Finals Week.

Completely elated that it's over. 

Seven semesters down, one to go.

A few thanks are in order.

Couldn't have pulled it off without you:

1. Diet Coke and Red Bull.

2. Great room mates.

Me with Hannah, who has now moved out. Cait and I are still in mourning.

3. [See end of post].

4. Family. 

5. Pre and Post-Finals Week Celebratory Incentives.  
a) The SAB Christmas Party.

  


 Fun fact: This sweater used to be a part of My Foster's wardrobe. Although I'll never rock it like she did, it's a great crowd pleaser.








b) The Goose is Getting Fat Part Two annual holiday gathering brought to you by yours truly and Sarah Ann Busk.

Jocelyn and Brayden surveying the food situation.

Bear and her new crew.

Sarah retaliates and takes multiple unflattering shots of Brooke.

Great to see everyone back in town.

And then Laurie shows up engaged.  Congrats, Laurel!!!

(Reverting back to #3)

 Literally don't know how I would have survived last week without these three.  With Sarah going on a mission, Jocelyn being done with all the departmental courses, and Jessica graduated, I'm like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Or will be, shortly. Time to start wearing a paper bag over my head.  It's been real.

  

Seventeen days and we begin again.  Cheers to an education.

ROFL//

Searching For Sugar Man

If you haven't done it yet, you NEED to go see this (skip the new Bond flick).  Gave me goosebumps, was the perfect length, and left me obsessed with his music. Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome.

Fav tracks from Rodriguez:

Sugar Man

I Wonder

 

Can't Get Away

Seattle

Headed up to Seattle this last weekend with about 100 other MUSS members to catch the U vs. UW game on Saturday.  Here we are, getting prepped to leave Salt Lake at about 10 p.m.

Me and Meg, being optimistic about the 14 hour drive ahead of us, pre-neck pains.

We made a stop in the middle of nowhere a few hours later.  This is Derek, fulfilling his need to eat an Arby's beef and cheese sandwich at three in the morning.

After the sun came up and our "Le Bus" progressed further north, we enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous drive for the rest of the route.  Pretty, pretty, pretty.

So we got to Seattle (all 100 of us), and found out the the check in at our Comfort Inn wasn't until 4 p.m. Everyone was starving so we walked around and ate at the nearest restaurant we could find.  This place was already packed with other Ute fans, so we took that as a good sign.  This is Will, enjoying his peanut butter bacon burger.  "It was really good," he claims.

After the burger fest, we decided to take a little tour of our contender's campus.  Everything about it was gorgeous- the buildings, the grounds, their library, etc., with the exception of the people. After a few rounds on campus, a friend and I decided that the people in Utah are prettier.

Representing and looking not half bad.  Even after a hellish night on the bus.

See? Prettttty.

Lots of purple berry plants everywhere, adding a nice touch of school spirit to the campus 

(Husky colors = purple).  Was this planned, or was it not?  We'll never know.

Dinner downtown.  I'm usually not one for soda, but their home made root beer was delish.  There's a reason why mother says not to drink a soda before dinner. I could barely eat that seafood mac.

Up and at 'em the next morning at Pike Place Market. It was pretty chilly, but I found a guy who sold me some gloves made from alpaca, so things took a turn for the better. Also, I thought the two in the middle (blonde boy and girl in green) were dating for a good half of the trip.  They're siblings. It's fine.

Of all the times I've visited Seattle, I was oblivious to this wall's existence.  Just behind the market, sits this little alley just plastered in gum.  Really disgusting if you think about it, but entertaining no doubt.

My favorite part of the trip was likely our lunch at Ivars.  I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time.  Watching everyone feed the birds kept us all entertained for a good two hours. 

Another GREAT highlight of the trip was meeting up with Grandma Japanese, Uncle Harry, and Kaiden for lunch on the water. Maybe that's why I love Seattle so much.  It's not just a beautiful place with fun things to do, but it's also a place that I associate family with.  We walked around for a bit and found a good spot for seafood. Was sad that I had to say goodbye after just a couple of hours, but it was getting late and the game was creeping up on me.

Fish and chips, fish and chips.  FISH. AND. CHIPS!!

Hanging out at the tailgate with my favorite- John Fackler!

Another best part of the trip- having soooo many (18)  SAB members come. Love them to pieces.

The tailgate was at Safeco, and the actual game was at the Seahawks' stadium. Fun right? We may have lost (34-15 boooo), but the going to support our team was an absolute blast. Go team. Go Utes.

My best friend is beautiful.

Photos courtesy of My Foster.

Song of the Week

Hold You In My Arms

Ray LaMontagne

On repeat for the last three days. Gorgeous.

Likely one of the only "fashion" posts you will ever see from me.

Don't worry, I'm not going to pose on blogosphere in my new stylin' outfit- but I will show you my new favorite (faaaavorite) boots that I couldn't pass up after a night out at Nordy's this week. Observe:

 

La.

La.

Love.

 

 

 

Song of the Day.

My little (6' 3" 110 lbs. sigggggggh so sad) brother and I went for a drive on Sunday to check out the progress on the new house.  Did I tell you my parents are moving? Well now you know.  It was gorgeous weather and as we cruised down the boulevard and made our way to NSL, I enjoyed a truly sublime view of the sunset over the Great Salt Lake.  He recently turned 16 so this was my first official ride in his new "whip". Naturally, he had his new stereo system all set up and popped in a random CD.  Seconds later I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear one of my favorite singles [ever] being played.  If there's any influence I've executed correctly as an older sister, this is it:

Falling

Ben Kweller

Wind is cold alright back in Dallas. 

