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

These are the things that are happening.

The other day I almost changed my major yet again. It came after one of those moments when you sit in the testing center for 3.5 hours taking an Accounting test and think "Oh crap..." Then later you repeat that statement as you find out your score. The college life is hard. It is especially hard when what you want to do in life doesn't have a specific major. So you take a bunch of classes that you aren't interested in just so you can get a degree that will only get you on the road towards your where you want to be. I envy all those people who have always known what they are going to do, how they are going to do it, and when they are going to get it done. I also envy those people who walk right off their college campus and right into the doors of their dream job. I mean for reals... how do you do it? Because I'd really like to know. Then I got home and talked to my parents and I realized that I just need to stick it out. Its amazing how parents can calm you down when your being a little too dramatic. Now I know that I have a lot of work to do to finish out this semester with the grades I need.
Then yesterday I went to my economics class with the determination to pay attention and understand. The lecture was actually really interesting and I understood everything. Then the best thing ever happened. Please tell me you have seen the Sexy Sax Man video on youtube... if you haven't please view the following:

You know that part where sexy sax man plays for a biology class? Well that exact same thing happened in my economics class. There are a few things you should know about this occasion. First of all, my economics teacher is the most infamous professor at BYU. Everyone knows who he is. Everyone knows that his class is tough. Everyone knows that he is not always the nicest. So when thus sexy sax man walks in playing his sax I expected Professor Kearl to yell at him to leave, but instead he said "I don't know what's going on... but his is funny." Then he stood back and watched. Later he applied sexy sax man's interruption to economics. I could not stop laughing. It was the best thing ever. In fact, I have been singing that song over and over for the past couple days. So much that my roommates are probably getting a little bit annoyed.

Other than that, I feel like my life is pretty much a typical college student life. I have been socializing a little too much, studying a lot but not enough, and not getting enough sleep. Sorry it's been a little slow around here. Life has just been happening so fast that I have had little to no time to record it. I still have pictures from my vacation to share... I know... that was almost a month ago. I promise I'll get them up soon!

Carli

Insta-life.

I am alive. I promise. I have proof (see bellow). One time one of my favorite bloggers didn't post for like 3 weeks and didn't give an explanation and I pretty much pronounced her dead, then the next day she came back like nothing happened. So, I am completely aware that I haven't posted anything for over a week. I am the worst... but if you knew how my last two weeks were going I don't think you'd blame me. Maybe that is a story that i'll tell later? Here are some Instagrams from the past... well... month. Enjoy.

1. Breakfast. Kashi with bannanies.

2. Nighttiming in Provo

3. Clock found while nighttiming in Provo.

4.This looks bad... and maybe it is, but not in the way you think. I went to a wedding reception at my favorite place to get mocktails. IT WAS OPEN BAR! So Jess and I went mocktail crazy. Completely crazy.

1. Pretty lighting at Spark (the place with the bomb mocktails)

2. Artwork at Spark.

3. It was a bittersweet occasion when I got out all my winter clothes.

4. I got a bokeh app and am now obsessed. 

1. Pranks.

2. Pranks again. It's hard to see, but my roommate Kaylie and I put up all the windshield wipers on the cars parked at our apartment complex.

3. Economics class. I don't understand.

4. Testing center line was out the door.

 1. For some reason I felt lie it was worth while to show you this picture twice.

2. Catan is the worst game ever. 

3. Remember that one time that I said that I stayed up until 4:30am doing economics homework? Well this week it was 6:15am...

4. This guy... I am just going to have to tell you this story later... I promise that it is worth the wait.

 1. Pretty chandelier in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at Temple Square.

2. Friends. :)

3. A really tall JS.

4. Pretty lighting.

 1. Dinner. Fruit cereal.

2. Road trip with Tabs.

3. My favoritest place in the world is Ruby Snap. If your ever in the Salt Lake area.... go there.

4. The best butternut squash cookie & I.

 1. Apparently I am really bad at knowing which pictures I have collaged already...

2. A couple first timers at General Conference.

3. General Conference! MOTAB is so much better in person.

4. Salt Lake Temple at night.

 1. The last of spring flowers.

2. I can't believe I had a run in my hose at General Conference.

3. So pretty.

4. So many Mormons.

1. Online quizes are the worst.

2. Studying under this tree.

3. Fall is here.

4. Ear plugs for studying. My apartment can be pretty noisy.

Do you have Instagram? What's your handle? Mine is @carlifries84

Carli

These are the things that are happening.

