#instalife

Yay! I have finally gotten to the more recent instas! And when I say recent I actually mean that these are from almost two months ago.

-> Several of these pictures are from my vacation to California. I love the one taken from the end of the Santa Monica pier. I just can't get over how beautiful the west coast is. The beaches are stunning. Growing up 10 minutes away from the beach in Texas has always been the best, but Padre Island is like the ghetto of beaches when compared to the few I visited when I was in Cali.

-> Another one of my favorite pictures in this group is the one of the abandoned church. It is located in the middle of nowhere New Mexico and literally every time we make the drive to and from Utah we stop there to snap a couple shots. It is stunning.

-> It makes me a little sad to look at the pictures of me and my Provo friends because I miss them sooo much. Only two more weeks!

-> The picture in the bottom right corner is of me wearing the first shirt I made this summer. I made it for the 4th of July. Sadly, after a series of unfortunate events I didn't really get to wear it for any cool festivities on the 4th... but we won't get into that story because it is long and sad.

Love,

@carlifries84

Insta-life.

Most of these pictures are from the little over a month that I stayed in Utah after school ended before heading home to Texas. Basically all I did that month was work and play.

• I spent a lot of time at my old roommates apartments since I had no new friends at my new apartment besides my engaged roommate. Later, I moved into an apartment all by myself after Jessica got married. I wont be alone in the apartment when I get back but I lived alone for 2 weeks. It was super weird/surprisingly awesome. 
• At my old rommies apartments, people that actually lived there thought that I lived there too since I was there so much. We did some pretty cool stuff: One day we all took turns blowing fire. Pretty dang awesome I must say.
• We also rented a puppy. Yeah, you read that right... we RENTED it. There is a local business in Provo that rents out puppies to college students for an hourly rate. After the puppy gets to be a certain age they put them up for adoption. Basically this is genius since us college students don't get to have pets. When I first moved to Provo I had some animal love withdrawals. Any time I would see an animal I would get all excited and emotional and probably freaked out the owner when I ran up to see if they would let me pet it. We rented Rodney and spent 2 bliss filled hours playing with him.
• Another huge event of that month was the birth of my besties baby boy Lincoln. The little (or should I say huge) guy was 10 pounds 9 ounces!!!! He literally looked like a 3 month old. That picture of him sprawled on his bed still gets me. This was literally an hour and a half after birth! I was so excited to hold him a couple days later. So cute. Can't wait to get back up to Utah and snuggle with him.

Basically that was a great month. Looking at these pictures makes me miss all of my Provo friends even more than I already do. Can;t wait to be back in less than a month!!!!

Carli

Insta-life.

Some of these pictures date way back to March... yeah.

Noteworthy Instas:

Top Left Corner- I made that mens tailored shirt that John is wearing for a sewing class assignment. I must say that I did a pretty dang good job.

Second Row, Second Column- From the night we lit a small wooden boat on fire and launched it down the provo river.

Third Row, Third Column- Our apartment's Super Mario Brothers skit. The best ever.

Fourth Row, Second and Third Column- My roommates gave me so many surprises on my birthday, including Color Me Mine!

Carli

Insta-life.

-> Snow on campus is so pretty.

-> Since Tabby and I always take car photos in her car, we had to do one in mine.

-> Can I just move into IKEA? Please?

-> I love that place.

 -> I fell in love with this mirror display.

-> This puppy...so cute...I can't even.

-> Heaven.

-> Now & later.

 -> Sometimes I am overwhelmed by how beautiful where I live really is.

-> Mens volleyball game. So good.

-> I made valentines day decorations!

-> I love Taberita.

 -> Little ice cream cup and chocolate milk. Brings me back to elementary school.

-> Finally got around to painting my nails.

-> Attempted to recreate Ruby Snap's carrot curry coconut cookie. Not even close... but still good.

-> Hannah and I love curry. A lot.

-> Went on a snow tubing trip. So fun.

-> On the way home we got in a little fender bender, but we made the best out of it! With chips and salsa! and a very big burrito.

->Taberita and I had a blast.

-> I am a big fan of my snow boots.

-> It was so cold!!

-> Tube lanes.

-> Thanks Cam for getting us something to eat while we waited for the cops to come!

-> Nice bow tie John. I wonder who convinced you to buy it?

Carli

Insta-life.

These are from my last couple of weeks of last semester and of Christmas break. I am almost caught up...

> Had a slumber party with the roommates. It was the best.

> Reading day (before finals week) at the library in our pjs.

> Finals week care package from my parents. They are the best.

> Thanks for the little reminder bathroom mirror at school.

> Fortune.

> Heaven in a box. Ruby Snap Cookies are the bomb.

> Sewing final project halfway done.

