Fun in the Kitchen: Shish Kebab

One of the best meals that my parents made when I lived at home was kebabs. I loved when the summer rolled around because I knew we would get to partake of the vegetable goodness home cooked on the grill outside. Since I moved to Utah, I haven't really had a grill or known what recipe my dad used. For our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, Karl and I decided to buy a little $25 grill at Walmart. That was the best decision we ever made. Seriously. It is now possible for us to make our own kebabs and let me tell you, they are uh-mazing.

Here's what you do:

-Pick up a bunch of veggies. Anything you want. We used green bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes (fruit, I know), and onions. Feel free to get creative. I think next time we'll use some zucchini from our garden.

-Pick a meat. We chose to do steak kebabs, but chicken works just as well.

-Chop up the vegetables and meat into the appropriate size for your skewers. See below.

-Put chopped veggies and meat into a large bowl and pour equal parts olive oil and red wine vinegar over its contents. You kind of just guess how much you want. We went a bit on the heavy side, but it was super delicious.

-Cover bowl and let marinade overnight.

-Next day before cooking, assemble veggies and meat on the skewer. The olive oil solidifies a bit in the fridge, so don't worry if the meat looks a bit greasy.

-Grill them up and enjoy!

We like our kebabs a bit charred. Especially the mushrooms. Yummmm.

Super easy, right? Just make sure not to go too crazy with the olive oil and red wine vinegar, or your kebabs will light on fire. Not that ours did or anything... Haha. These shish kebabs taste so so good. The red wine vinegar really adds something unique. What do you think? Are these something you'll try? Do you have any other good grill recipes that you're fond of?

Won't You (Not) Be My Neighbor?

Image Via

I woke up enraged at 5:15 this morning. Why, you may ask? Well, Karl and I have a neighbor problem. Our neighbors moved in about a month ago. Their house is very close to ours and they are chain smokers. They don't smoke in their house though. They smoke out their back door, which is five feet from our air conditioner in our bedroom.

Smoke has been billowing into our house almost nonstop lately, so Karl decided to talk to them about it. The neighbor he talked to seemed cool with it and said he'd keep us in mind when smoking. It got better for a bit. He made an effort to smoke farther away. Except now it's back again. At 5:15, I woke up feeling like my throat was on fire and my eyes were bloodshot. I looked out the window and there was the neighbor. Smoking just feet away from our bedroom.

I couldn't help it but become livid. It's one thing to smoke during the day, but who the freak smokes at 5:15AM?! I couldn't get back to sleep because I kept picturing my progressively blackening lungs and thinking about my grandmother who died of emphysema. Tons of ridiculous ides ran through my head as I was laying there. I was thinking things like, "Karl should tell them I'm pregnant," or "We should call the cops and tell them that the neighbors are doing drugs, in hopes that they are doing something illegal and will go to jail and leave us alone." So ridiculous. I know. 5AM Kristie is not the most rational.

I don't mind if people want to smoke. That's fine. But I do mind when my clothes start to smell like cigarettes and I can't sleep because of the second-hand smoke that's wafting into our bedroom. I'm at the point where if by the end of fall, when the AC is turned off, if we're still inhaling the smoke then we'll have to move. It's a total nightmare, because we really love the place where we live.

Have any of you had to deal with bad neighbors? How did you handle it? Do you have any advice or suggestions for us?

Why "You've lost weight!" Isn't Always a Compliment

So I love this post, and I felt like I really needed to share it today. Lady Smaggle is wise beyond her years and she's a total rockstar. I know you'll think so too. Feel free to head over to Smaggle and "follow" her. I love her unabashed honesty and her killer style.

"Everyone over at Already Pretty is all a flutter over this post about the phrase ‘real women have curves’. The curvy girls are cranky, the skinny minnies are shitty and all because bloody women won’t keep their fat mouths shut. I’m including myself in this statement and I think that all these body comments have to stop. I know that most people would never say anything intentionally upsetting but I think a lot of us aren’t realising how much damage we do with our comments about each others bodies.

