Lake Powell, Napa Ragnar, and Palm Springs Girls Weekend!

So this semester I may actually die. It has by far been the busiest few months of my life. I am doing 2 internships, taking 9 credits (6 is full-time for grad students), and nannying 1 day a week. Plus for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to have something going on EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND. This is the first weekend I have been home and I am literally still in my Pj's from this morning. I haven't left the house and I kind of love it!

I do feel like I need to do a little catch-up...


In August we went to Lake Powell as a family. EVERYONE was there. I don't think we had all been together for 2 years. The kids had a blast playing together, we ate delicious food, talked, waterskiied, and did all the amazing things you do at lake powell. I love our family lake powell trips! This year was special because Nick turned 8 while we were there. He was able to baptized in the lake. It was such a neat experience and the spirit was so strong. I am so proud of him! Of course I didn't take any pictures because I was having too much fun! :)

After Lake Powell I came back to LA and started school and this crazy semester!




The 2nd weekend in September I had a chance to run another Ragnar! I don't know why I love these so much but I do. They are perfect mix of torture and fun! My last leg was super brutal: 8 miles, middle of the day, long highway, and HOT. Other vans kepy trying to give me water, I guess I looked like I was going to die. Nope, that's just how I look when I run! ha ha! Once again... I love my single Ladies!




One of my dearest friends Rosey decided to get married and her wonderful Fiance put all of her favorite girls up in a condo for conference weekend. We had a great time in Palm Springs! The resort had a lazy river and I pretty much spent all my time in there. It was so great! I love my San Diego friends!

I think that is enough catch up! But I will hopefully post the rest before Christmas :)

Waterskiing

I had another great summer of waterskiing. I had about 8 sessions with the NAC while I was in Utah and even made a special trip back to try some more. The first several times were frustrating and COLD but after I flew back in August I was able to get out of the water and actually stand up. The last day I stood up and STAYED UP.... it was AMAZING. Now that I can do it off the boom-bar I hope to master deep water skiing... next summer!

This is Erica, she was always in the water with me. She is amazing and pretty much my new best friend. She has the patience of a saint and is so positive.


This is the amazing Kristen who is director of the ski program and drove the boat throughout the sessions!



I had plenty of support throughout the summer. Jess was a champ and came with both kids. My mom and meg also came different times. But of course the time I got up and stayed up, no one was there!

Summer Roommate

So once I got back from Utah the 2nd time I decided I needed to be a good student and hunker down (yes I just said that)! So I had to adjust to summer school and my new Roommate!!!

Remember this girl?

This is Carin. My roommate. My AMAZING roommate. We are 2 peas in a pod. Okay not really but we get along really really well. Well she jumped ship for the summer and traveled everywhere: Europe, San Diego, Utah, San Francisco, San Diego again, New York, San Fran... again and now she is saving the world in Uganda for 3 more weeks. I have a paper chain going around my room counting down the days. Not True, but I am thinking of making one. I miss her. She gets me.

But... because I am a nice and understanding roommate I let her sub-let her room so she can save $$$. Enter Hazel.



Hazel is a BYU student from Hong Kong. She is an animator and had an internship at Sony this summer. We got a long fine. She was very nice and I had fun showing her around LA (she didn't have car). I took her to her FIRST and LAST dodger game (she HATED it! ) and we went to the beach and to a food festival by our apartment. Because she worked at Sony we were able to go to some screenings of some new movies like Zoo Keeper and we got to see Smurfs before it came out. (I actually loved that movie and thought it was really cute)


She loved LA and Trader Joe's (Sorry Utah!) She hopes to move here when she graduates in April. Even though we had a good time there were definite cultural differences that I wasn't expecting (I expected some but not others) and that made the experience hard. But it was only 8 weeks and Carin will be back soon. Hallelujah!

4th of July and Kenny Chesney

So I went BACK to Utah 8 days after I got back in June. I had to start school and be responsible but I couldn't miss the 4th of July in Utah and most importantly Kenny Chesney because in case you forgot, I love him.

Meg and Chris and their kids came up for the 4th and we had a great time doing all the normal AMAZING 4th of July things you do in Utah County. We watched the jets fly over before the stadium of fire and then the fireworks after, we went to the parade and had a BBQ and we also went to the Bees game on the night of the 4th. Usually Bees games are kinda slow but this won was so exciting! The bees were ahead by like 8 and they almost lost because the other team hit a grand slam! So exciting! But of course I didn't get any pictures of these events... I am the worst!

But.... I did take pictures at Kenny Chesney!

The concert was at USANA, my favorite place to see him. We had great seats and Kenny was AMAZING as usual. It was so fun to go with Shellie and her family. We always have a great time!






I am trying to get caught up on blogging, bare with me!

Utah Trip- June

So I have been to Utah in May, June, July and I am going back in August. (and I wonder why I feel like I have no money)

Anyway, when I went in June is so great! I just hung out with Jessica a lot and played with Penny and Graham. I totally fell in love with that sweet baby and it is so hard not to see her!






The main reason I was there was because one of my Best Friends got married. It was a beautiful wedding and Liz looked stunning! I am so happy for Liz and Dan!



I will blog about the 4th of July later, because that deserves its own post!

Delaware

After 3 WONDERFUL days in NYC I took a train to Delaware. The west coast needs more trains.

I always love visiting Brett and Jill and their kids. I wish I could see them more often. It was fine to finally slow down and relax after such a crazy few weeks.

The first night we drove down to the boat and had dinner and went swimming in the Chesapeake Bay. It is so pretty out there and it was perfect weather.


The highlight of the trip was going to a Phillies Game! I love baseball but I really love EXCITING baseball! Brett has great seats so we were really close to Home Plate. They played the dodgers, who aren't very good. So there were lots of runs.

Thanks Brett and Jill for such a fun time!

New York!

I am never going to get caught up on my blogging if I don't finish blogging about my summer vacations!

After I went to Duck Beach I drove up the coast in a car with 5 strangers for 9 hrs! It was very very very long! But I finally made it to NYC!

The first day I was there Mallori had to work so I was on my own...

I decided to go to Statton Island because there are pretty views of the city there.




There is a cool 9/11 memorial over there and when I got there the Fire Department was there looking at it. It was cool to see them there remembering their friends they had lost.





When I got off the Ferry in NYC I just walked around. I found the Trinity Church and Ground Zero. There still isn't a lot there which is sad after almost 10 years. But the plans look really cool for what they want to do.


The rest of the day I spent in Bryant Park, which is now my favorite park. It is Small and there are tables and chairs throughout with grass in the middle. I spent a few hours there and could have spent a lot longer.

Then I met Mallor and we went to Queens and went to a Mets game. I love Baseball so this was awesome!




The next day we went to the bronx zoo. This was the hottest day ever! We seriously almost died. The heat + humidity could have killed us.



That night after we had cooled off we went to see the play Cast Me if You Can. It was fun to see it but the songs weren't as catchy and the acting was just ok, but I am still glad we went.


The next Day my friend Ashley, who works for Delta and flys for free, came and hung out with me!
We walked A LOT and just saw the sights. We went Bouchon Bakery, which is so yummy. Carin loves it and has brought me stuff from there so it was fun that I got to go there in person.


Then we spent like 10hrs in Chinatown. Ashley bought so much stuff and I just bought some purses and a "Tiffany" ring. I love chinatown!

Then we met Mallori for a yummy italian dinner and then we went back to Mallori's apartment because we were so tired and I had to wake up early to catch the train to Delaware!

It was such a fun trip and I love NYC! I really feel like it would be fun to live there for a year after I graduate... Just what my mother wants to hear!!!