Washington DC

What makes work trips awesome - when I also get to visit friends who live on the other side of the country. I've been promising my dear friend Shannon that I would come visit her ever since she moved home a few years ago (I'm a horrible friend I know), but flights can be expensive so when I found out we were having a meeting in DC I was SO excited. A free trip to see my friends!!! In addition to Shannon, I also got to hang out with my friend (and Shannon's cousin) Rachel and my good friend Leslie who is working in DC. What a great time we had.
Even though this was my third time to DC, I've never seen the sites - weird I know! So, Shannon and Rachel were kind enough to take me all over DC with their cute kiddos. We started out with some shopping and lunch at Georgetown and then we hit up the monuments. So fun and such a beautiful place!
Shannon and I enjoying lunch at Johnny Rockets.

Shannon, Rachel and me with their cute kids.

Ahhh, the history!

 Cute Shannon with Chloe (Rachel's daughter)

 Utah pride!

Jordan (Shannon's cute son) was the only one who would make the trek up the steps with me to see Lincoln. It was the last stop on our walk :)

It was also SO fun to see my friend Leslie while I was there. Shannon and I took the metro to China Town (where Leslie lives - so cool) and had dinner at a place called Ping Pong (also very cool). I wish I had taken a picture of Leslie's apartment. It was so perfect! 

I also became friends with Rachel's GREAT DANE! See how friendly we are being - he actually kind of terrified me. I'm not comfortable when animals can stand face-to-face with me. No offense Rachel - he wasn't nearly as scary when he wasn't standing up :)

THANK YOU SHANNON - for being such a fabulous host. I love you and your cute family and your cute house. I also love that no matter how long it's been, it feels like no time has passed when I see you and I can talk to you about anything and everything. You're one in a million!

The Stache

I told Erik I would post a tribute to his mustache because I made him shave it for family pictures on Sunday... tear. He grew it for the Dirty Dash in the previous post, but then became very attached to the mustache. Every time someone complimented him on it, he was sure to tell me in hopes that I would have a change of heart in the facial hair department. Although he is always cute, what can I say - I like a clean shaven face. So, here it is, in all it's glory. 

The Season is here - GO JAZZ!!!

The Dirty Dash

A few weeks ago my husband participated in the Dirty Dash 10k race with some friends. I wasn't sure what to think of this event, but as you'll see in the pictures it definitely lives up to its name.
This is the before shot of Erik's team - mustaches were part of the uniform, according to Erik.

 I was there to cheer him on and even got an honorary team shirt, but I was more than happy to stay nice and clean on the sidelines while taking pictures.

 The Dirty Dash mascot - enough said. 

 Here he comes - now it's all making sense, right? The course is full of obstacles and mud pits. Fun, huh? Like I said, I was very happy to stay nice and clean with the spectators.

 This is the last huge mud pit after the finish line. 

The after picture:

It was quite the event. I couldn't believe how many people participated. I must say I am super proud of Erik for running a 10k. He did great! 

We're ALIVE!

I thought I'd never be one of those people who goes months without posting something on my blog, but turns out life can get super busy! I have been doing a lot of traveling with my new job and when I'm home it's nice to just spend some time with my hubby and relax. But, we have been up to some fun things over the past couple of months, so here's some catch up...if anyone still checks this blog :)


We had a lovely time in Midway over Labor Day weekend. It's rare to get most of the family up there together because of everyone's crazy schedules, and so it's nice when we can get most of the group up there at the same time (we were missing Jeff and Eliza who spent the weekend in Sun Valley and were greatly missed!)


One of the highlights was a late night trip to the Midway hot pots. We had heard about them and decided we needed to be adventurous and check them out. They are definitely H-O-T! Ryan, Emily and I found the experience to be very painful. Michael and Erik on the other hand must have a different core temperature or something, because they found the heat delightful...

Here's our attempt at a group shot, although the lighting was a little dark we were lucky to get all the kiddos to cooperate.