utah: post wedding.

basically everything after the big day just felt like one big wedding hangover. but we did get to fit some good times in during the recovery.

the last day and a half consisted of lounging, kneaders [twice], mountains, snowbird, provo friends [and leslie!!!], lauren's birthday [do i dare say which one?], seeing my daddyo, and goodbyes.

baby levi and gina got along so well, i am sure he was convincing her to stay in utah. but alas.

i love utah. i love my family. i am so grateful that i got to spend so much time with them. i guess being away just makes it that much sweeter when i come back. next time is christmas. [so close!]

until then, i will stay in texas and love every minute.

so this happened.

more pics to come.

look out will and kate. there are new dukes in town.

one time my best friend got married and it was the best day of my life. true story.

waiting patiently for the newlyweds.

this was a fun moment. they came out looking all celestial and happy and beautiful and then i started to cry like a child and then the photographer decided that was great and got up in my grill taking pictures of my tears. super.

 got the gang back together. i swear i have at least two other versions of this picture.

 snagged the beautiful bride for a quick pic.

 we had so much fun dancing, eating, and catching up. so many sweet moments throughout the day. i am so happy for the dukes and i can't wait for the memories we'll make in this next stage of life!

therapy by crafting. and netflix.

this weekend, anna helped me overcome my ocd slash fear of using pretty paper. i have had this issue for years and this was the first time i was able to face it head on and win. after much debate and driving around, anna helped me see the ridiculousness that was me buying new paper instead of using the cute paper i already had [and have had for over a year]. thanks anna!

then i dedicated my saturday to making awesome invites and watching downton abbey. maybe the entire first season. idk.

that night, leslie finished up the invites while i wrote my lesson for relief society. and made super cute handouts [with the same paper]. and listened to the most amazing valentine's playlist ever. i'd say it was a successful saturday.

aren't these stamps amazing? they matched the invites perfectly.

life as a college graduate.

you must be wondering what i have been doing with all this wonderful free time i have now that i have no school [or work...please bless]. well, i will tell you. it has not been ill spent. for the most part.

hit up park city with some friends. no celeb sightings though. don't remind me.

brought out the jb calendar . bean museum fun with the kiddos. i had to put on a brave face for a snake sighting

new shoes. thank you santa for my tj maxx gift card . some relaxation inspiration

 a birthday dinner and some bff chats with leslie and sarah.

 date night with the men's volleyball team . best mug ever

relief society meeting... guess which treats are mine . fhe with niki #bestever

 and would you look at that. it's official.

true blue and breakfast food.

last saturday, my blood was the bluest it has ever been.

go cougars.

i also ate a comical amount of breakfast food. these two incidents are only somewhat related.

saturday morning i met up with jen, sarah, and leslie for a birthday breakfast for jen [22! oh em gee!]. we ate at magleby's, only one of the best breakfast places around. everything they have is top notch. everything. i opted for the omelet myself but that did not keep me from stealing a few bites of leslie's pancakes. so good. honestly, anyone could win my heart if they suggested magleby's for breakfast. and do not get me started on their chocolate cake. easily my favorite cake ever. everrrr.

apparently we failed to get a picture of this occasion. oh well.

then sarah and i went to the byusa pancake breakfast at the creamery on ninth. for homecoming they always several stands making thousands of blue pancakes. tons of people came and ate before the parade started. which sarah and i watched and it was awesome. plus we got to see codi, rachel, and adam! #yayforfriends

don't exactly know who this guys is... but he wanted to be in the picture. cool!

 adam!

 medieval club. they are so cool.

 llamas!!!

yum.

 me, adam, and sarah.

 after that fun time i went home, took a nap, then went to the awful waffle with matt. we had talked about trying it out and so we finally did! i got crepes with peanut butter, pumpkin sause, and syrup. go big or go home guys. btdub it was delicious. i would easily make a weekly trip if i had the funds and metabolism for it.

 after that deliciousness i went over to sarah's and we watched jane eyre. that movie is amazing. i'm sure i will be expressing my love for it [and michael fassbender] in a post soon enough.

