by the inch

Sometimes there are days I wonder how on earth I can possibly reach my full potential. I think, "If i'm stressed now, and the house is messy, and once again I didn't make dinner, and I'm tired, and I missed a day of exercise, and I'm sick of doing math, and I didn't do something cute for my husband, and my hair is a disaster, and my blog is slacking, etc. etc..... then how am I going to make a good mom? How am I going to fulfill my church duties? What about having guests over? What about service? And all those little things I'm supposed to do too?" Then I remember to take one moment at a time. "By the inch it's a cinch."

I love this quote by President Thomas S. Monson:

I have spoken over the years with many individuals who have told me, “I have so many problems, such real concerns. I’m overwhelmed with the challenges of life. What can I do?” I have offered to them, and I now offer to you, this specific suggestion: seek heavenly guidance one day at a time. Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness. The Savior promised, “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."

He really knows how to put things into perspective! Doesn't life seem a little easier after reading that?
To read the rest of this really great talk, click here 

22

She may not look it, but this girl is officially 22!

22 things I'm grateful for:

1. the hilarious and cute things that kids say and do

2. freedom of religion

3. disney movies

4. friendships that stay strong even after being far apart

5. the opportunity to stand back up every time i fall

6. indoor plumbing

7. teaching opportunities

8. anti-frizz products

9.  honesty

10. ice cold refreshing water after a long run

11. no-show socks

12. a husband who never goes a day without saying "i love you"

13. priesthood blessings

14. unforgettable memories

15. spontaneous compliments

16. neon colors

17. waterproof mascara

18. a perfectly placed cloud on an especially warm day

19. the gospel!

20. authors who weren't afraid to share their writing talents

21. people who never gave up on me even when i wanted to give up on myself

22. sunsets like this:

 

Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me a sunset on my birthday! 

happy birthday to me :)

My birthday is this Sunday! So Ammon and I celebrated it yesterday. It was the best day ever! (Warning: lots of pictures and a little bit of me bragging about how great my husband is) :)

First I went to work, which went well. 

After I got done with work, I came home to this: 

A clean home and decorations!

After looking closer, I noticed an incomplete sentence that needed to be completed:

The hunt went a little something like this:

I was pretty excited!

I can't wait to take my present for a spin! Now Ammon won't have to share his. :)

My day just kept getting better and better after a trip to The Cheesecake Factory and Color Me Mine:

Turtle Cheesecake

Tuxedo Chocolate Cheesecake

Ammon coloring his side of our "soon-to-be" piggy bank

Me adding the finishing touches on my side

My side

Ammon's side, which is AMAZING! He is so talented! 

Front view

Back view

Okay, this is the part where I brag a little bit about my husband:

He is so wonderful to do this for my birthday!

He is so sweet and I'm so lucky he enjoys doing the same things I do! 

I wouldn't pick anybody else to raise a family with. 

Thank you Ammon for the best day ever!! I love you. :)

the sisterhood of the traveling pants

Okay, so we don't have a pair a pants we all share (although i bet we could find some capris that fit Allissa and Meggie. And then Rachelle and I could wear them as pants.) :) but we do have the friendship that the girls in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants have; one that no matter where we travel or end up, we will still know what the other is up to and how the other is doing. 

Our friendship includes:

Allissa: the oldest of us all. She is very talented in almost anything she tries, but especially singing, cooking, organizing, working hard, sewing, and caring about people. Allissa is studying family and consumer sciences education and will be interning this next year for Alpine District, teaching 7th and 8th graders. Allissa and I ran hurdles together in High School and kept each other sane when we were so exhausted after a workout or nervous for a race! Allissa is really good at hurdles and equally good at running long distances.

Then there's Rachelle: the animal expert. Rachelle knows a lot about a lot of things; especially animals. I love having conversations with her because I always learn something new. Today I learned that sea lions have the equivalent aggressiveness as a bear! Rachelle loves to listen to people, is not afraid to say hello to a stranger, and truly cares about people around her. She also loves the outdoors and is way good at running. Rachelle and I have been friends since 4th grade and have been there through every heartbreak, hard-earned achievement, and finding true love. :) She is not sure what she wants to study, but is leaning toward community health. 

