more nails

i just wanted to show a few manicures i've done recently. sorry if this doesn't interest my male readers (but then again, maybe it does). ;) i get a lot of people telling me "you should open a nail salon or something!" which is really flattering and tells me that people think i'm ok at doing my own manicures. really, doing my nails just makes me feel good about myself -- i feel better when my nails look good -- so in that aspect, i suppose i'm a success. but here's the thing -- i can't do nails. i don't know anything about artificial nail application, or anything like that, and i don't have any professional tools or license or desire, really, to do nails for a living. it's just fun and i enjoy it. the only thing i can do is paint -- i just happen to choose to paint on ten tiny canvasses instead of one big one. i definitely got my mom's artistic gene, so i like doing fun projects and things -- manicures are one of them. but i still love the compliments nonetheless. :) like i said, it's very flattering. anyway -- here are a few manis.

"San Tan-Tonio" by OPI with craft glitter by Martha Stewart in "Smoky Quartz." this is one of my favorite manicures i've done -- ever. i got so many compliments on these, even from my waitress at max & erma's. yeah, she might have just wanted a better tip, but she seemed genuine to me. i might do these again soon. the only thing is, this glitter is a beyotch to get off. because i use actual craft glitter, nail polish remover has to work extra hard to get it off. i just think it looks more unique than buying glitter nail polish. i usually have glitter all over me (and the house) before it's over with, but i think it's worth it.

"Pull Over" by Sinful Colors and "Pure White Tip" by Sally Hansen. i used a tiny little art brush to create dots -- i tried to make them sort of fade out at the tip. these aren't my favorite, but they worked.

this was something my 9-year-old cousin, katie, wanted -- a bumble bee and a flower. she picked out all the colors. for the base coat, she wanted "First Kiss" by Confetti. for the bee, i used "Black on Black" and "Pull Over" by Sinful Colors, "Pure White Tip" by Sally Hansen, and "Blue 4" by Urban Outfitters. for the flower, i used "Pure White Tip" by Sally Hansen, "Green 1" and "Blue 4" by Urban Outfitters. katie, being prissy like her older cousin, wanted some glitter, too. so i used "Yellow Barite" and "Onyx" craft glitter for the bee, and "Turquoise" craft glitter for the flower, all by Martha Stewart. i added a little bee trail with black dots on the other fingers using "Black on Black" by Sinful Colors. she loved them and couldn't wait to get to school on monday to show them off. i haven't heard, but i'd guess her friends loved them, too. ;)

i'm working on some new ideas for manis, so hopefully i have some good ones to talk about soon. also, since i won't be opening a nail salon, let me know if you'd like me to paint your nails for funsies. i'd be happy to, free of charge. :)

love.

krq.

cooking with gp: pizza night

last weekend, i decided to try out gwyneth's wood oven pizza recipe. it had been a very long week for me, and when kristin started texting us all the things that had gone wrong with her day, i felt it was all the more reason to have a get together and invite everyone over for food.

and wine.

somehow, between sarina, kristin and myself, we ended up with five bottles. oops.

the only problem with this recipe was, i don't have a wood oven. however, my mom's electric one did just fine.

i made the homemade pizza dough, with yeast and all. i used whole wheat flour, and honestly, you can't really tell a difference. i mean, you can if you think about it, but it doesn't make the pizza taste bad by any means.

but for this occasion, since i was pressed for time (and starving), i opted for pizza sauce in a jar, rather than making her recipe this time, and next time i'll make the real recipe. but i decided to go for some really great toppings.

pizza one: sauce + sliced roma tomatoes + fresh mozzarella cheese + basil

pizza two: sauce + ham + shredded mozzarella + fresh parmesan + sundried tomatoes

pizza three: olive oil + roasted peppers + caramelized onions + garlic + goat cheese

pizza four: sauce + shredded mozzarella + fresh parmesan

needless to say, we ate a lot of pizza. and it was all freaking delicious. kyle's, kristin's and my favorite was the ham and sundried tomato one. chris liked the cheese and tomato one the best. i'm not sure about everyone else -- we were all pretty busy stuffing our faces, drinking too much wine and talking too loudly. what started out as me just inviting people over to hang out, turned into an all-out "my-parents-aren't-home-so-let's-act-like-we're-18" party. dancing. laughing. taking videos that were embarrassing the next morning. it was a blast. chris also brought some canned bud light and i may or may not have drank one while i did the dishes after everyone left. sue me.

