zoey - 6 months

no, i don't have a human baby, but yes, i do have a puppy baby!
and for that reason, i shall blog about her and her 6 month birthday.
just go with it.

she got two new toys - moo cow and dolphin.
(we're really creative with names - they get called whatever animal they are. oh and she's already chewed dolphin's tail apart).
as well as her cute new gold collar (which was in a post a few days ago).
her toys have squeakers in them, and she goes crazy over them.
she's gotten so big, but not as big as her ears!
she's, at times, mistaken for a bat.
or a rat.
or a mix of the two.
either way, she's adorable and sweet and a little turd.
and we love her!

china visitors

my sister and her family arrived yesterday for a 3 week visit!!!

needlesstosay, we'll be spending lots of time with all my family the next few weeks.

and i'm super excited! they're pretty cool, and stuff.

before i go, i wanted to share some funnies from one of my all-time favorites. enjoy :)

happy weekend everyone :)

not built for hard labor

that would be me. the 'not built for labor' one.
this past Saturday, i decided to help Jae mow a few lawns he needed to get done.
let me just tell you - i've probably mowed the lawn somewhere between 10-15 times in my life. ok so it might be more than that, but i really didn't do it a ton. my dad always tried to get me to do it, and i was a lame teenager and i just wouldn't do it.

naturally, the first 3 lawns Jae has me help him with are horrible and hard and have tons of levels and hills and trees and all the things that making mowing a lawn difficult! what was he thinking???

halfway through the first lawn, i discovered i got this.....

 

it hurt. like, a lot. i showed Jae, and he's like, umm i'm sorry? want a bandaid? 

yes!! i'd like a bandaid and some gloves. please.

it was hot and the sun was relentless. 

by the end of the first lawn, i felt nauseous.

i know what you're thinking - wow, you're a baby.

trust me, Jae was thinking the same thing.

needless to say, i complained. a lot.

like, the whole 3 hours i was helping him.

5 lawns in 3 hours and i was D.O.N.E.

i think it was sometime after those first 3 lawns, i knew i had just been complaining over and over, and i informed Jae i would be continuing to complain the rest of the afternoon haha.

he laughed and said yeah, i was just going to say something about that...

well?? what did he expect!

these last few days, my hands have felt like they've been bruised. 

like i've been in a boxing ring and my hands are beat!

i had scrapes on my other hand, bruises on my forearm and thigh.

like i said....not built for that kinda stuff.

i'm glad i don't have to do it.

it was awful.

i still don't understand why you like doing that stuff, Jae, but my hat's off to you.

summer night drives

it seems i'm not the only one that enjoys driving with the windows down, feeling the wind in my hair (or for her, i guess it'd be wind in her ears....?)

we're loving these warm, breezy summer nights :)

{oh and check out her bling bling new collar...she grew out of her first one and i'll admit, i was a bit sad about having to buy her a bigger one cuz that means she's gotten so big! but how cute is the gold sparkle??}

pioneer day eve

obviously our pioneer day isn't until this coming Tuesday, but to get the festivities started, we joined in a couple things this weekend.

{for those of you that aren't from Utah - it's a Utah holiday celebrating the pioneers coming & settling the valley here in our great state :)}

my bff Leslie is over all the races that are put on by the South Davis Rec Center in Bountiful. they had a Pioneer day race yesterday morning, and i was happy to volunteer and help her out. and this is where i spent my morning...

...the last drink/rest station on the course. they did both a 5k and a half marathon so we (myself and two other women) were there for about 3 hours until everyone made it by us from both races. and despite us having to be there at 630am on a saturday, it was actually a really fun thing to do! cheer the people on and encourage them in their personal endeavors....sounds cheesy i know, but really i was glad i could be apart of it and happy to help out. 

i'm sure if you live in the bountiful area or anywhere in northern Utah for that matter, you heard about or maybe even got the pleasure of seeing the 2,000 stripling warriors walk through Bountiful's annual 24th of July Handcart days parade.

there was a lot of hype about this, and you know what? i think it totally lived up to its hype. (maybe not the rest of the parade, but this part of it anyway ;)) if you were at the parade, you could agree with me it was a super cool thing to witness. all these boys and men coming together and marching down main street in costume, representing the Sons of Helaman from the scriptures. everyone was on their feet and just cheered and clapped and hollered up until the last ones went by. i loved it!

see the guy there in the red cape? he was the leader and the one who made this whole thing come to life. his name is President Cory Hanks, and he was dressed up as Helaman. he's the stake president of my parents stake (my stake growing up) and he also happens to be the man that married my love and i. he is a very special person in our hearts, and a very very good man. it doesn't surprise me at all that he had this idea and really made it happen.

they walked by so quickly, i couldn't get a picture of the front of them! oh, and the boys walking next to him, helping to lead the 2,000...those are his sons. just a cool, cool experience to witness.

