GLOBETROTTERS!! //

 - - - - - -
Last night we went on a double date. If you were wondering, it's our third in two weeks! WHAT! We are so proud of ourselves. Like, SO proud. I suppose it's only two because one of them was a Superbowl party with the Smith's (heartbreak for the Hawks...)(but hi, Tom Brady keeps it tight...) but HEY! Vast improvements! Social butterflies! WE. ARE. FUN. DANGIT.

Anyways, we went to see the Globetrotters with Avery + her man boy. I was secretly cheering for The Generals + kept Googling each player's salary + information because HOW IS THAT A JOB?! And the abuse The Generals have to put up with?! Can you imagine that interview?!

Okay so you're hired. The job entails losing every time we play + putting up with our antics. You in or what? 

I'm such a fun sucker.
Anyways : The Globetrotters. The night ended with soft-serve + Jackson 5 + Jeff + I high-fiving each other for leaving the house.


GO GENERALS!

LOVE IS --- plus some life ramblings.

In the spirit of the month of love quickly approaching (tomorrow), here's a post about love. Also HI! Hello! I am back from my short little internet-vacation. We had both sides of our family in town last week + all my attention went to them. And to Dance Moms. Please, I beg of you, if you see a shooting star tonight or have an extra birthday candle, please please please wish that Netflix will put another season out. My life is not the same without Abby Lee Miller's hoarse threats. Also I am pretty sure hell will be the observatory of the ALDC with Chloe's mom ranting. It's like, Maddie is the best. Get over it.

Now enough about dance mom, on to love.

LOVE IS :

...waiting in the Taco Bell line for five extra minutes because they gave you a hard shell chicken taco instead of a soft shell beef. Also love is driving in the car with Taco Bell even though it makes you dry heave.

...silently watching Elizabethtown for the third time + refraining to make fun of it. (IT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE! Why does everyone hate it?!)

...rewinding the Friends intro because your TV-partner missed the claps.

...supporting all of the many epiphanies + wild ideas that midnight and too much Diet Dr. Pepper bring (I should be an air stewardess! I should take improv classes! I should be a group aerobics instructor! I should die my hair blonde! I should try out for Survivor!) (p.s. yes, these are all life-paths I have furiously Googled until 5 a.m. then given up on. Ha.)

...pretending to know anything about video games + computer science + football.

...replacing the last Diet Coke in the fridge with a new one. HALLELUJAH!

TA-DAAAAA!

p.s. A PSA :

Jeff + I saw Into the Woods a few weeks ago. HOLY SHOOT. Guys, it was bad. I love me some Meryl Streep and Chris Pine and Emily Blunt Anna Kenderick...wait, actually why was this so bad? It's too much of a good thing. It really was awful though. I was half-expecting the lady giant to be Queen Latifah and then it would loop into the movie Taxi or something. Like all one big joke intro? The end. Happy February. And to ALL, a good night.

Yurt-ing || WINCHESTER, ID

- - - - - - -

For no real reason, we went glamping/yurt-ing(?) in the teensy town of Winchester, Idaho 

on Tuesday. Random fact : my great-grandma was born + raised here + met my great grandpa at a dance near the lake! History! Family! Ancestry.com! 

Anyways, the yurt was right near a frozen lake + all the trees were covered in snow. Not to be corny, but it looked so magical! We made a steak dinner followed by a record-breaking amount of s'mores then tucked away for the night to be serenaded by the sweet, sweet sounds of Seinfeld. Ha. As you can see, this has been the theme of our winter break : sugar, sleep, Seinfeld. Ain't complaining!

Now, look! So pretty, right? :

THE END.

