Reveries

Closing the blog

2010-06-16T22:15:00.005-06:00

Bryson and I have a new blog, and so with this new blog comes the closing of this blog. I'll be opening a new blog that's for my photography, so be on the lookout for it. Check out our new blog with all our Wisconsin adventures at :

brysonandwhitney.blogspot.com

Pictures!

2010-06-05T20:45:00.005-06:00

So it took a while to get our wedding pictures, but they're finally here!

The Parking Lot

2010-05-30T15:45:00.004-06:00

It's amazing what you find in a parking lot.

Mountain Beauty

2010-05-16T22:20:00.005-06:00

Bryson and I decided to go on an afternoon walk today, but wanted to go somewhere different. So we packed Bryson's new bike (see his blog to read more about it!) in the car and headed up the canyon to Big Spring Hollow. While he rode his bike, I walked up the trail and took some pictures. Bryson rode to the top of the trail then came met up with me and we walked back to the car together. It was relaxing and very fun! A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Ducks!

2010-05-16T21:50:00.004-06:00

Spring is here! I went over to the botany pond to have a little photo shoot with the ducks and their little ones. Some of them were swimming so fast, and having so much fun in the water that the pictures came out fuzzy. But some of them decided to be nice and pose for some pictures. :)

The little ones following in mom's footsteps.

Come on kids, time for your naps!

This duck and the one before were sitting on the edge of the pond together, kind of like they were keeping watch over all the little ones having their playtime in the pond.

Isn't the texture on the bark of this tree great?!

St. George

2010-04-21T17:20:00.008-06:00

I've taken forever to post this but better late then never! A couple months ago Bryson and I took a little weekend trip down to St. George. He presented at a conference and we took a little time to explore St. George. It was so much fun! Here's a glimpse of the beauty we saw in downtown St. George. :) Enjoy!

I love taking pictures of flowers!

There's a cute little cafe that Bryson and I went to for lunch. They sell cupcakes and wonderful paninis! This was one of the decorations on our table.

I also love old fences. I just think they're wonderful and beautiful!

There are some beautiful water features throughout downtown.

The St. George Tabernacle.

Midwest Here We Come!

2010-03-22T21:30:00.004-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard, or haven't seen Bryson's blog, we're moving to Wisconsin! Bryson was offered a job as the Director of Choirs at the University of Wisconsin - Rock County, in Janesville, Wisconsin. The job starts towards the end of August, so we'll be in Provo through the end of July. I am so proud of all the hard work Bryson has put in to finding a job and receiving this wonderful offer! We are so excited to start this new adventure in a few months!

Here Comes the Sun...

2010-03-08T20:57:00.003-07:00

I love the cold, blustery, rainy, snowy, overcast days, but after four months even I (the cold weather lover) enjoy when sun comes out and the wind dies down just enough to let the warmth of the sun come through. Those are the days when, even though I know I have stuff to get done, I grab a good book and read the day away, basking in the warm sun's rays. That was how my day went a couple weeks ago after I got home from work, and it was so relaxing! I got to enjoy the sun's warmth again while on a walk this afternoon and it was fun to see so many people out enjoying the sun, soaking up our little glimpse of spring before another winter storm comes in. The sun helps things grow, and brings smile's to our faces. So here's a couple pictures that I've taken of the beautiful sun in all its glory.

The sun peeking around the roof. It took a while to get this picture but it was worth it.

River in the Spanish Fork Canyon

Cherry Tomatoes that I grew last summer

Our honeymoon in New York - Central Park

The Chosen

2010-01-21T08:58:00.003-07:00

Over Christmas our book club read a wonderful book called The Chosen by Chaim Potok. The story is set in the 1940's in New York, and is about two teenage Jewish boys who come from different worlds, coming together and forming a strong friendship. Think of this as a teaser trailer, I don't want to give too much away. But not only does this book have a wonderful story, you will also learn more about the Jewish faith, and give you things to think about and wonderful topics of discussion. Plus it's not a terribly long book. Our book club had a wonderful evening of discussion around this book and we all learned a lot. I hope you enjoy!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu...

2010-01-07T08:49:00.004-07:00

I don't want to copy my husbands post, but I also gave Facebook the boot. I've been talking about being done with Facebook for a while, and finally it's gone. I was tired of how distracting it was getting and only really talking to 2% of the people I was friends with. But now it's gone and I'm feeling more productive during my day, which feels great! So if you want to check up on the life of the Mortensens or take a look at my latest photography excursion, check out my blog or Bryson's.

Home Sweet Home

2010-01-06T21:56:00.004-07:00

In the hustle and bustle of the last few months, I have been remiss in writing about our lovely apartment. Bryson and I went apartment hunting back in June, and it was one long day. We would call and email about apartments, go see them, then come back to campus to see if either someone had emailed us back or more apartments had been listed on craigslist. We looked at a few before we saw ours, and still saw a few more afterwards. But this one just fit us, and felt right.

Our apartment consists of a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and 2nd bedroom (aka the office/guest room/storage space/Bryson's voice studio.) There's no dishwasher, garbage disposal, and the washer and dryer are in a little building attached to the apartment building, but hey, you can't have everything. :) Plus this is home and we both love it! The recent additions to our home are a wonderful chair and ottoman for the living room, and a shoe bench and bookshelf Bryson made with the power tools he got for Christmas. We both think these additions have really made the house feel and look more like a home. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving and Our First Christmas Tree!

2009-12-12T15:38:00.004-07:00

We had such a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day we went down to Bryson's mom's house and where we had a great day of cooking and eating with Bryson's cousin and her husband and two little kids. The week before Bryson and I decided to have our own Thanksgiving meal ready, because we didn't know if we'd get together with the family on Thursday, due to scheduling conflicts. But since it worked out for all of us to get together, Bryson and I cooked our Thanksgiving meal on Friday. We decided to do Cornish game hens because it was just the two of us, paired with a cornbread stuffing. They were joined by mashed potatoes and gravy, a green bean gratin, and sweet potato balls. We cooked most of the morning, and everything turned out so well! Our first Thanksgiving meal by ourselves was a success!

