The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Remember yesterday when I hinted towards something I did this weekend that was sort-of a surprise for someone, so I couldn't really post about it yet?

Well, the cat's out of the bag now, which means I have the green light to put it up on the bloggsy.

My sister and her husband just got back from their honeymoon. 

And we got them a welcome home gift.

Behold:

Now, before you go feeling bad for them, let me back up a little...

This is what out apartment looked like when Nate and I got back from our honeymoon:

Courtesy of these two:

...And yes, I dug around on Facebook to find these photos, and you wanna know what I found next to one of them? This gem:

So don't feel bad for Audrey and Adam that they got the sh** TP'd out of their house.

Moreover, since Audrey was totally expecting to get it she thought she'd be a smart @$$ and supplied us with a pack of toilet paper. She said, 

"Since I know you're gonna TP us, I got you the good kind so at least we can reuse it." 

Ohhhhh, ok. We're gonna play that game huh?

Fine. 

We'll see your pack of "good" toilet paper, and we'll raise you two additional packs of toilet paper.

And we'll shred it all up so you in fact, can't reuse it.

And then, since you're expecting a good toilet papering, we'll up the ante and sprinkle in a few other surprises that you certainly will not be expecting.

For example, fake poop in your toilet using Baby Ruth candy bars (warning! Graphic!)

Or.....one other surprise (or two) that I'm not gonna put on here yet, caused based on our text messages tonight it seems like they haven't found it yet.

Muahahahaha.

After Adam called Nate and they exchanged pleasantries, I had this exchange with my sister via text message:

Audrey and Adam are going to be finding toilet paper for months to come, in places they would've never even thought to look during clean-up.

I call it the welcome home gift that keeps on giving.

And on that note, wedding festivities can now be officially considered, over.

Welcome home guys! ;)

That One Day My Sister Got Married

I so badly want to tell you what I did this weekend, but since some of it involves somewhat of a surprise for someone, I can't really tell you until tomorrow after 7pm-ish. 

Don't worry though, I'll totally spill the beans by tomorrow COB. 

...that's "close of business" for all you non-office people, and on second thought I'm regretting putting that in my blog post since it usually belongs in work emails, and it's Sunday night when I'm writing this, which is much too early to be thinking about work.

But I digress.

Since I can't tell you about the hilarity from this weekend, I'll tell you about what I did last weekend (since I'm super up-to-date on my blog and stuff), cause that's when my sister got married!

Sidenote, since I was busy being a bridesmaid I didn't take very many pictures, and since it's only been 10 days since the wedding there's no professional photos yet, so I've cherry-picked all that I could from a plethora of photos posted to Facebook.

Thanks, Facebook, you're always there when I need you most.

Audrey and my now, brother-in-law, Adam got married on a Friday and the day couldn't have gone any better.

For me at least. I'm not sure if you ask the bride if she'll give you a different answer, but as for me, I was doin' pretty good, ahead of schedule with hair and make-up, snackin' the day away on some Cheddar Harvest Sunchips (cause really, is there any other 

kind of Sunchips?).

Actually I take it back, my bridesmaids dress was giving me fits all day and night. Fits as in, didn't want to stay on my body. As in, didn't want to keep the girls in where they belong...IF you know what I mean. I did this all day and night:

But x10.

Or a million.

Ladies, you know that move when you see it, right?

Hashtag sooooooannoying

Also, I know the day was about Audrey and Adam but I just have to give a shout-out to my husband...he cleans up pretty good right?

So since we're limited on photos, I'm gonna leave you with my toast I gave to Audrey and Adam at the wedding, and some photos of her and I.

Cause we're sisters.

And my speech talked about us being sisters.

So sister photos are only appropriate.

..............................

Hello! I’m the sister of the lovely bride here, and I just wanted to say a few words to the newlyweds tonight.

...Mostly because Audrey was kind enough to give a toast at my wedding and now

I feel obligated to return the favor.

 

Just Kidding.

It’s actually because I’m so happy that my sister is finally getting married, and in doing so, it’s made me think back and reflect on all the years of sister-ly love and bonding.

But before we start I just need to make one thing clear.

In case anyone here hadn’t heard, we played a game at Audrey’s bridal shower where Adam was asked a

series of questions ahead of time and Audrey had to guess the right answers at the shower.

I just want everyone to know that they cheated and Audrey asked for the answers ahead of time and Adam gave them to her. So they’re both cheaters and it’s been my mission ever since to publicly shame them for it.

I’ve forgiven you guys and all, but it’s coming out of your money dance donation.

So moving on...

Sister-ly love and bonding…

Audrey and I, actually, have never been the kind of sisters that are super close and do everything together. We never shared the same social circle, never played on the same sports team, or spilled teenage secrets together over chocolate…cause Audrey’s weird and doesn’t like chocolate.

...But you better believe when I’m trying on clothes at Forever 21 and suddenly Audrey’s screaming at me in a panic that there’s reports of a gunman in the mall and everyone has to evacuate, I was dressed and scrambling to find my sister faster than it takes a Kardashian to file for divorce.

