the greatest movie ever made

thank you thank you to the talented nathan pickett.  i love reliving my wedding day through this little gem.

the orchardist

i was so grateful for conference this past weekend.  i had so many questions, and my conclusion from this weekend is trust God more.  i feel like i'm always needing to be reminded to trust God.  which is silly because i know these words from president uchtdorf are true:

"you are loved.  you are dear to your heavenly parents.  the infinite and eternal creator of light and life knows you!  he is mindful of you...more than you could ever imagine, he wants you to achieve your destiny -to return to your heavenly home in honor...trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ.  I promise that as you do so you will discover your best self-your real self."

 for whatever reason, i cannot maintain that mindset of letting someone else lead my life for very long.  but i'm learning, and those subtle reminders he gives me are helpful (though painful, at times).  

also this weekend i got way spoiled with brennan time.  like from 3 p.m. on friday to 6:50 a.m. on monday we were together.  and i loved it.  the more time i spend with that man the more i love him and realize what a wise decision i made in marrying him.

brennan has been wanting to get in touch with his inner transcendentalist, so on friday he took me on a date to lynd fruit farms.  we picked 28 apples and raced through the trees and kissed behind the trunks.  

he also told me that if i ever wanted an orchard he wouldn't be opposed.  he knows all the right words, i tell ya.

when we drove in to the orchard, the guy handing out the bags told us "eat as many apples as you want while you're in there".  i think we ate more than we wanted.

i love the look on brennan's face.  he is so pleased with himself.

                         

after eating ourselves sick on apples, we visited the market across the street where we found those huge watermelons (i want to eat them all), some amish frye pies, and every size and color of pumpkin that exists.  i brought home a pie pumpkin (alicia, i'll need you to remind me how to make it into a pie).  we made some delicious homemade apple cider and still have about a dozen apples left.

it rained all that day, but it's like the clouds parted for us just long enough for us to have our outdoor adventure..then as we were driving away we got to watch some pretty ominous clouds roll in - it was beautiful.

- this link is the recipe i used for the cider.  it was so easy and so good, but i would definitely add white sugar...none of this optional brown sugar stuff.  i did at least one cup of white sugar after it was finished and i'd separated the apples and the cider.  

- also, have you ever heard of the book the orchardist?  my sister-in-law gave it to me for christmas last year.  it's an exciting story and sounds like a beautiful place (and further fueled my desire to have an orchard)

the food stamp experiment

first things first...

happy october

fall > all other seasons

october > all other months

so go outside and enjoy the crisp air and changing leaves!

october in mexico. (photo cred: pat may)

anyway...i'm doing an experiment.  i'm finishing up my last political science class tomorrow, and one of the last things i studied was social policy.  in that chapter i learned that for those on welfare, the average amount people receive for food stamps is $90 a month per person.  i don't know what all your grocery budgets are, but mine was significantly higher than that.  so, i decided to do an experiment.  for one month, i would only allot myself the amount of money we'd receive through food stamps if we were receiving them.  the experiment is pretty simple (based on SNAP rules):

• September 22 - October 19
• 2 people in my household = $180
• this budget only counts for food.  you cannot buy toiletries, paper products, or cleaning products with food stamps.  

here is the catch to make it a little more challenging.  our meals have to meet the myplate requirements (the food pyramid).  that means 2 cups of fruit per person per day, 2 1/2 cups veggies for me and 3 for brennan each day,  6 oz. grains for me, 8 for brennan, etc...tedious, i know.  that's why we're 2 weeks in and i haven't been tracking our servings at all.  so help!  

do you have awesome, cheap, healthy recipes? 

 we've probably done pretty well for the most part cause i do cook a lot of veggies, but fruits sometimes get ignored. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  

peace+love

leprechaun carpet

last week i started to feel a little homesick with all the pictures friends and family were posting of my beloved mountains and the changing leaves.  it's true, my heart will always reel me back to the mountains...but for now, i am soaking in all the beauty the midwest has to offer.

