The highlight of my weekend is the title of my post!
My beloved Utah UTES beat No. 5 Stanford on Saturday night! I mentioned back HERE, that I LOVE this time of year!
I absolutely love college football and tailgating!
Saturday was such a beautiful day! We’ve had a few games that were unbearably hot, and the last two games were cold and wet….so this weekend was especially nice. It was perfect football watching weather! A gorgeous fall day, with a slight chill in the air, and the sun shining down on us! And the game was FABULOUS! Loved it!
How was your weekend? Did you watch any football? Go to any games?
Well, it’s finally here! The most wonderful time of the year!
I bet you thought I was going to say Christmas, right?
Well, I do LOVE Christmas! But today is the first day of college football, and the first day of Utah Football Tailgating! I couldn’t be more excited! We have such a fun group, and we always have a FABULOUS time!
26 years ago today, I said "I Do" to my best friend. I don't know where the time has gone, but I swear it doesn't seem like it's been 26 years. I've been with Carl longer that I've been without him. The years haven't always been easy, but they have been so worth it. I can't imagne holding anyone else's hand through this crazy thing called life.
We've raised two pretty fabulous kids
Lived in countless apartments and two houses
Had 3 dogs and 1 cat
Way too many cars and jobs (me!)
Spent countless hours in the car together on road trips to baseball, basketball, football, softball games and cheerleading competitions
Argued and made up
Survived huge windstorms and house floods
Been through tough times and good times
Laughed and cried together
Every single thing has been worth it. You've been by my side every step of the way, and I love you evern more now, than I did 26 years ago!
Happy Anniversary! Here's to 26 more years together!
I want to introduce you to the newest member of the Moll Family!
Say Hello, to Barkley Judge!
Our cat Jax passed away a few weeks ago, and our dog Chloe was devestated. Chloe and Jax were great friends and played together (chased each other) all day long. It broke our hearts to see Chloe so sad and depressed. Since Chloe is still young (5 years old), we decided to get her a friend.
Enter Barkley!
Barkley is the same breed as Chloe, a Mal-Shih (maltese-shihtzu mix) and we fell in love with him instantly! Chloe is still deciding!
Have you ever introduced a new puppy to and older dog in your home? Do you have any advice for me? How to make the transistion easier? I would love to hear!
Hello Friends! I can't believe we have already finished our second week of July! The summer is flying by and I can't seem to catch up!! I hope you had a FABULOUSFourth of July holiday last week!
I had plans to get several items checked off my 2013 Summer Bucket List over the holiday weekend, and manged to get them done! One of the items on my bucket list was to plan a weekend away. With the 4th falling on a Thursday this year, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take a long weekend and get away!
I had such a fabulous time at The Canyons in May when I was there for the Blend Retreat, that I decided to book a room for the weekend in Park City. I found a great rate on a room at the Sundial Lodge, and it was beautiful! Our room was on the top floor and had french doors that opened out on to a nice balacony with a gorgeous view of the whole resort:
Gorgeous, right?
After checking in to the lodge, we hit up the mini golf course right at the base of the mountain with Madison and George.
It was a lot of FUN, but HOT! HOT! HOT!
The next morning Carl and I were up for a nice hike! We hit up the Ambush Trail and had a great time! It was so pretty and the hike was a mixture of full sun and shade, so it wasn't too hot. We did have to share the trail with mountain bikers, which was a bit sketchy at tiimes, but all good!
Discover New Hikes: CHECK!
After relaxing in the room for a bit and a quick shower, it was time to head to the dog park! My Mom and Brother Kevin brought up our dog Chloe, and my other Brother's dog Cooper for a visit. They are dog sitting, and since it has been so HOT in the valley, we thought the dogs might like to enjoy the cooler temps in the canyons. They had a great time! Playing in the water, chasing tennis balls, other dogs, and each other!
Aren't they cuties? Despite the huge size difference, these two are the best of friends :) We all shared a pizza from Drafts on the lawn later that night, and just enjoyed the scenery and company.
The next morning I was ready to check off another item from the 2013 Summer Bucket List! Rent Bikes!
We went on a 14 mile bike ride, which included a ride in to downtown Park City, a pit stop at Starbucks (duh!) and ride back over toward the dog park. There are so many great paved biked trails all around Park City. I could have biked all day, if my legs hadn't been screaming at me. Oh and my neck…which took a little bit of jarring, despite being on paved trails. We had such a great time that Carl and I are looking in to purchasing bikes sometime soon! So much fun!
Rent Bikes: CHECK!
