i heart stevie

if the title didn't clue you in, i love stevie wonder. i can't listen to any of his music without instantly becoming happy. who wouldn't love that? everyone has a favorite stevie song. if you don't, you just haven't heard them all. mine is 'isn't she lovely'.
i've had my eye on 'at the close of a century' for a long time, which is a 4 disc set of basically everything stevie has done. the price kept me away, but recently i found it for half price on ebay and treated myself. today it arrived in the mail and i'm lovin' it at work. thanks, stevie, for making my week.

i'm tired of using technology

aaron and i got new cell phones recently. his is some samsung droid business and he is in love. we got a great deal on it and since i hadn't upgraded my phone for so long i got a new phone for free. i had my old phone for almost 5 years and it was falling apart, but i loved it! people have been trying to talk me into a new one for years, but i held strong! i miss my old one already. i might switch back.
i was lamenting my change to a friend and she said, "i need a phone with buttons" and i completely agree. my new phone doesn't have buttons and i experienced numerous mishaps my first week because i couldn't figure out how to use it. E suggested we get jitterbugs instead of hi-tech cell phones. they completely fit my old person lifestyle.

here's a sample from their website:

The phone, with a larger keypad and a patented ear cushion, is very comfortable and easy to use. You won’t find a camera, the Internet or a complicated menu with confusing little pictures or "icons". You will find one feature, however, that you won’t find anywhere else – 24-hour access to live, friendly Operators, always there to assist you. Just dial "0" and they can add phone numbers to your Phone Book or connect you to anyone you want to talk to.

You can also choose to take advantage of some exciting new services and options for your Jitterbug. Try our new Jitterbug LiveNurseTM service that offers 24-hour access to live, registered nurses anytime you need to ask a health-related question, for only $4 per month. Or try our great text messaging service – only 10 cents per message – where you can choose to either type a message like kids do, or send one we’ve created for you from our library of pre-written messages. You can call a friendly Operator anytime. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have about these services.

sounds great to me!

h e double toothpicks

aaron's parents bought a house in arizona so we went to visit them last weekend while they were in town. talk about hot! arizona is not my favorite place (bad history with our family), but we had a good time and it's easier to travel to az than to canada. it was fun to spend time together.
some of us went to the mesa temple on saturday morning. it is a beautiful temple! so unique.
while we were there i caught up with kelli and greg. i finally got to meet their son who is 18 months old! that's how long it's been. it was great to see them. i miss them so much. nevermind the wedding party in the background...
ok, completely random, but we saw this vehicle in gila bend on the way home. odd.

it was a fun weekend, but we were so happy to come home. the heat was too much to bear. we are so lucky to live in san diego!

birthday dinner

i didn't get any pictures of my birthday, so i made sure to snap one of sandy taking me out for dinner. it was a month after my birthday, but who's counting? thanks, S!

Relaxing

we rode bikes to balboa park on our saturday off of the temple and had a picnic in the shade. people watching is the best. so are relaxing saturdays.

for papa

i know this is going to be a lame post to every one else, but this post is in honor of my dad. ask any family member about doing laundry growing up and you'll hear how dad always asked "did you check the trap?", meaning the lint trap. even when we assured him that we did, you would still hear the sliding noise of the trap being pulled out a few minutes later so the inspector could verify. we learned not checking the lint trap can slow dryer efficency and cause a fire hazard. he was right to ask, but to us it seemed like a life long pledge for dryer safety.

but, his plan worked because i am dilligent in checking the trap. fast forward to last night, we were washing a new white blanket that had been giving us polka dot outfits when we sat on the bed. before aaron went to pull it out of the dryer, i said, oh, i bet the lint trap will be full. here is the fruit of it's labor.
when aaron showed it to me i could not stop laughing. dad, you would have been proud that we remembered to check the trap.

zoo time

we had free passes to the san diego zoo that were about to expire so we hit it up on saturday afternoon. during the summer the zoo is open at night so we took advantage of the later hours. aaron did not want to go, but was a sport and hung in there for a few hours. we had a good time, but i determined i'm not a zoo person. it's nice, but not something i would pay for. it was great to have a date though! afterward we ate at our favorite sushi restaurant and drove home content and sleepy.

please nevermind the haggardness of my face. it was a LONG day. note the peacock standing on the building behind us. we were trying to get a picture of him.

a close up while on the skyfari arial tram. loved the tram ride.

looking toward the museum of man at balboa park. the zoo and the park are neighbors.

screen on the green

during the summer, the san diego museum of art hosts movie nights called, screen on the green. every other friday night the museum shows a movie that corresponds with a current exhibit. right now they have a greek mythology exhibit, so they were showing jason and the argonauts. how could i resist that campy classic? plus, i LOVE balboa park and am always up for a freebie. we got there a bit early, but not early enough! i coldn't believe how many people were there. families, couples, friends had out their picnic baskets and snacks with blankets and pillows for comfort. it was great!
we were sitting on the strip of grass shown here in front of the koi pond. sigh, have i mentioned i love balboa park?

hoe down!

we were invited to a fabulous hoe down a few weeks ago. in fact, aaron was the guest of honor seeing as how he is sans a tooth right now. the hostess thought that would be perfect. because the host is our dentist, the two got together and planned the event before aaron's tooth is finished. how perfect.

it was a lovely time under the stars with lights strung over head, bales of hay, a bbq feast, fire pit for making s'mores, square dancing complete with a real caller and lessons for all. we had a blast and danced and ate until we could do no more of either.

thanks for all the fun!

