California Lovin'

We LOVE California summers! We took a short but sweet trip down under this past weekend. It was a whirlwind of sand, sun, and lots of driving! There were a lot more beautiful people we saw this weekend but I was a dope and didn't get any pictures of them. But I just couldn't get enough of the nieces and nephew! Braden and I had a blast! Braedyn, Chaylee and Olivia are surely never going to forget us now! We spent a lot of quality time playing with the youngin's. It was crunch time but we were able to see all the immediate fam individually. I loved spending time with each of my siblings invidually rather than at a big family setting. Don't get me wrong I love those as well but it's hard to get personal in a large group setting. It was great to see everyone! We love family time. It was enough to hopefully suffice until Christmas. Maybe someday it will become permanent...

Death Cab for Cutie Pie Pants

HAHA, so the title of this post is in honor of my bro Andrew and his best bud Jake. When Death Cab first came out this is what they called them and now whenever I try and say their name I have to stop myself from saying the "pie pants" part. That band will forever be Death Cab for Cutie Pie Pants in my mind, haha good times.
Anyway, this past Monday our great friend Sarah Webb invited us to this concert. We rearranged our schedules right away in order to go. Free tickets to a sold out Death Cab concert?! I'll do whatever it takes.
It was at the Red Butte Garden. I had never been there but it was an awesome outdoor amphitheater. It was packed but we were able to find a tiny patch of grass to squeeze onto. Everyone brought a picnic and there own booze. haha. Obviously we didn't do that but there were a lot of families there with little kids, that made it really fun.
They were great in concert. It was a very mellow concert, probably because their music is very mellow. So it was nice to be at a relaxing concert.
We had a great time! Thanks Sarah!!!

Lately

I was able to go to Girl's Camp a couple of weeks ago because I have recently been called into the Young Women's Presidency. I had an awesome time getting close to all the girls, we had a blast. Girl's camp in Utah is a little different than what girl's camp was in Cali. In Cali, we had cabins and a cafeteria...spoiled. In Salt Lake it is REAL camping, we set up our own tents, cook our own meals, make fire, and fetch our own water. I was a little nervous but I actually liked it much better. All the girls had to help with chores around camp and it made us a little family.

Then this past weekend Brady and I headed down to Fillmore to have a big family get together for the 4th. The first night we went golfing with the boys. I didn't do so good but you know it was my 2nd time in life. As you can see I failed to pull out my camera for the rest of the weekend. But it was a blast.
The 4th of July parade in Fillmore is hilarious. All of the wards made a float and the Stake Presidency was on a float as well. Probably the only place in America where that happens. The firework show that evening was interesting. That was the closest I had ever been to fireworks and I didn't feel completely comfortable with that. I will say that it was cool to be able to lay on the grass and look up and my night sky was completely filled with color. But the wind shifted half way through and then came the rain of shrapnel (sp?). I was done after that, then we are walking back to the car as the finale is going off and the last firework that was set off, instead of going straight up, it went out towards the baseball fields where all the crowds were. I felt like I was watching Armageddon unfold right in front of me. I am not sure if anyone got hurt but it was extermely scary.
Needless to say, the weekend was a great time. We had a great time catching up with the Martin side of the family and playing with all the grandkids.

History of hair

Okay, so this post was supposed to be about the changes in my hair over the past year....it turned into a post about this ridiculous kissy face I guess I like to make in all my pictures...ew. I tried to put them in chronological order but yah... I am blog impaired. So I am sure you can find the progression in there somewhere.
Anyways let's try and ignore the awful faces I am making and focus on my identity crisis with my hair. Yah, okay it's not that drastic, I have seen more drastic...*cough*morgan*cough*. :) But I have this thing with changing my hair every time I go in to get it done. I want to grow it out again but I have this itch to chop it and bleach it again. Ahhhh!
So I want some opinions! Tell me what to do with this thing on my head! Grow bangs out or keep them? Go back to being more blond or go natural? Chop it or grow it out again? It's such a hard ordeal, I know. The most recent picture is of me and Brady and the Mariner's game, so you can get an idea of what I am dealing with here.
Go ahead, critique away.

Vampires and Werewolves

Braden: "Do you wanna play vampires and wolves today?"
Leah: "Sure how do you play?
Braden: "I'm the vampire and I win."
Leah: "That makes me the werewolf?"
Braden: "Yup you lose, I win."


This was a conversation Braden and I had via text messaging this morning while he was at work. hahaha. I have been anti-Twilight for a long time now, but I decided to give in over our trip to Seattle. It's totally ridiculous, plays into every female fantasy of what men are like in their dreams. Which is why I can't put the dumb thing down!!! Braden always teases me about it and then 20 minutes later he'll ask, "So what's happening now?!" haha. He's addicted too! He will never admit it and it's a good thing he never looks at our blog. He would probably be upset I just exposed his secret.

I am taking a rhetorical criticism class this summer and I can't wait to start my paper on why this series is so appealing to women of all ages. I just can not comprehend why this series has become such a phenomenon. Stephanie Meyer, the author, isn't even a good writer!

I know, call me a hypocrite because I have fallen in the bandwagon but if I am going to write this paper then I have to do thorough research! right? Right, so now that I have just finished the second book last night, I can now move onto the third. It's just for research though, I swear.

Washington Vaca. 2009

Ahhhhhhh vacation. So much anticipation and then it's over in the blink of an eye. Braden drove to Washington and I flew to meet him there from Cali (I went to support my mom, she had surgery and is now cancer free!!!! ahhhh another sigh of HUGE relief) . We spent a couple of days in Wenatchee, WA. Spending time with the Harker's and friends. I must say this was a vacations of firsts for me. We went golfing with my father-in-law Scott on Monday (I have only ever been miniature golfing), Tuesday he took us fishing (another first) and Wednesday we went for a bike ride through Cashmere which only took about 30 minutes because it's that small. We also went fishing again that day and caught so many fish I can't even count. Of course we enjoyed some excellent food made by my mother-in-law Joyce and Country Boys BBQ, the best BBQ ever! For the next couple of days we headed to Seattle to visit our friends Kyle and Kate and there new baby boy Keaton! That's who I am holding in the picture above. We had a blast with them. We went to Pike Place Market, took a tour of underground Seattle, and went to a Mariner's game. Braden and I love Seattle! I don't know what it is about that city but we are just drawn to it. The Mariner's game was a quality game versus the Red Sox. The stadium was about 60/40, so the competition and intensity was extreme. The Mariners hit two home runs to win the game 5 to 4. It was awesome!!! It was an amazing vacation but for now it's back to school, work and real world.

Easter '09

For Easter Sunday we headed down to Fillmore, UT to visit with the Martin family. We had a great time visiting with everyone and enjoying a great meal from Grandma Martin. It was a beautiful day and we went for a drive up this dirt road to look at the irrigation creek for the farm. It was a fun, muddy, bumpy ride. It was a great Easter Sunday!