Nothing provides a good pick-me-up like when "MMMBOP" comes on my itunes shuffle. I just might have pressed repeat...

let freedom ring

we would like to apologize for slacking at our very serious duties to the blogging world. its been very busy lately, what with driving up to a different Skeen family event every weekend, which has been a real treat because we don't get to see much of that side very often. well anyway, i would love to go through every detail of the fun couple weeks but we are all too busy for that so i will just highlight one particular adventure. while in the beautiful McCall, Idaho last weekend, hunter and i took bikes to the top of a ski lift and mountain biked down. it was BEAUTIFUL, but being the girly girl that i am it was a struggle to say the least (this emotion conveyed in one of the pictures below). 7 miles and about 2 hours later, we were very proud of ourselves and ready for fireworks and ice cream.

Later that night, setting up camp by the GORGEOUS McCall Lake to watch the fireworks.

Also of note: my most/least favorite NFL star is delving into the reality etertainment business: The T.O. Show. I can do nothing but laugh at this.

michael scott was just eating something chewy on the office and now i really want some of those chewy orange things covered in sugar. please tell me you know what i'm talking about they are soo yummy.

Here, this!

HEY LOOK

i made a hunter and aubrey blog!

the other day, I was backing out of our parking space in the parking garage while hunter was grabbing his baseball bag from our storage unit. all of the sudden hunter whips around and yells "AUBS!" and i'm all "ugh what now i'm running late" so i finish backing out and he just stares at me looking really confused. well then i am all "what??" and he starts walking over to the right side of the car, i get out, and then i realize what a stupid girl i am. he points and that is when i see the horrific sight. apparently i scraped the entire right side of the bumper on the concrete pillar as i was backing out and didn't even hear or realize it, which is sort of comical but at the same time tragic because this is hunter's new 2009 corolla were talking about here. his baby. i fully expected him to yell at me, as i would have done in his situation, but instead he did something shocking, which was accept my apology and give me a hug and say "its okay baby." i felt so bad i almost wanted him to yell at me a little bit because i totally deserved it but he just kept saying "its okay" and "just be more careful."

the moral of the story is i have the sweetest husband in the world.

OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT i hate the bachelorette okay HATE it. life isn't stinkin' like that. no one has the choice of 20 handsome men that are vying for her attention, no one has romantic helicopter rides and candle lit dinners on the top of a building for a weeknight date (or ever for that matter), and ESPECIALLY no one has the undivided attention and deliberate charming antics and perfect conversation that stupid jillian gets on every single date. its so unrealistic, and yet it makes me feel like something must be wrong with my relationship because i don't go on helicopter rides and have my boy constantly trying SO hard? ugh. bachelorette, you are just as bad as disney movies.

the difference between boys and girls

me: "you didn't even tell me i look pretty yet."
hunter: "yes huh, i said 'your hair looks straight'"

today was really fun! i woke up a little sick so we layed around watching a mixture of food network and sports for a little bit. then we went to the park and hunter taught me how to hit a baseball and after a little bit of coaching and about an hour of missing the ball i finally hit it all the way to the grass!! so hunter was very proud of me and bought me a jamba juice which was delicious. then we went to costco and got some delicious halibut that we are going to use to make fish tacos tonight. yuuuuuuuummy. marriage is so fun.

most of my secret celebrity crushes are food network men. Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, Michael Chiarello.. who are these lucky ladies they date and marry? there is just something so sexy about men who cook. i would maybe fall over if i came home one day and hunter was cooking something besides frozen burritos for dinner.

being married is fresh! meg and i decided to bring that back as a positive slang term for whatever you want. so anyway i love marriage and would highly recommend it. its just so fun all the time. at this moment i am waiting for the cable guy, laying in bed eating chocolates from hawaii and looking for bedding online. i had a painting delivered that i bought on a whim yesterday and hunter just loved it so i am happy. its really beautiful and i got a great deal on it so i just went for it, which is i guess what you have to do when trying to decorate an entire apartment because it is so overwhelming.

the weather man is jerking me around! one second he is saying it will rain from now through my wedding, the next second he is saying next week will be completely beautiful. lets hope he sticks with the latest forecast. its giving me hope. my wedding will be the best wedding ever if it doesn't rain!

day 2 of the extreme no carb diet plan.
so far i am doing great. i had a scrambled egg and protein shake made with water and ice for breakfast and a salad for lunch. yesterday i did pretty well too, minus the chocolate dipped ice cream cone and the tootsie rolls right before bed. however without carbs i have no energy and am left defenseless against attackers like my little brother demanding a dollar after giving me a 20 second massage and tackling me on the stairs. i literally could not command the energy to free myself from a 10 year old's grip. i better lose some freakin weight.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWW! just finished my last final exam. pretty sure i pulled A's and B+'son every single one of them! holy crap am i happy to be done with this semester. it was by far the hardest semester of my college career. now i am just listening to country music and drinking a diet coke to celebrate. i got my hair colored today, its sandy blonde and i pretty much love it. yes and my wedding dress is pretty much done and i pretty much love it. it is very simple and classy, yet modern and cute. and very mormon looking, but how can you really avoid that with those G-restrictions. i used to worry about looking too much like the average mormon in my wedding dress, but one day i was expressing this to my mom and she said there would be nothing she would be proud of more, because i will be pure and modest and beautiful. really put it into perspective. SO thats taken care of, and i get to go home in a week!!!!!! and watch dancing with the stars with my mom and get smoothies with my little brothers and plant flowers in the backyard with my dad. and trisha...will you come up and go shopping with me??? PLEASEEEE??? do you even read this? what the heck trisha.

