Chicago Day 1

About 3 months ago my friend Ryan and I were chatting about school ending for him and things changing so I came up with a brilliant plan to do one last vacation with my 2 guy friends that were graduating together from school. So I called up Dave and threw the idea to him. He was, of course, down! But where to go was the huge question.

Hawaii and Alaska were on the list but Dave and Ryan's schedule were completely different and we couldn't take that much time off.

So Yosemite is what we had decided and the planning had started.

I had talked to my Dad who recently went. Got some tips and did my research. I was all gung ho until I looked and the price of everything. It was uber expensive, even if we did decide to camp. So after much talk with the boys we decided to scratch Yosemite.

So back to the drawing board.

Seattle?

Vancouver?

Chicago?

After A LOT of research we settled on Chicago

We invited our good and dear friend Tori to come along to complete the vacation.

So happy she could join us.  

Chicago was so much fun and ah-mazing!

I love the big cities and I have been to 3 of them so I needed to add Chicago to the list.

So let the trip begin!

We all met in Denver for our layover to Chicago.

Catching up and picking up right where we all left off.

That's what I love about this particular friendship that we have all developed.

Soon to be graduates
Ryan & Dave

Reunited :D

Tori & Yours Truly

The only thing we decided to this day was the Taste of Chicago

We were very lucky that this was happening the time we were there.

Basically it's a food festival of the restaurants in Chicago.

You buy tickets and walk around to the all the vendors and try sample size portions of their hot menu items. It was all so tasty and filling. We definitely ate good that afternoon.

They also had a free concert there. The day we were there was Death Cab for Cutie.

It was hot this day but nothing that we Arizonans couldn't handle.

Next to the festival was the Buckingham Fountain. Huge fountain that was really pretty so we took some pictures and enjoyed the beautiful city. I was already in love and didn't want to come home.

Some of our tasty samples

This was the crowd

Us in front of the fountain



Free concert? Yes please :)



Here is a collage that Dave made of this day
He now has way too much time on his hands

Afterwards we headed up north to stay with some family friends of mine. They were very generous and let us sleep at their house. It was great to see the Eagar's again and to play catch up. But it was late and we needed to get some sleep cause day 2 was going to be fun/busy.

Gratitude Rocks!!!

- having friends that have a certain hope for my future, seeing two of my best friends graduate, prayer, getting to know and remember people in my ward, my new favorite breakfast (granola, frozen blueberries and coconut milk) YUMMY! 



Holla! Moment

I have been a little gone from here and for those that care, I am sorry.

A lot has happened around here.

But then again not really.

I am in the same house, same job, same car, same amazing life.

Just a few things have changed.

As you know, I was booted from the singles ward

for being too awesome :)

and have been in the family ward for 2 months now.

Let me tell you, this ward doesn't waste any time.

I already have a calling (for 1 month now) and I already spoke in church.

My calling....RS Secretary!

For someone who doesn't know anyone in the ward, this calling intimidates me.

But I am working with an amazing presidency and I am praying a lot that I will learn everyone in the ward.

Speaking in church definitely helped with that.

Not the way I wanted to approach the trial but hey, it works I guess.

Let me tell you about the talk.

Nerves were present, tears were almost present, even embarrasment was persent.

I was asked to speak on forgiving others.

Not so bad, in fact I learned a lot...what I needed.

Anyways, this was only my 2nd time speaking since high school.

I have mad skills dodging the infamous "we would like you to speak in sacrament" line.

When I get nervous, I tend to cry.

My amazing friends quickly stop me from doing that and I was good to go.

Until...I saw the Stake Presidency on the stand.

Great!!!!

Sitting next to the Stake President wasn't nerve racking at all.

Nope not one bit!

Because of my nerves I said "Holla!" over the pulpit.

And I am pretty sure that I even did the 'raise the roof' hand gesture.

Red face emerges and I want to crawl under a rock!

But people loved it!

I met so many people afterwards, it was great!

Now trying to remember their names is another thing, I am so much better with faces.

I've got the faith :)

On to some fun stuff.

So far the summer has been kinda relaxing.

Hanging out with friends is something that I love to do and I couldn't be happier.

My amazing friend Mary Ann had a birthday and she wanted to have a cake fight.

So that's what we did.

Each of us had to bring a cake and we just went at it.

I wore a one piece swimsuit cause I didn't want anyone to put it down my crack.

My lovely friends would do that BTW.

We clean off with a hose, go swimming and then change to watch a movie.

Changing was awesome.

Cake all over my stomach! It was pretty disgusting.

Don't know how that happened...oh well.

(and yes I just shared that little tidbit)

Here are some pictures

This was taken when we went karoking

I am getting ready to leave for Chicago in 2 weeks!

I am ready to leave here for a couple of days

Even if it is to humid weather

If any of you have tips, restaurants to try, things to do about

 Chicago let me know. We have a list right now but will happy to take any information you have, as none of us have been there before.

I promise to try to be better about updating this.

Love to you all!

Gratitude Rocks!!

