St. George

Most heard phrases of the weekend:
"I could live here..."
"If there's one thing I've learned from America's Next Top Model it's..."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Is it time to eat?"

Well, the much anticipated girls' weekend to St. George has come and gone and it easily surpassed every expectation I had. Mom flew in late Wednesday night and first thing Thursday morning we got in the car and head down to Saint George. We amused ourselves on the four hour ride and marveled at the lack of...well...anything in central Utah.
Our hotel was fabulous. We had a "full" kitchen so we didn't have to spend any money eating out. And even better, when you left for the day and came back - someone else (the "magic fairies," I'm certain) cleaned it! lol.
We did some shopping and oriented (for you, Mama) ourselves to the city on Thursday afternoon. We got pedicures (pink with toe detail) and then massages. It was the ultimate day of pampering and we both loved the opportunity.
Friday we woke up and did a little shopping. In the mid day we laid out by the pool where I got a burn and mom got a tan. In the evening we went out again for some more (very successful) shopping. We managed to spend the whole $500 and got me a whole new wardrobe.
Saturday we woke up and slowly gathered our stuff and got ready to head out. I had been complaining about my hair color all weekend (I had tried to dye it myself with a box dye and it was SOOOOO black) so mom and I decided I should do something about it. So we made a hair appointment for 6:00pm when we'd be back in Orem. The hairstylist fixed the color and then convinced me (with the aid of Geoff) to cut it all off - so I did! I'm still learning how to style it, but I love it! It completed the whole makeover.

We ended the weekend with dinner at CPK with Geoff. Mama G flew home on Sunday morning and it was sad to see her go. Now we'll have to start planning our next girls' weekend.

Categories:

Mama GEEEEEEEEEE!

Tomorrow is the day that I've been waiting for! My mom will be arriving tomorrow night and Thursday morning we will embark on our much-anticipated girls' weekend! Sometimes a girl just needs her mama. :)

Categories:

Why I Get Out Of Bed

My top 5 favorite moments of each day:

1) That first 9 minutes between the alarm going off, me pressing snooze and the alarm going off again when Geoff and I are just awake enough to enjoy those last few minutes in each other's arms.

2) My drive to work. I listen to a morning radio show when I'm driving and it usual makes me laugh out loud. Plus, the drive is just long enough to get me mentally prepared for the work day, but short enough that it's not a "commute."

3) My soda run - now that I live far enough from work that I can't go home for lunch, I take a soda run in the afternoon to get out of the office. It's a fantastic 15 minutes of my day - and it results in Diet Mountain Dew!

4) When I arrive home from the gym after work. Not only have I just completed a great workout - my little pup is always sooo excited to have me home!

5) My delicious oatmeal dinner. No explanation needed. mmmm.

Categories:

Flat Top

So, I awoke this morning, showered, packed lunches, packed my gym clothes and began the hike to my car. In my snow boots, wool coat and leather gloves I finally make it to the car - covered in about 8 inches of snow. Ugh, I start cleaning the windows. As usual when de-snowing the car, I left all the snow on top which creates what I affectionately refer to as a "flat top." So, I get in the car and begin the drive to work. As I exit the freeway, my car is finally warm and cozy. I see a red light up ahead and begin to slow down. As I press the brake, the entire "flat top" slides off the roof of my car and onto my windshield/hood. I quickly turn on my windshield wipers, but they do no good, I'm driving blind! I manage to pull off to the side of the road to clear the remains of the "flat top" off my hood.
Yeah, happy April.

Categories:

Doom and Gloom

This spring may very well be the only reason I've ever been thankful that my office doesn't have windows. I dread my stroll down to the mailroom or my walk to "the cage" for fear of what weather catastrophe is waiting to present itself to me. Today - snow. Seriously. Utah - why are you making it so gosh darn hard to like you! I really want to.

At least I can take solace in the fact that Mama G and I will be lounging in predicted 86 degree weather in just 7 short days.

But seriously, guys, isn't life just better when the sun is shining?