Meggie: the youngest, and first to get married. Meggie is also very good at running (are you noticing a trend yet?) Meggie introduced me to the show, Monk and now I've seen almost EVERY single episode! Meggie is really good at making people laugh, working hard, giving good advice, and knowing how to be strong in hard times.  Right now she is studying dietetics at BYU and is very supportive of her husband who just got accepted into Med school! 

All three of these girls have taught me so much and have always been there for me no matter what! It is so rare to find friends like them and I'm so lucky they keep me around. :)

Today I got to see all three them! At the same time! We went to Zupas and enjoyed a delicious meal while catching up. 

Leah. Rachelle. Allissa

Rachelle. Allissa. Meggie

Rachelle is so cute when she laughs!!

Besties

 Okay! Last thing. Just real quick. Isn't my husband so cute trying to find The Hobbit at the UVU library?

We couldn't find it... :(

july 24th 1847

Yesterday was such a great day for many reasons. First off, no school! (Thank you Utah for providing another day off from school and an excuse to blow things up)

Ammon and I spent the morning relaxing and reading. Then we went and saw Ice Age at the Wynnsong. It was a very cute and enjoyable movie. We were surrounded by kids, all of which were so funny when they laughed at the same time and at the same things. Then there was me, laughing at all the parts that noone else was... except for maybe Ammon. Having the same sense of humor as my husband comes in handy. :)

After the movie, Nephi came over and we got ready to go see the fireworks in Mapleton. Every year, Mapleton puts on a firework show for free at Ira Allen Park and since I missed the 4th of July fireworks, I wasn't about to miss out on these fireworks.

Our drive to Mapleton was very beautiful with the slight drizzle of rain and beautiful rainbow. I couldn't resist taking pictures the WHOLE WAY to Mapleton.

Outside my apartment

University Avenue

  

U.S 89

Springville

 Once we got to Ira Allen park, some of us played boggle, I took pictures, and Nephi also played his Nintendo DS to kill time until the fireworks started:

Ryan hiding from the noise and crowd. Haha! I laugh every time I see this picture! That's also Daniel's hand trying to get him to come out.

I told Daniel to make his "I'm so excited for fireworks" face. :)

Playing Boggle. Nephi destroyed us, yet again.

The group. (My mom took the picture) and Ryan is still hiding under the blanket. (My brother Taylor and his friend Raelynn joined us later.)

Nephi's fans

The fireworks finally started at 10:30 and they were worth the wait! 15 minutes of many "oohs" "ahhs" and "I can feel it in my chest!" fireworks!

The grand finale!

Happy 24th! Thank you to all the Mormon Pioneers who fought through freezing cold weather, persecution, starvation, and losing loved ones so that we could settle in Utah and freely practice our religion! July 24th, 1847 made it happen!

confessions of a waitress drama queen

I am a waitress at Brick Oven and have been for a little over a year. 

Most days are great and I absolutely love my job. 

However there are days when it so hard not to cry, get mad, or run away.

And it's not just me. I've talked with my fellow servers and we share the same frustrations.

So, on that note. Here are the things you should know (in our opinion) about your servers when you visit a restaurant:

Number 1. Minimum wage is different for tipped workers and varies from state to state. In states like Utah, Texas, South Dakota, and Wyoming, your server is getting paid $2.13 an hour. So they really rely on other people's tips for their income. Then, depending on the restaurant, a certain percentage of those tips goes toward bussers or other helping employees.
{For more info on tipped workers, click here}

Number 2. 10% is never a good tip. 10 % means you thought your server was one of the worst servers you've ever had. 15 % is adequate. and 20 % means you thought they did a really good job. Anything above that really makes their day and let's them know that you appreciated their service! Anything below 10 % is a real big bummer; especially when we thought we did a good job.
{For more info on how to tip, click here}

Number 3. Save camping for outside the restaurant. (However, there is an exception...) Campers are those people who have paid the bill, but stay and talk for more than 15 minutes. I once had a table of 2 ladies sit at my table for over 3 hours! This is frustrating for 2 reasons. Reason number one: each server only has a certain amount of tables in their section. If it's busy, then that is money they would have been getting from other people. Reason number two is that your server might be trying to go home at the end of their shift and without getting all their tables cleaned and checked off, neither your server, nor the busser can go home. So, here is the exception (because trust me, I DO understand wanting to stay and talk): make it worth their time. Leave a bigger tip. :)
{For more info on Camping, click here}

Number 4. Servers love being told they did a good job! And they especially love it when you tell their manager that they did a good job!

