BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

IT'S BRAD'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I really lucked out to marry such a great guy.  He seriously is so great.

This video describes how I feel about him.  I'm the monkey.

CVS Birthday Party

So remember when I used to produce the 4:30 AM show?  Well I did that for awhile.  The best part: it's a show full of viral/trending stories/videos.  So I thought I'd share a few of the things I found while searching for stories.

We'll start off with the funniest kid's birthday party I've ever seen.  This 4-year-old asked for a CVS-themed birthday party...yes, CVS the drug store.  Hilarious.  You've gotta read the article and look at the pictures.  It will make your day.

Enjoy: http://time.com/4078321/girl-cvs-birthday-party/

YIR: February 2015

I started this last Sunday...but didn't finish.  Sorry to keep you waiting.  Ha.  Anyway, February 2015 was a bomb month.  For reals.  If you don't believe me, see the following pictures as proof.

Cute Brad and I got to go skiing at Sundance!  Our first date was on that same ski lift (just without snow).  Last winter's snow was pretty pathetic.  It was pretty slushy that day.  But still fun!  Not cold at all.

This is Grant.  Or at least this sign was made by Grant.  If I remember right, this was a screen shot during FaceTime.  (Then again...that would mean my picture should be in the corner...which it does not appear to be.)  Anyway, I'm obsessed with Brad and so is my family...especially my little brothers.  Grant apparently wanted us to kiss.  Funny kid.

Then for President's Day we went to Arches!  I love Arches!  It is the greatest ever!  Being February, it was a little chilly.  It even snowed during our hike (and even while this picture was taken).  This is below Delicate Arch.  (Here's a picture of the whole arch to prove it.)  This hike was my favorite because it is super easy and not that long and has a great ending.  My type of hike.

Have I mentioned that I love Brad?  If not, I love Brad.  This is another part of the park we explored.  The rocks are so crazy!

We also had a ward tubing activity at Soldier Hollow.  The best part was not having to climb the hill to sled down.

And if Arches wasn't cool enough, my family also went on a cruise to Mexico in February!  This is Jim waiting on the counter while they checked all of our tickets and passports/birth certificates!  Quite the process when your family is large.

This is Jim and me hanging out in one of our cabins.  He's one cute kid.

Confession: I wasn't really supposed to take this picture.  It was one of those "they take your picture and then try to get you to buy it."  But in my defense, I did not realize that until after I snapped this picture.  This was when we got off the ship in Mexico.

The only stop our ship made was in Ensenada.  A little about Ensenada or what I thought it was.  First of all...if you look up Ensenada...it is not very far from the border...meaning we did not travel very far at all.  Second of all, I figured you take cruises to Mexico to go to nice beaches.  When I woke up the morning we docked I asked Becca if I should wear a swimsuit and she said no...there weren't any nice beaches in Ensenada.  Haha.  Kinda lame.  But instead we got to take a bus ride to the Bufadora.  It's a blowhole.  Ensenada's most exciting attraction.  It was kinda cool for at least a minute or so.  This is most of our family at the Bufadora.

This is us at the end of our Bufadora adventure waiting for the bus.  Of course the path leading to it is lined with all these little shops.  Most of them sell the same stuff.  I bought a dress.  Why?  1.  Because they're cool.  2.  Because I didn't realize one of the nights on the cruise you were supposed to dress up.  Thus it was not a souvenir...it was a need.

And this is all eight Ostler kids before we got back on the boat.

My siblings' favorite part of the cruise: all you can eat ice cream.  This was at breakfast right before we got home.

This was back in Provo at Utah Lake.  Don't worry...that's not my car.  But it is a friend's car who luckily didn't end up in the lake.  It took a large truck to get it off the rocks.  It was kinda cold.  So I put on Brad's sweatshirts.  I love Brad's sweatshirts.

Well...that was February.  Or at least what I took pictures of in February.  Enjoy.  :)

YIR: January 2015

YIR means Year in Review.  Not sure if anyone actually uses that...but I am going to.  So here's the first of 12ish posts of my 2015 recap.

The Ostler family spent the second day of 2015 touring Los Angeles on top of a bus.  (AKA we were tourists despite the fact that we have all lived in the LA area for the vast majority of our lives.)  Normally, tourists get on and get off these buses and do maybe a few routes a day.  But the Ostlers did them all...in one day.  We only got off the bus for lunch and to switch routes.  That made for one LONG day.  We had headphones with a narration that told us about what we were seeing.  I found that to be interesting, but it got cold on top of the bus and we all ended up on the indoor part by the end which made it must harder to see anything.  Anyway, my mom loved it.  And I'm glad that Brad (who came with us) decided I was still worth it after enduring such a tour.  

This was while we were off the bus for lunch in Hollywood.  I don't remember what they were looking at.  But considering the vast number of characters on Hollywood Blvd...I'm sure they were looking at something interesting.  Are my brothers not the cutest?

To be honest, I don't really remember the story behind this picture.  But it is in Brad's apartment after church one Sunday in January I believe.  And I love him.

Yes, this pictures is dark.  But let me tell you...it is quite difficult to get a decent picture at what was then Energy Solutions Arena when you're in the upper bowl.  But we had to have a memory of our first Lakers @ Jazz game together.  Brad bought us tickets for my Christmas present.  Precious boy.

Then I went home again when Carrie got home from her mission.  This is Jim and me hanging out before we went to pick her up.  (For pictures of Carrie's homecoming...check out this post.)

On that same trip, Nick and I went to the beach.  It was January, so not exactly beach weather.  But when you're that close, you just have to go.  Of course Nick went in the water.  We also played catch (baseball) and peppered (volleyball).   And we took a variety of selfies including this one.

This photo is proof of how strong Carrie is.

Later that day we went out to eat in Malibu with our grandparents.  That box Carrie is holding contains leftovers of this giant piece of chocolate cake.  Soon after this picture was taken, the box got set down or dropped and the seagulls quickly ate what was left.  Boo.

After lunch, we toured the Getty Villa.  We got headphones to help us hear the tour guide better.  Even Jim got some.  Precious.

And before I left, Carrie and I went to the temple together.  :)

There are a few more January favorites in this post (the same one with pictures of Carrie's homecoming) in case you're curious.  I figured there was no need to double post them.  February 2015 coming soon.

I'm back.

I haven't read my last post...but I feel like I very well could have used the same title considering I don't seem to write very often.  My original plan for this blog way back when I started it was to use it as a journal.  But then I actually got in the habit of writing in my journal...which meant there was less need for the blog.  But, then I realized that it's rather difficult to put pictures in your journal.  So I could at least post some to the blog.

At the end of last year, it became quite the trend to post a grid of nine pictures from 2015.  But I decided that I was too lazy to search through them all and narrow them down to nine.  One reason for that being 2015 was a pretty darn great year (for one, I have a husband now) and I assure you I would have spent WAY too long trying to find my favorites.  So instead I've come up with the tentative plan to post my favorites from each month of last year on this here blog.  Key word: tentative.  This plan would entail 12 posts...preferably before 2017.  And seeing as I posted a total of one (scratch that...I just checked...I wrote two) last year...that might be a struggle.  But I'm going to try hard.  And I'll try to also add pictures from this year too.

All this talk of pictures and there are zero in this post.  Instead...enjoy the new layout.  Brad is a genius.  Blogspot makes it hard to customize things...but Brad figured out how to do it on his own.  Love him.

Another thing...I got to produce the 4:30AM show for KSL for a little over a month at the end of last year.  And the majority of that show is trending/viral videos and stories.  So, I might post a few of my favorites as well.

Anyway, wish me luck.  :)

You got lucky.

Why are you so lucky? Because I have something to blog about and that doesn't happen very often (as evidenced by my lack of blog posts for the last year). What am I about to blog about? I'll give you a clue.

Can you guess yet? If not, I shall explain my thought process. This is Gretl. The youngest Von Trapp child in the Sound of Music. The following is a quote from that blessed movie:

Max: Friedrich, Gretl, why don't you sing?

Gretl: I can't, I've got a sore finger.

I likewise have a sore finger. See the following picture.

That is 5 stitches in one finger.  It has served me well.  How did I motivate the kids in the 3rd grade class I subbed for yesterday to behave?  I told them I'd tell them what happened to my finger if they were good.  I will now tell you the story that really isn't all that interesting at all.

I was cooking dinner on Sunday night.  I opened a can of cream of mushroom soup.  Then my finger was cut by the lid.  Not really sure how.  All of the sudden it was in pain with blood spurting in all directions.  Just kidding.  But it was in pain and bleeding.  So I wrapped it in a paper towel and kept cooking.  Dang it cream of mushroom soup.  I don't even like that stuff.  Anyway, after about 2 hours, it was still bleeding so I went to the urgent care 15 minutes before it closed and they stitched me up.  Note of warning: numbing shots in your finger KILL.  But they are are rather effective in doing their job of numbing your finger.  After the shots I watched them stitch up my finger.  It was pretty cool.  And that is the end of my story.  Don't worry, it is normally covered up.

Being a real adult.

So...I'm a real adult now.  Meaning not really...but I'm at least a college graduate.

Before I continue...shout out to Brigham Young University.  It's been my dream to go to BYU since I can remember.  And it certainly lived up to, if not exceeded, my expectations.  I have met some of my best friends here and was genuinely impressed by the student body as a whole.  I loved my classes and professors.  (I'm sure there were days when I didn't think that, but looking back I feel like I did.)  I loved my major.  I loved my jobs that I had as a student.  I loved walking around campus and looking up at the gorgeous mountains.  I can't imagine a prettier place to go to school...except maybe Pepperdine...but aside from that...it's hard to beat.  BYU just makes me so happy and I will forever be proud to be an alumnus.

But back to being an adult.  I'll admit...job searching is the worst.  I've never liked it and I never will.  But once you get a job, life is swell.  Why?  One reason and one reason alone.  And that is no homework.  Meaning even if you have to work late, you still get to come home and not worry about doing anything else.  It's the greatest.  Nothing better.  I just get so excited every weekend when I realize I can do whatever I want and not even feel guilty for not doing homework.  If that's not motivation to finish your degree, I don't know what is.  :)

Anyway, hope this post is sufficient for those who have been anxiously awaiting one.  :)  Here are some random pictures from the past 3 years to catch you up on my life.  Ha.

One of our first Sundays as roommates. :)

Pictures don't even do it justice.  One of my many attempts to capture the gorgeous mountains.

Fun.  :)

The sacrifices we make to have our games broadcast on ESPN.  Freezing late games.  One time Justin came. :)

Last day of classes...ever.

Roommate Christmas pictures.  Ha.

First Christmas home from the mish.  :)

Being tourists in our own city.

Mis hijas de la misión.

And then Carrie came home!!!!  :)

Jim.

One time we celebrated Presidents Day by hiking to Delicate Arch in the snow.  :)  Promise that's really us.

Arches National Park is GORGEOUS.  You should go.

Jim and me ready for our cruise.