• Stayed up until 4:30am the other night working on an assignment for Economics and then woke up at 8am to turn it in. Longest night of my life.
• Went on a sugar fast. Then all of a sudden I found myself at a wedding reception double fisting mocktails. Thats when I realized I was no longer on my sugar fast.
• Made a pact with myself to do at least one prank a week. The other night a couple friends and I walked around Provo putting sticky notes on peoples cars that say stuff such as; "Siphoned your gas, bro. Owe ya one." "Sorry about your bumper. My bad." "I accidentally vomited on your hood... no time to clean it up. Sorry man." This may be the moment that you realize that I am a really cool person, or... you realize that I am the worst ever. I am assuming the latter, but let me just say that it was the funnest night. Last night my roommate and I put up all the windshield wipers on all the cars in my apartments parking lot. The best part happened today when I was riding with this guy to a social activity and he says "Did you notice how all the windshield wipers on all the cars were up? Some idiot must have been really bored last night..." I couldn't control my laughter. Best thing ever.
• I have 30 billion exams this week.
• My roommate taught me how to make a peanut butter and banana smoothie that is the bomb. Plus it's healthy.
• I wake up every morning thinking it is cold and put on sweaters and boots only to find out that by 10:30am it is not cold at all.
• I stay up way too late.
• Did some nighttiming. It had been to long.

I know that I haven't been posting a lot lately... and I feel bad. I want to keep up with my blog! I want to share all the things that are going on in my life plus all the cool craft ideas I have and all the other cool stuff I was sharing over the summer. To be honest, I don't have the time to dedicate to this little corner of the internet as much as I want to. I don't know how you college students, moms, employed, etc people do it! I have been trying to come up with posts that won't take a ton of time, but will be really fun to make and really fun for you guys to read but I am at a loss. So if you have any ideas... Basically what I am saying is that my posts may be few and far in between. Hopefully soon I can find a good balance!

Good news is that I am going on vacation soon and will be taking a ton of pictures which I will definitely turn into some blog posts!

Carli

Double Rainbow.

Sometimes life just throws you these curveballs that seem impossible to hit. Like this week for instance... You know how the first few weeks of a new semester are so easy because the professors are only just setting up the course, and starting to teach you the material? and you love it because you don't have very much homework and you can spend all your time doing fun stuff? Then that one week that every single one of your professors decides to burry you under a billion pounds of homework and you say to yourself "What the?" You have become so used to hanging out with friends instead of studying that it is almost like a culture shock. Well that was this week for me.

To add a pinch more ridiculous to our soup of stress, I got sick on Sunday. So I started off the week under the weather, but I pushed through it and did all the things I needed to until yesterday. Then yesterday (Wednesday) rolled around... I woke up feeling like death itself. Actually I don't even know if I was even alive. All I remember about that morning is that my alarm went off at 8am and I turned it off. A little while later I sat up and thought to myself "Crap! I have to get the kids to school!" Then I thought "Wait! I don't have any kids..." Then I laid back down and stated "I am NOT going to class today." Apparently my roommate Tabby took that statement to heart and made the same decision. Tisk tisk.

The point of this story is that this week was crap. But I will say this...
Sometimes you will be sitting in your apartment feeling all miserable and stuff and someone comes and knocks on your door and says "Have you seen the double rainbow?" Then you run outside with your camera and witness this:

Let me tell you that this image does not even come close to doing it justice. Not at all. Mostly because the double rainbow was so big that I couldn't even capture the whole thing in my frame and then double part of the rainbow is hard to see. But in real life it was spectacular.

Carli

P.S. I am feeling much better today, have caught up on most of my school work, and am going to hangout with a friend because I think I deserve it.

These are the things that are happening.

Since I have made "the move"I have encountered many really weird and random things. Things that I never want to forget, but probably would forget if I didn't record them. Thank you blog for serving as my medium of recording.

