The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: San Diego!

My doctor said there's only one thing he knows that even remotely helps ease the heartache of losing a baby (or babies) + infertility:
v a c a t i o n.

So, that's what we did! Doctor's order.

We talked to the roomies (my in-laws), and somehow decided on going to San Diego. Kind of random, but it was definitely a nice change of pace from our usual go-to vacation spot in St. George. Even though I kind of hated the fact that we had the opportunity to go on a vacation, I'm so happy we went. I guess my doctor knew what he was talkin' about...

Enjoy the highlights--good, bad, and ugly.

The Good:

-vacationing with the roomies!

-everything at Casa de Guadalajara... where all my cheese-filled dreams came true

-rootbeer floats in old town

-the smell of our hotel...I'm confident that the smell of the hotel is what heaven smells like + me and Martha were so in love with the smell that we asked the concierge desk what it was (it's called "attune")

-Tom G hooking it up with the best seats behind the dugout at the Padres game

-getting our pictures on the scoreboard at the game

-the pool

-frisbee contests in the pool + Chris trying to lift Marty on his shoulders

-Ghirardelli's samples and ice cream

-the "crime scene" pizza at Pizzeria Luigi (why am I so late to the ricotta cheese game? soooo amazing)

-the concierge lounge for second dinner + diet pepsi on tap 

-Coronado island

-the "frings" at Burger Lounge

-UBER (first timers!)

-watching Shark Week in a hotel bed

-Marty always having Hi-Chews on hand

-shopping in the Gaslamp District

-Hodad's...well worth the wait!!! + all the heart eyes for the best chocolate shake I've ever had

-visiting the San Diego temple SO SO PRETTY

The Bad:

-"cheese cramps" from Casa de Guadalajara

-not being able to find Casa de Guadalajara and literally taking the longest route possible to get to it

-finding out that the scent in our hotel costs $150

-Tom G "scouting things out" - I was not mentally or physically prepared for that

-me and Marty losing to Chris and Tom G in the frisbee contest

-Chris' caramel malt at Ghirardelli's not really having caramel in it

-no fry sauce in Cali :( 

-not staying at Coronado Island long enough

-Chris convincing me to walk almost 3 miles (unknowingly uphill) in the San Diego humidity to get to a golf course

-finding a raisin cookie in the chocolate chip cookie jar in the concierge lounge... oh, the trust issues!!!

-Jason having to break into our house to feed our cat while we were gone

-not catching a foul ball at the Padres game

-the honeymoon couple next to Chris on the plane "high thighing"

-getting sick from drinking the chocolate shake at Hodad's too fast

-not having enough time to try all the amazing food places in San Diego

The Ugly:

-my nightmares about falling off our 19th floor balcony hotel room

-how sore I was from doing a BBG workout in the hotel gym

-my hangry + sweaty + no-longer-curled hair from walking to the golf course with Chris

-COMIC CON convention center right next to our hotel.... 'nuff said

Goodbye Summer of Shay

I really thought that going back to school today and setting up my classroom would make me more excited to get back to my teaching gig and have all the motivation in the world to be a kick-A teacher this year. . . but it didn't. I'm still very much in Summer of Shay mode.

What are pants? 
What's the date today?
What's the password to my school email again? 

It's kind of hard to be in school mode since I had a pretty good send off this week from the Gourley gang. Monday we went to the pool (my second home this summer) and had pizza and nachos for lunch! (Thanks, Gourley girls!)

And if pool day with the Gourley gang wasn't enough. . . On Tuesday, me and Martha had a movie marathon day! Three movies + two Swig drinks snuck into the theaters = one epic day! I think this might need to become a tradition!

Can you blame me for not being in teacher mode yet? This Summer of Shay has been so good to me! Like, SO good. But I guess it's time to trade in my pool bag for my backpack and my flip flops for tennis shoes (life of a PE teacher is super glamorous-obviously). I'm thinking once I'm with my students again the teacher feels will come back, but for now, I'm just going to mourn the ending of a great summer.

Sigh... I will see you in 10 months, Summer of Shay. It's not too early to start counting to Christmas break, though.... right?!

Ready or not, here we go 2016-2017 school year!

No Summer Slump Here!

