Daycation in Pineview, Utah

Last Friday Chris and I spent most our time at Pineview Reservoir. We swam, ate wonderful food, and did a lot of searching for Pokemon. I forgot to take pictures the second day we were there, with  jet ski and paddle boards, but here are the pictures I did take from our "daycation."

THE MAD MOOSE CAFE:

Happy Tuesday 8/4/15

Having a Happy Tuesday post on my blog instead of my Tumblr

Spending last week in Jackson Hole with my family

Life changes

My job

Pizza Hut

Going to the Martin Harris Pageant with my Young Women

Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The gift and power of prayer

Trying out new hairstyles

Going without makeup for a while

Watching Family Guy with Chris

Rearranging my bedroom

My bed

Jackson Hole Trip 2015

So any friends, family members, or long-time followers of this blog should know that my family takes a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming every summer. My family has been going every year since 2001 and as soon as it's over, I look forward to next year's trip. Last year I didn't get to go because Chris and I were living in San Antonio. It was the first time I had ever missed our yearly trip to Jackson, and it only made going this year more special.

Because my blog is so many things (lifestyle, writing, fashion, journal, etc.) I'm combining the many elements I use on this blog into one post to give an overview of this year's trip. I hope you enjoy this scrapbook-like post about my favorite place on earth.


Chris and I worked Friday so we drove up after work and arrived at the condo late Friday night. But the next morning we woke up and prepared for String Lake. String Lake is a beautiful small lake to canoe, paddleboard, or swim. It's rocky but it's a great place to hang out, and we go here every year.

So from left to right in the above picture we have my cousin Brandon, sister Michelle, cousin Ryan, brother Nick, me, and then Chris. This trip is a family thing. It's my grandma's condos that we stay in and my family and my Aunt Cherene's family goes. I realized I really didn't take many pictures this year, but we were joined also by my Aunt Cherene, Uncle Jeff, their oldest son Nate, his wife Kara, and their almost 2 year old Will, and then, of course, my parents and Grandma. It's a big group and it's the best. 

This was the first year I tried Paddleboarding. I didn't like standing up on it even though everyone else was saying I had good balance. The second day we went to String Lake I sat on the paddleboard and rode around by myself and it was super relaxing. I liked it a lot. 

(WIW; Swimsuit: Old Navy, Water Shoes: Sports Authority, Shorts: ?? Similar)

Sunday we went to a visitors sacrament meeting for church then got ready for the Phelps Lake hike. We didn't go around the whole lake, just went to it and back. But next year we want to explore the other hikes in that area, because it's beautiful. 

This hike was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm thinking it's mostly because of how out of shape I am. But it's honestly so beautiful and I had a good talk with my brother during the hike about dogs and what he wants to do for college and life. 

(WIW; Shirt: Walmart, Pants: Old Navy, Shoes: ???)

Sunday night we went to a figure eight race at the fair, which is one of my favorite things to attend. It's like a demolition derby but in a race. It's so much fun to watch! But also at the fair I got to see one of my most favorite things on earth... A HIGHLAND COW!!! If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you have already seen my excitement in seeing and petting such a beautiful animal. I honestly love cows and highland cows are the cutest of them all.

Monday we hiked hidden falls. If you go to Jackson this is probably the hike I recommend the most. It's a good steady hike without being too difficult, my grandma used to do this hike with us so it's a fairly easy one. It leads to one of the most beautiful waterfalls, which I'm obsessed with.

After the hike we drove to find buffalo and we found them.

After that we went to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum. It was cool and interesting. We also walked around the town with my brother. Downtown Jackson Hole is an amazing place. The stores are great, the sidewalks are wood, and everything has just a great feel to it. Of course, one of the best and most iconic places is the elk antler archways in the center of town square.

They also have a lot of benches with statues and Chris had a conversation with President Lincoln.

Tuesday we went white water rafting and it was AWESOME! I don't have any pictures because the only camera I had on the trip was my phone and taking my phone on the raft didn't sound like a great idea. It was freezing that day though and I was cold the rest of the day from getting soaked near the front of the raft. Chris fell out during some minor rapids and he just laughed it off and we helped him back it. It was such a fun rafting trip.

Later Tuesday we rode the gondola up the Tetons to The Deck restaurant. They have such good fries and we tried these battered vegetables with sauce and they were delicious! I also had hot chocolate because up on the mountain it was freezing.

(WIW; Jacket: Kohls, Shoes: K-Mart, Pants: ???, HEY! So if you're ever wondering where Chris gets his clothes, just leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer. I'm also considering having him join me for a few fashion posts just to get more variety on my blog, let me know what you think of that idea!)

Wednesday we went back to String Lake. I don't have pictures for that day. My cousin Ryan and I swam basically across the lake and back and I woke up the next morning completely sore. It was such a good workout for me! Chris didn't join us that day and went fishing instead, but he didn't catch anything.

Thursday we hung out around town most the day. Later in the day my mom, sister, and I went on a bike ride. It had been like five years since I'd ridden my bike and people lie, you can forget how to ride a bike. But I didn't crash or anything and I did just fine, but it was a workout because it had been so long and my bike seat it ridiculously hard so sitting hasn't been fun for me. That night we went out to a Mexican place called El Abuelito, and it was delicious.

Even later that night we played One Night Ultimate Werewolf , which we had been playing every night of the trip. That night we played outside in the condo's gazebo with glowsticks and eating Crayola's version of Pixie-Sticks. That game is awesome and if you've never played it, you should. Chris and I are going to invest and buy it ourselves because it really is so much fun and you need to have a different strategy every single game.

