Six Reasons I Love Scott

He suggests cute ways to paint my toenails because he knows it makes me happy.

He cooks!

He lets me go hunting with him. 

He'll do the dishes :)

We both love photography :D

And he loves me!!

Family Photography: Abrams

A few weeks ago, I was down in AZ visiting my amazing aunt and wonderful cousin and her adorable little family. They gave me the chance to get some photography practice in. With her two boys both under two years old it was a terrific opportunity for me to photograph kids. I love those little guys! Here are a few of my favorite shots. (You can also find my Facebook photography page by clicking HERE)

I Got Married!!!

This time I have a good excuse for neglecting my blog. I got married! On November 29th, 2012, I married Scott, the love of my life, in the Manti Utah Temple for time and all eternity. It was about time we did it and I am so happy we finally made it happen. My aunt was amazing and got us a gorgeous wedding cake. It was a wonderful surprise! I am grateful to everyone who helped us out and everyone who was there. It went smoothly because of all the help we had. I am also excited to finally see the pictures taken by Avery Lawton Photography! She is awesome!
We went honeymooning in St. George and AZ for a couple of weeks and now we are back home and still getting used to all the changes of living and working together. Life is absolutely amazing! The original plan was to have a reception sometime in January, but after talking it over again Scott and I have decided not to have one. Everything was amazing just how it was on the day of the wedding. To make it all even better, we are about to spend our first Christmas together. :D I love being married to my wonderful, amazing, sexy husband! <3 <3 <3
Here are a few pics from my grandparents:

Coming out of the temple. :D

See how gorgeous the cake is?!

Elk Meat is Yummy

Yep. A couple of weeks ago Scott shot his elk and we had fun cutting it up together. It was also rather difficult dragging it out from where he shot it. The night before it took him a few hours just to gut it and move it away from the entrails. It was a big animal. Lucky he had his brothers to come help! I plan to do my own hunting next year! Which means I will have to gut it myself...
Elk meat tastes like a mix of deer and beef to me. We filled up at least a whole box of 40 quart size bags with all the meat. There was soooooo much! Oh, and it's so yummy. :) Now there will be jerky, and stew meat, and steaks!

What were you for Halloween?

Guess what?! I totally dressed as myself on Halloween. Yeah, lame I know. I usually dress up as something so I was lazy and didn't dress up this year. That just means that I am already brainstorming ideas for next year's costume! What are some of your favorite costumes? What should I be next year? What are you going to be next year?

Halloween is coming!

Guess what everyone?! Halloween is almost here!!! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I get candy and everyone gets to play dress up and have fun! It also ushers in the holiday season, the anticipation for Thanksgiving and Christmas...and the new year! I don't know if you can tell, but I love the holiday season. I've started thinking about Halloween costumes. I have a few ideas in mind, but so far the idea of dressing up as a candy or something I can make at home is what I've been focusing on. I've never really been the person to buy pre-made Halloween costumes. Here's a picture that inspired me. What do you think?

I Bought a Car!

Guess what?!?!?!?! I bought a car! Yay! I have a 2001 Honda Civic now. It's silver and it is my favorite. I love it! I haven't given it a name yet... I will have to ponder this subject a bit longer. :) It pretty much sucked all my money away...but I can get places on my own now!!!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

   This summer I had the opportunity to act as an extra in the New Testament Project short films made by the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Not many people know about these videos, but they are short litttle clips of the savior's life with the purpose of helping people get to know Him better. I felt so blessed to be a part of it and I met so many wonderful people! The videos I got to be a part of were when Jesus feeds the 5,000, Jesus heals a man blind from birth, and Jesus foil a Pharisee's scheme. I had to get my hair and makeup done so I could look like a girl from ancient Jerusalem. They even painted me brown and put yellow/brown stuff on my teeth to make them look dirty! Pretty much I showed up on set clean and showered just to get dirty again. Haha! 

