Casual Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Chris came home last week and tomorrow is Christmas, so life is good! Earlier this week we went to a casual Christmas party at our friend's house to play games . We ate lots of snacks, had our own personal Martinelli sparkling cider, and Chris and I won the card game (you'll get to see my excited face)! I have known these girls for over ten years and it makes me pretty happy that our husbands get along :) We aren't going to be in Utah forever so I want to enjoy these friends as much as I can while we're still here!
I'm so grateful Chris put together a little video of our fun night together. I'm loving Christmas this year and am a little sad it's going to be all over tomorrow, but hope you enjoy it with your families!

Wreath Making with Piper and Scoot

A few weeks ago, Jess and I went to a wreath making class held at Piper and Scoot! We made it our Christmas gift to each other since both of us are trying to lean towards investing in experiences, rather than "stuff." Plus we would get a wreath out of it, so why not? Funny side note: I mentally prepared myself that learning a new skill was a good thing, but that my wreath probably wouldn't look very good since it would be my first time. Turns out, the skilled Ashley Nackos pre-made our wreaths and we just decorated them! I'll just have to practice my new skills next year ;)

 ^^The entire room smelled amaaazing!

Happy early Christmas to us! Thanks Jess for going with me, fan-girling over cool people with me, and convincing me to buy that beautiful buffalo check shirt haha. Wreath making was the best way to get this holiday season started!

*All photos courtesy of Piper and Scoot.

Our Thanksgiving

For the first time since going to college, I went home for Thanksgiving. I drove home with my little brother and his girlfriend and Chris met me there. We had the usual Thanksgiving spread, but it tasted extra special this year (plus the stuffing was bomb. I usually stay far away from it but this year it was everything I didn't know I wanted!). This was my first Thanksgiving being married to Chris and being apart the past couple months made it extra sweet. We have so much to be grateful for this year and Thanksgiving was a good reminder of what is most important: each other, our families, and our faith.

We  went to take pictures on Thanksgiving and these are a few that my little brother took. I was too busy eating to take pictures during the actual meal, but it was definitely delicious ;) Driving from Utah made for a long time in the car but it was a great weekend away and totally worth it.

Now, it's time for Christmas!

Halloween Scrooge

our halloween costume last year

Fall is my favorite season and October is my favorite month. Crunchy leaves, pumpkin everything, and crisp weather, I love it all! And I usually love Halloween, but this year it wasn't really my thing.
Most likely because my costume/party buddy was in California and things aren't as fun without him. So, I sat on my couch eating chocolate chips pretending I wasn't home, feeling daggers of guilt every time little hands pounded on my door saying "twick or tweat" since I didn't have time to go buy candy.

Not my best Halloween.

BUT. This year is going to be my best Christmas. It's all I've had on the brain lately, which is pretty unusual for me. I have Christmas pajamas ordered, gifts in mind, and airplane tickets bought. I've always liked Christmas, but I have never been so giddy about it. Getting my husband back could have something to do with it. Or everything.

Poor Thanksgiving usually gets all of my attention, but not this year! Bring on the red and the green, the hot chocolate, the wrapping paper, and all of the music! I'm ready for you this year :)

Birthday Weekend with Chris: Part Two

I initially only had one birthday post but there were too many pictures. So I divided it up and of course, part two is now two weeks after my birthday haha. Oh well.

After the pumpkin patch, we were really hungry so we went to my favorite JDawgs. Not exactly the gourmet birthday meal some people ask for, but it's what I wanted! Plus we had plans that involved food after our dinner :) I had been wanting to go on a Fry Crawl (tour or walk or whatever you want to call it) for a while so we incorporated that into our dinner. Basically, I wanted to try places in Provo that advertise their fries and see how they compared. I had three places in mind but we only made it to two, which worked out since we were full!

First we went to Hot Potato. Located in an apartment complex where wealthy single college kids (or kids with wealthy parents) live, we felt really out of place haha. But we ordered our "Loaded Baked Potato fries" and waited awkwardly at a table. The fries came nice and hot and we were ready to try them! Chris and I enjoyed all of the toppings and the fries themselves were good. We gave the fries 3.5 stars since we were feeling like professionals and not college kids ;)

Then we went to the next place! Bruges Waffles and Frites is a Belgium restaurant found in downtown Provo. It's decor was very industrial, the place was clean, and the owner was really friendly (and actually from Belgium!) He told us how his fries are never frozen and are fried twice. I think the only time I've had fresh fries are when my dad used to make them for us so I was excited to try them. We had a variety of sauces to choose from like homemade mayonnaise and Andalouse sauce. I ended up loving the fries but at first, the texture caught me off guard. They were really different than any other fries I've had but we gave them 4.5 stars. I would definitely go back!

