Baby, Baby

I got to photograph this adorable 5 lb baby a few weeks ago.

She was only a couple of days old. Such an angel.

Guess Who I Saw?

Last weekend, I went to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I don't write a lot about my family on this blog - well, not about my nieces and nephews because this is so public and any Joe Schmoe creeper could come across this thing and I don't want them to know too much about these little kiddos whom I love a lot.

I have 9 nieces and nephews and they are - hands down - the cutest kids on the planet.

So, anyway, I got to spend a few days as the favorite aunt last week and it was a blast. One of my nieces was baptized last Saturday and I was so glad I got to be there for that.

The baptism took place in an LDS church and before the actual baptism, there is a little program. There were 6 kids being baptized that day, so there were quite a few people in attendance.

We got there pretty early (shocking) so we were sitting on the 3rd row. I was sitting here.

(I hope this isn't too sacrilegious)

And my family was sitting to the right of me. A couple of minutes before the meeting started, I noticed a group of 4 or 5 people come in and sit a row or two behind me to my left.

I looked back - not sure why. The chances that I knew these people was slim…

HOWEVER…

I did recognize one of them…

Yep, it was Brooks from Des' season of The Bachelorette.

At my niece's baptism. No big deal.

I wanted so bad to get others involved in this 'star' sighting but no one in my family watches The Bachelor(ette) and I didn't even have my phone to tell anyone. Plus, how to I get a pic of someone in a chapel during a church meeting? I totally would have if I had been sitting behind him, but he was behind me. I was in his line of sight, so he totally would have seen if I had turned around so I didn't.

Since there were 6 kids getting baptized, they separated us into 3 groups to go to the baptismal font. Unfortunately, Brooks was not in my group. If he had been and I had seen him outside of the chapel, I totally would have asked him for a photo. I have no shame.

I looked for him after the baptism but didn't see him again.

Remember that his hometown date was at his sister's house in Boise? Pretty sure he was there to see a niece or nephew get baptized.

He's pretty good-looking and really tall.

Remember this awkward moment?

(this is the property of ABC)

He sure went out with a bang.

I know the show is totally scripted and it's kind of embarrassing that I actually watch it but it's entertaining and was kind of exciting to see Brooks in real life.

I am excited to see Juan Pablo's season starting in January.

Although, it's a little weird because he looks so much like my bro-in-law David that it feels awkward that I find him (Juan Pablo) attractive.

Okay, so it's hard to see because I don't have 2 similar pictures of them, but they have a lot of the same facial expressions and - I think - they look a lot alike.

It's only awkward if you make it awkward, right David?

Too Attached

For most people, getting a new car is an exciting thing. I have needed a new car for a while. I need something dependable (as does everyone, I guess). I drive a lot. My daily commute is 42 miles round trip and that's if I just go to work and back - it's obviously more if I run errands or hang out with friends.

I also do home inspections most Saturdays and that consists of driving all over Utah County - and sometimes to Park City. Plus, I visit family a lot in Idaho. I have put over 140,000 miles on my car in the past 7 years.

I love my car -----> Lola is a red '01 VW Beetle. She's the first car I bought for myself with no help from my parents. And, she's fun to drive. She has a 5 speed, manual transmission and turbo, which is so much fun.

And, teenage girls tell me they love my car all the time. I know it's stupid, but I think it's funny. The other day I opened my garage door and was getting in my car and 3 girls were walking by my house. They all yelled in unison that they love my car.

I should have asked them if they wanted to buy it. It's time. She just hit 173,000 miles and normally runs super well, but I think I've reached the point where I'm tired of pouring money into a sinking ship. Plus, it's gotten to the point that every time I pull onto the freeway I think, "Is today the day?" One of my worst fears is breaking down on the freeway and being stranded for all the world to see.


So, I've been thinking about what kind of car I want. If money (the cost of the car and the gas mileage) was no matter, I would get another Jeep Wrangler in a heartbeat. I drove a green Wrangler in college and I loved it. It was so much fun. But, it was really expensive to drive and not really that enjoyable to drive long distances.

I can't really see myself in a practical car - like a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord. Even a Mazda sedan seems a little too boring for me. They're all great cars, but I have decided to stick with a Beetle. Why not, right?

 So, the other day, I grabbed Jordan and we went to Salt Lake to test drive a Beetle I found on KSL. It's an '08 but only has 42,000 miles on it and the price is pretty good. It's not red, which is a bummer, but it's a cream color which isn't too common, so that's good.

Yeah, that happened. So, this really nice guy met us at his office and came with us on the test drive. I was driving, Jordan was in the front seat and he was in the backseat. I had to turn left on a super busy street. It took awhile and right after I turned, the guy in the back said, "red, red red…" over and over, then Jordan started saying "red, red, red." I was like "What's red? What's going on guys?" like I was the only one not getting a joke. Then I noticed that I was half-way through an intersection and the light was red - like solid red, not yellow to barely red. It had been red awhile.

So embarrassing.

Thankfully, no one hit us…and I didn't get pulled over. I was super lucky!

I really liked the car. It's super clean and runs really well. It's probably the one I'll get but I want to see what else is out there. So, we thanked the nice man, I apologized again for almost killing him and we left. The check engine light had been on in Lola for a day or so, so we swung by AutoZone to have them hook up their diagnostic machine. She was still running okay so I wasn't overly concerned. Jordan's check engine light has been on on her Bug for years. The result showed that possibly 3 things were wrong so I planned to take it to my mechanic the next day. We stopped for dinner at The Corner Bakery (delicious) then we went to Jordan's sister-in-law's/good family friend Kristin's house to take her some soup because she was sick. We visited for a couple of minutes, then got back in the car to head back to the UC. We got in Lola, turned the key and….

