Halloween!

This post is mainly for Brittny. She loves dressing up for Halloween. I haven't dressed up in probably... 5 years? I can't even remember the last thing I dressed up as. But this year, I had not one, but TWO different costumes. There wasn't much to them, but hey, I dressed up. The first one was for a 5k I ran, called the Great Pumpkin Run. Haylie and I registered together and had this great idea for costumes. We would be the ipod commercial! You know, silhouettes of people with white headphones with a brightly colored background. Haylie was sick the day of the race, but I stuck with the plan and got all decked out in my costume. I felt like a dork- nobody knew what I was and I was all by myself. I asked these ladies to take my picture and felt like such a loser! Oh well. I ran the race, talked to a few nice people, and peaced out as soon as I finished. I finished the 3 miles with a much improved time since the last timed race I did, go me!

The other costume was my farmer get-up. I had a hat, too, but it got stuck somewhere cuz my head is actually too big to wear it and I got tired of it around my neck. A friend of ours had a gathering at her house, and all my pals from here in Vegas went. It was a grand ol' time.


Laurel, Stephanie, Sam, and me.


Darcy, Jed, me, Laurel, Eric, and Sam


This is Chuck. He escaped from prison with the aid of only his sweet 'stache.

Hawaii...

This summer was all about ADVENTURE! The adventure even seeped into the first part of the school year... I took a few days off and went to HAWAII! I still can't believe I went. I do love to go new places, but I'm kind of a homebody. I don't venture to far. But when Sam and Stephanie said they were going, I had to jump on board! I saved my pennies from teaching summer school, and tagged along with the two of them. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach. Any beach. Hawaii was so gorgeous- the bluest, warmest water, the softest sand, and loads of marine animals. How do you spell H-E-A-V-E-N?

The banyan trees. I got stuck...


Our first day on the beach! (First of many...)


Isn't it LOVELY?!


We went on a little excursion to find a blowhole. After a lot of getting lost, we finally found it. I ventured down alone to check it out. So cool! There were crabs everywhere, the rock was neat, and the blowhole was everything I hoped it would be. :)



Eating lunch at Cheeseburger In Paradise. How aptly named! It was paradise, indeed.


The beach right behind the condo where we stayed the first few days.


This was how I spent my time... I finished two books in the six days we were there. Wuthering Heights, and Huckleberry Finn. Wuthering Heights is even more depressing than I thought it would be, but Huck Finn sure cheered me right up! Love that little rascal.



We went snorkeling one day. We do not have a lot of pictures to document this day. Pictures of this adventure would include Steph and me puking ever 5 minutes on the boat, and Sam laughing at us and eating our cheeseburgers. Don't get me wrong- it was fun. I felt fine when I was in the water. But that boat was a BEAST. It was pretty windy, so it was a rough ride. I don't usually get sick like that, so I wasn't really prepared. The fish were way cool! We also saw turtles and dolphins.


Our next adventure: We awoke at 2am and got ready to go up the volcano to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was the ONE DAY in 365 that it is cloudy on top of the volcano. Our driver kept saying "this never happens..." As you can see in this photo, it was FREEZING up there. You're supposed to be able to see this really cool view of the sunrise over the crater of the volcano. We saw nothing but fog and clouds and freezing, face-pelting rain.



But after that, we got to ride these rickety old bikes down the volcano. It wasn't so cold and rainy as we got down the mountain, so it was quite enjoyable. Plus, it was all downhill. What a fun day :)


All the people with us were couples. They were having them do all these cute poses, kissy faces and all sorts of lovey-dovey stuff like that. We had to improvise :)


This was our hotel the last few days of our trip. It was nice! Super nice pool, right on the beach... Heavenly.


Sunset...


Out to dinner... Speaking of dinner, I never did get my hula pie for dessert. I guess I better go back!



Our last beach day... sad day. It was so beautiful! I am in love with the beach.



Inside our hotel- on our way home. We're smiling through our tears...

What a fun trip! Thanks to the girls for planning it and letting me tag along!

Radical West Coast Roadtrip

So, this post is major late. Life is busy, as you all are aware, I'm sure!

This summer, my sis and I went on a wicked fun road trip up through Idaho to Seattle, down to Portland and San Francisco, and back home to Utah. Honest, I thought we would really hate each other by the end- we tend to get on each others nerves sometimes. But it was really and truly the funnest time I have had in a long time, and definitely the best sisterly bonding time we have ever had together. We laughed, we cried... wait, no we didn't. Just laughed. And ate a lot.

