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!

Wedding Day Nuke

Dear blog world,

I am alive... but only just. This month has been so crazy with baby & bridal showers, helping Shelbs with wedding stuff, family parties... oh, and the usual craziness that is our lives with Chris in grad school and me teaching school. So of course, this weekend (the one weekend I haven't had something to do or somewhere to be) I got sick. The kind of sickness that kept me in the fetal position praying that I was done excreting body fluids. So there's that lovely image for you!

All complaining aside, so many blog-worthy things have happened this month! Good things! Like the fact that I went two days without diet Dr. Pepper! Fall Break (#teacherperks)! Me and Chris are selling our town home! And last but not least.. SHELBS GOT MARRIED!!! As much as I know you'd all love to hear about my experience of going two days without that dark poison I call Dr. Pepper, I'm just going to ease back into this blogging thing with a bunch of pictures from my sister's wedding festivities this past week.

Shelbs' wedding was so perfect, so laid-back, and had me scratching my head saying "hmm, why didn't I think to do that?!" Such a typical thing of me to do anytime I see Shelby do or wear anything, really. Can I be Shelbs when I grow up?!

Anyway, I'll let my pictures of Shelbs wedding week do most of the blogging for me, since I'm trying to ease back into blog world + eat solid foods. Enjoy!

Shelbs was introduced to the G-life on Tuesday! Wahoo!

Her cute wedding dinner that I failed to take more pictures at.

Just keepin' it classy between the temple and reception ha!

Shelbs had a soda bar and cookies at her reception! S'cute, huh?! Why didn't I do that!?

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Hooley! AKA our new go-to couple! 

PHONE DUMP

Remember when I told you that the Summer of Shay looks like painting my whole house? Um, yeah... why didn't anyone warn me that painting every single day would put me into a weird funk? I feel like I haven't gotten a good nights rest in weeks + my body has been running solely on diet Dr. Pepper + every room in my house is basically torn apart. I can barely even remember what day it is, too..they all are just blurs of washing, taping, and painting. Oh, and I feel like I need to tell you that I'm chowing down on some beef jerky for breakfast while I type this. WEIRD FUNK, GUYS! 

Anyway, I was trying to think of what I've done besides paint this month, so I started looking through my phone pictures. Hence, the good ole fashioned phone dump of bad quality pictures to remind me that I have not just been a painting robot this month. You've been warned!

from left to right:

-Chris and I conquered the land where happy couples go to die aka IKEA. There might have been some eye rolling on Chris' part (oooohhh  babe I want hangy things like that in our kitchen!), but for the most part, we were able to leave unscathed. I'm pretty sure it's because I got Chris a cinnamon roll at the end + we both took pleasure in watching newlyweds argue. But anyway, I convinced Chris that it was time to upgrade from our $5 TV stand from Wal-Mart (thanks, Shell!), and so we got a new stand that actually can hold all of our stuff! Which was very difficult trying to load into the car with an ice cream cone in hand. And if you had any question as to whether I would rather drop my ice cream cone or my new TV stand, the answer is DROP THE $60 TV STAND! SAVE THE $1 ICE CREAM CONE. 

-Sanderson pickle ball has started up again! Which means my alter ego comes out to play... we call him Shane. As you can tell from the picture above, Shane really cares how he looks, and he can always depend on Shelby to snapchat super flattering pictures of him to everyone. Yes, Shane is an interesting character... he definitely is going to need his own post since he can't be explained in just one bullet point. 

-Chris' rec ball team won the championship! Since Chris usually played on Wednesdays when I had mutual, I didn't get to go as much, but when I would go, there would usually be some kind of fight among the grown men playing. Gotta love rec ball. Anyway, good job, Chris! And I'm glad we were able to celebrate your victory at Taco Amigo after. 

-On Memorial Day we had a BBQ at my grandma Walker's. My aunt Joelle brought Spike Ball for everyone to play, which turned into the guys playing Spike Ball while the girls went for a ride on the Razor. All of us Walker girls + motor vehicles = lots of swearing, laughing, and the occasional peeing of pants. Oh, and fun fact: my shirt in that picture I had worn for a good 4 days in a row... so the universe (or my cousin Jenica) gave me the sign that it was time to wash the shirt and quit being disgusting by getting mud splattered on it during that ride. Okay universe! I'll do my laundry! But don't you know that I'm in a weird funk!?

-This week I went with my mom to watch my cute niece, Koree, at field day! It was so fun getting to watch her, and it totally brought back memories of when I was in elementary school and took so much pride in the fact that I was always the fastest runner in my class (the early years of Shane!). Oh, and it totally reassured me that I made the right career choice as a secondary teacher... I don't know how you EL ED people do it! SO MUCH PATIENCE!

-My cute nephew Collin graduated from Kindergarten, so my SIL, Kat, invited me to go with her to his graduation. I had to try reeeeeally hard not to tear up at their little songs they sang! So much adorableness! I know, I know... I'm so screwed for when I have kids. Anyway, good job Collin! It kind of freaks me out that the next graduation I'll be watching you at is in 2027...and that I'll be 36. Hopefully by that time I'll be able to give you a better graduation gift than a cupcake with a gummy worm on it, huh?    

