Boston Day 2 started nice and early with some breakfast courtesy of Ben and Kim. Randy and I had spotted a PRIMARK the day before and knew we wanted to head there first. For those of you that don’t know, Primark is like H and M but in the UK. I didn’t even know they had one in the US! It was my favorite place to shop when I was in London and I was SO stoked to go again. Randy and I went and shopped like crazy people for a couple hours. We bought Christmas presents, birthday presents, the works. Randy and I are kinda crazy and shopping is one of our favorite things to do. Yes, judge away. It’s kind of a horrible hobby because we spend money, but other hobbies cost way more!

Anyway we shopped and shopped until we had a huge bag of things. We realized we didn’t want to haul around a bunch of clothes all day. So we sat down on some random steps, and proceeded to shove all the clothes in Randy’s new backpack. Hahaha it was crazy, but luckily not too heavy for Randy during the day. I just felt so silly that we hadn’t thought it through! *Travel Tip – buy souvenirs or clothes towards the end of the day if you can!

After our shopping we walked through downtown to get to the Old North Church. On the way we passed by Paul Revere’s home, which was super cool! It was awesome to see the place where such an amazing historical figure was born and raised. We then got to Little Italy and the Old North Church! The church is AMAZING, so full of history! There’s a huge statue to Paul Revere out front which we loved, and going into the church is wonderful.

We were starving by this point, so we went to lunch at a little Italian place called Cantina. It was SO GOOD. I had mussels and pasta, and Randy had sausage and goat cheese penne. It was so authentic and the seafood is to DIE for! After lunch, we trekked on to the rest of the Freedom Trail! We went to another cemetery on a hill, which was so beautiful. It was a little hot so Randy and I quickly moved on. We crossed a bridge over the Charles river which was a little sketch! It was wobbly and we could see the water underneath the grates we were walking on. But the Charles river is beautiful and we saw birds catching fish, it was way cool. We then walked through a little park on the way to Bunker Hill. Let me say, it’s a little bit of a hike up to Bunker Hill! There aren’t any mountains or really hills in Boston, so this is one of the highest points. *Travel Tip – I brought a cross body bag that was neutral, so when I got exhausted from carrying it, Randy could just pop it on his shoulder for a little while. It was a lifesaver for weak little me!

We stopped in at the Visitor Center first and saw music, handkerchiefs, and other pieces from Boston in 1776. They also have a cool light up diorama thing explaining the places and events of that day. It was good to get a feel for what was happening in history instead of just seeing the monuments *Travel Tip – if history isn’t your thing, go to Boston! It will quickly become your thing, promise!

After the visitor center, we went to the Bunker Hill monument. They have people telling stories and giving you information about the people, and they had one shooting guns that they would have had at the time, which was sweet!

We then started our climb to the top. Bunker Hill has a winding staircase, and it’s really narrow and HOT. It’s 294 steps which doesn’t sound too hard, but I didn’t see one person who wasn’t huffing and puffing at least a little bit. It was a cool view at the top, but there were tiny windows, not much room, and too many people so we didn’t stay up there for long! Or get pictures, I’m afraid 😦 We then trekked back down, and our legs were a little wobbly for the rest of the day! We started walking down the hill to get back on the Freedom Trail. Right at the bottom of the hill, was an ice cream truck (genius location). Of course, we were hot and tired so we decided to get something. Well, Randy decided to get something, I said I would just have a bit. It was a $3.00 root beer float which really is highway robbery, but it was literally the best root beer float I had ever had in my life! No other root beer float will ever taste that good, because we were so tired and hot, it was like heaven.

We made it to the last stop on the Freedom Trail, the USS Constitution. It’s a ship that was used during the war of 1812 and is still able to be toured today! It was SO cool to get to see the ship, most of it still in original form. It was so cramped below deck, Randy had to stoop the whole time. Good thing he wasn’t a sailor! The crew’s quarters were so small, they taught us about what they would have had to eat and how they would have warded off scurvy, it honestly sounded miserable!

We then went into the museum and learned more about the ship, and ship life. Randy’s favorite part was the toy goat they had rigged up that you could pull in, like you would have done on a ship. We got to test our ability to be a sailor, see what our fates would have been (I died very quickly. Randy actually survived though!) and we had a blast.

