Christmas in Oregon... Pictures coming soon!

Chris asked me to join him and his family for Christmas this year! At first i wasn't sure because i needed to find a job (and still do!) and i needed to unpack and any number of other things but then i realized that it was more important for me to really get to know Chris and his family before we tie the knot... Which, by the way, will happen on Feb 21, 2009! (announcements are coming soon so if i don't have an address for you you had better get me one quick!)

Chris and i picked up his sisters, Amie and Ginger, in Boise on the way to Umatilla, Oregon. The road trip out there was uneventful but still wonderful... the roads were a bit icy at the beginning but that cleared up and it was pretty much smooth sailing the rest of the way there.

We went shopping, sledding, snow shoveling, and played games. The toasts on Christmas Eve were AMAZING! i laughed so hard that i was crying and Chris' younger brother, Nick, started turning purple... it was a blast:)

Chris' birthday was Christmas day (yes, i mean December 25th) and so Trevor (one of Chris' brothers) and i made him a surprise birthday cake and had a sort of separate little party for him. He made out like a bandit!

On Christmas Day, we all got to talk to Calvin, even me. Calvin is Chris' first younger brother and he is serving a mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Barcelona, Spain. He only gets to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day (it helps to keep them focused on the work) so it was a pretty special occasion. I can't wait to meet him when he comes home.

All in all, the visit with his family was worth it. I loved every minute of it and i wouldn't trade it for the world. I love Chris' family. They are just as weird as my own and we get a long really well.

The trip back to Idaho was far more thrilling (and twice as long) as the trip to Oregon was. We left Umatilla, Oregon on a bright and sunny, almost 60 degrees day. By the time we hit Pendelton (which is about 45 min away) the snow and winds had started. The highways were closed all the way to La Grande and we heard that the roads were clear after that point. So we took a back way and by the time that we got there, all of the roads were closed out of La Grande. Chris, his sisters and i were stranded. We checked out the local motels and found the least flea infested one of the bunch and then we made s'mores, played some of the board games that we got for christmas and watched the movie Horton Hears a Who.

The next morning the roads were clear and we all made it home safely.

It has been one of the best weeks of my entire life!

keep an eye open for the invitations... i'll post them here so that every one who wants to see can... and have a HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I'M ENGAGED!!!!

On Friday, December 5th, 2008, Chris asked me to marry him!

We were in the mountains in Pocatello, Idaho picking out a Christmas tree...


He scouted ahead for the tree and placed the ring on a couple of branches and then when we hiked up to cut it down, he got down on one knee (in the snow!) and asked me to be his wife.


It was getting dark so there aren't many pictures but here's what i got!

keep your eyes open for the engagement photos!

*ps... i didn't take the photos of Chris and i
but i did take the photo of my ring...

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...

It's a tradition in my family to watch this as, or before, we cook, but this year we didn't. i LOVED it! we just talked and enjoyed each others company. We got all of the food prepared early and i think that it was the smoothest best run thanksgiving EVER!

lots of Food
lots of Pie
lots of Family
lots of Laughing
lots of Friends
lots of Love

this is a perfect Thanksgiving!

Photo Journal Day 14

dreaming of freedom from this caged state of being...

Photo Journal Day 13

my week end got away from me and i didn't photograph much... i went dress hunting for a ball that i am going to but didn't take my camera with me! i know i know, sacrilege...

but i did manage to get some photos on monday ...
i dream of flying when i see skies like this...

Photo Journal Day 11

A light in the window.
An idea in my mind.
A poem in my heart.

The Best thing that has ever happened to me...

This is the man that i Love and i'm gonna marry! I wont get too mushy or anything but i will say this: He Rocks My World!

Photo Journal Day 10

Here at BYU-I, we have this lovely thing called art seminar where professional artists come and talk about their work and their fields. Tonight we had a Graphic Designer, named Erik Adams, and he was amazing! He inspired me to work on a project that has been on my mind for a while and i am really excited... that really has nothing to do with my photo but that's my prerogative isn't it!

Donate Blood! -Photo Journal Day 9

I am volunteering with the Red Cross Today... Just remember that giving blood saves lives! SO love your fellow man and DONATE!

School brain lost crazy me what?

That is exactly how i feel right now... i have two studio classes this semester and a writting class and those three classes just happen to be the most time consuming classes EVER! i know that i am being a little dramatic.... the good news is that my sanity is not completely lost... i no longer have any work in my religion or my Intro to Visual Arts class...
It's all studying for finals in those classes...

