Bachelorette Party!

 

My fabulous Maid of Honor, Erika Hathaway, and other friends put on a bachelorette party for me at the end of the semester! We played fun (and mildly embarrassing) games, ate lots of food, and they got me generous gifts! I love them all for doing this for me!

Sharp Shooter

Today I did seven types of photography. I shot with six very different types of cameras: a plastic toy Holga with medium format film, the Canon 1D Mark II with both the 70-200mm and the 16-35mm lenses, the 4x5 large format camera pictured below, my Canon Rebel XSi, a Canon 10s with 35mm film. Along with that, I did a lumin print of eggs. A lumin print is done without a camera. I cracked the eggs right on the color photo paper, put it in UV light (since Rexburg doesn't share sunlight), washed the egg off and fixed it. It left the impression that eggs had been there. Pictured above is a photo I took on my Canon T70 with 35mm film. I made prints of it in the darkroom, but I also took advantage of the lab's new scanner and this is a digital version. Surprisingly, my teacher and I liked my darkroom version just as much as this one! I just could not believe how many different types of photography I did in just a handful of hours today!

This week's weather has been crazy. Rexburg has the tendency of being it's own sort of bi-polar. This week, it has been snowy, sunny, rainy, cloudy, and every sort of mix. Multiple days it was all of the above. It has also been light outside past eight at night. It's fun since I know in just two weeks I'll be home to the land of constant sun with a dependable temperature.
I have more dates set for those of you that are interested or would like to plan. June 4 will be my bridal shower, and June 18 at 3 P.M. I'll be going through the Las Vegas Temple for my Endowments.

 Snowing. Again.

 Sun still setting at 8 P.M.

One of my new favorite places to find quiet: the chapel in the Taylor building on campus. If there are other people in there during the day, there are only a couple and they are looking for the same thing. Great place to escape the energy of campus and find some needed private peace.

It's Official!

I know how long we've ALL been waiting for this! Stewart and I will be married on Saturday, June 25th in the Las Vegas temple at three in the afternoon! It is already set with the temple. I plan on reciprocating my Endowments the weekend before. We reserved the largest sealing room so all the Gublers can fit. A ring ceremony and reception will be that night. We cannot wait!

Rainy Days And Mondays

 Two of my favorite things: rain and my handsome, happy man.

Excuse the  silliness of this last one. It was part of a class assignment. But it makes me happy!
Thanks goes out to my good friend Glen Turnbow for helping me with this.

Slurping Through Sunday

Every Sunday, my apartment feeds dinner to our FHE brothers. This Sunday, we decided to make rainbow layered Jell-O for dessert. It was a bit runny, but delicious! After finishing off the 9x13 pan, we decided to have fun with the 8x8 pan. We each took a straw and sucked the whole thing up! We looked and sounded ridiculous, but we had a blast and finished the whole thing in about 90 seconds!

(From left to right: Me, Stewart, Jordan Christensen, Armando Crosland, Linnea Holbrook. Not pictured: Mary Froelich. She had to stop partway through due to laughing too hard, spewing out Jell-O, and falling to the floor crying. Minus the Jell-O, the same happened last night.)

I'm ready to head back to Vegas! I have my bedroom to myself for ten days while my roommate Erika is in Peru. I decided to take advantage of that today, and let my closet explode. I understand that I still have three weeks left here in Rexburg, but I packed two full bins of winter clothes and cleaned out under my bed today! All my gloves, scarves, hats, thermals, boots, snow clothes--they're all packed away! I can only hope Spring is here to stay now.
 I also started sanding down one of the two dining room chairs I need to paint. The set I bought was mid-makeover, but all that was left for me to finish was two chairs. It's turning out to be quite the project, but I enjoy it! I included a before photo, hopefully the after photo will be posted soon!
Yesterday I had my second wedding dress fitting. It should be completely done on the 26th. I can't wait! It is so beautiful!! I was also asked to photograph General Conference. Our school's communication department is allowed to send two photographers to the Conference every Annual and Semi-Annual General Conference. This time, it's my turn! I am so nervous! I am in charge of covering both afternoon sessions. Watch Conference closely-you may see little me running around with that big camera I previously posted since I take the photos of each speaker!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I made my family's traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight for Stewart and me while he was at work. I loved it! It was simple to make, but it was fun to feed him and to share a new tradition. I couldn't believe it was his first time eating corned beef! Did you know "Kelly" means Celtic Warrior Maiden? My parents didn't  know that until I was already a feisty redhead.

I bought our first dining room set today! I don't have a photo yet, but I was so excited I had to post. Today was a great combination of two of my favorite things: finding an amazing deal and getting things together for my future home. I found a couple moving from Rexburg that was selling a lot of their things for a great deal. I got a beautiful dining room table with a matching bench and three chairs, a down comforter with two matching shams, two pillows, and a decorative birdcage all for $60! Everything was still in perfect condition! I am getting so excited to start decorating my future home!