people who attended/helped make this pizza night possible:

me

kyle

kristin

sarina

casey

taylor

mark

chris

mom

in the end, kristin wasn't so worried about her iphone screen getting cracked, i wasn't so stressed about my weird numb fingers and kyle could let go of his job worries for a few hours. and i'm sure whatever everyone else was stressed about that week was lifted for a while. i'm thankful for such great friends, and i'm glad i could make some pretty awesome food to share with them. here's to you, gwyneth, for giving me a reason to party like it's 2005 with my friends.

cheers.

love&food.

krq.

when life gives you lemons...

so i said i would give an update on the sweet lemon mag stuff, so here it is.

i wrote my article about how to do your own hair, makeup and nails on the cheap, and also took photos of three of my peeps to go along with the step-by-steps.

i don't want to give too much away, but i will post some sneak preview shots of the tutorials...

makeup & coffee

taylor

haley jo

haley jo & coffee

brooke

i loved writing this article. not just because it was about something i love, but because i got to write again. i also had a lot of freedom to do what i wanted with it, following just a few guidelines. plus, i was able to include some of my favorite people in the photos. so if carly and paris (the girls starting the magazine) decide to use them, they will be featured in the magazine, too, which is really double exciting. our media packet (yeah, i have a media packet) says the pilot issue will launch on september 15. so it's soon! i'm so excited/nervous/hopeful for this new publication. this could be my start. this could be something really great. i really hope so.

i'll keep you posted about the launch.

love.

krq.

cooking with gp: part four

tuesday night, i made a couple things from dear gwyneth's book. first was the panzanella salad with roasted peppers, tomatoes and basil. i used some leftover multi-grain french bread to make the crouton-like bread pieces. i got them a little too brown, so next time i know to watch them more closely while they are in the oven. i also added some slow-roasted tomatoes to the mix because i didn't have enough peppers. i topped some baby spinach with this mixture of bread and veggies and topped it with some balsamic & lime vinaigrette that i'm obsesed with. so delicious.

i also made gp's chicken milanese. the pieces of chicken we had were huge after i pounded them out with a mallot (btw. loudest sound ever.), but somehow there was only a half of a piece left over. the chicken was super simple and tasty with the salad. i didn't go exactly by one of gwyneth's four ways to serve this chicken, but i think part of this is to use what you like and what you have, which is what i did. i used the panzanella as my way to serve it, and it was pretty great. i was actually sad when the salad mixture was gone.

my little cousin kaitlyn came by to hang out and she helped me with the chicken. i made her a little assembly line -- plate of chicken, bowl of milk, plate of bread crumbs, clean plate -- so she just had to follow the line and get the chicken ready for cooking. she was a great help. :)

this recipe was light and tasty for my family, and i really wanted the salad the next day for lunch, but it was gone. i think i'll make it again soon and keep the vegetables and croutons in the fridge to eat for lunch throughout the week. the vinaigrette recipe i used from the book is so freaking good, too. i've been making double batches of it and keeping it in the fridge so i can have it whenever i want. i never want another kind of dressing again. balsamic & lime forever.

i'm still enjoying cooking. although, my mother is relying more and more heavily on me to cook. when did we switch roles?! ;)

love&food.
krq.

pistol annies + recent purchases

if you remember my last post about the pistol annies, you know i was already obsessed with them before their debut album was even released. well, it came out tuesday, i bought it immediately with kyle's itunes card her got from the coinstar machine (who knew you could even do that?!) and i've pretty much only listened to them for two days, and i don't plan on switching anytime soon. why are they so great, you ask? well...

1. their sound is true country music and i love it.

2. number two is called "lemon drop." i mean, really? how much more perfect for me can you get?

3. it's miranda freaking lambert and the other two girls, ashley monroe and angaleena presley, have incredible voices, too, it's almost too much greatness for one band.

4. their songs talk about real life things and the music they are creating is sad, witty, devastating, beautiful and true.

my friend chris told me once that he loves it when you get an album and the single that you already loved that was released prior to the album ends up not even being the greatest song on the album. this is so true for this album -- "hell on heels" is so great, but then i got the whole album and every single song is just as good or better. it's so freaking great.

some of my favorite lyrics:

"my life is like a lemon drop, i'm suckin' on the bitter to get to the sweet part. i know there are better days ahead." -- lemon drop

"now everyone in this place knows i didn't wait, 'cause i was wearin' beige." -- beige

"the first time i felt it, i was only 16, and he kissed me underneath the chinaberry tree." -- boys from the south

also the song "housewife's prayer" is so beautiful and heartbreaking. it is written from the point of view of a housewife who is at her wit's end and looking for a way out. i'm not sure why i'm so drawn to sad songs, but i really do love them, and the voices of these annies are beautifully haunting and perfect for these type of dark songs.

if you like miranda lambert or great country music or just great music period, you should really check out this album. seriously.

