visually appealing

go here - http://ambphotocompany.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/liz-steve-e.html
to check out some pics from our engagement shoot.

i have to admit, i am kind of in love with them. all of them. :)

ps. if you ever have any photo needs go to amb photo company. not only are they dear friends of mine but they are also AMAZINGLY talented.

what you've been waiting for

here are the pics from the photobooth...
also we set a date. january 3, 2009.

guess what...?

i'm gettin' married! YAY!

steve proposed last saturday {nov. 8th} inside a photobooth at kmart. :)

lest you think we frequent the blue light special store oft, here's the story behind it all...

that day we had planned to hang out in the afternoon time. i was hitting up a fabric sale with cass in the early morn and then lunching with emily and andrea at noon. he called me during lunch to say he wouldn't be able to hang out until even later than we had planned because he had to help his brother with something. i was bummed but alas, he was doing service so i couldn't rightfully be upset.

what steve was actually doing was...driving up to salt lake to "talk" with my dad. he got to my dad's work during a busy time so he went back out to his car to wait for a little bit..then..he went back in. still busy. so he went back out to his car and fell asleep...

meanwhile, i went and got a pedicure with the girls {courtesy of steve. we all know this unemployed girl can't afford such luxuries - think that was part of the bribe to make sure i didn't ask too many questions about him "helping his brother" or possiby it was just because he freakin' loves me. maybe both. :)}.

after the pedi i go home and patiently wait for steve to call.

steve wakes up from his nap in the car goes into the music store, asks for richard. they tell him "oh, richard went to lunch. but he should be back soon." about 5 minutes later richie returns from lunch. steve nervously walks over to him and asks if he has some time to talk...they go into the break room for a little hart-to-heart and richie gives him the go ahead.

steve finally calls me "sorry that took longer than i thought. i'm on my way to pick you up." "that's okay, what you wanna do?"

"well i need to run some errands you wanna come with me?"

"yes, please."

he picks me up and tells me that his mom found some cool framed artwork at kmart so he wants to go check it out since he moved into a new office at work. i say okay let's go. we get to kmart. he walks right to the aisle with the framed art. {looking back it's obvious that he had already scoped this out}.

anyway we didn't find anything that cool but as we are walking out we see the little black and white photobooth by the 25 cent candy machines. steve looks at me and says, "remember when you brought me here right before you left for costa rica and we took pictures in that photobooth?"

"yeah! love those pictures."

"we should take some more right now, you wanna?"

"YEAH!"

so we go into the photobooth. we plan out our 4 poses ahead of time. 1st - crazy happy. 2nd - kissy face. 3rd - awkward stare. 4th - pretend engagement pic with my hand on his chest.

okay put the $2 in...ready...go. 1st pic. hold pose and flash. then...the 2nd one is about to go...steve is reaching into his pocket...i'm saying "hey, what are you doing?! 2nd pose quick! it's gonna take...wait what..?"

steve pulls the ring out of his pocket. i'm just staring at it. confusion. 2nd pic. flash. steve starts talking...telling me that he loves me and that i make him so happy. 3rd pic. flash. now he is down on one knee {in the tiny space. ha} and he asks me to marry him! i say "YES!" then we kiss. 4th pic. flash.

so perfect. i loved it. every flash of it.

liz get job

that is the phrase spelled out in magnetic alphabet letters on my fridge. it serves as a daily reminder of my pitiful existence.

on the bright side, when i'm not searching the web for a job i've had some time to catch up on my tivo needs...

i have watched all the episodes of the following:

• America's Next Top Model
• The Hills
• The Office
• 90210 {the new season}

some random episodes of these:

• Wizards of Waverly Place
• What Not to Wear
• What I like about you
• Oprah

and re-watched some of these:

• Gilmore Girls
• Alias
• General Conference
  

yeah, yeah, i know what you're thinking..."she's a lazy waste of space." don't worry, i know.

liz get job. now.

