Voltaire

So there I was starting in on my oh so delightful (do you feel the sarcasm) paper on Voltaire; contrasting public opinion on him in his day and today (is there public opinion on Voltaire today?), when my dear sister sent me an innocent little email. Or so she thought. This email had a link to www.theknot.com. Essentially the most intense wedding website of them all. I took the bait. Albums and albums of photos of flowers, dresses, centerpieces, hair designs ...oh gracious! I am becoming more girly by the hour.
And then there was the checklist. According to theknot.com, with 85 days to go until the big day I should have already sent out "save-the-dates," had three meetings with my florist, talked with several wedding dress designers, and ordered alcohol. Wow. Oh, and I am supposed to be holding auditions for bands right now.
Random fact: there is a punk rock band in England called Voltaire.

I am kinda digging the low-up-do.
This center piece says "spring" to me.
As does this one.
I am really liking this bouquet. A lot.

I wonder if Voltaire ever contemplated the potential of white carnations, lilies of the valley, and blue delphinium snippets in the same bouquet?

The week's grab bag

Guys, there is some girlie wedding stuff in here. You have been warned.

I have been so bad at taking photos lately; and there has been so much photo worthy stuff!

Beautiful snow! Especially at 7:45am when I am scurrying madly down 9th east in order to make it to my oh so boring animal nutrition class. BUT, Timp is just starting to turn pink on the top and it makes the cold morning walk all worth while.

Liz came and visited which created several photo worthy events. Including:

Rock climbing at the Quarry, where I conquered a fun overhang and I felt oh so awesome for a long time after that. In fact, I still feel awesome about that. Kudos to my belayer, Keith, who caught my fall and let me swing back for another go at it.

Wedding dress shopping! Oh yes! That is right, I found THE ONE. Deb, Liz, and I buckled down and got it done. We entered the store, grabbed dresses, and tried them on super speed style. Liz helped me climb in and out of the towers of white puff as the nice assistant got the next one ready. We flew through them one after another. Nope, nope, no, you have got to be joking... NO, and then... perfect. We found it. Well, Deb found it. It was the last one in stock and was on a mannequin, but Deb had them get it for me anyway. It needs a few alterations but I love it. Here is a sneak peak. I love the buttons going all the way down the back. You can't really see them, but they are there, and I love them. (Guys, stop rolling your eyes, you were warned up front). And yes, the train bustles. The front is great too, but this is a sneak peak; one photo only. Thanks to Liz for taking her camera.
Liz kept up her Provo tradition and took me out to Cafe Rio. Mmmmm, delightful. Liz, feel free to visit anytime.

Now it is raining. Steady and grey. Platter, platter, platter. Hmmmm, feels like home.

Well-rounded Education

I am back in chilly Provo and thus have dove head-long into the beginning of the end. The end of my undergrad degree that is. Keith and I will graduate in April and be married the following day (April 25th) in the Bountiful Utah temple. Which means that along with plant cells, the Kreb cycle, post-baroque music styles, and apical meristems; I am also being educated on chiffon, princess-cuts, color palates, and hour devours this semester. I carry a copy of the LDS Bridal Guide (gotta love BYU) in my bag squished between the much heftier volumes of Plant Systematics and Plant Physiology. This whole wedding planning thing is much funner than I had previously thought it would be. Of course it helps to have a great family and future in-laws around ready and willing to help out.

On a side note, I have already had my first wedding "nightmare." I dreamed that I showed up on my wedding day having planned everything out to the last minute detail, except for my hair. I stood there in complete wedding dress... with a ponytail. And not a cute one. No it was one of those slept on, washed sometime yesterday, frizzy ponytails. And to top it off Keith had spilt grape juice on his sleeve. Oh, dear. I think it is too early in all of this to be having such dreams. And it kind of surprised me because I thought I had been pretty relaxed about the whole thing... Oh, well. It is probably nothing that a little snowshoeing in the mountains couldn't cure me of. At least it is worth a try...

Happy New Year!

This new year started off better than any one ever before, ever. On the first day of this year Keith asked me to marry him. As you may have assumed, I said "yes." The above picture is of us in Seattle two days before. Keith got through cancelled buses and snow to meet up with my family in Idaho Falls the day after Christmas. We then spent two full days driving and meeting family across Idaho and Washington. He survived it quite well, and apparently he didn't find my family to be too weird.

The big day will take place in Utah with a reception following in Orem and later in Puyallup. The date is in the works but I will keep you all updated.

Christmas adventures

Happy New Year everyone! So far this year is looking VERY good.

This Christmas break my family spent four days in Yellowstone x-country skiing. It was great fun and fabulous skiing. Here is a small fraction of the pictures. It was incredibly cold but very beautiful.

Liz got Santa hats for the entire family.

Alex has grown really tall and since I last saw him and is now singing bass. Wow. He is great.

Old Faithful.

Liz and a bison.

Keith met up with the family in Idaho Falls and had a whirlwind introduction to the extended family on both sides on a two day road trip back home.

On New Year's eve Liz took us kayaking. It was great fun, but SO VERY COLD.

Snoqualmie falls.

In order to get to the river we had to leave the boardwalk. We are rebels.