A Spring Wedding

This post is actually from an event dear to my heart that happened in May! One of my very best friends was married in Arizona. I was living in Atlanta at the time, so I flew out for the wedding. Unfortunately, Erik couldn't come due to work. I had an awesome few days with the Christopherson family. We had lots of wedding preparation, late nights, delicious dinners, and a bachelorette party. None of which I got pictures of unfortunately. 

Jessica Lynn Christopherson Bowles is one of the nicest, sweetest, funniest, talented, wonderful girls I know.  I was SO thrilled to be a bridesmaid and share this special day with her. Corwin, her new husband, is one lucky guy! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

The perfect place for a perfect day.

So tender!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

 I love her so much!

All of the bridesmaids. The groom's sister, the bride's sisters, and the bride's adopted sister :)

 Goofing around

 This was the most amazing cake. It was SO beautiful.

 Their story.

They had cupcakes for days. And I ate frosting for days.

 Her bouquet was stunning, just like all of the wedding flowers.

 Their first dance as husband and wife.

 This was such a precious moment. I may or may not have been bawling my eyes out at this point.

Corwin has some sweet moves! 

As you can see, it was a perfect day for the perfect couple. I am so happy for them and can't wait to join them in future adventures. I love you Jess and Corwin!

And so it begins...

Things are ridiculously busy here in Arizona! The last couple weeks have been particularly busy because I have just finished my first 2 tests in PT school. I am still waiting to hear how I did, and it is killing me. Anyway. The week before my tests, Erik and I were able to have date night at a temple for our church. It was SO nice to take a break from studying and escape to a peaceful place. The following week I was in class and studying for about 14 hours per day. Needless to say, when the week was over I was ready to play! I haven't had any time to enjoy the wonderful Arizonan sun, so we decided to do something fun outside. We went to a place called Saguaro Lake and it was gorgeous. Lily loved swimming almost as much as I did. We noticed some horses across the lake, and later found out they were wild horses! 
Later that day we went to one of my new friend's wedding! She was absolutely stunning. The venue was so beautiful. It is called the Boojum Tree and was very unique. It was all outdoor, with fountains and trees everywhere. The dance floor was a gazebo, and we had a blast. We are enjoying our time here, although wishing we had more time together. 

Here is the Mesa, Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

And here it is at night.

 Lily would swim back and forth between Erik and I, it was pretty cute. 

The water was SO warm and felt SO good!!

 We were in awe at this desert beauty!

I could have stayed there all day, who knew you could find this in Arizona?!

 Lily also figured out how to swim without slapping her paws on the water. I was very proud. By the time this pic was taken, she was wiped out.

Okay so I am definitely not usually a horse person, but I thought it was SO great to see these beauties roaming free in the wild. Hence all the pics.

And this was on our way back from the lake. We will definitely be going back soon.

Here I am with my handsome date.

 So I may look part Asian in this picture but look how gorgeous Rysse (the bride) is!!

 I am SO excited for Rysse and Tyler to start this new adventure, marriage is the best.

This melted my heart.

This picture isn't the best but I just have to say that I love these girls so much after just a month together in school. I cannot wait for the next 3 years :)

Our Big Move!

It has been a VERY eventful last few weeks. We packed up and drove from Atlanta to Phoenix! We broke up the drive to 3 days, and stopped in Azle, Texas and Tucson. Luckily we have friends in both of those places, so we didn't have to worry about icky motels off the freeway. (Thank you to the Smith and Stears families!!). All of our things were in a storage unit in Rexburg, so I stayed with family friends in Mesa (Thank you Christopherson family!!) while Erik flew to Idaho, packed up a Uhaul, and drove back to Phoenix (my husband is amazing). He got back the during my orientation for PT school and we hastily moved in. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because I was so busy with all the chaos.

With all that said, we are very excited to be here. We live about 10 minutes from downtown Phoenix and can't wait to explore the area. Fortunately, almost everyone in my PT class grew up around Phoenix so they have been sharing some awesome tips with us. We went on a triple date with some of our new friends to an ice cream place called Churn. It was so cute and very yummy!