{sigh}

i have no job.

dance dance dance...

we think they can.

hike of death

last saturday we decided to take a little hike. we started out in provo canyon and figured we would end coming down through rock canyon in about 4 hours.


we were enjoying the hike so much, we even stopped to take senior portraits.

and steve, once again, had to show off his talents working the camera...but i'm taking credit for the discovery of the "eye" in the tree...he may have pressed "click" but i found it.

half way up we found a bit of earth and stopped to eat lunch. yum.

then we continued on. winding up, up, up the mountain. i kept thinking "okay, around the next switchback, we'll be at the peak..wait, okay the next one..wait.."

lucky for us we picked the perfect day and time of year for a hike. it was so beautiful up there with the colors of the changing leaves and the blue, blue sky.

we finally made it to the top. the cascade saddle. we took some pics and then started down...


unfortunately there was not a defined trail {going straight down, like we wanted} so we literally forged our own path through the trees and bushes. this was the real turning point of the hike...

by the time we got down to the actual trail again our knees were shot, our tailbones bruised, and morale was low.

note to self: always stay on the trail. always. even if it looks like it's going way out of the way, stay on it.

once we were in rock canyon these lady hikers told us it was only "a little farther" to the camp ground. they were liars. took us almost 3 more hours to get to the bottom. luckily i found the fountain of youth to keep me going.

after 8 hours and 11.6 miles we made it to the car. barely alive.

it was one of those experiences where during it you are thinking "i kind of hate this, i will never do this again." but then after all is said and done and you are safely home, in your cozy bed you think "ah, that was totally fun. i climbed up one side of that mountain and down the other! i can't wait to do it again next year."

don't know if steve would do it again with me though. he kind of hated it more than i did. :)

bubble-shoot

steve took these of joseph {jo-jo} when we were in rhode island.
talk about profesh. he's so good.
i am beaming with pride.

rhode isle

continuing on...we took a train from penn station to providence, rhode island to visit my brother
and his little family...i guess 6 kids wouldn't really be considered little would it...? i've been so lucky to be able to visit them in every state that they have lived in. i think the total is 8 {outside of utah}. notice the license plates. oregon. rhode island. maine. haha.

while we were there, we got to celebrate jess's b.day

have a water balloon fight

and play guitar hero.

steve loved teasing jo-jo, who was glued to the tv. go diego go.

our second day there we ventured out to do some grave hunting. one of my ancestors {on my dad's side} Elizabeth Tilley Howland, who came over on the mayflower, is buried in a providence cemetary.

it took some looking but we found it! i called my dad immediately. i've never heard him so excited. seriously, he loves headstones. and he LOVES that i was there, standing in front of it.
family history, i am doing it, my family history.

from the moment we got there makayla {4} was smitten with steve. can't say that i blame her. but she wasn't the only one...she instantly had him wrapped around her little finger just as tight, reading her books, jumping on the trampoline, and letting her take pictures with his camera. her favorite book the cat in the hat comes back ... and steve re-read it to her over and over and over again. so sweet.


sometimes she'd let me squeeze some special time in too. :)


we spent alot of time on the trampoline. which i loved, since i practically grew up on one. after our water balloon fight we even put the sprinkler under the tramp and i got to re-live my childhood. briefly. i so miss those hot summer days of yesteryear, jumping for hours, making up games and new impressive tricks. {sigh}



our last day we went to this amazingly huge park, the Roger Williams Park. it had a zoo, a botanical garden, a museum and lots of other stuff. at the botanical garden steve {and makayla} took some artistic pics and we got to see carnivorous plants {like the kind from little shop of horrors}. crazy.


we finished off our visit at the lake, where we were attacked by geese. fur real. okay, no one got hurt but it was seriously scary. we were surrounded and they were hissing their little faces off.
freaky freakterton.

our short visit just tuckered jo-jo right out. we had so much fun. i love those people so much.
only wish we got to play more often. thank you for having us!

can't wait to visit beautiful rhode island again soon..