I'M BACK!

Finals are over!

Not only is it sunny but it's actually warm!

Everything is booked for France!

MCAT studying is coming along nicely...! 

(and by nicely I mean I wanted to rip my brain out sometimes but that's normal right?)

And I wanted to check in and give this blog a little attention, so I decided to leave you with a little link list of awesome stuff I've been doing or looking at online!

Enjoy!

This video is AWESOME. Watch it, you'll be in awe.

I just bought this for a friend because 

a) Who wouldn't want to know more about Zelda Fitzgerald and 

b) I have heard really fantastic things about it. 

Can you say summer reading list?

Also, I stumbled across these neat things on etsy and it's probably just my inner anatomy/dissection TA coming out, but I kind of want one haha. 

JP and I recently saw this movie and I don't even know quite what to say about it. It's one of those movies that stays in your mind after you leave the theater, and somehow you find yourself still thinking about it days later. I think Bradley Cooper and/or Ryan Gosling deserves an Oscar for their performance!

And I've been collecting pictures of France such as this one because I can't believe we move there in 6 weeks!! aah!

Waffles

Weather is starting to warm up around here finally. 

And so, to celebrate the appearance of Spring (and maybe to postpone studying for finals), JP and I visited the waffle truck  with Shayla and Nick!

PS - one final down!

Boston

The tragedy that happened earlier today in Boston is heartbreaking. 

I had close friends and family in the race and although they are thankfully okay, there are many people and families that are not okay. 

Pray for Boston. 

[When sore trials come upon us, it’s time to deepen our faith in God, to work hard, and to serve others. Then He will heal our broken hearts. He will bestow upon us personal peace and comfort. Those great gifts will not be destroyed, even by death.]

-Russell M. Nelson-

A Picture-less Weekend Re-cap:

Friday night:

We did homework. Isn't that exciting?! Lots of studying up in here. 

Oh, JP and I also went and volunteered at the juvenile detention center here in Provo (we've been doing it for about 4 months now) and can I just tell you how much I love it?! 

We help out with the 16-17 year old boys and they are really something. They've made mistakes and lost their way a little bit but their perspectives on life and why they are in jail are so interesting, not to mention a lot of them are hilarious,  so it's really been one of the best things JP and I have done together since we got married!

Saturday:

Saturday morning I had to take a practice MCAT (party time) and then decided that the best way to spend the next three hours were by laying on my couch watching 'Legally Blonde' (now that I actually know how law school really is/works, that movie is even funnier).

Then it was back to the library. 

BUT we did manage to break away for a dinner date with my parents and little brother woot woot!

Sunday:

Sunday was fabulous, full of church and teaching my little 6 year olds (love them). 

After a relaxing Sunday dinner (one of the many perks of having family in Provo) it was decided that applying for 'Amazing Race' with my older brother was next on our life to-do lists, then it was back to studying for a bit until I remembered that MAD MEN IS BACK AIRING ON SUNDAYS NOW!!!

Remember how I'm obsessed? Yep. Good thing the semester is ending soon because Sunday nights just got a lot less productive. 

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Also, can we talk about how precious my new little 5-day-old niece is?!

Lilian Laurie Smith. 

She's a doll. 

Provo Food Crawl: Lunch Anyone?

Conference Weekend:

This weekend was the best. 

There was lots of good food, time spent with family,

relaxing, and only a little bit of the never ending homework 

(see below):

I call this "the battle station" 

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We also had a little family party for my cousin that is getting married!

And by "little" I mean "50+ people"...

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Not to mention JP and I got to wake up on Saturday without an alarm (literally can't remember the last time we did that) and lounge and watch conference in our bed! (also can't remember the last time we got to stay in bed in the morning longer than .2 seconds after our alarms go off)

So needless to say, I was a huge fan of this weekend. 

Buuuut now it's time to get into finals mode -- it's a definite state of mind, wouldn't you agree? Because classes end one week from tomorrow! Bring. It. On. 

Provo Food Crawl: Breakfast Edition

I get a lot of questions about mine and JP's favorite places to eat go out to eat, because apparently it seems like we eat out a lot... haha... maybe I should start cooking more. 

Anyways, I've decided it might be kind of fun to put together a little series of good restaurants around town and keep them all under that tab up there labeled "Eating in Provo"

So without further ado, here's the first installment of some of our favorite breakfast places to eat in Provo!

PS: we're always looking for new options... So if you have a favorite breakfast place please leave a comment and share the love!

Apparently, We're Going to France:

So this is actually happening. 

We just finalized our summer plans and JP and I are going to Europe this summer!

He got into a study abroad in Paris and after weighing all the factors, figuring out some details, and readjusting life plans a little, we are going to be spending our summer in France!

We'll be stopping in different places all along the way too, starting off in Dublin, then visting Eric and Kimmi in Vienna, then we're driving (yep, driving) from Vienna to Paris, stopping in Munich and Zurich along the way!

After JP's program is over, we'll be making my dreams come true and stopping by my favorite place on this planet - London- before we come back to the states in August by way of Washington DC and NYC so JP can interview at some law firms for internships!

I can't wait. We leave 2 weeks after I take the MCAT and honestly, I can't imagine anything better after all these months of studying for 10+ hours a day. 

So bring it on Europe! :)

Easter 2013!

JP and I had a low key Easter Sunday this year, which I loved. Most of my family is out of town for Spring break (thanks a lot BYU...) and JP's family is from South Africa so they haven't quite converted to the American tradition of going all out for every single holiday haha. 

However Easter Saturday (is that an official day?) was spent down in Axtell (about 1.5 hours south of Provo) visiting my grandparents and spending time with cousins. 

We had an easter egg hunt and, thanks to my awesomely generous grandpa, the eggs were filled with varying amounts money.

 Needless to say that made for a way more intense easter egg hunt than plain old peep-filled eggs... 

(nothing against peeps! they are one of my favorite candies) 

haha. 

Then we took our colored eggs and rolled them down a hill!

*see below*

^^^ does anyone else's family do this??

And what's a better way to end an Easter Saturday than with a picnic at the park?!

Am I the only twenty-something person who still LOVES the swings? 

^^^ you might be tempted to think that's a homeless person lounging on the picnic table, but nope! 

It's just my dad basking in the sun haha.