We Made It!

*HUGE sigh of relief* I am beyond ecstatic that this semester has finally come to a close! Well, besides a few assignments that is. Let me tell you, if I could, I would slam that door closed on the face of those assignments and tests; take that academics! Haha. I cannot describe how happy and relieved I am to not have to worry for a few weeks about assignments, tests, or anything academic. Especially because Christmas is on it's way and I can't wait to finish my shopping! What girl wouldn't?

In other news, we made it home safe and sound from our vacation. Can I just say how much I appreciate the ground and normal motion after our vacation??? From my first flight, to the rental car, on to every type of ride at amusement parks, I never knew how great it was to be in steady motion and safe on the ground. Not to say that those things weren't a blast because I normally don't get to do those things everyday, but MAN. SO. MUCH. MOTION.

It was so nice to be able to spend time away from work and school to be with the love of my life. We got to see and do so many wonderful things despite the bumps in the road that we hit during our time on vacation. With all the amazing tours of the different studios in California along with some amusement parks, I would say that it was a successful time away from our normal day to day lives.

Here are some pictures from our trip! Enjoy! :)

First off, OH MY YUMM! Qdoba is so delicious! They have the most amazing Mexican Gumbo ever! Located by the Scottsdale Fashion Square, we treated ourselves to this amazing place during our night stay in Phoenix before our flight.

Here we go! Leaving for out first flight together! I've never flown before, so it was an interesting experience.

View from the plane. I was the highest in altitude I've ever been. How scary! Luckily, I had the most handsome man sitting next to me, comforting me when the plane took off.

THE most gorgeous driver I have ever seen. I was lucky enough to drive around with this hunk for our whole vacation  in our VERY compact rental car.

Knott's Berry Farm! This amusement park is so much fun! All Peanuts themed, you can hang out with Charlie Brown, Sally, AND Woodstock!

Well look at who we ran into :)

Enjoying a smooch from the most gorgeous man in the world. MmmHmmm.

Big smiles as we rode our first couple rides at Disneyland together!

This photo absolutely cracks me up! Haha. Austin in mid yell as he records the plunge on Splash Mountain, Me as I scream for dear life, and the creeper guy behind me with a look that I am happy that I didn't witness LOL.

We ran into a VERY hungry whale while we were at Disneyland! Austin with his anticipated churro. YUM!

This whale also needed a nice flossing after a delicious churro lunch. Haha.

The Castle in all it's glory! Disneyland was all decorated for Christmas. It was ridiculously beautiful, especially at night cuddled up in my loves arm as the chill in the air approached.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is my all time FAVORITE Halloween movie. The best part? It works for Halloween AND Christmas!

The most amazing clam chowder bread bowl. I excitedly introduced this to Austin and I think he is HOOKED. What a great way to end our first day at Disneyland!

MAN OH MAN. His gorgeousness seriously mesmerizes me. How did I ever become so lucky..... sigh. The Hollywood walk of fame. We found Austin's favorite, Denzel Washington.

After some searching, we found the hand prints of the Harry Potter cast. Every Harry Potter fan's dream! Heehee. My hands fit Emma Watson's perfectly, and funnily enough, Daniel Radcliff's hands were smaller! :)

The entrance to the Dolby Theatre tour that we went on. They hold the Academy Awards here. We are talking about golden statue awards, whole streets being closed, and an extremely amazing building! It was so much fun!

This tour was the most amazing tour I have ever been on. I was so glad Austin suggested it. SO many films and television shows are filmed here. Shows like The Big Bang Theory, Ellen, Gilmore Girls, Friends, Pretty Little Liars, and movies like Back to the Future, and Harry Potter are ran through this company. With city, residential, and town areas that are changed with street accessories and a little paint, you would be surprised how many different scenes from movies and television shows are actually located here. The 2 hours was TOTALLY worth it!

I was one happy camper! Not only did I get to touch the Harry Potter stars hand prints, I  also got to see this crazy car from the second movie. It actually RUNS. It doesn't look that way though, which is the magic of movies :). Although Harry Potter wasn't filmed at this site, it is ran through Warner Brothers still. J.K. Rowling wanted all of the actors to be British and to be filmed in England. The California site did have a TON of memorabilia from the movie! I was so surprised to see some of the things that I saw throughout the movies. However, we weren't allowed to take any pictures :(.

We tried hitchhiking but it didn't really work. Haha. Just kidding. We also got to see Austin's favorite childhood cartoon's vehicle. The Mystery Machine! 

Well lookie there! Can anyone guess what popular television show this scene is from?? If you were a teenager around the 90's I'm sure you could guess..... anyone? No? Okay........ FRIENDS! Yes, this is the actual couch where the cast spent a lot of their time during the television series. It was SO cool to be on an actual television set!