I loathe being called curvy. I cringe when people say I am healthy. And don’t even start me on ‘lovely and tall!’. All I’m hearing is that I’m a fat, muscled, beef-cake, giant of a women. The three things that I hate the most about myself is my ability to store fat like a bear about to hibernate, my stupid muscles that don’t know the difference between ‘lean’ and ‘freaky body builder’ and the fact that at 5’8 I’m too tall for almost everyone I know to give me a piggyback. So hearing the whole curvy, healthy, tall spiel really makes me feel bad about myself despite the best intentions of the comment maker. It’s all my insecurities thinly disguised under a veil of political correctness. "

Go read the rest here. You won't be sorry.

Wednesday Pick Me Up: Blink 182

Here we are with another Wednesday! The week is half over and that is awesome! I mentioned on Monday, that I went to my friend's 90s themed birthday party. We listened to "Genie In A Bottle," " I Want It That Way," "Tearin' Up My Heart," "Spice Up Your Life," etc. It was a good night full of nostalgia. When I got home, I was telling Karl about it, when I thought of Blink 182's video for "All The Small Things," which is a complete spoof on the ridiculousness of the kind of videos that were popular in the 90s. Karl had never seen it, so of course I had to show him. Blink 182 is one of the best bands of the last couple of decades. Their music is so good! I was really excited when I heard they got back together. Win for the world. Not only is their music great, it's also flat out funny. I seriously laugh so hard at some of their videos and songs. "All The Small Things" is no exception. See for yourself:



Call me 5 years old, but I just love the wind, toilet paper scene. So good. I hope this helps get you through the day! Good luck getting the song out of your head!

Kitten!

This post may make me sound dangerously close to becoming a cat lady, but I'm married, and I only have one cat, and she's just adorable so I don't even care.

This is Kitten. You might remember her from here and here. She's pretty adorable. These are my favorite things about her:

-Karl sometimes calls her "Swine Baby" or "Rat Baby."

-I sometimes call her "Clown Baby." 10 points to whoever gets this reference.

-She loves to play, "fetch." It's the cutest thing ever. Except when brings her toy on the bed and drops it on our faces while we sleep.

-She cannot catch a bug, but loves to attack random, non-moving pieces of carpet.

-When we come home, she's waiting for us at the front door. We always greet her by saying, "Kitten!" and she responds by meowing. Always.

-She has a giant, fluffy raccoon tail.

-Kitten likes to hang out in the empty washing machine and on top of the newly washed and dried clothes in the dryer. We may have to wash our clothes all over again, but it's still cute.

-At night when she's all settled down, she loves to come and cuddle up on her own pillow by our heads. It's pretty adorable.

-Sometimes when Kitten spots something moving that she wants to attack, she does a kind of slow motion jump where she goes really high. It's the weirdest thing.

-She purrs constantly. Even when Karl tortures her by wrapping her up in a blanket and sticking it in the laundry bin, just to see if she can get out. Don't worry, she always does.

There are more things, but even I think I'm starting to sound insane. Haha. We just love Kitten here. We're not quite ready for kids, so for now she is completing our little family. :) Are you a cat person or a dog person? What's your favorite pet you've ever had?

Our Weekend Adventures

Hello friends! How was your weekend? Mine was really nice actually. Here's what I did:

-I went to my friend, Brooke's 90s themed birthday party. It was complete with 90s boy band music, Lisa Frank decorations, boondoggle making, and a costume contest. Guess who won?! Ya, now I'm the proud owner of a My Little Pony prize. What, what!!!

-Karl and I started to watch Man vs. Food. It's simultaneously craving and vomit inducing.

-We did the church thing on Sunday, which I really needed. We also got our recommends to be able to get sealed this Saturday! So excited! For those of you who don't know, the sealing ceremony is done within the Mormon temples and it binds a family together, not just "Til death do you part," but for eternity. It's very sacred and very important to us.

-Karl, Lara (Karl's sister), and I went swimming and then out for snowies. It made for the perfect Sunday afternoon and Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day is celebrated in Utah and honors the day when the Mormon Pioneers reached the Salt Lake Valley. This means we get fireworks twice in July, which is just awesome.

-Karl made us some delicious steaks and his mom and niece came for a visit overnight.

The weekend felt incredibly short, but it was still very nice. Did you do anything exciting?

