we did it!!

We Graduated!
I have been dreaming about the day I would write this post for a loong time. You see, I never really wanted to go to "real" college (a university). I opted for hair school instead. Well, turned out I did not really love doing hair in a salon after school either. I went on a mission and knew when I came home that I needed to finally go to "real" school. I gave myself 3 years to finish.

And guess what?!?

I did it. I graduated with my husband.

As excited as I am to graduate, I am also pretty sad. I love this University more than anything. I have loved being involved in everything possible and while I may not be the most traditional student, I am so happy to have completed this.

I get down on myself a lot because most of my friends graduated from college 4+ years ago, but then I realize how many things I have accomplished in my life and realize the path I took led me to my husband and he is the best part of my life.

Our families got together and we had dinner at my parents house. David's dad got us an ice cream cake and we all just hung out and spent the day getting ready for our European adventure we were going on the next day.

European Adventure part 2

London-> Paris

After our time in London Town we had to catch a train to Paris. The train was delayed and it was pouring rain when we arrived to we quickly found food and slept. That rushed meal actually turned out to be one of the best meals of our entire trip.

Lets just go ahead and excuse my poor photography for the rest of these posts.

We got super lucky and were upgraded to this massive room with two bedrooms where we were greeted with a gorgeous view of the twinkling Eiffel Tower. The next morning we headed to Disneyland!

 The first time I went to Disneyland Paris was kind of awful. It was fun but was so busy and just blah. This time was awesome! It wasn't busy. We rarely waited. It was just so much fun. It poured rain almost the whole day but we still loved it.

There were so many random characters there not found in the parks in the states. Like Abu, and baloo also showed up in the parade as well as the lion king. We loved it.

European Adventure part 1

6 airplanes, 3 trains, countless public transportation rides, and another epic Price vacation under our belt! 

David and I graduated and to celebrate we originally were going to do an epic east coast road trip but a trip to Europe seemed more appropriate. When we first started dating we both had these huge long lists of places we wanted to travel to and knew that traveling would be a priority in our marriage. We make a lot of sacrifices in order to save the money to do so. Europe was a dream and we loved every minute of it (well almost every minute).

 We took a flight to lax landed at 7 am and had a layover until 7:45 that night so what do you do when you have 12 hours in California other than Disneyland... Go checkout the new Harry Potter world. 

 We had a fun day and loved Harry Potter land, universal studios on the other hand was not that impressive.

(click to read more of our adventure)

fall bucket list

now that we are well into fall, better late than never to post our fall bucket list. as you can tell from previous posts (christmas bucket list here), david and i are obsessed with bucket lists and doing fun seasonal activities.

-carve pumpkins
-take pictures in the fall foliage
-make caramel apples
-go to haunted houses
-make halloween costumes
-dress up for halloween
-go to a halloween party
-watch a scary movie
-go for a drive in the mountains
-go to all the football games
-finish our Disney puzzle (i know this isn't really fall related, but something we want to do)
-drink apple cider

take me out to the ball game

being on the muss board has some pretty great perks.... one of the many things we have done has been a free bee's game. i have never seen one and i know it is not the major leagues, but hey mike trout started there so it's gotta be decent. nothing screams america more than a ball game. it was so much fun. plus, this was on our bucket list so one more thing accomplished. 

apparently they are not very good this year, but we did get to see some awesome plays and a home run, so that was exciting. plus there is nothing like hanging out with a bunch of u obsessed fans all night. 

little moments-april

i feel like quite a few things happened in april, but i can't actually remember everything. the semester ended and i had a small little break from school which was fantastic. 

meghan had a panini party that fell on april fools day. me luke and randi decided to see how many pranks we could pull. it was quite fun. 

 one of my oldest and dearest friends came to utah for a visit. i haven't seen him in 4 years, since before my mission. he and his beautiful fiancee are getting married here in july and it was so fun to catch up. 

 this picture is sideways but one afternoon luke and i went exploring around salt lake. he helped me learn more photgraphy skills. 

 my dear sister went through the ogden temple, it was so fun to celebrate with her. 

 david and i have a goal to hit every temple in utah, thank you meghan for helping us pass off ogden. 

 this was in march but spencer (david's brother) got his mission call! he is going to chesapeake, va leaving in july! we are so excited for him. 