TUBBS HILL, CDA IDAHO + pictures of my face

FIRST : Merry Day After Christmas! We had such a good one with family/friends/Seinfeld (Jeff was gifted all the seasons...my family thinks I am a touch Kramer but I want to be full Elaine! Let me live!). More on this later.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING : No, I haven't changed my outfit since I have arrived in Idaho. Why change something that is c l e a r l y working? (...though my mom did hint lightly today that the washing machine is free upstairs so if you want to wash your clothes, feel free! Noted mama, noted)

Today we went to Coeur d' Alene (I will never not have to spellcheck that...) to go eagle watching (...no, I'm serious. How cool, right?!) + hike/walk Tubb's Hill. It was SO COLD but Jeff spotted like, fifteen eagles that mysteriously disappeared every time I looked. I spotted seven seagulls + thought they were eagles every. single. time. I brought my camera + THUS : PICTURES!

...Jeff was supposed to be in this.

...and there he is. 

Where is my neck? I look like a giant thumb.

Also hi tonsils.

Jeff. Loves. Nature.

How pretty, right? We listened to Serial on the drive + I AM HOOKED. Who did it?!?!

And that's it.

I know.

So many pictures of my face.

2 people at Applebee's who don't really want to be at Applebee's...

Last Saturday, Jeff picked me up after a particularly grueling shift at work (how grueling can retail be, you ask? You haven't seen how badly thirteen year olds can destroy a dressing room, have you?! Have mercy!) + declared it was time to eat dinner.

"How about Chinese?"

"Or burgers? I'm in the mood for a burger."

"Maybe Thai food?"

"What about Cheesecake Factory?"

"...I hear there's a yummy Mexican restaurant downtown..."

...this continued for five minutes until we looked across 

the street and saw Applebee's.

Applebee's?

It was a booty call of sorts. Convenient. Open. Ten feet away.

The food was...Applebee's + our waiter told us he thought the 

Frugal Gourmet was a pedophile + we just scratched our heads and ate.

Applebee's, guys.

This post brought to you by a 10:30 p.m. caffeinated drink + an empty movie theater.

REPORT CARD : 

Hundred Foot Journey : B+
Smuggled in treats : B (too much cranberry in my Diet Coke, rookie mistake on my part)
Jeff's mustache : D-
Jeff's fishy face : A+ and then some

COMMENTS :

Empty movie theaters are the only way to roll for
hormone-ridden 14 year old couples + highly narcissistic front-cammin' married people alike.
Also that popcorn was like, six dollars. You're welcome, Jeff Stapleton.
Also the movie made me extremely hungry. Will someone make me
some Indian food, please and thanks?!

In which Bill Murray pulls through for me.

Last night we went to see St. Vincent on a whim. It was two-dollar Tuesday at the movies where everything is two dollars. Hi, I'm redundant. TWO BUCKS. Anyways, Jeff was sort of crabby about it on account of Bill Murray. He is the one person in the world who doesn't consider What About Bob? to be a classic.

In his words : "The first half of the movie is the guy just baby-stepping everywhere. No plot."

Ummm...okay. I guess the hand-puppets I made for us to communicate effectively are a bad Christmas present idea? Noted. 

But anyways, St. Vincent.

You guys! Go see it! It is so funny + so cute. I cried. But that really doesn't mean much because I cry in every. single. movie. Seriously (I somehow managed to cry in Avengers and Jeff won't let me live that down). Anyways, the movie. It's about a strange friendship between a crusty old man + his neighbor boy and how we should all just be nice to each other and peace on Earth, good will to men. 

...just go see it. Okay?   

P.S. The picture on the right is me excitedly mistaking Christian Bale for Scott Disick in the movie poster for God's and Kings. Wouldn't that have been kick-a?! Hi, Hollywood. Meet your newest casting director.

P.P.S. We have been on a real movie kick lately. We saw Interstellar in Vegas on Saturday + then watched Mud on Netflix. I highly recommend both.

P.P.P.S. After further review, it appears that we are on a real Matthew McConaughey kick lately. Which is...alright, alright, alright. But also did you see his speech to the Texas football team? Like, what?

A recap of May because it is JUNE(!!!!)

Today I walked out the door for my Sunday stroll with Jeff and he looked bemused. I did a little twist and twirl for him because I thought it was heading that direction and he just kept blinking on.

