Today I made my favorite SNICKERDOODLES! I feel like I haven’t baked in forever so this was the perfect thing for me to do before church on this rainy Sunday morning.
The recipe is my friends Maria’s from Two Peas & their Pod and it is a game changer. Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I am wanting to bake/cook more so if anyone has a favorite recipe of theirs be sure to share it with me!
Also, as you can see, I re-did my site a bit this weekend so let me know how you like it/if there any bugs!! ❤️
I always expect my life to calm/slow down. I think to myself “There’s no way my life can get more hectic than this” yet each week proves that theory incorrect. Although I truly do enjoy everything I do, I am looking forward to a weekend without a calendared plan every hour of the day. Hopefully, that will come somewhat soon…
This weekend truly just FLEW by. I think that’s what being busy does. Before I know it, it’s Sunday evening and I am preparing for another week ahead of me.
To start out our weekend, on Friday, one of my greatest friends Maryanne got engaged! Watching engagements are always so special to me and I am so THRILLED that she and Jeff found each other. And how stunning is that ring?! March 18th can’t come sooner!
I was on a constant adventure all weekend long to gather 60 pumpkins for a work event I have this week. Let me tell you, it is quite difficult to find a clean, white, perfectly shaped pumpkin haha! I spent a couple hours this evening cleaning them off with steel wool so hopefully they’ll all work. Only 10 more to gather before Tuesday! Anywhere you think I should look?
We also began a weeklong babysitting job Saturday morning. The house we are staying at has the most INCREDIBLE Halloween decorations! I need to step up my game big time.
Also, am I the only one that loves getting holiday decorations the day AFTER the holiday? Everything is on sale haha! However, it is so difficult for me to wait a year to use the decorations ?
While Will went to the U game on Saturday night I decided to double up our babysitting duties. Wait, actually, I tripled them. So yes.. that was fun ?
The majority of Sunday was spent preparing my Relief Society lesson. It was on being perfectly honest which is always a wonderful reminder.
I feel like as soon as my lesson is over my weekend truly “begins”. Which is at 4pm on Sunday haha.
We had Eliza and Lu over for dinner since Eliza has her baby TOMORROW!!!! I can’t believe I am going to have another niece so soon. So if you think I am annoying now, I can’t promise I’ll be any better come Monday.
We are still soaking up the warm(ish) days and evenings over here. Fall seriously is one of the most magical times of the year! Hikes, football, pumpkin flavored everything and changing leaves.. what more could you ever ask for?
After my walk with Will tonight I can’t wait to finish the book I am reading (Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. SO good!).
Conference weekend is always one of the best weekends.
It was a time I was able to spend with my family down in St. George and enjoy a much needed relaxing couple of days.
On our way down to Provo we stopped by CHOM Burger and loved it! It was definitely similar to Shake Shack which is exactly what Utah has been needing.
Saturday morning I joined Will for a couple holes of golf and then ran a couple miles of the St. George marathon with my friend, Mary. She killed it! IF I ever do another marathon I definitely want to do St. George. It is an incredibly beautiful course.. however, I still need a couple years to recover 😉
The rest of the weekend was spent reading, hiking, watching conference, eating Chicago Mix popcorn and enjoying the last couple days of warm weather.
When we arrived home on Sunday evening, Will and I decided to take my two little brothers on a short hike. We drove up to Neff’s canyon but right when we got there the skies become immediately dark and stormy. We still went up anyways because we wanted to do the rope swing but on our way down we could hardly see a thing. However, it was so incredible to see all the lightning from up above the valley. Luckily we got in the car right before the HUGE storm came.
I must admit. I am a sucker for a good Fall thunderstorm.
Hope everyone has a good start to their week! Remember to smile and be positive no matter what life is throwing at you these days. That’s all I am trying to do at least.
