Our Life According to Instagram {Take 2}

We'll start with the good stuff

FOOD

 mini taco bowls, stuffed peppers, triple berry sauce and German pancakes

 cheese blintzes, Mama Honey's recipe

 homemade birthday cheesecake, Stephen's favorite!

pomegranate

something we don't like so much

SCHOOL

early mornings

canceled exams!

Smith charts, textbooks

even on vacation, Grand Canyon Thanksgiving

something we like to call 

CLOTHES

 sequin skirts

 Sperry's

new shoes

and winter wardrobes!

a look at some beautiful

WEATHER

 melting snow

 and sunshine

 and more snow

 and back to sunshine... or sunsets

and more sunsets!

and last but certainly not least, 

FUN

 Winners of the "Spookiest Costume" award

wedding pictures

Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup

 We have some pretty cool relatives

 laundry - surprisingly fun

best of all, date nights :)

We do love school and the bliss of the Provo "bubble",  but we couldn't be more excited to go home for the holidays.  We're hitting up both hometowns, and 3 of the 6 friend weddings we have this break.  Crazy silly wonderfully busy with friends and family.  Maybe not having a phone will help my sanity ;)

*second iPhone to go through the wash cycle* 

Happy Holidays everyone! 

Happy end of the semester!

xo

-the woods

That feeling where everything around you explodes.

 

Yeah.  

I know it.

Our Wedding {Bridal Party}

Our Wedding {Ring Ceremony}

"You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end."

If the Lord gives us challenges so that we can be stronger,
at this point I should win an Iron Man competition.

Except I don't feel that way. 

In these moments of weakness, when the Lord asks you to muster up the strength to keep trying,  Satan works even harder to make you feel inadequate.

It is in these moments that you have to somehow step back and remind yourself what an incredible person you are.  You are talented, smart, beautiful, very much needed and very much loved.  If you can't see those things right now, at least remember YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.  He loves you with all of His being, and only wants to see you succeed and be happy. 

He wants you to come home to Him, but you must first be challenged.  You must be made perfect through trials.  He gave you a way to be made perfect again, through the Atonement, the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. He will not give you a challenge you cannot overcome with his help. 

He knows YOU, better than you know yourself.  He knows your hidden strengths.  What you may think is a weakness can become a strength.

Do all that you can.  Ask for his help - HE WANTS TO.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

–Lawrence J. Wilcox (1940-2010), Ottawa ON

Our Wedding {Temple Pictures}

THIRD: 

Wedding!!

We'll start with pictures from the temple.
Stay tuned for bridal party, ring ceremony, and reception pictures :)

They're here!

Wedding pictures are *finally* here

here's a sneak peak to tie you over until I get them posted :)

Mononucleosis

Prayers are always answered, even if in unexpected ways.

Example:

I was feeling sad because I felt I hadn't been able to comfort Stephen.

Prayer answered.

Mono.

The big guy up top sure has a funny sense of humor.

our life according to Instagram

I've been really terrible about updating you ladies {and gents} on our life. 

But I like taking pretty pictures. 

of food. 

and things. 

So here is our fall, 

according to Instagram. 

EATING

Sweedish Meatballs

chocolate/cheesecake swirl cupcakes

burritos

Sweedish pancakes

sandwiches

cantaloupe

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Kung Pao chicken and fried rice

WORKING

scanning

testing

suceeding

DATING

football games

blanket forts, pumpkin pancakes, Singin' in the Rain

temple trips

service

RANDOM

matching

running

decorating

thank you note writing

dancing

And that's about it!

We spoke in sacrament today, and were set apart in our new calling!

But you'll have to wait for a separate post about that one ;)

Red Faces

even though Stephen and I are in the same major. 

 same classes. 

same group of friends. 

I didn't think marriage would change the way people acted around us.

We did date for a long time 

and we do act the same as we always have. 

But apparently we are famous in the department. 

The only success story?

We walk into class, 

"Ah!  The Wood's are here!"   

We get papers back, 

"And for the Woods!"

We attend grad school meetings, 

"So you're the department couple?!"

We attend meetings for engineers and their spouses,

"Only one per couple... 

Unless of course you are both engineers!"

{grand gesture our direction}

I didn't think my face turned red. 

But apparently it does.  

And my friends, seeing as they are all engineering guys, 

like to point it out. 

Ah well.  

Great things are happening to me, right?

Happy Friday!

Bridal Shoot

SIXTH:

Bridal picture shoot by our friend Trey

Extended Honeymoon - Southern Utah

FIFTH:

After the Arizona reception we went national park hoping through 

the Grand Canyon, Arches, and Bryce Canyon

Honeymoon - Cancun

FOURTH:

(THIRD is the wedding... but we don't have those pictures back ;))

Honeymoon in Cancun

Europe - Paris & London Olympics

SECOND:

Just two weeks before the wedding, Samantha and I hopped on a plane to 

Paris & London

for the 

Olympics

Engagements

It may seem I have dropped off the face of the blogging planet.  

I promise I haven't!

There are not enough words to describe the amazing past few months.  

If a picture is worth a thousand words, 

hopefully some slideshows will say enough for me ;)

FIRST: 

Engagements

(Getting these pictures was an adventure.  After a fun afternoon shooting, we were surprised to find our car had sunk into the salt and mud.  Whoops.  A $400 tow later and we were on our way back home with some incredible photos by our wonderful friend Trey)

How We Met - Stephen's Side of the Story

I first saw Ali in a seminar class for electrical engineering. The only reason I really recognized her was because she was one of five girls in a class of 150. I saw her once in a while outside of class as well, but I never thought to talk to her at all. About a year later we had another class together, but this class only had about 30 students. We found out that we had the same group of friends in our program and we talked with each other once in a while, but it only concerned homework and we never really had an interest in one another.

One Saturday my roommate, Barima, and I decided to go to a BYU football game together. We arrived at the stadium and found some seats in the stands. About a half hour later, Ali, her roommate Kelly, and Kelly’s boyfriend Grant came and sat behind us. Barima knew Kelly and Ali from the year before and we started chatting with them and had a good time together. 

After halftime, I decided that I wanted to go say hi to my friend Brian, who was sitting in another section. I went over to say hi to him and talked with him for about 15 minutes. He was kind of on a date with his now soon to be wife, Olive, and I didn’t want to bother them for too long, so I went back to go sit with Barima. When I got back, Barima had left but Ali, Kelly, and Grant were still sitting in their seats. I sat next to them and about five minutes later Kelly and Grant decided to leave. I figured it was alright for them to leave since I could just go back and sit with Brian, but I saw that Ali didn’t get up to go. Interesting… I asked her if she was going to go with Kelly and Grant, and she just said, “No, I’m just going to stay here.” Very interesting…

We talked with each other for most of the game and for the first time got to know each other. It turned out that Kelly and Grant left to go buy cookie dough to make a pazookie. Ali asked me if I wanted to go back to her place and have a pazookie, and since I had never had a pazookie before, I said yes and we all went back to her place to eat and play dominoes. It was a really fun night and that was the first time I really got to know Ali.