conference conclusions.

If you missed general conference or want to figure out what in the world I'm talking about, check it out here and click on "sessions," "speakers," or "topics." I'm excited to watch and read the talks again over the next few months, but my current favorites are this talk, this talk, and this talk.

I thought this article, written after the Sunday morning session, was particularly sweet.

Learn more about the three newly called apostles here, here, and here.

People are taking the challenge to "ponderize" to heart and I love seeing all of the verses others are choosing. I love this verse + graphic for week 1! 

If you're short on time, check out these two videos (each just a minute or two long) played during the General Women's Session: Mother in Israel and Sisters in Zion. I especially love the friendships found in both videos.

I'd love to print out multiple quotes/pictures from here and post them on my fridge, bathroom mirror, and next to my computer at work. Friendly reminders are great!

And as always, beautiful & free conference printables from Alexa Z Design.

architecture + good food + lots of walking

^^Pardon the B&W photos. The shadows were horrendous.^^

^^Frank Lloyd Wright home!^^

Since my humanities class in mid-2010, I've had a fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright homes and have been dying to take a tour of one. After several failed attempts to schedule a tour of the FLW home in St. Louis, I had given up all hope of getting to see one anytime soon. 

Ben suggested that we use Memorial Day as an excuse to get out of town and go on an architecture tour, and he discovered that Chicago offered a 3 1/2 hour long bus tour that showcases the works of many well-known architects. We booked tickets and I mentally prepared myself to spend 3 1/2 hours looking at buildings. ;) Turns out that the tour was actually quite interesting and extremely informative. AND. A FLW home was one of the 4 stops on the tour! (If you've done the river/lake architecture tour and enjoyed it, try going on the extended bus tour!)

We were able to cram quite a bit into our short 36 hour long trip, and we ended up walked over 35,000 steps in the two days! Our feet we so sore by the time we got in the car to drive home.

What we did and how we felt about it:

ate at Taqueria El Asadero - meh

grabbed shakes at Margie's Candies - amazing!

took the Harry Potter quiz online to discover our houses/wands - amazing!

bus architecture tour - amazing!

watched the Memorial Day parade for a good 45 minutes - amazing!/meh at times

ate hotdogs & hamburgers at Portillo's - amazing!

grabbed a bag of Garrett mix popcorn - amazing!

walked along the lakefront - amazing!

walked through Millennium Park - amazing! (It was sooo hot at this point.)

checked out the Chicago Cultural Center - amazing!

did some shopping on Michigan Ave - amazing!

ate at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria - amazing!

grabbed some gelato at Paciugo - meh

played Mario Party on the Wii U - amazing!

(Thanks to Mandie and Myk for letting us crash at their place/hang out with them. :))

"First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then, you roast the mallow."

I've never been a camper. In fact, this is the second time that Ben and I have been camping in our three years of marriage. (The first time was with friends almost two years ago!) After putting our apartment up on Airbnb and having someone book a stay, we needed to find something to do for the weekend. We kicked around the idea of going on a short getaway, but decided to head to a close-by state park to pitch a tent, roast some s'mores, and camp out with friends.

My favorite thing about this past weekend was getting out of the city! I can't tell you how nice it was to get away from people and busy streets, and it was especially nice to get away from the sirens that go by our place all night long. The only sounds we heard were crickets and a few drunk guys one campsite over. ;)

Can't wait to go camping again!

last weekend.

Last weekend we stayed at the cutest little inn. The kind of place where they keep fresh chocolate chip cookies on the front desk and have garlands of lights hanging in the courtyard. (Tornado, allergy, and frizzy hair season...yay. ;)

We got up early Saturday morning and went to the temple to do some sealings. (While talking to the other couple in the room, we realized that the husband and I were from the same home town and graduated a few years apart. Small world!) Ben and I took a walk around the grounds when we were done and were amazed by all of the colors!

After leaving the temple, we met some friends at the botanical garden to walk around (free for residents Wednesday & Saturday mornings, ps!) and loved spending time in the sun.

We ended the day by chowing down on pizza with friends, getting a workout in, babysitting, and some lesson planning for Sunday.

At church on Sunday I was called to serve as the secretary in the Relief Society presidency (still a Primary teacher, too, ha!) and Ben lost a Young Men's counselor. Besides that, not an eventful day. We lounged around with friends and partook of a delicious lasagna. ;) 

Weekends are undeniably the best.

girls' trip to Chicago.

