Game Day

It's in the air...

can you feel it?It's Game Day in Provo!

BYU Cougars vs. Northern Iowa Panthers
4 P.M. at LaVell Edwards Stadium

Goooooooooooooo Cougars!

Palin Fever

At first I was disappointed. I really, really, really wanted Romney in there. I believe he would be an amazing president (and vp would just be a stepping stone to that). However, as I watched McCain's introductory speech, and Palin's speech, I realized she is a phenomenal choice. To quote my friend Amanda:
"i love Sarah Palin. i mean...who couldn't love a woman who says such wonderful things about children? and is a Feminist for life? and is for protecting marriage?...but is sensitive to those who practice homosexuality and the need to protect them against discrimination? i don't know about you..but i love mccain's choice."

I completely agree. I look forward to learning more about this dynamic woman. And, while looking for a picture of her for this post, I saw that she is apparently one of the hottest women politicians. So what's not to like?

Seriously though, I'm feeling better about McCain. And I'm going to volunteer to help his campaign when we move to Denver. Kristina involved in politics? Shocking, I know.

Cute Family.
Cool woman!

Seein' stripes

I've recently fallen in love with zebra print. I think it is the coolest pattern. (I thought about changing my layout to a zebra print but this one is like my wedding colors, and it's toile, which I also adore.)
Here are some zebra print items I really love:

Dooney and Burke purse (also comes with red leather accents which I like better but they didn't have a picture of)

Zebra wall print from Ikea

Pleated skirt from Express

Haha, just kidding :D

I Spy a Birthday Boy...

Today is the birthday of my very favorite-ist person in the whole world...

Kurt. :) He's now 27! Wowzas!
We're coming up on knowing each other for 2 years now (I know, not very long) and sometimes I still can't believe how much fun we have together. The other day I was trying to figure out if we're kindred spirits or complimentary ... and I decided we're complimentary. Anyhow, rather than making another long Kurt-dedicated post that I know y'all love to read so much (haha), I'm putting up a playlist of music from bands that always make me think of him. Because one of my favorite things about him is how much he loves music... which is almost as much as I do.

Happy Birthday Kurtstan(son)! I love zhuu!

What we've been up to

So I went from 24 posts in July to 2 in August so far ... Kurt and I really haven't been up to anything particularly blog worthy. That isn't to say we haven't been busy. Kurt took the second part of the CPA yesterday so he was studying non-stop until yesterday morning. And, alas, no rest for the weary because he started studying for the third section today. But tomorrow he gets to hike Nebo and next week he's going to do Grand Teton, so I think he doesn't mind hitting the books right away.
I've been winding up my time at WestPro, tying up loose ends and hiring a new receptionist. We found an apartment in Denver, I'm applying for jobs, and we have a move-in date: September 11th. We'll be staying with the Wilcox's until Kurt's birthday (24th), when we'll head up to Kurt's mom's for a few days, then over to my grandma's for a few more. Then, we're taking an adventure trip somewhere with the Winfield's for Labor Day weekend. After that, we're heading off on our own to California (hopefully!) to see friends, redwoods, ocean-side cliffs, and Yosemite. Then we'll head back to Grandma Hatch's for 2 short days, load up the rental truck, and move to Denver!
So I will have some stuff to blog about before the end of the month: my wonderful friend/lover Alisse T is coming in town tonight and I haven't seen her in 2 and 1/2 years so I'm excited to hang out with her; Kurt's Nebo hike; Kurt's Grand Teton Hike; Kurt's birthday party I'm planning (he'll be 27! Crazy!); and I want to plan a sunrise hike for Timp with our friends; ALL by the end of the month!
And right now I'm listening to "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meatloaf. That is definitely blog worthy.

Denver and back in one day

Last week, Kurt and I found a sweet apartment in downtown Littleton. When we inquired about the property, we found out that it was everything we wanted (just about) but that we had to sign for it in person. So we decided, "Let's go!"

