Anna and then we headed off to Nana's. Bean met us there. We hung out for a bit, and chatted. Also did a crossword puzzle. Loved it. Not gonna lie, i can't remember what we did the rest of that night. I know we came back to Nana's for a bit though, then headed home cause we were drained.

Saturday- We got up and got ready for Bean's graduation. We picked up Nana, and went. Afterwards, we headed to Judge Keller's and stocked up on Clemson gear. The headed to Uncle Jim's house for a cookout. I love when we get all of the family over there together. We have the best time together. We hung out for a good while, then later that night, Brown, Me, Jeff, Bean, and Jare went over to Brown's pool, and just had an amazing time goofing off there. We headed home, and knocked out. Tirrrrrred.

Sunday- Got up and went to church. I was excited, I LOVE my home ward, and didn't get to say goodbye, so reuniting was awesome. They all warned Jeff, and told him he'd better take care of me. They all loved him. Who couldn't love him?! Nana made black bean chilli for dinner. Everyone came over to Mom's house. It was amazing!! We just hung out with the family. Mom, Jeff, Bean and I played Scatergories.

Monday- Dentist apoointment, then Jeff, Bean, Cairine, and I went to Six Flags. Sweltering but amazingly fun, then dinner to O'Charley's (I miss that place!- also not out west ).

Tuesday- Got my top wisdom teeth out, then headed to Surfside Myrtle Beach.

What can I say, it was Mrytle Beach! I got to see Dad and Mama Kathy... not to mention... THE OCEAN! Jeff and I skim boarded, boogie boarded, had lunch on a beachfront cafe (The Conch), ice cream on the pier, played at the arcade on the pier, played 18 holes of put put (which I destroyed him at), went to Legends in Concert, an dthe best seafood place ever... SARA J'S...

When we got back home, we had a nice big southern dinner, then Saturday we visited my grandma's sister, Aunt Anne, and my most amazing cousin whom I love more than anything... Ameliah, I wanted to bust in tears I was so happy to see her. I miss her so much, it kills.

We left my house Sunday morning, 3 a.m. to go to the airport and come back to the bustling SLC. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm kinda glad to be back, I really missed my friends here. Ashlee, Mickie, Kayti, the boys, all of em. Glad to be back, but miss the south like crazy.

much love to all.

Headed Home

It's really rainy today. And cold. 42 degrees. But, back home, it's already this morning 80+ with humidity!

I woke up at 5 this morning. No problem. I had to pull the last details of packing together and finish downlaoding music to my zune. I leave the office at 1:45 today. Our flight is at 4:30. Jeff's mom is taking us to the airport. Not much more to say accounting for it's only 8 a.m. right now.

Details on the flight later!

countdown to hours now!

Jeff and I leave tomorrow for home! I am so excited. I haven't been able to eat or anything. I don't think it has even fully hit me yet!

It's really slow at work, and it's pouring down rain. So, it's a good sleeping day for sure. If you're a fan of South Park and find yourself bored, you can create your own South Park avatar: http://www.sp-studio.de/ It's so fun, even if you don't like South Park. Definitely keeps you entertained! I made a whole new team of Jeff and my friends. Pretty addicting. Everyone here at the office has seemed to enjoy it enough to hang their characters up on their desk. It's an outbreak of South Parkiness. (K, that was dumb...)

I still have to pack. I love packing, it makes the trip seem more real. Right now, it's just like, it's not really gonna happen, I'm not really going... BUT WE ARE. WE SO ARE! I bought Jeff a pair of swim trunks at AE yesterday (and a little scarf for my guilty shopping pleasure :) ). They are so cute! They mess with your eyes though.... very trippy.

Justin (my best friend-cousin) graduates Saturday. So we're gonna have a big family cookout and go out on the boat and jet skiis. So excited. Monday we are going to Six Flags. Tuesday - Friday the beach. Saturday Black Mountain, NC to visit some family. Sunday the 15th, we fly back :(

SO EXCITED.

I'll try and keep you posted about the trip while I'm out there! Much love, and I'll miss you ASH!

sweet tooth?

Decadent Raspberry Brownies

Serves 32

Average Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4 (1 ounce) squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
6 (1 ounce) squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup whipping cream

Nutrition Info
Per Serving
Calories: 160 kcal
Carbohydrates: 20 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Fat: 8 g
Protein: 1 g
Sugars: 17 g

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil. Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour until well blended. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan.
Spread jam over brownies. Microwave semi-sweet chocolate and cream in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until simmering. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Spread evenly over jam layer. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chocolate layer is set. Lift dessert from pan, using foil handles. Cut into 32 brownies to serve.

3 more days...

... until i'm HOME. Real home. Thank goodness. Utah is getting on my nerves. And the people in it too. I'm not too bitter towards it though. I've just been getting sick A LOT. And it's really tiring and frustrating. I got sick a lot back home, but it's like serious sickness every other weekend, no joke. And I just want to be able to go out and do things instead having to miss out on everything.

ANYWHO. I'm going home in 3 days! I am so excited, I am beside myself. I hope Jeff is super excited. I think he is. This weekend was great, minus getting sick.

Friday we went to my little buddy Adam's baseball game. That was way fun until i started getting way sick. It was horrible. I had to miss Sex and The City with Ashlee. I really felt HORRIBLE about it. Sorry all, I wasn't by my phone all weekend. And when I was, it didn't matter, it was dead because I was dumb enough to leave it at the office all weekend.

Strut your Mutt was Saturday morning. It was so fun. Ashlee, Mickie, Eric, Jeff, and me. It was a fund raiser for No More Homeless Pets in Utah. There were A LOT of dogs there. Ha. We got to take Kevin (another of Jeff's brothers- 16) to Iron Man. I love Kevin, he is definitely my buddy. Saturday night A Train had a bonfire kind of thing. A bunch of us went up to MillCreek Canyon and did s'mores. It was way fun. Ed and Kayti, Melissa and Jeff, and me and my Jeff hung on the picnic table and exchanged poop stories.... yeah. A Train joined in on our little convo as well. Love those guys. Jeff and I left about 11 and weren't tired, so we went to FatCats and bowled til 1 a.m. It was so fun, but my thumb swolled up and my arm was killin, still is actually...

Sunday I came over to Jeff's house and made breakfast. ALL kinds of fruit, and a Red Bull pineapple and guava slushie. We went to church, then to Travis' family's house for his birthday. We didn't get to stay too long because we had dinner at Jeff's family's house. Dinner was fun. Karen and Ben were there with Avery, and Heather and Brett as well. We all just watched Avery for at least an hour. She is TOOOOO cute!

Well my hair is totally different! I finally love it though. Me and the cut didn't get along at first, but after the color.... LOVE IT!