#200's

Today was another thin slice of heaven. We are now officially in Pine Valley which will be the last stop on our vacation and another of our favorite spots in Southern Utah. I love it here...absolutely love it. (The rest of my Snow Family can probably agree on that.) We have an semi-formal annual reunion down here every 24th of July weekend and my immediate family has participated many of my 29 years. This year we are having a formal family reunion - just minus a few that couldn't make it. :(  The reunion officially starts Thursday morning once all have arrived and I can't wait for a whole weekend of catching up and just hanging with great family.

There isn't anything you couldn't love about this place. The peace & quiet, family togetherness, fresh pine smell in the air, all the memories from my childhood, the history of this hidden valley and now the awesome discovery of WiFi on the local Chapel grounds!!!!!  That's right people, I said WiFi!!!!  I was sitting in our cabin, desperately trying to find a strong enough signal to get online from my cell like I had practiced. It took about 20 minutes of frustration until some wonderful news from Grandpa that there is one local hot spot!!! YAY!! All that worry for no reason. The chapel is just walking distance from where we are staying and I will now gladly look forward to my nightly stroll to the chapel just to post my picture of the day.

Since today marks my 200th photo, I really wanted to find something special to capture. But in the enjoyment of my vacation, loading and unloading the car, a nice cat nape on the couch and preparing dinner with my sister...there just wasn't a moment of actual photo-blog thought. Weird! ;)  But after a peaceful day of relaxation and a short jaunt in the wagon around the block, I decided to capture the beautiful faces of my twin nieces. They are at such a cute age, where they are curious about everything, learning from their stumbles and yakking away in their secret little language!! We've had a great day watching and laughing at them. Unfortunately they didn't want to be photographed tonight, especially right before bedtime when I pulled the camera out, but I was able to snap a few that show their individual personalities!!

My #200's!!!!  Avie and Ella. Avie the prankster and mischievous one with her cheesy grin. And Ella, Ms Prissy and major attitude. I couldn't get a smile from her to save my life. It was either this [daddy resembling] scowl or the thumb in the mouth. HAHA!

#199

We were in St. George all day today and it was a gorgeous day in Southern Utah, 100 degrees all afternoon, so we spent a good portion of the day at the pool. A nice way to keep cool without constantly being in an air conditioned room. Plus the peace and quiet was wonderful!

Now we are sitting up on the red clifs, enjoying the beautiful view. We missed the sunset by about 5 minutes...bummer...but its an amazing site nonetheless.

I'm LOVING this vacation!! Now after already seeing the movie Horrible Bosses earlier today, we're about to see Super 8. I'm finding myself wishing it was a drive-in theater. It is incredible weather tonight!

#199 - Our last night in St. George. Next up, Pine Valley!!

#198

Our first and only 'over night' stay in Enterprise, was at the Sleep E Motel. In all my years of traveling down to E-town, I stayed here. I was always lucky enough to have many offers of lodging at my aunts place or a few of my friends homes, but the Sleep E, holds a special place in my heart and its better for more independence. I could always come and go, have friends over late and party without disturbing anyone. It isn't the grandest of motels, very quaint and simple but I love it. Plus it was always a great central locale for all my friends to hang out it in. All the laughs, jumping on the beds, pedicures, late night conversations and bizarre secret photos, this was the place!! Hahaha, so many good times.

(I forgot to charge my camera battery before we left SLC, so...needless to say I was unable to take many pictures today. But fear not, it will be charged up for tomorrow.)

#198 - The infamous Sleep E Motel.

#197

The first day of my vacation! Can I get a hells yeah??

Since I am on vacation I won't be posting any long stories or explanations. I'll keep it short...you're welcome! Tonights post is mainly about our road trip. We left this afternoon and headed straight to my favorite place, Enterprise!! I can't begin to explain the happiness in my heart at this very moment. My early adulthood started here and I have a lifetime of memories that are all about this town and my awesome friends that came with.

I will live here one day. Thats a promise.  I'm overwhelmed tonight with emotions. This place is home to me and I never want to leave.

