and then i went to utah. my cabin!

it was our cabin weekend while i was in utah but no one ended up going up and i was SO bummed. i had a list of things i wanted to do while in utah and having some quality time in/with the mountains was a high priority. my dad could tell how upset i was so he offered to take me up to the cabin for the day and i could do whatever i wanted while he and his brothers worked on some things. 

i don't know if my dad had any idea just how badly i needed that time but i'm so grateful for it and his desire to make his daughter happy. i walked up past our cabin to a spot that overlooked all of midway and could feel, as cheesy as this sounds, my soul being rejuvenated. nature just does something for me that nothing else can and being in those mountains for a few short hours made all the difference. being there made me SO happy and i was so content. not only were the mountains much more beautiful than i ever remember them being (i was thrilled at how green everything was) but it felt like i was the only person in the canyon (until random bike guy showed up - who, for the record, i enjoyed chatting with) and i just got to read my scriptures, write in my journal, and pray in complete silence. it was wonderful to have the time to just ponder and be still. i need more of that in my life. 

(the nice man who asked me if i needed a ride because he thought i was stranded and the rock i sat on for hours)

after mountain time my dad, his brother (my uncle dave), and i went into midway and ate at the greatest little place. as we went through that small town i realized i haven't really explored it all that much which is sad for how often i've driven through it in my lifetime. if boston has taught me anything it is that every place has lots of great things to offer - it is just up to us to find those things and experience them. so often we don't take time to do that in places we live/frequent which is so sad! if/when? i move back to utah i have lots of places i look forward to exploring and getting to know better. 

afterwards we stopped at the outlets and i broke the swimsuit curse and bought three after not buying a new one for five years!  we also stopped at kneaders so they could try cannoli - sad news bears they were gross. so guess they/you just need to come to boston and try the real thing!

ps i am very glad i got to see the beautiful shag carpet one last time before they ripped it out. i don't quite know if i will ever get over that one.

i am grateful for my family.

i feel that family comes in many forms.

 

first and foremost i have my eternal one

whom i love so much

then we have my second family, the margetts

and then my taiwanese mission family came to mind

and i cannot forget my beloved yellow house girfs

and the one that caught me off guard, the post - mission efy fam

and another nice surprise, the green gables gals

..just to name a few.

as i thought about all this i felt so blessed and realized God continuously puts people in my life when i need them most. He always has and i feel in my heart that He always will. and for that, i am very grateful.

i was thinking about it and i'm grateful these things happened lately!

not only did we get the usual this time but we also got all that other stuff for just $1! i was really grateful we got it so cheap. the chips and salsa were free from doing a survey and the girl working didn't know what to charge us for just queso. is one dollar okay? yes. yes it is. and yes, two people ate all of that. 

i'm grateful for nieces and nephews being so talented. look at my niece emmy, who originally plays the violin, just playing the cello! and let's talk about how she does not look 15.  

i'm really grateful my coworker brings his little baby titus with him to meetings. i love baby titus.

 i'm grateful that i came out of provo temple last week and there was a full moon! 

it was much nicer looking in real life. 

i'm also grateful ryan took me and his nieces to see disney on ice!! such a nice, thoughtful thing.

 i really loved every minute of it.

the girls did too!

 love.

 tangled lanterns aaaaand all the princesses!!!! it was really the magical-est. 

(even though annie informed me that it was not magical and an example of something magical would be magicians. i think it is obvious that she is ryan's niece. )

i am also soooo grateful this little institute council 2007 reunion happened with best girfs leandra and danielle! sad that danielle keeps forgetting to blog the nicer photo so i guess this will do. 

 and leandra can be thanked for adding "that", "nakes",  and "tot" to my vocabulary in case you wondered where those came from. 

we caught up on each others lives, tried to catch each other up on all the other institute council members lives, made jokes, felt awkward for the ladies behind us who were all on their computers rather than talking to each other, and ate this nice food. it is so nice to catch up with old friends is it not? 

i'm also grateful i found something at that blasted bakery i liked! i've always thought it was dumb but i've changed my ways and if anyone wants to go there, i'm in. gimme that free cookie!

 i'm grateful for the once a year get togethers mission friend sister starley and i get to have at the olive garden. i'm especially grateful for this time because a. we were this guy's first table and b. he only gave us one check and c. i'm preeeeeetty sure he thought we were lesbians. after looking at that picture of me how could i blame him? turtleneck, blazer, hair slicked back in a bun. poor guy must have had no idea. 

i am grateful for the sunset tonight that was absolutely breathtaking.

i wish this picture did it justice. 

i'm also grateful i was able to switch things up and go to the jordan river temple tonight. i was so touched by the sincerity of the workers and the sweet spirit i felt all throughout initiatories. i'm also grateful for having had the time to notice how pretty the stained glass windows are! 

since i was so close to this pretty lady's house i was able to stop by and have a nice long chat. i'm grateful she was home, i'm grateful she let me come over and talk to her for hours, and i'm grateful i finally got the white party pictures! even though most of them were posted on facebook i'm going to post about it anyway because it was just that great.

and something not pictured that i'm grateful for is that there was a policeman on the side of the road and even though my front light was burned out on my car he did not pull me over bless his heart.
driving is so scary when you are being illegal! so i'm grateful i dodged that bullet.

in closing of this post i just want to say i'm grateful for simple things in life that can bring happiness. 

and i'm even more grateful for those simple things when the not so simple things don't quite go how you had hoped.