Our first stop: Antelope Island. I have been there once, Ashley never. If you have never been- go. It is wicked cool! I camped out there once to catch bugs for my bug class at BYU. The memories this go-around were much more pleasant.

We went for a little stroll into the Lake. I wish we didn't have to drive all day, it would have been fun to swim/float in the saltiness.

Yep, it's pretty darn salty.

Practicing our roping skillz at the Antelope Island Ranch- which is still a working ranch. It was way cool.

We stayed in Pocatello with the Binks- Holly, Spencer, and their 3 kids. We stayed up late just talking and laughing- I am so glad we are friends, even though they are all married and cooler than me. I love them.

I decided that of all the places we saw in our travels, Idaho is where I would pick to live. It is small town, and the further north you go, the more and more beautiful it gets. I am a big BIG fan of Idy-ho.

This is the Rex family. He was the bishop of the Pembroke Pines Ward in Florida- it was the first ward I served in as a missionary, and they were SO GOOD to me. They let my companion and I teach them the discussions so I could practice- this was back in the day when you still had to memorize them. They were very kind, and have been great at keeping in contact, even though they have moved like a million times. This was the first I have seen them since they left Florida 8 years ago. Woah, I'm old.

The Troll Under the Bridge! Driving here was mega stressful and I was super jittery by the time we finally found it. Then that stupid kid wouldn't get out of our pictures, and his idiot parents thought it was funny. Bug.

Triple dipped strawberries and caramel apples at Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory made me feel much better. Mmmm.....

My cute sissy pants in Seattle on the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.

The ride back on the ferry was a wee bit windy.

In Washington we stayed with my DEAR friends Amanda and Michael. They happen to be in Daisy and Shad's ward in WA- Daisy is a good friend from High School. Small world! It was so fun to be with all of them.

The Space Needle! We were too broke to go in (and parked at McDonald's, which is a big no-no, but we didn't want to pay for parking... did I mention we were broke? And only halfway through our trip!)

We didn't go in (remember- broke, and McDonald's) but I think the SciFi Museum is my #1 reason to go back to Seattle. No lie.

We have a little soft spot for Oregon. Brad lived there after high school before he got married, and Mike served his mission there. We <3 Oregon.

The Astoria Column. I really don't know any history about this monument. Other than it is 294 LOOOONG steps to the top, and has a really incredible view from the top.

On top of the Astoria Column- looking out towards Washington at the Astoria Bridge.

On the opposite side of the column- so pretty!

At the entrance to the road that leads to the Goonies House in Astoria.

My truffle shuffle in front of the Goonies house. Yep, sure did.

The Goonies Jail. It was locked up for the day, but don't worry. I creeped around enough to make it worth the drive.

The Astoria Bridge- connects Oregon and Washington.
Astoria was SO COOL. I am really glad we made the trek out there.

At Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, OR

We had a whole pile of empty pringles cans at the end of the trip... yum.

At the Portland Rose Gardens- so pretty! They do hybrid tests there, and breed the really cool ones to sell at plant stores. Or something like that.

In the elevator- name that cellular process! (I'm a nerd, I already know.)

Powell Books, how do I love thee? We spent hours in here, and could have spent more. It was a big old block of heaven. We love books, we are geeks. But we are happy geeks!

YEAH CALI! The drive from Portland to San Fran was AWESOME- so beautiful! We stayed with our cute cousin Cecylia and her husband, Franco. They were so good and kind to us- it was so fun to see them and spend time with them.

Our first (and only...) objective in San Fran was to ride bikes across the GG bridge. It was SO FUN! Highly recommended.

Alcatraz. The tours were all booked, so we had to settle for a ride-by. I wish we could have gone.

It was pretty dang windy while we were riding our rented bikes through San Fran with the geeky fanny packs on the front. This guy who was a pretty good distance in front of us was jogging, and turned to spit. His loogey landed on my shoe. Sick. But we died laughing.

Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge- my FAVORITE thing we did on our trip. It was SO COOL!

We had a lot of fun taking pictures. I'll spare you looking through all 387 pictures we took.

Fisherman's Wharf- we went for a stroll after our bike ride. It is a hoppin' place! We even ran into the bushman- youtube him for a laugh.

Lombard Street in San Fran

The drive through Nevada was the worst part- so BORING...

At the end of the trip- 3,036.5 miles in a total of 8 days. Woah.

Thanks for the memories, Ash! It was grand. We should make this a yearly tradition. In fact, I declare that we forever after this take a yearly road trip. But you should get a job before the next one, yeah? Good plan. :)
The day after we got back, we went to the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND concert at the Usana. It was awesome- the music, the company, our homemade shirts, and the FREE tickets!