why not?!

Sure I went to Hawaii over 7 months ago.

Sure I haven't done a darn thing with any of the pictures.

Sure it was the greatest trip Andy and I have ever been on together and we haven't done a darn thing to document it.

That is my life.

With every good intention inside my bones, I take picture after picture, in hopes that I will come home, whip out my scissors and glue, and get to scrapbooking.  But then I realized that I haven't touched that stuff since Jr. Year in High School, so the odds that I do that now are about SLIM to NONE. :)

Good thing I downloaded all my phone pics today (Which now that I see them on the big screen, I realized the Android camera = crap. oh well) so I would have something to do at work! So Why Not just throw them on the blog so that I can one day create all of this into a blog book! :)

1 and 2) Plane ride and Andy's first reaction to the Hawaiian air. He was in love. 

3 and 4) View from our hotel and view from the Point- where I used to live

5) me. 

6 and 7) Laie Temple and Waimea Bay- I spent many hours jumping off that rock on the far left. It is a Must.

8) Andrew. Trying to be GQ. You're almost there babe. 

9) Sunrise from our room again

10) Snow Cones from Matsumoto!! We are such tourists. :)

11-13) Man on the Hilton Hawaiian Village beach.  Yup.  Full on Banana Sling bearing all to see! 

14 and 15) Hiking up to the top of Diamond Head! 

1 -3) Sunset Beach on Oahu

4-6) Eggs n Things- If you are staying in Waikiki, this place is a must.  But you have to go early. Like Really early in order to skip the long line.  But the food is to die for. At least in my Fat Girl opinion....

7) A Whoopie pie ordered by our Sales Director at the Hilton. Another piece of heaven!

8) Scared for our lives as "smoke" was coming out of the sides of the airplane on our way to Maui... um... we made it there safe, so I'll just assume it was normal! 

9 and 10) My lei upon arrival and Andrew and I on the plane over to Maui

11-13) Road to Hana.  Black Beaches, POURING Rain, and beautiful country side!

14 and 15) The all too famous Forest Gump chair.  I hate how the shoes accentuate my big knees and calves... its the shoes, I promise.

1 and 2) Beach in Maui and Andrew becoming that professional photographer he never knew he wanted to be

3) Our plane that took us to the Big Island- Andrew was scared out of his pants the whole ride- especially when the pilots were pointing to the lightning that was in the sky! 

4) Some food that he was really excited about- I'm not sure. I think we are turning Asian because food pictures are becoming more and more popular on our phones for some reason.... 

5 and 6) Andrew and I waiting to swim with the dolphins and the train in the lobby cause the hotel is so darn massive. 

7-13) DOLPHINS!!! So we were given a CD with good quality pictures from our Dolphin sesh (for free) and I lost it on the way home.  Good thing we took pictures of each screen with my phone!

14-15) Our last night in Hawaii.  We had the most amazing time and we were able to do SOOOO much. We loved every second of it and can't wait to go back! 

Cheers. 

Elise 

Ahoy It's a Boy!!

One big regret from my wedding is that I didn't take any pictures of any of my showers.  I had random ones but none of me with the people that came out to support me!

So I made Andra whip out her camera at my baby shower so I could have some good pics of how ADORABLE it was! (I initially brought my camera, both of them, and upon arrival I realized that I didn't have any SD Cards... smart Elo. Smart.)

Thanks Andra for taking these, thank you Karly for working so hard on all the decor (which I LOVED), and thank you to all those that brought food and came to support me! I appreciate it so much!!

(And thanks to all the girls that came and aren't in the pic at the bottom!! Love ALL of you!!!!)

#throwbackthursday

I've seen this hashtag floating around the interwebs and I just downloaded a bunch of photos from my phone, so I thought I would participate in a little #throwbackthursday action here on the good ol blog!
We have been spending time up in Park City all week long, which means that our little baby, Albie, has been stuck in Bountiful with my mom's little pups.  As a tribute to my cute little pup- we will throw back to "All about Albie!"
(Most of you won't care.  But in honor of my post yesterday, I'm going to start writing more about all aspects of my life!)

 The picture on the left is about 20 minutes after we picked her up! She was nervous as all get out and we stuck her in our bag and went into Walmart to get all of her gear!

This picture kills me! Andy sent this to me while I was away on a work trip- she looks so freaky! Albie loved playing in this field out by our old house- she would run and run and run! 

The two pictures above are the remnants of her puppiness! She got a hold of my nice bra and then DESTROYED her bed! I wasn't too happy about the bra incident, but I couldn't stop laughing when it came to the dog bed! What a goof. 

Albie and Andy cuddling- she is the biggest cuddle hog! She will nuzzle her nose where ever she wants to be until we move to give her room- or she will just sit on us! 

Albie with her buddies Zoey and Miley

She is such a quirky dog- on the left she was positioning herself to drink out of Miley's water jug- look at her! haha.  And then on the right, if we are ever just standing there she will come and just stand in between our legs like that.  She doesn't move or try to get you to play with her- she will just come stand! 

Here I am with my little pup.  I am so glad we got her- I keep thinking about the fun bond that her and our little guy will have together all throughout their growing up years! Love that Alb-Meister!

cheers

Elise

Remembering the Journey

Last night I laid in bed with my niece, Sienna, trying to help her fall asleep. She lay there fighting to keep her eyelids ajar as I spoke to her softly. Her little brother lay 2 feet away from me in the pack and play softly making noises of trucks and lulling himself to sleep. At that moment, my little guy in my belly started to kick hard and fast on the left side.  I grabbed Sienna's hand, placed it on my belly, and we laid there giggling as she felt his little kicks against the palm of her hand.  Shortly after that, Sienna closed her eyes and fell asleep for the night. 


2 hours later, after watching The Bachelorette with my family, (Andrew was even into it this time!), I lay in bed with him and we spoke to each other before we fell asleep.  I told him how I wished that we were better at writing things down. I reminded him how throughout this pregnancy there were special moments that Andrew and I never wanted to forget.  Special, spiritual moments that helped us feel the Love of God through the little being that is about to join our family.  Of course, as the time has passed, those memories, thoughts, and feelings are slowly beginning to fade under the layers of chaos in my brain that are quickly piling up!  Those exact experiences are foggy and I so regret not taking the time to write them down.

I hope that whether it is on this blog, in a journal, or recorded by some other means, I will start to sacrifice my time to write things down.  I want my little bug to remember the big and small moments of his life and how special it will be to have those memories written from the view point of his mother and father.  Not only will it be a blessing for him, but I think it will be a bigger blessing for me to look back on and see how far I have come as a mom and the sacrifice and growing that comes along with it.  

I hold the experiences that I have with my little niece so close to my heart.  I felt so much love, excitement, and happiness as we shared that special moment together last night.  I cannot comprehend the love that I will feel for my own little one in 2 short months!  I cannot wait and I am excited for the journey that it will take me on!

I just hope I remember to write the journey down! :)

Cheers!
Elise

Give up trying to be perfect...

Just posted this over on our Twigs and a Pearl blog and thought it was very applicable to my last post.  So I did a little copy and paste and Voila!  Now it's here for these parts of the internet to enjoy! 

I just found this online- I think I need to post it every where around me so I can constantly remember it's truths!

"Give up trying to be perfect. – Sometimes we try to show the world that we are flawless in hopes that we will be liked and accepted by everyone.  But we can’t please everyone, and we shouldn’t try.  The beauty of us lies in our vulnerability, our love, our complex emotions – our authentic imperfections.  When we embrace who we are and decide to be authentic, instead of perfect, we open ourselves up to real relationships, real happiness, and real success.  There is no need to put on a mask.  There is no need to pretend to be someone you’re not.  You are perfectly imperfect just the way you are." 

-marcandangel.com

http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/06/04/10-things-you-must-give-up-to-be-successful/

I am constantly trying to hide any flaws that I might have in hopes that people will like me and accept me! I CAN'T please everyone- I need to please myself first and then I won't care so much about what others think of me! 

When it comes to videography, I am the worst.  I expect my work to look like the "veterans" that have been around for 10 years.  When it doesn't, I feel like I'm not good enough and I almost don't give myself even the chance to prove that I can do it.  With work. Hard work nonetheless, but I can do it!

I am capable of so much more than I give myself credit for.  I know that! Duh Elise...  I know that if I don't keep going after my dreams of running my own successful videography company, then someone else will and I will be left in the blowing dirt of their heels! 

I just have to keep going.  Keep pushing forward.  I need to decide to be authentic to myself and love it.  Make mistakes and move on.  But most importantly I need to remember to find the joy in creation.  Create Because I Can.  

I stole this off Jasmine Star's blog- whom I love.  But this gets me excited to keep pursuing that dream that will take me into the future. 

Cheers. 

xo- Elise