- instagram, the air conditioner, Sunny Mesa Ward Relief Society, finishing my talk, coconut milk, the Eagar's, a good laugh when it's much needed

Lately (in photos)

I have been a little MIA on here.

Sorry folks.

I have just been having so much fun!

I decided to update you all with pictures of what I have been doing.

Biking riding with dear friends

Hanging out with these lovely ladies
Emily, Mern and Yours Truly

Making homemade mozzarella sticks

My last activity with this ward
Yes, I finally got booted from the single ward
Very sad day but I actually like my new family ward

If you have followed me on Instagram you may have seen these
I learned how to french braid

Celebrated a friends bday in stretch limo

Being hanging out with this handsome fellow

Doing this insane workout with my friend Kristen
FYI, this is kicking my butt!

More bike riding :)

Playing ridiculous kids games on Friday nights

I have been craving chocolate lately so I do what I can to conquer that craving

A birthday dinner for a friend in this beautiful setting

And last but not least, I have been scorpion hunting
My Dad would be so proud

So that is it.

Granted there are more details

and definitely some very lows lately but things are looking up.

Looking up so much that everything is falling into place so nicely.

Blessing have been pouring in and I couldn't be more grateful!

Gratitude Rocks!!!

- answered prayers, finding a treasure from Grandma Bingham, Eden Park Singles Ward, Arizona State Credit Union, free air at QT, chocolate, very understanding friends and family (I LOVE YOU ALL!!)



Crazy Puzzle Lady

Christmas comes and I decided to buy some puzzles to do with the family while we were spending time together.

Little did I know that I would unleash a monster!

I was obsessed!

I was kind of like a cat lady but with puzzles.

I would normally do a puzzle in a day or two, depending on the size and difficulty.

I had help from friends who also got a little crazy with my obsession.

It was fun while it lasted.

And the thing that killed it?

Nicole's 3,000 piece puzzle!

That sat on my table for months for 2 reasons.

1) I lost my motivation cause It. Was. Hard!

and 2) I was never home to do it.

I even thought I would be home during Conference weekend to do it

but alas, I was not home so that night I took it apart.

And the Crazy Puzzle Lady died.

To celebrate I had friends come over for dinner and we ate my table

since that was out of commission since Christmas.

It was a happy time and I am glad that I did them.

Now here are the ones that I did

These are 4 different puzzles

I didn't take a picture of the puzzle finished :(

This won't seem to rotate
but this is the puzzle that i never finished, obviously

Too hard. Too Hard!!

Gratitude Rocks!!
- Conference weekend, bike rides in the most lovely weather, a fantastic idea, instagram (my new favorite app), preparing lessons and learning something 

Hunger Games

Went to see the midnight showing of Hunger Games last night

or more correctly today.

I never really know how to feel about movies that have the big hype behind it.

So I decided to go into it like this;

I knew that it wouldn't be as good or amazing as Harry Potter

(how could it, right?)

But I knew it would definitely be better than Twilight.

I love it when I am right :)

Go see it, if you don't already have plans to.

Thanks to Tori and her roommies for getting our tickets and saving our seats.

They got to the theater at 4pm yesterday

They are sure fans and troopers.

Our group took up a whole row but here are some of the peeps that I am lucky to know
Yours Truly, Mary Ann, Emily and Kristen

I am super tired though and always question myself about why I go to midnight showings.

Yeah it is fun to be one of the millions to see it first

but I always end up working the next day.

And bonus! The dumb neighbor dog barked for the 2 hours of the 3 I got to sleep.

HOLLA!!

Gratitude Rocks!!

- having the ability to restrain myself from killing someone else's pet, spring, hiking with friends, doing something out of the ordinary (more on that later...if it pans out), fingers (otherwise this would never happen)

Running with the Animals

Well, more like running along side them.

I did a 5K at the zoo on Saturday!

My friend Tori had decided that she wanted to do it with her friends and she talked to our friend Mary Ann who signed me up without me knowing.

So I did it and I am grateful that Mary Ann did that for me.

It was a lot of fun but I'm not gonna lie, really hard.

I have been running lately but on flat ground.

The zoo was covered with hills so I ran probably a little more than half of it.

It's not perfect but neither am I

But hopefully soon I can do it, no matter the territory.

You might be looking at a future runner here.

Bring on the next 5K!

After we did the 5K we got to spend the day at the zoo for free.

It has been forever since I have been to a zoo and felt like a little kid.

It was so fun to see all the different animals and interact with some monkeys.

I think at one point during the day all of us wanted to be a zoologist.

The group after the run
The headband I wore kept my motivation up somewhat

We were all in love with the orangutans

We got to interact with these cute guys
They were jumping and running around us...so fun!

We were trying to get this guy to smile
He just stared at us like we were crazy

I love the giraffes

Seeing the flamingos led to this picture...

...doing the flamingo stretch

Seeing the macaws made me think of my sister Nicole
She always wanted one when she was little

These guys were huge
I totally wanted to sit on it but that fence prevented me from doing that

Kanga and her Roos

Our participating shirts
Who doesn't love a tiger on their chest?

