stomach growls at 2 am

school makes me wanna rip my brains out.

i am so ready to be done and simply be the perfect housewife.

ill cook, ill clean, ill buy groceries... wait i do all of this already.

but im not complaining about that. i love doing things for my husband.

its just all that plus school plus work plus everything else.

i just wanna punch all my professors in the face.

they think that my life should revolve around each of their classes.

plus i locked my keys in the truck before class (didnt realize till after)

 so i had to wait at school forever while brother crawled 

through the doggy door at chase and my home & found the spare key.

needless to say i was late to work.

big breath

new favorite quote: 

"whenever i have a problem, i just sing, 

then i realize my voice is worse than my problem"

ps i figured out what i want for valentines day:

its perfect. love. definitely brightened my oh so busy & exciting day.

ps happy three weeks to me and the mister
<3

life happens

its funny how time shows who your true friends are
and who you can really count on.

ive learned that when people hurt me or make me angry,
i am giving them power over me.

when i can ignore and not let those things affect me,
it is the most amazing feeling of freedom.

i also have realized that happiness is a choice.
i dont need anything to make me happy.

i can be happy all on my own.

green chile pork

i love this day

today was a wonderful relaxing day. now that im in bed waiting for my husband to finish his homework i am left to think why dont we have more days like today? chase even decided to cook. he made delicious green chile pork and oooo buddy it was amazing! well chase decided we should do valentines day early this year. and chase (already knowing what he wanted) thought we should pick out our own gifts. his 'cad mouse' for his design stufff is already ordered. and me, i am torn. between these beauties.

two very different things i know. ill sleep on it and hopefully have my mind made up by tomorrow.

i love chase thompson :)

Welp we did it.....

Chase and I were married on January 11th 2011 {1.11.11} Yes that was planned. It was either then or 11.11.11 and neither of us were willing to be that patient. That day is one I will never forget. Chase and I were surrounded by people who love and support us. The spirit was thick in the sealing room, there is no other way to describe it. But it was lovely and perfect. Here are a few pictures of our special day:

And here are some lovelies from the reception:

finallly

Chase and I are gettting married :)

We've been dating just over a year and on 11.13 he finally proposed!

Both of our families went to California to go to Disney Land and Knott's Berry Farm. Knotts was first! It was fun but there were SOOO many people there. The lines were all an hour wait and you could barely get around without running into people! And i got sick from one of the rides so i was bummin for part of the day. The next day was Disney Land and California Adventure. It was even more crowded. But over all our experience was a good one. The World of Color or whatever its called was pretty good. It was a little difficult to see and they had a fit when i got on Chase's shoulders. Apparently its a "safety hazard". Whatever.

The next day we went to the beach. Oh how i love the beach. We all just hung out and enjoyed the weather. Then we ate BJs mmmmm. That night my family went home so Chase and I went to the huntington beach pier while his family went to knotts again. We went fishing off the pier and drank my favorite hot chocolate. We didnt catch anything but it was a lot of fun. Then we went out and walked along the beach. There werent very many people around so that was nice. We were just walking along the beach (chase was being all cute of course, telling me how much he loved me and all that good stuff!) Then he turned, took my hands and got down on his knee. I WAS SHOCKED! i mean i knew it was coming soon but i had no idea he had even talked to my dad or had the ring with him that night! anyways... he pulled out THE box with the most gorgeous ring and proceeded to say "Erika Inez McDowell...Will you marry me?" All i could do was smile and nod my head real fast. He stood up and hugged me and then told me that i could then put on the ring. I told him that was his job! Even though it was dark i could see it sparkling! Its gorgeous. But then we made all the calls and let everyone know we were engaged, Finished the night strong with some passion iced tea lemonade and called it a night.

It has now been two weeks and i still cannot stop looking at my ring! He did an amazing job :) So we are getting married 1.11.11 at 10:30 am and our reception will be the 15th at 6pm. We couldnt be more excited! Chase is the love of my life and my best friend. GOSH that sounds soo cheesy but it is so very true.. I love him to death and cannot wait to enter the temple to be sealed to him for all eternity!

I am one lucky girl.