our first video!

chris and i went on a spontaneous bike ride date around provo a few days ago. we aren't planning on staying in provo after we graduate but we really enjoy living here right now! it was a gorgeous evening so we tried out our new camera and made our first video!



**when we made this, we still had a car but now we don't. so this whole bike ride thing is going to become the norm around here.

happy six months of marriage

the past six months have been full of laughter, good food, tears, new experiences, learning, patience, and love. these few months have been challenging but rewarding also. we're still newbies at being married and i still wonder all the time how to be a good wife but it feels good to learn how to work together and be a team bit by bit.

before getting married, i had an irrational fear that our relationship would drastically change for worse. that after saying yes, the "true" chris would come out and he wouldn't be the man i thought i married. turns out didn't happen at all :) but something else happened that i didn't expect. all of my own flaws became much more obvious and i felt like a bad version of myself. if i thought a mission would show me my flaws, marriage does a much better job haha. you really do see each other through all of the good and the bad and there is vulnerability, insecurity, and lots of feelings involved.

we are not perfect. sometimes i get frustrated and he gets upset, but we love each other. i'm sure thirty years from now we'll look back and laugh at what we thought real love was but for now, this is where we are. i'm so happy i married chris. his never-ending patience, kindness, and gentleness is what i never knew i needed. i am so grateful he continues to love me every day. here's to many, many more months!

***a friend of mine named emily was looking to build her portfolio so we volunteered to get our picture taken ;) chris and i had so much fun since 1) no wedding plans to worry about  2) there was no pressure to get an incredible photo for an invitation 3) we love each other, duh. HERE is emily's website for anyone interested!

snapshots of life lately

school is out for the summmerrrrrr! the past six weeks have been full of grading for me and homework for chris. most evenings were spent working but we tried to squeeze some fun into our busy days ;) 

since chris was so stressed about school, i tried to take on more responsibility at home. i tried so many new recipes and most turned out great! a few of the things i've made lately are black bean burgers, spring rolls, thai curry, taquitos, teriyaki salmon, mapo tofu, and chicken sliders. as someone who usually struggles with recipes and makes the same thing over and over again, this has kind of been a big deal to me. fun side note: chris is fun to cook for because he gets SO excited! 

chris and i serve at the provo temple every week and one day, the flowers were all so gorgeous. we were in a hurry to get to school and these don't even begin to capture the beauty of the roses but they made me happy.

just driving around in our new car. it's been giving us a little trouble lately but we feel blessed to have one at all.

for memorial day, chris took me on a picnic at deer creek reservoir. it felt like a beach with the sandy areas and being so close to the water. we daydreamed of boating while we dipped our toes in ;)

jess' baby livvy in sunglasses. i don't know why i find this so hilarious but i think she's the cutest. and my husband rocks the suit vest.

weddings! jill got married and everything about it was beautiful. her veil, her bridal shower, the temple she got married at, she herself... all gorgeous. we've known each other since kindergarten and have gotten to be much better friends these past few years in provo. i'm so happy for her and her new husband peter! they are so cute and giddy together.

i met these girls right after i got back from japan. one was engaged and the other started dating her future husband while we lived together. i started dating chris around the same time so the boys all got to know each other a bit while hanging out at our apartment. dalynn got married in april, megan in october, and me in december! we decided to have a little bbq reunion before baby comes!

 one time, chris and i went to the velour to watch his cousin play. i felt cool but i learned that concerts aren't really my thing.

one time we were hanging out around downtown provo and there was a sign that said "cronuts this way." i had heard of these crossoint donut hybrids so we decided to try the bavarian cream one. it was suuuuuper sweet and covered in sugar. chris and i split one and i was satisfied at that :) it was a good dessert but not one that makes me want it over and over again.

summer is in full swing here. we've got big plans and i am excited to play!

