Powerful: Derek + Laura

Oh Rexburg. You will always be a part of me; my home away from home. I loved attending college at BYU-Idaho and had so much fun with friends and school activities. I loved my professors in the Communications Department. I even had pretty great classmates most of the time. That's why I am so excited that Jamie and Samantha are at BYU-I right now. Since summer was always my favorite semester, Derek and I couldn't resist the urge to road trip it up there to spend some time with our sisters and our lovely friends Robyn and Luke. Here are the highlights: Seeing the new iCenter Sleeping over at Robyn's apartment. Her and Luke are such cute newly weds. I loved it. They took such good care of us. Seeing Jamie and Samantha The Sand Bar...even though it was freezing Playing on the trains and playing games Sunday while it rained Snoasis The Sand Dunes Sunday Dinner...we all pitched in and made a great feast of chicken enchiladas with salad and these delicious cupcakes f...

Sorry I disappeared form the blogging world for a short while. I have been traveling a lot for work lately and with that I have been exhausted. I feel tired all of the time but summer/warm weather is bringing my energy slowly back to me. Our Mary Poppins Outing: We bought ourselves a Sponge Bob kite. We had so much fun celebrating spring by flying our kite. Cincinnati: aka the worst place ever I really hate this trip more than most. It was a successful conference but just a horrible week. It was long and the city itself just did nothing for me. Fountain Square The only good thing about that city: Graters Ice Cream Burbank Bound: Had such a fun time in Burbank. I got to spend a lot of time with Derek's parents and even had a girls night out with Anne Marie, Derek's mom. It was so fun. Here are some pictures from the trip. My celebrity siting on the flight over: Katherine Heigl. These are my paparazzi photos. In Provo we never have weird si...

A couple of weekends ago I convinced Derek to go the Tulip Festival with me. I am so glad we went. It was the most beautiful day and the gardens at Thanksgiving Point were gorgeous. There are over 250,000 tulips spread over 55 acres. We tried to walk around and capture as much of it as possible. On the weekends they have some live folk music and then fair food booths. We made sure to save up and enjoy some of those delicious treats. It got us excited for all the fairs we are going to be attending again this summer. We loved Strawberry Days last year. You can buy a cup of fresh, locally grown strawberries with cream. So good. That rodeo is also so fun. Anyways, on to the tulip festival.     A view of the land. This was our first look as we entered the garden. First Sno Cone of the season. Frog in a Blender Flavor! Yum! We had to get one of those tasty Dutch waffles. This one is for you Scott. Made fresh. So good. My handsome husband. He hates pos...

So General Conference weekend (the end of March I think) we had a visitor. We love this visitor so much and it was such a blast to have her here. Seriously. Just talking and having adventures together was great. Derek's sister Samantha came to visit. She's currently going to school in Rexburg, I know...be jealous, and she got a ride down for the weekend. Fun adventures: Talking late in to the night J Dawg's Bridal Vail Falls Dinner with the Fam So for those who don't know J Dawg's is a great hot dog restaurant in Provo. Maybe some of you think great and hot dog are oxymoron's but not in this situation.  It was started by some BYU students as their senior project and now they've grown and have two store fronts. The sauce they use is out of this world. So we started with lunch here and headed out to the falls. It has to be one of my favorite spots in Provo. Derek and I went hiking there last summer. Anyways I'll stop talking about it I'll...

I have gotten so behind in posting about our adventures. I am leaving next week for another conference and I want to catch up before I leave again. Derek and I have been busy with school, finals, work, weddings, and traveling. Here are some pictures to recap. Attended a wedding, bridal shower, and baby shower. That last picture is just an adorable one of my niece. She is just the cutest thing ever. I can't get enough of her.  Look at that red hair. Here is hoping I get to spend time with her and my new nephew this summer! He's due in about 3 weeks. Bought myself some Coach sunglasses. Thanks to my fabulous insurance program I only had to pay $5.00. Yeah for not needing glasses so I can get myself some nice sunglasses. Getting classy! We celebrated Easter. We had a huge feast at my parents house with a lot of her side of the family. Delicious food and great company. The weather was perfect so we couldn't help but take a picture after church. For thos...

I am getting so frustrated with this weight loss journey. There are so many things I love about it and have brought me so much joy: Never feeling too full that my stomach hurts and I can't find a comfortable position to sit in Really eating only what I want Finding new ways to introduce veggies into me life Still allowing myself a treat if I want it and have room left Watching the numbers go down on the scale (My favorite one) Finding new exercises I enjoy and don't make my body feel worse/injured after doing them I have learned so much and am glad I started on this journey.  Here is my complaint though: I have changed so much about my diet and activity and I love it. I feel better all the time. I am working so hard and am seeing progress but not like others. I am just frustrated. I'll cut out all sweets and carbs. I measure everything I eat and I still am only loosing .5 pounds/week on average. Some weeks I stay the same and others I loose so it averages o...

My best friend Robyn got married this last weekend. I am sad that I didn't have more time to take pictures but I did capture a few special moments. Her and Luke look so happy together. This wedding was very special to me. Robyn is more than a best friend, I feel like she is my sister. It's not very often you find a friend you can truly be yourself with. She knows everything about me, helped me through some of my most embarrassing moments, and been there for me when things have been difficult. I am so grateful to have her as a part of my life. I wouldn't have missed her wedding for anything. On her wedding day I was privileged to be a bridesmaid, her escort in the temple, and help her get dressed and ready for her special day. That meant the world to me. I am so glad I was able to truly show my support for her. I cried like a little baby in their sealing. I was so happy that they now get to form their own family and eternal unit. Luke is such a sweet guy and takes such...