it's someone's birthday today...

and he's this blond, curly haired boy

 who grew up to be the man I love the most:
my dear philip, with his good heart, his

constantly kind ways, and his humor that 

always makes me laugh.

happy birthday!

utah bride and groom

I completely forgot that
some of our wedding pictures were
in this utah magazine last year until I came
across the link again in an old email. we did these
ones in the gauzy afternoon light and our photographer
was just in-cre-di-ble. 

365 challenge: week 9

this
week:
just trying
to keep our heads
above water. but, as the bard

once coined, "all's well that ends

well," and despite 4 midterms, it did finish out
pretty okay because we ditched school friday (although
ditching would involve actually missing school and I

don't have Friday classes...) and went skiing! it was great, but I 

realized something about my present self: I am a coward! I used to fly down those 

black diamond runs with caution-tossing joy, but now? I was like, "mmm, can we do some
more blue square ones?" and for the first hour or so I was very aware of any potential dangers that threatened bodily pain. phil finally made me go down a black diamond full 

of moguls (which I aptly call "mongrels") and I majorly ate it. but then I became so irritated with myself that I started skiing better (anger = better skiing), loosened up and, bam!, 

it was like I was my 11 year old ski queen self again. hopefully she'll come out 

again especially since we have two more ski passes and I don't want to hold 
crazy-"we-should-race-on-this-triple-black-diamond"-skier husband back. 

but, you know, those green circle runs honestly were fun.

^^ by mid-day the sun came out

365 challenge: week 8

it was a week full of love (1 year since we were engaged & valentine's day)

 and lots of food. as you can see, we eat. a lot. and, recently we 

have been doing more cooking outside of the normal fare 

of quesadillas and pasta so I thought

it merited a bit of camera time.

plus, you'll see this face (below) a lot because

he's just always my type of kodak moment.

 ^^ I just love my dear philip!

 ^^ sunflowers still growing

 here comes that sun!

 ^^ the perks of being a nice french teacher.

 ^^ tiki masla. we only did it
to stick to tradition and, of course, realllllly hated it. :]

 ^^ that's my "yes camera, I just cooked Phil a delicious Valentine's 

day meal all by myself" smirk.
miracles happen, people.
(p.s. talk about flash + already super white skin = albino laurel!)

^^my favorite part was sharing that bag of grapefruit sours with Phil.
he is so generous with sharing the things I get for him with me. 

love // be mine

saint valentine's day. I've always loved this holiday -- 

single, dating, married, it has always been good to me .
I mean, who can say no to chocolates

 and funny Hello Kitty valentines,
even if you have to buy them for yourself?

^^ phil ran out while I was getting ready this morning to get a dozen of these
little red mamas. it may seem cliché but I love 

fresh flowers. they're special, especially during 

such the cold, gray winter -- they're an instant pop of color 

and life! what I like to do when the roses begin 

to die/wilt is cut off the bloom (tossing out the stems)

 and let them dry in a big mason jar. once dry,

I close the  jar and, voilà, new shelf decoration. 

 ^^ I called Phil's mom to get her recipe for avocado chicken, and, despite
my limited culinary abilities, all went well {especially when it came to eating it!}. 

so, here's to one of the best v-days spent
with my eternal valentine.

february 13th - the day of our engagement

{feb 13, 2012}

{and one year later}

we were engaged one year ago today, and 

I am just so glad that he asked and 
 that I am now married to this
w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l. man! I 
didn't know then just how 

incredible he truly is, 
and I count my lucky 
stars every day 
that he is
mine.

and,
we decided
that february 13th
was a much better day 
to celebrate valentine's day --
no lines and no waiting to be seated 
equaled more time to hang out and talk and
just maybe fall asleep watching "Top Gear" together in bed. 

now, that is love.

365 challenge: week 6

this week's top *adventures* included two essays and a midterm test
in one of my hardest classes. but, sunday came and phil and I just love sundays. 

they are still busy, but they have a certain sense of 

refreshment about them that clean out any junk left 

over from the week and leave us ready and feeling
(more or less) prepared for monday.

^^this week I wore some shoes (oh, the thrilling life I lead!)

^^and looked at my old stamp collection

^^and went to a pretty place at the top of a hill

^^and ate late-night strawberries, drew an idea schema, 

and played the computer keyboard as though I was mozart

and were invited to a little fiesta "hem" jackie/dane where they gave us party hats,

hand clappers, and many many laughs. 

^^ I also took a test at the testing center (and I thought majoring 

in the humanities would keep me far away from this dreaded place!) 

and came out to see that the line went back past the brimhall building {!}.
poor last minute testers.

^^and last but not least, we may or may not have been initiated into 
the most intense and intricate game in existence.
#nevergoingbacktotherealworldwhereidon'thavesweetcrossbowskills

sometimes

• sometimes I take all the electric blanket for myself
• sometimes I don't shave my legs for many days and hide it with tights. 
• sometimes I wonder why it is so bad to eat ice cream and chocolate covered cherries  for breakfast. how does that not count as a good start to the day?
• sometimes I think that an entire day in bed in pjs  watching documentaries and sherlock would be a productive use of time.
• sometimes I read "Family Fun" and get excited about having sweet babies and the fun we'll have as a family.
• sometimes I just don't want to go to school in the morning. especially when it's cooooooold!

beautiful walls project

I love the look of overcrowding a wall with framed photos
and prints.  Isn't this beautiful? 

 (photo from style by emily henderson)

with this inspiration in mind, I set off to
the thrift store to purchase as many frames in various sizes
 as I could find. I painted some of them, took out any of 

the old images they had inside and replaced them 

with some homeless prints, projects,

 and old and new photos that needed framing. 

The project isn't over yet, but here's what I've done so far:

happiness is homemade

365 challenge: week 5

this week has been a bit overwhelming with school and work.
students took tests and turned in compositions. I heartily agree with something
a teacher once told me, "I don't get paid to teach; I would do that for free. I get
paid to grade." and, I have papers and tests myself. but senioritis is slowly
paralyzing my work flow...

but here's the week's breakdown:
we went to school, it snowed a lot, 

the sun finally showed up (poor january, nobody really liked you), 

friends came over, I made soup, 

we ate danish blueberry ice cream cake (thanks, jackie & dane), 

and I went to the thrift shop and purchased a couple 

photo frames for a new montage in the kitchen.

the sun

 makes me squint!

 yes, yes, it's beautiful, and there's no nasty inversion/pollution.