Where, Oh Where, Did My Weekend Go?

What a crazy weekend! I could take hours spelling out all the nitty-gritty details, but I'll spare you (and myself) by just using bullet points.

• Brock's cousin, CJ, got home from his mission on Thursday. He served in Chapas, Mexico and totally has a "Mexican accent." It's so cute. He looks absolutely fantastic--he lost more than 40 lbs! If I went to Mexico for two years, with nothing but beans and rice and tortillas all day, the opposite would happen to me, let me tell ya.

• We went straight from CJ's homecoming at the airport to The Lion House in SLC for Ryan and Tara's wedding dinner. Ryan is Brock's brother, and he and Tara have been together for as long as Brock and I (with the exception of Ryan's mission to Spain). I can't imagine either of them being with anyone else. Tara made the cutest video montage of them for the dinner! They're currently on their honeymoon in Cancun right now, and upon returning they'll be living in the basement of the condo we rent from Gary (Brock's dad). Super awesome--especially when we need to borrow a cup of sugar :)

• On Friday, Ryan and Tara got mawwied! They were sealed in the Draper Temple (gorgeous!) in the biggest sealing room I've ever been in. Their reception was at the Northampton House right after that, and they had an awesome dance party! (Tara's dad is a DJ.) CJ even started to break out of mission mode and danced a little (emphasis on a little). Brock and I helped decorate their getaway car in all sorts of raunchy nonsense, but had leftover window paint at the end. So we decorated Gary and Tammie's big ol' Suburban in raunchy nonsense. They were so embarrassed! I was, too, when I ended up having to ride home sitting behind the window that read "SEX MACHINE."

• No rest for the weary! On Saturday Brock and I woke up early and went to the SLC Temple to see my friend, Arturo, get sealed to his wife and beautiful 1-year old baby boy. It was incredible. We went to his endowment earlier in the week at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, and were surprised with a call from him just a few days later to let us know he was getting sealed that weekend! Seeing the light in his eyes and the peace in his countenance strengthened my testimony of the Plan of Salvation like never before. I feel so blessed to have been a part of his conversion process.

• I topped the week off with a three-hour run on Sunday. It sucked. I decided to try out a trail near my house--but it was poorly kept and overgrown with all sorts of weeds. On top of that, there was a freaking dust storm on the mountain and the wind was relentless. It blew dragonflies into my FACE on multiple occasions.

• One of my absolute best friends, Tiffany Christensen, called me on Sunday night to let me know she's ENGAGED! :) She's getting married in late December in the Denver Temple to a wonderful, wonderful guy. I'm so happy for her!! Oh, and I'm her matron of honor (= a maid of honor who's already married). Kind of makes me sound like a granny, but whatevs!

• Aced my finals! And I got a 120/125 on a final paper from a teacher who is a notoriously hard grader. BAM, SUCKA. Even though taking nine credits during summer term was incredibly stupid and incredibly hard, it turned out way better than I expected. Two A's and a B. Niiiice.

Needless to say, my "break" from school last week didn't exactly feel like one! This week I fully plan on vegging out and getting out. This will entail numerous episodes of "The West Wing," going to Mona for the rope swing, backpacking, a trip to the hot pots, exploring the caves at Timp . . .

Hmm. After looking at that list, I can see why Brock always complains about how our vacations feel more like work than . . . well, work.