Go Jazz, Go!

Talia and I have been besties since the 90s.

I'm not joking. 

Love being able to chat the night away with her while watching the Jazz play. 

Even better when I get a text from my babies saying they are at the Jazz game too. 

Porter thought he was pretty big and told Natalie that he was just going to come sit with me. 

Oakley Rodeo Roundup

A summer should always include a rodeo. 

Thanks to the sweet Wright family I was able to attend the Oakley rodeo the second year in a row.  

We so happened to run into this gem of a cowboy....

and his sidekick, Matt.  

Love being with three people I love dearly!

My Phoenix family

(me, Melinda, Jenni & Matt)

When you work 40+ hours a week for 7+ years you build a family. 

These three are some of my nearest and dearest. 

Melinda is now staying home with her cutest boys. 

Jenni is now in San Diego living the beach life with her family. 

And Matt is in California as well. 

It has been a couple of years since all four of us were able to be in the same place at the same time. 

We didn't skip a beat and picked up right were we left off. 

As much as I miss seeing this people on a daily basis at work, 

I'm grateful for the friendships that have been made. 

They are lifelong friends.  

My Layton Ladies

I met all of these ladies my Sophmore year of high school.

From that first week of high school these ladies have been anchors in my life.

It is so great when you can get together months sometimes years later and you just pick up from where you left off.

Jillian was in town for a quick visit so we took the opportunity to get together for a bit.

It was great. 

We grab Pizza Place breadsticks and chatted our hearts out.

Every girl needs a solid group of ladies to have by their side.

Lucky for me, I have lots of them.

2013: Recap

The reason I started this blog was to keep up with some dear friends that moved across the country.  

Now, it is for me.  

I like to be able to look back at things that I have done or places of my life. 

I have always done a recap of the year. (2010, 2011, 2012)

Last year, I did a video. 

It's even more fun to watch and remember certain moments of the year. 

Here is 2013's Recap, video style. 

2013 has been a year of growth for me.  

I'm proud to say I have learned a lot and ready to put the lessons into actions. 

Here is to 2014.

A weekend in Washington

My sweet friend, Jillian decided her and her sweet family needed to move to Washington.

Her husband got a job in Portland.

I am still so sad that they are so far away. 

Jill and I met in high school and became even better friends once in college.

Jill and Shaun welcomed a new addition, Jensyn Olivia. 

I needed to meet this little cutie. 

 She is a sweetheart.  

I got lots of snuggles with this little cutie. 

Breklyn is so big now!  

We were headed down to Portland and she insisted on holding my hand this whole time. 

She completely melted my heart. 

Breky was so excited to "throw wrocks in da riber"

 It was the Rose Festival when I was there.  

and the weather was gorgeous.

During nap time on Saturday I went out for run. 

Ragnar is coming quick and I am not even close to being ready. 

So off running I went.

It was a beautiful run. 

But clearly I didn't know where I was going and got a little lost.

Good thing for GPS to get me back to their house. 

My trip was so quick. 

But I'm so glad I was able to snuggle this little cutie. 

It was so fun to see the Beardall family. 

I have missed having them so close. 

 Thanks for having me, Jilly!  

Sure do love you!

Can't wait to see you in July!

875 miles driving plus 90 minutes of flying get you this....

Cassia and I have been best of friends since 1998.

We have been through pretty much everything together. 

Borrowing clothes, countless boyfriends, heartbreaks, girls nights, petty fights, college, real fights, marriage, more boyfriends, lots of moves, Ty being deployed, Cass becoming a mom of baby Gage, more moves, and now Mom of twins.... and another move. 

So what does this mean?  

That in order to see my friend, I needed to go to Texas and surprise her! 

I had originally planned to go to Phoenix, but at the last minute I changed my plans and decided to surprise Cass. Made a quick phone call to her husband and made sure they were going to be home and told him I would arrive later on Thursday night and to have answer the door and DON'T SAY A WORD.

Much to my surprise, Tyrell didn't say a word and it was the BEST SURPRISE EVER once Cassia finally opened the door.  It took several knocks!  

Since I already had my flight to Phoenix I decided to just rent a car and drive down to El Paso from there.  Very long boring drive.  But thanks to Songza, Voxer and treats I survived the 7+ hour drive.  

I was able to soak up lots of time with her sweet babes.  This little lady may have won my heart over.  I carried her around everywhere with me!  (Apparently I didn't get any pictures with Bridger, Cass you will have to send me the one with both of those cuties!)

This time was much needed for both of us.  It was so much fun to be able to stay up late talking, watching videos of us in high school (we thought we were so cool).  I've missed this girl more than I realized.  There are very few friends that know you inside and out and I'm lucky enough to have a few of those in my life.  

Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Cassia!  Tell those babies of yours not too grow up too fast. 

