hello to you new readers and to you old ones!

in the last few months this blog has had increase of views and readers. i figured it was due time for a get to know you post. i want to you guys to get to know me as well as, i want to get to know you newbies, and you oldies too!

in order for this to work i will post 6 facts about me below. i then would love for you to post 6 random facts about you in a comment or email. since, i can't personally know all of you i would love to get to know you guys a little bit this way.

6 things about me:

1. i was born + raised in california. but, love utah so much and dont miss ca that much.

2. little kids often mistake me for their mother at the store or mall. always so funny, when a little kid comes up to me to try to hold my hand or something. the mothers are always so embarrassed. haha.
 
3. i am a worry wart. i am constantly worrying about things. sometimes to the point i feel sick.

4. if dan wasn't allergic to cats we would so have one. huge cat lover right here!

5. we knew we were going to get married after 1 week together. when you know, you know!

6. i have a serious love affair with pasta. like no joke guys. give me a bowl of pasta and im a happy girl. 

now, it's your turn. in a comment or in an email {abcde.the.blog@gmail.com} tell me 6 things about you! i really am looking forward to getting to know you all. be sure to leave your blog link, so i can check your corner of the internets out! 

ready, set, go....
xoxo

what i'm pinning

 one//two//three//four

why can't a girl pin some baby things without people hounding her about being pregnant? guys, i am not pregnant. i simply pin things for future reference. i don't mean to get all cranky on you guys. i just am sick of people asking, even to my face this has happened more than once. {are you fa reals, way to make me feel good about myself?!}.

trust me, when i get pregnant i will make a proper announcement! 
&& there's my rant on this snowy tuesday! 

pin with me here.
 xoxo

bits from the weekend

+ tried a new recipe and it wasn't that great. i was bummed out to point i almost cried about it haha. im such a baby!

+ friday night we had a little date night in, dinner and a movie in a fort. it was the best. we watched hot rod {which is what we watched on our first date} so fun! 

+ saturday day we went and had our selves a little fish taco date for a late lunch. do you live in the salt lake area? go to lonestar taqueria, like now!

+ sunday we got together with my family to celebrate that cute baby girl up there for her blessing day. i love that baby cousin of ours, she is such a sweet addition to our family. um, how cute is she?  can we talk about those cheeks? they are the best.

+ my cousin annie from what the helvey gave me the cutest necklaces ever. thanks buffy! see her etsy shop here.

+ watched the oscars {end of it due to walking dead being on and hubs not forking over the remote} and totally cried when gorgeous jennifer lawerence won and when ben affleck was giving his speech after he won. gosh, im a baby!

this weekend turned out to be a pretty good one, even it though it snowed. did you do anything fun this weekend? do tell!  one more thing, can you believe february is almost over. say what!!

happy monday, loves. hope you all have a good week!!
xoxo

some sunday inpsiration

 

what a great reminder of our saviors love. my darling cousin annie shared this today on her facebook. it was exactly what i needed to hear. don't you love that? when you see something and it's speaking directly to you.

thank you buffy for sharing this and i hope this can inspire you today as well. if you would like to read more about what we believe click the beliefs tab or go here.

have a happy sunday! 

xoxo

just some favorite instagramers

 @andreabrionne//@taza

 @meg_ham//@antlersandroses

 @lexzurcher//@aleksslocum

 @nieniedialouges//@kendieveryday

@kirstennoellew//@lauren_brimley

above are 10 of my favorite instagrams to follow. you guys should follow them too, they are pretty awesome sauce. they're instagram names are below the photos! && since i know i am not the only one who is addicted to instagram. who are your favorite instagrams to follow? psssttt...you can follow me via insta @erykaann.

happy weekend my loves. hope you all stay warm if you are in my neck of the woods. they say it's gonna be a cold one. brrr! {is it spring yet?}

xoxo

it's the little things

the past few months to a year i have really been focusing on the little things in my life that bring me happiness. 

on this certain day it was the sunshine coming in through the blinds, even though it was only for an hour or less. it was also the vibrant color of my valentine tulips blooming that made me happy. 

i am the only one craving spring and warmer weather oh so bad? i am ready to not have to bundle up in 15 layers. {not really 15...but you know!}. until then i will cherish the beauty around me. even if it's the beauty of the snow covered mountains here in utah. 
 

xoxo

anniversary photo session

a few weeks ago we had our pictures taken by ashley from ashley eliza photography. it was so fun. i just love ashley and i am so glad i can call her a real life friend! i am in love with these photos and can't wait to frame some. i wanted to get some new pictures of us before our 2 year anniversary, which is coming up in march. phew time is flying by! i loved how she captured our personalities. she is pretty is dang talented!

thanks so much ashley! 

xoxo

life via instagram

valentine treats//cece girl//dan hanging out with cece//valentine nails//my love got me tulips for vday//get in my belly//gorgeous tulips//valentine date feet//hubs took me to see safe haven on valentine's-so good!//beautiful funeral for dan's grandpa//nieces sleep over//saturday is was 40 degrees and felt like 60. we busted the sunnies out//cute girls//took the nieces to monster jam//so excited//got our pictures from ashley-stay tuned tomorrow for more

just a few instagrams from lately. did you see safe haven yet? lets chat. i freaking loved it! 

xoxo

{follow me on insta @erykaann}

wedding photography giveaway!!

