Oh life.

Oh gosh, this is embarrassing.

My last post was back in March! Holy Hannah! Sometimes your life goes on auto pilot and you forget about the details. That's basically what happened. My photography business kind of took off without telling me and I was seriously caught off guard. I wasn't anticipating that jump this year.. not that soon and not all at once like it was. It's been an amazing trip! But can I just say how exhausted I am? All the time? No, I'm not pregnant.

I graduated with my Associates in May, which was a huge relief. I made it! My family and 2 of my best friends were there to support me :) Carson took me out to lunch and to a movie and then my mom had a graduation party for me at her house. Big fat party!

Carson started working for his dad as well as continuing on with being a free lance reporter for KSL. We've had so many blessings and we're grateful that he's able to work with his dad and brother and have the availability for his news stories at the same time.

I have increased my camera family size! With this jump in my business, I knew it was time I upgraded some of my equipment to keep up with everything. I was able to get another body, a couple lenses, a light kit, and a medium format film camera. My hopes are for one day to shoot mostly film for my professional work. Film is SO LOVELY.

I had my first destination wedding in San Diego in July. That was quite the experience! I had Carson second shoot for me and it was an amazing time. He even liked it, which is saying a lot... he's not a super fan of weddings like I am. I'm excited for when I can finally edit it.

That's another thing... I'm always 20 shoots behind.. it never ends! Which is fantastic, but it can get overwhelming. That being said, I did not go to school this semester (which started yesterday). I had prayed and talked it over with Carson, and we felt good about me taking a break in at least something. Let's just say I'm super stoked. Don't worry mom, I'm going to go back to school. Eventually.

Carson is back in school. I'm editing and shooting my life away. Things are good. We are in the process of finally making our bedroom cute.. that included lots of painting and sanding and rearranging and money, but it's coming together! We're also going to be going to New York in November with Carson's family and then to Florida in December to shoot a wedding! Lot's of new and exciting things are happening.

Did I mention how tired I am all the time? But loving it. Truly. And my migraines aren't as frequent as they used to be, so that's a huge plus.

Oh! We got a dog! Piper! She's a white mini Schnauzer. She's a cutie-pa-tootie.

Annnnndd... that's it for now :)

Carson turns 21!

I'm a big fatty fail lately on posting... It's going to get better when school gets out. I promise.

Carson had his birthday on March 23! He turned 21... the big twenty-one! No, we didn't go out and gamble or drink... but we did stay up until 3 am the night before reading Hunger Games! We got up the next morning and I made a big breakfast for him (with his fancy pure maple syrup) and we kept reading all morning long. I also baked his cake. We then went to go see the movie Hunger Games (we were so close to finishing the book! we even read in line at the movie theater haha). We LOVED the movie. They did a really good job. Then we came home and I attempted to make fondant! It.. well.. tasted good... but it didn't come out how I wanted it to. Carson assured me it was alright and that he still loved his cake. We went out with his family for dinner to Sakura Japanese Grill. They even brought out a dessert for him and we all sang. We then went back to our house, where a bunch of his friends and my family were waiting to surprise him. It was so much fun!

Wedding photo and more!

It's been a while! I need to update this more often because I don't keep a journal and it would be nice to read back on this blog when we're 20 years down the road and read about our newlywed experiences. Life goes by so fast! It's been 10.5 weeks since we got married. That being said, I have pictures back from our photographer! I'm only posting one.. I'll have to dedicate a whole post to the pictures later. :)

Other than that, we've just been working, going to school, and loving each other. I've also been so so so busy with photography. I love it. I just finished my 3rd wedding of the year last weekend, and it couldn't have been a more magical day. I joked the whole time that I cried more at their wedding than I did my own. But for real. Their love is so amazing. Here's my favorite shot from that day:

It's days like those that make me remember how much I LOVE being a photographer. Not that there are days when I don't... I just think I get in the motions and stress from other factors in my life carry over to my photography business and I get confused. One day, I won't have school or work in the way. It'll just be me, my handsome husband, maybe a kid or two, and my camera. (Don't worry, we're having more than 2 kids).

