Grateful to be together again.

As amazing as the summer was, I really missed all of my besties. Ashley (left) was back home in Canada, Courtney (right) stayed in Salt Lake, and I of course was in Texas. We were separated by a very large expanse of land. It is way nice to be back together again.
Yesterday morning I went to the Salt Lake farmers market with Courtney. When I decided to move to Texas for the summer I was really sad that I would be missing the farmers market. I am so glad I was able to go at least once. I even got some homemade rose perfume! It has always been my dream to smell like roses, but I could never find the perfect scent. The best part is that the seller only had a tester of rose perfume, so she sold me that one for half the price!

After the farmers market we met up with Ashley, Ben (Courtney's husband), Tabby (my new roommate), Phillip, and Robert (the brothers that drove to Utah with me). We had a picnic at Liberty park in Salt Lake. It has to be one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. The place was busy with parties, music, carnivals, games, sports, dogs, canoes, and food. It was the perfect day. After eating some good food we did a little ice blocking. If your not familiar with ice blocking: You sit on a large block of ice and slide down a steep hill. Its the perfect sport for a hot summer day. Observe: 

As much as I miss Texas, I know that I am where I need to be. I am grateful for the friends that make Utah my temporary home and their love and support. My friends are definitely the best thing about Utah.

Carli

Texas Love: Bonfires

 One thing I love about Texas, or should I say Corpus Christi, is the close proximity to the beach. I love having the opportunity to drive on over to the beach after work or going early in the morning and seeing the sunrise, which I have yet to do this summer and I need to.

 My favorite beach activity has to be bonfires. I love sitting around a fire with friends under the stars. We have been having quite a few bonfires lately and I don't mind at all. I love passing around the guitar and jamming with friends. I had no idea how many talented friends I had until we all sat down and sang together. 

 I know that it is possible to do a bonfire just about anywhere, but I firmly believe that the beach is the best place. There is nothing like the sand between your toes, the salty breeze in your hair, the sound of crashing waves, along with the cackling of the fire. It's amazing. 

After this bonfire we went for a drive in the dunes. Me being the pansy I am freaked out. A lot. I was almost hyperventilating. There is just something about cars doing things they shouldn't that scares me... but it was really fun once you get passed the fact your sitting in a metal death cab that is sliding down cliffs of sand while spinning rapidly.

Carli

Today I am grateful for this group of people.

Over the weekend we had a bonfire which I will talk about in a later post. All of these people (plus some who were absent) are pretty much the best. I am so glad that I came home for the summer and got to know these people. One of my goals this summer was to make long lasting friendships and I think that I have accomplished that.  I am really sad to leave them in a month. Thanks to good ole social networking, Skype, and cellular usage It won't seem like I am too far away.

Carli

Record Tuesday: Whispertown 2000

Restless by Whispertown 2000

This song is one of my all time favorite songs. Not just because it's way good. But it's sentimental. Basically this song reminds me of the good ole days when my besties Kait, Andy, Courtney, and I were all here in Texas dreaming, picnicking, beaching, dancing, eating, talking, sleeping, crafting, adventuring... together. This is one of our songs. Yesterday I talked with Kaity and tomorrow I am hanging out with Andy (who's in town!) I can't wait for us to all be together again. Isn't it funny how you crave the future and getting away from home and doing something then when you finally get there all you want is to be back where you were before with those people who mean the world to you. 

Also. I had this dream of becoming a musician. I have since given up on that dream, partly because I have new dreams now. Well I haven't exactly given up on it... you know what I mean... It's not an active dream anymore. It's more like a hobby. I started recording music on my little macbook three years ago for fun. My recordings weren't that good because I didn't have a mic, so I just used the internal microphone on my laptop. Basically my recordings are the epitome of crappy,  but I still love them. So a couple years ago Courtney and I decided to do a recording of this song for Kaitlyn's birthday. You can have a listen if you'd like. 

Restless for Kaitlyn by Courtney & Carli

I am thinking about sharing some more of my recordings just for fun. I have been listening to them over and over today. Mostly picking them apart with criticism, but also cherishing the memories. 

Carli

Magical.

I have been dying to go see the temple lights for weeks. It seems like every time I plan to go something else comes up… 

Phil & Ben were in town this weekend and I made them go with me. It wasn’t really a forceful make because they actually wanted to go… We drove down town and parked a couple blocks away and rode trax. It was so very cold. As we were standing out in the cold and being crammed into the trax (much like train stations in India and Japan… due to the amount of people going to the temple) I wondered if this would be worth it. It was…

It was magical. The lights were like floating embers from a fire. 

No I don’t have weird hair. It’s a hat.

I do apologize for my lack of photography skills. Night photography is so hard!

