happiness in a bottle

Today was a wonderful day. Shopping, Zupas with my lovely husband, and buy one get one half off OPI?! Did I indulge myself? You bet I did. And, being the dork that I am, I even took pictures to document.

First up:

 You Don't Know Jacques! (Don't you just love the names they come up with?!)

 Which I tried first. Me gusta. This is me giving in to the grayish-y nail polish trend. Which to be quite honest, I'm really digging it.

Next:

 Bring on the Bling. I love this bad boy. It's from their Burlesque line, which is all so spaaaarkly!

And third,  but not least:

OPI Ink. I've gotta admit, I'm a little disappointed by the name, but It's a lot more shimmery and awesome in real life.

fuh-reedom.

Finals. Are. Over.

I have never studied so much in all of my twenty years. For real. And when I say "for real" I mean it  the bed intruder dude on YouTube. If you haven't seen that yet, you must NOW. Even though it is so last month. But that is okay.

Now that finals are over, I have this abundance of glorious free time. Some things on my to-do list include:

1. Paint my nails. I love nail polish. Especially when it's on my nails. I have probably painted them once this semester. Who am I and what have I done with myself??

2. Clean the apartment. It is bad. Our poor, poor apartment has been badly effected by the ugly face of finals.

3. Experiment with my hair. I am in a hair rut. I rotate three different styles (down and straight, and down and curly) that I occasionally pop a headband in. Bo-ring.

4. Christmas shop. I'm about 60% done. That's okay though, cause I like to drag Christmas shopping out. Because I think it's fun. 

5. Cuddle, cuddle CUDDLE! With my cute husband, of course! Our school schedules have been pretty much opposite which has cut down on cuddle time. NO good. We need some catch up. :)

6. Attempt some crafty stuff. Ah, I have become one of those people. I'm obsessed with craft blogs right now, and I have a list of fun Christmas crafts I want to try. Too bad I didn't have time earlier, since it's pretty much Christmas already. Oh well.

7. Re-vamp my closet. As much as I would like to go shopping for clothes, the sad reality is that we are college students with no such money for fun things like that. So I am learning to be creative, with the help of some blog inspiration.

And so much more! It is time to finally enjoy the Christmas season. :)

i am a time waster

There. I admitted it. It's the first step right? Now I need to break this terrible habit. It's funny how when there is something important to do (aka study for finals) I avoid it like the plague. That is, until It's the day before the final and I am freaking out. For example, today I got off work super early so I could get some good, quality study time in. I left work at 11, drove around North Orem for about 20 minutes to kill some time, (it's pretty much unexplored land to me, I mean really when does anyone have the need to go there?)

BUT

I found a gem there in North Orem :)

This little cul-de-sac, otherwise known as Windsor Court. SO cute. The houses are designed in this old European style, and are absolutely gorgeous. PLUS, they have adorable little street clocks on the sidewalks like this!

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of pictures on the website to really do it justice. I just might have to go back and take a few myself. :)

The rest of the day consisted of grocery shopping at Costco (which really did need to be done), RE-decorating the Christmas tree, making brownies for Cam's work Christmas party, reading blogs, and wrapping presents.

Okay, putting off studying for my math final stops HERE. Goodbye comfy couch, hello math lab.

Math final: Monday. 5:30 PM. Study, Marissa, STUDY!

an important warning AND fabulousness

So the other day I was at Walmart (bleckkk) in the automotive section with my dearest husband looking for another ice scraper for his car, when the car fresheners caught my eye. Perfect! They are one of those things that I always think to myself that Zelda (my car) really needs, but the thought never crosses my mind when I am actually at a store. So she goes on smelling like nothing special, unless you are my friend Whitney who thinks she smells like "Vegas". But I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not... but anyway, back to the story. I'm looking over the selection, and this little guy speaks to me:

I mean, perfect right?! It IS Christmastime after all! And the smell of Christmas trees is just fabulous. Our apartment smells awesome thanks to our real tree, and I was sure my car would smell just like that with the addition of this bad boy.

NOT.

My car smells like soap. Imitation "pine" flavored soap, and the smell refuses to leave. I guess I'm just spoiled since I smell the real deal every day. So, unless you are a fan of pine flavored (is flavored the right word, probably scented, but I like flavored better) soap, I would suggest keeping far far away from this little tree.

