Not a Struggle!

This post was called "Struggles," but I don't want a pessimistic blog!

Sometimes feelings creep up uninvited.
Like..

I'm starting to really miss our Portland wedding idea. 

I know Utah is better for everyone,

But I never dreamed of a Utah wedding

I also miss my hair.

Why on earth did I cut my hair!? 

I had such long, pretty hair, and I cut it off.

And now I'm getting married.

...and I miss my hair. 

But in the end,
I have to remember that I have a wonderful, wonderful fiance.
He would do and does anything and everything for me.
He loves me sooo much.
I love him more ;).
We're getting MARRIED!
That's an amazing blessing for me!
I get to be with my
sweetheart,
angel,
baby boy
for
FOREVER.

Things are okay :)

My Fair Wedding Part 3

4 months to my wedding....

I spent the last week in Portland with my fiancee planning everything.

Cake -check

Photographer -check

Venue -check

We were really getting things done!

But for some reason, I wasn't feelin' it.

Taylor kept asking if I was positive about Portland.

Duh.

Of course.

Yes.

Positive.

...I'm stubborn.

But I was stressed and miserable the whole time! Some vacation, right?

Engagement teaser; we look awkward, but many more to come.

The day before we left Oregon, we had a serious talk.

Turns out, our dream date, July 28th, happened to fall upon the maintenance closing of the LDS Portland Temple.

Before was too early for him.

After was too late for me!

SO, after a lot of talking we scratched ALL of it and decided to move our wedding to Utah.

Yeah, I know. 

4 months to my wedding and we're starting from scratch.

We can do it, but I need help!

Which Temple?

Manti

Apparently I have a lot of family history here that I didn't even know about! 

OR

Mount Timpanogos

It's really pretty and relatively close.

We have a lot to do, and Taylor is leaving for DC in a few weeks.

Suggestions anyone?

About ANYTHING?

Blessings,

Nikole

Post script: 

My dumb blonde moment in Portland.

Me: "AT&T has a drive through??"

Taylor: "Yep"

Me: "No wonder they're the better phone company..."

Taylor: "Baby...."

Oops. 

Spread the Love

So....typing on my love's phone is a bit difficult, but I'm gonna give a little taste of a post from Portland. 1....share the love! I don't want blog fame....just blog...........................................fame? So, IF you like-a mah blog maybe your friends will too? Maybe? 2..along those same lines, button exchange anyone!?! 3. I love y'all 4.I will be back soon to share Portland stories and pics! 5. Sorry I don't know how to post well via le phone....

Spring On!

Sprrrrrrrrring is here! 

I get to spend my first week of spring in....

Portland! 

Yay! Taylor and I are going up to visit family, plan our wedding, and shop!!!!

What am I looking for?

1.) A long back dress. I LOVE this style! It's so flirty and makes my legs look paretttty good.

2.) A bag. Yeah....I have 0 bags. Nada...zip....

 3.) Crazy, awesome, 20's spring hat

What do you guys think? Any Spring fashion do's or dont's? 

Blessings,

Nikole :)

My Fair Wedding: Part 2

Part 1
Now that I'm engaged, I can really start planning! 

First things first

 where?

The plan is to get married in the Portland LDS Temple and have a reception in a little park about fifteen minutes away

And then honeymoon...

Somewhere?

And a Second Reception!
Where?
I have no idea.....
Because a lot of my family aren't able to come to Portland, or go in the temple, I want the reception to be as nice as possible.

We went to Brick Oven yesterday and discovered that we can get catering for cheap! Yum!
(Not pizza. gross. but pasta!)

Any ideas for a reception in Utah? We don't want to spend a lot, if any, money...and we're happy with outdoors!
...Help?

My Fair Wedding: Part 1

I'm engaged!!!
What??
Lemme tell you the story!

So, yesterday there was a BIG Bridal Fair at Thanksgiving Point. Emily, Nelsie, Jessica, and I went for some "girl time" for a few hours before Taylor was going to meet up with us.That was the plan.

I thought.

We had been there for a few hours, and I got a few texts from Taylor explaining that he was going to lunch with his brother, and then was stuck in traffic. :( It was uber lame.

Throughout the event, there were various contests on a big stage at the front of the barn. At one point, the head lady explained that she was going to call the name of a pre-registered bride, who would compete against her "posse" for a prize! They called a name. No show. Then called the next name.

"Nikole Clayton"

That's me! So I ran up with my friends excited as all get out! We each got a huge ring-pop frozen in ice, and whoever got the most ice off by the time the music stopped would win!

I took a plastic knife and hacked away! My friends were doing an incredibly crappy job, but it was good for me, right?

