niki and corinne in texas: part one.

my mom and niki came to visit me for a couple days and it was practically perfect in every way.

i picked them up from the airport and we went straight to velvet taco of course. then after a couple hours of late night chat we went bed, so excited for our plans.

thursday morning we took our time getting ready (in true griffith arrington rodriguez style) and went straight to northpark, our amazing mall that holds every store you can imagine. we got through about half of it before we were too famished to continue. (it's a hard life). we then went to central market for some food and to explore the amazingness of that fresh store. i will miss central market dearly.

we then came home and i got my hair cut by my beautiful friend ronnie (as seen here). then we waited for david to call us so we could hangout via google while he opened his mission call. i'm so grateful i could be with my mom and niki when we found it, it was so exciting!

anyway, baby bro opened the call and he's going to omaha, nebraska! he reports to the mtc one week after graduation. wow. i am so inexpressably excited for him. i think about it all the time. the next time i see him will be the last time i see him for two years!

more to come from niki and corinne in texas...

k city.

a couple weeks ago i took a weekend trip to kansas city to visit my good friends, jeff and becca johnson. i hadn't seen them for a year and it was so nice to catch up and see where their new life. [jeff is going to dental school and becca is going to nursing school. basically they super humans]. 

among some of the fun things we did: walked in the power and light district. vistited the liberty jail, the independence visitor's center, and the rlds temple. ate delicious kansas city bbq. saw monet and a massive birdie at the art museum. ate becca's favorite local ice cream. played scrabble and watched netflix. went to church and drove by the temple on the way to the airport.

it was a fun filled trip and i am so grateful i got to see my friends. they were amazing hosts and it was just the getaway i needed. thanks for everything mr and mrs johnson!

twenty twelve review.

 

an east coast trip. my best friend's wedding. graduation. said my goodbyes. made the move to texas. celebrated twenty two. bought a car and made some friends. niki and renn wedding extravaganza. a second half marathon. got a surprise visit for friendsgiving. southern utah christmas. a farewell to 2012 with my favorite people. the last night of the year overlooking the city.

 

ya done good 2012. ya done good.

the children.

matching dresses, matching tattoos, harry potter, and saylor lane. 

i love the children.

christmas eve.

 

 

christmas eve was full of christmas pj's, christmas treats, christmas songs, and some healthy competition, provided by spouses wrestling and a ping pong tourney. we were having so much fun we didn't realize how late it was until we went to bed at two in the morning. sorry not sorry.

twelve.

i am a huge fan of consecutive numbers. or any patterns of numbers really. i get this from my dad, i'm sure. remember my eleven eleven eleven adventure last year? it was a big deal and it was kind of amazing. these consecutive dates aren't going to happen again until january 1st, 2101. i can't even comprehend that right now.

 

this year my roommates are having a 12/12/12 chrismakkuh extravaganza. it is bound to be legendary. i will give details of the party later. just know that ugly sweaters and my christmas socks are involved. for now, i will list twelve things i love about my life at the moment:

1. everything the killers have given me this year.
2. my beautiful and apartment and bedroom.
3. the fact that i get to see my family in ten [!!!] days. should the world choose not to end.
4. and i get to see the killers in seventeen days.
5. learning that things can change drastically in a short amount of time.
6. robin sparkles, my spirit animal rav4.
7. my rediscovered love for reading and writing.
8. the velvet taco.
9. my family and friends who love and support me and think it's awesome i live in texas.
10. i live in texas.
11. being gently reminded that you never get to stop making friends.
12. learning that i really can have great control over my life and attitude.

happy 12/12/12 y'all! go kiss someone's face.

friendsgiving 2012.

friendsgiving was a hit.

in conclusion: friendsgiving was a hit. my roommate becca owned that turkey. we were able to catch the macy's thanksgiving day parade and dance it out to neon trees. a new turkey trot tradition of bright socks and blue eyeshadow was born. georgina surprised me and turned on the waterworks. i was kind of obsessed with my tablescape, hence all the pictures of mason jars and the lacking pictures of people. we had twelve people total and it was so fun talking and discussing all the many blessings we have to be grateful for, eating and hanging out and watching everyone pitch in to do the dishes. i am excited for more friendsgivings to come!