Later that day we ventured out, searching for a Christmas tree. There was a little lot down the street a ways, and when as we walked in there was a beautiful Noble sitting there, waiting for us to take it home. I knew that was the tree I wanted (I learned the art of picking a tree from my mom who is an expert. Her trees are always so beautiful!) but Bryson and I looked around just to make sure. After searching the rest of the lot we came back to our tree and bought it. Now came the "how do we get the tree home" part of our story. It wouldn't fit in our back seat or in the trunk. But then a lady, who we'd chatted with while we were both getting our trees, came over and offered to take our tree to our house. She had a huge van with plenty of room for both her tree and ours. When she found where we lived, she told us she lived just down the street a couple of blocks, so it would be no problem to deliver our tree. But as she went to pay for her tree she realized that she had no checks left. She laughed and came over and asked if we'd pay for the tree, then we'd go to her house where she could get more checks and pay us back. We were happy to pay for the tree and then follow her to her house where she paid us back and then dropped off our tree at our house. We were so grateful for her willingness to help us out and in turn we were grateful to help her as well. The rest of the night was spent decorating our first Christmas tree with our newly bought ornaments. It was such a fun and enjoyable day, one filled with joy and kindness.

Our Two little Cornish game hens, all ready to be stuffed and cooked.

Bryson stuffing the hens with cornbread stuffing.

So many dishes to clean! But the meal was worth it!

Don't they look just delicious?!

A feast fit for a king!

We decorated the tree with blue and silver starbursts and icicles, and snowflakes.

All the ornaments were covered in sparkles, so by the end of decorating we too were covered in sparkles.

The tree turned out so well!

Sam and Erika's wedding!

2009-11-01T19:19:00.006-07:00

My younger brother got married on October 16th, and it was such a wonderful weekend! They got married down in the St. George temple and then had a luncheon and reception. It was so wonderful to be in the temple with my entire family and to share in the joy of Sam and Erika on their special day! Here's a few pictures of from the wonderful day. I'm not quite sure why some of the pictures have a blue tint to them, but I hope you enjoy!

They're married!

Grandpa Cole was so nice to hold Grandma's purse for her while she took some pictures. :)

The St. George temple was beautiful!

The whole Cole family!

My amazing husband!

2009-10-27T12:05:00.006-06:00

My husband is so amazing! He has worked so hard with studying for his exams (which he's currently in Illinois taking while I'm writing this post), teaching at two different universities, and running all the errands I forget about so I can go to work. He is so amazing at making me laugh, even when I've had a hard day and don't really feel like laughing. I love how if I've had a long or hard day, I'll come home and he has a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me. There is a song that came out right before we got married by Martina McBride that helps to show my feelings and how eternally grateful I am to be married to such an amazing man.

I Just Call You Mine
Martina McBride

I pinch myself
Sometimes to make sure I'm not in a dream
That's how it seems

I close my eyes and breathe in the sweetest moments I've ever known
It feels like home

And here I am
I want to be your everything
There you are
Turning winter into spring

And everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're a standing ovation
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
Yeahhhh
I just call you mine

I fall apart
And just a word from you
Somehow seems to fix
Whatever's wrong
Ohh
You reach into the weakest moments and remind me that I'm strong
You gotta know
I'd be a fool not to see or even worse to forget
That you're more than I deserve

Cause everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're a standing ovation
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

Nothing makes sense when you're not here
As if my whole world disappears
Without you what's the point of it

Cause everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're the dream that I've been chasing
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

I love you honey!

Fall in Utah

2009-10-27T11:40:00.006-06:00

My mom, Bryson and I went for a walk in the canyon last week when my parents were in town for my little brother's wedding. Bryson and I haven't had a chance to get out there and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and the changing of the leaves, so I'm very glad my mom took us out. It was so beautiful up in the canyon! The leaves ranged from yellow to a deep red, and they covered the path in a blanket of wonderful smelling leaves. Here's some pictures of our fall canyon adventure.

"October's the month
When the smallest breeze
Gives us a shower
Of autumn leaves.
Bonfires and pumpkins,
Leaves sailing down -
October is red
And golden and brown."
- Can Teach Songs

Beautiful Bridal Veil Falls

I love the green trees with the autumn colors peeking through,

Fall may be a time of harvest and hibernation, but it is as colorful as spring!

Tour of the City

2009-10-13T09:41:00.009-06:00

When we came to New York, we decided we wanted to see Central Park, The Met and the Natural History Museum, so when we got to Thursday having seen all of those, we decided to just walk around the city and explore. It was so amazing to me to finally see all the places that I had heard about and seen on TV or in movies! Some of the places we saw were Broadway, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, 5th Avenue, and the NBC Studios. We also had a wonderful time walking through F. A. O. Schwartz! We ended our day with seeing Mary Poppins, which was amazing! If you're ever in New York, go and see Mary Poppins; you'll love it!

The next day found us saying goodbye to New York and flying home. Of course no trip would be complete without a fun delay, and that's just what happened to us in Houston. Our plane was delayed a couple hours because of a huge Thunder and Lightning storm. It was pretty amazing to watch although by 8 at night we were wishing to be home, but we made it home safe and sound.

Here are some photos of our lovely walking tour of New York. Enjoy!

Times Square! If you look above the red "H", you will see 2009 in lights. That's where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve!

The Chrysler Building

Radio City Music Hall!

Don't you fee like you're looking at a picture out of the 50's?

A beautiful Cathedral on 5th Avenue

The rose window and organ of the cathedral. So beautiful!

The famous 5th Avenue!

The street we stayed on!

The American Museum of Natural History

2009-10-13T09:15:00.004-06:00

I have been wanting to go to the Natural History Museum in New York since I was little. I think that natural history is fascinating and helps to give a greater appreciation for not only the world around us but also the many interesting and amazing cultures all over the world. Bryson and I had a fun time wandering around, looking at all the animals and reading about all the different cultures they have featured at the museum. We also watched a fun little movie about the life of a beaver family.

