Utah Trip

As the summer is coming to a close, I look back and am in awe of how quickly it flew by!

Do I really start teaching in a couple weeks?

I was told that as you get older the years fly by faster and faster.

I look in the mirror and see the gray roots coming in and the smile lines visible next to my eyes and can only imagine how fast the years will continue to fly by!

In July I spent a week in Utah visiting friends and family.  It was a last minute decision to drive out for a few days and was unfortunately not able to see several dear friends due to the limited time.  If you were one of those friends I wasn't able to get in touch with, I'm so sorry and hope to be out there again soon!

The main purpose of my trip was to spend some time with my new little niece, Brynnlee.  Brynn was born in February and I couldn't wait any longer without meeting her!  I spent the first couple days of my trip hanging out with my sis-in-law, Ashleigh, and getting as many snuggles in as possible with little Brynn.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to be a little obsessed with my nieces and nephews and Brynnlee is no exception to this rule!  Within seconds I fell in love with her sweet smile and heart melting laugh.  It's so much fun to see Ashleigh and Robbie as parents.  They are so proud and excited, how could they not be!?  Ash and I had tons of fun going out to lunch at Kneaders and then spending the rest of the day shopping.  I may have had some fun buying clothes for little Brynn.  My only wish is that we lived closer and we got to see them more often.  The good news is that we will all be together for Christmas this year in Wyoming.  Can't wait to see our Perkins family!

The second day in Utah I met up with some of our closest friends, the Aydelottes.  I wish I could put into words how good it was to see them.  They recently moved from California to Utah in April and it has been so hard to have them gone.  Tammy was my first friend I made when I moved to the Pleasant Hill area and they quickly became a permanent fixture in our lives.  It was a serious "pick-me-up" getting to catch up with them!

 Stella had just barely turned 2 when Dallas and I moved to California, now she is a big 5 year old riding a bike!  I can't believe how old she is getting.  She was so excited to show me her new bike and tell me all about her upcoming year of Kindergarten.  My favorite: she would come up behind me and jump on my back giving me a big hug and say how much she missed me.  The feeling is mutual, Stella, the feeling is mutual!

 Ruby was born on New Years and is probably the chunkiest little girl I have ever seen!  I loved going over to their house before they moved and spending hours simply snuggling with little Ruby.  She's such a sweetheart and so kissable.  Don't you just love all the fat roles?  To say we miss you guys would be a horrible understatement.  We love you guys so much and can't wait to see you all again.  We are counting down to New Years!

The Aydelottes: Ruby, Glenn, Stella, and Tammy

My third day in Utah I drove from Ogden down to Salt Lake to have lunch with one of my New Zealand girls, Ashley.  It had literally been since 2005 that I had last been able to see Ashley.  After our semester teaching in New Zealand, Ashley and I decided to travel back to NZ two years later for a month of adventure.  The below collage is just a few highlights from our second trip to NZ together.  It was SO good to catch up with her.  Ashley is one of the most genuinely kind people I have ever met.  She is such a dear friend and is so beautiful, talented, and loveable.  As you can tell, I could go off about how incredible this girl is, but I will refrain for the time being.  Needless to say, lunch was so much fun seeing her again and reminiscing about old adventures together.  I love ya, girl!  We totally need to have a girls weekend asap!

 After lunch in Salt Lake, I drove down to Provo/Orem and up the Provo Canyon.  I lived in Provo for 10 years going to school at BYU and then later accepting a teaching position in south Provo.  It brought back so many memories revisiting my old stomping grounds and feeling so blessed to have met such incredible people along the way.  I absolutely love living in California now, being so close to the ocean, but I do miss the Utah mountains.  I had a gorgeous drive up through the canyon and down memory lane.

 After my drive up the canyon, I picked up Cammi for a fun girls' afternoon.  I started mentoring Cammi back in 2004 until I got married in 2008.  I love Cammi with all of my heart.  She is one of the most brilliant and creative people I have ever met.  I used to call her my little Camstar, but when I picked her up, I quickly realized she is not so little any more!  She is now in high school, wearing makeup, and talking about boys.  It was SO much fun to hang out with her and catch up!  We went and got pedicures and then out to dinner.  She is such an amazing girl and I am so excited to see all that she'll accomplish in her life.  I love ya, Cammi!  Thanks again for the fun afternoon!

After my fun afternoon with Cammi, I drove down to south Provo and spent the night with my good friend Tracy.  It turned out to be a rather long night, since my air mattress I brought kept deflating and I ended up on the hard ground.  If I were smart I would have just moved to one of Tracy's couches...but that would have required me to be coherent in my decision making.  When she left for work the next morning, I drove out to Spanish Fork to meet up with one of my best friends, Janelle.  Janelle is my sister, or the closest I can get to a sister having all brothers!  She has been such a strength throughout the last 7 years that I've known her.  I love her so much and count her friendship as one of the sweetest blessings I've received in my life.  We spent the morning chatting and then we went out to lunch at one of my favorites, Cafe Rio.  Many a night I've dreamed about the grilled chicken salad with fresh pico, lime, and cilantro.  It was a perfect relaxing afternoon of talking and eating.

