Keeping busy and all that jazz!

SO I've just been trying to keep busy while I look for a job. I celebrated my birthday in a variety of ways. First Mum, Dad, Lauran, Dustin and I went to the State Fair!

We sat through a really cool pie demonstration and Dad won 2 pie crusts! Not a bad day!

Then, early EARLY EARLY that weekend was our not-quite-annual Fish Lake trip where we braved the rain and cold for "my birthday" to eventually out-fish EVERYONE on the lake with nine fish!

I'd made plans for a Hobbit party but it was later scaled down and turned into a "Bon-Voyage" party for Tuima as she is moving to Boston to become an even more accomplished chef.
(The decorations are all organic. The pumpkins are merely covered in glitter. Apparently they'll last for a month of two. All I did was paint the pumpkin in regular white glue and then covered them with a generous coating of glitter. Everything I read said to use the ultra fine glitter but I used the regular kind and I think they turned out quite nicely. Thanks to the Fuller family for providing the tomatoes, pears, and grapes.)

And, just because I couldn't get over the Hobbit theme, I made a GIANT CAKE! (In all fairness, it was meant to feed 20 people, but it was TOO much fun to actually make.)

(And yes, the sliced piece is sitting on a cookie sheet. We couldn't find a big enough plate.)

Everything was perfect...or so we thought.
The next morning revealed that the cake had collapsed under its own weight!

The crumbled cake filled 5 plates and made all the recipients very happy. :)

And finally my lovely sister and I went to Tucanos Brazillian Grill to wrap up the best month ever.

So, happy September to everyone! Here's to a great Holiday Season coming up with parties, crafts, and awesome people!

Still Dreaming of California

Going to see the Giant Redwood trees was a MUST on our trip!

We kind of lost Tuima for the rest of the trip

By the way...that was us going INSIDE a tree!

After a long day of becoming one with nature we decided to get back to the kid in all of us and hit the boardwalk!

All in all, not a bad day spent with friends. I love these girls so much!

California Dreamin'

Back in February I wrote a post on being so super busy and said, "You know, I get SO busy and run around ragged that all I do is dream of having an entire day to myself."
Well, I got my wish back in June. My team at work had to downsize and I was let go. I was SO SAD! I made some awesome friends there and was sad to say goodbye. (Thank goodness for Facebook and texting.) So I found myself with quite a bit of unexpected free time, which I took full advantage of and promptly took a road trip to Cali with Tuima and Eredolyn to visit Dilly.

Dilly took us on a whirlwind tour of the little town and made sure we saw the local seals, much to Eredolyn's delight. We then spent a good portion of the day at the City Aquarium and wow. All I can say is WOW.

After a brief rest we hit the Fisherman's Wharf. And yes, I AM wearing a coat. It was July, but it was COLD!

We hit 17 Mile Drive on Sunday and had a blast. A 17 mile drive along some of the prettiest parts of California with best friends and awesome music blasting in the background like Fairground, Undying Love, City of Lovers, and New Tail.

(I took a couple of me, just to prove I was there! :)

The rocks were Awfully hard.

Also, some guy's surfboard washed up on shore. He did too eventually, alive and well. But I wanted a pic before he made it back!

This trip was all about indulgence and the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store was NO disappointment.

Next Part Deux!

I'm not dead yet!

Hello lovely friends! Get ready for a deluge of information! SO MANY THINGS HAVE HAPPENED! Tell about all the things! Read about all the things! I am going to take this opportunity to learn how to put pictures in the middle of posts! Hopefully I won't want to throw my computer out the window before I accomplish this!
Without further ado....enjoy please.

Just so you don't give up on me!

CATCH-UP TIME!!!! I spent most of my nights in January at my grandparent's old home in SLC and cleaning it out. We luckily have 2 offers on the house so far. Dad told me that if this deal goes through then we'll have enough money for my wedding. (Because that is SUCH a concern at this moment. I love that guy!)
I've also been busy at work. They recently added the section of "As Seen on TV" to my work que, so for research I get to go to YouTube and check out the infomercials. I love this job!!!
I just discovered a new Broadway musical that I'm pretty sure just about every person in America will love: The Addams Family. Seriously.
I also found out that my boss is NOT naming her child Cletus as I was under that impression until just recently. Apparently Cletus is short for "Cletus the Fetus" and I will never live down shouting out, "You mean, his name isn't really Cletus?"
I also ran into an old friend from Jr. High and had a BLAST with her these past few weeks. We would sit and talk for 3 hours and have it feel like it was only 10 minutes. She and her mom have been writing some beautiful music that they were kind enough to share with me. Morgan, you're the best!
You know, I get SO busy and run around ragged that all I do is dream of having an entire day to myself. The few times it's happened I'm happy for a few hours...then I realized that I am bored and lonely and go out and look for people to hang out with. Being around people is WAY more fun that sitting in front of the telly. So thanks to everyone who has been a great friend these past few crazy months! Here's to spending more time together in the future...I've got to run now! Ciao!

Navigating finances...

I'm planning on making this short and sweet since I am EXHAUSTED from my vacation and will be going back to work tomorrow morning. I just want to welcome the new year and hope that it feels welcomed here. I see so much potential and I'm counting on the fact that if I treat it well it will treat me well in return. :)
One of my best friends owns the computer game The Sims and we have SO much fun playing with it and building fancy mansions and filling it to the brim with awesome toys like flat screens, swimming pools, laptops, pianos, guitars and books. Sims lead a great life, especially if you know the cheat codes and can get an UNLIMITED supply of money. You can even plant a money tree in the backyard and pick money right off the tree. Their life is so easy. You see something, punch in the right code and voila! You've got yourself a multi-million dollar home filled with all sorts of perks!
Over the past few days I've been working on my finance plan for the upcoming year. Sadly enough, an unlimited supply of cash is NOT a realistic thing. I've got GREAT parents who taught me excellent money skills. The most important thing they taught me was NEVER SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE!!!! This concept has been drilled into my head my entire life and so (thankfully) it's second nature to me now. I'm currently reading Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover" and trying to make plans for my future. (The book is amazing! Go ahead and check it out!) Having finished school debt-free (Hallelujah) and being blessed with a job has made me more aware of my current and future financial situation. I am not particularly money savvy except for the concept of never spending more than I make.
How easy it would be to pretend that I have a limitless cash cheat code for life and walk into the dealer and pick an expensive car. I'd get the car that I'd want with all the perks and my color of preference. (My used car is bright BYU blue...not my first choice, but it lends itself nicely to the name "The Blueberry Muffler".) However, not only would I walk out of the dealership with the car of my dreams, I'd also leave with thousands of dollars waiting to be repaid. There's no "off" or "pause" button when it comes to life. If you're willing to go without a few conveniences while you save, it all pays off in the end.
So thanks to my mum and dad for all they've taught me about money. I'm looking forward to becoming more money savvy this year. (*Disclaimer* Life is not all about money, but it never hurts to be prepared.) For now, let's dream big and go build a new Sims mansion next to the ocean while we drive our used cars, shop for bargains and put our money away in the bank for a rainy day.