June 26th.

(warning: picture overload)

as a little girl you can't help dream of your wedding day. i know i always did. but if someone would have told me of the stress that comes with planning a wedding, maybe we would have just eloped to the temple, skipping a reception and all. no. not really. we had everything we dreamed of. with the help of my mother. she deserves a shout out from the president with all the time she spent helping.

we were sealed for time and all eternity in the salt lake temple.

the temple in which my parents were also married. 

i mean who doesn't want to get married there it looks like a castle right?

anyways we had our reception at the american fork amphitheater.

i prayed for days that it wouldn't rain because we had no other back up plan.

we were blessed with the most beautiful day.
our theme was vintage.
our colors were burnt orange, robin egg blue and cream.
our song was louis armstrong: la vie en rose
daddy daughter was city and colour: the girl
mother and son was the beatles: in my life

i loved all the personal touches we put into our reception.
each table was decorated differently and labeled with a date that was significant to the two of us.
dessert was our favorite homemade dishes by the ones we love.
our engagement video (still to come) was shown as everyone sat on the steps.
dancing is my favorite. especially if one plays shots by lmfao. yes. we. did.

one of my favorite parts was the generations dance. 

all married couples called to the dance floor.

as the music played the couples were excused from the floor based on length of marriage.

the last couple left dancing was my great grandparents.

65 plus years of marriage.

we switched partners and they told us secrets about creating a marriage that lasts.

it takes work, and a lot of laughter.

shy guy i can't wait to grow old with you.

The (slightly) New Mr. and Mrs. Bischof

i know this has been a long time coming...

we have been married for four months now...and the blog doesn't even show that we are engaged. 

well here is to cramming in the last six months..

shyler and i met 7 years ago in mr. clark's math class.

so we have 7 years of history, which would probably take 7 years to write.

i will just say that heavenly father works in mysterious ways.

we have been friends through many ups and downs until one night our friendship changed.

we were at the library park when he told me that he loved me.

we hadn't kissed yet, we hadn't even held hands,

but he told me that he had been in love with me for 5 years.

and something changed. it's something that words can't really describe.

a moment that will go down in the history books. 

...needless to say ten months later we were engaged.

we went on a bike ride to our secret garden.

he had a picnic set up that would put the bachelor to shame.

with nat king cole playing on a record machine.

we made wishes on pennies that we tossed in the river.

i asked him what he wished for when he got down on one knee.

he told me he had always wished to marry me.

sometimes wishes do come true.

mine did.

(more to come on the wedding.....)

the awful waffle.

my sister and i spent the day shopping for supplies for our latest valentine craft.

after surviving the rain we decided to treat ourselves to a treat. 

last summer my kindred spirit and i discovered the awful waffle on a bike ride.

since then, they have relocated and let me just say it is one of the cutest places to get waffles

 (or crepes as i prefer). 

i decided to try speculoos 

instead of my normal nutella.

i think i have a new favorite.

(note to future self: on the next snowy day, take my significant other so the two of us can sit by the fireplace, eat a crepe and snuggle... because all you need is love).

possibly the funniest video of all time.

one year ago january used to be 60 degrees....

not 6 degrees like this year happens to be....

so we decided to go camping. it was too cold to roast marshmallows so we did whats second best:

chubby bunny.

i think this video deserves an academy award, but that's just me.

(side note... around 1 minute 20 seconds is when it gets real good).

remember that one time i lived in ukraine?

i was just looking through some old pictures when i came across these...
about 3 and a half years ago i once upon a time decided that i was in need of an adventure.
so i packed up my bags and headed off to the faraway country of ukraine.
did i speak russian? no.
ukrainian? no.
how i got around for 5 months is still a mystery to me.
if it weren't for my trusty dictionary i think i would still be lost in the metro system.
i began my love for teaching in ukraine.
i taught kindergarten for 3 hours a day in english and was left the rest of the day to explore.
i lived with a family who was much more poor than i was.
well i guess in a literal sense.
i slept on a chair for 5 months, which beat the alternative of the concrete floor.
for a month we didn't have hot water or electricity.
after coming home after a long day of walking in the frigid cold, only to take a shower in ice cold water happens to not be on the list of things that i miss.
however the family who hosted me reaches the top of the list.
they were far from poor in spirit.
they taught me that you don't need anything but family to be happy.
they were the happiest people i have ever been blessed to meet.
i plan on a return visit to steal my favorite child Stopa.