This weekend was the annual Sanderson "campout" in my parent's backyard. I think the term "glamping" would be more appropriate for what we actually do every year, since our "camping" usually involves the popcorn machine, pizza, outdoor movies, and wayyyy too many yummy treats. This year we added a money dig to our glamping traditions, and it did not disappoint. Who knew that watching my nieces and nephews sift through a ginormous pile of confetti could be so fun? And if we're being honest, it wasn't very long before all the adults were sifting through the confetti, too. 

After a late night of watching MegaMind outside, roasting s'mores, and sleeping in a tent, we woke up the next day and headed to Wayne Bartholomew Park in Springville, which was so cute! Fricken freezing water, but so cute! One of my favorite sights was watching Chris paddleboard with Talon to "go get the ducks." 

Of course after our time at the park, we made our way to Mooyah's (my most favorite burger ever... bless you, Mooyah's and your amazing fried onion strings), because even though we had spent the last 24 hours shoving our mouths full of pure junk, we still felt the urge to go eat there. I love my family. Ha. 

For the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking about how at almost every year around this time I get into my "Summer slump," where I start fantasizing about fall, and all summer seems to be to me is too much heat, too much swass, too much of not having a set schedule, and too much boredom... but not this year! Quite the opposite. Except for maybe the too much heat + swass stuff. I keep finding myself getting super sad at the thought of summertime being over. Like, can't I just watch fireworks + go fishing with Chris + hangout at Lehi pool for forever?! 

I'm sure once I'm back teaching I'll be happy + excited + super motivated to be a kick-A teacher, but right now, I'm just trying to soak up every last bit of my Summer of Shay I have left, because life has been pretty dang good this summer and I truly am not ready for it to end! I'm glad I still have hanging out with the Gourley gang in Park City this next week to look forward to.

Long live the Summer of Shay!!!

tidbits of life // updates

When you get a snapchat from your sister that says, "Update your blog, damnit!," I guess you're kind of required to write a blog post . . .  damnit.

Jokes! I am glad Shelbs encouraged + slightly threatened me to update this blog, because I have missed it! All Summer I have made mental notes to myself to "blog about this..." but then life gets in the way and I tell myself I'll blog tomorrow. And by life, I mean Netflix or going to the pool, but guys! Scandal! Tan lines! Priorities, duh.

So, to make up for all my mental notes to blog that have been wasted, I'm just going to throw everything I've wanted to update blog world on into this one post. Yes, that means a list post! You know I love me some lists--they're like the snapchat floral crown filter of the blogging world--the best.

And because I never really know how to transition into the list part of the blog post. . . here we go! Enjoy?


Summer of Shay. As you might have already guessed, a good portion of my summer break has consisted of Netflix + the pool + no makeup and I'm not sorry about it. In my defense though, I have woken up every single day at 7:00 with Chris, worked out, and cleaned the house ("See, Chris! I do stuff!"). I will say that sometimes I have felt like Rapunzel when she sings "When Will My Life Begin," though (7am the usual morning line up....) because what the heck do you do all summer while everyone else works?! (answer: hangout with your teacher friend, Keisha!) But other than that, the Summer of Shay has been bueno bueno! And I'm kind of not ready to think about seating charts and classroom management and revamping my lessons just yet.  Why is summer cruising by so fast?!

Chris. You know how I always talk about Chris being a grown up? Well, he's found a way to be an even grownier grown up this summer (says an educator of young people). First, he graduated from his Master's program in June (yay for having a husband on Tuesdays and Thursdays again!), and then just a few weeks after graduating, he got a new job! Um, hi! Grown up pants! Chris will still be working for Intermountain Health Care, but now as a Clinical Quality Improvement Manager. I'm so proud of him!!! I still am not sure I fully understand how Chris is capable of being part manchild part grown up pants, but I'll take it!

TRUCK, YEAH! Speaking of Chris . . . he somehow swindled me into agreeing that we totally need a truck + found the deal of a lifetime on KSL. Chris has been waiting for his perfect "grandpa truck" to come along, and last Thursday, his waiting was finally over. And if you don't know what a "grandpa truck" is, it's when the truck belonged to a grandpa who barely ever drove it, and was in pretty much perfect condition--exactly what we got. I'm not gonna lie, it is pretty dang fun having a truck, even if it is my new sister wife (Chris is obsessed to say the least). We call her "The Silver Bullet," even though someone pointed out to us that that is the name of a popular vibrator. I suggested we call it something like "The Silver Fox," but Chris insists that it's name is The Silver Bullet. So that's that, and we're stickin' to it! Hello more camping + stargazing date nights + hauling my bike around + Chris doing manly man stuff!

