Sweet summertime.

I have probably the most legitimate reason known to man for not posting at all during summer. I got married, okay? That's right behind, like, 'dying' in the legitimate excuses for not blogging list (though much happier... Come to think of it that was probably a bad comparison to make). Now want a massive photodump of how much fun I had trying to have a normal summer while planning one of the biggest days of my life? Probably not. Here it is anyway.

While I was taking spring classes, I got to go visit Ryan in Los Angeles! It was so good to see the ocean again. Oh, and the man I'm in love with. Him too. [: We went to the incredible Griffith Observatory, ate at a couple cool little beachside restaurants, and got in a lot of talking time with the unbelievable amount of traffic that place has. So many people in one place!

Luckily his dad works for Alaska Airlines, so when I'm home he can fly to 

Seattle for free. So as you look through these pictures and see scattered Ryan appearances,

it's because of that. No, he did not live with us.

As part of my Field Research Methods class/internship, we took a weekend trip down to the new Canyonlands Research Center to learn about the research that's going on down there. We got to stay in Indiana Jones tents, learn about our awesome planet, eat foil dinners, and spend two whole days hiking in Canyonlands N.P. Perfect weekend.

 

The night we returned, I raced to shower and get ready to go to a ward bonfire at South Fork Park, which actually turned out to be a spectacular proposal planned by Ryan and our friends. He was waiting for me at the end of one of the trails, which he had lined with paper lanterns. Each one had a single word hole-punched into it, so that the letters glowed with the candlelight behind them. All the words had to do with us, or from something we had done together during our 6 months of dating. Arches. Zion. Ketchikan. Sounders and RSL [:
Best. night. of my life.

Roommates!

The ring! I'm not much of a jewelry girl at all but I love my ring so much. [:

Spring classes ended and I got to go HOME. We spent a week on the boat up in Canada, exploring Desolation Sound. It had been several years since we had been, and it was wonderful to go back to places I had such fond memories of. We saw so much wildlife and so few harbors. It was pristine and remote. Just beach after island after fjord of ocean life as it's supposed to be. 

And if you must ask, yes not being able to talk to Ryan for eight days straight was torture. Yeah yeah, I know. Barf. 

We planned a wedding. Funny to think how those four small words meant as much time, stress, effort, thought, research, and manpower as it ended up being. But it really was fun, and a great opportunity for my mom and I to work together and spend time together before I became Mrs. Gray. We found lots of ways to maximize our budget, including me making my own wedding announcement {Not worth pulling an all-nighter for. No.} and having my dad do our engagement pictures. In hindsight, those things aren't that important, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who'd like to save some moolah! 

The day I found my dress. {BEST DAY EVER}

Wedding shoe shopping.

Wedding registry fun.

Enrobed mangoes. Lots and lots of enrobed mangoes.

 Flower shopping. With some of the best farmer's markets/flower farms in the state being only 25
 minutes away, we decided to make our budget happy and use local flowers for the centerpieces.

 Ended up just using fresh baby's breath along with salal and cedar 

from our backyard! Cheap and pretty as you can get.

More registry fun. That scan gun and I became good, good friends... 

We swear by the Chipotle stress therapy program. It works wonders!

 Making 250 wedding favors. 

As you can see, I had the cutest hole-puncher ever.

 And the best twine-tying team.

Lots and lots of time at the lake.

Sarah turned 12!!

I received my endowment in the temple. For anyone not of 

our faith, you can read more about what that means here and here.

It was such a beautiful, pure testimony to me of the truthfulness and glory of this gospel. Every human on this planet is a child of God. Our brother, Jesus Christ, suffered and died to pay the debt of justice for our sins so that we can live with God again if we merely repent and keep the commandments we have been given. I love all that I learned that day, and all that I will continue to learn as I regularly attend the temple for the rest of my life.

Family reunion. Didn't get any pictures of much family... but I got some of the places we went!

We spent half of it locally, staying at the cabin at the lake and doing things around Seattle.

Protect tree? Consider it done.

Aquarium.

Pike Place.

The Great Wheel.

Love us some M's!

The last half was spent in Suncadia in Eastern Washington. Such a stunning place!

^The lodge aka partay central for the weekend.^

A weekend full of family, hiking, night games, bridge jumping and beautiful places.
Plus Ryan got to come, which was way rad!

I started weeding the garden area as a stress-reliever. And let me tell you,
nothing helped me work out wedding tension more than this sweaty, dirty job did.

 

Before and after. We were real proud.

Mushy engaged romance. The day Ryan received his live ordinance recommend,
which was the last thing we had to do before being sealed in the temple!

Braved 4 hours of bumper to bumper traffic and getting hit on by a really persistent Civic driver {can I just say how satisfying it was to flash my ring at him to make him stop? [: } to see this lady for the last time in 18 months. She's kickin' butt on her mission in Italy, but I miss her so much!

 And then came the bridal showers.

