Goodbye...

:(

As of tonight, this blog will no longer be in use. But do not fret, because I am happy to announce that we will have a new blog! You can find it at thebutterflypapers.blogspot.com.

Some of you may have noticed some changes to our little blog recently. Even though I haven't been very good about posting lately... I've been wanting to clean up and streamline things a bit for some time. Finally, I just decided the best way to simplify would be to start from scratch, with a simpler base.

I was also thinking about the meaning behind this blog, what I want to accomplish, themes I often post on, etc. and I decided what we needed was a complete re-branding.

So here we are. We've loved having you here, and if you would like to keep following us, please follow us at the new address.  And hopefully, those of you who couldn't comment before, will be able to. Everything from this blog has been exported there, so I haven't lost your precious comments. 

So goodbye for now. But I hope to see you soon!

*amber*

So This Is Love

Two days ago, I was having a really bad day. I came home from school, and collapsed on the love sac, completely drained and wanting to bawl my eyes out. It was one of those days. Seth snuggled up to me and did his best to comfort me, but realized I was really down. He left for a bit, and came back with... Cheesecake and Flowers!!!

In case you didn't know, cheesecake is my one true weakness. It's my favorite food. Not dessert. Food. And getting flowers is my favorite thing in the world! 

He gave me two white roses, a red rose, a couple sprays of sweet purple waxflowers, and a stem with three gorgeous lilies (my favorite flower)! Only one is open in this picture, but the others are starting to bloom! This picture looks a little funny, because we didn't have a small enough vase to hold them all together, but they really are so gorgeous.

Yes, this husband of mine is amazing. Totally brightened my day and made me feel like the most special girl in the world. My heart melted. (I'm sure that was partially due to the mass amount of cheesecake that I consumed.)

* * *

The next day, we learned how to wrap bouquets for my floral design class. So I came home with even more flowers! 

I chose the colors to go with the ones Seth had already given me, including more of the purple waxflowers (the small light purple filler flowers around the center of the arrangment). Since I'd loved receiving flowers so much the day before, I decided to give this bouquet to him. 

Sigh... Isn't he so cute??

They smell SO good.

I put all the flowers in together, and... voila! A huge beautiful bouquet! 

Now every time I walk through my kitchen, I catch the amazing scent this thing puts off. Especially the sweet brooms (the small lavender flowers on the left.) I swear, it makes me feel so alive and cheerful!

So technically, this is not the best arrangement ever. There isn't really a focal point because there is so much going on. It could be the lily, or the roses, or the gerbera. But I just love it. Since the color pallet is pretty monochromatic, it highlights the unique textures of all the different flowers, and the crazy mixture makes it look less stiff and contrived. Mostly, I love it because it was made my by sweetheart and me. 

We love each other. 

*amber*

Inspiration Everywhere

So last night we were making tuna and cheese melts for dinner and Seth asked me if I remembered the "power of cheese" commercials. No. I didn't. He was shocked, so we had to get on Youtube to watch some while we ate. We watched this one where a politician said he didn't like cheese and everyone was horrified, then BAM. The mornings paper with the shocking headline slams to the ground.

Beautiful right?? Ok, it's just a stack of newspapers, but what I saw was a beautiful newsprint pillow. Maybe it's just the journalist in me, but I think a pillow like this would be so charming. Made out of newsprint fabric, and tied with some simple string. This one's going in the future inspiration files. 

As for a newsprint fabric, how about this one from Etsy? Covered in totally iconic images and headlines. Look, there's even Audrey up in the left corner! *sigh* I love her. A lot. This fabric would be stunning.

Well, it's time for me to go to work, but I hope you have a fantastic day. Look around you today, and be inspired by something. Anything. As *ahem* cheesy as it might sound, I am constantly finding myself inspired by everyday things around me. I truly believe you don't have to spend a lot of money for beauty. God has placed it all around us. Just open your eyes.

*amber*

Hellooooo Out There!

Oh hey, it's me. You know, that one blogger who loves blogging/blog stalking and always has cool ideas for posts but then feels guilty that she hasn't updated the past month (or five's) happenings yet? So then she feels like it would be lame to post about something meaningless and random when she's doing such a horrible job documenting her adventurous married life? No? That's ok, I've almost forgotten I exist too.

So... here I am. Just thought I'd pop in to say hi. As mentioned, there are so many things I feel I already should have put up here, but I just haven't yet! All the way back from October. (Truthfully, probably long before that, but that's about the length of my memory right now.)