   When we were shooting outside, every day was at least over 95 degrees. We had a few people that got overheated and passed out or got delirious when Jesus was feeding the 5,000 (which actually happened to be about 300, I believe). Who could blame them? We were all wearing thick, rough fabrics that covered everything but our feet, hands, and faces. At least one of the hotter days we were able to shoot inside the Jerusalem Set. That set is amazing. It is not the actual size of the places in Jerusalem (duh) but it was built to look as authentic as possible and made so that the camera will be able to make it look bigger. Like I said, it's amazing.

   During the filming of the blind man receiving his sight I was able to be one of three women who sat by the pool he washed his eyes in and observe the miracle happening almost as if it actually were. The emotions on the actor's face were so real I nearly cried once. Every day I was there I could feel the spirit. It was one of those unforgettable experiences that strengthened me and my testimony.

   The last few shots I was in were taken after the sun went down on the last day and Jesus was near the temple talking to the pharisees. The crew got out their handy dandy rain making machine and it was pretty much the real thing. I enjoyed being able to act as if I was really experiencing life as one of those who knew Jesus when He was on the earth. The cool thing about it was that it gave me the opportunity to think about what I would really do if I had been there. Would I know it was Him? Would I give up everything to follow Him?  

   You will be able to find the videos at biblevideos.lds.org. I don't know when these will come out, but I will keep everybody updated. I would also have uploaded some photos of a brown me in costume, but I am not allowed so here is a little introductory video. :)

BYU Education Week 2012

This year was my first year ever to attend education week at BYU. I was able to stay with a really great friend of mine, Alisa. She's so awesome and we had lots of fun hanging out. :) The week was packed with fun classes on the BYU campus. I attended classes on the quest for self-mastery, foreign languages, understanding the spirit, how to be healthy, and some fun dance classes. I sorta know how to tango now! Sorta. I was able to take some notes so I will put a few of them up here. A few of the speakers were David A. Christensen, Tad R. Callister, S. Dee Barrett, R. Kirk Belnap, Stephanie Halford Taylor, and Stan G. Crippen. I will of course only put a few of my notes up since there are so many. I filled up at least half a notebook!

A Few Notes from David A. Christensen
- "When a man wages war against his weakness, this is the most holy war he can ever enter, and the joy of accomplishment is the most exquisite."
- If you're on a quest for self-mastery you need to keep your priorities straight. Our first priority should be to build/maintain our own spiritual and physical strength.
- In overcoming weaknesses, you must be very careful about what you decide you need to overcome.
- "Let no person give up prayer because he has not the spirit of prayer, neither let any earthly circumstance hurry you in this great duty." -Brigham Young
- "If we ignore what the Lord has given us (Book of Mormon) then we may lose the very power which we seek." -Benson
- "The spiritual control over the body may be secured by starting with the physical appetite." -Ballard
- God does not expect you to walk out of here and change everything, only to use wisdom and be a little better. If you can do this, He is pleased.
- Miraculous powers are available to those who seek diligently, kneeling before Him on a regular basis.
- When was the last time you knelt before God and pleaded for the gifts of the Spirit that could eliminate your weaknesses?
- The harder you try the more Satan is going to come at you.
- We can only move so fast and must be patient in our eternal quest for perfection. BE PATIENT.

A Few Notes from Tad R. Callister
- Knowing God, man becomes like God.
- If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to ask for the gift that will make us perfect.
- Is it more Christian to seek partial godhood? Don't short-sight yourself by choosing the easy way.
(The devotional he gave was packed with really good stuff. I couldn't write notes fast enough so that's why I have just a few bullet points for him.)