*sigh* *deeper sigh* *sigh again*

but life goes on and it only gets better from here!

Photo Journal Day 8

yes i mean 8... day seven came and went and so will day 8... in fact it's almost over and i still have a thousand and one more things to do... just to show how busy i am i will here's what my lunch looked like today!

yes, that's cookie dough...

Photo Journal Day 6

(just so you know bro. clark... i forgot to post that last blog... i had it saved but i neglected to post it yesterday!) and on to today's journal entry...


MY SISTER HAD HER BABY TODAY! i am so excited! here is a picture (one of many) documenting this very exciting, wonderful, miraculous, life-changing, amazing event... this is the photo of Baby and Courage (the bear)....aren't they adorable!

Photo Journal Day 5

I am sitting doing homework and so is my boyfriend... This is really nice! How do I love him? Let me count the ways...

Photo Journal Day 4

Hold onto your knickers...Winter is coming!

Six months... WOW!

So Chris and i have been dating for six months as of yesterday... That is quite the achievement up here at BYU-I... It may have something to do with the fact that Chris goes to a different school or maybe we're just smarter than the stereotype! anyways... Yesterday we celebrated by going to the movies (we watched Eagle Eye) and having dinner. It was a lot of fun... Chris MADE me earrings! He went on a photo shoot with me to some train tracks for a class project and we flattened a couple of pennies and he MADE earrings out of them! I am very impressed... Anyways i am working on finishing his gift so i won't spill the beans yet but i think it's pretty awesome! (and Yes i know it's late! better late than never, right?) wow.... six months...

Photo Journal Day 3

So this was supposed to be posted last night but yesterday was Chris and my six month anniversary... i was a little busy and then it was late, and i had to get up early... you get the gist...

For some of you who don't know, i work at the BYU-I University Bakery. i get up anywhere between 3:30am and 4:30 (which is when i have to be at work!) and i go to the bakery where i make bakery things... bread, pastries, bagels, the list goes on... the great thing about it being so early is that we are all a little sleep deprived and crazy so i have a lot of fun... this is my supervisor posing with his favorite key chain, Darth Vader!

The Best thing that i have ever seen in my ENTIRE life!

Today, i was introduced to the greatest blog ever... and i mean EVER! you have to check it out... it's on my blog lists... the cake wrecks one... yeah... Check out "what's in a name?" in September, the last one is by far my fave... oh and don't forget the naked-mohawk-babies-riding-carrots.... I laughed so hard!

Photo Journal Day 2

i see the world differently than most... i hear it differently, too. You should put in these head phones and learn to hear what i hear...

I do all my own stunts...

Just an f.y.i... i take all my own photographs, i do all my own stunts, and i love that thing in grammar that i think is called an ellipses ((...) Tal? anyone? can you help me out?)

Photo Journal Day 1

Day 1: I spend a lot of time on my computer on my couch in my living room... this is my favorite spot to be...

Context matters and Timing is Everything...

As this year comes to a close, I am reflecting on the past two years. My life has been very eventful, from heart breaks and headaches to hopes and happy happenings I've had my hands (and heart) quite full. I am not going to try to relive those times for you,that would take far too long and you would probably get pretty bored reading all the minute details, if I could remember them. Instead I will just list the highlights...

*I moved home from Everett, WA (really sad... I miss you Cheryl and Ashley!)
*I applied for a lot of different things... College was one of them!
*I got accepted to BYU-Idaho
*Met the man of my dreams (I had no idea that you were out there Chris!)
*My baby sister got married
*I went to Washington to see my friends and go to my best friends wedding
* Moved to Rexburg, Idaho
*Started College (I have a new found love for Art History!)

That pretty much brings us up to date... I am now a little more than half way through the semester, I am behind in most of my classes and I am trying to find a job that works with my school schedule. I have been accepted to go on my schools "Art and Humanities Tour of Europe" and I am SOOOOOOOO thrilled at the opportunity to see some of the greatest works of Art in the world in context. Two of the most important lessons of this semester are "Context Matters" and "Timing Is Everything..."

The Photo Journal...

I have been meaning to start a blog for the longest time but we all know that I am the queen of procrastination! "The world is full of good intentions..." I am finally getting around to it, now that I have been given an assignment to make a daily photo journal! I have grand plans on keeping it up so we will see how it all works out!