countdown to june 19th...

I have moved...

2009-07-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Wanted to make one last post saying that I will no longer be updating this blog. Since it is customary for a couple to make a blog when they get married we've decided to follow in trend and I will now be updating at http://steveandjessie.blogspot.com/

Feel free to check it out and comment!

who would have thought....

2009-06-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

who would have guessed that this.....
and this....
would end up looking something like this someday....everytime i think about it, i giggle. i've tried to refrain from counting down, but i can't help it anymore - 8 days;)

bridals!!

2009-05-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

this past week i got steve & i's bridal cd from the photographer and i just LOVE LOVE LOVE them! jordi is absolutely amazing with lindsay jane photography! it was a rough start to the shoot, steve and i were 45 minutes late (my fault) i couldn't figure out my hair thing, and steve was making fun of my flowers, but we soon relaxed and spent a tiring, but fun 2 hours with jordi. she is so amazing, i am so excited for the wedding day! let me know what you think -

graduation weekend.

2009-05-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

my older brother, taylor, is one of the hardest workers i know... he's the only one i know that has a "mail sorting mix" on his itunes and knows exactly how many seconds long each traffic light is within a 3 mile radius of his house. i love taylor and am so proud of him. graduating from medical school isn't easy, and getting a residency position at the mayo clinic isn't much easier! congratulations taylor! everyone is so proud! jason was able to come up for dane's baby blessing on sunday (but we missed you heather, and the little girls!) and we missed abbie, josh and tienna. but i can't wait to see you all in a few weeks:) - i'm sure all the little girls are excited to play with uncle mckay - just as taylor was below.congratulations again taylor!! and thank you for a fun weekend in philadelphia!

wedding update.

2009-05-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

june 19th is close around the corner. very exciting! my first shower was yesterday - it was so fun to see all the ladies in my home ward who have been so supportive and amazing examples to me over the years. my mom suprised me with some crate & barrel mixing bowls and cups at the shower which I LOVE and seeing that there isn't a crate & barrel here in utah i was so suprised!! also, abbie & tienna decided to suprise me and come up for the shower/weekend as well, which was fun! tienna is soo cute. i have the cutest nieces ever:) all of them are so adorable and fun to spend time with!

wedding plans are slowly coming together. we finally got our engagements and i absolutely LOVE them! i'd recommend jordi from lindsay jane photography to anyone with an upcoming wedding! she's amazing. everything else is coming together too, tonight steve & i went to salt lake and got all our announcements addressed with the help of mia and margaret! thank you again! and thank you to steve for being the professional stuffer and licker with my mom! it was fun. the florist is all figured out as well! it's soooo nice to see everything come together! my mom has been AMAZING through this all! she's been the super organized, super patient and the mastermind behind this event. THANK YOU!

that's all for now! but thought i'd post a few of my favorite engagements from our shoot a few weeks ago-
bridals to come soon.... stay tuned:)

skinny love....

2009-04-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

big news. big day for steve & i... we signed our first contract together! steve isn't moving in for another week or so but because the management company cashed our deposit check already they needed us to sign this week (but don't start paying till next) to balance their books. we didn't mind, doesn't make much of a difference for us. anyway, so after we got the keys of course we had to take a stop by timpanogos apartment #3 and check it out (again).... here's our new place come june 19th!this is our living room leading into the kitchen... a pretty good size living room compared to all the other apartments we've seen during our apartment hunt!this is our kitchen. not extremely spacious, but big enough for the both of us to cook together:) it has a disposal and a dishwasher - that's a step up from the pink house! all appliances were included in the apartment... including the washer and dryer (below) that's in a closet off the kitchen.the bedroom closet isn't too bad either- steve fits! the rest of the bedroom was smaller than we remembered, but we like the place, and it's very reasonably priced so we'll take it:)when we got to the apartment the carbon monoxide detector kept beeping. steve wouldn't have it, he was bound to fix it before we left... he was having a hard time, kind of freaking out about it, i laughed and enjoyed taking pictures, he was laughing too because it was so difficult!the bathroom might not be huge either, but it's clean! we're very excited about a brand new apartment! we're both very clean people so we are very excited about this new place!! we'll keep you updated once furnished and decorated:)
we saw this on the way out... had to laugh, apparently we could have a baby while living here in the next year.... uh, haha. steve didn't think that was very funny!

arizona weekend.

2009-04-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

i'm in arizona for the weekend spending time with my older sister and her husband, abbie & josh they have the cutest family. and their little girl is adorable. this is how tienna and i spent sunday morning during conference.

reason #489,453,000 why i love him

2009-04-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

it's 10:30 pm. i just got off work and met up with steve at the library. he just told me he ate grilled pork (leftovers) and cereal (honey nut cheerios)... i think i should try to not leave him alone for dinner in the future... what do you say?:)

hello sunshine... come into my life....

