last night we went to the kenny chesny concert. it was outdoor. it was hot. are you ready for a picture overload?? this trip seemed to be less of a go and do trip and was more of a walk 43 miles and see, take a picture, and then walk 32 miles to the next site. hence, alot of pictures. done and done.
let me tell you about our trip to baltimore and DC. it was an adventure. it was a learning experience. if i went to dc again tomorrow, i'd do things differently, but for heaven sakes, we found ourselves learning things the hard way this time around. let's start out with our red eye flight we took out of las vegas. oh wait. we missed it. by a full 24 hours. red eye flights are tricky, and james from delta told us that people do it all the time. did that make me feel better about it? well, i did have to laugh when we had to hand over our credit cards to switch flights. we were now flying through memphis, and flying into dc instead of baltimore. what a way to start a trip, eh? 
this is while we were waiting for our new flight to leave out of vegas. the look on our faces could basically be used for the rest of the trip when it came to public transportation. without going into details, i think every train, every metro, every plane we took from here on out had a glitch or delay. lucky us.
here we are at the train station in baltimore. somehow we found our way from the airport in dc to a train stop in baltimore. not sure how we did that, but we were sure happy to see tommy after we had been delayed in memphis and lost in dc. we hung out that night in baltimore. dinner. bowling. and a comfy bed on the couch.
friday morning we met up with this boy. he felt silly having me take a picture of him at his desk, but he'll thank me later (right??) he took us on an awesome tour of the capitol building, which ended up being a highlight of the trip. cool movie. cool building. cool tour guide.
the capitol.
natural history museum. 
lincoln memorial
abe lincoln 
war memorials
washington monument
saturday night we were back in baltimore. we went out for crab. sick. i ate a bite of it, but cindy and i ordered something else. the onion rings at this restaraunt were supposed to be the best things ever made. we ordered them, and were shocked when they came out to the table. they looked like bagels, they were so huge. each of us ate one and were full to the brim. gross.
sunday we went to church and took and afternoon nap. sunday night we went a took a walk around the inner harbor. it was a beautiful night!
monday we headed back into dc. more transportation drama. i can laugh about it now. kind of.
and goodbye to this boy, for a month anyways. thanks for taking time out of your busy professional schedule to play with us while we were there. lunches in the senate building, umbrellas in the rain, naming statues, gellato, singing in the streets and giggling like the old times. "did you not get enough?" loved it.i'm home, and yes i'm blogging at 2:30 in the morning. my friends came and picked me up from the airport and drove me home, and then (of course) we ended up hanging out a bit before they drove back up to salt lake. (yes, i have friends that live in slc that are cool enough to pick me up from the airport and drive me to provo and this unsightly hour).
oddly enough i'm sitting here in my swimsuit. my new swim suit that came in the mail while i was gone. i was a little excited to see the package waiting for me, so thought i'd give it a whirl.
don't worry, i'll give the full report of our adventures in baltimore and dc....but let's be serious, my alarm is set to go off in 4 1/2 hours and i have an 8 hour work day ahead of me.
was it worth it?
you betcha.
that's it. i'm outta here. been waiting for this trip for a long time...longer than we have actually been planning it. cindy and i have been talking about taking a trip together for over a year now....and now it's here. i'm excited to see new things and see old friends.
in case you didn't figure it out from the title of this post, i'm headed to dc, by way of las vegas. i'm catching a flight to vegas and cindy and i take the red eye. i'm thrilled i get to make a stop in the vegas airport. i love airports...especially the las vegas airport. i've had some sad goodbyes and some happy reunions at that place. and plus, it smells like casino, which in a weird way reminds me of my childhood (i'll explain later).
so, i'm off. 5 1/2 full days of no work and all play.
thank goodness.....
things i should be doing besides blogging:
1. sleeping. I. AM. SO. TIRED. so tired that i feel a headache starting. but at the same time, i'm awake. i don't think that makes any sense.
2. working on my lesson for tomorrow. i had good intentions to work on it all week long, but that ended up going out the window.
3. sleeping. (see #1)
instead of doing the above, here i am. blogging. but i just can't help it. no control.
so, these will be random things, but things none the less.
uno. i just got home from the seeing the star trek movie. i know, i know. late showing - you should have been planning your lesson, blah blah blah. i have been irresponsible lately for the sake of my social life. back to the movie. IT. WAS. AWESOME. i was suprised that i really liked it.
dos. i went camping this weekend. it was not part of my original plan for the weekend, but i'm thrilled i ended up going. highlights: the drive up with scott, late night chats with matt, roasting starburts for the first time, my chicken foil dinner, corn on the cob, birthday shhhhhh, racoons breaking into our food, todd's handmade gun holster-mm-bobber, 4 wheeler adventures, the swing, that ridiculously long chat with laura, indoor smores and laughing my face off with dear friends. loved it.
tres. i hate cleaning checks just as much this month as i did last month. as much as i have the past year. i barely passed this month...they were being super nit-picky. basically i will sing the hallejulah chorus when i move out of fdl and will never have to deal with their cleaning checks again. it can't come soon enough.
quatro. have you ever felt booked. i am scheduled. seriously, every night and day is planned for the next two weeks. it's a good feeling to be busy, but at the same time it stresses me out just a titch. it's all good stuff, so i just need to calm down and enjoy the ride. mmmmm. sounds nice.