Blessed

I'm sorry, no photo today. Today Stewart and I had our Sunday afternoon session of Stake Conference. I woke up feeling very sick, yet again. I decided no matter what, I would go and make it through all of Conference that I could, and I am so glad I did. We had excellent speakers: our stake president, President Packard, and his wife, the Rexburg temple President and Matron, and Elder Chambers of the Seventy. He Told a funny story about Elder Oaks. (Stewart, you can correct me if I incorrectly tell the story.) Almost simultaneously, Elder Chambers and Oaks pulled various pills and vitamins from  their pockets. Elder Chambers had just a few, like his Omega-3; Elder Oaks had a whole handful. He turned to Elder Chambers, smiled, and said, "I am a "pillar" of this Church." Made us all laugh! I love hearing the "behind-the-scenes" stories from and about our General Authorities. After making it through Conference and taking a nap, I headed to Stew's for a barbecued rib dinner, even though I still was not feeling great. While waiting, I started feeling worse, and finally got the impression to ask for a blessing from Stewart. I am so grateful to have him in my life, and to know he is fully worthy to pronounce blessings on my head when I am in need. I progressively started to feel better, and just staying close to him helped. I am so excited for the day that I will always have him at my side; I feel secure when we are close.

I suppose the best things today revolved around food. Not that that is too abnormal for hungry, hypoglycemic me. This is at our local college hangout, Sammy's. That shake I'm feeding her? There are Carmel Delights blended into it. Yum. (Sorry to keep rubbing it in, Ten!) Stake Conference started tonight. I was still surprisingly full from Sammy's four hours later, so I temporarily forget the small fact that I am hypoglycemic and had to leave about 40 minutes before it ended. I decided puking or passing out in front of my stake wasn't how I wanted to end my night. Pictured below is a perfect way to end the night. Stewart sliced up some strawberries and made me up a giant bowl of his homemade Angel Food cake, Cool Whip, and strawberries. Delicious! I knew I loved him.

Today was quite the day. I'm still running off of just a few hours of sleep. One of my best friends, Andrew Berhold, is serving his mission in Japan, so I spent many early hours worrying about him after finding out about the 8.9 magnitude earthquake. I got a personal tour of the heating and cooling plant on campus. Did you know the BYU-I campus uses about one ton of coal each day? Crazy. After spending many hours working on photos for the Scroll, I went out to IF, shopped, and had my wedding dress fitting. I am in love with my dress! It is coming along so well. I can't post a photo of the whole dress, because of Stewart, so here's just a teaser! My love to all. I will be home in one month from today!

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens..

It's been raining tonight! I love the rain. I have always been in love with it. Rain is one of my favorite things. It makes me sad is that my fabulous fiance hates it. He won't play with me in it, let alone even go out in it. I'm hoping this rain means Spring is coming.. Oh! And I saw Geese migrating! And yet, today I have had "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" stuck in my head all day..

Shot To The Heart

Today is the day my life changed. I fell deeply in love. With this camera equipment. Unfortunately, it belongs to the school through I-comm. Someday. Someday. This plus more will be mine. Muahahaha! Ahem. Anyway, I took the photos for our school's "Extravadance" dance show. It was so much fun to shoot! It was my first time really using this camera (Canon 1D Mark II), and my first time using this incredible lens (Canon L series 70-200 f/2.8). After this, I know I can never be satisfied with my "little" Rebel forever.

Scouting

It's no secret that I am very easily amused. Throw a bouncy ball or scented bubbles my way and I'm set for at least twenty minutes. Today, all it took was these incredible cookies. Between Stewart's and my excitement over hunting down a table of colorful cardboard boxes filled with this Manna, we had to have looked like children being given free reign over a carnival. I love when I'm not the only one acting like a child!

Throughout The Eternities

Today I spent some time thinking about the choice I made to be married this coming summer. This is my engagement ring sitting with Stewart's CTR ring. Even though saying "yes" wasn't necessarily an easy decision, I still feel I "chose the right". I cannot wait to start this next chapter in my life with the person I will spend the rest of forever with.

Brinley's Baptism

Brinley Chambers was baptized today! It was so great to be able to be there. I'm so excited to officially be in this family!

Nutcase

Stewart and I came out to spend the weekend at Andrea's in Idaho Falls. We took along a coconut, and cracked it open with everyone. He worked so hard to split this open for us!

Catching Fire

That's right. Even the trees are cold.

-AND-

I've come to terms with the fact that I finished the Hunger Games! I devoured them far too quickly. When I read books like these, I get very wrapped up in the lives of the characters, and it can be hard for me to let go after I have turned the last page. Poor Stewart saw me just minutes after I finished the last book, and I was so quiet because I couldn't stop thinking about the ending.

"God blesses those who witness First Light"

 Sunrises are like secrets, and I enjoyed one this morning.
Everyone should watch a sunrise from time to time.

Temple Prep

Today was my last day of Temple Prep with my student ward! Unfortunately, I still have about five more months until I am actually able to go through the Las Vegas temple and be married, but Temple Prep has been incredible. The teacher was our young first counselor's wife, Mallory Judy, and I just love her. The class wasn't so much learning things you never knew, but was meant to strengthen the knowledge and testimony you already had. It is hard to beat the feeling you have at the end of one of these classes.