On Sunday Will and I drove up the canyon to see the SNOW! Yes! Snow… In September! I have mixed emotions about it. Most of it has melted already since it’s been a warmer week but it was so fun to see the snow mixed with the fall leaves in the mountains.
Quite the sight to see, huh?
Fall for me has been filled with many things. Here are some things that we’ve been up to…
Utah Football games! That game against USC last Friday? Best ever.
Events for work.
Breakfast dates with Lu.
Teaching dance every Monday.
Babysitting the babies every Thursday.
Trying new restaurants for Utah Grubs
Figuring out life (but really… life decisions are always so scary)
Olympus Football games (Will’s littler brother, Jake, plays! So fun to watch him)
Canyon drives
HOT COCOA
Soaking up the warmer nights before Fall comes
Currently reading: Harry Potter 6 and Truly Madly Guilty.
Last Saturday we went with Lu and Eliza out to Cubby’s to try their new breakfast menu! It was delicious! Lu was a little “hangry” driving to the restaurant. But the second we sat down and started eating she went around kissing and hugging all of us. Food makes her happy. She is definitely a Diederich.
She preferred the mac n’ cheese ?
Will and I also went to try Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limade lat week! So delicious. If you are in SLC, go try it! We loved the HOSS.
I also took pictures for Jensen’s group for homecoming on Saturday evening. Everyone looked so beautiful!
I baked my friend some cookies since she just had a baby. I found this card at New Orientation in Foothill Village. They have the BEST selection of cards (rifle paper etc.).
No one better.
I have had my fair share of rough days this last month so one day after work Will surprised me with a sushi, golfing and red mango date. Hitting a bucket of balls really is quite freeing and my swing is getting (somewhat) less frightening.
While we were golfing this storm started rolling in. I loved the sun shining through the clouds. The perfect reminder that there is always a silver lining amongst EVERYTHING.
Coldplay was the BEST EVER! Hands down they are my favorite band to see live. Their concert is somethin’ else.
Levain cookies in the 801? Yes, please! Thank you Abby!!! ❤️
Quite the random deposit of photos. But memories nonetheless.
Here’s to hoping that winter will hold its horses.
In July, I helped plan a retreat for Albion Fit which was hands down THE most stressful thing I’ve ever done/planned! I’ve been meaning to post these pictures from the retreat for FOREVER (since July 10th to be exact) but it’s better late than never, right?
Soulstice was held up at Stein Eriksen (you might remember my snapchats from it.. I mean this was so long ago it was PRE Instagram story days ?) and was four days filled with various workshops, exercise classes, lectures, relaxing by the pool, hikes and MORE!
Even though it was a weekend full of running around like crazy, sleepless nights and endless stress I LOVED being apart of the madness.
When guests checked into the retreat they received a backpacks filled with swag from all of the sponsors. I would come to Soulstice just to get this swag bag! ?
Before our Garden Party on the first night, guests were able to get their hair done by H2Blow and their makeup done by Bobbi Brown.
Will was my plus one to the Garden Party and it was theeee best to be able to see him during all the craziness.
The vision/goal for the Garden Party on the first evening was “Pinterest Goals”. I believe we succeeded at that.
That board above is filled with necklaces for guests with their initial to grab as they came into the party. Prettiest display done by our design team!
Oh Park City.. you have my heart ?
Friday morning the classes and workshops began bright and early!
Throughout the rest of the weekend there was floral arranging, chocolate taste testing, High Fitness, TRX, pilates, yoga, oil painting, book club, aerial yoga, a salt scrub workshop, dance party, photography workshop, pool time, pop-up shops, popsicles, hikes and much more.
I was able to go try SUP yoga in the crater on Saturday morning and loved it. The water was super warm and honestly, quite soothing. It was harder than I expected but I found it a neat experience all around. If you are ever in Heber go try it!
There were some good spills ?
My cute mom came up for the High Fitness class. Isn’t she the best?!
Changing Lanes Band = best band ever!! I’m obsessed with them.
