oh hey, friday {talyn + christmas in july}

So I've mentioned before that Kristalyn (who will from now on be referred to as Talyn, since that's what Russ & I call her) is my cousin and one of my best friends. She recently returned from her 18-month LDS mission to Rochester, NY, and I'm so happy to have her home! Yesterday, she came down to Provo to hang out with me and Russ for the day and we had lots of fun together!

don't mind my atrocious bangs . . . i'm just trying to decide whether to trim them or grow them out. what do y'all think?

one. First we went out to Sam Hawk for a Korean lunch. Three years ago, Talyn (pronounced Talon, like a bird's claw) and I had the opportunity to go to Korea for what is called a Peace Camp for Youth. College students from all over the world get to go (as long as they have grandparents that served in the Korean War and their application gets accepted) and meet each other and learn about the Korean War a little bit, while experiencing the Korean culture. It was an awesome experience, and I love that Talyn and I shared that. As a result, we love going out for Korean food together :)

two. In the evening, we had a BBQ at my parents' house with my dad and my brother's family. It was fun to get together to celebrate the 24th of July, which isn't a holiday to most people, but it is to Mormons! It's the day we celebrate our pioneer ancestors, who walked from Illinois to Utah in order to escape persecution and find a place where they could finally worship freely. I'm grateful for their sacrifices.

three. Next, we all went to the dollar theater to see Captain America 2. It was pretty good, and had lots of funny one-liners :) However, I wish fight scenes were shorter. I always feel like action scenes are hard to follow anyway, and they don't accomplish much for the movie because a character always has to explain what just happened right after, anyway. So I could do without those, but oh well. Still a good movie :)

four. Then Talyn and Russ and I had a sleepover together! In my room at my parents' house, there is a queen bed and then a hole in the wall that houses a twin bed, which acts as sort of a couch. Okay, I'm no good at explaining it, so I'll just put a picture.

Russ and I slept in the queen bed, and Talyn slept in the twin bed, so it worked out perfectly! It was fun to stay up chatting together, and especially to give Russ a feel for what girl sleepovers are like. Haha good times :)

We had a good time together and I can't wait for her to move back down here for school in August! :D

five. And it's Christmas in July! Haha we don't actually do anything special or Christmasy on July 25th, but since it is, I thought I'd post my Christmas stocking, since I just finished it this week. My sister asked me why I was working on a Christmas craft in July, so I told her that Christmas crafts have to be done in months other than December, because December is too crazy to work on stuff like that. Hence, why my stocking was not complete in time for Christmas last year. So this year, it will be :)

Happy Friday! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend :) What fun things have you done this week? Do you do anything fun for Christmas in July? :)