Hello friends!

Randy and I are home from Boston and we had the most wonderful trip!

I’ve been trying to figure out how to blog about it, so here’s a travel guide series that gives you the scoop of what to do in Boston, food, costs, etc. while going over what we did on our trip there. Enjoy!

*Travel Tip – Randy and I used our American Express Skymiles card to get points and pay for our flights. Flights to Boston are normally around $400, we both flew for only $200! I recommend this card if you have good credit, and know how to manage your money, as this card has a pretty high interest rate.

*Travel Tip – Randy and I flew a red-eye, which I highly recommend if you’re looking to save money! We got to the airport around 10:00 PM, ready for our 11:50 flight. We slept (or tried to sleep) on the way to Boston and around 5:00 AM I woke up to see this gorgeous sunset outside the window!

My brother came and picked us up from the airport and drove us to their apartment. They live in Cambridge which is really close to Boston, just a train ride away! We rested for a few minutes, saw our niece, freshened up and were off! We wandered around Harvard Square, lost, until we finally found Mike’s Pastry! It was HOT and HUMID and we were dying a little bit. After locating Mike’s Pastry we got a cannoli and a tiramisu – both really good! *Travel Tip – There is also a Mike’s in downtown Boston that is usually BOMBED. It’s fun, but if you just want the pastry without the hassle and the pushing and the rush, go to Harvard Square instead.

Randy and I then got on the T, which is the subway system in Boston. *Travel Tip – we got Charlie Cards and just loaded money onto them for the week, instead of having to buy a ticket each time. This was faster and easier than having to purchase individual tickets, and we could control how much money was on the cards!

We got downstairs in the T station and waited….and waited….and waited…..we were down there for about 45 minutes with a hundred other people. A disabled train was preventing everyone from getting into the city and lots of businessmen and women bailed – we heard that there were no Uber’s or taxi’s left leaving Cambridge because they were all taken! Finally after we were thoroughly hot and sweaty a train came! And we couldn’t fit on it. So we waited for another train! We were squished and Randy was pushed up against the door, and it was quite the adventure.

When we finally got to Boston we went to the Boston Common. We were a little tired, hot, and I was a bit confused and lost in the city even though I’d been there before HA. So it was a bit rough. We people watched, sat on the bench that we’re pretty sure is the Goodwill Hunting bench, and saw the duck statues from the book “Make Way for Ducklings” (it’s adorable. If you haven’t read it, go read it now.)

Then we headed off on the Freedom Trail! For those of you that don’t know, Boston has a red brick trail that goes all over the city and leads you to some of the most important historical spots. It’s really awesome! *Travel Tip – and it’s free so basically if you go to Boston, DO IT.

The Freedom trail lead us first to the State House, which is beautiful. Then to the first Church in Boston, which is also really beautiful. It was so fun to go inside and see the memorials to all the leaders of the area, etc.

Then we went to a cemetery which was BEAUTIFUL. The headstones were all rubbed off with age, sinking into the ground. Some pretty famous people were buried there including Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. We then went to the King’s Chapel which was the first church built for the Church of England. It was a beautiful building, and again so interesting to go inside and see the organ and the pews. Then we went to one of Randy’s favorite stops, the Old Corner Bookstore. It’s now a Chipotle which is hilarious! But it’s amazing to think that Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens both worked in that very bookstore. So much history in one little shop! We then saw the old South Church where the town meeting was held when they decided to go forward with the Boston Tea Party. It is so amazing to be in places where so much history happened! It was about this point that we were just so excited and happy to be in the city. Downtown Boston is beautiful, and Randy and I just LOVE the city, so it was awesome to have all the historical buildings right next to all the new skyscrapers.

Next we got to the State House, which is where they read the Declaration of Independence to Bostonians for the first time. Queen Elizabeth later made a speech here about how our countries are friends, no longer enemies, which I thought was really cool.

Right outside the State House is where the Boston Massacre occurred, which Randy thought was the coolest thing ever. We heard a bucket drummer at that point, so Randy raced me across the street to listen to him, he was really good! That’s one thing we love about Boston, there are lots of street performers so there’s no shortage of entertainment.

