three hundred and sixty-five.

In October, I took this photography class from a lady here in Cache Valley. It was AWESOME.

So inspiring. So helpful. It was just overall, SO great.

Anyway, I was reading her blog one day and I stumbled upon this awesome post. It completely inspired me. You see, I'll let you in on a little secret of mine {if you don't already know}.

I want to be a photographer. As of right now, I'd love to be a lifestyle photographer {like Brooke Snow, an amazing inspiration to me.}

I keep getting side tracked. Back to the point of this post. 365 days. In the post I referred to earlier, she discusses a journey which many embark on to take a picture every single day of the year.

I am setting the goal for 2010 to do Project 365. I am going to start now, trying to take a picture ALMOST every day. I want to get a feel for what it's like and how much time it takes and get some ideas flowing.

2010, here I come. Pictures every day! Love it.

I'm excited. I want to really improve my photography. I know this will help. I am determined achieve that goal! To be a lifestyle photographer. To have my own business one day. I don't care if I'm successful or not, as long as I please myself. One thing I'm excited for is the day when I can take pictures of my own children! Ah. It will be fabulous.

I heart photography. I'm not the best. I don't have the best camera ever. BUT I sincerely love it! I have a passion for it. I want to improve. I want to continue to do this. I want to reach my goal!

I know it's possible. Anything is!

So today, I am grateful for the ability to capture beautiful things through a light capturing device. I am grateful for photography and photographs and the beauty they hold.

Here's a picture for today. Might not be the best ever, but I like it.

Lay-Z Girl

So I have a problem. I'm willing to admit it, because I know I need help. Especially before I get married to Tyson, who has maybe a similar issue.

Alright. SOMETIMES this

happens to my room. I don't know how. Actually, scratch that.

I always know how.

It starts simple. Like maybe one or two items of clothing. Then I decide by making a small pile, I'll be able to clean it up later. Well, it always seems to turn into a heap of clothing and shoes and hangers and movies and anything else that seems to seep it's way in.

Basically, a tornado hits my room. This could be a problem when T and I get married, because we might have clothing clusters and tornados hitting our room left and right.

Especially considering we both have a problem with clothes placed on the floor rather than in the closet or drawer.

Oh well. I'll put it on the list of things to fix/do along with getting my ipod fixed and studying for my Natural Disasters test. Put in small font, because I don't wannnna do it.

Time for some gratitude! :)

I am grateful for Lazy Sundays.

Sometimes the weeks are just too much. Too much homework. Too much errand running. Too much worrying. Too much stressing.

Sundays are blissful. I always thoroughly enjoy church. It hits the spot. :)

I always enjoy a nice Sunday meal, wherever I am. Very delish.

Naps are a must. It feels nice to just forget all the week worries and just be lazy.

This may seem like a small/little/dumb thing to be grateful for, but seriously. I just love Sundays. They are not only filled with rest, but always peace and great reflection.

They are good days.

I am grateful for Sundays. Lazy ones, too. :)

Lastly.

This picture makes me sooo happy.

We have a {superb} future father on our hands here. And possible Napoleon impersonator as well. :)

November=Gratitude

Do you ever have those days when your mind just races and races? About dumb things.

Things that don't really matter.

Things that are out of your control.

Things that really are just distractions from your happiness.

I know I do.

So tonight, after a day where my mind has been racing, I am filled with gratitude.

I am surrounded by beautiful things. Beautiful people. And beautiful blessings.

I really can't help but be grateful. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up this month.

I don't want to just be grateful for one day. I want to be grateful for the WHOLE month.

So my goal is to post something almost every day {because I'm oh so interesting and have so much to say} and I want to include something I am grateful for.

There are a ridiculous amount of things I am grateful for. But today, it will be something basic and broad, but very important.

I am grateful for life. I am grateful I have the opportunity to live the way I do. To breath fresh air each day. To live healthily. And to live happily. I am extremely blessed!