--------------

i also wanted to discuss some of my new favorite purchases. even though i'm poor, i bought a few things on the cheap at target this week. and i love them all.

1. awesome blue nail polish

i bought this and completely underestimated the crazy-awesomeness of it. i almost splurged (for me) and bought a bottle of essie nail polish that was this exact color -- seriously, like the exact shade -- then found this bottle of $3 revlon brand and bought it instead. it's called "first class" and it is amazing. plus it's the super fast drying kind. they were smooth and dry in no time. the color is this weird bright blue that i think is perfect for this last stretch of summer.

2. brown leather strappy heels

the only reason i was even in the shoe section at target was because my sister asked me to pick up these rainboots for her. and then i saw that there were a ton of cute shoes on clearance. i saw these and thought "oh those are cute," then saw the price and thought "OMG THOSE ARE SO CUTE." are you ready for this? $7.48. seriously. i have no other words.

3. boots bath stuff

i am obsessed with boots brand. my friend kristin bought me their cleansing milk a few years ago for christmas and i love it. it smells so fresh and makes my face feel super soft. i bought their lemon body wash and lavender & rosemary body lotion this week and they both smell wonderful. neither smell is too flowery or sweet -- just fresh. i love it.

i have several posts lined up, so keep checking back. there's so much going on and i'm excited to tell you all about it.

love.

krq.

cooking with gp: part three

my little brother, casey, is a vegetarian. he has been since he was about 12, and he chose this because he doesn't want to eat animals of any kind -- he says "if it has a mom, i'm not eating it." when he told our parents this, they were less than enthused, but i tried to stick up for him and explain that he might be young, but he can decide what he wants to eat. my argument was that they weren't going to let someone make them eat something they disliked, so why should they expect him to eat things he doesn't want to eat? however, as a 17-year-old boy (thank god, with a fast metabolism), he now eats weird stuff that usually grosses me out. like dorito sandwiches. there's no meat in it, but the amount of preservatives and stuff in some of the things he eats worries me. i'm not saying i don't love me a couple of oreos every now and then, but come on. dorito sandwiches? anyway...in an attempt to make sure he eats something better for him, and maybe will leave the ranch dressing behind, i wanted to make a dinner he would like that was sans meat and still delicious and healthy. my friend christopher is also a vegetarian, so i texted our group and said i was making dinner. i knew he would like it, plus i like cooking for people these days. kristin and chris showed up to eat, and chris brought the beer. score.

the menu:

arugula salad with mozzarella & slow roasted tomato crostini

homemade veggie burgers with avocado & slow roasted tomato

baked sweet potato fries

lemon thyme soda (thanks, kjd!)

beer (thanks, chris!) (not for casey)

i'm not sure if i even need to explain any of this. i mean, doesn't that all sound incredibly delicious?

the crostinis were totally easy and i made them as soon as i got home from the store, so we could munch on something while we cooked. you just slice up a baguette, drizzle with olive oil and top with some mozzarella cheese (the recipe says smoked, but kroger was out. regular did just fine). put it in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted, then top with slow roasted tomatoes and salt and pepper. the slow roasted tomatoes are something gwyneth uses in several recipes. basically all you do is slice up some tomatoes on a cookie sheet, put some olive oil and salt on top, and roast them in the oven at 275 for a few hours until they are all broken down and a little crispy. so good. the recipe says to serve these crostinis with an arugula salad with oil and balsamic vinegar. i also had some spinach so i threw that in the mixed salad, too. everyone ate so many of these that we were almost full once the burgers were ready.

gwyneth's veggie burger recipe consists of onions, garlic, cumin, black beans and brown rice. i had a little issue with the cumin, but after eating them this time, i know they would have been even better if i had just went ahead and spent the crazy $7 on the cumin. next time. once the mixture is ready and cooled enough to handle, you start making patties and use a little flour on each side to sort of hold it together. then, just grill it like a burger. amazing. as i was making the "meat" for the burgers, i thought it just looked like a huge mess. but then once i started making the patties and it actually worked, i was amazed. this was a miracle. i just made burgers out of beans.

