9.28.2015

maybe the last time I see the sea..........in Captiola


The kiddos I nanny love the ocean and so do I! This makes beach trips a breeze. 




I love Capitola. It's so chill and calm, reminds me of my home in Virginia Beach. 





The tide was so high when we came this day! Like to get down to the sand you had to wait for the water to recede then RUN  through the wet sand to get to a dry spot. It was so fun haha

So update: there are many changes that are going to be happening soon! Mike and I are excited for our future-our near future! We are sadly saying goodbye to our California home (*ALL THE TEARS*) and it's all happening this weekend! We're packing our things and taking a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway to meet Mike's family in Disneyland! I'm so excited and grateful to have such an adventurous husband.


But no matter where life takes us next, Mike and I are stuck with each other and couldn't be more stoked about!!!




Our Yosemite adventure







Yosemite was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I mean like a lot of the canyons and trees reminded me of Provo canyon and places in Salt Lake City but still the granite cliffs left me without words. 


Doesn't that look like Jurassic park???


After our 4 hour drive from San Jose to Yosemite we drove into camp around 11:30pm and slept in the line of people hoping to get a spot in the camp. The next morning  at 7AM the slots were given out and we barely got the last spot number HALELUJIAH!

We set up camp and then left to hike to vernal falls. We got to the falls and sat on a rock right in front of the spray of water. It was relaxing and sparkly. I did an abstract of the wall and laughed because it really did turn out abstract




Hot dogs or legs forever. 


We hiked back down and I saw this perfect photo opp. Like look how gorgeous!!! I told Mike that I didn't need to take any more photos the whole weekend because that photo was pretty enough. He said ok I'll hold you to it. But of course I took more hahahaha 



He is so cutie. 



We explored around the Yosemite village, ate dinner at one of the shops, played spit and rummy before crawling into our comfy tent to sleep at like 8 pm. 

The best thing we did was drive up to tunnel view and take in the sights. It was such an amazing view I felt like my brain couldn't fathom it. Like it just didn't process in my mind what my eyes were seeing. You could see each of the major granite cliffs including half dome in the way back. 




Wow wow wow like wow that view!!!!! I loved doing this trip to Yosemite so spontaneously with Mike. It was short, sweet and I'll never forget it. 

please DO judge books by their cover


I totally judge books by their cover. I mean really it's ALL about design.

I always judged the Dan Brown books to be full of comic nonsense and weird stories because the covers were always so busy, ugly and loud. Then I read his series and LOVED every minute of it. But really if his book cover designer had put a little less explosion bursts on the cover maybe I wouldn't read it sooner.

Anyway, here are some wonderful reads that also have excellent covers(in my opinion)



Mindy Kaling's new book "Why Not Me?" Just Made Us Want September to Get Here ASAP! http://levo.im/1KMqMC5 #LevoBrief:

I drive in traffic for about 90 minutes every day so I listen to a lot of TED talks & audible books. Listening to Mindy chat with me about her life for 4 hours was totally amazing and I love her and what she stands for.


currently reading this--I'll let you know what I think....

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. "The true story of a healthy young woman who had her entire world shattered by a mysterious infection in her brain. She had no memory of her illness and used her investigative journalism skills to discover exactly what had happened to her.":

haven't read yet but excited to!!!!

9.23.2015

my thoughts on The Catcher in the Rye

here's a thing that I LOVE about my husband--he is so well read. He's read classic literature, fun novels, deep stories, and his favorite--Russian literature. I really enjoy talking about stories we've both read and loved so that's why I try and read everything he's already finished! And vice versa. 

He's given me so many good read suggestions--the most recent was The Catcher in the Rye. aaaaaand before that was the Dan Brown da Vinci code series (I am not joking or exaggerating when I say I literally couldn't put them down!! Highly suggest reading them) 

so anyways back to The Catcher in the Rye. I never read this book during high school (weird I know) so I figured it was time. 


I loved this book.

 I cried and laughed. I laughed more than I cried. There were SO many times where I felt that I was psychoanalyzing the boy Holden. It was such an amazing book there's no wonder it's a staple read in American schools. I loved it. 

some favorite quotes/one liners from Mr. Holden Caulfield:

"She was ostracizing the hell out of me."

"I was about half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, even if they're sort of stupid you fall half in love with them and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. They can drive you crazy. They really can."

"I worry about that stuff sometimes. I read this book once…… He said in this one part that a woman's body is like a violin and all, and that it takes a terrific musician to play it right. in a way that's why I sort of why I wanted to get some practicing, in case I ever get married."

I don't know why that last one is so endearing to me. Like he's 16 and is nervous about being able to please his marital partner someday like that's so sweet!!??

Anyway, so now it's your turn to fall in love with this story. And also any Dan Brown book, they're seriously so intriguing!!!!¡!!


9.14.2015

Just me and my lover

before I get all started with our photos--here are our wedding videos!




They're so wonderful and happy and full of smiles, laughs and tears. I LOVE IT! SO MUCH RAW EMOTION CAPTURED ON FILM!

so anyway, carry on---
Mike and I had some formal photos taken by Brooke  around the Salt Lake City temple and the International Gardens. Mike and I had been apart for six days up to this point. He had been down in Lake Powell the past week and I had been in Provo planning the final wedding details!

 We decided to make this our "first look" video as well which you can see here

I had us both close our eyes so it would be more exciting than just me presenting myself to him haha







I call this the evolution of Mike and Ishel trying to make a serious face.......








oh my gosh we were so giddy about seeing each other looking so fancy!!










My dress was so fun to flick around so of course I made Brooke take photos of me channeling my inner BEYONCE







Ok though this final one is my favorite!.....at the moment haaha