The Central Perk. The expresso machine you can see on the show actually works although it isn't shown in this picture. It was definitely odd to see this in real life when we have seen it on television a ton of times.

One thing I forgot to say..... a plane crashed. The wreckage was ridiculous. Don't worry though, this wasn't an actual plane with actual people in it. This was the plane that crashed in War of the Worlds. This can be found at Universal Studios. Trust me, the wreckage spans larger than this little stretch in this picture. It seriously looked life like!

This last picture is actually quite funny. Given, I know caramel apples aren't much to laugh about since they are so ridiculously scrumptious, but this particular apple was so hard to eat! The complimentary knife that they gave us didn't even cut through the apple, so reluctantly, I had to stow it on my carry on and take it home with us.

 

And We're Off....!

*BIG sigh of relief* These past few weeks have consisted of a ton of homework (big surprise), a couple tests, and getting ready for my handsome love and I's trip! Now that I have gotten ahead of the game by finishing up some work for when I am gone, I am ALL ready for this trip!

We are ready to walk down Mainstreet in glorious Disneyland!!



We are SO ready for this trip. Not only have we waited for a whole entire year to be able to leave, we have entered mere hours until we leave!

 

It almost seemed impossible given the circumstances that I had to go to the doctor (thankfully I am fine and okay to go) but so did Austin! Dang pinched nerves were really starting to pinch the wrong nerves for me as we scrambled to do everything we could to make sure he was better before we left. As Austin put it, it was a sign that both of us needed a vacation, and ASAP.

 

Thankfully everything worked out and we are now ready to go! With a three day weekend, consisting of a date day for Austin and I to enjoy the fall weather together and do some early preparing for Thanksgiving, we couldn't be happier that the time has finally come! 

 

 

My handsome love got me these on our wonderful day so that we could start getting ready for the baking season!

 

As soon as we get back, the decorating for Christmas can begin (after Thanksgiving of course by the rules of Austin)! Can I say how excited I am to decorate this year since last year was that icky first year where you have to buy everything and start from scratch. This year, we are ready to do some fun christmas craftin'. I can't wait to post about the fun things that we are going to make this year!

 

This week I also got to spend some time with an amazing friend at Denny's to find that they had a.... wait for it.... HOBBIT MENU! Now, I am sure that Hobbits still have the same capacity of stomach room as we do, and the portions are awesome :). They have "The Hobbit" food all in a seperate menu. Things like "The Ring Burger" and "Pumpkin Patch Pancakes".

 

 

Pumpkin Patch Pancakes with Pumpkin Cinnamon Whipped Topping. Can you say UH-MAZING??

  

Definately Stop by if you can, its for a limited time only!

 

 

With that being said, and you walking out the door to go get that scrumptious hobbit food, my next post will be after we get back from vacation!

 

Have a wonderful week AND Thanksgiving!

A Year and a Half With Forever to Go..

It's October and there are so many wonderful things that happen during this month. It is the first actual month of fall, the air becomes more crisp and smells of leaves and thick soups, jackets see the sunlight after being stowed in our closets for months, my birthday, and pumpkins come into season for halloween. One very exciting thing that happens in this month involves my handsome man and our journey together. October marks 6 more months till Austin's birthday and our anniversary and our year and a half mark.

October also puts us under the 1 month mark till our much needed vacation to Disneyland!

There are so many things in my life to appreciate at this time of the year. I am extremely fortunate to have an amazing family that always supports me, no matter what happens in the rough patches. I have the worlds' best dad who will do anything for anyone, an extremely hilarious sister who can always get me to laugh at little inside jokes we share, an awesome stepmother who, like my dad, would do anything for anyone and gets excited about the milestones that life has to offer. My whole family from one side to the other makes me feel extremely lucky to have and to be able to do the things that I am doing right now. With having the most amazing man in my life, I also get to enjoy his lovely family as well. Although there are some not so fun things happening around me, I know I can always fall back on our families to find refuge.

With our vacation nearing our grasp, that is something I am also very thankful for. Who ever may be up there knows we need it! Taking breaks from the real world is nice, especially when you are with the person that you love, and when you add Disneyland and other fun things to the mix, what could go wrong?? (knock on wood). 

There are many other things that I am thankful for, but one thing that is for sure, is that I have Austin in my life. Austin is one of those people that you meet that has the biggest, most thoughtful hearts I have ever met. I am so lucky to be able to receive the love that I do from him on a daily (and secondly) basis. From the second that I spent time with Austin outside of the normal setting, I knew he was the one for me (though, he likes to disagree :)). A year and a half later and those feelings are growing even more so every day. The support and love that he shows never ceases to amaze me. Never in a million years would I have ever thought I would have found someone so perfect and ridiculously handsome as he is. He is my absolute best friend and the only one I want to share my life with forever.

