Brotherly Love - Elder Crystal

This is one of my favorite moments from my wedding. Whew. Tearing up a little over here as I am trying to write this. I got married on Friday June 1st. On Wednesday June 6th, while I was on my honeymoon, my brother left to go serve a church mission in Ukraine for two years. This moment is the last time I saw my brother before he left. It was so special that my brother could attend my wedding before he left. I know it looks like I am so happy in this picture, which I am of course, but I am also trying not cry as I realized during all the commotion and excitement that this will be the last moment I see Jared for 24 months. As if wedding days weren't emotional enough! I am so glad that the photographer captured this tender moment, even if it does make me cry a little. (Thank you Stephanie!)

My brother is doing fantastic in Ukraine. In his emails, he never complains and is always positive, even when things are tough. He is touching so many lives and I know he is making a big difference. If you are curious what an LDS missionary does, this little snippet from his letter will hopefully dispel some mystery. Just one of the many examples of small miracles in our lives.

"We had a chance this week to meet for the first time with a new referral from Aleksay. (Every other referral he's given us either has gotten baptized or is still working towards it :)) The referral is a man who lives a little ways outside of Yalta. He is a great guy. We talked about the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon to start reading. We also talked about prayer and receiving a personal testimony. He committed to reading and praying. The major foreseeable problem with him is that since he's without work right now, it will be difficult for him to travel to church meetings. We had a really cool experience though. We called a day or two later to find out when we could meet next. He said that he would be busy for the next couple of days because he found work! It turns out that after meeting with us, he prayed and asked to be able to find work and he did! He really wants to meet again now. It was so cool that after we talked about prayer, he had a personal experience with it right away. I'm sure that will be a big boost as he works toward baptism. We're planning on meeting with him again tomorrow."

I am so proud of my brother. I miss him and love him so much.
Ukraine is so far away! Only 15 more months.

Crafting some cards

I love having a day off! It was so nice not to have to get up and drive on the freeway first thing in the morning. Only 4 days left of my internship!

So I spent the majority of my day crafting with my Cricut. It always takes me longer than I think it will to make a card, but that is because there are so many options of what to make! Below is what I managed to come up with.

Now we are on our way to see Wreck it Ralph at the dollar theater! Hooray for cheap movies.
Happy President's Day!

Hair Bow

Today a wore a hair bow to church. A literal hair bow. A bow made out of my hair. I tried to do this on Thursday, but it wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to look and I ran out of time. It took a little bit of practice to make it look alright. But overall it was a success and I will be wearing this cute hairstyle again. I got a lot of compliments on it.

Here is how mine turned out:

You can sort of see the bobby pins I used to set the bow in place, but if you are looking straight at the bow it is a bit harder to see them. Hopefully next time I try this hair-do it looks a little more neat and tidy.

Here is the tutorial I followed to make the bow. Her's looks a lot better than mine.

Take small two small sections from each side of the head. The bigger the sections, the bigger the bow.

Secure with an elastic, but don't pull the hair all the way through the last time you wrap it around.

Split the loop in half to create too small loops and pin one aside for later.

Use your fingers to spread out the loop and push it flat against your head in a bow shape. Insert 1 booby pin going from top to bottom and one going from bottom to top. Repeat on the other side.

Pick up remaining ends of the ponytail and wrap around the elastic to hide it.  Secure with bobby pins.

And Finished!

The tutorial is from a blog called Hair and Makeup by Steph. She has a ton of cool hair ideas on her blog.

Good Places to Eat in Provo

Doug and I love to go out to eat. Who wouldn't like a break from cooking? Plus it’s just fun. Because I know that my opinion matters a lot to all you, today I have a special treat from me. I give you:

“Natalie’s Guide to Good Places to Eat in Provo (and Orem)”

Our go-to place in rain or shine, snow or wind is Costa Vida! We love this place and go maybe a little too often. It is not too pricey, and is so delicious. I know the question you are asking is why Costa Vida instead of Café Rio. Well I will tell you why. Number 1: Café Rio is always packed! You have to wait in line forever. It’s loud so you have to shout “black beans!” at the top of your lungs to the guy across the counter so that maybe he will hear you before he slathers pinto beans in your burrito. Number 2: The food is good, but Costa Vida is slightly better. Don’t ask me why, it just is. Number 3: Costa Vida has a small salad option in case you are not hungry enough for a giant salad and don’t want to eat wilty lettuce the next day from trying to save your salad in the fridge. And reason Number 4: YUMM!

Natalie’s Favorite Item: Smothered Sweet Pork Burrito for $7.78

  (You have to get it smothered—everything is better with extra cheese and sauce melted on top)

Doug’s Favorite Item:  Large Sweet Pork Nachos for $7.99

      Total: $15.77

Another one of our favorites is Firehouse Subs. This is a relatively new place in Orem. It is right next to Yogurtland and Plato’s Closet. Doug says that these are everywhere in Florida and he was so excited when they opened one here. It is a sub sandwich place obviously, but what makes it so good is the delicious sauce, fresh sliced meats, and melty cheese. Oh and their magic drink machine! You should try it. Subway will never measure up.

Natalie’s Favorite: Turkey Bacon Ranch (medium size) $5.99

 Doug’s Favorite: Cheddar Brisket (large size) $8.09

                Total: $14.08

Favorite Burger Places: Red Robin & Five Guys

Natalie’s Favorite Pizza: Papa Johns or Papa

               Murpheys

Doug’s Favorite Pizza: Papa Murpheys, Pizza
                                   Hut

Favorite Sit-Down Place: Texas Roadhouse—Everything is AMAZING!

Favorite Expensive Place: Tucanos

Waffle with Nutella!

Favorite Breakfast Place: The Awful Waffle, a little place in the middle of an apartment complex in Provo. It has amazing crepes and waffles. In my opinion, it is overpriced for just a waffle. But if you are feeling like a special breakfast it is the bomb. I always get a liege waffle and Doug loves the crepes. Its like $10 for both of us when we go.

Honorable Mentions:

                J-Dawgs
                Zupas

                Panda Express

We are still in the market for a go-to Mexican place. Los Harmanos was really good when we went, but kind of pricey for Mexican. We are also in need of a good Chinese place that is a step up from Panda.

And there you have it, Natalie's Guide to Good Places to Eat. Bon Appetit!

Easy Valentine Banner

I made this way easy Valentine banner today to spruce up our apartment for the holiday of love. Basically I just bought a package of heart doilys at Hobby Lobby for like $1.50 and it came with 20 in the pack. Then I just hot-glued curling ribbon on the back. Voila! Simple yet fun. And very cheap. I am going to have to make a return trip to Hobby Lobby soon so that I can make some valentine cards for all the people I love.

I wish that I had some fabulous recipes to update you with, but I really haven't spent too much time in the kitchen lately. Doug has been helping a lot with the cooking since I have been gone What a great guy.

Today we are going to watch the Superbowl with some friends. This will only be the second time ever that I have watched the Superbowl. The only other time I watched was last year when I had to watch all the ads as a project for one of my advertising classes. So this should be fun. I couldn't care less about the game itself, but I am excited for the ads, and for the time with friends!