A FINANCIAL AID CHRISTMAS

Don't tell people in financial aid that we don't know how to be crazy, just look at the office Christmas tree I designed. Yes, the money tree was my idea.

I love that the money says 'not legal tender', just in case someone tries to spend a $100 bill with my face on it.

We also hung snowflakes from the ceiling. My coworker and I had a grand time trying to remember how to make snowflakes.

Not too shabby.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

I'm totally doing this when I have a house...and no ambition to decorate.

GRR

I love flat tires..especially on the way to work.

A CRACKER BARREL THANKSGIVING

In the tradition of being single, lazy people, the brothers and I decided to go out for turkey day. We chose Cracker Barrel (might have been because it was one of the only places open). It was packed.

It was quite tasty. All for $8.99.

Enjoy Scott's impersonation of a Turkey.

I'M BACK! TRIP PART ONE

Well ok, I've been back for almost a month, but it's been crazy. Still recovering from something I caught on the plane (I'm going with Mad Cow just to be exotic). Here are a few pics from the first part of the trip.

We flew standby on a buddy pass, which led to some not so great moments. Like waiting 12 hrs in the Atlanta airport (Annaleesa, my travel buddy):

But it also led to some great ones, like flying first class to England, and getting dirty looks from real customers:

I j'adored Scotland. The people were friendly and it's greener than any green I've seen before.

Edinburgh, from atop Edinburgh Castle.

Arthur's Seat, in the middle of Edinburgh.

We were brave (or dumb) and rented a car to drive the highlands. Driving on the other side is cra-zy. We only almost died a few times.

Urquhart Castle, on Loch Ness.

Stonehaven, a little fishing village we ended up in when we got lost.

Fish n' Chips fastfood...yuuum.

My fav place..Dunnotar Castle right on the east coast.

We hopped on a plane and headed to Amsterdam.

A canal in Haarlem, a suburb where we stayed.

Took a canal cruise in Amsterdam.

The Anne Frank House. It was pretty amazing. Well worth standing in line.

Windmill in Haarlem.

We took a sleeper train to Munich, and then went to the Dachau Concentration Camp for the morning. It was very sobering, but I thoroughly enjoyed it at the same time. Seeing a topic that you've read about for so long, like WWII, come to life was fascinating.

The main gate.

The original crematorium. A second was built to keep up with the demand.

Stay tuned for Part 2..I know you are beside yourself with excitement.

ARRIVEDERCI!!

It's finally here! I'm off to Europe. The adventure begins on a red eye (gag me) to Atlanta tonight. Send me vibes so that I meet the European man of dreams....or I'll just settle for gelato.

TIMPANOGOS WITH THE LADIES

Early September I was coerced into hiking Timp again with some friends. We went up American Fork trail, which I'd never done before. Other than getting up at 4am, it was enjoyable.

L to R: Laurie, Kirsten, Suzette, me, Annaleesa, Sydney

View from the saddle.

We crossed paths with a hungry moose. He was quite the pig.

CLOUD NINE

I'm a nerd, but I kind of dig clouds. Took these pics while driving one day- I was a passenger-don't go turning me in to highway patrol.

Doesn't it look so fluffy??

NETFLIX

I recently subscribed to netflix streaming (let's not even get into that current mess of a company), but I do love how on the Wii it gives you suggestions of shows you might like. My roomy and I cracked up when this one popped up for us.

My thoughts: British people are emotional? Hmm.

We now affectionately call them "EBM's" for short..not to be confused with "BM's".

SOUTHERN UTAH

Yeah, I've sort of fallen off the face of the earth. Been a little crazy with Europe planning, work, sports, and being lazy.

Back to the end of July! Me, Annaleesa, and A's niece went down to southern Utah to see 'The Little Mermaid' at Tuacahn and to do some hiking.

First up, the Kanarraville Falls slot canyon hike. Pretty cool. A very miniature Zions narrows out in the middle of nowhere town...we couldn't even find a drug store during a semi-emergency.

J'adore slot canyon hikes in water.

Do not j'adore snakes. I'm surprised I didn't pass out taking this picture of a rattler. Thanks to the couple in front of us who warned us not to put our hands on this rock!

We decided to try out front row seats. I have to say, not a fan. Hard to enjoy the show when you can see everything going on. And stuff popping up right in front of your face is scary..you know who you are frog puppet man.

Other than that, it was a lovely show.

Also made a stop at the St. George temple. I was trying to get A to practice taking pictures for Europe. She's still leaning away from me like I'm diseased.

The next morning we stopped in at Zions. Here's a random pic at the largest of the emerald pools..kind of looks like I'm taking a potty break, but I'm not, don't worry.

TODAY'S EAST COAST EARTHQUAKE

"The devastation"

Jordyn passed this along from somewhere on the internet. Funny.

SOUND OF MUSIC

'The hills are alive...', with bugs and cold temperatures. How's that for songwriting skills Rodgers and Hammerstein. Kendra and I went to the outdoor production of The Sound of Music up at the Sundance resort. It was pretty entertaining and we even got to cuddle cause it was a tad chilly.

THATS RIGHT..BOW DOWN

My work softball team (SAASquatch) won the co-ed intramural championships. It's amazing how worked up people get about winning a t-shirt. A navy blue t-shirt at that (I hate navy blue t-shirts). I do have legs, its just that I'm pretending to be a cheerleader..spirit fingers!