giving thanks

In the spirit of continuing to embrace any and every cheesy aspect of a holiday, and also to jump-start my return to blogging, I present 30 things I love (and am therefore thankful for) on this Thanksgiving Eve (not really in any order)  

matt’s pillow because it smells like him

matt because he smells like him and is him

marriage and all of its lessons

pie. and also making pie.

smart, quick, adorable and shedding Dori. Because she follows me everywhere and loves us so much.

hilarious phone calls with drew. NOTHING makes me laugh like reminiscing with that guy.

daily emails with J, Sh and Q

daily gchats with S and occasional ones with others

instagram for exploring

the handful of remarkable women in CO who are my extended family and give me the honor of calling them my friends

and also the new ones in UT

coffee in the morning and herbal tea at night

movie previews

creativity

fresh flowers

my job and all of its weirdness

my parents. duh.  and the rest of our crazy family

matt’s family for being the easiesttolove in-laws ever

blow pops

space heaters, heated blankets, hand warmers, etc…

every single one of my zillion favorite songs

things that smell like Christmas trees (real or manufactured)

Michigan (especially Ste. Sault Marie)

meditation (thank goodness for meditation)

Aveeno skin care (haha – but seriously  - ALL THE MONEY and time I have spent trying to find  the perfect skin care, it was sitting on the shelf at Target the WHOLE TIME

Gap curvy size 4 and size 6 skinny jeans (depending on the color…WTH?) either way, SO  GRATEFUL

the new bathroom in our basement (HALLELUJAH)

Honda CR-V heated seats

Yogplait coconut and pomegranate greek yogurt.

beach with stupps

this

 and also this



it seems

I have not been blogging.

 

it also seems I keep forgetting to mention this band and song. 

No, for once I was not the last to know, but I am the last to share.

 

please enjoy this song and neat video you have likely already been enjoying.



birthday bowlin'

I'm pretty sure I have spent at least 23 of my 29 birthdays bowling.  I do not plan on changing that tradition.

phone picture birthday bowling "collage"

haha

it was such good fun. 

I am sad that I didn't take pictures of everyone who came.



29 today

best friend forever

and now a preview of what is definitely going to be my new favorite show ever:

 



 

I read Mindy Kaling's book recently and it was completely hysterical. 
now I want to devour everything she does and be her best friend forever.



instagram

since I've been (rightfully) accused of sort of deserting my blog in favor of instagram-ing... I have added an instagram feed (?) widget/gadget (?)

here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

so you can keep tabs on me. 

you're welcome.

thing I forgot to blog about

this happened like 3 weeks ago

but

if you ever wanted to know why my sisters and I love going to Target together, it's because this happens:

this is at least 23 times as fun/ny in person as it looks here. 

no, you may not go with us next time.  sisters only. 

#notsorry

bangs

this evening's post-work narcissistic couch photo to model my new bangs:

 

 

 

bangs which apparently I should have gotten at like birth because I have received a million compliments.  So either none of my colleagues have ever seen bangs before, or my stylist friend, Meagan Johnson (she was on TV this morning nbd),  is a bad ass. 

(She works at the LifeSpa in South Jordan, and yes you should make an appointment)

and she's marrying one of Drew's best friends, and one of my favorite people in a couple weeks.
I love when favorite people marry favorite people.

windy beach day

things to do on the beach in MI on a beautiful but very windy day:

1. write obligatory commemorative messages in the sand:

2. take pictures of self while looking afraid of the camera and Amish

3. watch the big fast waves created by the wind.

4. creep up on the neat/creepy old abandoned light house.

5. check out this guy checking other stuff out.

belated

I'm not dead

hey I'm back from vacation, etc... and I have a bunch of vacation stuff to blog about!

before we left on our very looong road trip, I downloaded some road trip apps.  One of the apps was the license plate game.  The game kept track of all the plates we saw, but did not keep score.  So I kept track of our scores.  Please excuse my electronic finger "handwriting"

we decided you can only spot them while driving, and allowed Matt to claim them while I was napping because I trust that he wouldn't cheat.*

Matt won 23-18.

*He pulled ahead while I was napping.

we did pretty well.  The only states we didn't see on our trip were Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, Rhode Island and West Virginia (it helped that we were on I-90 through South Dakota on the last day of Sturgis)

don't let my expression fool you.

sometimes you have to go to physical therapy and it pretty much hurts.

but then at the end they tell you to lay on a heated table thing and wrap a heated neck thing around your neck for 15 minutes.

and that part is so awesome.

don't let my expression fool you.  I felt like I was at the spa. 

I mean it's right there.

ugh I am the worst promise-keeper when it comes to blogging.  Guys it's hard to blog every day during finals AND the Olympics. 

recently I reviewed my list of states I’ve visited.  I don’t really count layovers unless I had like a meal and a nap at the airport … I do count driving through them  though-  I’m not a professional list maker or anything. 

 It’s my list, go easy on me.

anyway… this is my list and if it’s crossed out, I’ve been there. 

Alabama    Alaska    Arizona    Arkansas    California    Colorado    Connecticut    Delaware    Florida   

Georgia    Hawaii    Idaho    Illinois    Indiana    Iowa    Kansas    Kentucky    Louisiana    Maine    Maryland

    Massachusetts    Michigan    Minnesota    Mississippi    Missouri    Montana    Nebraska    Nevada   

 New Hampshire    New Jersey    New Mexico    New York    North Carolina   North Dakota    Ohio   

 Oklahoma    Oregon    Pennsylvania    Rhode Island    South Carolina    South Dakota    Tennessee    Texas 

   Utah    Vermont    Virginia     Washington    West Virginia    Wisconsin    Wyoming

“what?!!!!!  You’ve NEVER been to New York, Boston OR Chicago???”

