Allyson!

This is my youngest niece, Allyson. She is so cute!

My awesome brother!

I got to visit my brother Robert at work today and it was so great to see him! He works for a construction company and is working on a new temple in South Jordan right now. He showed me around the whole temple. It was really neat to see. I have the best brother and I am so happy he took the time to give me a tour. I love you Robert!

A view of the spire from the roof

My brother made the spire! I think that is really cool and I am so proud of my brother!

I made it!

The view was amazing from the roof! And how many people get to go on the roof of a temple? Thank you Robert!

I am so afraid of heights!

But my brother convinced me to climb up this ladder (it seems much taller than it looks in the picture!) to go up on the roof of the temple.

There was really a guy in Park City hanging out with a live owl!

I love you Mom!

Steve and I just went to lunch with my mom. It was fun to talk with her for a while. She was so cute and fun today I had to take her picture!

Grandpa B!

My Grandpa has such a sparkly smile and he always makes me smile! We are celebrating his birthday this weekend so I will write more about him soon. Tonight my grandparents took Steve and I and my parents to dinner. I am so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents on both sides and that I am still able to spend some time with them.

Look what we saw next to the road!

View of Salt Lake Valley from Draper

I took this picture from a golf course up by the mountain in Draper. They have a great view!

The big S :)

My baseball buddies!

The bees!

We wore her out!

I have always wanted to do this

Steve and the girls

Bella!

Finally!!!

Steve and I just picked up Charlene and Bella and Zoey. I'm so excited to see some of my nieces!! We are going to go to a childrens museum.

I have the BEST grandparents!!!

This is my Grandma and Grandpa Davies, my moms parents. We just visited them. I love them so much! They are such great people and have shown so much love to me throughout my life. I feel so lucky to be their granddaughter. My Grandpa makes the best oatmeal cookies in the world and he is so happy to give when we visit. My Grandma loves technology and had fun playing with my blackberry. I am so glad that I was able to see them and I always hate to leave. I love you Grandma and Grandpa!

SLC

Yes that's right

We are on our way to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Osmond Family! Steve wanted to bring milk and tailgate, :) but its too hot out so we are inside instead.

We made it!

Those two hours of sleep didn't really cut it, but our flights went smoothly and here Steve and I are in Utah! It is such a hot, beautiful day! I love the weather here. And pf course this view from my parent's front porch. It felt so good to get big hugs from my parents, it was exactly what I needed after a crazy week. Sometimes its easy for me to get caught up in the stress of work and daily life and forget that it just doesn't matter! I am so lucky to have great parents who love me unconditionally. I am so thankful for that!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Today feels kind of strange because I feel like I am supposed to be in Utah with my family celebrating the 24th! It's raining really hard here today and no one knows it's Pioneer Day here, can you believe that?!? :) It was so much fun last year to run the 10k with Lisa and Robert. The good news is I will be there the day after tomorrow! I hope it is bright and sunny in Utah and that you have a good holiday there.

Sorry Mom!

But this is one of my favorite dinners! I love the mac and cheese that you can make in the microwave, its so yummy and easy. :) I ate this so much at ModusLink that I think my former co-workers associate me with mac and cheese. Now my family knows my nutritional shortcomings too!

The reason I say sorry mom is that she always asks me to eat my vegetables whenever I tell her I'm going to eat. If only they sold them in the vending machines!

Knighton, Merlin, Jordan, Charlene, Jessica, Brendan, Bella, Elijah, Trevor and Allison!

I can't wait to see you!! And your parents too! And my parents! And grandparents! :)

My advice for long runs

Don't try to run 15 miles in 90 degree weather! :) I'm sure anyone reading this is smarter than me and would not do this anyway, so this advice is to myself. As someone who is prone to heat exhaustion and who has been dehydrated on runs before, you would think I would have learned by now!! Luckily I have learned the signs of dehydration, for me, chills, nausea, and a very strong craving for salt! So I did not risk it further and ended up walking most of the last three miles. So I am fine, just a little frustrated with myself! I am a slow learner sometimes!

The beauty of a laptop, wireless connection and a great place to work!

This is where I am working right now! There is a small courtyard outside the cafeteria at Biogen, and I decided to work in the sun instead of staying inside. It makes it almost not seem like work. Well that, and I am adding to my blog instead of working. :) But just for a few minutes. Now its back to work!

Another reason my new company is a great fit!

Biogen has a library! I pass by it every day on the way to the cafeteria. Even though I haven't been in it yet, and it looks like it has mostly scientific books, it makes me smile every time I walk by. I am happy just knowing there is a library there!

Some pictures from today's run

Today I decided to run outside from work. It was so much fun! There were so many people out jogging and the scenery was beautiful. I don't think I got the best run in because I kept stopping to take pictures, but I had a great time. I ran a little way down the road from work, across a bridge over the Charles River into Boston, down to Storrow Drive and past the Hatch Shell, to another bridge back over the Charles River near Harvard and back to work.

My favorite place for long runs

I'm about to start a 12 mile run at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield. Its my favorite place for long runs because the scenery is pretty because of the lake, its great for people watching and its a 3 mile loop so each loop I can grap a drink from my car. I'm pretty out of shape so I'm a little nervous for this run. Wish me luck! :)

Just one of the reasons I love working in Cambridge

I needed a break so I walked out of my building, then straight down the street for about 10 minutes, and this is the view I could see of Boston! It is a little hazy today but I love this view of Boston from Cambridge.

The Farmer's Diner in Queechee, VT

This is where we ate breakfast on Saturday. It was so yummy! And the place was so cute! And our waitress was even nice! I kept thinking my dad would love it there, I wish we could have brought him along.

Steve says "Don't take my picture."

Quechee Gorge

I love Vermont!

Steve and I decided to go to Vermont for the holiday weekend. We are staying in Woodstock. This is the view from the porch outside our room. Its so beautiful here!

So sorry Phillipe!

So, for those of you who don't know, my Jeep has a name, Phillipe! (Phillipe the Jeep!) He has been faithfully driving me around the past 15 months and is reasonably well behaved except he is greedy with the gas and his seats are a pain to keep clean. He certainly didn't deserve the scrape I got him in to on Monday! I was meeting Steve for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and eyed a good parking spot. As I started to pull in, I noticed the car next to me was parked a little crooked, but I thought I was ok. Until I heard a scraping noise... I scratched the back bumper of the car next to me and Phillipe's front bumper. :( Luckily no serious damage, it was more embarrassing than anything else. Steve was very nice to wait with me while I called the police and all that fun stuff. Phillipe keeps asking me when I am going to get him fixed up. If he knew me better he wouldn't be holding his breath!