Our last Utah park: Bryce Canyon

Earlier this week was Ryan's birthday, and I practically tackled him out of happiness when he told me that he wanted to use his day off of work to go to our last of the five national parks in the state of Utah - Bryce Canyon National Park. We've been Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion together, and this was our last one! Woo!

 Granted, we still slept in and opened presents and had a fantastically lazy morning before heading off around 10am. It was blissful. For some reason doing things that are perfectly weekend-normal on a WEEK DAY just made it that much better. One of the many reasons we love Ryan's company. Birthdays off should just be the norm!

Driving through Utah, though most people proclaim it boring, is anything but. Each tiny town we passed through and each new mountain range we came to was just so cool. Utah rangeland is stunning and full of the coolest history.

When we got to the park, after flashing our park pass at the ranger's shed like we owned the place, we were happy to see that there were literally six (SIX!!!) cars parked at the visitor center. Late winter and early spring is the time to hit Utah's parks. And it being a Tuesday probably helped as well. [: We saw maybe 30 or 40 people during the entire day. That's my kind of national park experience. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

We strung together a couple of trails to make a big loop through the park. It was Ryan's first time here (my second), and it was so fun to see his awe at the incredible geology of the place! There were patches of ice and snow in the more shaded parts of the trail, as well as a little bit of mud, but nothing too bad at all. We were too happy surrounded by those towering red walls and whimsical hoodoos to complain. Plus, that's what rad boots are for. 

We stopped by C-Stop Pizza, a cute pizza & sandwich restaurant in Panguitch (love those Utah names), on our way out and stuffed our tired and happy selves with greasy breadsticks and great pizza. Overall, a birthday success. We're proud to say we've officially hit every one of Utah's "Mighty 5!"

I love hiking with Ryan. I love being married to Ryan! And speaking of the love of my life, happy 26th, you stud you. You make me the happiest girl on Earth.

(The birthday card I made for Ryan. I was proud. [: )

2014

Things I Want to Remember - 2014 Edition:

Buying furniture for our apartment // Snowshoeing // Watching the Seahawks win the Superbowl // Zion Nat'l Park, Capitol Reef Nat'l Park, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Las Vegas in one President's Day weekend with Dad & Merr // CELINE DION // Field trip to Moab for my photography class // The Park City alpine coaster // Merritt's mission call // Canyonland's Nat'l Park and Dead Horse State Park camping weekend with Mom & Merr // Photography contest woo yeah woo // Getting my wisdom teeth out with the brosef // 1st and 2nd place awards at the Fulton Conference of Mentored Research // Sailing with my family // Spending a few days in Maple Valley // Dayhikes // Great Basin Nat'l Park 2.0 // Buying and loving our pizza stone // Fieldwork in the Paiute Range // The Gray family reunion in Arizona // Fieldwork at Tanner Ridge // Labwork too // Selling our kitchen table // Making snickerdoodles like every weekend for a month // Loving Provo in the summer // Ryan finishing his undergrad // Discovering the bliss that is Art City Donuts. Also, Kneader's french toast. // Going to Art City Trolley too many times... // Labwork while watching the World Cup // Sunriver (but without Ryan ): ) // Washington week afterwards // Dropping off Merritt at the MTC // Saying goodbye to Gryff // Capitol Reef Nat'l Park camping trip // New kitchen table! // GLACIER NATIONAL PARK // Walking for BYU graduation // Cleaning out all of Ryan's boxes [: // More Tanner Ridge fieldwork // OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY // Arches Nat'l Park day // Cornbelly's // Guardians of the Galaxy times 7 // Mom weekend // San Francisco for my birthday // Anniversary pictures!!! // Halloween as Peter Quill & Gamora // Thanksgiving in Washington // Graduating from BYU forever and ever // Christmasness // Visiting Grandpa and Seattle // New Year's with the family. 

2014. Life was good.

We're ready for more.

Thanksgiving & Christmas

     The last few weeks of my last semester ever were full of bittersweet feelings. I would randomly start to tear up in classrooms that I realized I only had a few more days in. I sat and talked to my professors more. I walked around campus more than usual to see places that were important to me, like that one place by the Maeser where I sat and cried to my dad about life as a sophomore, or the route we'd walk to church when I was single, trying to casually speed up or slow our pace to walk with guys we liked. 

     I got to go up to the terrace of the Kimball Tower before Thanksgiving break with Dr. B and his 110 class, a rite of passage for any graduating geography student. It was beautiful. Man, I love this school and this place. Thinking about how I've changed since freshman year is something my mind has been buried in a lot this semester. This university means so much to me.

     Thanksgiving was spent in Maple Valley for the first time in four years. It was perfect. We made Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses since Ryan & I would be in Utah for Christmas, and I got to bake apple pies with my mom all day. We spent Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and saw lots of people we hadn't see in ages.

