April 27, 2015

cloudy california

SCHOOL'S OUT, SCREAM AND SHOUT! loljk spring term starts tomorrow :( BUT winter semester finished up last Wednesday and after a week of zero sleep, lots of Monsters, 4 final exams, internship interviews, packing up my house, and being homeless for a few days, I took a much needed trip to California with Drew for the weekend. It was the perfect break that my brain and body needed in between semesters.
We flew in on Thursday, and from the time we arrived up until the day we left, the weather was cold, dreary, and as un-California-like as possible. OF COURSE. Just our luck :( I was banking on at least two full days at the beach and I got zero. But we still made the most of it! On Thursday we drove down to Balboa Island for treats at Dad's, ( I can finally say I've tried the frozen banana and hippo cookies!! Just as delicious as anticipated). Then we roamed around the beach looking at all the pretty houses and choosing which one we'll buy one day. After grabbing some dinner at a Greek restaurant I don't remember the name of, we drove back home and Drew gave me the full Yorba Linda tour, showing me his old high school, his favorite hang out spot as a child (the library), friend's houses, and some other special places that held fond memories for him. It was so fun to get more acquainted with his childhood home! I think my favorite part of the day was saying the name of every single street we drove by in my best Californian voice.
FRIDAY WAS FOR DISNEYLAND. OK, so we were not initially planning on going to Disney because it would be too expensive and we already had a jam-packed weekend ahead of us. But Friday morning rolled around and even though we had plans to spend the day in L.A. visiting LACMA, The Getty, and other sites, Drew successfully convinced me that Disney was the better option. AND IT TOTALLY WAS. I've only ever been one other time when he took me last May, but with the chilly, rainy weather, it was far less crowded and we were able to go on so many more rides! We even finished everything we wanted to do by dinnertime, so we went home, had dinner with his mom, and then went back for round two! And by that I mean we got back with just enough time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean again, and then watched the fireworks. It was such a fun spontaneous day and just as magical as Disneyland should always be. YOLO amiright?
Sorry for the picture overload from our Saturday morning spent at LACMA. This was such a neat art museum and I loved exploring it with Drew. Even though he's lived less than an hour away from L.A. his whole life, he's never even been to it! Andy Warhol is one of my favorites, so this was pretty dreamy for me. This past semester I took a Western Humanities class and when we learned about modern and post-modern artists, everyone was hating on not only him, but pretty much all artists of this era. I felt personally offended by my classmates' views on this movement in art as a whole, because I think modern/post-modern artwork is so innovative and just the coolest. So this is my shout-out to Andy and his fellow artists of that era: U ROCK, DON'T EVER CHANGE. Before we left L.A. we grabbed lunch at the yummiest Thai food truck I've ever experienced, Arroy Food Truck. This place was the bomb and Drew (the french fry connoisseur himself) stated that their garlic basil french fries were the best he's had in a while. I completely agree. Yes that's right, Thai fries are a real thing and for that I am grateful. If you are ever in the area, track them down and you won't be disappointed.

The main reason for our California trip was to get our engagement pictures taken by our dear friend Meredith. She is a super talented, up-and-coming photographer in the Orange County area and we figured it would be the perfect opportunity to spend some time with her, while also checking something off the wedding to-do list. We originally planned to take them at sunset on Saturday, but of course the weather had other plans. With the torrential downpour and crazy winds at the beach, we rescheduled for early Sunday morning, just before we left for the airport. And let me tell you...they. were. perfect. Seriously. Meredith is a dream to work with and also the nicest and coolest gal pal. Check her out (and follow her!) on her photography site, Facebook page, and Instagram! Here's just a lil taste...but perhaps another post will hit the blog when I get them all back...who knows?!? (LOL me. I know. Of course there will be because I'm obsessed).
photo cred: Meredith Chapman, you rock my socks off and actually make kissing pictures look good.

Thanks for reading this monstrosity of a post. I had the best weekend and I look for any excuse I have to visit California. Hopefully I'll be back very very soon!