A few weekends ago, Ben headed to a conference in downtown San Francisco. We had checked flights to see if it'd be feasible for me to tag along and quickly discovered that we'd basically have to sell our kidneys to make it happen. Instead of illegally auctioning off vital organs, I ended up taking the train up to Chicago ($54 roundtrip! What?!) the day after Ben left to meet my mom for a girls' weekend. It was a ridiculously fun, short, cold trip!

^^Eataly was a fun Italian market/restaurant/store to explore. My cousin (who now lives in Chicago) lived in Italy for 18 months and she showed us different foods around the store that she had eaten while living abroad. We picked up some pear & goat cheese stuffed pasta to make for Sunday dinner, and I discovered that, although not awful, goat cheese isn't my favorite. ;)^^

^^Days leading up to the trip, my weather app was telling me it was going to snow a decent amount and be frigid all weekend long. However, we lucked out with light snow and not too terribly freezing temperatures! Rain boots would have been nice though. :)^^ 

 ^^Post-church snack. I'd heard quite a bit about Garrett Popcorn, so we picked some up to try. The dark chocolate and caramel was to die for. (How cute is that house in the background?)^^

^^I'm a big fan of Impressionist art, but especially anything by van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir. While walking around, I came across the painting I've had as my laptop background for a while now and that was pretty fun!^^

^^Obligatory picture with "The Bean."^^

Food we tried that you should probably try, too: Garrett Popcorn, Cafe Iberico, The Purple Pig, Rosebud, Giordano's, Grand Lux Cafe (we went here twice for desserts!)

unplugged.

Do you ever stop and think about how cool it is that we can connect with millions of people all over the world in less than a second? Do you ever think about how cool it is that we can jump onto our Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter sites and know what our friends and family are up to? Do you ever think about how cool it is that we can get news updates the second something big happens? I do.

On the flip side, do you ever stop and think about how emotionally and mentally taxing it can be to be constantly plugged into it all? I definitely do! I've noticed being attached to my phone, TV, or computer affects how I interact with others, how much sleep I get, and how many items on my "to-do" list get done. In addition, I've noticed that I'm much more concerned about clothes or makeup or going cool places when I'm constantly bombarded with all of the images, statuses, and blog posts others are posting. Because of this, I feel that it's important for me to take breaks from social media and sometimes completely unplug myself from the outside world.

 ^^pardon our sweaty, post-bike ride faces ;)^^

With Ben's crazy long school days*, it's a real treat when we have a whole day together without any obligations or things that we absolutely have to get done. Last Saturday was one of those rare days for us and I decided that morning that I didn't want social media or technology to get in the way of our time together. We began Saturday with a slow start - sleeping in, making waffles and homemade syrup, and talking about what we wanted to do that day. It was decided that we needed to do some early spring cleaning before getting to the fun stuff. Ben turned on some music and we each tackled our chores, one of which included (finally) taking down the Christmas tree and moving holiday boxes to the basement. Our hours of cleaning were productive and fun as we worked side by side to tackle the mess. :)

Once the chores were out of the way, we decided to get our bikes out of storage and put some air in the tires so we could take them for a spin. Fortunately, St. Louis has a giant park (even bigger than Central Park!) and we were able to enjoy the fabulous 60 degree weather for a bit.

After coming home and getting ready for the day, we spent our afternoon making this treat, working on our church lessons for the next day, listening to this audiobook, paying some bills, and putting up some Valentine's Day decor. That evening, friends came over and played games with us late into the night. ;) Our favorites for multiple players include: this, this, this, and this.

At night when I get into bed, I usually think about what I was able to accomplish that day and I realized Saturday night that our day had been a bit different than most. I had enjoyed not picking up my phone every 15 minutes and feeling like I had to keep it on me at all times so others could reach us if needed. Because I was focused on Ben and getting stuff done, I didn't feel the need to scroll through Instagram or Facebook and I didn't feel like I was missing anything important. It was a breath of fresh air. I decided right then and there that I wanted to turn off my phone more often so I could refocus on the important things and give those around me my undivided attention.

Hip, hip, hooray for fun and productive days, and the chance to unplug from everything!

*we call it work since he's been done with the classes portion for over a year now, and has been focusing on research. ;)

Unplugged shirt generously provided by Creative Expressions, a Utah business, specializing in promotional products. They offer in house screen printing, embroidery, digitizing and art services.

3 day weekend.