Finally, after trying to smash it with my chair, I chucked it on the ground as hard as I could! The music stopped. And I had won.

The lady started asking me questions, while they got my prize. I told her I wasn't actually engaged, and tried describing my dream ring when I turned around and there was Taylor.

I went over and kissed him :) I thought he was there because he had finally arrived and saw me on stage...well.....I was wrong. 

Before I knew it, there was Taylor with a microphone telling me how much he loved me.

It all started to make sense...

Luckily, they recorded it because my head was spinning so fast, I can only remember him telling me he loved me and "You had me from 'well hey.'"

Suddenly, he was on one knee.

I nodded! I was too shocked to talk!

And here I am! Engaged to be Mrs. Nikole Rios. :) :D

Oh, and not only did I win the BEST PRIZE EVER, but they gave me...

A GORGEOUS, and GIGANTIC Bouquet,

 a stay at the Thanksgiving Point Hampton Inn,

and 200 mint chocolate truffles!!!!

I love him so much. He's a dream come true...a dream come true times infinity! I can't wait. Any wedding advice or help is always welcome :)

I'm so in love.


I'm so happy.


Best day ever.

Taylor the Hairlor

As much as I would like to say Taylor the tailor, I can't...because....he's not a tailor, but he is really good at hair. Like picking styles! 

He got a haircut yesterday in his hopes to become the star soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, aka CR7. Notice that I did not say become like Cristiano Ronaldo. Anyway, it's called a euro...kinda like a mohawk, fohawk..thingy.

CR7

Luckily, Taylor didn't keep the weird mullet thing.

my favorite pic.

He is so hot!.

A freaking stud is what it is!

Not only did he pick his hair style, he chose my next hair color.

I love it!

Way to go Taylor Hairlor!

My Fair Maybe...

My Fair Lady auditions are today...

I love acting. I love singing. I love dancing. I love it all.

I don't care if I perform for 3,000 screaming people or a silent crowd of 3. I love to perform.

But, alas, I am a busy girl, and my last play was long ago. Okay, not that long, but still!

I miss it. I miss putting on pounds of make-up and singing in front of tons of people, burning lights, itchy costumes, annoying "drama" people, I miss it all.

I'm good at it too! I mean I don't want to brag...but I actually totally do.I've been a dance soloist, singing soloist, small roles, big leads, ensemble...all of it! 

I've even been in the pit orchestra!

So why don't I just audition?

Heavens, it would not be the first time I audition for something on a whim. 

As my friend, Jake, knows I've even decided to audition literally minutes before doing so. Haha and I played my own accompaniment for a pop song!

But I have a lot more life now...in a way. I mean theater used to BE my life, not just a part of it.

And right now, I have a lot going on. 

It's not okay to give up a dream...not often anyway. I'm not going to, but it may just have to be a few more months..maybe even a year before I can return to my love

And you know what? 

That's OKAY!

Because I have new loves now :). One I'm particularly fond of...coughTaylorcough.

And he will always support me no matter what I do.

So, maybe I'll audition for My Fair Lady today...but the chances are slim.

I'd probably miss callbacks anyway.

I can sing without a stage.

Dance without a partner.

And act without an audience.

front center to the right of the two standing :)

And I'm perfectly happy with that.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

As you can see, the title of this post is the first 100 digits of pi that I know from the top of my head! 

I lied.

I don't know why I did, but I did. ....I googled the first 100 digits...anyway, happy Pi day everyone! I love Pi day. I love all special days, because I love celebrating them!

Today's special day started out especially special.

Why? Well I'll tell you a story and illustrate it with detailed, well-crafted, accurate illustrations that took me days to create.

Ahem, 

Once upon a time, there was a young couple very much in love, Princess Nikole and Prince Taylor. (royal for obvious reasons). Prince Taylor was a danger seeking adventurer! He loved to flirt with troublesome situations.

On the morning of Pi Day, Prince Taylor took Princess Nikole to her place of work, miles and miles away.

Being the prince he was, Taylor decided to push the limits...the legal limits....of speed.

But Princess Nikole was so tired and worn that she didn't warn her Prince of the consequences speeding can bring.

Suddenly, a soft "dang it" awoke her from her sleepless trance. She looked around curious as to why her charming prince had said such a phrase.

The lights.

The lights came after them blazing with red and blue anger.

Prince Taylor quickly pulled to the side of the road when a loud, booming voice told him, "hmmm hmmm hmm hmmhmm"

........

They did not understand.

"hmmmm hmmm hmm hmmhmm!"

.............

They still could not decipher the voice's instructions.

"Take the next exit!"

They now understood.

They waited as a man walked towards their mode of transportation. 

The man was a kindly looking fellow with a dark shirt, and a very ornate Chicago Bears tie.

