the past few months

well so much for blogging about things we are up to i guess! blogging has been the last thing on my mind with finals and graduation approaching back in april...but, i did it! i graduated from brigham young university with a BS in psychology!

it was a very strange feeling to be done with school. done. i wish i actually was finished, but i have decided to stay at BYU to get a master's degree in social work. that means 2 more years THEN I'll really be done. 

here are some things we have been up to since then...

Graduated!

Mark & me after I walked

My mom and me at a Dodger's game when I went home for a week

My awesome step-mom, Nancy, & Nani bought us brand new bedding! We were using Mark's old comforter so this has been quite a treat! And I also repainted my old high school dresser to match :)

Mark loves to fish!

He is so cute...he grew up fishing with his dad

Intramural softball...they ALMOST won the championship

We went to the Denver Zoo

Mark, Alicia (my sister) & Kyle (Alicia's boyfriend)...weird but I love them! We spent the weekend in Niwot, CO (right next to Boulder) to visit these crazy kids. Colorado is so beautiful!

At Matt's Big Breakfast in Phoenix, AZ...so good! We waited about 1 hour because this place was packed and SO small inside...but a great experience

Outside the Mesa, AZ temple after Nate & MC's wedding

so far this summer has been great to us. mark has been busy at work & working hard to move up in his company. i have been on the job hunt and finally got a nanny position up in park city for a few weeks in july.

so until then I have been helping out our good friend kacie with her darling baby, liv, a few mornings each week. she is the sweetest little girl who laughs and smiles the the entire time I am with her! i have also been working on my summer bridge course {stats & research methods}.

i don't mean to brag but i have become quite efficient with cooking and cleaning the house too... :) but if you were home all day you would be too, right?

one great accomplishment i have had this summer is really starting to plan and prepare dinners each night. it might sound lame, but being young and married = limited money. so it is kind of a big deal to us :) cooking light magazine has been a life saver & I have found some awesome recipes! mark even loves them too! $$ saver & tasty.

looking forward to the upcoming weeks & months!

coming up...

nanny position in park city

vegas

"stay-cation" in LA with my family

ashley & brent's wedding

A loooong weekend in seattle

shane & heather's wedding

the barefoot contessa

in college i began to watch the food network a lot...i mean A LOT! 

i learned so much about the fundamentals of proper cooking from all of the shows and that is where my knowledge and love of cooking began. 

my favorite chef/food network star is my girl, ina garten!

the barefoot contessa.

Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

for those of you who know me, you know how much i love ina & look up to her. 

i love her food, her kitchen, her home in the HAMPTONS, how cute her and her husband are {jeffrey} and that she is always having dinner parties with her gay best friends. 

she is just fabulous.

she is always hosting some sort of party and has the best taste in decor! she has a bold, yet simple style & it is flawless...

 you can't get better than that.

i am a true fan & have most of her cookbooks, i think I'm missing one. ina just makes cooking so simple, delicious & fun. if you haven't seen her show, the barefoot contessa, then you should really make of point of doing so...it is worth it.

 my favorite ina dish is her lemon bar recipe. 

one day mark & i will be living in the hamptons and ina and i will hit up the local farmer's markets together and have fabulous dinner parties on the reg! 

well...a girl can dream, right? :)

{short & sweet}: morning bliss

rise & shine

staying up late and waking up well into the afternoon has become a bad habit of mine over the past few years. {thank you college life} i love to sleep, but every now and then when i have to wake up early i am reminded of how much i love the mornings. no matter what the previous day brought, the early morning represents a new start. a clean slate.

there is something so peaceful and fresh about the early hours of a new day. the air is chilly and crisp. the sun is just starting to rise, causing the color of the sky to slowly change and grow brighter. yet the land is still dark and covered in shadows. asphalt is cool to the touch and the streets are empty. the beauty of the quiet Earth is breathtaking, but there is nothing that beats the smell and sounds of the early morning {or lack thereof, perhaps}. it is so quiet at that time of day. the only noise you hear is that of small birds chirping and the rest of the neighborhood waking up. there is no distinct smell, either. only fresh, clean air. no other moment of the day is quite the same.

the smell of my parent's coffee brewing, the morning news on TV, a newly printed paper on the table & the view from my living room/porch is purely divine.

it doesn't matter where you are, either. waking up early in any city, in any country brings these same gifts, only slightly varied.

I LOVE IT! seriously nothing beats the beauty of a new day.

NYC

Smell of coffee :)

Central Park Morning

{short & sweet}: quotes

i don't know what it is about short & sweet saying that really speak to me. 

they are so powerful, bold and simply honest.

i feel so inspired when i read a great quote. i love that i always stumble on great phrases and words on pinterest...here are a few that i love & maybe you will too!

one day i will travel the world. i will live in new places. i will document my adventures & enjoy every minute of it...