blah.

DIETING SUCKS.

Just kill me now.  Or feed me.  That works too.

Special.

Saturday was a very special day for me.  It was something I had been working towards for a long time.  I went through the temple for the first time.  And it really was a very special day.  I am proud to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (if anyone has questions or is wondering about my religion, please feel free to visit here).  :)
Thanks to all my family and friends who came out and supported me!  I think my loved ones took up most of the room.  Haha.  And then trying to fit about 30 people in our house was quite the accomplishment.  :)

Me and Mama before.

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple...it was a perfect day.

 All of my family at the temple afterwards.  Love these folks!

Later Saturday night, we went mini golfing.  Sure wish I had been doing that more this summer.  It was quite the adventure and I loved it.  And now for some pictures from the weekend...

Sista pants and me mini golfing.

The whole group! 

 Me and Cait before church on Sunday 

 Pretty sunset from last night

Official.

Well.  That's it.  I am officially half of a half century old.  And that is weird.  I am 25 years old.  Welp.  What can you do?

Now for my 25 before 25 list.  I am ashamed to say that I did not complete all of these.  And yes, I do know that some of them were unattainable, but others I just chickened out on.  Bahhhh I'm such a dummy.  I just need to work up my courage a little bit.  Well, here we go...

1. Sleep until noon
        Well, I tried.  But my body just won't let me sleep in.  It's just not fair.  I think the latest I slept in was 10:30.  Pathetic.
2. Run in a race
        FINISHED!  And have two more coming up.  Bahhhh I still hate running.
            Did my other two races.  And it was good.  I am trying to keep up my running, but I hate it.  But I still do it.
3. Pay off my car
        Technically, YES!  I no longer drive Walter.  I do pay for Lucy, but it is much cheaper.  :)
4. Jump off the high dive
        I was only at a pool with a diving board ONCE this summer.  Such a travesty.  And I wasn't even wearing my swim suit.  So I had zero opportunities for this one.
5. Kiss a total stranger
        Yeah.  I have no one to blame for this one but myself.  I just completely chickened out.  I probably could have done this every single day had I had the guts to do it.  But I WILL do it.
6. Give up Diet Coke
        Today is my first day being soda-free.  Yep.  No more soda at all, not just Diet Coke.
7. Teach myself to like avocados
        Still working on it...
8. Go skinny dipping (technically I have already done this, but it was more skinny run-into-the-water-and-run-back-out, so it needs to be on there again)
        Again...zero opportunities.
9. Save $500 dollars (apart from my regular savings) and go on a shopping spree
        I did save $500 apart from my regular savings.  But I'm not going on a shopping spree.  I am saving it to go on a vacation.  But I did go on a shopping spree after I sold Walter.  $300 worth.  It was lovely.
10. Participate in "Ellen's Dance Dare" and submit it to her show
        Again, I am ashamed to say I did not do this.  And there are no excuses for this.  Sad day.
11. See Garth Brooks in concert
        I hope this happens one day...
12. Go to a professional baseball game
         GO BRAVES!
13. Make a dress that I will love to wear
        I have only pulled out my sewing machine once in about 2 years.  I still want to do this.  A cute maxi dress.  So if any of you have a cute pattern, send it my way!
14. Go to a formal event that requires me to get really dressed up
        Yeah.  This didn't happen.  No opportunities.  Maybe as the holidays come...
15. Lose 20 more pounds
        I have not been on the scale for awhile, but I do know that I have lost some.  On my spending spree in July, I had to buy pants a size smaller.  I'm sure it wasn't 20 pounds, but it is still progress.
16. Visit a state I haven't been to before
         Colorado?  Check!  But I do want to visit more.
            I WENT TO TEXAS TOO!  I did.  On a business trip.  I didn't see much of Texas, but I was still there.  And it was bloody hot and humid.
17. Eat funnel cake at a fair
        Yep.  Did this too.  Delicious.
18. Go an entire day without eating one single piece of candy/sweets
        Yeah.  I failed.  I almost made it one day, and then I got called to go get sno-cones.  And how could I turn that down?  Again, I'll work on it.
19. Learn to waterski
        Never went to a lake... :(
20. Make 5 of the recipes I have pinned on Pinterest
        Check!  I'm a superb cook.
21. Go paragliding
         Coolest thing of my life.  So glad I did it.
22. Go on one date during every month of the summer (doesn't seem like a lot but I NEVER date)
        HA!!!!  Big fat failure.  There was one day that I had to cancel a blind date because I got off work late.  Gosh, I am the worst dater ever.
23. Make 10 blankets to donate to a children's hospital
        Yeah.  No excuses either.  I could say that I was just too busy.  And yes, I was busy.  But I could have done it.  I just didn't want to pay the money to buy the stuff.  I'm an awful person.
24. Learn to play a song on the guitar
        I kinda forgot about this one.  I was pretty gung-ho about it at the beginning, but it tapered off. Hmmm.
25. Be happy with my body and who I am - don't let other's opinion of me bring me down
        This is something that I have been working on for 25 years, and something that I will have to continuously.  But at this moment, I am happy with who I am.  Honestly and truly.  I have really grown as a person and I like it.

*Honorary goal: make a scene in a public place
        I chickened out here too.  My friends and I once thought about something we could do, but it never panned out.  Bummer.

Welp.  Looks like I am a BIG FAT FAILURE.  I think I will give myself to the end of the year to accomplish the rest of them.  Except the Garth concert.  That would be by miracle only.  I'm still praying for it...  :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Now validate me with comments.  :)

life. as i know it.

guys.  not too long ago, i played a lumberjack for the day.  and it was suuuuuper fun.  i wish i had put it on my 25 before 25 list.  i went up to my favorite mountains and chopped down trees for firewood.  i also got hit in the face by a tree.  ok.  i ran into a tree.  don't judge me.  sometimes it happens.

just lumberjacking deep in the mountains of idaho.  it was quite liberating to chop down dead trees.

and then i ran into a tree.  a live one.

speaking of 25...my birthday is in a week.  i turn 25.  and that is a weird.  i am half of half a century old.  is that a weird thought to anyone else but me?  i am proud of who i am and what i have accomplished, but there are a lot of times when i think i haven't done nearly enough in my life.  i wish that, by now, i would have had more experiences and done more things.  i want to experience MORE.  so that is my goal.  from this birthday on, i am going to have more experiences, do more things, be less afraid of those things that scare me.  i just want to do MORE.  so here i go.  you guys can hold me to it.  don't let me chicken out of anything.

as for my 25 before 25 list.  well, let's just say i had realllllly high hopes to get all of these done.  and i fell wayyyyy short.  i will do a full update next week, after the day comes.  but let's just say i have a week to cross off...ummm 13 or so things on my list.  oops.  :)

as for the other happenings in my life.  this has been a good summer.  i still love my job.  i went on a business trip to dallas a month ago.  that was definitely a new experience for me.  some really long days, but it was tons of fun.  i had never been to texas before.  humidity sucks.  i also never blogged about the dirty dash.  but just know - it was awesome.  i loved it.  and, in case you are wondering, i still hate running.  i had a small obsession with sno cones this summer.  i only went to get these delicious treats like...twice a week or something.  nothing too outrageous or anything.  i only got in a swimming pool once this whole summer.  that is a travesty.  but such is life when you work all day, every day.

i have some really good and exciting things coming up in my life, but i will just keep those to myself for now.  :)  ok.  now for a giant photo dump of summer pictures from my iphone.  in no particular order.

demolition derby night with the sissy pants and d-nile.

yep.  finally got the F*R*I*E*N*D*S complete series.  my life is so much happier now.

love this princess girl.

does that not look like the most perfect sno cone?  it was.  

my purchases from the other night.  this basically describes my life.

mama, sissy pants, and me getting pedicures.  good day.

one day this summer, i went on a bit of a shopping spree.  and it was so worth the money i spent.

oh fall.  the leaves are changing.  i love this time of year.

our business trip in dallas.  so much fun.

hi mommy!

lbd.  perfect.

lost my toenails after running my race.  embarrassing.

i really love this picture.

the happiest outfit of the summer.

yay life.  ok.  peace and love, y'all.