on wednesday night, brennan and i got to go out to gahanna for dinner at a physicians house.  they had a huge yard and goats!  and chickens and ducks.  i think i almost have brennan convinced we need a mini-farm someday.  i mean, what's better than a horse to get around town and fresh eggs every day?  we'd probably save tons of money with the amount of baking i do around here.  

what can i say?  goats love me.

and now for some shameless columbus promoting.

before we moved to ohio, brennan told me that when he landed in columbus as a missionary 5 years ago, all the green reminded him of ireland.  unfortunately i've never been to ireland, and i don't have a really nice camera to take cool pictures of all the green, but with these pictures and a little imagination, you can get a pretty good idea.  it is green.

green in the water

green on the trees

green on the rocks

green on the ground

green in the air.

there are other colors, too. 

 

last thing...ohio has a lot of corn and a lot of sky.  and i love it.

IVan the terrible

if you've never had the privilege to meet or converse with IVon Wall, my one and only living grandparent, you're missing out.  anyone who knows him will agree.  i had the blessing of living with him for almost 6 years and hearing all of his wisdom (lectures).  i loved when solicitors would call and ask for Ivan, to which he'd respond, "do you mean Ivan the terrible of Russia?  or are you looking for IVon Wall, spelled capital I, capital V, o-n?"  he's the biggest flirt you'll ever meet, and also the most generous person on the earth.  it seems like with every year he gets older, he becomes more like a teenager. 

my favorite memories of grandpa (besides watching him turn bright red and laugh so hard he cried when he confessed to making out with another girl while he was engaged to my grandma), are of him putting kerri and i to bed every night.  he'd make up stories in which we'd float away on clouds with our panda bear friend to have an adventure in some far away land, but we'd always make it back home for bedtime.  then he'd sing us old songs, like "out on a hike all day, dear" by irving berlin (my personal favorite), zip-a-dee-doo-dah, and south of the border.  then after wishing us goodnight, he'd play the piano and sing "the impossible dream" or "i left my heart in san francisco".  yes, living with grandpa was pretty awesome.

IVon's yard is pretty incredible.  he has a good chunk of land where my grandma used to grow all kinds of flowers and things.  kerri and i loved exploring the "forest", picking the honey suckles, and jumping on the bounciest trampoline you've ever jumped on. the yard has been hard to maintain in the last few years, so brennan and i got to spend quite a few days up there getting it ready for our reception.  

one day, brennan and grandpa were working on a planter on the side of the house while i was in the back, staining a bench.  i was off in la la land, singing to myself.  i heard grandpa yell, "quick, call 9-1-1!" i heard the words, but didn't really process them until i heard him yell it again.  my heart dropped to my stomach, thinking something had happened to brennan, and by the third shout, i was sprinting into the house to grab the phone.  i dialed 9-1-1 as i ran over to the side of the house to see what was happening.  i saw IVon and brennan just standing there acting like nothing happened.  grandpa saw the phone in my hand and said, "did you call 9-1-1?" (and in the background i hear the operator asking for our address)  

"yes, what's going on?"  

"oh i was just yelling to brother berven.  everything's fine"

i don't know if i've ever been so angry at him in my life.  when the cops did show up i thought "serves him right".  but of course, he talked his way out of it like he does with every thing, and even made friends with the cop.  