cinco. did i mention i was tired? i just fell asleep sitting here for a few minutes. whoops. i think thats my official kick in the pants to actually go to bed. i guess i'll be planning my lesson in the morning. :)
remember that time i bought a dress for my brothers wedding? i was really excited about it, but admittedly spent too much money on it. i told myself it would come in the mail and i would love love love it, therefore justifying the cost.
it came in the mail today. i tried it on....and it's cute, don't get me wrong. but i didn't flip out at it's cuteness. i couldn't see myself splurging on something that was just "alright". i think i'll be returning it....especially since i bought another dress online today for 1/3 of the price. 1/3?!?!?!? you heard me sister. i'll keep you posted.
it's the truth. i pulled back in from lunch today and swung my car door open as i grabbed a few things from the passenger seat. i heard someone say "hey b!" i looked up and saw my boss getting in his car. "i'm going to run a few errands, i'll be back by 2". i gave him a smile and a wave and walked back into work. i really do get to work with great people.
sadly, my work partner in crime is out of the office this week. i can't blame her, she deserves a break, but work sure can get boring without her. icing on the cake, she knows everything....so people (co-workers and clients) always come to her for help. her voicemail and email are sending everyone to me this week. i'm up for the challenge, but sometimes i just want to hide under my desk and eat chocolate. it makes me appreciate more what she does when she's here. plus, she laughs at my jokes....even the ones that aren't really that funny.
today is a special day for me. today is my moms birthday. and not just my moms birthday, but my brothers birthday too. pretty cool to get to share your birthday with your mom, right? they are two of my favorite people, both of them always looking out for me and wanting the best. i know that ryan is home sick today with strep throat, but still....i hope they both had a great birthday and know how much i love them both.
did i mention i'm going on a trip? i leave in a week. good things about this trip:
1. i'm going to a place i have never been before, which makes me feel rather adventurous
2. i get to see dear friends while i'm there. no complaints
3. i get to travel with my best friend cindy. even thinking about it makes me smile. we talked today, and didn't really make plans for the trip. just tentative where we'll be and what we'll do. cindy is the ultimate travel partner, and i know i will be laughing constantly
4. i will not be at work. not even close to a tax return for almost a full week.
5. dance parties. we will have dance parties.
ok, only 4 things sounds lame i know, but i can't think of anything else right now. it's going to be a super chill, whatever happens happens kind of a trip....and i'm thrilled about it.
i will never leave my phone again. EVER. this weekend i was with my family in st. george, and when i'm on vacation or with my family (or a combo of the two) i tend to leave my phone in my purse and not pay too much attention to it. this weekend was no exception...but i learned my lesson.
i had a friend going on a roadtrip this weekend to rochester, ny. we have a mutual friend who is serving her mission there, and i told him to keep an eye out for her while he was there. i knew she was serving at church sites, so the chance of him running into her was high.
i went to lunch with my family. left my phone in the car. after lunch i peeked at my phone. 3 missed calls and a text saying i had missed my chance. WHAT?!?!? i checked my voicemail and there was a message on my phone from my two favorite people. friend on a roadtrip called on speaker phone, and the one and only LYRIC OLSEN left a happy little message on my phone telling me when she was coming home and making sure i would be at her house that night....AND I MISSED IT.
don't worry, they ended up running into eachother again and i was lucky enough to get another phone call. she wasn't allowed to talk on the phone to me, but ad put her on speaker phone and i heard her little giggle in the background. it was perfection, and i can't wait until july 26th. don't worry girl, i will be at your house....making chocolate chip cookies. and it will be glorious.
and yes, i did cry when i heard her giggle, and later when i listened to my voicemail (which i saved). she is a dear friend and i miss her. i am more than ready for her to come home.
i spent the weekend in st. george with my family. it was wonderful, and i will blog about it later with pictures. we got home earlier this evening. i took a shower, and was looking for someone to go on a walk with me before the sun went down. of course, no one answered their phones. i sat down on the couch debating whether or not to just go to bed when my phone rang. no way could it really be who it said on the caller id. answered the phone. CRIED when i heard my bff Ryan's voice on the other line. Ryan (my efy husband) has been in basic training for 10 weeks and i have missed him like crazy. my goodness it was the best hour long conversation i have had in a long time. i was reminded what a good friend he is. honest. encouraging. dedicated. trustworthy. loyal....i could go on and on. i am so proud of him for all he's done in the past 10 weeks. he graduates on tuesday, and will move on to the next phase of his training. i really can't get over how happy i was to hear his voice and be able to talk to him. good good good.
that's it. TWO GOODIES IN TWO DAYS. and i will hook my phone to my hip if i have the chance to get calls like those. i am a lucky girl.
i'm not going to see the jonas brothers at the stadium of fire. normally i would be very upset about this. i am a big fan, and normally i would be there to catch the show, but i'm outta here. waiting for my little ride to come and pick me up for a weekend o' fun in st. george with the family. it's supposed to be raining this weekend in provo, but st. george is scheduled for blaring heat from that thing we call a sun. (it doesn't seem to be out much these days....)
my sister and her family won't be able to make it to this family gathering, so there won't be any little kids there. this changes the trip quite a bit. we won't be entertaining for hours at the pool or taking little kids on tame 4 wheeler rides around in the desert.
it's now turned into late nights of hanging out with the sibs. getting to know my future sister in law better (bless her heart for coming and putting up with us). laying out at the pool. crazy rides on the motorcycles. and shopping. :)
most important thing....i'm outta here. away from work. out of provo. with my fam.
love. it.
ps....happy fourth of july. i will miss you, jonas brothers. :(