You can't tell from the picture, but there was a super long line to get in.

 This place was seriously SO cute. The staff was ridiculously nice as well.

 Churn is attached to a restaurant called The Windsor, which looked really cool. It is on our list of places to eat. This wall attaches the two.

Seeing this wall made me SO happy. We hardly know anyone in Phoenix and have already felt very welcome. We are looking forward to the friends we will make, places we will see, and the things we will learn.

Summer Fun

We have had a blast in Atlanta this summer! Most of Erik's time off was spent going out to dinner. Almost every place we have tried has been amazing. I have not done the best job of documenting our travels, but here's a little peek into our summer.

Outside of Flip Burger. 

Flip Burger was amazing! They had tons of unique and delicious burgers. My favorite part was probably the ambiance. It was very chic and modern, I loved it. 

A beyond delicious nutella milkshake. I could have had 3!

This is at the Tijuana Garage (obviously).

It looks a bit more ghetto than it actually is. Tijuana Garage is a hidden gem right outside of the city. It felt like we took a little trip to Mexico. There were lots of pretty fountains and cool trees. We waited extra long to sit outside, and it was totally worth it. 

The photobomber in the background made it his mission to make an appearance in every photo I took! I was getting so annoyed with him but I have to laugh at this picture. 

They also had a live band playing, and they did some awesome covers.

Aside from touring the city and trying new places, the best part of the summer was the people we shared it with! It was so fun making new friends and bonding with old ones. I am really going to miss everyone that we have spent time with in Atlanta.

Welcome to Atlanta.

Erik and I have had a lot of fun living by such a huge city after coming from tiny Rexburg, Idaho! Our first date here we decided to go downtown to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was PACKED on that Saturday night, particularly because there was a prom nearby, so a lot of students were eating there. It was neat to see all of the high schoolers dressed up. There were also 7 birthdays and a bachelorette party... I know because we sang a song and clapped for each of them haha. Anyway the food was excellent, particularly the chocolate milkshake we split. It was SO nice to spend time with Erik after what felt like months apart. His work schedule is very demanding, so I treasure these dates. 

Our first view of downtown Atlanta.

Here I am, loving being in the big city.

Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures together.

A few weeks later, I turned 23! Erik normally works six days a week, from 9 AM-9:30 PM so the best birthday present I could have possibly received was his time. And I got just that. He took the entire day off work to spoil me rotten! We started off by going to the Atlanta Aquarium. I have a strange obsession for marine life, so this had been #1 on my list of things to do for awhile. When we first got there, we attended a dolphin show. It was fabulous. Instead of just having the dolphins do tricks, the aquarium puts on a musical with a dramatic story and the audience helps to save the day. We got to see fish from all over the world, as well as pet sting rays and baby sharks (okay fine, Erik pet the sharks but I was too scared). The best part of the Atlanta aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world! It is so large that it holds three whale sharks, as well as giant sting rays and fish. We literally stared at the tank for over 30 minutes. You can't help but to be in awe when looking at ginormous whale sharks.

Erik and I in front of the Caribbean tank. I love the tropical fish because it reminds me of snorkeling.

This is the largest aquarium in the world, the picture does not do it justice. 

The next stop on our trip was to the World of Coke Museum. There was a booth set up in front of the museum to see if you could block some soccer balls. If you did it, you won a free tee shirt. So we both got matching soccer Coke shirts, which was hilarious to me because neither of us particularly like soccer and Erik normally HATES to match me. Anyway we saw the new promotional Coke video which made me cry a time or two... Then we learned all about the history of Coke. The highlights of the museum were the 4D movie and trying Coke products from all over the world. Erik and I decided to taste every single product they had to offer, and it was quite the experience. 

I was so excited to win a free tee shirt!

Erik was so excited to be at the World of Coke Museum! He LOVES Coke. 

After that we got dinner at a place called Taqueria del Mar, which has amazing Mexican food. Erik then made me an amazing ice cream cake. It was a wonderful day thanks to my amazing husband! (And to everyone who wished me a happy birthday)