Gratitude Rocks!!
- honesty, motivating friends, paying off one of my debts (only one left to pay off), a valentine that brings a smile to my face.

Another Year Older

*Warning this is long post with a story and a ton of pictures

So it happened!

I turned 31 this past Saturday and boy was it a month.

I didn't do anything special till the week of my birthday but the month was full of mystery.

Let me tell you the story:

So about 3 weeks before the big day, my friend Kristen asked me to take the Friday before my birthday off. Of course questions arise as to why when my bday is on Saturday and have all day to play or to do what she had planned. She was so mysterious and it was driving me crazy instantly. You see, I hate surprises with a passion. Just ask my mom, I wouldn't talk to her for about 3 or 4 hours after she sprung a surprise on me. And because I hate surprises, I have this gift to figure it out with no problem. I thank my Grandpa for passing this gift to me. So the moment she wanted me to take Friday off I had a guess in my head of what was going on. I just needed the confirmation to go along with my theory. So the weeks pass and everyday my suspicions grew stronger and I was convinced that I new my secret gift. I just didn't tell anyone what I thought it was, well I told my family and Kara. I did tell my friend Ellen but because she didn't say anything about it, I knew I was dead on. So I had to just keep lying to my friends, (well actually Kristen claims she was the only one that knew but I can read her and everyone else well so I knew everyone knew) saying that I had no idea when in reality I knew and I was so excited. She the thing about surprises is that that excitement gets taken away and I miss out on being giddy. So once I was 100% sure I was so happy that I couldn't even sleep and waiting for Friday seemed like forever away. I did get the Friday off and come Thursday I went to bed tired and wanting sleep, knowing I wouldn't sleep at all that weekend. I was awoken by my friend Tori calling wanting to go get some pancakes at ihop, of course I turned her down as I was tired and not hungry. So I try to go back to sleep when I was again awoken by the knock that I had so desperately wanted to hear. It was Dave! I was right! He flew down to celebrate with me. So when I opened the door I didn't act surprised just so happy that he was here. Of course Kristen was bummed when I told her that I knew from the get go but I reassured her that it was OK cause I was so excited that he was coming. In fact everyone was shocked that I knew this whole time. And the reason everyone knew was because they all pitched in to fly him here. Once I figured that out, I cried. I didn't feel that I deserved such a gift. I was so extremely grateful. So he was here, and I got to spend my Friday with just him. Just the two of us :) We went to the Botanical Gardens, lunch and back to my house to watch some of our favorite TV shows. It was a great day that ended with Kristen's cultural party.

My actual birthday was spent with a light lunch from Ned's, taking pictures on Main St with the statues and dinner at Lucille's with some of my favorite people. Then back to Mary Ann's house for games and just chillin'. It was seriously one of my top 3 birthday's and I have Kristen to thank for that. Without her clever idea of giving me the best gift I have ever been given it may not have been as memorable as it was. Granted I had a ton of fun but having my best friend here made it super awesome!

Now on to the many pictures that I wanted to share.

Benihana gives you $30 for your bday month so I invited the girls to come with me this time
Lexie, Bday Girl, Mary Ann, Ellen, Kristen and Tori

Botanical Garden
You use that tool to pick the fruit on top of the cactus

Dave in one of the many different kinds of huts

A future home? Maybe not

Saturday spent with the statues

Ride him Kristen!

Not sure what Kristen is doing but who cares it was my bday

Still waiting for my prince to come

We tried to do the same pose as our 1st picture together
It was close

At dinner
Mary Ann got me this hat that I wanted a few months back
She also threw in some playing cards. Thanks Mern!

Just a few of the people that came to be with me
Kristen,Tori and Ellen

Crystal, Heather, Scott and Mick

Danny and Paige with there handsome boy Logan

Tyson, Brian and Sara

Birthday kiss from Tyson

Some of the boys that were there
Ryan, Chase, Bday Girl, Tyson and Dave

Chow down Mern!

Happiness right there!

Dave gave me this book that he had made
'The Adventures of Sarah 'n' Dave'
That is our first photo together on the front
It was a great book that made me cry, thank you Dave

I just love this photo to pieces
Thanks for snapping it Mern

I told Mary Ann that I wanted to be on the roof at the time I was born.
We missed it by a few minutes but still super fun

Mern, Bday Girl and Ellen

Ellen, Mary Ann, Tori (who, in all these fotos looks like this), Bday girl and Dave

Part of the gang, Crystal and Lindsay took the pictures
Front row: Bday girl, Dave, Kristen, Tori and Levi
Back row: Nate, Ellen, Mary Ann, Ryan, Sara and Brian

Gratitude Rocks!!
- Mary Ann for letting me crash at her house all weekend, Mick for reminding me that I am halfway to 62, Kristen for the brilliant idea, Jakeb for hooking Dave up with a ticket, Lexie for letting me wear her clothes all weekend, and everyone else for loving me and supporting me, I love you all!