 Let me tell you, I was scared stiff about the idea {I don't know why! But I was!} but it turns out that having a shower all about you and therefore being absolutely spoiled is kind of great. [: And I got two of 'em!

 Chubby bunny, bride-to-be style. I will probably never eat marshmallows again because of this.

 

 The planner herself. I was totally blown away by the cuteness. She is amazing.

More cousin lovin'.

My fairy godmother.

 Ryan stopped in afterwards so that we could read the advice cards written by all
the guests. From wisdom about the wedding night to tips for 40 years down the road,
I was crying from laughter. As you can see here.

Shower #2. My best friend Danielle and her mom put it on,
and it was a blast. She is so wonderful.

Also, no offense Mom, but most of the pictures didn't turn out cause your

finger was over the lens. These ones were okay though. [: You'll get better with time!

I received so many thoughtful gifts that are all over our apartment now.

Seriously, so overwhelmed with how generous our friends and family were

to us as Ryan and I were starting our life together!

Then we got to the two-week countdown. Two weekends before the wedding hit. Most girls and their moms would probably be on the fritz, stressing out about the last minute details and locking themselves in solitary confinement.

But we? We escaped and did two days of this.

Mount Rainier in the background. Oh how I love that mountain.

 We got lots of "You're crazy!"s and "What are you thinking?!"s from family and friends, but it was absolutely worth it. A last hurrah doing what we love best before our family went different ways. College and a mission. Marriage. Krop souls need regular doses of mountains, nights in tents, and backpacking food. But most of all, togetherness in beautiful places like this. There is nothing I would have wanted to do more the weekend before my wedding.

And that concludes the last summer with all the Krop kids in the house. I'll never forget it. I'm a lucky girl.

     Well, I'm finally caught up. I'm doing real well, loving school, and missing the heck out of Ryan as he's in Los Angeles for his four-month internship with the biggest PR firm in the world {I am so, so proud of him}. I'm getting into the swing of Spring term. Mostly it means everyone's working and no one's going to school, so I'm a minority. I'm trying to keep a balance between class and the summer stuff. Bonfires, parties, movie nights, hikes, roadtrips, etc. Spring term is a warm, sunny, non-stop party, and I love it.
     I recently was extended an offer to be a research assistant with one of my professors, and am starting training with that soon. Paid internship - check! I'm STOKED. Still working at Outdoors Unlimited and loving the way I learn new things every day, even if it sometimes means looking utterly stupid. {I did learn how to change a bike tube the other day though! Small victories, my friends.} I'm fixing up a bike I was given by a friend too. Just a plug for bikes: HAVING A BIKE IS SO GREAT. Especially in Provo, where everything you really need is within a few miles of you. I can get to a lot of places faster than my friends with cars do. Plus, no $60 per tank of gas that poor car owners shell out every week or so. I pity them. I grocery shop, I get to work, I go to the mall, FOR FREE. I'm unstoppable. I'm truly dreading the day I have to get a car...
     I'm also helping out at BYU's weather station, which is really pretty cool. Going to the temple every week with my roommate Katie and appreciating the way she gets me out the door to do fun things when I'm bemoaning the absence of my man. Keeping busy with a calling in charge of all the teachers in the ward. Writing my best friends on their missions and missing them like crazy. Playing on an intramural frisbee team. {SO fun.} Going to institute, getting together with friends for weekly scripture study, getting Katie to teach me to be domestic and kitchen-competent so I can impress Ryan when he gets back...
     I'm happy and very, very blessed. Life is good here in Provo.

A weekend in the best place.

Home. 

 This past weekend, I went home. Why? Well let me tell you. My brother is a stud. He runs on the varsity cross-country team. He's an awesome soccer player. He woos the ladies with his incredible piano skills and dashing smile. He was just accepted to BYU with a sweet scholarship. And as if that wasn't enough, he decided the day before tryouts ended that he would audition for our high school's production of Les Miserables. So he did. And what was he casted as? Marius. 

Modern day Renaissance man, that kid. 

My phone was blowing up on opening night, with current friends, family members, and old friends I hadn't talked to in YEARS all raving about his performance. And in a few days, I was home and watching it for myself. Merritt ROCKED it; gave me chills, tears, laughs, the whole shebang. It was the perfect weekend.

 We were Merritt's biggest fans {Not including the girl whose friends had to walk her over to Merr to get her to ask for his autograph, and who almost lost consciousness when she got a picture with him. And the little girl who hid behind her mom's skirt and held out a shaking program and pen to get his autograph. Oh and that one girl who openly flushed bright red when he put his arm around her for a picture.} 

Okay. So maybe we were kinda beat out by a few others. We did a few other things too, though.

 We hiked.

We were weird together.

We watched the Sounders beat one of the best teams
in the Western conference 4 - 0. 

 We potted flowers for Mama's Day.

We ate deliciousness.

And now I'm back in Provo trying to get back into my classes before midterms hit, but
with a noggin full of happy memories to help me through 'em. My life is good. [: