{my birthday}

I had such a great birthday! My colleagues at work surprised me with a few fun presents and Travis did so many thoughtful things! He completely surprised me by making the most adorable balloon wreath that I have been eyeing on Pinterest and I was so impressed! He also got me a bunch of other fun things. After work, we went to Olive Garden {Trav told our waiter it was my birthday which resulted in a free raspberry lemonade and extra mints = 2 of my favorite things}. Then we bought me some shoes and went to a movie and then had health cake---my favorite! Travis even likes it because it's moist and he doesn't even like cake! Success.

{steel wool}

We just need to give a shout-out to steel wool! We live in a basement apartment that was built in 1925. Yes 1925. It's old but it's home. The bathroom is probably the grossest part and I've tried to deep clean that shower but it just never seems to get the nasty stuff off. The drain is disgusting too. So, this morning, Travis scrubbed the entire shower with steel wool for a couple of hours and it looks brand-spankin new!! I can't stop looking at it. The mat that we lay down to stand on now looks more dirty than the tile floor. Miracle. We're headed to Target tonight to get a new mat!

Trav is out golfing right now at Thanksgiving Point with my cousin Andrew and I've been freelance editing a book for an LDS author. I still can't believe I can get paid to edit; it's too fun for me! Last night we saw the Hunger Games {I finished reading the book yesterday} and it was pretty good! We got home at around 10:00 p.m. and just flipped on the TV and there was the US Olympic team walking during the opening ceremonies; we turned it on at the exact right time to see them and didn't have to watch for hours before too! It was awesome. There is an LDS girl from Texas A&M who will be competing on the Olympic swim team; we can't wait to watch! http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865559537/Olympic-dream-fulfilled-for-young-LDS-swimmer-Breeja-Larson.html

{dyer family reunion}

After Trav took the GMAT, we headed straight to Vancouver, Washington for a family reunion! We relaxed for a few days and even got a great dental check-up by our brother-in-law Dave.

Trav's parents also had an early birthday party for me by having pizza and going to see the Avengers! We then headed to Sunriver, OR for five days for the official reunion! We had tons of fun! It was a lot of games, talking, laughing, sunshine, and good food. Trav and I even got locked out of our bedroom and had to break in through the window. It took about an hour to break in and as my hand was lodged in the window trying to pop the screen back, a dear was walking around about 15 feet away. We eventually got back into our room! We also went on a tandem bike ride and had delicious ice cream at Goody's. It was fun to be with everyone and just play! 

{gmat}

The GMAT has been consuming our lives for the past couple months and on July 14th it was all over; what a relief!  Travis studied full-time for that insane & expensive test and made the exact score he needs to in order to get into a PhD school! We are so excited to start the application process now. It will be so fun to see where we end up for PhD school and then where we end up afterwards!

{4th of july}

We had a great 4th of July! It was kind of strange having a holiday in the middle of the week but it was fabulous:

-Tuesday night I got a text saying that the cousin of the woman I visit teach was opening a pizzeria on the 4th and they needed taste testers {this literally occurred 1 minute before I stood up to get dinner ready; it seemed too good to be true} so we raced out the door and were able to be taste testers! We ate so much pizza! The dessert pizza was the best I've ever had {the pizzeria is on the corner right by Fat Catz}. It was only us and my cousin and her husband who showed up so we had tons of fun and got really full!

-We went to the Provo parade {Trav even did the macarena with some of our cousins}

-Had lunch at a park with my mom's extended family

-Had dinner at Purple Turtle

-Watched a big firework show that was awesome {oh and it was free!}

-We also watched a mountain burn; it was crazy. So many people had to evacuate; luckily we had some rain today!

{bear lake}

This past Wednesday to Sunday we had one big party!! Five Garlick cousins all got married within one year so we all headed up to stay in a cabin at Bear Lake! It was a blast. We spent the past five days playing games, talking, watching movies, eating delicious meals {which Kate perfectly planned and we all help to prepare them}, getting famous raspberry shakes {except mine was mint-oreo as usual}, making pies, going to a hilarious play, hiking, swinging off a rope swing, sleeping in, and staying up way too late. Oh and we also built the greatest sand castle that I've ever seen right in the middle of the water. It was one great vacation!