Zac-Attack

Baking with Zac goes a little like this:
"Zac do you want a taste?"
*hand him the lid of the cool whip container*

Merry Christmas.

Concrete Jungle

Took a weekend trip to NYC. It was seriously amazing.
The last time I went to New York was my senior year of high school, 2007. I went with a few friends: Alex, Derrick, and Courtney. That trip was awful. Looking back now I can laugh and appreciate how awful it was and remember the funny parts of the trip, but in the moment I wanted to die.
Let me re-cap for you: we took a red eye so we got in at 6 am. I felt really sick and ended up with the flu the first day. We were staying with Alex's brother in the BRONX, scary, in a teeny tiny room with a teeny tiny bed. Court and I shared while the boys were on the floor. The water heater broke the first day we arrived, which meant no showers for 4 whole days. One day I was walking throught the subway turnstile (we each bought a week-pass for the subway) and somehow I slid the card in the wrong slot, so Derrick and I ended up having to go through the same turnstile. Enter undercover cop-writes Derrick and I each a ticket, even after we showed we each have a subway pass. One day I thought it would rain, so I wore rain boots. It did not rain, but the boots were too small and I literally was limping by the end of the day because my feet were hurting SO bad. The next day, thinking the weather would hold up and not being able to wear my rain boots again, I wore Ugs. Well, it not only rained-it POURED. Ugs-soaked through completely. Freezing cold feet. Also on this day, being our last day in the city, we got majorly lost in Central Park-in the pouring rain, in the sponges on my feet. We finally make it out and back to our house, quickly grab a taxi and race to the airport, just in time to MISS OUR FLIGHT. The lady at the counter told us the next flight wasn't until tomorrow morning (um, we are not about to sleep in the airport) or we could pay $800 and buy a new ticket. What the HAIL. Long story short we somehow (still not sure how this worked) got another airline to accept our tickets and we were able to get on a flight that night. But not before we were "randomly selected" at security. Sure, let me take off my jacket and raise my arms after not showering OR shaving for 4 days.
So, when I got offered the opportunity to re-do a New York trip, I eagerly jumped at the chance. This time, things went much, much differently:
A family that Court and I babysit for took us to New York to help keep track of the little ones. We stayed in a posh hotel a few blocks from Times Square (bye bye Bronx), we went out to the Statue of Liberty (in trip #1 we were all broke high schoolers, so we couldn't do anything touristy), we went to the top of the Empire State Building, ate at Justin Timberlake's restaurant-Southern Hospitality, waited outside NBC studios and met the cast of SNL, showered EVERY day, didn't get lost at all, no tickets, appropriate shoes for every occasion. Needless to say, this trip completely restored my image of New York City. I loved every second of it.

(the little girls we hung out with- Amelia and Savvy)

Out of all the amazing things I did this weekend, what, you might ask, was my favorite?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

I had this conversation via text with Cassie today:

Cassie: So, I think I might have finally broken Violet of her pacifier. Can you guess what I used to bribe her?
Me: She's your daughter, so probably food.
Cassie: Precisely. Donuts.

Parenting 101.

Ima Luigi, Numba One

Happy Halloween.

-Mario Brothers

13.1

So about 8 weeks ago my friend Heather (far right) somehow talked us ladies into running a half marathon. At first I agreed, not really believing it would happen considering the most I had ever run at that point was a 10k. But Heather is a persistent little POS and immediately sent us all a training schedule to follow. Great.
The first few weeks were easy-peasy, but once we got up to running 7, 8, 9, 10! miles I figured this was really going to happen. So I bit the bullet and paid the $55 procastinators' registration fee, and it became official.
The night before the race our team, iRun, went and carb-loaded at the Pizza Pie Cafe (buffet style pizza, pasta, salad)-by FAR the best part of the entire training/run. The next morning we woke up at the butt crack of dawn (okay it was 6:30, but still) and headed up the canyon to the start of the run. We started and we ran, ran, ran, ran. I had run 10 miles the week before, so I figured I would be good until then and just pull 3 miles out at the end. Weeeeeeell at about mile 6 I hit a bit of a rough patch. My calves were screaming at me, a blister was forming, and my energy was dipping. My main goal in this half was to run the entire thing. I didn't want to walk at all, even for a minute, so when I hit a bit of a wall I got nervous that I would need a break. Well, I endured. There was definitely some divine intervention, and help from my goo packets kept safely in my bra-but I ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour, 52 minutes without stopping. Holla.