Are we perfect, even though we would like to think so? No. We have our ups and downs just like everyone else and any other couple out there. It is the love and respect that we show each other on a daily (and secondly) basis that keeps this relationship strong. We continue to be happy for each other and support each other like we did from day one. 

Now that we are at the year and a half mark, I can see all the things we have went through together and the things that have made us individually and jointedly stronger. It is such an amazing feeling to have found your soul mate!

I love you Austin.

Fall allows me to take such amazing pictures! :)

Ahh... the fall season

From Teen to 20.

10/11/12. Coincidence? I think not.

This last week has been so full of different things going on that I haven't even been able to breath, let alone think about my birthday. Class and work (sometimes happening at the same time), two advising meetings from two different schools, family and friend crisis, having to cancel this and re-schedule that, the week had come into full swing before I knew it. These past two weeks of October flew by.

I was worn out, over used, and brain dead.  That's when I realized that my life had switched gears suddenly. I was an adult. My teenage years were literally gone because the next day, I was turning 20.

20? That number seemed so foreign to me. I had been a insert-number-here-teen for the past seven years. Now, given, you don't just wake up feeling completely different when the clock strikes midnight on your birthday while you are sleeping. But mine had been creeping up on me for weeks without me even realizing it. TONS of thing had been happening to me that I didn't quite understand. Childhood friendships had gone down the tubes, my not-so-little sister became not-so-little anymore, college and work were in a symbiotic relationship, and it seemed like everything I thought I knew had become completely different.

That's because it had. I was no longer a teen anymore; my life had shifted to different (and some better) things.

It seems so weird to no longer be a teenager anymore. I was so used to the way life was while being one. Life had become a lot more hectic, more responsibility had come, and things were starting to evolve into the adulthood stage of life. I was always a lot more mature than my actual age accounted for, but I never intended for some of the things that had been happening to happen.

10/11/12 all fall in one sequential line this year. One after another, the numbers (and circumstances in my life) evolved into the next step. That was what adulthood was all about. Just like adolescence, adulthood had steps too! I was just in the beginning stages of it and not used to the things that were coming my way because they were no longer teenage steps, but adult steps.

I am excited to see what the 20's bring me and how the big picture comes together for my intended future, but who knows, things don't always go the way we plan.

But first, I had to celebrate the day of my birth. All in all, it was amazing. My step mom made the most awesome birthday dinner and my sister and dad helped set it all up while I was at work. I am so lucky to have such amazing people in my life!

The top right and bottom left pictures show what my amazing love had gotten me for my birthday. I had been raving for WEEKS about how I wanted a crock pot (I blame Pinterest) so that I could start making different things. I was completely elated to find that my love had gotten me a crock pot AND a recipe box. I can't wait to use them! Austin really is the best love I could ever ask for. He had already spoiled me tremendously with Train concert tickets and dinner for an early birthday present a couple weeks ago. He COMPLETELY spoils me and I am so thankful to have someone so thoughtful in my life! The top left is my absolute favorite cake ever (ice cream cake). Who doesn't appreciate the amazing combination of cake AND ice cream at the same time with one serving utensil? Yuuumm! The bottom right picture is what Austins' amazing parents got me to go along with Austins' gift. An apron, whisk, and spatulas! I was one happy girl; all set up in the kitchen! Until I find something else I need haha. 

I don't do well with the whole "all eyes are on me" type of stuff. Surrounded by caring family.

Can you tell we are sisters??

The most handsome man and I.

A surprise from a wonderful friend

*sigh* I have the best man EVER.

DIY: Man Bouquet

With the fall season arriving, SO many things are changing. The sweaters and scarves have come out of the closet, the air has that wonderful, crisp, twinge to it, pumpkin and fall scented candles are coming back and can I say, I am in FULL welcoming of all these things! I love the fall season.

The fall season reminds me of alot of things, one of those things being when I had fallen head-over-heels in love with the most handsome man ever. He always spoils me and treats me SO special.

These are some flowers from an arrangement that Austin had picked out for me a few weeks ago. How lucky am I to have such a handsome man that hand picks flowers at the florist with such precision?  He never disappoints and every single arrangement is always so unique.

So, then I got to thinking..... What could I do for Austin that had the same hand picked and unique quality that he always exhibited for me? Sure, I could get him flowers and I am certain he would love them because they would have came from someone who loves him more than anything, but, then I came up with a better idea. As the old saying goes, "To get to a man's heart, you have to go through their stomach" and that is exactly what I decided to do.

This is how the "Man Bouquet" came into existence.

First, I needed to get everything I would need to put this bouquet together.

I used a vase that we had from a previous arrangement, colored tissue paper, floral foam that florists use sometimes when putting arrangements together, and skewers to act as the "flowers". This one happened to be fall themed, so I matched my colors and embellishments accordingly.