-> I've been experimenting with double exposure apps. (see above)
-> Some people really say "What's up brah!" while doing the "hang ten" hand sign in real life.
-> Having roommates is like a constant sleepover. You know those nights when you stay up really super late and you hit that point where just about everything (the literal term) is funny? Well I do.
-> I ride my bike to school everyday and there is one really steep hill at the end of the ride. It's against the law to ride your bike on that hill due to the amount of pedestrians, but I'm not going to lie... I couldn't ride my bike up that hill if I tried. I always wish that I can ride it back down instead of getting off my bike and walking though. So the other day I chose to try a new way back home from school, and I encountered an even steeper and significantly longer hill. I was at the top and my apartment was at the bottom, and the best part was that I won't get a $50 dollar fine if I ride my bike down it. So as I rode my bike down that hill at a what seemed like a significant speed of 30mph (super fast for a bike in my opinion) I realized that if for some reason my bike failed me, I'd be dead. Let me just say that my bike is super old. Like older than me. And the breaks aren't the greatest. I almost hit an old lady, but the feeling going down that hill was amazing enough for me to plan to ride down it everyday from now on no matter what the risk. So exhilarating.
-> On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a pretty large break between classes. Every day I come back home and lay in my bed for the duration of that break and it's awesome.
-> Theres a girl in my sewing class that I literally want to punch in the face.
-> I have been eating a lot of little mini pizzas. Basically just thin bagel haves with pizza stuff on them. So good. So easy.
-> My apartment got pranked. (see bellow)

-> My apartment complex had a "Cowboys v. Aliens" party yesterday. I showed up for the food (because I am paying for it) and then left.
-> I spent labor day rearranging my room because my roommate and I bought little bedside tables and they didn't fit beside our beds.... so naturally, the solution was to spend several hours moving stuff around. They fit now.
-> I have also been doing a ton of homework... homework that I should be doing now.

Carli

If You Really Knew Me

Honesty is really important to me. While I love grandiose ideas and stories, honest ones  make me appreciate more. In blogging, I often gravitate towards those who "tell it like it is", or share parts of their lives that aren't entirely "perfect" or "extraordinary". Blogging is a such a great thing. We can choose what parts of our lives to share with the world, and which to keep to ourselves. Usually we choose to share those parts that are beautiful and happy, and that is OK. I will be the first to admit that I am probably not as cool in real life as I make myself out to be. I have read a couple "If You Really Knew Me" posts around the blogging community and I love them, so I thought I would do one as well.

Here it goes. If you really knew me....
You'd know that I over stress to the point where I make myself sick. I have a hard time letting things go, and just moving forward. You'd know that I spend a lot of time with my head in the clouds. Almost to a fault. Sometimes I'd rather live in my dream world than spend my time in reality. You'd know I worry about my future constantly. I often doubt my abilities of creating the future that I want to have. You'd know I can't sleep if I don't have something to hug. Like a pillow or cat. You'd know I can be very judgmental towards myself and others. This is something I am working hard to change.  You'd know that I hold onto a lot of insignificant items because I can't bear letting them go. You'd know I love the simple things, yet get caught up in the complicated. You'd know that I am a terrible procrastinator. I have no motivation to get things done early and when I wait until the last minute my work is no where near as good as it could be. You'd know that I can be really emotional about things that shouldn't be emotional. I almost always cry in movies. To even further illustrate this point I once cried at the Aquarium while watching the dolphin show. Another time while watching the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders show I cried when the girls found out the made the team. When there are appropriate times to cry I don't shed a tear. You'd know that when ordering sandwiches I almost always choose one with avocado on it. You'd know I am not a morning person. You'd know that I cringe at the sound of metal touching metal, or metal touching teeth. You'd know that I am really shy, and extremely awkward in social settings. It takes me a while to relax and really get to know people. (This is making my new situation a little difficult.) You'd know I live for my family and friends and wouldn't be anything without them.

Carli

Insta-life.

1. The deer I saw on my walk to school. 

2. Pistachio ice cream at the BYU Creamery on 9th.

3. Starburst found on night walk.

3. Cool mask at the BYU culture museum.

 5. Zupas is super good. Cranberry Turkey sandwich & summer salad.

6. Scripture study.

7. A very happy moment. Carli meets bed after a long day.

8. That hot air balloon I saw one morning that made me miss hot air ballooning.

 9. Brigham city temple open house.

10. Tabby & I.

11. Jam sesh.

12. Sunday shoes.

 13. First day of school attire.

14. Scenic view of Provo and valley.

15. Apparently cougars live in these parts.

16. eh...