{for more about this awesome event, go here}

we also went to my sisters friday night after the parade to watch fireworks at the junior high, but i was pretty busy holding down my dog and keeping her from running away and hiding somewhere, i didn't get any pictures. they were good, as usual. i love a good firework show!

bff..f.ff..

meet my bff Leslie.
we're awesome.
we're even more awesome when we're together.
as shown below..

 

it's friday!!
and friday's make me feel a little crazy.
and grateful.
that it's friday.

i am happy (in a nice way...) to report that we don't have any weddings to attend this weekend!
sometimes you just need a weekend to do nothing, ya know?
not that we'll be doing nothing.
Jae will be working his behind off and we have holiday things happening and my sister and her family will get here this weekend sometime (with my parentals) after driving across country (moving back from NH). and stuff like that. but it's all good.

happy weekend.
the end.

Jacks & Sarena 7.13.12

one of Jae's good friends from high school, Jackson, got married to his love, Sarena, this past weekend. they got married and then had a reception out at a lovely outdoor/indoor place in Draper. 

it's been so bloody hot here recently (we're talking like over 100 degrees) - it finally cooled down a bit the last week or so, and was actually really nice for their outdoor ceremony. luckily, the reception part was inside because shortly after the ceremony, it started downpouring! it was perfect timing.

a few pictures from the ceremony...

Jackson's dad got to be the one to marry them. it was neat.

i was lucky enough to sit next to this little lady and her cute pigtails  :)

and now here's some from the reception part of the evening...

we were impatient for the food to come out, so we made a quick trip to wendy's down the street between the ceremony and reception. by the time we got back to the reception center, the food was out & everyone was eating. oops.

it was a long night of dancing & hanging out.

 

a group shot - not all the friends we got to see/hang out with, but a few of them anyway. it was good to see them all! 

congrats, Jacks and Sarena :)

colorss

so i currently have a pair of white skinny jeans. they look similar to this:

{as if you couldn't picture what white skinny jeans look like..}

i am about 95% sure that i want to color these bad boys. you know how white just gets to be impossible to really keep/make white after so long? i just feel like their fine white days are over. but the jeans themselves are still in good shape, so i don't just want to get rid of them. it just so happens i've also been craving a fun colored skinny jean, so i'm trying to figure out what color i want. did you know it's really hard to narrow to just one? and i'm not one to go for the tie-dye jean look, so i have to pick just one.

i'm hoping you all will help.
i've narrowed to these 5 colors, and i need your help to pick which one to do!
here goes (in no particular order..)

purple

light blue/turqouise 

 

(light/pale) yellow

gray

 

mint green

so what do you think???
please comment and help a brotha out.
and by brotha, i mean me.
you rock.

Kayla & Sam 6.23.12

my cute friend Kayla got married a few weeks ago (i'm a little behind...).

Kayla is just one of the cutest, most caring, funnest girls i know. she's such a dork, and i love it, because i'm such a dork with her :)

she married her sweetheart, Sam, and i'm so glad i got to be part of their special day!

we had a lunch at Joy Luck (can we say tangerine chicken??) and then a lovely outdoor reception complete with little bride and groom decorated strawberries. oh, and we can't forget about the chocolate peanut butter bars......i had SO many. yikes.

the beautiful bride! she was just all smiles all day :)

three cakes!

this amazing girl did all the food (and there was a lot of it!).....she freakin rocks. go Petrice.

hand-decorated. i mean, come on!

 

i know i'm a bit late in posting this, but i'm just so happy for you guys!!

love you, Kayla dear.

blood & certificates

{i give you fair warning: this post is somewhat dull and boring, but for my own documenting purposes, i must include. it was a serious amount of my time and effort and something i probably won't be able to forget even if i didn't blog about it. but i am blogging about it. so yeah.}

starting this past december, we had a major, huge, detailed, very involved blood product audit at work. it was nasty. and expensive, to say the least. the problem was found months before i was ever around, but i got the pleasure of being front and center by the time the actual auditing of the 2000+ accounts rolled around.

anyway, i won't bore you with all the ridiculous details of this, but i will say it took us months to get through this and it was more than enough to give you a headache and a half. like, every day. we've finally finished it (well our part, anyway, it's not in the hands of others who have to deal with reimbursements and charges and money stuff...thank goodness it's not me!). so a couple of weeks ago, we had a little shindig to celebrate it ending. we had cafe rio and my boss handed out a few awards. i was one of the lucky few who got one!(although, honestly a piece of paper hardly seems sufficient for the pain we experienced doing this, but the pork burrito helped the pain a little bit ;))

my award:

you see that?? my boss thinks i have outstanding determination, teamwork, and leadership!

i won't comment on whether or not i or my co-workers would agree with her.

just go with it.

happy friday {the 13th} friends.

go team.