Well, on a more fabulous note, today I entered this legit giveaway (in addition to the other giveaway) over at The Daybook for a $50 gift card at Ruche. Oh my goodness, YES. If you are not trying to study for finals (and even if you are...I was) you should spend, like, 3 hours looking over their stuff, and Sydney's blog (The Daybook, of course). Both are seriously fan-freakin-tastic. You will thank me. All two of you that read this. :)

And with that, I am going back to writing a book report on a children's book for my COLLEGE Algebra class. (Come on teach, really?)

harry to the potter

Well. It's been a month since I've posted. I'm afraid that I'm just too boring. My time is much better spent reading inspiring blogs and basking in their exciting-ness.  I do quite enjoy posting though, so here's a little somethin somethin that's been on my mind. A lot.

I love me some Harry Potter.  I'm watching Order of the Phoenix at this exact moment. Thank you ABC Family for lumping Harry Potter in with your Christmas movies. I guess there is a Christmas scene in every movie...a stretch, but hey, I'll take it. :) 

So, the past couple nights Harry Potter has even visited my dreams! The first one had to do with You-Know-Who coming back, starring me as Harry. Long story short, Voldemort was trying to convince everyone that he was now a good guy, but Neville Longbottom knew he was still a slimy dark wizard. We had to arrange secret meetings in the produce section of grocery stores using floo powder. The second dream involved the Spanish Fork Pool. Fascinating, eh? Haha. This Harry Potter marathon has come at the perfect time, since my dreams have put him in the forefront of my mind.

Alrighty, well that's enough for now. I've gots me some Harry Potter to watch. :)

on my mind

1. My sick iPhone. And by sick, I mean literally ill. As I was trying not so hard to pay attention in my Ethics & Values class today, I took a slight detour to my Facebook page on my phone. I mean, come on, it's just SO convenient.

Karma took over from there.

Baby iPhone crashed, and still will not turn on. THAT, my friends is why you shouldn't be rude by using that delightsome device in class/church/company etc. Whew, that was a lot of alliteration.
 
It's official though, I'm obsessed with the stupid thing. I have been in a funk ever since the iPhone incident at approximately 4:30 this afternoon. Since then, I've been reading forum after forum, trying thing after thing to revive my ridiculous piece of technology. If you are thinking to yourself  "Wow, this is pathetic", you would be correct.


2. Christmas. Love love love Christmas. And if you think it's too early to start getting excited, you are a Scrooge. It's too wonderful of a time to have to wait until Thanksgiving is over to start celebrating, decorating, and enjoying. Why can't Thanksgiving and Christmas live together in perfect harmony?

 I love this picture with Jack as a bearded wise man!

Speaking of Christmas, I've had Christmas music in my head all day, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Although, most Christmas music (meaning the widespread radio variety) is terrible.

3. My legit parents. Since Cameron was working earlier, I was the third wheel on a little date with my parents at Goodwood and Simply Mac (where I just so happened to get the number of a guy who can hopefully fix my phone!). Baby back ribs, beef brisket, barbeque chicken, and an incredible brownie sundae anyone? My parents are the best.

4. George Michael. That's right. More specifically the George Michael from the 80's. I adore his music. Wednesday night I went to yoga with Kaci, and we listened to his song Faith. And ever since that night, I have been on a George Michael kick. He could be my father figure. :)

And with that, I have just added a "Choose life" T-Shirt to my to-buy list.

blah blah blah

Government class.

Usually I find it fascinating (dork, I know) but today it is brutal.  Should I pay attention and not be on my computer? Probably. But after an hour of hearing about nothing but congress I am dying. Majority leader, filibuster, speaker of the house...blaaaah.

It's time for a vacation. My routine of waking up early, going to work, then school, then homework is getting old. Oh life, why must you get in the way all the time?

Now it's on to the Math Lab for an hour and a half of math and then we're on to Institute until 8:30, then a two page paper. Whew! Tonight is going to be glorious.

As a side note to any of you who live in Provo, the Fresh Market on University is going out of business on Friday, so if you're looking for some cheap Halloween candy and groceries, hit it up!

fall festivities

I. Love. Fall. It is without a doubt my favorite season. 

Some reasons (in no particular order, they are all the best) include:

Reason #1--Pumpkins.

Cam and I got our first pumpkins together this year (awww, right?) We went to a pumpkin patch with Conover side of the family, complete with a legit hayride at Wheeler Farm. My camera battery died, but I got a picture of Cam with our adorable nephew Liam in his duck costume on my phone, and Cam's sister Val got a few of us with our pumpkins.

 Thanks Val for the pictures! :)

Reason #2--Pumpkin CAKE!

