wake me up when we get to beaver

while driving home from the grad party, my sister says, "wake me up when we get to beaver". i will never forget these words for as long as i live. beaver? where is beaver? the story begins....

once i finished byu, i had to move out of my apartment and drive all of my things home. this picture just about explains how much stuff i had. my car was literally packed to the brim. my sister and i had a deal that i would drive the first half of the trip, and she would proceed to finish the rest. a couple of hours into the trip my passenger of a sister tells me, "wake me up when we get to beaver". period. that's it. no explanation, just a statement. so i proceed to travel down the I-15 listening to music, everything peaceful, UNTIL.....

i had just made it over a hill to see 2 cops parked on the side. i immediately felt a pit in my stomach. he didn't even have to turn his lights on. me, being the leader of the pack of cars, pulled quickly over to the side, saying something under my breath only to see my sister waking up from a deep slumber. "what's happening? where are we?" she says. "i have no idea, but i'm getting a ticket" i angrily apply. before the cop got out of his car, i had my license and registration already handy. as he was approaching my window, my arm was perched out with documents in hand. "wow, where are you going?" the officer asked.

"ohh, i just graduated from BYU....i'm driving home"

"well i clocked you going 91, and it's a 70 area, but because you just graduated, i'll knock it down 5 mph"

-i paused for a moment with my jaw to the floor because he is writing me a ticket, yet trying to be the nice guy at the same time. this is when my sister nudged me in my side and told me to say thank you for what he had done. and me, gritting my teeth, said thank you.-

"okay go on your way now, drive safe, and happy graduation!"

i hate beaver.

graduate party part due

grandma, mom, child

who knew nicoli was so good at being a florist. i taught him well.

the party was an absolute blast. gram went WAY overboard. thanks for everything! love you!

graduate party part uno

my party planner of a grandmother decided to throw us grads (me and ash) a little get together with tons of food (delicious pasta...a staple in our house), gorgeous flowers, and wonderful friends and family


grandmama and girls

cousins sean and joey

my adorable cousins jord and morg

miss sassy

byu vs. sdsu

brigham basketball had a game this week down at san diego state. their campus is amazing. our original tickets were way up in the nosebleeds, but i couldn't resist the chair seats in san diego's aztec territory. we were pretty much the only cougars in that area. needless to say, i lost my voice to my screaming and was beat the end of the night. 

highlights of the game....

a) getting offered red vines from a bunch of smiling aztec students....i'm pretty sure they were tainted with something. what did they think i was born yesterday? i declined.

b) getting offered $1.00 from some guy to lower the tone of my scream because the aztecs were getting tired of hearing it. i told him to keep his money....i just got louder. 

c) watching byu win, and watching all the aztecs leave the game before it was over. 

loved the game and loved the outcome. GO COUGARS! 

happy sumo

nothing is better than sushi with this dream of a group on one of my last nights in provo

ring christmas bells

saturday was the night of the mormon tabernacle choir christmas concert called "ring christmas bells". the guest artists were Brian Stokes Mitchell (also known as the singer from the prince of egypt soundtrack...phenomenal voice, but very broadway/theater) and Edward K. Herrmann (also known as the husband from the movie overboard). of course motab didn't disappoint.

definitely had chipotle for dinner

we had to stop at the salt lake roasting company for hot cocoa

canterwood christmas

i wish canterwood looked like this again

first presidency christmas devotional

december in utah is my favorite month because of the first presidency christmas devotional and the mormon tabernacle choir christmas concert (which is next week!) . tonight was the devotional and let me just tell you our seats were out of this world. we were literally right in the front. the messages given were outstanding like always, and the music......phenomenal. i got to share that experience with some of my good friends....lucky me.

surprise for the birthday boy

nothin' like a little surprise dinner at the brazilian grill 'tucanos' for the birthday boy on the left. he was so surprised to say the least. love the hill boys.

