popped

This weekend Mike asked me to marry him and I said yes!

I was totally surprised and we are both really happy. We have been talking about it for a few weeks or months or years but I did not see this coming because I had told him I wanted to pick my own ring. So on Friday, we went to the Bruneau sand dunes and had a picnic and flew kites and then hiked the dune. On the way up the dune we talked about whether we were going to jump down or slide or whatever. So when we got to the top and Mike got on the ground, I just thought he was getting in position for a somersault or something. Even when he held out a ring (a dark brown band... at the time), I still thought he might just be messing with me because Mike has a habit of finding jewelery on the ground and giving it me. Anyhow, then he asked me to marry him and I said both, "are you serious?" and "yes" but I am not sure in which order. It turns out the ring was a mood ring we had looked at a week earlier when we went camping. On top of everything else, it is really nice to know exactly what mood I was in when I got engaged---brown. But seriously, it was the perfect setting being at the top of a sand dune with the sunset and all that. It will always be a special memory.

And this is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life...

As for the rest of the details, we only know that we are planning on August in Logan. I will keep everyone posted on the rest of the details as they come up.

pasarlo bien

Mexico was wonderful. It was warm, colorful, exciting, interesting, relaxing, new and yummy. Everything I could every ask for. The picture above was taken at Chichen Iza, a Mayan ruin. That lady wanted to sell me a bag, I just gave her money for the photo instead. I think she gets that a lot---she was all moody like professional models always are.

Since we had scuba diving gear we had so much luggage. That picture does not do it justice. I hated our luggage.

Chichen Itza

I am all attitude in this shot. I taught Dev how to use my camera and he did a great job (my camera is confusing).

This is easily the best hotel I have ever stayed in. It was charming and comfortable and so Mexico. Plus the bottom of the pool was natural with rock formations and tunnesl and stuff. I have never seen anything like it. I took pictures with my underwater camera of us swimming through the tunnels. I will post those later.

Across the street from the best hotel ever was a cenote (cave) with deep fresh water and fish. We had it to ourselves. RAD.

Beautiful, random town on the way to Chichen Itza.

Telum, very photogenic Mayan ruins on the coast.

Sometimes I just took pictures of stuff.

The white guy is my dad helping these guys push their boat onto the shore.

I made Dev model for me a lot. I wish I could take a picture of everyone I know on this pier.

Can you believe he is single?

This dude did paintings with spray paint.

This photo was way hard to get. We are presently getting rushed out of a restaurant next to this pier. But I really wanted a photo here. Stupid Americans!

Remember my favorite hotel? It also had a bunch of hammocks. Hammocks are the ultimate way to relax. That is how my feet look when they are happy.

Believe it or not, I have tons more photos from my underwater cameras. We did lots of underwater stuff. I will post later.

when in mexico

So I am off in Mexico on a family vacation. We have been going like crazy from ruins to beaches to scuba diving. I have some awesome pictures on my camera that I can´t post yet but I will. I am sunburned, just woke up from a long post-dive nap and am surprisingly homesick.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Aggies All the WAY!!!

They didn't quite make it all the way... or even out of the first round. But it was fun to watch my little Aggies play such a close game. They only lost by 1 point. It was a heartbreaker.

But I also got to hang with my dad and little brother so I can't complain too much.

bbq awesomeness

This weekend was just barely warm enough to justify a bbq and I could not resist. Although burgers and dogs are always nice, I must say the side dishes my friends brought were remarkable. I love having potlucks at my house because my friends are total gourmets.

Besides totally gorging ourselves on the wonderful spread there were lawn games including that weird one with pvc pipe and golf balls, frisbee, and bocce ball. Later we played games inside and Mike and I dominated at Trivial Pursuit as usual. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am actually terrible at Trivial Pursuit and mostly hate it. I can't ever answer any questions. But Mike, on the other hand, is like dating Wikepedia.)

It was such a great time, I hope it is just the first of many to come this season.

i love a good storm

I would have never thought of it when I took this job but one of the perks is the view from my desk. We are on the tenth floor and have lots of big windows giving us a perfect view of the valley on a normal day. But the best is when a storm moves in and we can watch it surround us. It always disrupts the whole office for a while as everyone migrates to the windows for a better view.

It is pretty sweet.

Plus now I have a good excuse to blow off my run tonight. Just kidding guys, I love running with you and I am sad.

Caaalifoooorniaaaaa

Did anyone else ever watch the OC? If so the title of this post is for you. I used to love the opening song for that show and had it running through my head for my whole vacation to LA a couple of weeks ago. We had a blast enjoying the beautiful beaches, warm breezes, and enviable real estate.

Mike was a really good sport about me constantly taking his picture. He may have also come away from that vacation with a new sympathy for pathetic characters like Brad Pitt and Jessica Simpson.