Categories:

If only I were more like my dog

I learned an important lesson this week.
I knew that moving would be somewhat of an ordeal for my dog. He went blind in the old apartment - so he already knew where everything was spatially. He could maneuver with relative ease around the apartment. Then, the next thing he knows, we've moved him to a completely different place - with stairs, nonetheless.
I even felt guilty about it for a couple days as I watched him bump into every wall, box, piece of furniture and even take a tumble or two down the stairs (despite my best intentions to keep my eye on him and help him). Especially as I encouraged him to jump up onto the bed (something he did with ease at the old apartment) and much to my surprise he slunk to the floor and let out the teeniest wimper as if to say, "mom, I'm scared."
But then something magical happened. After a couple days of trepidation, Rubio has mapped out the apartment. He knows where the steps are and goes up and down with relative ease. He jumps happily on the bed at night to snuggle up against me and Geoff. He has discovered the front door and how to inform me that he needs to go out. He found his toy basket and promptly has strewn them all about the apartment.
The moral of the story: I wish I could be half as adaptable as my dog. It did take him a couple days to get the hang of things, but he did. He didn't let his fear paralyze him from living the kind of life he was used to. He didn't let change stop him from learning and loving life.
I hope someday I can grow up to be like my dog. ;-)

Categories:

New Place

Well, Geoff and I probably should get some sort of award for fastest move - ever. I don't even know how we managed to pull this off without either of us missing any work or other obligations. First off, we started moving Thursday night - and we got all the big furniture and boxes over. Friday night, after school and work all day, Geoff went a played with his softball team while I carried two loads of stuff in the Passat. I was in the middle of loading the third (and final) car load when Geoff joined me. We took everything back to the new place and unloaded.
Saturday we spent precisely zero time at home since we had a couple of family get-togethers (we had a great time!). Sunday, after church, we got a lot done, despite Geoff's being sick. Now all that left for me is to go back to the old place tonight and give it a thorough cleaning. I left all my cleaning supplies there and found myself in desperate need of my broom yesterday. lol.
I'm not sure when Geoff and I will ever get to be home again with our crazy schedules - but at least it's ready and waiting when we get there!

Oh - and I ended up breaking two nails. :-p

Here's a quick tour:This is more-or-less the view from the front door. To the immeidate right is the bathroom and the kitchen is up further on the right. The living room is up on the left. Straight ahead are the stairs to the bedrooms. You can see the "nook" (for lack of a better word). The bedrooms are on either side of said nook.Here's the living room (or a corner of it). It is the least finished room. Here's a shot of the kitchen. There is a shelf just above the shot that extends across 3 or the 4 walls and is a great place to display some of our collectibles. Our bedroom. Located down the stairs and to the left. This picture is taken standing in the closet (which extends the entire width of the room).

Categories:

I'm a cliche

So, in a VERY unexpected turn of events, Geoff and I have rented a new apartment! We began the moving process last night and have successfully moved all of the big furniture and the majority of our belongings to the new place (thanks in a huge, gigantic, enormous part to Scott). The new place is great. I can't believe we found something so fantastic for the price and I'm so excited to get our stuff unpacked and settled. It's a split level - so Rubio has some stairs to get used to (which is a lot harder than you might think for a blind dog), but he's already doing so much better. On a side note, Rubio had a follow-up appointment today with the eye doctor and the pressure in his eyes was back down within a normal, safe range, so the risk and concern of glaucoma is significantly decresed. They worry about glaucoma developing up to 6 months after sight is lost. But I digress.
So, anyway, I got home from work yesterday and started packing. And as I'm relatively haphazardly throwing our stuff into boxes in some sort of packing frenzy, I found myself thinking the following: "Mom is coming into town in two weeks - I better be careful not to break a nail or I'll taint my whole manicure." So, as I'm heaving boxes from the street to my apartment at 1am, I banged my knee (hard) on the concrete barrier. "Ouch," I thought, " but at least I didn't break a nail." So, today I can hardly walk due to the pain and stiffness in said knee...but I take solace in the fact that my nails still look glorious. Glad I've got my priorities in order. :-)

Categories: