p.s.

yes, I am alive and surviving the crazy life of efy.

i.love.it.

sweet 16!!!!

remember when this boy used to be a WHOLE lot shorter than me?

ya, he decided to grow about 6 inches in the past year!!

and NOW... this baby brother of mine has turned 16 today!

[yes, all of these pictures came from this past week at EFY and i was SO happy I got to see him throughout the entire week]

 Cody is a hilarious kid! He'll say certain things and act certain ways that will make me laugh.. and my friends too. If you are in need of some entertainment (and an occasional eye rolling).. go find my bro. He'll make you laugh! 

 Cody is a sweetheart. He is so thoughtful, loving, respectful and caring.

Not just to his family but to friends and their parents too. Everyone really loves Cody. 

 Cody is dramaticccc ;) in a good way of course. But that's what we like to call him sometimes when he is yelling over nothing or gets sooooo dramatic about pointless situations. It's pretty entertaining, but we love him for it!  

 Cody loves the church! It was so awesome to watch him grow this past week at EFY. He is such an example to me and those he is around. I know he'll be a great missionary someday! 

He also loves sports, ESPECIALLY the Atlanta Braves. I say this every time, but I think it's a requirement in order for you to be a Sant.

I could talk for hours about how much I love this boy, but with it being in the middle of EFY crazy-ness, I have a lot of other things to do.

But I love my not-so-little-anymore Cody Bear. Happy sweet 16 bud! I can't believe that you are that old now!! I love you so much and hope it was a fantastic day! 

Post Wedding Party.

Sunday morning the fam bam got up and went to church across from the Newport Beach Temple. 

[see how gross, windy, and cold it was that day? good thing it wasn't the day before cause Cal's Wedding Day was PERFECT]

Then we took another trip to Balboa Island, but decided we should take the Ferry over there, with our car on the boat. We had a little time to kill while waiting in line so we took a few pictures by the water. 

This was the first time this cute cousin of mine cooperated and took a picture with me! He loves the "dinosaur roar" as he calls it, so it was a success. he's such a crack up. 

That night we went over to Uncle Wayne's house for some birthday dessert with some of the other Sant cousins, it was a good time. 

Monday was Memorial Day and we went with our good friends, the Nichols, to a private beach to enjoy the day. We went exploring, made some sandcastles, relaxed in the sun, and enjoyed playing with the cute little kids! 

That night, we went out to eat with some family to the Cheesecake Factory. And these fabulous ladies and I decided to eat our Banana Cream Cheesecake while we waited to be seated. NBD. Well worth it and I still ate my meal. 

Our last day in California we were up bright and early and went to Disneyland!

It was a blast! The weather wasn't too hot and we didn't have to wait too long to go on rides! 

Not to mention, it's always fun going with the little kids because they are so excited about everything! 

Soarin over California was seriously one of the coolest things I've experienced! changed.my.life. 

After we saw World of Colors, which was too amazing for words, some of the older kids stuck around for about an hour or so to go on a few more rides before we headed back to our hotel. 

We were tired.

We did a lot of walking and stayed at Disneyland for 15 hours, but we definitely made our monies worth! I'm ready to go back and experience that happiness again! 

And so, our California trip was over. 

I went to many places, saw many different things, got to be a part of the best day of my sister's life, and spent a lot of time with the people I love. 

It was a perfect vacation that flew by WAY too fast! 

Pre Wedding Shenanigans

After a long day of delayed flights and California traffic, we finally made it to our villa in Newport Beach! 

We had a late lunch/early dinner so we decided to grab a few cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory for a treat that night. It was delicious! 

 After Callie's temple trip, a lot of family met up at El Torito for some delicious Mexican food for lunch! It was fun to be able to spend a lot of time with family and friends the first few days. 

That night all the family went to explore and eat on Balboa Island! There were so many cute houses that we loved looking at and taking pictures, like this cute one Liv and I found on our way to dinner! 

