No such thing as too much fun

I've been quite the busy, busy girl these past few weeks. Here's a list of my goings on:


Helping Clint purge his closet of awesomely out of fashion attire (but not before trying them on one last time),


Flying to Utah & meeting the parents,


Being lil tourists in Utah


including taking a lil vis to the SLC temple,


asking strangers to take our picture,


laughing at the silly animals who reside in the Hogle zoo,




meeting up with my Utah Jennifer, and going on a hike in the Wasatch mountains, (love you Jen!)


Doing plenty of posing for the camera,


Engaging in a lil friendly competition,


making my Virginia Jen proud,


momentarily looking like I know what I'm doing,


healing the soul via boat in Lake Powell,


pretending to be a photographer (thanks Will! [Clint's brother in-law]),


marveling at God's creative designs, and pondering on how heaven will compare,


sacrificing my body for a moment of joy,


making new friends, (Amy, you're awesome),


looking totally boss behind a boat after learning how to surf,


exploring with this cutie patootie,


loving on this lil guy,


and admiring his endless cool factor.


And lastly meeting my new nephew, Kolden. He's precious.

I'm taking the red eye back to VA tomorrow night. I've had gobs of fun, but I'm ready to be back "home" and in my own bed. Oh sigh.

MONSTER!

The roomie is out of town and the boyfriend is studying for his boards. I'm all alone on a Friday night, enjoying some solitary time. I'm watching some vampire entertainment while simultaneously tidying up around the apartment. I call the mom, because we had a birth in the family. I'm essentially minding my business when I suddenly cross paths with this revolting creature.



No amount of whining or crying does any good. It refuses to listen and crawl out the window. He won't budge, and neither will the boyfriend. Clinton isn't about to come over at midnight just to kill a "bug". I am on my own, with only the mom's voice of hysterical laughter to comfort me. I have to act. I reach for the mosquito repellent and I spray. I suspect that the cause of death is from drowning rather than poison. It doesn't matter. I pick it up with a bigger wad of paper towel than is necessary and huck it out the four story window. I hope that the fall finishes the job. I don't care that I just littered. I'm proud of my bravery.



What is this thing you may ask? I do not know. I call it a shiver bug. Most insects don't bother me-even spiders. I'm find pleasure in cohabitation among God's many creatures-most of God's many creatures. But this guy. He's a shiver bug. He makes the skin behind my ears go tight and the muscles in my lower back spasm... Ewie ewie ewe.

a lil of my fourth

My fourth really started on like the second...when I got uber-excited about baking my famous sugar cookies and red-velvet cupcakes, making them 2 days early... and then eating a third of them before sharing them.






So, I can't spell. However, I think whoever decided that independence should be spelled with all e's was just asking for the majority of us to get it wrong. I mean really. IN-depend-DANCE!... It only makes sense.


Here are some gorgy flutterflies at the botanical gardens. It was free to get in, so I made Clint take me. He's so lucky to have me to bring culture and nature into his life... ;) Just joking, he loved it!





HA! Red white and BLUEEE! We're awesome.


Austin and Mana, our friendy friends. They're getting married in a couple weeks, yay!



Here are some random stragglers that decided to come sit on our blanket! Actually, they're friends of friends :) and now they're my friends too! Anyways. I'm the only person in the picture that's not a dental student. Cool.




watching the sparklies in the sky

Clint's Birthday

Clint had a birthday a weekish ago. It was a smallish celebration, but I think he felt loved. He should b/c I made him a delicious red velvet cake that is a little piece of heaven on earth! Here are some picts of the blessed event.



I'm sorry, but my boyfriend is the cutest person on the planet.










Ha, he's not even joking, everybody's face looks like when you eat this cake.


Notice the hint of delirium in my eyes.
mmmhmmm

My brief [2 hr] stay in NYC [airport]

So I've been absent from the blogging world for 2-3 reasons. 1: I've been suuuuper busy (right) with the fam these past 5 weeks. 2: My laptop that I broke in November somehow has managed to remain irreplaced (lack of funds) 3: I'm quite lazy these days.

BUUUT I made some effort. Went to the lib. So I'm back.

After my 3 week stay in the west, lil sis flew back to Richmond with me, to visit for 2 additional weeks.




A couple days ago, Tuesday, I took her to the airport to return home. As I was checking her in, I spoke with the JetBlue employee assisting us.

Me: Yeah, so my sister is 13, and an unaccompanied minor. She's flying [alone] to NYC to catch the connecting flight to SLC. My parents paid the 'unaccompanied minor fee', so I need to make sure there is going to be somebody there to see that she makes that connecting flight.

JB employee: How old did you say she is?

Me: 13.

JB: OH.......... um. yeah. So we don't allow unaccompanied minors to travel alone on connecting flights anymore, only direct.

Me: So, what does that mean? [What is the unaccompanied minor fee for then?]

JB: blah blah blah, yaddah yaddah yaddah, I'm an idiot that works for another stupid airline that is allowing the terrorists to win; causing us to live in fear of liquids over 4 ounces and knitting needles....

Me: Wait, WHAT? ....I don't understand a word you're saying... I'm hearing that I have to BUY a plane ticket to NYC to escort my sister to her connecting flight, b/c there's not a single airline that flies direct from Richmond to SLC?! You're CRAZY! ...and you're joking right?

JB: gurgle, gulp, gak, snort, yeah...no, I'm not joking.

The end.

Long story short: I had no choice but to fly all the way to NYC just to walk my sister 2 gates down to her connecting flight bound for Zion.
I still don't know what that 75 dollar unaccompanied minor fee even goes toward. Losers.

On the bright side, look at the pics I got from the sky!




oh hello, bright ray of sunshine, in the midst of this expensive inconvenience!









(I also picked up Glenn Beck's newest, Common Sense. Read it, love it, adopt its ideas into your brains.)