That's Life for You

I have become concerned.

Concerned because I don't think I have been planning enough for my wedding. I haven't had time to even try on a single dress yet, but people have been asking me about all sorts of details. Am I really supposed to already know who is making my cake and what it's going to look like? I feel incapable of making any definitive plans until I get home because I can't meet with anyone, try on hardly any dresses, check out any venue, or buy any decorations without being in the state it is going to be in. Also, I would love to have some collaboration with my Mom and Dad, who also will be funding. My other problem is time- I'm taking 7 classes total and working part-time. All bridal stores close at 6pm and I just haven't made it in to any of these Idaho shops yet. I guess all I'm saying is that I didn't know I was supposed to have everything ready for my wedding this soon. I hope I can get everything done when I'm home; I plan on planning basically everything then.

Wedding Plans

I finally have some ideas for my wedding! We also have a date. We are getting married March 5th in the Mesa, Arizona Temple. However, that date is still up for changes, as we see fit.

Onto my ideas. I have a color palette. I'm thinking of using firstly white (it IS a wedding) and then using red and coral and throwing in a splash of teal. Here is a picture that better illustrates my vision:

Here is a fabulous cake I would love to have mimicked (maybe not as tall though):

Engagement Celebration!!!

That's right- I'm engaged! I'm so happy to be marrying Thomas Chambers! I love him and I'm so happy to be with him. Here's the story:

We met in our ward this past summer. I thought he was cute the first time I saw him at church, but we didn't talk until our ward activity. He came up to me and asked if I would hold his root beer float while he left the room on his phone. I, of course, told him "No." Then, to give me some attitude, he put the drink in my purse. I promptly picked it up, and threw it away. He seemed to be a bit hurt by this action and responded by talking to me and later asking me out. The best part about all this was that he got my number from the ward directory. Oh gosh. After that, we started dating (May 29th, to be exact) and on October 2nd he proposed in Temple Square.

I love him with all my heart and I can't wait to spend my life with him.

School, Time-Management, and a Puppy

First off, I need to own up to the fact that I have been absolute horrible about updating on here. So, here's a quick fill-in:

Tom and I successfully made it from Miami to Pensacola, then to Oklahoma City and onto Gilbert and finally back to Rexburg. We missed the first two days of class, but the trip was good (albeit ridiculously long). The most interesting part about the trip was bringing Titan with us.

Titan, is a puppy that Tom and I now own. But, since we aren't able to have him at school, my parents are graciously caring for him. He is half mini-schnauzer, half maltese. He is black and he is the most adorable puppy in the world. Tom's parents bought him for us in Miami and he made the trek with us to Gilbert.

Now that we're both back in school there have been a few changes. To put it simply, I am so busy with school. I am taking 15 credits, but I am also a producer on I-news. I'm very excited for this new opportunity, but I still have a lot to learn. With all this comes the issue of time management. Every moment I am not in class, I am either doing homework, doing something for I-news (the student-produced news show at BYU-Idaho) or hanging out with Tom. Unfortunately, the time I am spending on I-news is going to take a lot more time as the semester progresses. Tom has been a good sport about it so far, but I know that I won't be able to see him as much as I would want to. I am looking forward to this semester, but I know it's going to be jam-packed. Being busy and productive makes me happy though, so I'm actually really excited to continue this semester.

Florida!

So, I made it all the way to Miami, Florida to see Tom. I've been here about a week and a half now and am having so much fun! Here's a list of things I've done here:

-firstly, it was amazing to see Tom again. It was wonderful being reunited with him and was like when we first started dating all over again. I thought I realized how much I missed him, but I didn't- not really. The plane rides were long for me, but well worth the money and early morning (5:40am flight!) to make it to Miami.

-we went on an airboat ride in the Everglades (saw some scary alligators...ah!)

-explored the Florida Keys with the Vasquez family (including the famous 90 mile mark from Cuba)

(it was beautiful and Claudia, Danny and Alo were great company for Tom and I)

-went to the beach here in Miami. It's lovely, warm, and wave-less.

-met Tom's parents and learned to play (and win) dominos with them.

-took care of Titan, who we will probably be adopting (he's the cutest puppy in the world).

-met Tom's friends, including his best Seth and his fiance Jessica. They are so much fun and I've loved hanging with them and others.

