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

I'm Alive.

If your wondering, or maybe your not, how my moving/road tripping went, well... I am alive! The drive from South Texas to Salt Lake City is loooong. So very long.

Imagine this: You driving a little over 24 hours in a two seater truck with two other people that are male and both over six feet tall. So cramped.

I was really worried that the trip was going to be terrible, but I surprisingly had a really good time. There wasn't a dull moment. I took a bunch of pictures on the road, and have a few stories to tell but I'll save them for later. You see, I haven't full recovered from my travels and lack of sleep, and I haven't really had the chance to relax just yet. But I am enjoying Utah, seeing my Utah friends, and the cooler weather. It will be back to normal soon. I promise!

Carli

Texas Love: Beach

One thing I love about Texas is that it has a little bit of everything. It's like a melting pot of terrain. Seriously. We have everything! A little beach, a little hill country, a few mountains, a lot of desert, a little forest...

I grew up next to the beach and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have missed the salty air and the sound of crashing waves. I have spent a lot of time on the beach in my life. There is nothing like swimming in the surf, laying on my beach towel and reading a good book, eating pizza and drinking chocolate milk in the sand, or sitting around a fire with friends. Actually I have had a lot of epiphanies on the beach. Before all of my closest friends and I all moved away to chase our dreams we spent a lot of time on the beach at night talking about who we wanted to be and what we want to do. We made a lot of goals and plans and it is really wonderful to see all of us in different places in the world making that happen. It all started on the beach and hopefully we will come back someday and sit on that same beach and reminisce about the "good ole days".

 I have never been so pale in my life. I definitely need to spend this summer soaking up the sun.

 My friend caught this little fish in his net and it got stuck. We couldn't get him out. The poor little guy died. It was terrible.

 It really was the perfect day. Not too hot. Not too windy. Great friends. The only downside was that the surf was dead, but because there were no waves the water was so clear and we got to see a sea turtle and a lot more wildlife. When the sun went down we had a bonfire and ate yummy s'mores. I hope to have a lot more beach days this summer.

Carli

Road Trip: Wildflowers

This is the last installment of the Road Trip series (for now). Next time I embark on a road trip I will probably blog about it too, unless you don't want me to. These past couple of weeks I have been trying to get all my road trip posts out there and frankly, I was getting a little tired of posting them. I think that the reason I got tired of posting them was because I am starting a new blog series that requires the ending of my road trip posts. So today is the end of the Road Trip and the start of Texas Love!

Isn't it funny how you don't appreciate anything until it's gone? Most Texans are very prideful of their state. Maybe you know this already because you have been told off by an overzealous Texan, but I have gotten into some friendly and almost not so friendly arguments about how much better Texas is than Utah, and other states. I knew that I would miss my family and friends and of course my favorite restaurants but I didn't ever expect how much I would miss the state of Texas. So I decided that this summer I am going to take advantage of Texas and try my best to appreciate and love the little time I will be spending here. So for the summer expect pictures, adventure stories, and much more straight from Texas.

These are the things I love about Texas.

Living in Corpus Christi, it takes a day to get out of Texas in any direction but South (Mexico is a couple hours away) and I guess East (by boat which I don't have). The drive is almost always daunting. I feel like we spend more time driving out of Texas then we do driving anywhere else on a trip. On our way back from Utah we finally hit the Texas border and I let out a "Hooray!". I then realized that I still had 10 hours to go. Living in the second largest state in the U.S. is a curse and a blessing... The point is that I was very tired and very discouraged... Then I saw the wild flowers. In Texas there are almost always wildflowers growing on the side of the highway in the spring and summer. Anything from Blue Bonnets (state flower) to Indian Paintbrushes. My dad and I had to stop. Looking out the window and seeing these little flowers paint the side of the highway made the drive a little less brutal.

Carli

Road Trip Snap Shots

Amidst the craziness of moving. I completely forgot about Record Tuesday. I suppose I will post some music later today and call it Record Thursday for just this once... sorry.

Today was our third day on the road. I am so tired of being in the car right now. We are currently in the middle of nowhere Texas and I surprisingly have phone service. Basically I am trying to find something to occupy my endless amounts of road time... Why is Texas so big?! I mean really... Ok that was out of line... In all honesty, Texas should be bigger, and only a native born Texan would say that. All I am saying is that after a day and a half of driving we finally reach the Texas border and still have 10 hours to drive.

The following are some snapshots I took on my phone of our trip. I've been taking lots of pictures with my digital camera (and film camera). The plan is to post all of those pictures and adventure stories throughout the next week. I will also be introducing a new blog series!

Empty... Except for winter clothes.

Emigration Canyon, UT

Driving through Arches National Park, UT

Best lemonade. Seriously.

Route 66 Diner Albuquerque, NM 

(sorry it's a little washed out.)

Valley of Fire, NM

Best. Place. Ever.

A road trip is not a road trip without an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.

You can check out some other stops from my Road Trip too!

Valley of Fire, Trinity Site, Route 66 Diner, Arches National Park, Salt Lake City, 

Snap Shots

Carli

Last Sunday in Utah.

I cannot believe that I am moving back to Texas tomorrow. My dad is currently on a flight into Salt Lake and we are going to embark on an adventure into the mountains soon after he lands. The past couple of days have been busy busy. I have been trying to spend time with all of my friends and pack my billion pounds of stuff that I have accumulated over the past year. Seriously. I had no idea how much stuff I really had until I pulled it all out and put it into the middle of the floor. The following picture illustrates not even all of my craft stuff. Good news is that I only have a tiny bit more packing to do later tonight.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Courtney, Ben, Kaitlyn, and I went to the park to enjoy the weather even though I still had a ton of packing to do. Since it was Earth Day we thought it would be nice to spend at least a little bit of time outside.

If you don't really hear from me in the next couple days, it is because I am driving a 24 hour drive back to Texas. Don't worry! I haven't forgotten about you! My dad and I will be making some stops along the way to explore the "in between". So expect some pictures soon! The "in between" is a term that I coined for meaning all the little places that you wouldn't ordinarily travel to, but are significant enough to stop at them on the way to your destination. Traveling is so much more fun when you stop and discover.

Carli