"Whaaaaaaat," I begged.

"You just look so..."

Twist, twirl, flutter of the eyelids.

"Butch."

Apparently long shorts, black flip flops, and a baseball tee aren't the most feminine look. Noted and noted. Ha.

On our walk we recapped May and decided that it was equal parts hectic and happy. I was living in Utah for half of it and was mostly homeless. I mooched off friends and lived in their apartments for a few days (I'm the worst roommate. I am totally out of the 'compartmentalized fridge' game -- I see almond butter, I eat all the almond butter. Oops.) while shooting weddings and feeling totally exhausted/totally thankful for having the world's best friends. I'm just going to throw it out there that every one needs a Morgan Randall. She let me bunk with her for a week straight and fed me and didn't even complain that I ate all her bananas...every time she bought bananas. One day I was locked out of my car and texted her early in the morning asking for a ride to which she responded immediately, "Sure! Coming!" without even asking why. Oh, bless her heart fifteen times over and promise I'm done being gushy.

I missed Jeff like crazy and became a much better Skype-date because of it (I just stare at myself...the whole time). But it was also so fun. It was like every time we saw each other and I was back in California, we had to get all of our fun out. We hiked and biked and Disney'd and played at the beach and lounged...all in a week's time. Now I'm off to Utah for more weddings and more mooching (just kidding about that last part).

Here's our May in pictures :

from left to right :
UT -->> CA : I came a week after Jeff did and enjoyed my Diet Coke + Audible filled drive.
REUNITED! 
This trail is right by Jeff's house and I love it. It's so beautiful!
With my best babe Nikki after a little Tropical Diet Coke + shopping trip. She thought my 'candid laughing' selfie was a bit much.
Disneyland! We went with Jeff's family from Michigan and had so much fun. 
A little trip to the Newport Beach Temple where we got married!
...ewww, gross.
Beach'n it at Table Rock. 
A bit of my Whole30. I massively failed this round (ha, having no kitchen was a struggle!) but loved my first round in March. I felt amazing.
Jeffrey thinking thoughts.
A wedding! I loved this couple + their big day. 
We spent Memorial Day at the beach like the rest of California.
A sunset after a bridal session. Heavenly.
Disney'ing round two. This was on Radiator Springs. The line was an hour and a half long and we actually had no idea what we were in line for the whole time. Ha.
Beach'n it part III with Jeff's brother Kevin and friend Don. I was so impeding on 'bro time.'
At the Bee's baseball game with Morgan. Free hot dogs, y'all!

- - - - -

Happy June!

our first date.

my first date with jeff stapleton was to a basketball game + grocery store. in retrospect, this date screams jeff stapleton : resourceful, simple, breezy, charming. and craftily cheap, that too. i used my sports pass to get in + the ice cream cone cost a mere fifty cents. he almost made me share him with him, which was like dude. they're fifty cents? + also sharing dairy products is nasty. 

he dropped me off shockingly early + white knuckled the steering wheel as he bid me adieu. i was confused. he texted me fifteen minutes later + said it was the best date ever, exclamation point. i was more confused.

then, poof! we were married. 

i'm an awful date.

- - - - -

in theory, i am actually the worst date ever. i really am. 

i know this because i have some experience in awful dates. for example...

• i drove around for an hour while the boy pointed out all the buildings his family owned. he also told me his parents were about to buy him an audi. i thought he was talking about his belly button + got through the night by chuckling over belly-button reconstructive surgery. 
• i hiked 2.5 miles. the sentence could end there and still be in the worst date category, but there's more! we came to a clearing + he asked to kiss me + i said no + we hiked 2.5 miles down in silence in a single-file line, von trapp style (sans matching curtain-outfits, unfortunately). 
• i once went on a date where the boy told me the highlight of his life was getting his wisdom teeth out + decided to sing me his favorite skrillex songs. hmm, okay.

and while those dates were awful, the boys at least let me talk about myself for three quarters of the night + bought me a diet coke...and a hamburger? how odd. in all those dates, i ordered a hamburger. hamburgers are my comfort food, i s'pose.

