cherry blossoms 2013

rolled down to washington dc for a little cherry blossom viewing the first weekend of april.  we ended up missing "peak" bloom by like 2 days but it was still absolutely gorgeous.  and with my trusty new skills learned from my photography class i've been attending for two hours every thursday night i was ready to take some snap shots of the nation's capitol in bloom.

ode to spending time with family

when i started writing my year end letter to put in my christmas cards this year i realized that every single vacation i took in 2012 had a member of my family vacationing with me.  that has never happened since i left the nest many moons ago.  i think family time has risen to the top of the priority list in 2012.  i actively chose to spend my precious vacation days on time with members of my family.  i always knew that i loved my family tremendously but i think 2012 just solidified how much i love to SPEND TIME with them.  there can often be a big difference between loving your family and loving to spend time with them.  

so even though i worked 6 of the 7 business days i was on "vacation" over christmas this year i still loved every moment i got to be with my family.  and i want to say "you're welcome" to joani for allowing her to dive head first into mommy mode and take care of me when i was so sick.  love that my communication with her while in my sick bed was via text.  she's come a long way.  pat yourself on your back my mommy.

i look forward to my time with the family in 2013 - especially my vacay with joani and flex in europe.  time for joani to get another stamp in her passport and what better places to get that stamp than in london and paris?  and flex is just an awesome and easy going travel companion so he is going to be part of the party.  plus three is always better than two.  just remember to do and go where i tell you and we will all have a great time.

2012 - keep calm & carry on

Greatest vacation:  Walt Disney World twice!  Went in January with friends and my brother Corey then again in October with my mom and sister Alyssa. 

Greatest family time: weekend in March visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Highline with my mom, headed to California to celebrate my cousin’s wedding, made classic grandma Jewel “bunny” cake with nephews for Easter, spent a week in July with my entire family - went to the water park, played the piano with my niece, posed for family portrait and took an hour long walk with my 3 year old niece & nephew for entertainment. And our regular Sunday night video chats.

Greatest daily distractions:  Instagram photo sharing, Draw Something playing and Spoiler TV website viewing

Greatest concerts/Broadway shows: Newsies (3x), Kelly Clarkson @ Radio City, Peter and the Star Catcher, Snow Patrol @ Terminal 5 (2x), As You Like It, The Cranberries @ Terminal 5, Into the Woods, Keane @ Beacon Theater, Ed Sheeran @ Bowery Ballroom, Once, Ed Sheeran @ Terminal 5, Paloma Faith @ Mercury Lounge, The Heiress and Alfie Boe @ Berklee Performance Hall in Boston

Greatest evidence that my friends take priority: not attending the Men’s Final @ the US Open (which Andy Murray won in five sets!) to hang out with my friend Megan when her vacation plans changed at the last minute

Greatest guilty pleasures:  Purchase of 4 pairs of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, facials @ Bliss Spa, US Open tickets, using miles to upgrade to First Class for trip to CA, drinking tea, watching TV on my Time Warner Cable iPad app and Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepson)

Greatest songs played on my iPhone: the “+” album by Ed Sheeran, Burn It Down (Linkin Park), the “Our Version of Events” album by Emeli Sande, New York & Lifening (Snow Patrol), Catch My Breath (Kelly Clarkson), Amsterdam (Imagine Dragons) and Just Be (Paloma Faith)

Greatest time spent unwinding in front of my new HDTV: Revenge, Once Upon A Time, The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, The Big Bang Theory, Smash, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy & the coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London

Greatest hours spent in a movie theater: The Avengers, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, The Vow, Les Miserables and Skyfall

Greatest purchases in lieu of annual European vacation:  diamond necklace, Walt Disney World annual pass and Bose home theater system