training for the circus

i organized a bachelorette party for two of my friends who are getting married in june. my co-organizer and i debated between going to a bar and ordering soda, going on a campout (didn't really consider this one), or some kind of exercise class. since our friends have classy standards, we went for something new, a little different, and fun. so, aerial yoga! in my head i was picturing a calming, soothing, feel-good workout. well, i was right about the workout part.

i signed all of us up for an aerial silks class at a place that had a class at a time we were all available. with two weddings coming up, babies, work, and school to consider, i was getting desperate! i didn't pay too much attention to the circus training part since it said it was for all levels. we walked into the class and i got this sinking feeling of "oh my gosh what did i get us into." girls were on the floor stretching and they did not look like beginners... but i told myself that we would make it fun and laughed to cover up how intimidated i felt haha.

our teacher, katie, was so patient with us amidst all of her "straighten your leg!" and "turn!" and "climb up higher!" comments. she definitely knew what she was doing. i was not surprised to find out that i have no upper body strength. but i was surprised to find out how years of dance don't go away even after five years of zero dancing. and that i kind of want to make this a hobby. being someone who doesn't like to try new things, i'm proud of myself.

we've come a long way since our freshmen year. these girls were my family away from home and i'm so grateful that after 6 years, we are still friends. having friends makes life so much richer. happy wedding to the brides to be! you are going to be beautiful brides and i'm excited for you to join the mrs club!

lifelong friendships

the other day i was going through my unpublished posts and found this one from last summer. since then, we've added two babies and a husband with two more weddings coming up. i'm sad that two will be moving away in the upcoming months but i'm happy we all stayed in provo for as long as we did. i was listening to this song and feeling all nostalgic so here you go.

Five years ago I moved into my freshmen dorm of six girls. Two of them I'd gone to high school with, three I'd never met before. 

the other night one of my friends planned a fun group date complete with a picnic and lawn games. There was bocce ball and ladder ball, pita sandwiches, lemonade, strawberry cake, and a lot of laughing. The evening was full of trash talk, manly talk, girl talk, and baby talk. The five of us girls lived together 5 years ago when we were all freshmen with no clue what we were doing and far from home. A lot has changed since then but even with people getting married, graduating, having babies, and going on missions, we're all still friends! This may seem silly but it makes me happy that we still make time for each other. And I know that even when life takes us somewhere else and we all move away, we'll still be friends. But for now, I'm happy we live close and get to enjoy being young together.

And enjoyed it we have :) 

chris the braid champion

this is the result of our monday night activity. my head massage turned into a hair lesson and i'm a liiiiittle bit proud of my husband's handiwork. it's a good feeling knowing that our future little girls will have a dad who can help with their hair on sunday mornings haha ;) 

we finished finals, bought a car, and changed the blog

chris snapped this picture right after i doodled on his hand. it was during finals week and stress levels were up in the sky. not only did we have our tests but we were also trying to buy a car (not exactly the best timing). for two newbies, trying to figure out insurance and registration and all of that adult stuff made things even more tense. chris was feeling a little down about our situation so i told him i loved him via hand writing and i sent him this video thinking that it might cheer him up. turns out i underestimated the power of marshmallows and i was accused of being unfair for showing it to him in the library ;) but we studied hard, we pushed through our tests, and now we have a cute little toyota that runs so all went well!

the other day was our 4 month anniversary. we were super romantic and got our new car checked out at the auto shop. while waiting, we stumbled across this wall. yet again, it had been kind of a stressful day worrying about money and adult stuff so it provided some relief to take some silly pictures. chris put up with a lot that day and i am grateful for his patience. i guess what all of this is trying to say is most days it feels like we're still kids but when life comes at you, you have to open the door and invite it in for cookies and milk. thankfully, having someone by your side makes it a bit easier, especially when that person is chris.

p.s. my little space on the internet changed a little bit. i've been wanting to do it since we got married since this blog is no longer just about me but it remains just a way to keep family updated. now it feels more like "us" :)