There was a place that I've been wanting to take Chris for a while and even though it was my birthday, I wanted to go to Color Me Mine with him. It's a little place where you paint your own pottery! They have a variety of pieces to choose from and then you get to paint it however you like! We picked out salt and pepper shakers and each painted one. We decided not to coordinate to let our personalities show through ;) 

^this picture was taken before they were fired in the kiln.

^and this is the final product! They turned out great!

Not exactly part of my birthday weekend, but I went out to a birthday lunch with my girlfriends. We went to Pizza Studio and I tried their chicken alfredo pizza! Lunch was fun and the conversation was interesting as usual haha. Thanks ladies! Even with pizza in your mouths, you both are beautiful ;)

I surprised myself with how much we did in one day! My actual birthday was spent going to church, spending time with family, and taking Chris to the airport. It was a great weekend full of doing fun things but seeing Chris was the best birthday gift I could have ever received. It would not have been the same without him and I'm so so grateful he came back to celebrate with me! I don't know why 24 sounds so much older than 23, but I have a feeling it's going to be the best year yet :) 

Birthday Weekend with Chris: Part One

It was my birthday over the weekend and because it wouldn't be the same without him, Chris came home to celebrate with me :) We tried to squeeze as much as we could in between the time he flew in late Friday night to when he left Sunday evening.

We went to Oh Mai, my favorite restaurant right now, where we got the best Vietnamese sandwiches and then we headed up the mountains in Big Cottonwood Canyon for a pretty drive and little nature walk. And since it's fall, I wanted to do something fall-ish, so we went to a pumpkin patch! It wasn't the greatest pumpkin patch, but we made the admission price worth it by taking pictures, playing tetherball, and buying fresh peaches :) And since there were too many pictures, here are some from part of the day!

^^That tripod came in pretty handy later!

^^this face haha! Chris thought it was hilarious so this is for him ;)

my happies

an  Instax taken on our honeymoon

A little list of things that make me happy.

1. The love from friends and family that has surrounded me since Chris left for California. The phone calls, texts, and visits are all so appreciated, thank you.
2. Even though I missed the application deadline for graduation by two weeks (oops!), I'm still graduating in December!
3. That it's October. The month we got engaged, my birthday, Halloween, and all things fall. So many favorites squished into one month.
4. The sweetest little video Chris sent me just to say "Have a great day" and the beautiful painting he made for me.
5. That only four days are between me, my favorite person, and my birthday weekend!

Have a great day everyone!

This one's for you, husband

Up until now, I've never really known what it felt like to be proud of someone. Of course there have been times when I was proud of my mom for doing something difficult, or proud of my dad when he got the job, or even proud of the students I help for doing well on a test. But being proud of my husband is completely different. Sometimes, I want to jump on the roof, shout at the top of my lungs and tell the entire world how awesome, loving, talented, and amazing he is. And it's not just the proud wife in me speaking, because he really is all of that and more. So consider this my roof and imagine me shouting ;)

Chris left for California yesterday because he landed an internship at his dream studio, Pixar! The one who made Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Brave. You know, THE Pixar. And I'm SO happy! When Pixar offered him the internship, part of me thought, "Well, of course they want him. He's good at what he does!" My sweet, humble husband was much more surprised and obviously, super happy.

Even before we started dating, Chris worked really hard for his future family by always pushing himself. Since being married, he works even harder but faithfully comes home to eat dinner with me instead of staying on campus until midnight ;) Everything he does and all that he creates is for our future family. And I'm fiercely proud of him for that. Even though he's going to be gone for a bit, I don't consider this opportunity bittersweet. Of course I would rather be with him, but Chris deserves this and I know he will excel during his time there.

Best of luck, love! You're going to be great :)

p.s. If I'm like this now, what is it going to be like as a parent!? Yikes!

It's Fall!!!

Hi this is Chris (The Husband),

Today we drove into the mountains and had a little fall photo shoot. It is so fun having someone to take pictures with. I can't tell you how many times I've been driving and wanted to stop to take a picture, but I didn't because I didn't want to be a burden on anyone else. Well, Liz, the best wife in the world, told me Hey you can stop whenever you want and take a picture! I said Sweet! and believe me, I stopped many a time to take pictures. So here is a shout out to my favorite girl. Love ya!

And here are some of the pictures we took.