Monday, July 30, 2012

our bear lake weekend.


We're baaaaack! A few times a year, we go to the lake house up at Bear Lake with Zac's family. My very first time was two winters ago, when Zac and I were engaged. There, we sat in the hot tub and talked, and decided to go make snow angels in our wet swim suits. That is the thing I remember best about my first time at Bear Lake.

This past weekend was spent on the lake two days in a row, boating, wave running, and wake boarding (it was the very first time I tried it, and my dainty little arms weren't strong enough to pull the rest of my body up, so no, I didn't officially wake board). My favorite was riding (and driving!) the wave runners with Zac.

When we weren't in the water, we were either eating (Cafe Sabor is highly recommended--so much Mexican!), watching the 2012 London Olympics, or out getting chocolate raspberry shakes from LeBeau's. A city that revolves around their raspberry plants is a city for us!

And it just so happens that the next time we get the lake house is on Thanksgiving this year. I'm kind of hoping that raspberries will replace all cranberries at the dinner table that night...

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

we're going on a bear hunt.


Tomorrow night after work, we'll pack up the car with Whitney and JT, and head up north to Bear Lake where the rest of the Swenson family will be waiting for us. Then, we'll go boating and eat some raspberry shakes, and life will be good. See you soon, Bear Lake!

{photos from past trips to bear lake}
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the 24th.


Come to Utah on the 24th of July, and you'll find we celebrate it with food, parades, rodeos, and fireworks. This year, we did just that. For the 24th, Zac and I woke up early, and drove up to Salt Lake City to see the great Days of '47 parade with my mom and grandma Alice. It was hot, and we were all sweaty, and I even got sunburned just a little, but it was still pretty cool. But ya know what? I realized something. Parades aren't like they used to be when people would throw out candy. I think, even at 22 years old, I would still run out in the street and get as much as I could, mostly because I love saltwater taffy.

After the parade, we walked to Kim's little Indian cart, called The Curryer. I remember when Kim was dating her now-husband, Dustin, and they would make curries together (some of which I ate at her birthday party!), and figure out how to run their little business together. And now it's here! And MAN! I could eat there for the rest of my life. We got the chicken tikka masala with some naan and a couple of cokes. It was some of the best Indian food I've ever had!

The rest of the day was spent shopping at our favorite places in Salt Lake, driving around, and taking naps. We both also came down with some colds, and by nighttime when we planned on watching fireworks, we just went to bed with our windows open, and listened to fireworks instead. I guess that's what I get for taking a sick day to have fun (but in my defense, I did tell my boss about a week before).

Happy Pioneer day!

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

bull riding.


To kick off Pioneer Day Eve, we drove down south to Spanish Fork for their Fiesta Days rodeo. And it was awesome. We got to see cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country, and even one from New Zealand.

We met up with Zac's family last night and watched this crazy event on top of the bleachers. A while into it, when the sun had gone down, I was starting to get kind of chilly. But Zac and I stayed for our favorite part: bull riding. It made my heart race just a little, watching those guys getting bucked off those angry bulls.

My second favorite part was when the rodeo clown came out in a fat bodysuit and danced his booty off.

I'm still trying to convince Zac to go to a demolition derby, which are my absolute favorite.

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we did not go on a hike.


Last Saturday, I woke Zac up really early, and we got ready to hike Stewart Falls up Provo Canyon. We got our hiking clothes on, and I even packed some snacks for us to eat along the way.

We had some trouble finding the trail (thanks, unmarked roads), and when we did find it, it was closed. We were almost tempted to hike it anyway, but then decided that we didn't want to get into trouble.

So we drove back down the canyon, and came to one of our favorite spots: Bridal Veil Falls. We walked for a few miles up the trail there (which is completely flat and paved--aka, not a hike) talking about all the things we wanted to do throughout our lives. Soon enough, we had made a pretty good bucket list.

We spent that night at Hale Centre Theatre with Daniel and my parents and saw The Sound of Music, which made me happy, because I've been wanting to watch that movie for quite some time now. And now I have all the songs stuck in my head, but I'm not complaining.

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