Nope.  I know, right?

pretty soon we are leaving for our vacation in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan which means I get to cross three more states off my list….

*ugh.. I just noticed I misspelled "Wisconsin"... but it's too much work to change it. 

I’m hoping Matt will agree that we should go home a different way (this way) and cross 3 MORE states off my list and maybe just maybe stop in Chicago for like lunch with Oprah or at least a picture?  I mean it’s RIGHT there. 

also... round of applause for my awesome state-drawing (tracing) skills...

nerd alert

last night we went to the new Target near our house (!)

because I needed a notebook and that was, of course, the only place I could get one.  It is school-supplies shopping season, and I was SO excited that I had a reason to go back to the big school supply section of the store. 

the day my mom would take us to Target to buy school supplies each year easily rivaled Christmas for my favorite day of the year.  I loved it so much.  I loved looking through the ads every Sunday of the summer so that I would know when it was "time", I loved imagining what I would get, I loved picking stuff out, and I LOVED taking it home and carefully organizing it and re-organizing it 314 times before the first day of school.  I loved it like I love whales and Jayhawks. 

without fail, I always immediately went for the $24.99, 13-subject, 12 lb. notebook or $60.00 Trapper Keeper first... but my mom would gently re-direct my attention to the $0.69 notebooks-I-could-actually-lift bin and I would then realize those were just as magical, because I could choose my colors.

she explained why the box of 1,000 crayons was superfluous and cumbersome, and why 3rd graders didn't each need their own stapler or day planner... but she did always let me choose a few Lisa Frank folders and pencils.  (If you don't know who Lisa Frank is, you are not a girl born between 1980-1987 and I feel sorry for you)

I was a little sad last night when I had my annual realization that I will never be an awkward 9 year-old who has to make the impossible choice between kittens and unicorns again... but Matt was patient with me while I wandered around and eventually chose my regular black notebook.   I was also sure to show him the things I would choose if I was 9 years-old today.

I am SUCH a nerd.  I really hope at least one of my kids turns out to be as nerdy as I am so we can peruse the school supplies while Matt and the other kid/s hang out in the toy section. 

what can I say?

I love a photo booth at a wedding.

no shame.

chapped nose

Our internet is being dumb , so I have to phone blog which leaves a lot to be desired.

I have a summertime head cold and have used no fewer than 12 million "Kleenex" today.

things I forgot to blog about.

oops.  realized a few minutes ago that I missed a couple days.

maybe a bunch of pictures will make up for it?

when we helped with wedding decoration crafts on the 4th of July.

 when we got to our hotel and Quigs discovered acetone leaked and melted her clarisonic to a dress.

 when a bunch of pretty girls went to see BoyzIIMen.  (SO GOOD!)

 I repeat: SO GOOD

 when the bridesmaids and bride got our nails did.

 when I made this face at work for my sisters.

 when I wondered why "Ike" is crossed out.... ?(I still don't know)

 another picture from ice cream with my homies day.

when I thought I was almost as tall as Neal in my tall tall shoes (and Matt's intentional photo bomb)

when I loved this pretty little cake and pretty little decorations at a decidedly very fun reception.

when we learned how to play speed monopoly and played THREE times in one night :)

when it took a lovely little army to dress a bride.

and then she was so pretty.

cheese

I had two very special weddings to attend today.  I am exhausted, so I just leave you with this:

aaaaaaaand frame-worthy.

w/ my homies

ice cream date

nbc

tonight we went to the wedding rehearsal for Travis and Alexis.  (Matt is a groomsman)

I plan to blog more about these fine people after their wedding on Friday, but anyone who knows Travis knows that he likes "Nightmare Before Christmas" more than whatever the normal amount would be.

so I thought their little cake they served after the rehearsal dinner was adorable and perfect for them

 oh and it was delicious too...and sort of reminded me of Hostess cupcakes (in a good way.)

no A/C

every day when I get home from work:

celebrating moo

tonight I took Moo and Dad to dinner for Moo's birthday.

she chose Mimi's

she opened her gift while they told me about their recent trip to visit Shellie (& family).

and I told them about my ancestry.com exploring and my Dad suggested I name our future kids after our just-discovered distant relatives, Harney & Dudley.

after dinner I took her to Sweet Tooth Fairy to choose a couple birthday cupcakes.

I like dinners with them and I like celebrating Moo.

what I learned tonight

while making shredded pork tacos with salsa verde (with photos*):

*I forgot to take pictures of the food when we were eating... so I had to get out leftovers for photos.

re: making shredded pork

-it takes a long time (3.5 hours at 350 degrees while sitting in a mixture of delicious things)

-it's called "pulled pork" because you pull it apart with forks when it's done.

re: salsa verde

-tomatillos come with husks and can be found near the peppers (not near the tomatoes).

-fresh cilantro is really cheap.

-it's best if you don't rub your eyes after de-seeding jalapenos.

-and if peppers somehow make their way under your fingernails... it burns.

re: corn tortillas

-no matter how hungry you are, these are best when warmed and filled with things, and not good for pre-dinner snacking straight out of the bag.  (I knew this one, but tested it.  gross.)

re: avocados

-nothing.  I already knew what I needed to know about avocados tonight.

these turned out pretty good, but not at all as spicy as I was anticipating (which was just fine with me.. I was just hoping for more spice for Matt and Molly.)