Behold, my joy is full :)

Okay, so this very moment it might be slightly less full than when I originally thought of writing this post on Sunday but that is due to tiredness and soreness :P

Sunday was amazing, let me tell you. Tim hasn't felt super well for the last several days and lack of sleep has been compounding matters. This finally came to a head Saturday night when we both went to bed later than we should have and Tim subsequently decided that he would sleep in and come to church with me. It's been almost a year since he's come to church with me because of his church calling. I was so pumped. Like, excited-little-girl pumped. It felt so oddly grown up to walk to church with my soon to be husband! [66 days! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] Due to lack of a sufficient tissue supply and tiredness, we only stayed for sacrament, heading home after for some sustenance and light napping. We were due at Chelsea and Zac's around 5:30-6 so we decided to take a drive up Provo canyon to see some of the foliage before more snow drops in unexpectedly and really kills it this time.

There are so many places to visit in Provo canyon that it took us a minute to decide where to go. Tim had the idea to head up to Sundance, maybe see if the ticket booth was closed so we could drive up and maybe over the mountain. The booth turned out to be closed tight so we went on our merry way up the ever narrowing and constantly twisting road that was absolutely packed with people also out to enjoy the sunshine and colors. We didn't have enough time to drive the whole circuit but boy, I was not disappointed in the least. Did you know that Mt. Timpanogos is apparently home to the single largest living organism in the world? Well it is. I never would have guessed it, but the aspen groves on the mountain are all connected, stretching for miles and miles. It was amazing just to watch all those white trunks rushing by as we drove. Some of the color was gone already but there was a surprising amount of lingering green on the mountainside. Days and scenery like that make everyone a photographer. I couldn't have counted how many cameras I saw, people standing on the roadside eager to get shots in an attempt to have the beauty of the day as theirs to keep. Of course I brought my camera too, never one to miss out on big nature adventures like this and even though I am depressingly aware that photographs [especially those taken with dinky little digital cameras] will never stand next to the memories themselves, let alone the actual views. Despite this, I have prepared some to share for those of you not as fortunate as to enjoy the real deal :)

Look! I nabbed a photo of a cute family getting their pictures taken. D'aw :)

Obviously, this is not how the sky actually looked, I just decided to mess with this

one because the sun being that bright kind of ruins anything you were actually

trying to get a picture of. It's such an attention hog, the sun.

It had been a while since I'd been able to really enjoy being outside, the colors and feel of the world around me. Even though I'm not ready for fall and winter, I loved smelling the leaves and rich earthy-ness of the outdoors :) It was also amazing to just have a day with Tim. We've both had so much to do lately that a nice slow, appropriately indulgent Sunday was a big blessing.

There's just something about nature that makes me feel so blessed, music too, as we had a great Mormon Tab CD as a soundtrack to our wanderings. Some days I can't help but we overwhelmingly thankful for the beauty of the world I live in and the amazing people that I get to share my life with. I'm hoping to increase the number of those days :)

Bundled up in sweaters and laughter

We've been experiencing a sudden and, might I say unwelcome, cold front the last few days. Yesterday I believe we had a high somewhere in the 30s when it had been in the 70s just on Monday and it was raining on and off to boot. Intelligent me wore sandals to school because that makes sense right? Thankfully, frostbite hasn't claimed me yet though I did make sure to wear sturdier shoes today. It has been months since I last wore socks :/

This also means that there is snow on the mountains again. I am not ready for snow. Especially since I never did get to see those pretty red trees in the canyon, now covered in white. Alas, Utah weather is a fickle creature and fall seems to be its least favorite season. More's the pity.

It's been odd to see so much outerwear around campus due to the weather. I wore my pea-coat today and, much as I like it, the whole ensemble feels too much like winter for my present liking. Scarves are also making their reappearance from closets and storage bins, the site of which reminded me of this:

This is Hipster Deer, property of an Emily Robinson, a good friend of mine from high school who is a lucky duck attending art school in NYC. you can see her most recent comic adventure here: http://dodger-d.deviantart.com/
The point being that dear Hipster Deer would blend right in on campus considering this seems to still be the popular style around here. Oddly, I'm more fond of the get-up on the deer than on people.

In other news, I feel rather productive today despite all the tasks I have to complete this weekend. This mostly came from a phone call to a caterer earlier today. I hate talking on the phone with people I don't know. Loathe it. I'm just an awkward phone-talker which makes things generally painful. Because of this, I usually do whatever I can to post-pone making such calls but some things can only be put off for so long within reason and today I just decided to grab life by the...er...keypad...and do it. Such a silly little thing isn't it? And yet, it's the small and simple things that can prove to be the greatest blessings or, in this case, mood boosters. There's still loads to do for the wedding of course not to mention the two group papers, massive amounts of reading, and first draft of my middle grade story for my English class to get through this weekend. Ah, one foot at a time, yes?

It's amazing to me how the small things can get you through like meeting up with a friend unexpectedly and then having they walk home with you, having a few quiet moments with the ones you love even if it really only is like ten minutes. The Lord knows exactly what we need and I've discovered the wonderful feeling of moving through a long and rough day of ups and downs, head-aches and frustrations and still managing to bounce back with a happy and smiling attitude. I didn't even realize that had happened yesterday until I was rolling into bed. It's a good feeling though, one I hope I can learn to cultivate more often because it's not as if the going's going to get any easier, you know? But that doesn't mean it has to get any less fun :)