Magic Song: ROCKY RACOON

Going to Girls Camp this week.

Seems like this would be a good song to sing around the campfire,

though I kinda doubt my beehives are familiar with the tune.

It's guaranteed to be a wild week full of teenage girls, no bed, no cell phone service, no internets, and no husband.

Be strong, Holli. Beeeee Strrrroooonnnnngggg... *sigh*

Wish me luck.

sleep-talker episode III

I love waking up in the middle of the night to a "WATCH OUT!!!" and a long, flailing arm whacking me in the face...

No worries. It's just Jacob talking in his sleep again. LIKE HE DOES EVERY OTHER NIGHT.

Magic Song: HEART ATTACK

It is really unfortunate that I just found out about this guy two weeks after he performed in Salt Lake for the Twilight Concert Series. Like, it hurts to think about it. With his 60s/r&b/motown sound + a voice that sounds like one of the Temptations = this stuff just speaks to my soul.

"Heart Attack" is the catchy first track on Raphael Saadiq's most recent album, Stone Rollin'. But really, I don't think I've listened to one song of his that I don't like love.

*Huff!* Still hurts. Anybody got a flux capacitor handy?

Success Stories

Some of my success stories from my internship with LDS Employment Resource Services have finally been published on LdsJobs.org! I had a great experience talking with these people and writing their stories, and so I couldn't be more thrilled that they are finally being shared with the world.

THIS ARTICLE is about a refugee from Angola who started his own business in Johannesburg with the help of the Self-Employment Workshop offered by ERS.

THIS ARTICLE is about a student in Vancouver, British Columbia who used the skills he learned in the Career Workshop to get through a rigorous interview process for pharmacy school.

I have to say, after talking to so many people about their experiences with ERS and the workshops, I have a firm testimony that if we utilize the resources that have been generously provided for us, miracles can happen. Boom. 

Hopefully there will be more success stories published in the near future!

p.s.

I kinda gave my blog a little makeover. You like?

Waffle Truck GRAND OPENING!

Here's the new event poster I made for Waffle Love's grand opening...

As of this weekend, Provo will have a new waffle truck in town. Our friends at Waffle Love are unveiling their lovely food truck at the Provo Farmers Market this Saturday. By the way—if you haven't been to the Farmers Market, you need to go because it's kinda the best thing ever. It's probably one of my favorite things to do in the summer.

But back to my point—these are (no joke) the best waffles I have ever tasted. As I worked on this poster, I found myself salivating just at the thought of another waffle covered in biscoff and raspberries. Yuuuummm. Everyone in Provo should be very excited about this.

If you can't make it to the grand opening, be on the lookout for their waffle truck cruisin' around town!

Stewart Falls

 This is the prettiest little hike. 

We did it on a Saturday morning with some family, but decided to go back Monday evening 

when it was cool, less crowded, and bathed in the last light of the day.

I'm very glad we did.

Magic Song: A PLACE IN THE SUN

Some people are "album people." Some people are "mix people." Some people will love a certain band or artist's music until the day they die (they are called "fans"). After much thought, I have decided that I am just a song person. Not that I don't appreciate a well-crafted album or mix, and there are certainly a handful of artists that I gravitate to—but I find my greatest joy in the world of music is discovering a well-crafted song. A "magic song," you might say.

I kinda inadvertently started this mini-series on my blog, but I think I'd like to keep it going as a way of keeping track of all the best songs I discover. Of course, everything I post will distinctly be of my own taste and opinion, which isn't always very sophisticated. If a song resonates with me, I will probably love it. Many of the songs that "resonate" also bring back personal memories.

Now that I have somewhat explained myself, please enjoy one of my favorite songs of all time...

Old school Stevie Wonder just warms my heart. When I hear this song, I think of Spring '10—my pedestrian days—walking to campus everyday with my ipod. Winter was over. The sun was out. This song made me feel the goodness of it all.

What to do in Vegas?

So we are planning a one-night stop in Las Vegas for our ultimate anniversary road trip...

Any ideas of what we should do or see while there? Good restaurants? Cool/funny shops? Any shows that aren't too expensive? Exhibits? Attractions? Anything! We can always stroll the strip and watch the water show at the Bellagio for free, but I want some new fresh ideas for this vegas trip.

Hit me!

Kimmmbbbbrrrraaaaa-mazing

This show was everything I had been dreaming of—well, besides the crappy venue + annoying people standing by us the whole time—Kimbra was INCREDIBLE live. I love the way she just feels the music and goes absolutely crazy on stage. Her vocals were just plain awesome. I only wish she could've performed more than six songs (she was the first opener). As soon as her set ended, I was already thinking about seeing her again in October for her headlining tour. Can't wait.

The best song, by far, was "Plain Gold Ring." But these were probably my other two favorites. Thank you random Youtuber for posting these from the show...