I can't tell you how nice it was to have an extra day off of work this past weekend! I tried to convince Ben that we needed to go on a road trip to somewhere warm (my vote was Georgia - lots of MLK sites to visit there!) while gas is so darn cheap, but unfortunately, he had to work and isn't a giant fan of road trips. ;) So instead of migrating toward warmer weather, we stayed home, hung out with friends, discovered a new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I de-cluttered our apartment while Ben worked all of Saturday and Monday. It definitely wasn't as warm as Georgia would have been, but it was productive and fun and wonderful.

I know, we're terribly interesting people. Haha.

girls' night Christmas party!

I'm all for girls' nights, and I'm all for Christmas. Combine the two and you've got yourself a pretty fun and festive evening! My friend, Lauren, and I decided to make it happen, so we threw a few games and activities together, and set up a hot chocolate bar. Homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, and cinnamon sprinkled on top...combined with Christmas cookies? Too much goodness. And probably a thousand too many calories. ;)

The best thing we did was slap some wrapping paper up on a wall, hang some colorful lights, and buy photo booth props from the dollar store. So. Much. Fun! Such an easy and fun activity, and now we have (a million) pictures from the night!

 (If you want to know more of the specifics, check out my post here!)

Our Thanksgiving break was desperately needed and absolutely fabulous.

// We kicked off Thanksgiving break with a homemade pumpkin roll, because hello, holidays. My mom makes pumpkin rolls around this time of year, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, I had quite the experience trying to get the cake out of the pan and on to a towel to roll it up. I may or may not have contemplated just giving up on the whole pumpkin roll idea right then and there and thought about turning it into some very cake-y pumpkin bars. After some cracks, tears, and pieces completely breaking off, it somehow turned into a successful pumpkin roll. Checking that off my list!

// It snowed the day before Thanksgiving and I was in holiday heaven. That is, until it turned to ice and I slipped down our back steps giving myself a gnarly looking bruise and adding some battle wounds to my boots. #thisiswhyicanthavenicethings

// Instead of heading to Denver or SLC for Thanksgiving, we stayed in St. Louis and had a Friendsgiving. Some couples from church and one of Ben's coworkers came over for a feast, and a feast we had! Turkey, steaks (my family's go-to instead of turkey), mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, rolls, and a random assortment of dishes--it was delicious and I probably gained 10 pounds. (Good thing J.crew just had a sale on stretching pants/leggings.) After eating, we busted out the new Just Dance game and spent an hour learning some new moves. ;) It was only natural to follow that with pies and ice cream.

// Because of the protesting going on in St. Louis, we weren't expecting many stores or malls to be open, but fortunately a good number of them were. My friend and I hit up Michael's and Old Navy on Thursday night and were surprised that both stores were practically empty. Friday morning, Ben and I ventured out to check a store or two and successfully finished 90% of our Christmas shopping. (Boo to protestors shutting down the mall and other stores.) Side note: IT IS SO HARD TO SHOP FOR TEENAGE BOYS, LET ALONE THREE OF THEM. That is all.

// Ben got one of his Christmas presents early and has since tried to teach me how to play Halo. I will never understand, or be good at, video games, and somehow I manage to live with myself. ;)

// Working at a hospital is bound to kill me one day. Regardless of how many times I sanitize my hands, pens, desk, phone, etc., I seem to catch a cold at least every two weeks. No joke. The amount of tissues and cough drops I've purchased in the last few months is exorbitant. I spent most of Thanksgiving break in bed watching Call the Midwife (I finished it and don't know what to do with myself. Show suggestions, please.) and working on a blanket I'm crocheting. Ben thinks I'm an 80-year old lady sometimes--can't say I blame him.

// We had the missionaries and some friends over for dinner on Sunday night, and were shown this great video that the church has produced. What a great reminder of the reason for the season!

5 really great things.

1. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie made its way into my life this weekend and I'm a changed woman.
2. Our ward had the opportunity on Saturday to winterize homes for the elderly, disabled, and some low income families. It was awesome learning some new skills, and the BBQ food after wasn't too shabby either. ;)
3. The Primary Program was a success and I'm thrilled it's over! (Have you ever experienced the craziness that is Sharing Time after a Primary Program? It's horrific, ha.)
4. My stress levels will be going back down to normal after I take my test tomorrow. Maybe my face will clear up again.
5. 17 days until Thanksgiving. 39 days until we head to Denver. 44 days until Christmas!

we basically skipped Halloween this year and went on a trip instead.

A month ago some friends asked us if we'd be interested in trekking across some of Kentucky and Tennessee with them to go to BYU football game over Halloween weekend. Since we love BYU football (Ben especially!), we love spending time with friends, and we don't really love Halloween, it was a no-brainer to tag along.

