my BIRTHDAY adventures!

For my birthday, Steph took me to get my hair dyed for the first time! (Well, last year, we dyed it darker on my birthday...but we just used a cheapo box and it faded after a couple weeks.) I was SO nervous but now that I've gotten used to it, I LOVE IT. Thanks Steph :)

 BEFORE

 AFTER

The next day!

My family and I will be celebrating my birthday late since my mom just got in from Russia (YAY!) but my birthday was pretty great thanks to good friends. Friday night I went to Salt Lake to have dinner with my good friends Maddie, Audra, William, Chris, Will, and Matt. I love that the years fly by but my friends are always there. Saturday I had a breakfast/lunch with some good friends in my ward. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of these two parties. Annie was a sweetheart and drove all the way from Salt Lake to have dinner with me on my birthday. Thanks Annie!! Oh and also...on Saturday, my friend Jay took Steph, Tracy, and I up in a little airplane. IT WAS AWESOME. Jay is such a great pilot it wasn't even scary. I have great friends!

grateful for family...

This summer, it's been fun to spend a lot of time with family! With the parents in Russia, the Bosters in Texas, and Josh in Mexico... Annie, Abby, Ryan, and I have gotten to hang out a lot! Ryan is such a champ to be the only guy most of the time haha. Some of our recent adventures include...

the CHEESECAKE FACTORY at city creek to celebrate abby's 23rd birthday!

i won 6 tickets to a country concert at the WESTERNER (aka a cowboy bar...good times) so i took the sibs, megan, and my friend darrell. the best part was ordering 2 orders of fries and 6 waters :) oh and playing pool was pretty legit too. ryan fit right in:

lots of random hangouts with annie! this one is from the night she came to a BASEBALL GAME with me to see a friend from my mission play... 

just last friday, annie came to provo to sleep over. we watched SMALLVILLE (our fav) with the shawcrofts while i made cream puffs for a bridal shower the next day. my first try was an epic fail (see top panel). luckily i had ryan, abby, and annie to help me get it right. turns out the words "rolling boil" are imperative. i was pretty proud of try #2 :)

it's also been a blast to see extended family recently! they are all so sweet to us with my parents off in siberia.

CAFE RIO with suzi when she was in town!

we also had a sweet visit with grandma and grandpa gibbons afterwards!

i'm sad i didn't get a picture last night of our party with the glenns at alta ridge! luckily it will be a fast sunday tradition, so i'll get a picture next time :) speaking of the glenns, it was a blast to hang out with them on andrew and haley's wedding day!

  

looking forward to...

I always blog about things AFTER they happen...but turns out being excited about them BEFOREHAND is the best part :) so here's what's up next in the exciting life of liz:

(1) FINALLY starting the last chunk of my dissertation...photographing the cytoskeleton! excited for cool pictures...perhaps tomorrow will be my maiden experiment :)

(2) STEPH'S BIRTHDAY on friday! i may or may not have an adventure planned for us to do before the dance party that night..

(3) my first big ward activity in my new calling on SATURDAY.

(4) BEAR LAKE with friends in two weeks!

(5) the hobbler HALF MARATHON on july 7th...just signed up today! excited to run with my brother ryan.

(6) earning a little extra cash by HOUSE-SITTING for my professor during the month of july... not to mention bonding with his bird, kiwi, who is basically like a toddler.

(7) my trip to san antonio on the weekend of august 3 to see JENNY and JONATHAN and JAMES and ELLA :) spontaneously bought my ticket today!

(8) three weeks in russia starting the very next weekend! can't wait to be with my dear MOM and DAD again :)

love the anticipation.



A random thought to tag on the end of a random blog post:

Both a recent relief society lesson and a chat with a friend last night have had me thinking recently: what really brings happiness? Often, we think of some future event that will finally make us happy, but happiness can only be found now. What we imagine in the future is always rosier than the reality we currently face, but all phases of life have their ups and downs, their joys and their challenges. It's up to us to BECOME a happy person despite situations or circumstances. We need to actively CREATE happiness now instead of waiting for happiness to just HAPPEN. Anyway, I realized that the key to all of this, for me at least, is PEOPLE. It's all about relationships. My relationship with Christ is my truest source of happiness, but this should be a pattern for relationships with other people as well. I'm always happiest when I'm close to others...not just doing things with them but getting to know who they really are and sharing each others' lives. Focusing outward, on others, has always brought me joy. When I get caught up in selfishness, I'm never content. So here's a shout out to all of the people in my life: you are my happiness :)

ps - I'm so mad...I thought I included pictures of a big group photo of high school people and one of lab friends, but I didn't realize I forgot until the collage was made and I was too lazy to start over. So  just know I love you :)

starting 2012 off with a bang!