{never stop}

this is my love song to you.

let every woman know i'm yours.

so you can fall asleep each night, babe,

knowing that i'm dreaming of you more.

you're always hoping that we make it. 

you always wanna keep my gaze.

well you're the only one i see, love,

and that's the one thing that won't change.

i will never stop trying.

i will never stop watching as you leave.

i will never stop losing my breath

everytime i see you lookin back at me.

and i will never stop holding your hand;

i will never stop opening your door.

i will never stop choosing you, babe,

i will never get used to you.

and with this love song to you,

it's not a momentary phase.

you are my life, i don't deserve you,

but you love me just the same.

 and as the mirror says we're older,

i will not look the other way.

you are my life, my love, my only.

and that's the one thing that won't change.

you still get my heart racing for you.

i'm just feeling some extra love for my husband lately, and this song seems to keep popping in my head.
he is my one and only, and nothing will ever change that.
i love you Jae.

ice {the shaved kind}

so it's a really bad picture (bad quality, bad lighting, glare, my eyes look like they're buggin out of my head...) BUT i had to hurry and document the true start of our summer...before it all disappeared into our bellies.

if you've ever had shaved ice, i think you can understand  ;)
Jae got his usual - blue raspberry/tiger's blood/mango
i got tiger's blood/pina colada.

when Jae ordered a large (all for himself) the guy said "have you been here before? you know how big that is right?" Jae's like, umm yeah....trust me....i can handle it.
and handle it, he did. in addition to a small leftover portion of mine.
i should add, this picture was taken after we'd already been eating them for a good 10 minutes. 
my husband's a real man.


(sidenote: i cannot believe it's the middle of July & this is our first shaved ice of the season! shame on us.)

independence day

i know i posted a little blurb on the actual 4th of july, but i wanted to throw in a few more pictures from our day. it wasn't too exciting, which makes me kind of sad, because the 4th of july is one of my absolute favorites! summer, sun, bbq's, fireworks, sprinklers and sparklers...does it get any better? we were really low-key this year, though, which i guess i can't really complain about.

*fireworks
*more fireworks
*out to breakfast
*lunchtime bbq with family
*kiddie pools/water balloons/lots of wet dogs
*afternoon naptime
*Jae to work (boohoo)
*visit to the mother-in-law/more puppy playtime
*Jae got off work early (yayy)
*trying to get to sleep with a million fireworks still going on outside

Zoey hates baths, so we were interested how she'd be in a big pool. at first she wasn't so sure, but pretty soon (after we kept putting her in the pool against her will..) she was ok in it. she'd swat the water & make bubbles & try to eat them!

she loves grandma's yard - she runs & runs & runs like a wild child (or dog)

Zack, Clara, & Hana. is Hana good at striking a pose or what?

that's all the pictures i took. kind of lame, i know. (and they were all with my phone....i finally got the actual camera out to take better pictures and turns out it was dead! lovely.) it was a good day though, and a wonderful reminder of this great country we live in.

happy birthday, america!

happy 4th!

a quick hello on this lovely 4th of july!
we've been taking it pretty easy this year, but enjoying the holiday just the same.

hope you're having a wonderful day!

even my nails are enjoying the celebration :)

happy 4th of july everyone!

sweet summertime

i feel like this summer is going soooo quickly.

it's already almost, it IS july.

as in, we'll be celebrating the 4th of july this week.

what??

that is craziness to me. we've already had almost a full month of summer, and i feel like we've hardly taken advantage like we should. and that makes me sad.

there have been so many weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, more wedding receptions, family get togethers, and then some more weddings.

holy summer wedding explosion!!

{speaking of which - i have a wedding from a couple weekends ago to blog about as soon as i get pictures off my camera...}

it has been busy. anyone else feel that way? busy busy.

Jae and i gotta get going on our summer fun and not just be so 'busy'. ya know?

this picture was taken on the beach in Maine the summer/fall of 2009.





and this picture was taken on another beach in Maine the summer of 2011.

can you tell we like Maine? and this summer we'll be missing it.

what fun things have you done thus far this summer?