The neon light from the building lets
you know you're home.
You'd go way back when if you wanted to be 

my friend or you'd call me. I'd
understand, it's true.

Wait there, I'll be right back. 

Down in Times Square it's a heart attack.
All the feeling makes you feel so new.
Trees fall and so do men. 

Even the walls start caving in and you feel like
there's no pretend for you.

We could talk if days weren't so fast,
and mistakes just leave it so unsure.
Wanna hold you like never before
'case we're falling and I love you more and more.

Do you feel like you're falling down?
I don't feel like I'm falling-falling-falling down.

My favorite YouTube. Ever.

I should no doubt be doing homework, but instead I'm going to share with you a video that warms my heart.  My mom sent me the link to this a year ago, just after this lady received her middle ear implant.  I suppose that after putting so much energy into studying solely communication disorders (all things hearing and speaking), a little clip like this would hold unsurprising meaning to me.

She posted on her blog just earlier and announced today as the one year mark since activating the implant.  You can read more about it *here*.  Technology is such a concrete manifestation of modern day miracles. Who would have thought that this woman would ever defy such odds and hear? I love what I'm studying. I love seeing meaningful successes in other people's lives. I love the fact that this can only get better.

*   *   *   *   *

Post script to my CSD peeps:

A video below explaining how it works. (I was wondering, too.) This = the new C.I.

Neat.

Lake Blanche

One of the highlights of this summer/fall was having my Dad on sabbatical. If you know my pops, he is one of the hardest workers out there and never gets a break. So, seeing him have some extra rest and relaxation for the past three months has been fun. Some new encounters in the Foster household throughout the sabbatical: Dad casually eating breakfast on a weekday morning with the fam, Dad being at home from the hours of 8-5 on a weekday, Dad sleeping in, Dad answering the phone at the house on a weekday, etc.  It's been great. And we love it.  Lucky for me I never have class on Fridays, and was able to find a morning when we could both go on a beauuutiful hike just in time for the turn of the season. We woke up early and made it to the trail head via Big Cottonwood Canyon at about 8:30 yesterday.  A perfect day hike with the person who taught me to explore and fall in love with the great outdoors.

On our way up. Perfect (perfect) weather.

Brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows.

After we made it to the lake, Dad set up the spotting scope so we could spy on some goats!

With my #1 man.

Heading out. Gorg.

The End.

A blog that tightens my belt.

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It has been too long.

A thing or two has happened since last post.

A trip to Florida.
After weeks of work and summer school, Mum, Dad, Jake, and I headed down south for some much needed beach time in a nice area called Palm Beach.  Our daily schedule was filled with lots of sleeping, swimming, and eating. Loved it.  There's nothing better than bobbing around the ocean with the people that you love the most.

Our beautiful beach.

Keeping up with our cals at a delish southern cooking restaurant. Mmmmm. Deep fried biscuits = my nemesis.

Pretty views for some pretty people.

A trip to Indianapolis/Chicago.
Big news, people- I'm a Senior this year (sooo weird to say). And a member of the Student Alumni Board at the U.  Absolutely LOVED spending a weekend in the Midwest with some of the greatest people I have come in contact with since transferring.  Also was totally stoked to take a day and visit Chicaaaaago.

Favorite billboard during our road trip from Indiana to Illinois. The back side read, "HELL IS REAL." Good stuff.

Excellent travel buddies.

Who wouldn't want to go to a Cubs game?? Neat.

If Chicago doesn't scream deep-dish-pizza then I don't know what else does!

Norah Jones.
Thrilled (THRILLED) to get the chance to see my homegirl, N. J. perform at Red Butte Gardents in Salt Lake City.  She started with "Turn Me On" (Greeeat choice, according to me and Sar.  Also, dear futurehusband: we WILL be slow dancing to this someday. JSYK), and played an amazing concert for just under two hours. In this particular order:

Turn Me On

Out On The Road

Little Broken Hearts

The Long Way Home

Say Goodbye

Chasing Pirates

After The Fall

All A Dream

Traveling On

Cold Cold Heart

Not Too Late

Happy Pills

Don't Know Why

The Nearness Of You

Miriam

Sinkin Soon

Just Leave

Lonestar

*Encore*

Sunrise

Creepin In

Come Away With Me

A visit to my favorite place ever.

Oh West Yellowstone. After months of avoiding the idea, I finally made it up there.  The mountains, the townies, the comfortable small town feel- there isn't a place quite like it.  Spent a lot of time catching up with friends on the lake and in town.  Cleaned a cabin, ate some delicious food, and headed back home before I could change my mind and stay. There is something about this little town that is so appealing.  Haven't yet put my finger on it . . . 

What would a trip up there be without a few hours at Wild West with my favorite old timers??

Gorgeous sunset view from Island Park

A walk in the park.

It had been about ten years since I had made it to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos, but I figured that since Sarah was willing and the weather was good, we should give it a shot.  We began our venture on a less taken path (main trailhead closed) at 2:45 a.m., in hopes to make it to the summit by sunrise.  This particular trail was, however, much longer.  We didn't enjoy the summit sunrise, but decided in the end that it was all for the best, much due to the fact that it was FREEZING at the top. Burrr. Great times with my BFF who is most likely getting her mission call any day now. (Side note: any guesses on where we think she's going?? I say Boston, and mother says New York)  After 12 gruelling (truthfully) hours of hiking we made it back to the car.  Good work, team.

Sarah the Busk.

Beauttttiful Timp, in all its glory. And yes, the tip top is the summit (see video below).