The end of August :(

Well, it's official. Today is our last day of summer. Last night Riley and I didn't really have any plans so I asked him what he wanted to do on our last weekend before school. He said, "be lazy". And that is exactly what we did! We made deli sandwiches for dinner to prevent heating up our apartment (which by the way is RIDICULOUSLY hot). Then we played "are you smarter than a 5th grader" that I got from a Wendy's happy meal a long time ago. Then we got a Redbox, watched it and went to bed. Yep we are that lame.

So, on the last day of summer... oh I might cry. I don't want school to start! I don't know what's wrong with me. I have very little excitement to return to classes. I love campus, I love that Riley and Andrea have moved into their dorms, I love that we have like 16 Bradshaws at BYU this year, I love that I got a new job, I love that  fall means football season and that our apartment will cool down. BUT, I don't love that when we are in school we can't go camping, go on random trips, rafting, cabining, long walks on summer nights, have freedom in the evening, and read the books I want to! Oh and Fall means Winter is just around the corner. I hate Winter. How can I get myself excited for school? We've got our books, a new backback, a few new clothing items, new pens and pencils. This is usually what I get all excited about! I have always loved going back to school.... oh well, school starts on Monday whether I like it or not! Bummer.

Anyway, lots has happened lately! Riley and Andrea have moved down! We love having them here. Then I got a new job! I've been wanting to leave UVU for a while now and have been looking since the beginning of August. Then, after several interviews and no luck, I struck gold! I applied online for this job at LDS Philanthropies, half our later they called to set an interview up for that afternoon! My interview lasted almost an hour and then about a half hour after I left they called to offer the job! I really am so excited. I started the job yesterday. I am a assistant for the Planned Giving team. I actually work for the church, not BYU, which is awesome because everyone is so nice! Anyway,when any donation is made to the church other than tithing and Fast offerings, LDS Phil decides how to use it. Planned Giving means people who put the Church or more specifically one of the church schools (BYU, BYUI, Hawaii and LDSBusiness College) in their will, or set up a trust. So there are several Lawyers and financial consultants on the team who meet with people to set this up. I will be involved mostly with sending our invitations to annual lunches for each school/society, welcome packages, jewelry, and stuff like that. I will also be sending sympathy cards to the family when someone passes away. It's amazing what people donate to the church! Lots and lots of money.

then came Vegas

We took a long weekend and went down to Vegas with the fam for Paul and Karolyn's wedding. We drove down with mom and Kelli. When we checked into the Condo at like 11 pm, the front desk guy asked if we were hitting up the strip that night. I think our answer was, "oh no, we're getting up early to play tennis". Which we did, by the way, and had a blast despite the heat! Riley and I went to the concierge to see if they had discount tickets to the New York New York roller coaster, she didn't. Instead she gave us some coupons and show brochures and then asked us, how adventurous we are, or something like that.It was weird. Then there were people in the hot tub at noon drinking coffee. It was so hot, I just don't understand!

Anyway, we ran into some Lions at the MGM grand. Hit up a pretzel stand in new York. Saw the Eiffel tower. Went to Rome. Watched a water show (which was one of my favorite parts of the strip). Went to Serendipity 3. Finally drank some frozen Hot Chocolate!! Bought a shirt at H&M. Ate at the Claimjumper. Walked through a sketchy casino. Had to convince Jake and Kelli that David Copperfield isn't magic... he's just an entertainer. (Jake, the duck was in the bucket the whole time. We watched it on youtube). Played tennis. Swam. Played with Graham. Listened to a crazy man bbq hamburgers by the pool. Went to the Las Vegas Temple for the wedding. Desperately called Mandy for driving instructions. Drove on the strip-it's SO crazy.  Hung out with the Family. Ran into some Russians from Riley's mission! All in all the trip was successful, but I think we've had enough of Las Vegas for a few years.

the past month

Well, is it sad that all I have to blog about is our back to school shopping? No! Because we have much much more to blog about. So get ready! This is going to be a long one!


First of all, for the majority of July Riley and I were sick. It just wouldn't stop! We had to miss the Wilson backpacking trip :( It was this flu like thing with a horrible sore throat that developed into bronchitis and loss of voice for like... a week! We are feeling much better and were able to do some fun things afterwards!

A few weeks ago Tim and Nikki Bradshaw got married! Before the sealing Riley and I made a stop at the Cathedral of Madeline downtown. It was super cool. We would have tried to go inside but the schedule said they were having confession... so we avoided that.

 Looks like we're in Europe, huh??

Then one night for dinner we made the worlds best Chili Dogs!! They really were delicious! Oh! And we roasted them on our stove.

 One of our favorite summer activities is rafting up at Deer Creek! It's always so nice up there, peaceful... and we go to a place where motor boats and wave runners rarely come. Just an occasional fisherman and jumping fish everywhere! We forgot sunscreen on this particular trip... bad mistake. Still fun!

Back to school shopping

Ok so we hit up some major deals and I still don't think we're done. When I say major, I mean minor. Nonetheless, a deal is a deal.

First we went to Kohl's to find Riley some church shoes. I'm bad at shopping for other people and usually wonder off. I found some DARLING black heals/shoes on clearance for ten dollars. But I couldn't convince myself to buy summeryish shoes right before it ends. :( Riley found a nice pair of shoes, though! So we went to check them out. As soon as they rang up we remembered a gift card we had from our wedding! It covered all but 8 dollars. Then he handed us this 10 dollar gift card thing for spending a certain amount of money!! Remember how much those heels cost? Ten dollars. (Yes Kelli, we did have a front row parking spot) The promotional deal didn't start till the next day, but don't worry I went back and got them. I'm wearing them as I type this, as a matter of fact!


Our next stop was Burlington Coat factory! Which is wear we got Riley's wedding suit on a major sale. Anyway, we found me some jeans that weren't on sale and Riley some church socks. Great deal. At the checkout line they gave us coupons so we can go back and get Riley some dress pants!

Then we went to Payless where I found a cute pair of durable, yet fashionable black flat-ish shoes which I have been searching to find for a couple of years now! Bad news though... they weren't my size, and no one in Utah county had my size either. Don't worry everyone, I found them online! And I fell into the BOGO trap and got a second pair...but, thanks to Riley we had a coupon and free shipping!! Booya.