Didn’t it look amazing?! Overall it was the best weekend filled with strangers that have now become my friends + memories that will last a lifetime.
It’s obviously not the hugest deal in the world but I forgot to post the rest of our California pictures!!! Even though it was over a month ago.. well… I mentioned I would do a post about where we ate so after I received some emails from people wanting to know I decided it was necessary to post the rest!
SO here is our list of where we indulged this time around—
After’s Ice Cream (pictured above) ORDER THE MILK & CEREAL ICE CREAM!! You won’t regret it.
Mi Ranchito in Newport. Always one of our favorites.
Sidecar donuts
Hopdoddy at Fashion Island. BEST burgers.
Pressed Juicery– I am the only one in my family that likes Pressed. But I REALLY love it. I just get the classic almond flavor with almond butter and chocolate chips. It’s definitely more on the healthy side but I find it extremely refreshing!
Rose’s Bakery (duh). That Lucio burrito has my whole ?
Pelican Hill for ice cream. Just go valet your car and walk around! Beautiful grounds.
Eat Chow– super fresh and tasty! We all loved everything we ordered. Especially the mac n’ cheese!
Cafe Gratitude
Have you noticed that Jensen is the comic of our family yet???
Ew. I could eat her.
Excuuuuuuuse me?
“Lu, how big are you?”
“DIS BIGGGG!!!!!”
While we were in Newport we had Lu model some outfits to use for Albion Fit. It was theeeeeee cutest! I seriously do just want to squeeze her all day everyday. And who else wants that maroon matching sweat jumpsuit in adult size?! Me.
I am one of those avid bucket-listers. I have one, look at it frequently, and honestly want to complete every single thing on it.
And #25 on it: FULL MARATHON.
Which is something I have actually dreamed of my entire life.
I vividly remember when I first got into running. It was the summer before my senior year of high school while Will was on his Senior Trip. I was bored so I decided to go on a jog to the paint store and paint my room while he was gone (bored? clearly).
I told my mom to meet me at Sherman Williams in 45 minutes which was approximately 2 miles away from our house. In my mind it was super far away and I didn’t know if I would even make it there. I remember walking into the paint store and feeling SO proud and accomplished that I actually ran there… from my house!!
Perspective is funny like that. Looking back, it’s easy to laugh at a mere 2 miles. But to me, that was so far. That 2 miles gradually turned into 4, then 6, then a couple half marathons and then I was hooked! I began to really love running.
I have been thinking for some time that there was no better time in my life than now to train for a marathon. I don’t have kids yet so I have (somewhat) free Saturday mornings, I live in Utah which is a beautiful training terrain, and my two best friends still live here and have always wanted run a marathon too.
The three of us signed up for the Revel marathon mid-May and were in shock for about a week that we actually paid $100 to put ourselves through this seemingly torturous task ahead.
But we were determined to do this thing.
We endured countless 5:30am Saturday wake up calls for our long runs and followed the Nike 18 week training plan. Karli was training in San Fransisco so we started an Instagram account to document where our runs were all over the place which was so fun to see!
I completed almost all the scheduled training runs, bought several new pairs of new running shoes, held off sugar for a week prior to the race, carb loaded and read almost every marathon article out there to hopefully feel more prepared.
But to be honest, nothing could have fully prepared me for my first marathon.
My stomach was in knots all week long. If someone asked me about the race I instantly got butterflies and then felt sick to my stomach.
I was already laying in bed WIDE AWAKE when my alarm went off at 4:20 am on Saturday morning. Taylor picked me up and we were on the buses heading up to Guardsmans Pass by 5am. The race didn’t start until 6:45 am so we huddled around in blankets at the top waiting for it to begin.
Once it started, my nerves still wouldn’t go away. I found myself in the bathroom the first couple miles and then dealt with a side ache for several miles after that. I felt great through miles 10-20 and then BAM.. it hit me around mile 22 that this was going to be a beast to finish.
