suggestions?

Hello dear internet friends! this morning I'm enjoying the awesomeness of getting to dress up at my job. :o) Sometimes my work is AWESOME. :o)

ANYWHO.....I need some help from y'all.

My sweet, amazing boyfriend Soldier Boy is taking me to Ballet West's The Lottery this weekend. :) I didn't buy season tickets because of the cost this year and because this fall show was the ONLY one I really wanted to go to - the other performances will be good, but this is the one show I didn't want to miss. So Soldier Boy is being awesome and is taking me to the ballet.

So what's the problem you ask? Well.....I don't know what to wear. I have a couple of formal outfits that I can wear....but I'm not sure which one to wear this time. so, let me present my cases and then you can help me out. ;)

Option 1: the Chinese outfit

This outfit is the one I made two years ago (with lots of help from mom....) I've worn the top and skirt several times since then - not always together - and I do like it....















Option 2: the Polka Dot Dress

This outfit is one that I purchased (with help from Soldier Boy) to take to my friend's Fashion Show in March...I also wore it on a date w/him to the ballet when we first started dating.














Option 3: Brown and Teal

I don't have a picture of this outfit, but I have worn it to the ballet once before (with Monkey Man last year) It's the brown skirt from above and then a teal blouse that I purchased. I look really good in this outfit and I do love it. :o)

So there you go....my three options. I'm leaning towards Option #1....but we'll see what y'all think/how I feel Saturday morning.

:o)

Thursday Things

Hey all. Look at me! Posting TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!! I'm so awesome. :o)

It's THURSDAY (which I love) so that means....

YAY!!!! Let's get this party started, shall we? :o)

• I'm not going dancing tonight at the normal Blue Tango venue, but instead plan on spending a relaxing evening with Soldier Boy, his daughter, and my wonderful swimming pool. :o)

• I don't think I've told you, but if we're pinterest friend you've noticed...I'm the chairperson for the Annual Company Family Picnic. I LOVE the family picnic and am SO EXCITED to be heading it up. We're having a Western themed evening/carnival with a Chili Cook-Off that should be fun times. :o)

• School is starting and that means there are back-to-school sales EVERYWHERE. It makes me wish *I* was going back to school so I could justify buying fun things. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY happy to be not in school. I just wish I could justify buying things....

• I have grand plans for my day off tomorrow. I am (fingers crossed!) going to have NO MORE BOXES to unpack by the end of tomorrow/this weekend. Good goal right? :o)

• Soldier Boy is taking me out on a date! on Saturday! granted, we tend to do things that could be classified as dates...but this is a for real, planned for, paid for, paired off date. :o) Just like Elder Oaks defined it. :o) I'm SUPER EXCITED. (It's all a surprise, but I'm 99% sure we're going to the cheesecake factory.)

• So...I may have mentioned that I'm maybe getting into audio books? but I'm not sure yet...ANYWAYS. the point of this bullet is to ask for suggestions for books to listen to...i know not every book is perfect for audio reading, so which ones are your favorites?

anyways, i think that's all folks...hopefully your weekend is as splenderific as mine. :o) I'm hoping to get in a trip the Gardner's Village farmer's market...but we'll see. CIAO!

Favorite Things on A Friday

Dearest Friends.

Is it just me or has this past week felt FOREVER long? I am so grateful that it is finally Friday. Now if the work day will fly by then I will be a happy camper. :o) I'm very much looking forward to date night tonight and then spending the morning (post-rehearsal) and early afternoon with my sweet boyfriend. THEN I'm going to go to the temple tomorrow night. It should be good times.

Before I share a few favorite things with you, I'm sure you have all been waiting with baited breath for the outcome of my doctor's appointment yesterday. First of all, I was there for TWO HOURS. Seriously, longest wait of my life. Sigh. Oh well. The news is: GOOD! there's nothing seriously wrong with my knee. The popping is fairly normal - the grinding I feel behind my knee cap can be helped with a brace that the doctor gave me and he confirmed that my graft/meniscus all look fantastic. So that was good. I'm glad to have gotten it checked out and to have that worry no longer present. :o)

OKAY! Favorite things today!

I have a thing for brownies right now. mmmm...