IVon is the only grandparent i've had for many years, but he is the best grandpa in the world.  

happy national grandparents day to the wisest, funniest, coolest 87 year old around! i sure do love you!

the fiddle leaf fig.

this is a fiddle leaf fig tree.

it's a pretty nice looking tree, don't you think?

that's what i thought, too, when i opened up the package from briana, brennan's sister. it was her family's wedding gift to us...a living tree.  i love trees and our house needed a plant, so i was very thankful. then briana told us why they gave us this particular tree.

when we got married in the beautiful salt lake temple, brianna recognized fiddle leaf fig trees in a few different places inside the temple.  she wanted us to have a little piece of that holy place in our home.

and now i love this tree that much more, because it will remind me of that perfect day when i was married to this amazing man for all eternity.  (you can read about that perfect day here)

i'm not going to name the tree, but i'll admit, i did move it from our office to the kitchen today while i did homework to keep myself company...i guess i'm already pretty attached so i really hope i can keep it alive longer than i can keep a camera from getting stolen. (i've had 4 stolen in my lifetime)

peace+love

rains are coming down and floods are coming up

you know, homeschool has actually turned out to be quite nice.  i get to walk around the house in my underwear all day, and i can be doing laundry, dishes, and homework all at once.

but that's not really what i wanted to say today.  i wanted to talk about the news again.

i've been reading the news pretty frequently as of late and that can get really depressing.  actually, i think i only read one article yesterday because on monday there were at least two articles that made me nauseous.  some people...i just don't know what has happened to their brains--like star, the 25 year old girl who wants to marry charles manson.  creepy and weird.  anyway, i went to bed feeling a little down thinking about all of those yazidi stuck in the scorching mountains of iraq.  

then tuesday morning rolled around and i read the following quotation: "the world will not glide calmly toward the Second Coming of the Savior.  The scriptures declare that 'all things shall be in commotion.'...but as you trust in God, they will strengthen your faith."  that's when i remembered how hard i had prayed the previous night before going to bed.  i felt that my prayer was more sincere and faith-filled than a lot of my prayers recently.  so, though i'm not necessarily grateful for all the horrible things going on around me, i am grateful that they cause me to seek more diligently to understand the atonement and look to God for hope, and therein find joy.  

     

also, i still think the earth is beautiful and life is marvelous.

south of the border...

brennandi arrived at our apartment a week ago and there is still plenty to organize...the office floor looks like a tornado came through, but we finally got internet, so i'm going to write about our honeymoon.

the day after we got married, brennan surprised me with a little series of photos to reveal our honeymoon destination...

yessssssssss....sunday morning early early we flew to cancun where we stayed at an all-inclusive resort.  i'll admit, the food wasn't the best there, but i was so grateful that the first 5 days of our honeymoon were there cause i got pretty sick and it was so nice to not have to go anywhere or do anything...and by not do anything i mean go on a catamaran ride, snorkel, and bum around in the water and on the beach two steps from our hotel.  or sit in the jacuzzi tub on the balcony of our room.  it was blissful.

then on day 5, we rented a car and navigated our way to chichen itza and merida.  it was so different from cancun--a lot less touristy and very cultural.  everywhere we went we met a new mayan who wanted to talk to us and tell us about their culture.  we learned so much and really fell in love with the mayan people.  brennan wants to give one of our children a mayan name now...how about itzel or faas or tadeas wright?

day 8 - best day of the trip.  en route to tulum, we stopped at ek balam - some more mayan ruins - where we raced to the top of the temple, kissed in every hidden corner, brennan jumped everytime he came around a corner and saw an iguana, and we met our new friend joel, a little 20 year-old mayan kid.  he took us to a private cenote then to a restaurant in his village where the walls and ceilings were dotted with poisonous geckos--definitely off the beaten path, and one of the coolest experiences of my life.