Hi beautiful readers! I have something really exciting to share with you today. So exciting I am posting twice in one day. If you have been a long time reader of this blog, you may have seen our engagement photos and our wedding photos which were taken by my cousin Val from Valory Jean Photography. 

Well, Val is doing one amazing giveaway right now. She is giving away a FREE WEDDING. Yes, you read that right. A wedding! 

Your special day is something you have dreamed about since you were little, and your wedding photos will be something you cherish forever. I know for me personally my wedding photos are one of my favorite things. Val did such an amazing job capturing the special moments that day.

{examples of her work. see more here on her site!}

Are you engaged and live in Utah? Or do you know someone who is engaged and lives in Utah? {she can't travel right now she has a new baby girl so, it is a Utah only giveaway!} Then this is for you. To enter simply follow the instructions on this photo below: 

To just review. To enter you must: 

1. Share this photo on your Timeline on Facebook {to share the photo visit her Facebook. www.facebook.com/valoryjeanphotography}

2. Email Val with the following info: Your names, A photo of you and your fiance {to be used if you are a finalist}, your wedding date, your wedding venue and your LOVE story. 

3. Send the info in #2 to Val at valoryjeanphotography@gmail.com 

Entries must be in by 11pm on March 7th!!!!

If you have any questions please email Val at valoryjeanphotography@gmail.com. Good Luck and stay tuned for the finalists/more info once they are announced!! 
xoxo

You can find Valory Jean Photography here:

Blog//Facebook

will you be my valentine >>> reveal day

A few weeks ago Kay and I thought up this fun blogger swap for valentine's and we had such an awesome turn out for it. Not sure what it was/is? Basically, bloggers signed up and then we're paired with a secret blogger. They were to send that blogger a few goodies all in secret....it was so much fun! If you didn't get to sign up for this swap. We may do another sometime! Anyways....

Today is the is the big reveal day. If you participated in this swap please blog about who they had//what they sent them as well as blog about who had you//what you received. After you do that simply, link it up below and check out what others got! 

I had the lovely Corina from Corina's Corner. I know this girl through a friend and it was so fun getting her in this swap. I had the best time finding things for her. She said she loved the color blue and I kind of went with it. I'm a sucker for a color scheme!

 
dish towels-aren't they adorbs?//a cute card//magentic note pad-can never have too many//rubber ducky//bubble bath-figured she would love it since she is preggers//not pictured some cute stickers

My secret blogger valentine was Kayla from Close Encounters. This girl sure spoiled me, she sent me some awesome stuff. You better believe I ate those skittles first. Thanks so much Kayla! xoxox

cute burlap sack//nail polish//candy//a face mask and a sweet note

Thank you to everyone who signed up for this fun Valentine swap. We hope you loved it and enjoyed your secret bloggers!

Love, 
K + E
XOXO

happy love day

while looking through these photos i am flooded with memories i have shared with this guy. some make me laugh, some make cry with joy, and all of them make me smile. he is constantly reminding me why i feel in love with him, even if he doesnt' know he is doing it. i feel so lucky to have this guy as my husband. i love you babes!! 

wishing you all a happy valentine's day!

xoxo

an example of love

this photo above is of my dad's parents. i believe this was taken before they were married. almost 60 years ago {they will celebrate 60 years in december}. look how cute they are!

the story of them meeting goes a little like this {thanks aunt dianne for helping me!} grandma was selling tickets to a dance and grandpa was buying tickets to said dance. he then asked her to the dance, right on the spot after just meeting her. && that was it. so cute right? guess you could say he was inspired. these two have always been an example to me of how a marriage should be. 

they have had their share of trials in their almost 60 years of marriage. from, infertility, health issues, raising several children through the miracle of adoption and everyday marriage trails. they have even served 5 missions for our church together. even missing several of their grand-children's births. it's okay because they were serving the lord together and blessing our family from afar.

i have many memories of spending time with them when i was younger. my parents are divorced and have been since i was little. so, i spent many weekends being shuttled around. my grandparents were often the ones who picked me up and would take me to my dad. at the time i didn't really appreciate those times. thinking back on it, i loved them. i got to have many conconversations with both of them about life topics. i have fun memories of baking with grandma, and learning about the gospel from grandpa. 