Even though there were like a million and one people there and it was dang cold I such an amazing time. I seriously felt like I had taken a step out of reality. 

I just had to have a picture with Santa and his Elf. Please ignore the fact that this picture is blurry. Also ignore the fact that my face is as red as my jacket. No I am not embarrassed… it was just so cold that my face was burning. I was afraid that I might not have a face by the end of the night. 

Happy almost Christmas.

Carli

At Last.

So in my last post I described my terrible day. That was Thursday. I am now happy to inform you that after 4 attempts, 10 different people, and a large rubber mallet we were able to get the tire off the car! 

The good news doesn’t stop there! I went to get a new tire and they said that I don’t need one! So the fix was completely FREE! YES! 

There is a little bit more good news!

I took Courtney and Ben to the Blue Plate Diner in SLC (I talked about this place in THIS post) as a thanks for being such great friends and driving me around and attempting to fix my tire. Thanks guys! The food was delicious & the diner it self is so cool… If you live in the SLC area you must go. 2100s 2100w. Easy directions right??! 

Anyways… 

I just want to thank everyone who came to my rescue this weekend. I would have had no idea what in the world to do with out you. Especially being so far from home. 

Carli

Thanksgiving.

My first Thanksgiving away from home. I don’t like not being with my family for the one day a year that my dad will eat bird, the one day a year that my mom makes pumpkin pie, and the one week a year that I get to eat multitudes of left over turkey. Here are just a few of the many things I am grateful for.

1. I am grateful that I didn’t have to spend Thanksgiving alone. Thanks Ashley and your wonderful family for sharing your delicious food with me!

2. I am grateful for my family and friends and the love and support they give me.

3. I am grateful for my talents.

4. I am grateful for my trials and flaws.

5. I am grateful that my hardest trials are small in comparison to others.

6. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to make and follow my dreams.

7. I am grateful for the beauty of the earth, and the way the night sky takes my breath away.

8. I am grateful for my abilities.

9. I am grateful for my past and future.

10. I am grateful for this body that allows me to accomplish all the many things that I set out to do.

Happy Thanksgiving. 

Carli

Today I Flew.

My last blog post I talked about how I would choose flying as my super human power. Today I experienced flying & I definitely have not changed my mind. 

I have always had this fear of falling. I am not afraid of heights (hot air balloon rides have cured me of that), but falling really scares me. So this year when Courtney, Ben, & I bought season passes to Lagoon; Courtney made me promise that I would go on the Sky Coaster with her. The Sky Coaster is one of those rides that you have to pay extra to go on. Basically they harness you in and pull you up to the top of this 150 foot tower and you pull a cord and you just drop and then swing. I did NOT want to go on this ride, but somehow Courtney tricked me into promising her that I would. So today we were at Sizzler’s eating dinner and Ben mentioned that tonight was the last night of the Lagoon season. I was sad because I hadn’t been since the middle of the summer. So we decided to go!

We get there and I am seriously feeling like I am about to vomit due to a combination of dry mouth, anticipation of going on the Sky Coaster, and anxiety from the meanest prank Courtney & Ben have ever played one me. Jerks! We buy our tickets and wait in line for two hours. Finally they get us strapped into our suits and we are standing on the platform and I turn to Courtney and say “What the heck are we doing??!?!?!?” by that time she was thinking the same thing. The people that went before us were being taken down and were talking about how completely awesome the ride was. I did not believe them. They hook us up and drop the platform and we fall forward and Courtney seriously begins to cry. Ben is just hanging there all quiet, and I am yelling stuff like “Oh man this hurts! Why are we doing this?! I am freaking out! COURTNEY ARE YOU SERIOUSLY CRYING??!?!?!” They start to pull us up slowly and I watch the ground get farther and farther away. My eyes got wide with fear, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it throughout my body, and I was yelling at Ben not to pull the cord. He did. 

What happened next was the most magical thing that has ever happened to me. I flew. I threw my arms out and yelled “This is the best ride of my life!!!” and “I am flying!!” and “This is so fun!” It was dark out so we could see all the lights in the valley. I wished that I could release myself from the harness and fly on my own like a bird in the night sky. I wondered what the worker would think when my harness came back empty. I thought about how I should probably fly down to the workers and tell them I am alright and that thanks to them I discovered that I could fly. I probably would have flown back to Texas just to tell my parents the news. Then skimmed across the ocean because I haven’t felt the salty water in far too long. Then I would have slept in the clouds. 

I was sad to get off the ride. I wanted to fly forever. We then left Lagoon. It was almost 10 and the park was closing. I don’t care that we only got to go on one ride. It was so worth it. 

