Step Studying Stinks but ... CUPCKAES!

Ross spends close to 12-hour days studying. He wakes up, does some exercise maybe, then starts studying at about 7:30am. He takes an hour for lunch and sometimes an hour for dinner and finishes up around 7:30pm. His days depend on what he is doing, sometimes they are shorter, sometimes longer. Typically I've been seeing him less than when he was going to class and studying.

I remember just a few short months ago how everyone was so excited that when 5th term was over, and we left Grenada, "You'll finally have your husband back."

Ha!



It's time to celebrate! You finished Term 5!



I love being back in America, and being close to family and friends, but to a certain degree I still feel trapped. Thankfully, just not as alone.

One great thing about summers in Utah is that the sun doesn't set til after 9:00 pm. Sometimes after Ross is done studying I pull him out into the world of the living.



Tonight we set out to find a comic shop here in Pleasant Grove. Ross knew a super secret way. Climbing through shrubs taller than my head, and walking over 2x4 decrepit planks, we made our way.

When we reached the itty bitty Pleasant Grove Main Street, we discovered that not only is it itty-bitty but it's majorly run down. Okay, not majorly, we aren't talking about Central Palmdale here. But you could tell it had seen better days and is now more or less a ghost town.



Rexall "Drugs" ... what kind?



The bad news is, the comic shop is no longer there. The semi-consoling/ good news is I was able to get a Dr. Pepper with fun flavors at the nearby gas station.

Next to the ex-location of the comic shop was a cupcake place. Ross and I decided we might as well check it out because, hey... cupcakes right?

Alisha's Cupcakes boasts winning Cupcake Wars, which honestly, I take with a grain of salt because who hasn't won these days right? Well, I can take that grain of salt to the bank because this cupcake is amazing!

And since I insta'd my cuppy I got a free cake bite too. That was the heartiest cake bit I have ever eaten. Wow.



As you can see, it took some digging in to. Ross headed back taking a moment to check out some cute little duckies in the pond.

If there is one thing I have learned in the past few years, it's that I'll take what happy little moments I can. Tomorrow morning is back to Step studying but for a few happy hours I almost forgot about it all.

Anything But the Monday Blues: Pizza & Hot Moms

Monday was a fantastic day because my big brother played hookey and hung out with ME. I've missed him a ton and I love spending time with him. We went and saw the new X-men movie at a nice theater, with apparently, the best popcorn in the world. Need to check that out next time. 

After that we made our inaugural visit of the Summer 2014 Utah Pizza Tour. SLAB PIZZA, Provo, UT.
 

Slab is a pretty hip little place, nestled beneath an age old apartment complex. You get "just one" slice of pizza. And by that I mean about a quarter of an extra large pizza.

There are different tiers of fanciness in the different pizzas. Teo got a Thai pizza (minus the scallions of course). And I got a lasagna pizza which was amazing. The "single" slice of pizza is roughly two times the size of my head.

Teo dropped me off and decided to rub it in my face by getting some Man of Steel/ Amazing Spider-Man ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Since I want to do pretty much everything he does, I convinced Ross to take me to get ice cream after he was done studying. The first location didn't have that flavor but I wasn't about to just settle. Nope. So we pressed onward to location two and luckily they had it. 

 

In between hanging out with Teo and ice cream I tried out water aerobics with my sister in law. It was supremely cool. I wasn't sure what to wear because I knew I'd be really cold. So I opted for the Million Dollar Baby hoodie/ robe look:

There were a ton of people at water aerobics, mostly grabby hot moms. One mom brought her chubby-ish pre-teenish daughter to class. And proceeded to yell at her to try harder every time she whined that she couldn't do it. Hot daughters make hot moms sweetie. Get with it.
 

 

Week Wrap Up #3: California and Back Again, a Kristen's Tale

This week has brought me back to the good ol' 801... I mean 385? I finally got hooked up with a phone and consequently learned that Utah's new area code is 385 because they ran out if 801 numbers. It still blows my mind that the state only had two area codes to begin with.

#1 Now I'm officially a smartphone user. It's pretty weird, because for the past two years I haven't had a phone at all and before that I was still T9'in it up. But it is a welcome change and now I feel all grown up, who knows maybe I'll even get a job. Look at that, I get a smartphone and now I'm feelin all invincible. 

Unlike a week ago, this week has felt really short. I don't have photographic proof of much but it was a great week.

I got to hang out more with my bestie Asher. He is getting to be a crazy little kid and I always have so much fun hanging out with him. He does get pretty protective of me though, and yells at me when I try to talk to my Original Bestie Brigette. I was also surprised to get to hang out with Aaron. He works like crazy so it was good to see him. It is so great to have amazing friends that take such good care of me and understand me so well.

