a day on the lake

since chase surprised me and came in town for my friend's wedding, we have had a crazy weekend being back in salt lake city! we've been all over the place seeing lots of friends, being with our families, and enjoying utah. we leave tomorrow, so yesterday we packed in a full saturday in SLC.

we woke up and went on a 6 mile run to the downtown farmer's market..

always a good destination! we met some of our best friends jake & rach there

and had the famous bruges waffles! {topped with fresh peaches & crème fraîche..mm}

after we made it back, {don't worry-- we got a ride back!} we headed up to the lake

with my parents. it was so nice up there. it was hot weather with a cold, refreshing lake.

life doesn't get much better if you ask me. we made turkey avocado sandwiches on the boat and soaked up the sun. we all waterskied and jumped in lots of times too!

^^ with my two favorite guys ^^

 after a fun day boating, we headed home, showered, and we were off to a family party with chase's side. we went to that, went out to dinner with everyone, and then of course finished with some dessert at red mango. a few of our favorite friends came up to visit late when we got home, and we spent hours chatting and catching up. we had to stop ourselves finally when it got too late! those are the best kind of friends. we definitely packed it in this weekend, but when you're only in town for a visit, you have to!

X O

the king of surprise

THIS GUY never fails to amaze me.

he sent me home to salt lake for 2 weeks and stayed back to work, and i've been busy with family and wedding events, but missed him so so much. this weekend is one of my best friend's weddings, and i was so sad he wouldn't be here to be my date to it... but last night he secretly flew home & surprised me!! he always has tricks up his sleeve.

he booked a flight from SF and got in late tuesday night. around midnight i was going to bed at my parent's house, and of course texting my hubby goodnight. he said...

...then...

i just thought he was being funny, so in the dark of my bedroom i snapped my fingers twice...then heard someone outside the bedroom door snapping their fingers....AHHHHHHHH! my heart stopped! i jumped out of bed and ran right into his arms. best surprise ever!!!!!! what a cutie. i am so glad he's here! we have been able to be with family, see friends, eat at our favorite spots together, and now he can be at the wedding and all of the events!

YAY.

love you chase!

breakfast at tiffany's bachelorette party

it's so fun to come home for a best friend's wedding,

because there are so many fun things leading up to the main event!

we had her shower last week, and then her bachelorette party this week.

abby loves audrey hepburn, so it was a breakfast at tiffany's theme.

all of the bridesmaids wore black with pearls, and the bride wore white!

we had a fun dinner out, then took the party to a hotel and celebrated the bride, did gifts, 

and slept over. nothing like girls night out & late night chats! here are some pics..

^^ classic elevator mirror picture in the hotel ^^

happy bachelorette party to the cutest bride to be! can't wait for friday!!

xo

a solo visit home

being home this week has been the best, despite being here solo...

chase had to stay back in the bay, so everyone is missing him! {especially ME.}

i came back because my best friend from high school is getting married, so there are endless festivities! it also was perfect timing because i got to surprise my dad for father's day, help plan a 5 year high school reunion, throw a bridal shower for abby, be with family, celebrate chase's mom's birthday, help with a few other showers, {it's wedding season!} and just enjoy the mountains and being home. i do miss the bay though! here are some pictures of being home so far. one more week here for the wedding, then back to the bay!
^^ coming up my street! ^^

^^ lots of family time, yay! ^^

^^ 5 year high school reunion ^^

^^ dunn girls ^^

^^ home always = the best food ^^

^^ had a fun birthday outing for chase's mom, pizzeria limone + pedicures! ^^

^^ helped with this cute shower for travis + lexi ^^

^^ dunn fam packed in the car to visit the manti temple, 

where my grandpa grew up. so gorgeous! ^^

^^ what i wake up to every day. mountains outside my window, 

and kona pup sleeping right next to my bed ^^

^^ city creek shopping with my pretty mama ^^

^^ a fun outing with gram & mom to the best new place in sugarhouse! ^^

 ^^ my mom and i made FOUR dutch oven peach cobblers for a fun camping shower ^^

^^ i was obsessed with the favors our friend did for the camping shower! camping cups from REI, filled with s'more ingredients! pinterest worthy if you ask me ^^

^^ seeing lots of friends, and getting lots of froyo {yay for yogurtland coming to SLC!} ^^

^^ spending time with chase's family, and getting to witness this..haha ^^

^^ lastly, lots of time has been spent in my favorite millcreek canyon ^^

meanwhile, don't feel too bad for chase. he has had a little break before 

starting his job with google, so he has been enjoying our favorite pad thai in front of 

the painted ladies in SF, bowling at google, playing with our best friends dustin & kendall,

hanging out with his adopted brother paris, and facetiming me... oh, and he got a massage yesterday. he is living it up while i'm gone! haha. it's no fun to be apart, but i sure am excited to see him next week and head off on an adventure together!!!

more updates from SLC to come!