 

That is to say, you don’t have to hang out all the time and be best friends to recognize the importance of your sister in your life and the love you have for her.

I mean, I passed on some really cute tops that day just to make sure Audrey wasn’t laying there, bleeding on the floor of Forever 21.

That’s sacrifice.

I also recognized just how much Audrey meant to me when I was entering the 5^th grade and she was starting the 7^th. She was a big bad Jr. High-er now and way too cool for elementary school, which meant that for the first time in my young life I had to go to school WITHOUT my sister.

It’s not like we were in the same grade and saw each other all the time, but just knowing that she wasn’t going to be in the same school, the same building as me anymore, was enough to make me worry all summer-long about it.

...I quickly got over it when she started coming home with that Jr. High attitude and was as bossy as ever.

The good news now though, is that Adam’s on the receiving end of that now.

And he’s a good man for it.

Nate and I have always said, “I hope Audrey and Adam work it out and get married, I like Adam a lot.”

 

We’re so thrilled that Adam is part of the family now, and that you guys actually got married and that this wedding actually happened.

You make Audrey a better person and you make our family a better family.

…except when you cheat and ruin games.

And that goes for the both of you!

We love you both so very much, and wish you nothing but the best!

Cheers! 

.................

So just to forewarn you all, you'll probably be getting another recap of wedding fun when her professional photos come in. Cause I'm sure they're the bomb.com.

Cause Audrey and Adam are the bomb.com and I'm so happy they are finally married!!

H54F

Linking up with Lauren today for my fav weekly blog partaaaay and my five favs from this week!

1.) Out of town guests 

My sister's wedding shower was last weekend (read about the scandal here), so a few of my family from out of town flew in for the weekend. We all had so much fun and I can't wait to see everyone again in October!

2.) Halloween DIY

Had a little DIY sesh for new holiday decorations.

Diggin' my tulle wreath.

You can try and tell me it's too early to put up Halloween decorations, but I've figured out a way to justify it to myself, so I'm totally OK with it.

3.) Harry Potter spin-off(ish)

Word on the street is JK Rowling is writing a movie script that's sorta kinda a spin-off of the Harry Potter series (aka the best book series ever written in the history of man and wizarding kind). I don't even care that Harry and company won't be in it - I just heard the words "JK Rowling" and "wizarding world" in the same sentence and I've been fan-girling out ever since.

4.) The pumpkin train

I jumped on it this week.

And I'm loooooving it.

5.) ASU vs. Wisconsin this weekend

Ooooh boy I'm excited for Saturday night.

It's gonna be a blackout at Sun Devil Stadium, and the game has been all over everything this week here in AZ...and it pumps me up.

Go Devils!

Happy Friday folks!

Kinder Creek 2013

This weekend consisted of one really super fun and active day, and one really super lazy unproductive day...which is totally fine by me.

Since you probably don't wanna hear about how I slept in, read blogs, lounged around, ate Chinese food, and watched a Harry Potter marathon, I'll tell you about the hike I went on with my family instead.

I'll sound way more fun that way.

Each year since we've done this hike (check out previous years here and here) I always hesitate whether or not to blog about it. Cause quite frankly it's my most favorite spot in Arizona and I really don't want people finding out about it and making it all busy and populated and stuff.

Cause I'm selfish like that.

But alas, I'll share with you cause it's just too awesome not to.

With any luck you'll forget all about it after this post.

Or maybe I'll give you wrong directions if you ask me where it is?

Muahaha

Kinder Creek is my favorite day hike because it's short, fairly easy with the exception of one really steep, really rocky part, and once you get to the bottom there's water to swim in, scenery to take in, rocks to naps on, and crawdads to catch.

This year, priority one was catching crawdads.

We caught a bunch last year, but wasn't expecting it, so we had nothing to put them in but empty waterbottles. So this year we came prepared with traps and buckets and all sorts of shenanigans.

But first we had to get down there.

The summer monsoons usually roll in and out all day up in northern Arizona, but they started early this particular weekend and made for one really wet, really slippery hike down to the water.

My dad however, was prepared.

We couldn't even make fun of him for looking silly, cause we all wanted his rain jacket.

But we definitely didn't tell him that.

Guess he got the last laugh on that one.

Our first spot is this really neat sandy beach area. I promise, the pictures don't do it justice.

The guys didn't waste time and started catching crawdads...

...and my mom and I didn't waste any time getting our float on

The water was really cold.

After Nate and Adam caught all the crawdads they could, we moved on to our next spot...to catch more crawdads.

It doesn't get much prettier...

We spent the afternoon on our favorite rock, watched the guys catch crawdads, enjoyed the monsoon rain...and it just doesn't get much better.

My sister, unfortunately couldn't get off work for the day, so Adam created a stand-in for her.

This one's for you, Audrey.

Once we got home, some serious dinner was in order.

Before:

During:

After:

So you know, it was a super fun day, and that's really all I have to say about that.

I love AZ.

I love Kinder Creek.

I love hiking with my family.

I don't love the fact that it's Monday however.

Bad Monday, bad.