while i was there i also was blessed to travel to 5 other countries.
ever since i read the devils arithmetic in the fifth grade i have had a secret obsession with the holocaust. i have always wanted to go to auschwitz.
let me just say for the record it changed my life. i could go on probably forever about my experiences there, although i think some things are better left unsaid. i was fortunate to eat gyros in austria (and sing sound of music songs at the top of my lungs), sign my name on the beatles wall in prague, and eat real hungarian goolash in hungary. wow. take me back.

after looking through my photos i discovered a couple things:
1. i was so fat when i came home from my visit...seriously nutella will do that to you.
2. i need to visit europe again. luckily i am this summer with a boy who will be my life long travel partner. paris. here. we. come.

twelve things in the twelfth month.

* my first kissing picture on the blog...ironically is with the same boy as my first kissing picture ever taken (which was taken 6 years ago).... ironically also taken at temple square.

* i happened to see a christmas carol at hale center theater. after a slight mishap of buying tickets to the theater at west valley and showing up to the theater in orem i was a slight scrooge. luckily we were still able to be seated. oh and did i mention it saved us 23 dollars because orem is cheaper? god bless us, everyone!

* although i may not know how to make french toast i can whip up a batch of christmas toffee.

* playing wii u games has now turned me into a gamer. me. of. all. people. i just love the candy game.

* i have realized my love for lord of the rings will never die. when i was younger (ok in high school) my entire ceiling was covered in lotr posters. my mom said i couldn't hang them on my walls. it was pretty awesome. one of my finest creations. now all that is left is push pin holes sadly. after seeing the hobbit it only increased my love for middle earth. and peter jackson. i'll stop now. oh i can't.

* winter brings two of my favorite things. reading and sitting on a heater. maybe one day i'll have a fire place.

* i did sat on santa's lap. he gave me a roll of tootsie rolls and a church cd. smiley face.

* i am going to star valley in approximately 68 hours for my long a waited christmas break. only to be spent with the people i love most.

* i recently learned how to ice skate backwards. this has taken me years in the making.

* fate as you would have it has come and confirmed great things to me. i have realized that god really does know me better than i know myself. sometimes i wish i could go back and shake my old self and say better things are in store, blessings are going to shower on you.

* i still hate waking up at 6 in the morning. it is something i will never get used to.

* after watching the horrible events that have occurred in connecticut i have had the chance to reflect on my own teaching experiences. my students have expressed their own fears. nightmares about them getting hurt or me getting shot. i can't watch the news. it's too sad. i do however know that a love of a teacher goes deep. the love of a parent even deeper. i will continue to pray for those who were hurt. 

thankful for a thanksgiving getaway.

basically i had the best week. 

it was one of those weeks that goes by in the blink of an eye.

one second your having the time of your life and the next your back to reality.

we went up to citrus heights for thanksgiving. took the train. 

if i told you how long the train ride was you would judge and say it wasn't worth it.

14 hours.

both ways. 

but let me tell you, it was infinity times better it sounds.

it was even better than 500 days of summer portrayed it to be.

anyways we spent the week with family.

not my family, but family that made me feel like family.

we ate 15 pies and watched the first season of pretty little liars.

we stayed up until 5 in the morning trying to figure out who a is.

but it was to no avail. apparently you don't find out until season three.

please no hints. i suspect mona.

we went black friday shopping and went to the cutest town around.

placerville.

 we watched as they lit the christmas lights and ate amaretto fudge.

which coincidentally gave us liquor breath.

inside joke. 

the best part of the trip was grandma odie,

"gumbo gumbo in the pot."

also an inside joke.

oh how i will miss that woman.