featured!

A few months ago Jessie of Jessie Alexis Photography asked me to be part of her cute friend's elopement.  I always thought it would be super romantic to elope(not to mention easy minus all the wedding planning!), so of course I said heck yes!  They got married up above Sundance, and so the flowers needed to have a whimsical, wild feel.  I am in love with how the flowers turned out.  Not only that, but the lighting was perfect, and Patrick & Tricia look sooo happy. (And one of my good friends married them!  Small world!) 

Today that wedding was featured on Rock n Roll Bride!  I am thrilled and so honored to be featured alongside Jessie, she is extremely talented!  

Check her out here:  Jessie Alexis Photography  

And check out the feature here: Rock n Roll Bride: Mountain Elopement
Oh and my flower blog here: Floral Design by Erin

being healthy and stuff.

Confession. I've gained a lot of weight this year. Yikes.

Life has been working against me a little bit... Between getting a desk job, getting married (taking birth control. blegh.), and being totally busy, I don't have a ton of time to be as active as I'd like.  (I know it's not an excuse.  But it's the reality :)

I've discovered the unfortunate fact that I carry extra weight in my tummy.  I can't tell you how many times people have asked me when I'm due, or asked if I'm expecting.

It doesn't make a gal feel good if so many people ask if she's pregnant when she's not...  It's really not good on the self confidence.  I know I need to do something about it.  I've never been skinny, and I've never been one to regularly exercise.

So here I go.  Somehow I feel like if I tell the blogging world, I will be held accountable.  baby steps!  I'll get to where I want to be.  My goal is to lose 40 lbs by April 30, my birthday!

I want to be healthy.  I want to feel good.  I want to have more energy.  I want to be strong.  And let's be honest... I want people to stop asking me if I'm pregnant.  :)

What do you do to eat clean, be healthy, and exercise regularly with a full and busy schedule?  I know this will be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix.  Weight Watchers?  Insanity?  Green Smoothies?  I want to hear from you.  Maybe I'm not thinking of something that I could try that I might like.  Oh, and I HATE exercising.  I love it when it's disguised as something fun, like Zumba!  What have you tried that's fun?  I want to pick up running, too.  As much as I hate it, I think I could learn to love it!

My cute little (big) brother and I before he left on his mission in September

.....

And I just have to throw this out there...  I always thought "being skinny" would automatically make me more attractive.  And let me tell you, that is SO not the case.  I weighed the most I'd ever weighed when Chase and I got married.  Chase tells me every day that I am hot/beautiful/gorgeous/pretty even though I don't feel it all the time.  (How did I get so lucky?)

My point is, it's all about being confident in your own skin.  It doesn't matter what the scale reads as long as you're healthy!  Right now, I'm not even in my healthy weight range, so that's why I want to fix it.  I don't want my weight to get out of hand. and I want to be a good, healthy, active example to my future kids, too.  So I might as well get in the habit now!

Thanks for tuning in and wish me luck!

Camera.

Ever wonder why I never post pictures?

Simply, it is the fact that I don't know how to use a camera.  It's sad, I know.  

I desperately need to learn.  I hate reading blogs that don't have pictures, so why would anyone want to read mine?  

I'm working on it.  I'm saving up for a camera.  What camera do you recommend?  

When I say I don't know how to use a camera, half of the battle is I don't know what camera to invest in!  I've heard the Canon Rebel is great for beginners (I am a beginner for sure)  but I really have no idea.  And even though I'm a beginner, I still want to have beautiful images.  So.  HELP!

I have so many things I want to blog about, but I need pictures to go along with it... 

Like, 

A house tour!  It's still not decorated completely, but it's ours and we love it.  And we need to document it! 

Artwork I'm currently working on.  

....there's more but I can't think right now.  It's been a long day.  :)

Any tips and suggestions you have for cameras and/or where to learn how to use the camera would be amazing and very much appreciated!  

Invest in yourself

I stumbled across UVU's YouTube Channel a little while ago.  One of the playlists is featuring the women's success lectures(which you can view HERE).  Seriously they are interesting and uplifting.  Maybe that's just me... who's to say?  Check them out and see for yourself.

One of the videos really struck a chord with me.

This woman told us about how one day she was talking to an accomplished neighbor of hers.  They were talking about work, and the neighbor asked why she hadn't gone back to school.  The woman had been working a $10/hour, 9-5 job to help support all the things her kids would need.  (missions, school, getting married, etc.) She said they just couldn't afford to send her back to school at the moment.

(What the neighbor responded with really hit me: I'm paraphrasing, FYI)

You need to invest in yourself if you really want to invest in your kids.  I make probably l0-15 times what you do an hour.  Tell me who has the greatest flexibility with their schedule to be with the family and tell me who is going to make the biggest impact on their family! 

She then goes on to talk about how that was a big slap in the face and how she immediately went back to school to invest in herself so that she could invest in her kids and her family!

I love that she uses the word invest.  When we invest in something, we make a little sacrifice now to gain a bigger return later.  

That same day I signed up for classes.  I have been thinking that I need to go back, but I didn't feel like it was the right time for our family quite yet.  After Chase and I talked about it and crunched some numbers, I am now registered for some generals I kept putting off before.  I only have 2 semesters until I get my associates, and then another 3-4 until I get my Bachelors Degree.  Seriously, I can't wait.  I know it will be a sacrifice now.  I want to do it to be an example to my future kids, too.  I don't want the excuse "well, mom didn't finish college!"... So I need to finish!  You have to invest in yourself if you want to invest in your kids.  (Or if you want your kids to invest in themselves!)

Happy Monday!

Fresh starts and a little update

I haven't blogged in ages.  I stopped when Chase and I started dating.  He stalked me on FB and found my blog and told me he read it!  I was self conscious about writing anything on here because I didn't want to mess up my chances with him.  So weird, I know.  But I have gotten out of the habit and I really need to get back into it.  I have really missed this type of journaling and documenting my life.  Now that there are two, I have given Chase permission to blog here.  (which probably won't ever happen, but be warned just in case. :)

Here's to fresh starts!  And here's a little update of our family:

Chase is still going to school and working a ton.  We don't see each other as much as we're used to, but it will be worth it when he's all done in a few years!

I'm working full time and I am loving it.

I want to get back into school, but probably won't for a bit until Chase is done with school.  It's going to be tricky, but I'm determined to finish.  In the meantime, I have been sharpening my skills and trying to learn new ones!

I've been trying to decorate our home... finally! I can never make any decisions and so nothing ever gets done.  BUT this past weekend I actually made some executive decisions.  I went out and bought fabric, wood panels, paint, a chalkboard, and some other things to finish my living room.  It's slowly but surely coming together!  I'll post pictures soon!

One Year Photo shoot with Evelyn Eslava

A few months ago I had the opportunity to create some bouquets and floral headpieces for an inspiration shoot with Evelyn Eslava Photography (I'll keep you posted... It'll be up in February and I am SO excited to show you that shoot.  It was GORGEOUS!)  Anyway, as a thank you for helping with the flowers, Evelyn kindly offered to shoot our one year anniversary pictures.  Oh my goodness.  I love them.  I finally had a chance to look at each one tonight and they are so sweet and perfect.   Here are a few of my favorites!