2009-04-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

it's snowing today. it's april first... i'm sick of the snow. it would be so wonderful to wake up to a beautiful (warm) day sooner than later- i guess i can only hope for that day. until then i will enjoy myself in arizona this weekend. steve is going to the ncaa final four in detroit this weekend with his dad so i thought i'd take the weekend off as well and spend a few days in arizona with abbie, tienna, and 90F weather. should be a good time, especially if tienna is continues to be the little sass she's been on the phone lately:) so adorable.

besides this weekend travels nothing much is new, except i did get my soul back this morning when i finished the trifecta of papers this morning. in the last 22 hours i've had approximately 30 pages in papers due... near death experience. thanks to steves grammatical geniusness i did well. thank you again babe:) this was the last stressful few days before finals. now it's just a matter of not running off to some foreign country before finals end on april 21st:)

a blogpost isn't exciting unless there are a few pictures - here's the past few weeks in blackberry review:i've had the past two saturdays off - steve's birthday, and hare krishna... wouldn't want to work on either day:) it's been sooo wonderful:) and i think steve has enjoyed it as well. this past saturday was the best day steve and i have had all year. we woke up early and headed to salt lake to do wedding stuff with my parents & laundry (of course), we hit five guys for lunch per steve request and then headed to spanish fork for the annual color festival. it was so fun:) i think the highlight was the showers afterwards though. then steve picked me up for a "real date" - we went to dinner, suit shopping for steve then back to his apartment to play dr. mario... probably would have ended up at spoon me if i hadn't fallen asleep early. a few weeks ago i had a night off work, and neither steve or i had much due the next day so we met up with mia and margaret in salt lake to go to lugano restaurant for dinner. it was fun! at least the girls had fun, i think steve did too, but felt like he was intruding on a girls night. i'm glad he came along:) i always love being with him, and if nothing else, i know he enjoyed the food.i just love this photo - who doesn't love photobooth on macs these days. i don't think steve looks too thriled:) hahah

hope all is well wherever you are!!

february 28, 2009

2009-03-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

an update: dane taylor pollei was born yesterday, february 28th. as you can tell, it might take older sister zoe a little while to get used to having a baby in the house. congratulations to taylor & amber! i can't wait to see him in may!

newest love: the jonas brothers

2009-02-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

(ice skating a few weeks back)

it's presidents day. what better way to celebrate george washington then a 9am Shade Clothing sale at Provo High School:) steve was kind enough to escort brooke and myself to the sale. all items of clothing were $5- each, sooo amazing. then steve and i washed & vacuumed our cars, stopped by barnes & noble to pick up his late valentines gift (books are always a safe gift for steve, especially when historical, political, or by chuck klosterman), picked up my car from the tire store because i got new tires put on and now currently listening to the jonas brothers. productive day, overall.

valentines day being this past week was pretty uneventful thanks to lugano restaurant. when you work in a restaurant valentines day loses all appeal. steve & i went out on thursday night (the only day/night i didn't work last week) to dinner and the new exhibit at the art museum (picture shown above). it was low-key, just how i like it:) steve, being the hopeless romantic he is:) started a valentines tradition freshman year. that year steve wrote a song for me with the last few lines being something along the lines of "here's your valentine review, here's my heart here's to you" i thought this was the cutest thing at the time, little did i know it would get better. sophomore year (first valentines day he was on his mission) i received a letter a few days before valentines day from him. thinking it was a typical letter i was so excited, of course, but when i opened it and found valentine review- volume 1 which brought me to tears. the letter was about the first few weeks of how our relationship started freshman year. so sweet and thoughtful. then last year volume 2 was just as amazing. for anyone who knows steve knows how his talent when it comes to writing, so blessed with the ability to put emotions into words like no one else i know. this year valentines review- volume 3 was a success. i think he has his valentines days planned out for the rest of forever, nothing makes me happier then flowers and the annual valentine review:)

hope all is well wherever you are, and you all had a happy valentines day as well:)

funny story, so steve randomly got a letter in the mail, shown certificate included as well, thanking him for his valiant efforts for fighting intolerance and hatred. so funny. also it said that his name would be put on some wall in alabama of people who are fighting the same cause. made for a good laugh. anyway, steve was so thrilled about his newly earned certificate we took a picture of him next to the confederate flag his roommates have up in the apartment (and refuse to take down, even though steve hates it!). ironic? mildly.

congratulaions steve. keep up the good work!

deep city lights. girl could get lost tonight.

