provo utah bucket list

in honor of our last year here in provo at byu,

and in honor of the first day of fall semester,

i present to you,

the provo utah bucket list

in no particular order:

(red= still to do)

1. go to 7 peaks 8/31/11

2. ride a tandem bike together 3/30/12

3. go snowshoeing 2/3/12

4. hike up to bridal veil falls 8/27/10

5. hike timp? 

6. go to the provo bakery 11/30/11

7. go real camping

8. hike up to the timp caves

9. go swimming in the great salt lake

10. do a temple square saturday 2/4/12

11. hike up to the Y one last time 3/16/12

12. visit the provo printing museum 2/20/12

13. visit park city for a day and do the olympic park activities

14. do a session at the salt lake temple 2/25/12

15. go to the temple lights together 12/4/11

16. get dinner at sammy's 12/2/11

17. go to 1 game of every BYU sport that our all sports pass works for 4/14/12

18. hike stewart falls together 10/4/11

19. go kayaking in the provo lake

20. fly a kite on campus

21. hike to the hot springs in diamond fork canyon together 4/21

22. go thanksgiving point cornbellies halloween thing for the last time 10/29/11

23. feed the ducks at the duck pond 10/11/11

24. go to the utah museum of fine arts

25. go to the museum of cultures and people on 100 east 700 north 4/6/12

26. go to the governor's mansion in salt lake 

27. go to a BYU planetarium show $2 on friday nights 12/2/11

28. go on the heber railroad for halloween and/or christmas
29. walk down both university ave and center street in the fall or spring and go into lots of the shops 3/30/12

if you have any other awesome "must do provo things" i'd love to hear!

we'll be adding on more probably throughout the year!

plus we'll be updating it on what we've accomplished and when!

ps- husband  fell asleep next to me while i wrote this bc he was waiting to get on the computer after me,

he just did the body twitch thing you do when you're almost completely asleep,

giggles :)

happiness

happiness = swimming

happiness = the AZ heat

happiness = in-n-out

happiness = bahama bucks

happiness = family

 

the end.

iowa.

hey remember when we took that forever death drive across the country the other week that took a whole day of lives away?

remember how we stopped in iowa?

we did, for a day actually!

and visited casey's siter and her family.

here's our visit via iPhone:

 

our quick stay consisted of
playing with the 2 cute nephews
playing with dogs
scratching my 18 (yes, i literally counted) bug bites on my legs from the previous day
visiting the chiropractic school where his BIL currently studies
bbq yumminess
lots of tickling the little boys
talking talking and talking
preparing for our long trip ahead!

thanks kerri for letting us stop by!
our visit was too short but glad we got to come anyways!

"The Casey Cutler interview"

husband did a little radio interview with the local Green River radio station this last week!

 in their words:
"Casey Cutler is Green River's all time yards and touchdowns leader. He chatted with Nick Andrews this past Thursday."

they talk a little high school football and BYU football

click here for the sound bite

love you sweets!

 

ps- we are back in PROVO!!!!!
we feel home.
but the whole part about the renters staying in our place for the summer and not moving out until Saturday night does not make us feel home :(
cue temper tantrum: "i want my home and all my stuff back!!!"
cue large alligator tears
cue bitterness that we rented our place out for the summer

packing and driving = worst part of summer

packing=shoot me.

i never can beleive all the stuff we fit in that car.

poor husband has the toughest tetris game of his life.

see the top right pic? yeah i think i brought out at least another half that much.

but we fit it all in!!!

hallelujiah!!!

i've become much more efficient at this whole packyoursummerlifeintoonelittlecar gig.

aka i put my shoes in his shoes and rolled his ties into my shoes.

go me.

and while husband was busy tetrising it all into the car,

jaden was on the sidewalk pulling out all the shoes and putting them on his feet!

what a big help.

and then onto the driving.
the confoundit driving!
5 hours to iowa and then another 23 hours to AZ with NO STOPPING!
except for a) potty breaks b) gas c) treats d) all the above
i don't know how we did it.
starbursts helped much (thanks kerri!)
and so did a little penny surfing.
kansas did not help.
kansas was as boring as a white sheet of paper, and it took FOREVER!

see the dumb cowboy hat behind me?
yeah that fell forward and hit our heads about 51038320 times.
and to make it worse, we didn't even go to a rodeo this summer so i didn't wear it!
how LAMO is that?!
the drive took forever.
luckily i have nearly perfected my sleepinreallyuncomfortablepositions skills and slept for at least 11 hours of the drive.
i'm a rockstar like that.
once we saw the AZ cacti though, i was a happy camper.