Our favorite room was the Hall of Ocean Life. When you walk in, you're greeted with low lighting and blue glass panels on the ceiling with light shining through so you feel like you are under the water. On top of that a full scale model of a blue whale (The largest known mammal in the world) in a dive position. It is wonderful and amazing! Bryson and I had a great time spending a couple hours at the museum, then headed back along Central Park to get ready for the play we were seeing that night. We didn't plan it this way, but we saw The Lion King that night and it fit so well with our lovely day at the museum. :)

Now if you're going to go to the natural history museum in New York, don't go expecting Night at the Museum, because while there are some similarities, the movie museum and the real on are very different. Although here's a fun little tidbit: The lions in the Hall of African Mammals in the movie are actually the Asian lions in the real museum, not the African ones. Isn't that fun? Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day. Enjoy!

There it is!

The main entrance to the museum.

The Hall of African Mammals!

I know the picture is a little dark, but this is the head of the life sized model of a blue whale that hangs in the Hall of Ocean Life.

The Met!

2009-09-10T19:26:00.006-06:00

Since New York is such a big city and there is so much to do, Bryson and I decided that we would stick to the activities within walking distance to where we were staying. We were both so excited when those activities included the Metropolitan Museum of Art! We both really wanted to go and although it was a long walk, it was worth every step!

The museum was amazing! I was doing a little reading on the Met on Wikipedia, which says that the Met has a permanent collection of over 2 million pieces! Bryson and I were probably there for at least 3 hours and we didn't come close to seeing everything. Here are some of the pictures of my favorite pieces. I wish I lived close by so I could go again and see everything we couldn't see the first time. It was a wonderful day!

Walking to the museum. Central Park is on the left.

We're there!

Louise Comfort Tiffany's Autumn Landscape.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's In the Meadow (Picking Flowers)

Concord by Barnett Newman. The color in the picture isn't the best (it's more of a soft robin's egg blue with the stripes being a sandy color), but this was one of me and Bryson's favorites.

The Temple of Dendur was given to the United States when rising waters on the Nile threatened to put the temple under water. It is so beautiful!

Detail of reliefs on the outer temple walls.

A view of the temple from the front.

Central Park!

2009-09-07T12:14:00.006-06:00

I know you're supposed to put up pictures from the wedding and then pictures from the honeymoon, but since Bryson and I don't have our pictures back from the photographer, we'll put those up later. For those of you who didn't know, we went to New York for our honeymoon, and it was AMAZING!! It did require a 6AM flight and half a day of traveling but we made it!

The apartment we were staying at was about 3 blocks from Central Park, so our first full day in New York we grocery shopped, had amazing food from a street vendor and then headed to the park. It was absolutely beautiful! It amazed me that you could walk from the busyness of the city, into the quiet and serene beauty of the park. As Bryson and I walked further into the park it felt like we weren't even in the city anymore, but had been transported into the lush green countryside. I took so many pictures while we were there, so here are some of the highlights of the bottom half of Central Park (That's as far as we got in one day :) )

Bryson and I found out that there a lot of bridges in Central Park! It was really fun to see how everyone was different from the last. It brings something fun and special to the park. The next couple pictures are of some of the bridges we came across.

I think this was my favorite bridge. It had such an enchanting quality about it.

This was the Literary Walk, a big avenue with benches on either side and enclosed by American Elms, which provide cool shade on New York's hot summer days.

The Bethesda Fountain on the lower level of the Bethesda Terrace. Behind the fountain is a lake where you can rent boats enjoy the beauty of the park from the water.

Looking up the stairs to the upper Bethesda Terrace.

Bryson enjoying the beauty of the lake and the fountain

I just love how lush and green the park is!

Nature meets the city.

Another Beautiful Day by the River

2009-05-08T18:38:00.010-06:00

"Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire." ~Virgil

I found this quote today and that's what my walk on the Provo River trail was like. I came back from Illinois and everything just blossomed! The grass was varying shades of lush greens, interspersed with small bushes and beautiful flowers! The colors ranged from white to yellow to purple. The sun was shining and the clouds were high and white, hanging lazily over the sky like they too were soaking up the sun. Now don't get me wrong, we're still getting rain and cold days..but those are becoming fewer as the warmer weather and the sunshine takes center stage. Here's a taste of what greeted me along my stroll. There's a lot of flora and fauna..I'm still working on taking pictures of people. :)

I fell in love with these trees...I don't know what they're called but they had the most beautiful flowers and smelled wonderful!

In only a week the plants and trees on the trail have bloomed and grown to create a lush, green , relaxing path

I love this shot of the dandelion surrounded by leaves...in sepia it actually reminds me of fall.

Lonely benches...just waiting for someone to take a seat and soak up the sun while listening to the rushing of the river and the songs of the birds.

There are some houses that are right next to the trail, and someone planted some flowers, adding a little variety to an otherwise very green landscape.

These flower leaves look like corn stalks don't they? Wait till you see them in color...

They're so vibrant!

A little side stream off the river

I passed by a huge tree that had all the thick branches cut off and the bark was gone, the end result was this smooth trunk.

There are quite a few animals that can be seen along the trail. This beauty was having a little afternoon snack as I walked by :)

Our resident mallard taking a stroll. (I don't know if it's the same one but I always see a mallard in the same spot, so I'd like to think it's the same one)

Illinois may not have mountains but it's beautiful!

2009-05-01T22:13:00.009-06:00

Isn't that ceiling beautiful?!

Last Thursday I flew to Illinois to see Bryson. We had such a great time! It was so wonderful to see him and be with him :) It was his birthday on Friday and it was so exciting because it was the first birthday we've gotten to spend together in person! I made him breakfast that morning and gave him is present. We both love the show on Food Network called "Good Eats" and so I got him a DVD of Good Eats episodes. He loved it! The birthday celebrations continued when we went to choir rehearsal that afternoon. Bryson's students surprised him with cake, a card and Happy Birthday. They were so sweet and they made a great tasting cake too! :)

While Bryson and the choir practiced before the concert, I took some pictures of the gorgeous recital hall and the choir themselves. Photographing people is something that I'm still figuring out so it was a great opportunity to gain more experience with it, and I think the pictures turned out really well!