(we wouldn't let the busser take our plates until we were finished so we could get the full effect)

Here are my fellow iPods and I at the end of our race. We all did so great and I'm so proud of us and mostly I'm SO glad it's over. I'll be honest: it was not fun to train and it was not fun to run 13 miles. BUT I am very glad I was able to accomplish it.

sidenote: I seriously remember 3 years ago going to the gym in Texas and my goal for my workout, my real life end goal, was to run for 10 minutes. And sometimes when I was feeling motivated, I'd keep going until I hit a mile. True story people. Just sayin', anyone can do it.

Survival of the Fittest

Yesterday I ran my 1st half marathon. 13.1 miles.
Today I want to die.

Stay tuned.

Retail Therapy

Why is it that when I'm in a bad mood I go straight to the mall? (primarily XXI) I want to understand what it is that makes me think that shopping will make me feel better, and even more I want to understand why it actually works!
Today I was in a mood, so I decided to get out and go to the grocery store. First, I thought, I'll go to the mall.. just to look. Well $30 later I was on my way to the store I had set out to in the first place.

Why can't my bad moods drive me to exercise? That way I could lose lbs instead of dollars.

Benjamin Button

Meet my newest nephew, Benjamin. I've only met him a few times, but he is the sweetest baby.
(And don't think I'm just saying that because he's my nephew, because let's be honest: Eli was a POS until he was about 5 months old, Zacs' breathing comes out in form of a cry, Jay is more bossy than anyone, and Johnny has puked in the face of everyone in my family.)
So no, I'm not biased just because I'm related.
Everytime I get a new nephew I get nervous that I won't like him as much as the others. Especially wish Benjamin because since I live in Utah I won't be able to spend as much time with him as I have with the others. But I'm happy to say that I love this sweet baby just as much (if not more since he can't talk yet) as the others. I can't wait to go home for Christmas and spend all the time in the world with him before he isn't a baby anymore.
But don't worry everyone: he's already 2 and a half months old, which means Cassie is due to get pregnant in about....4 weeks ago.

Shady's back back back, tell a friend

( I met some random girl who took me to a Rascal Flatts/Sara Evans concert for my birthday)

Okay but for reals. I'm back. I haven't blogged in fo-eva and I'm annoyed about it because my blog could have been very pinteresting had I kept it up to date. Maybe I should just get my thought log out and re-write every page.
But in the mean time, just know that you all have something to look forward to. (my posts)

Home Sweet Home

Took a quick little trip home to California last weekend. It was a much needed refresher. I LOVE being home. I always hear people say how happy they were to move out, and how great it is to live on their own. I never understood that-living at home is so great. If my parents lived in Provo I would definitely move back in with them. I love my family. Honestly they mean the world to me; I love hanging out with them; They are the number one blessing in my life. It was so great to be at home, relaxing, swimming, eating, sleeping in my big comfy bed, having my parents there to help with things, farmers market, seeing my sisters, and seeing my sweet baby nephews and of course my princess Violet.

There's something about being at home that makes me so content, happy, confident, relaxed. I miss it so much. Don't realize how much until I get back there. This weekend I also was reminded at how much I need my mom. I don't know how she does it, but she ALWAYS seems to know exactly what to say to make me feel better. Every time I go home I have a breakdown; probably because I finally feel like I can let it go and don't have to hold everything together now that I'm home. But every time, my mom is there and tells me exactly what I need to hear. I always leave home feeling like everything is okay, and everything will be okay. I hardly have any worries that I can't push away because I know my mom (and dad) will be there to help me with whatever I need, no matter what. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Sister, Sister

Neva knew how much I missed ya.

So I like living out here in Utah, for the most part. The ONE thing I would change, is that I wish my sisters lived here. Life would be perfect. The last time we were all together was last December, and the next time will probably be this December. Without getting too sappy, just want to say these bitches are my best friends. Love them more than I can say. SO greatful for them, and would literally do anything and everything for them.

But don't get any ideas, I'm not moving home.

Roses are Red

1. excuse my ratty hair

2. excuse the poor photo quality

3. excuse the weird photo..tried to cover as much of my face as possible

Genevieve: this little girl that comes in to the gym with her mom everyday. She's about 5 years old and always comes in so happy and either gives me a flower from in front of the gym (dandelion usually) or a compliment (I like your hair, braid, etc.) One day I said "you always bring me flowers, I love it!", and she responded with "it's cause you're really pretty!" as she shyly ran away. Honestly made my day. So yesterday I'm in the pool area checking chlorine and pH levels (dad would be so proud) and the door opens and little Genny walks in and hands me this rose.

So greatful for little girls and the sweetness they bring to this world. There's something so special and precious about a little girl. Especially a little princess named Violet.

Awkward.

This guy literally made me uncomfortable. I had to go to a different page during their one-on-one time because I couldn't bare to watch it. Then he passes out drunk? Ew he really grosses me out.

