Me + Snowflake

There was only one thing I had scheduled to do while I was in Snowflake this weekend at this is it:

That's me, and that's my sign (well, for atleast 20 more days). I had to get it in before the big day comes when the sign will no longer be true. And no, my hair is not slicked back, it was just freaking windy that day...

And this is the other thing I hoped to do and am very glad that I did:

That's me in front of the Snowflake temple. It's a really small temple, but it has some great landscaping and other beautiful features.

{pure beauty}

Oddities

Snowflake is a strange little town. I truly believe that people in small towns have to get really creative to have a good time. I spent some time in town capturing what I think is fun. Take a look:

{what do you expect in a small town?}

disclaimer: two of the pics are hard to see. The first one is of a sign that actually says, "Horse for Sale" and then "House for Sale." I don't know why, but my mom thinks that is hilarious. And then, my personal favorite is of me squatting next to a road sign holding a roll of toilet paper. The sign says to report all illegal dumping. My mom thought we should have taken a picture of Pepe taking a dump...

Weekend at cabin

On Saturday morning I drove up to my parents' cabin for some fun and relaxation. My dad and my brother spent the weekend putting up some framing for the addition (the cabin is a bit small...) so my mom and I just chilled. It's about a 3 hour drive to Snowflake from old Mesa, so I had lots of time to sing out loud and to take pictures (while driving...oops!). It rained most of the way there, and I even drove through some snow in Payson. Needless to say, it's a pretty boring, yet sometimes scenic drive. My favorite part of the drive is through a small town called Star Valley. When I was in high school my friends and I would drive to Star Valley, Wyoming to hang out with some weird boys. Well, Star Valley, Arizona is similar in a lot of respects. It is a very small town. There is barely a gas station in the square mile of the town, but the one thing they do have is a cabaret club (see picture in slideshow). But what's even better is there is a fake cow on top of the cabaret sign. I wonder what kind of women are dancing there??

Once I got to the cabin I basically did a whole lot of nothing. Ok, so I did some girly crafts, but I didn't take any pictures of that. I love just being in nature, relaxing, spending time with family, and just getting away from the stresses of life. It was a good time.

I will be posting some more blogs about my adventures in the actual town of Snowflake at a later time. It is an interesting place...

{enjoy viewing my cabin experience}

We love BBQ

So, Friday night, since my Amos was in town, I decided to throw a BBQ for some friends (ok, for my only friends). I invited all the girls over only to discover that the old BBQ was out of propane. Oops! Thank goodness my roommate is smart and told me to use the old Foreman. It took a while, but we finally got all the burgers cooked and got to eat the deliciousness. Good stuff!!

After devouring the food, we started up the Wii. We took our turns rockin' (or getting boo'd off) Guitar Hero, then we tried our vocal skills at American Idol. It was a lot of fun hangin' with my Utah peeps and my girls here in AZ. Here are a few pics from that night:

{enjoy}

short and sweet

Just a quick little blog to let you know that I am alive! I had a great weekend, but will have to post later when I have downloaded my pics at my mother's house. All I can say is, "good times!"

Oh, and for those of you who voted on my little poll...YOU ARE CRACK SMOKERS! I will definintely be cheating in Utah!

{New post & new poll coming soon...}

Sorry weatherman!

I stand corrected {and feel bad for doubting my weatherman and his infinite wisdom}. Things sure have taken a drastic change. Yesterday it rained and rained all day. I LOVE RAIN! However, it was freezing!!! Yep, the temperature dropped...a whole 50 degrees! Today during lunch my car said it was 62. Personally I love 70's, but I would much rather take a 60 over 110!

Well, yesterday I got to hang with my girl Amy and her boy. We pretty much yawned all night and talked, but it's always great to be with them. Tonight I invited them and some other friends over for a BBQ (pics of our rip roarin' good time to come). Then tomorrow it is off to the cabin for some Memorial Day fun and relaxation. What are your weekend plans?

{Have a great Memorial Day weekend}

I am one HOT mama

Oh how I wish I were talking about attractiveness and not temperature...but I am not!

It has begun: the dreaded 100 degree weather.