the sweet potato fries aren't gwyneth's recipe, but i'm sure she knows how to make them. they're super easy and delicious. the worst part about them is how difficult they are to chop, so i had my brother on sweet potato duty while i made the other stuff. the last time i chopped them, i had a blister on my finger for two weeks. wimp. after they are chopped, i just add a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper and pop them in the oven until they are cooked through. sweet potatoes are one of kyle's most favorite things, so these were especially for him.

kyle made some more of his lemon thyme soda with his soda maker from the caltriders. it's so refreshing -- and awesome that he can make it himself. i'm excited to try out more flavors!

after we finished, my sister made some of those break-apart cookies for dessert -- easy and yummy. we sat around the table, eating, drinking and listening to florence + the machine. it was a fun, impromptu gathering, and i really loved cooking for everyone! what's next, gwyneth?

love&food.

krq.

cooking with gp: part two. the french toast edition.

let me just start off by saying that french toast and i have sort of a bad relationship. here's the story.

kyle and i had been dating probably a year, not very long in the grand scheme of things (almost 6 years now). it had snowed about a foot, so school was either cancelled or we were on break or something. no one else was home, so i asked him to come over so i could make him breakfast and we could be all warm and cozy inside my house with the cold snow falling outside. how romantic. (i'm actually sort of gagging at myself right now. also, why would i ask him to drive to my house if there was so much snow on the ground?!) anyway, he drove over, and when he got there the disaster had already started. i had decided to make us some french toast, which i had seen my mother do one million times. i knew what ingredients i needed and all of that, but along the way, something went awry. the bread was somehow completely burned up on the outside, but still raw with egg mixture on the inside. and it kept. on. happening. piece after piece of bread basically committed suicide once it hit the pan. kyle and i just laughed about it (i may have cried a bit, but who remembers?) and once i'd used up about half a loaf of bread, we gave up and i think just ate cereal or something. a long time after, i figured i had just got the pan too hot too quickly and the bread didn't have enough time to cook all the way through. and however hilarious this story is to us now, it forever set the standards with my french toast-making abilities. i don't think i have tried it since then, just because every time i would mention it, kyle would look afraid for his life.

so, when i saw this recipe in gwyneth's new cookbook, i kept thinking about wanting to try it. in last night's state of insomnia (thank you, weird medication), i thought about it a lot -- so much that i almost just got up from bed at 5 a.m. when i was tossing and turning just to make some. but when i finally did get out of bed around 8, i knew i had to try it. homegirl didn't sleep well, so she needs something good for breakfast. please and thank you.

gwyneth's challah french toast calls for some things i didn't have, so i just used what was available for now. i didn't have challah or brioche bread, which would undoubtedly make this the best french toast ever, but hopefully next time i'll have some brioche from my dear friend christopher. (shamelessly asking) but for now, i just used some good whole wheat bread. also, i didn't have coarse sugar, so i just used regular, and instead of a vanilla bean i just used extract, which the recipe says works well, too. and i didn't have real vermont maple syrup or a banana. so basically i had nothing that she said i needed and just made some other form of french toast, but whatev. here we go.

i made very sure not to get the pan too hot too quickly. don't want a repeat of 2007. i melted the butter, made the egg mixture, dipped the bread and placed the two pieces into the pan. i sprinkled each side with some sugar while it was cooking and carefully watched so that i wouldn't get distracted and let it burn. after flipping and testing the bread to see if it was ready, i heated up some regular maple syrup in the microwave and plated my breakfast. i did add a bit of cinnamon to mine, too, since i didn't have everything else i needed and since i love cinnamon on pretty much anything.

the end result was more than satisfying and completely comforting after a restless night filled with half-sleeping, worrying, weird dreams and a thunderstorm in which i walked outside in at 3 a.m. to roll up my car windows. the bread was toasted but soft and fluffy, and the vanilla extract made the bread the perfect amount of sweetness. i definitely will try this again when i have all the actual ingredients i need. maybe i'll even try to make it for kyle, if he'll let me. thanks again, gwyneth. so far, your book has not disappointed.

love&food.

krq.

cooking with gp: part one

i'm in rare form today.

i woke up fairly early, had breakfast and my meds i'm on for this crazy spine thing, then actually started doing stuff, rather than wallow in my bed because i'm freaked out about "doing too much."