On Thursday I flew to Utah, it wasn't fun to say goodbye to the family, but I had a fantastic trip. After someone kinda forgot me at the airport was running late, and picked me up from the airport, we went to check out the progress on the Petersen's home they are building. This is the first time since I saw it just a weedy dirt lot last summer so it was pretty crazy to see it all coming together.

#2 Friday and Saturday I previously blogged about hanging out with my sister. But that post isn't complete until I mention about eating at Red Iguana. Oh yes.

I'm having lots of fun adventures, and I just wanted to clue everyone in on his whereabouts. #3 Here ya go. Studying. With shooting muffs over ear buds to block out anyone who might make a sound to distract him.
Yep.

#4 I don't know how else to say this, so I am just going to come out and say it, I have a Peeps problem. I know, These things are only supposed to be disdainfully consumed at Easter. But now with flavors like Strawberry Creme and Birthday Cake, I'm not left with many other options. Yes it is shameful. Yes, I can't stop.

#5 Today I went on a little walk. Grenada has done this thing to me where I can't stand to sit still, if I am inside. I need fresh air on my skin. So I went for a walk, in the middle of June, in jeans. Still trying to get used to this Utah weather I guess. But I am proud to say I only brought the sweatshirt, didn't wear it. 

#6 Sunday night Ross and I played a game called Forbidden Island with his brother and sister-in law. It was pretty fun, it is one of those games where you work together to reach the goal, in this case, save the relics or something before the whole island falls into the water/ oblivon. Yeah. The stakes are pretty high.

There we go, one more week down of this summer.

Donut Falls

Saturday started off great because I woke up at my sister's. The night before, she went online and scoped a hike out for us. So we got ready and headed out and up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

It was a beautiful drive. These great big green mountains never get old (until they are covered in snow -then I can do without them). The hike was called Donut Falls.

It was nicely marked and a family friendly trail. It was a bit crowded, which is still something I have a hard time getting used to coming from lil old Grenada.

On the hike you walk along the river and cross it too.



 And being at a higher altitude, I even saw a couple snow patches.

The hike ends at the Donut waterfall.

Rissa was telling me that it is called Donut Falls because it is a bit of a geological wonder. You can see in the second picture a closer view of the "donut" in the rock. The water flows into the rock, disappears, then pops back out the other side instead if flowing down and over the surface of the rock. Pretty cool. 

It was such a beautiful day we took a moment along the river bank on the way back.

After the hike we went to Lone Star Taqueria. I guess Rissa and I were on a Latino food blitz. That and I feel the need to prove (if for none other than myself) that there are decent Mexican food places in Utah. 

The food was great. They have homemade tamales, and delicious fish (& shrimp) tacos. 

But I had to take one point off just because they don't have horchata. ;)

Red Butte Gardens & Razz the Rattler

I decided before the beginning of this week that I would spend the night aty sister's place in SLC Friday night. So that afternoon, armed with my newly acquired phone and spare change (also newly acquired) Ross dropped me off at the train station with just enough time to buy my ticket and play around with the panorama function on the camera.

Not bad for my first but I still think I like this one better. 

I know some people don't like public transportation, I am not one of those people. Especially having not been behind the wheel for almost two years I was actually a little relieved I wouldn't be navigating the one-way, wide streets of downtown SLC. 

I had never rode the Front Runner train before, but if there is one thing I've learned from life, it's the affirmation to the old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." 

So with the help of a friendly UTA man, and following the herd, I made it to Temple Square where my sister works. There were only about a dozen brides and their wedding parties. So Flash took the opportunity to get some photos himself. 

I found my way to my sister's office. She told me I could wait in the east lobby by some murals. Getting a little over zealous with my new phone, I used fancily used the compass the find east. Cos, you know, how could I miss this HUGE Jesus mural and lobby with a couple dozen couches. 

Please note the cute grandma who scared me half to death by ghosting up on me and sitting RIGHT BEHIND me in this huge lobby. I have personal space issues #evenatthatdistance. 

After a quick hello to the ever beautiful sister I headed to City Creek, an outdoor but also indoor shopping mall. I of course found too many good things. 

But the best treasure of all was an impromptu meeting with my best friend Pip!! It's been years since we have seen each other and that's just too long. It was a short visit but now that she lives in Utah I can see her any time. Hooray! 

Earlier this week I asked Rissa if she had been to Red Butte Gardens, because I was considering going to a concert there. Funny thing, just the next day her coworker invited her to go the the Gardens Friday. Lucky for me she extended the invite. 