> My friend Courtney got a little pig for a pet. Hamrietta came over for a visit. You can't really see her in this shot.

> Look at her little face.

> Had a painting stress reliever evening. I even dressed like a painter.

> One of my watercolors. Inspired by my everyday view.

> Salt Lake Temple lights trip.

> Stephen & I.

> Hannah & I.

> Pretty tree.

> It was snowing like crazy... but so beautiful.

> We were trying to stay warm.

> Waiting for the train.

> Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

> Kaylie is the cutest.

> Walking to school in my new boots.

> Train ride to salt lake. Just kept getting snowier.

> Visiting Hamrietta.

> Finally home in Texas. Got to snuggle this cutie.

> Humidity= Frizzy hair.

> Decorating for Christmas while listening to the Kinks greatest hits.

> My favorite.

> Cookie time.

> So yummy.

> All he does is sleep and sleep and sleep and eat and be cute.

> Chili pepper lights.

> Since I missed Thanksgiving at home, mom made it again for Christmas!

> New shoes. 

> My brother got a bike for Christmas and of course my dad had to try it out.

> Looks almost like a book cover.

> New Years!

> Holly berry headband I made.

> Homeless man in San Antonio. His sign is halfway true.

> New sweater.

> San Antonio temple trip.

> Good movie.

> Hockey.

> Goodbye Corpus.

> Learning how to do printmaking at home with my family!

> Our finished projects.

> That shirt accurately describes how I was feeling after a long day of traveling. P.S. I made it.

> Saved my life. I was so hungry.

Sorry for the overload of pictures. I've been trying to catch up! Soon I will finally get to share what I have been up to lately... Time moves by too fast sometimes.

Carli

Insta-life.

Please bear with me as I catch up my Insta-life posts... These are from my trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving. It was a really fun week!

 1. Packing.

2. We left on a Monday night after class and an exam. It felt pretty dang good to not have to worry about school for a week.

3. We stayed the night in St. George, Utah.

4. Entering Nevada!

 1. We thought it would be fun to stop in Vegas since neither of us had ever been. It was so worth it.

2. Driving to Vegas.

3. Forever.

4. Basically my dreams of meeting Elvis came true that day. Although he was a little sweaty/dirty/smelly, Elvis was a pretty nice guy.

 1. We didn't do any gambling... I promise.

2. The Eiffel Tower.

3. Somehow I always end up taking photos with star wars characters.

4. Paris Casino.

 1. We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

2. They let us pick the music. Everyone liked my choice.

3. Best. Burger. Ever.

4. This guy was awesome.

 1. Me being weird.

2. and again at the Coke Store.

3. We didn't even realize that the Hoover Dam was along our drive.

4. It's huge.

 1. I just don't even understand how that was built. Incredible.

2. Driving in the mountains. Beautiful/scary.

3. Entering Arizona!

4. So many cacti. 

 1. A little freaked out by the fact that our friends neighbor had like three of these hanging around his yard.

2. Tabs and I.

3. Pie.

4. Gone.

 1. It's possible that I have always had a major crush on Johnny.

2. I feel bad that I find this headstone funny. At Boothill Graveyard.

3. Took a walk out in the country. It was so peaceful.

4. Arizona wilderness.

 1. Organ Stop Pizza in Phoenix. Coolest place ever.

2. Mesa Temple Lights.

3. Tabby, the Cooks, and I.

4. Nativity.

1. More of the Mesa Temple lights.

2. On the way home we stopped at a little antique shop.

3. Tabby and I may or may not have gotten ice cream three times in one day... and it may or may not have been a very bad idea. I must say that a road trip isn't a road trip without ice cream.

4. We stopped at the Vegas temple on the way back. It was stunning.

This trip was amazing. We really needed to get out of Provo, away from school, and relax a little bit. I did take a ton of pictures with my DSLR camera! I promise I'll post them very soon!

Carli

P.S. Do you have Instagram? Let's be friends. Follow me @carlifries84

Insta-life.

The past few months have been nothing less than a whirlwind. While it makes me sad that I cannot commit to regular blogging, I am really happy with where I am in life. There are so many blessings in my life that I cannot even begin to fathom. College life isn't easy, but it is fulfilling. I feel myself growing each and everyday. Don't worry. I have been documenting the past few months with pictures and have lots of stories to tell! Since I am home for Christmas break I finally have time to share whats been going on in my life in my little corner of the internet. It feels good to be back!

 1. It started to get cold in October, but I wasn't willing to admit it until November. November 1st I had my first cup of cocoa.

2. The fall was beautiful. I had never experienced a fall like this. There were so many leaves that there were teams of leaf cleaning machines all over campus.