My #197

#196

Tonight was awesome!!! Joe and I were invited to see my good friend Joy's dad participate in a summer concert tonight. His group 'Contagious' was part of a "Summer Concert Series" held by a local shopping area and they perform on a courtyard in between restaurants and shops. It was great fun! Not only was the weather just PERFECT, but the music was so entertaining!! 'Contagious' is a cover band that plays songs ranging from ZZ Top to John Mellancamp. Collide by Howie Day to Pink Floyd's The Wall. SUPER FUN!! I could sing along to all the songs and dance in my personal space! (Joe was good at that!!) The best part was, I got to FINALLY hang out with JOY!!! We've been wanting to get together and we finally made it happen. See Joy? Once its been done, its easier to do again.

Joe and I also ran into quite a few people tonight. I saw my stylist Jordan and her boyfriend and we saw my sister Jessica's new 'in-laws' and sat by them the whole night. It was great fun and a completely random night out for Joe and I. We LOVE random date nights!

Thank you Joy for inviting us!! I'm glad we got to hang out (outside of the salon) to have some great conversations and giggles. And thank you 'Contagious' for putting on such an entertaining show. We will definitely be followers now - guess we'll see you on August 8th!!

#196 - Tonight's fun was really 'Contagious!' I'm glad we had so many people to share it with.

#195's

Woo! I'm posting early today. I think this may be a record!! Usually I post right before bed time, when the day is over. But I was excited about this event today and I had to jump on it!

Back story (you all know you love one of my back stories...) My sister Kalie is 6 months pregnant and has to have weekly progesterone injections. She is considered a high-risk pregnancy, so not only does she go in weekly for doctor visits/ultra sounds, she is also going in weekly (on a different day) to have these injections. I swear everyone at this hospital is on a first name basis with Kalie. Of course it'd be nice if she didn't have to go in all the time, but its also great for the weekly reassurance! Anyway, she literally needs a shot every 6-7 days I believe. No sooner, no later. And of course with the big reunion next week down south, she will be out of town on the 6th AND 7th day. Basically meaning she needs someone to give her the shot while we're on vacation. Who did she ask? Well, ME of course!!! (Lucky me, I'm going to be giving her her 13th shot!! Oooh lucky 13!)

We went to the hospital early this morning and I got a 'crash' course on how to give an injection by this really sweet nurse named Maureen. She was very informative and I believe I got the gist. Pretty much, hold the hip for sturdiness, jam the needle in, hold the bottom for support and use pressure to lower the syringe. I think I got it! **She had me practice on a folded up towel and warned me the most important part is jamming it in there. The slower I go, the more painful it is for Kalie, so just GO! Haha, it was interesting!!  I was having so much fun, I had completely forgotten we were in the Women's Center of the hospital which is my LEAST favorite place to be in the whole wide world. Practicing giving a shot was a great distraction!!

Maureen loaded up a 'goodie bag' for me. It reminded me of those party favor bags you got as a kid when you went to a birthday party. But instead of penny candy, noise makers, stickers and a pencil, I got gloves, alcohol swabs, 1 syringe, 4 needle tips (in case I accidentally un-sterlize it) and a band-aid! See, what a great goodie bag!! And instead of a Superhero logo or Villain insignia, I get a big BIO-HAZARD symbol!!! LOL

Here is my #195's - Don't worry Kalie, I got this!

 The 'stuff!'

My goodie bag!!

I'm now starting to think Maureen should have given a lesson on the importance of 'responsibility' when handling needles and how dangerous they can be! At least she told me how to safely dispose of the used needle!!! Wait until next week and I may post a picture of the injection - in action! LOL

#194

Refer all the way back to post #96 where my I posted about this cute 7 year old that became my inspiration. Well today for my 194th picture, I have yet another great post about donating hair to Locks of Love. My sister-in-law Amanda and her daughter Lauren have been growing their hair out, specifically to one day donate the 10 inches needed for Locks of Love. Lauren who has always had long hair, has been patiently waiting for her mom's hair to grow and catch up. I can count so many times I've talked to Lauren and she always asks if her mom's hair is long enough yet! She's been super excited.

Today was finally the day!!! Amanda's hair wasn't excessively longer than 10 inches, so we really had to cut hers short in the back, but Lauren's hair is still down to her shoulders. It was such a fun day! Since Lauren wanted her hair the same length all the way around, we actually cut off 3 ponytails from her hair. (1 in back and 2 on the sides.) And on Amanda we took one THICK ponytail from the back...man her hair was THICK!!