but me? i'm straight up awful waffle. in another life, jeff is going to write a book + it will be confirmed that i am five-parts insane. i already have my suspicions. also, when that book becomes a movie, i request jennifer lawrence to play the part of me. amen and amen. one chapter of the book will be dedicated to date nights with brooke. he will write a long list of all my requirements + it will be scathingly honest. this will be an exerpt from friday, 

friday january 24th

we drove around for two hours while brooke violently 'yelped' reviews for the himalayan kitchen and spice bistro. in the end she angrily decided on the kathmandu and continually hacked the pronunciation. upon sitting down, i began to tell her a story of my week in which she told me that the couple next to us met on match.com (k guys, they really did!) and the couple behind us were set up by friends and having the most awful time. five minutes into my story, she shushed me to listen to the heart-warming story of the divorced man next to us. oh, great. 

and from saturday, 

saturday january 25th 

brooke wanted to go on a  date tonight in which i obliged. her reasoning? because saturday sounds like satur-date. when will she understand that you can do that with every other day of the week? 

hah. 

what an ill-delivered idea.

for all of you that kept scrolling, you are of the elite. fist-pumps + kisses + what possessed you to read through that fake journal entry? 

but actually, i am really not that bad. i'm not a high maintenance dater. oh, no. but i do have some requirements : fountain drinks, some form of sugar, witty banter, + a slew of iphone photos, sometimes. these are must-must-musts. added bonuses : a catchy name for the night (temple + treats, skating + spaghetti, sex + sex)(just kidding on that last one), matching, + full radio control. also we can not go bowling. i just hate bowling. 

...some day my blog posts will have more of a post. but probably not. 

while i'm here, my here are my favorite places to eat in the area : 

chanon thai :: slc (massaman curry, pad thai, + thom kha)

cubby's :: provo (beet + goat cheese salad // tri-tip salad // rosemary fries)

sodalicious :: provo (diet coke + vanilla + lemons and/or diet mango mtn. and/or the second wife + a chocolate fudge cookie. okay.)

wallaby's :: lindon (dinner rolls the size of your head + bbq)

sam hawk korean resaturant :: provo :: bulgogi? i don't even know what else i get. but it's good + filling + fun to eat. 

red iguana :: slc (chips, salsa, and mole)

and my chain restaurant favorites : 

cheesecake factory (bread + tuna salad, oh honey!)

paradise bakery (they're coconut + chocolate chip cookie)

rumbi's island grill (steak + chicken brown rice bowl, extra veggies, lots of sriacha)

the fancy wendy's on state (i don't even care. i love their salad + junior frosty, no judgement)

and, scene. 

my jumbled thoughts on star trek : into the darkness.

now that i'm looking at the picture to the right below, i realize it looks like i've gained three hundred pounds. i promise you, i haven't. at least i don't think so? or maybe i have and it's been such a slooooow (and delicious...bless you, chocolate covered almonds) process that i haven't really noticed at all. this sort of thing would definitely happen to me. sometimes when i'm driving i'll be listening to the radio for a good thirty minutes before realizing, "what the heck! this is in spanish! i haven't understood one. single. word!" 

on tuesday night we saw star trek : into the darkness. i didn't know much about the film besides the fact that the subtitle kind of sounded like it could be the title to a really dirty movie starring corbin bleu and vanessa hudgens. what? you haven't thought about that? (kidding! kidding! three more times, kidding!) and, of course, the sign for 'live long and prosper.'

anyways, we sat down and i immediately whipped out my phone to check all my social mediums that keep me connected...to mommy bloggers i don't actually know in real life. important stuff! a big man behind me...sitting a l o n e, mind you...told me to turn off my phone and could i please stop talking?

dude. it's the previews!

cue dramatic eye roll. cue audible sigh of disgust. cue slamming my phone into my bag and shoving it under my seat. man, oh man. i was in for it.