Clean Simple Eats Challenge. Guys, I really have loved doing this challenge! I think what I've loved about it most is that it really is geared towards making lifestyle changes instead of just being a "quick fix." Like, okay maybe I don't need to put that much cheese on everything (WHO AM I?!?). I think I've enjoyed it so much because the food really is dang good, and I haven't felt like I'm depriving myself or that I've even been on a "diet." Have there been times that it's been hard? Yes (Um, hi 4th of July weekend!). But for the most part, it really has been do-able. I feel like my body doesn't look way different then when I started (I've only lost 5 pounds), but I feel so much stronger, and my mind feels clearer and I'm totally going to continue to eat a lot of the same food that's come from this meal plan. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to post before and after pics...but for now, here's a pic of my food from the meal plan, which I'm sure we'd all rather see anyway(insert heart eyed emoji):

Projies. The Summer of Shay would not be complete without doing lots of projects--"projies," as Chris likes to call them. Last year, my projy was to paint our entire town home. This year, projies have included painting the shutters outside, painting the garage, finishing our yard, and my favorite of them all: painting nightstands for us! You know you're a freaking grown up when you are thrilled to finally have matching nightstands. Behold:

Also, let's pretend that's how clean the top of my nightstand always is, and that's it's NEVER covered with McDonald's foam cups that are partially filled with water. Fun fact: the Summer of Shay has made me realize that I am super high maintenance when it comes to my ice water--foam cup + straw-- no exceptions. Poor Chris had to learn the hard way that you do NOT throw any foam cup of any sort away on my watch. Ha!


Annnnd I think that's it? Consider this blog updated... damnit!

Fourth Festivities

Every year I feel like my heart grows more and more for the Fourth of July (not that I don't normally love me some Independence Day!). I found myself thinking multiple times this last weekend, Man! This might be my favorite holiday after Christmas... and can you blame me? Summer! Fireworks! BBQ! Family! America!!! It's all just so happy and magical.

I think going to the Stadium of Fire is really what sparked my spirit for this year's Fourth... There was definitely some ugly crying going on in LaVell Edwards Stadium during the national anthem + when the jets flew over. Okay, okay... and maybe a few tears when Tim McGraw ran out on stage. Also, can we talk about how good Tim is and his tight jeans?? But in all seriousness, being there made me truly appreciate those that serve our country and fight for all the freedoms I get to enjoy daily--so proud to be an American!

The actual Fourth of July was filled with the usuals.... fishing with the Gourley's + eating way too much delicious food + mama Sanderson's ribs + pickleball + fireworks from Tom and Martha's deck. 

^Always my favorite picture to take up at Strawberry... Chris helping the kids drive the pontoon!

Can't think of a better way to celebrate being an American than all of that. . . 

Hope you all had a fabulous Fourth!

Clean Simple Eats Challenge

WHO THE FREAK AM I?!?!

That's what I've been asking myself as I've been preparing to do the Clean Simple Eats Summer Challenge with my sister-in-law, Kat. But wait, I know exactly who I am! I am someone who has shamefully been living off of Diet Dr. Pepper + Dove Chocolate this week and it's only the first week of Summer! I am someone who is sick and tired of feeling. . . well, sick and tired! Okay, okay, and maybe I'm tired of being a mermaid and want just a liiiiittle thigh gap? So, as Barney Stinson would say, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

If you're not familiar with Clean Simple Eats, it's a 40 day meal plan which entails lots of "clean eating" with foods that are definitely new to my kitchen--greek yogurt, protein powder, peanut butter in powder form ("What the freak is that?!" said Chris) and a bunch of other foods that my love handles just scream 'EW!' at. But don't get me wrong, I am pretty excited about this! I have never done anything like this before + my sister in law had such a good experience with it last year, so even though I'm a little nervous, I'm feeling pretty good about it!

Anyway, in order to hold some kind of accountability for me since I'm a "my diet starts Monday" type of gal + a major lover of junk food, I thought I'd post this on the blog and maybe do a couple of updates along the way? Which I'm sure will involve a little whining and humor and NO awkward before and after pictures--unless I end up looking like Jen Aniston, in which case there will be a lot of afters.

Okay, and maybe I'm hoping that those of you who read my blog will be inspired? But mostly I just want you to tell me to STOP IT RIGHT NOW if you see me start using the hashtag, #cleaneating, or Snapchatting every single thing I eat.  Promise you will? Thanks.