Once again I'm posting about an inspiration to grow my hair out. Even after cutting 2 inches off my length yesterday, I'm still trying to grow it out. (I just needed a little shape & style) One day my hair WILL be longer than 10 inches and I WILL be able to donate it. One day...

#194 - You're My Inspiration. (I was totally singing that song by Chicago in my head as I typed that. Love it!!)

#193

Okay you may have noticed my previous post. If you haven't, its no big deal, it was just a test to see if I could FINALLY blog & upload a picture straight from my phone. I was going to delete it, but its another stepping stone in the challenge process so I decided to leave it. But basically as you can see from that post, I am able to upload from my phone!

I have an Android phone and dealing with Blogger has proved to be difficult on several occasions. With my vacation starting (in just 4 days!!) I wanted to make sure I could post with no problems once I'm in an area with no internet connection. I was actually planning on giving my password to my friend Joy and then send her the photo via email on my phone and have her post each day for me. (She's an internet nerd like me and she's always online!! LOL) I may actually still have her as my backup plan in case I have service issues. So Joy, I may be calling you!! As of Saturday you are officially on standby for 9 days, okay?! :)

My aunt & uncle have an internet connection at their house I could use, but Joe and I will be arriving quite a few days before them, so I can't rely on their source all 9 days. I also asked my bro-in-law Jarron who said he'd be headed to St. George every day to check emails at any Free WiFi hot spots. So its nice to know I have other options. See how obsessed and dedicated I am?? I'll be on vacation for crying out loud, but I still want to make sure I'm consecutive! No worries my fellow readers; followers and stalkers. I will be posting all 9 days of my vacation!!

If you are at all curious, my solution was just a new web browser. My phone's default internet app and Opera Mini browser were already installed on my phone and neither were blogger friendly. I went into my App Store and downloaded 7 different browsers I've never heard of and then tried to blog with each of them. I was shocked that 6 out of the 7 were just the same as my default browser. However I did find 1 - thank you 'Skyfire!' Now I can post with minimal obstacles!!


Okay enough mumbo-jumbo you probably don't care about. Since I blabbed for so long I'll keep this photo post short. I received another surprise today at work!! I have a client that is German AND works in an 'Authentic German Bakery' called Vosen's. (I love her accent and when she yells at her husband in German!! So funny!!)  We talk about her work all the time, but I have never asked about the yummy things they bake & sell, until her last hair appointment about a month & 1/2 ago. After she made me incredibly hungry by just talking about them, she promised to bring me some next time. Well, she brought me a surprise box of delicious pastries today!! Mmm -mmm they were so good!

Since I get made fun of for posting too many 'food' pictures, I thought I'd just post a picture of the box seal. (Sorry Kalie, what's a fat girl to do? Love me some food!!) My #193 - The sugar coated goodness that is NOT pictured! Haha!!  

Danke SUE!!! (Good luck going home next month. I can't wait to hear about your trip! Tshüs!)

test

i have to test this so i can see if i can post on my vacation. this is just a test

#192

We had a birthday party for my brother-in-law Jarron this evening. Today is his actual birthday and the good guy that he is, opted to celebrate with the entire family on his special day. What a great guy, right? Thanks Jarron for sharing your day with us! :)

I snapped a silly photo of him right before we sang 'happy birthday' and I was planning on using it tonight...but then I thought about it a little more. I'm not one to support the cake, presents and singing after turning 21. (And 21 is pushing it.) Its just silly, embarrassimg and juvenile. We're all adults now, we've been sung to and spotlighted for years and we don't necessarily have that 'need' or 'want' after we reach a certain age. I'm sure most adults can agree with me on this, so that is why I've decided to nix the original photo for the day. Jarron has had enough attention on his day, I highly doubt he wants me to showcase that silliness on this blog for the whole world to see. So Jarron, you're welcome! :)

My new photo for today is another 'action' shot. I've been really into this lately; ever since the night of the fireworks my curiosity has grown. Snapping a photo of something in motion is fascinating to me. But basically the boys were playing in the backyard with these new nerf guns Nancy had bought. They are more like machine guns because they shoot out 15 bullets very rapidly. After mulitple tries and multiple failures, I was finally able to get a good one. Thanks Dallin for letting me get so close and not shooting me! (They actually really hurt!!)

#192 - Dallin in action!