4th of July

i'm not sure how i managed it, but i only took two pictures of our 4th of July vacation. heavens, i'm bad at taking pictures.
while at grandma's in brigham city, we went hiking, running, aaron played in a basketball tournament, made homemade ice cream, cooked with grandma, had an intense and long lasting game of war, did illegal fireworks at home, saw the big fireworks at pioneer park, played baseball in the backyard, made homemade waffles, talked on the back porch, saw toy story 3, got raspberry shakes at bear lake (which reminds me that mom has some pictures from that...), saw our old house in logan, saw really old historic houses in logan, got a sandwhich at the italian place, saw a re-enactment of laying the golden spike, and a bunch of other things i'm probably forgetting. and no pictures of any of it! here's what i did snap.dad and i at temple square. lovely.

sweet ava and co. leaving for driggs. hope you had a great 4th!

ugh

is it really that time, again? heaven help us all. comic-con is back.

i know there are many positives to having this nerd fest in sd each year, but since i don't attend, i only see the negatives. you basically have to stay locked up in your house and completely avoid a 10 mile radius of downtown for 5 days. the trolleys are packed and scooting over superman's cape so you can sit down is a weird experience. i'm sure it brings joy to thousands. just not me.

i have a twilight hangover

for those of you wondering, it's still quite cheesy and there is still some bad acting, but it is MUCH better than the last one.

he did it!

Congratulations, brother! i always knew you would do it. even when your kidney was killing you, when it hurt to walk, when it was 4am and i didn't know where you were or how you were doing, i knew i'd see you come into the aid station soon and i knew you'd keep going. it was a tough crazy weekend crewing for you, but i wouldn't have missed it. i'm so proud of you!

good deals

i wandered over to the 99 cent store in my neighborhood last night and found some steals! there are some things i wouldn't trust purchasing there, but i'm usually surprised at the good stuff they have. my two favorites? a fresh bag of ready to eat spinach and a HUGE log of Nestle chocolate chip cookie dough. i instantly thought of jarrod and was happy to support! the cookie dough has a sell by date of next month, but you can safely freeze it for 2 months after that. i've even gotten fresh blackberries there before. love it! if any locals are reading this, head on over and get some cookie dough then invite me over!

the story of the roll

i grew up going to the ca state fair and now realize it spoiled me. i think the sd county fair is great, but come on, it's just a county fair. the state fair is about 10 times bigger. literally. and i love it. each year my family would get a cinnamon roll from this vendor and it was the highlight of my trip. i still remember the building it was located in at cal expo, it had a corner spot by the stairs. i can't recall what i wore yesterday, but this sticks in my mind. we would always share them and i cherished my bites. then i would wait another year for my next roll.

i was delighted to find the same cinnamon rolls at the sd county fair a few years ago! in fact, these cinnamon rolls made their debut in 1978 at the sd county fair. anyway, the tradition continues and a cinnamon roll is a must have each year. aaron almost went to another vendor to buy it this year. i think i would have thrown it in the dirt. we shared a roll while watching the demolition derby. i wanted to get a 6 pack to go so i could freeze them and enjoy the ooey goodness year round, but aaron didn't think he'd eat them all. i had a choice to make. i knew i could eat them all, but should i? i decided against stockpiling and decided to get only one to take home and enjoy the next day. while unloading the car at home i reached in to grab a bag and the to go container flew out of my arms. before i knew it, my precious roll was lying in the dirt. oh the humanity. i thought i was going to cry on the spot. i felt like my red ryder bb gun had shot me in the eye. how could you just lie in the dirt like that? i went to bed so sad that night. aaron came to bed later and while i groggily rolled over i mumbled something about a cinnamon roll. it was the first thing on my mind when i awoke for church. it was still on my mind after i finished my spin class at the gym on monday night.

i came home from the gym to a delicious warm scent in the house and aaron smiling like Christmas. he had me sit on the couch and presented me with a warm cinnamon roll!!! per his request, one of his work friends (thank you, A!) had picked one up while at the fair. i could hardly believe my eyes. i whipped up a quick icing (none of that yucky cream cheese business) and promptly ate it before dinner. the best part of the story might be how excited he was to surprise me. what a great hus i have. delicious.