to be honest, i totally miss the glamorous life of a new relationship. feeling excited about whether he is going to kiss me, touching up my makeup and making sure i looked thin and cute whenever he called to say he was coming over, his attentiveness and excessive displays of PDA, the cute nicknames, always holding hands and always cuddling and always hoping the text is from him. i gotta admit, i still try to look pretty on date nights and make little surprises like special dinners that take forever to prepare and saying "i love you" when it seems unexpected. but alas, i can tell i have turned into boring old aubrey. but then, i suppose we trade these things for a deeper understanding of each other, security, loyalty, and tolerance of emerging follies. just some thoughts.

alyssa is the best friend a girl could ask for. i took her to help me do the wedding registration at bed bath and beyond and thank heavens i did! apparently i had no idea what i was doing. but in the end we scanned some great stuff into the registry, including a chi hair straightener and a foot massager.

its so close i can almost taste it! the invitations are labeled and stuffed, i just need to stamp and seal them! then the next big stresser is the dress which my mom is being totally amazing about and told the designer i can do whatever i want, all costs aside. so that project is on its way, invitations are almost done, and almost everything else is finalized. operation beautiful wedding is wrapping up. AND THEN I GET TO BE MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!! TO HUNTER!!!!!!

sometimes hunter and i like to pretend to be models. isn't he sexy?

costa rica with that fiance of mine

highlights of the trip include but are not limited to:

all you can eat food all the time.

four-wheeling on the beach in order to fulfill hunter's lifelong dream.

riding a 4000ft zipping waterslide through the jungle

getting dressed up to fit in with the rich people for dinner each night.

zip lines through the canopy of the jungle, where we made several monkey friends.

mud baths and what i can only assume are ancient costa rican rituals.

hanging out by/in the pool.

air drying my hair every day.

being in love.

when its 230am and you can't sleep that can only mean one thing...its time to blog. i figure i have been doing a lot of blah blah blah lately so its time for a nice little picture blog.

when i get married, am i required to make one of those cute wife blogs with pictures of cupcakes and tablescapes and scrapbook pages? because geez, i just don't think i am that crafty. i better get working on my baking and paper mache skills.

i made hunter come to a dance team competition with me today

gchat convo:
Hunter: WAIT

I love you aubrey!

you're my bestest friend

i love spending time with you

and even watching dance.... like, i enjoyed taht today because i was with you

well i'm a month from my wedding and have officially gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks. i wish i could blame the birth control but i just have this crazy horse-like appetite lately. which actually is probably a side effect of the birth control, according to the WWW, but come on aubrey. a month before your wedding? put the cheese fries and mr.pibb down and get a hold of yourself. this blog represents a new resolution. goodnight.

ahhhh i am so excited to marry my best friend and be with him all the time!!!!!!! 49 days! you know what the best part about this is? there will be no surprises for us and no hard transitions to make. we have dated so long, we know eachother inside and out. and thats the best part, because we are just going to ease into the marriage life that is basically the same life we have lived for the last year and a half but he doesn't have to take me home at night and i get to be aubrey hartman. oh yeah, and seh. lots of seh.

my body wants to die i think.

WHEW! i have risen from my death bed! today is a great day. i always forget how blessed i am to have my health until i am stripped of it and left to die in my claustrophobic throw-up room. anyway, i am trying to write this paper that is due...4 days ago, but all i can think about is COSTA RICA IN 11 DAYSSSSSS!!! with this certain boy i am crazy about. its so fun to have been dating for a year and a half and still not be able to get enough of each other.

oh yeah and for all you peeps thinking about getting married, i only have one piece of advice: elope. wedding planning is so hard.

he's just not that into you? DON'T SEE IT. not only was it completely stupid- it was disgusting, adulterous, and just honest to goodness disturbing for any girl in any stage of life. on the risk of sounding dramatic, i literally had tears streaming down my face at one point in the movie theater, thinking that is what relationships in this twisted world boil down to. i was so sick leaving the theater. we should have walked out. i'm only telling you guys so you can consider yourselves warned. others will probably see this movie and giggle at the over-exploited gay humor and furrow their brows at the inappropriate parts, but in the end cast those images and adulterous themes into the back of their heads only to resurface in an unexplained relationship paranoia or, worse, be so jaded and affected that they exhibit the behavior.

ok, i realize that i'm probably going to break a leg jumping off this high horse, but i strongly feel that this movie is everything wrong with the direction our society is headed. in the least pretentious manner possible, i BEG, PLEAD, IMPLORE that you do not support this movie.

the scariest thing in the world is birth control. scratch that. the scariest thing in the world is starting birth control months before the biggest day of your life. my doctor is putting me on nuvaring and i was fine with that until i came home and starting reading forums about what people are saying about it. apparently its going to turn me into a crazy fat biotch. i think i am having a panic attack...its making me weigh my options here...would having an accidental baby be so bad?

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thought of the day: why are all indie chicks so ugly?

well this is a conundrum. i can't decide what i hate more: being hungry or being fat. and that is why i will forever be somewhere in between.

bills bills bills! i'm not ready to be an adult because FREAK there are so many unexpected payments! i thought i was doing pretty well financially until i had to pay my phone bill, car insurance, safety and emmissions inspection, registration fees, two parking tickets, utilities to TWO different houses, and of course the necessary hair appointment. most of those financial responsibilities are linked to this stinkin truck.

lately i have really wanted to change the world. and i figure i should start with something i have deep invested interests in, so i have decided to

i reaallyyyy want starbucks today. i don't know why i am wasting my time blogging when i have so much to do. what the, aubrey!

i've been trying for a very long time to be mko. the loneliest visual is the inside of a bus at night. 39 days until costa rica.

i made a lot of new friends in provo this year. shmee, shmee's friend, friend's friend, and new friend: martin. they are all cats!

alex is engaged!! this gives me so much happiness. and i'm going to be a bridesmaid which brings me even more happiness.