I am also wonderfully happy. If that's even a phrase. I just made it one, if not.

There is so much goodness out there. Grab it, hold onto it- especially during those times you feel it slipping out. Grip it with all your might. Because nothing can stop you from being your happy self. You, being completely happy and being completely yourself.

What could be better? Nada.

I have this quote that I like to remind myself of frequently. It always applies and it always makes me hopeful, no matter how I am feeling.

I suppose I'll share it.

"Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and you will make it.

There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way is foolishness."- Elder Corbridge

Life. It's beautiful. I have a great one. It's so good. I am grateful.

Happy November {month of gratitude}. Actually, I guess every month should be one filled with gratitude. BUT you know what I mean. :)

This is happiness.

I love life!

:)

NOT Fred Meyer

I have an obsession. I think it's safe to say that's what I've been diagnosed with. It's more than just a like or a love, it's definitely an obsession. With my favorite store ever, Smith's Marketplace.

I think I realized this the most tonight when I was just stopping there to pick up some face wash for Tyson. Of course I couldn't just get face wash. I also couldn't leave the store without making my rounds, checking out the sales and paying my favorite aisle's a visit. It's a routine. It has to be done. Every time. And it always leaves me pleased!

You see, I started shopping at Smith's MP (also known as SMP for shortest terms) last year. It was just down the street from my house and it was convenient. I liked it alright. I had transitioned from Lee's to Smith's to SMP. At first I was just fine and happy with it. Getting to know the store, where everything was located, how to organize my grocery list, etc. etc. I think this "getting to know you" game lasted all of last school year. Sometimes you have to create a real bond with something in order to really love it!

Well, needless to say, I missed my SMP this summer while I was studying abroad in Italy where finding a store like SMP was impossible. The grocery store was sufficient enough for the four weeks I was in Italy, but it was nothing like my beloved SMP.

This year I came back up to school and was so pleased to still be living so close to SMP and able to shop there. Tyson has tried to convince to shop elsewhere--aka Wal-Mart (gross), but I just can't do it. I went to Wal-Mart in an attempt to switch and I was so lost. I couldn't get my list organized. I couldn't feel the warmth and homey feeling that SMP always gives me. So I think I'll stay at SMP.

Now, before I conclude this little post, I will tell you why I heart SMP so much. (Actually, it's a big post. They always are. I'm just too wordy).

I love the sale bins. This might be my favorite part. Walking in the door to all those items on sale! They are always great too! Although I sometimes feel like I need to buy at least one of every item on sale, then I remind myself I already have that same oatmeal or I would never eat 4 for 10 Blast' O Butter popcorn. Still, seeing those bins makes me happy. I also love that it's not just Smith's, so if you need a good pair of socks or some housewares items or shoes, you can have it all. SMP offers everything, just like Wal-Mart, but definitely more personable and better. I love the way I know the store and the route I always take. I love the people that work there. I love the no lines. I love the lighting in the store. I just love it all.

See? This is why I'm obsessed. SMP is the place. Check it out if you haven't been there yet. It will not disappoint!

Blingin' Ring and Happy Faces

Two posts in one day. Maybe a little bit much, but that's okay. The 3 blog followers probably won't mind. :) Plus this post might be the best one yet! So feel lucky and be glad you chose to read it.

Love. It's really a WONDERFUL thing. Everyone should be able to feel love. To be loved and to love in return. I won't go on and on about cheesy love advice, but that's just the truth.

Well, to go along with love, I have a little story.

Warning. This post is a little lengthy, but also full of goodness and joy.

October 30th, 2009. {truly a day to remember}.

It was just after 1:00 p.m. as I was sitting in my Family Finance class. I was already somewhat anxious to go, because it was a Friday and I was ready for Halloween weekend to begin! I was doodling on my notes when I got a text message from Tyson. Our plans that afternoon had been to drop my car off to get the oil changed and head over to the D.I. to get some last minute items for our Halloween costumes.

