a maple farm, sigur ros, and other stuff

last saturday we got back on the free events around boston train by going on a sugar house tour. i always love going into the woodsy parts of massachusetts (which isn't hard, everywhere outside of  the city is covered in trees) so i was happy we had to head a bit north to get to the maple farm. snow was still on the ground from the freak storms last week so but the weather was nice as could be so it was nice. when we got there we learned about how every maple thing is made and got to sample sap and maple syrup and maple cream and maple candy and maple sugar and all sorts of things!  we rather enjoyed ourselves. 

 the small children enjoyed themselves as well. 

as we were leaving i turned around and took a picture of the cute thing. i hope i can live my life in such a way that i too can one day wake up, decide i want to be a maple farmer , then build a sugar house in my backyard. 

i'm trying to be better at not making john do a million things on the weekend (which is what i made him do last summer) so i let him choose what we did the rest of the day. 

our night consisted of: 

making deli sandwiches

eating chips and queso 

eating pretzels and maple cream 

(yes we bought an $18 baby tub of maple cream)

drinking chocolate milk

watching "the craigslist killer" (who was from boston!) on the wife beater channel

me watching the fantastic mr. fox

john falling asleep two minutes into watching the fantastic mr. fox

..it was a crazy night. 

sunday was a lovely day. i bravely paired yellow and black together (which i hate - i think i look like a bumble bee) and then wore my most recently purchased thrifted shorts while i made dinner. those shorts are going to be the best thing that happen to my summer! so light and breathable and comfortable and sick. 

big moment in my life = made my first pot roast. 

i almost instagrammed this moment until i realized this should not be a milestone of a 25 year old so i instead celebrated quietly and sent a photo to my mother. 

that night we went over to the christensen's home for desserts and pleasant conversation. our friend's mom was visiting last weekend and served her mission in boston so we listened to the christensens and the temple president and his wife (sadly none of them are pictured) tell us stories about how awesome she was. it was nice. what isn't nice is john refusing to smile for the camera, my awkward stance, and forgetting to do a bang check before the photo was taken. 

(i rarely have large group of friends photos though so i had to overlook such things)

also - i'm happy my friend carly caught this brenda stepping on my bare foot and then trying to console me afterwards while everyone else looks really awkward shot. 

after getting home i facetimed with my moysh family. it turns out stella doesn't like to smile so i showed her a picture of the one time she did smile (to try and jog her memory) but it didn't phase her. 

 tuesday night one of my life dreams came true - i went to a sigur ros concert. 

i have known about this icelandic band since high school but really fell in love with them in college. 

memories of falling in love and the yellow house days flooded my mind during certain songs which made me feel bitter sweet nostalgia and happiness, all at the same time.  

 i was so glad to finally find friends in boston who also loved sigur ros! we had a nice time. 

yesterday john and i went to a restaurant called "veggie galaxy" in an attempt to go to a semi-healthy food establishment. we had a nice time and our food was fine but there were barely any vegetables in sight! it was mostly just weirdo meat substitutes imitating normal food. i appreciated the realization that accompanied this experience -  vegetarians eat just as crappy as the rest of us. 

and then DUN DA DA DUN!! that brings us to today. yes TODAY.

(this is a really big moment for me to be caught up to real time)

outside of work my day consisted of picking up the boss' son from pre-school, working on my 26 before 26 list (which included my continual quest of finding garments that don't drive me nuts, watching tutorials/reading articles on my new camera, and backing up one million photos to an external hard drive), and last but (definitely) not least - i learned the urban term "arm party".  

march firsts march firsts

firsts. did i just make that word up? it looks and sounds terrible when you say it multiple times. 

anyway. hello! and almost goodbye march. 

here is what has happened thus far during your month of time this year. 

FIRST TIME I:

1. ate real life asian ramen. you would think i would have loved it but OH TO THE CONTRARY. maybe it was just that specific place but if all ramen tastes like that then i hate it.

2. paired my wolf shirt with my galaxy pants for yoga and I (just to keep up with the all caps) WISH I COULD WEAR THAT COMBO EVERY DAY ALL DAY. the outfit paired with my wayne's world bangs just really did it for me. the conclusion to this story is that i need to invest in more galaxy pants and wolf shirts. 

3. stayed at work till 10 pm one friday night watching downton abby/waiting for john to stop being at a celtics game

(we can add in here watching downton abby in general. i swore i wouldn't watch that show and now look at me)

 4. had a mid-week shopping and dinner night with these gals 

5. (and many others) wore red lipstick

(but only because it was for a good cause)

6. went on the roof of our church/made john take a picture on the roof of our church

 (apparently people have picnics up there in the warmer months so that might need to happen this spring!) 