epic east coast road trip part 1-day three and four

day three we went to church with dave and erica and explored mt. vernon a little bit. the colors were gorgeous but the weather was windy and cold. we also explored arlington national cemetary and watched the changing of the guard. it is always humbling to be in a place where there are so many stories.

epic east coast road trip part 1-day two

day two was all about the museums. i wanted to see the holocaust museum, meghan and david- the air and space museum, and we all wanted to see the museum of american history. how can you pass up a chance to see those ruby red slippers?

 it was raining that day and meghan was the only one smart enough to bring an umbrella but we did not let that dampen our spirits. we planned to head to the holocaust museum to get tickets for later that day and on the way to the museum, we just so happened to pass by the washington monument and sent david to see if he could get tickets to go up. i was doubtful they had any, but we lucked out and scored them for the perfect time. 

epic east coast road trip part 1-day 1

david and i have a goal to visit every state in the united states together. we have seen most separate, but now we want experience them all with each other. i call this our epic east coast road trip part 1 because when i graduate we plan to hit up new york and the north eastern united states. we are lucky because david has such a large family and they are located all over the states and it just so happens that he has cousins in washington d.c. who graciously allowed us to come visit. d.c. is david's favorite place ever and one of my most favorites and this turned out to be the perfect time to make the journey before his cousin's move this summer. it also helps that my dad lives in philadelphia part-time so we had a place to stay there as well.

52 books

This year I had a goal to read 52 books. So far it is going great. I am ahead of schedule and there are so many more things I want to read.

I just finished Big Little Lies and it was fantastic. It was on the NYT Bestseller list which I frequently check. It did not disappoint. 5 Stars

Excerpt taken from Amazon:

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

goals and my word of the year

I have probably written countless posts on goals, but I feel it is necessary to hold myself accountable and keep track. Plus I love setting goals and crossing things off my bucket list. Goals often get pushed on the back burner so I also like to choose a word for the year. This year the word is focus. I am always busy and I often fill my schedule with tasks that are not always meaningful. I want to focus on who I am, who I want to be and fulfilling the roles I have to the fullest. I want to love myself more and really focus on what that means. Each task I would focus fully on instead of starting 100 things and getting them done eventually. I want to focus on the things I have rather than the things I think I need and really embrace the life I have right now and not in the future. 

-write in my journal every.single.day.

-read 52 books (including the chronicles of narnia and harry potter again)
-use social media less

-focus on the important things

-choose happy

-be sugar free for a week

Temple square and a letter to Santa

 As mentioned d and I made a bucket list for this winter. Tonight we accomplished two things- temple square lights and writing to Santa. It was packed at the square but it was so warm tonight we had to take advantage. We figured we would be back a few more times so we didn't linger for too long but it sure was nice outside. Walking around the temple grounds brought back all those wonderful wedding memories and I just love that I get to be right by where I got married. It is such a special sacred place. 

Macy's has their cute Santa mailbox set up with paper to write to Santa. 

How did I get so lucky with this boy. 

christmas bucket list

celebrating the holidays together is completely new for d and i. Since we didn't start dating until right after vday we missed the holiday season. This year we have gone all out and have so many fun plans. We created a Christmas/winter  bucket list to make sure we could get everything done we wanted. While there are so many fun things to do, we want to be as Christ centered as possible even with all of our fun adventures.

-temple square lights 

-visit Santa

-elf date- from the movie elf:)

-make gingerbread men

-make neighbor treats

-go sledding

-write a letter to Santa 

-look at the Macy's window display 

-snowball fight

-hatch's hot chocolate

-build a snowman

-watch frozen

-polar express night

-festival of trees
-tubing
-ice castles
-park city date
-sundance film festival
-macy's candy window displays
-lights at the gateway
-zoo lights
-take pictures with as many santa's as possible

-forgotten carols

-make sugar cookies 

Bucket List

a teacher gave an assignment for one of my classes to set 150 goals. they couldn't just be go to paris, go to london, go to scotland. they had to be goals a little more thought consuming. i was able to come up with more that 150 as well as add in a few extra "go to" places. The formatting messed up a little but thats ok. And some of them are silly goals that will help no one but me but thats the beauty of a bucket list.

