i knew i was getting old.

... but when the girl I tutor didn't understand my Chris Farley tribute when studying El Nino, I knew I was seriously getting up there.

Here are some pics from my fab 28th birthday:

Jason took me on a surprise hot air balloon adventure!
Jason + hot air balloon = dreams come true

I just kinda wanted to stay home on my birthday this year (another sign of aging).
Jason made us some delicious salmon for dinner. YUM.

Then we made a delicioso strawberry shortcake cake, courtesy of the Pioneer Woman.
(Warning: this recipe is RIDICULOSO sweet. Even for my sugar-lovin' teeth.)

When The Pioneer Woman says to use a pan that is at least 2" deep, she means it.
We had a little extra donut of cake that fell off. But Jason ate it. YUM.

Happy Birthday to me!

28 for reals?

Thank you Leah Claire for the lovely necklace...
and all friends and family for your gifts and cards and calls.
You made my day extra-special happy.

July is jam-packed with fun: visits from family, family reunion, and a trip to Honduras. Oh, I can't wait. Not to mention (!) a nephew will be joining us sometime mid-month. How mucho exciting! I am way excited as I have been particularly lonely for family lately. Adjusting to life in Utah has been a bit tough on me as it seems that most folks who live in Utah also have immediate family who also lives here. I have some aunts and uncles here, but nobody close by that I could just pop in on. I find that the best friends I make here are folks who also don't have any family around... and in my new ward, so far that is nobody. Not to complain! I am feeling like we are fitting in well in our ward, and we are where we are supposed to be. I am just saying that sometimes I get pretty lonely around these parts. Maybe I should get a dog.

In other news, neither the USA nor Honduras made it in the World Cup, super big bummer. And this weekend is going to be a blast with a little mini-reunion of some folks I taught with at the MTC, and my sister and her husband coming to visit with their kids. I have the pool noodles and popsicles ready! Let's have a party!

i am from washington. i drive a subaru.

Well, technically, I only drive it when Jason has my car, but my old roommate Blair insisted that everyone she had ever met from Washington State either drove or wanted to drive a Subaru. She is right. Of course she is right! Subarus rule. Why wouldn't you want one? You can drive up any mountain anywhere and through snow and mud and to a lake and carry a canoe with it and also a bunch of other gear in back and also their lights turn on automatically when the car does. Case closed.

Here are some pics of my trip to WA in April for the Vancouver, BC temple dedication and general good times with fambly.

Papa and I in front of the temple. I have a cool dad.

My brothermen and I. I sure love these guys a lot.

My brother Steve took this more artistic-y photo. He's good at photos. And science.

EL TEMPLO DE DIOS. It is beautiful.

This is my parents' back yard.
(Finally I don't write "my" back yard anymore. I am all growed up, I guess.)

One of my favorite things about home is watching my brothers and dad
fight each other with pool noodles stuck onto bamboo poles.
Ah, the good times. Also whilst home I invented a version of
pool noodle clay pigeon shooting, which involved hurling a
bambooed pool noodle at a frisbee while it was airborne. I love home.

At deliiiiiiiiicious Chinese food with (L-R) Uncle Sandy, Aunt Bonnie,
my brother-in-law Ian, and my sweet mum (Jason's mama).

What a great trip. The dedication was moving, the cultural celebration was fabulous (good job Mom!) and it was so wonderful to see my family and Jason's family and to meet Bonnie and Sandy for the first time. I sure hit the jackpot in the family department, I tell you what.

Time for FHE! Today it involves guitars and spreadsheets, so Jason and I will both be pleased. :)

xoxo

in which i post some photos

I may be officially the worst blogger ever. I got this sweet new computer but I haven't been putting photos on it... finally decided TODAY I SHALL CHANGE MY WAYS. So I loaded a bunch of sweet photos on the ol' lappy, some of which I will tickle your fancies with now, and stay tuned for many future photo-laden posts. (I can almost feel your anticipation.)

Let us start at the very ending, shall we? Today I didn't have tutoring, so I was to spend the day studying. Instead, I decided to tackle the evil stack o' papers in the Spare Oom. These papers are my nemesis. I consider myself a fairly clean person, and usually attack clutter in the main rooms on an "un dia si, un dia no" (every other day) basis. However, Spare Oom is a land less navigated by both visitors and me, so the evil stack kept growing. Plus I think filing papers is my #1 Most Hated Task. (What's yours?) But I subscribe to this organizational email which encouraged me to tackle paper daily, and though I am no Leah Claire, I figured it was time to attack the demon.

THE DEMON:

A closer look: this is seriously several months of papers I need to file

So I was fairly motivated. I think I lasted all the way through Losing it with Jillian and partway through another show before my four year old brain got distracted by the sunshine outside and I decided it was time to soak in my daily vitamin D and repaint my toenails. (Do not you love this color? It is Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in "Orange You Cute?") I tried my fingernails as well, but, as usual, my impatience resulted in severe smudging. Gah. Curse my metal body! (5 points to whoever identifies the source of that quote.)


So here I am buried in the below jumble of papers. I have to go through about 2 years' worth of old papers and pull out what is now irrelevant, replace with new irrelevant papers, and shred like a million trees. Ugggghhh. Why can't everything be paperless? FILING IS MY ENEMY.

[Aside: Whilst I was constructing this post, I was summoned to an HOA meeting at our complex, during which I was voted secretary. That's what I get for answering the door. Heh.]

And now, signing off, your newly-committed-to-blogging-with-interesting-photos friend,

Laura