Well there you have it. Those are my confessions of a waitress drama queen. a.k.a: me on a stressful night. But I want you to know that I love my job. I love the people I work with, I love the friendly atmosphere that Brick Oven has to offer, and I love getting to meet new people every day. Next time you're in town, ask for me and maybe I can be your server! (And Ammon might be your busser.)

finally

I finally did the one thing I've been dying to do all summer! Ammon probably heard me mention wanting to do this at least once a week, and I finally did it! 

... I got a snow cone... 

Yay! And it wasn't just any snow cone. It was a "Hokulia Shave Ice" snow cone. And yes, it was as good as everyone said it was. Usually the line is super duper long, but we were lucky when we got there because there wasn't a line at all! I got a half PAG and half Bahama Mama snow cone with ice cream. My favorite thing about their snow cones (besides tasting delicious) is that they come in flower shaped cups and the tables have holes in it so you can stick your snow cone in. Ammon and I probably said the word genius at least a couple times that night. 

And this is just what the small looks like

Also, here are some bowling pictures. Make sure to linger as long as you'd like when looking at the final score. :)

And super cool moment of the day: today I served John Grisham's second cousin! He was super nice and tipped very well. I am liking this Grisham family very much.

recent happenings

Last week was a good week. My birthday is coming up and you know what that means! A free trip to Tucanos! I think I look forward to that more than my actual birthday. haha. Ammon and I very much enjoyed the food and they even sang to me this year! Now I know why people at Brick Oven ask not to be sung to. It was definitely more enjoyable when I was a kid. :) After Tucanos, we managed to save just enough room for Blickenstaff's! If you are wondering what on earth Blickenstaff's is click here. Or take a gander next time you're visiting the Riverwoods. I could spend hours in that store! 

After getting distracted for quite a few minutes by all the cool toys, we picked out our favorite candies, weighed them, and tucked them safely into my purse. Then we were off to see Brave at the Wynnsong theater. (Only $5 on tuesdays!) What a great date! 

Thursday night, Ammon, Nephi, and I we went to Farr's where we loaded our cups with ice cream, frozen  yogurt, and gilato! Have I ever mentioned how much I love Farr's? I love Farr's so much! It is my guilty pleasure, my one true love, my other half, my soul's delight, and my most used stamp card. Oh if only it weren't so bad for me. :( Afterwards we went back to mine and ammon's place and played some games. Nephi dominated us once again at Boggle. One day i will beat him!

Saturday morning, Ammon and I went to the Provo Temple to find out it was closed again. You know you're in Utah when this is not a big deal. Just drive 20 minutes north and bingo! Another temple. The Mount Timpanogos temple was super crowded for this reason, but so worth the wait! Afterwards we were starving so we decided to get food at the temple and it was amazing! I definitely think we will be doing that again. :)

Sunday was an especially great day. I got to see my youngest brother, Daniel receive the Aaronic priesthood, eat delicious food, and spend time with my super duper cute cousins! It was also really good catching up with my aunties and my grandma. My grandma is hilarious and I love her so much!

Sunday was also a great day because I copied the pictures from my mom's camera that I've been dying to post. Every year, my dad goes out and buys a bunch of our favorite fireworks: tanks, sparklers, poppers, parachute launchers, flowers, crackle balls, and now that they're legal: aerials!! Last year the weather was terrible! Pouring rain and wind the whole time. This year was perfect weather and the most fun I've had with fireworks my whole life. Here are just some of the pictures:

Avada Kadabra!

Mosiah throwing poppers

My dad- the pyromaniac :)

Daddy-Son hug

My super duper cute cousins!!

Yes, that is my dad holding a giant firework

Now you know it's safe. :)

The huddle before the scurry

Night-time mode makes super cool sparkler pictures

This one is my favorite

We should have spelled something

Thanks dad for another great round of fireworks! Can't wait for next year!