2009-01-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

haven't updated in a while. not since the new year.
it's 2009 - unbelievable really. it's a new year, new resolutions, new hopes and goals for the future. it's a big year. lots to do. 2009 is going to be exciting. june 19th will be a big deal this year - steve & i are getting married :)

this time of year always causes me to slow down and think. to take a look around, to see where i've been and where i hope to be in the next year. whenever i do slow down enough to really think i am always overwhelmed with such gratitude for everything i have been blessed with....
-an AMAZING family. i've vocalized this before here on jessicapollei.blogspot and am continually thankful for the family i do. it's been fun to start the wedding planning with my mom. she's been nothing but so organized and fun to plan everything with. i think i'll be able to give her all the credit for anything that is thoroughly organized and pans out for june! (she's amazing)
-i have some of the most amazing siblings and the cutest nieces (almost nephews!) ever. tienna was in utah over the christmas holiday and it was fun to see her little personality come through as she gets older. we were playing mr. (and mrs.) potato head one day and tienna apparently wanted to be just like them. my mom saw her doing this and i couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a picture! all the little ones are so adorable. whenever i talk to them on the phone they are always so enthusiastic about what's going on and so cute! sometimes when talking to halle she might not say much but she always says "i love you aunt jessie" a few times before giving the phone off to jason or heather. such cute little girls, so loving because of the love they have felt in their homes. i commend jason, heather, taylor, amber, abbie & josh for your examples.

-i have been blessed with the most amazing friends. in high school i had the greatest group of friends. some of which i know will be some of my best friends for many years to come. i have also had some amazing friends while here at byu. some of which i will also be friends with through the years. always fun to spend time with and catch up.

i am grateful for steve. my absolute best friend. the last six months have been better than i ever thought they would be right after his mission. they have been spent studying hard, spending time together, laughing together and making plans for the future. steve always jokes that he could do anything with me, including watch paint dry, and it would be fun. i would have to agree. i'm absolutely in love with steve. love everything about him. love the time we get to spend together and can't wait to see what's in store for us during 2009 and years to come.

when the sweaters come out = finals season.

2008-12-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

i just ran into daniel anderson, his exact words were "this is the real stuff"... today is the first real snow of the season. i'm trying to finish up my patriotism in rome and france paper while studying on the 4th floor of the joseph f smith building, next to the floor-to-ceiling windows over looking the courtyard. i have to admit it's beautiful even thought it's not my typical cup of tea. here's an attempt to capture the storm with photobooth on this monday morning.
...continued.... 10:43 pm. location: first floor of the library.
tonight studying began at 8:25pm, not bad right, well the original location of the fifth floor, south side, has become nothing more than a social hour. steve and i then moved to the second floor... a little better, but not by much. then we made way to our current location. a study room on the first floor. i'm very worried about the declining library etiquette shown in many students tonight. so sad.
(i'm also very worried about this one surviving finals....)

two in love

2008-12-04T12:49:00.001-08:00

this season has been a crazy one. but then again, it always is. i had the chance a few weeks back to take some engagements for a two friends.... here are a few. they are sooo cute. so photogenic and truly adore each other....i wish them the best of luck, they deserve nothing but happiness as they move to arizona!

solar powered.

2008-11-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

...i just want to move to arizona with abbie on days like this,
30 degrees fahrenheit and snowing...

zoe baby

2008-11-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

sunday night we went up to salt lake and ate dinner with the family. of course we really went up to see little zoe. she's such a cute little girl. highlights were definitely her laughing as mckay carried her around in her toy box and when she was laying on steve's legs and butt. it was funny. she is the sweetest girl and again made me realize how cute all my nieces are, where ever they are across the country, i am so blessed to have the amazing family that i do:)

zoe also learned what macbook photobooth is all about... too bad she wasn't wearing her butterfly wings anymore.

hope all is well wherever you are!

my new child.

2008-10-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

so i got a new macbook. it is preeettty great. i'm glad i actually have a computer now that will let me download, edit and work with my photographs. (i have been using steve's for the past few weeks) it's just the greatest. thanks to steve for his help as i convert from the pc to mac world... it's going to be quite the adjustment....
as you can see when steve and i are burnt out from studying for the night we take pictures on photoboth - a program on our macbooks. anyway we can thank the fifth floor of the hbll for the wonderful background of these photos, ha.
as for everything else, life is good. school is pretty crazy, starting to get crazy how that the half way point of the semester is here. the fall weather here in provo is gorgeous. i still work every fri/sat night which is getting old but what do you do. i still make it to the football games... (yeah, they still lost to tcu last weekend). hopefully they'll play better this weekend.

i promise real pictures soon...