-have enjoyed being reunited with Tom and spending every waking moment with him...mushy, I know (sorry)

I will be here for about one more week and then we have a long road trip all the way back to Rexubrg, Idaho. Basically, life is good. I miss my family and friends back in Arizona, but the trip here has been fabulous and well worth it. I look forward to my future, but I'm loving relaxing here in Miami for a little while longer.

P.S. Ariana's wedding was wonderful. I'm so happy for her and Tyler and wish them the best...forever!

Plans and Pains

Things to be Excited for (in order of their happenings):

-Decorating for Ariana's wedding tonight

-Being a bridesmaid for Ariana

-Ariana's actual wedding/luncheon/reception

-Flying on a plane for more than an hour and a half (a layover? Crazy talk!)

-Getting to Miami- a place I've never been!

-Seeing Tom again (Oh, how I miss him)

-Spending time at the Atlantic Ocean; I've only swam in the Pacific in California's murky waters

-Spending time with Tom

-Meeting Tom's parents

Things Not to be Excited for:

-Getting my wisdom teeth removed

-Leaving my family again until Thanksgiving

This is the gist of my happenings:

Ariana's wedding is tomorrow and I'm completely ecstatic about it! It's crazy to think that she'll be married- Mrs. Miller instead. Nuts! But awesome. I'm very excited for her and Tyler. I'm excited to be a bridesmaid for the third time (bad omen, anyone?).

Anyway, next week I will be getting my wisdom teeth out. Yuck! I'm not excited, but I'll be sure to post an embarrassing picture if my cheeks swell up enough.

Then, the week after I'll be going to Miami to see the sweetest boyfriend in the world. I'm thrilled to see Tom again. I'm also happy he's from Florida seeing as we'll have a blast on the beach and in the sun. That's my life as of right...now.

I'm Back in Black

I'm officially back home in Arizona! I am really happy to be back because I have missed my family dearly. Tom drove all the way down here with me and stayed for a whole day before flying back to Miami. I miss him, but missed my family and am extremely happy to see them all again.

I need to see some friends though- I haven't really hungout with anyone yet. I desperately need to see Ariana before she gets married (smile & tear). I hope my stay here will be awesome before I venture out to Miami to see Tom again (the beach doesn't hurt much either).

Anyway, my wonderful Mother has promised to buy me some much needed clothing before I go away, but for once in my life I don't know what I want! Ah! So many choices. Oh well. I'm excited to be home, even though the heat is and always is a killer.

Traveling Back Home to Arizona

So, I asked my Mom a couple weeks ago how I was supposed to get home now that the semester is ending. She told me I should find myself a ride, which I did within a day or two, but that they might want my car back in the Fall. I kept asking my Mom if I needed to drive my own car home but she was unsure what she and my Dad wanted. Finally, on Monday my Mom said her and my Dad discussed it and they want my car back in the Fall. That's not a big deal to me except that I don't have anyone to drive home with me. I might drive caravan style with some friends, but none of them want to leave as soon as I do. I'm just bothered that they waited so long to tell me and I couldn't find a fellow Arizonan to drive down with me.

Despite this difficulty, I am excited to be coming home for a stay. Ariana is getting married and I get to see my nephew. I can't wait!

It's What I Do

So, I have been involved this semester with I-News, the student-produced news show at Brigham Young University- Idaho. It's actually a ton of fun and I love it. I was an anchor on the show (so watch me mess up my words on Tuesdays shows) or see the videos I've actually made on Wednesdays. We finally have a website too- go us! Anyway, to access this just follow this link and click on the I-News portion of the website. Or, if you want to find only things that I have made and added, just search my name and find my videos. The stuff I created has not been all that exciting- given it's a student news show (and I'm still a beginner), but it's fun to me.

Mass Media

Well, I started this blog not long ago. I created it only about a month ago. Here is my very first post from June. Recently, I found out I can use this as a project for my mass media class. I'm really happy about that fact. I can use it because it is a 'new media' form. It's still in the works though, seeing as I've only posted a couple things. I plan to keep updating it and making it cooler, even after I turn in the URL to my teacher.