I think I've mentioned before that every major city around St. Louis is almost exactly 4 or 5 hours away, and in every direction. (A benefit of being smack dab in the middle of the US?) I hit up Memphis with some girlfriends earlier this year and really enjoyed Tennessee, but I've been dying to visit Nashville for the longest time. Good BBQ, country music, and southern accents? Too much for me to handle. Fun fact: I've always wanted a southern accent, but since that won't be happening, I want to convince Ben to find a job in the south so our kids can pick up one. "Yes, ma'am" and "no, sir" all day long? Too cute. Anyway, moving on.

Friday night we stopped in Kentucky for some southern comfort food - mashed potatoes and cornbread muffins galore! - before continuing on to Nashville. We spent the night just outside of the city, and explored downtown Nashville the next morning. (Did you know Nashville's Music City Center is 2.1 million square feet and takes up 16 acres downtown?! It's probably the longest building I've ever seen.) After a tour of the city, we headed to the BYU tailgate for some food and entertainment.

By 11 am it was still only 42 degrees and pretty windy, so within 5 minutes of being outside, Ben and I were absolutely frozen because we had only packed some sweatshirts and thin socks (my fault - I packed and didn't anticipate how cold it would be). I'm sure you can imagine how fun the tailgate was. ;) At least the free BYU stuff, pulled pork and baked beans, and live country music made up for it. Free stuff can make up for almost anything, right? However, before the game started we made a run to Walmart for scarves, gloves, blankets, hand warmers, etc.

The BYU vs. MTSU game was a good one for the following reasons:
1) Watching football in person is better than watching it on the TV.
2) They were selling hot chocolate (at a ridiculous price, but at that point I would have sold my firstborn for something warm) and it was delicious.
3) WE ACTUALLY WON.
4) Believe it or not, BYU had more fans there than MTSU and trust me when I say they came from all over. We saw California, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Oregon, and Maine license plates. Even a mini van from Utah!
5) The guy sitting behind was uttering hilarious comments under his breath throughout the game.
6) WE ACTUALLY WON.
7) The halftime entertainment was priceless.
8) We high-fived all of the players after the game and I think Ben was in heaven.
9) DID I MENTION WE ACTUALLY WON?
10) And we got a picture with Cosmo before the game. Crossed that off the bucket list.

That evening we discovered that Nashville has the best authentic Mexican food ever. Even Ben, who served a Spanish speaking mission and is highly critical of tacos at Mexican restaurants, deemed their tacos as authentic and amazing. Just stop for a minute and picture the restaurant. Blacked out windows in a little strip mall store that looks too ghetto to offer much, entering to find that every single seat is taken and people are crowding around the bar, a huge projector in the front of the restaurant showing a soccer game between two South American teams, and people going crazy every time someone almost scored a goal. I think in between stuffing my face with chips and salsa, I tried to convince Ben to do a postdoc at Vanderbilt University so I can become a regular at the restaurant. It was that delicious. (Cafe Rio sweet pork, however, is still my favorite food of all time.)

We hit the road, got home super late, and somehow made it to church on time. Life is good and I want to move to Nashville.

The end.

this was a "first" for us.

 

It amazes me that after a few years of marriage, you can still have "firsts." You know what I mean by "firsts," right? First car purchase, first real job, first fight (haha), first Christmas together, first anniversary, and so on and so on. This weekend was our first trip away together (besides our honeymoon) in our 2 1/2 years of marriage - because our families live far away, we use all of our vacation time to go out to Denver or Salt Lake City any chance we get. The opportunity for a quick little weekend getaway to Branson, MO presented itself and we were all too eager to jump on it.

The weather recently in St. Louis has been fall-like, so naturally, I packed us sweaters and pants and socks. Since Mother Nature clearly has a mind of her own, she decided to throw us a curve ball this past weekend and bring back the 90 degree & 80% humidity weather. Thus, sweaty faces and frizzy hair. 

The red and yellow trees made up for it all. As did the perfect little lake and marina.

We knew going down that we didn't want to check out any of the shows and we definitely didn't want to have a schedule, so we didn't plan a single thing. We went for walks, we ate good food, we got a malt shake to share from an old-fashioned candy counter, we sat outside under the stars and talked, we explored the town a bit, we read, and we slept well without the noise of the city in the background. It was perfect and relaxing to get away from all responsibilities!

Definitely already planning our next little getaway. :)

Word of advice: go to Branson during the fall and you won't be disappointed.