 

ps- see the bottom right pic of the blue mirror?
can you guess why our mirror was blue with a hint of red?
yes, we indeed had not 1 but 2 visits by the friendly policeman on our journey.
i was stopped first in whocares, kansas.
results: warning for a broken brake light, WAY TO DANG GO KIMBER!
casey was then stopped aobut 2 hours later in whocares, oklahoma.
results: warning for a broken brake light and going to 46 in a 40.
YAY FOR WARNINGS AND NO TICKETS!
this is our first official summer with no tickets
knock on wood, we still have 10 hours left to provo! yikes!

we made it

we said goodbye to indiana.

we made a pit stop in iowa.

and after 23 hours of constant driving,

we made it to the valley of the sun.

we're feeling good.

now if you'll excuse us,

we're going to sleep our saturday away!

jaden.

we are trying to soak up our time here with jaden.

soak it up as much as possible!

casey made pancakes one morning and jaden joined in on the cookin.
yes that is a mickey mouse pancake with sprinkles.
only way to make it.
well, jaden loved being in the action and he ate about 5 of them and made a mess.
bottom right: have i shown you the "mater" chair.
we love cars around here, love it.
jaden is obsessed with cars around here, obsessed.
casey found this chair at goodwill outlet for maybe a $1 (who knows, we buy it all buy the pound),
but jaden loves it. it's kind of adorable.

 

we love this child.
he's kind of hilarious.
i am ber ber, strictly ber ber.
casey is saysee, strictly saysee.

as another last hurrah of the summer, we did a mini photo shoot of cody, camille, and jaden,
here's some of my faves :)

the calls.

a few last things of indiana!

remember that family we love and went swimming with all summer?

and love their kids?

 and adore their parents?

like i said, luckily they're moving away the same time we are, bc that would be terrible if only one of us is moving away.

but one last time, we love them:
boo for a blurry group picture:( mmeh

and casey, the baby whisperer

since before i left to az, casey began growing out his beard!
his caveman/mountainmann beard!
the pictures don't do his blondish beard justice, but it was thick and there, promise.



looking at him now, i feel like i'm married to a little baby face husband!!
as much fun as it was having it around, it's fun to see his smooth face again :)

a last summer hurrah

farewell summer.
on our last saturday here one of our friends here had a pool party!
like mentioned before i love the pool so this was not an event to be missed!
most all our friends we've made this summer were there which made it that much better.

one of the cute girls, brittany goff, has her parents who live about 40 minutes away in a great place out in the "country" part of indiana.
beautiful weather, home, pool, great food, pure greatness.

 

by far our favorite part of indiana have been the people.
we adore all the people we have met and feel so lucky to have met them!

it's been bliss.

happy birthday to you.

dearest kirkypoo,

it's your birthday!!!!

you're an old man now!!!

you're back in arizona!!!

i miss you!!!

remember how you were the messiest of all of us siblings growing up?
mom took the best pictures of you growing up. aka- reallyawesomepictureswhenyouaredirty.

we always stuck together bc it was the 3 big boys and then us little ones
(you were only 3 1/2 years younger than scotty but we still did lots together, to me, you were still part of "the brothers")
look how cute you were when you were a baby!
ps- see papa holman below? his birthday was on the 7th and he would have been a 100 years old!!!

remember when we had to drive 15 minutes south to go see all our friends in high school?
and you always drove the car?
and i always fell asleep in the car on the ride home?
and you would always hit the breaks really hard so i'd fall forward?
not so funny then, but funny now :)

and look at you now?
as cute as ever.
how in the world are you still single?!
that's right single ladies who read this blog!
I WILL HOOK YOU UP WITH THIS HANDSOME MAN!!!
just let me know.
lara, how about you be first?

 

so happy birthday kirky!
can't wait to see you next week!!!!

ps- remember when i waited 8 months to get married so you could be at the wedding?
yes, that IS how much i love you.
glad you were there :)

little love letters #4

 

dear casey, thanks for being hilarious. you make me laugh when i tell myself i'm going to be mad and no one will change that, and then you change it and i laugh lots.

dear arizona, i love you

dear hot steering wheel, why do you have to be so dang hot in the summer! i burned my little digits driving that steering wheel in az!

dear phoebe, thanks for dancing on the coffee table for us during so you think you can dance. you are the cutest little dancer

dear bahama bucks, in a dessert throw down between you and anyone else, you'd win anyday, at least if casey and phoebe were the judges.

dear brooke and amy, being around you two on the wedding day was an absolute blast. i heart you.

dear indiana, in less than a week's time we will be leaving you for our homeland, aka the provo bubble! you sure have some nice people who live here. in some ways this summer did not turn out how we expected it to, but in other ways, it completely surpassed what we thought it could be.

