Neko

Mandy and I have had lots of fun catching a handful of free concerts put on at the Gallivan Center this summer. The last concert was Neko Case, so we were sure to go to that one. This summer's concert series was surprisingly good, bringing a lot of quality bands to the Gallivan. We got to see The Roots, De La Soul, Broken Social Scene, and then finally Neko Case. Nada Surf came too, but I missed that one, unfortunately. I can't wait to hear what they have in store for next summer.





Only SLC's finest gather together at the Gallivan. See for yourself...The first photo I took with my phone so it's really hard to see the fool who decided to jump into the stagnant water and take a swim in what turns into a fun-filled ice skating rink during winter. And no, those are not my hot pink heels. But yes, they resemble the gold pair I wore at last year's Halloween party.







Here I am with Mandy. Mandy's awesome, she's always so happy and laughs a lot, which I love. Kaila joined us for Neko Case. Look at her cute outfit! You'll never see Kaila without a cute outfit on.

CopyCat

I think Leesh and Maya play the CopyCat game a lot, 'cause I've caught Maya copying me a few times while I've been babysitting before. This baby girl is so cute, I can't stand it.

Jill + Joel

Once in a while, not very often, but every once in a while you come across a couple and think, "Gosh, those two are really meant for each other." Well, Jill and Joel are one of those couples.



The notorious Beav--First made famous by Jill and now wholeheartedly embraced by Joel. It's comforting to know that the Beav legacy will now proudly live on in future generations to come. I love this couple.




Here's what Jill and Joel normally look like. Look at those smiles! Beautiful.






Jill is one of my dearest friends, so being able to be there for her on her wedding day was more than great.






I was freaking out over Jill's dress, so I took some extra photos of it. I didn't do a very good job of capturing how gorgeous it is. She looked beautiful in it.






It was so much fun to see Kristie and Addison.





Lex was there...getting his eat on.





Julie holding Kristie's most recent addition. So cute.

International Cinema

I was looking for something to read, so I grabbed Wuthering Heights from my bookshelf. When I opened it up, this old card fell out from the middle...






I love finding old stuff like this. I remember going to the International Cinema all the time when I was at The BY. It was a great thing, so I hope they still play these films on campus. Now that I've found this old list of classics, I think I'm going to try and watch at least one every month this Fall Semester. There are some great ones on here. Sometimes I can't believe I'm back in school. Awesome.

Random Sunday Rants and Photos

I want a new camera.
Grape juice is tasty.
I need to clean my mirror.
Sundays sometimes take a lot out of me.
I love birthdays and weddings.
Did you know Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are back together? Cool.
I like blush.
I don't hate giving talks in church.
Wrapping paper is lame.
I'm chewing Wrigley's Big Red gum right now.

The Oaks

The Oaks is one of my favorite places to go to and eat. The food's great, but the location of the restaurant is even better. The Oaks is situated right next to the Ogden River in Ogden Canyon. You can eat outside underneath these huge umbrellas and it's just great. Maria was in town, so our trip up the canyon was especially fun this time. The only thing missing was Melinda and Jason or else the trip would've been perfect. Gosh, speaking of perfect, the weather this weekend was beautiful. I'm going to try to soak it all in as much as I can before it starts getting really cold.

Boogie

Okay, here's a haiku for 'ya...

Summer is awesome

Winter is not so awesome

Please don't go, Summer

Country Fair Days

Living in a small community has its perks. Like being able to participate in a week's worth of good, clean, old-fashioned, family-friendly fun, otherwise known as South Weber Country Fair Days. The week's worth of festivities aren't quite over and done with, but I couldn't wait to post the live-action footage I captured a couple days ago of the mutton bustin' spectacle, among other things. The Merrill kids were out in full force this week, exhibiting a vast array of cuteness, charisma, bravery, and athleticism, just to name a few of their many noteworthy characteristics. Here are about a couple hundred photos taken of the Merrills this week. I couldn't be more proud...

Beauty Queen

Maya won the baby contest for her age group. She was crowned "Duchess."

Champion Mutton Buster

Check out this awesome video of Luke. This kid's fearless. I love his laid back attitude. He wasn't scared at all about riding these gnarly sheep and was so excited to give it a try.

Celebrating his survival, post-mutton

Leesh and Luke

Dad and Matt

Gold Medalist

Isaac ran the "Kid-K" and came in 1st place in his age group. I think the route was about a mile long. He's an awesome runner. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot of him crossing the finish line, because there were too many people in the way. But let me tell you, this kid has a great runner's stride for someone so young. He did so good.

Wait a sec, I have to sneak one of Rocky in here. Here's Baby Boy patiently waiting for Isaac to get his gold medal.

August Crush

Paul Rodriguez

Two Good Reasons to Go to the Proves

Reason #1 - Mikey




I went back to my dark hair. Of course, I had Mikey do it as usual. His place really is worth the drive down to the Proves. He's the nicest guy ever and is great at what he does. I think I caught him in an especially good mood the other day, 'cause he gave me this t-shirt. He said it was mine as long as I promised to wear it at least once a week. Mikey, I'll do even better than that, I'll put it on my blog! Ha! Seriously, try out this salon if you're looking for a place to go for a haircut and especially if you're looking for a good place to go for color.







Reason #2 - J-Dawgs

After Mike was done changing me back into a brunette, he was nice enough to give me a gift certificate to J-Dawgs. I told him I wasn't a big fan of the dawgs, but he said I had to check this place out before heading back home, so I did. Oh man, it was THE BEST lunch I've had in a very long time. I ordered a polish dawg with sauerkraut and special sauce. It was so good. I'm getting a craving for some J-Dawgs right now as I'm typing this. I don't know how they make this special sauce of theirs, but it's addicting. While I was waiting in line at J-Dawgs I saw this dude from my ward. I was surprised to see him there as people from my ward generally live up here in the Ogden area. I went over to say Hi and asked if he had driven all the way from Ogden to get himself a J-Dawg. He just laughed at that and said nah, of course he didn't drive a whole hour+ just for J-Dawgs. Well, after I took my first bite of the deliciousness that is J-Dawgs, I knew that dude from my ward was fibbing--He DID drive all the way from Ogden to Provo to get himself a J-Dawg. This place is that good!