Fall Pictures

Happy October Everyone!

 It is a magical time of the year with the leaves changing and the weather getting nice a brisk. This is the time of year for corn mazes, hot chocolate, pumpkins, sweaters and boots. What is not to love? 

I am about midway through a photography class and I thought I would share a couple of the photo's I have taken. I am planning on making a trip up to the mountains today to go and take some more photo's. 

Produce Stand , Provo, Utah

Produce Stand, Provo, Utah

My Roommates Jessica and Lauren, Provo Temple, Provo, Utah

Hari Krishna Temple, Spanish Fork, Utah

Hari Krishna Temple, Spanish Fork, Utah

Provo Library, Provo, Utah

You are Beautiful

Not going to lie, when I first started watching this video, I thought, "Cheesy..." but then it hit home.  It is true.  This video speaks truth.  So, sit back, relax, forget the cheese, and let the truth embrace you.  You are a daughter of God.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153247735365106

Sorry...Hopefully you can find it.  I found it on Facebook and it didn't give me an outside source to bring up into video form.  I am apparently not technologically savvy enough to figure it out. Let me know if you have any issues.

Hair

About a year ago, this is what my hair looked like, and I'll admit, I cried.  It was SO short.  I didn't expect it to be quite that short.  It was quite shocking. At that moment, I vowed to grow my hair out.

Now, after a year, this is where it is at.  Pretty impressive, eh? I can't believe it's been a year! It's taking a ton of hair cuts to shape it up, frustrating periods of just bad hair, and now...I think it is all down hill from here! Here's to long hair!

Scattered Thoughts

I am feeling so grateful.  I just might burst.

As I drove home from work today, the anthems of my life blared through my car stereo.  It took me back to high school, Idaho, Disney, former lovers, and other memories between.  It shocked me, to think of what I have accomplished and the places I have been.  It almost seems like those memories didn't belong to me, that I didn't really live through those different phases of my life.  Those "Erins" seem so different than the Erin that I am today.  Yet, at the same time, many things haven't changed.

As I look back at these memories, I see that the hand of God guided me to and through those different experiences. I would not be who I am today without Him.  I stand in awe of what He has done for me, and where He has led me. I am so deliriously happy for where I am today.  I love my life.  I love my Mr. Ryan Novak.  I love being in Florida.  I love so many more amazing aspects of my life.  It is truly amazing.  I wouldn't change it for anything.

I am glad to have accomplished what I accomplished. I'm grateful for the people I have met along my journey, and continue to meet.  I am beyond grateful for the Lord's help and strength in my life to bring me to where I am today.  I feel like one blessed girl.

Does this post even make sense? I can barely find the words for how I feel! For now, this will have to do.

Take Me to the Ocean

Guys, all I want to do is go to the beach.  I am seriously in love.  So I've collected a few to-do's and to wear's and must have's all while at the beach!

Head Wrap

^^THIS swimsuit. Adorable.^^

^^A Romantic Picnic^^

My other ideas:

-Bring some games: cards, chess, whatever...and enjoy some qual time with the husband.

-Bring some sparkly cider to share as the sun sets.

-Long walks are always mandatory, and obvious.

Any other must-do's while living the beach life?

Summer To Do List

Since the first official day of summer is only a few days away I thought I would share my summer to do list.  I started dating a pretty amazing guy and we came up with this list of things to do together. I have a small notebook that I carry around with me that I keep all of the ideas in.  

I love new experiences and learning new things. Who knew that I would actually enjoy going bug hunting? The world is a beautiful place and there are so many things to go and do.   Why would we want to settle for the typical dinner and a movie date when there are so many other things to do? What is on your list of things you want to do this summer?

Summer To Do List:

-Geode Hunting

-Visit the Great Salt Lake

-Star Gazing

-BYU Planetarium

-Visit the Salt Lake Temple

-Timpanogas Cave

-Ikea

-Make Homemade Paper

-Gold Leafing

-Photography/Editing

-Croquet Game

-Egg Yolk painting

-Comedy Night (listen to Brian Reagan, and Bill Cosby)

-Geo Cashing

-BYU Bean Museum

-Donate Plasma

-Hiking

-Tracy Aviary

-Aquariium

-Group Camping Trip 

Here are some of the things we have done recently (some were not on our original list but were fun experiences none the less):

-Fossil Hunting (which turned into rock collecting because we didn't find any fossils)

-Visit the BYU Art Museum 

-Listen to a whole Sigur Ros album 

-Spray Paint Art

-Picnic at the Park

-Feeding Ducks at the Park

-Watching the Sunset (multiple times)-Go to some Yard Sales

-Visit the Planetarium in Salt Lake

-Bug Hunting

-Going to the USA vs. Honduras Soccer game

-Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum

Rain

I am sitting in the living room, listening the the thunderstorm outside.  I love the summer rains Florida brings.  I enjoy being curled up on the couch near a large window, watching the rain pour down outside, the sky growling at its best, and the bright flashes of lightening.  I have never seen such intense thunderstorms until I moved to Florida.

