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!