Happy Springtime!

So my friend, Sarah, has inspired me like she often does. (Thanks!) She sent me an email today entitled "A toast to the first day of Spring," which it certainly is, and it listed all of her favorite things. So even though mother nature is teasing us here in Boston, I am grateful to know that Spring is somewhere around the corner. Last Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny day that got up to 65. Wednesday also got up to the 60s, and I was running in short sleeves-that was marvelous! But the rest of the time it has been 30s, 40s if we are lucky. So thanks to Sarah, I am feeling happy and grateful.

Here is my toast to Spring and some of my favorite things: going to the hair salon and coming out feeling like a million bucks (just did that!), long runs (6 miles or more) when you push your body to its limits, the sunshine, water-the drinking kind and the chlorinated kind that I love swimming in, working out hard and sweating like a man (I work for every last drop of my sweat!), reading a good book, going on drives, listening to good music, walking around cities and exploring, visiting family, traveling, talking to my brother Andrew on gmail chat, talking to my family on the phone, teaching underprivileged kids how to stay physically active and healthy every Tuesday and Thursday at Boston University, eating my Mom's food, eating at Aristo's the greek restaurant in SLC, driving my car Penelope, my health, my bike, laughing, apples and peanut butter, making and eating cupcakes, skiing and almost dying every time but never actually getting hurt (my Heavenly Father really loves me and watches over me :), and so much more.

I LOVE ALL OF YOU! HAPPY SPRING!

More Fun over Spring Break

My last night in town, I spent the evening in Salt Lake with my 2 old roommates, Shalene and Casandra, and another good friend, Mallory. We did dinner at my absolute favorite restaurant in Utah, Aristo's-it's an amazing Greek restuarant up on 13th East in SLC! Then we tried to visit old friends, chatted tons, laughed lots, and had fun posing for these pics. I love ya girls, and it was great to see you! Just like old times.

Shalene (blonde in back), in front, from left to right-Mallory, Casandra (red head) and me...4 cute girls, all single!!! Feel free to pass that information on to any good-looking, righteous, fun LDS guys who are also single!!!

Casandra and I posed on her awesome yellow couch...we are both tall, loud, and well, have lots in common...

Casandra and I

Shalene and I

I LOVE YOU GIRLS! KEEP THINGS GOING IN SALT LAKE, AND KEEP ME UPDATED!

Spring Break in Utah

I actually get Spring Break at Boston University, something that I missed out on at BYU. I had made plans to go to Utah to see my Nana, my little brother Alex and his wife, Stacey, and several other wonderful people. My mom had decided to fly in to Utah as well. I always love my mom time!

We had dinner on Wednesday at Alex and Stacey's apartment with my Aunt Susie, my cousin Nicole, and my favoritest little person in Utah-Presley. PS...Nicole's hair has been dark for some time now, apparently, about as dark as mine. Oh, my Mom and I stayed at Alex and Stacey's apartment. Imagine that, I got to stay in Wymount, BYU's married student housing, and I didn't even have to be married.

Here are Alex and Nicole listening attentively to Stacey's explanations of what she was learning in her classes. Do you see what they are all sitting on?! My beautiful red couch, I mean, their beautiful red couch. They were lucky to inherit my red couch, black love sac, and glorious queen-sized bed and bedding...lucky them!

Alex and Nicole just being silly!

My beautiful, Presley, and I helped my mom decorate her yummy lemon cupcakes. Presley and I have always been big fans of baking and deocrating cupcakes together. Besides dinner, chatting, and cupcake decorating, I was the evening entertainment. I sang and danced to High School Musical 2 (still have not seen 3, I know, I am a disgrace). That explains the fabulous video that my little brother so graciously posted for me already.

I met up with my awesome mission companion, Sandy Schaugaard, for lunch on Wednesday. She finally got to meet my wonderful mom, too. There we are being crazy...

...and here we are being just us. Congrats again, Sandy, on the wedding! I am excited for you!

Oh, and my mom and I had a great Monday exploring some fun boutiques in Salt Lake, and trying these absolutely delicious and super darling cupcakes at Mini's. Can anyone guess what kind I had to try?! Yes, chocolate with peanut butter frosting-delightful! My 2 favorites ever are chocolate and peanut butter...and together, even better.