The concert was great! The choir sang really well and Bryson did a wonderful job conducting them! It was a success! After the concert a group of us went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I kept it surprise from Bryson, although I needed to tell him where we were going after the concert...cause I didn't know how to get there :) But we had a wonderful time and the food was great! I think they day turned out great and I think Bryson had a fun time too! I love you hun!

Saturday Bryson and I went to Springfield to see the Dana-Thomas House. It was a house that the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright did back at the turn of the century for Susan Thomas. She gave him carte blanche with the house, as long as he kept the parlor from her childhood home the same. So with that Wright tore down Susan's childhood home except for the parlor and built and attached the house onto that room. It was absolutely amazing! He did everything: windows, furniture, even some of the sculptures. The house was the first with electric lighting in Springfield and today all the lights are at the same 25 watts that they were when Susan lived there so you can really get a feel for what it was like to both live and to attend parties at the house. Plus it seems like the house never ends! Just when I thought we'd seen it all, we would go around a corner or down stairs to another room! Since we weren't allowed to take pictures inside I don't have any to put up but you should go out and look up the Dana-Thomas house in Springfield, Illinois. You'll get to see the beauty of this wonderful house!

The other stop in Springfield was to the Lincoln House. This year is the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth! I'll do my best to not ramble...I tend to do that when I get excited about historical subjects :) But this house was the house that Abraham and Mary Lincoln bought and lived in soon after they were married. They lived in this house 17 years, which is the longest Lincoln lived anywhere else in his life. The amazing part of this house is that when the family left to go to Washington, they didn't sell the house. They probably intended on coming back after Lincoln was finished with his time in office. After Lincoln was assassinated Mary Lincoln and her boys never returned to the house. Years later, Lincoln's oldest son Robert, decided to give the house to the state provided that people could come in and see where his famous father had lived. The state was in control for a while, then turned it over to the federal government. They've turned the whole block into a national park and have kept the roads and sidewalks how they would have been in Lincoln's time: wooden sidewalks and unpaved roads. Plus all the houses around his house were kept in the same style of the mid 1800's, so you really feel like you step back in time :)

When Bryson and I went on the tour, the park ranger explained that pretty much everything in the house belonged to the Lincoln's and the left it when they traveled to Washington. Even the railing on the stairs was original, and since we used the railing to climb the steep stairs....that's right you guessed it! Bryson and I have touched the railing that Lincoln has touched. So that means we've touched Lincoln's hand! :) Come find us in Utah or in Illinois if you want to shake a hand that has touched the railing that Lincoln used to help climb the stairs! The house was beautifully decorated and it was really fun to hear about Lincoln the husband and father. After Lincoln's it was time to head home but we had a great time :)

On Sunday Bryson's children's choir that he directs at a Lutheran church in town was singing and that was fun to watch all the little kids. Then it was off to our church, where Bryson accompanied a special musical number. After church it was time for some napping :) Then off to the Concert Choir Concert. Bryson's roommate Danny McDavitt is the assistant for the choir, and due to some changes in the choral department, the choir was being disbanded so it was a big last concert. Everyone did such a great job! Going to all these concerts makes me miss singing in choirs.

Both Monday and Tuesday it was back to school for Bryson and so I wandered around campus, found the bookstore (where I spent several hours!) and just relaxed and enjoyed our time together. It also rained a ton on Monday afternoon and evening so so much for the garden tour we were going to do :)

Finally it was time to go to the airport (with one more suitcase too :) We're trying to help the moving process by bringing stuff home each time one of us is going back to Utah). We both had such a great time! I was sad to come back home but I can't wait till the end of May when I get to see Bryson again!

Here's some pictures! Bryson is very sneaky and somehow I always seem to leave Illinois without a picture of him! But at the top there is some pictures of the recital hall and the choir practicing before the concert. The rest are of the tree in Bryson's back yard, and an adorable squirrel that did such a great job of posing for me!

Provo River Trail!

2009-04-11T17:38:00.004-06:00

We had a really warm, sunny day this week so I took off early from work and discovered the Provo River Trail a little drive down from my house! It was absolutely beautiful! I went in my workout clothes and got some good exercise while getting some great pictures as well!

Spring Break :)

2009-04-11T16:17:00.003-06:00

It's been a couple of weeks since Bryson and I went back to Oregon but I wanted to give you all an update on our trip! Bryson's spring break was the last week of March, and we thought it would be a perfect time to go to Oregon and get some wedding things done. It was both a busy and relaxing week. We hung out with the family, got to try some wedding cake (so good!), saw our reception site and met with our florist and take engagement pictures at the coast! I also had the wonderful opportunity to go through the temple. The temple is beautiful and it was such an amazing and special experience and I was so grateful to be able to share it with Bryson and my parents :)

On Friday my parents, my younger brother Sam and Bryson and I headed to the ocean for some engagement pictures! My dad took the pictures and he did such a great job! Thanks Dad! We also had a great time being together at one of our favorite places.

The week seemed to fly by and soon it was Sunday and time to fly back to Utah and Bryson back to Illinois. We went to church with my parents and then church with Sam, and then it was on to the airport :) My flight was supposed to leave at 6:40pm, but when we got there, they told me that it wouldn't be leaving till 9:40pm. Now that would usually make most people frustrated or angry, but I on the other hand was happy. Why might you ask? That's because Bryson's flight didn't leave until midnight so I got to have a couple more hours with him! We had a great time working on wedding details and just being together! My flight finally left a little after 10:00pm and it was back to snow and work :) But it was a wonderful, amazing, busy and relaxing week! I love Bryson and I love my family!

Here's some pictures from our week in Oregon. The first is the whole Craig Cole family, the second is Bryson and I I went through the temple and lastly one of the engagement pictures my dad took. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

2009-03-17T22:42:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Paddy's Day! (And wore green of course; don't want to get pinched!) Here's a little Irish Blessing for everyone.

