...: 2012

Friday, July 13, 2012

15 years

This is a hard post to write, so it probably won't be long.

Val Dudley 8/15/1967 - 7/12/1997

I love this picture. Sure there are better pictures of him, where he is clean, and you can tell that he is actually a white man. But to me this picture shows so many things about him that I miss everyday. Check out that smile, it doesn't get more sincere than that.

This next picture is the road where the car accident happened. Jesse took a trip out there and took this picture, of course getting artsy with his Jeep (doubt he will ever buy another brand of car).

For those who don't know, this is the dirt road leading from Park City, UT to East Canyon Reservoir. From the time I was one, my parents ran the marina, so this road was traveled multiple times a day, especially this summer because we were finishing up our house. That night my dad and uncle Patrick picked me up from a friends house, and we headed to the lake to meet my mom, Jesse, and extended family. The car was a 1993 Jeep Rangler, topless and suped up. It was 1997, so of course we weren't wearing our seat-belts. We came around a corner and there was a boulder in the middle of the road. We hit it and started rolling, I fell out on the first roll, mostly uninjured, and my Dad and Patrick were flung from the car. Both hitting trees, Patrick shattered his leg and my dad hit head first, resulting in severe brain damage. He died a couple of hours later.

I keep trying to make a list of all of the things I love, miss, and learned from my dad, but my fingers can't seem to type them. Bottom line, he has been the best guardian angel, and I don't know what I would do without him as my angel. He's the reason I believe this, he's the reason I keep living, he's the reason I am still alive, and so many other things. Every day I strive to live up to his example, but the bar is set pretty high. I can't wait until I see him again, but in the mean time, I will try to love life as much as he did.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Mind the Gap

So sorry for my leave of absence. While I was gone I visited 2 countries, have had no job offers, and we still live in Kaysville. And I am getting tan, so I really can't complain :)

*UPDATE: Got a job at Nordstrom :)*

LONDON:

London was way more than I had ever expected. I was never super eager to visit London, because I didn't know anything about it, but man, what a BEAUTIFUL city. My only suggestion is that they should make sure the sun shines more often, I was missing my Vitamin D. But what a fun place to visit, and so much history and culture. We visited some companies (Fortnum & Mason, Hamley's) that are older than our country. Just companies. Amazing. I was too sad that we weren't going to be there for the Olympics though. When locals told me they were leaving for the Olympics I would have to hold back from yelling "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??" They Olympics are only the coolest thing ever, and you really don't realize it until you are a part of the experience. I LOVE the Olympics. Sorry for that side bar... Here are some pictures :)

The changing of the guards

Kensington Palace

Stonehenge (it was FREEZING)

The Roman Baths

Pigeon Poop

waffels :)

The London Eye

Liberty's of London

High Tea

Hamley's Toy Store

Legos :)

Check out those details

PARIS:

Paris was not what I expected. The first day we got there, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and we walked along the river and went to museums and saw street art, which is exactly what we expected Paris to be like. As the days wore on, I started to realize how many different smells there were, how many dirty people, and just how gross the subway was. And not to mention how rude most of the French were. This stuff defiantly starts to wear on you after a couple of days. But no doubt, it was a wonderful experience, I mean, we went to Louis Vuitton's house :) (I'll add more Paris ones in a bit, I just have to find them...)

napping by the eiffel tower

Monday, April 23, 2012

We will miss you

We have officially almost completely moved out of Utah County, forever. While our time here has had its ups, such as meeting each other, there are many things we will not miss, such as: Bad drivers, too many students, student wards, chain restaurants, the drive on I-15, and I'll stop there. Our time here was well spent, but we are ready and excited for a new chapter in our life.

So what is next?

Good question. We have moved half our stuff up to Park City, and half of our stuff to Kaysville. Michael accepted an internship with Zions Bank, and will be doing some fancy techy operations type stuff, you will have to ask him if you really want to know. Next Tuesday I will be on a plane to begin my three-week adventure. This adventure is a 21 day retail marketing study abroad to London and Paris, basically the biggest shopping meccas in the universe. So basically, I will be receiving 9 school credits to shop for 20 days, does life get any more exciting? However, I will miss Michael, but he wants me to graduate and this is the fastest way to do so.

While I am gone Michael will be bacheloring it up at his parents house, probably getting super tan at their pool. When I get back, we start the apartment/job hunt in good old Salt Lake. Therefore, if any of you know of any full-time jobs or cute little apartments, keep us in mind :)

Overall life is good. Sorry I don't have any pictures to post. I will start taking some, maybe. I'll do my best.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

And the Winner is...

Here is my excuse for not blogging: Our life has had way to many "What ifs..." as of late, and I knew that as soon as I started writing then it would be a tell all, which would be difficult to explain later, so I have been avoiding this blog. But we officially might finally have our life a little bit more figured out, so here you go...

We have officially decided to stay in UTAH for the next two years! Hooray! Hang out with us!

Michael was accepted into the full-time MBA program at the U, which we were pretty sure wouldn't happen, but it did! So after much deliberation, between just going out and earning real money in Chicago vs. staying in Utah and being poor for a couple years, we decided now was the time to keep going to school. That being said, if anyone knows of any jobs (for Alie) or any great places to live in Salt Lake, please don't hesitate to tell me. We are really excited, especially to get out of Utah County :) We have officially been here WAY to long. We do miss Chicago though, maybe one day.

In other news, we went to San Diego last weekend, and let me tell you, it was hard to come back! The weather was beautiful, and I just felt it was where I belonged. And then I remembered we decided to stay in Utah, so maybe in a couple years :)

We ♥ when cities name streets after us :)

View of LA

Hung out with Einstein

This is the fancy planetarium that we drove to

Self Taken...

Beach!

San Diego Temple :)

The Groom + Old Mission Buddies

The Happy Couple

The EPIC burrito

So many pictures I wish I would have taken but didn't. Next Time :)

The year of the Roller Coster

*** I started this post in January, and now I am finally finishing it :) ***

This post is really just a reflection for me, but feel free to read an look at the pictures, if you have the time...

Seeing as I am a terrible blogger, I felt it would be appropriate to have a reflection of 2011, starting all the way back in January :)

January:

We got engaged! let the wedding planning begin!