 17. Rasin Bran for breakfast.

18. First sweater day of the season. :)

19. Bed time.

20. This photo was taken from more than half way up the flight of stairs on my walk to school.

 21. Avocado taco that I made all by myself. So good.

22. Study time.

23. I watched an entire football game. Go Cougars.

24. Hair bow.

25. Boredom.

26. Temple square with Jess.

27. Salt Lake temple at night.

28. That one really good strawberry rhubarb pie that I ate at Village Inn the other day.

Carli

P.S. If you have Instagram, lets be friends. @carlifries84 is my name.

Hikes and such.

Today was my first day of school! Unfortunately, I came to the realization that this semester is going to be pretty tough. This semester is a huge turning point for me in my career path! I am taking prerequisite courses for the application to my major. Basically, I have to do extremely well in these classes to follow my dreams. Honestly, I don't have a plan B. If I don't get into the business school... I don't even want to think about it. BYU's business program is one of the best, which means it is also very competitive. I am just so nervous! With that being said... I have a little bad news. As much as I love blogging and sharing my life with you every day, it just isn't my biggest priority. Don't worry! I am not giving up blogging entirely! But I am going to slow it down a bit. I don't want to be worrying about creating blog posts when I should be focusing on school work. For at least a little while this blog will focus more on my daily life rather than creativity. It makes me sad that I won't be able to share very many (if any at all) DIY posts. I just don't have the time (or funds) to work on them. I might not get to post as often or as consistently. I would rather focus on quality rather than quantity. I hope you understand!
In other news... I hiked a mountain today. There is a mountain behind BYU, that is beautiful. On that mountain there is a large "Y" that you can see for miles. It is a really big thing here to "Hike the Y". So today I did it. Let me tell you... it was not easy. The hike was a little over a mile I think, but it was very steep. When I say very steep, I mean to say, incredibly steep. Steep mountains combined with the thinning air made it seem impossible. It took me a long time to make it, but with a lot of encouragement from new friends, I finally made it! Let me tell you, the view was incredible. The picture above, taken on my iPhone, does not do it justice. We sat up there for a few minutes and I couldn't help but think about how this relates to life. Sometimes life seems impossible. Sometimes you stand at the bottom of a very steep mountain. Sometimes you can't see how far you are from the top. Sometimes you fall. Sometimes you think it might be better to just turn around and go back down. But, sometimes you get this little burst of energy, a little encouragement from a friend, a little push, and you make it. Then you look back down that mountain and see how far you have come. All that work you did to get where you are seems like nothing, because from the bottom there wasn't anything but a mountain in front of you, but from the top you can see everything, and it's worth it. As hard as that hike was, I now am more focused than ever. I know that I can do anything if I put my mind to it. I just hiked a mountain! I can definitely make it into business school!!!

Carli

P.S. I still can't find the cord that connects my camera to my laptop... I have so many awesome pictures to share! :( I guess it will be Instagram photos for a while.

Insta-life.

It finally happened... I got an iPhone. I'm in love. Also, Instagram is literally the best thing ever... Insta-life:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 1. Kitten love. 2. Lighting. 3. Fabric. 4. Sewing project. 5. Crown of flowers. 6. All the broken watches that my brother fixed. 7. Mom's lunch. 8. My lunch, Fairchild with mango chutney. 9. Portrait. 10. New shoes. 11. Grandmother. 12. Stacked. 13. Sun flare. 14. Coast. 15. Sunday morning. 16. Favorite plaid dress. 17. Packing brooch collection. 18. Happy doll family. 19. Reading. 20. Paint organization.

Sorry for the enormous amounts of photographs. Also, are you on Instagram? Let's be friends. My username is carlifries84. Leave me a comment with yours. 

Carli

Life is... busy.

I am sorry if you have noticed how slow it has been around here lately. Or how the quality of my posts are dropping. It has literally been a busy week. It's a combination of being way busy, and partly uninspired. As frustrating as it is to be completely uninspired, it has been born of a busy work week. Somehow a bunch of side job opportunities sprung up out of nowhere that have allowed me to put a little bit more money into that savings count of mine that seems to be collecting dust. It is starting to get back to normal but I have a feeling that it won't last long. I am moving back to Utah in less than a month! Last night I had a dream that I was moving the next day and that I hadn't done any of the things that I have wanted/need to do before I move back. Suffice to say, I freaked out... and while I may not be moving tomorrow, I have a huge list full of things I wanted to accomplish this summer that haven't been crossed off. But then again, things are a lot different than what I expected for the summer. As excited as I am to go back and do the "college life" thing, I am really sad to go. Even though I will be coming back, it just won't be the same. This summer is exactly what I needed and more, but there are bigger and better things out there for me. This summer has been comfortable, stable, rewarding, spiritual; but also hard. 