The morning had beed really overcast, which was nice since it was still hot. It was perfect weather to ride bikes, but not so great to sit by the pool! GRRRRR. We ate lunch in our room, thanks to stopping for some groceries (Trader Joe's) on the way up the canyon. We grabbed lots of healthy snacks and some salads, so we woulndn't have to pay an arm and a leg for lunches. It was nice to know we had some healthy choices right at our finger tips! Love when rooms have mini-kitchens! The clouds cleared and we were able to spend a few relaxing hours at the pool. Yea!
But soon enough the clouds rolled in again. Carl enjoyed a book on the balcony, while I watched the storm move in:
Pretty soon it was a down pour! I loved keeping the doors open to listen to the rain and thunder! Summer thunderstorms are one of my favorites!
Dinner that night was at Lorenzo's in Park City. The food was okay, but the homemade tortilla chips were FABULOUS! I mean super FABULOUS! It was like they were twice fried or something?!?!?! And the salsa bar was great too. I could have dined on chips and salsa alone, and been a happy girl!
We went back to the lodge for movies and more rain, thunder and lightening!
I was so sad to see our trip come to and end the next morning. We had such a great time at The Canyons! I can't wait to do it again! Next time I hope to be able to do the Zip Line Course and Mountain Bike on actual dirt trails! My neck just isn't healed enough yet to try them this time!
Before heading down the canyon to grab our puppy Chloe, we stopped in for breakfast at Good Times Bistro. I LOVE eating outside during the summer! Even if it is on our own patio in the backyard! So any chance I get to eat outside, I take it!
Carl chose the Belgium Waffle, and I had the Egg Scramble with onion, mushroom and avocado! It was sooo good!
Dine Al Fresco: CHECK!
All in all, it was a FABULOUS holiday weekend, and I can't to do it again!
Weekend Away: CHECK!
How was your holiday and weekend? What did you do? Do you have anything planned this weekend? I'd love to hear about it!
Seriously, I cannot believe it is already June! I'm loving the warm weather though! Summer is here! Since I barely posted during the month of May, I thought I would just do a little recap with instagram photos. If you don't follow me on instagram, please do (I'm alimoll).
Anyway, the month started off with a visit home from my favorite son, Tyson!
A bunch of his friends were graduating from the University of Utah the first weekend in May, so he came home for 2.5 days for all of the festivities and parties! We had a great time hanging out with some pretty fabulous friends celebrating. It was great to have Tyson home, if only for a short time!
This photo was taken on a Saturday morning in May, a week and a half prior to my neck/back surgery . I woke up feeling so good! I actually got some sleep the night before and I wasn't in too much pain. I went for a nice long walk at Sugarhouse Park with some great friends and then out to lunch. It was nice to feel good enough to get some exercise in!
We celebrated Mother's Day by having my Mom over for dinner on the patio! A quick photo of the girls, including our Mal-Shi, Chloe!
The highlight of the month was being able to attend BLEND with my daughter Madison. We had such a great time! Even though I wasn't able to really participate 100% due to my back, it was fabulous to spend time with Madi and meet so many wonderful women! I came away from the retreat feeling so optomistic about my surgery and getting back to working out and being back to myself again! You can read about my Blend Retreat Recap HERE. I am so thankful that I met Janetha and found out about Blend!
We were also able to get the patio furniture out, and get some flowers and pots of flowers planted. I knew I wouldn't be able to do any work in the yard post surgery, so getting it pretty was a priority! Even though the weather was a bit iffy in May!
Finally, it was Surgery Week. I have been in pain since last November, and finally realizing that I might be pain free was almost too much to imagine! I was nervous, a bit apprehensive and scared, but mostly I was excited and optimistic!
I handled the surgery really well, and immediately felt relief. My arms and hands had been going numb daily, and the pain in my neck (LOL!) was almost constant. Waking up from surgery and finally coming out of the anesthesia fog, I could already tell a difference. It was crazy! I am almost 2 weeks post surgery and I am doing so much better! Praise God! One odd thing – I'm not a real jello lover (except jello shots, holla!)…but I couldn't get enough jello in the hospital. Every hour throughout the night, when the nurses would come in to check my vitals, I asked for ice chips and jello! My throat was so sore from the tube down my throat, as well as the agitation from surgery, and jello just tasted sooo good and was so easy on my throat! I couldn't get enough. Smile.
Finally, I have to give a shout out to my Zumba friends, who along with my family made sure we were well fed, and I was well taken care of, the week after surgery! I really am the luckiest girl!
And so the month of May has come to a close. It was a great month, and I am looking forward to summer and what the month of June holds for me! I am back to work, and feeling so much better! I'm not able to exercise much yet, but I have been taking some nice long walks! Trying to get those endorphines going and burn some calories!
Happy Monday Friends! And Happy June! I hope it's a great month for us all!
I've tried to write this post several times over the last 5 months and just haven't been able to do it. The inability to write this post, is what brought on my blog break as well. I just didn't feel like I could continue on blogging as if all was well. Does that make sense?