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck,
Brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.

Eirinn go Brach!

Sammy!

2009-03-15T19:30:00.005-06:00

My little brother Sam came to visit me for the weekend. He was going to come a couple weeks ago for our birthdays (mine is on the 26th of February, and his is on the 27th of February) but he got the flu. He came on Wednesday afternoon and we had a great weekend! We shopped, Sam went snowboarding for a couple days, and hurt his shoulder, he got to hang out with his good friend Erika, I went to a wonderful choir concert and it was my stake's stake conference. We had a reorganization of our stake presidency and had the wonderful opportunity to have Elder Bednar attend. It was wonderful to hear from one of the Lord's apostles on this earth. :)

After a wonderful late lunch of homemade baked macaroni and cheese (so good!) I drove Sam to the airport. I'm sad that he had to go, cause we had a great time together, but I get to see him in a week when Bryson and I head off to Oregon!

Both Sam and I forgot about our camera's till Sunday, so here's some of the pictures I took of both Sam and Erika :) Oh and my bag...it looked really cool sitting on the chair and I couldn't resist! :)

Sam taking a picture of me taking a picture of Sam :) Sam and Erika

My purse! Seeing it in black and white shows me that use my lint brush on it! But doesn't it look cool? :)

Sunny Day in Provo Canyon

2009-02-28T21:26:00.014-07:00

Saturday was such a beautiful winter day with temperatures in the 50s and the sun shining bright. Yesterday morning I was taking pictures of a fir tree outside my apartment for my "Favorites" post, and decided after lunch to take advantage of the warm weather and take some more pictures. But where to go? I asked that question of Bryson and he suggested Provo Canyon, which I thought was a great idea. So off I went to Canyon View Park, and once there I had a wonderful time! Here's a little sample of what I saw both in the morning, and at the park.

A fir tree from across the street.
The sun looked so beautiful coming around the corner of the roof so I decided to try and capture it.
This is at Canyon View Park. I really liked the contrast between the frozen and unfrozen water, showing that although the day was warm and sunny..it wasn't spring yet :)
There was little color by the river but these stood out to give a warm tan hue to the otherwise bleak looking river scape.
This reminded me of a zen garden, except with snow instead of sand.
I don't know what it was about this bridge, but I fell in love with it. I really loved the combination of the wood and the rich red color of the rusty metal railings.
Just so no one gets lost while they're running/walking/biking :)
I don't know what these bushes are I loved all the individual star shaped flowers.
I love to experiment with different settings of color, whether it's black and white or sepia. This was one of these times. I took this picture in color but the star of the photo: the fence, could not be seen. But when I changed the setting to black and white, it immediately popped out.
I took this picture while playing with different angles and when I looked at it later I realized it reminded me of Ireland, and I love Ireland..so I just had to put it in :)
I loved the texture of the bark on this tree, and felt that it looked like the palm of a hand, the center where all the fingers (or branches) extend from to create beauty.
The colors of winter...not as bright as other seasons but still beautiful.

Favorites

2009-02-17T12:50:00.014-07:00

Across the street from my apartment is a little dairy. During the summer when I drove to work in the morning I would be greeted by all the dairy cows as they had their breakfast of grass. They were so cute! Now because it's winter I don't see them very often. They tend to stay close to the warm barn. But as I got home from work last week and walked to my apartment, I caught the faint smell of cows on the breeze and it smelled good! I know what you're thinking...cows don't smell good...they're cows! But it has always been one of my favorite smells because it reminds me of the summer while I was growing up. The stake center in Corvallis is on the outskirts of town, right across the street from the OSU Dairy Farm. So whenever there's an activity at the Stake Center, you might also smell the cows if the wind is blowing in the right direction. You can smell the cows all year but I always associate it with late summer afternoons:)

The next couple of days I started thinking about all my favorite smells and started making a list. Because I love photography, I'm also going to take pictures of my some of my favorite smells and add them to the list :) I hope you enjoy!

Bryson (I don't know what he wears but he always smells so good!)

Fresh cut grass in Spring

The smell of my skin when I've been in the sun

Laundry right out of the dryer

Hawaii

Wood

Plumeria

The pavement as it starts to rain

New Shoes

The Ocean

Horses

My favorite perfume (Velvet Tuberose from Bath and Body Works!)

Newborn babies (my niece Olivia and my Dad)

Chocolate

Fall leavesThe smell of a BBQ in the air

Paper fresh out of the copier

Leather

Sourdough Bread

Fir Trees

Fresh air

Pink flowered trees in Oregon

Beeswax candles

Camp fires

Mint fields

Popcorn

Christmas Vacation!

2009-01-18T20:55:00.004-07:00

Hello! Happy New Year! It's been a busy, fun filled, wonderful last few weeks! Here's a recap of my wonderful holiday season! I know many of you have already heard but Bryson and I are engaged! Bryson did an amazing job of telling the whole story, plus the "12 days of Whitney" are posted on his blog so you can read the entire story at brysonsponderings@blogspot.com. I had no idea he was going to propose! As I turned around to tell him the blog had finally posted and he was on one knee, I was so confused! I thought to myself, did he drop something? It wasn't till he said to look at the rest of the blog and I saw the ring that I realized what was happening. It was amazing! I was in a state of shock and happiness! I mean he had asked the week before if I could get the diamond from my parents when I went home for Christmas! So I had no idea he had the ring with him! It was so wonderful and I love him so much!! We're getting married August 21st in Portland Oregon! I am so lucky!

The rest of the holiday was great! I went home for Christmas and had a great time with my family. Plus the weather was crazy! There was snow, ice and cold everywhere, although once I got to Corvallis all the crazy weather stayed north of us. But we still had a wonderful relaxing time!
The day after Christmas I flew back Utah. My flight was supposed to come in around 8:30pm but it didn't come into Portland till 9:20pm! And of course I got to the airport early, so I ended up staying in the airport from about 3pm till the plane left at 10:30pm! Needless to say it was a LONG day, and to add to the fun, Bryson and his family got snowed in at his sister's house in Idaho! But they were able to make it through the next day, and we had a wonderful time at Dusty and Rachel's ( Bryson's brother and sister in law), being together and eating tamales! I got to meet Kaija for the first time, which was SO wonderful! Kirk and Kaija stayed in Utah till New Years Eve so we had a great time being together and getting to know each other!

