This is what I had to go home to for Christmas...

Aren't I lucky?!

Happy New Year 2011!

Each New Year is a time for a new beginning. I like everyone else, make goals and succeed or fail at accomplishing them. This year I thought it would be a good idea to write them down on my blog to hold me a little more accountable. I have a lot of good intentions, but I sometimes lack the discipline to follow through. This year I turn 30 (that's a big deal, right?!), so this is the year that is going to be different! Here is a list of a few of my goals...

1. Blog about my movie club. Each Sunday, a small group of friends and I get together to watch a period piece. Mostly Jane Austen films, but we have watched a few Dickens and other BBC or Masterpiece Theater movies. It is my favorite part of the week!

2. Write letters to my grandparents. I've been thinking about how much I love them and how little I talk to them. Letters are an "old" way of communication that is lost and I feel that letters to them will be appreciated and special.

3. Exercise (of course). I want to find something active that I enjoy doing and then do it.

These are just a few of my goals, but I will continue to add to the list as new goals come along. I feel hopeful for this new year. And look forward to the experiences that life will bring me.

ELF Date

I'm sad that I don't have any pictures to document this experience, but it is at least worth mentioning. Last weekend, some friends and I did a group date centered around the movie Elf. In the movie, Buddy meets his real father for the first time and makes a list of activities that they can do together.

Here's the quote from the movie..."First, we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice-skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Toll-House cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."

So this was the premise of our date. The only glitch, was that the snow was melting and pretty slushy, so we had to skip the snow angels. Everything else went according to plan and it was a blast!

Good times, Good friends, Funny movie!

Shakespearean Festival

Cedar City has a Shakespearean Festival every year. This was my first time going and it was so great!

We saw two plays. Pride and Prejudice and Much Ado About Nothing. They were both fantastic!!

The matching outfits were not entirely intentional.

Washington D.C.

A few friends and I went to Washington D.C. July 7-11. It was a great trip! We went non-stop the entire trip and saw so many wonderful things. Here is a small taste of the good times.

Gelato in Georgetown on the waterfront with the Kennedy Center behind us.

Our hotel was in Georgetown, so the first night we got there we walked around that area. We went to Georgetown University, took my picture in front of Clyde's Restaurant, ate at a really great pizza restaurant and walked down to the waterfront.

Our first time on the metro.

The Air and Space Museum

Shuttle to the Kennedy Center

Mary Poppins was fantastic! I LOVED it!

Arlington Cemetery

We took the bus tour! I'm glad we did because it saved our feet. What a special experience being at that cemetery. Thank you to all the men and women who have fought and especially to those who have died protecting our country and our freedom!


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Erin and I in front of the Capital Building.

Inside the Capital Building on our tour.

Erin, Sylinda, and I on the shuttle in the Capital Building. Apparently, they have a separate shuttle for the Senators to use. We had to use the other one. No sneak peaks at anyone "famous." Although, we did see Nancy Pelosi's office once we got inside.

Standing in the center of D.C.

Shouldn't we be models?!

These cupcakes were yummy!

FDR Memorial

A giant me holding the Washington Monument. We saw other tourists taking pictures like this, so we thought we'd give it a try.

World War II Memorial.

Korean Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Saturday morning started out pouring rain, but we went to the Eastern Market anyway.

They make the best pancakes and have a really fun atmosphere at the Eastern Market!

As close as we could get to the White House.

To finish our trip we spent Sunday at the D.C. Temple and the National Cathedral. What a great Sunday experience!

It was a fantastic trip. There is still so much more to see. I guess I'll have to catch the other sites on my next trip!

New Hair Color

I got my hair colored today and it is a little more bold than I've ever done before (it is kind of hard to see in this picture). But I told Aimee I would post a picture for her, so Aimee, this is for you!

Memorial Day with the Grandparents

We were in Twin Falls for Memorial Day weekend visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Gilson. They both celebrate their birthdays early in June, so we had a little "surprise" party for them while we were there. I think they really enjoyed it! Grandpa is 87 today and Grandma will be 83 June 8th.

Of course, we had to make a trip to Shoshone Falls while we were there.

Ukiah definitely kept us entertained the entire weekend. What a cute kid!

Sunday afternoon we went to the cemetery to visit some graves. The one above is my grandpa's sister and her husband. Below are his parents. Sadly there are tire marks on this picture, but we didn't bring anything to clean it off with. Next time, I will make sure I get a better picture.