Also, try the twice baked potatoes at the Chateau Grille.

a trip to the orchard.

My cute parents came out to visit last weekend and one of the things to do on our list was head out to Eckert's to pick some apples. We lucked out with great weather on Saturday, which was fortunate since it rained all day Friday, and a bit on Sunday and Monday. The best part though about Eckert's was getting to munch on apples while we were out in the orchards, and let me tell you, those Suncrisp apples were to die for. They were delicious right off the tree, and they were delicious baked into an Apple Crisp! Between the four us, those 8 pounds of apples didn't last long. :)

See last year's peach picking trip to Eckert's here.

10 great things from the weekend.

1. Receiving instruction, words of hope and comfort, and encouragement from church leaders.

2. Bundling up in sweaters and boots, and going for a walk under the changing leaves.

3. Halloween cupcakes that were amaaaaazing.

4. Date nights that include Mexican food.

5. Call the Midwife.

6. Starting another book together and spending our Sunday evening reading.

7. Having friends over for dinner.

8. German Pancakes for brunch.

9. Fall scented candles.

10. Staying in pj's until 1 pm both days.

I learned how to use tools and i didn't even hurt myself.

One of my coworkers has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for over a year now and she's been telling me for months that I should come check it out. This weekend I jumped at the chance since I had some free time and learned quite a bit from it all - how to use a saw, how to measure and cut baseboards, how to cope baseboards, and how to use a nail gun. After adding baseboards to four bedrooms and the living room/kitchen, I'm feeling just a little bit like a pro. Let me come fix/install your baseboards. :)

The coolest part was working right alongside the woman who is buying the Habitat home. She's a first generation home buyer and her whole extended family has been coming and putting in sweat hours to help her meet her quota. (Every HFH home buyer has to put in 350 hours of work on the house they're purchasing. After they hit a certain amount, they can have friends and family members come and count their time towards those 350 required hours.) 

Find out where your closest Habitat for Humanity building site is and take a few hours out of your day to volunteer!

Japanese Festival in the gardens.

Every year the Missouri Botanical Garden hosts a Japanese Festival with various activities all weekend long. Ben's sister was interested in checking out the festival while she was visiting, so we grabbed our cameras, purchased some tickets, and made our way through it all. It started raining as soon as we got there, but it made for some pretty pictures the rest of the time. Believe it or not, none of these photos have been edited - everything was so bright!

Need some fun and exciting date ideas?

Since it's Friday and you might be wondering what you should do for date night this weekend, here are a few of my favorite ideas that you might want to try out! Keep in mind that sometimes things don't go exactly according to plan, so go with the flow and find something that you and your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend would both enjoy. :) I came up with these lists with married couples in mind, but they're easily adaptable for whatever stage your relationship is in. Don't forget to let me know in the comments what some of your favorite free (or cheap!) date night ideas are.

P.S. Tonight we're heading to a free movie in the park put on by the city and will also be stopping by our favorite custard place. It'll be fun, something new, and under $3. Score!

• Go to your local library or Barnes & Noble, find an interesting book to read, and plop down in a comfy chair.
• See if your community puts on free outdoor movies or plays in the park, and hit up one of those!
• Pick a movie to watch at home and make a themed dinner and/or dessert to go along with it. For example: Watch Napoleon Dynamite, serve tater tots and some "dang quesadillas," and have a dance party. Don't forget your chapstick!
• Go for a hike.
• Find a new bike trail and go for a ride.
• Take your laptop to the park and watch a movie. 
• Create a photo scavenger hunt list and find those items/people together. 
• Decorate your home for the next upcoming holiday.
• Go to "Italy." Eat a home-cooked Italian meal, find an Italian Pandora station, and paint like Michelangelo (tape paper to the underside of your kitchen table, but don't forget to wear shirts that you don't mind getting paint on!).
• Go sledding. 
• Play board games.
• Build a fort. 
• Put on a movie but mute it and speed up the time just a little. Together, you create the dialogue for what the characters are saying. You'll be rolling on the floor in tears in no time! 
• Play dress-up at your local thrift store. Put together funny outfits for each other.
• Create a little fire outside and make s'mores.
• Ask each other these questions while stargazing.
• Find a pond and feed the ducks.
• Check out the local farmer's market and sample different foods.
• Hit up a fair or festival going on in your area.
• Volunteer together at a community event.
• "Camp" in your backyard for a few hours. Pull out camp chairs, tell ghost stories, make s'mores, enjoy the stars, then pack it all up when you're done.
• Download a stargazing app and see how many constellations you can find.
• Find out if your community hosts any free 5k runs and do that together.
• Have a YouTube night - take turns sharing your favorite funny clips with each other.
• Look at the pictures on each others' phones and tell the stories behind the photos (or reminisce if you were both there).
• Walk around a free art museum or gallery.
• Go fishing.
• Look up free tourist attractions in your city and tour one you've never been to before.
• Do a puzzle, but don't forget some snacks!
• Learn how to say phrases in another language.
• If you have a GPS, go geocaching.
• Go to the gym together or play on a playground.
• Check out ancestry.com and read up on each others' extended family.
• Stop at garage sales or estate sales, just to see what interesting things you can find. 
• Read a book out loud together.