I love it here.  I am so glad that we have family that lives here, so that even if we one day leave, we will always have a place to come visit.  Utah and Florida are places I want to be part of my life forever.  Luckily, family live in both places, so I believe they shall always be part of our lives.

Visiting Utah was a dream.  It went by so fast, and every day seemed to collide into the next.  We were busy with visiting the next person, and barely had time with my own family.  Fortunately, they were good sports about that, and were willing to share us with others we haven't seen in a long time.  We never got to relax, but that is okay.  It felt so good to see old friends that have been missing from our lives for awhile.  We had so many other friends we wished to have visited, but sadly, our short time did not allow for it.

I loved taking in the Utah scenery. Seriously, that place has a beauty all of its own.  I have a favorite place, as shown in the second picture, that has the most beautiful view of the valley.  During the sunset, it is breathtaking.  I wish I could capture its beauty adequately.  Unfortunately, camera phones just don't do it justice.

It was so good to be reunited with these two girls as well as the rest of my family.  My family seriously rocks.  I feel so blessed to have such great support in my life.  I feel like one lucky girl.

Hello Again.

Do you want to hear a joke?  Okay, there were two girls who owned a blog that said they would do better making posts...The kicker? They never did!! BAHAHAHA.  Okay, so...that's not funny.

Truth is, I've been stressed out of my mind.  I didn't want to even THINK about owning a blog.  Work has been kicking my butt.  But it's okay...the load seems a bit lighter for the time being. Hopefully it continues on that path.

So...in just FOUR short (please be short) days, I will be back in my homeland in Utah.   Man, I miss that place.  It is funny how leaving a place really makes you appreciate what you had.  Don't get me wrong, I adore Florida.  So much.  But Utah is home.  I spent a good many years there and left behind family and friends.  I cannot WAIT to see everyone again, to see the glorious mountains, and perhaps make some quick stops at all my favorite Utah restaurants! It is going to be epic.

Stay tuned for some epic Utah vacation postings.  (Did I really just put the words "vacation" and "Utah" together? Never dreamed THAT would happen!)

Duck Face

+Erin lets be better at posting on our blog? Okay? Okay.

 I miss all of the times that Erin and I used to spend together going on random adventures and doing crafts. What I miss the most though are the times where we would just sit and chat for hours. We used to talk at our apartments, at the park, and often times in the car parked somewhere. We would cry and laugh  (which usually ended in me crying from laughing so hard) and discuss our dreams. So in order to make up for the distance we try to talk as often as we can on the phone. Sometimes it seems as though we are right next to each other lounging around talking about our dearest dreams and adventures. We don't even need to be talking about anything of any importance but the simple act of talking with each other is a blessing. I can't wait until her and Ryan come to Utah next month!  

Oh and I forgot to mention that sometimes we send each other pictures to further explain what we are talking about..or sometimes just for a good laugh. Here are the pictures from our last phone conversation. 

My Duck Face: 

Which Erin Decided to turn into this:

And then this happened:

Erin's Duck Face: 

And then these. No explanation. 

Weekend in Review

The Weekend in Review:

We spent the weekend up in St. Augustine, FL for spring break with a group of friends.  We stayed at a condo on the beach and just chilled back and relax.  It is amazing how a little get away, even for just a day and half can perk up your spirits.  It was just what we needed before real life continues onwards.  

Have I mentioned how much I adore the beach?  I really, really, really am madly in love with the beach.  And this man here:

Hope your weekend was just as spectacular! :)

Wow.

I can't believe it has been this long since I have blogged. Or my sister, for that matter.  What is wrong with us?

I guess lately, to be honest, I haven't really desired to blog.  Lame, I know.  But I've been so busy with everything, that blogging is the furthest thing from my mind.

The last few months, I have just been continuing to try to dig my feet into the ground here to establish myself.

It's not working very well.

I'm struggling with my job.  The company is amazing, the pay is fabulous, the benefits countless, and don't even get me started about my vacation days (I get a tooonnn), but the job is not quite my cup of tea.  I am trying to press on though, because again, I really do love the company, and don't really want to leave.  They say give it a year.  I'm about 7 months in.  So we'll see.

Time has just been limited.  Between church callings, work, meetings, and scrubbing our free house until it shines, I just have found no time for blogging.  Okay, fine.  I just chose not to prioritize blogging.  But I want to bring it back, mainly as an outlet as I'm going through this crazy, hectic part of life.

