After Christmas Day By The Beach

Every Christmas lots of family comes down to visit. It's crazy... kids running everywhere...but a fun tradition none the less. The days after Christmas are always a little more relaxed. We always end up spending some time by the beach. Being in Southern California, although none traditional, I always enjoy walking by the beach in the crisp December air. 

Us older "kids" escaped for this beautiful hike on the coast. It really is so beautiful.

We even got in a small little photo shoot

Fall Days in Northern California

Thanksgiving was spent up in Northern California, and while I've been up there many times before, I think I kind of fell in love with the area. All these pictures were taken on Thanksgiving Day. We went on a little walk before the big meal. Maybe it was the beautiful fall weather and crisp air or simply the thrill of being able to stretch my legs after an eight hour car drive--either way I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The company on the walk was pretty good too ;)

                             

 

Managing My Time

I've retrieved my trusty planner after it's summer long break and have since then been using it nonstop. Got to be organized!

I'm trying so hard to stay on top of my school work this semester and prevent myself from getting overwhelmed. It's so easy for work to pile up, leaving you desperately trying to tackle the work before it suffocates you. Trust me, I've been there....

This leads me to my next topic. I put my two week notice in at work the other day. I just really didn't want a repeat of last semester--where all my time was spent either at school, studying, or working. There was literally NO free time whatsoever. I really felt like if I did the same this semester, I would have gotten burned out and not done well at all. I kept going back and forth on my decision to quit work but ultimately I think it was the right one. It does however mean that Ryan and I will have to get creative......we'll have to plan cheap dates, stop eating out, and be better stewards of our money. I really like having some money to spend, but I think my own sanity is more important!

School is Starting up Again

School is starting up again, and I must admit I'm sad summer is coming to an end. It means I will have A LOT less free time and MUCH more work to do. This summer has truly been such a wonderful and relaxing one. 

I'm choosing to look on the positive side though and think of all the things I'm excited about. I truly do love Fall. It's probably my favorite season. My style is much more suited for the Fall weather anyway. I've never been too much of a tank top and shorts girl. 

So here it is--things I'm excited for

Big Sweaters

Crisp Air 

Boots

Lots of warm coffee drinks

Thanksgiving

Fall Scents (Pumpkin spices etc)

Lighting a Fire

My Space Heater

Baking cookies

The beginning of Gossip Girl

Knee High Socks

and

Ryan and My Birthday's (Meaning reasons to celebrate :)

Balboa Island

Well, there's only one week of summer left before going back to school and Ryan and I are trying to soak up every last bit. I requested a few days off work last week so we could take a few day trips. The major one ( and only one more than 30 minutes away) was a drive to Balboa Island. While very tiny and a definite tourist attraction, we really enjoyed ourselves. We ate lots....lunch at a cute Italian restaurant where we sat looking strait out the window while we ate (bottom right square), a frozen chocolate covered banana (apparently an old island favorite) and ice cream in a waffle cone. Afterwards we walked along the beach, past all the pretty beach cottages. There were birthday parties being had, and lemonade being sold (seems like quite the place for a vacation home). 

It was a lovely and much needed date day, 

and I sure am lucky to have such a wonderful fiance :)

Craziness

I like to think of myself as a fairly responsible and reliable person.....You know, like the type of person that shows up for their shift at work....Well I definitely was not that person today. I was scheduled to be at work at 9:45 this morning. I work at a photography studio and was actually suppose to open. Instead, I woke up to a phone call at 10:45 from my boss! Apparently I turned off my alarm in my sleep. That's a pretty bad thing when the studio opens at 10 and the first appointment is at 10:20...not to mention appointments were booked every 20 minutes after that. I can only imagine the scene when my coworker wandered in (on time) for her shift at 10:40. So today I was THAT person....the one who overslept, took about two minutes getting out of bed and into their car, and showed up to work looking pretty frazzled (with no coffee in their system).

I can't even believe myself. Luckily, I still have a job and a very forgiving boss.

Hope everyone else's morning went better then mine!