"Do you know how fast you were going?"

"....75.."

"Do you know the speed limit?"

"....55..."

"Do you know how much a ticket would cost for going 20 over in a construction zone?"

"...no..?"

"Guess."

"200 or so?"

"Upwards of 950."

"ouch."

"The best way to get back on the freeway is to take that right, flip a U, then take a left at the light."

What....?

They were free!

The kindly Bears fan saved the lives (practically) of the young, royal couple.

The End

Moral: Don't speed.

A 4-year-old's Interview

So, Taylor and I interviewed my cute cousin, Lincoln today. I thought I would share.

Do you have a girlfriend?
Yes. She likes me.
Would she like Taylor?
Yes, she's Abigail and she's so smart.
Have you kissed her?
She kissed me on the cheek when I was in the Batman costume.
Did you like it?
No.
What does Metro mean?
Superhero! Like Metroman.

Okay..so it may seem like we're slightly corrupting the child, but we're not. He's ADORABLE! :) and it may have also been more funny to us, but...he's great.

The Heavy Lifter

I have been struggling the past few weeks with a lot of things. I've been sick, and down, and lame, lame, lame. And you know what's worse? I've been a baby and a half. I am not the type of girl who cries...not because I think people who cry are babies or anything at all! 

Cry! Cry away! It's actually reallllly good for you and relieves a lot of stress! I'm just not the type who does it, usually. But, goodness, I have been lately. 

But Taylor always lifts my spirits. Even when they're super down, and extremely heavy.

Lift me up date:

Yesterday I swear I had a really hard day. I felt sick, and work was soooo long, I got home and there was SO much to do. I was beyond stressed. So, Taylor took me on a date to make me feel better.

The Mall

Red Robin..Yummmm

And even though he laughed at me for my specific dinner choice (Blue ribbon with no mayo, no onion straws, on a wheat bun, with sweet potato fries), and we watched a HORRIBLE movie, (John Carter...good for a laugh though ;) ), and I didn't get much done. I am super happy and grateful toward my love, Taylor.

Today:

Today was another hard day, but look...

Can you believe I was a crying wreck only seconds before this picture was taken?? (and no, I don't really wear super bright lipstick)

So, I love my heavy lifter, he's my favorite :)

Bye Bye My Jr. High Hobby

In the good old days of Jr. High, I was the avid filmmaker. The Sundance Film Festival was on the tip of my tongue! .........not. Anyway, because I was 13 and irresponsible as all get out, I broke two cameras.

I kept them around for much too long thinking I could one day fix them.

Finally, Taylor decided to help me take care of them..

 It was quite the little adventure and was incredibly fun.

The Throw Down

Jump on it!

The Throw Down

Breakin' out the tools

and we put it back together again...

It was A LOT of fun, and I'm happy we did it together. Best Friends and Lovers forever :)

Mad Men

Mad Men is a television series that takes place in the 1960's, and is about an advertising agency on Madision Avenue in New York. Actually, “Mad men” is a historical term short for men of Madison Avenue, composed by the advertising industry itself...to self-promote, not bring down. It's not a show about mad, or "insane" men, just advertisers...in the 60's. 

Anyway, you don't have to like it. Taylor kinda hates it for valid reasons, but what I love most about it is the FaShIoN!

So here I am, drooling over the celebration of curves, snappy suits, gloves, hats, handbags, and floral when

BAM

That's right. Banana Republic launches a Mad Men inspired line!!!!
Not the cheapest, but something to look out for....

I posted my favorites on my "Fashion" page. Feel free to check it out!

My Prince.

I know I talk about my boy A LOT. Buuuut, I'm kind of in love, so it is what it is. Anyway, growing up I had a list of things my future "prince" would have. And I have like 50 lists from my brief time in YW where they had us write down things we want in our future husbands. Well, I found one of those...Check this out.

1.) Has to be bigger than me. I'm a pretty average sized girl and NO girl wants to feel bigger than their man.

2.) Has to appreciate me.  I'm more than willing to give my entire self, energy, and time to someone, but I can't do it forever if it goes unappreciated.

3.)Funny. What girl doesn't have this on her list?

 4.) Cares about fashion. Yes. This is on my list. Call me a metro-lover, but it's a must!

 5.) Brings me up in the Gospel, and helps me to be better.

6.)Protects me.
7.)Holds me when I cry.
8.)There when I need him.
9.)Would do anything for me.
10.)A gentlemen
These are all things I don't necessarily have pictures of, but they are incredibly true when it comes to Taylor.

Finally...

This is something my friend Emily told me once, I really
like it. I'm not one to say that someone has to have a perfect past, specific events, and/or a certain family to be my prince, but this is something I won't negotiate on.