Wednesday Pick Me Up (Okay, Friday Pick Me Up)

I know I'm a little late on this post, but on Wednesday I wasn't really feeling writing about music, and I don't write about any old song or band. I only feature bands or songs that really mean something to me that day/moment/week. Well today I am really feeling Motion City Soundtrack. If you haven't heard of them, go listen to "The Future Freaks Me Out" right now (featured below) because that song is epic. I've loved MCS since high school. They were my second favorite band, only after Something Corporate. So many of my fondest memories are linked with Motion City Soundtrack songs. Night drives with my best friend, rocking out with my little sister, the concert we went to when my cell phone got crushed in the mosh pit, Warped Tour with my besties, etc. Motion City Soundtrack is still around and still making incredible music and I'm still making memories with their music..

There's not a single song on any of their albums I don't like. I love how the band isn't afraid to have fun. I love that their music is relevant and always has something important to say. My favorite album is Commit This to Memory, because it was the first album I was exposed to by them. If you're going to buy one album, I say buy that one. Good luck only buying one of their albums though. I know I'm rambling on and on about them, so I'm going to go ahead and show two videos to you. Both songs are close to my heart and both videos are incredibly hilarious. Enjoy!





Perfect for a Friday, amiright? Have a good weekend! Peace out playas!

"Back to school, back to school."

Source: unhappyhipsters.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Guys, a big change will be happening a month from now. I decided when I quit my job, that I was going to take a few months off and then find another job. Sometimes things don't work out like you want them to. I applied for a few jobs. I interviewed and interviewed again, but to no avail. This whole time I've been having this nagging feeling that I need to go back to school, so that's what I'm doing. I'm abandoning the job search and taking on a full course load of 17 credit hours. Ya, I know that makes me insane. The most I've ever taken is 14, though I did work 30 hours a week. This semester will definitely be ambitious, but I know I can do it.

I was also granted work study, which, for those of you who don't know, is a need-based program where I get to work for the school. They cap the amount you can make in each semester and once you've reached that amount, they can choose to hire you permanently or let you go. I'm really excited about this. Work Study will be so great for me, especially because the supervisors understand school comes first and will work around your schedule.

In addition to work study, I also received a couple of grants and loans. I am so excited. I've never ever received a grant and I've never ever had this much ease in trying to go to school. All of this financial aid is a huge blessing.

Karl is also going to school and taking 10 credit hours (in addition to working 50 hour weeks). He's a crazy man, but I admire his ambition. We're taking two classes together, so I'm really excited about that. It'll make things a lot easier.

I know what you're thinking. "That's all fine and dandy, but 17 credit hours?!" Ya. I know. To be fair though, I'm taking really cool classes. I'm taking Interior Design, English 2010, Film (with Karl), Political Science online (also with Karl), a required computer class, and Yoga (to maintain my sanity). I checked out the teachers and made sure I got the best. I'm really excited for the classes I'm taking.

I'm happy to be going back to school. I'm even more excited for back to school shopping. I can't wait to buy new notebooks, Pilot G2 pens, mechanical pencils, and a first day of school outfit. I can't wait to peruse my new used books and get excited about something again. I know there's a reason for everything and I can't help but be grateful that I wasn't chosen for those bank jobs I applied for. I'm going back to school and giving it all I've got. A year from now, I'll transfer from Salt Lake Community College to The University of Utah with an Associate's Degree in general studies. I'm still a long way from my Bachelor's degree, but I'm putting in the work and I can't wait to get to The U. Wish me luck as I'm heading back to school for the first time in almost two years. I'm definitely going to need it! Now if only I could have that workspace pictured above. I think I'd be really excited for school.

And now, just because I can:


I can't put that up without this one. I just can't.


 Haha, I hope you enjoyed that. I know I did.What about you, lovelies? Did you go to college? Where did you graduate from? Do you feel like your college education is/was worth it?

What are your fears/phobias?

This guy probably is seeing a giant spider crawling across deck.

I have something to admit. I suffer from full blown arachnophobia (the fear of spiders) and entomophobia (the fear of insects). I used to have a pretty normal reaction to seeing bugs. I got creeped out, but I'd eventually be able to go back to what I was doing whether it be sleeping, reading in bed, or watching TV. Now that is not the case. I tend to fixate on the creepy crawly.

Two days ago, I was being lazy in bed during the morning and I saw a big old spider crawl onto Karl's pillow. I freaked out. As a result, last night I couldn't sleep until 3AM because I kept imagining spiders crawling on me. A couple of weeks ago, we found a couple of earwigs in the bedroom. Again. No sleeping for me.

