Life Lately As Told by My iPhone.

So it seems that I haven't been on here in, oh...3 months. Approximately since school started. Whoops. So here is a long overdue barrage of photos. Starting with some I never posted from July. I'm terrible, I know.

July 4

We went to a Rooftop Concert to see some local bands perform for FREE! It was pretty awesome. Except that we waited in the heat for almost an hour to get good seats. Killer, especially since we had practically non-existent air conditioning at home.

I just really like the view is all.

Exhibit A that my husband doesn't know how to smile naturally.

And when I pointed that out, this happened. Obviously Spencer doesn't know where to look for pictures.

Some other day in July

Spencer's parents rented some jet skis and we went out onto a lake for a summer fun day. I got the worst sunburn of my life, and that's all I remember from the day. 

July 14: Cow Appreciation Day

We dressed up as cows and got a free meal from Chick-fil-a. You can't tell, but behind the cow-face, Spencer has another awkward, fake smile.

We only stood in line for a half hour. Thought it would be worse for some free food.

Sometime Late July: I went home for my good friend Dianna's endowment. It was a beautiful day, and such a good excuse to go home!

Cute little missionary.

Beautiful San Antonio Temple.

Spencer had to work, so we were apart for almost a week. He almost didn't let me go, and was so sweet when he picked me up. But he pretended he didn't know me when he picked me up and acted as my chauffeur. Then he wouldn't let go of my hand for three hours.

August 16: Our first anniversary (celebration, since our anniversary was on a Sunday)!

Started out with a wedding! Spencer's high school friend, Julia, got married! 

Exhibit B that Spencer doesn't know how to smile.

Again, I told Spencer to smile normal, and this was the result.

We decided we needed to go somewhere a little fancier for dinner, so we researched and picked Caffe Molise! It was pretty good food, but maybe I'm just too picky and couldn't fully appreciate it. Spencer  loved it, so that says something.

Standing in line for WICKED! (Exhibit C of the cheesy smiles)

So he tried to act "natural."

Less natural.

We had the BEST seats. It was a handicap accessible spot, but there weren't any guests who required the handicapped area, so we had this spot with extra leg room and an extra wide seat! Spencer kept trying to share the big seat with me, but that felt weird, so I made him sit by himself. About 10 minutes before the show started this lady sat down next to us... Pretty sure she was lost and couldn't find her seat, so she assumed ours was an empty seat because it was so large. Checked our tickets and the seat numbers.. Nope, only two seats here. Glanced at her ticket... middle section, not our far right section. Neither Spencer nor I were brazen enough to tell her to get lost, so she sat there during the entire show. We could've had our own private balcony but didn't go tell the usher to help this poor lady find her seat! (I'm not bitter though).

We were really excited and didn't know you weren't supposed to take pictures of the stage set up. Oops. You can barely see it. It's mostly us. And Spencer's crazy smile.

August 19: First day of school.

I left before Spencer woke up. Somehow we ended up wearing the same outfit. White shirt and khakis. Had to document it. 

But we couldn't figure out a good angle.

So here are three slightly awkward body--selfies that we took laying down. It was obviously a long first day of school since I came home and laid down for the rest of the night.

Labor Day: (Pretty sure that was the holiday that prompted this trip). Alpine Slide. 

See that white path in the middle of the orange trees? Yeah I went down that on a glorified butt scooter.

Riding the lift up the mountain. Probably the most terrifying part.

The slide! Would be better if it were a water slide..

View down the mountain.

View up the mountain.

View down the slide. AKA what I thought was my last photo.

Spencer's one and only mustache of his lifetime. Could be grown and removed all in 2 seconds.

Sometime in September: Scrolling through Pinterest and found this funny. 

Early September: Ice Bucket Challenge. One of my kids challenged me to do the ice bucket challenge. I did it, showed the class the video where I challenged Spencer. Then I told the class to persuade Spencer to complete the challenge. This was the response.

Dear Mr. Bryson, You need to do the ice bucket challenge because your wife did it. I mean she did it and she's a woman! I thought you were a man!

Sometime Late September:

I have a couple particularly tough kids to motivate, so I was told to use a puppet to inspire them. Is it unprofessional for me to say no...?

September 22 (ish): Kenzi's baby shower

I made this diaper cake for Kenzi's baby shower. It was probably the most fun I've had putting together a gift. And my house smelled like diapers for a week. That was an unexpected bonus. Is it weird that I love that smell?

There are more pictures since this point, but it's currently 11:15 which is the latest that I've been up in four months, so I need to go to bed. And who wants to read one post for three hours? Kudos to you if you made it this far. I promise to do better about posting regularly, but I apologize if it's mostly about school.

In other news, our Christmas decorations are up and deserve a post of their own!

You Know You're in Texas When...

Your plane ticket says so.

I flew home this past week to visit my parents and my dear friend Dianna before she leaves for her mission!

Your hair gets frizzy before you even walk outside. 

Whoever thinks Texas isn't humid can kiss my butt. I don't normally have frizzy hair, but I do when I go home. 

You have a million good Mexican restaurants to choose from.

One of my favorite things about going home is this little Mexican restaurant called Alfredo's. It's legit Mexican food and their salsa is amazing. I seriously haven't had a better salsa in my life. 

You, a person who doesn't sweat even if you ran five miles (because that's the farthest I've ever run), sweat like crazy.

It's the humidity and the heat. Kills me. Sorry if that's gross, just know I'm being dramatic:)

You see more Texas flags than American flags.

Texas pride y'all. 

Gas is cheaper.

Okay, this might not be true if you are coming from just anywhere, but coming from Utah where the trucks have to haul through mountains, gas is fairly expensive. I paid $3.55 a gallon last week. On our way to dinner one night I saw it for $3.19. Are you kidding me? Life's no fair. That'd save me like six bucks a fill up. 

You notice that Southern Hospitality.

One of my pit stops while home was into my mom's new office to meet her boss. While I was there, her old boss, my 3rd grade teacher, came to congratulate me on my job. With a card and some cash She's the cutest and seriously one of the reasons I stuck with my childhood dream of becoming a teacher. 

Green, flat land never looked so good.

Ever since moving to Utah, I've sworn that I will never love a place without mountains. They're grand and remind you how small you are in the grand scheme of things (in a humbling, not depressing way). But man, seeing the fields of green and lush of trees I fell in love with Texas all over again. 

Blue Bell ice cream is everywhere. 

Worth every gosh darn calorie. 

This seriously was such a great trip home. My parents spoiled me, like usual, and I still felt overwhelmed by their generosity. My mom misses having kids at home, so she builds up a desire to spoil us which kind of explodes when we come home. It's mostly cute. I got to see a lot of my old friends which was really nice. It felt like the good ole days. And best of all, it felt like a real vacation. I wasn't worried about school or my classroom or anything. I just relaxed. 

Now back to real life. Three weeks from today is the first day of school. Cra-to-the-zy. Here's to living in my classroom. 

29 Days Left of Summer

This summer is going by SO quickly! Maybe it's because last summer I was engaged and counting down the days til I got married, which seemed like forever. Maybe it's because in just over a month I'll be standing in front of my class for the first time. Maybe it's because my to-do list is getting longer and my energy level is getting shorter. Maybe it's because I'm really enjoying this summer, that it's going fast.

My life as of late includes a lot of driving out to my school (32 minutes one-way!), meeting with my grade-level team, reading a stack of literature on setting up my classroom reading and writing programs, watching too much tv and trying to get Spencer to like all my weird shows, almost going on a field trip, but then realizing the bus didn't get scheduled, finishing summer school and saying goodbye to those cute kids, scouting out school supply deals, getting increasingly frustrated with my computer (probably because it needs to update and it needs an hour and a half to download it--I ain't got time for that), seeing my little brother (in-law) get his mission call to Thailand to proselyte for our church for two years, watching The Fault In Our Stars through my tears and crying when I think about it, dying of heat in our apartment (pretty sure we get all the stale air since we are in the basement and the AC unit is on the third floor), buying a fan, partying for the 4th (which seriously deserves a post of its own), renting some jet-skis and tubing on a lake, dressing up as cows and getting free Chick-fil-a, and recovering from a very bad sunburn.

This summer has seriously been the best. I have the perfect balance of things to do and boredom that equate to relaxation. We've done just enough summer-y things. Can it be summer all year long?

A Random Complaint and Its Solution

Note: Sometimes you just have to complain about the small things. That's what this is.

My hair has not been friendly lately. It feels super dry and is almost unworkable after a day (or if I sleep on it at all). I see more split ends than healthy ones (though I hope I'm being dramatic with that statement). And probably worst of all, it doesn't hold a style at all. But it's just so long!

I blame the stupid dry Utah air. I didn't do anything special to my hair in high school living in humid Texas, and it was healthy and happy. Out here I do a million different things to protect it, add moisture, I limit my heat usage and my hair looks fried! (again a bit dramatic). I've had hairdressers tell me that split ends are normal, and I shouldn't worry about having some, but they make me feel gross! So I'm cutting my hair.

I think this face sums up my feelings toward haircuts. 

                         

Tip: If you're growing out your hair (especially if you live in a dry climate), don't wait six months to cut your hair. 

And the result...

                           

It looks a lot shorter compared to the before picture, but Spencer didn't even notice that I cut it, which surprisingly says a lot since he's very possessive of my hair. 

Here's to happy and healthy hair!

Our Wedding Day--Temple Pictures

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect. It was a gorgeous day, we had no problems (that I was aware of), and best of all, my best friend and I were sealed for time and all eternity.

The day was filled with love and happiness, just the way it should be. And it started at my favorite place. The temple.

All of the beautiful people who came to celebrate with us. 

My parents who have been such an inspiration and blessing in my life. I'm quite grateful for their example of a loving marriage. So sad this picture doesn't include my dear sister, Kimberlee, who was stuck in Navy school when we got married!

My new family! Quite blessed to have such a welcoming and loving family to join into!

Our beautiful wedding party. Seriously, could you ask for a better looking bunch? 

What can I say, I love the small details!