happy fourth of july!

Today was the Fourth of July! Zac and I celebrated more than we did last year (because last year, we were still recovering from this). The day seemed so long, which I love. But my feet are killing me from the walk to and from the Stadium of Fire, so I'm gonna go to bed now. Goodnight, America!

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a happy list.

via.

The things that make me happy today are these:

• grocery shopping with Zac.
• an orange moon that looks like Halloween.
• the 4th of July is in two days.
• the sound of fireworks as I type.
• a new little nephew.
• clementines, even if they are out of season.
• taking a nap today.
• red pants.
• summer evenings outside.
• organizing my Pinterest boards.

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welcome to the world, jackson!

My newest little nephew arrived this morning. Everyone, meet Jackson Bradley. Matt and Steph are proud parents, I'm sure. I'm excited to meet this little person tomorrow night!

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a trafalga date.

Last night, after eating our famous homemade pizza, Zac and I went on a date to Trafalga. Other than the place being super old and ghetto, with most of the lights on the mini golf course burned out, and most of the activities out of order, it was pretty fun.

Zac and I spent our time playing mini golf (which we didn't finish, because every time I play mini golf, I get bored halfway through--yes I am 5), eating Dippin' Dots (who knew those were as good as I remember?), and using up all our tokens in the arcade (mostly on Ski Ball). By the end of the date, I was laughing much too hard.

After putting our tickets through the counting machine, and looking at all the prizes we could get, we decided to give our ticket receipt to a little girl (why does one tootsie roll cost 15 tickets?). The look on her face was perfect.

When we got home, we got ready for bed, and watched The Office until 2:00 in the morning.

In other news, Zac and I are in the market for bikes. I really, desperately want this one in cream, but it may just be a little too expensive for our budget. I'm open to suggestions!

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the other night in manti.

Last weekend, Zac and I drove an hour and a half south, and met my family in Manti. During the summer months in Manti, a play called The Mormon Miracle Pageant is put on by the locals about Joseph Smith, and the restoration of the Gospel, performed on the hillside right below the beautiful Manti temple.

My family usually arrives in Manti in the daytime so we can spend time eating dinner, taking walks, looking at the local museums and craft fair, and scouting out our spots for the pageant. This year was no different. Once we set up camp (and put our bags in the motel rooms), we ventured out.

While at the craft fair, I bought the most darling sweater for my future, unborn child. Zac and I also bought some root beer candies and lemon drops to eat at the pageant, because we're good thinkers. We also celebrated Daniel's 24th birthday there, which explains the BBQ and steaks: his birthday meal of choice.

I'm always surprised at how many people come to these pageants. And not only that, but also how many protestors there are. This year, a protestor brought his piano to play.

I was only awake for about half of the pageant, which made me feel kind of bad. But when you're lying on a blanket next to your lover in the cold dark night, it's kind of the perfect time to fall asleep. So, sadly, I don't remember much about the pageant. But luckily I've seen it many times before.

All the while, Rachel was sick, and ended up going to the hospital where they found out she had some kind of disease in her pancreas. No fun.

The next morning, we packed up our bags, had breakfast at camp, and drove the hour and a half home to out apartment. It was really good to get away with my family. And I plan on watching the entire show next year.

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an office party.

At work, one of our account managers, Levi, is leaving us for a better paying, well-suited job. Today, for his last day of work, my boss, Dan, took him out to lunch. The minute they walked out of the door, we went to work decorating the office's break room, folding and taping Dungeons and Dragons dice (because he's into that kind of thing...), setting out cake and ice cream, and making a candy poster. I felt like I was in the party comitee in my favorite TV show The Office.

An hour passed, and as Dan and Levi walked through the door, we yelled "Surprise!" and Levi dropped his cup! We spent the next half hour eating a Captain America cake and ice cream on Star Wars plates, and talking about all things Levi. It was like a 5-year-old's birthday party. It was cool beans.

Then we went back to work, like nothing ever happened...

Good luck in your new endeavors, Levi!

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family photos 2012.

A few weeks ago, we met up with our friend, Heather, to get our pictures taken in downtown Provo--the place we lived as newlyweds. We hadn't had professional pictures taken since our wedding day, and so we thought, for our first year of marriage, we'd get some pictures taken to see how much we've changed in the last year. I have a feeling this will happen every May.

Heather is such a great photographer! Not only does she produce gorgeous, well-lit photos, but she is also super fun, and makes us not feel as awkward as we normally are. On our shoot, we were telling her about how our wedding photographer posed us awkwardly, and how we looked like an awkward, prepubescent couple in a good amount of our wedding photos. Heather was incredible at posing us so we looked natural, and also telling us when we looked weird (because, honestly, both Zac and I are the opposite of photogenic--don't let this here blog fool you; I only post pictures I look pretty in). And yes, my legs are that white.

Before taking pictures in front of the light blue house, Heather knocked on the door and asked its residents if we could shoot there. They agreed, and as we were getting ourselves situated, the sprinklers came on. The three of us laughed and laughed, because I think the residents of the house did it on purpose. It was quite the experience.

As soon as I saw the finished pictures, I was ecstatic! I mean, look how perfect they are. And dang! Zac and I look hawt! I am thoroughly impressed with these little babies. To see more of Heather's work (and hire her, because you know you want to), go here!

This last picture was taken right when a man walking down the sidewalk stopped and looked at us, and said something along the lines of, "You two are a good looking couple!" This was our reaction.

Thank you, stranger, for making our day!

+++++

Oh, and as a side note, we went to eat at Terra Mia tonight. It was gross. I wouldn't recommend it. Especially when you're paying $20.00 for soggy pizza and burnt breadsticks. The service was good, though!

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