Take one and call me in the morning

This past weekend my sister and her adorable girls, Eden, Grace, and Clarie spent the weekend at our house. We had a great time playing, reading stories, and swimming. I absolutely love my nieces to death, and they just say the funniest things.

We were in the kitchen fixing a snack with Grace and Eden. Eden accidentally bit her tongue and was understandably upset. To comfort her I told her that I would be the doctor and I would help fix her up. I gave her five jelly beans as medicine and told her to take those to make her feel better. Eden thought that wasn’t a bad deal, but Grace wasn’t falling for it. She confidently said, “You can’t be a doctor—only boys can be doctors.” It was hilarious! See, her dad just graduated from medical school last Friday, so I kind of understand her logic. But I smiled and told her the good news--girls actually can be doctors! In fact, I told her that girls can do everything! So to all of my smart, beautiful nieces don’t ever forget that you can be anything you want to be…even a doctor!

Survivor vs. Bachelor

Last week I was watching the Survivor finale with some friends and we were talking about Survivor couples. There have been quite a few relationships that have formed out of the Survivor franchise, and one of my friends said, “It sounds like Survivor has a better track record than The Bachelor.” We all laughed, but then I thought, “Hmm…I think she’s right!”

So in honor of tonight’s premiere of The Bachelorette, I conducted a little research. And I was shocked to find the following results:

The Bachelor/Bachelorette

Score: 2 marriages, 1.5 couples that are still engaged (Brad & Emily are only hanging on by a thread!)

Survivor

                                     

Score: 3 marriages, 1 couple currently engaged, and 3 couples that have been dating for three years or more

Wow!! Apparently, you can find love on a reality show…just not on The Bachelor. But don’t worry Bachelor, even with that dismal track record, I’ll still watch you. In the meantime, I might email Jeff Probst and tell them to change the Survivor theme song to “On the Wings of Love.”

Zion

A few weeks ago we went to Zion National Park with some friends. I had never been before, and I must say that it definitely surpassed my expectations. It’s absolutely beautiful! The views are just breathtaking, and I loved it. We did several hikes in the park and ate a picnic lunch. It was a perfect day! It felt so good to be out of the city, away from work, away from traffic and just spend the day appreciating nature. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. It’s definitely worth a trip. Here are some of my favorite photos…  

Perfect

My obsession with the royal wedding has been no secret; so of course, everyone’s been asking me what I thought about the big day. I thought it appropriate to write one more blog about the happy couple. Then I promise not to blog about them again…well, until they have an adorable royal baby, or course.

To sum up my thoughts about the royal wedding I can only use one word: PERFECT. Yes, I watched the entire wedding, and yes I thought the whole thing was magical! The dress, the flowers, the carriage, the kiss—it was all perfect. A day fit for a prince and princess.

I also just heard that Will and Kate headed off to a honeymoon in the Seychelles islands. Wow! The pictures of that place are amazing. As a true royal-fanatic, I have officially added this place to my list of places I MUST visit.

And they lived happily ever after…

The Real Will and Kate

You all know about my obsession with the royal wedding, but what many of you don’t know is that I actually attended Kate and Will’s wedding. That’s right, my dear friend Katie, married her very own Prince William, a few weeks ago in Salt Lake City. Their names really are Kate and William—I mean how much better does it get?

We threw a regal Bachelorette Party for the bride-to-be a few days before the wedding. I had a blast catching up with the girls over dinner, games, and chocolate fondue.

The weekend was full of fabulous reunions, catching up with dear friends, and celebrating the union of a truly happy/perfect couple.

To Will and Kate…both the Salt Lake-based and the royal…may you live happily ever after.

To Infinity and Beyond

When I was growing up I wanted to be an astronaut. I even wrote my “What I Want to be When I Grow Up” paper in 7th grade on becoming an astronaut. Last month for Book Club we read Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach (same author as Stiff). It’s a funny and informative book about astronauts, zero gravity, exploration, and all things space. It had some great insight into the everyday life of an astronaut. Here are a few interesting things I learned.  

• On average, an astronaut gains 2.5 inches in height after just one week in space. Our spines are all squished together down here, but up there in zero gravity your spine column can chill out and relax. Wow, 2.5 inches! That would make me a whopping 5’ 3”. Well, if I ever get that call from America’s Next Top Model, I’ll just tell Tyra I need a few weeks in space first.
• Even astronauts get motion sickness sometimes. This made me feel somewhat better about myself, as I have always hated the fact that I am prone to motion sickness. But alas, even the pros get sick at times. 
• Being an astronaut is not as glamorous as it seems. Things like showering, using the bathroom, and changing your clothes are not so easy in zero gravity. In fact, it’s kind of gross up there. As I was reading, I thought to myself, “Wait a second…the whole thing sounds a lot like camping.” And as you all know, I love NOT camping.  

This book shed a whole new light on space travel, and made me quite glad that I took another path in life. Don’t get me wrong—astronauts still get to do amazingly cool things, but it’s not all glitz and glamour. After reading this book, I am even more glad that my 7th grade teacher wrote, “I always thought you’d make a great teacher” on the top of my paper. It saved me from a life of camping…in space.

Will and Kate

This makes me very happy.

A friend of mine at work just came back from London with her very own copy of this paper doll book. I saw it and almost died! They are the cutest thing and I must buy them. Once again, why don’t we have royalty in America? And how old is too old to want paper dolls?

Bob

We live near a mountain preserve, so consequently, we have lots of desert critters that come down and visit our yard/neighborhood. So far we’ve had visits from bunny rabbits, snakes, roadrunners, javelinas, and bobcats. The bobcat is by far the coolest and scariest! They are beautiful cats, but they can also jump over walls and climb like crazy. I’ve seen a few walking around our neighborhood, just hanging out, but I had no idea they could do this…

That is one tall cactus, and that is one brave bobcat! Apparently he was being chased by a mountain lion and climbed the cactus to get away. Pretty impressive! I didn’t take these shots, but I thought they were fantastic, so I had to share. You can read the news story and link to the slideshow here. That’s Bobcat: 1 Mountain Lion: 0