The last Freedom Trail stop for us on day 1 was Fanueil Hall. It used to be a big marketplace and now it’s full of restaurants and stores! *Travel Tip – you can do the whole Freedom Trail in one day, we loved breaking it up so we weren’t history overloaded! Randy and I had lunch at the Cheers Bar which was cool, even though neither of us are particularly crazy about the show.

Randy then spotted his all time favorite store in Japan, Uniqlo and was seriously on cloud 9! We had no idea they had one in the states, so of course we had to go and shop! Randy got lots of cool things, and it was so awesome to shop at his favorite store!

At this point, we were exhausted so we got back on the train and headed to Cambridge for a little nap. We slept and played with Candace and Ben and Kim. Then at about 5:00 we figured we needed to get back up or we would never get to bed! So we got ready and ventured out again to Harvard Square where we went to Shake Shack. Now, I love Shake Shack, and Randy had never been. He’s a bit of an In N’ Out crazy fan, so I wanted to see if we could convince him to convert. No such luck. Watch the video for his full explanation of why In N’ Out is better haha. But Shake Shack is really good food and has AMAZING ice cream!

We wandered around Harvard Square for a bit after, then walked back through the park to Ben and Kim’s apartment. The park by their place is awesome, it has the tree marked where George Washington took charge of the continental army, some stole British canons, and statues to many people who fought in different wars. It just has so much history, it’s incredible! *Travel Tip – literally almost every building and house in Boston has some history behind it! Check out things as you’re walking, the history is there!

We also attempted to vlog on this trip, the camera we used is blurry and weird for some reason which is lame! So here’s our day 1 vlog, very weird and very scattered but still! We are trying!

Stay tuned for day 2.

Can you believe it, Randy and I had ANOTHER wedding last week! And of course it was also absolutely magical.

My parents jetted off to Paris the day after Liv got married, so Randy and I got to house sit/drive Bethany around when she needed to get places. It was fun to hang out with the three of us, mooch of my parents amazing garden and food, etc.

Friday Caleb and Nannette got married and it was absolutely wonderful. Seeing them walk out of the temple was a dream! We’ve gotten so close to them as they have been dating and gotten engaged, and it was so awesome to get to see them be sealed together for all eternity.

I got their early to do Nannette’s hair and makeup, they had a beautiful sealing at the Provo City Center temple which was awesome, we grabbed some Chinese with Dallin and Alexon after the sealing before Randy had to jet back to work, I made us almost late getting back to the reception, and the night was a party. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to get all the stuff to decorate the car, which was fun! Randy and Alexon wrote a beautiful song, like Alexon and Caleb did for our wedding. We have a really awesome group of friends and hearing them sing this song specifically written for the bride and groom made me a little teary. They’re just so in love and it was amazing to be a part of their special day. The day ended with late night Chic-Fil-A which was awesome, except for Randy getting a completely burned, meatless nugget as one of his 8 pieces HAHA.

Randy and I celebrated 5 years of dating on August 13th. If you don’t know the story, you can check it out here.

I had no idea that five years ago, a guy I had a crush on would turn into my husband. I honestly can’t even describe how much these last five years of falling in love with him have changed me. I wouldn’t be who I am without him.

Randy thanks for every single memory. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the universe.

We celebrated with some sushi and shopping (two of our favorite things).

Sunday we went to church, then had a birthday party for Matt and opened all of he and Liv’s wedding presents! It’s so fun to see them get all the things to build their house together.

Anddd Monday my parents celebrated their anniversary. It’s so awesome to have parents who are so loving and caring, and who love and car for each other. We’re so lucky that they chose each other, and continue to choose each other every day.  Love you two crazy kids.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/178386586 Matt & Olivia from Megan Owen {Horn} on Vimeo.

What a beautiful video from a wonderful day!

Videographer: Megan Owen

Photogrpaher: Meg Barlow

My sister is a married lady! How crazy is that!

I’ll post a few more photos when she actually gets back from her honeymoon and has all the photos, but here are a couple things for the time being.