After dinner we moseyed over to Red Butte Gardens to meet Rissa's friends. 

I love gardens, and I love plants and flowers. Also, I love strolls. Red Butte ended up being my little bit of Heaven on Earth in Utah. 

I haven't ever lived in Utah long enough to be mad I haven't done certain outings (like this) but I am glad I discovered The Garden as soon as I have. It was a very beautiful and magical place. We went in the evening and the sun was playing on all the plants and flowers. 

The variety here seems almost endless. Succulents, cacti, hibiscus, roses, lillies, herbs, veggies, fruits, and more. 

There are awesome gardens for children, and even little lizards benches. Here is my sister on a Gila monster that looks like Toothless. 

Also, not far from here Rissa almost sat on a rattlesnake. 

We called him Razz cos he was near a raspberry bush. 

The Gardens also have an amazing view of Salt Lake City. It was really beautiful with the sun setting. 

As you can tell, I had about a million pictures by this point. It's hard to choose which ones to post. I also had ample opportunity to try out my panorama picture effect.

Every part was so beautiful. I can't wait to go back and explore some more. My favorite plant was this one, the Dragon Arum.

It traps in bugs and you can see them all squirming inside of the plant. Super creepy.

Not creepy? Beautiful sisters, color coordinated, in a gorgeous garden!

After the gardens we went home and watched Finding Nemo, and crashed.

I am so excited to see what adventures tomorrow brings. 

BJ's & Goodwill

With my vacation in California drawing to a close I feel really bummed. I've had at least a couple dreams where I miss my plane and I don't panic at all. It doesn't help that mom and dad want me to miss it too. Parents, man. Always make it hard to leave. 

My parents took me out to dinner and out of the millions of options we have, we decided on BJ's Brewhouse.

I made the terrible call if wearing shorts, when it is painstakingly obvious I know better. I keep trying to acclimate but it's not working very well. My dad rolled his eyes as he gave me the keys to go dig a wool blanket out of the back seat. 

Don't mind me, just using a wool blanket to keep warm in the JUNE. 

Despite the AC, BJ's was definitely a good choice. It seems that everything there is just amazing. I got salmon, because we all know I love my fish. Also, I always love to get their root beer they have on tap. I mean, I'm not un-American people.  

After we went to the "fancy" Goodwill aka Westside Goodwill. Don't got none of that on the Eastside. Mom found books, dad organized the books, and I found some cool stuff too. Among my finds were a handbag with tons of pockets in pristine condition, and a pencil skirt that almost exactly matched it.

One of the highlights of the evening was seeing some hoarders in action, even though their vanity plate proclaimed "CRAFTI1." Call it what you want people. 

Week Wrap Up #2

This week was somehow a long week, and yet all too short.

It was my first full week visiting my parents in CA, but by the time Sunday came around, I realized I only had a few days left.

Nevertheless, here is the Week Wrap Up

#1 Mom sent Ali and I to the store to get Prince Synge his cat food. Apparently my parents don't run a tight ship any more and now P. Synge is getting a little snobby & grabby for this specific meaty bits kind of cat food. So here is Ali, specific label in hand, so we can match it. Do we look like males shopping for tampons?! Get with it Synge.

#2 My dad makes the world's best chocolate chips cookies. Store these things in the fridge, and they taste better than any kind of Mall Cookie I ever begged my parents (usually unsuccessfully) for.

#3 Entitled, "Grow Baby Hairs Grow!!" I am so thrilled that all that hair that fell out in the Grenada Years is finally growing back. Now it just looks like I have stylish side bangs.

#4 In that same deserted parking lot as Irene's and Bingo, DO NOT PARK HERE. Because the whole plaza is pretty much deserted, but they still don't want you to park there. Also, writing "God Bless You" and throwing a Christian fish on there makes it more acceptable/ reasonable.

#5 Just meaningless video chat with Ross during a study break. Thought I would rub that one in your face, in an unfeigned obnoxious way.

#6 Shoe Bin! I love coming home because home is where all my junk is. That day's gold mine was finding my huge bin of shoes. Used shoes, new shoes, slippers, sneakers, heels, boots, flats. Just like the thrift stores I shop at but 1) they all fit and 2) only my stank has been in them!

#7 The good news: I can now be THE Barefoot Contessa. The bad news: I didn't buy it.



#8 My mom spotted this little flower buddy. You can see the little tuft of him in the cracks of the crosswalk, then a close up on the right. What a resilient little guy.

#9 I'm still afraid of this little terror.



#10 My favorite time of day in Palmdale is sunset. I love the silhouettes of the joshua trees. I love the mountains in the distance. I love the simplicity of the lines, and the colors on the horizon.