Sweet Roommate

Oooookay.  My new roommate is too sweet for her own good.  She left two cough drops on my pillow when I was hacking up a lung in the shower the other night, and this morning I woke up to this on my front door.

Can you say cutest note ever???  I am so blessed:)  How could I not have a wonderful day after that?

Thanksgiving point gardens!!!

The glorious central lawn at Thanksgiving Point Gardens

 We went to the Thanksgiving Point gardens for $2 Tuesdays in August.  They were soooooo beautiful!  It felt like we were in paradise.

 The waterfall there is the largest man-made waterfall in this hemisphere. So awe inspiring!!!

One of my favorite parts (every second was my favorite part...)  was the secret garden.  It's tucked away, just a small wooden door in a wall in a brick archway.  

When you walk inside, you see this beautiful fountain.  There are a few little "rooms" to wander through and some sculpture.

We got caught in the rain:)  It was actually pretty fun. And as stunning as nature can get.  We saw the bronze statues of Christ in the rain.  I felt like it was their natural state to be seen in.  Particularly the life-size one of the Savior walking on water during a storm, and the one of him in Gethsemane.  They rain made tears stream down His face.  What a beautiful experience.:)  We were so lucky to be able to come.

Dinosaur Museum!

Scared face?  Fail.

We went to the Dinosaur Museum!!!! At Thanksgiving point, they have $2 Tuesdays in August!  So we went to the dino museum last week and this week is the gardens:)  I loved going through the museum, they had really cool stuff, but it seemed cramped the way they had it set up.  Too bad.  But still really cool:)  #DinoDate :)

52 New Things: Played a Cigar Box Guitar (21 to go)

Cigar box guitar!

We went to the Provo rooftop concert series, and there was a guy there selling his handmade cigar box guitars.  He had some that were signed by really famous people, (apparently...I didn't know any of them, which is not saying much;)

Also, I dig this whole outfit.  I like the blue turquoise earrings with this top.  And of course the $.99 headphones really pull it all together...

52 New Things: Bear Lake, Evanston, and El Sabor (22 to go)

In July my sisters and mom and I went to Bear Lake! I've been several times before, but this was new because I was driving.  We stayed three days at Bear Lake and it was beautiful. It was hot and the water was cool.  The town is so peaceful and I love all the touristy little gift shops. I can't help it:) We ate at this new restaurant, El Sabor.  It truly was so flavorful.  On the way home, there was a terrible accident and after sitting on the free way for two hours, we were guided to U-turn back to Evanston, Wyoming.  We got the LAST room in the Best Western.  We were so lucky.  It was like walking into heaven when we walked into our room and saw the beautiful beds after driving all day and being stuck on the freeway.  We made it home safe and sound the next day after our little adventure:) And there are a million photos.  Deal with it.

Driving in the middle of nowhere:)

Goofs in the backseat

Jumping bean Emily

In the perfect lake:)

Just chillin on the beach

Shell henge

Sandy toes

A mermaid washed up on the beach!

We got bored waiting for our pizza...

Beautiful hollyhocks:)

Beach time

Happy mama:)

MMM!  El Sabor!

Where the burritos are literally as big as your face.

Crashing into a big comfy bed after a long day of driving:) If that's not nice, I don't know what is.

52 New Things: Jackson Wyoming, Stephanie's Ranch, Mechanical Bull, Bubba's and White Water Rafting! (25 to go)

Okay, I'm counting this trip as five new things, but writing about it in one post.  Mostly because it's August and I'm only halfway through my 52 new things.  At least that I'm writing about.....:)

At Stephanie's ranch in Idaho and Jackson Hole Wyoming square with arches made every year of elk antlers!

This trip was sooooo rejuvenating!  We stayed at my friend stephanie's ranch in Idaho.  It's in this little hidden valley with nothing around for miles. It was incredibly peaceful.  Her family was so kind to host us for the night.  We grilled hot dogs and rode the famous mechanical bull.  We slept so well with country air drifting through the open windows.  It was amazing to just get away from it all.  

The next day we drove to Jackson, Wy. It was such a cute town!  We ate at Bubba's BBQ.  I got a delicious pulled pork BBQ sandwich.  We walked around town exploring taxidermy, western wear, and other exciting things:)  We got some yummy fresh sorbet, then headed to the river!

White water rafting on the Snake River

We got in a raft with another family that was really cool.  We navigated through the rapids and they weren't nearly as bad as I was afraid they would be.:)  It was a great experience and...

We all survived!

Mount Timpanogos

So, we hiked Mount Timpanogos.  I had assured everyone it was just a long stroll, nothing to worry about:)  Yeah.  It was harder than I remembered.  We were taking our sweet time and ended up being up there for about 10 hours.  The last hour down we were all quite tired and sore.  Don't even worry, because we definitely hit up two wedding receptions later that night!  #yousleepwhenyou'redead

Us on top of Mount Timp!  Exhilarating.  Looking over into a valley on both sides of us was breathtaking.

On the trail.  I love the variety of nature.  I looove pine trees.

Going through a meadow.

Tree hugging.

Such beautiful vistas the whole way!

There were so many beautiful wildflowers in bloom. 

52 New Things: Gloria's little Italy (30 to go)

We went to dinner at Gloria's Little Italy. :)  This place is the fountain of all comfort.  I would say comfort food, but that would discredit the ambiance. We had bruchetta for appetizers. It was fantatic.  The flavors were so fresh and intense.  I loved their balsamic vinaigrette. We also had the special of that day.  I can't remember what it was called, something-bandera. It was called bandera, which means flag, because there was the three colors of sauce.  Pink cream sauce on the bottom, pesto angel hair pasta, and Parmesan chicken on top with marinara sauce.  YUMMY!!!

We went Friday night and there was an accordian player there:)  He was really good!  He had a lovely classical voice and played familiar tunes.  The lighting was low and there was richly colored drape-y fabric sectioning off rooms.  There was lots of Itallian artwork and pottery.  Such a beautiful experience:)  Totally worth it.