And that leads us to today, where Chris and I drove back to Logan stopping at the Oregon Trail Museum in Montpelier.

This was such a fun trip this year and I'm going to miss being there and getting back into a regular routine. If you haven't been to Jackson Hole, I hope this gives you an idea of how much there is to do there. I honestly suggest this as a vacation spot for anyone who loves the outdoors. There is literally so much to do there and I love everything about that place!

What trips have you been on this summer and where's your favorite vacation spot? Let me know in the comments below! 

Welcome to September!!! (and August in Review)

Welcome to September everyone!

I always like September. It's when (in Utah) we can pull out our boots and scarves. I can wear jeans and not be sweating like crazy. Things cool down. People get too excited about Halloween coming up. The leaves begin to change colors. It's the first full month of school. The weather is perfect. My brother turns 18 (actually, I don't want to think about that, he's way too young to be turning 18). September is a beautiful month and I am so excited for it!

I set the bar incredibly high for myself last month by writing 42 blog posts... 42 in 31 days? Crazy! And while I would love so badly to beat that number this month, I'm almost positive I can't, because I'm focusing a lot on school. So if I seem MIA for the next... four years... it's because I'm being a good student.

So this is also my August Review post (with pictures!!!) and I'm just going to talk about all the crazy things that happened to us this August. 

So end of July/beginning of August we were in Jackson Hole! My family goes there every year and it was so great to have my husband come with me this time! We visited Yellowstone and Old Faithful, like in the picture above, and just had a fantastic time there! I absolutely love going to Jackson!! 

So this is a picture of the inside of a car (and it was taken in July, but works for these purposes). Chris's car broke down this month. It was awful. However because of that, Chris's parent's brought up a spare car for us to use, and now that Chris's car is fixed, we have two cars! Which is really nice. The spare one is for Chris's brother, but he's on a mission till November so he doesn't really need it right now. 

We both got Pell Grants this year from the government to help pay for our school! I was super excited! Even though they still messed things up and dropped my classes and I still had to pay money, getting that money was exactly what we needed. 

This month I started a goal to read one book every month, which is also my new Book Club. I'm pretty sure no one has joined my book club yet, but that's okay. I know that it'll be a little rough in the first few months, and I'm fine with that. For September we'll be reading Beautiful Creatures. So if you want a goal to read a book a month, you can join my book club, it's absolutely no commitment. And please leave comments of book suggestions! Thanks! 

I first discovered this trailer in the month of August, and that's why it's in this post. This commercial honest gives me chills and makes me smile. I can't explain it. Bravo on making an awesome trailer! I'm super excited to see this movie! This movie is based off of a short story by James Thurber and I hope to read it before the movie comes out. But we'll see. Maybe I'll add it to my book club. 

I became a crossing guard this past month. Ha ha. It makes me feel old or something. Anyways, I'm just an alternate, so when the other guards are sick or on vacations they call me up. I've only done it once since school started (besides my training) so it's not steady income. But I get paid $2 more there than at my regular job, so doing it every now and then is fun. Plus I get to talk to little kids, which is always fun. 

I also got my janitor job back at the student center. It's not exactly what I wanted to do, but I absolutely love my boss and the kid I'm partnered with, Todd, we're real good friends. It's a fun job and I'm actually really good at it. It's just sometimes, we find nasty things in the bathrooms as we're cleaning them, and I'm not too fond of that part of the job. But it proves that I work hard to get my money. 

My best friend got married this month! I'm so happy for her and I loved spending the day with her! She looked so beautiful and so happy the whole day! CONGRATULATIONS LAUREN AND TREVOR!! 

For Lauren and Trevor's wedding gift I made them these mugs! I was super proud of myself! If you would like to know how I made these mugs, leave a comment below! It's super easy, but I'd love to make a tutorial for you if you want one. 

This mountain near our home caught on fire! My camera did a fantastic job with this picture... I'm amazed. (PS, these pictures are not necessarily in order)

But for me, the biggest thing about this month was that I started college again, after taking a year off of school. I had a fantastic first week and although I have tons of reading homework already, I'm so excited for this semester! I'm just so happy to be back in school (even though I have no idea what my major should be anymore, help me!!). 

Well this is my August Review post! I hope you enjoyed it! August was a crazy month for me and I had a major breakdown in the middle, but it ended perfectly (with my dad's birthday!) and I loved it! I'm super excited for September (and my brother's birthday!) and to continue on with this semester, but keep in mind I am a full time student and a part-time custodian so if I don't post a lot it's because I'm either doing homework or catching up on sleep. Please forgive me. 

Thanks for reading!! 

Jackson Hole Trip 2013

This year was my favorite Jackson Hole trip ever!!! I've been going every year to my grandparent's condo since I was maybe eight, but this year was my favorite. I'm thinking it's because it was Chris's first year there, so I got to introduce my new husband to all the fun my family has up there.

So I took over 600 pictures in Jackson this year, but here are some (okay a lot) of my favorite ones.

Riding the mini train at the fair.

My sister riding on a buffalo. 

Figure Eight races (my favorite!!!)

Playing Apples to Apples while driving through Yellowstone.

Yellowstone!!

Old Faithful

The hot pots, my favorite things in Yellowstone! 

This geyser never stopped!

The "gang".

I like this one because we got my brother, mom and grandma in the background. 

It was pouring rain and at first we all thought the buffalo hanging out by the bathrooms was fake, but once we realized that it was real, my husband and brother were so excited to go up to him.