Wish me luck!
And if you really want to join in on the fun, click here.

my life is ending tomorrow

^^What a dark + dramatic title for this post, right?^^ But it's true... my life is ending tomorrow. Well, according to my mother-in-law and all other teacher's alike it is, because tomorrow I start my contract time as a full-time teacher (I just peed a little typing that)! WHAT?! Time to find those big girl pants I stuffed in the back of my closet way back in April, I guess.

In all honesty though, I'm excited to start being in the classroom--I need structure back in my life! I think the most structure I've had this summer is making sure I wake up in time to watch Live with Kelly & Michael and transfer clothes to the dryer before the mildew sets it. Also, anyone who knows me knows that I'm already ready for fall. It's not even summer to me anymore, it's just heat + chafed thighs.

Don't mistake my readiness for fall as me having a miserable summer, though. I have fully enjoyed it! In fact, last week was probably the best week of my summer yet, and what I've declared as "What the Summer of Shay was supposed to look like" all wrapped up into one week!  So here's what it looked like:

Monday: 

-Riding bikes with Chris to the temple and then admiring the temple from a distance in Tom and Martha's hot tub.

Tuesday:
-Going to see a movie at 10:30 in the morning with Martha... just because!
-Adding a bike to the family after having so much fun on Monday (click here to read Tonk's labor & delivery story)

Wednesday:
-Going on a looooong walk with Shelbs + discovering the amazingness of the dole whip shack in Pleasant Grove. Very good thing this wasn't discovered until last week, or there would've been a lot more thigh chafing this summer.
-Repelling for Young Women's. So scary, but what's the Summer of Shay without a little adventure? (and by adventure I mean slipping off the ledge and almost swearing in front of my bishop)

Thursday:
-School clothes shopping! Chris is convinced that the only reason I became a teacher was so that I'd always have summer off AND the excuse to go school clothes shopping (he's kind of right).

-Riding FrontRunner up to Salt Lake to meet Chris for an early date night! Chris wanted us to try this fancy Mexican restaurant called Alamexo and ay ay ay! It was SO good. My heart skips a beat just thinking about the queso and the complimentary churros! So, so yummy...  and a little pricey,.. but, yolo?
-Chris also taking me to get ice cream after dinner. Even though the place we went to didn't have the pineapple/coconut ice cream he was hoping for, we still indulged in some chocolate coconut ice cream.

Friday:
-Riding my bike on the Murdock Canal Trail to Pleasant Grove to visit my grandparents.
-Stopping at my parent's and making myself at home to the leftovers in their fridge.
-Tagging along on my parent's date night to Mi Ranchitos and then going to see The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (thanks, mom and dad!)

Saturday:
-Another walk with Shelbs.
-Swimming with the Gourley gang!
-Another dole whip.
-Sleeping over with the roomie's and watching another movie with Martha.

Sunday:
-Chris arriving home from his fella's camping trip!!!
-Celebrating Tom and Martha's 40th anniversary! And for anyone wondering, the secret to 40 years of marriage, it's p a t i e n c e ... or just knowing when to turn your head (advice from Tom G. ha!). Congrats, roomies!!!

What more could I ask for in the last week of the Summer of Shay?! Truth: probably more dole whip...but other than that, probably nothing!


Now off to recover those big girl pants...

Nymphadora Tonks: A Labor and Delivery Story

Nymphadora Tonks joined our family August 11, 2015 at 6:13pm weighing more than I could manage by myself. 

The day started out like any other day in the Summer of Shay: running, LIVE with Kelly and Michael, grocery shopping, and of course, Swig. I had just been in the middle of reading Harry Potter when I got a text that would forever change my life:

"Ok, you can come get it around 3:30."

She was here! I would finally get to meet this new addition to our family in only a couple of hours!

...or so I thought.

Going into it, I had a plan. I was going to use Tom G's truck to go pick it up and have Tom G just drive my car back up to the house after work. But for some reason, I thought getting Tom G's truck was a two person job, so I called my dad to help me (the anticipation for this new little one clouded my judgment, obviously). After looking for the keys to the truck for a good 20 min, I finally found them in the ashtray! One step closer to Tonks! Until I got this text:

"We should probably make it 4 to be safe."

Ugh. I had waited all afternoon, I guess I could wait another 30 minutes. So waited I did...at my dads work... following him around like a puppy ha. It was 3:45 when I got the next text:

"Hey so the bicycle is in my wife's car and she took it to work today because that's where the other person who was originally going to buy it was going to meet her. She still is not on her way home yet, so it might be later that we have to meet."