Unfortunately, I took zero pictures of this glorious thing that I baked, which looks like nothing fantastic anyway, but IS. Simple simple pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. Every year I probably eat 50+ pieces of this delicious stuff. And if that description peaks your curiosity, here's the recipe!

• 1 (15 ounce) can canned pumpkin puree
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 teaspoons milk

1. In a mixing bowl, beat pumpkin, 2 cups white sugar, and oil. Add eggs, and mix well.
2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and beat until well blended. Pour batter into a greased 15 x 10 inch baking pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter or margarine, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, and mix well. Add milk until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency. Frost cake. 

And the great thing is, it makes a ton. 

Yum.

 Reason #3--Corn Mazes

 We went to Hee Haw Farms with my family last week, for another legit hayride, corn maze, and trick or treating, with animals everywhere!

So, I have this thing for ducks. Feeding them, watching them, trying to catch them...just like a 5 year old. Only the problem is, they are impossible to catch! Yeah, until now.

 We were telling Sophie to give the chicken kisses. By the way, how cute is she in her butterfly costume?

 At the end of the hayride, we were dropped by these creepy looking GIANT dead sunflowers. I was obsessed with taking pictures because I thought they looked so cool.

 

Sunflower seeds, anyone?

 

Reason #4--Frightmares!!

Love love love Frightmares. And since our Disney trip didn't quite work out, it was a fun alternative. (Although I would take Disneyland in a heartbeat) It was a blast though. Cam and I went with my little brother and sister, Jack and Megan for a day (& night) filled with the white roller coaster (Jack's favorite) haunted houses, and Subway.  I forgot the camera AGAIN, but I at least captured this picture of Meggie Dear "Froggy" on the frog on the carousel.

Ah, so much fun. :)

rainy thursday

Nights like these I love the rain. Not the drizzly cold, gray, lingering rain, but the booming thunder, light up the sky purple when the lightning strikes, rain. I think it is absolutely beautiful. If I were an awesome photographer with a fancy camera, I would have neglected grocery shopping and studying for my math test, and sat outside in the rain to get a picture like this:

 Only mine would have majestic Utah mountains in it of course.

I love thunderstorms, I love chilly fall nights, I love cuddling up with my husband and eating orange rolls...

There are so many wonderful things to be grateful for. :)

love love love!

Today Pandora introduced me to Priscilla Ahn, and oh my goodness am I obsessed. I've spent my night listening to all of her music on YouTube. I'm no musical expert by any means, but her voice is incredible, she plays the guitar AND the harmonica, plus she is absolutely adorable.

Anywaaay, check out this video if you are interested. This is her song Dream, which you might recognize from SYTYCD and Bride Wars. I've only listened to it about 32 times tonight.
Enjoy :)

cruisin' the usa

So, to state the obvious, we now have a blog. JUST what I need, another distraction from homework. I have been debating whether or not to start one for over a month now, but never got past the "naming it" phase. Apparently you have to come up with some super clever name when you create a blog, but nothing came, so here it is. :) 

To give you a quick snapshot of our life since May 12 when we tied the knot, I'll let some pictures do the talking:

We packed up our little bug and moved here for three months. 

More specifically HERE. Midland, Michigan, City of Modern Explorers. One of the cutest, most American towns you will ever encounter. The roads (the main ones anyway) are literally lined with flowers. I'm kicking myself now for not getting more pictures of the town.

The trip to Michigan consisted of about 1,700 miles (plus many more for all the stops we made), 5 states, and about a thousand bathroom breaks.  It was so cool to see so much of the country, many places we will probably never see again *cough* Kansas... 

Some of the places we stopped to see include:

Six Flags: St. Louis

Lambert's Cafe--Home of the Throwed Rolls in Ozark, Missouri.

We went here for choir tour in high school, and I just HAD to stop there again (even though it added a few hours to the trip)

Every 10 minutes or so, these guys come out of the kitchen with carts of rolls (fresh, HOT, delicious, rolls) which they throw to anyone who wants one. SO much fun. 

The St. Louis Arch

It was closed by the time we got there, but we still got some fun pictures.

Nauvoo, Illinois

Another few hours out of the way, and SO worth it. 

Our wagon ride through old Nauvoo. 

This lady kept getting in all of our pictures.

Chicaaaaago! 

My old camera kept doing funny things, hence the purple picture.

Oh, and Chicago deep dish you ask? Not that good. If we ever go back, we'll have to try a better place.

Our attempt at the skyline through the sunroof. You get the idea. 

Our country is legit.