I love the second verse when she starts getting crazy with her voice.

So glad she played this version of the song!!

We stayed for most of the other bands. Mayer Hawthorne was actually really fun. He was wearing a red tuxedo and had choreography with his guitarists, which was fun to watch. His music was something like a mix between Motown and Hall and Oates—and when they broke into "Make My Dreams Come True," it was just perfect.

Foster the People probably would've been cool, but by the time they got on stage there were so many people there that it was kinda hard to enjoy. Like way too many hot, sweaty bodies packed into one giant room. I had no idea they were so HUGE. I guess everybody knows "Pumped up Kicks," right? Anyway, we waited until Kimbra came on stage to perform "Warrior" and then we headed home.

It was a great show, but seriously. October can't come soon enough. I NEED TO SEE HER AGAIN!!!

the 4th in Fotos

It was a fancy-free 4th for us—mostly involving waterfalls, pool-toy river rafting, snow cones, backyard BBQ, and friends and fam. It was a great day to be an American in Provo, Utah.

jacob and I enjoying the cool mists of bridal veil falls

I dared him.

the falls gang

So we had originally planned to hike to a place called Silver Lake. And in preparation for easy-going lake-lounging, we bought some cheapo-pool-floatie toys to use in the water ($3 at Wal-mart). Unfortunately, the road to the Silver Lake trailhead was blocked off because of those good-for-nuthin wildfires. Thus, we had to drastically change our plans for the day, which left no option for lake-lounging.

But what were we to do with our floatie toys? Raft down the Provo River, obviously—or die trying.

Jacob was the bravest and the first one to attempt rafting with a pool toy.

Mind you, the Provo River isn't exactly your "lazy river" relaxation experience. It's quite swift with some rapids. We found a place that was somewhat shallow and not too crazy-looking, but still—I wasn't so sure about this idea. The water was moving pretty fast. However, Jacob was determined to go for it. We stood by and watched, both nervous and amused.

HONEY!? WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?!?

This video doesn't really capture it—but as soon as Jacob jumped on the little pink raft, it seemed like the waters just rushed him away. Kali and I were screaming and laughing and Brent ran to see where he went. As a wife, I think this was one of the first times that I was legitimately scared that something was going to happen to my husband. I dunno, like, get swept away from me forever? I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but my eyes were wet and I was in some state of hysteria.

He was FINE. In fact, he convinced me to do it with him the next go-round, and it was fun! A little wild, but fun.

We drew a bit of an audience.

Later, we met up with Megan and Adam for a picnic and got to chase this little guy around...

Jacob + Elijah, our nephew.

Then it was BBQ time! These guys manned the grill and the rest of us played on the trampoline and enjoyed the amateur firework shows going on in the neighborhoods. 

Baby Mia thought the people jumping on the trampoline were SO FUNNY. Tons of baby laughter. Ummm... precious?

We topped the night off by going up to Wymount and listening to sound of the Beach Boys echoing from the stadium and, of course, watching the fireworks.

Magic Song: PLAIN GOLD RING

Because I saw Kimbra in concert a few days ago, and it was PHENOMENAL—this has to be my magic song for the week. Nina Simone's "Plain Gold Ring" covered by the showstoppin' kiwi, Kimbra.

Nina's original:

This might be my favorite cover EVER—of any song by any artist. She keeps the beautifully haunting mood of the original, but definitely adds her own flair of style in a way that is powerful and mesmerizing. She just owns it.

After the entire Kimbra/Mayer Hawthorne/Foster the People concert, I am positive that "Plain Gold Ring" was the best performance of the night. Even better than the polished live video above. She went BANANAS.

Rexburg Temple + Packsaddle Lake

On our last day in Rexburg, we decided that we wanted to get up first thing and attend the Rexburg Temple. That means after two nights of camping, we had to make our grungy selves look respectable again. And so we combed our hair, put on our Sunday clothes, stuffed ourselves with pop tarts, and we were ready to go. And I'd say we clean up pretty nice, yeah?

The lovely Rexburg Temple

After the temple, we headed over to my favorite little Mexican food place ever, Ramire's. I used to eat here ALL THE TIME. In fact, I think I eventually got semi-famous there. Unfortunately, the owner was not there this time. But last time we came to Rexburg (after two years of my absence from this town, mind you), he still remembered me! He greeted me and shook my hand like we were old pals. It was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.

Jacob ordered the texano burrito

I stuck with my usual bean and cheese.

After lunch, we headed out into the backcountry to find a little place called Packsaddle Lake. We didn't know a lot about this Lake, and had some trouble finding the trailhead with the poor directions we found online. We even had trouble remembering the name of the lake—Packsaddle? Saddlepack? Sackpaddle? Paddlesack? I think it changed every time.

We did, however, find this breath-taking view of the Tetons.