A Few Notes from S. Dee Barrett
- Anything that is above what God wants us to have is called lust.
- Satan's biggest secret: If he can get us to want something so bad, to lust after it, then he can get us to do really stupid things.
- Prayer and scripture study is like putting a cowbell around Satan's neck; we will hear him coming.
- Pray for meekness, and attraction to meekness. Being meek is confidence, knowledge of where our power really comes from.
- As we pray and plead we slowly find ourselves getting back in line, getting rid of excess desires.
- No matter what, the Lord will do something; it's His nature.
- Once you have done what He asks, go back and report. Keep the Lord updated, tell Him how you feel.
- In the morning decide what you are going to do that day, then run it by the Lord.
- What do you do when you don't feel an answer to your prayer? Thank the Lord, it is evidence of His trust.
- If we feel no confirmation immediately, we should act on our decision. (If we are doing all we can do)
- When He answers YES it is to give us confidence, NO it is to prevent error, and when He doesn't answer it is to help us grow in Him.

Avery Lawton Photography

I got to be a model for my best friend who is an amazing photographer. The shoot was super fun! Here are a few shots. If you want to do a shoot with her just get in touch. Her facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avery-Lawton-Photography/160142104028006.

Macro Photo Contest

I entered two photos into Pictureline's macro photo contest on Facebook. Voting is July 22nd- 30th! The spider one is my favorite. :D

Orange Hunting

Yesterday I went on a hunt for orange things to photograph. I was amazed at how hard it was to find that color where I live. Pretty much I got pictures of traffic cones and barrels. And Arby's Orange Cream Shake. Yumm! My toenails were orange too. :)

May: Moab, Job, Airshow

I spent the first weekend in May in Moab with a group
of friends. So much fun to finally see the arches!

I also got a new job at Lowe's! Woohoo!!! It can be pretty fun. I can get monies now!

At the end of May Scott took me to see the airshow at Hill AFB. It was my first
 airshow ever and I thought it was so fun! It seriously made me want to become a
 pilot, but then I want to try everything so no surprise there. :D

April Updates

Now that I have finished all the Europe posts I can catch up on what's been going on since I got back! The two biggest things that happened were birthdays. I love birthdays!

First up we have Scott. Happy Birthday Scott!!!

The next birthday was Kadin's, my best friend's baby who turned a year old! Woohoo! He's getting so big. :)

Europe 2012: Beach!

While in Italy we stayed at Villa Emilia, a cute little villa right next to the Mediterranean Sea. That was where we spent our Easter and all the nights in between seeing all the places we went. We even got to play on the beach!!! It was actually a bit chilly to go out in a swimsuit, but I just love how oceans and seas sound. I really wish that someday I can live near an ocean. We found an old boat that had washed up on the beach. I thought that was really cool even though we couldn't do anything with it but take pictures. While staying here I was totally inspired to write a novel. It was just so picturesque!

I didn't take this picture, but this is where we stayed. It was so nice. :D

Me in the washed up boat.

Europe 2012: Cinque Terre

The last place I was able to see before I left Italy was Cinque Terre, five cute little towns clinging to the cliffs. It was beautiful. I wish I had been able to hike to each little town, but my family and I got there a little later in the day so we drove around and saw what we could. Most of those towns are accessible by train or walking  trails only, but we got pretty far with the big fat Honda Odyssey.

Europe 2012: Roma!

Rome was quite an adventure! My family, Scott and I all took a tour that left early in the morning. we woke up at three to drive an hour from our villa to Camp Darby. We were all exhausted that whole day! It took a few hours to get there by bus and I slept most of the way. I wish I had been able to stay awake to see the landscape as we passed. Once there the tour guide couldn't say, "watch out for pick-pocketers and gypsies" enough and that the African guys selling fake stuff in the streets were really nice. Honestly, it was hard to fit all of Rome in a day. It's pretty much impossible. My way of seeing it was to skim over it all. I dragged my family all over Rome that day using our feet and the City Sightseeing buses a few times. (Those buses are not cheap!) Here are a few pics of the places we were able to see that day. :)

St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Yeah, I was here.

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Pantheon again :D

Victor Emmanuel Monument 

The Colosseum! 

The Colosseum again!