Top Hits of 2017

New York City Trip
Our good friends Shane & Amelia were amazing hosts, and showed us around New York! It was our first time to the city, and we are itching to go back again.

Oliver Rios
Our first nephew Oliver, was born on May 17th! He is the cutest nugget ever, and we are so grateful to be able to live so close and see him as he grows.

MyHeritage DNA: Getting Started

Ryan and I have always been curious about our ancestry, and what that means for our future kids. We know that Ryan's dad grew up in Mexico, but we don't know much more through that line of the family. He's been bugging me to do a DNA kit for a while, so when MyHeritage reached out I asked for 2 kits! That way we have an idea of what our future family will be made of :)

It was an easy to process to follow with vials, swabs, packaging and step-by-step instructions in the box. Make sure to not eat anything for an hour leading up to it! Ryan accidentally ate a banana so we had to wait another hour so it didn't come back that he is 60% banana haha 

Yosemite National Park

Back in August Ryan and I went on a trip with my family to Yosemite National Park, since Ryan had never been. We stayed in Curry Village (which is now Yosemite Village) and went on a hike to Mirror Lake then biked around the ground floor. It was BEAUTIFUL. How would I even be able to explain the grandeur of all the mountains and trees? That's why I took lots of pictures ;)

Unfortunately since it was towards the end of summer, there wasn't enough water to fill up the lake or to do some river rafting :/ We still had a blast by driving up to Glacier Point to check out the view of Half Dome from the top of the mountains. Then we hit up our reservation at the Grand Yosemite Hotel for their amaazzzinnggg brunch. OMG. It was delicious, wish I could eat that all over again! 

After hiking, biking, and brunching; we decided to make a detour for our family trip and hit up Santa Cruz which was only a 2-3 hour drive from Yosemite. I'll save that for another post, but in the meantime, here is a huge picture dump ;)

^ Of course I needed a picture of my mountain-inspired nails next to Half Dome. All the hardcore hikers thought I was crazy haha

^ Half Dome!

^ Where we had brunch, it was breathtaking. A massive grand hall with all-you-can-eat brunch, live piano music, and a view of all the trees outside. All the heart eyes! 

St. George Getaway // Inn on the Cliff + Tuacahn

Ryan and I have been married for a long while, already 5 years as of June 4th, 2016! I decided to make our 5 year special by planning a weekend getaway to St. George. I got tickets to Tarzan at Tuacahn, and booked a few nights at the Inn on the Cliff with this killer view. The pool and hotel looked over the entire city, it was beautiful! 

The first night we were in town there was a downtown concert and food truck roundup, we had a blast walking around and listening to the live music. We grabbed some Hawaiian BBQ off a food truck, and ended up being pretty picky since we got to have the real thing in Hawaii last year! haha It was still pretty delicious ;)

Saturday morning we chilled at the pool reading books, then at night we drove up a canyon and watched Tarzan outside. It was amazing! Totally not what I was expecting, and would definitely go back in a heartbeat to Tuacahn to see the other shows! The rest of our trip was low-key and it was great spending time with one another. Those breathers from work and school are so necessary to keeping our sanity! Grateful we got the time to run away together just for a quick bit :)

Santa Monica Pier

This past Christmas break was a blast and much needed. Evan, Ryan, and I drove down to stay with my parents and we just crashed. Almost immediately after Christmas day we all got sick with some form of the cold or flu. It pretty much sucked,  but it couldn't have come at a better time. We got to chill on my parents couch watching movies, taking medicine, and just getting some (apparently) needed rest. 

My mom asked at one point "are we going to do anything this break? Or is everyone going to stay sick?" Towards the end of the trip I was the only one who was still sick, so I brought a bag of cough drops and some medicine and we went to the Santa Monica Pier. 

No one in my family had been before besides myself, which I think is crazy cause we've all lived in CA for years and years! It was a pretty chilly and busy day (we went on a weekend), but we rode the ferris wheel and got the most gorgeous views of Malibu and Santa Monica. 

Ryan enjoys ruining my pictures, but he's cute when it counts ;) We had a blast and since Ryan has never been to the tourist-y things of LA, we are going to make it a point to hit something new every time we're down there visiting. Especially with Ryan's favorite team, the Rams, moving to LA I have a feeling we'll be making weekend road trips down a lot more often for game-time :D

60th Diamond Anniversary Celebration

What's a Disneyland trip without a truckload of selfies? This past weekend Ryan, Evan, Amanda (cousin), and I drove down to California for a short weekend getaway. I read an article that some attractions would be shut down starting in 2016 to make room for Star Wars Land, anddddd it's the 60th Diamond Celebration anniversary. Which was the perfect excuse to make a Disneyland trip before the end of the year :D Also, my Grandma was at the opening day of Disneyland when she was 10 years old, that is so crazy!! I'm totes jealous of her haha

I made sure we hit Tom Sawyer Island because it's one of the attractions that will be closed starting next year, and Ryan's never been on it. Also, when the heck did it become "Pirate Island"?! That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Does no one read Tom Sawyer anymore? Or is there too much racism in the book that Disneyland decided to be politically correct and change the name of the island? Too ridiculous. I will always refer to it as Tom Sawyer Island. Can't change my mind! 

It was possibly the perfect day to hit Disneyland. The longest wait time was 40 minutes for Haunted Mansion (which is super weird imo). We did Indiana Jones in 25 minutes, Space Mountain in 20 minutes, Storybook Ride (Ryan's favorite, it's the one by Tea Cups with the open whale mouth), Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, I had my obligatory churro, and we ate at the French Market restaurant where Tiana from Princess and the Frog sang with a band. It was SO MUCH FUN. 

Disneyland will always have a special place in my heart. I'm so excited to bring my future babies here so they can experience the magic of Disney as well! All in all, it was a great weekend :)

JORD Wood Watches + Fall Plaid

Is anyone else so excited for Fall to come?! I found this plaid dress and just knew I had to pick it up because it embodies the feeling of pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and golden leaves :) Ryan and I were sent these JORD wood watches and they go perfectly with our Fall looks! 

My Fieldcrest watch is made of Maple and Zebrawood, and Ryan's is the awesome Dover watch which is made of Koa wood and has all the gears showing. They are the perfect accessory to keep us on time for all the busy-ness that comes with Ryan resuming BYU full-time this semester and for me getting busier at work. I love how these watches are so lightweight! I can hardly feel mine on my arm, but I love how it's there to keep me on schedule. 

 

JORD watches would make the perfect gift! Anniversaries, birthdays, and it's never to early to start thinking about Christmas ;) High quality watches, that are impeccably made and packaged. Check out which JORD watch makes your wishlist! 

Bri

Fieldcrest watch c/o JORD Watches

Mixprint Shirtdress: Loft

Boots: Shoemint (similar)

Crystal bracelet: Jane.com

Ring: Granite Fox

Ryan

Dover watch c/o JORD Watches

Sweater: Kohls

Jeans: Levi's

Shoes: Converse

Glasses: Glasses.com (similar)

Best Wooden Watch

Grossman/Rios Family in Hawaii

A little late posting these pics...about 2.5 months that is! It's been that long since our family Hawaii trip and I can't believe how fast the time flies. I had everyone to get dressed up and asked a random lady on the beach to take our family pictures. It was a little risky, especially since she was holding the camera all crazy ways; but they turned out and that's all that matters! Glad to have more pictures to fill my frames with :)