the group

afterwards we splurged with homemade dark chocolate souffle cakes, vanilla bean ice cream, and a fresh fruit sauce

caramel apple crisp

we had too many apples in our fridge to just let spoil, so i decided to make individual caramel apple crisps with vanilla bean ice cream. just picture a scoop of ice cream on top with caramel sauce drizzled over it. the base of the tart is made with oats which gives it a nice crunch. it was AMAZING. just AMAZING. 

peter rabbit stew

this past week was pretty cold. nothing sounded more delicious than vegetable stew. this recipe has every vegetable imaginable...you name it...it's in there. we then served the stew with a roasted garlic ciabatta. 

starbucks and clue

oh the things you do when it's freaking snowing, and you have a major calculus test....

because of the cold, i decided to wear my mafia leather gloves. i also found one last use for my halloween candelabra. please tell me these pictures remind you of the movie 'clue'?! miss scarlet in the study with the candelabra. love it.

LOVED the salted caramel hot chocolate from starbucks. it honestly tastes like warm toffee and caramel. perfect for a hellish day.

craving fulfilled

these girls are a dream. we just had to go to paradise cafe in slc due to the warm gooey chocolate chip cookies....oh and the amazing sandwiches. while we were there we decided to stop by the gateway for a little fun around some of my favorite shops. what a relaxing night. 

podcast #2

torta alla nocciola

a night on the town

on friday, my roommates and I decided to drive up to salt lake city to do some shopping and visit the cheesecake factory...of course we had to order cheesecake before we left. i opted to try a new flavor. let me introduce "limoncello cream torte"...

this was a piece of heaven. oh my word. it had a light lemon taste to it and was served with fresh strawberries to add to the bright flavors of this dessert. definitly something to clense the palate.

an exciting reunion

i just received an email saying that my boss, Dr. Luca Bonomi, Director of the Dante Alighieri School of Siena, Italy, will be visiting BYU on Monday, October 27.

i was invited to attend a special lecture given by him on something inspiring.... "Eating Italian Culture: A Culinary Journey through Italian Art, History, Music, and Literature on Monday, October 272:00 P.M.,

after the lecture, the siena alumni are going to be having a private dinner at gloria's little italy. my all time favorite provo italian restaurant.

i can't wait to catch up. it will be good to speak italian again. ill be posting pictures of the exciting reunion.

let me show you one of the reason's why gloria's is out of this world....

she has definitly perfected the art of baking let's just say

our very own local deli market...love it

i did it for the free snacks

i realized that i really like donating blood. this might be so physiologically wrong, but i feel like i can feel the new clean blood running through my veins. everything went smoothly today. didn't feel lethargic, dizzy, etc. what's even better, i filled the blood bad in 5 minutes flat. purely amazing. my poor roommate on the other hand took 13 minutes to fill one bag. so, i snacked on some finger foods, grabbed the free t-shirt and waited patiently for her chocolate sauce-like blood to fill the bag. im definitely going back, and so should all of you who can donate blood. it's quite the experience. my sister would definitely agree with that one.

skating at 7 peaks

last friday the ward hosted a little get-together at 7 peaks ice rink. let's just say i was so excited to be able to skate. maybe i was also excited for the free churros and hot chocolate.

-sweetie and me-

-she always seems to do some stupid dance move that makes me unable to normally smile for pictures -

-whit and danielle (the new roomie)-

this was by far my favorite part of the night, hmm...probably when i went to throw a shoe at her boyfriend and in the process nailed the cup full of hot chocolate. Let's just say she smelled like sour milk the rest of the night

a very unexpected surprise

i am the new proud owner of this beauty! my overly generous, and thoughtful friends mary and andrew went on a little trip to my favorite store williams-sonoma to get a few things AND purchase me a gift...a gift that they knew i would absolutely die over. i don't own a single item from this dream of a company, and they were the first ones to provide me with my first le creuset oval dutch oven. why they would do this, i can only say that these people are self-less, giving, and loving friends. i can't thank you guys enough!

pomodori gratinati

i honestly had so much fun recording my first podcast. i could really get used to this!

(click on the title which will lead you to the audio file. this is the rough draft. music will be added later for the final touch)