The important stuff

I also bought some little things that I knew that were his favorites that would speak directly to his stomach. I tried to buy things that I could make little sayings out of like, "You are SUCH a GoodMAN," (for the Mr. Goodbar) and "Honey, you're ROASTING!" (for the honey roasted peanuts).

 After accumulating these items, I got to work.


You want to start out putting the tissue paper you want to use inside the vase. Don't be afraid to use a couple sheets to enforce the bottom so that when it is all put together, your goodies won't fall through.

This floral foam is going to be what holds everything up in your bouquet. I bought a half circle because I knew that I wouldn't need that much and I thought it would suit the size of my vase. The foam comes in many shapes and it is pretty pliable. Just be careful when you are using it, it can get pretty messy.



I made an impression on the foam so I knew how much to cut off so that it would fit into my vase.

I used a simple kitchen knife to cut the foam to my desired shape. Make sure that you cut it in a place that you don't mind getting dusty from the shavings. Over the sink might be a good idea if you are able to do it that way. Its pliable with your hands when you apply pressure, but I needed to cut this one down so it would fit inside my vase. 

After cutting it down, it fit into the vase like so. You want to make sure that the tissue paper surrounds it so that it cannot be seen from the outside of the vase.



It made it easier to take the foam out of the vase and put it together before I connected it with a vase. It is easier to push in the "flowers". I covered the floral foam with tissue paper and then I put the "flowers" in so that the foam was covered so that it wasn't in site.

Once all the "flowers" were in place, I took the foam and put it back into the vase. Careful to make sure that the tissue paper in the vase is covering the foam from the bottom.

The finished product! Don't forget to add your personalized notes if you made any. I attached mine after I cleaned up and it looked great! This is such a fun project and you can personalize it or modify it however you want to. That's what I liked the most about it because it is totally up to you what you use and how you use it. Austin loved it when he came home!

Have fun creating!

When You Know, You Just Know.



These are all pictures taken during the time of my senior year. The middle one and the one to the upper right of it were included in my graduation announcements that were sent out. The upper two on the left are pictures of my best friend, and partner in crime, Sarah, and I from senior prom and the Prescott Vs. Bradshaw game. Obviously you can see by the smiles on our faces that we WON against Prescott and showed those Badgers not to mess with us! I was also a very dedicated choir member during my high school years. My family got some family pictures taken also during this time.

Before Austin and I started dating, I was on the cusp of finishing my high school education. With graduation soon approaching, I was very anxious for the school year to be finished. With hours of homework and finals, my last choir concert, and graduation coming, I didn't have time for any distractions until I laid eyes upon the most handsome man I'd ever seen.................



This is the picture that I had come across on a lazy night after work.
Isn't he the most gorgeous man ever?? :)

Austin and I had been friends for quite awhile but our actual friendship hadn't started until I came across this photo on Facebook and commented on it. We both found out we loved Disney characters, baseball, along with a bunch of other things in common, and for us, it clicked instantly. After talking for awhile, we started to hang out and spend every free second we had with each other. Austin came to my last choir concert, Graduation, and even came to be by my side at the hospital when I needed surgery for an aggravated appendix. He always was, and still is, by my side and supporting me every single step of the way. During the summer, we went on tons of fun dates and experienced some things we never experienced before with each other. Before we knew it, we were TOTALLY and irreversibly IN LOVE :).



This is us now. Absolute BEST FRIENDS and SO in love.

I won't pretend that we are absolutely perfect, although most of the time we would LOVE to think we are. We have our problems, our ups and our downs. We have a TON of good days for every one bad day we have. I think the reason why we are so strong and why we love each other so much is because we are learning more and more everyday about what makes a relationship successful. Patience, support, compromise, trust, respect, and empathy are just some of the main ingredients for a healthy, amazing relationship. Without one, or not enough of one from both sides, the recipe is incomplete. We appreciate the qualities that the other one has, good and bad, and love each other even more because we both know that at the end of the day, it IS us till the end. We learn from each others mistakes and work together. As Austin put it, "I know you hear people say relationships are 50/50. But that never made sense to me because you shouldn't be in a relationship 50% of the time. It should be ALL the time. Both people need to be in it 100% for it to work out." Let me tell you, we are both in it over 100%. We are SO crazy about each other that we actually argue over who loves who more.

It is such an amazing gift to have found the person you know your supposed to be with. To no longer search or be alone is the best. Although Austin doesn't believe me, I knew I loved him the first time we ever spent time together. I know its kind of corny to say, "When you know, you just know" but its totally true. I think anyone who is happily married can vouch for that statement. I thought it was completely idiotic when I was younger to hear that when people would say that, but it IS true and you WILL find someone who will prove that to you. I am so glad to have found mine :).

I love you so much Austin Morrison.