BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

something you should know about me is i'm the worst at giving gifts. i am constantly giving them late. i don't know why, but i always take on these hand-made gifts at the last second, or just wait till the last second to find one, which often times ends up in my gifts being late. but hey, better late than never.... right? right! anyways. this is one of those gifts! i decided to make my friend a little quote book/journal for christmas & just gave it to her while we were in california.


THE ICE CASTLES

last winter i saw so many instagram pictures of the ice castles, but had no clue where they were & apparently wasn't smart enough to look it up, so we didn't get to see them ourselves. this year when my instagram started to be flooded with more ice castle pictures, i was smarter & found out where they were & made sure we went with our friends newt & dom.
i'm pretty sure we all left with numb toes, hands & colds. it was absolutely freezing, incredibly crowded, & there was snow up to my ankles to walk through, but it was worth it to see the castles. they have guys wearing hardhats wandering around shoveling paths & chipping away at the castles.  they seriously blew my mind. i can't wrap my head around how they made them & more importantly, how none of the icicles ever fall on people. it's so impressive. at night they light up the castles with different changing colored lights, there's a maze you can wander through & an ice slide (too cold for us, but i guess a lot of people wanted to go on it because the line as enormous). i definitely would recommend going if you are in the area & haven't had the chance yet. make sure to dress warm & wear rain boots or snow boots.. you'll definitely want them.

CALIFORNIA

we took advantage of the long weekend & made our way to sunshine & heat.  
there were bbq's, swimming, celebrating my bff's 25 birthday eating at delicious restaurants that aren't in utah, shopping, movie nights with the family & of course, donuts. i love donuts & really miss them in utah. for some reason they don't have donut shops like they do in california. they should really look into that.
cedar got two ear infections! he was the absolute saddest little babe. he hardly ever freaks out & cries, so when he did for an extended amount of time, we figured something was up. a lot of our time was spent around him sleeping & trying to get him better. but we didn't let it hold us back.
we saw mama mia the musical, which is one of my absolute favorite musicals. if you like musicals & you haven't seen it, definitely go if you have the chance. it is so, so much fun. 
taking cedar & russy to the park. i figured we should take advantage of the warmth & sunshine while we could. cedar was  p u m p e d  on the swings. it was really funny & pretty adorable to watch. 
we spent the day at silverstrand with our family & friends. this is the beach that i spent my entire childhood at. every summer, every beach day was at silverstrand, so i really love it. it's crazy to think that i now go there with our little family. austin & i always talk about the future & living in california, this weekend made me ready for that to happen. beach days every week sounds is exactly what i want. 

hope you all had a fun weekend! 

OUR TEMPORARY RESIDENCE

it's strange moving into a house that already has furniture & is decorated. austin & i literally had to pack up everything. while we chose a few things that we wanted or needed to keep out, the majority of it all is in boxes in the garage, just waiting for us to need it again. 
i wanted our room to still feel like it was ours. i put our bedspread on & have some of our knick-knacks on display: jewelry holders, books for fun & school, fly rods & the random item we've acquired since living in this new space.


THE HAPPENINGS

this weekend consisted of >>> spending an evening with the greatest friends who we definitely have not been able to see enough of these past few months. hopefully that gets to change. >>> trying new pinterest recipes: this, this & this >>> going to the mall on a saturday for the first time in a  very, very long time, reminding me why i don't go to the mall on saturdays. way to crowded, but we did run in to some people we never see, so it wasn't all that bad. >>> cuddling up on the couch, watching movies we've missed & are now on itunes to rent >>> dinner at pizzeria limone >>> going to our new ward, of which i'm 99% positive we are the youngest couple there. so, that's fun. but it is truly the nicest, friendliest ward i've ever been to. 
...& this is what's happening right now. austin is sorting flies for fishing, i'm blogging & we're watching how i met your mother.

RESOLUTIONS


i'm a little late in the whole resolutions game, but here they are. i struggled to put my new year resolutions in writing. they're just a million jumbled thoughts bouncing around in my head & it never sounds quite right when i write them down. i think a lot of my resolutions come full circle, connect back to each other, which in a way adds to the difficulty in writing them out, but here goes.

physical health >>> i want to make my health more of a priority. the way i eat, my physical fitness... which ties in to the next two goals

complete 30 day challenge >>> the bikram 30 day challenge is to attend a bikram class every day for 30 days & i want to complete this at least once this year.

no fast food >>> last semester was insane for austin & i, & i'm sad to admit we ate a lot more fast food than normal. both of us felt disgusting about it so we've decided to cut it out of our diets completely.

remember to breathe >>> to be calm & clear minded, to take time to think before i react in stressful/difficult situations. 

stop picking >>> probably my absolute worst habit. i pick at anything i can. nails, skin, peeling paint... literally anything. it's bad & i want to stop.

read more for fun >>> the majority of my reading is for school lately & while i've truly loved the books we've read (on the road, the road, hamlet, dracula...) i want to read more on my own as well. sadly.. this might have to happen after school's out, but still. 

spend less time on my phone >>> i want to be more in the present & not on my phone. to be in the conversation & with those who are around me, rather than spending time on my phone. i don't think i'm addicted or constantly on my phone, but i don't ever want those habits to develop, so i think i need to start working on it now.

slow down >>> take each day as it comes, not to dwell in the past or to look too far in the future. to be open minded about what is to come & focus on what is happening in the now. not to miss anything. 




HAWAII VIDEO

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I promise this is the last Hawaii post. but i put together some of the clips that austin & my brother took on their gopros from the trip. it's pretty fun to see them all & even though we just got back, watching it makes me want to go back already! i've never really made a video before, but it was pretty fun putting it all together... i'm sure i'll start making more now, so get ready. 
& if you're interested, the song on the video is Good to Sea you, by pinback!

7 B R O T H E R S, OAHU

before i started freshman year of high school, one of our favorite families moved to hawaii. which was devastating to everyone that knew them, but sort of lucky for us because it's given us a reason to go & visit them every once in a while. 
a couple years ago they opened their first restraunt -kahuku grill- & this year they opened their second: 7 brothers. 
7 brothers focuses on gourmet burgers & they are d e l i c i o u s. truly, everything these guys make is amazing & their burgers/ fries / shakes / coconut shrimp / salads did not disappoint at all. they opened their restaurant just for us & made practically everything for us to try. it was probably the best eating experience i've ever had. i had a burger of their secret menu, the seek, which is a pesto burger & it was unreal. so, so good & so different from any other burger i've ever had. 
seeing them is always the best. they're just like family no matter how long we go between seeing & talking to each other. it never changes & i love it. we spent the entire day with them at the beach & stayed late hanging out like old times at 7 brothers.
if you're ever on the north shore of oahu, you have to make sure you go to both the kahuku grill & 7 brothers. you will not be disappointed. 

OAHU

friday after christmas austin, cedar & i went to hawaii to spend the rest of winter break with my family. & it has been wonderful. so happy to get out of the cold for a little bit, to be back in the sun, & to be able to really relax. 
it's been a lot different having a baby on vacation. there is less time for tanning & more inside time while he naps, & more work going towards making sure he doesn't burn his little baby skin, but it's also so much fun. 
he's so interested in what's going on around him, his cousins constantly playing with him, & he & baby rus (he's 3 months younger) are pumped on each other & make each other laugh just by staring. it's pretty cute. 
our days go something like this: breakfast, cedar naps / i read / austin does school applications, laying in the sun, playing in the water, walks on the beach, nap, dinner, sleep. 
i mean, what else could you want?