XO

exciting job update!

you're looking at the newest employee of GOOGLE!!!!!!!!!

i am so excited and proud of my cute husband who made it through

seven rounds of interviews and landed a dream job at an amazing company.

a shower for a best friend

my best friend from high school gets married in one week from today!!!!

i flew home this week so i could throw her a shower, and it was crazy 
getting everything together with just a few days in town before!

abby is the cutest friend, and it was so fun to be able to throw her a shower

{since she threw me the perfect one last year}. it all went great!
i decided to create one big salad bar with all sorts of toppings, 
plus my mom's rolls, drinks, dessert & ice cream parfaits.
it turned out so fun, and i'm so glad i was able to come in town & throw it!
^^ of course, a little video of the salad bar ^^

  

after everyone ate, i had abby answer questions and then showed ralph's filmed responses.

{i had filmed him before}...always fun to see how they do! these two are a perfect match.

{ ...the prepping beforehand }

LOVE YOU ABS! so excited for your wedding one week from today!

xo

what are your favorite showers ideas/ games?

i loved this link full of great ideas!

year 1 of teach for america

how is it possible that we have completed year one of teach for america?

{if you don't know what i'm talking about, i did a post on it here last fall, so you can see what it's all about.} i don't write about it a lot on the blog, because a) i want to protect our students and keep their lives private, and b) we have been so consumed by teaching and doing our best for these students of ours that i needed this blog to be a space where i could get a break and write about hobbies and interests, instead of the incredibly difficult but incredibly rewarding job we have been doing for the past year. now that year one is over, i wanted to do a little recap of our experiences! what a year it has been.

here is a video that chase made that highlights our students & our year teaching..

chase taught 7th grade, and i taught high school. it has been amazing to have the chance to be part of this movement together. next year i will finish out my 2nd year of teach for america while completing my master's degree. because of budget cuts in the district chase was teaching in, he will not be returning to the classroom and has accepted a job offer from google (!!!) but more on that later. i am so happy that we have had this life-changing experience. it has been so out of my comfort zone and so different than anything i've ever done, but those types of things are the best things for you! some of the experiences we had were crazy, some were hard, some were frustrating and upsetting, and many were rewarding.

it has been fun to watch chase just get to know his students so well, and he is 

really close with them. they have his number and are always texting him. 

i was lucky to get to coach tennis at the high school, and i will miss my students too! this movement is truly so important, and i hope that in a small way, we have helped bridge part of the massive educational achievement gap this year. here is a slide from one of my students' final presentations at the end of the year: it is an example of their amazing desire, but the lack of skills they have been taught. this is an 11th grader, and although he clearly has the great desire for college and success, you can see how behind he is in english.

we have loved our first year, and can't believe we survived it!

*anyone can email us for more info on teach for america, how to apply, etc.

you can also visit the website at www.teachforamerica.org

XO

father's day 2013

what a memorable father's day, for a few reasons!

1. because i flew home and surprised my dad (!!!)

2. i got to be with my family 

3. because i got to go see my cute in-laws

3. and...because my dad had an emergency tooth pulled at the end of the night! * 

whew! definitely memorable!
here are a few snapshots of it:

^^ father's day dinner outside, {and my dad with a tooth ache that he didn't know was escalating!} ^^

^^ the view from my parent's driveway...it doesn't get much better! ^^

^^ one of the best parts of coming home = the food. mom's rolls, plank salmon, 

amazing salad and corn, mushroom rice, and my honey cinnamon peach cobbler for 

dessert! {my brothers ate half of it before i could snap this picture!} ^^

^^ the cutest niece and nephew, stripped down just to diapers by the end of the night ^^

^^ some games of ping pong happened, as always ^^

^^ a little video of father's day at home ^^

^^ and from father's day morning, where i had balloons, a poster, and a big surprise {myself} waiting for my cute dad! i got him this cute green tie sugar cookie, and chase 

and i picked out this cool mug that looks like a camera lens! perfect for him since 

he loves photography! i made him oatmeal banana chocolate chip pancakes and 

a pina colada green smoothie and he was a happy dad! ^^ 

**after our fun breakfast, church, a walk, and dinner, my dad hadn't told us that he had a toothache that was slowly getting worse. he had his dentist friend numb his mouth in the afternoon so he could make an appointment for monday, but halfway through dinner all of a sudden the pain really hit the high point and he couldn't even see it hurt so bad! so, he called his dentist and set up an appointment with an oral surgeon right away. they met at the office, pulled the tooth, cleaned out the infection, stitched him up, and sent him back! he couldn't enjoy dessert, but we were all still there waiting and we somehow had a great rest of the night! thanks for making it a memorable father's day, dad! love you!

xo