We decided that the peaks of the Tetons look like a place where the Grinch would live.

Luckily, when we were about to get ourselves completely lost, a very nice man on with a very nice four-wheeler told us we needed to drive much further to get to the trailhead or else we would be hiking for hours. Not only did he give us this kind advice, but followed us there and gave us a ride on his ATV all the way to the top of the trail—probably saving us a good hour or so of hiking.

Seriously. We were so grateful for this guy. He completely saved our day—not to mention, we got a fun ATV ride through the forest! Bless you, ATV man. Bless you.

our guardian angel on an ATV

Where the ATV man dropped us off, we overlooked a sweeping view of the mountains with sight of a blue lake hiding in the trees. We followed a steep path down into the valley that soon opened up to this....

We had a fun time playing on this crazy make-shift diving board. It was a true balancing act. 

Much harder than it looks.

My first attempt....

As soon as I heard Jacob say the word "gymnast," I got so psyched out and completely lost my balance! 

I Never did like the balance beam.

This place had the most insane rope wing I had ever seen in my life. Too many horrifying scenarios kept playing through my mind of me hitting the ground instead of the water, and so I wimped out. But Jacob had a nice go with it. Look at him soar. 

Tetons!

We hiked back to our car—no more ATV angel to give us rides. But we did make friends with some critters along the way.

these cows did not like us one bit.

As much as we enjoy "roughin' it," we also enjoy being clean and napping on couches and stuff. When my friend, Kari, invited us over to her place to do exactly that—and make us dinner—it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to us.

look at our poor sunburnt faces.

We headed back to our little camp, and before bed, we built a fire and serenaded eachother on guitar. It was a nice way to end this adventurous weekend. Just the two of us.

We got snug in our tent and sleeping bags, and fell asleep to the sound of coyotes howling in the distance for one more night before heading home to Provo.

Yellowstone + Jackson

It had been almost two years since our last trip to Yellowstone while we were dating, and Jacob and I both felt like the land of geysers and buffalo was calling us back for a visit. This time, however, we made a point to explore the sights that we missed last time. I particularly wanted to see the scenic canyon and waterfalls. I had been to Yellowstone twice before—seen geysers and animals galore—yet never made it to the canyon, which happens to be featured on about 98% of the postcards in the gift shops.

The canyon became our mission. But we enjoyed plenty of stops along the way.

Artists' paint pots

We found a nice little beach along the Gibbon River, and decided to take a dip. This actually was the best idea, and was kind of a turning point in our day. It was incredibly hot and we were pretty dang tired (especially with those wild animals keeping us up all night), but the river did just the trick. We felt cool and refreshed and energized. Just what the doctor ordered.

I look like such a bum in this pic

Ironically, I bought this tee shirt in Yellowstone 2 years ago before we started dating.

BISON!!

Finally! After years of wonder and pining—there was the CANYON! 

And it was absolutely stunning. 

view of the canyon from the lower falls

upper falls hovering in the pines

scared holli overlooking giant, powerful waterfall

serene holli overlooking beautiful, majestic waterfall

this bison had an itchy head

This was my first time seeing grizzly bears in Yellowstone, which I was incredibly happy about—especially since we didn't make a trip to Bear World this year. They were pretty far away, but there they were. Three Yellowstone grizzlies!

the three bears!!

So we were about to head back to Rexburg for the evening, but we literally pulled over, made a swift decision, and turned our car around to head to Jackson, Wyoming. It was a very good decision.

This was our view all the way to Jackson. warmed my heart.

Jacob did a great job of navigating.

We took a beautiful drive through the south side of the park. Beautiful views of lakes and mountain ranges.

we decided that this view needs to be on the label of a water bottle or something.

I really wish we could've spent more time in Jackson. This is probably the cutest little town ever.

We went to a place called Bubba's for dinner. And wow. This is exactly what I needed.  I don't know what it is about this part of the country that makes me so carnivorous, but all I wanted to eat was some good ol' bbq ribs. And lots of them. Bubba's did me right.

oh yes.

It was a pretty epic day. By the time we got back to Rexburg we were EXHAUSTED, which honestly helped me sleep through the night. The fear of being attacked by ferocious woozles in our camp had not yet subsided.

It was lovely seeing all the sights, but I think my favorite part of the whole trip was just the fun I had with Jacob. Playing in the river. Watching him almost get swept away by the current after I dared him to swim under a log. Having a good laugh over that. Narrating all the animals thoughts. Jacob pushing me up the hiking trails because my legs were so sore from doing p90x two days before. Dumb idea. Thinking up our very own horror movie set in Yellowstone that involves people falling into geysers and turning into zombies. And zombie bears. Yep. Making the spontaneous detour to Jackson and stuffing our faces with bbq goodness.

I would love to relive this day.