new mexican sky

We have been back in the heat of Utah for two days now, after a gloriously cool, and by that I mean temperature, time in New Mexico at my parents' house. I'm not even sure if it got above 80 degrees in Los Alamos the whole time we were there. So lovely! Unfortunately, the heat here now feels even worse than before we left! I will post about our various adventures down south in the coming days. But for now, I will give you look at New Mexico's glorious skies. Enjoy.

Taken from the car window on the drive from Santa Fe to Los Alamos. Right now is monsoon season in New Mexico, so every afternoon there is a thunderstorm like this one.

A view from the deck in my parents' backyard. I can't resist looking up in the trees like this.

A view from Overlook Point in White Rock, NM.

From the trail in Bandelier National Park.

Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.

Morphy Lake where we went camping.

a girl after my own heart

We are on the road again headed back to Utah from New Mexico. I will have lots to post about, but in the mean time, here are a few photos to make you smile.

Grace perusing the J.Crew catolog cover to cover.

I say it's never too young to teach a girl good taste.

fun with clippers

My little brother Nick, age 15, let his friend dye his normally brownish hair a sickly yellow blonde. The incident occurred while my mom and sisters were in Utah last week. To show you just how hideous his hair looks this color here is a picture taken a few days ago after we arrived in New Mexico.

We all wanted to just buzz his head, but then decided we may as well have a little fun. So we did this.


And ended up with this.

It's still yellow, but at least it's not bushy anymore. Way to sport the mohawk, Nick!

***If you'd still like to weigh in on my next hair cut, scroll down.***

to cut or not to cut?

Ok, folks. It's that time again when I am totally sick of my hair. I need a haircut before I go back to North Carolina and I want to change it up a little. All summer I have been contemplating the bang. As in cutting bangs again. A few years ago I did the long sideswept thing for awhile. But for the past year or so I have been sick of bangs and mine have been grown out to below the chin, blended in with my long layers. Now I am thinking I want to go all the way and do the straight across look. What do you think? Being a round-faced girl I have combed the internet for other round facers and decided I like Mandy Moore's hair the best.

Seen here (please ignore Jessica) they are kinda long. I would cut them a tad shorter to start.



I also like Kirsten Dunst's here:


And here are a few other celebrity bangs:



I figure bangs are a way to change my hair without cutting it short which i really don't want to do right now. I also really love my friend Tracy's bangs (i hope you don't mind i swiped this off your blog):



So what do you all think? Give me your opinions!!! Here is a recent picture of me to help you out. Pretty much I don't do my hair anymore. I just let it air dry, but with a new style (and no kids this fall) I think I will be ready to put some effort back into it again.

this and that

My mom and sisters have been in town, so we've been treated to fun things like visits to the Hogle Zoo and Lagoon. Plus we've had a few get togethers with family. Here's a little look at what we've been doing the past few days.

Saturday

A Lewis (my mom's side) family party at my grandparents, homemade rootbeer included.

Sunday

Jared's mom and brother came over for a birthday dinner and key lime pie.


Monday

We got up early and headed to the Zoo!







Monday night Jared and I went out for some yummy sushi at Happy Sumo... SO good!


Tuesday

Off to Lagoon!











Friday we are off to New Mexico for some more time with my family and a little camping thrown in. Hopefully I'll get a little blogging done while I'm there, but if not, see ya when we get back!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!!!

To my devastatingly handsome and superbly kind husband,

Happy 30th Birthday, dearest! I know it's hard to believe you actually have a 3 to start your age now, but you still look 25! I guess that's why you had to marry someone 5.5 years younger than you! And while we're on the subject, I will take this opportunity to wish myself a Happy Half Birthday! Six more months of 24! But getting back to you, I'm so happy that we are together for your 30th birthday! And I'm so happy that it was one year ago today that we spoke for the first time. And even happier that we've spoken everyday since then. What a year it has been!

Remember our first kiss (and all subsequent ones)? I really like kissing you.


Remember all the fabulous meals you've cooked me? Yum!


Remember when you came to New Mexico for Thanksgiving and gave me this and this? Thanks for that. :-)


Remember when we drove across the country together? That was long!


Remember when we moved all your many books into our new apartment? You have a lot of books!

And remember when we painted your house? I'm excited for the time when we paint a house we actually live in.



Remember Thursday night TV watching Smallville and Grey's Anatomy? I'm glad I got you to like Grey's nearly as much as me. Sorry I will never like Smallville as much as you do.

And remember when we got all dressed up and became man and wife? What a beautiful day that was!


Remember all the fun lunches we had while I worked at the Dental School? I'm so glad I got to see you during the day.

Remember flying to Utah together to spend the summer here with the kiddies? It has been quite the adventure so far.


Thank you for these and many, many more memories over the past year! It makes me so happy that we can make each other the happiest we've ever been. I'm excited for the next year and the next 50 and forever after that. I love who I am with you and who we are becoming together. I love every day and every minute we are together.

Thank you for your patience and kindness and loving service. Thank you for cooking yummy meals and doing dishes. Thank you for your hugs and your kisses and your compliments. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for changing my life.

I love you more, Jared.

Happy Birthday!

your love,

Katrina