Breezy Days: August 2014

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August 29, 2014

Floating Blackfoot River

After relaxing at the hot springs, the next day we made our way towards Missoula which is where Ryan's aunt & uncle live! They were so nice to not only host us in their home, but to take us rafting down Blackfoot River. 


Uncle Terry made enough sandwiches for the whole crew and Cousin Caroline made some pretty amazing chocolate chip zucchini bread, YUM. If you couldn't' tell already, we've eaten pretty dang well this entire trip ;)

Ryan pulled me into the river and it was COLD. Luckily it was still sunny out when he dunked me because part of the time it rained, so I dried off pretty quick! I helped paddle on the raft while Jesse tried out both the kayak and raft. It was about a 4 hour float, and it was SO much fun!! Later that night we went shooting (my first time!), ate some delish  pizza, then got a good nights sleep before our flight the next day. Thanks Terry & Delaine for hosting us! :)

August 28, 2014

Quinn's Natural Hot Springs

Tuesday morning, the day after we went to Glacier, the crew headed to Quinns Hot Springs. A hotel with cool cabins and natural hot springs that boast health and healing benefits. Sweet! Soon after we got there, we all tried the different pools with various temperatures and just hung out. It was a great relax-day after hiking in Glacier, and it was amazing to see all the beauty that surrounded us while soaking in the pool!

This hotel though was literally in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Luckily they had a restaurant and mini-mart attached to it. Little did we (meaning my parents, brother, and I) know that it was a high-class practically 5-star restaurant. We were all drooling over the prime rib, mushroom and brie soup, and desserts. Yummmm. We ate up, went back to our cabin and got a good nights rest before heading out the next morning to meet Ryan's aunt and uncle for a day of rafting! 


August 27, 2014

Glacier National Park

Last Monday, the first full day we were in Montana, we drove through a did a little hike in Glacier National Park. It was insanely gorgeous! I couldn't take a bad picture there if I wanted to. We did a 3 mile roundtrip hike to Hidden Lake, and we ran into some mountain goats and fat chipmunks on our way! I would apologize for the photo dump this post is...but I won't ;) 






August 26, 2014

Grouse Mountain Lodge


Our first stop was at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, which is a pretty fancy shmancy place according to Montanans. It was a gorgeous hotel with a cabin feel, both inside and out! One random thing we noticed throughout our Montana trip is that the state LOVES hanging flower pots. No seriously. In every city we were in, beautiful HANGING PLANTS. Grouse Lodge did not disappoint ;)




Here is what you walk in and see when coming through the front doors, wow!! Seriously decked out in posh cabin style. Our room was comfortable with a good size bathroom and a nice AC unit. My mom and I enjoyed making use of the outdoor hot tubs while the boys loved the sauna and golf course nearby. We stayed here for a couple of nights while we hit up Glacier National Park and before we made our way over to Quinn's Hot Springs! 


August 25, 2014

Francesca's Collections Friends & Family Sale

On August 14th I attended the Friends and Family Sale that all Francesca's locations were hosting, and was so excited to snag something cute on sale before going on vacation! The whole store was decked out in balloons, posters, and there was even cake pops by the cash register for all their customers. Um, so cute?!

I worked at this particular location for about a year and frequent the Orem shop to make sure I always get the cutest new arrivals. Above is my friend and the Assistant Manager, Josee who showed me around the store and helped me pick out an adorable blouse and necklace! 


Absolutely EVERYTHING in the store was 25% off, what what?! I love how Francesca's Collections always has these amazing sales, because they really put in the effort to show their customers that they're loved :) Plus being on their email list is the best because I can always plan my seasonal shopping around when they're having a BOGO or discount sale. I can't wait to show off my cute goodies that I picked up from the Friends and Family Sale!  

*Gift card compensation was provided by Francesca's. All opinions are always my own!*

August 23, 2014

UT--->CA--->MT

This week I have been Instagramming hardcore (if you haven't noticed) because there is very rare service/reception throughout Montana. Plus I figured I could give you the down-low when I returned. So here I am, down-lowing it up ;) Ryan, Jesse, and myself drove from UT down to CA a week ago from Friday and spent a couple days hangin' out in good ole SoCal until embarking on the first family trip that we've had in a looooong time.  

We do lots as a family, but it's mostly trading off traveling between SoCal or Provo to be with one another. This was our first destination trip since I was in 8th grade and we all went to Cancun (obviously sans Ryan...cause that would be awks). Crazy! My dad is a huge outdoorsy guy and with Ryan being from Montana we thought it'd be fun to check out the best his home state has to offer. 

We flew out of LAX, which is a scary busy airport btw, and flew on a crowded Allegiant plane to reach our destination at Glacier Airport in Kalispell. We were starving once we got off the plane! During our trip Urbanspoon was heaven sent, we found so many delicious places to eat in whatever city we were in! While Ryan recommended Second Street Pizza in Whitefish, many of the other places we ate were solely based off Urbanspoon percentage ratings.


With how massive the pizzas were and the delicious crust, our hunger was quickly taken care of! I loved how quaint and homey the restaurant felt, because you could tell the workers recognized a majority of the customers coming in. I guess this is what a small town feels like!


I swear the entire trip there was always at least ONE person in our group wearing some form of BYU gear, which was hilarious because random people would ask "Oh, are you LDS? That's cool." Then they'd smile and walk off! Random. Also, just check out the scenery in the pic below. Gorgeous much?! After pizza we started heading towards our hotel just a few minutes away, but I'll save all that jazz for the next post! Nice to be back my friends :)


August 14, 2014

Go Trojans: Game Day Food

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias #TeamJellO

We are a huge football family over here, but being from different states means that we have various alliances. Even though Ryan grew up in Texas and Montana, he was born in Southern California which means he's also a USC fan with me! He's already counting down the days until football season officially starts, which also means I've got to start thinking of some festive game day foods to feature at our football parties! 



I hopped online at www.walmart.com and typed in "USC Jell-O" to find my Jell-O Jigglers kit. It was easy to find and with picking the expedited shipping option, I had my kit within a few days. Score! 


This is Ryan & I from a couple years ago at the Rose Bowl watching USC play UCLA. We drove all the way from Utah just for the weekend and this game. We're some pretty hardcore fans! These Jell-O jigglers are so festive and the perfect bite-sized treats for all my friends and family. I'm so excited to show them off all season long! I paired these Jell-O treats with whipped cream and chocolate shavings for our little party, yum! Although, for our next USC football party I'll be using this recipe provided on the box to create the iconic USC Cardinal Red color :)

USC Cardinal Jigglers
-2 cups of boiling water 
-2 boxes of strawberry flavored gelatin
-1 box of grape flavored gelatin