• Split a meal (take-out) and watch a movie at home.
• Go to a dollar movie and share some popcorn.
• Grab a $5 footlong sandwich from Subway and go for a picnic in the park. Don't forget a baseball and mitts!
• Buy a small bouquet of flowers from your local grocery store and pass out flowers to people on the street who need a pick-me-up.
• Buy a strange ingredient from the store and come up with a recipe using that item.
• Make cookies together and deliver them to friends. (Doorbell ditch them, obviously!)
• Find some postcards of your city and send them to friends or family.
• Walk along Main Street in your town and grab a small treat from a shop you've never been to before.
• Have a little fondue party with just the two of you.

• Go swimming at a community pool.
• Go ice skating or classic skating.
• Check out a local high school's play.
• Mini golf.
• Rent a paddleboat or a canoe and take it for a spin around a lake or pond.
• Buy a small (cheap!) piece of furniture off of Craigslist and fix it up together. (For example: a rocking chair, a nightstand, a small table, a bench, etc.)
• Find a local restaurant that has live music on certain nights and get a meal or treat to share.
• Go to a planetarium (find out if they have discounted nights/hours).
• Pick your own fruit at an orchard.
• Buy a disposable camera and snap pictures of the two of you (yes, selfies) in random places. Get the pictures developed and put the photos up around your home.
• Plant some flowers in your yard. If you're renting, plant them in planters for your porch or inside.
• Go to the pet store and pick out a fish together. 

• Go to a comedy club show.
• Go bowling.
• Check out the zoo if you have one nearby.
• Try indoor rock climbing.
• Have a progressive fast food dinner. Fries at one place, burgers at the second, a shake at the last (or whatever kind of fast food you want!). 
• Take a community class together (cooking, art, dancing, etc.)
• Go camping.
• Go to the shooting range or take a class.

feelin' like i'm in hawaii.

This past weekend was especially great - largely in part to the perfect (not humid!) weather we enjoyed and those gigantic flowers up above that made me feel like I was somewhere tropical. . .or anywhere other than the city. ;) Ben and I acquired a few mosquito bites and sunburns, but we just couldn't refuse the chance to enjoy the weather.

In other news, here are some links to waste a little more of your time. :)

This post on inexpensive sunless summer tanning products!
These 6 tips for living frugally.
An easy recipe for baked cheesecake and fruit sauce.
An outfit that makes me regret not buying that skirt.
A cute print for your home.
This tutorial on messy waves for short or medium hair.
Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores found here.
The cutest baby shower gift.

4th of July & Visitors!

Ben and I had been looking forward to the 4th for quite a while this year. First, his parents were planning on coming out to visit (we all know how much I love visitors :)! Second, America + red, white, and blue + time off of work! All of that good stuff.

I'm happy to report that this past weekend did not disappoint. We busted out our patriotic colors, went gallivanting around the city, and enjoyed some great firework displays. America, we sure do love you.

 

^^Old Courthouse downtown and the Arch in the background^^

^^The Old Courthouse gets dressed up with flags each 4th of July and it's so fun to go see!^^

 ^^My cute in-laws & Ben and I. (Side note: the Arch is so big that sometimes it's hard to get the whole thing in pictures!)^^

^^Thomas Jefferson. My very favorite part of the Missouri History Museum.^^

^^Watched fireworks from the top of a parking garage by our apartment with this cute guy. One of those moments in life that you want to bottle up and save for for the future. :)^^

^^A room in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. (Learned that there are 41.5 million tiles in the basilica! Crazy!)^^

^^The crowd at Fair St. Louis waiting for The Fray concert and fireworks. SO. Many. People. This picture doesn't even do it justice.^^

Not pictured:

a million other activities and places, fun restaurants, and the many miles we walked around the city

We sure love our family & our country!