well hello again!

Remember me?

Well, I'm back..sort of. After traveling like crazy people and then finally settling back into p-town (provo..just in case that was confusing) we are back in school and ready to live up our last year here at BYU! It's bittersweet to realize we really don't have that much time to enjoy all that there is here but

good to realize that school does actually end!

So after finishing up in Chicago we went to Virginia/DC where husbands family lives, we hung out there for a few days and made our way to N. Carolina for some very much needed and appreciated beach time in Outer Banks. Yes, the same Outer Banks that was trashed by Irene. (We got out of town before it hit, do not worry...more on that later) After returning to Virginia and then flying back to Chicago we picked up our car and drove through Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming to get back to Utah! 

So there's a little dollop of what's been going down the last couple weeks but you better believe I got pictures! When the beginning-of-the-year craziness finishes or when I decide I'm going to go crazy if I read over one more syllabus (that looks exactly like the last 4 I've read) I will get around to posting for you to behold.

hope ya'll are enjoying the last bit of summer!

i'm loving on..

You know the clearance jewelry sections that you go through for like an hour?

Okay, maybe that's just me. But I always leave with something I adore and I love to try to look at the jewelry as a starting point. Like today I found this great necklace at Kohl's for 60% off and though the first thought to enter my head was "i really hate those little disc things..and that one is broken.." I knew I had found my fixer-upper. After spending ample time in the rest of the store (I love kohl's. call me ghetto, don't really care because kohl's seriously rocks and you cannot beat the crazy deals they have) I finally returned home and snapped those cheapo little discs off in two seconds.

voila! 

I am loving on diy fixers that really take no effort at all.

And I am most definitely loving on crazy deals on almost-great jewelry!

So thank you Kohl's, I will come again.

p.s. completely off topic--except that it happened at kohl's--i found a poncho..yeah, a poncho. and i got it. i still don't know how i feel about it, i mean i love how it looks but just knowing that it's a poncho kind of grosses me out. just the word poncho makes me feel weird. am i alone in this? does anyone else think 99% of ponchos are hideous? or are we, as a society, loving on this blankets-as-shirts idea. (not that ponchos are new..) 

anyway, i want to hear what you think. i'll wear my new...poncho *said with a pained face* soon and post pictures.

p.p.s. i just decided i'm going to refer to my poncho as a raincoat because even though it is shear and would do me no good in the rain, raincoat just sounds cuter. problem solved. 

BrotherMans Birthday

This is Braden.

aka

brotherman

lumber jack

the fun uncle

my getting-fat accomplice 

holder of funny faces

the man who can build/fix anything

master of everything musical

theme park buddy

designer extraordinaire 

my greatest listener

junkfood junkie (runs in the family)

cartoon movie marathon lover

ultimate thrift store shopper

best friend.

and much much more!

Today is BrotherMans birthday 

and I am missing on him so much!

Growing up over three years apart we weren't necessarily the best of friends as little ones,I was the typical annoying little sister and he the too cool big brother.

But, as often happens, we grew up and became better and better friends. Now there are very few people that I trust more than my brother; he is that guy that you can talk to about anything who'll listen, not judge and understand where you're coming from. When home we are pretty much never apart, we are culprits of all of the above and I enjoy nothing more than hanging out with him when I'm home in az! 

I love Braden so so much and I feel so blessed to have him as one of my big brothers. The follow pictures pretty much sum us up..don't judge :)

we're good at accomplishing the food baby look

a picture of the picture they take of you on atlantis at sea world (lol)

SIX FLAGS! our fave

Thank you, Braden, for being my brotherman, protector, and one of my very best friends!

I am so blessed to have five beautiful, fun and loving siblings and the best in-laws in the world!

sugar momma

Hello Craziness!

It's our last week in Chicago before going on vacay in Virginia/N.Carolina (so excited)!

SoSorry for the lack of posts and "i'm loving on.." friday but things all of a sudden got crazy for me.

At the beginning of the summer I had made a Nanny Profile and had gotten some hits but nothing that would work for me, well last week I got an offer to work for the last couple of weeks that we were here with great pay and great opportunity so that's where I've been! 

I'm a sugar momma.

Not really though considering Kimball works way more than me and gets paid way more than me,

but we wont compare :) 

It's been really fun waking up early, having super busy days, helping out others and feeling tired at the end of the day knowing I deserve to be tired and it's not just from a day of doing nothing or laying by the pool (not that lying by the pool is bad, i miss it to be truthful)

But we have one more week to swim as much as we can and eat at all those places we've been meaning to eat at and take weird pictures with the bean at grant park (i'll post pictures when that epic day comes). So hopefully you twenty-something readers didn't get super T-O'ed at me for ditchin' for a few days while I made some cash money. And because I'm not capable of posting without leavin' some photo lovin' here are some weekend shots..

As you can tell Panera was a HUGE part of our weekend :)

Kimball noticed that Illinois was blessed with this bakery and didn't stop talking about how amazing it was so we finally made it out! And got a cinnamon roll, lemonade(yumm) and several bagels that were gone by Sunday :) 

Later on Saturday we headed over to our friends cute house to meet their new baby girl, enjoy some BBQ and nice conversation.

Blissful weekend! Hope yours was just as wonderful and that your week is off to a beautiful start :)

no need to name your bike

I was blog stalking today and while reading 

my cute friend Taras blog I found this website

and fell in love with this...

your name made into a bike!!

There were a few single seaters but I think it'd be 

super sweet to have a double.

I always name my bikes but I suppose

 with this looker there'd be no need :)

Is this not the best thing you've ever seen?!

our lovely weekend!

This weekend was absolutely filled!

Here's a little big taste..

Friday we tried out a mini-golf place that we pass almost every day.

The course was decked out in congo decor and fountains and bridges, 

very cool but very hot and humid!

I don't think we even tallied out scores...hah oops!

Saturday we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo

it was not only free but extremely clean and big!

Pleasant surprise :)

coolest drinking fountain ever.

Michelles reaction to the baby alligator 

I was SO excited to finally wear my zoo dress!

Yes, my dress does have giraffes, monkeys, moose, and of course elephants!

That night we decided it was high time

 to check out a local hot dog place called Portillos.

 It's known for it's hot dogs and italian sandwiches

so Kimball and I were really excited to check it out!

 the Chicago dog :)

Maybe it's an Illinois thing but we've heard nothing but

amazing things about this place and we were...

not as impressed. Sort of a bummer but I'm sure it's just a 

personal taste kinda thing! If you know me you know I'm not

a huge hot dog person (i'm a polish lover) so that probably

swayed my opinion. 

Overall, great weekend with great people, great animals and great food :)

Only two weeks left here in Chicago!

I'm feeling bittersweet about it being August..

How are you feeling about summer winding down?