watch out Venus and Serena.

A friend once asked me "What is there to do in Minnesota?". For some reason all I could pathetically come up with is "Uh, there's the Mall of America". Why I said that is beyond me. I don't even enjoy the Mall of America. Go ahead and call me un-Minnesotan, see if I care. Crowds make me nauseous (I put my fear aside for concerts and stake conference), and for some reason my family likes to go at the busiest times possible. Like Christmas shopping season. I don't mind it (for a short time) if it's in the middle of the day and school is still in session, so it's next to empty. And that's about it.

What I failed to mention is that Minnesota is filled with opportunities to take advantage of the great outdoors through various activities. In every season. Hiking, fishing, swimming, skiing (water and snow), wake boarding, snowboarding, canoeing, and so forth. Whatever outdoor activities you enjoy, I'm sure you can find a place to do it in Minnesota. Except surfing. Maybe you can in any state. But Minnesota is pretty much the only place I have ever lived, so that's all I can say.

Every summer my family makes goals to become more active, and do things outside. We usually make it to through a bike ride or two, and then return to the gym and hit the treadmill or whatever kind of cardio equipment.
This summer we have made the same goal, yet again. This time we have included tennis. There are about four different locations that have at least two tennis courts within a mile of my house.

In order to jumpstart our new tennis mastering goals, my mom and I got a tennis racquet for my dad for Father's day, and a few cans of tennis balls. So Sunday evening after our Father's day festivities we walked up to the park in order to test out his new racquet and play the first of hopefully many games of tennis. Little did I know how awful we both were. I'm sure dead tennis stars would be turning in their graves if they could only see the shame we did to the sport.

But it's the effort that counts, right? We have not given up! Before you know it, we'll be tennis champs. I even convinced some friends to play with me the other day. Be on the lookout for Christine Fleming at the next Wimbledon. I'll be the one kicking trash and taking names.

chipotle & missionaries.

There are two things that I love in this world and will always hold a special place in my heart.

The first one is Chipotle.

Everything there is great. The burritos, tacos, salads, burrito bowls. All of it. Fantastic. If you have never been there, you haven't lived. It's so good. If you are ever driving, and you see one, you MUST go. If for some reason you ever find yourself in Minnesota, more specifically Rochester, call me up and I'll take you. My treat. I'm dead serious. My beloved hometown happens to be graced with two of these fine establishments.

If you have been there and you don't like it, I'm not sure we can be friends. If we are friends and you don't like it, I might have to reevaluate the relationship.

Don't tell me that Bajios is better than Chipotle. Because it isn't.
Don't tell me that Cafe Rio is better than Chipotle. Because it isn't.
And especially don't tell me that Taco Bell is better than Chipotle because it most definitely isn't.


The second thing that I love in this world is any Mormon missionary. Male, Female. Past, Present, Future. All of them. They're awesome. They set aside 1.5- 2 years of their life to provide service for free dollars.

So you can imagine my excitement when I got a twofer. Dinner with my parents at Chipotle WITH the missionaries that are currently serving in my home ward. My love only increased for these missionaries because they share the same appreciaton for Chipotle that my parents and I, and anyone cool do.

And it's Friday the 13th, which automatically makes today a cool day.

I'm not sure this day could get any better.

for the love of pomegranates.

Anybody that knows me, knows my love for pomegranates. I try anything I see that has the word pomegranate smacked across it; gum, yogurt, smoothies, juice, lemonade, mints, etc. which probably makes me a little bit of a sucker. I'm a marketing employee's dream. But I just can't help myself.

I also love the actual pomegranate fruit. Over thanksgiving break I went home with my roommate Kaitlin. Her mom is a realtor, and had a house listing with a pomegranate tree IN THE BACKYARD. We went and picked about twenty pomegranates and rearranged our luggage so we could bring them back to school. We both were beyond excited to have all these pomegranates for free ninety nine. We could never bring ourselves to pay the ridiculous prices at either Broulim's or Albertson's (I fully believe that they enjoy ripping students off). My life was complete.

But then to my surprise, my life was completed yet again.

I was looking on the internet one day for some baking recipes I might like to try out. I stopped dead in my internet surfing tracks. Pomegranate cupcakes. Chocolate Pomegranate cupcakes, to be more exact. My mom told me they sounded gross, but I wanted to make them anyway.

I'll let you know how they turn out.