as i got older they would teach me about marriage and how to have a good one. when dan and i got engaged i called them to tell them and they both started to cry. they kept telling me how proud of me they were and how excited they were i had found a young man to take me to the temple.

they have are and have always been such a great example to me and our family. i feel so blessed to have them in my life! 
 

in honor of valentine's day tomorrow, i just felt like i needed to share a little about these cute grandparents of mine. they are a great example of true love.

d.i.y >>> glitter canvas

today i am sharing this d.i.y over on we&serendipity. it's pretty awesome!
have a glitter filled day! && i may be giving away a glitter canvas too!

xoxo

product review >>> glasses usa

It wasn't til recently I started to embrace being a four eyes and having to wear glasses to see. {if Im not wearing my contacts....which I usually am}. I come to love glasses and am always on the look out for cute ones. Anyways....

When GlassesUSA.com contacted me a few weeks ago about reviewing some glasses for them. I was all over it. Let me tell you they are amazing and have a huge variety of frames. Prescription, sunglasses, and non-prescription.  I had the hardest time choosing one but, with their nifty virtual mirror feature it made it easier. You simply upload your own photo in and you can see what the frames will look like on you!

After lots of thinking I finally decided on these Glasses: The Dune Black. They are pretty awesome, and I love the look of them. Not to mention they arrived super fast and GlassesUSA.com was a pleasure to work with. They were super helpful in answering questions. If you are in the market for some new prescription glasses or you want to yourself some non-prescription eyeglasses head on over to GlassesUSA.com and get yourself some!  

&& GlassesUSA.com is even giving you readers of abcde 10% your orders by using the code BLOG10 at checkout. Now get your booties over there and buy glasses! 

{glassesusa.com sent me this product to review. but these are mine own words!}

just some highlights of life....

{follow me via instagram @erykaann}

some highlights of life lately: 

+ double date nights with the merkley's {kyle, stacy and maddison} 

+ snow and lots of it. can i just say how over it i am??

+ finally getting rid of my roots 

+ realizing one of my little brother's who is 12 is almost taller than me

+ becoming obsessed with baby lips by maybelline 

+ finally seeing zero dark thrity-guys, it was so good but, very intense 

+ celebrating my little sister's 6th birthday 

+ trying new recipes with my love 

+ embracing the little things in life that make us happy 

+ a wicked awesome blog design {thanks kay!}

+ slowly regaining the ability to hear out of my right ear 

wishing you all a happy monday! 

xoxo

ps. i am over here today talking about our wedding!

what i'm pinning

1//2//3//4//5//6//7//8//9

just a few of my favorite pins of recent. you can pin with me here. leave your pinterest name in a comment and ill pin with you! 

xoxo

guest post >>> imma walking fashion crime

Hey guys...have you seen this cute new blogger Elizabeth. Well, she is darling and guess what? She is over here telling you all about her. Thanks for taking over for me Elizabeth! 

Yo my fine-feathered friends!

First off...there are two things that you should probably know about me:

Number 1: I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall & Number 2:  Imma homewrecker & outfit obsesser The kind of obsessed where I fall asleep at night running through every article of clothing I own and imagining what it would look like on my bodacious 5'10" body. {homewrecker part...not so true...please, I have standards} I LOVE outfits, shoes, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, watches, tights...you name it, I'm obsessed! I have to say though my favorite part of an outfit is the end result. The feeling that I can take on the world one sexy outfit at a time is irreplacable.

(P.S. Can you tell I love my purple tights??) HUGE thanks to Eryka for having me and please come stop by my blog and check out more outfits!

a little love before love day

{photography by ashley eliza}

this guy.

he loves me even im when dramatic

&& i love that we can be together forever. 

i love you, babes! 

xoxo

photo an hour

8 am//wake up & take my vitamins 

9 am//do a little blog reading

10 am//throw the kitchen rugs in the wash

11 am//finally shower and get ready for the day

12 pm//lunch time-mac n cheese with a hot dog {dont judge}

1 pm//paint nails 

2 pm//finally open the blinds to admire the snow

3 pm//start a new grocery list 

4 pm//turn on the twinkle lights

5 pm//wait for daniel to come home

6 pm//friends come over for dinner 

7 pm// eat some cupcakes stacy made

8 pm//boys play mario kart while maddison "plays" too while i cut stacy's hair

9 pm//dance party with maddison

10 pm//bed time for the hubby 

ever since lauren from the former blog busy bee lauren posted a photo an hour like over a year ago. i have been wanting to do a photo an hour. well, last thursday i finally did it. it was so much fun but, yet hard to think of things to photograph! 

this day was way more eventful then usual. we had friends coming over for dinner with their little girl. we laughed, played games, ate, and had a dance party with maddison. such a fun day/night! 

have you done one before? did you like it? did you find it difficult to find things to photograph?  

xoxo