soon

I love these pictures of San Onofre. I took them out the car window as we were leaving one day. This beach has so many good memories attached to it...

- learning to surf with Clare and being pushed into the waves by her dad (now my father-in-law..cool huh)

- bonfires with the family for birthdays

- walking down to churches to surf, and trying to protect our feet from the rocks and cold early morning sand

- surfing with kari, sarah davis, and other friends on a day when the waves were SUPER big and I almost cried because I thought I was going to die.

Good times. I can't wait to be there with my family...SOON! Only 3 more weeks, I can totally do this. With the end of the semester coming, the anticipation of visiting home is so pungent. Dave and I talk about it everyday. He has been watching surf videos and I have been on the search for the perfect summer swimsuit. Gotta admit this kind of behavior makes it almost impossible to want to study...but we press on.

Something that keeps me going is the realization that this is my last full semester EVER. I will be taking classes during spring and summer, but it will be SUMMER! And it will be so much more tollerable because the sun will be shining and there will be fun things to do.

So my registration date to sign up for fall classes was today. There was no waiting up until midnight hovering over the computer to add classes. There was no stress and worry about what the fall semester will bring. It is a phenomenal feeling! Come August I will be officially done with all of my classes at BYU! WAHOOOOO.

So here is to home, and surf, and sunshine...please come SOON :]

absent.

To explain my absence: I was sick for TWO WHOLE WEEKS with a super sore throat and cold. - still have the cold -

So due to missing almost a whole week of school and work I am playing the catch-up game.
- Finished sewing skirt for my sewing class
- Finishing my button-down shirt for sewing
- 4-page paper
- 3 midterms
- 12-page paper due Friday (totally not looking forward to this)
- and oh so much more I can't even think of

Lets just say there have been many late nights and early mornings. Good news is Dave and I finally saw Tangled and LOVED it. In other good news, once Saturday is here I will be a happy happy girl. No more research paper, no more sewing project (for now), and no more reading research articles! I am so glad that the end of this semester is quickly approaching ...I can handle 4 more weeks.

Also, I did let myself have a little fun this past weekend. My grandparents came up from California and we got to hang out all day. I will post on said fun soon. Back to the grind!

oh st. pat

Happy st. patrick's day! I come from Irish ancestors on both sides of my family. Thats where most of my blood comes from mum says. We even have some black Irish in there, which I think is why my father and sister have super dark olive skin...I missed out in that department and got the freckles, fair skin, and GREEN eyes. Ah well.

I thought I would leave you with one of my favorite Irish blessings:

"May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you

In the palm of his hand."

Crépes

photo from Ashley

My old hawaii-roommate Ashley did a post on my (ok my mom's) crépe recipe and I was reminded of how oh so good they are. Almost made me run to the store tonight to buy a pallet of strawberries so I could whip some up. The photo is courtesy of Ashley as well, I stole it because she is a much better photographer than I. We used to make these crépes all the time in hawaii for roommate dinners. They are SUPER easy and SUPER tasty. You just throw all the ingredients in a blender and whala. Dave and I like them best with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, powdered sugar (powdered sugar from Sweden is the BEST, my best friend brings us some when she comes down and it is the fluffiest, yummiest, sweetest...ok moving on..) and sometimes Nutella. Try them out, you wont regret it. Especially since strawberries are now coming in season you can get them for cheap! Eat up!

CREPES
4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

2 TBSP melted butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 TBSP sugar (I actually do 1 TBSP granulated sugar and 1 1/2 TBSP powdered sugar to make them extra GOOD)

I just throw it all in the blender at one time and mix it up good! Have pan on medium heat. Spray the pan with pam, slowly pour the batter in one spot and then swivel the wrist to have it cover the whole pan. It truly is an artform :) You are ready to flip it when the edges curl up and there are bubbles in the center. (Sorry for the excess of simple "you probably already know how to do this" directions, but I know that I like to know just how they do EVERY step when I try a new recipe so there you go). This recipe is really easy to alter depending on how sweet you like them. This recipe feeds about 4 people having about 3-4 crepes each. Half the recipe for two people. Happy Crépeing!

