7 years

I really can NOT believe it's been 7 years! Sometimes I still go to call her when I have something really exciting or even sad I need to tell someone. Then there are days where it seems she has been gone for 20 years....either way I miss her the same.
Things are definitely different with out her fun personality and beautiful smile around but it really does make it so motivating to want to live my life in a way that I can be worthy enough to be with her again.
We have made it a tradition that we go to her grave every Nov 9th and we all talk about memories of her and then let go white balloons like we did at her funeral. Then afterwards we hit up Leatherbys:)) I'm so glad we have done this every year and kept it up. I have the coolest family and am so proud of how everyone as pulled together and grown together instead of apart.
I know she is so aware of everything that goes on and I feel SO ridiculously blessed that I have such an amazing mom that left such a legacy. I think about you everyday mom. Love you!

Girls Trip 10' ~San Fran~

One of the biggest reasons fall is my FAVORITE time of year is because it means it time for our annual girls trip! Jami and I have been doing this for the passed 6 years or so. Sometimes we have a bigger group but this year we were the only 2 that were able to swing it. Brooke is usually there and wasn't this year so we really missed her!!
We went to San Francisco this year. I will have to say that the first day we arrived there we were scared out of our MINDS and wanted to turn that train right back around and go the helllll home!! Hahah... that was due to the fact that we booked our hotel in the WORST part of town that we could have possibly chosen. Neither one of us were familiar with San Fran so we plead ignorance. We just had no idea what we were doing. By the second we figured out that we could jump on any bus or trolley and just a mile away we were safe and it turned into an amazing city. Jami actually took note of all the crazy weird things that happened to us so for further detail hit up her blog. ha
We were able to do a ton in just 5 days. We went to the Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Union Square, Alcatraz(my personal fav), China Town, Lunbard Street, and we were able to go to the Broadway show "West Side Story"... I think that's it. Goll we walked a lot. We shopped a ton and freakin ate and ate and ate. That's the best part of vacation anyways right??;)
I definitely would love to go back there but I will never stay in the Civic Center again. So if any of you are headed to San Fran stay near the Wharf!!
Such a freakin fun trip and I am so grateful for Jami, the sis I never had. It's pretty funny, we got asked if we were twins at least 3 times a day. I don't see it but it's a huge compliment so I'll take it:) I feel so spoiled that we've been able to do this every year and look forward to many more to come!

Halloween

Poor Willis. haha
Jake and I went to my little family party as a couple. He made the most disgusting chick ever!..and I'm a pretty hot guy. Sick
We always do kind of a theme at my salon every year for Halloween. This year we were all famous Rock Stars. I'm Madonna.
The Kitties
I'm a pillow fight here. Everyone kept asking if I had gotten in a fight with a chicken. Could I make a pillow fight ANY clearer?? haha
I feel wayyy too old to be dressing up as much and hitting as many Halloween parties as I did this year.. haha. I think all together I whipped out 4 costumes. May I add that I didn't even go out and buy ONE! Talk about conjuring up last minute costumes.
I seriously love the fall and everything that has to do with it. The fall leaves, the cool air, Halloween, it means CHRISTMAS is coming! Eeeeeeh.

Powell

I truly think I would rather go to Powell than any other place on this Earth. I love it and my fondest memories take place there.
This year we had kind of a small group. Dad, Sammy, Kim, Chad, Danny, Jake and I. Everyone else either couldn't get work off or had prior engagements and though it was a BLAST it definitely wasn't the same without them.
Powell is an annual trip and something we have done before I can even remember. We had an awesome camp spot this year and the weather was AWESOME. There was one day where it just down poured but for the most part it was warm during the day and it would cool off to around 64 degrees at night.
We did some hiking, a ton of swimming, wake skating and of course cliff jumping(my brother Jake is a nut job when it comes to that).
I'm so grateful Sam and my dad are so willing to still take us all down there. I know it's a ton of work but truly it's the best place on Earth!!!