Tonight, while doing our nightly bug check before bed, I found a spider down in between the wall and our bed. Karl killed it, but I still couldn't sleep for most of the night. Eventually I fell asleep for about a 1/2 hour, but I had to wake up to go to the bathroom. When I came back to bed, I laid down and soon felt the familiar sensation of tiny legs on my skin. I've been imagining this a lot lately, so I've taken to actually looking to see if something is there and alas! It was a long thin bug scuttling across my arm. I didn't really have time to see what it was before I jumped out of bed, did the "get it off me!!!!" dance, and started to have a full blown panic attack, complete with crying. Karl tossed the bed and didn't find anything except an earwig on the door a couple of feet away. I'm not entirely convinced it was an earwig. It seemed longer than that, but I don't know. At this point, I've abandoned all hope of sleep. It's 4:38AM and I'm so exhausted, but there's no way I'm getting back in that bed.

I feel really hopeless. There's nothing that I want more right now than to be able to sleep, but I just can't if there's even a chance that some insect/spider will crawl on me. I hate the feeling of the tiny legs. I hate that spiders can bite me (which I think one did the other night). I hate that earwigs have really, truly been known to crawl into people's ears at night. I've always had these fears, but they were manageable. Now they are full blown, anxiety-causing phobias.

Karl doesn't really know what to do about it either. Of course he wants to be up comforting me, but he has to be at work by 7AM, so that's kind of out of the question. He thinks my fear is irrational, which it is, but he has no way of helping me and that's frustrating for both of us.

Well. Now I've said it. Do any of you have this same problem? How do you sleep after you've seen a spider in your bedroom? Do any of you have irrational fears or phobias?

F.Y.I. I just tried to google a picture of a spider for this post, but just looking at the thumbnails had me hyperventilating and shuddering. This is a problem.

How To: Have an Inexpensive Anniversary

On July 17th 2010 we were married. One whole year already!

Well, my first anniversary came and went and it was really wonderful. As most of you know, I quit my job at the end of February, so Karl and I have been operating on a pretty strict budget. We would have loved to take a trip to Oregon or even Bear Lake, but the funds just weren't there. We gave ourselves about a $100 budget and did what we could with that. At first we felt a little restricted by our budget, but in the end, Saturday was such a perfect day. I thought I'd share with you all my ideas for an inexpensive, but fun filled anniversary.

1. Find something going on in your town. Here in Salt Lake, there's something going on every weekend that's usually really cheap or really free. Karl and I spent the morning at the farmer's market where we got some lunch for about $10. It's nice just to walk around and see local art and listen to the street musicians.

2. Go to a matinee. We booked our tickets to Harry Potter 7 a few weeks ago and decided to make it a matinee for cheaper. I think we paid $6 each plus a $2 service charge for our tickets. Not too bad. When the movie's over, you might feel like it should be dark outside already, but whatev. It's a small price to pay for an inexpensive day.

3. Skip going out for dinner. Make something unusual at home together. We went to Walmart to buy a little $25 grill and picked up some really nice steaks for like, $20 at Costco. Most of you already have grills I'm sure, so you can nix that expense there, we just had been meaning to buy one for a while. Either way, it was really nice to have a luxury dinner at home. TIP: You can buy some candles and candle holders at the dollar store to make it extra romantic.

4. Buy something both of you will love. I know this sounds nerdy, but Karl and I really love having new pillows. I always just used old lumpy pillows when I was a kid, so when I got my own place, I discovered the magic of the "Extra Firm Pillow for Side Sleepers." Best thing ever. Karl and I made a trip to Target and bought 4 new pillows for $20. It made for the most wonderful sleep.

5. Wash all of your bedding the day before. I also love having fresh, clean sheets. Who doesn't? I know this seems pretty menial, but it's another way of making the day feel special and making you feel warm all over when you slip under those sheets.

6. Have dessert. Karl and I knew we would be full from dinner for a while, so we treated ourselves to a bag of assorted Lindt truffles for $5. I prefer dark, he prefers milk chocolate. It was the perfect little decadent treat.You can also decorate cupcakes together or make ice cream sundaes. The sky is the limit.

