Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker

My friend Emi and I had been talking about going to this concert for months and finally decided the week before to buy tickets. I love Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley and couldn't believe they were coming together. I met some guy in a Best Buy parking lot downtown to get the tickets the night before, but it was well worth the sketchy meet-up (I didn't go alone).

The concert was amazing. They were both such great performers live. Darius Rucker came out in jeans, a t-shirt, and a nike baseball cap, I loved it. Brad Paisley was hilarious as usual. I have to say it was one of the best concerts I have been to. We had a blast on our girls night out!

Lindsey comes to visit...

My best friend Lindsey came to visit me a few weekends ago and it was a blast. We have been friends since were were 5...(yes I am aware my zipper is down...)I was having a bad day a month ago and she called me and said "I'm going to visit you, I just booked my ticket" It was such a nice surprise. She works a ton so she flew in late Friday night and out late Sunday night. We decided to go to a farmers market Saturday morning followed by a drive up to Estes Park to hike Bierstadt Lake, dinner in Boulder, then a late night movie to see The Social Network. Sunday we relaxed all day, watched Conference, baked peanut butter cups, and had dinner before we sent her home. It was short and sweet but I wish we had longer. I just adore her and had so much fun.





On a side note...Colorado is so beautiful. I fall more in love with it every time I go to the mountains. The views on the hike were breathtaking and I think Lindsey was quite impressed with the Rockies!

One Crazy Weekend.

One of my dearest friends was getting married on October 9th. I have known her since the day I was born. Our moms have been friends forever so we have grown up always seeing each other. I think the world of her. I was so excited to go out to her wedding in SLC. Her wedding was gorgeous and she was a stunning bride. I am so grateful I was able to be there to see them sealed.

My plans quickly changed when my sweet great grandmother passed away at 92 years old. My grandfather passed away in June and she was longing to be with him again. She didn't want to live if it wasn't with him. She was in a lot of pain and it was a blessing that she is now reunited with him. So instead of flying out we drove through the night on Wednesday with my brother, sister in law, mom, and 10 month old niece (who was a trooper). We spent 2 days in Logan with my family and I loved every minute of it. I got to see my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my cousins twins who I could never get enough of. We had a sleepover and watched Princess and the Frog.

My dad and cousin were running the Chicago marathon on Sunday and my mom thought someone needed to fly out to run it with him. My brother suggested one of us should go and after much debate I am the one that ended up getting to go with my mom. So, we flew out late Saturday night and surprised my dad and cousin. they were so excited! We went right to bed, helped them get ready for the marathon, then ran around trying to find them. We saw them both at mile 13 and they looked great. Then at mile 19 I found my dad and ran the rest of the marathon with him. I ran him to the finish line until they kicked me out and then ran back to find my cousin and run with him. The marathon was great and they both did an awesome job. It was over 80 degrees and 12,000 of the 48,000 runners didnt finish. It was scary how many people were on the side of the road. It was such a blast to run it with them and get to be there with them. We had a great time in Chicago, even if it was for 24 hours. My mom and I did a quick tour of the city and then we had real Chicago deep dish- pizza will never be the same after that. Dad and Tanner could barely walk and sat with ice on their legs for 4 hours but they are both glad they did it- what an accomplishment. I am hoping my knees can hold up so I can run the next one with them.

It was a whirl wind of a weekend, but it was a great one.

DIWJ

I have blogged before about how I wish I was more DIY savvy. I am clueless in this department. I am much better at finding sales then I am at being crafty. So, this all started with Trevor and I not having enough space in our dresser (which is because we bought a cheap IKEA dresser and some of the drawers don't shut because they sent us faulty parts) so we work with what we have. I had been meaning to buy on old dresser at a garage sale or something and refinish it. I was at my moms house one night and asked her what she was doing with my 10 year old dresser that was laying around and she was thrilled I wanted to get it out of her house. So I sanded it (turns out its not even wood but just cork inside) and was ready to paint. This is where my clueless-ness became a problem. So instead of DIY, I DIWJ (Do It With Julie). Julie is my great friend whose entire house has been refinished and painted and it looks like its strait out of a pottery barn catalog. she has a paint gun and was so generous to help me paint it. It turned out fabulous and I love it. I couldn't be happier and trevor immediately started switching his drawers so his clothes could fit. I'm addicted now and am constantly thinking about what else I can paint! Thanks Julie- you're the best!

BEFORE...
AFTER...