3. The trees were a lovely golden orange.

4. Jessica and I celebrated with Martinelli's one evening.

 1. On the same night as the Martinelli's Jessica and I initiated ourselves into our newly founded Pie Committee by eating a full strawberry rhubarb pie right out of the pan. I never thought I'd say this... but that was too much pie.

2. Tabby made this beautiful cake to celebrate Perry's mission call.

3. I still dream about this pumpkin curry that Hannah told me about. I am dying to go back. Like now.

4. Movie night.

 1. We had a death in the family. Our little jumping bean bit the dust. We were so intrigued that we sliced him open to see his insides. I would advise never doing this to a loved one.

2. We had a burial service.

3. Then we cried together.

4. This was before I ran out of time to even play my guitar everyday.

 1. Then it snowed! 

2. As much as I had been dreading that day... I found it to be quite awesome.

3. Tabs and I decided to enjoy it.

4. and that we did.

 1. Tabs and I thought it would be super funny to build a snowman right outside our living room window. We live on the bottom floor, which is not quite the basement. It is more like half in the ground half out. I had people asking me if the snow was really that high so I thought I'd make it clear. Haha.

2. Our snowman ended up looking a lot like Lambchop. He also freaked us out quite a bit because we always thought there was a person outside our window.

3. Saturday morning we decided to go play in the snow. We had some pretty epic snowball fights and I was tackled to the ground quite a few times. We started to build an igloo but didn't make it very far.

4. People got very creative with the snow on campus. 

 1. My hair finally got long enough to put it up.

2. I printed out a ton of pictures and hung them all over my walls. I love seeing all these memories everyday.

3. I wear these everyday.

4. It's a little hard to see... but my roommates and I pulled an awesome prank on the guys in apt. 26. We covered their floors in bubble wrap. Placed toast all over the place. and put pictures of ourselves smashed up against the glass on their living room window. Basically it was the best thing ever.

1. The BYU Museum of Art has an Andy Warhol exhibit! We had a great time. Especially the silver cloud exhibit.

1. Finally went to J-Dawgs. Best hot dog in my life. Their special sauce is the bomb.

2. Stephen and Steven are pretty cool.

3. A closeup of my face in the prank.

4. Sewing class final project. The dress was halfway done!

This is only a few of the many pictures that I have from the past few months. I'll be sharing them over the next couple of weeks. If you just can't wait until then and have an Instagram, we should be friends. Follow me @carlifries84. 

Carli

Insta-life.

Maybe you already know this, maybe you don't. I went on vacation last week to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta! I took a ton of pictures on Instagram and on my Nikon. I will tell you a lot more about my trip later, but for now... here are some instagrams!

 1. View of Salt Lake City from the airplane at 6am.

2. The nasty $3 banana bread muffin that I got at the airport for breakfast.

3. Finally. Blakes Lotaburger is the literal best.

4. Directions.

 1. It had been a year since my taste buds had been graced with the presence of this here pumpkin pie milkshake.

2. The Route 66 Diner is my absolute favorite. I love the diner feel.

3. Bomb dinner.

4. Hopscotch to your table if you'd like.

 1. Juke box.

2. Many times I have thought that I should move to Albuquerque and work here.

3. A blurry photo of Elvis and I.

4. I am not sure what this is a picture of but I thought it was cool.

 1. Entering Balloon Fiesta Park!

2. Ticket.

3. Dad and I.

4. Balloon and sun.

 1. The new Elvis balloon. Might be my new favorite special shape.

2. From beneath.

3. Countdown to take off.

4. It was such a beautiful morning.

1. This was the first time my dad had ever had funnel cake.

2. Hot coco on a cold morning.

3. Concession row.

4. Self portrait.

 All of these are from the amazing fireworks show at the fiesta. I literally cry every time I see a good fireworks show.

 1. Table jukebox. We played the Beatles for a quarter.

2. Welcome mat.

3. The Owl Cafe was so good that I bought a T-shirt.

4. Look who I found! Leonard is the best.

 1. Chili ristras at Wagner Farms.

2. I wonder how much it would have costed from me to take this guy home on the plane with me. He was such a sweetie.

3. Bunches of pumpkins.

4. Shopping in Old Town.

 1. Dream moccasins. I gave some pretty straightforward hints to my dad about these being a Christmas present.

2. What the... please tell me people don't actually eat these.

3. Humongous sombrero.

4. Really good apples.

 1. We were stuck in traffic for over an hour, but at least the weather didn't mess up the ballooning!

2. Sunshine through the balloon.

3. Balloons in black and white.

4. More balloons.

1. More balloons.

2. Elvis.

3. Royal Lion.

4. This was such a long day of traveling that I didn't care that I was wearing short pants with polka dot socks and moccasins. 

Carli