Greatest New York moments: earning “New Yorker” status on Sept. 19^th after a decade living in NYC, taking a bike ride through Central Park with my cousin Ali, escaping the screaming teenage girls cage outside my office because of One Direction concert, an early Sunday morning stroll through Central Park with friends who just arrived from AZ via a red-eye flight and witnessing compassion, service and kindness after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy

illness befalls home for the holidays

decided to party with the family for christmas this year.  woo hoo.  arrived on tuesday.  hung with clare on wednesday.  thursday was lunch with joani and grandpappy then later viewing the lights at temple square in salt lake city with the whole motley crew.  friday was all day with the monkeys, sunshine, joani and moocher at BYU.  then the illness came.

around 3:30am on saturday morning i was awoken with illness that decided to linger for three days - all the way to christmas eve.  my sister and i both caught a bug gifted to us by our nephews.  we endured stomach flu and a 103 degree fever for me.  haven't felt that ill in quite some time.  put a damper on all of our christmas revelry. 

then grandpappy caught the bug on sunday.  and today joani is dealing with the bug.  crossing fingers and toes that the remaining healthy member of the family, flex, does not succumb to the ickyness that is the stomach flu/fever combo.  need at least one person to run the household while the rest of us drown our sorrows in lots and lots of ginger ale.

a couple of pics taken at temple square prior to the christmas plague of 2012:

alfie boe and the fan with a cane

netter and i went to see alfie boe in boston.  it was a fun concert but i must say the demographic of our fellow concert goers was somewhat older than netter and i.  like seriously older than us.  at one point alfie went into the aisles of the crowd to allow his fans to sing along with him.  when the time came for him to get back up on the stage he started running down the aisle to the stage steps.  only problem was that there was a woman who had basically made a personal wall in front of the steps so that alfie could only get up the steps if he went through her or around her.  well he did a combo and the lady ended up on the ground after doing a 360 degree turn.  the unfortunate part is that this woman was also employing the use of a cane.  poor alfie.  he took down a late middle aged woman who used a cane.  but at the same time the blame for the sprawled position can be placed solely on the fan who made a personal wall in front of the steps.  i mean if you plant yourself in front of a man running down hill then you kinda have to be prepared to end up thrown to the ground, cane or no cane.

the girls take disney world

me, my mommy and my little sis went to disney world.  woo hoo!  we rented a condo, i drove everywhere and we spent some quality time with the mouse and his good buddies.  the good thing is that joani and mooch basically did what i told them to do since i was the annual pass holder.  we had such a good time even when i was wheeling joani out of the magic kingdom in a wheelchair we managed to laugh and hum the "chariots of fire" theme.  i love my mommy and my moochie.

it was a good time at magic kingdom, animal kingdom, epcot and hollywood studios.  i would like to say that it was in the top 5 vacations that my mommy ever took.  the look on her face when she first saw the cinderella castle at magic kingdom was priceless.  oh the childlike wonder.

we got an extra bonus when the peeps at the magic kingdom allowed us to see the new fantasyland.  the new rides and "experiences" were up and running for a dress rehearsal.  it was really fun!  probably enjoyed the little mermaid ride the best. 

mommy got her caricature.  mooch bought her mug.  i got a shirt from england because of my british obsession.  we ate good food and slept in on sunday morning.  the favorite ride was probably the toy story ride in hollywood studios.  joani really enjoyed epcot.  mooch really enjoyed the lion king show at animal kingdom.  i really enjoyed my first class upgrades both to and from orlando.  :)

i kinda want to do this every year.  right mommy, same time next year?!?!

photo timeline of my summer

childhood BFF and her hubby bishop d - the smiles are because bishop d won the Newsies lottery right before

my beautiful inside and out cousin jess, her new hubby and the tarheel loving B family

point a camera at me and i'll do something silly - evidence picture #1

evidence picture #2

evidence picture #3

me and my joani

my brother flex and macaroni

me and my macaroni

going for a walk with two 3 year olds - serious entertainment

my sister in law sunshine

hanging with my awesome friend PhD and her beautiful offspring

getty villa with pacific ocean in background

new york philharmonic in the park with fireworks at the end

and now you're caught up to what i've been up to this summer.  love time with my family.  didn't love getting sick day of my flight home.  did enjoy being three short rows behind Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife on my rescheduled flight.  love local grocery store for putting haagen daas on sale.