This week I am hoping to be able to go watch the sunrise out at the beach. I just want to sit out there and be inspired. I want to clear my head and think about the future. There is so much ahead of me. So many big choices, struggles, triumphs, experiences, and adventures. I just want to plan out my next move, make lists, and set goals.

I have a few pretty little posts for this week that I am excited to share. I promise that things will get back to normal (or even better) soon.

Carli

Via My Phone.

This week has been slightly on the ridiculous side. The school semester is wrapping up… Only two more weeks!!! YES! But while the end of the semester is glorious, the weeks leading up to the end are terrible. Yes. Very terrible. 

Also, I finally decided that I was very tired of my cell phone service. I get no reception at my house whatsoever, hardly get any reception in my front yard, and not a lot of reception in the city. I am just annoyed. So last week I sent this hateful email to my service provider. Long story short… They made me take my phone in to get it “fixed”… It wasn’t broken. According to their computers my phone is working “good” I live in a “good” coverage area and I “shouldn’t” have problems… except that I do. Yesterday I was literally about to find the tallest building in Salt Lake and throw my phone off of it. Also when they were “fixing” my phone, they reset it and deleted EVERYTHING downloaded a billion dating apps. Apparently they think that I need to “meet singles” via “flirt text”. I don’t think so…

Also, Instagram finally came out for android. I had been waiting for this to happen for, well, a very long time. I spent over two hours updating my phone and connecting it to google play so that i could download it. Then it tells me that my phone is not compatible. I was so mad that I again almost threw my phone off a building. 

So after that ordeal I decided to download a camera app to at least partly fill the void… 

Alley in downtown SLC.

The 20 pounds worth of books I checked out at the library for my research paper.

The trax station that I walked to from the library carrying 20 pounds of books because the station next to the library’s trains were running late and I thought I could get here faster, except I got lost and then ended up waiting forever for the train at this one too. 

It’s Spring! I took this picture on wednesday and I hear that it is snowing outside today… I live in a basement so I don’t know.

Chocolate milk. Yum.

Package art. Customer order.

This week wasn’t totally bogus. There were a few sweet treasures along the way. Like those flowers. 

How was your week?

Carli

Goodbye 2011...

I don’t think that I have ever really been nostalgic about years before. I am not sure if I will be about 2011. All these years have just felt like “my life”. Don’t get me wrong. There are memories that I am nostalgic about, but not a year. If I were to be nostalgic about any year I think that it might be 2011. Not that I did very much in terms of exciting events, but I do regaurd this year as sort of a growing period. At the begining of the year I started this blog, I moved away from all I have ever known, got a crappy job that turned into the best job I have ever had, started school at a major university, started a handmade business, and married off my best friend. I have had to go through some awfull struggles that have really humbled me. It has been a struggle to be so far from my family. It has been a struggle trying to figure out how to support myself financially. It has been a struggle trying to feed myself (seriously… I hate cooking). It has been a struggle dealing with the winter. It has been a struggle being social. So many struggles…

But I can’t complain. These struggles have taught me so much. They have made me so much more stronger, wiser, relatable, creative, grateful, spiritual, healthier, learned, inspired…I won’t long for the days of 2011 but I will always remember them.

Lately I have anxiously been awaiting the future. I have a feeling that this next year will be what I have been waiting for. My future plans dance around in my mind daily. I am excited. Finishing my basics & starting my career path. Moving to Provo in the fall. Spending a month and a half in Texas. Preparing to study abroad in Europe. Taking photography and sewing classes. Truly living a college life. Actually pulling the billions of ideas out of my brain and doing them.

2011 Flasback in Photographs:

In January.

Move to Utah in February. 

80’s Party.

Color festival. March I believe.

Camera for my birthday. In May.

Engagement of Courtney. In May.

Visiting home. In June.

The birthday of Courtney and the 4th of July.

Concerts in the park. July.

Lake day. We won the sand castle contest. August.

The wedding. August.

Dad in Utah. August.

The places I love to eat & the person I like eating at those places with.

Balloon Fiesta. October.

Dwight and Phylis. Halloween.

Zombie on Halloween.

Craft booth. December.

Temple lights. December.

Christmas in Texas.

Me today. 

Carli