On Friday we drove to Denver and back home. We were awake for 20 hours and 17 of those were spent driving to, from, and around Denver. I'm glad to say that the apartment is exactly what we expected and that we signed on it! Yay! Despite the incredible longness of the day (yes longness, not length :D ) we actually had a really good time. Here are the highlights in no particular order:

-Seeing a semi hit and knock over a traffic cone on the highway;
-Seeing a stunt plane perform tricks in Rifle, CO, on the way there. It was pretty cool!;
-On the way back, in Rifle, we saw stunt plane school. Not as exciting, but still makes the highlights list;
-The guy we saw in downtown Littleton (called LiDo by some): wearing a neck brace, smoking a cigarette, standing outside of the shady Shootin' Shop South. Niiiiice;
-Walking around downtown Littleton while eating McDonald's ice cream cones. It's a pretty cute area;
-The adorable maltese-terrier mix in the art shop in LiDo that we stepped into;
-Lots of cute, homey, artsy, antique-y shops in LiDo;
-Holding our breath for every tunnel we drove through. There's this one tunnel, the Eisenhower tunnel, that's about 2 miles long. Neither of us could hold it the entire way, but I held it twice, while it took Kurt 3 times;
-Kurt's biggest highlight was probably seeing signs for the many 14,000 foot mountains in CO;
-Writing silly love notes to each other to pass the time;
-Eating lots of sour patch kids. It occurred to me that they're kind of a morbid snack. I mean, children?? My goodness;
-My job applying experience at Hoflin Publishing. My initial thoughts on entering the building: "Well, I expected these people to be weird (the company publishes dog books and magazines only), but this is worse. It smells like a weird combination of rubbing alcohol and permanent markers. I thought only Dwight painted his walls black. There's like five light bulbs and windows in this place, combined. Why did I bother bringing in a resume if I have to fill out an application? Did that lady not get the memo that floral pants a) are no longer in style and b) should at least reach the tops of your feet?";
-The three AMAZING lightning storms we skirted. We honestly watched hours' worth of photography-worthy lightning strikes and yet were never in the storms;
-While watching the first lightning storm, as we drove through a canyon, we saw a literal waterfall of mud (a mudfall?) cascading down the wall of the canyon. It was sweet.

Random Thoughts About My Day

-I've finally gotten less annoyed by many of the people at work, just in time for it to be over.

-Speaking of, after today I have 18 days left of work. Yes.

-Kurt and I found an apartment today in Littleton! It's across from the Light Rail station and it's almost 700 sq. feet and it's only $545 a month. The only pit fall: it doesn't allow pets. Sigh. I'm now even further from my doggy companion. The other pit fall: we have to sign for it in person. In Colorado. Soon. So we're driving down on Friday morning, signing for the apartment at 3 pm, and then probably heading back right away (but maybe staying for the night). It's crazy, but also really exciting.

-I'm pretty sure I have my short-term career plan mapped out. I'm going to get my Masters in Creative Writing, however I need time to bulk up my portfolio and just fine-tune my talent since I've basically ignored it the past 5 years (sad, huh). So, in the meantime, before I'm a mom, I'm going to work as a receptionist or something similar and preferably at a publishing house or magazine or something like that. I would still like to be an editor. Also, my mom and I are going to write kids' books and I still want to write young adult literature. I feel good about this plan.

-Kurt and I went swimming with our friends the Winfield's yesterday for the first time this summer. It felt so good to be in a pool again.

-I'm sleepy and have a lot to do before we leave on Thursday night, like moving stuff around for Allison to get back on Saturday (we're subletting from the Wilcox's).

-I have to teach Relief Society on Sunday. It could be good ... it'll definitely be a learning experience.

-I really want a Coke. But no, I will be good.

-I have recently fallen in love with apricot/cream colored standard poodles. I want one. I'd also like a ragdoll cat.

-I'm torn between adopting a dog and buying one from a breeder and getting the breed I want. Tough decision. (Fortunately and unfortunately I now have a year to make it ... )

-I've laughed harder the past week of work than the whole 10 months I've worked here. Unfortunately, it's all been at my boss's expense. Fortunately, though, he hasn't known about and he hasn't been here.

-I think my resume looks pretty good now. I've been working on it.

-I probably haven't worked hard enough today.