Here I am outside one of the random shops/boutiques in Salt Lake. A pretty major snowstorm hit on Monday, so we stuck around, and I had to reschedule skiing with one of my favoritest ski partners ever, aka Michael Meek. We ended up going Tuesday evening to Brighton, and it was a gorgeous evening, stayed light out for forever, and the snow was great. I did really well and had lots of fun, except for that whole pile of powder after the 8 foot hole. You will have to call or email to hear that story! I tell it so much better than I can write it! Anyway, I didn't get a picture with Michael. It would probably be incredibly stupid of me to ski with a camera, and it would be broken if I had had it with me. All in all, I had a wonderful spring break. I did no homework, except for on the planes. I got to eat out lots, and break my "no sweets" weeks by eating plenty of those. I got to do lots of running/training in Utah, running up mountains/hills and canyons-loved it! I got to spend lots of time with my mommy and I got to see my Nana everyday. She is doing ok, but not swell. I got to see my awesome friend, Sarah, for lunch on Saturday, but I don't have those pictures; my mom does. I got to have fun with Alex and Stacey, and well, it was a good time...to see those adventures, visit Alex's blog. Everyone is more than welcome to come to Boston, since I do all my visiting to y'all! Happy St. Patty's Day!

DISCLAIMER

My little brother logged on my account last night, added that lovely video, and well, decided it would be a delightful addition to my blog, without me knowing it. I could take it off, but I really am not embarassed by it. I love kids, and dancing to High School musical is always a favorite. Maybe this will at least help some of you to understand how I really am...haha. I will blog more about my fun and adventures in Utah once I am back in Boston. Love y'all!

A BU grad student at her finest

So this is my trip to Utah with my cousins daughter, I did this for the whole family.

A Day Around Town

So my friend Alison had Friday off of work. It was a beautiful, warm day (yes, 55-60 degrees in Boston is warm! Especially with it being like 15 tonight, with a horrible winter storm on the way that will dump 10-15 inches of snow in 6 hours or less!) I woke up to go swimming with my friend, Andrew and then I ran 6 miles with Alison. I love being active, and it was great after 2 days off with my pulled back muscle that I had been resting from. PS sore back-take advil regularly-it works! Anyway, after working out, going grocery shopping, and getting ready for the day, Alison and I headed out. We realized once on the T (the train, ie the subway in and around Boston) that we didn't really have a plan. We were just excited to be out without coats or even jackets on! We headed to the Prudential Center, went to the Skywalk on the 50th story, and used the free audio guide to learn all about Boston and see everything. It was fun to pick out things we knew, and try to find home, etc. Then we walked through Copley Square, past the Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden, got turned around in Chinatown, then walked along the water and past Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, and finally ended up where we wanted to be-in the North End. We found some yummy Italian food-I had gnocchi with pesto sauce...and then we got delicious pastries to go at Modern pastry-there is also Maria's pastry and Mike's pastry shoppe, all supposed to be the best around...anyway, we got these amazing canollis to go...come visit, I will take you and we can experiment a little bit of heaven together! We just hung out the rest of the night, made an appearance at a friend's b-day party, etc. I have enjoyed the rest of my weekend, too. This semester seems busier with school, but I am still making time for the important things and for a social life. I still love Boston, and am excited about all of the things that I have left to explore! So the first picture is of the funniest thing that we saw on Friday. It was superwindy for a little while. As we were cutting across Copley Square, we saw a guy on a razor scooter holding a huge plastic tarp, yes, like a sail, he was trying to sail through with the wind, without having to use manpower for his little scooter. I couldn't really capture it, but man was it funny!Here I am in Copley Square on the turtle. Yes, many of you have seen the picture of me on the turtle back in August when I first got to Boston! Everyone tried to claim that the turtle got me from Boston back to Colorado for the family reunion. Haha. Anyway, the windblown scarf and hair are natural effects!

Alison and I are posing at the top of the Prudential Center with beautiful Boston behind us!

This is a picture of the infamous Fenway Park, if you come in a few months, I will take you to my first Red Sox baseball experience...it is on my list of must-do's very soon.

See that Citgo sign? That marks Kenmore Square, where I get off the T or the bus and walk a few blocks to campus. Boston University is what you seeing running between the river and that major 2-way road.

This is a view of the Back Bay, one of my favorite parts of Boston. I love all the buildings, the tree lined streets, Newbury Street-a posh shopping street, and the tree-lit walkway down the middle of Commonwealth Ave. I would love to live there someday...

Here is a view of Boston, that tall, shiny tower is the John Hancock Tower, and at the bottom left base is Trinity church, located in Copley Square.

I love being in Boston, and I love being able to explore. I can't wait for some of the activities that will come with warmer weather. You should come visit me soon! Hope you are warmer than I am wherever you are in the world!