On Monday when I was driving home from work my car dash read that it was 115!!! That's insane! Why do I subject myself to this crap? And then yesterday it was 103 when I was driving at 7pm. The weather man told me to expect a 30 degree temperature drop today, but I think he was lying. When I was driving to work this morning at 7:30 my car read 90. I am not looking forward to the heat. Oh well, I've got 6 more months of it, so I better stop complaining now...

I hope you all are doing well. Pray for me so I don't melt. {Well, maybe melting pounds is ok, but not melting flesh} Sorry Amos that you had to come here during a freaking heat stroke...

{Have a cool week}

SURPRISE!!!

Look who came to visit me:

Yep, that's my awesome friend Amy and her hubby Grant. They were originally supposed to come down for Memorial weekend, but flew in a {little} early because Grant's dad took a little joy ride on the old motorcycle. Thankfully he is doing very well and is out of ICU now. I told Amy that he just needed a visit from his sweetest daughter-in-law...and that seemed to do the trick! So they surprised me and showed up at my mother's house tonight. I had no idea Amy was in town until my mom read my blog and told me (I never see my blog on the weekends). Then Amy called when I was at my mom's house...and in my pajamas. The moment I got off the phone with Amy, my mom took me into her closet and forced me to change my clothes and put on lipstick. (Side note: if you look at my mother's day post you will notice that me and my mother are wearing the same thing...) She thought I looked a little trashy apparently. But it was good to see my old friend and get a little caught up. Can't wait to hang out with her this week while she is here!

On another note, this weekend has been pretty fun. I went to dinner with Lori, Ashlie and our newest friend to move to Arizona, Katy (and her mom). We went to the Elephant Bar and it was great/delicious! Then last night me, Lori and Janalee went to Applebees to celebrate Janalee's birthday. Afterwards we went to Janalee's house to play her new Wii (yes, I still want one for my birthday). It was a good time. We got Ashlie and Katy to join us, and believe it or not, a boy even came over!!! We rocked out to Guitar Hero and then got embarassed playing American Idol. All I have to say is "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a VERY fun song to sing! And Simon Cowell loved it too...

Now back to my previous post on my epiphany. Here is the picture I was telling you about:

This is what I have posted on my computer at work to help me stay motivated. So far it has worked pretty good. Atleast it makes me smile everyday. But this part right here is my favorite:

Interpretation: fat girl to skinny girl equals happiness and a diamond ring!

{Have a great week!}

Epiphany

This post may be a bit boring because my awesome pics I took did not get downloaded (check back later). However, I have had an epiphany! I have finally come to the realization of why dieting is so hard for me and why I sabotage myself. It was hard coming to the realization, but so far the results have been good. No, the details will not be shared, and yes, this is something I have always known but just refused to believe or say out loud. You understand right? Girls are just weird like that...

So, now it's been 2 days that I have been perfect on the diet (sad, I know) and I feel like I could actually make it until my trip to Utah in June before cheating again. With that in mind...check out my new poll on the right! Be sure to cast your votes! And thanks for all of you who voted in my last poll. Apparently you all know/believe something I don't...

And finally, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my girl Janalee. Happy Birthday!!! Thanks for being my {only} friend for the last (almost) 5 years! You are great!

{I love epiphanies!!}

Surviving the weekend

Hello there my friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I sure did! I basically had a family oriented weekend and it was great. On Friday my {awesome} bro Matt was in town for a day so the fam went to dinner to celebrate. Mmmm...Texas Roadhouse!

On Saturday I woke up {freaking} early to help my dear sweet mother, who had the {pleasure} of teaching about food storage for her stake women's conference. Like I noted in my blog about my amazing mother, I will definitely be going to her house if there is an emergency. I don't care if my car is out of gas, I will walk there. I don't care if there is a big crack in the earth due to a massive earthquake, I will trudge through it to get there. If that crack in the earth is filled with water, I will swim there. You get the point right? I have NOTHING...she has EVERYTHING! And believe it or not, she really inspired me to get prepared.

The rest of the day was spent {chillin'} with the folks. A little jacuzzi fun, some shopping, some eating...all good things.

Then Sunday was the day of all days...Mother's Day. I did the church thing and then spent the rest of the day with my mommy. We had a great family dinner (thanks mom for changing your dinner plans just for me) and then we did this:

Yep, that's right...the Survivor finale. I am so upset about the outcome. Amanda should have won. But I must admit, those girls sure were crafty and cunning and {sometimes} I aspire to be like them. Ok, not the sluttiness, just the player-ness (yes, it's a word).