currently listening to: sara bareilles. gravity

2008-10-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

the past few weeks have been fun. especially last weekend, conference weekend is always great. it was fun to spend the weekend with steve and my family. saturday was a crazy adventure. steve and i went to costco (yes now proud costco members) and since it was raining i had my lights on while driving there. well we got to costco, ate lunch, bought pears, strawberries and ginger snaps then got out to my car to find a dead battery. we traipsed around the parking lot finally finding some jumper cables (from the costco auto shop) and a sweet lady to let us use her car to jump mine. it was an adventure. times like that are what makes me laugh. (even though neither of us were laughing while treking across that parking lot in the RAIN!)

well besides the costco adventure life has been good. great really. steve and i are having fun. studying alot (4 of the 7 nights are spent in the library) and working hard but we do still find time for a weekly date night, football games, girls soccer games, watching the political debates and we're even doing exit polls on november 4th together. i love the time we get to spend together, and how i feel right now:) i don't see how it can get much better than this!

shake shake it...

2008-09-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

so mia is spending the semester in washington d.c. and i miss her, a lot. mia has been my best friend since 7th grade, we just had our 10 year anniversary at the beginning of this school year. it all started in mr. ostlers honors english class seventh grade (she was more of the honors student than i was) followed by an invite to her halloween party. since then we've had some of the best times: scooter rides, teddy grahams, taco bell lunches, creamated grandma, trampoline jumps, martha stewart, all the soccer teams we played on, san francisco, countless trips to cafe rio, the cookbook, snoasis... the list goes on. mia is the funniest person you'll ever meet, it was no wonder every boy i know is practically in love with her, she's always so considerate, thoughtful and sincere. no one will, or ever could, replace her in my life... i love mia, miss her, and even though she's loving the east coast i can't wait for her return:)

so, school has started.

2008-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

congratulations to taylor, amber & zoe as they welcome the little mr. next spring:) i'm very excited!

it's fall and school has started! it is already pretty crazy with work as well but i absolutely love the fall so i don't mind the chaos. yesterdays win over ucla again reminded me of how great byu football is! intramural soccer/football start up this next week... our football team (the army of champions) is hoping for another solid season. haha. anyway it has been fun! provo is great this time of year and being with steve has been fun again. we have spent plenty of time in the library, but still have had time for bike rides, scooter rides, shopping at the park city outlets and of course byu womens soccer games. the other night he after another library trip he bought me daisies (my favorite!) just because...

hello sunshine.

2008-08-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is AMAZING! Today I got off work 5 hours early so I called up Brubaker and we decided it was the PERFECT day for Seven Peaks Water Park. This is a frequent occurrence seeing as we bought season passes together about a month ago and have gone a couple times a week ever since. We ride our bikes to the park, of course stopping along the way at the gas station to get a soda then normally take a trip to Little Caesars for lunch. It's wonderful. Just like the rest of the summer has been. Anyway, everytime we're cruising on our bikes I think about how wonderful summer is & especially this summer. It's been fun to relax, not take classes & by pass a super crazy work schedule so I can spend time with quality friends.
Hello sunshine. Please never leave...

oh and congrats to taylor & amber!! can't wait for you two to have another adorable baby!!

happy fourth of july.

2008-07-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

the fourth of july is my favorite holiday. hands down. i love fireworks. this year the day was filled with the provo city hot air balloon festival, parade, & stadium of fire. a definite party. i love this country. i really gained a new appreciation & deep conviction for this country at girls state in high school. hope you all had a wonderful fourth wherever you are:)

another california party...

2008-07-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

i love my brother:) it was SOO good to see him this weekend!

went to california this past weekend. here are some pictures from the trip...
oh how i just love taking pictures -
laguna beach.

took this picture under huntington pier at sunset. this lady just happened to walk in my way. really i think she helped the picture out...

welcome to los angeles, ca

jonny enjoying the freshly cut grass at the getty museum

the getty museum gardens were AMAZING!

beautiful california view... love the umbrellas.
white umbrellas are so sinple & classic.

i love my dad...

2008-06-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

today is father's day. i've spent morning at a few different homecomings and thinking about my dad. he's amazing. i love my dad. he's the hardest worker i know. he never does anything half-way. the man is thorough, he does everything as best as he possibly can. even though he always spent alot of time working while his kids were young he certainly still found time to coach our soccer teams, help with math & chemistry homework, make homemade mac & cheese every saturday afternoon after soccer games. i remember seeing tarzan, mulan, the parent trap & the polar express with him when they first came out. he has the softest heart & always shares his testimony with me. i love my dad! happy fathers (and grandfathers) day!!

california weekend.