Also it’s Matt’s birthday, so happy birthday Matt – welcome to the fam!

Here is the first look video I did for them a few weeks ago! I’m not a professional, clearly, but it’s fun to whip out the camera and remember some of my editing skills. Hopefully I’ll get to do a few more videos here and there and really hone my skills!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/177645014

The wedding week was great, things went pretty smoothly and the day of was magical.

Liv woke up early and had her hair done by Lexi McPherson who did fantastic. Her makeup was done by the incredibly talented Madelynne Morgan. She is seriously so fantastic, Liv’s makeup looked beautiful and she got there in the wee hours of the morning to make sure it was perfect. She’s truly awesome and I highly recommend her!

 Liv and Matt had a beautiful sealing in the Salt Lake LDS Temple and it was so amazing to be there with them and watch them be married.

Their photographer and videographer were so on top of it and I can’t wait to see the photos from the day of! For now, just check out these couple photos from the bridals/a few from the day of that the videographer snapped.

Photogrpaher: Meg Barlow

Videographer: Megan Owen
Megan Owen also snapped a couple pics the day of, she also does photography sometimes and she’s awesome! I can’t wait to see the video!

Both the Meg’s were seriously OUT OF THIS WORLD. So awesome and fun and they were so cute with our family and made sure Liv had all the shots and video she wanted.

The flowers were done by the amazingly talented Bailey Jo Lucas and guys she was a dream. Just check out that bouquet. She was so sweet and wonderful and so fun to work with.

Every single person my sister hired to do things for the wedding were wonderful. They made the day so easy!

Matt and Liv had their luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we had an introductory story as per tradition, the traditional song “When I Fall In Love” and some funny stories about the two newlyweds.

The reception was at the Lion House and it was a beautiful garden party perfectly fit for my sister.

Basically everything was a dream, and I am so happy for my sweet sister!

Message me if you have any questions about the vendors or anything!

I got my skirt from Cozy Boutique, Bethany got her dress from Piper and Scoot, and the groomsmen ties were from Tie One On.

Happy Tuesday everyone, happy birthday Matt and happy honeymoon to the newlyweds!

Can we just put a pause on summer really quickly? This has been the fastest summer of my life! I keep saying I have all these things I want to do, and for some reason I never get to do all of them!

I did however get to cross a bonfire and s’mores of my bucket list, thanks to Courtney and Tommy! We always have a blast hanging out with those two.

Thursday was Nannette’s Bachelorette Party! We had some delicious P.F. Changs with her close friends, and did some shopping. It was such a chill party but still so incredibly fun. I am so excited for her and Caleb to get married in just a week and a half! It’s coming up SO quick!

And speaking of upcoming weddings, my adorable little sister gets married on Saturday! It’s so crazy, I can’t believe it honestly. She is going to be the most beautiful bride and she and Matt are just perfect for each other.

Saturday our cute neighborhood threw her a delightful shower, we got to see lots of friends and it was so fun. We’ve been getting to hang out with my family a lot lately, which is super awesome especially since my brother is finally back from his internship in California, and my sister-in-law and niece are still around! We are going to miss them so much when they leave.

Sunday we went to my cousin’s mission farewell, he did so good and he will be so missed! We also had a big family dinner after a long airport wait, poor Matt was on the runway for an hour after landing back in Utah! Tip: never fly Frontier.

This week has already been so full, with our cute niece Candace’s birthday party! She turns one in September but we all got together to celebrate before they all leave to go back to Boston. They did an adorable smash cake and she got lots of cute presents. I just love her!

Yesterday my cute sister went through the temple, and let me tell you, it was so wonderful to have my family there. Just missing one sister! It was so great to wait in the celestial room for my sister to walk in, all of us there with our spouses, a big happy family. I feel so blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful family, and especially a wonderful husband!

This weekend was a blast, and a much needed extra day off!

Friday after work Randy and I went to Cafe Trio in SLC. We got a super generous gift card from Jacob and Ammon Chung, two of our friends who we have helped do some web design work for (go check them out: Five Sushi Brothers) The flatbread appetizer was AMAZING!

