Hard to Believe....

This is just crazy, how is it possible that this little boy is ready to go on a mission. It's official, my oldest nephew Chase (Jen's son) just got his mission call and is going to.... Neuquen, Argentina!!! I'm so proud of him and excited for the amazing experience he's going to have. I was in 10th grade when Chaser was born and as my friends all know I was so excited to be an aunt for the 1st time (and have to say equally as excited and proud of the other 22!!) Anyway, I was even more excited for Chaser knowing that he was going to the mission that was just a hop, skip and a jump over the Andes from mine and for knowing the Pulley Spanish tradition lives on, except for Mitch w/his Italian, but close enough right? :)

Congrats Chaser!! We are all so happy and proud of you!

rise and shout the cougars are out!!!

well, fall is officially here and what better way to ring it in than with an amazing byu football win. the cougars beat #3 ranked Oklahoma 14 to 13!!! seriously, what a great game!! now, i just pray they keep up with their momentum. as a bonus, mindy and brando were out here for a visit this weekend, so we had so much fun watching it together and loudly rooting for byu, which i'm sure was a surprise to my all things ucla crazy neighbors. like, what other teams exist?

**for those of you savvy observants, yes this pic was staged (you can see the player is actually wearing an lsu helmet), but just couldn't find it in me to run and get my camera in the moment.

One of my top 5 summers!!

Crazy how fast time flies, and why oh why is it always Summer that flies by the fastest? What an amazingly fun, relaxing, family and friend filled, adventure filled, happy summer it's been!

My friend Tonnette and I went on an amazing trip to the Baltics and let me just say, I think I have some new favorite travel spots. Everywhere we went was such a great mix of natural beauty and amazing architecture. Speaking of beauty, that's it, hands down Denmark wins for having the most beautiful people, I swear there was not one ugly guy or girl to be found, and Amsterdam was a very close runner up. Of all our stops, I definitely loved Amsterdam, Stockholm and Tallinn, Estonia the best.

A few of the highlights of the trip were:

Going to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam: so neat to match the image in my mind w/reality

Going on a canal tour of the city in Amsterdam

Watching the changing of the Royal Guard in Stockholm

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg: my favorite art museum yet

Sitting inside the Rock Church in Helsinki and listening to the live piano concert

Exploring beautiful Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen

****After our trip, I headed home to Salt Lake to spend time w/my fam for a couple of weeks. It was a great couple of weeks seeing family and friends and we were able to pack in so many fun different things.

Of course, a trip home would never be complete w/out Girl's nights w/my Mom and sisters. Can I just say how much I love and appreciate them. Seriously, always looking out for me. I can always count on my Mom and sisters to be on the lookout for any potential "dateable" guys, notice the key word.

So my sister Lisa and I went out to lunch one day and turns out there's this guy w/his brother and dad behind us in line. I was thinking to myself "he's really cute", then I turned the corner and Li nodded in his direction to say how cute he was too. So, we go and sit down, Li had left to go get some straws and runs back and says "he's single, no ring!", then she was like, "that's it, I have to get his number for you or else I'll regret it". So, I'm thinking no way, so embarrassing! but then I was thinking, if I left the restaurant and then she did it, what do I have to lose? We proceed to leave the restaurant and Li goes back to talk to the guy. I'm waiting and waiting outside, when all of a sudden she comes out and says "he's married". annoying! why don't some guys wear their rings? but then she starts telling me how she went up to him saying that I thought he looked familiar and asked where he went to high school, Wyoming! (way off). then she asked if he was married? and he said "yes", so she came back w/Oh too bad b/c my sister thought you were handsome and I was going to give you her number. But the best part is Li said, you know what it's a good thing, b/c as I was walking closer to him, I noticed that he wasn't as cute close up and he had bad teeth. Gotta love sisters!! On a positive note, my sister Jen is now 2 for 2 for good blind dates, no more he's LDS, you're LDS. :)

See you in 2 weeks!!

Summer school is winding to a close and I can't believe how fast its flown. It's been a really busy but fun summer at work. Usually, I'm kind of on my own, traveling between schools to see the kids on my caseload. But during summer b/c there aren't as many schools open, they assign a group of us therapists to be at one school. Can I just say, I love it! It's been so fun co-treating with my friends. I love having someone around to swap ideas with and to chat with. We've had some really cute kids we're working w/too which always helps.

Now that work is coming to a close, I'm pulling out the suitcases and gearing up for my trip!! My friend Tonnette (mission friend) and I are flying to Amsterdam and are then headed on a Baltic cruise which stops in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Estonia!! I'm so excited, can't wait!! I've been talking to family/friends who have lived/visited some of these places to get ideas on must sees. So, if you have any suggestions, feel free! I'm going to try and stop in at some of the internet cafe's along the way to update!

Delish....

one of the things I love about summer is so many things are in season to make yummy salads. i made this one for dinner tonight and it was soooo good, so thought i'd share. side note:hate, hate radishes and avocado and it was still great without.

Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
Salad

* 2 1/2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
* 1 can (15.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and well drained
* 3/4 cup chopped seeded tomato
* 3/4 cup chopped peeled jicama
* 3/4 cup fresh corn kernels, uncooked (or frozen or canned)
* 3/4 cup thinly sliced radishes
* Half a ripe avocado, diced
* 1 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese


Honey-Lime Dressing

* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 tbsp honey
* 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
* 1 tsp chopped jalapeño pepper (use canned for less heat)

Preparation

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl. In separate bowl, mix dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over mixture and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Kick off the Summer.....

Summer is officially here and it got kicked off in a great way with our Pulley Family Reunion. It was just w/our immediate family, my mom, dad, all 9 of us, spouses and all the nieces and nephews. We figured it has been almost 6 years since we've all been home together at the same time, so needless to say we were all so excited!!

We all packed up the cars and headed up north to the Uintas, to this place called Reid Ranch for the reunion. It was so great, our whole family was able to stay in this huge lodge that had it's own swimming pool and sports court. They had archery, horseback riding, archery, a lake with paddle boats, canoes, etc... and much to the relief of many of the parents, no t.v.'s, no reception for cell phones, no internet, etc.... plus, they took care of all the meals and cleaning. We had campfires every night, where some of the families were in charge of different activities and crafts for the kids. It was seriously so much fun!

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I feel so lucky to have been blessed with the family I have. I love that when we get together, it takes 2 whole days just to get settled down enough to finally talk, I love seeing my brothers and sisters as moms and dads to their own kids, I love that being single, I have a chance to really have quality time w/my cute nieces and nephews, I love that our "in-laws" are just like other brothers and sisters to us, I love that we have a special voice that we revert to when just us girls are together, I love that all of my family are such amazing examples to me, I love that we can make my mom cry by having the grandkids sing a simple primary song, I love that we can laugh, talk, dance like nobody's business when we're together and most of all I love that I can't imagine my life without every single member of my family!

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

so, as I'm sitting here missing my fam on this day, thought I would do something a little more productive and write some of the things I love about my dad. happy father's day dad!!

*i love my dad's frugal ways and thrill of a good deal. this has definitely been passed down, you guys know it has, as much as we laugh about saying "guess what i got and it was only 7.99!" , we know deep down how excited we are to score such a deal.

*his love for adventure and the many adventures he's had that i'm still finding out to this day. i love that my dad was willing to take us kids along on business trips and showing us the sights that i'm sure he had seen a million times, but making it seem like it was all new to him.

*his amazing sense of direction. i'm not kidding, it's eery, he could be in any city, anywhere and find his way around. well, let's not be too generous,there's always san antonio :) really though, this must be a gene that skips a generation, b/c i defnitely did not inherit this.

*his ability to roll with the punches and to accept challenges as they come without complaining

*my dad has the memory of an elephant. no lie! he can remember the most out of the way facts from years ago like it was yesterday. he is smart and i mean walking textbook smart. i think that's what made travel with him so fun. it was so cool hearing all the stories of history from my dad, almost like having your own personal tour guide.

*his many ways of saying i love you. whether it's asking how the car is running, how it feels to have another day off (which he constantly reminds me of), or just saying it straight, i know my dad loves me and i love him.

onto, another subject, figured while i'm on a roll, i'll keep on going. so i hit up 2 movies this weekend. to celebrate our last staff mtg., my friends janet and judy and i went to see "UP!" don't want to give away the plot, but just have to say it's a must see. weird, b/c i'm not real big into the animation movies, but this one was so cute and different than i expected, i even cried in it! there are some great quotables in it and i just loved the message.

then my friend margaret and i went to see "the proposal" last night. i really liked it, funny and plus what's not to like about a good romance and with ryan reynolds, (even better). plus, i went into it with no expectations which always helps. kind of like with dating recently, but that's a different story. but the most embarrassing part of the night happened during the previews. so, this preview comes on for this really freaky horror movie and i absolutely cannot stand scary movies, so i was looking down trying to not listen b/c those things just stick in my head and the music was getting scarier and louder, when all of a sudden this man tried to cross to pass in front of me to get to another seat and i totally shook and screamed a little bit, b/c he came out of nowhere, couldn't even see him in my peripheral vision and it just caught me off guard! well, the poor guy, he was this cute little old man and he ended up turning around and going into another row instead. i felt so bad, but he left so quick didn't have time to explain.