After our lunch we headed over to Jason's house.  Both Jason and Janelle taught with me at Sunset View Elementary for several years and have continued to be two of my closest friends.  They've both been out to visit the bay area twice a year since I moved, so our crazy adventures continue.

One of my other main reasons for visiting Utah, was to attend the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie.  I know, I'm in my thirties and I planned a trip around the opening of a kid's movie, but the Harry Potter series has been a huge chunk of my life the past few years.  I've spent years teaching in the classroom, using the characters developed by J.K. Rowling to show the value of friendship, bravery, creativity, forgiveness, love, etc.  Wonderful memories have been shared with friends reading the books, attending the movies, and even traveling to Harry Potter World.  As teachers we would attend the midnight opening movie and then go into school the next day for work.  I thought it was only necessary that I make the journey out to Utah to attend the midnight showing one last time with my dear friends.

 Janelle, Jason, and I decided that the perfect way to warm up before our midnight fun was to watch the first of the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows movie.  Jason has quite the bachelor pad, so we lived it up on his leather couches, surround sound, and massive projection screen. 

 Janelle and I got the job of getting to the theater early to save seats for everyone.  We thought it would be smart for us to grab some dinner to sneak in while we waited.  My other favorite restaurant in Provo: Gurus, where they serve the absolute best cilantro lime quesadillas ever!

 Provo Town Center was crawling with thousands of crazy Harry Potter fans.  It made for the perfect evening of people watching and catching up with friends.  Gregg and Julie met up with Janelle, Jason, and I for the evening's festivities...and yes I brought my Elder Wand I bought at Harry Potter World.  It was an incredible night.  The movie was great and I thought did justice to a priceless series.  I was pretty tired by the time we got home at 3:30am, though!

The next morning Janelle and I slept in and tried to recuperate from the previous night.  For lunch we met up with our dear friend Suzanne.  She used to teach at Sunset View as well and quickly became an incredible mother figure.  She was even able to attend Dallas and I's temple sealing, so it was so good to see her again.

That night I met back up with Tracy.  Tracy has been one of my closest friends since we started hanging out in 2006.  We met through mutual friends and quickly became inseparable.  It's been hard living in California and she in Utah to not have our weekly movie and lunch dates, but we've still been able to see each other.  She's been a great travel buddy over the years as well, going on our Mexican Cruise and our recent trip to Florida.  While Tracy and I were in Florida we spent an entire day at Harry Potter World, so it only seemed fitting to see the last Harry Potter movie with her as well!  We met up at the movie theater, took fun pictures with all the posters after, and then went out to dinner.  We spent hours talking about boys, future plans, and old adventures.  I love her so much and wish we could see each other more often!

 Saturday morning, Janelle and I woke up early to go out to breakfast with some of the teachers from our old school.  It was so much fun to catch up with them and laugh for hours.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect teaching experience in Provo.  I made some of the best friends, learned from some of the most talented teachers, and made incredible life changing memories.  Thanks everyone for making time to see me and catch up!  It was so good to see you all!

 Saturday afternoon I drove from Spanish Fork up to American Fork for a small Devonshire Reunion.  I previously posted about my experience living in the apartment complex, Devonshire, while attending BYU.  Dallas laughs at how often I talk about my "Dev" friends and how I would literally do anything for them, but it's totally true!  My three years living in the Dev were some of the most memorable, loving, and exciting years of my life.  I made my best friends there.  It was so good to see some of them and spend the afternoon catching up on everyone's lives.  Thanks so much Jill, Alex, Lindsey, Ashley, Cory, Don, Jeff and Stacy!  It was so much fun to see you all and feel that Dev love again!  Can't wait for our next get together!

 After the BBQ at Jeff and Stacy's house, I met up with my little Kelsey.  Kels became a close friend of mine while she was living with her sister (my neighbor) in California.  She and I went on some pretty interesting adventures, hiking and exploring San Francisco.  She has been attending BYU-Idaho and drove all the way down from Rexburg when she found out I'd be in Utah for a few days.  Boy, do I love this girl!  She is such a sweetheart and so full of life.  We had so much fun hanging out at the Provo River trail.

 Kelsey drove down from BYU-Idaho with her roommate, Crystal, who was also a doll!  We got Jamba Juices and then walked along the Provo River Trail.  I'm not sure how it all started, but before long Kels had managed to dunk herself in the freezing river water.  Have I said that I love this girl!?  Luckily I had a blanket in my trunk to wrap her in for the ride home.

As you can see I did A LOT in my five days in Utah.  I feel so blessed to be able to see so many of my dear friends.  It was a perfect week full of laughter, hugs, pictures, food, and catching up with some of the greatest people in my life.  I love you guys.  Thanks so much for taking time to meet up with me!