Anyway, I mentioned in this post about my 25 Random Acts of Kindness, that we had to cut our day short and finish the rest of our acts a few weeks later. Well, we received a call that my cute Dad had just passed away. It was very unexpected. My dad had been suffering from lung cancer for just over a year, and although we knew he was terminal, we were not prepared for how sudden it all happened. It was just a few days before Christmas. We expected him to be around for at least a few more months. Unfortunately, God had other plans for my Dad, and needed him sooner. We were fortunate that he seemed to pass away very comfortably. He was here one moment, and literally gone the next.
Although, my dad wasn't perfect, he was my Dad and I loved him so much! I know how much he always love me too! Not a day goes by that I don't think about him!
Some random things about my dad:
He loved NASCAR and the LA Rams, Utah Jazz and the University of Utah UTES
Loved Coor's and Keystone Beer
Hated Pasta of any kind
Drove at one time or another: '57 Thunderbird, Old Blue Falcon, 2 different El Caminos
LOVED to watch his boys play football, baseball, race BMX/MX and anything else they did
Suppported me in all of my activities, including gymnastics and dance
LOVED to kid around and have fun! He was always good for a corny (or dirty!) joke
Once bought new motorcycles for my brothers and hid it from my Mom for weeks!
LOVED his grandkids and developed a very special relationship with Madison in last years
Worked in the grocery business, specifically as a Produce Manager for many years
Would buy my Mom great Christmas gifts
One of the things that really stands out most about my dad, is the fact that he always seemed pretty happy to me, and upbeat. His face would light up whenever his kids or grandkids were around. He just wanted us all to be happy! That is what made him happiest!
I am going back to December with this post, so you are going to have to humor me and my 5 month delay in posting about this!
I first heard about doing Random Acts of Kindness a few years ago, when I stumbled upon this blog post, and fell in love with the idea of doing something similar. I thought it would be fun to do 25 Random Acts of Kindness a week or so before Christmas, since that time of year can be so busy and chaotic, and surprising people with an Act of Kindness, would be fun for everyone!
Unfortunately, it took me a few years to get my act together and finally do it! On the last Saturday before Christmas, my family (Carl, Tyson, Madison & her boyfriend George) joined up with my brother and his family to spread some holiday cheer!
This was our list of 25 Random Acts of Kindness:
Leave a treat in your mailbox for mail carrier
Drop off a few random Notes of Kindness and Candy Canes in random mailboxes wishing people a Happy Holiday
Drop off coloring books, crayons, activity pads, and small games to the waiting room of Primary Children’s Medical Center Urgent Care Facility
Tape quarters to Vending Machines
Tape quarters to washers and dryers a the Laundromat
Return grocery carts and help people load their groceries at a local grocery store
Tape quarters to gumball machines
Leave notes/candy canes on cars wishing people Happy Holidays
Hand out a $50 Visa Gift Card to someone in the grocery store wishing them a Merry Christmas
Handy out balloons and candy canes to children coming out of the store
Empty all of our spare change (from coin jars, couch cushions, car seats) in to the red Salvation Army buckets
Drop off a Chili’s gift card to a family already eating at the restaurant, wishing them a Happy Holiday
Pay for the person behind us in the Starbucks drive thru line
Drop off donuts and hot chocolate to construction workers or anyone else working outside in the cold
Hand out car wash coupons to cars in line at the car wash
Take Donuts to the local fire station
Hand out McDonalds coupons to cars in the drive thru lane at McDonalds and wish them a Merry Christmas
Drop off a few $5 pizzas to the homeless at Pioneer Park
Drop off blankets to the homeless at Pioneer Park or the Homeless Shelter
Hand out Starbucks gift cards to shoppers at the outdoor Gateway Mall
Hand out $2 bills at the Dollar Store
Tape Candy Canes with Happy Holiday notes to ATM’s
Drop off coats and and warm clothes to The Road Home
Drop off pet food and pet toys to The Human Society of Utah
Put $2 bills in random children’s books at Barnes & Noble
We knew that we would have to be flexible with some of our acts, depending on logistics, etc.
Our first stop was Primary Children's Hospital. We dropped off big bags of coloring books, crayons, art supplies, activity set and a few stuffed animals. Photo fail! I didn't take a picture of all of this. Mostly because the waiting room was crazy, busy with kids and parents. Right off the urgent car waiting area was an alcove with a bunch of vending machines. We taped lots of quarters and notes to them!
To save this post from getting super long, I will just let the photos do most of the talking!
George, Tyson & Madison outside of Primary Children's Hospital
Quarters at the Laundromat
Madison ready to hand out balloons and candy canes to kids exiting the grocery store
The firemen doing rope drills, just before we dropped off donuts. They were so grateful!