WHAT?! I had been waiting all day! Now I have to drive all the way home in Tom G's truck only to bring it back to Provo a couple of hours later? That's when all the doubts started to fill my mind. What if she's not cute in real life like she is in the KSL pictures? What if something is wrong with her? How am I going to be able to handle a new bike? Is there room for her in our home? 

After waiting for what felt like days I finally got the OK to come and get her! It was finally happening! The delivery itself probably took a whopping 2 minutes, which involved some awkward small talk with a girl named Jessica about how she's moving to California and then ended with me saying, "Thanks! See ya later!...wait... no I won't," and then asking her to help me load it into the truck because I lack upper body strength.

While the labor was long and painful, the quick and awkward delivery made up for it. I'm so excited for this new addition into the family. I love you, Nymphadora Tonks!

- - - - - - - - - -

Long story short: This was the best $30 KSL find in history! (thanks to Chris)




p.s. What do we think of the name? Obviously I want something Harry Potter related, and Tonks came to mind because of the pink! But I also thought I could name her Frenchy or Rizzo because after all, she IS a pink lady! Feel free to leave name suggestions in the comment section below.

quarter-life crisis

Is there such thing as a quarter-life crisis? Because I'm pretty sure that's what I've been going through these past couple of weeks. I haven't had an affair, or bought a new sports car or done anything else that people who go through a mid-life crisis supposedly do, but I did put in my two weeks at Victoria's Secret + dye my hair red. And no, it's not because I have a huge girl crush on Jaclyn Hill and want to look exactly like her, ya silly! It's totally because of this quarter-life crisis I'm going through. Because, holy $h!z is summer really almost over?! Am I really only 21 days away from being an adult and having a grownup job?! Answer: YES. So obviously dying your hair a different color means that you're still hip and fun and you have all the time in the world to complete your "Summer of Shay" to-do list.

But for some reason, I forgot that dying my hair would help me feel better about moving on to a new chapter in my life, because I totally freaked out to Chris last Friday night. 

Babe! I haven't accomplished anything I wanted to this Summer! Can we go on a bike ride to the temple tomorrow?! And how about we go visit Tidbit next weekend? And take the raft up to to Tibble Fork? We need to do all those things before August 18th. DO ALL THE THINGS! 

Luckily, Chris was sweet and only giggled at my ridiculousness for a second before reassuring me that I still have time to do all of those things before school starts. Now that I worked my last shift at Vickie's today, I'm starting to agree with him + not get as many panic attacks thinking about the fact that I'm going to be a grownup next month. 

All I have to do now is make it through girl's camp this week... which is obviously off to a great start seeing as how it's almost 2am and I'm still putting little handouts together and waiting for a load of laundry to dry so I can  have clean underwear while I'm there. 

...I'm just going to keep blaming my quarter-life crisis I'm going through right now, ok?

No matter how terrified I may be that my Summer of Shay is coming to an end, or that I'm less than a month away from becoming an actual teacher, I can take comfort in knowing that I never ever ever have to fold another freaking panty table again. PEACE OUT, VICKIE'S!

And helloooooo adulthood! (+ many more crises)

Happy MOOsday! (see what I did there?)

I'm debating whether or not to post this... mostly because I threw a fit last year when Chris suggested we dress up like cows to get free food from Chic-Fil-A for date night... but, can you blame me? Fighting a huge crowd dressed like cows AND swallowing my pride and dressing like a cow just for a free meal?!

NOPE. NOT HAPPENING.

Besides, the .2 seconds that I actually considered going and tried to make cow costumes with garbage bags and sharpies was just a hot mess. Actually, just a mess. There was nothing hot about trying to cut arm holes and/or scribble spots with dry Sharpies. Ugh. I get the angry sweats just thinking about it!

BUT! I found a solution for this year! It's called, "having your sister-in-law text you to come to Chic-Fil-A because she made you cow ears and spots out of vinyl!" And throwing your pride out the window along with that bikini body because you can go through the drive-thru! Oh, and being accompanied by these cuties.

I guess the real reason for this post is to say this:

Sorry, Chris.
Thank you, Kami!

Also... do you think they'll recognize my outfit when I go back to get a free shake tonight? (pride-- where are you?!)


Happy Tuesday  MOOsday!