New and True

 Friday night my best friend Haley came up from Provo to visit. Its been months since I'd seen her so it was a real treat. I was able to sleep over at our friend Allison's and spend even more time with her, then all day Saturday the 3 of us hung out, watching movies, driving through the nature park, and playing Nerts (my favorite card game).

Hot chocolate before seeing "Snow White and the Huntsman."

Me in the theater before it started, so dark.

Haley didn't want to be photography so she stuck her PJs on her head.

Haley left Sunday afternoon, and I was back in my apartment. With nothing much to do, I decided to go back to the Nature Park and practicing drawing ducks and get some "nature" reference.  It was only 1.6 miles, but the sun was out and there was very little shade most of the walk

Seagulls of Rexburg at Porter Park.

 Nature Park is ultimately just a very large and complicated duck pond with short, paved paths running all around, over and through it. Trees and brush cover everything, and the animals are birds and bugs, but I think it is so beautiful!. You can even camp in the back with a tent, which I would really like to do some time, maybe next summer.

Around the time I reached the end of my trail, they were some young families feeding ducks, so I stopped, dropped, and sketched. This red pen is my favorite and would really love some more. It was so much fun, I can't wait till the next time I can get over and find more things to sketch and photograph.

The First of Many Birthdays to Come

Happy 1st Birthday Jenna!!!

Only just one year old and already so photogenic I had a hard time deciding which picture to use. I have many of this adorable baby girl.  I'm so excited to see this little child grow up. I can just see her smiling and running around, always happy because she's being raised in an incredible family. 

I love you baby girl!

Friday, Tuesday, Wednesday = Best Friend Days

I've had the coolest opportunity to spend tons of time with my best friends this last week, and here are some of our adventures:

FRIDAY!!

 Girls Night at my friend Shelley's. We made dinner, played one of my favorite card games Nerts, and watched a movie that was promptly halted half-way through after discovering it was rated R and finished with more Nerts and cookies! Thing about the movie was that I've seen it several times on TV and didn't find anything bad so I didn't even consider it when we decided to watch it.

Shelley and Christine Teamed up for Nerts.

Celisse and Allison also teamed up for Nerts.

Before we realized the movie's rating. Allison is a teaser.

 Sorry no pictures of me for this night. I had just taken a 2 hour walk to Subway and then hill to my friend Shelleys. Averaged at 2.5 miles, with about a 3/4 of a mile of that up hill. Yeah I was a bit dehydrated after that, but I was proud of myself for making it!

TUESDAY!!!

I have some amazing friends that are always there for me when I need to scream and tonight was no exception. Earlier Allison dropped off cheesy mashed potatoes and adorable owl stickers for me. My friend Lara (pronounced "Lair-A") talked to me on the phone for nearly half and hour. Then later, Allison, Shelley, and I met at the temple and walked through some gorgeous neighborhoods before heading back to their place. Then we stopped by Broulim's (local grocery store), which was packed, before they dropped me off. They indulged me and my camera with all my stops to take pictures.

 

WEDNESDAY!!!

Happy Forth of July! And a day at the Lake! I kept saying beach all day though because the lake is lined with sand and felt more like a small beach than a lake, but then I'm still getting used to living in the country and not the suburbs.

I brought watermelon, we had Wendy's for lunch and spent time swimming out to the white buoys, riding down the slide, sun tanning, and playing water frisbee. It was actually really nice too be swimming and only had to put my head under the water twice when I jumped off the slide doc you see in the middle of the lake there.

Unfortunately, I put on sunscreen twice throughout the day and still ended up burned. No tanning was accomplished, just burning.

ow!

Biscuits and Gravy

I've always wanted to make biscuits and gravy. When Mom wrote me that she made some for Dad for their anniversary, I really wanted to make some. And finally when I found the can of biscuits I had been saving had popped, I thought it time. But if you've learned anything about me, I love stuff. This delicious gravy is threaded with more onions, mushrooms, and sausage than gravy. Again I got to make a roux, and again this is one of my best creations.