My dad jumped in with me at mile 20 and was encouraging me the entire time. He kept saying “You are doing so great! Just keep shuffling your feet.” I kept saying thank you but in my mind I was thinking “Seriously?! I can’t do this. There’s no way I can endure 4 more miles of this.” and I could feel myself shutting down.
But then I came to a point where I could see the whole Salt Lake valley as we dropped into Fort Union. I started to get emotional.
I kept thinking about how hard I trained for this and how I am NOT a quitter. I thought about how I can do anything for 30 minutes and how this has always been a dream of mine. I thought about pain and about how my current pain was nothing compared to what other people endure on a daily basis.
So I just pushed all the negative thoughts out of my mind and was determined to just keep going. My dad grabbed a cup of ice cold water at mile 25 and threw it in my face as a joke which made me laugh and realize it would be over so soon so I just needed to enjoy it.
Crossing the finish line was unreal. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions but mostly just wanted to go lay under a tree to try and get my heart rate down. At that point, I almost felt too tired to cry.
(Also, please care about Jensen running through the finish line handing me a Diet Coke?? ?)
I got emotional when I hugged my family members that were there to support me. I honestly couldn’t have done it without them. Especially my Dad.
My mom caught this on snapchat lol. True love right here.
Will made this poster for us.. #skills.
I will forever be so proud of us. It wasn’t easy (and I can’t say I am dying to sign up for another one any time soon) but WE DID IT!!
Now if you see in public walking around like a robot.. you’ll know why.
I’ve never been to Texas before (besides on a layover coming home from Africa) and I LOVED my time down South. I really wanted to come home with a Southern accent… which didn’t happen but I still think it’s okay if I say y’all every once in awhile ?
Our first stop was SAN ANTONIO where we stayed with my college roommate Brooke and her cute fam! Her husband is going to medical school there so they’ve been down there for 2 years now. For lunch on Friday we ate at the CUTEST little bakery called Lorraine. Everything in there was exactly my taste (both the design and the food).
That evening we stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens and Pearl Street.
We ate at La Gloria for dinner (where I had the BEST cheese dish of my life) and then had Lick for dessert. They had the most interesting flavors there! Like rosemary, goat cheese etc… Will and I went with Texas Sheetcake. I will ALWAYS choose chocolatey over fruity when it comes to ice cream. And basically with every other food in life.
Saturday morning we were off to AUSTIN! My cousin Rachel is living there and I’m serious when I tell you it is now one of my all time FAVORITE cities. It had great food, fantastic signage everywhere, so many unique activities to do and MORE.
Rachel’s boyfriend Kellam is from Austin so he showed us the ropes! We went to Irene’s for breakfast (best avocado toast ever..wow), the graffiti park, Zilker Park, Barton Springs, South Congress, Black’s BBQ for lunch, the Co-op on campus, the famous walls (which I loved obviously), Matt’s for dinner, Gordough’s for donuts and 6th street to see all the craziness going on. And on Sunday morning we went to Paperboy for breakfast which was super good as well. I just love all their food trucks! And vibes in general to be honest.
Barton Springs was AMAZING ^
After Austin we headed to HOUSTON! Our friends Sam and Emily are living in The Woodlands… we have missed them so much! They came and spent the day in Austin with us as well which was super fun to all be together.
I could drive around those houses in the Woodlands all day long. They are seriously incredible.
I had to document my WALK on Monday morning. I am not normally a huge sweater but this Texas heat and humidity was NO joke. Especially in Houston! I went on a walk and started laughing because I was immediately dripping sweat out of every single pore. When I got back Will asked if I went swimming ?
Before our flight left on Monday, we went into Houston to see the city (aka the huge malls), look around at MORE pretty homes around Rice University, and of course got our SPRINKLES fix. Order the carrot cake cupcake w/ vanilla bean ice cream next time you go and you will be happy forever.