Zac Attack

Just wanted to give a shout-out to this cute ball of fat ^^. Baby Zac-y turned 1 yesterday! Being in Utah I hardly get to see him, but I seriously miss/love this baby SOOOOOOOOO much. I love his temperament, he's always so happy. I love his blue eyes. I love his biiiig smile. I love his fat cheeks, and his even fatter legs. I love his long, wispy hair. I love his laugh. I seriously just love him, and I miss him a ton.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAC.

George

There's this elderly man named George who comes into the gym every morning. He refuses to get set up on "cardless check-in" (people who refuse this service are difficult, because it means I have to manually check them in each day). Anyways, each and every day he walks in, hands me his drivers license, refuses any attempt at small talk, and carries on. I greet him every day, and say bye to him every day as well. I don't greet or say goodbye to every guest by name, but because of how cold George is to me I do it out of principle; I want to see how long it takes to crack him and get him to warm up to me.
Well, ladies and gentlemen (more like Cassie and Laura), today was the day! George came in and I greeted him as usual, and he left and I said "bye George", as usual. The difference is that a minute later I noticed George park his car in front of the gym, get out, and start talking to my manager. George and my manager walked up to the front desk where George asked my name. I told him, and he proceded to tell my manager how nice I am, and how I do such a great job. He said that he had been purposefully acting cold for a few weeks now to see how the staff would act (seriously though?) and that I always handled it so well, and I continued to be nice to him, check him in quickly, and always remember his name.
Yes, I'm tooting my own horn right now, but it was so nice to finally get through to this man! Seriously, there are a few people at the gym who I can't get to be friendly to me, and it's annoying. I felt victorious when George finally warmed up and was kind back to me. Actually I got super embarrased and started blushing, but afterwards it was nice.

Kill 'em with kindness people!

ALL About Eli

I know I have 3 other nephews and 1 niece, and yes I love them and miss them a lot, but I'm dedicating this post to Eli because I haven't seen him in SO LONG. It's been almost 5 months now. I went from living with this precious little boy, seeing him every day, to now not seeing him since January. It literally makes me cry sometimes to look at pictures or videos of him.
I miss seeing him in the mornings when I would come downstairs for work and he'd be watching cartoons (laura sleeping on the couch) and I would make breakfast and he'd always come sit on my lap and have bites of my eggs and toast. When I walked in the door after being gone for a while he would yell "NIE NIE" and give me a hug. I miss his dance parties at night before bed. I miss waking up to him slowly creeping open my bedroom door saying "nie nie?" and coming up on my bed. I miss his fat fat legs and cheeks, I miss his sweet little voice, I miss his tantrums, and his asian hair.
When I think about him or look at videos or pictures of him my heart feels so heavy. I need to see him. I NEEEEED to hold him and hug him and kiss him and hear him talk to me. So much so that I'm going to either pay $600 to fly to Boston to see him, or go home to California the next time he's there.

Laura and Mike, why don't you guys quit being so selfish and bring Eli back to the west coast where he belongs.

I LOVE this video. I laugh so hard whenever I watch it. At the end, Eli thinks Laura is taking a picture so he comes up and smiles at the camera. With his new asian hair cut. Ohh Eri.

It's Been a While.

I've been out of the blogging world for quite sometime now. It's weird because lately I've had more to blog about than ever before, which is probably why I've been MIA-too busy. I moved to Denver, came home, went travelling around Europe, moved to Utah...too much to catch up on now. I'm ready to tackle the world of blogging again; this time it'll be more journal-esque entries than anything else so most of you probably won't be interested in reading. My mind is going a million miles a minute these days so I have to find some way to organize my thoughts.

First things first. I have a list of tasks I want/need to accomplish before the year is up. Maybe if I post it online where everyone can read, I'll be more inclined to do it all.

In no particular order:

1. Family reunion in Boston

2. Trip to Washington

3. Back too Murrrrda to see my new baby niece/nephew

4. Go somewhere cool for my birthday-Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Moab

5. Australia! I need another trip abroad, I'm craving it so bad. Australia seems the acceptable compromise between taking 3 months off to travel Europe again, and not doing anything at all.

6. Brandon- he gets home in December, gotta figure that one out

7. Get at least 15 credits done for my Associates. May not seem like a lot, but I am NOT school-focussed these days, so I need to take baby steps. I'm much more interested in travel and doing basically whatever I want right now; but I need to get on the ball

8. Make application video for the Amazing Race

9. Plan my next big backpacking trip. Destinations include: Ireland OR Eastern Europe OR Thailand

10. Run a 10K

Basically, I gots things ta do. It's going to require a lot of money saving, work, and patience.

On a side note: as I'm writing this post, Violet walks in my room and sits on my lap. GOODNESS how I miss this little girl while I'm away. Love her to death.