7. Skip the gift. Karl and I agreed to not exchange gifts, but to just enjoy each other's company and exchange what's in our hearts and how this past year of marriage has changed us for the better. This was the best. It's interesting to see how much you can change in a year and how much your love can grow. That being said, Karl has been hiding away money and did get me a gift without me knowing. I don't know what he spent, but it wasn't from our anniversary budget.

8. Guys- You don't have to buy a huge, expensive bouquet from a florist. Go to a grocery store, and buy two or three bouquets of flowers there and arrange them in a vase you already have at home. Karl is so good at this. This year he brought me bright pink peonies (which I love), and interspersed daisies and white carnations throughout the bouquet. It was beautiful and meant so much more than a flowers some florist picked out and arranged. I'm guessing he spent around $10 total. Win.

9. Go for a night drive with the windows down and "your song" playing. We didn't do this but it's a great idea. Sometimes we drive up to the top of a mountain and get out of the car and slow dance while overlooking the valley. It may sound cheesy, but it's really so romantic. We did listen to the mix we made for our wedding though. Very nostalgic.

10. Insert anniversary appropriate activity here. Anything you want. Anything at all... ;)

In the end, our total came to about $100, plus or minus a strawberry lemonade to bring into the movie theater with us (Yeah, they let you do that at some Utah theaters). I feel really good about sticking within our budget and having a really great day where we could do things according to our own pace. I hope these ideas help out with your anniversary and/or special date.

Also, I know a lot of you are new around here, and don't know all the work we put into the wedding, so I'm posting a bunch of photos from my wedding day on my other blog. Feel free to check them out and tell me what you loved most!

Signing Off

Hey guys! I didn't post yesterday, and I know that's lame, but I'm finding myself wanting to be outside and doing fun summer things. It's also my one year anniversary this weekend, so I'm going to go ahead and sign out for the week now. I hope you all have a great weekend!

 I don't even know why I picked this picture. I look completely insane. For the record, we were building a fire in the canyon, so it made sense for me to have an ax. Haha. I'm so weird.

HP7P2

Lara and I are total dorks and totally in love with HP. I love us.

What are Karl and I doing for our first anniversary this Saturday? Going to see a matinee of HP7 Part 2. Nerds much? YES. Excited much? ABSOLUTELY!

Our Weekend Adventures

Hello! First off, sorry to those of you who read the post I wrote over the weekend. It was meant to go on my running blog, so it probably didn't make a whole lot of sense here. Anyways, this weekend was on two extremes. It was really bad at first and really good at the end. I'm just going to focus on Saturday because it was glorious.

On Saturday morning, I got a text from our friends, Dixie and Dan asking if we wanted to go swimming. I hadn't been swimming in an especially long time, and Karl and I were kind of in bad moods, so I figured, why not? First, we stopped and grabbed some noodles and other pool accessories, then we headed over. I'm not going to lie, my best friends, Natalie and Dixie are very skinny girls. Before swimming I was really self conscious, despite the huge efforts I've been making to be healthier and renovate my body. After some negative thoughts and some telling myself to shut up, I just stopped caring. I mean, us girls have seen each other naked before (bff birthday skinny dipping) , so I don't know why I was so scared. I'm glad I overcame it, because swimming was so fun. It just felt good to be in the water with people we sincerely adore.

It also felt really good to get some sun. Karl and I usually go running at 5AM, so the sun is just barely coming out as we are finishing up. The afternoon sun was nice for a change, and don't worry mom, we used sunscreen. After swimming, we all grabbed a bite a Zupas, which was amazing, then Karl and I got snowies from African Ice. I got tiger's blood with ice cream on bottom and cream on top. Karl opted for peach with the same fixins. They were incredible. We wrapped up the day with going to the movies with Karl's sister/my bff Lara to see Green Lantern, which was actually pretty decent.

Overall, the weekend was really nice and I'm even a few shades darker (which I am so loving). What did you do on your weekend?

10 Links I'm Loving

Source: papertissue.tumblr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

It's another Friday and there has been a whole lot of awesomeness going on around the web this week. It's only right that I share my finds with all of you! I hope these gems help distract you while you're supposed to be working/studying/cleaning/doing yard work/(insert something tedious here).