Carli

Lovely Saturday

Last night I had strange dreams. They were scary. Someone in a canoe was fatally shooting people. I was climbing down a tangle of metal pipe while dodging bullets. So when I woke up close to 10 I was ready to get up. In my dream it was my job to capture the killer and i’ll have you know that it is very difficult to find a man in a canoe with a gun that shoots in every direction. 

Another strange thing happened this morning. I baked stuff. I am not at all a cook, and this morning I got up and made a pumpkin pie. I know… I am baffled. I then made pumpkin pudding with the left over pie filling. It’s yummy. You may ask why I did this… That will become apparent in my next blog post. 

Can I just say that today was glorious!? Ashley and I did so many amazing things!

1. We went to General Conference. We were so lucky to get some tickets last week. There was so many people there. This time I made sure not to miss the entrance of the Prophet. It was better then I expected. Everyone was silent. The spirit was so strong.

2. After conference Ashley and I were starving so we headed to the Blue Plate Diner. Ashley’s friend had told us about it being on the “Diners and Drive Ins” show on the food channel and we have been wanting to go since. It was such an awesome atmosphere, the food was delicious, and the only thing I didn’t like was this pesky little fly. I definitely recommend the place. The diner is located at 2100S 2100E. You must go.

3. We had passed by our most favorite place to get fro-yo while driving to Blue Plate so we decided to stop back by there and get some Red Mango! I had the pumpkin spice with fresh strawberry and chocolate chips. You wouldn’t think that strawberry and pumpkin spice would taste so well together… but it was divine!!! 

This day was so lovely and it isn’t even over yet! We are thinking of a little grocery shopping, a movie, or maybe just enjoy being at home…

The Wedding.

My weekend was insane. And when I say insane, I mean histerically insane. My weekend was so huge that I will have to break it up into several blog posts just to explain it all.

Courtney’s wedding was Saturday. Can you belive she is married?! I cannot. I feel like it is a dream. All the time leading up to that one moment was something I will never forget, but never want to have to go through again. Can I just say this? Why do weddings bring out the worst in everybody? This includes me. Thanks to my buddy Kaitlyn I thankfully made it through to the end. Thanks my friend. I was so not prepaired for what I had to deal with. I almost gave up several times. I was so stressed that my body went crazy. But I am glad I pulled through because it turned out amazing. Courtney looked stunning in her vintage inspired tea length. Ben looked smashing aswell. I’ll have to admit, after all the bridesmaid dress drama, we looked pretty hott. Saturday morning was a blur, all the running around, speeding to the temple, and picture taking. Here are a few select pictures from the temple.

After the temple we had some lunch and then headed back to the place of the reception to finish the last minute details. I have got to say, I did not think that the decorations would come together, but they did. The reception was so Courtney. A complete reflection of her wonderful self. Here are some pictures of how wonderful the place looked.

I am so glad that we were able to incorporate the photobooth. It was a hit.

Do you see that kid looking through the mouth hole of the beard? Histerical.

Suffice to say. I had the time of my life…

I am so glad that it is all over… I am excited for my life to get back to normal and be less stressful. I don’t really know what to do with myself now. I am sure I’ll figure something out.

Carli.

Mocktails.

I cannot belive that my little baby Courtney got married on Saturday! It’s quite insane! Amongst all the stress of getting everything done before the wedding, all of us bridesmaids joined forces and planned a night of embarrasment for our beloved Courtney. Bachlorette party… We went to a little place in Provo called Spark. We drank mocktails, ate grub food, laughed, shared stories, and best of all made Courtney blush. She was so red… 

The night was awesomely fun. Never will I regret my kiwi margarita… Mormon girls have the best fun. 

Carli

Giant Sunflowers & Technicolor Lips.

Is that not the largest sunflower you have ever seen? If it isn’t then please let me know because as far as i’m concerned, this is a Genius world record sunflower. Apparently it was planted that from a seed. All summer it has been growing and I have been wondering what it could be. By the size of it, it could very well have become a bean stock worthy of a climb. On Friday I walked out side and as I was coming back in I saw the flower and flipped. I seriously yelled “Holy Moly!!!!” 

Also, Isn’t that a cute dress?  It was thrifted.  Shoes: Target. Belt: Thrifted.

In other news…

Courtney and I have been finalizing the wedding decor. Courtney wanted to get a photo booth but it was too expensive, so we have improvised! My daddy is flying up for the wedding to be the official photographer! I am so excited for his arrival. So we are going to set up a make shift photo booth and my dad is going to take the pictures. We are in the process of making photo booth props. So cool right!? Here is a little preview of what we have made!

I am currently working on a stop motion video called “Carli & the Technicolor Lips”. I will share that very soon.

Carli