And now that I've checked the date today...

Happy funk-free Friday!

A Tidbit of Tibble Fork.

...how much longer do you think I can keep incorporating the word 'tidbit' into my post titles before it gets annoying? Okay! We get it! Your blog is called A Tidbit of Love! We understand you're running out of clever post titles!

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We had Sanderson family pictures taken a couple weeks ago, and I must say, I'm really proud of all of us! Mostly because there was minimal tears and swear words, but also because we braved the freezing cold up at Tibble Fork AND were dealing with post-Thanksgiving chubby face (okay, maybe that was just me) (also proud of the fact that my mom got my dad to wear purple-ha! excuse me, I mean, "burgandy"). Seriously though, the grandkids did so good up there! So good in fact, that I promised them all I'd take them to the dollar store. Oh, and Chris did really good too! He barely complained + smiled normal + suggested some poses for us (as you'll see below).

We had our family friend, Brooklyn, take these photos for us. You guys! If you need pictures taken, she's your girl! She's so great and so good at what she does (click here to see her blog). I loved the candid shots she got of our family, because let's be honest, those are usually the best pictures to look at! Here are some of my favorites:

^^But seriously, how pretty is my mom?^^

^^I've never seen Chris happier in a photo of us...^^

I love my family.

p.s. After these pictures Chris informed me that we've had six photoshoots since we've been married... I think it's safe to say that he's done taking pictures with me for a while.

p.p.s. We also went to Chubby's after this--bad idea for the thighs. And my post-Thanksgiving face. Maybe I'll be joining Chris on the being done taking pictures for a while thing?

For Posterity's Sake

These photos are proof that Chris and I are capable of taking a good picture together. And by "good picture," I mean I didn't have to nag Chris to take it with me + it wasn't taken on my phone. So three cheers for Chris who was such a good sport about taking family pictures and wearing what I told him to AND putting gel in his hair. Background: Chris HATES putting gel in his hair. He will do anything to avoid it because it "makes his forehead sticky."  

Feel free to scroll through these and think that we don't wear sweats or leggings on a daily basis. Is it sad that my outfits are actually planned around leggings? Anyway, onwards! To sweat pants/legging-free pictures of us! 

Behold:

While we're on the subject of things we're capable of, I would like you to know that we're capable of having a fridge full of soda, but no butter or milk or cheese (the essentials). In our defense, cranberry sprite zero with a spoonful of limeade is amazing--thanks, Mama Sanderson for converting us! It's becoming an essential in the Gourley household. 

We're also capable of keeping all of our whites in the dryer and coming down every single morning to get fresh underwear, because folding them and taking them upstairs would be too inconvenient (human logic).

Basically, we're capable of winning at life right now... is it Thanksgiving break yet?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Disneyland Edition

The Good:

• I made it to California! I had to put on my big girl pants and rode a plane by myself to meet my family there. Because this is a safe space, I think it's safe to say that I wet those big girl pants on the plane ride--I should not be allowed to ride on a plane by myself! I went from crying at take-off/planning my own funeral to crying about how beautiful the LA lights were as we were landing and everything else in between! It was an emotional plane ride to say the least... BUT the important thing is I made it!
• Two words: DOLE WHIP. I would go back to Disneyland for that reason alone.
• Dash going on The Tower of Terror and being rewarded with a sucker and a dollar bill for not crying.
• The World of Color! I think there was more water coming out of my eyes than in the actual show... I couldn't handle it! Lights, water, songs from Frozen, and Christmas music--the ingredients for a hysterically sobbing Shayli! 
• The corn dogs. Totally worth the 20 minute wait.
• Me and Shelbs not having to wait in line for any rides.
• Sulley gettin' all spiffed up for me and Shelbs.
• Watching my nieces and nephews during the Christmas parade. 
• The Genie's one-liners in Aladdin. 
• The Christmas music playing in the park. I'm not really one to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but I couldn't help but love it in Disneyland! There's just something so magical about it there!
• Shelby and her Ghirardelli's chocolate ice cream.
• The fireworks above the princess castle. Proof that Disneyland doesn't half-ass a n y t h i n g. 
• My dad forgetting where they take the picture on California Screamin'.
• Cars Land + getting fast passes for the Radiator Springs ride. 
• Watching my nieces and nephews eyes light up as they experienced Disneyland for the first time.

The Bad:

• Chris not being there :( 
• Rapunzel's eyes not being the right color.
• The Chinese food at California Adventure (according to Mitch).
• Koree and Griffin being sick.
• Not getting to meet Anna or Elsa.
• Dash not being tall enough for California Screamin' or Indiana Jones.
• My water bottle leaking through my bag on Space Mountain.
• The Bug's Life ride (again, according to Mitch).
• My family not being able to make a decision to save their lives ;)
• Driving in a huge circle trying to find Slater's 50/50
• That I only got two days in Disneyland.

The Ugly:

• The combo of see-through leggings and thongs-a popular look at Disneyland.
• Me crying at anything and everything at Disneyland. I saw Elsa!...There's Christmas music playing!...The sky is blue!
• Going from California weather to below freezing weather in Utah.
• Our pedophillic 15-passenger van.