Currently

Currently:

Loving: Ryan and I are currently loving our new bikes! It was quite the splurge purchase for me but I am so happy with it. We had been thinking about buying bikes for a while and decided since it was the beginning of summer, we ought to do it now so they can get there use. We've definitely been enjoying being adventurous and going for our afternoon bike rides. It's great exercise too and so much more fun then the gym. The other day we decided to be crazy and bike strait up this mountain that my house is on. I literally felt like I was going to die. I needed to take lots of breaks, but Ryan was quite the motivator. Eventually we made it to the top and going back down was a breeze (literally).
I'm also loving the fact that Ryan looks pretty darn handsome on his bike...I mean look at him (ignore the squinting into the sun) ;)

Reading: The book I'm currently reading is My Name is Memory by Anne Brashares. In all honesty I am really just starting it, but I love Anne Brashares as an author, so I have high hopes! Her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Books were fantastic and I absolutely fell in love with each of the characters. I recently found out that she wrote a fifth one (Sisterhood Everlasting) that follows the girls ten years later. It was pretty much perfect, touching, and beautifully written. So, needless to say, I am excited about this new series of hers. I've read that they're already in talks to make it a movie!

Watching: I've kind of been in a funk as far as tv goes these last few days. I've been flipping through the channels and not really settling on any one show. I am one of the last people who do not have dvr so that is part of the problem. In order to watch a show, I have to actually catch it when its on. Ryan and I just finished the Season 1 dvds of Game of Thrones. We both really enjoyed it! It was perfect too because while we have different tastes in tv, the show was something that we both really enjoyed. Since neither of us have HBO, we're greatly anticipating the Season 2 dvd release!

Anticipating: I'm anticipating this next week. We both work all day usually on weekends, so weekdays are when we get to plan adventures and dates. Contrary to when I'm in school, during the summer Monday is my favorite day of the week!

Listening too: I've recently whipped out my old Ipod and been listening to that on shuffle. I have added some new songs recently, but the majority are old ones. I've been enjoying it, but as far as new music goes, I guess I kind of live under a rock.

Planning: I'm planning a trip to europe for this august. My parents are going, and hopefully Ryan and I can go with! Were starting to run out of time before school starts up again, so we need to get this thing going!

working on: I'm working on being more productive and less lazy this summer. Just little things, like cleaning out my car, checking the oil etc. have been put off. These are all things that take very little time and I'm much happier after I do them. For whatever reason (laziness I guess) I have not been doing any of it! I know summer is a time to kind of veg out and relax, but common. So yea, that's what I am currently trying to improve about myself.

wishing: I'm wishing that Ryan didn't have to work today. I'm actually off, and he works from 5 until 12 tonight. That kind of ruins any chance of a saturday date night.

So here is my first currently post. Hope you enjoyed!

Study, Study Study........

This right here is literally what my last few weeks of school--and the family room table--look like. It is also what I have been staring at for the last two hours. As this semester comes to an end, I have test after test, followed by finals (aka more tests). I feel like all I have been doing is studying..... somehow though, the amount of studying and homework I have left doesn't seem to be diminishing at all. It just doesn't make sense one bit.

On a positive note, summer is just around the corner. I may not be able to see it right now, but I know it's there.....somewhere.....maybe hidden under all of these books. I was planning on taking Quantitative Chem this summer. It's a class that I have been dreading. After reading the teacher's reviews (let's just say the were not the best) I decided I should probably wait and take the class with another teacher. I really think it worked out for the best though. I am going to enjoy my summer without cramming another REALLY hard class in there. So on that note, it's back to studying!

Daffodils

I absolutely love Daffodils. They are just such unique looking, yet bright and happy flowers. While I know that they are a popular flower, I first discovered them about a year ago. One of the cheerleaders I coached gave them to me at the cheer banquet. While it was such a simple gift, it was my favorite! I just think they are so beautiful. So now every spring, I look for them at the grocery store (Trader Joe's sells them, and they are really inexpensive).