(brennan se cree indiana jones..jeje)

days 9 and 10 were spent in tulum...tulum is another mayan site, and the town is what i imagine hawaii feels like...it was my favorite place we stayed.  i got to hold a baby tiger and a star fish, then snorkel with a squid, sea turtles, and sting rays.

days 11-12 - playa del carmen.  our hotel was again two steps from the beach, and we just lazed around cause brennan was sick that time -- too many tacos al pastor, i think.

the whole trip was the perfect combination of sight-seeing, swimming, bumming around, shopping, and canoodling...i am one lucky girl.

peace+love

Mr. and Mrs. Wright, officially.

it's officially official.  brennan and i were sealed on friday, june 13th.  and quite frankly, it was perfect. 

when i made the sealing appointment, i intentionally made it later in the afternoon so i wouldn't have to wake up before 8 a.m.  well, so much for that.  i was sleeping soundly until a dear friend sent me a text at 6 a.m.: "hey i know it's early but let's be honest you didn't sleep last night anyway....blahblahblah" 

i think i got 8 text messages between 6 and 7:30 a.m.   

but it was fine, because everything else that day was perfect.  really, there is no feeling like being in the sealing room of the temple, and definitely no way to describe the feelings of kneeling across the altar from the person you love most, ready to make a covenant with them that will bind the two of you together forever...i've never felt happier in my life.  then to see all your loved ones waiting outside the temple, it was the best. everything about that day was so fun and stress free...brennan and i could just be our goofy, happy, in-love selves and not worry about anything thanks to all my family who helped to pull off our backyard reception, which was also perfect.  

the photo booth and tacos were a hit, as was our first dance (video to come).  i just felt so loved that whole day.  so many people came to support us and share their love for us.  it is so great to know that there are people on this earth who care about you.

                 

speaking of love...the greatest part and purpose of this whole day knowing that there is one person on this earth who loves and cares for you more than he loves and cares for anyone else.  man, that guy makes me feel so loved.  and that day he made me feel extra loved and so beautiful.  he makes me feel like the most important person in his world.  i'm so looking forward to moving to ohio with him on tuesday where we'll start our household together and brennan will start his medical school journey.  life is going to happen no matter where you are or what you're doing, and i'm really glad all of it is going to happen with him.

peace+love

the right to brag

to brag = say in a boastful manner.

bragging rights = a temporary position of ascendancy in a closely contested rivalry.

the right to brag = i am a firm believer that if it is not about you, you have every right to brag as much as you want.  

i love bragging for my friends and family when they do awesome things.  like my awesome friend hailey who in high school won 1st place twice in a row in the state tennis tournament playing 1st singles.  also, she finished her associates degree before graduating high school.  and she's a genius.  and she now has a masters and a baby before i've even finished my bachelors.  i love bragging about her.  

and now there's this stud muffin...he is oh so smart.  two days ago he missed a call from ohio state university.  the next day they called to offer him a spot in the class of 2018 college of medicine.  then they offered him a scholarship that will pay for the first year of school.  and just like that, our plans have changed.  it really hasn't been too hard of a change.  it's where brennan served his mission, so of course he loves ohio.  and they have grater's ice cream, so of course, i will happily live in ohio.  also, they have lots more bike trails than galveston.

also, i get to marry him in just three weeks.  

peace+love

these two...

meet Lyla and Jonah, my niece and nephew.  aren't they just adorable?

they're pretty hilarious, too.  earlier this week i asked Lyla if she'd want a little brother or sister...she said a sister and she'd want to name her "minnie mouse".  the other day she pointed out the fact that my nails weren't painted and told me, "i should paint them for you."  she's almost 3.

then there's Jonah...he's almost 6.  we decided to do new sibling photos for mother's day this year, and this is just one example of the great things that happened.

classic

i am such a lucky girl to have such an awesome family.  i will definitely miss them when i move to texas, but i'm really excited to start my own little family with brennan.  (no, that is not an announcement...we're not married yet)

peace+love

things my mother taught me...

"ism nqck on
ine but onlyban old phone
nitrhibg fancy
forbsbfewbweeks"
i don't get it either.  my mom lost her phone (in the toilet) this week and this was a text i received from her just a couple days later.  the thing is, that kind of text from her is not uncommon.

so she's not a great texter, but she's pretty great at some other stuff.  like knitting, cooking, sewing, writing.  and she's pretty awesome.  like, the fact that she's been skydiving twice whilst in her fifties--once for kerri's 18th birthday, and once with all our aunts, uncles, and cousins.  that's how we do family parties around here.  but more than anything,  i am grateful for the things she has

taught me.

