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So i have never considered myself super trendy or one to go along with whatever everyone else is wearing, i just wear what i want when i want, but there is one trend that is gaining popularity that i am sooo on board with! it's 70 style headbands. Freaking delightful, but they are a pain in the butt! These are the 2 that i have had success with thus far in my attempts to be trendy. haha This post is probably going to make me look slightly shallow...possibly egotistical, but i am doing this for you Mrs. Bree Cooper, and anyone else who wants to jump on this little "fashion" band wagon with me. So here we go...


I got this headband from Claire's. how i made it look semi decent is this
1. do hair in up do messy bun in the back or on the side
2. put the headband on over your bangs
3. you'll have to pin and adjust the headband because it tends to make your hair go all sorts of crazy directions
4. take the bangs that are hanging down under the headband and wrap them up and around the headband to create a sweeping motion with the hair.
5. hairspray and prepare yourself for one giant headache after wearing this baby all day!

This is my new favorite headband, i got it at Downeast Basics. (surprisingly enough)
how i did this quirky little do is:
1. my hair was down and slightly curly
2. i put the headband on first under all my hair
3. then i gathered my hair on the side of my head with and elastic made a messy bun and pinned random pieces all over the place.
3. then i did the sweeping motions with my bangs again which was already there from the curl pretty much
so in this look the only part of the headband you see is across your forehead.

This view of the bangs might make it easier to see what i mean by sweeping. haha
sorry i am no master of fashion. but i think i have officially stated everything i know about this new fashion trend and made myself look slightly self absorbed in the process. i have yet to make one look good with my hair down...that's a project for another day.
Enjoy!





~ In the Land of Sugar~

Last week my sister, who is just the greatest by the way, got her poor (literally) super broke sister tickets to SUGARLAND!!!! what a doll right? Well we had an amazing time, despite the incident in Indiana, Sugarland put on a spectacular show i would rank it in my top 3 concerts, absolutely fabulous. Did i mention Kait got us pit tickets so we were like 3 rows of people away from the stage. Yes, Awesome! Thanks you so much Kait! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the concert:

Pre-Concert Antics:

So these 3 first photos have a delightful story behind them, but to spare you the juicy details we were trying to capture our initial reaction to the overly affectionate lady couple next to us.... none of these pictures properly portray our emotions.

kaitlin is speachless, and i...do not know how to react

as their PDA continues....we are not fans.



we use humor as a defense mechanism  in awkward situations...obviously!

We Love Sugarland!!!!



Concert Time:

This song is called Love, they dedicated it to those who lost their lives and were injured during the collapse at the Indiana State Fair. 

This was such an AMAZING concert!!!! Thank you Kaitlin!

 if you ever get an opportunity to see Sugarland do it!

For real.

Up, Up, and Away...

I LOVE Up!

1. because it is just flat out delightful

2. i die laughing every time i watch it

3.  it reminds me of Phillip and I.

  what are the similarities you ask?

Carl & Ellie have a coin jar to save up for somewhere they want to go together...

So do we!



They are best friends...



and so are we!!!

They have a book of their adventures...

and so do we!

We love to go on adventures

For our first Christmas together, Phill made me an adventure book, here are a couple of pages he made, and a few i've added to it over the past two years.

 




I love my adventure buddy, and just like Ellie my idea of what an adventure is changed when i met Phill and realized amazing adventures can be found in everyday situations!  Can't wait for an eternity of adventures with my best friend! 

oh, and this is the actual Up house i visited today, that created this Up craze!

 

*Time Warp*

my cute camp sisters, 3 years later.
Note: we did not stand in the same spots intentionally, we are just that awesome.
We used to have a quote up in our room that said:
"friends by chance, sisters by choice."
when you are living in a tiny little loft, with 14 girls, for 3 months straight, you have to become the best of friends to avoid killing each other. i love these girls, and as you can see in 3 years, not much has changed.

Goodbye Jemima

Today i cleaned out my loyal ford escort for the last time...even though my sister owned her before me, we had a special bond. Haha. When my sister owned the car, she named it the Black Pearl, because in her earlier years she was shinny and Kait was into Pirates, but when she came into my possession that just didn't quite fit.  After a lot of thought i and an epiphany. This is how my car got her name:

 Aunt Jemima the clunky old black woman from the syrup bottles.  Except she just went by Jemima...can you see the resemblance?  Basically they are both black, old, and as spunky as ever! Haha.

