Ocean Isle Fever

I think when I grow up I am going to be a professional beach bum. I came to this conclusion two years ago whilst vacationing at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina with my Dad's family. Every summer, my Grandpa Bob rents a huge beach house for our whole family to enjoy. It is a huge sacrifice to be his granddaughter, let me just tell you. Our house sits smack dab in between the waterway and the ocean. We literally walk out the front door and have a dock overlooking the waterway for fishing and crabbing and out the back door to the pool and the dock that leads to our ocean of a backyard. Our biggest decision for the day is whether to go to the pool or the ocean first. Such the predicament right? I wasn't able to go last year but will not miss out on this week of pure ocean pleasure again! I am counting down the days until my feet are sinking in that warm North Carolina sand. The next three months can't go fast enough!





I don't think it gets any more gorgeous than this!



Nothing like a day of boogie boarding with my crazy brother!




This is how freckly I got. Notice the white horseshoe shape on my nose--apparently I have no pigment there. Weird.

He is a roar!

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This is a video from my Utah trip. Braxton is so funny...he was cracking us up all night. It amazes me that he remembers me from visit to visit considering I moved back to Missouri when he was 6 months old. When he first saw me, he gave me a hug and said, "Thanks for my blanket Aunt Jan." He is such a doll and SO smart for just turning 3. He kept trying to get our attention by saying, "Hey guys!" I love this kid.

The Day O Love

I have come to realize how much I LOVE being cheesy. This was my first Valentine's Day with Dallin so I wanted to go over the top with the cheese factor. Dallin always asks me why I love him and I usually give him a couple of reasons at a time. I decided to make a list of all of those reasons. I then put each one in a balloon so he would have to pop them to find out. He came over to my apartment with my favorite meal of all time...ahem...Monterey Chicken Burrito and Espinaca from the one and only Jose Pepper's. When I opened the door, his reaction to all the balloons was just what I expected. "Whoa!" We savored our Monterey Chicken goodness and then I handed Dallin a knife to pop the balloons. He had little comments for each reason and had a giddy smile on his face the entire time. It was definitely worth all the preparation and wrestling of balloons just to see his face. All in all, it was a very memorable first Valentine's with a funny boy.

Back to Reality

I decided I am really not a huge fan of coming back from vacation. It is too shocking for my liking. I couldn't have asked for a better trip with a better fella! I am pretty sure that Dallin was overwhelmed with all of the people that he met--especially since they are so important to me--but he did great! Everyone absolutely loved him and gave their approval. I was so glad that I got to pretty much see everyone that I wanted to and Dallin even got to go skiing with his boys. Saturday night, Dallin and I went downtown and ate at California Pizza Kitchen at the Gateway and then to Temple Square. He had never been there before so he was kind of excited. Not to mention it was great for it just to be the two of us for a minute. Here is a picture montage for your viewing pleasure!

My birthday celebration with the Utah family.

I am getting O-L-D!

Couldn't pass up a photo op at the Mayan!

I love my best friend.

Dallin is ok too I guess...

Psssst...I have a secret!

I have a confession to make. I have a new fella in my life. Call me superstitious but I was afraid I would jinx myself if I broadcast it to the blogging world. Here is the rundown on Dallin...that's his name...Dallin. We actually met officially in May of last year through a mutual friend who will remain nameless...ahem...Julie Fullmer. She has been planting the idea in both of our heads since then but nothing ever came of it until she arranged for us both to be at her house in October. We hit it off right away and have spent as much time as possible together ever since. (I know, kind of sickening right?) He is quite possibly the most considerate person I have ever met which I absolutely love about him. Probably the best example of this took place a few weeks ago. He randomly (very randomly) asked me how many vacation days I had available from work. He was very secretive about why he was wondering. He called me later that night (I was already sleeping) and told me that he was sending me to Utah for my birthday. I started to argue and say it was too much but then he said he was coming with me! If I hadn't been deep in sleep five minutes prior to this, I might have cried. We will be leaving KC for SLC on my birthday and will be there for a few days. I told him that he has no idea what he is getting himself into...my Utah friends and family are kind of a big deal to me...but he is excited nonetheless. He might change his mind after this trip...who knows! Here is a picture of us from New Years. Moral of the story: I am a happy girl.

You Get What You Give...

Pardon my rant for just a moment...just humor me ok? There is a person in my life (who shall remain nameless) that has been known to treat me...what's the right word?...like a crap bag. I do not understand for the life of me how this person can treat me, or anyone for that matter, like they are nothing. And me, being the person that I am, always forgive the aforementioned individual and remember that there is a good person deep down....somewhere. In the past couple of weeks, I have realized that it is not fair for me to keep putting myself through such a roller coaster. This person will never change and will never learn from these mistakes even after they have been caught in their lies. Karma is a beautiful thing my friends.

Itchy and Scratchy!

Throughout my life I have periodically gotten hives creeping up my neck and face, but normally only when I am upset or nervous about something. In the past month or so, I have gotten them on a very regular basis and sometimes for no reason at all! It is almost embarrassing when I unknowingly start scratching my neck only to have a co-worker tell me how red my neck is. This only embarrasses me more which makes my face grow a deeper shade of crimson. I am not sure what is the cause of this culprit, but until then...don't be surprised if you see red blotches all over me.