That night my family all went to see the King’s Singers and MOTAB in an amazing Pioneer Day concert. It was seriously incredible! If you don’t know the King’s Singers go check them out! My family has been listening to them for years and they are so fun, we’ve seen them in concert before and every time is a treat. They are such talented vocalists, it’s a dream!

We then went and grabbed a piece of cheesecake together and it was so fun to laugh and hang out as a family (missing my brother though, who is still in California for his internship! BOO)

Saturday Randy and I got to go see Star Trek Beyond and I can’t even tell you how highly I recommend it!!! It was SO amazing and well done. Seriously, go see it.

We then came back to our apartment and it was roughly 10 million degrees. We live on the third floor and only have a wall unit AC so our apartment goes from comfortable to INSANELY AWFULLY HOT in just one second. We decided to run and grab a couple things from the grocery store, head to the mall to walk around and window shop, and then go grab some chips and salsa for dinner at Chili’s!

Sunday was crazy busy, Randy and I taught the youth in Sunday School and then both of us taught our third hour classes of Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum! It was a busy Sunday but it was so wonderful to teach together and prepare our lessons together. That night, Caleb and Nannette dropped by for curry and we chatted about their upcoming wedding – we are so stoked for two of our best friends to get married!!

Sunday night we decided to head to Kaysville to be there for the Monday morning pancake breakfast with my family. It was fun to chat with my family and hang out for a while.

Today was a delicious breakfast while we watched the Days of 47 Parade, games with the family, playing with my adorable niece, a wee bit of shopping, a fun afternoon with Randy’s family, and then home again for a relaxed evening.

I need to give a gigantic shout out to Randy. Friday he decided to go to the mall and buy me an adorable shirt, completely on a whim, because he found some money on the ground at school (don’t worry, he spent 45 minutes trying to find the owner of the money to no avail).

He is absolutely wonderful with my family and all the stress we have going on right now, he spent 30 minutes at my Aunt’s house lifting tile and didn’t have a word of complaint, I have been ridiculous and needy and whiny and Randy just lets me need him and is always there. He is my rock, has been so incredibly patient with me, and spoils me absolutely rotten. I am so so so so lucky.

And also, Pioneer Day. The pioneers are some of my biggest heroes. They gave up everything to follow the prophet, they moved to a brand new place where they could have a new life. They created something beautiful out of a desert.

Today I have seen a lot of people complaining on social media about Pioneer Day and why it’s celebrated here in Utah. I think we can be grateful for pioneers no matter what our religion is. We can be thankful that they moved here, created a beautiful city and state, helped their country with the railroad and fighting in wars, and respect their drive to preserve religious freedom.

Sometimes the world is a frightening place. But today, I’m taking strength from them. They faced trial after trial while always saying “All Is Well.”

We too are facing trials. But because of their example, and because of a loving Heavenly Father who has a perfect plan, I too know that “all is well.”

This weekend we had an awesome time in Idaho with my family doing our annual fishing trip! My grandpa has been floating the Teton river ever since he was little, and it’s so awesome for our family to go and hear all the stories and catch loads of fish!

We drove up with Liv and Matt on Friday and jammed to Hamilton (my current obsession. if you haven’t listened to it, stop reading this and go listen to it now.) We then stopped at Reed’s for ice cream once we were in Idaho Falls which is seriously my favorite ice cream EVER!

We woke up super early on Saturday to drive to the river which is in Driggs (sorta).

It took us about 8 hours to float the whole thing, Randy and I each caught about 12 fish and that was about the number that everyone else caught, except for my sister and my grandpa who landed probably 20 fish each!

We also saw a bull moose from a distance, and then a mama moose and two calves not 100 feet from our boat! They were in the river to drink, and were smack in between the two boats that we had for fishing! We had to wait it out until the mama decided to leave because moose are SCARY and will charge you if you get too close. It was a pretty intense 10 minutes of our two boats on either side of this giant moose, trying to make some noise but not make her mad!

It was really windy so Randy got his workout in paddling against the wind so we didn’t float upstream.