For New Years we went up to the big celebration in Salt Lake called First Night. We met up with our friends Josh and Rosie, and had a great time! We ice skated, watched shows and listened to some great music! And of course I froze! But it was so much fun and I was so happy to be able to ring in the new year with Bryson!

For the rest of Bryson's vacation, we worked, played, registered (boy were we tired after that!), and had a wonderful time being together and being with family and friends! Bryson headed back to Illinois on Friday the 16th. :( I was really sad and didn't want him to go, but we were both excited that he was starting his LAST semester of school ever! And although the wedding is not till August, there is so much to do! Allons-y!!
All the black and white pictures of Bryson and I were taken by our good friend Ben Boster. These aren't the engagement pictures, but we really wanted some nice pictures of the two of us, that didn't involve Bryson or I holding the camera (and only being able to see half of one of our faces :) ) and he was wonderful to take them! Didn't he do a wonderful job?! Thanks Ben!

December 7th

2008-12-13T13:06:00.003-07:00

So I know December 7th was a week ago, but I wanted to write about this important day. Most people think that December 7th is just like any other day, but to me it's a little bit more. I woke up that morning and looked at the date and then looked at the time and realized that 67 years ago to the day, at 7:48am Hawaii time, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. I have learned about Pearl Harbor in history classes throught out school, but it really became very real to me when my I got to see Pearl Harbor in person.

When I was 16 my family and I went to Hawaii for my brother's senior trip. We had such a great time and we saw all the sites, including some of the WWII sites, including Pearl Harbor. When you go to the Visitor's Center, the workers have you watch a short video about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then you go outside and get on a boat which takes you out to the Arizona Memorial. As I rode out to the memorial, I looked out on the harbor and saw that there were little floating memorials for each of the battleships that were in port on that early Sunday morning.

The Arizona Memorial is built right over the battleship Arizona. It's white and bright and airy, with lots of openings so the light comes through. There are also openings so you can see directly down to the Arizona itself. It was there when I looked out and saw the outline of the ship, the oil that still leaks to the surface and the barbette to one of the gun turrets that sticks out of the water, what happened in that quiet harbor really hit hard. It's hard to imagine the quite, peaceful harbor in complete chaos and devestation. 1,117 lives were lost when the Arizona was attacked, and most of those still rest within the ship. On one end of the memorial is a room that lists all the names of the men who died. Something that I thought was really cool was that as survivors of the Arizona die they're names are being added to the room. Many of them are also having their ashes spread over the Arizona so that they may once again be with their shipmates. It was a very special and amazing experience to visit such a wonderful tribute to those who fought and lost their lives that day 67 years ago. It is an experience that I will never forget and I hope to one day go back and visit again.

I thought about this experience last Sunday, and as I went throughout my day, I realized how grateful I am for the freedom we enjoy in this country and for all those who have given their lives so we might have our freedom. I know it's not the Fourth of July, or Memorial Day, or even Vetran's Day, but I think for me December 7th is a day that will always be a patriotic day for me.

100 Things I've Done/Haven't Done

2008-12-02T15:34:00.006-07:00

I love doing lists like this! Bryson had this on his blog (which he got from Cherie's blog), and I thought it would be fun to put it on mine. :) The bold things are things I've done and i'll edit this as I do more things on the list.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-02T01:01:00.003-07:00

The Cole family

Thanksgiving was wonderful! All the family was together (Although Curtis and Merci weren't there, they were there in spirit :) ) and we had a great day of relaxing, eating wonderful food and being with each other, and giving thanks for all the blessings in our lives. :) On the weekend we picked out a beautiful Christmas tree (It smells SO good!) and Dad put up the Christmas lights. I think it's really neat to start out the holiday season with Thanksgiving. We are able to come together as family and friends and give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. That leads to the Christmas season which is filled with love and giving, which leads us to the ultimate giver and one we are so grateful for, and that is our Savior :)

Happy start of the holiday season!

November trip to the Ocean!

2008-12-02T00:14:00.007-07:00

One of the sea lions' favorite places to hang out :)

Looking from Old Newport out to the Newport bridge and the Pacific Ocean

The boardwalk in Old Newport

Newport Harbor

Seagull prints

Bryson and I at the beach!

Bryson sneaking up on the seagulls :)

This is a log that Bryson and I found. It's been bleached white by the sun and rubbed smooth by the ocean.

I have no idea who those people were, but it made a great picture :)

The seagulls after Bryson scared them :)

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

I love the beach! It is beautiful, calming and fun too! Now I must clarify that Oregon's beaches are not really warm. In fact, if you put you're feet in the water you'll probably go numb after a while. :) It's more of a coast, but I love it! Last monday Bryson and I drove over to the coast. We had so much fun! At the beach Bryson scared the seagulls while I took tons of pictures. Afterwards we went down to Old Newport (which sits right on the water at the mouth of the harbor) where we had fresh fish and chips (my first time, and I liked them!), watched the barking sea lions and wandered through the wonderful shops and galleries. Bryson also got me a beautiful neckless from one of the shops for our anniversary! He is so wonderful and I love him! It was such a great and beautiful November day :)

Sunsets

2008-12-01T23:47:00.004-07:00

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved sunsets. I always felt that it was such a calming time; a time when day peacefully transitions into night. A time when everything takes on a rosy, hazy glow. And after all this time, it still amazes me how the sky that is so blue can turn such vibrant colors. A couple weeks ago I got home from a long day at work and as I walked into my apartment my blinds were open and the room was filled with a pink hue. I followed the source of the light outside on the balcony and this is what I saw. It was breathtaking. I hope you enjoy :)

Pictures from Illinois trip

2008-10-31T08:21:00.006-06:00

Bryson's desk...isn't that cool?!The Architecture building on campus and a closeup of one of the columns

Flowers from the gardens near UofI.

