To do:

Final statistical report poster, two statistical analyses, two piano pieces, 20 hours at the lab to somehow work into the mix, 8 page paper, 6 page paper, ward Christmas party to plan. Save me.

Or at least fix our heater. It's 54 degrees in our apartment right now.

Poor married life rocks. [:

Burshday.

Phone blowing up with birthday texts and phone calls.

Package from home, chock-full of fudge and Great-grandma Katheryn 

snickerdoodles (a.k.a. the best kind)

Birthday breakfast courtesy of Mr. Gray, complete with leaf path to lead me from 

the bed to the kitchen (more seasonally accurate than rose petals).

And presents!

{That map is from Ryan, to help us with our goal of seeing all 59 national parks together. 

He found it himself. I LOVE RYAN.}

No class alllll day. I love Thursdays!

Alpine Loop drive with my little brother.

Dinner at Olive Garden.

Cake and ice cream.

Surprise birthday party.

Good start to my 22nd year. [:

These are some cute people.

Back in October a friend of mine asked me to take pictures of her and her husband.

TERRIFYING.

We froze our butts off up in the mountains above Sundance,

but it was rad! I learned a ton and gained so much respect for professional photographers.
Mostly that they're incredible and capturing the shots they get is something I'll probably. 

never do. But it was way fun. And an adventure. And I was so relieved that she liked them.

Great Basin National Park

     If you're ever down in Nephi, Utah, take a right and drive west for like, 100 miles give or take. Sounds crazy, right? A few weekends ago, Ryan and I did just that. Drove the "Loneliest Highway in America" for three hours straight. To most people, it's the most boring thing they'll ever experience. To Ryan and I, it was a pure treat. 

via My Scenic Byway

     On the infamous US Highway 50, we passed six cars over our entire trip. Definitely lived up to its name. But the surrounding geography was stunning. I got to tell Ryan about basin and range topography, everything I know about the desert and steppe climates, geologic forms, and everything else he asked about (I love that curious guy! [: ). We listened to This American Life podcasts, talks from General Conference, and a few Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me's. We tried to get Don Carlos (our car) up to 100mph. (It was a struggle.) We were on our way to Great Basin National Park, and as we drove through the beautiful, wide open heartland of the American West, we were two very, very happy campers.

     I love land. I don't care what it looks like. If it's big and wide and natural, I love it. Give me a desert, with its scattered sage, hard crusty ground, and seeming emptiness - I see big sky, which makes my heart happy; I see cryptobiotic crust on the ground, which takes decades to form and is the desert's protection against erosion; I see a thriving ecosystem, full of life if you're patient enough and know what to look for; And I see that beautiful sage, and know that when it rains or if you roll a sprig between your fingers, it releases the most heavenly smell I know of. (Aside from horses. And cinnamon rolls.)

     We raced these foreboding thunderclouds all the way to the park, and they caught us about an hour from Baker. Soon it got dark enough to be evening, even though it was only 2 o'clock, and we were given a show of brilliant lightning bolts, connecting the earth and the sky, and then rain so heavy that we had to shout to hear each other in our little car. It was one of those times where you look around and go, "This is so cool." The roads flooded, lightning continued to light up the sky, and onward we went. {Maybe that was stupid, but we're obviously still alive...}

     As we pulled into the park, the rain lightened and the rainbows came out. We grabbed a map {yesss. [:} and headed deeper into the park, climbing up and up into the mountains, passing peak after rocky peak and gaping at the stunning forest that materialized as we gained elevation. As we left the flat, brown desert behind and climbed into greenery, I got to explain orographic precipitation to Ryan, which our surroundings were a perfect example of. Earth is so awesome.

Excuse the overload of teal... I didn't realize!

The light from the sunset reflected off the clouds and falling rain in the most brilliant color.

     We set up our tent in what we deemed as the perfect campground, with a stream running along the far side and a beautiful grove of ponderosa and fir. Chicken and fried potatoes for dinner, pancakes for breakfast the next morning. Again, happy campers. [: I like camping with this dude.

     With a heavy week of school ahead of us, we unfortunately had to pack up and leave the next afternoon. But we vowed to come back to what we called "the hipster national park" {Seriously. No one knows about this place.} Cause like, that place has bristlecone pines and some awesome caves. So yes, you bet this girl's gonna get her butt back there. Even if she's got to drag her husband all the way back down Highways 50. Which from the looks of things, won't have to be the case. Cause he's awesome and outdoorsy and such.
     Until we meet again, Great Basin.

Wheeler Peak, which we will hike next time.

Recents.

Someday I'll post about the best day of my life. But until then:

Mom and Sarah came down for Conference weekend.
I had a buddy in all my classes, and she only fell asleep
once. [:

We rented a puppy as a surprise for Sarah, but I think my husband enjoyed
it even more than she did...

Sunday morning session.

I love my school.

My mother in law bought us a BED. No more mattress
on the floor. Cause yes, we were definitely doing that.

This is Riley, my hide-and-seek buddy. Another perk to marrying Ryan - I've
become an AUNT! To five (going on six!) nieces and nephews.
It's the best. I love it.

Leaf Peepers.

Apparently that's what East Coast-ers call tourists who come to see their autumn leaves. 

But we did it Alpine Loop style.

We like this Earth place.

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.