Ice Castles in Midway, Utah

With Geoff being one of the new guys at Carmax, he usually gets the work schedules that no one wants. This means working from 12 to 9 at night, getting either Wednesday or Thursday off and working on Saturdays. Although this makes it hard for us to see each other during the week, I like to look at it as a blessing in disguise. Geoff's working full-time AND taking online classes, which means he spends at least two hours a day, if not more, doing homework. By not starting work until the afternoon, it allows him to have plenty of time to get his homework done in the morning.

Last week, Geoff not only worked from 8 to 5 for the first time since he started working at Carmax, but he also had Saturday off! We were so excited to be able to spend all weekend together. However, I think Geoff would tell you it's hard to do homework in the evenings after working all day and being exhausted, which is why I think the 12 to 9 schedule works best for him. But he still was able to get all of his homework done and be able to take me on a date to the ice castle in Midway!

I had heard a lot about this ice castle before going there. I heard it was very popular this year because the movie "Frozen" had come out and they made the ice castle into a somewhat "Frozen" theme. I also heard that because it was so popular, they advised people not to go on Saturdays because it was so dang crowded! But Geoff and I didn't really have a choice but to go on a Saturday since I work all week, so we decided to face the crowd and see what the rave was all about.

After an hour drive, we arrived at the ice castle. I don't think I have seen so many people gathered in one place in a long time! Luckily we had bought our tickets beforehand so we only had to wait in like half an hour instead of over an hour. But they had "Frozen" music playing as well as Anna and Elsa outside taking pictures with the kids. Once we got inside the ice castle, someone had built an Olaf snowman and it was so cute!

I LOVED the ice castle and am so glad we went, even though it was extremely packed. I wanted to go at night when all the colorful lights inside the ice were on. It was cool seeing them change colors. We walked through an ice maze and went under tall and gorgeous icicle arches. They even had an ice slide for kids that went inside the ice! It's definitely the perfect family activity for kids of all ages.

DIY Wedding Invitations Tip #2,453

Geoff and I received our edited engagement photos back yesterday! I was so excited. Our photographer sent us about 45 photos to pick and choose from. We narrowed it down to 15 we for sure wanted for wedding invitations and to keep for years to come. Since I have already designed our wedding invites, all I needed were the photos to fill in the missing pieces.

There was one particular photo out of all the rest that Geoff and I really liked. But since I am all about details and making sure everything is as close to perfect as it can get, I didn't like the loose pieces of my hair that our photographer chose to not edit out herself. So what's a girl to do?

Edit it herself, of course!

If you'll notice, the extra hair on my neck and shoulder is gone. I also added another button to Geoff's shirt, since for some reason there's too an unusual gap between the two bottom buttons. I think I did a fairly decent job taking it out! Now I love it even more than I already did to start with. I'm hoping to use this photo on the front of our wedding invitations if all goes according to plan :)

For those soon-to-be brides that are all about saving money and enjoy designing as much as I do, here's a tip: Photoshop will be your best friend if you allow it to be! I'm grateful I have some knowledge in Photoshop so I could make edits like these to my engagement photos. I know much more about Adobe's design programs InDesign and Illustrator, but Photoshop is fun to play with as well!

Stay tuned for more of the DIY design projects I'm working on for my wedding, as well as the final wedding invitations!

I'm Back in Utah!

After two months of being home in Washington, I'm back in Utah! I spent most of last week packing and cleaning. Then I spent most of this weekend unpacking and getting somewhat organized in my new place. I'm now living in my cousin Eddy and his wife's basement apartment, and I'm already loving it here! I've never had my own space, since it's always been shared by other roommates. So I'm definitely looking forward to decorating and all that fun stuff! I'll have to post pictures once I get everything organized, which might be a while because I need to buy a new couch since my current one is too big to fit through the door! I'm a little bummed because I love that couch, but luckily it's going to a new home next week since I have no use for it. Time to start couch hunting again!

Geoff is also down here in Utah. He had an interview at Carmax on Saturday and after 2 1/2 hours of interviewing with multiple people, he got the job! I'm not exactly sure what his job title is, but basically he'll be an inspector and cleaner for the cars that Carmax buys and will make sure they look nice for those that come looking to buy a car. He'll be working full-time and taking a couple of online classes. I'm grateful he will be busy and not as bored as he was back in Ephrata! There's definitely more opportunities to find a job here compared to a small town where no one is hiring.

We had a little scare with Geoff's living arrangements. We had an apartment lined up but could not get ahold of the guy who told Geoff he could move in named Andrew. One of the apartment's managers told Geoff he would have to pay $500 upfront in order to move it, plus the monthly rent. Talk about ridiculous! But Andrew finally texted Geoff on Sunday and we were able to move him in that night. Andrew also told Geoff he wouldn't have to sign on the lease, so he doesn't have to pay the $500. We're glad he's no longer homeless! Carmax is only a 10 minute walk from Geoff's apartment, so he couldn't be any closer.

My parents drove down to help Geoff and I move our stuff. We had too much to fit in just my car, so it was nice having another car. After all our stuff was moved into my apartment, my mom and I went wedding dress shopping at Latter-day Bride in downtown Salt Lake. I fell in love with the second dress I tried on! But we were told even with a rush order, the dress wouldn't be ready until two days before our wedding, which doesn't include the alterations I would have to get. I'm have a short torso so all my prom/homecoming dresses have always had to be altered at the shoulders. So I was a little bummed by that. We went to another bridal store, and they had the exact same dress that I tried on at Latter-day bride! I tried on a couple of others but I couldn't get the one I originally fell in love with out of my mind. So we asked them how soon I could get the dress, and they said I could get it three weeks before my wedding. They also said they could do alterations really quickly to guarantee I had my dress ready in time. So we went ahead and ordered the dress! I'm pretty excited for everyone to see it.

My brother and his family drove through Salt Lake on Saturday on their way back to Las Vegas from Idaho. We had lunch with them at Texas Roadhouse. It was great seeing my cute nephews! Here's a video of them playing in the snow with Grandpa.

Geoff and I both start work today. Even though I worked from Washington, I only worked part-time. After working for Digital Trike for 10 months, I'll be staring full-time today!

Those are some updates. Happy New Year to all! This will be an exciting year for Geoff and I, and we can't wait!