Someday, I hope to update on, at least, major happenings during these past several months. Does anyone know, is there a way to insert blog posts into your blog under past dates so they look like they've been there all along and I don't feel like a nerd putting up our Halloween costumes in February? But, no promises. I think every time I say I'm going to catch up on here, I never do. We'll just see how things go I guess.

So here's what's going on now. Seth graduated from BYU (finally!!!) and looking for a job. That's all. As you can probably guess, his days are action packed...

I'm Still in school, and doing pretty well so far in the semester. I'm totally staying up on my workload for the first time since I've been at BYU! I submitted my applications to my major last Friday. I'm finishing up the last few steps of the application process tomorrow and next week. So keep me in your prayers and fingers crossed! Maybe try both at the same time? 

I'm also working, and have a million different projects around our house, and bigger projects elsewhere. I'm pretty busy, but doing well so far! (Besides this blasted cold and constant fatigue... go away already!)

On a more exciting note, we went to this fun little place called Slab Pizza on Friday. You literally get a slab of pizza. 1/4 of a twenty inch pizza to be exact. Wow. And the flavors are fantastic! It's just around the block from our house and it may just be our new dinner spot. If you're ever in Provo, GO! It's in the bottom of a gross apartment complex and looks totally dinky, but so worth it, I promise.

Seeee???

Seth got Chicken Club which totally tasted like a chicken club sandwich with lettuce and everything. I got Rosemary Potato with Bacon. Why did I never know about potatoes on pizza? With the olive oil and goat cheese, just let me tell you... incredible.

And finally...

Today, Seth got his diploma in the mail! Yipee!!! Now he's all official and we have to buy a fancy frame so we can display that impressive piece of paper in our future study. I'm so proud of him!  

 :)

Good job sweetheart.

Well, I have a lot to study for, so that's all for now. I'll try to check in every now and then. Maybe. If I get around to it. Until then, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this new year! 

Oh my gosh... when did it become 2011???

*amber*

Christmas Card

I wanted to do Christmas cards this year. But we didn't have time with school and trying to graduate and all. So today I made a Christmas card of what we've been doing for Christmas. Just to make all of you in the snow jealous :)

Actually, I made two. You can pick your favorite.

Ok, sorry to rub it in. But we are really having a wonderful time in sunny Florida. It's been a blast so far and feels like exactly what we've needed. I feel so blessed that we were able to pull this trip off. The memories we've made are so much more precious than any gifts we could have received.

I hope you all have a wonderful time this season, and spend as much time with your loved ones as possible. 

*amber*

Enchanted

Some of you may not know that I started my college career as a dance minor at BYU. Dance has always been an important aspect of my life, but I found the dance program here missing something. If you're a BYU dancer, I have nothing against you. There are many amazingly talented dancers here. The problem was I just didn't feel the sense of artistry that I so love in dance. I didn't feel, in my experience, that any boundaries were being pushed.

That is why I was so delighted when I saw this. It was a collaboration between BYU animation professor Ryan Woodward and dance instructor Kori Wakamatsu.

(Please watch in full screen.)

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

At last! That was beautiful. No, it wasn't the most technical or challenging dance, but it is so refreshing to see someone stepping out of the normal bounds of the art of dance, and taking it to a new medium.

You can read the whole story here.

And here some behind the scenes footage:

Thought of You - Behind the Scenes Preview - ROUGH CUT from Cambell Christensen on Vimeo.

Bravo BYU! You've made me very proud. And inspired.

*amber*

Dear Santa...

For Christmas I want:

1. Long luscious locks.

I miss the feel of my hair whipping in the wind. Like this.

Or this. Actually, if you could just insert my into this picture, I wouldn't mind. The hair, the dress, the cardigan, the scenery... take me there.

Or, if you can't just give me the hair, can you at least make mine grow faster? It takes FOREVER!

2. Cozy sweaters and boots. To keep me warm. 

Like this.

And these.

3. And finally, could you please just slow time down? Or maybe stop it altogether?

I need a good long vacation in Italy. So I can pass my Italian final tomorrow morning! Really, it's not a want, it's a need!

And so I can have time to work on all the projects I have planned in my head. Like making amazing reversible sweater stockings, inspired by these.

And do this to our bedroom wall.

That's all, ok? Simple requests, really. Ready... Go!

*amber*