The next day, we welcomed in a lot of the friends coming in for the wedding! We grabbed some innies with a lot of them and then hit up the pool for a few hours! We stayed entertained in the pool for a few hours just hitting a beach ball to each other. It's fun to have a lot of family and friends around while on vacation!

We had a BBQ with all our family and friends the night before the wedding! We had a blast just hanging out in the nice California weather, eating good food, and being surrounded by good company.

It was so overwhelming to see how many friends and family traveled that weekend to come celebrate with Callie and Brandon! I know they felt so loved by all those who had traveled near and far to share this special time with them! It was also so fun for me to spend a few days with so many people that I love and care about! We had a great time! 

my best friend's wedding day!

On May 28th, 2011 in Newport Beach, California, my best friend, Callie Christine Sant, became Mrs. Brandon Slama! 

The day was absolutely perfect! The weather was great, we were with the family and friends that we love, and everything went the way it was supposed to! 

Cal and Brandon were absolutely GLOWING; you could tell how happy they were! I know they were meant for each other and that Brandon will treat my sister right! I am SO glad they found one another [& maybe I helped with that...]. He will be a great addition to our family for sure! They are definitely a fun and exciting couple to be around!

I know I posted WAY too many pictures from the day, but I just wanted you to get a glimpse of just how great the day was:

Can I just say that I loved our bridesmaid dresses? They were adorable and it's something that I know I will wear again! So cute!

Seriously, Cal looked so gorgeous that day! I couldn't be a more proud sister! I am so happy for her. And maybe I cried a time or two because of it... I'm an emotional person sometimes. 

 1 down, 2 to go in our cousin trio. These girls are my best friends. I don't know what I would do without them!  

 I also am lucky to have two studly brothers. NBD.

 The ring ceremony/reception place was so pretty! It was slightly windy, but other then that- perfect. We started off with a ring ceremony, ate some delicious food, and partied on the dance floor. I'm not trying to be biased, but this was the best reception I've ever been to! Maybe it's also because I knew the majority of the people there so it was a fun time seeing so many family and friends who loved and supported my sister and Brandon! 

And all of the flowers for that day were absolutely beautiful! I was slightly obsessed with all of them!

Seriously, it was such a great day! 

I couldn't be happier for the two of them and am excited to see what their future will bring! 

I love you Mr. and Mrs. Slama!

24 hour visit to Northern California.

let me just start of by saying that I love Northern California. 

It is a very pretty place. I feel like it is semi like Georgia, minus the humidity. 

We landed in San Francisco and spent a little of our day exploring around. 

Of course we passed this bad boy, which reminded me of this epic vacation. 

We drove down Lombard Street, the most windiest road in the world! 

Grabbed some delicious Chicago style slices of pizza for lunch,

Drove over the Golden Gate Bridge,

Became tourists and took a bunch of pictures, 

and, oh ya, this dear friend of mine- Nick Takis- decided to drive down to San Fran to spend the day with me and come be my date at my sister's open house that evening. What a sweetheart. We were so excited to see each other since it rarely happens these days. I hopped in his car and we drove 2 1/2 hours to Monterey and had a blast catching up and jamming to music. 

We got down there just in time to change and get to Callie and Brandon's open house at his Dad's house in Salinas. 

It was a little chilly outside, but the view was gorgeous and it was definitely an enjoyable evening. 

My Grandparents flew in for the Open House so it was fun to spend time with them. It was cool to see where Brandon had grown up and to meet some of his family! They are great people! 

And like I mentioned before, I was FINALLY reunited with this girl after 19 months! It was so great to see her and spend a little time trying to just talk and catch up on our lives! I can't wait to see her in August and be roommates with her! I have missed her lots! 

We only had a few hours the next morning before we needed to catch our flight to Southern California for the rest of the week so that morning my Dad I took a walk around our hotel area, it was gorgeous! I wish we could have stayed for at least another day to do some exploring. 

 

And we also did the 17 mile drive, which had a lot of pretty sites to see and get a little feel for Northern Cal since we never take trips there. 

It was fun, but short trip to the North. 

Hopefully I can go back soon and spend a little more time there!