Our Bucket List and Jessica Being Better at Watercoloring

So. The bucket list is actually on track to get completed! On Monday Jess and I made pasta salad and it was super good. I'm just posting the photos of it so that you can see how pretty it is. Apparently (and according to Jessica) one of the reasons why kids like candy so much is because it's colorful, so all the kids in the world would probably really like our pasta salad too because it's colorful:

Then, we spend some time watercoloring postcards. Let me preface this: Before this day, I'd spent over an hour drawing what I wanted to watercolor and then about another hours starting to watercolor. I finished up while Jessica created hers and this is what mine turned out like:

Jessica, on the other hand, sat down, didn't draw a thing, and whipped this out in about an hour:

Obviously, the artsy genes didn't go to me. We painted more again today. The same thing happened. That's okay, it was still super fun!

Summer Bucket List 2015

A couple of days ago I did an impromptu interview with Jon about me to see what he knew. One of the questions was: "What does your wife like to do?" and one of his answers was: "Making lists." He was right! I love making lists! They help me infuse my life with purpose and give me things to do in my free time. So to make our summer more awesome, I of course suggested to Jessica that we make a summer bucket list. She agreed! And we made one! And we're already crossing tons of stuff off of it! And I'm ending way too many sentences in a row with exclamation marks!

We split our list into three categories: food, outdoor activities, and stuff we could do at home. Being us, of course the food category is the biggest of the tree. Naturally, this is also the category we have already started to tackle.

The first thing we made from this category was popsicles. This was Jessica's idea, and I think it's probably one of the best ideas she's ever had because the AC unit in our apartment doesn't work and I've become a chain popsicle sucker. The best part of all is that the popsicles we made aren't even bad for you! We just made up some Wyler's Light lemonade with a little less water than normal, mixed it with some fruit, and froze them in cups with spoons stickin' out. My favorite was the one with pineapple and strawberries.

The other thing we've made is tomato bisque. This is another one of Jessica's ideas, which was--once again--fabulous! We used this recipe. It was incredibly easy, and incredibly good. I'm definitely going to make it again!

Here are just a few of the other things on our list that I hope we cross off this summer:

• Make fruit pizza
• Make cauliflower potatoes
• Eat tatter tots!
• Go geocashing
• Go swimming
• Go to an outdoor movie
• Watch all the Star Wars films
• Paint postcards
• Grow basil plants
• Write and send Emily a poem

A Weekend with the Fam

This past weekend I was lucky enough to have my family stop by for a visit! They were traveling from Washington down to Arizona to visit my Grandma and stopped for the afternoon/evening in Provo to visit Ems and I. I thought that going on a picnic would be super fun, and so that's what we did! When they arrived we skedaddled our way over to Kiwanis park, laid out a blanket, and spent the next hour or so talking, eating, and enjoying the good weather. Jon also joined us, which was super awesome!

When people got bored of the park we drove home and enjoyed some Creamies. Then, we decided to go over to Rock Canyon Park so that my sisters could roll down the huge hill (I passed for the most part. Halfway down the first roll the Creamie in my stomach protested). We ended the night by hiking the Y and looking out at the city lights from up top. ("You mean," remarked Kate, "that they just found this huge rock shaped in the shape of a Y and painted it white?")

It was so good to get to see my family and share some of my life here in Provo with them. Plus, the ordeal helped me cross of summer bucket list item #10!

Provo Rooftop Concert Series

One of the best parts about summer in Provo is the Rooftop Concert Series. From May to October on the first Friday of each month, aspiring local artists gather together to perform their music on the top of a parking garage in downtown Provo. The best part about these events is that they are 100% FREE! I had gone to several of these concerts last year and was excited to go again this year to share the experience with Jon.

We decided to go to the second concert in the series on June 7th with Joshua James, Polytype and Jay William Henderson performing. Because the concerts are free there is open seating (people bring blankets and lawn chairs to sit on or choose to just stand and watch). Jon and I tried to arrive a little early to steal a good seat, but still ended up having to sit towards the side of the stage on a part of the parking garage that slanted down. That was a bit of a downer because it made it hard to find a comfortable position to sit in where you could still see the groups perform, but we still made it work. While waiting for the concert to start we ate the packed dinner we had brought along (hooray for PB&J!) and played a few card games. When the music started my cousin, Alex, and her fiance, Logan, joined us for a few rounds of Uno. When the magic of Draw 4 and Reverse cards dissipated, we decided to put the cards away and to just enjoy the music. Jon and I had some fun with the camera and Alex and Logan left to say hi to some of their other friends. We stayed there for the first two performers and then decided to move up to the main level of the parking garage to stand and watch the last performer--Joshua James--perform. Both Jon and I definitely preferred standing and listening to the music over trying to sit comfortably on the slanted pavement. Joshua James' music was also my favorite of the three performances.

The night ended beautifully. Day faded into dusk and eventually dissolved into night as people sat with their friends and families listening to the music echo through the streets of downtown Provo.

Bonfire up Provo Canyon

Having late night bonfires during the summer is always a good way to involve lots of people in some cheap fun. This was the first SBLI I did this summer. We piled a bunch of people into our respective cars, drove up Provo Canyon a couple of minutes, and stopped at the first park on our left--Canyon Glen Park. This place is free and has several different places to have a fire. Because we didn't bring our own firewood it took us a while to get anything going, being that there wasn't any good firewood in the area. Once we did get things started, however, it was a blast! Smores, pictures, talking and laughing with friends, guitar music, staying out past midnight, the smell of a campfire--good times.

Have a Bonfire
Where: Canyon Glen Park
When: Nighttime
What to Bring: Firewood, smores materials, blankets

Late Night Milkshake Run

Last week we the last week of Spring term, which means that it was also the last week for some of the students in my ward. To celebrate, a group of us went to Sonic and got milkshakes! The best things about going to Sonic to get milkshakes after 8pm is that they're half off and they have a zillion flavors and they're huge (as in a small is equivalent to most places' medium). Because I had already had my sugar fill for the day, I passed on getting a milkshake for myself that night. The next night, however, Jon and I went and bought a large Oreo cheesecake one to share. It was quite absolutely divine. I've also gotten their strawberry chocolate shake before and loved it. The only downsider about these shakes is that sometimes they can be a little runny. It's been hit and miss for me--sometimes they're thick (which is what I like) and sometimes they're not. For the price though, I think it's worth the risk.

Late Night Milkshake Run
Where: Sonic
When: After 8pm so that they're half-off!!! (Yea for a $2.50 large!)
Pros: Lots of flavors to pick from that you can milk and match, cheap, lots for your money
Cons: Sometimes the shakes are runny

Buffalo Peak Hike

Jon and I went on one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on the other day! It was called Buffalo Peak Trail. Jon's boss, Tyson, recommended that we give it a look--said that it was very pretty and had tons of wildflowers. His review didn't do the place justice. I felt like I'd fallen into the 2006 version of Pride and Prejudice! The colors were rich, the landscape was shapely and the view was awe-inspiring. The hike was fairly steep towards the end, but extremely short overall (about 1/2 a mile or so). Jon and I hiked to the top, looked over onto Provo, and then backtracked just a little bit to a place we liked that faced the backside of Squaw Peak to eat dinner. I feel like the pictures we took can do more at this point than any more words, so I'll let them do the rest of the talking. I'm just so grateful to live somewhere where a place this beautiful is practically in my backyard.