My semester at school is coming to an end, and while I am SO excited for summer, there are a lot of tests and assignments due before my much anticipated break. It's easy to get stressed out about, but these flowers are like a nice relaxing breath of fresh air. Every time I walk by the kitchen table, I can't help but stop and admire them. This miniscule pause in a rushed day is so nice. 

Spring Break

Spring Break has been pretty amazing.

I was able to spend time with Ryan, just having fun, going on dates together etc. We went skiing on Wednesday. He had never been before, so I was a little worried about how he would do. He actually did amazing though and only fell once! (If you've ever tried to teach anyone how to ski, you know how good that is) Anyways, the day trip to the snow was so much fun. We hardly ever get an entire day together where we can just be on a date, doing something fun. We're hoping to go one more time before the ski season is over.

Over break, we also went to the premier of Hunger Games. We went with my best friend and her boyfriend and a few other people. Ryan and I had both read all the books, so going to the midnight premier with friends was exciting (we ate way too much unhealthy stuff though). Anyways, I thought that the movie was really good, and very similar to the book.

Sadly spring break is coming to an end.....I'm ready to finish these last six weeks of the semester strong though.

A Case That Should Be Made More Often

I came across this really interesting article the other day. Our society is definitely against people getting married at an early age. I think that Christians however, need to read this article and take into consideration what is being said. When Ryan and I got engaged, there was definitely skepticism because of our age. We truly felt though, and still do that for us it is the right thing. Growing up, I have never been one who was an advocate for marriage at a young age...and in today's society, anything younger then 25 is considered very young. It really depends on the people though. If you are going to live a Christian lifestyle, at a certain point for dating couples, marriage is the obvious next step. So read the article, It explains everything much better then I can. "The Case for Early Marriage". If you guys are really interested here's another one "Wait for Sex & Marriage? Evangelicals Conflicted". Leave comments about what you guys think!

Things Always Turn Around

Things always turn around. This is something that is so true. Even when the worst things in life happen (obviously i'm talking about things much bigger than my little pouting mood), eventually things will get better. This little fact is kind of reassuring.

Although not such a serious example, today was MUCH better. Contrary to my weeklong bad mood and sulking that my hard work doesn't pay off, today, I was reminded that it actually does. I got a test and quiz back, and both were rewarding.....much better then if I hadn't spent all that time studying. In fact, putting in the work almost GUARANTEES you will see positive results. However, reminding ourselves of this is tough.

Another thing that made me happy today was the rain. I love the rain! Somehow every single time it rains though, I manage to forget an umbrella and my rain boots (and forgetting my rain boots makes me mad since the opportunity to wear them doesn't come around much). Today was no different. I left class and sure enough it was pouring. I did have to go home though before my next class, so I changed into rain attire. That made me happy. :) I guess it's really the little things sometimes isn't it?

All in all, things were looking up today.

Patience~ Enjoy TODAY

Well, we're way past my productive summer, since it has been months since my last post. Moving forward though....I just read the my "about me" section. In there I talked about how I was trying to enjoy where I am at right now--Living in the present instead of fixating on the things I want in the future. Truth be told, I have been VERY bad about that lately. This week was extremely bad. I had two tests and two quizzes, plus work, and picking my parents up from the airport. To top it all off, I got a calculus test back. I thought I had done well on this test....turns out I was wrong. Needless to say, I was SICK of school. Today, I was getting frustrated about the fact that Ryan and I don't know when we're going to be able to get married. I wanted to set a date, but the fact that our graduation date is still up in the air, as well as whether Ryan will be able to get a good job right away, makes it pretty impossible.

When things are going well and Ryan and I get to hangout a lot, it's easier to be patient about getting married. When you are ridiculously busy, you have no time to spend together, and school has made you feel like screaming, that next chapter of life looks sooo wonderful. The reality is though, that looking back, years from now when we're married, juggling kids and work, we'll look back on these years and see beautiful memories.

So this week I am going to go back to what I said. It's time to enjoy the present! (which should be easier since my tests are done and Ryan and I have a date night planned)