i caught up on reading some blogs i love, cleaned up the kitchen and the bathroom a bit, read a bunch of stuff about food i don't know how to make, made a list, worked on my article for sweet lemon mag (watch for updates!), took a shower and made myself some lunch. look at me, being (kind of) an adult.

anyway -- the point of this whole post is to talk about food, so let's get to it. it could be because i've had to spend way too much time at home, but i have really wanted to cook. like, a lot. it's good i want to learn to cook now, seeing as how i set off the smoke alarm in our savannah apartment every other day. oops.

a few weeks ago, my dear friend brooke showed me her new fave cookbook, gwyneth paltrow's "my father's daughter," and of course, i fell in love with it, too. i scored it at border's going out of business sale and now all i want to do is make every single thing in it. literally. even stuff i normally wouldn't want, like fish tacos. i want to make them anyway. i mean, look at them.

last night, i made gwyneth's (first name basis because we're bffs) "seasonal crumble" using some blackberries and raspberries. delishhhh. kyle and my little brother, casey, loved it. my brother's words were "kayla, i want to eat this forever." it's warm and gooey and crumbly and not too sweet or heavy, and it's perfect with a scoop of no-added-sugar vanilla ice cream. the thing is -- berries are expensive and this girl doesn't have much cash flow. so i opted for frozen berries. so of course, if this thing was delicious with frozen berries, just imagine how good it would be with fresh ones! i especially like these recipes because for the most part, they are really healthy, and since, according to my doctor, i can't really do any extreme working out for a while, it's important that i continue to eat very healthy stuff. i'm not going to be burning 600-800 calories doing turbofire for a while, so whatever i eat needs to be great for me — and so far, all of these look good for me and delicious.

it tasted so good i almost had it for breakfast this morning. but i didn't even though i wanted to. tonight, i'm going to try out gwyneth's tomato soup and turkey blt's for dinner. eek! so excited. i'm hoping to convert my family to turkey bacon instead of pork. we'll see. i'll post pictures with the results of my newest culinary adventures. i'm not sure i should even be allowed to use the word culinary since i'm so bad in the kitchen. hopefully i don't set off any smoke alarms.

love&food.

krq.

one long week

this past week has been a long one, for sure. i'm definitely not one to post pictures of my battle scars from an unfortunate fender bender or other such things with captions that might include "check out my stitches," but i will fill you in on what's been going on. i'll try to be brief. (just read over this. not so brief. sorry)

on friday the 5th, the last day of my (otherwise) relaxing vacation to the outerbanks, i started feeling this weird numb sensation on the skin of my stomach. i brushed it off at first as me wearing a wet bathing suit all day or something and went on about my business. on saturday, the feeling had crept into my back and again wrote it off as spending so much time in the car driving home from the beach. then on sunday, it was in some of my fingers. after taking an ibuprofen, a B12 vitamin, working out to try to circulate some feeling and really starting to freak out, i finally went to urgent care, where by the way, they just tell you everything you already searched on webmd. they ordered blood work and sent me home, which was ok, i just needed someone to tell me what to do next.

monday, i had the blood work done, went home for a nap because i was emotionally drained, and had planned to meet kjd at border's for clearance books, when a couple of people told me i should go to the ER, a fact i had already been denying myself. after a quick text to kyle to fill him in, i was on my way to the hospital. not exactly how i'd planned to spend my night/week.

after almost 12 hours in the ER, i finally was admitted to a room where kyle and i shared a sad little bed and tried to find a position to sleep so that my IV wouldn't be in the way.

the next day, tuesday, was the hardest, because they weren't really telling me anything. probably because they didn't know anything yet. it was mostly filled with different doctors coming by and nurses telling me to take this, eat this, blah blah blah. but they did an MRI, which was by far the scariest, longest two hours of my life. yeah. two hours. i almost squeezed that little panic button more than once, but i made it through somehow, through lots of praying and counting. small spaces. loud noises. really hard board, on which i had to lay completely still. horrible. after that, i waited a lot.

a neurologist told me there was a small spot on my spinal cord. a neurosurgeon told me it could be inflammation or a tumor, and they only way to tell for sure was to go in and get it, which is too dangerous to just go in and do for no good reason. so on wednesday, they started treating me for inflammation with steroids through my IV for three days. the drip took an hour each time and made my mouth taste exactly like pennies washed down with hairspray. yum. that's how you ruin a banana bread muffin, i'll tell you that.