"i embrace life"

sunshine...

photo from here

Thank you sun for coming out today. We got about 65 whole degrees here in Provo. Which is amazing. The only time I actually spent outside was walking to work with Dave but it was much needed. I feel like a much happier person when the sun is shining. I notice my environment more, I am more alert, I embrace opportunities, and it is so easy to smile! Probably because I was not bundled up in 5 layers and pulling my hood up and around my face. I need me some vitamin D! And a little color would be nice too.

On a similar, but different and slightly unrelated note...I was reading in REAL SIMPLE magazine the other day and there was an article talking about happiness. It was discussing the idea of reciting "mantras" to yourself to get through a slump or to erase negativity. Usually I think these things are pretty dumb. Saying: "I am awesome." "I am strong." "I am a hotty." seems pretty ridiculous to me. But there was a phrase that I felt could really apply to me. A woman used the mantra "I embrace life."

I love that thought. It seems I constantly have this internal struggle about whether or not to just go for something, or to be spontaneous, or seize an opportunity. I have always been a thinker. An analyzer. And more cautious than I would like to be. Those can all be good things, but sometimes I feel like it hinders me from getting the most out of life that I can. I have realized that when I have just allowed myself to go for it...to go cliff jumping, to try canoeing for the first time, to try a new workout, to try a new recipe, etc. I have really enjoyed myself and have felt proud that I tried something new. One of my unstated New Year's Resolutions was to take more opportunities and be spontaneous. So here's to my new mantra..."I embrace life." I am really going to try this! I will let you know how it goes.  

summer plans

We are so excited for summer! Have I emphasized that enough? The first part of summer will be mediocre. 3 classes Spring term and 3 classes Summer term, plus working 20hrs. a week. But in between we hope to fit in some pool time, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, hikes, river, bike rides, fishing, camping, and all the other fun things Provo has to offer. The really fun part of summer will come in August. Well fun in some respects. Dave and I will be apart for 2 weeks, which will completely suck cause we don't know how to be without each other and haven't been apart since we've been married. But it will be worth it. Dave will be spending some time here

visiting these people:

staying in a place like this:

and doing a little of this:

surfing....not kissing. (better not be kissing! ha)

He and his brother Luke will be going to Guatemala (where Dave served his mission) for about 5 days, and then will be in El Salvador for the temple dedication, to see Luke's families, and to surf! How fun. He has been wanting to go back to Guate since the day he got home. This will be a much needed break for him. He is such a hard worker and never stops to rest so he definitely deserves a vacation.

Originally we did talk about me going, but the more I thought about it the better I felt about just Dave and Luke going. I love experiencing new cultures and I would love to go, but because they plan on spending most of their time surfing and staying with families, I would probably spend most of my time alone on the beach or something. Maybe catch a few waves here and there, but really the majority of the time I would be by myself. Not very safe to be a lone girl in el sal. for hours at a time, and that is not what a vacation is to me. I want to cruise around experiencing things, not just sit on the beach catching up on the latest fiction novel. Plus it will be a good brothers trip for them and I didn't want Dave worrying about me. So, Dave has promised that he will take me down there when we could spend some time together. I am so excited for him to go. Dave can't stop doodling waves with "el salvador" penned underneath on every blank piece of paper he can find. I can tell he is a little beyond excited.

As for me, I will be spending my two weeks of vacation at mi casa in california. Enjoying the ocean, surfing, and spending time with family. I am already anxious about Dave leaving for two weeks, but I know we will both still have a great time. Distance makes the heart grow fonder right?

saturday is a special day....NOT.

Remember when Saturdays used to be cool? Like when you were in high school and all Saturday meant was beach, and eating, sleeping in, and utter laziness? Well not anymore folks! Saturdays are becoming less and less desirable. It is now a day of grocery shopping, laundry doing, test taking, paper writing, and errand running. So long my sweet days of yore! Ok i might be slightly exaggerating/biased because I just got out of the testing center after taking my SECOND midterm of the day! I was the first one there this morning to take my first test, and one of the last to leave on the second! The test I just got done with almost took me three hours to finish. So there you have it...a grand total of 4 1/2 hours of my Saturday was spent in the testing center. Not to mention the hours of studying to prepare for these tests. And the laundry I am about to go do at Dave's grandparents house for 6 hours because we don't have a washer/dryer. 6 hours to do laundry you ask? Yes because the washer only takes micro-mini loads or it stops working. Alright venting DONE.