The text read: "Change of Plans! Go straight home after class. Don't leave early! There will be something waiting for you on your pillow."

Of course, I read the message and flung my phone at my friend Teri to read. In my head, I thought, he's proposing! The day is here! I cannot wait. These 20 minutes BETTER fly by!

As I sat in class for the next 20 minutes my mind was racing with possibilities of what he could be doing. I also kept secretly yelling at my teacher in my head to "STOP WITH THE CHARTS AND GRAPHS. IT IS FRIDAY. NO ONE IS LISTENING. JUST STOP LECTURING NOW, SO WE CAN ALL GO HOME." I was super anxious.

After class I bolted out of my classroom and ran to my car. I jumped in and raced on home to the surprise awaiting me on my pillow.

It was note. It talked about going on a scavenger hunt that will take me on a "blast from the past". The first clue was to the place where we first met, our friend Kenzie's old house just a couple blocks away. At that destination, I received my next clue and a bottle of root-beer (inside joke). The next clue told me to go to the place where we spent quite a few nights when we were first dating, the parking terrace on campus. There I found another clue and a bag of Laffy Taffy's, something we also enjoyed as well as conversation in my car those nights at the beginning of everything! That clue took me to the place where we first kissed, my old house. There waiting for me was a bag of Hershey's kisses and the next clue! {Good thing I love candy. :)} This clue took me to the place we first said I love you, at the mouth of Green Canyon in North Logan. There waiting was a bag of bubble gum, where we also attempted a bubble gum blowing contest that same night, and my final clue. This clue was the best one in my mind. It told me to go to my final destination, the Logan temple.

My mind was racing as I was driving to the temple(and my foot probably was a little as well). I got a little emotional as the Shania Twain song, "You're Still the One" played in the background. Even thinking of those thoughts makes me a little teary! I couldn't help but think that this is it. I was about to be proposed to! By someone I never imagined I would be marrying. Someone I didn't even know 8 months ago. Although in the past 8 months, as we've gotten to know each other, we've had the opportunity to fall in love. Since he came into my life, he has changed it completely. He has taught me so many great lessons! Especially the lesson of true love. I thought about how lucky I was to be marrying such a wonderful, spiritually strong, ambitious, kind, loving and great person! I thought about how my heart would never be broken again. I was also grateful it had been broken when it did, so I could find the one who would handle it with care. I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude for Tyson. I had reached an ultimate high in life! It was such a wonderful and peaceful feeling.

As I approached the temple, I saw him waiting on a bench just across the street. I approached him and gave him a big hug. My emotion had become pure excitement and happiness. We sat on the bench for a minute and Tyson suggested "should we just go now?" I laughed at his statement and my attention was caught by a towel on the ground just a few feet away. Tyson then explained there was something very important under this towel and to lift it up and keep my eyes closed until the towel was to my waste. I then proceeded to lift the towel up with my eyes closed and felt around where the towel was for whatever was under it. Nothing. He then told me I could open my eyes. I saw that nothing was there, but I did turn around and see him on one knee. He then asked if I would marry him. I said yes and we hugged and celebrated the first few moments of our engagement! Then I made Tyson and my ring have a photo shoot at that very special location. It was great fun. Luckily Tyson likes photo shoots, because we'll have many I'm sure.

It was a very memorable day! I am very excited to marry Tyson on March 12, 2010 in the Timpanogos temple! Best friends uniting in marriage. What could be better? Married life, here we come!

The Location

Here she is!

We designed the ring and I LOVE it.

The happy couple!

When I Grow Up...

Princess. Dancer. Diva. Singer. Teenager. College student. Mom.

I'm pretty sure I wanted to be all of these things (and maybe more) when I was little.

I'd say that a couple are still true.

I still want to be a mom.

I AM a college student.