We also sold Carson's car. It was a sad day... we could have kept it, but the payments every month were annoyingly large and we wanted to have somewhat of a savings going. Also, my car needs to be fixed, bills, and other things made is so we needed some extra money. We ended up buying him a blue scooter. It's cute! (ahem.. I mean.. it's manly honey, very masculine). We celebrated our purchase by driving to Mcdonald's after the wedding I shot to get me some food. We passed a couple people, in which the little girl yelled out that we were cute. We went through the drive through and the lady at the window also said "oh, how cute!" haha.. we had a good giggle on the way back home. We both agreed that we have a really good life and we love each other so much. We know how to have fun, even though we're poor most of the time haha.

Anywho, it's Spring Break and it's sooooo nice. Gives me a much needed break from my hectic schedule to spend some time with the hubby and clean our home! Yay!

Photos!

One more for the night:

I cut my hair, as you know. But I cut it even shorter now.

Dilemma: I got awesome photos done this weekend, but with my older haircut. SOOO.... I'll post some photos by the awesome David Terry (click his name!) and also the one I took with my webcam on my computer of the new haircut. It's the shortest I've ever had it, and the shortest it's been in like 15 years... so it's a big deal!

It was a lot of fun working with him, as well as Scott Myler (you can click his name too!) and Pete Hansen (click his name as well). I brought Ciera with me and we all had lunch at 25 Main and took photos around Main Street. It was a lot of fun getting to know the photographers as well as getting out of my comfort zone (which is behind the camera, not in front).

Here's the updated hair. David Terry joked that the photos were outdated and I needed another photo shoot now... haha. I think I'll keep this hair for a while though :)

A little more spunk to it :) Happy Thursday!

8 Weeks of Marriage Bliss!

I love Carson.

Yep, I said it.

Life is stressful. It's even more stressful if your spouse is. well. one of those unhelpful, uncaring types. (Psh, yeah that's why you don't marry those types right?) It's surprising how people can change once you get married. For me? Carson just got BETTER than he was.

And I mean, he was a pretty good guy (I married him, didn't I?)

And now that we're married, I am more stressed out than I ever have been (excluding when I was going to school with 3 jobs and planning a wedding) but Carson makes me feel like I'm the best ever. And let's face it, I can be a mess sometimes. Ok, fine, a lot of the times.

-I hardly get ready in the morning these days and he makes me feel like I'm the prettiest girl around.
-When I'm super stressed about a test, deadline, getting shoots edited on time, he's massaging my back and asking if he can get me anything.
-He makes my lunch every day and brings it to me at work so I can have it "fresh" instead of in a lunch box sitting for hours.
-He fills up the gas in my car before I go to work if I'm low.
-He never forgets to pray with me before bed, even if he plans on staying up later.
-We're selling his car so I can get a new camera. He'll be driving a scooter soon. Woo!
-He can ALWAYS tell when I'm sad or worried about something. It helps, knowing that he is aware of my slightest mood change, and is wanting to help me through anything.
-He is constantly saying he's glad he married me and that we are together.

Today, we had a couple coming over for "Guess Who's Coming Over to Dinner?" It's something our young married couple ward does. They have people sign up to "attend" or "host" and they mix it all up so neither knows who is coming over or where they're going. It's a good way to meet people in the ward. I had signed us up to host. I had to work until 3, so I had Carson get the chicken in the crock pot earlier. I had told him I could do the rest, and that we'd clean the front rooms and guest bathroom and get everything ready when I got home from work.

Well when I got home, everything was already cleaned. The dishes done, dishwasher going, chicken cooking, bathroom cleaned and counters wiped down. I was shocked! It was such a kind gesture and a load off my day. Seriously, I about cried. I don't think he knows how much I appreciate him.

