Sunday, May 29, 2016

randoms.

as i was looking over pictures old pictures on my camera roll i realized i had so many that i hadn't shared on here, so here's a blog post full of random unseen pictures from the last little while.
skiing over spring break.
^mom's finger in the picture. classic.
friend get together to celebrate kaitlyn's birthday.
girls night. beauty and the beast will always be one of my very favorite play's to go see.
last get together with drake before he left for his 2 year LDS Mission.

yay for low quality, crappy iphone lighting, amiright?

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

girls date night.

on saturday morning my brothers woke up at the crack of dawn and left the house for a day of hiking, they didn't get back until late saturday night so me, my sisters, and nieces decided to have a little "girls day"
(isn't that little face the cutest?)

it was a pretty simple day! full of walks, baby showers, cleaning, and lastly some dinner and shopping. we took advantage of the picky eaters being away and we headed to happy sumo at the riverwoods for some sushi. 
and of course dinner wouldn't be complete without our camo backpack full of princess toys!
after eating we spent a while making wishes and throwing coins into the water fountain. once we left the riverwoods we made a quick trip to target (because what's a girls night without some target?) 
as much as we love the boys in our family, it's nice to get girl date nights every now and then.
^look at those little bare feet and chubby cheeks. love this girl.

Monday, May 16, 2016

farewell lisa lou.

 this week one of my greatest friends will be headed to the provo MTC to begin her service to our lord as a missionary as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. from the MTC she'll head out to the Vancouver Washington mission where she will serve for 18 months. 

lisa is such an amazing friend, i'm going to miss having her down the street from me (and not just because of her big beautiful pool of hers ;) ) lisa is someone who is ALWAYS there to talk to. i know i can walk to her house and she'll be there with open arms waiting for me to vent.
 lis has a solid testimony and such a pure countenance. she is such an inspiration to me and i can't wait for the people of washington to get her beautiful soul for a year and a half. 

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

L.A.

our last day in california was spent in L.A. we were especially excited excited to head there to try out  the griddle cafe. however, we weren't sure we were going to make it to L.A. because the beginning of this little vacation started with a bit of a rut. heather had met me in california straight from business trips, she had already been on the road for 11 days and unfortunately while on the road for work her ID had gotten stolen. this had created quite a dilemma for our california plans; we originally had a rental car set up (and it was going to be free because of heather's hertz reward points) but since she didn't have her license she couldn't rent a car. since i'm 19 i couldn't rent a car either. after an hour at the airport of trying to find rental car places who would let a 19 year old rent and for a reasonable price (because rental cars are expensive) we eventually decided to take an uber everywhere we went. the uber worked out just fine for our days at disney and in huntington because it was all relatively close to where we were staying, but we knew it would be pricey to get to L.A. and so we were debating on bagging that part of the trip or not. we eventually decided to still go out to L.A. and i'm so glad we did!
the griddle cafe was insane. it's this little "hole in the wall" type of a place and i'm surprised they haven't expanded it or added more locations because it was clearly pretty popular. it was packed in there and there was a huge giant line of people outside of the place waiting to get in. take a look at the menu. makes sense why everyone wants to get in and try out the pancakes right?! they had plenty of other options, but i'm pretty sure they're most well known for their pancakes. 
heather & i tried the "golden ticket" pancakes (brown sugar baked banana's, struesel, caramel, and walnuts baked inside buttermilk batter topped with whipped cream, struesel, and caramel drizzle) 
see how freaking GIANT that pancake is? well there were two more pancakes of that same size underneath it. we didn't even finish that top pancake together haha. it would be the perfect place to take your whole family, order a few different pancakes and share them all so you get to try multiple different things. heather also ordered a hot chocolate and it was one of the prettiest hot chocolates i've ever seen. 
(iphone pictures + crappy lighting = pictures like the one above)
after breakfast (which was more like lunch because sleeping in after early days at disney was necessary) we walked down to the "hollywood walk of fame". we looked at the stars and then did a whole lot of shopping. soon enough it was time to take an uber back to the airport to head home. 
at the airport i took bathroom selfies, because what else is a teenage girl gonna do with all the spare time?

Monday, May 9, 2016

happy mothers day.

happy mothers day to all the current, soon to be, and someday mamas & 'mama figures' out there.
after church me and my family took dinner up to my granny birds so we could eat and spend time with her, after dinner we had all the extended family over for desserts.


this year my heart is especially humbled for all moms, but especially my own mother. straight out of the womb i was instantly a mama's girl and not much has changed. up until i was 2 years old i INSISTED on sitting on her lap every night at dinner. it's no surprise why i've always been attached to my mother, she is my rock. not only that but she's my best motivator, encourager, supporter, and friend. my hardest days make me realize how much i truly need my mom, she's the first person i want to call/hug when i'm sad or struggling and she's the only shoulder i ever want to cry on. my mom has been with me on my worst days and on my best days and she's given me unconditional love all the while. wither it's going on long walks  with me while i talk her ear off or her holding me while i sob, my mom is always there for me. i mean it when i say that my mother is absolutely my rock. on top of all that, she like to twerk (or trying to twerk haha). how much "cooler" do they get?

^^here's to lovely unedited iphone pictures^^






i'm so grateful for my amazing grandmother for raising the perfect daughter who one day became my mom. my grandmother set the tone for the wonderful person my mom has turned out to be.


 not only do i feel an overwhelming peace as i think of my mom and all she's done for me, but i feel even more at peace when i think of the mother who's raised my future husband. oh how i can't wait to hug and thank her someday for i'm sure she's done a wonderful job.









last years mothers day post here.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

huntington.

just like disneyland, the rest of our california trip was also amazing. one day we went to the beach, huntington beach to be exact (hunting is my families go to, we've been going there since before i can even remember!) we tried laying out and hoped to get some color but the beach itself was windy and cold so we didn't last long. as soon as we took pictures we put our cover ups back on and bounced.
isn't this swimmer the cutest?! found at asos.
^when trying to be cute get's too hard haha^
 
once we got our clothes on we headed up to the street right above the pier to do some shopping (which is always on the to do list while at Huntington beach) we came across "merrilee's swimwear" which is a new fave, i don't know how we've never been in this place before considering ALL the times we've been shopping at this outdoor mall. we left with the cutest new rings and a whole lot less money to our names (typical.)
 once dinner rolled around we headed to our favorite; LA Rocco's. LA Rocco's is a little "hole in the wall" pizza shop, they have new york style pizza that you can buy it by the slice. my family discovered it about 8 or 9 years ago when we moved heather down to socal and we were instantly obsessed! last time me and heather were down in California we actually bought a whole extra box of pizza to haul home with us for our family upon their request haha. every time we're in California we make sure we have time to stop by.
 we recognized the guy working at the front counter from last time we were in California (back in june for my senior trip) and he just so happened to recognize us too. we got talking and came to find out that he is the owner. he's the sweetest guy and we ended up leaving with all this free pizza from him. he made us promise wed come back with the rest of our family so he could meet them too.
^^pulled BBQ pork pizza^^
 
after dinner and lots of shopping we headed back to the hotel so we could clean up. we ended the night by going out to see the new jungle book at the AMC theater in fullerton. it was the nicest theater i've ever been to (better of been considering the tickets were $15 each) the seats were these huge recliners that you could lay down like a bed, so crazy! never a bad day spent in Huntington.