And being a diva might be the best job yet. Too bad the major isn't offered at Utah State.

But really. I still aspire to be some things. Of course this HAS to complicate my life and my major choice and make me think about it over and over again.

THIS is what I want to be:

A Wife. I already know this one will come true. March 12, 2010. My big day with my best friend, Tyson Scott. We're pretty excited. (Stay tuned for the engagement story and pictures).

I am just excited to cook meals for Tyson. I am excited to do our laundry together. I am excited to go to bed at 10:30 if I please. I am excited to start preparing for a family together and to just LIVE our lives together. It'll be amazing!

A Momma. Oh. Man. I am SO excited to be a mom. Not SO excited that I will be one anytime soon. I still need a few years.... but when the times does come, I will be excited and hopefully ready! I can't even fathom how beautiful it will be to be a mother. I hope I am a good one too! I love kids. I'm kind of a kid sometimes myself. This is good, because we can just play together and have so much fun all the time. Of course there will be long nights of crying children, scraped knees and not so fun times. BUT you've got to have the bad with the good. So you can fully appreciate the good and how rich and beautiful it is. That's just how life is! I could go on and on about being a mom and my excitement, but I will move on.

A Photographer. This is my absolute dream job. This might be the one that is holding me back from being so sure of my current major. It constantly is on my mind. I see things or places and I automatically think "That would be such a good place to photograph a senior for senior pictures!" Or "I have GOT to come back to this spot and take a picture of those sunflowers, they're just gorgeous." Beautiful things need to be captured! More importantly, REAL, beautiful things. That's why I want to be a Lifestyle Photographer so much. I took a class this last month that taught me more about how to use my camera and it has completely inspired me. This one is going to take some serious work and money, but I WILL get there. Just because I've never been so motivated when it comes to a career.

I just want to be kind to everyone. No matter who they are. No matter how they've influenced my life. I just want to be friends with everyone. The past is the past. I want to be known and remembered as a good, kind person. This one might be on my mind even more than photography. I'm pretty self-conscious when it comes to what people think of me. Mostly because, well, I don't know what they think of me! But I want them to think good of me. As far as I can control, that is. I'm working on this.

Altogether. These are my dreams. I don't care about dancing or singing. I don't care about materialism. I care about the people I love. I care about making a difference. I care about living life to it's fullest and capturing all the beauty I can, anyway that I can. Life is good. Life is wonderful. I am blessed! Always. I can't wait for the future. I hope some of these dreams come true and I can be all I hope to be!

{Of course this doesn't mean those of you who still aspire to be a diva shouldn't want that. Go for the gold! Fulfill those dreams. Anything is possible!}

I don't like the taste of my foot in my mouth...

You know that feeling when something bothers you? Not just a bothersome thing, but something that overtakes your body with emotion. You get so worked up and no matter what the circumstances or consequences are, THAT matter which you are so worked up over is the most important thing. Nothing else matters. Nothing you say will ever be regretted. You feel so much rage and passion for that one thing that you know you can say whatever you feel and be fine with it, one hour later, one day later, or one week later.

The only problem is. Whatever you do or say always matters. You are always racked with guilt and regret and this big matter you got so worked up about really doesn't matter too much. You just made a big deal out of nothing and an even bigger idiot of yourself.

Well. I know the feeling. Oh too well.

You see, I haven't taken the full blown color code test- but I have taken mini tests that correspond. My results tell me that I am a blue person. This means a lot of things, but one thing that is somewhat parallel to this post is blue personalities are very much emotion driven.

Oh this is SO me. I completely let my emotions overcome me. It can be terrible. Namely, in situations like the one listed above. I can't even control how I feel and I just know that I am right, no matter if I hurt someone or not.

Here's the thing. Hurting someone, never right. Someone you love, even more wrong.

So I'm setting a goal. To THINK before I FEEL. Not always, but mostly. So I avoid awkward and awful situations and I don't have to get myself out of any holes. Well, or just less holes.

