this is thirty

SURPRISE!
that husband of mine...tricky tricky.
i was just going shopping with my sister then we were headed over to classic skating rink to what i thought was my mom's work's patient appreciation party.
turns out, it was MY PARTY!
gordon wanted it to be childhood themed.  and rollerblading was a huge part of my childhood.  we had a roller rink around the corner from my house.  i dare say i was there 3-4 times a week.  blade or die.


my mom is cooler than yours.  my mom also sprained her wrist on her last loop around the rink but whatever, she's still the coolest.


thank you mel for my little kid birthday cake.  it was one of the best carrot cakes i have ever had!
this is mystie.  she's been my bestie since 9th grade.  and now we're thirty.  holy cow.
my besties from work.
and my guy.  he's pretty special.  i'm pretty lucky.
the littlest man even took a lap or two around the rink.  was this the safest idea, probably not.  but was it fun, yes.  fun trumps safety.

i don't know how gordon will top this super fun party.  but i'm sure he'll find away.  he's like the best gift giver ever and now the best party thrower too.

life lately...

my friend and coworker received her masters degree.  to celebrate, she had a cowboy/cowgirl themed graduation party.  we're dubbing it the party of the year, it was so fun!

these ladies right here...they have become some of my bestest friends.  they make coming to work that much greater!
my friend since 9th grade, bree, is moving to flagstaff, az.  we had a little girls night to wish her the best.  we all bought "friendship watches." and said that every time we look at them we will think of each other.  yeah, we're awesome.  #timeforfriends
the time that we've all be dreading came and went.  my golden nephew has graduated from high school.  does it sound cliche if i say that went by so fast.  because it did.  he's grown up to such a handsome, smart, caring, and independent young man.  i love him so much!
remember that time when my sister and i showed up to going on our morning trail run wearing the same but different colored outfits.  oh yeah, i do.
that girl right there has me laughing all day long at work.  she my southern bell and i love her.
when life gets heavy and i need to find peace and answers, gordon and i go to the temple.  helps me every time.
sometimes i pretend its our wedding day all over again...okay not really but you would that by this photo.
our memorial day weekend was spent at home (no way we're going on an adventure over a holiday...too make folks out!).  the weather is getting warmer so we took the new kayak out for test float.  briggs may have got a little too relaxed and while dozing off fell right into the water.  luckily he had his life vest on!
i LOVE yoga.  and i LOVE stand up paddle boarding.  combine the two and my love exploded.  my fear of drowning (this girl can't swim!) heightened my adrenaline too. it was awesome.  i need a paddle board!
some times i pretend i'm crafty.  and in the midst of my crafts i get bored and think "why am i doing this." i'm just in it for the food and socializing, let's be real honest.
with the one and only indie ogden.  this girl has turned my little town in to an eventful place.  and she's not even a local!

year seven.

saying it feels like you've been together forever shouldn't be a bad thing.  there's no one else i want to feel that way about than with gordon.  our relationship just continues to get stronger as we move forward together.  i thank my heavenly father each time i pray that gordon is the one i get to spend forever with.  i feel very blessed that he is mine. to celebrate our love (i kept saying that phrase and gordon kept looking at me with this look of "are you serious?"...he loves me, promise) we went on a little weekend getaway to the homestead resort in midway, utah.  it was my surprise for gordon this year.  we swam in a natural crater, enjoyed dinner at a delicious and local mexican food restaurant tarahumara, had breakfast on the deck with a beautiful view of the mountains that surrounded us, relaxed at the pool, went for a hike to cascade springs in uinta national forest, stopped for lunch at cafe galleria (best homemade bagels!), and slowly made our way home.  it was a relaxing and perfect weekend together with just the two of us.   this is our year mr. hardcastle.  seven is my lucky number.

travel diary - moab, utah // day two and three

like i mentioned, day one was great.

but during the night gordon got sick.  i mean upset stomach kind of sick.

and to make matters worse little steve was also upset stomach sick.

so we started the day off slow and took it easy.

gordon wanted so badly to not be sick.  so when he felt just the slightest bit okay he said "okay let's go do something".

well moab isn't the best place to want to go and do something when your stomach hurts.

lots of bumpy dirt roads.

but gordon didn't want to ruin my trip (he's always thinking about me...so selfless).

so we decided to take a drive on what seemed to be lesser of bumpy roads to gemini bridge.

and then started the breaks...this was our lunch break.

but after lunch gordon and little steve were done.  

they both were sick.

so we made our way to the bridge, gordon rested while the dogs, brandon, and i hiked to the bridge.

and after that we slowly made our way back to camp where the sickies slepts and we waited for the next day to begin, so we could hopefully make the journey home.

which is exactly what we did.  only one other time have we had to cut our adventures early (when our tent was demolished by a wind storm).  so, needless to say, this adventure will go down in the books.

gordon felt terrible for being sick and for us to have to come home early.  

but if it was me, i sure as heck wouldn't want to be sick in the desert.

or have a child sick in the desert either.

it was out of everyone's control so i couldn't be upset.

we'll just have to go back later this year to hit the spots we missed.

travel diary - moab, utah // day one

finally, an area where we can bring the dogs!

moab, utah

our friends (and new neighbors!) decided it was time to take their little one on a multi day camping trip.

we haven't stayed in a designated campsite where you have to pay and such for a very long time,

but because we like our friends and love a good adventure, we were up for whatever.

we stayed along the green river in a campsite that was actually pretty great.  neighbors were far enough away and we had the sound of a river to sleep to, and town was really close too (hello yummy food!).

we had great plans for this trip...

and day one was great!  

as soon as we rolled into moab we decided we wanted to go on a hike.  for once we left early in the morning instead of late in the night.  we wanted something scenic yet easy (it was the first time this year our dogs were going on a hike longer than a mile or two and that brandon was carrying his son in a backpack on his back).  negro bill canyon it was!

the weather was great!  briggs wanted to soak in the stream every chance he could.

the wild flowers were in full bloom.

and rocks were waiting to be sat on.

little steve LOVED his hiking backpack.  isn't he adorable!

morning glory bridge

trying to find the water source...

that red rock is slippery.

molly, our favorite bulldog.  she's so sweet and loves to play.  

too bad she scares other dogs with her over excitement to play.

after our hike we rested at camp, then went in to town for dinner.

it was a great first day.