We went to Texas Roadhouse that night with our family and my aunt and uncle’s family. This is the crazy thing, as we were walking out of the restaurant I turned and saw a guy falling towards the floor, and I heard him choking. Everyone in the restaurant was either silent or panicking saying “Call 911! Call 911! He’s choking!” My sister is a CNA and my dad used to be an EMT so both of them rushed forward when the family of the guy who was choking didn’t know how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. My sister got the guy to talk a little which was good because it meant his airway wasn’t totally blocked. My dad then performed the Heimlich and eventually got the guy to spit out the food. It was SO crazy! We were all a little shaken up but it ended up OK and the guy was fine! It was so lucky that we were there!

Sunday we drove back home, ate some of the fish we caught and visited with my family a little more before heading home for some Muddy Buddies and Boggle with Caleb and Nannette.

It was really a crazy busy weekend but a very fun one, and the weekend of fishing on the Teton is one I always look forward to.

Hello! So I haven’t blogged in about 30 years. Since the 4th of July which means I’m a horrible person. It’s been two whole weeks since I have blogged and I’m feeling pretty awful!

So let’s play a huge game of catching up and go over some of the things really quickly!

I helped throw my sister a fun bridal shower with her friends and it was a blast! I’m super sad we forgot to get a picture with everyone, but it was so wonderful!

We had all of Liv’s favorite treats for the shower; chocolate chip cookies, donuts, fruit, milk (in adorable milk bottles from Target) and we had the wonderful Lexie Faith do the adorable place cards, and she killed it! Seriously, go check her out, she was fantastic.

We also had a table of takeaway gifts of lipstick and kisses to help Liv “Kiss The Single Life Goodbye” We also had the girls put on some lipstick and kiss a piece of paper and sign their name, and we’ll get it framed for Liv to always have a cute reminder of her closest friends right before she got married!

We also did Liv’s bridals that night which was super fun. She had her makeup done by the FANTASTIC Madelynne Noelle who is absolutely amazing. Guys, she was in a car accident and still made it to our house in time to get Liv all dolled up and beautiful for her photos! She’s seriously the best. I also got to film Liv and Matt’s first look and formal video and I’m super excited to show you all how it turned out!

Randy and I also got to go to an Orem Owlz baseball game last weekend, which was a blast! We have Pass of all Passes from Seven Peaks so we get in for free, and it was a great way to spend a summer night. Randy always teases me about being nostalgic and sentimental about summer, and he’s totally right, I’m a sucker for fun summer nights and summer activities!

This long weekend was SO needed and chalk full of fun!

Friday Randy and I popped by Seven Peaks again after work – getting those passes was a great idea! We loved going down the crazy slides and racing and just having a blast.

Saturday Randy and I woke up and he went running, and then we went on hike! I had been needing some nature time and it was so perfect to get to the river and just listen and sit. Since I’m working full time and Randy is in school again, we don’t get to spend anywhere near as much time as I’d like doing outdoorsy, summery things. Plus our summer is super busy, so it was so nice to just go on a hike! We drove up to Kaysville on Saturday night to see Singin’ in the Rain performed by the city. They did such a good job, special shout out to our good friend Tyler who KILLED it as the diction coach. Thanks for getting us tickets dear Tyler:)

Sunday we taught Sunday School and visited with a new couple in our ward for a while, before napping and cooking lunch. We then went right back to Kaysville to start celebrating the 4th! We had dinner with Randy’s family which was delicious as always. Then off to my parents house where we played endless games of Rook and ate apple pie.

The 4th started with delicious breakfast and the 4th of July Parade with a bunch of my little cousins. The parade is always super fun, my sister was in it with the Davis Lacrosse team which was awesome, and it’s just such a hometown fun event. We then went and had a barbecue with my family which was awesome! Then it was off to the Low’s for some cake and video games haha. Then over to our friend’s house for a squad BBQ (I think we ate like 3 hamburgers that day!)

Then off to the Kaysville fireworks for some more hometown, family, and America love.

A lot of crazy and scary things are happening in this country. The 4th of July was such an important reminder that we’re all on the same team. We all are a part of this amazing country, we all live in place that people fight and give their lives for, we are all putting in the work to make it a safe and wonderful place. I am so blessed to live in this land, to have grown up in a small town in a free country, and for all the things that it means to be an American.

Home of the free, land of the brave.