2008-06-03T00:54:00.000-07:00

this weekend we went to california to see mckay and visit shamu at disneyworld. here's some pictures from newport & balboa beaches our first night there...

this picture for some reason reminds me of the oc -
i can just imagine ryan & marissa sitting at this lifeguard stand....

mothers. day. 08.

2008-05-23T09:03:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Mom! This Mother's Day was pretty relaxed but I was again reminded of how much I love and am grateful for all my mom has done for me, and continues to do. I think it's safe to say all my siblings would agree. I was so blessed to be raised in the home I was with my amazing mom. I love the Friday lunch dates, the turkey & avocado sandwhiches, watching movies together, her good advice and sense of humor. Thanks mom for all the good memories over the years! I love you!

gone for the summer

2008-04-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

McKay & I -Spring of 2004 -

McKay & I in July 2006 - Soon after he got home from his mission.
Figured we'd reenact the picture from a few years earlier.

Today McKay left for California for the summer. I don't think he believed me when I told him I'm going to miss him the whole time he's gone but it's the truth. I will! I love the kid. Sure we have our moments like any brother-sister relationship does but that doesn't stop us from being best friends. I think it's safe to say he's the closest I've ever been to any of my siblings. Between hanging out with all the same friends in high school and then spending the past two years together here at BYU we've shared lots of good times. I think they make up for all the years of him beating me up when we were younger. It definitely won't be the same here in Utah this summer without him!

I was going through all my pictures of us thinking of the good times we've had and the greatest older brother he's been and figured I'd post a few of them.

Last summer I got really sick during my third week at EFY. McKay was the sweetest brother. He came down soon after he found out I was sick and with our cousin gave me a blessing. He the stayed with me through the afternoon and helped me get the strength up to go to that night's festivities... The kids in my company that week absolutely LOVED him! After this week it became a weekly tradition for him to join us during the Friday night activities!

Anyone who knows McKay knows he's an amazing biker. His races were always fun to attend in high school and even last summer. This is us smiling to please Mom last summer after one of his races.

At the Bees Baseball game soon after he got home from his mission.
With Madelin and Halle at the Smithsonian last summer during the back east expedition...

Walking back to our hotel along Times Square after Wicked on Broadway.

I love you McKay and have fun in California!!

Turning 21...

2008-04-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

My birthday was this past Wednesday. It was pretty uneventful thanks to it being a reading day and everyone was studying for finals but it was still fun to go to dinner with friends! I am blessed to have the great friends and family that I do!...

sixty five & sunny.

2008-03-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

SPRING TIME AT THE PINK HOUSE!

this is what we do in provo when the sun comes out! some pictures from what's been happening here in happy valley:)

the other day i realized i haven't posted a picture of our pepto-bismol pink house. thought you might be interested to see where your little sister resides in provo, utah.
WE CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS...

this was taken at our roommate breanne's "everybodys doin it" birthday party hosted by our house this past weekend. it was a sweet dance party in our back parking lot. we had alot better turn out then i expected, probably 200ish people?

katie and i at the party.

HARE KRISHNA CELEBRATION...
katie & i celebrating-

the hare krishna temple in spanish fork has a color festival every year. it was great. lots of chalk throwing and burning of old witches... i'm not exactly why that last part, but it was fun.

eric, me, jenni, jonny & allie at the festival

another colorful picture...

this was katie & i having fun with the self-timer on my old digital camera. what would i ever do without this girl....

2008-03-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today was an amazing. Me being a solar-powered individual really appreciated the 55 degree spring day today. The only downfall was the time I spent in the dark room, but even that wasn't bad I rocked my next processes assignment which made the day even better. Too bad I don't have a picture of my project to put up but maybe one day I'll scan all my negatives & prints in and upload them. Until then here are some pictures I took on our Sunday bike ride on BYU campus....

"it's a group thing"

2008-02-25T21:35:00.001-08:00

With the Texas boys before they left on their missions...

Two blog posts in two days. Like anybody really cares but today was a pretty great day. I was reminded how great some of my best friends are. It was exciting to come home from class to three letters in the mailbox from Tampa, Florida; Indianapolis, Indiana; & Madrid, Spain. It doesn't get much better than that. I have been blessed with the most amazing friends, most of which are serving missions across the world right now. Some are coming home now and the rest are coming home over the next five months...
I can't wait for all of them to be back at BYU in the fall!!With Matt the night before he left.

With Steve at Chipotle. Still not as good as Cafe Rio.

The CPK group. Most of which are all on missions but will be getting home soon :)

Seth Cohen.

