I heart Utah!

Over the weekend I had so much fun!  I can't even tell you how many things I was able to do, but at the top of the list was Arches National Park.  I loved hiking to "Double O" Arch and seeing many other arches.  I did spray myself twice with sunblock, but still missed a spot on my neck and also burned on the back of my legs, which I didn't spray because I have never burned on my legs.  The weather was perfect in the 70's with a breeze the entire time.  There was a perfect mix of talking in the car, sleeping, singing, and peace.  Miguel's Baja Grill was also the best Mexican place I have ever been to!!!  You have to try it next time you are in Moab.  Now off to St. George later this week:) 

 

Baby Steps

Lately I haven't been so great with my eating habits and sporadic with my exercise.  One week I will exercise everyday the next 2-3 days etc...  Recently I decided I really need to change and watching a documentary really inspired me to get going.

The documentary is called "The Weight of the Nation."  It was about 4 hours long, but watching it in 4 different sessions helped.  If you want to watch the trailer or the whole thing you can here. 

I also found a great blog called Never Seconds which prompted me to take a picture of everything I eat for the next week (and maybe longer) so that I will be more aware of what I am eating.  I started doing that yesterday and it has helped immensely.  So wish me luck in my baby step program to improve my health!

Yes Please(:(:(:

Some things I am loving lately...

-Parents who are so helpful and kind.

-Priesthood leaders that step up to the plate, as in they do their home teaching, conduct, organize, and make decisions.  When you are single home teaching shouldn't be that hard.  When you are married you should be organizing/holding family prayer, scripture study, and FHE.   Two things that I absolutely love about guys is when they can make decisions (with the help of the Lord) and when they are in a suit:D
 
-Watermelon, it tastes so good right now!

-A new garden filled with squash, tomatoes, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, broccoli, radishes, herbs, onions, garlic, zucchini, peas, lettuce, spinach, currants, raspberries, potatoes, kale, cucumbers, beans, celery and I'm sure there is something I am forgetting.

-Pictures of my niece! Anytime, any day will make me grin!!!

-The show "Once Upon a Time."  I am sad I have to wait for the next season.

-Air condition

-When I have a lot to do at work so the day goes by quicker.

That's all folks:P Have a great day!!!

13 Rolls

This past weekend I was able to meet up with some friends for a birthday party.  We went to an all you can eat sushi place, which was good, but is not my cup of tea!  Don't get me wrong I love sushi, but I DON'T like all you can eat places.  I asked the waiter what the record was for how many rolls somebody ate.  He said one guy ate 30 rolls, yes rolls, not pieces!  So I figured between 4 girls we could eat that much...Nope!  We hit the wall at 13.  Afterwards we played games and talked.  My favorite part of the night was putting the baby to bed.  He is such a smiley guy and happy 99% of the time.  There is something I love about rocking a crying baby to sleep(:  Maybe I won't enjoy it as much when I have my own kids???  Love my friends!

On a side note I was also able to go out to eat at a new place this week with two dear friends from my ward.  I love both of them sooo much and look to one of them as a Christlike example in my life.  She is the epitome of humble!  I highly recommend La Jolla Groves in the Riverwoods.  Afterwards I had fun going to see the Secret Garden with my Mom for Mother's Day. 

Are we all not Mother's?

Happy Mother's Day!  I love this day because I am doubly blessed:)  I am lucky enough to have a Mom in Heaven and a Mom on Earth.  I am also blessed to have 3 wonderful Grandma's, whom I love so much.  I love the above Mormon Message about Mother's, but I am also reminded of the talk "Are we all not Mother's?" by Sheri Dew.  If you haven't read it or listened to it recently I highly recommend it. I have been lucky enough to have been in Singles Ward's that honor the single women as Mother's too.  I believe we influence all those around us and will all eventually be Mother's.  I also want to wish my friend's with kids and my Sister in laws a Happy Mother's Day.  They are all great Mom's and wives!  

Yum!

My new favorite snack from Pinterest!  The recipe they call for is to mix a small tub of nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt with two tbsp. peanut butter, 1/2 tbsp. honey, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.  I changed this up a little.  I did plain non-fat Greek yogurt (an individual serving), 2 T PB, 1 T Agave Syrup, and 1/2 t cinnamon.  It is soooooo good and any apple or other dipping thing works.

Missin Mom!

Latley I have been missin Mom again.  It's funny how little things remind me of her, but I just watch this movie or look at pictures everytime it gets hard (thanks Glen and Kandace for making it).  I still need to finish working on her journals and I think I am ready to get back to it.  In the mean time I will grin because I find myself becoming more and more like her, spacy and all, LOL!

Perfect Date at the Tulip Festival!

This past weekend I went on one of my favorite dates ever. We had been wanting to go to Thanksgiving Point to the Tulip Festival for a couple of weeks and finally made it the last day. You cannot even imagine how beautiful it was, but hopefully my pictures will give you a glimpse. Notice out of of all my pictures there are only 2 that are not flowers. Mark and I both think we are not photogenic people! The proof is in the pudding. One fun thing that isn't pictured is the golf cart we rode in. When we found out that there was 3 miles of trails we were worried about getting through the whole garden by closing time. So Mark splurged and rented a cart (as long as he is driving we are safe). It was well worth it because we made it through just in time and I am pretty sure we froze less since it was in the nippy 50's. Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed home for a movie. Pretty great night with a really great guy!

Love me some Iris!

You are about to be innundated with Tulips, lol!

I loved the pure white tulips (these are not them, but reminded me of a candy cane).

The only blue flowers I remember and I am gonna guess these are Forget-me-nots, but I'm not sure

Don't know how excited he was of me taking a picture of him taking a picture.

We just planted this is our front yard, but I can't remember the name.

One of my favorite parts...there were gardens within the garden and this was specifically the Secret Garden where we spotted this Momma.

I loved the daffodils equally

There I go again;)

Love the smell of hyacinth's!

They had an amazing scultpture exhibit called "Savior of the World." I took pictures of my favorites.

"I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation," haha. Really we were on top of the huge waterfall(s) with a great view.

Mark and I both liked these black tulips.

River of flowers going down the hill.

I think this is wisteria and I was surprised we didn't see more (maybe it's out of season or doesn't grow well in Utah).

I loved this yellow bush and need to find out the name.

Perfect dusk light even with my not-so-expensive camera.

They went on and on, probably near a million, I'm guessing.

Love streams and especially when there are flowers near it. Someday I want a stream or coy pond in my yard!

I would say this is one of my favorites.

Pointy tulips. I wonder how many varieties of tulip were there?

Wish this was my backyard!

In the children's garden, notice they planted pansy's, they are more durable (or likely to got stomped on by little feet;)

View of the children's area pond filled with fish.

This sign reminded me of my friend, Mikaela, who spent 4 hours telling kids to get off Noah's Ark (it is pretty cool, I would climb on it if I were a kid).

And last but not least, the not-so-photogenic Mindi!