How was your weekend?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

We all think we have the {greatest} mom right? Well, my mother has been MY mother for 26 years, and I really do think she is GREAT. Here are 26 reasons why:

1. She is just so darn cute
2. She ALWAYS listens to me whine (I whine a lot...right mom?)
3. We think alike
4. She lets me borrow her clothes
5. She lets me keep her clothes that I borrow if I think they are too cute to give back
6. She has a great sense of humor
7. She gives me money (very important quality)
8. The way she says Massachussetts
9. Late night talks on the back porch in Nauvoo
10. She answers EVERY time I call her (sometimes multiple times a day)
11. She accepts me for who I am
12. The way she used to say 13 & 14
13. She never cries (thanks dad for giving me that quality)
14. She lets me make fun of her
15. If there is a disaster I am going to her house because she is the preparedness guru
16. She lets me use her internet
17. Even though she made me move out, I can still visit whenever I want to
18. She cooks me dinner a couple of times a week
19. When I screw up on my diet she tells me I am a loser, but means it in the {best} way possible
20. SARCASM (a gene I inherited from my mother)
21. She is easy to talk to
22. She makes me happy when skies are gray
23. She acts genuinely interested when I tell her a story or a dilemma
24. She loves me
25. She sacrifices for me
26. She is my mother

Happy Mother's Day to the greatest mom ever! I love you!

{and to all you other mothers...I wish you the same}

Do Not Try This at Home

YOGA...pretty fun if you can hold {strange} positions for long periods of time...

What the...???

WHY do my published posts look nothing like the posts I write when I write them?

blasted blogger...

Exercise Schmexercise

Yep. That is pretty much how my face looked the whole time I was exercising last night. Why do people do this??!!

Here is a great story {with pictures} of my experience:

Hmm...which video should I do? How about a 4 mile walk? That can't be too hard...right?

As you can see by my face...I wanted to DIE!! Ok, so it really wasn't that hard...I just have a flair for the dramatic. But I did get a {little} sweaty.

I just want to point something out that makes me happy: had I done this workout about 6 months ago, my face would have been purple after working out. Now, it's just a little bit pinkish (my fav. color)!

So I guess I have proven the prove-able (yes, it's a word):

Exercise increases endorphins

Endorphins = happiness

{PURE HAPPINESS}

My life...or lack thereof

Sorry Nat to steal your blog title for my post title, but it pretty much sums up things these days.

POP QUIZ:

I was ____________ this weekend.

a. antisocial

b. lazy

c. P.M.S.-ish

d. in my own world

e. all of the above

Stay tuned at a later date for the answer. Now, onto other things. Just a quick update if you will. I got an e-mail from my dear friend Marcie and she asked me how things are going with my 21 day challenge/diet. Well, I did lose 6.5 lbs this week! But it's nothing to cheer about since I am still not down to my lowest weight (...and no, I will not mention how much I have gained in the past two months...). However, I have really only been {perfect} for a few days. I expect great things this week!

Thanks to my local library (and finding out that I do not owe any late fees) I have been checking out DVDs like crazy. Checked out this week are:

• 15 Minute Workouts for Dummies
• Beginning Yoga for Dummies
• Walk Away the Pounds: Fat Burning 4 mile walk
• Learn to Salsa Dance
• Learn to Salsa Dance (a different one...just in case)

I guess we'll see how they work. Wish me luck!!

{happy endorphin raising exercise fun}

i'm in love...

yes, it's true. but it's not the kind of love you are thinking. i am in love with arizona. why, you ask? let me fill you in:

six out of twelve months here are like heaven. that means:

*sunshine on my shoulder

*blue skies

*flip flops...all year round

*palm trees

*beautiful flowers

*the sound of sweet birds singing

*swimming

*hangin' in the jacuzzi

*being white (for fear of scorched skin...and cancer)

(please ignore my huge arms, whiteness, and back fat hanging out)

these are just a {few} of my favorite things...

...and then the other six months pretty much suck.
{here's to you, Arizona}

P.S. I gotta give a quick shout out to my girl Lindsey: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I really hope you have a great day. I miss you so much! Man, we are getting old...