but! the movie started! and i paid attention! so here's my review:

review of star trek: into the darkness from an impartial third party who was just along for the ride (and tub of popcorn!) : 

this movie made a trekkie out of me. actually, no it didn't. not even close. but i did go home and take a self-indulgent picture in the mirror for good measure. you know. like one does.

onwards! it was fairly funny and i had a few moments where i was gasping because i was just. so. into . it. buuuuuuuuuut for the most part every scene was three minutes too long. (except for the scene where there were those sexy cat-like women -- what were those things?) especially the fighting scenes. holy goodness, did they drag those on.

with every scene being three minutes too long, it made the movie last forty five minutes longer than necessary. no seriously, it did. like, why is everyone coming back to life?! just die! go home, khan. are you good or are you bad or are you tuck everlasting? and why don't we have more scenes with that man-candy of a pilot?! they really should have explored their options with into the darkness, you know?

but the popcorn was especially buttery and my diet coke had the perfect fizz : flavor ratio so...five stars!

ikea ain't for lovers.

something about swedish furniture and meatballs made partially of horse bits sends my jeff and me into a fury. suddenly we need everything and can't remember the measurements of our house and what exactly did we come here for? how do we get out of here? where are the bathrooms? our house isn't even yellow, jeff...why would we need a yellow desk, jeff? why is this not turning out like 500 days of summer, jeff? 

(i'm writing this as a public reminder to take our ikea trips s e p a r a t e l y. those cheap hot dogs + creamy frozen yogurt we always get when we leave always leave us with wonderful and outright delusional memories of our ikea experience. remember when we agreed on those kitchen towels? and found an entertainment center that is proportional to our apartment and doesn't overwhelm it entirely? let's go back again!)

oh, life.

(p.s. i'm not crazy -- the ikea complex is a thing. see look.) 

happy day after valentine's day, friends.

if you talked to me on a monday or on wednesdays around 3, i would tell you that i positively hate valentine's day. it's so in-your-face. so mainstream. so gushy and forced, you know? want me to tell you all about bands you've never even heard of? (i am all sorts of pretentious on mondays; it's just sort of a thing). but since it's friday + i had to refrain from publicly defending rebecca black today at work (...what? she's catchy!), i suppose i'll be full-disclosure and say: i love valentine's day.

i really do! we decided to keep it very low-key and jeff stapleton caught on: low-key means ...i still expect you to make a whole production out of this but want to appear like i'm a fun + cool wife...'cause i am! he brought me breakfast in bed in the morning (...which is actually very uncomfortable if you were wondering). he made me a smoothie + spared me by telling me later in the day that we had ran out of almond milk and he had handed me a milkshake with a few strawberries, essentially. bless him.

at work, a ups man came in with flowers and asked me if i was brooke stapleton. oh! me? brooke stapleton? yes. i am. are those flowers for me? are you delivering me flowers? ...i'm such a douche. i kept the everybody look at me, i got flowers! act up all day and brought it up whenever the conversation permitted. or didn't. because publicly accepting that you are and are going to continue to act like a douche is all sorts of freeing.

am i saying the douche word on my blog? i should probably go bra-less, too.

we ended the night with...oh did i tell you i got flowers?...dinner at a sort of slimy pizza spot. i wore a blazer and an extra three swipes of mascara so it was in fact a fancy dinner date. they even had a salad bar! and a grouchy waitress who reminded us that the endless breadsticks were not for sharing! girl, please.

in summation: i love valentine's day. and i especially love my valentine's day with jeff stapleton. and i'm being so braggy right now; want to hear some of my personal achievements in life? no. okay. done.

ALMOST romantic.

this evening after work, i curled my hair, put on four layers of mascara, and outright demanded a steamy date night. our groupon to mt. fuji sushi bar was expiring, after all! and i had FOUR layers of mascara on! four layers of mascara is not just meant for sitting around the house, you know.

and, oh. was it steamy. jeff + i made intimate conversation and played footsie under the table as we sat...and sat...and sat waiting for the waitress to take our order (she made up for forgetting us with a free bowl of edamame. these things happen). it was downright romantic!