-one of the things i always remember about her is that when we were growing up i'd always need to ask her a question right before bed after we'd had family prayer.  i'd yell from the basement "mom!  mom!  mom!"  after about 5 minutes of me yelling sporadically with no response, i'd slump up the stairs and walk to her bedroom yelling "mom!", then find her on her knees next to her bed saying her personal prayers, or in her bed reading her scriptures....i'd wait forever for her to finish so i could ask her my question and go to bed.  it was an annoyance at the time, and i didn't realize how much that simple act impacted me until the second week of my mission.  i was so alone, confused, and angry (i had just found out my parents were getting a divorce), but i didn't want to tell anyone what was going on.  prayer was a refuge for me.  as were my scriptures.  i remembered seeing my mom praying and knew what i needed to do--i knew who understood what i was feeling, could comfort me, and could take care of my family.

-she taught about cleanliness...just yesterday the HOA guy at our complex came by to check our water, and when he came downstairs he said to me, "you guys should be complemented on how clean you keep this place.  i've never been into a unit that was kept so clean"...i live with my sister

-she is a woman of sacrifice and work.  she didn't get her bachelors degree until kerri and i were in school--she put it off to take care of her children.  and now she not only has a bachelors, but two masters degrees!  she'd go to work, school, then come home and run errands with us, go to our games, take us to piano lessons, and soccer practice.

the list could go on and on, but i think the most important thing she has taught me is that love means dropping what you're doing to take care of whoever needs you at that moment.  while i was in mexico, there were so many nights she'd stay up way past her bedtime (she had to get up before 5 every morning to get to work) just to listen to me.  then, the night after i got home from mexico, i called her in a bit of a mess.  i told her not to worry about me cause it meant driving to provo and getting back to bountiful around 10 p.m. then getting up before 5 the next morning to get to work.  an hour later she was outside my front door.

yea...she's pretty darn awesome.  i love you, mom.  happy mother's day to all the moms and future moms out there!

peace+love

how i met my lover

i've been meaning to get back into this whole blogging thing for a while now, but have felt like i forgot how to write.  on sunday we watched "My New Life", the mormon message by Stephanie Nielsen, and that motivated me to get back into it, if simply to share my testimony and how grateful i am for the gospel in my life and the way it shapes who i am and how i live.  perhaps the biggest way it's shaped my life recently is my decision to marry this guy:

man, this picture just makes me smile.  he is so great, and so great for me.  sometimes when i think how much i love him and how good he is to me i just cry.  

we were talking the other day about how awesome it is that things just worked out the way they did.  

i came home from mexico 7 lbs lighter, sick, and heartbroken.  i was not about to jump into another relationship.  in fact, i remember sitting at dinner that night telling my mom how i was done saying yes to every guy that asked me out.  from then on i was only going to say yes if i was really interested.  that was on a wednesday.  on sunday, on a whim, i decided to go to ward prayer since i didn't know any of the new people who had moved in while i was gone.  it was at a guys apartment in old academy.  i was one of the last to leave, and on my way out the door, the guys who lived in that apartment cornered me and said, "we haven't met you yet!"  after introducing myself a couple of them just walked away, but one stuck around to chat.  we talked about how from the back of his head he looked like another guy i'd dated (story for another day) and ender's game.  the next day i bought ender's game and brennan added me on facebook.  on wednesday i went to a gospel doctrine committee meeting only to find brennan there as well.  i had to leave early, so we didn't get a chance to talk, but just a couple of hours later he called and asked me to go to the boise state vs. byu football game with him that friday.  after the game on friday we went to dinner then back to his house and spent 8 hours together that first date.  after that first date we saw each other every day until christmas break and continue to do so.  i actually had a blind date the day after our first date (so much for saying no), but i kept it short so i could get to the ward halloween dance where i knew brennan would be.  