3 stops seeing 7 of our favorite people was the absolute BEST! Definitely a trip we will remember and cherish forever.
Yep I just realized I haven’t uploaded the rest of my California pictures.. WHAT IS MY LIFE.
Here are some from our day at DISNEY! It was Luella’s first Disneyland trip and I swear, seeing Disney for the first time through a kids eyes is the SWEETEST thing ever!
Let’s just keep on scrollin..
I ran into cute Hailey randomly in an alley while I was waiting for my sis to go the bathroom. BEST SURPRISE EVER! She’s one of the greatest humans alive, I’ll tell you that. Some people just make you instantly happy and she is one of those gals.
I can never go to Disney without stopping at Pooh’s corner. Their desserts trump all!
MY CREW!!!
Couldn’t be happier to have all of us together.
That smile… I could EAT her.
When you leave the park with sore feet, full tummies, a sugar high and a happy child you know it was a SUCCESSFUL day. I love Disney more and more everytime I go. Now I just need to invest in some real Minnie ears for next time….
Here is my favorite recent read that I HIGHLY recommend.
At the Soulstice Retreat that I helped plan for my work, and any guests that signed up for Book Club were asked to read this book. All of the guests raved to me at the retreat about how wonderful the book was so I couldn’t wait to get around to reading it.
In California, Will and I traded off diving our noses into it and I honestly couldn’t seem to set it down. Dr. Kalanithi is truly one of the most talented authors I have ever read from.
Here are two quotes I loved….
“That message is simple: When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”
-Paul Kalanithi
“There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living. We are never so wise as when we live in this moment.”
-Paul Kalanithi
This book made me truly realize how precious life is. Any second, something can happen to your body that can become irreversible and detrimental to your overall health. To take it for granted even for one second seems like a second wasted.
The other thing I got out of this book was an eye-opening realization of what the life of a doctor is truly like. It is HARD yet rewarding. It is expensive yet priceless. It is grueling yet amazing.
I will be honest- I have been apprehensive at times about Will pursuing a career in medicine. I am worried about those long durations apart, obviously worried about the debt and worried about the stress Will will encounter on a daily basis. However, the fact he will be in a position that will help save or accompany someone in dire need seems like a rewarding career to me.
Will definitely loves his job where he currently is right now. There are days where he truly does consider staying there and pursuing a career in a completely different industry. However, only time will tell where we will end up. And until then, “we are never so wise as when we live in this moment”.
On Friday, Will picked me up from work and we went to eat at EVA downtown SLC. It is a quaint little restaurant that serves tapas and we left more than satisfied. We ordered the pea and spinach gnocchi, meat and cheese board, steak and the brussels sprouts! Then we went to the Olympus game to watch Will’s little brother Jake play in their first season game! I don’t think I will ever outgrow high school sports. Is that bad? Haha!
On Saturday Will told me to be ready at our house by 8am. I was supposed to run 16 miles for my marathon training but figured this was the perfect excuse NOT to run 16 miles ?. I am really starting to get burnt out from running… which is not good because I have the biggest race of my life creeping up real fast ah. Oh well, I might not be able to walk ever again after the race but we’re chillin.
Anyways, that morning he drove me to Rich’s bagels (my fave) and when I walked in, my whole family was there to surprise me! It was 8am in the morning so as tired as they all were, I was so happy they came to surprise me! Then we drove up to Secret Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon and walked around the lake all together. It was beyond pretty! If you are in Utah, you need to go up there. It’s dreamy.
On Sunday I woke up and Will had flowers, Diet Coke and donuts for me (because what else would I ever want on my birthday?!) and then we went to a two sacrament meetings, had a combined family dinner, (Will’s mom made all my favorite foods!). walked down to visit my grandparents and ended the night watching Broadchurch on Netflix.
It was a simple birthday but I loved seeing my family, spending time with Will and obviously eating as much sugar as I wanted!
