heather's wedding!

My little sis got married. It was so fun to be there, even though it was a quick trip. Here's pics!

Studly brother. Comes out to UT in ONE WEEk for school. So excited!



Beginnings of the candy counter. Didn't get a finished shot.



Mmmmm. Chipotle. :)

Me and my Mama!

The wedding was outside in my parent's backyard. It was a perfect day :)

Hope you are all doing well!
xo

Nat

crazy week

Our past week or so has been really nuts. And it's going to get more crazy -- I'm flying out in about two hours to go to MN (what did I use to do in airports without an Iphone?). Alex will join me Friday for my sister Heather's wedding on Saturday. Krysten, my old roomate, had her sealing was this morning and it was just beautiful. Beautiful couple. This past week has been filled with a DC show (of course), meetings, Relief Society, 7 peaks, moving form our apartment we lived in for almost two years, and of course, weddings!

Here's pictures. Hope you're all well! :)

Onto the next adventure! PS: Isn't my nephew adorable? Yes, I'm baby hungry. Baby starving more like. :)

a new hope

Yes, that is a Star Wars reference. I will explain. Be patient, young Skywalker.

This month has been crazy, to say the least, with lots of ups and downs. My favorite up, however, was our Thomas Family Reunion. It was just with my immediate family -- which has grown in the past few years and added on two more sons (and we're adding a third next month!). It was beyond wonderful. I spent a week with my family. Actually I spent 9 days with my family. Please remember, I see my entire family probably about once every 6 months. Maybe a little longer than that. They are many, many miles away from me and I miss them everyday.

We went boating, fishing, and just RELAXED with each other. One day we went and checked out the local fair and got a snow cone. :) It was so fun. Memories I will never forget. :)

Since coming home, we got to see Jodie and Kira (hooray!) and spend time with them.

We love all of our nieces and nephews so much. They are all the cutest babies we have ever seen. :)

We got settled back home just in time for a sickness to hit us. This round has really hit me hard emotionally. I just feel really exhausted. I've been surprised -- usually the summer means no stomach bugs, lots of outside activities, energy, exercise, eating healthy. So far there has definately been all that, but way more lows that I expected. Anybody else not know what to do with their life after they graduate college? Or think you know but it's not working out? We should make a club. :)

Our ward has recently split, and I've had the chance to serve as Relief Society prez. It's been keeping me busy. Man, I don't know what I would do without service. I would literally go crazy. Even in the short time that I've been feeling sick, I've had three sisters offer to bring me dinner. Seriously? How blessed am I?

I think the biggest lesson I've learned so far this summer is that serving others brings us true happiness. Yes, seeing Harry Potter with my friends AND getting a bucket of popcorn (splurge of the year) made me very happy.  (We all dressed up as the Seven Horcruxes - it was as cool as it sounds. I'll make a whole post about HP - it deserves one!) Yes, going to Seven Peaks makes me smile. BUT, being with my family brings me joy. Alex's smile when he sees me when he gets home from work brings me joy. The things that don't cost a cent bring me true joy. Thinking about the gospel, and knowing that Christ has felt everything I have been feeling, brings me peace and comfort. More than I can say.

When we feel like we have no control is when our faith is really tested. It's our chance to prove that we believe in the better things; and that we know that all will work out for the best. And knowing that the future is bright, that there are so many things to look forward to, has given me a new hope. :)  And now, I think I'll watch Star Wars.

failed: awkward and awesome thursday

Well, shoot. I tried to be better at posting, and I completely forgot about the posting-every-Thursday thing. Here's my list, better late than never right, all three of you reading this?

awesome:

-We went to the new slide at 7 peaks. I could ride that thing forever.
-We had another show at Muse Music here in Provo. We did some old favorites, and kind of weird sketches that we can't really get away with on campus.
- Lunch date at Jimmy Johns - they had $1 sandwiches yesterday! Our walk to Jimmy Johns was also awesome.
-My yoga mat I got for my birthday finally came in the mail. Hooray for no more use of the sweaty and used by many mats at the gym!
-We leave ONE week from today for our vacation with my family. One whole week on a lake with my crazy siblings and parents. I'm excited.

awkward:

-I forgot about awesome and awkward thursday
-I went to CostCo and only bought a bag of mandarin oranges. I got weird stares from mothers pushing dolly's around filled to the top. There's only two of us, okay?
-I can't think of anything else awkward that happened on Thursday.