as for brennan, he was pretty frustrated with dating when we met.  he wanted to get married and was going on a lot of dates, but couldn't find anyone who kept his interest long enough to develop into something.  he also never went to ward prayer, but it was at his apartment, so he didn't have a choice.  at the time, he had been taking this girl out who apparently "wasn't very smart".  a couple weeks after we started dating he told me "once i met you i thought, why am i dating this girl?  i should be dating kelli".  and so he did.

it is pretty awesome loving someone and being loved by someone this way--to have that support and devotion.  it has been the best opportunity to develop charity, patience, and humility.  i can only imagine how cool it will be to be married. just one month and twelve days till we will be sealed for all eternity in this beautiful house of God!

peace+love

gracias a la vida

there is much to be said for life the sunshine brings, especially in the springtime.  this weather is making my heart giddy.  i spent way too much time last year feeling off.  there were times where it felt like no matter what i did, i wasn't happy.  and i was really trying to be happy.  now that the sun is out, it is much easier to feel happy.  but it is still a conscious choice everyday.  i choose how to react to each situation presented to me.  and i am learning to make the choice every day to be happy, to let things go, and to laugh at my mistakes and the mistakes of others.  

i never want to go back to the way i felt or the choices i was making 8 months ago...or even 3 months ago.  but i am grateful i experienced the things i did.  because of them, i am learning to be happy.  i am learning what choices ultimately lead to sorrow, and i am learning to look at each day as a gift.  and especially right now, i do not want to waste time feeling sad.  the weather has been way too beautiful and my life is way too awesome for that.

peace+love

true love

it's almost valentine's day!  i won't lie..i'm pretty darn stoked.  this year, i'll trade in my ski goggles for sun glasses and head to sunny san diego with my main squeeze. 

with love on my mind i've been listening to lots of cheesy love songs, and found one that i especially love.  sometimes when i listen to love songs i like to think that jesus is singing them to me.  corny, i know.  but i love it.  that's a lot of love right there, folks.  so here you go, my favorite love lyrics for this lovely, sunny, monday!

cause all of me

loves all of you

love your curves and all your edges

all your perfect imperfections

give your all to me

i'll give my all to you

you're my end and my beginning

-all of me by john legend

here's the whole thing

peace+love

i'll come out smiling like a snowman in a blizzard

wow, january is nearly over...i'm really glad it's leaving in better conditions than it came in. so far i'm doing pretty okay with my new years resolutions.  actually, i'm doing awesome on my biggest resolution.  like, so awesome.  perhaps someday i'll tell you about it...it's one of those inner battles with those debilitating demons in your head.  those demons are currently getting their butts kicked.  

in the meantime, enjoy some january highlights:
brennan got back from the break january 2nd and we spent the last couple days living it up before crunch time...

because we're such classy, cool cats, we love nickel city.

he worked me in almost every game we played.

we danced our little hearts out and had more fun than just about anyone at sydnee and david's wedding.  really though, i think syd and her new husband were the only one's having more fun than us.

then we hiked our little hearts out up big springs.  

with no new snow we saw plenty of large animal prints frozen in the snow...

and some really beautiful views.

with the new semester i had to hit the ground running.  between a promotion at my job and serving as relief society president, the first week of school left little room to breathe.  luckily, brennan was gone that whole week at med school interviews..i mean, i was sad he was gone, but glad.  you know what i mean.  but since then, we've made time for some more fun...

again, brennan worked me.  

this time in bowling.  

the only thing i beat him at were the granny shots

spent mlk weekend at the cabin hanging out with three 14-year-old girls.  

we had a ton of fun sledding and goofing around in the snow with them.

and now it's the month of love

and we fully intend to start it out right--

thank heavens for this new snow the last couple of days...

snowbird, here we come.

peace+love