The biggest problem is, I also have this slightly stubborn side. You could at times call me Stubborn Sally. So once I do commit these awful transgressions, I struggle with facing the consequences laid before me. That should probably be another goal, to be less stubborn.

Change is not easy. But sometimes necessary. The world sure as heck doesn't revolve around me. I am still alive. Still just fine. I just need some patience. Less stubbornness. And maybe more tact. Just for some prevention against nights like these.

It's probably better to not cry over things that don't matter in the first place and definitely not TWICE just because you made yourself cry for being dumb. I do this to myself. Oops.

So dear person who I accidentally became enraged at, I publicly (as public as this blog is) apologize to you. I know you know this blue attribute I have, so please forgive me for acting that way.

Try to remember I'm very much so, well, a human being.

Not an excuse, but still. I am working on it. And I'm very excited. REGARDLESS of anything else.

:) You know what I mean.

Fall Findings

I just love fall. Please come, please stay. No snow yet!

Fantastic Fall and Sunset Hikes

Dear Blog-reader(s),

I love this time of year. I want to go on many more as the leaves change and fall really sets in. This is a beautiful time of year! If school didn't consume my life, I would love it even more. But fall is still one of my favorite seasons for a few reasons.

1. The leaves. Of course. They are beautiful, so many colors! I love it. I don't know how I could really live somewhere that didn't have fall leaves. I enjoy them THAT much.

2. Sweaters, scarves and tights. I love dressing for fall. During the winter, anything you wear is covered by big winter coats (usually more than one, when you live in cache valley). But fall- ah! The air is crisp enough to start pulling out the sweaters and tights and scarves. I really enjoy these three clothing items. I wish I had more, but I definitely have enough. :)

3. Halloween. I LOVE holidays. The fall is the beginning of the Holiday Season, I would say. Halloween is SO fun! I love it. I love scary movies, carving pumpkins, haunted houses, halloween candy, mom's homemade chili, dressing up like you're dead or anything else and wearing black and orange in October- period. It is great! I am excited, but need costume ideas...

4. I've always enjoyed the changing leaves, the crisp fall air, the Halloween holiday festivities, the fall clothing, etc. But I love fall even more now that I live in Cache Valley. There is a certain feel to it, but it just seems perfect. Logan in the Fall. It's like, Paris in the Spring. Same ring to it. I am so glad I've got to be here the past 3 falls and I can't wait to spend many more here.

5. Last, but not least, are hikes in the Fall. It's the perfect temperature and I don't think nature ever looks as beautiful as it does during a season change. It's right before everything looks dead and it's as pretty as can be. The other night, Tyson and I went on a sunset hike along the Bonneville Shoreline up Logan Canyon. It was fairly easy and very pretty! You got a beautiful feel of the canyon, but a view of the valley as well. Here are a few pictures, because yes, I made us stop for like an hour and have a little photo-shoot. I love these pictures! I can't wait for our next fall hike. I'm sure there will be another post about it.

Happy Fall everyone! Enjoy it. :)

The end.

With love,

Katie

Fotos.

Two posts in one night, I know- this is impressive.

Here is the thing, my friends. I like to take pictures. A lot. I am trying to develop some skills and abilities to incorporate in with this love of mine. I have taken a few pictures for friends, but I would like to really start trying to build a portfolio. I know there are some things I should learn in a classroom format, but I also think one thing that will really help me is PRACTICE. Practice makes perfect.

So, if you know anyone or are someone who would want me to take your picture- I would love to. For Free Ninety Nine, I'll take your senior portraits, engagements, bridals, family portraits or just some fun pictures. It would help me SO much and I don't think I'm the worst photographer ever, just working on improving. I'll be posting some stuff I do on this blog so you can check it out before you decide.

Just so you know. A little 411. Thanks friends. Hope to photograph some of you! It would be great fun. :)