2008-02-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

Ok ok, I didn't think I'd come to this but I can't not confess that my roommates and I have spent the few days doing nothing but homework & watching The OC. It's been great. What else could anyone really need? Anyway I love the character of Seth Cohen. Anyone who knows me knows this. The comic relief he brings to the show is what keeps me watching it for 9 straight hours.
No problem.

Seth & Summer during season 3. My favorite couple.

an update

2008-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

Last week was stressful. Too stressful. But the great thing about stress is that once it's passed it feels SOO good to have accomplished the project, or task, whatever... That was me this past weekend, and this week. It's so nice to have my portfolios done and turned in. Now I just have to await the critiques....

Since I've been taking so many pictures over the past few weeks I figured I'd post a few...my friend eric was soo nice to take time out of his busy schedule to let me take a few pictures of him on the stairwell behind my house.

thank you so much! he was so great i'm using him again this weekend for a portrait assignment.

thanks to jared for traipsing around cougar stadium with me last fall...

i've always wanted to use a picture like this for an assignment or portfolio so finally i did.
marianne mcphie was of course the first person i thought to call when looking for someone with gorgeous eyelashes!

snowfall in january...

2008-02-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

The one downfall to Utah is the long, freezing cold winter. I'm ready for summer already....
flowers from katie vargo after my ear surgery... i love sunflowers :)

Jason, Taylor, Abbie & McKay

2008-01-18T00:12:00.000-08:00

The hardest part of this whole surgery thing has been not being able to run everyday. This week I've really missed that and I've realized what it does for me, it's when I think about my life. So in hopes to spark some creativity for next weeks photo project and more importantly to plan my February 15th portfolio I decided to take the long walk home from the library tonight in lieu of running. During the walk I couldn't think of anything I wanted to add to my portfolio but rather everything I have been blessed with... my friends, to be at BYU, talents, hobbies, my parents and certainly my siblings. I spent the next few hours thinking about all my brothers and sister have done for me over the past 20 years and the impact they've had on me. They have all married amazing people as well but there's just something about actual siblings...

Just over a year and a half ago Jason and I had a conversation that I can fully credit why I am where I am today to. It started as a casual conversation about Jack's Mannequin's song "I'm Ready" because he found the lyrics interesting but before I knew it we were talking about my future, what I really wanted to do with my life and how to get there. That night he advised me to write down where I saw my life going. Where I envisioned myself in 1, 5, 10 and 20 years, etc. Yeah maybe I haven't even hit the 5 year mark on the time line but he made me realize the importance of planning my life out. At this time I was planning to study business but I felt like I belonged in photography and he helped me come to this realization. Jason is a perfect example of one who plans out his life. I mean come on, how many 10 year olds really know they want to be an orthodontist when they grow up? Jason certainly did. I just love him because he inspires me to do my best.

Taylor has the personality and charisma like no one else. He's the life of every party. I know everyone else likes to be around him just as much as I do. He's a machine; I don't call him Harold Crick for nothing. Only Taylor has a "mail sorting mix" on his i-tunes, knows how long each red light is within a 2 mile radius of his house in Philadelphia, plans his life out down to the second and can make grandpa clogs seem cool. I admire his ability to do fifty seven million things in a day and still have spare time for running, biking, amber and zoe. This kid is insane. I don't know anyone who works harder in school and will do whatever is necessary to get the results he wants. I'll never forget his advice last summer that I will actually loose 4 pounds a year if I eat healthy cereal every morning for breakfast. Thank you Taylor. I love the music swaps and airplane game whenever we're in the same state, or the recent addition of the leg/gas stretches. I just love Taylor.

If someone asked me who my best friend was I'd say my older sister. A day doesn't pass without talking to her on the phone. I love hearing all about what she's up to and she always wants to know what's going on in my life. Shopping with Abbie might be some of my favorite memories, well that and sharing a room (and bed) when we were younger. She is an amazing cook, she taught me how amazing yams and cottage cheese are. That in-and-of-itself is priceless. I always have admired her amazing voice and talent on the piano. I didn't quite luck out like her. I can't think of anyone I would have rather spent the first 10 years of my life matching with every Sunday to church as well as every other day of the week.

Today was a perfect example of why I love McKay. I wasn't having the greatest day and the first person I thought to call to go to dinner with was McKay. After talking with him during dinner everything seemed alot better. Even my best friends will never replace McKay. No one can replace a brother :) I have loved being in Provo with him these past few years, it's been fun grocery shopping, weekly lunch outings, taking classes together, study nights in the library and the occasional vent sessions. I really have been blessed having him here over the past few years and love how close we've become from being here together.

I am grateful for my brothers and sister and can't say thank you enough for being the examples they are to the youngest in the family...

madelin, halle, meagan, tienna & zoe...