It's been a good 8 weeks of being married. I'm so happy I have him.

Resolutions

Here I am, eating my blueberry muffin and drinking Naked Orange Mango juice my husband brought to me at work. I also had a grapefruit as well. Eating healthy can be yummy. It's one of my new year's resolutions. That, and working out, keeping the house clean, getting good grades, remaking my photography blog and site...

Yeah.. so far I am just eating healthy.

Both Carson and I are hoping to graduate this year with our associates. Me in the Spring with my Associates in Business, and him in the Summer with his generals. School is tough. It's even tougher when you're a newlywed, new home-owner, photographer, and working full time. That's why I've only gotten to "eating healthy" in my resolutions. Even Carson jumped on the bandwagon and bought wheat bread the other night during a quick run for groceries (we go through milk and bread so fast that grocery shopping becomes a twice-a-week thing). I don't like wheat bread... but he says it's healthy. I wonder if my honey-wheat bagels count as a whole grain? I do like me some bagels.

Anyways, as part of my resolutions, I wanted to get a different look. I grew out my hair as long as I could for my wedding, and now that that's over, it was time for a change! I still don't know if I want to cut the back shorter, but for now, here's a sneeky peeky.

Carson says he likes it. Whew! I was kind of nervous coming home. Lucky for me, he likes that I mix it up and likes me with short hair! I didn't post a color version because... it's a surprise. I'll have more photos up later. I get to meet with a bunch of photographers this weekend so I might have some photos to show off :)

So far, Carson and I are still madly in love. We live a happy life. Thanks for reading :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I'm a little late.

It's because I was too busy having a great day that I couldn't blog until now!

I had to work and Carson had school, so we decided for him to open up his present the night before. I got him a game and candy and a cute card :) Carson surprised me with a dozen roses today too :)


Today after work, we went on a Biolife date. How romantic is that? They even let us sit next to each other and he drew funny pictures on his iPad so I wouldn't have to think about the needle in my arm. But hey, blood is red... Valentine's are red... your heart is red... blood comes from your heart...

No? Still gross?


Just sayin' .... it was a good Biolife date.

We have been scrounging on our food the last couple days.. eating Ramen and such... because tonight we splurged and went to Orchid's! My, my... such fantastic food. Supa-fancy. They gave us a rose at the end of the night too.

Carson is so good about noticing and understanding my feelings. Always making sure I'm doing ok and if I'm not, he'll do whatever he can to fix it.  All this Valentine's Day stuff is nice and thoughtful, but just knowing he's mine forever and working together with me to make this marriage the greatest is all I need in life.

Hello!

So. Being married!

Is great. It is.

But, dang! It's work!

;)

We've been married just over a month now :) It's been a good month as well. We've gotten the living room of our house pretty much done.. just need to hang some things up still. Carson's office/computer room is coming together too! We finally got him a red futon to go with his bright blue wall. We'll have to post pictures soon... when we have everything put together.

We had a dinner for our friends that helped so much with the wedding and that went really well! I made mashed potatoes for the first time, and also made corn, gravy, salad, rolls, and steak! (Carson made the steak, he's pro). We also had some virgin daiquiris after dinner (which I made, I'm so pro). We played a game of Yahtzee, which Seth won. Beginners luck is all I have to say.

We went to our new ward; the young married couples ward. It's such a great ward too... everyone is so nice and welcoming. I can't wait to go every week! We couldn't go today because Carson was sick :( He has the flu... no fun I tell you! I made him soup tonight though, so he should be gettin' better soon ;)

Today was the Super Bowl! Carson and I went over to my mom's house and had a par-tay! She really went all out on the food and decorations. It made it a whole lot more fun. Carson was feeling a bit better so he was able to eat all the yummy food. I swear I had a million mini cheesecake cups that I gained 5 lbs tonight. About halftime though he was feeling sick again, so we left... We don't have cable at our house, so we found out through the internet who won. GIANTS! We were happy :) I guess back at my mom's house, they were all cheering about the results. They were cheering so loudly that Maggie and Millie started cheering and freaking out but of course they had no clue why haha. It was a lot of fun.