...and then it was all ruined when i said i had to make a quick stop at walmart on the way home to buy cloth waxing strips to take care of my lady stache. 

married people dates are a funny thing...

it's christmastime in the cit(aaaa)y!

the lights at temple square are kind of something you have to do if you live in utah county. you know? it's an obligation, almost, like carving a pumpkin at halloween or getting married at a stupidly young age. joking! joking! you don't have to carve a pumpkin!

onwards! pressing onwards! we drove down to salt lake and pushed around the crowds at temple square and gawked over the lights and setup. have you been? there's like, twenty billion lights per tree! and then after gawking we were like crap, now what? so we did another round and then spied on a double date that only 1/2 the party was enjoying at the capital. also the kid was wearing an all white ensemble which elicited the question, did he just get finished with karate or was he just barely baptized? because i truly can't tell? 

i fear this is getting boring. which, in retrospect, it kind of was. but in the best of ways. 

also we went to a spinning class saturday morning. jeff one time took me on a date to stuff our faces with five guys burgers followed by lap swimming...in other words, he took me on the worst date for someone who can hardly swim (i blame my mother for ripping me out of swim lessons-- i could have been more than a minnow, mom!) so today i made him come swimming with me to make up for it. it made sense in my mind? 

our teacher was the crem de la crazy. she was one of those super-fit types...you can't trust 'em! she kept screaming into the microphone and you really couldn't make out a word she was saying. whenever she said set it sounded like sex so that was fun? ("this is the best sex ever!") also we are 97% sure she said something about protecting your taco? 

...and that's saturday!

and another handful of candy corn, please?

today i feel like i am the literal manifestation of monday. my eyes are crusty, my hair is greasy, and my intestines are still mad at me for dinner at panda express on saturday (i'm sorry my sweet pancreas, blame jeff!). also i have a mad hankering for a long nap, two handfuls of candy corn, and three continous hours of how i met your mother.

we spent our weekend indulging in halloween festivities. ready, set, gasp: i really don't like halloween much. it might be the anxiety over finding the perfect costume? maybe the bad mix of my mood and refined sugar? or perhaps it's just the fact that i positively hate being scared.

we went to a haunted corn maze with friends...couple friends, mind you. the mazes were all fairly mediocre. i think we arrived right as they were winding down. most of the mazes only had a few people there to spook us...one of the 'spookers' i am 93% certain went to my high school (he was jamming to metallica and mumbling threats. verrrrrry teen-angsty). i was legitimately scared once (ONCE! and i am jumpy!)...and promptly fell on the ground? suffice it to say i would be the first to die in any scary movie. besides 'the house of wax' because paris hilton is in that, and i mean really?

on the bright side, we scored a free dinner nearly every night this weekend, bummed a free hot chocolate off our friends, and stuffed our faces with better-than-sex cake (i object!)(...most of the time!).

p.s. holiday season? is that you peeking your jolly head around the corner?

p.p.s. i'm listening to a podcast called wait, wait don't tell me and nancy pelosi, you are kind of funny!

the least sexy.

friday is our designated 'date day.' i always feel lame saying it and don't much like to talk about it on account of it makes me feel old (i do like the alliteration, though!). jeff took the reigns on friday and picked out a thai restaurant down the street for our d.d.d(esignation). i was excited! so excited, in fact!, that i spent a frustrating hour trying to pick all his brothers' hair out of my sweater. because i give hair cuts, you big weird.

right as we sat down, jeff ordered. there was no time for drink-picking or menu-pronouncing (my grandma's rule: don't eat what you can't pronounce; i was had limited options for most of my life -- especially when i had a short stint in lispiness due to orthodontics!). curry! pad thai! water, please! 

the waitress returned suspiciously fast with our food; i am nearly positive she just nuked some leftovers and called it THAI! i was so hungry that i didn't care. we dove into our bowls in silence and were completely finished in seven minutes (SEVEN!). i don't even recall chewing? 

we were there twenty minutes total. TWENTY MINUTES CAPITAL LETTERS. jeff suggested we get some more noodles at winco (unlawful sampling at the bulk bins could be dessert?) and i discussed my newly found knee zit (who even gets zits on their knees, anyways?).