Spandex and Peddaling

I'm starting to second guess some of the activities I do for fun. 

I rode the ULCER ride again this year and opted for the 67 mile portion. 

The first 50ish miles were great.  

I'm not the fastest, but I just keep going. 

The last 12ish miles were DEATH!

I honestly thought I was going to kill myself, I was HOT, thirsty, hungry, out of water and ready to be done.

But I finished! 

Important lessons were learned during this ride:

A. Don't stay up late the night before the race.

B. Hydrate up the day before and the morning before the race.

C.  A mini Luna bar does not equal a breakfast for this long of a race.

D. Purchase a mini snack bag like Jilly so you can munch on treats easily during the ride. 

E. 67 mile rides you have to train for.

F.  Listening to LMFAO helps you get through the last few miles when you want to quit.

I was actually shocked how quickly my body recovered from this ride.  My legs weren't sore at all, I just craved a lot of water for the next 48 hours.  So I will take that compared to previous rides.

10 years and counting

I'm still in complete shock that I not only am old enough to have my 10 year reunion, but attended my reunion.  I have fond memories of high school that I discussed here.  But fond memories or not I still was a little hestitant to go.  Thanks to my dear friend, Jilly I went and had a great time. 

After I hit the lake in the morning, I headed to my parents house to shower real quick before I headed down to the park.  There were quite a few familiar faces down there and of course faces that I was certain I had never seen before in my life.  (I'm sure the feeling is mutual) 

Chelsi, me and Jillian

Jenilyn, Chelsi, me, Jilly and Aubrey

Us ladies chatted it up for quite sometime even though most of us keep in pretty good contact.  From there we had a few hours until the dinner portion of the reunion at Maddox SteakHouse.

Sean was uncertain if he was going to come to the dinner portion and I assured him he was going and picked him up on my way.  We had a great chat on the way up and felt like old time sitting on the tramp in our backyards. 

Some of my favorite ladies

I'm so glad Vashti was in town for the reunion it worked out perfectly!  We had not seen each other since graduation since she moved out of state and I was busy doing my thing.  Her laugh cracked me up and you can't just love being around this girl.

I'm really glad I ended up going to my reunion even though I was dreading it because I am in a different stage of life than most of my high school friends.  Made me realize more than ever you have to enjoy the stage of life you are currently in and not always want to rush to the next stage.  Because all the stages in life will come in due time. 

Class of 2002.... we will see you in another 10!

Glow in the dark midnight run

Summers are always full of lots of fun runs and 5ks. 

Earlier this year we decided we only wanted to do fun ones

We started the year off with "Color me Rad" and then stumbled across this Glow in the Dark midnight run. 

After we spent the evening in Park City; Stacy, Dave, Tyler and I headed to Ogden to go get our run on. 

Stacy and I gladly dropped the boys off to the 10k start and we continued on to the 5k starting line.

(Note to self: NEVER EVER eat dinner less than 2 hours pre-run, especially pizza)

Everyone was decked out in glow sticks.  It was great.  

You couldn't see much more than 10 feet in front you, except for the glow in the dark apparel people were wearing.

Our (me and May) only goal was to beat the boys.  Stop judging us... we are not runners and they both are. 

So as soon as we crossed the finish line we sent this picture to the boys tell them saying "Just sitting here waiting for you to FINALLY finish!"  

That put some pep in Tyler's step for his last mile; and he came barreling in. 

All of us at the finish line!

Poor Miss May had to work in the morning and we didn't even get home until after 2:00am. 

After we finished we were all getting ready to get back in the car and drive to Salt Lake when this happened.  Tyler and I were both laying on the ground laughing about something when I said "we need a picture."  We tried to take one... Tyler's eyes closed... another... cut off head...another... my eyes were closed.  So we just opted for the most ridiculous photos ever and ended up with this precious gem.   

(Note to self: put camera away after midnight)

Alpine Slide

I forget how many fun things our great state has to offer, until out of towners come and we go explore.  

Park City is one of those places I don't go nearly enough. 

My friend, Dave came to town to visit from Kansas City and after a fun day at the pool we decided to all head up to Park City and ride the Alpine Slide.

Dave, me, Staci, Tyler and Zach  (picture courtesy of Tyler's instagram)

 

 Tyler and I decided to race or should I say who go to the bottom first, since there is a rule about racing.  Little did I know my friend is a CHEATER! So here is my loser face!  (BOOO to the cheater!)

There was perfect weather in Park City and suprisingly enough, not a lot of people.  We walked right on the slide and sat immediately for dinner.  It's officially decided I need to take more Fridays off and go enjoy!

Nostalgia: Lancer Style

Graduation season has been in full bloom the last week or so. 

My inbox is filling up with 10 year reunion information.

I cannot believe it has been an entire decade since I was in my Columbia Blue cap & gown.

I remember that day still very clearly. 

I remember the dress I wore that my sister bought me.

The big hug my mom gave me as I left to head up to the Dee Event Center. 

I remember driving on Highway 89 and jamming out to Garth Brooks.

And hearing the cheers of my family when  I walked across the stage. 

The countdown to graduation started the first day of your sophomore year;

and only heightened your senior year. 

  I'm grateful that when I look back I have fond memories of high school. 

Of course there was always drama of who likes who, if you were going to get asked to the upcoming dance, who was going to be the lead in the next production or the best solo.

But I had a great experience.

I had great, great friends;

Some that I still consider some of my best friends. 

I had good teachers;

That let me spread my wings and shine.

I had a three wonderful sisters;

that paved the way for me and created the "Best Name".

and the most supportive parents;

that would sit through countless high school performances.

 Layton High you did me well.

I sure hope that the next 10 years do not go nearly as fast, 

because frankly I don't think I can handle getting an invite to my 20 year reunion.

Aloha

Next stop on the YOD train is Hawaii. 

Luckily, my best pal, Talia Jo was in full support of me taking a break from working and traveling so we decided to take advantage of her Dad's company golf tournament at Turtle Bay. 

Seriously, how could you go wrong with your bestie in Hawaii? 

My point exactly. 

So Talia, Baby Sol & I packed our bags and off we went. 

After a very long flight we arrived in beautiful Hawaii.  Going to Hawaii in January is an excellent idea.  Get out of glum Utah and go somewhere warm and kiss your winter blues away.

 I had a very small "must see" list.  The main thing I wanted to do was enjoy time with my pal

 and enjoy the Hawaiian sun.  But I figured since I had never been to this island I should do a few things:

1. See Pearl Harbor.

2. Enjoy a shave ice.

3. Lay by the pool.

This view is a little bitter sweet.  This is was my favorite place until I lost track of time reading in this beauty and resulted in this....

Seriously?  And I'm afraid to say it got worse.  This was only an hour after I came in and

 I just kept cooking that night.  YIKES! 

Baby Sol is a dream baby.  I had so much fun getting to know his fun personality.  But apparently back at home there was some hurt feeling.  Because part way through my trip I received this picture with the following message:

"Hope you are having fun with the "OTHER" baby.... I am really mad."

We went and experienced Pearl Harbor followed by the Swamp Meet.  Pearl Harbor is something that every person needs to experience in their life.  The best word I can use to describe it is: humbling.  I left with such love and gratitude for the many people who sacrificed their life for me and my freedom.  

We also spent an afternoon exploring the PCC. Am I the only one that didn't know the LDS church owned it?  I guess you learn something everyday!

We spent the majority of the trip on the North Shore at Turtle Bay.  It was absolutely breath taking and really everything you picture Hawaii to be.  The last two days we spent on the Beach Walk in Waikiki.  It was such a different change and you honestly can't tell you're in Hawaii there, unless you walk down to the beach. Very fast paced and city life. 

Our last afternoon before our flight we went over to Talia's Dads condo in Waikiki.  Next to his condo there is a hotel that has dolphins.  During Baby Sol's nap I went over to explore.  Saying that I loved the dolphies would be an understatement.  I spent close to 2 hours over there watching and taking pictures. 

This trip was unforgettable.  Not only was it beautiful and so nice to get away from the cold winter.  But it was so much fun to spend some quality time with my Best Pal.  Life is busy and seems to only get busier for everyone.  Thankfully, no matter the length of time or distance our friendship always remains the same. 

Dear Pal,

Thanks for a fantastic trip. 

Maybe next year I can get laid off again

OR

I could just take the time off from work. 

Either way, let's make this a tradition.  ;)

Thanks again for everything! 

Love,

Your Bestie

A special note for my pal.

Dear Talia,
      I clearly suck at updating my blog.  Since you have so kindly informed me you check this lovely blog every day and you have not received an update in quite sometime.  Check out this old gem.  It has the picture of us that I was talking about last week. 

I will work on updating my blog.

Your pal,
MO

Go Jazz Go!

Tonight, I was lucky enough to get an invite from my good pal, Talia Jo to go to the Jazz Game. Branden is officially my sports buddy, so I called him to come along and join the fun. He was super excited and tried to act casual as he could look at the players in the eye. We started the night of fun eating at Pat's BBQ. It had a mean pulled pork sandwich... I would highly recommend Pat's if you are looking for some tasty BBQ. Then we headed to the blow out game. Even though we absolutely crushed the New Jersey's, Nets. It was a great time with great people. You are sure to have a good time with Talia and TJ.

Until the next game... hopefully it won't be quite a blow out!