She wouldn't start. 

What? In SEVEN and a half years, I have never been stranded. She's broken down before but I've always been able to get to where I needed to go. This was not good.

I've been super anxious lately. I'm not sure what's going on but I've been having a hard time not freaking out when things get tough. Big things, little things - it doesn't seem to matter. I'm so glad Jordan and Kristin were there or I probably would have had a full-blown panic attack.

I tried a few times to start my car, but was not having any luck. I decided to wait awhile because the engine for sure was flooded at this point. I called my Dad because he usually knows what to do in these situations. His only advice was to let it rest a few minutes then try again. When I tried again about 30 mins later, she still wouldn't start so we pushed her into visitor parking (who needs men? - we got this!) then David came and picked us up and sweet Jordan let me use her car until I could get this figured out.

The next morning was the worst snow storm I have seen in a really long time. It was really, really bad. I have never had a car towed (thankfully) but since I work in insurance, I have some resources. I arranged a tow truck, but he needed the keys (Really? If I were to park illegally, you would have no trouble towing my car without the keys) so I had to leave work and drive all the way to Draper on awful roads. I saw cars slide off the whole way up there. It was not fun -- and didn't really help with my anxiety levels. When I got to Draper, I tried to start Lola and - HOORAY! - she started! Well, not really hooray, I guess. I couldn't really drive 2 cars back to Orem - plus, I did not want to try driving Lola in the blizzard conditions that were hitting Utah at that moment.

My cost for the tow was only $25 and I gladly handed it over to the nice tow truck driver. It was well worth my peace of mind. 

Is it weird that I got a little teary when he loaded her onto his truck?!

Okay, yes, I know it's weird, but I couldn't help it. We've been through a lot together! I have a very unhealthy relationship with my car and I'm okay with it. Plus, I was super stressed about the cost of repairs. I was sure it was the transmission or something else major. And, I knew I had to get it fixed.

After all, no one wants to buy a car that doesn't run.

I made it back to work in one piece - barely - and Lola made it safely to the mechanic shop. I called at 5 that afternoon to just get a report and Wes, my mechanic told me that it was the fuel pump and the turbo recirculation valve. Okay then. I was able to pick her up the next day and hand over 600 hard-earned dollars.

Sometimes it's really hard to be grown-up.

Anyhoo, I'm not sure why I am having such anxiety about getting a new car. It has been super nice not having a car payment so I'm not really ready to jump back into that fun again. I'm not getting anything overly pricey so I can get it paid off in a year or so, but it stresses me out to have another monthly payment.

Shoot! I forgot to play the Lottery last weekend when I was in Idaho.

You can't win if you don't play, right?! ;)

Does this not make anyone else sad?



No??  Just me?!

Christmas Party Planning

I'm not much of a party planner. That might seem strange to people who know me because it seems right up my alley, but it's not. I like to be creative and I like cute things like invites and decorations and I like people and the actual party, but I am not a planner. I'm just not very good at it.

Which makes my current church calling a little stressful. Basically, I have to plan a 'party' - some type of event - for all the women in my ward, once a month. Sure, I have a committee, but we all saw how that worked out for Super Saturday. Not that the girls on my committee aren't great. They are. They just have some pretty major stuff going on like babies and surgeries. Plus, delegating is not a strength of mine. Plus, plus, there's my whole inability to plan - which is in my DNA, by the way. No one in my family is good at it.

Does anyone know what we're doing for Christmas? No? Hmmmm, it's Dec 6th. We should probably get that hammered out soon, right?

So, I met with some of my committee girls a couple of days ago and we planned a super simple, super short event that should come together pretty quickly and be enjoyable. I hope. AND, the best part is that I don't have to do the whole thing! Hooray!

We are having a hot chocolate bar which is one of my very favorite things. I picked up most of the stuff today and thought it would be super fun and cute to put little circle tags on all of the cups.

I got the printable here.

Pretty cute, huh?

So, I printed and cut them out and put them on 2 cups. It took a really long time so it was easy to make the decision that I was not going to put them on the 49 other cups. If I had nothing else to do, I would totally take the time, but everyone will just have to drink out of normal, boring styrofoam cups.

Maybe next year...

Last One, I Promise

This is the last bit of fall cheer I'll post.

At least this year…

These are the 2 trees in my front yard.

I just can't get enough!

Photo Shoot

I got to photograph this super cute family a couple of weeks ago.

These are the sweetest little girls. Mom and Dad are pretty great too.

Stuart Falls

I went hiking last Saturday.

I know. Definitely something that needs to be documented. It doesn't happen too often, mostly because I'm busy and...oh yeah, I'm way out of shape. Also, I am the world's slowest hiker, so no one ever wants to go with me. It's mostly because I take so many photos...



...but also 'cuz I'm out of shape. Let's be honest.

But, I really enjoy being in the wilderness, especially during the fall. It is therapy for the soul. Nothing equals fresh mountain air. Also, I got to hang out with 2 of my favorite people, Amelia and Kristi.

Plus, my parents are rockstars and found a great deal on a Canon 5D, so I also had an excuse to break in my new camera.

Basically, it was a great day all around.

Even though I was sore until Wednesday.

(When did I get to be so old?!)

I sincerely apologize for the embarrassing display of fall celebration.

I just can't help myself.

I love living in Utah.