{ havasupai - part 1 }

much to the dismay of some friends and family, i am not going to "have a soup fight" this weekend.

rather, i am making the trek here:

to Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon.

sweet, right? yes.

it's now 12:55am as i'm writing this, and i've spent the past 2.5 hours

Stuffing all of this:

Into this:

So that I always look and feel this good on the trail:

Totally ready to go. :)

We'll hit the trailhead about 7:00a.m. on Thursday morning, after getting to my parents' in Henderson, NV, tomorrow evening about midnight... then an 8 mile hike down to the Havasu Tribe Village to check in, then another quick 2-miler to our campground.

There will be lots of the following:
- Jumping off of waterfalls
- Sleeping on the ground
- Hiking
- More waterfalls
- Playing Nate's crazy camping games
- Eating freeze dried dinners
- Bug spray
- Sunscreen
- Water drinking
- And using the "facilities" of the wild.... oh joy. my favorite part.
- Did I mention the waterfalls?

See you Monday!!! :)

{ birthdays & new jobs & such }

wow... life update: here we go!

birthday: the night of the geminis!
my three roommates and i had a combined birthday party last week since all of our birthdays fall within eight days of each other. mine was on the 13th, tara's on the 18th and chelsey's on the 21st. it was fun having a hodge podge of friends here to celebrate and eat yummy food with us.

devin, brandon, me!!, ash, nate

the geminis!!

this was the first round layer cake i had ever made.

turned out pretty good, right?

my very own birthday cake!!

this is my dear sarah. she likes to take care of me,
and bake me yummy treats, including mini-me birthday spice cakes. mmm...

birthday weekend at home

the past two years i've spent part or all of my birthday at home in henderson with the fam.
i've really liked this a lot. last year daniel came home from his mission on my birthday, and this year the sisters and mom and the grand-parentals went to see the broadway of Dinsey's The Lion King at Mandalay Bay... IT. WAS. AMAZING. I knew that the costumes were going to be incredible, but it was definitely breathtaking. Thanks, Ma!!

as always... all pictures online here Birthday pics start on page 3.

new job!
I'll try to make this brief: I started a new job last Wednesday at Infuse Media in Lehi, Utah. Yes, I work in Utah County, but I can still see Salt Lake County from the office, so I'm ok. :)

So, here you go, flashback:
.01 Email of networking assistance goes out to most everyone I know (sorry if you didn't receive it. Don't take it personally).

02. @ Ward Moab Trip: chat with my friend Nate about my job search, and he briefly mentions his office (Infuse) is hiring. He says he'll send my resume to his manager(s).

.03 The next week, I interviewed with and was offered a job with Stevens Hengar as their Online Curriculum coordinator.

04. I read an email from Nate's VP that he sent during my Stevens Henagar interview requesting an interview the next day (the day I was headed home for The Lion King and Jenette's HS graduation).

05. I call and ask if we can meet that afternoon since I'm going home the next day (and because I had a paper due that day that I hadn't been able to finish).

06. Met that afternoon, it went AWESOME. Of course they loved me, took me around and introduced me to all their developers and sales guys in the office.

07. They emailed that weekend, requesting a second interview on Monday after I returned from Nevada, and was introduced to the rest of the owners and production/developer staff. I told them I had to make a decision with Stevens Henager by the next day.

08. They called and offered me the job the next day while I was taking a friend to the airport. They like me so much that the original position they were interviewing for, Office Manager/Assistant, they were going to expand and have me start organizing all of their growing office and organization needs, and include it with a bunch of other stuff since I am their "shiny new toy." :) So, I'm not exactly sure what this position will entail in the long run, but we get to make it what we want. We're envisioning project and product management, creative development, copy editing/writing, etc. All things I love.

09. I started last Wednesday, so tomorrow makes an entire week of being fully employed. I can't tell you how much I enjoy having a slightly regular schedule for my life. Even though I'm busier than I was before, I work better with a schedule know where my time is going, especially when I don't have to be in survival mode to try and just survive.

10. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I can do hard things. Especially when the Lord and all of you are on my side. It works wonders. :)

11. I really like being one of two girls in an office of 15. I'm pretty sure the guys don't know what to do with this pink loving girly girl around. :) They'll learn so enough.

Ok, until next time: Good night! It's homework time again. :)

{ lil' bro's wedding }

Here are just a few pics from Daniel & Tricia's wedding last week... The newly weds have been married a week by now. It sure doesn't feel like that was only a week ago a lot has happened since then, which I will tell you about later. :)

the whole fam!!



AND... my most favorite high school teacher, Mr. John Gilmour. I had him all 4 years, German for 2 years, English for 1 and yearbook for 3. He seriously was the best and still knows all six of us 10 years later.



You can see all of the pics I took at the wedding here (beginning on Page 5)

{ new photo shoot }

Sarah is one of my dear friends I grew up with in Henderson, NV. Next week she and her husband Danny celebrate their one year anniversary and she wanted to surprise him with the some cute pics of her. So, we did the girl afternoon on the town while he was away on business, and went to our favorite Las Vegas spots: the mall and the Bellagio. :)

Enjoy!!

See more photos here

{ new photo shoot }

Stuart & Esther Family and their Happy Crew
Stuart, Whitney and their brew were sealed together as an eternal family in the Salt Lake LDS Temple a few weeks ago and asked me to be a part of their big day. It was so fun spending a few hours with them and getting to know all their great children!

Enjoy:



See more photos at Ashley Stolworthy Photography & Design

{happies: catch-up time}

sometimes life is hard. and sometimes we need to take a break from it to appreciate it more and enjoy the small things. i needed this the past few weeks... my apologies for those of you being anxiously concerned for me. it has not gone unnoticed, and i'm doing much better. at least, i had a greatly needed break from things and am at least practicing little doses of faith on a continually basis that get me through each day.

because, if you will recall from last month: i can do hard things. (thanks, denice.)

ok, on to this week's/month's happies:

the beauty of this earth which god organized
last weekend i had the opportunity to go to Moab with my Young Single Adult ward. 20 coolers, $1,500 worth of food, and a 4-hour drive later. being in a beautiful outdoor auditorium of God's love for me = priceless. "for everything else, there's chocolate." (that was my motto for the crazy organizing of everything...) :)

anyhoo, enjoy a few great pics from the weekend

Mom, you can see all of this pics online here

this is on the way to Corona Arch... the arch was cool (see below), but I LOVED this part the most.

see... Corona Arch is amazing, and so are these girls: stacy, katie, me! and shannon. thanks michelle, for snapping this.

some of the Activities Crew: seriously. this was a huge undertaking and everyone worked so hard!

my lizard friend!! i didn't realize how much i miss seeing lizards everywhere from growing up in southern nevada... they were seriously awesome, and FAST lil' buggers.

everyone. all 150 of us. i'm on the left, in the back with shades and a green hat on, behind the cool bald dude.

friends' weddings

nicole & pat got married two weekends ago, and it was fun to hang with the ladies for a morning... basking in the sun and the warmth of the newlyweds' love. congrats, you two!! sure do love you.

wal-mart
i know, considering the awful past experiences i've had with wal-mart the past 2 months, you'd think i'd steer clear of 'em. however, i found a good one that i ventured into it for a good lil' while when i needed to get my camping gear for last weekend. the bug spray, sunscreen (which saved my life in moab) and a swimsuit top were more than i had hoped for.

just so you all know, Danskin has a line of fitness clothes at wal-mart... this is soo great. a few months ago i found a great hooded jacket for $10, and this time, i found some great work-out tanks that have since doubled as my swimsuit tops.

for all you similarly curvettes like me, it's DIFFICULT to find a great swimming suit, one that is looooong enough and supports the girls. enough said. go. to. wal-mart.


i could probably go on and on here about all the great people in my life {the roommates, the fam, new friends, oldy friends} however, you know who you are. i love you. thanks very much for your positive presence and love in my life.

until next time...

ciao, bella.

{photo shoot: bridal shower}

Check out Becky's bridal shower pics & enjoy!