Normally I really do look forward to the weekends, even if they are jam packed. I will especially love my weekends starting around April 20th. (when this semester is finally over). Though I am planning on taking 9 credits spring and 9 credits summer...so it may not turn out as luxurious as I hope. But i will continue to hope!

the radness of music

this morning was a great morning. the sun was up, my vans were on, and i was walking to school with some great music in my ears. usually i don't walk around with an i-pod or anything. in fact i don't even own an i-pod. i have an rinky dink "nomad" mp3 player, but it gets the job done. so on my way to school i just walked super slowly enjoying the sun on my face and some good tunes i had been neglecting. i realized how good of an effect music can have on me. it has the capability of instantly putting a smile on my face. it makes me feel happy to remember good times. and it reminds me that summer will come and i will have tan legs again.

i am someone who is LOYAL to bands for a long time. bands such as coldplay, mason jennings, and the shins have been my favorites for YEARS and they will never leave my playlists. along the way i have picked up some other groups that i really like, some new, some old, some funky, some not. here is my list of favorites that are currently playing in my home:

engine heart - mirah
sea green see blue - jaymay
flightless bird - iron & wine
baby's got sauce - g.love and the special sauce
amsterdam - coldplay
skinny love; blindsided - bon iver
find enjoyment - ray barbee
something about your love - mason jennings
the "lungs" album - florence and the machine
re-arranger - mates of state
window bird - stars

favorite artists in general:

the shins
coldplay
mason jennings
g. love and the special sauce
bon iver
amos lee
bob marley
slightly stoopid
sublime
matisyahu
ray barbee
third eye blind
chicago
feist
ingrid michaelson
cat stevens
norah jones
jack johnson
donavon frankenreiter
red hot chili peppers
the black keys
the growlers
john legend

there are many others. but you get the gist. cool thing too is that dave and i used to listen to these bands together back in highschool. chicago/g.love/the shins/red hot chili peppers would play in the car on our way to surf. mason jennings is what ske (dave's brother) would play on the guitar to serenade. third eye blind was a favorite in kaitlin's car after seminary. norah jones/donavon for hanging out around the house. and cat stevens/other oldies while fixing surfboards in the garage.

p.s. the picture of the headphones are "beats by dr. dre" they are soooo insane. i tried them out at the apple store with dave. we didn't want to take them off. it sounded like you were in the recording studio with the artist. and they are so comfortable to wear! too bad they come with a $300 price tag!

on my mind...on my mind again

:: big decisions. one big decision down (marry dave = check!) still have a few to go. still trying to figure out what i will do after i graduate. (thinking of doing something in HR) i may graduate in august with just my major (human development), but i am leaning towards finishing up my business minor. i just have a few classes left. this would mean i would have to stay in school another semester and graduate in december. bleh. i like school, i'm good at school, but i am just getting "over" school. i know, i know, these are the days i will never get back. somehow i can't help shaking this lack of motivation/energy when it comes to school. it might have to do with getting married, but i have a serious desire to just get a move on and have time to do other things besides school. such as actually having time to cook a meal on a day other than sunday. a full-time job would be less time consuming than my current work and school schedule. not trying to sound complain-y...just trying to document my thoughts here.

::other big things...dave has dental school aspirations. along with that come lots of other "big" things such as majoring in a hard sciency major, shadowing, taking the DAT, applying. he has two years left of his undergrad and we are already stressin! why does byu's science program have to be so intense? sheesh. good thing dave is a hard worker and can totally handle it. it is just nerve-racking to work towards something that we have no idea how it will end up. how will he do on the DAT? which schools will we be looking at? we could really end up moving ANYWHERE in a couple years. and that thought is exciting and scary at the same time.

::we both would reaaaaally like to end up in california one day. whether that is during dental school or after. both of us are californians born and raised and fell in love with the ocean, the sun, and the vibe. in the meantime, i am content in utah. i enjoy snowboarding in the winter. and i really like the summers! it gets super hot but there are so many fun things to do: hikes, bikerides, picnics, wakeboarding/wakesurfing, etc. i just have to remember to remind myself of these things when the heat hits and there is no beach to run to within a 600 mile radius.