Yellerrrstone

So I'm in Idaho right now, and have been here for the last almost 2 weeks. It's been a lot of fun here with Brian and the rest of the McKellar clan, and we've been keeping very busy. We've gone to movies, up to Brian's beloved Treasure Mountain Scout Camp, to the Idaho Falls temple, to the arcade (which I suck at...) up to Rexburg, over to Shelley to help in Amanda's classroom, and even went to watch Brian participate in the triathlon he's been training for (I love the boy, but when he WANTS to swim a mile in open water, bike 25.3 miles, then run a 10K, I seriously have to question his sanity...) He even developed shingles while preparing for the run! But it turned out well for him, since he knocked twenty minutes off his PR and did it all in 3 hours and 10 minutes, placing him third in his division. Plus he got steroids for the shingles. Which he loves. Too bad he didn't get them until after the race.

But I would have to say that probably my favorite thing we have done this vacation is go to Yellowstone National Park. It was absolutely stunning, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots. It was also very exciting because since Yellowstone is so big and we drove back through Grand Teton National Park, we officially went to three states and two national parks in one day. Not bad if I do say so myself...

:)

I loved this lake..

Old Faithful/Old Geyser/"Thing that Goes Kawhoosh"

One Week!

ONE MORE WEEK...

until I see this:

and lots of these:


Which eventually leads to this:


and this walking around campus:



One week til I get to enjoy this fabulous style again:



and eventually a ton of this:


But I'm mostly excited because it's one week til this:

Yee-haw!!!! :D

I'm so oblivious. But at least I've got class.

I'm one of those people who is easily surprised. Maybe I'm just totally naive, but I never catch a hint. But sometimes I think it's a good thing. Like when I miss all the hints that my good friend Adam Ward was driving all the way up from Virginia to come spend a few days with me in New York! This is the second time that Adam has taken the 600 mile trip north to surprise me. The first time he rode a Greyhound Bus for 18 hours next to a spanish nanny who cuddled with him the whole time. This time he opted out of the bus and just drove his car. You have no idea how surprised I was when all of a sudden Adam Ward was right outside my bedroom door. Poor Brian (who I was skyping with at the time) got an earful of excited screaming. haha. Adam was only here Monday night til Wednesday afternoon, but we had such a good time, especially in Saratoga where we got to try on those classy Saratoga race track hats. Man we've got style.

U.S. Waterski team show at Jumpin' Jacks

My best friend Abby was in on the whole thing. Like I said, I'm oblivious.

Hehe oh Adam...

Adam and I spent a ridiculous amount of time dancing to really loud music around the living room. We also reenacted the forever wedding march that I posted a few days ago. THAT was entertaining.

Adam and "Skipper"

Will: "Adam, you look like a convict. I'm talking about the guy who's trying to escape and blend in, in Mexico with the ridiculous sombrero. Not shaven, rainbow colored, $4 sunglass wearing, corona drinking convict."

Told you I'm classy. and apparently a diva.

Rockin' the aviators in Saratoga. Again, straight up classy.

My Wedding :) :)

This is what I am doing at my wedding. Seriously.
This is worth all 5 minutes of your time. WATCH IT!

serious.
now.
do it.





note: just because I talked about what I am doing at my wedding DOES NOT mean I am engaged.
just reminding you. :)

Disney/Pixar Presents: Missionaries, Inc.

So I got an email today from my old landlady. The email said that there had been a letter delivered to me (darn USPS for not forwarding my mail when I successfully filled out that forwarding card in April!!). Here's a part of the email describing the letter:

"It has a UK postmark on it and it says it's from Mike Wazowski...?!"

hahahahaha!! Oh Brett. :)

Can you see the resemblance?

For all single boys looking for an EC.

Warning: this blog post is not intended for the eyes of girls who get jealous easily. Or if they are married/in a serious relationship. I don't want to be responsible for breaking up any relationships or being called a homewrecker. :)



But ladies, c'mon now. Who WOULDN'T want a piece this? I mean, I didn't even drool on myself in this video after getting my wisdom teeth out...haha. (although my mother did tell me later that I had a hard time distinguishing my chin from my lip. Anatomy was a hard class for me.)

Best Week of Summer 09

It has been my experience that each summer has a highlight. Usually about a week. In summer 07, it was when Nerece and Megan flew up to visit me (you would think it would be my trip to London and Ireland, but that was longer than a week, so it doesn't count ha). In Summer '08, it was going down to Virginia with my whole family to visit once Eric had gotten home from his mission. And now, I present the award for Best Week of Summer 2009 to Brian's visit to New York. If you didn't know that he was coming, that's okay. I barely knew either. The last full week of June, Brian and I were talking about how we wished that we could get together at some point during the summer before I fly back out west on August 11. So just for kicks I looked up tickets for Brian's break from school July 1-5 and lo, and behold i found a ticket for $114. Does life get any better than that?! I submit that it cannot. There was a little bit of rescheduling that needed to be done, some airline shuffling, but it became official 4 days before he left. haha. It was nice not having to wait very long. So Brian flew into Albany wayyy late on Tuesday night (the 30th of June) and left early in the morning on Sunday the 5th. We had SUCH a good time! Here's snipets of Brian's trip east...

This was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. My 14 year old brother Craig beat Brian at Guitar Hero on expert with his back to the TV hahaha. In the words of Brian: "I'd feel better about myself if you were some fat lazy kid who did bad at school because all you did was play video games, but you're not..." haha. way to go Craig :)

On Thursday, Brian and I took a drive up to Lake George, a stunning lake and town about an hour away. We went on the Minne-Ha-Ha, a paddleboat/steamboat that takes you on a cruise down the lake. Even though it was rainy towards the end, it was still so nice ;)

Clearly still happy, even in the rain on the cruise.

Brian with his "I rode the Minne-Ha-Ha" sticker

On the pier at Lake George

We are SO attractive.

Friday we took the 3 hour drive to Historic Palmyra. This is Hill Cumorah, where they are setting up for the Pageant (July 10-11, 13-18 for those are you around here)

In front of the gorgeous, but small, Palmyra Temple

The view of the temple from the Smith Farm/Sacred Grove

Sacred Grove

hahahahahaha. We needed to exfoliate. :)

On the 4th of July, we celebrated my 20th birthday (which was July 7th). Brian took this highly attractive picture of Craig. This illustrates the idea that Brian probably had more fun with Craig than he did with me hahaha.

Some exercise clothes I got for my birthday. I also got a couple of AWESOME CDs, a computer sleeve, some decorations for my apartment, necklace from mom, handmade earrings and bracelet from Michelle (thank you so much!!! I love them!) and a picture frame with an awesome picture from Brian.

My mom made a yummy homemade ice cream cake. my favorite :)

Fourth of July sparklers with the Brooksbys.

Brian had to leave two days before my birthday (sad day) but he sent me these gorgeous flowers as a surprise :)

Miss you.