Despite all the craziness of life, the hardships of a job, being far from home and finding myself homesick at times, I feel so blessed to have my best friend through it all.  Man, ladies, if you aren't married, do yourself a favor and find yourself an amazing man and marry him.  It's the best thing that will ever happen to you.  I could not imagine going through this with anyone else.  He is wonderful.

But enough gushy stuff, I'll show you a bit of odds and ends what I've been up to these last few months of being MIA from the interwebs.  (Mainly, this blog)

We spent our anniversary at Disney World!!

 Love ourselves some beach days!

I beat myself to a sweaty pulp from doing Cross fit.  Don't I look like a train wreck?

 Surprises from returning home from a long day at work.  Our date night involved a progressive dinner. It was amazing.

Lost the pixie cut! Now I'm sporting a nice A-Line!

It's Been Awhile

So..It's been Awhile.

Hello blog world. 

I am sorry I have neglected you.

Speaking of blogs have you ever watched a Vlog?

My dear friend +Bethany introduced me to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

It is a modern day vlog adaption of Pride and Prejudice.

It took me a couple episodes to get into it but now I am hooked.

I would recommend checking it out. Especially you +Erin. 

 Disclaimer: occasionally there are a couple of videos that have some crude humor (usually from Lydia). 

Christmas Events

Here are my Christmas festivities that took place this season. A nice slough of photos to rightly depict this past holiday.  Can Christmas already be over? I always feel sad after Christmas, longing for the season to come back soon.  Christmas was absolutely magical this year.  It was my 4th Christmas being away from my family,  which is always hard.  But I was lucky to be with my In-Laws.  They are so great.  I feel so blessed to have great family on both sides!  Also, it was Ryan's and my first Christmas together.  He was so sweet and detailed and really sought to make our first Christmas special.    I felt so blessed to have the most important of gifts in my life: the gospel, family, and my most darling husband.  These are my most favorite of gifts and I feel like one lucky girl.

I hope you all had magical Christmas.  May we all carry the spirit of Christ all year around and seek to lift those around us wherever we go.

Without further ado, here are the photos of the season:

First, I present to you, The Festival of the Nativities that my church put together.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I loved looking at all the unique types of nativities and felt reverence for Mary and Joseph as they helped to bring our Savior into the world.

My work put together quite the elaborate Christmas party.  During which, Ryan and I won hermit crab races!  This particular activity, everyone picked out a hermit crab, they put them in the middle, and they would run to the outside of the ring.  Both of our hermit crabs made it to the top round and out of it, we were granted two tickets, in which we could enter a raffle for various sorts of prizes.  We ended up winning two Jerry Seinfeld tickets for March which valued 80 bucks a piece.  We beat the odds with our single measly ticket.  We were quite shocked!

(Forgive the fact that Ryan's eyes are closed.)

I played Pandora's radio station religiously throughout the season.  Free Christmas music? Yes please!

We were able to make it to the Orlando Temple during the Christmas season.  It was great to be able to participate in service while feeling the spirit of the Lord.  I love this place.  Plus, check out their nativity!

We had a date night at Barnes and Nobles where we read children's Christmas stories to each other.  We found some pretty terrible ones, but some pretty awesome ones all the same.  Afterward, we got hot chocolate at B&N's Café and drove around to look at the Christmas lights! Quite magical, if you ask me, and perhaps a new tradition is in store?

Here we are opening some Christmas gifts...Ryan continued my family's tradition of pj's and an ornament on Christmas Eve, while I bought him one of his family's traditions of reading the Polar Express every Christmas Eve.  

This is a gift tag that my father-in-law made out to my mother-in-law.  Hilarious.

So, uh...Ryan completely surprised me with Disney World tickets for our upcoming anniversary in two weeks! Quite the shock and quite the excitement! I've been dying to go since we've been here, and welp! Soon enough, Disney world, watch out!!! 

I typically take my lunch to work in plastic bags.  Ryan decided I needed something different, so behold!  A Finding Nemo lunchbox! 

Got to Face Time my family!  Thank goodness for modern technology!

My In-Law's tradition, Christmas steak! SO delcious!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Giving

How often do I see a beggar on the street and I strategically look away so I don't make eye contact with them?  If I don't look them in the eye I can pretend that they do not exist (horrible, I know) or that they won't see me (A second graders logic: If I can't see you, you can't see me). 

I don't have a lot to give because like most college students I am struggling to put gas in my car as it is. I feel guilty for not giving more. What I feel worse about is how I have been treating these people who I try to ignore. I may not have a couple bucks to give but I do have kindness that is free. 

It isn't hard at all to give someone a smile or a wave when you drive or walk by. I too often forget that these people are my brothers and sisters. They are children of God. If Christ were to be in my shoes he would not simply ignore the beggar even if he had empty pockets. He would reach out to them in kindness and show them charity. So I have a challenge for you starting this Christmas season. The next time you drive by someone with a sign look them in the eye and smile at them. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!