big news!

my best friend, boy friend, missionary {whatever you want to call him} is headed to Mexico tomorrow!

he has been waiting for this day for a good 3 months now.

yes, i might be freaking out.

yes, i am extremely nervous.

but most importantly i am excited and anxious for him.

he told his momma that once he got the great news he danced around his house like a little girl.

that is why i love him :)

acappella

mike tompkins.

he has some pretty incredible talent.

would you agree?

 

watch more here, here & here.

way back in the day

my older sister brie got married in may. 

we just received the pictures that i feel so inclined to share.

all pictures courtesy of rebekah westover

i love my family.

{oh and isnt rebekah westover just incredible?}

the coast

because we didnt get to cannon beach until the evening we didnt really know what to expect in the morning.

this is what we woke up to

 right outside of our window.

i know i've said it 100 times but mother nature never seizes to amaze me.

they call the rocks, just to the right of my mom Ecola state park.

its about a 10 minute drive from cannon beach.

the view was pretty amazing. 

and just to add some more beauty in to your day, i snapped this picture on the drive to Ecola.

life is beautiful.

cheese

on our drive through tillamook, oregon we had to stop at none other than..

thats right. the tillamook cheese factory!

no secrets here..i was literally gagging when we stepped out of the car.

the smell outside of the place was terrible.

while plugging my nose {and trying to convince myself not to throw up right there} we went inside.

it didnt smell so bad. it smelt more like baked sugar cookies, i think they do that just so people dont faint from disgust. amen.

we headed upstairs to find this

it made us think of charlie and the chocolate factory. 

except not nearly as cool, of course.

bless those sweet soles that have to work in there.

it was a bittersweet experience to watch the whole "cheesing" process.

i just wont let my imagination go.

i love me some tillamook ;)

on the road

while my mom and i have a few days to spare we decided to take a road trip.

all we knew is that we wanted to go to the coast.

here is what we came up with

approximately 120.64 miles- about 2 hours 42 minutes

with all of the stops we made it probably took us around 4 hours.

let me tell you, with the incredible vegetation and amazing beach the drive was outstanding.

i couldnt narrow down the pictures so take a deap breath.

it really is amazing.

pure bliss

for our first night in newberg we stayed at the allison hotel.

luxury at its finest.

i highly recommend staying at this incredible hotel.

pamper yourself, even if its just for the night.

breathe. lighten up. rest, assured. 

let go.

i am thankful

I am thankful that i could be spending my thanksgiving with my mom and dad.

my mom is the strongest most spiritual person i know. 

she has been through thick and thin and always conquers it all.

my dad gives my family the world.

he has been through so much and continues to teach me priceless lessons.

he can do anything he puts his mind to.

i am also thankful for god and this incredible, beautiful world that always seems to take my breathe away.

scenery from my hotel

newberg, oregon 

november 25 

happy thanksgiving!

 i'm off to portland, oregon for the next 2 weeks. 

have a happy holiday!

more turkey day, who knew?

i have yet another turkey day post. 

today i decided to whip together a little somethin' somethin' for my elder for thanksgiving this thursday.

wait, this thursday? i cant believe it! boy how times flies.

this was such a simple project.

what you'll need:

-a basket {i got mine from the dollar store}

-red, orange, yellow and black paper

-scizzors

-and of course, your hand.

i think you've got it all under control from here.

happy turkey day to all!

oreo turkey treats

 

 what better way to start the holiday season than to make 70 turkey day treats. yes, it may have been a long tedious process but arent the beauties cute?

here's what you'll need for each turkey:

• 7 pieces of Candy Corn (9 if you add wings)
• 2 Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies
• 1 Whopper
• 1 Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (miniature)
• 1 Tube of black piping gel
• 1 tube of white icing
• 1 Yellow and red food coloring (to make orange for the feet)
• 1 plastic Ziplock bag
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 bowl

Prep:
Put your Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge to cool. If you have cold hard chocolate to work with it makes it a lot easier.

Squeeze some of the white icing into a bowl. This will be your orange. Mix red and yellow food coloring with the icing to create your desired orange. Then put that into a plastic bag and set it aside for later.

Creating:
First you will be creating the tail using 1 Oreo cookie and 6 Candy Corns. Gently, with one candy corn pull apart just one side of the Oreo. Don't don't break about the entire thing. Put a good amount of icing in between the two sides. This will help the Candy Corn stay. Place 6 Candy Corn (white side down) in between the cookie. See picture.

Take your white icing and squeeze a generous amount onto the top back of an Oreo cookie. Take the other Oreo and put the bottom into the icing to have it stand up. If it doesn't stand, add more icing! Once you have it stand put it up against something so it doesn't fall until the icing is dry. I use a thick book.

Remove your Peanut Butter Cup from the fridge. Take your knife and cut off the very bottem so you have a flat surface. Put icing on the bottom of it the bigger flat. Bump it up against the bottom and back of your Oreo cookies. See picture.

Next take your Whopper and squeeze more icing on it on one side. Place the whopper on top of the Peanut Butter Cup to make your head.

Find a piece of Candy Corn that has a nice big white end. Using your sharp knife cut the color off leaving you with the white end. Place some icing on it and stick it on your whopper as the beak to your Oreo Turkey. Hold for a moment.

For wings:
Put some frosting on the back of a Candy Corn and place it on the side of the Peanut Butter Cup with the small end pointing up. Do this on each side for the wings. Make sure to hold for a moment to get them to stick!

Take your icing and place two white dots as eyes. Get your tube of black piping gel and place a black dot on each eye to make them come alive.

Grab your bag of already created orange. Cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag. Now, pipe feet.

Now you are done!

 may the holidays begin!

flashy finds

at the bijou market. 

these are what caught my eye.

great day for a white wedding

my long time neighbor and close friend courtney got married yesterday.

nothing gets sweeter when you have a beautiful bride, handsome husband, yummy food and fabulous friends.

 it was oh so good.

love love love

the bijou market.

honestly, the bijou market is one of the happiest most creative events in utah. 

be there or be square people.

styx

for this year's NuSkin convention they had the one and only styx come and perform. 

you bet i was there.

and although i walked out with ringing ears, it was a blast.

little man

i've adopted a little man for the past week.

 he may be the cutest little man in the state. 

 as i'm writing this he's stepping on nemo and falling off of him.

over. and over. and over.

i feel like i need to have my camera on and ready all day, everyday so that i can capture those small yet precious moments.

he has handsomly big eyes.

a contagious smile

and a to die for giggle.

we call him kieran.

i. am. back.

and ready to conquer the world.

hehe, just kidding.

i have many, many of things to blog about but where do i start?

this time around i'm being seriously dedicated to my blog. 

this is my journal.

my life. 

my journey.

and all of thee above is

perfectly imperfect.