...we ended the night in comfy sweats watching netflix'd episodes of 30 rock...

when i told this story to my mom, she just laughed and said: "oh, married life!"

to which i replied: "oh?" 

also the verdict is still out on knee zits.

labor day.

guess what’s a kind of fun game that we were forced into? having no money. no, seriously…no money.

when we got married, we joined our financial forces (…my bank statement was -33 cents…oops…!) and opened up a new bank account. we ordered fancy new cards and set up secret passwords and signed a bunch of papers…and then two weeks later, we found out that our cards were sent to a random person who 1. guess our passwords and 2. spent $600 on philly cheese steaks and other some such things. long story short(er), our bank account is now frozen and under investigation…great password, no?

so for labor day, we were in search of something free. and mildly entertaining. but mostly free.

after much internet-surfing, we decided on oktoberfest at snowbird; a festival centered almost entirely on sauerkraut and bratwursts…my type of party!

two hours and some serious wrong-turns later, we weren’t at oktboerfest. or even snowbird. but we were in pretty brighton, utah and brighton, utah has public restrooms so brighton, utah it was! 

 

we determined there are about three things to do in brighton, utah for free (brighton, utah is a firsty-lasty, don’t you think? kind of like joss stone or jay zee). using the restroom is one of the three.

so romantic drive through the canyon it was! and oh! was it romantic! we were hand-in-hand, reminiscing about our shotgun courtship and old arrested development episodes…

and then a wasp flew in through the window and landed in my cleavage and stung me repeatedly.

the end.

p.s. happy one month to jeff and i! what a feat, no? we had a waffle feast this morning to celebrate! …and also to eat seeing as we really only have bisquick left in our pantry. fingers crossed our account unfreezes!

p.p.s. is jeff’s new haircut kind of hilter youthy? morgan told him so and i am kind of on the fence. except for i am more on hitler-youthy side.

p.p.p.s. happy labor day!

bye june!

 

the final two weeks of june were spent moving into and decorating the place that jeff and i will share come august. my mother came down with a truck-load of supplies and a car-load of kids to help me out (read: do it all while i floated around seven peaks’ lazy river and made ikea runs)(ikea’s soft serve vs. chic fil a’s? i just can’t decide!)(read: my mom is the literal best).

i loved having my family in town. it was so fun to show off provo to them. my favorite outings were to the movie brave (holy best. movie. ever. exclamation point. i recommend it as a mommy-daughter bonding date;  is there anything better than a date with your mom? i submit not.) and to provo’s comedy sportz (there’s something so tasty about soda that’s been snuck in, right?).

and! and we fused together the stapleton and (3/8ths of the) mosman clan. it was magical and chili’s tortilla chips were involved. i was sort-of actually nervous for the ordeal…mostly nervous for myself. when i’m trying to fuse together two groups of people i tend to get seriously awkward and try to force friendships; “susan likes rice and you ordered a rice bowl today and susan likes..breathing and so do you so…ha! friends? let’s take a picture together!” …luckily i didn’t have to build any bridges and everyone got along swimmingly.

bye, bye june!

fridates.

…are the best kinds of dates. (and yes, that cinnamon roll is as big as my head…and i have a very big head!)

p.s. suggest! suggest! SUGGEST wallaby’s smokehouse bbq in lindon–it was so good and so cheap and the portion sizes were perfect (…also HELLO freshly cooked roll with cinnamon butter!). plus, the adorable owner walks around in his safari-type get-up and heckles the customers…and there’s a magic show on mondays! what?!  also order the cinnamon roll…just do it. (faturday = pushed to friday…indefinitely)

p.p.s. katniss loves gale. she just does.