1. An open letter to the inventor of cheese. Who better to write a letter to?!

2. Have you seen this Starbucks proposal yet? It's freaking adorable.

3. I'm really loving the look of faux wood wallpaper. Like a lot. I want all of these in my house.

4. I didn't really know what a twitter hashtag was until this week. Embarrassing. I really like this explanation.

5. I discovered these "Pick Your Nose" cups the other day. Best. Idea. Ever.

6. I want to try this so bad! Make adorable hair, using a sock. Awesome. (Just scroll down a bit)

7. Fat Mum Slim made her own donuts. I'm definitely planning on giving them a go next week.

8. I love Jordan's post on "What to Bring to Paris." I want to wear everything she picked. Gah. I want to go to Paris.

9. I'm a total sucker for anything lemon. These cookies look absolutely divine.

10. Get Yo' Nails Did! I may be way behind on this, but I'm loving these nail designs!

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Be safe and have fun!

Fun in the Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. A lot. If I were on death row, I'd request 3 warm chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk as my last meal. I actually love them in any form. I can't get enough of the dough. I also love to top them with ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. The worst thing that can happen to a chocolate chip cookie is to overcook it. It's a travesty to have a crunchy chocolate chip cookie.

A few years ago, I found a recipe titled, "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies." I had to try them out and I'm glad I did. They were super delicious. They weren't quite "perfect," however. Over the years, I've been slowly tweaking the recipe here and there, and I believe I now have come to the actual perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. The recipe goes a little something like this:

Ingredients
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 Cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg, 1 egg yolk
1 Cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 Cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
-Preheat oven to 325°F, grease cookie sheet
-In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
-In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended.
-Beat in vanilla and eggs until light and creamy.
-Mix in sifted ingredients until just blended.
-Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
-Bake for 12-13 min.
-Let cool on baking sheet for 5 min. before transferring to wire racks for cooling.

And there you have it! Be warned, this recipe is full to capacity with chocolate chips. If you like a little less chocolate, you might want to reduce the amount. I've received tons of compliments on these cookies, they never fail to disappear, especially when they're fresh out of the oven and I'm not watching Karl carefully enough. Haha. Enjoy these while they last!

Wednesday Pick Me Up

I can't believe I haven't told you about this yet, but I'm kind of in love with Katy Perry. I can't help it. One of my good friends gave me a copy of her first album and no lie, Karl and I listened to it jammed out to it in the car during our whole wedding day (Ya, even Karl loves her!). I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was so fun. Love her or hate her, there's no denying that her music is catchy, as is evident by the sheer number of times California Gurls was played last summer. To this day, I still can't listen to it because it was so overplayed. Haha. What I can listen to is "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" which is her newest single. I think I love this song not only for it's catchy tune, but for the absolutely hilarious video. Any video that has Corey Feldman, Kenny G, and Hanson is alright in my book. Plus, watching Katy Perry as an 80s nerd is pretty awesome.



See? It's impossible not to laugh! I hope this does an adequate job lifting your spirits on this Wednesday! Seacrest outtt!

Our Weekend Adventures: 4th of July, Part 2

This is Part 2 of what we did on the 4th of July. Be sure to check out Part 1 first! Now back into our holiday!

-After dinner, we went back to our house with Lara and lit some fireworks. Mainly just sparklers, fountains, and poppers. It was really fun until Lara threw a popper at Karl that exploded in his ear. Haha.
-We decided we needed more fireworks, so we went to a tent and bought a slew of fun ones.
-We walked to Liberty Park for their fireworks show which was the absolute worst fireworks show I've ever been to. I mean, I didn't expect a show like Boston's that lasts an hour, but the Liberty Park show went for literally three minutes.
-When we got home, we lit out own fireworks in the front yard. People driving by kept saying our show was better than Liberty Park's. Haha. Aerial fireworks are now legal in Utah, so we got a couple of those and it was awesome. I had never lit my own fireworks until yesterday!

Lighting/licking up in the back yard

My first firework!

I know it's blurry, but I love it on so many levels.

Matchy matchy

Lamest firework show of all time, but good company.

Sparklers are my fave.

And gentlemen, she's single.

Awww.

Really weird, but so awesome.

So obviously we had a really great time yesterday. I was all concerned a few days ago that we wouldn't have anything to do on the Fourth, but sometimes that's what works best. Spontaneity leads to the funnest nights. :) I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!