I have too many blogs that I have to keep updated I decided. On my personal blog, I'm doing a 365 day challenge. Each day I take a picture of myself and write about my day and answer 4 of the same questions for each day such as what I was glad I did that day, who I saw, what I wished I would have done and what I was grateful for that day. If you'd like to check it out, here's a link --> click me!

Here's some pics of the party!

Honeymoon in Hawaii :)

The Honeymoon! Oh gosh, it's still so weird to think we were in Hawaii 2 weeks ago. It's such a gorgeous place. Let me tell you, it was difficult coming home and starting school the next day. We enjoyed 80 degree weather, flip flops and short sleeves, eating until our stomachs hurt, playing in the ocean in our full on clothes (yeah, it sounded like a good idea at the time) and not having to put chapstick on our lips every 5 seconds because of the perfect humidity. *sigh* we miss you Hawaii. Mahalo for a fantastic time!

We couldn't check into our hotel until around 1 in the afternoon. We arrived in Hawaii 6 am their time, so we had a LOT of time to kill. We were so dang tired, and that is why we look so haggard in this next photo. We went to breakfast at a local place down the road and explored around Waikiki. We ended up passing out in the hotel lobby on the couches for 3 hours after that until we were allowed to check into our room. We shopped a little and ate (the two things I do best!)

I had my 21st birthday over the honeymoon! Carson took me to IHop for breakfast. Then we made our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center and spent the day there. 

I made an awesome fish.

Learning to Hula (the kind where the women shake their booties fast)

And Carson learning some of the dances too.

It got a little out of hand as they started to do this motion... can anyone guess why? ;)

As part of my birthday, Carson made sure we got prime seating and a nice Luau dinner of Kalua Pork... mmmm

At the very end, they asked for anyone who had a birthday that day to stand up. Then everyone sang happy birthday to me! The host then asked for anyone celebrating love to come up on stage (meaning honeymoons, anniversaries, engagements, etc.) He then had the entertainment start playing their instruments and he sang to all of us and asked us to slow dance on stage. It was so cute and a perfect birthday present. Dancing with Carson is one of my favorite things. He makes me feel so safe in his arms. :)

We then went to the night show, "HA Breath of Life" where there was lots of fire dancing and other awesome performances that went along with the story. This man below was amazing!

Turning 21 over the honeymoon has its priviledges! I was able to rent us a car to get us around the island. The people at the car rental place were so nice to us and happy it was our honeymoon. They gave us a pretty awesome deal and off we drove in a 2011 yellow Camaro. Yay Bumblebee! It was fun zipping around the island in that.

The Dole Plantation! I was super excited to visit this place. I love pineapple. I never realized though that I've been missing out on the REAL stuff! It was sooo amazing here. The pineapple flavored ice cream was really great too. As were the pineapple gummy bears.

We then headed up to North Shore and saw some awesome waves! The water was colder that day, and it was quite cloudy so we didn't get in, but the view was breathtaking!

On our way back, we stopped at a Shrimp Shack on the side of the road. I don't even like shrimp that much, and I must say, this was DANG good. Mmm. Let's just say Carson and I are suckers for food. This whole trip we ate really well. We didn't care much for souvenirs.. just the food ;)

Pearl Harbor was one of the most awesome experiences. It's one thing to learn about things in a textbook or in the movies, but it's not REAL until you actually experience the place yourself. I feel that is how it is with most historic sites. It was all so surreal to me the whole time we were there. It had a certain air of peace/respect/holiness about it. I had to hold back tears some of the time.

The rest of the honeymoon we spent catching buses going to movies (we kind of spent all our money). But it was fun to relax and enjoy Hawaii by taking walks and going to the beach. We were sad to leave, but excited to start our adventure of being married and putting together our home.