PORTLAND THROUGH THE IPHONE

On February 12th Scott and I hopped off the plane at PDX with SUCH EXCITEMENT TO SEE OUR BESTIES.

Ok back up. Once upon a time Kelsey and I met before our freshman year of BYU and Evan and I met during my sophomore year. I loved both of them dearly because they are pretty amazing people so when they started dating later on I was so excited! And then to top it off we all got engaged around the same time, and then married in the same temple, same day. 

Wedding twins forever!! Long story short we spent a wonderful year with them at BYU until they broke our hearts and moved to Portland. 

So over the three day weekend Scott and I did the logical thing- we bought plane tickets and flew out to stay with them. 

When we were too busy to be models slash professional photogs, here are the pictures snapped on iPhones that pretty much summed up our trip.  

As an avid donut consumer Voodoo's did not disappoint... but it probably wasn't the best thing for me to eat on an empty stomach...

Kelsey was like our paparazzi it was great.  Also Scott was really happy about his purchase.

Loooove that Portland art.

Our first interaction with Mount Hood! Thanks Pittock for the great views.

Found my boyfriend at the international rose garden- which by the way there were no roses. It's cool though.

awkward pose for the win.

KELSEY IS SUCH A DOMESTIC GODDESS.

Oh hey Evan nice of you to come home from work.

Also this weekend one of the most important moments of my life happened. We stopped by our friend Trevor's house and we got to meet the famous Duke Woller!!!

And Trevor's mom who is the sweetest sent us home with some valentine treats!

Best part about Portland- the food! Not only did Kelsey cook delicious meals but she showed us some of the best grub around the city.

Here is a picture from lunch one day, not of the food but of Kelsey.

Probably the wildest night we had in PDX was when we watched the movie Clue and then played the board game after.

Clue is actually really hard. But the movie is really good.

All the Portland Natives hike the 4T Trail. More on that later.

We naturally needed a heart shaped pizza for dinner Valentines night. Doesn't get more romantic than that.

I pride myself on my talent in photography dance.



We made sure to get some exercise to burn off all of the delicious food we had been consuming.

And debated on upping our health game at salad world.

But this tasted much better. 

And now to end this post of the best trip ever, is a super clear and well taken photo of the famous PDX carpet.

THE QUARTER QUELL

Today Scott is TWENTY FIVE! That grandpa.

In a perfect world I would have bought Scott 25 presents and spent the day by his side spoiling him and cooking all of his favorite foods and thrown him HUGE birthday rager with all of our friends. Buuuut poor guy has class and two tests and I have work. And we are heading to PORTLAND tomorrow morning. So my dreams of making Scott's birthday the biggest day of the year may not be fulfilled... this year.

But on the plus side I get to celebrate Scott's birthday over a few days!



On Saturday I told Scott he could pick anywhere in the world (aka provo) to eat dinner and he chose Red Robin lolz. So after a burger we went the movies. I didn't take any pictures because I having so much fun.

On Sunday I made Scott's favorites- chicken pillows and banana cream pie. I decided to make it a couple days early so Scott wouldn't have to try and finish a pie in one night.

Part of my present to Scott was not spending money on candles or wrapping paper or any birthday decorations. So i improvised a little.

From far away it looks kinda legit right?

Yesterday Scott got an early present of going to the grocery store and picking up food for dinner last night and his birthday lunch today.

We left with corn dogs, biscuits, cocktail shrimp, goldfish, jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches, yogurt covered pretzels and cookies and cream hershey bars.

We opened presents this morning.

(my attempt to make something crafty with my limited resources and time)

And then tonight after he is done with his tests, we will pack for our trip and then go get dinner somewhere... probably in-n-out...

Happy birthday to my favorite person ever!

BUSY

I feel like everyone thinks they are the busiest person on the planet. I swear everyone I talk to is like "I am just soooo busy!" Don't worry I am guilty of this well. That is usually my go to response when I am asked.

When I graduated I thought my life would get significantly easier. I wouldn't have any homework and I could just come home and stare at my diploma

Oh do you need a closer look at it?

(One day it will get a frame)

But it's not easy. It's tiring. And all I want to do when I get home is throw on sweats and lay on the couch with netflix and junk food. My dreams of having a home cooked meal on the table in our pintrest worthy apartment fly farther and farther out the door each day.

I noticed this happening within my first week of work and ever since then this blog post has been in my mind. I have been trying really hard to avoid this lazy attitude before and after work. I have so much going on in my life that if I become a lethargic bum when I clock out, nothing will get done. So I decided to think about what things distract me, and then make sure they don't.

*also disclaimer, even though I am a college graduate I do not have all the answers (shocker). This post is in no way me trying to impart wisdom on the blogosphere. It is actually just a way for me to write this stuff down and hold myself accountable.

Does anyone else feel like you log on to instagram and facebook and then before you know it, it's half an hour later? When I wake up in the morning, I need like a good 10 minutes on the couch before I can fully function. I used to go check all my social media and before I knew it Scott was leaving for school. And then before I knew it I had 10 minutes to get ready for work. NOT COOL. It's not like I have any plans of giving up my insta or facebook, and in fact I still check it daily, but I felt like I waist so much time in the morning on it! So instead I read the skimm. 

If you haven't heard of it get it now.

I ditched my backpack for a purse when I started working and it was a little bit of an adjustment for me. I have never been a purse person because I feel like everything usually just ends up tangled at the bottom. But I found this gem of a purse at Target and I am obsessed. Not only does everything have a place but I feel like 10x more professional with it. 

I also am the type of person that needs to make lists in order to get things done. And sometimes I would get overwhelmed at my stacks of papers and decide just to do nothing. There was just so much and it wasn't organized and it was a mess and it was much easier to just do nothing and sit on the couch. Then I invested in a planner. Now I just write down everything that needs to be done that day and check it off as I go!

It is super hard to be productive if I don't even feel good about myself (like how I look and how I physically feel). One of my new years resolutions was to eat lunch because usually I was so busy (ha) that I would just eat when I got home from school. Well that left me starving and weak during the day, and then bloated and full when I got home. 

I also recently invested in Bloke body scrub- huge game changer. I have never really had a problem with acne but I do get dry skin and then one rogue giant pimple that sticks out like a sore thumb, but after using Bloke three times a week, my skin has never been softer. 

Seriously invest in Bloke. They have some new hair products coming out- I am so excited to try. 

Another really important thing is to take care of yourself spiritually. I am not one for pushing my religion on others, but can I just say how much it helps to know I am not alone and there is a plan for me? Reading my scriptures every morning is the perfect start to my day. I love taking some time to reflect on what I am most grateful for. 

This one may not make a lot of sense, but I feel like often what gets my mood down is regret. Too many times I look back on my life and wish I could have done things differently. Sometimes they are small, and sometimes they are big. But the reality is that nothing can be done. I can't go back in time and choose differently, I just have to take what I have learned and apply it to the future. 

The other night as I was laying in bed and the thoughts of regret began to creep in, I had a new thought: if I had done things differently, would I still end up here? Cuddled up to my sweet husband? Because I don't want to think about things that would have lead me to a different reality. So when I start wishing things went different, I think of Scott instead. And how lucky I am to have found him. 

I think this sums it up. And is a good ending to this much too personal post!

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