Hawaii

Seriously SUCH a fun trip!! This was my first time to Oahu' and I loved every second of it. I felt so honored to have these darling girls ask me to chaperon them on their senior trip. Pretty sure by the end of the trip they were fa-reakin super sick of me running them around 14 hours a day! ha
We stayed right on Waikiki beach and there was tons of fun restaurants and fun shopping all around us. I'm pretty sure we did just about everything there is to do on Oahu'... just to name a few; Went to the Polynesian Culture Center where we spent the entire day there seeing all the fun little shows, dances and cultures. Went to a Luau' that night where we ate authentic Hawaiian food, mmmmmm. Later on we saw the big show they put on which was amazing! While we were in that area we were able to go see the Honolulu temple and the BYU grounds. Wow, what a beautiful temple. My grandparents served a mission there so it was fun to see where exactly they served.
We were able to visit Pearl Harbor for a little bit. I loved it and found it so touching to see where so many sacrificed their lives fighting for us. Pretty sacred actually. Right after Pearl Harbor we went to the Swap Meet where I'm sure we shopped for 5 or 6 HOURS and I highly doubt we covered even half of it... CRAZY.
My favorite day was when we went to Hanauma Bay. It' is GORGEOUS there. The most crystal clear blue water you have ever seen. We snorkeled there and saw so many cool fish.
One day we rented a car and went all the way to the North Shore. If I were to visit Oahu' again I think that's where I'd spend most my time. It's much more laid back and is a MILLION times prettier in my opinion than Waikiki beach. Oh and I have to add that we stopped at the DOLE factory on the way to the North Shore and got Pineapple ice cream. Mmmmmm, good stuff.
My moms brother Casey lives right there on Waikiki Beach with his darling wife Najet. They were so sweet and had me over for dinner one night. As good as the food is in Hawaii I'm pretty sure the salmon dinner Najet made was like THEEE best thing that's ever happened to me!! They were so sweet to have me over and I'm grateful I got to spend a little bit of time with them.
Usually when I go on vacation I'm just as ready to come home and sleep in my own bed once the trip is almost over. This time that really wasn't the case. I could have stayed there another week for sure! These girls were so much fun and they were so cute to have me come. Love you girls!!

Ragnar/ Wasatch Back

Well this was quite the experience to say the least! I had a buddy call me about 6 days before hand because they needed a couple more people to complete the team. Needless to say I wasn't prepared or as ready as I could have been. I've done a couple 1/2 marathons within the last year and this Ragnar relay was hands down much harder! As hard and physically demanding as it was to run on and off for a solid 28 hours with literally zero sleep and being sick to my stomach the whole time from eating WAY too much watermelon, haha, you can bet your ass I will do this again next year. It's awesome and so much fun. Such a sense of accomplishment and weirdly enough I almost like the pressure it brings to be a part of a team that you are responsible for. It definitely pushes you! The race is a total of 188 miles. It stretches all the way from Logan to Park City and there are some ridiculously hard hills to climb. I wanted to cry for some of the people on my team and the mountains they had to feat.
I'm grateful for experiences like this. It makes you realize that even though something is really hard and you want to quit at times because you almost just can't take the burn or heat anymore... it's more than worth it when you cross that finish line. I kinda relate it to the gospel a little bit.
A year ago I would have NEVER thought I'd be any kind of runner. Kind of fun to find new hobbies. I think the next crazy thing I'll do will be a Triathlon. Now just to learn how to swim without doggy paddling;)

"LiLash"

This stuff is CRAZY!!! Lilash is an eyelash stimulator. It's like a clear liquid eye liner that you put on every night before you go to bed and in six weeks, "Wah-Lah". It is seriously the weirdest thing. I have had to even TRIM my eyelashes a couple times. Freaks me out! Oh and the best thing is that it's safe.. FDA approved. I now sell it so if you're interested let me know!! What I would really appreciate is an economy size for my head... how awesome would that be! ha

Don't mind that I look like a horse in this pic. A horse with super long eyelashes. haha