The rest of the pictures are from Allerton's.

What time is it? The Three Graces

The English style mansion

The Death of the Last Centaur

The Sun Singer

I felt the last post would be too long if I put pictures in, so here they are!

Weekend trip to Illinois!

2008-10-30T20:56:00.007-06:00

Last Thursday I flew out to Illinois to see Bryson for a long weekend! We had a great time! I was also a crazy picture taker while I was there. After Bryson was finished with classes on Friday, he took us to some gardens near campus. The gardens were all beautiful, and filled with so many different varities of plants, flowers and herbs, some of which I'd never seen or heard of before.

After pictures came dinner which meant....yes you guessed it..it was sushi time. I was a bit of a picky eater when I was younger, but I've become more open minded, and learned to like a lot more things as I've gotten older. Sushi is something that's always been on my "I don't like it even though I've never tried it" list. But Bryson loves it so I told him that I would try it. Well I tried it...and now I know first hand that I don't like sushi :)

Saturday, Bryson took me to an amazing place called Robert Allerton Park. It's a 1517 acre park that was donated to the University of Illinios by Robert Allerton in 1946. For a quick history, Robert Allerton was a wealthy landowner that built his English style manor in 1900, then continued developing the gardens around the house for the next fourty years. Bryson and I were there for at least 3 hours, enjoying the many different gardens, walking on the nature trails, and just enjoying each other and the beauty around us. :) It was a wonderful day!

Sunday after church we headed up to the airport. Both of us didn't really feel like I was leaving, just taking a nice two and a half hour drive up to Chicago! But alas I was in fact heading back to Utah. Like I said earlier, it was a short, quick trip, but a wonderful trip! :)

Disney and C. S. Lewis

2008-10-18T21:48:00.003-06:00

We had a beautiful sunset over the lake tonight. While I was taking pictures I was reminded of the scene at the beginning of Disney's Hercules when the goddess of night pulls the night sky over the day like a blanket. I think it's a beautiful picture: the night covering the world like a big comfy blanket. :) I also took pictures of the lamp post in front of my apartment. Everytime I look at it, I think of the lamp post from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Now where's that wardrobe.... ;)

Beauty in wood and brick

2008-10-15T17:53:00.004-06:00

Down the street from where I live is a wonderful old brick building. I don't know much about it, but there are lovely carvings above both the wooden door and windows. Plus, the door sits about two feet off the ground so there must have been wooden stairs at one point. I think it's really interesting and yesterday decided to have a photo shoot. It's a pretty busy place as well. I've seen couples taking engagement pictures in front of it, a mother stopping with her daughter on their way to school to take a picture, and just today a family was positioning themselves in front of the door for a family photo. Some might look at this building and think it should be taken down, but I look and see history, character and beauty. And just because you can't go inside doesn't mean you can't find a use for it. :)

Halloween

2008-10-14T17:33:00.004-06:00

Not only is fall in the air, but Halloween is as well. Halloween is a wonderful holiday. What a wonderful concept: getting to dress up and eating lots of candy! Plus whomever decided that orange and black should be the official colors of Halloween knew what they were doing ;) (I guess you could say it's always Halloween in my hometown...well at least colorwise).

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Correction

2008-10-14T17:27:00.003-06:00

I spelled Bridal Veil wrong. I wouldn't want anyone getting lost because they're looking for Bridal Vale ;) Now go enjoy!

My favorite season

2008-10-14T17:06:00.002-06:00

Growing up in Oregon, you can't help but love the outdoors. The western part of the state is blanketed with evergreens, which makes it green all year round. But the best part of the year is in fall when the trees start to change and the air is crisp. The evergreens create a deep, lush green stage while the other trees blossom into deep reds, rich oranges and vibrant yellows. The past 5 years I've been in Utah so I haven't been able to experience this wonderful display of Mother Nature, but I hope to one day see it again. Until then I'm so glad that Dad sends me pictures of all the changing leaves around town. Now don't get me wrong, Utah is very beautiful in the fall...especially when you get up in the canyon. If you get a chance in the next couple weeks, and you're in Utah, take a drive up to Bridal Vale Falls and walk the path, you'll see some pretty sites. :) As for me I'm going to be soaking up this cold air, warm sun and clear days as long as I can. Knowing Utah you never know when the snow is going to come...oh wait. It already did! :) Anyway, everyone go and enjoy this beautiful fall weather and scenery..wherever you may be! Mother Nature is putting on a show all around you :)

Family fun!

2008-10-05T12:22:00.004-06:00

My parents and my younger brother Sammy came to Utah this weekend for Conference and to play :) They got here on wednesday night and on thursday we hit the ground running. We shopped, ate, watched the Beaver game (Sadly the Beavers lost the game), took a walk in the canyon, saw extended family, watched a movie, went to conference and spent time with good friends. That's just a little taste of the past couple days. But we had a great time being together as a family...even if we did get a little tired ;) I took them to the airport this morning. I love my family and I'm so glad they got to come to Utah! Here's some pictures from our hike in the Provo Cayon by Bridal Vale Falls. For some reason I don't have any pictures of mom, and I would have taken more pictures but my battery died!! I was playing with the color again and had just changed the setting back to color when it died. My dad took pics too so I'll put some of those up when I get them. But the lesson for the day: Always check your battery to make sure it's charged :) I hope you enjoy!

More pictures!

2008-09-13T19:37:00.000-06:00

Here's some more pictures taken with my new camera :) I got a beautiful rose from my wonderful siamese twin Amy, and I decided to have some fun with the different color schemes. And then here is some beautiful pictures of the sunset from my apartment. Enjoy!

Bryson headed back to Illinos on Thursday

2008-08-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

Well I didn't realize at the beginning of the summer, how fast it would go. Bryson and I have had so many fun adventures and amazing time this summer. Plus we've both loved that we could see each other everyday, after spending about the first 6 months of our relationship long distance :) It's really hard to see him go, and realize that I won't get to see him tomorrow or the day after that. But at the same time I'm so proud of all he's doing and he's almost done with school forever! He's starting up his last year of course work for his doctorate in Choral Conducting.