I've decided that blogs can be really cool, but after creating my own, I realize they are much more work than they seem. All the content is created on your own, so if you don't update it, then it becomes really lame. I've put links to a few of my friend's blogs, but I most definitely need to find more blogs because I'm sure more of my friends have them and I've never known about it. I've decided one of the best things about having a blog is that my Mom can read it, and she greatly appreciates keeping up with me this way as well as the phone.

So, onto more exciting things, I will be going back home to the great expanse we like the call the Valley of the Sun. That's right, I'm coming back to Arizona! My semester up here at BYU-I will be over next week and I'll make the 15+ hour journey back to Gilbert. My best friend Ariana will be getting married soon and I'm more than stoked to be her only 'friend' bridesmaid. Also, I get to see my family. My nephew has started walking and I haven't even seen his skills yet. All my siblings are out of school, too, so we'll party for sure. It's going to be awesome. I am really looking forward to being home for at least a little while.

Trips with Thomas

This post is about my trips with Thomas. We have already gone on two since we started dating just over a month ago. We went to Yellowstone and to Las Vegas (no, we didn't elope). Here are some pictures from the always gorgeous Yellowstone:

We didn't get to take a lot of pictures together because it was just us; but here is one.

Tom in front of a hot spring.

Here I am in front of a Buffalo. They were everywhere.

Here is Tom in front of a river. This experience was very freeing.

Then, Tom scared away the Buffalo that was in our way, right on the trail at the beginning of our hike.

This was at the top of our hike. Like I said, the whole trip to Yellowstone was very freeing.

Here is a gorgeous waterfall. Love them!

Of course, we saw Old Faithful...oh, the glory. We got reception and talked on the phone there too, so it was a good stop. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those pictures. But, they're cliche anyway, so it's better without.

Overall, the trip was great! It was cold at night, our tent was a little pathetic and it rained the first day/night, but we loved it. We saw two black bears, two grizzly bears, many buffalo, a few deer and elk. We didn't see any wolves or moose, but we feel that we still did good. I made us go the long way so we could get a good look at the vast and glorious Yellowstone Lake, which still had frozen ice chunks in it. And, that was Tom's first trip to Yellowstone (my second).

So, Tom surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas, baby! I had work off one entire weekend (impressive for a retail worker) so he told me to pack my bags- nothing more than that. I had no idea where we were headed until we got about half an hour away in Idaho Falls. He finally told me of our destination and I was thrilled to be somewhere that the temperature would be over 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of what we did was walk around and look at stuff. We ate at delicious places (which was quite the excitement compared to Rexburg).

We had lots of fun exploring the city that I usually just pass through and Thomas had never seen before.

We went to the top of the Stratosphere and looked around the city. In my defense, it was very windy at the top, so that's why my hair looks so...well, it looks bad.

Tom looked very contemplative on the bench, so I took a candid picture of him.

We got all dressed up one night and went out to eat. This is us before we left. Yay.

We went swimming- and let me tell you, those 80+ temperatures were just what an Arizona girl needed. This was our feet by the pool and some old guy who was kind of weird. There are lots of weird people in Vegas.

Tom really relaxed by the pool. He got back in touch with his natural chi. Ha ha.

So, Las Vegas was a success. We saw a Vegas bride, a girl throwing up because of her drunken state, a prostitute (sad), and many partiers. It was a successful vacation- fast, but successful! Thanks for the amazing trip, Thomas.

My First Post...Awwwww!

So, I just got a blog. This is very exciting to me because I've never had one before, but after stalking a few of my friends' blogs, I figured I might as well get my own. I'm just test-running it right now though, if I keep updating it, then I'll tell people about it.

I guess I should start by saying something about me. My name is Arianne and I love life. That's a very broad statement, but it's the truth. I am originally from Gilbert, AZ- the best place to grow up, as far as my childhood is concerned. I live in Rexburg now and go to BYU-Idaho. It's really great here- minus the cold. I have lots of friends and love them all. I like music...a lot! I don't make my own, but I wish I could. I have lots of hobbies like playing volleyball, singing, skating (and longboarding), snowboarding, surfing, wakeboarding, appreciating music and the outdoors. I am studying Communications with a Broadcasting emphasis and hope to be a reporter when I graduate. We'll see how it goes...

Well, that's about all I'll do for my first post. I'll try to keep up and update more often. I really want to include pictures, but I'm not sure how to do that yet, so we'll see.