7. went to a season finale bachelor party 

8. played my favorite phase ten game with john. he didn't love it. 

(because i was winning)

9. said goodbye to my first nephew/niece (is there not a collective word for that/them?) for mission purposes

10. made my mom's chicken noodle soup! with mashed potatoes even!

11.  creeped my nephew's female friends instagram photos. this made me terribly uncomfortable.

12. drank herbal fruit tea (in america). i buy it for our company (to try and make them less ticked that we don't offer coffee) and my boss is obsessed with it and wants me drink it with him all the time. i think it is gross and just sneak in my apple cider because i like that/sugar way better.  

13. made origami cranes! and i'm going to continue making them until i am the best crane maker in the world because this is my asian dream. 

 14. went with my roommate briana to a free jazz concert in the north end (little italy). it was not only nice because of the music but also because it was at the old north church!  which made it historically nice too. 

 also worth noting - we were the only people our age there which made it triple nice.

( we all sat in those sweet pews - you could barely see people's heads over them haha)

15. j-man got his CPA license!! that guy just gets it done

16. actually had healthy food catered for a work lunch last week. i usually get pizza at a nearby restaurant but have hit my pizza capacity and can't actually order it ever again.  everyone felt so happy to put vegetables in their bodies instead of one million carbs! i'll have to keep this fact in mind for future events. 

16. had a photobooth session with myself (first time of 2013 - most definitely not the first time ever) and remembered why it wasn't a big deal that i never had friends growing up. who needs friends when you can entertain yourself? 

17. this was boston on the first day of spring. snow you are pretty but my gosh, go away! 

18. sat next to someone while eating a dinner for two. 

i strategically sat facing the television in the restaurant because i didn't want john staring at it the whole time but as you can see from above my head he could still see the reflection of it. at this point i knew i could be ticked or embrace the moment. i knew the first choice is sad for everyone so i suggested he come sit by me and we watch the game during dinner. we pretended to be embarrassed but i think we both secretly loved it and it was way nicer to have him next to me than across the table. basketball might serve a purpose after all!

one time i bought a ticket to utah : part dos

after getting home from the cabin we went and picked up seattle sister natalie from becky's house and brought her back to hang out with us. for some reason saturday afternoon and night's activities were not photographed so i have no memory of what happened haha. i did take the picture below of my mother's parents (aren't they hotties?!) and our snow covered house and i do remember mickayla and i painting our nails so i'm sure they were full of productive things. 

that night kim and baby stella came back over and we all just sat in our basement laughing and talking. times like that are always the best part of my trips.  once again, can't remember a thing we talked about but i do remember thinking how much i was enjoying myself.

 

i took natalie back to becky's bright and early sunday morning and we were welcomed by the prettiest sunrise/snow scene outside. 

mickayla and i got nervous we were going to forget to take a photo together so we made this happen before church. it is a good thing we did because the picture we had someone else take later on in the day is not my favorite. how about my niece being a beautiful college girl! so weird and great, all at the same time. 

it turns out i hated taking pictures that day because these are really the only two i took of my nephew's get together after his farewell talk (he is the guy behind my sister in the white) so i'm glad he is at least in one of them. he did such a great job! my sister kim and niece emmy played a medley of songs in their sacrament meeting as well and it was beautiful. i was really grateful i was able to be there for it, i would have been SO sad if i was in boston and not utah for that day. 

i mainly took this picture for what was happening in the background but hey look it's ryan! he was kind to come and support jackson, he has always been pretty close with becky's family so it was nice to see him and catch up.  i loved hearing about everything he is involved in and am excited for him and his plans for the future. that guy is going places! 

i was really lucky to be chosen to dine at "bon appetite!" that night. not only did the waitresses give great service but they also gave a song and dance show while we ate! great food, great entertainment, and great company. i would recommend bon appetite to anyone traveling through the taylorsville area!

i felt bad i brought my real camera and didn't really take any photos so i snapped one of the girls before leaving. lilly bug wasn't really loving me this trip if  so that was sad, it is kind of hit and miss with that girl. i can't remember if she is crying in the picture below or if she is in the stage of saying "cheese" looks really painful.  