on thursday morning, i had a spinal tap. they numbed me (thank god), which was the worst part. it feels like a swarm of bees. then they took out some fluid in my spine to check for viruses and other stuff, but i won't know the results of that for a while. but because my weird symptoms happened so quickly, and since i don't seem to have any other symptoms, they are sure it's some sort of inflammation for now. but the not knowing for sure part really messes with your mind. after the spinal tap, my back got really sore, which they say is normal. so they gave me a lortab. then i got some bad stomach pains and thought i was going to pass out, but it went away and i was ok (thank god, again).

the next day, friday, i continued my steroids and talked to doctors as they came in and out to ask my the same series of questions over and over, and answer my questions over and over. but they told me i would go home that day. peace out people! they told me to come back on the 25th for another MRI to follow up with the spot and see if there is any change, and i am on oral steroids, a heartburn pill, and a baby aspirin for the next couple of weeks to see what happens. so far, there isn't much change, but a little, which i guess is better than nothing. so we'll see.

they've told me to "take it easy" and not lift anything too heavy, work out, get too hot or overexert myself in any way. basically, this makes me feel like i have to be lazy. which sometimes is good, but right now is bad. i'm so restless and bored, but at the same time afraid to do too much. this whole thing really screws with your head. i woke up sweaty today and instantly thought i'd gotten too hot and would irritate my already irritated spinal cord. i know this sounds so ridiculous, but these are the types of things that run through my mind.

other than the whole being afraid thing, i feel like i've done pretty good. i mean, considering i've never been in the hospital for more than a few hours before for anything and that they took my blood 14 times while i was there. literally. (i'm wearing a sweater in august because my arms look like i shoot up.) i've tried to keep a positive attitude, because i know if i let myself start freaking out, it's all over. and honestly, i've had so much support and encouragement and love this past week through all of this, if i started feeling negatively about it, i felt straight guilt in return because of all the people around me helping me through this. so many people came by to see me. and i never had to ask for anything. they just offered. it puts everything in a new perspective when you're the one people are reaching out to. i mean, i never had to go more than an hour alone in that room. kyle stayed with me every night, even when he had to work. granted he enjoyed pushing the buttons on my bed a little too much, but nevertheless. ;) my family and friends were there constantly visiting and talking to me. people brought me food, magazines, snacks, sushi, chocolate, flowers, pens and paper, nail polish, books — everything i needed to feel more at home. really, it was just business as usual, except i was in st. mary's room 6123 instead of the little back bedroom of 2526 5th street road.

however, i was very stubborn about staying in that room. i refused to shower the first 36 hours even though i knew my hair desperately needed washing, and i never turned on the tv in that room. not once. i didn't want to make myself at home because it wasn't my home. i didn't belong there. but with the love around me, i at least felt a little better about the whole thing. you really don't know how scary a stay at the hospital can be until you have to do it yourself, even if you are able to sit and talk to your friends and paint your nails while you're there.

as my family would say, i'm "not out of the woods yet," but i have hope that things will get better soon. i'm still taking it easy and trying to recover and praying this all gets back to normal, but staying positive is more key than ever. i just want so badly to feel back to my normal self.

favorite beverage from christoper :)

trashy mags from sarina :)

kristin & chris keeping me company :)

nail polish from krisitn :)

taking it easy...aka...boring.

and to all of you who stopped by or texted or called or facebooked or just sent out some positive vibes — thank you. you'll never know how much you all mean to me.

here's to getting better.

love.

krq.

my best friend's wedding part II

as promised, here are some pictures from breana and jarrod's wedding. it was beautiful and fun and perfectly laid back...just like the couple.

doing her own hair. true woman power. :)

my maid of honor gift :)

ariana :)

my new boyfriend, lake :)

jarrod hanging lanterns and breana filling vases with water

working on getting programs ready, designed by kyle j. dyer :)

flowers by me, samantha russell and zach roberts. but mostly zach.

bride and flower girl :)

crying listening to zach sing lol

cake!

and here is a picture of just a few of the couple's posse after the wedding. :)

zach, krisitn, chris, me, kyle :)

the wedding really was beautiful and a fun day for everyone. and i may be baised, but seriously, i have some of the prettiest friends ever. i mean, look at them. ;)

i have some stuff going on right now with my health, which is kinda scary. but i have so much support around me i feel extra guilty when i feel myself getting down. i am very thankful for all of my friends and family. i am so very lucky. and here's to staying positive.

get well flowers from with an unsigned card, but i'm about 99.9% sure it's breana :)

love.

krq.