2008-01-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

i have the five cutest nieces ever. over christmas break i had the chance to take pictures of each of them as well as all of them together. i loved it! i have to say it was alot easier to photograph the older girls but the little ones were fun. here's the pictures of your beautiful children jason, heather, taylor, amber, abbie & josh....

halle. age 3

madelin. age 5

tienna. 6 months

meagan. 1 year

zoe. 4 months

for my mom for christmas i put all these pictures in a large frame to hang in our house. the girls were so cute because they couldn't wait to surprise grandma pollei with the pictures on christmas morning:)

the lights and buzz.

2007-12-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

It's christmas time, finals for fall semester and absolutely FRIGID here in provo, utah. the end of this semester has been a fun one... lots of hours have been spent studying and working on photo projects but my friends and i have still found time to have fun... we went to the christmas devotional @ the conference center at the beginning of this month, went to the byu vs. michigan state basketball game at the delta center, have been playing lots of racquetball, enjoyed a 40% off day at anthropology and urban outfitters, chocolate covered pretzels (or attempts to say the least) and the mo-tab christmas concert this weekend!!

Above is a picture of some of us at the christmas devotional. the lights on temple square are GORGEOUS this year! they have two-toned trees! in all my years going to the downtown lights i've never seen that done. it's pretty impressive... Here's a picture from the snowfall at home the weekend i got my camera! oh yes for any of you who didn't know i got a new camera! thank you santa. it's an slr canon rebel xti. 10.1 megapixels... the specs go on but i'll stop there. but taylor we'll discuss them later:)

So for one of my finals i had to do a portrait folder. my friends allie, ashley, jenni and jared were nice enough to take time out of their busy schedules and humor me with some smiles for an afternoon. thank you again girls!!
(well and jared)allie, ashley, jenni

i knew that jared would be great in these pictures.
below: you can't deny that this picture is amazing portrait lighting.
my teacher even thought so. oh i love good critiques!
somethings funny...

oh and the BYU vs. UTAH game certainly can't go without recognition on this blog that maybe a whole ten people look at (would be 11 if mom ever remembered everyones blog addresses) anyway, for any of you wondering YES i was at the game and YES i had amazing seats.
i think the win was picture worthy...the fans celebrating. whit & i opted to watch from the stands....

what i've been up to lately.

2007-11-23T13:50:00.001-08:00

i've been taking lots of pictures lately. between my classes, for fun with friends and engagement pictures you think i'd be sick of it but i don't think that'll ever happen. thought i might as well post some pictures of what i've been up to lately...

i took announcement pictures for two of my friends in provo a few weeks ago up at sundance. it was so fun! we took a bunch up close and then some for fun. they aren't using this one for anything but i really like it:)

taking pictures of lavell edwards stadium for a lighting and perspective assignment. jared was my smokin' model for the pictures... he's a natural.

on halloween we went and burned couches at utah lake. i love bonfires. i wanted to take a picture of everyone but this was the closest they could get to the fire without being burned alive.

tienna and i over thanksgiving at home. obviously there was something more interesting than mom taking this picture of us.... don't worry just a few moments later she was on my back and burped all over my hair.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

2007-11-04T18:16:00.000-08:00

Another Halloween down while at BYU but this year was different, I actually dressed up! I know shocking. Here's the proof...
DISCLAIMER: I'm not as cute as Madelin, Halle and Meagan as the three blind mice, Zoe as a Cheetah and certainly not Tienna as an angel...
maybe next year right?

And more proof...Yes that's me in the Wonder Bread outfit. Pretty sure that everyone was calling me "wonderwoman" which I thought was pretty creative. Ha. I had plenty of chances to wear this outfit thanks to the many parties happening the whole week!

So funny story. For FHE one week in October we decided to carve pumpkins to get in the Halloween spirit. While we were carving our pumpkin my FHE brother Matt decided that we should play a joke on everyone else and act like I accidentally got him with the knife. While I was skillfully cutting the mouth and Matt was holding the pumpkin by the inside he ran to the kitchen, squeezed ketchup into his hand and then came back and put it back into the pumpkin. Then a few seconds later he started to yell, pulled out his hand and everyone around the table about died! The prank was a success! Thank you Matt for another memorable FHE.

The only thing that gives this picture away is me smiling.
Makes me look like a heartless individual.

BYU in the fall

2007-10-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

For anyone who hasn't experienced BYU life in the fall you're missing out! Between intramural sports, the beautiful campus and dreaded midterms... well uh, minus the last one, it's amazing here!! Here are some recent pics from Provo, UT...