April 7, 2015

april showers bring (summer weddings)

This past weekend was simply the happiest. Not only did General Conference fall on Easter weekend this year and Drew's parents were in town for it, but a few of my best girlfriends threw me the prettiest bridal shower on Saturday! Since all sessions of General Conference consisted of me sitting on a couch/bed in my pajamas and we didn't have our normal church service, meaning no matching dresses with Ynna and my mom (which we do every Easter Sunday...insert crying emoji here), I decided to document the most glamorous of the three events: my beautiful shower!
Let's first talk about those PAPER FLOWERS. My friends know all too well about my love for crafty photo backdrops at parties, and I am still so enamored whenever I look at pictures of this one. People are still talking about them (probably). I essentially want this same thing at my reception, hope they don't mind. Abby, the queen of flowers, picked up my favorite colored flowers to display around the room and they were just the prettiest! (Sorry that for the duration of this post I won't use any other word as much as prettiest, but it's the truth).
80% of the room was pink and orange and I was 100% okay with it. Special thank you to the Miller's for opening up their beautiful home to us and hosting my shower.
My future mother & sisters-in-law: Katrina, Katie, and Sarah
All of my guests took a picture of themselves and wrote/illustrated how we first met each other. I just love these two! Emilee is going to be my roommate this summer and I am stoked. My last roommate before my eternal roommate hahaha WUT. I always have so much fun with this girl and I'm looking forward to the boba dates and Sodalicious runs that will surely ensue when we live together. She also introduced me to sweet Lauren, who I had known of for awhile (IDPs & Twitter bring the ppl together) but we decided to take our cyber friendship to the next level this semester and I am so thankful for it! Now we're practically dating considering how often we have movie dates and post-date drop-off chats (she is my boyfriend) with each other. So thankful for both of your friendships and your attendance at my shower!
I wore each of these outfits when something significant happened in mine and Drew's relationship. First date/first kiss, the proposal, first met, and first concert shown from L to R. Say what you will, but this is me we're talking about so of course the first concert we attended together is on the same level as the day he proposed. The game was that everyone had to guess which outfit went with which occasion, and then I told the story about each. Even though most of my friends already heard these stories (or were even present for them), it was still so fun to retell them and think about how much has happened in a year. For instance, exactly one year ago from the date of my shower was when Drew asked me out on our first date for the following weekend! Awww
Let the flower wall photoshoot begin
 Love my Kaity baby for coming down from Idaho for the weekend to celebrate with me <3
 Sup we're engaged. August is gonna be cray. (I promise we're wearing our rings, we just opted for ones where you can't even tell)
OK this is by far THE PRETTIEST card I have ever received. My classy friend Maddy made this and I will probably frame it in our house, hope she doesn't mind. She is so thoughtful and even painted those flowers in the same exact colors my wedding bouquet will be! I showed her maybe one picture of a bouquet I liked over a month ago. Hire her now for all your calligraphy needs. I know I am!

T is for TEKULVE
And finally, a picture of me surrounded by my angel friends/hosts. They went above and beyond to give me the prettiest, most Alyanna-esque shower there ever was. I cannot thank them enough for pulling this off in the midst of this crazy end-of-semester period, just so I could have all my friends together before the summer of weddings/missions/study abroads/internships takes over and everyone leaves me here in Provo. Sorry that everything has to be as difficult as possible. I am #srslysoblessed to have these girls by my side throughout this college experience and all the monumental decisions and events that go with it. Thank you for adopting me into your Wyview clique that fateful freshman year and being my roommates, confidantes, and go-to girls when I need anything! They will undoubtedly roll their eyes at the sappiness of this, but I just love ya!

One more big thank you to all the ladies who attended my shower and made me feel so very loved! I truly appreciated your presence and your presents ;) This whole weekend I felt loved, not only from my sweet friends, but especially from listening to the messages at General Conference from our wonderful prophet and church leaders. I feel my Savior's love for me everyday, but this past Easter weekend was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how truly grateful I am to have the knowledge of the Gospel in my life. Because He lives, I get to marry my sweetheart for time and all eternity and we can be with our families forever. I love this Church and know that the talks shared with us were truly inspired. You can listen to/watch all of the sessions from this weekend HERE.

xoxo,
 -the soon-to-be Mrs. T 

(promise that won't be my new sign-off or anything--you can kill me first--it just seemed fitting for this post. Speaking of which...4 months from today y'all! Eeeeeek!)