Life Goals

Spiritual

-Get married in the temple

-Raise children
-Go to the Philadelphia Temple open house
- Visit every temple in Utah
- Couples mission with husband
- Contribute something tangible to the building of a temple
- Read the Book of Mormon in a week
-Do work in 75 temples

-Go to the temple every week for a year
- Support 3 missionaries
- Raise my children in the Gospel
-Volunteer for something incredible

-Work in the temple
- Go to the Kirtland Temple

Fitness

- Run a 5k in under 30 minutes
- Hike mount timp

- Run a half marathon

- Climb to the U
- Do aerial yoga
- Eat healthy

-Home cook my meals every day for a month

Travel
-Visit all 50 states
-Visit Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH

-Go to the Space Needle
-Visit Australia

-Go to Europe

-Tour Asia
- Go to Jerusalem
- Go to India
- Visit all 7 Wonders of the World
- Rent a glass igloo in Finland to see the Northern Lights
- Disney Parks in all the countries –Honk Kong, Shanghai, Paris, California, Florida, Tokyo
-Kiss someone on top of the Eifel Tower
- Buy a plane ticket on the next plane out, no matter where it is going
- Spend a weekend in a tree house

-Listen to jazz in the French Quarters, New Orleans

-Hike the Grand Canyon

-Explore British Columbia
- Visit Niagara Falls
- Visit the four corners monument

-Put a lock on the love bridge
- Take my husband on an adventure around the world.
-Fenway Park

-Go to Greece

-Get into Club 33 at Disneyland

Life
- Have a fulfilling career
- Spend more time with my mom
-Forgive more
-Fall in love

-Smile daily
-Live the gospel till I die

-Find something to be happy about every day of my life.
-Live in the moment

-Be positive

-Find the good
-Say yes to opportunities

-Have a good set of married friends when I am married

Fun
-Hold Disneyland season passes

-Go to a movie premiere

-Stand outside during the Oscar red carpet
- Hot air balloon ride
- Attend the Olympics
-Cook and entire Thanksgiving Dinner from -Scratch

-Sew an entire outfit I would wear

-Do hair for a movie
-Street perform

-Spend a weekend at a spa

-Throw an incredible surprise party
-Backpack and camp somewhere for a weekend
-Ride an elephant

-Ride a camel

-See the Spiral Jetty
-Kiss on a 50 yard line

-Attend the college football playoff game
-Learn to sail
-Times Square on New Years Eve

-Attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade

-Have a garden
-Win a big prize out of luck

-Get kissed in the rain

-Be in the middle of a real live lantern festival (like tangled)
-Chop down my own Christmas tree

-Create a recipe
-Be able to play 10 hymns on the piano

-Learn graphic design

-Write in my journal everyday for a year

-Take one picture every day for a year (not a selfie)

-Make someone’s dream come true

-Zip line through the jungle

-Learn to ski

- Go zorbing
-Send a letter to a random address and see if they write back

-Meet Taylor Swift

-Go on a helicopter ride

-Swim with dolphins

-Have a paint fight

-Attend the festival of colors

-Attend a masquerade
- Scuba dive

-Read 50 books in a year

-Swim in a fountain
-Design and sew a wedding dress

-Attend church in another country
-Bungee Jump

-Work at a Disney Park

-Find something to smile about daily
-Work for an airline

-Watch every single Disney movie ever released

-Parasail
-Bake the perfect cupcake

-Paint a picture I would actually display

-Learn a song on the guitar

 -Take tap lessons
-Learn to play the bagpipes

-Go without Internet for a week
-Do a color run

-Play golf at St. Andrews

-Go to the Masters
-Learn Archery

-Ride a mechanical bull

-Have an etsy shop

-Plan a family reunion

-Camp on the beach

-Keep my room clean every single day

-Be the favorite aunt
-Have 500 instagram followers

-Go to the Ellen Degeneres Show
-Learn how to work my DSLR camera

-Make a quilt

-Jumbo-tron at Utah football game

-Make a perfect Macaron

-Give Christmas away to someone who needs it

-Take Golf lessons
-Learn to surf
- Sky dive
-Work in the financial district in NYC

-Live in NYC

-Study abroad
-Get a Bachelor’s degree

-Learn French

Finance
-Own a house

-Own an Audi

-Have a great retirement fund
- Have a 6 figure income
-Invest in something

-Have stock
- Donate to charity
-Have $20,000 in saving by 30
-Contribute to my family’s income

-Work in Human Resources

Blog

-Have a successful blog

-Guest on Studio 5
- Get 1000 views on blog in one day by the end of 2014