With only a few incidences of early snow it has been a gorgeous fall this year! One of those incidences was at the BYU vs. Eastern Washington football game a few Saturdays ago. By the end of the game it was a complete whiteout! All of us true fans stayed the whole game even though it was a practical blow-out. We're just getting ready for the BYU vs. UTAH game!!

Mia came down for the game. She refused to wear any BYU apparel yet somehow she made it on to BYU TV... The picture was taken before the snow started pouring down, hence the reason why I'm still smiling, there were no smiles once the snow started. The picture below was Photoshopped in anyway, the snow really was this bad.
Abbie, you are probably cold just looking at this picture....

BYU INTRAMURALS... This semester I'm on an intramural soccer and football team. Football play-offs started this week and we lost in the first round. Our coaches traditionally wore suits to our games, carried clipboards and of course never forgot their fake headsets. The season was fun and I'm sure our playbook will be used again next year.
As for soccer play-offs start this next week....
I'm fairly confident we'll make it pretty far in the tournament.

...Hope all is well wherever you are!! I love you all!

...VEGAS VACATION...

2007-10-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

BYU vs. UNLV

This last weekend I think half of the BYU student-body went to Las Vegas for the BYU vs. UNLV football game.
That was evident at the Bellagio water fountain shows on the strip on Friday night and especially at the game on Saturday considering blue dominated the stadium. A group of us went down on Friday afternoon, half went to Phantom of the Opera on Friday night while the other half of us went to the Bodies Exhibit which was AMAZING. Then on Saturday thanks to a friend in the ward we got hooked up with swimming at the Manalay Bay Hotel…. aka: the nicest hotel and swimming pool on the strip. We hung out on their sandy beaches before heading to the game on Saturday night. We also ate at In and Out and did lots of the tradition Vegas stops…
BYU won which made the trip all the better! GO COUGARS!

Most of the group at the Bellagio water fountain show on Friday night.

At the football game on Saturday.
We had pretty decent seats and didn’t have too many UNLV fans around us - all of the stadium was blue...
Below is the all the girls - we're in the same ward this year too which is so fun!
IHOP for dinner. On trips like this we make up exciting games…
like racing straw wrappers by blowing through straws.
Oh the joys of being immature and in college.

A kid we went with has sweet hook ups and we spend Saturday swimming at Manalay Bay on the strip. The wave pool, lazy river and beaches there were so fun to relax on for the day!

Don’t be jealous you weren’t invited… maybe next time!?!

If I could be a paparazzi for a day...

2007-10-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

So anyone who knows me would know that I would LOVE to be a paparazzi for a day. I mean maybe I don’t want to hide in trees or supermarkets snapping pictures of Lindsay Lohan returning from rehab (again) or the Olson twins leaving Yoga in NYC but I would love to take pictures all day and get paid for it! Here are some random pictures I've taken in the last while. Yeah these aren't any portfolio shots but let me know what you think... oh i'm starting to like this blogging business.

William Beckett of The Academy Is…
live in concert September 2007

Is it going to rain or shine?

Breaking through the clutter.

…and we peeled our freckles from our shoulders..

better together...

Breakfast for dinner.

Boys II Men next album cover. Or so I think it should be.

1, 2 Step

Above the clouds

"Coming Full Circle"... HOMECOMING '07

2007-10-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Jenni and I at the parade. Full supporters of the
BYU Swim and Diving Team behind us.

I'm the second one from the left... with some other friends.

Homecoming week was a few weeks ago.. September 18th-22nd. On Wednesday was 'true blue football' which takes place on Helaman Field. They cover the field and nearby hill with nasty blue foam and have football and volleyball tournaments, music and dancing and a huge slide down the hill... all in blue foam. Everyone looked a bit smurf-ish the next day around campus... cougar pride!

Saturday morning was the parade and blue pancake breakfast. My friends did a pancake stand south of campus by Brick Oven. Jenni and I were responsible for line entertainment... a mega-phone, free candy and BYU trivia questions... now that's entertainment...

Saturday afternoon was the Homecoming Football game. Even though it did rain the entire second half it was still a fun game. We won Air Force 31-6.

This is one of my freshman roommates Allison & I at the game.
We both love BYU football... and apparently the same shirt..

Probably the least flattering of all pictures

2007-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is a picture taken by my lame brother when he came to visit me last Christmas....I guess he's not so lame. That's him above in the pirate bandana, still pretty lame.

The other picture is of my brother and I hanging out with the weirdos at the Valley Forge Visitors Center in PA. Yeah we have no lives.

Still a Provo girl!

2007-10-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

My lame brother Taylor (the one in med school in Philly not the orthodontist with 3 kids or the one who actually has a job with a real income) hooked me up with this blog. I feel loved. Enjoy!