Hilary and Taylor's Wedding.

My beautiful sister, Hilary got married this past weekend. I am so proud of her and very happy for her. She was a beautiful bride. We had a great party with lots of food, lots of family, many friends and a lot of love. Most importantly of all, it was a weekend of reflecting on what it means to be a family. We are super tight-knit family. I attribute so much of our closeness to efforts that my parents made when we were young and as we grew up. They taught us to treat each other well, be selfless and generous and communicate well with each other. We did family activities and trips together to create memories and strong family bonds. My parents were married in the Latter-Day Saint temple and we believe that through faith and righteousness, these family bonds will last through eternity. Challenges arise in families. But I am grateful for so many tools that help me overcome these challenges. Over the years, my family has changed. Philip married Elizabeth on 8/8/08. Austin and I got married on 4/23/10 and with that I inherited a whole new family. And now we have Taylor as well. I am grateful for these new additions and the value and they add to my life and to the Hurst family, as it is now a combination of Hurst-Jarman-Hyde families. I felt so much hope and joy as I was in the temple with my family. I am so grateful for the promises of the temple and for the knowledge that my family and the love we share will last after this lifetime.

Beautiful Couple.

 

Me, Hilary and Philip.

So many of Hilary's Notre Dame friends came out from California and New York. It made me seriously miss ND. We even did the "tower of strength" dance in the middle of the party. From left: Arianna, Becca, Bina, Hilary, Nadia, Tiffany, Alyse and Rita.

Brother and Elizabeth. Beautiful. Beautiful.

These pictures were taken by the ever-so-talented, incredible Joshua Brown. My family swears by this miracle workers. Seriously. Go check him out here!!!!

NYC treats.

Just a few things that have made me smile the past couple of weeks:

There is a new, two-story McDonalds really close to our place. Austin and I went a few weeks ago for a "breakfast" (at 11:30) forgetting that no, McDonalds will not cater to your breakfast cravings at anytime of the day but do in fact switch over their menus at approximately 5 minutes to 11. Despite that disappointment, we discovered the NEW VENDING MACHINES!!! They are the coolest ever! We sat there for 5-10 minutes playing on them. What does one get with all these new, exciting flavor add-ones? Diet coke. Boring, I know. But the best.

 I went on a walk, which, in New York City very quickly turned into a trek. As I walked down Park avenue I glanced up and caught a glimpse of this beauty. I love skies. Seriously. I don't see many good skies or sunsets in this city but I'm glad I took a second to glance up and get a shot of this.

People love cabbage plants here!!! They are seriously everywhere! I contemplated making a whole post devoted to these babies. Maybe one will come in the near future...But I like them a lot. I like how they make almost perfect lines in the planters.

We walked past the Louboutin store on our way home last night. They had awesome window displays as seen below:

Diva Orange.

Lipstick has changed my life! It is so fun and makes me feel super trendy to wear colorful lips on the right day. Thanks to one of my new favorite obsessions, "A Blog About Love" I found out about an awesome lipstick color called Diva Orange by Vera Moore. I read about it from Mara, who writes one of the most honest, wonderful blogs out there! Her original post about the lipstick is here. Anyway, it's so fun! I think it could work for anyone's coloring. I personally kept my eye makeup more simple with the statement lips.

The Small Things.

Three different blogs that I've looked at in the past 10 minutes have talked about the importance of remembering the things that make us happy in this life. I'm JUMPING ON the bandwagon.

Some of the small things that make me happy:

1. Austin asking me to meet up with him for lunch.
2. Running in Central Park while taking advantage of the warm, fall weather.
3. Baking a perfect cookie among other fun treats.
4. Having guests want to visit us in our tiny, studio apartment.
5. Cooking dinner and playing boardgames with Austin on the weekends and having no need for anything more.
6. The brick wall in my apartment and the newly painted white walls.
7. Diet Coke.
8. Watching Friends...15 years behind schedule.
9. Getting that amazing find at a thrift store.
10. Snuggling up in my "nest of feathers" in the sunshine. 

While the small things are supplemental and bring moments and excitement or happiness, there are some big, fundamental things that bring true joy into my life.
Some of the big things that make me happy:

1. Having my source of inspiration and constantly letting it guide me in my life.
2. Being with my amazing husband and working together to become better people.
3. The friendships I have with my family and knowing that we will be a family for forever.
4. Constantly working and trying to become a better, more complete and perfect version of myself.

The Mad Ones

I'm new to the blogging world. Hi! Austin (my gorgeous and wonderful and well-intended husband) made one for the pair of us right after we got married. I don't think I have ever done anything with that blog (I'm sorry, my love). But I am inspired to blog now and now that I have made this one myself I will have no excuse to not write a little bit. A little about me, a little about us, and a lot about what is inspiring in this world.

So for my first "experience" I just want to start off with why I want to call this blog "The Mad Ones". One of my absolute favorite quotes is by Jack Kerouac from his book, On the Road:

"...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

This quote just makes me excited about life. I want more madness. I want to be more mad about living, connecting, and learning. Thank you, Jack.