the next morning i (finally!) got a haircut from my favorite hair gal and it was so nice to know going into it that i was going to be happy with how i looked coming out. i do not have that luxury here in boston! my boston haircut was a bit of a disaster so i'm hoping i can hold out till i go to utah next and have her cut it again. every time i've gone to her over the last few years we discuss the possibility of bangs and i always talk myself out of it but not this time! they are a bit crazy higher maintenance than i'm used to but it's been a fun change. anyyyyway right after that i had a lunch date with my sisters, parents, nieces emmy and stella, and kamden. it was nice to be with them all again before leaving the next day and i didn't even mind being on bathroom duty with kam. that little guy just gets more and more pleasant every time i see him. he used to not be very interactive - wouldn't really converse with you or look at you and he seemed to always be upset about one thing or another. then the past year or two he has transformed into this sweet, fun-loving, talkative boy and it thrills all of us to see him so happy. 

the rest of the afternoon was spent shopping (bless my parents and sister natalie's hearts) because dang it boston hates a lot of stores that utah loves! or i love, more accurately. i purchased some pretty great things in utah but i'm most proud of that burnt melon bag that i had pinned on pinterest a few weeks before which would be what i'm holding up in my hand as proof. it was even more great when i clicked on the pin and saw it was sold out! yes to retail miracles happening every once in awhile and yes to finding that bag because i needed one that size for clothes to change into after yoga. 

after driving everyone nuts with my shopping frenzy we met back up with kim and scott and got some frozen yogurt (i mean how could we not?). it was nice to see them and baby stella one more time before leaving, i loved seeing them so much this trip!

late that night i broke away from the family time and had my one planned friendship time with these gals (i also got to see bf emily for a few minutes earlier in the trip which was great). a utah trip tradition has become us eating chik-fil-a together and having a sleep over or better yet what kalie's husband spencer calls it - a slumbee party. it is nice because we get together pretty late and then just stay up talking into the night so it never really conflicts with family things going on but does make us all extremely tired the next morning. 

the good news about this night is that after we went to spencer's soccer game ryan and richard came back with us to hang out. i noticed they owned the newylwed game and proposed the ridiculous idea of us playing since ryan and i knew each other pretty well (understatement? haha) and richard and melissa are siblings. kalie agreed to be the show host and filter out any uncomfortable questions so we got to it and had a great time. it was hilarious how accurate we all were. the picture on the above right is an example of one of (the many) times we were dead on.  i was glad we had something to show for those five years of dating and i'm grateful ry guy and i can still be friends. since the only people that read this are family and friend family i can say i didn't think that would ever in a million years happen.  i'm a relationship bridge burner by nature so to have positive closure and be in a good place just a year after breaking up with someone feels like a tender mercy MIRACLE from Heavenly Father and in all honesty, a gift. my heart has been at peace over that whole situation since returning from utah and i couldn't be more grateful. 

but back to the slumbee - LOOK AT THESE GALS. i love them so much and feel 100% okay with this tradition happening the rest of our days. they are the best wenttohighschooltogetherbutreallybecamefriendsafewyearslater friends a girl could ask for. 

on the way back to my house i stopped by to see becky and the girls and felt SO glad jackson was there so i could give him a proper goodbye. that boy went on his mission last wednesday and i just can't believe he is now elder beck. i'm going to throw out the used way to much phrase of but i changed his diapers! (which i really did, which is kind of weird because i was only six when he was born..) he is going to be a great missionary and i'm so excited to see him transform and become even more than what he already is. 

as soon as i got home it was time to take natalie to the airport. i wanted to spend a few more minutes with her so i went along for the ride and made my dad take a picture of us. i remembered afterwards that i looked like a freak with my astroid galaxy pants on but i feel happy about it nonetheless.

as i was making this post i was feeling so sad that somehow i never get any pictures with my parents when i go home and so i didn't think i had a picture of my mother and i until I FOUND THAT PICTURE OF US IN THE BATHROOM. who knew such a crappy photo would make me so happy but it did. apparently i felt the need to document my mother giving me a demonstration of her latest HSN (home shopping network) purchase, a steam cleaner. if there was a contest for the person with the most purchases from seeing something advertised on television mama jan would win. 

and because it just wouldn't feel right to leave her out - here is my moment with cortina. 

for the last three trips i have not gotten to ride my precious bike because i never have time to fix her forever flat tire or put enough time into figuring out how to get her back to boston. seeing her hung up in that garage is always the saddest but i think we both know we will be back in each other's lives at some point so we just focus on that. 

and last but not least, STELLA. 

did you guys really think i didn't take one hundred photos with her? she is too young to run away (ahem - LILLY) so she was the victim to lots of crappy self-taken photographs with me. 

exhibit a - k:

               

and that my friends, is what my last minute 6 day trip to utah looked like. other than not getting to spend much time with my brother and his family, it was exactly what i needed. but of course i'm already up for another one july, come faster!