Truth:

I love life. It's so great.

I think I need to try out this recipe.

this quote. oh man. AMEN.

Finally - a little bit of the Piano Guys awesomeness to kick-start the weekend the right way. :) Enjoy!

Anxious on a Thursday

I'm sitting here at work trying so VERY hard to stay on task.

It's not working.

But shh.... don't tell my boss. sigh.

As I mentioned yesterday I'm off to see my orthopedic surgeon today. Why might you ask? Well...my knee has been feeling funny.

Here's what I'm telling my doctor about my knee: it will sometimes pop constantly....but not a good pop but lots of little grinding pops never feels better unlike when i pop my hip or something THEN sometimes it feels like it needs to pop - there's all this pressure and it won't pop, but instead feels like there is a partially blown up balloon - you know the kind that you can't squish and pop but you squish and it just changes shape? yeah. my knee feels like that sometimes.

sigh. Here's hoping my doctor has some answers for me.....

Let's move on to other things to keep me distracted shall we?

• Soldier Boy is the BEST boyfriend. I like him lots and lots. Last night he asked me if I'd go on a date with him Friday night. ;) I said yes, of course. 

• My bright pink shoes? Yeah...they're AWESOME. see for yourself:

• I get to blog for work now. If we're real-life friends you've probably seen the links on Facebook. I'm cool like that.

• I'm kind of loving social media everything at work right now. It keeps me sane.

•  I'm not going to lie: I've been loving the super nice, super warm weather we've been enjoying round these parts. I hate to see it go in the coming days.

• The Tulip Festival? So much win! Loved it!

• This weekend is going to be fun....I hope. ;) I'm just excited that the weekend is basically here. :o)

So there you go. Stay tuned for the post-appointment update. :P Prayers would be great! See you on the flip side!

Happy Dance!

guys. I love love love Thursdays. I always say that because it is oh so TRUE! :o) This week has been just awful in many ways and I am very glad to have weekend just about here. I have a lot of random things, so let's get this party started shall we?

• BLUE TANGO! TONIGHT! I am so excited to go dancing! One of my favorite peeps to dance with is going to be there tonight and I'm rather excited about this.

• Tomorrow is Date Night. In fact, this last weekend Monkey Man was conversing w/someone from the ward about Movie Night and the next movie we were going to do and where and such and the topic of when came up. This other person mentioned how we could do Friday and Monkey Man said, "Friday night is Date Night. You can't mess with Date Night." I was SO EXCITED to hear those words come from his mouth. I love Date Night. On the agenda is dinner, apple pie making and the annual lighting festival at the Riverwoods. Sounds festive right? :o)

• I am going to be crafty this weekend and I am just so excited about this. I'm going to make a new bag for my church stuff. :o) It should be pretty sweet. Maybe I'll take pictures and tell you about it. Maybe.

• I got whacked in the face with a volleyball last night. Got whiplash. WORST headache EVER. but it was a fun night regardless.

• Also, last night I had a training meeting with the General Relief Society board. It was a wonderful board. I took so many pages of notes of things that I can be doing better. Part of me LOVES these meetings and another part of me hates them because afterwards I just feel so inadequate. There is so much room for improvement.

• I am just so happy these days when it comes to Monkey Man. After an emotional breakdown (over things that have been building up for some time now) on Tuesday evening, Monkey Man let me gripe and complain. He lent the best listening ear. The conversation led to other topics and his philosophies on life and the gospel are so well aligned with mine it is sometimes scary. I really really really really like him. I think he's the bee's knees and love being able to spend time with him any way I can.

• My cousin is blessing her baby up in L* this weekend. Sister B, Brother-in-Law T and I are all going up to spend time with them. Monkey Man may or may not be coming depending on his schedule on Sunday. Regardless, I am excited to spend time with my cousins.
• I really love going to the gym. SO GREAT.

• I'm really excited for the Holidays. They are going to be so much fun this year.

• Also, what does when get a boy they've  been dating for a short time (*cough Monkey Man cough*) for Christmas? I'm thinking maybe I'll make a stocking and stuff it with cute, fun  knick knacks, but I'm not sure. Your ideas are welcome.

Have the most fantastic weekend ever friends! Loves!