Have a great weekend! We will be camping tonight, so I should post about that next week! :)

xo
Nat

Update

Look how cute Alex is in his new blog. Alex is a missionary all the way. I love how mindful he is of the gospel all of the time. It's pretty obvious why I love him :)


Before I get started, here's a really great zucchini bread recipe I used the other day. Yum.

Zucchini Bread

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini ( I just chopped some up and put it in the blender)
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips ( if you want. By why wouldn't you want?)
• 
  
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour,  salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips.
• 
  
• Spoon into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

• 
  

Things have been getting busy around here. I'll start from recently, and make my way backwards :)


Last night was opening night for Tuesday's with Morrie. Matt from DC is in it and is FANTASTIC. I've been assigned to work as a Stage Hang/Assistant Stage Manager for the show, so I've been going to rehearsals for a while now. Opening night went well, and now I have shows for the next little while. See ya in a month, honey :(.

My dad came is for a short visit this past weekend, to help move my grandparents move back to SLC. He flew in Friday night. We saw him Saturday for lunch - the morning was filled with Alpine Days festivities. Of course, I left my camera, but Alex and Tim ran in the 5k, and then we went to the Fireman's breakfast as per tradition. I'll get pics from Jodie later. I saw Julie B. Beck and got totally star struck. (Alex's) Mom offered to introduce me, but I was too nervous! I just love her! :)


Anywho, my dad came into town to help my grandparents move back to SLC. They are back where the used to live -- in the prophet's ward right by Temple Square! Alex was such a trooper and helped lift heavy things, while I put things away. Cousin Cody was with the men, too, and it was so fun to see him. When we weren't moving boxes and hanging up artwork, we got to spend some time with Dad. He even stayed with us one night, which was so fun. :) I am so grateful for the Dad that I have. He is such an amazing man, and I love getting to see him when he visits! We also visited Trissy and Sam, two of my favorite people. It was a great weekend! I only took one picture while Dad was here. He left all too soon, catching a flight back Sunday so he could be at work on Monday. Seriously, what an amazing man!

When Dad was here, we walked around temple square, went to 

Music and the Spoken Word, and explored around 

downtown for a while. It was so fun!

Brigham Young's grave in downtown SLC.

Speaking of Trissy and Sam, here's an old video on my camera of Neve/Nora playing ring around the rosy. Too cute!

I've been gearing up for my new job! We had teacher training all last week. I will still be working as a secretary on campus, and taking a full load of classes, and doing Divine Comedy one more semester. It will be so fun, and so exhausting. :) But, I feel very blessed to be able to do everything.


 TOMORROW if meet the teacher day! I must say, I'm a little nervous! I'll let you know how it goes. I'm so excited to meet these little one that I'll be able to teach. I'll have 12 3 year olds. Keep me in your prayers! ;)


Alex starts school next week too, and he's already getting into the zone. Because I've had rehearsals/performances so often lately, he's been going to the library and reading his textbooks he'll be using this Fall. What a guy. :) He really is the best.


Two weekend ago was the DC Alumni Show. Man, was that fun! TONS of my dearest friends from my first year in DC came back, and we did a bunch of my favorites. As always, it was crazy preparing for it. Some cast members didn't get there until about 12 on Saturday, and we had two shows at 7 and 9. We totally sold out -- we had to turn people away! Whit did an amazing, amazing job of putting the whole thing together. Since it sold out, it got HOT in that auditorium. August show + 400 people per show + us dancing around in hot costumes = gross. It really was such a fun show, though. We got to spend some quality time with everyone the next day on Sunday, and that was wonderful.

Marriott School Musical. I bet it's really hard to tell who is what character. ;) 

High School Musical finale dance! :)

 I think we cracked everytime. Someday, Brian, someday...

...and then the camera died. So we didn't get any Latter-day Miserable pictures. I'll get the group picture from Jodie soon, too! :)




And of course, I've still been working at the good ol' Math Department. We're gearing up for Fall to start, so it's been really busy. I've been writing this blog post here and there for a while whenever I've had some free time at work. 


Alex is still working at the Dental Lab and still loves it. We're both excited for school to start, but sad to see the summer end. It's been such a fun, relaxed summer just enjoying each other. Highlights for me have been evening bike rides followed by popsicles. And, of course, NC. Only two more years until the next one...


Now you're updated! Hope all is well -- and good luck with the start of school, everyone!


Love you all,


Natalex