Handing out $2 bills at the Dollar Store. We got a few tears from people here and many, many grateful THANK YOU's!
Tyson emptying a large bag of coins in the Salvation Army bucket. It took a long time!
Quarters on gumball/candy machines
Visa gift card and Chili's gift card (printable found HERE)
We really had such a FABULOUS time doing this! Just doing a Random Act of Kindness for someone who doesn't expect it, made our day so much brighter! Hopefully, we were able to make the holiday season brighter for some people that day, and inspired them to Pay it Forward.
Unfortunately, our day was cut a little bit short and we didn't quite finish on that day. More about the reason for that in my next post. We were able to finish a few weeks later, however.
Thanks for reading and letting my post about something my family did…WAY back in December!
Another fun and jam packed weekend in the books! I can't believe how fast they seem to fly by! I'm thinking 3-day weekends are much needed!
On Friday night, I was able to check off another item from my 2012 Summer Bucket List. I attended an outdoor concert at Red Butte Garden with some super fun gal pals of mine. Even though we got rained on for a bit, we had a blast. I will post more about the concert later in the week!
Saturday, Carl and I ran a few errands to grab supplies for another item to be checked off the bucket list. (I'm having a Girl's Night Out on the patio on Friday) I got some fun things!
After the errands, we picked up Madison and headed out to an early dinner at Desert Edge Brewery. I've been eating here for 25+ years, back when it was just called The Pub. We sat outside on the patio (love patio dining!) and started our meal with the usual chardonnay and hefewiezen (sprite for Madison)
My favorite item on the menu is the Friday Pasta of the Day, which is the Italian Pasta Salad (proscuitto, mozzarella, peas, tomato, olives and lettuce w/pasta). It wasn't Friday (obviously) so, I decided to branch out and try something new. I went for the Crab Cake Salad and it did not disappoint! SO delish. The crab cakes were nice and tender, and the chipotle aioli was perfect!
Madi had the Nachos, which are always a good choice! Very cheesy and the portion is a very nice size!
Carl chose the Guajillo Chile Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich with Gouda Cheese. He substituted the Gouda with American Cheese though. He said it was awesome!
After dinner we checked out Craft Lake City, It was super hot outside, but we had a great time checking out a lot of local crafters!
On Sunday, we spent some time at the pool and then went out to my parents house to celebrate my cute Dad's birthday. Sadly, I didn't take any pics at all on Sunday. Lame, I know.
Right now, Carl and I are relaxing at home watching the closing ceremonies. My fave part so far?
The Spice Girls, of course! LOVE THEM!
Back to work in the morning! Ugh!
Question for you: What was the highlight of your weekend?
For me, it was the concert at Red Butte! So much fun!
Good Morning, and Happy Monday! Did you have a great weekend? I had a pretty great weekend, but as usual the weekend just goes by way too fast!
We started our weekend with out internet modem dying. Nice. You don't realize just how much you rely on that darn internet, until you don't have it! In fact, this post is coming to you via Starbucks and their free wifi!
I didn't get a workout in on Friday evening, like I usually do. Carl and I had plans to attend a retirement/anniversary/graduation party for some friends of ours, and I wasn't in the mood to try and cram a workout and shower in a short time span. I decided to take a quick nap instead! And I loved it!
I woke up starving on Saturday, so I decided to throw together a Caprese Frittata. Nothing fancy, just added mozarella, tomatoes and fresh basil to eggs/egg whites. It turned out pretty good!
We spent most of the afternoon at the softball fields. The company Carl works for participates in the Salt Lake Corporate Games ever year, and they had two softball games scheduled. They won both, by HUGE margins and play again in two weeks. They've definitely got some "ringers" on their team!
We were starving after the games, so we decided to grab some dinner at Lucky 13. Before our dinner arrived, we enjoyed a Chardonnay and a Hefeweizen on the patio. It was nice to just relax and do some people watching!
For dinner Carl ordered the Celestial Burger, and I chose the Loaded Grilled Cheese. Lucky 13 is known for their burgers, and I should have ordered one. Carl's burger was delicious, but my grilled cheese was mediocre. Bummer. Live and learn, right?
After dinner, we hung out at home and watched MORE Olympics. We can't enough!
Sunday, Madison and I had plans to meet some friends at the pool. It was nice to catch up with them and spend time relaxing in the sun. I love days at the pool! I need a pool in my backyard! Now! Carl?
It had been a few weeks since we had taken Chloe back to the Dog Park, so Carl and I packed up a picnic dinner and Chloe, and met Madi at the park. Chloe is still getting used to all the big dogs at the park, but she seems to have a great time. She was exhausted when she got home!
We spent the rest of the evening watching, yup you guessed it! More Olympics!
How was your weekend? What was the best part for you?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great Monday!
