emily weekend

Once or twice a year, my little sister, Emily, comes and stay with us for a couple days at a time and when she does we like to call it "Emily Week or Weekend".  It earns a title because when she comes, our time is packed full of doing as much as we possible can while she is here.  She thrives on things that are new and exciting so we end up doing things that normally we wouldn't do.

When she first got here, Preston was out of town so we had a sleepover in the front room.  I am a bit of a wuss when he is gone so I decided we sleep in the same room partly because I was scared and partly because I thought it would be fun. :) We chatted and watched movies until we couldn't stay awake any longer.  If it were up to her, I think she'd stay up the whole night talking and laughing.  The girl never runs out of things to talk about.

I had to work the first day she was there so I dropped her off at Creativity Art Studio for a couple of hours until I got off.  I told her she had plenty of time before I came back and that she should take her time on her project.  Well, she disregarded that comment and took that as an opportunity to do as many projects as she possibly could before I came back.  When I went to pick her up, I found that she had made not one, but FIVE projects!!  If you have ever been to a studio like this, you will know that their projects are not super cheap so needless to say, she had quite the large bill.  She makes her own money and was able to pay for it so it wasn't a big deal but it certainly gave us a good laugh!  She was pretty proud of herself.

Emily is the biggest fan of spaghetti probably EVER so I decided to make one of Preston and I's favorite spaghetti dishes: Spinach & Garlic Butter Spaghetti! So yummy!  Emily is used to spaghetti with marinara but this one was a hit for her! She loved it.  We spent the rest of the night drinking milkshakes and watching movies again.

On Saturday, we slept in, hit the Provo Rec Center for our workout and then headed to the Provo Farmer's Market.  It was my first time going to it and I was very impressed!  So many talented people selling their crafts and homemade goods.  I absolutely love the atmosphere of a good farmer's market. :)

The rest of the day was spent at Seven Peaks.  Nothing better than enjoying the summer sun and Emily's zest for life and having fun makes everything that much better.

Sunday was pretty low key.  We attended our church meetings where Emily helped me teach my Primary lesson.  We took a little tour of downtown Provo so Emily could see the new City Center Temple being built.  That temple still continues to amaze me.  It is currently up on stilts right now and they have dug a GINORMOUS hole underneath and around it.  It is really intriguing to watch the construction.  We just can't wait until it is done!

^^Her face the majority of the time.  Always so happy!^^ 

It is always a treat to have Emily come and stay and we always thoroughly enjoy having her around.  Thanks for coming, Em! Can't wait to have you again soon!! :)

family time

Family time is the the best time, in my opinion.

Last weekend we rented The Avengers and decided to watch it and have a sleepover in our front room. It was so much fun! We both ended up falling asleep half way through and it was perfect because we didn't have to wake up and go to bed - we could just keep sleeping! So much fun! I plan on doing it again. :)

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I also went on a bit of a crafting spree last weekend. For some crazy reason I woke up at 630 on a saturday morning and couldn't fall back asleep! 

I gave up trying and got right to crafting. I might be crazy ;)

Burlap Fall Wreath

Polka Dot Pennant Banner :)

This is our "Thankful Banner" thanks to pinterest :) I love it so much! Each day we right a little something we are thankful for. 

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On Friday my cousin Brendan was married in the Bountiful temple. He and his wife Lexi are so cute! They are very much in love :) 

It was so snowy on their wedding day and some of us forgot to bring an umbrella so we had to use our scarfs to try and protect our hair :) Love my sissys! I got to see all of them this weekend!! :)

In between the luncheon and the reception, we went and checked out Sheels, the new sporting goods store. The Hubby loved it! And I didn't mind it either. :)

Riding the Ferris Wheel at Sheels :)

Some of my cute nieces! :)

I finally got to hold this little bug this weekend!!! :) He is an absolute doll.

Beckham Mathew, my newest nephew :)

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On Saturday we woke up to a winter wonderland!!!! Some little doggie loves the snow....

We took a drive up to Sundance with my parents and Emily to check out the deals they were having on ski gear. We found some steals :)

Anyone else think my husband looks a little bit like my dad? Notice their hats, fleece jackets....

They even walk the same! It was cracking us up! 

Cute sissy:)

My parents hadn't seen much of City Creek so we headed up there for the rest of the day. It started to snow again as soon as we got there! I love this time of year! 

I have the cutest hubby :)

We ended the day with that delectable caramel up there. Perfect ending to a perfect weekend with some of the ones we love :)

Hello college graduate!

I cannot even begin to describe what a relief it is to be done with college. Can I start by saying that it flew by?!? MAN! I thought high school went by in the blink of an eye until college came along. I can't say I'm disappointed with how fast it went.

Where's Waldo?? (aka Syd)

I do, however, wish that I would have taken more advantage of my education and enjoyed each and every class. Most of the time it felt like I was just sitting in class counting down the days until I could be done.

But why didn't I just realize sooner that if I'm going to be taking these classes, I might as well enjoy them and see what all I can learn! But I didn't. There were numerous classes that I absolutely hated and that I totally took for granted. 

But don't get me wrong. Overall, I loved my experience at Brigham Young University. Members of the church and nonmembers of the Church alike both dislike and have their negative comments to make about this institution. But from personal experience, I think it is one of the finest institutions around. 

Yeah we have to sign the honor code. But how bad is that really? I mean all that that really means is that we agree to be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, obey the law and all campus policies, use clean language, respect others, abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse, participate in church services regularly, observe the dress and grooming standards, and last of all, encourage others in their commitment to comply with the honor code. Really, not that bad. 

Especially if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you're not, then I can understand it would be a little more difficult because you are not used to living your life in that way. 

But members and nonmembers alike - I would encourage anyone to go there. You get such a great education and are surrounded by so many wonderful people. 

Everyone out celebrating over dinner the night of graduation. 

As I participated in the graduation exercises for BYU I just sat there and thought about how incredible it is to have received such a wonderful education. I saw many individuals receiving their masters and doctorates and thought to myself how neat it would be to achieve something like that. Who knows, maybe I will!  

I have my parents to thank for college education. Without them I would have never made it as far as I did. They are literally the reasons why I now have earned my Bachelor's Degree.

And of course my sweet husband. I was able to experience my senior year at BYU being married. I wish I could have been married all four years because I got the best grades my senior year than any other year!! WOO WOO! 

I feel so blessed to have so many people that love and support me. My cousin Sarah and I graduated together and we had quite the cheering section. It was so special to have all of my loved ones there. 

I will forever remember the things that I learned at Brigham Young University. Even though like most, I didn't take full advantage of every single class, I learned some very valuable things from some incredible professors that I will forever cherish. 

Education is truly a great thing and I hope I can continue learning everyday even though I have left that wonderful campus.