a fall break to remember

i had the most lovely fall break with the most lovely girls in my life (minus two and plus jake)

we didn't have much time or money to head somewhere far away but we decided even just a weekend getaway to park city during the most beautiful time of the year in utah sounded great.

so we found ourselves a good deal (via groupon) for a suite in park city resort for the first two nights.

Celia "our mother" made some good breakfast

shopping! - we found some good deals at the park city outlets

fall colors photo-op

random statue we had fun with

afternoon nap by the fire

relaxing/chatting by our mountain view

carolyn came up to join us one night!

night out on main street

jake was a trooper for putting up with all us girls

coastin' on the alpine coaster

pretty sure we screamed & laughed the whole way down

we then headed up to the cabin (do you like how it's always referred to as "the cabin" haha) for the last night of our little getaway.

our cabin host was good to us as always

cookin' up some grub

love my leech

most of the crew eating din-din

i'm sure glad i brought up twister.... trev & i were the champions. nobody wanted to challenge us.

brother bear came up for the night too :)

we spent the afternoon before we left exploring our surroundings. it was so beautiful up there & i'm glad we got to really soak up some of the beauty of fall.

practicing my shooting skills

lucy always forever ahead of us

glad i could re-live this little trip, thanks blog!

{and one more special thank you to aunt colleen- your cabin always provides for the best memories}

dirt roads & pretty colors

it was one of those evenings where i needed time alone.

so i drove. and drove. until i found myself on a dirt road high above the noise & surrounded by nothing but peaceful silence. the sun was just gracing the earth with its last bit of rays and

made the fall colors seem even more enchanting.

the air felt cool & crisp and the earth felt raw beneath my feet.

i just wandered and sat. and stood and watched.

it was exactly what i needed.

{and i had no cell phone service... a little nerve-racking for this generation, but ultimately a refreshing feeling}

isn't fall just the best?

p.s. don't mind the awkward self-photos. that's what happens when you go on an adventure alone.

utah summer goodness.

this past weekend was what i would call a "classic-utah-summer-weekend" and i loved every bit of it.

i've been gone to some other part of the world every summer for the past three years but i decided to stay home this summer for several reasons. one of them being that i missed having just a good ol' utah summer. cause lets be honest, utah summers can be pretty darn great.

and now i find myself in august just weeks away from school starting and i'm like whaaaat? my utah summer can't almost be over! the problem with staying home is i also stay with my normal routine. work & obligations can make time fly. but i'm so glad i was able to have this weekend up at the cabin so i could re-focus on what summer is all about.

spending time in beautiful places with good company having good times.

these two photos only caught a bit of the weekend. it also included middle of the night fishing in the full-moon light (and falling in the cold river, up to my waist and getting one heck of a bruise on my arm. oh dear.) and the park city art festival. lots of laughter and good conversation.

p.s. special thanks to my lovely cousin jessica and this blog post. i needed a reminder of why i first started blogging in the first place. having laptop issues hasn't been helping any but i have no excuse for my lack of blogging since i got back from europe almost a year ago! i am determined to start blogging the big & even just the little things that mean so much to me. thanks, jess!

british accents & big, red buses.

big ben

our last stop on our european adventure..... LONDON.

this was round-two for me in london (two years later) and i loved it just as much this time around. it was fun to be surrounded by english again but in british accents, even better. we stayed with brion & bethany in chigwell who were far too kind to open their living room up to us. as i said it last time, i would love to live in london for some period of time in my life. maybe one day? these pictures about sum up our time in london:

london's soho area

our first morning in london (alicia hadn't arrived yet - long story)

camden town market - so fun!

making a pit stop at hogwarts

yield = give way. love it.

we found the muffin man!

taxi//

hyde park

buckingham palace

the cutest guards around

westminster abbey where prince william & kate were married.
we attended a service here for the church of england and it was really interesting. all about prayers for the royal family.

taking off to neverland

up, up & away

an empty train ride to chigwell

an "underground" sign

the four months away from home was a huge success.

so many wonderful people met.

so much breath-taking scenery.

lots of history learned.

and memories that will never be forgotten.

we were forever changed.