It's amazing the kind of stories a car can tell about a person.  Just cleaning her out today brought back so many fun memories. Some of the things i found:

• Shooting sports manuals from Bartlett, and a permanently dirty windshield from driving to Bartlett and back all summer in 2008
• my lacrosse goggles
• my tassel from graduation
• a crusty purple bandana Phill used to blind fold me when he took me on a surprise hike/picnic in the mountains in 2009
• the plastic sword Phill used when he was Robin Hood our first Halloween
• A book called "Waiting for a Missionary" that Phill's Grandpa Brandley gave me for Christmas, before anyone besides Phill and i knew he was going to serve a mission. (That man knows everything i swear!)
• A text book from my first semester at college
• a cute note of encouragement from my mommy for an exam
• little remnants of Olivia's (the girl i used to nanny) origami club
• a stuffed animal a guy won me on a date to lagoon
• faded post~it notes from when Phill would leave love notes on my car

And the list goes on...goodbye Jemima, we had some excellent, excellent times!



Words To Live By:

"Do what you feel to be right in your heart -- for you will be criticized anyways." -Eleanor Roosevelt

When i first heard this quote i wanted rip out a few true thats, hallelujahs, amens, and a gangster like 'word', because this quote in essence encompasses all that is my life.  No matter how right something feels in your heart or how noble it may appear there will always be criticism! I think everyone is criticized for things they do.  For me i get the same conversations almost every week, these are a few of my favorites:

"Are you dating anyone...." -yeah, Phill, he's on a mission- "So no...You should really be dating around."  

"You're just going to Weber State, right?"

"Two years is a really long time..."

"You need to get that boy home and start a family"

"You're just going to be a teacher, right?"

I usually answer all of these delightful phrases with as much politeness as possible (easier said than done), even though i do have a few choice responses i'd like to say to them every time. The point is even if  you are doing what you know you're supposed to do or have made a decision that you know is right, go for it. Criticism is going to inevitably creep up on you to try and change your course.  Some people are easily shaken by the opinions of others. I am not. I have too much conviction in my heart that everything in my life right now is exactly how it is supposed to be. I am learning to find humor in the criticism i face every day, mostly because i know i'm right. (haha)

The Very Dirty Weekend:

This past weekend i took a little road trip.  My friend Shanda and I drove over 1,000 miles round trip to run the Dirty Dash...even though they do two in Utah, a random road trip to Montana sounded like more fun. So off we went to Billings, jamming out to our tunes, and laughing so hard i thought one of us would drive off the road for sure. We went through Yellowstone and had a blast, had a few intense encounters on our detours through creepy Columbus and Big Timber Montana in the wee hours of the morning.  We camped at the KOA in Billings, the 1st KOA in the world, might i add. Advertised to be located next to the scenic Yellowstone River, we later learned it is located next to a not so scenic swamp inhabited by extremely loud bullfrogs. Yum. We pitched our tent when we got in at about 1: 30 a.m. (that in and of itself was an adventure!)

Saturday was race day! The Dirty Dash is just one giant party. They don't time you or announce winners, or care if you take short cuts, or run the course 5 times, it’s just a riot! The course is an obstacle course that consisted of 32 hay bales 5 plus feet tall that we had to scale, tires, tunnels, waist deep mud pits, slip 'n' side, ladders, cement barriers, mud, and more mud.  We were lookin' FINE by the end of the race!









After the race we set off to get our pictures developed which after 2 different stores, 3 trips to Walgreens, and a frazzled photo lady we got our pictures. In between Walgreens runs we saw Captain America...which was interesting, i was just ticked he didn't get the girl. I mean come on!

Sunday, we took off driving through Yellowstone again, the Grand Tetons, and Jackson Hole! Then began the long trek home. We only got pulled over once, because heaven knows it's not a road trip until someone gets pulled over....going 25 over the speed limit. (Not really more like 15) But, we got off free and clear. Thank heavens we were from out of town!

All in all one fantastically spontaneous trip!