2012 has been so fabulous so far I think I'm setting myself up for disappointment...

EPIC new years festivities with the fam

 (these included... 2 unfinished games of acquire, little boys with the pukes, sparklers, sparkling cider, auld lang syne, and smallville!)

A last minute trip to SEATTLE with Diane to see our dear friends John and Rosemary sealed in the temple!!

(One of my most favorite experiences of my life. Thanks mom and dad for helping me get there for my birthday present!!)

I TURNED 25!!

(and had a quarter life crisis and dyed my hair darker)

Annie, Abby, and Ryan spoiled me with classic Gibbons birthday signs, mom's cake (courtesy of ryan), presents, and KOREAN FOOD! (hopefully picture to come)

I got to skype with mom and dad while they were on the trans-siberian railway in the middle of NOWHERE. yay for technology! (and then we skyped again at midnight so they could see my hair)

Steph and Kelli kidnapped me for a mystery roadtrip!

ST. GEORGE

and VEGAS

(picture to come)

PLUS LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL DATA I'VE BEEN SPOILED WITH THIS WEEK:

(secret confession, there is also horrible looking data that i do not feel like sharing so you think science is all about success instead of the reality...all about failure haha)

yep, life is good. welcome 2012! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!

can you believe it? my little dude is turning SEVENTEEN today! well, not so little considering he passed me in height about twelve inches ago :) anyway, i hope you had a happy day josh and i wish i could be there! i love you so much and am SO proud of the studly guy you have become :) keep up the good work my friend.

we celebrated this past weekend because we were ALL home. it was so happy.

my birthday week!

well it's official. i'm old. 22!! I got to drag out my birthday for almost a whole week since we waited til the weekend to celebrate with the fam. here are some pics from my birth-week! :)

So when i got to the lab that morning i found a flower and balloons and starbursts with no note which is always exciting :) turns out it was my cute sister abby! thanks abby!!! Here's me with the flower plus a flower i got from some cute girls i work with which included a SINGING CARD. i've always wanted one of those. my favorite part is how the flowers are in a flask. that just makes it so much better.


macaroni grill with the girls! janelle, kylie, sally, and anne marie. the highlights: learning to write my name upside down in cursive and the free chocolate cake. ah it was amazing. OH and the leftovers the next day. so fun.

i don't have pics of it, but angie made me dinner the day after my birthday! she's so cute. i just loved hanging out with her and preston. they are so great. ang and I had a much needed chat! she's so fun to talk to and it'd been forever.

the next day willie gave me a birthday treat: wendy's for dinner and PAZOOKIE! half baked cookie dough with ice cream on top. oh gosh it was probably the most amazing thing my taste buds had every encountered. there must be a repeat of this.

on friday, my roommate janelle got engaged!! i'm so excited for her. she's such an amazing friend and she deserves the best. mike's such a great guy too! ah what a great couple. love them :)


on saturday we had a fun get together at jane and kenny's with the gang. it was a blast as always, even though garrett got lost going to their house again. next time we're going to go STRAIGHT there the fast way. we had a birthday cake for both mine and logan's birthdays. it was in the shape of a bicep . . . so i think obviously more directed toward logan haha. we blew out ALL the candles though! jane, kimbre, and i ate WAY too many muddy buddies. i think it's tradition to get sick off of them every time we make them.


angie, preston, and i made a trip to the savages to finally meet ka's little one, chloe grace! and can i just say she is adorable?? i can't believe my friend's are having babies, but i know that ka will be the best mom there is! here's me with my pseudo-niece :)


here's the whole group! me, the andersons, and the browns!



I finally got to celebrate my birthday with my family on sunday!! this picture looks funny because it was on night vision haha . . . of course it looks funny ANYWAY because i am modeling all of my gifts from my cute fam! i'm wearing my new dress, a bathrobe, my new mission skirt, my new scarf, two hats, 3 pairs of mittens and holding my disney princess memory game!! can a birthday get any better? i submit that it cannot.


so a fun tradition in my family is to make signs for each other that are all hung up around the family room and kitchen. dad's always been the best at it, but this year he topped them all. here is a "rap" he wrote for me. yes, the picture is of me, modeled after an actual photo we have (although i don't recall my hair being THAT crazy . . . or dark . . .) ah i am keeping this forever.this next one was also by dad, highlighting both my cowgirl tendencies and my extreme nerdiness in one song!

so let's be honest, my birthday was pretty much amazing!! thanks to everyone who made it great :)