4/12/2014

The big day. It's very strange, not being a family member, to be in the inner sanctum of this whole production, because it is a very personal day. (If only you knew all of the hard work that went into the reception alone.) The bridesmaids all get ready, curl our hair, and tuck little flowers in the strands.

It is a sunny day, though there are many clouds in the sky. The Portland temple is beautiful. Kelsi is gorgeous, of course. She really is. Chad is beaming. We pose for a few pictures before they go off to take their own pictures. Chris and I read at Starbucks while we wait for the reception to start. 

The reception is decorated with such great detail, it is incredible to see. Her family had been working to set it up all week. There is brunch foods and a crepe cake and we all eat until we are sick to our stomachs, but it's so so good. 

Kelsi's sister, Emma, grabs Chris and me and asks for help decorating the car. We get way too excited about that, and try to keep the innuendos to a minimum; it turns out to be mostly inside jokes for Kelsi to laugh at.

We say goodbye, go home, and Chris drops me off at the airport early the next morning. Until our next adventure...

4/11/2014

Much to our surprise, Kelsi is able to join us for our day in Portland. Because she is a foodie, she takes us to the Waffle Window. I have a breakfast waffle with tons of fruit on top, and blackberry basil lemonade. So. Good. Chris and I fall in love with the charming houses in the Hawthorne neighborhood (?) because they have character. We vow to live there one day.

She knows we would also love Powell's City of Books, and she is completely right. I buy Wildwood, Into the Wild, and Sparky! (It's a hilarious children's book about sloths. I had to walk out of that store with that book, right?)

We finish off our glorious day at Salt and Straw, where we try bizarre ice cream flavors like strawberry balsamic and olive oil. I get almond brittle with salted ganache and it is so delicious. One of my favorite things about Salt and Straw (and many other stores in that neighborhood) is the huge windows that open up, so it feels like you're sitting outside.

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We honestly did not get to stay long enough in Portland, so you can bet your bottom dollar that I have plans to go back - probably with Brianne. She's a good companion to adventure with.

4/10/2014

Chris and I on our way to Portland, OR. The drive across Idaho is nice, but a bit boring. Oregon is much more beautiful, but we miss a lot of it because it gets dark. It's about an 11 hour drive, and we pull in just after midnight.

However, there is this vibrant, gorgeous sunset as we come down from a mountain and everything feels like a dream.

Yesterday...well, I should back up. On thursday night, I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I have so many feelings, which will probably be found on another blog post. But I knew I couldn't watch that movie and just sit at home the next day. I couldn't.

So I planned a hiking day, and my mom threw in the trip to La Jolla, since it wasn't very far from where we hiked.
We went to Torrey Pines State Reservation, and I would totally go again. It was beautiful and there were several different hikes. We did two of them- Guy Fleming was my favorite. While we were on that one, we saw two dolphins swimming down the coast headed to Mexico. They were riding the waves in and it was so cute. Real live Sea World.

Then we went down to La Jolla and played in the cove there and watched the sea lions push each other off rocks. (Again, real live Sea World.) My gosh though, I don't remember it smelling so bad in the past. That was the only unpleasant part of the day.

Now I'm back in Rexburg wearing flannel jim-jams, while there is snow on the ground. Life is funny.

But I'm glad my family are:
1. good sports for putting up with my volatile inclinations
2. the best

Wow, this last week of school has been intense. It was alright though, because even though I was extremely busy, I didn't have any meltdowns or anything. It was relatively stress free. Sweet.

So anyways, I have a lot of posting to catch up on.


Let's start with last saturday, which was one of the best days of my life.


It was Kelsi and Emma's last day, so we wanted to make it special.
They were out exploring while we were at school, and happened upon Cave Falls. They loved it and decided that they needed to bring us.
It was so stunning.

Chris and I jumped in the water and went swimming. It was ice cold but it was so refreshing.

Then we went back to Rigby so we go float down the river with Kelsi's family, and oh my gosh, that was so much fun!
Brianne, Kelsi, and I all shared this huge tube and we fell off a few times trying to go over waterfalls and duck under fallen trees. We were laughing the entire time.

When we were finished, we had to hurry back to Rexburg because we were having a dinner party with our friends and they were waiting for us. It was a really nice time.

We wrapped things up and went to Kaire Anne's for dessert. We can't help it, we just love that place so much.

There were still a few hours left before curfew, so we went to the park and attempted to set off a floating lantern. It was way too windy and it shot off across the field like a rocket, scaring many couples, I'm sure. Then it floated away in the sky as we were all dying of laughter.

Kelsi arrived yesterday! She came with her sister and her mom to come visit for a few days.

Today, we went to Warm Slough. I've been hearing about it from so many different people lately, so we decided to go check it out. 

It was a lot of fun, but decided that we should get some cheap inner tubes so we could float down the river. The current was moving so fast!