sarah and danny invited me to dinner so we went to noodles & co [also delicious]. and they invited me to the homecoming football game! thanks guys!
my second byu football game as a student! look at me now.

we met up with the group during halftime. love.
[apparently katie and brady left before we took this. oops!]

yay for byu and breakfast! and friends. and jane eyre. just a few of my favorite things.

another married.

one of my besties got married. but this time it was a dude.

jjcjj.

jeffery justin cody johnson junior.

otherwise known as jeff.

 bearded jj.

check out that groom's cake. i've never seen anything like it.

 he married becca. i love becca. almost as much as jeff.
she is amazing and beautiful and i can't think of anyone else better for my friend.

 the whole crew back together [sans rob. who is also married. holy crap.]
iphone quality. nice.

i love my friends. and married people.

congrats jj. youda youda best.

to the top.

a couple weekends ago leslie, andy/taylor, and i hiked to the top of y mountain. like, past the y, to the top. it was amazing and so beautiful. it had just rained and everything was so green.

leaves are starting to change! #yayfall

our view from the top. thank you clouds.

yay for hiking and trees and mountains and friends.

what days will hold.

moving in to a new place and starting a new semester at school is always a little craziness that takes me a few days to figure out and adjust to. i feel like last week was a whole kaleidoscope of ups and downs, from realizing i can only have half of my grant for tuition to realizing i have more free time then ever. every day was filled with weird, what the crap news and also discoveries that life really is a bit fantastic. friday was kind of like that.

i worked from 8 to 1, a new normal friday thing. then leslie took me to the car dealership to finally pick up my car. it was there for four days [which is a whole crazy weird story in and of itself] and i was definitely ready to have it back. after dealing with ricky [yeah, i'm on a casual first name basis with the nissan technician], i finally got out of there with my car and leslie and i headed up to the mountains for a hike.

we went to stewart falls in provo canyon and it was so beautiful and fun. i love spending time with my friends [and maybe getting lost on a long winding road] and talking about anything and everything. i can't believe i have never made this hike before. it was incredible, take a look:

after we made our way back down [and saw a snake... i only freaked out a lot] leslie went home to shower and i went and filled up my car with gas. oh and locked both my keys and my phone in my car. wow ahlin, really? really, did that just happen? yes it did. after staring at the keys sitting  i asked the mini mart worker people if i could use their phone and i called my dad because he obviously has all the answers. he instructed me to call geico and i was out of there within half an hour. i was just laughing at myself because it was so unlike me to do that and i knew that at least three people were trying to get a hold of me. in fact, when i checked my phone, i felt more popular than i had been all week. why does that always happen? i don't know.

when i finally got back to my apartment, leslie came over and we made delicious veggie burgers, zucchini, and sweet potato fries. we be healthy. then we got our friend jared and went to the rooftop concert here in provo. imagine dragons was playing and there were tons of people there. i went last year to see benton paul and nik day but it looks like the word has gotten out on how cool they are.

fun story:

i checked twitter when i got there and saw this

obviously i freaked out and tweeted him

not two minutes later, he walks right by me. 

did you catch that? 

I CAN WILL DAVID ARCHULETA INTO MY PRESENCE. 

it's a gift really. i freaked out a little [a lot] and grabbed leslie's arm until there was no circulation left [sorry lo]. he stopped about ten feet away and it looked like he was looking for something. me obviously. too bad he didn't see me staring at him shamelessly. a minute or so later he walked past me again the same way he had come.

um, why didn't you talk you him ahlin? i'm sure you're all asking. hi, have you ever seen david archuleta in the flesh and have to come up with something to say on the spot? it's a lot harder than you'd think. all i could think to say if i stopped him was 'um, you're david archuleta.' really, that is all that came to my mind. i held on to enough dignity to know i shouldn't say that to him. and it was too dark for a picture. so i just looked at him longingly and soaked it in, kind of like i did with zac-face.

yes i did make that big a deal out of it. i mean, look at him.

he is utah's gem.