And yes, I totally put on my wedding dress and walked around the house for a lil while.

It was great. [: Yeahh.

     Back in Provo, the lights were up on campus. We passed the two-year anniversary of our first date (TWO YEARS. How is that possible). We got a free tree from Ryan's brother and I spent every moment I could studying next to it and its bright, twinkly glow. Sunday nights found us sitting in the living room with our fake fireplace and the Carpenters' Christmas album going, too. [: I wish I could keep a tree up all year. That little scene made me so happy.

We continued our tradition of making graham-cracker houses with Andrew & KayCee, who ended up GETTING ENGAGED two days after Christmas. We are ecstatic for them.

Ryan & I made a school, complete with a sledding hill, snowman-building, and snowball fight. Frankly we were really, really proud of that thing. The details Ryan came up with were really quite genius, and his determination was adorable. 

Andrew & KayCee made a holiday version of the Teotihuacan pyramids. I wish I had gotten a picture of the front of the little gummy bear tourists. They were holding "cameras" (brown mini-M&Ms). [:

I finished my last final ever and walked out of the Kimball Tower feeling less sad than I thought I would be. The pressures and stress of finals actually made for quite a bit of relief when I was done, and when it was all over I found myself feeling that I really was ready to be done and to move on to post-graduate life. The sunset was gorgeous that night. 

We spent an evening at Temple Square in Salt Lake, admiring the thousands of lights and the beautiful displays. Being at a temple with Ryan is always so much fun. He gets so giddy and always kisses me randomly, following up with "Thanks for marrying me." We are so happy to know that we have been sealed together forever in one of God's temples. I'm unbelievably lucky to have this guy.

Christmas Eve at the Grays brought another gorgeous sunset over the Salt Lake Valley. Though I'm still bitter about them moving before I could spend a Christmas in Ketchikan [: , it was a fantastic time. We ate, talked, played games, laughed till we cried.

When it was time for bed, we read an excerpt from a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland almost 40 years ago, called "Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store". It was a talk I had never heard before. In it, Elder Holland thoughtfully expressed what it must have been like to be Mary or Joseph, bringing forth the Son of God in utter poverty. As the chosen reader I had to stop several times because I simply couldn't keep reading. The Spirit bore so strongly to me the truthfulness of the words and beautiful gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who descended below "every human pain and disappointment," every one of my pains and disappointments, so that I could cast my burden at His feet and be forgiven and comforted. I don't even know how I would be living my life if I didn't know these eternal truths. The gospel of Jesus Christ is my life and the source of every happiness in it! 

 The next day we lounged, played video games, and ate pie for breakfast, and I even got to Skype with Elder Krop, thousands of miles away in Argentina, for a few minutes. It snowed all day. It was just us four adults, quiet and different from what I am used to on Christmas Day. But it was a good different, because I was still with people I loved. 

Life is good.

We got engagements a year late.

Back in July, Elisha Braithwaite of EB Photography opened a giveaway for a free shoot with her in honor of a new full-frame camera she had just bought, with preference given to people who were already married or who had never gotten pictures done. I had been following her on Instagram for a few weeks and I, no joke, almost jumped straight up into the air when I saw her post about it. She invited interested couples to email her pictures and a blurb of why they wanted a shoot. 

I typed that email up like a madman. I have told myself since our engaged days that I would get pictures of Ryan and I. Because of budget restraints, Ryan and I didn't get engagements. Our announcement photo was one my dad took in our back yard. I wanted professional pictures of this blissful, amazing time of life so badly, and Elisha's giveaway literally felt like a miracle! After a few days I got a response from Elisha saying that she would love to photograph us for our anniversary! AHH I almost died of happiness. Ryan didn't understand what the fuss was all about, but he just doesn't get how much pictures mean to me. [: I'm so lucky to have a guy who is willing to do things that he knows make me happy, even if he's not super thrilled about it.

Elisha and her boy were the coolest people to hang out with! We had so much fun with them. Heck, I'll take any excuse to make googlie eyes and kiss my husband for an hour. Elisha was the perfect mix of letting us do our own thing, while still giving us pose ideas so we didn't look like awkward weirdos. For the most part, the shoot was totally candid, which is everything I wanted. 

I love the love I have with this guy, and I love having pictures that show it. I am so happy with these.

I just love this green-eyed boy.

Elisha is a fantastic, talented photographer and her images are not only beautiful, but needle-sharp due to the fantastic camera she's chosen (I appreciate things like that). She is the sweetest person ever and is so fun to hang out with! She shoots in the Northern Utah region and loves travel. Hook up with her if you're reading this and like her stuff. [: