travelling.

Remember how it is my dream to travel the world?  Well guess what?  I am going to IRELAND IN MARCH!!!!  I cannot even wait!

Ireland, what?  All of my dreams are coming true.  Groupon had this screamin' deal...$999 for six nights, seven days of hotel stays, rental car, and round trip airfare out of New York.  And for an extra $99, you get 4 breakfasts, 1 dinner, and tours of some castles.  Seriously...how can you beat that?  YOU CAN'T!  So, me and my BFF Melissa are headed out in March.  And I am freaking out a little.  Just look how pretty it is!

All of these pictures are places we are going to be visiting while there.  SO PRETTY!!!  It is my goal to visit some of the places that "PS I Love You" was filmed.  Gahhhh I just can't wait.

In other good news...my sister had her baby!  We welcomed little Blakeley Reese Meldrum on Sunday morning...2 1/2 weeks early!  She is precious and I love her already!  Yay baby!  :)

hunting.

killed my first elk this weekend.  but not with a gun.  with a car.  yep.  my mom and i hit an elk driving through spanish fork canyon sunday night.  i will tell you what...it was one of the scariest moments of my life.

we were on our way back from dropping the sista pants off back at school in price.  we had gotten a bit of a late start, so it was pretty late when we were driving back.  i realllllllly hate spanish fork canyon.  there is some seriously windy roads, lots of traffic and semis, and a lot wildlife.  i had gotten pretty car sick on the way down.  so on the way back, i had been laying down quite a bit.  one of my biggest fears is getting in a car accident, so i was consistently praying "please don't let us hit a deer, please don't let us hit a deer."  we had just gotten back into cell phone range, so i was answering my texts when all the sudden i feel this incredible force.  a force like we hit a brick wall.  the next thing i remember is not being able to breathe from all of the crap the airbag released and not not being able to get my seat belt undone.  my mom had gotten us over to the side of the road and out of the way by the time i came to.  i must have blacked out.

fortunately we were both ok.  no broken bones, no cuts.  it could have been so much worse.  a nice gentleman pulled over to help us.  he was headed back into the canyon and was inches away from hitting the elk himself.  when he saw us hit our brakes, he turned around to make sure we were ok.  he was so nice and stayed with us until the police arrived.  45 minutes mind you.  yep.  45 minutes is how long we had to wait for the police to show up.  in the freezing cold.  in a canyon.  right by a curve.  seems safe, no?  the cop finally showed, along with a wrecker to tow the silver bullet away.  i rode in the back of a cop car down to where jd came and picked us up, and we finally got home after 1 am.

besides being a little sore and having some bruises, we are both ok.  i feel very blessed to be alive and unharmed.  things could have been so much worse than what they were.  we slept a lot yesterday and ate cafe rio to celebrate being alive.  now my mama has to either get the silver bullet fixed (not likely, since it is probably totaled) or get a new car.  poor mama.

ok.  here are some pictures from our traumatic night.  enjoy.  :)

 poor little stupid elk.

 5 point.  weighs at least 600 pounds, but more likely 800.

 i wanted to keep the rack, but apparently it is against the law.  boo.

 yep.  that is where i was sitting.  i could have died.

 yuck.

 my first time in the back of a cop car.  naturally i had to take pictures.

 save me!

my "arrested" picture.  the cop even offered to let me wear the handcuffs if i wanted.

my "celebrate life" meal.  i couldn't think of any better food than cafe rio to celebrate the fact that i'm not dead.

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.

Peeved.

Today has been a day.  EVERYTHING is bothering me.  The sound of certain people's voices today is just driving me absolutely up the wall.  So today, I will be making a list of my pet peeves.  And the list is long.  And I don't feel bad about it.

• When people ask the same question over and over again.  Listen to the answer the first time!
• Drivers who try to get all the way to the front of an ending lane, then want to cut over in front of the drivers who have waited in line.  It's especially annoying when there are signs for 2 miles that the lane will be ending.
• Losing a new chapstick or lipgloss.
• Flimsy silverware.  I hate forks that bend!
• When people put the toilet paper on the roll the wrong way.
• Driving 5 miles under the speed limit.
• People who drive the speed limit in the fast lane.
• When my cell phone freaks out and freezes on me.
• Waking up to the alarm in the middle a good dream.
• When my favorite pair of clothing gets too worn out to wear.
• Filling up my car with gas.  
• Losing.  At anything.
• Wearing real shoes when it is hot outside.  Summer should be for sandals and flip flops.
• When someone younger than me calls me "hon" or "sweetie".  Really, sweetie?  You're a 17 year old high school senior.  Wait until you get a   
• People who order 1642312374654 menus off a drive-thru menu.  GO INSIDE.  You will make a person who orders one, simple frozen hot chocolate late for work because you need to feed every person you know.
• Having my hair look awesome for the first 10 minutes after I do it, and then failing me 30 minutes after I get to work.
• When a 27 year old guy wants to date a 19 year old girl.  Makes things realllllly difficult for me as I get older.  Not that is was that easy for me to begin with...
• When an episode of a show I watch and have missed is not online.  How am I supposed to catch up on my shows????
• Not being able to sleep in when that is all I really want to do.
• Ending a book series.
• Working really hard to lose weight and not seeing the results I neeeeeeeed.
• The fact that I have not been to Disneyland in over 4 years.  A piece of my soul dies every time someone I know goes and I am stuck here in Utah.

That is all for now.  I don't you all to think I am just some big whiner...  Someone get me on a vacation nowwwwwww.  :)