We finished packing him all up on Wednesday night and then had some time together, watching the olympics :) And yes there was crying...mostly from me :) Thursday morning he stopped by my house to say the final goodbye. We decided that he would stay for about a half hour and then he would need to be on his way cause there was about a 14 hour drive ahead of him. Well...he ended up staying about 40 mins :) Bryson asked me if I was going to cry and I told him that I probably wouldn't cry till after he left cause then that would mean that he was really gone. And....I was right, as soon as he turned the corner and turned to walk back to my apartment, the tears came.

It's interesting to me how much we get into routines, and used to certain things. The last couple days I've been experiencing that cause there are so many things that Bryson and I would do that now that he's gone, will change. Like not having dinner till at least 7:30 because he didn't get off work till 7. I sat there the day he left, hungry bout 6 but not even thinking I should grab something to eat cause Bryson wasn't off work yet :) But there's no whollowing allowed! There's so many things to do and although getting to not see each other is hard, we'll be ok. :) Then at Thanksgiving (unless I take a long weekend to go see him sooner...we both really like that idea :) ) we'll be together again! I love him so much and am so glad he's in my life. He is my best friend :)

Baby Ellie is here!

2008-08-23T09:54:00.000-06:00

Tuesday night Bryson and I headed up to Salt Lake to meet the newest member of the Mortensen family! Little Elizabeth Ann Mortensen was born on monday to Bryson's brother and sis in law, Dusty and Rachel. She is a sweetheart and so cute too! Everyone was happy and doing great! Grandma Sue also stopped by on her way back down to Spanish Fork from Boise to see her new little granddaughter. Bryson was glad she was born before he left so he would get a chance to see her before he headed back to Illinois. Babies are just the greatest aren't they? :) Congratulations Dusty and Rachel!!

Oregon Wedding

2008-08-22T21:54:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Bryson and I, along with our good friend (and Best Man) Josh drove to Oregon for Jake and Amy's wedding! Amy and I went to high school and college together! She is my dearest friend and I'm so excited for her! Jake is also a good friend of mine and I'm so happy they found each other. :) So we got to my house in Corvallis Wednesday night. Thursday we did errands and I got my hair cut..trust me it needed it! Thursday night my brother, sis in law and niece came over for a family dinner and it was so much fun!! Then friday was when the fun began! We were supposed to go to the coast, but Jake and Amy needed help setting up the reception..so how could we refuse? We helped, had some pizza and then relaxed a bit and watched the Olympics. The happy couple came over that night with a few requests of music playlist making and guest book obtaining and then it was off to bed so we could all get good sleep for the busy day ahead.

Saturday!!! The wedding!! Bryson, Josh and I got all dolled up and headed up to Portland to the temple. The Portland Temple is so beautiful and peaceful! It's one of the best sights to come around the corner and see these beautiful white marble spires among dark green evergreens! During the sealing me and another of the bridesmaids, Beth watched Jake's three little neices who were the flower girls. They are so cute! Sam my little brother stopped by the temple to say hi because he wasn't able to come down to Corvallis. It was so wonderful to see him! I love my family so much and living in Utah I don't get to see them as much, so this trip was great cause I got to see all of them!

Jake and Amy were both radiant when they came out. I'm so so excited for both of them! I couldn't ask for a better guy for my siamese twin :) Pictures were extra fun cause we were all in black and it was in the 90's that day! Bryson and I didn't end up going to the luncheon afterwards cause we had a mission to complete! We had to get a guest book...which in fact was two pictures set in two frames that people could sign as they walked in. It was a pretty neat idea and they both turned out really well! Bryson and I actually found them so fast that we had tons of time to go pick blackberries to take back to him mom! It was hot but fun and we picked a gallon and a half! Pretty good for an hours work eh? :) Well I don't have any pictures of the reception but it was beautiful. We took pictures, chatted ate food and had a good time. When they cute the cake, Jake and Amy were going to be nice but with a little prodding from Bryson and I..and others Amy smashed a little cake in Jake's face. It was great!! The decoration I must say was pretty great! Thanks to Bryson, me, Josh, Nicki, Beth and Ashley. Overall it was a long, slightly stressful, but overall great day :) Sunday morning we headed back to Utah. It was a long day and a long trip, but we all had fun :) Here's some pictures from the wedding. Enjoy!

My new camera!

2008-08-22T21:22:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've updated my blog so there'll be a couple updates :) Well my new camera came! Yay!! Bryson and I had fun playing with it and figuring out how to use it. But it's awesome! Here's some of the the pictures I've taken.

One of my favorite things to do

2008-07-24T12:16:00.000-06:00

I come from a family full of photographers. My grandparents owned a camera store for over 20 years. My mom worked for a professional photographer. My dad learned from my grandparents and has been the photographer for weddings and other events. They always take pictures wherever they are. I've always loved taking pictures, not only of my friends or family but of the world around me. I love the details of this beautiful earth we live on. The little things..such as the way light hits the leaves on a tree or the sheep grazing in the pasture in front of my apartment...not only makes me want to capture that moment, but makes me truly grateful for this beautiful place the Lord has created for us. That's why I'm determined to have my camera with me as much as possible to not only capture those fun times with loved ones but to capture nature and the amazing place this world is. So here's some pictures that i've taken over the years and more recently. I'm hoping to get a camera that has a really nice zoom...like my dad's or my grandpa's. Until then i'll be using my trusty digital :)

Il est tres tres beau n'est-ce pas?!!

2008-07-24T11:49:00.000-06:00

Here's some pictures of Bryson and I. They span from Oregon to Utah to Illinois. We like to travel! He takes my breath away :)

Hello all!

2008-06-13T09:20:00.000-06:00

Quite a few people I know have become bloggers. I was just looking at my parents' blog and decided I wanted to try blogging and see how I do! This will be dedicated to giving updates on my life, but also different musings, thoughts, hey maybe even poetry or quotes that I enjoy...or write myself :) So here I go! Allons-y!