dear glorified attic in provo, we miss you. we're glad we can still call you ours in the fall.

dear fireflies, i wish you lasted a little bit longer. you were so fun. i didn't get enough of you

dear goodwill outlet, you are the best second hand store ever. we will miss you greatly.

that one time i went to arizona

a few more pictures while in arizona last week.
sidewalk painting.
entertained for like an hour

swimming, swimming, swimming.
these girls are like little fishies!
it's so fun to watch how brave they are in the water!!

the infamous bahama bucks.
happiness.

a cute little butterfly i found in the backyard

i love love love arizona.
flying into the valley makes me so giddy.
going down to the phoenix baggage claim and then out to the street to meet my ride is pure joy.
you go out to the street and the heat hits.
the beautiful heat.
the not humid heat.
the heat.
the glorious heat that i could be in for forever.
i love dry heat in arizona.

after our "fun" car experience, we finally made it home.
wednesday, thursday, and saturday consisted of playing with the girls, naps, feeding phoebe, talking with my mom and dad, and other random joys,
loved it.

see you again soon arizona and family, see you again soon!

a wedding in the desert.

i'm sitting in the phoenix airport right now waiting for my flight for the 2nd time in 2 days.

i came to az for a quick 4 day trip for my dear friend, nicole's, wedding.

it was splendid!

i just love weddings.

especially weddings that are about my really close friends whom i love and not just who i know.

it seriously rocked.
side note: stewart and nicole have known each other since at least 9th grade if not before.
little crushes have always been here and there.
and now they're married! we so excited!
they're precious

3 weddings down, 1 to go! cough cough.

.

the ceremony was beautiful.

nicole was beautiful.

and the day was so smooth and perfect (except for the whole, it's blistering hot part).

but really, it was an absolute blast to be apart of!

dear nikkipoopoo, thanks for letting me join your wedding festivities. it was wonderful, and i'm so so happy for you!


lastly, see how the 1st line reads how i'm here in the airport for my 2nd flight in 2 days?
i came to the airport on saturday evening for my flight out.
but as we were waiting to board the plane they announced they were overbooked and needed 1 person to give up their seat.
so the kind soul that i am decided to volunteer...
(no, the paid airfare and $300 voucher did not affect my decision at all! cough cough)
so i'm sitting here in the airport way too early on sunday morning waiting for my flight.
the $450 "gift card" to fly anywhere on southwest is easing the pain of not seeing my husband :)

back to indiana we go!

iphone pictures

top left: does anyone else DRIP bobby pins and earrings?
i find/lose them EVERYWHERE and hate it!
i was cleaning our dresser the other day and found these under a stack of papers.

top right: sleeping husband.

bottom left: my view on a run.
the corn fields are getting SO TALL!
that's not a pic of a corn field but i still wanted to tell you that

bottom right: friends.
yummy italian
couopons.
games.
a great night.

finally, a beautiful indiana thunder storm i could enjoy!
there hasn't been too many day ones this summer and if there is, i'm inside working or it's a tornado warning.
but i was driving home through this one and loved every minute.
i sat in the car for awhile and just listened to the thunder, rain, and lightning.
so heavenly.
and then a great sunset followed it up.

 

ps- if you're reading this i'm in AZ!
WOOT WOOT!
yay for friends getting married!
yay for family!
yay for swimming!

this makes me happy.

facetiming with this cute girl.

we miss her terribly

the end.
august 20 something we will finally get to tickle you little one!!!

swimming at the pool.

one thing i learned quickly here in indiana:

pool options are limited.

ha, that worried this arizona girl!

but after a few months of being here we became friends with one cute family!

the calls!

4 awesome kids with 2 parents we utterly adore.
they also have a pool in their community which is an added bonus to our friendship.

we've gone to the pool with them a couple of times and once took the kids to the pool ourselves!

 

i've also gotten to go to the pool with my SIL and some other friends too which make it even more enjoyable :)

we love this family!
but sadly they're moving to north carolina in august!
(luckily we're moving away too, ha, but we'll see each other again!)

the oldest girl is awesome and taught casey how to ride a ribstick.
the 2nd girl is a ham and adorable.
the little boy is in our sunbeam class and the funniest things ever.
and the baby girl is the cutest ever (she's actually not the biggest fan of me sadly enough but casey is the baby whisperer and she loves him).
we love the mom and dad, thery're the funniest and funnest people ever, i swear.
casey and i kinda want to be them when we grow up.

3 cheers to both swimming and friends!!!

ps- happy late birthday harry!