Starting Our Lives Together

East Coast Trip day 4 Hanover County

2011-11-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

We spent a day out in Hanover county driving around that beautiful peaceful country side. We stopped at a place that gives a kind of insight into the Amish way of life. There were these chickens wandering around the grounds and this one was just too cute to not get it's picture taken. We took a wagon ride around the neighborhood with tour guide explaining the specifics of the Amish Religion and culture. The whole area looked so peaceful and quiet even the areas that weren't so Amish in population. I commented to Brad that I could really like living somewhere like that with a seeming slower pace of life.

World's best Phillie Cheesesteak

2011-11-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

Tamara took us to this steak place, across the intersection is another steak place that claims to be the most famous cheese steaks. We are literally lined up into the street. Evidently this is common place because the traffic didn't seem to be all that bothered by having to swerve around the line. The owner of the place is a staunch supporter of police and fire fighters, he has bulletin boards going down both sides of the building that are covered with the shoulder patches of police forces, sheriff departments, and fire departments around the country. The sandwich was fine, it was the atmosphere that was really fun.

East Coast Trip day 3 Philadelphia

2011-11-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

Tamara, Brad, and I spent the day in downtown Philadelphia. The first thing we did was take a "Duck Tour". These are tours where they use vehicles patterned after WWII amphibious assault vehicles. We drove around the historical areas of Philadelphia and then out onto the river. This nice gentleman was our captain and tour guide.
This girl was another of the captains and is evidently a huge Phillies fan. She said she always wears fun socks like this, "no point in being too grown up".
This was the crew of a Norwegian tall masted ship that was in the harbor. They were out site seeing just like us.

Don't know where this guy was going, but he was certainly dressed for a special occasion. He was also striding along quite determinedly.

This gentleman was our tour guide of Independence Hall. Needless to say not only did we get great information, but we were able to hear every single word he had to say. I think he must have trained with a professional voice coach to be able to throw is voice around a space so completely.
Independence Hall
"Duh, daaa, Duh, Daaa, du, du, du,du daaaaaa (Anyonelse hear the Rocky theme)
Just what every city needs a giant clothes pin.
I loved all the intricate architecture of downtown Philadephia.
This couple was getting their wedding pictures taken on a median in the middle of the street, I loved the juxtaposition of the wedding and urban surroundings.
It is a little hard to be able to see the exact perspective but these cars are parked in the median of a 4 lane road. Evidently there isn't enough parking along the sides of the street. Later on down the road there was even a gulf stream trailer parked in the middle of the road.

East Coast Trip Day 2 Atlantic City

2011-11-24T13:43:00.001-08:00

We decided to use our second day of our trip to take it easy and just do some low key site seeing in Atlantic City. This was partially motivated by the fact that Brad and I watch "Diners, Drive- Ins, and Dives" and there area couple of restaurants from the Atlantic City area that have been featured on the show. I loved this sign so I had to takes it picture. All I can say about the Board walk in Atlantic City is that it is kind of like a nightclub it shouldn't been seen when it isn't crowded and at the wrong time of day. If all the booths had been open we could have had our palms read and gotten a massage about every 50 feet, and of course purchased tacky t-shirts in between.
A casino called "The Resort" was being picketed by Union Organizers when we were there, I tried to be sneaky so I wouldn't get anybody angry. I though the casino was pretty creative to counter act the protestors chants they piped out over their sound system some employees chanting "We love Resorts".
Just struck me as picture worthy.
The seagulls were pretty entertaining both of these guys were eating their lunches and the seagulls were all trying to stare them down to get a bite. They literally just sat their completely still and watched these guys eat. You can't see it but down on the sand there are even more just staring up hoping these guys will drop a morsel of food.

"Maui's Dog House". So Yummy definitely worth the drive and by far the best hot dog ever.

Awesome french toast, little tiny, tiny diner with people you can tell have worked together and known each other for years. Next it is on to downtown Philadelphia.

East Coast Trip Day 1 NYC

2011-11-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Brad and I took a trip back east to visit my sister Tamara, see some old friends, and do some site seeing. I of course took my fun camera with me and came back with piles and piles of pictures. So now you will get to see the pictures and a running commentary on what we saw and did. The trip was a lot of fun, but I think we tried to cram too much into too few days. From September 22 - 29 we went from NYC to Philadelphia to DC and back to NYC.

Brad and I flew into NYC on the red eye and arrived at JFK airport at 6am. We met Tamara at Penn Station and spent the day being total tourists. As you can see below we even did the quintessential carriage ride through Central Park. The theme of the tour was all the famous spots that had been seen in various movies.

I saw this sign as we were taking the train into the city and I just thought it was hilarious and ingenious how they used their wall space.

After central park we went downtown to the site for the twin towers to see the 9-11 memorial. On our way we stopped in at the church right near the site that had been used by the rescue and relief workers right after 9-11. The inside of the church has become more of a community center and 9-11 museum than a church at this point.
The inside of the church has become a memorial in its own right where they have displayed numerous of the mementos that were left at the site and sent during the time of the recuse efforts.
The view below used to have the twin towers behind the steeple.
There is an old cemetery out behind the church, these ribbons have been tied in the trees. If you can't read the text on the ribbon it says, "Remember to Love".
Later as we were walking from the 9-11 memorial down to catch the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty, we passed this square filled with food carts and trucks providing lunch to all these construction workers. These construction workers are working on the reconstruction at ground zero. I had to take a picture because it struck me as a beautiful relationship that out of such tragedy could come such activity and prosperity for so many people.

The eternity pools are amazing at the 9-11 memorial. They are constructed in such a way that unless you are looking down on them you can't see the bottom. Circling each one are the names of all those who died on 9-11. It was nice that they made a memorial that was not static but would provide constant movement and sound.

All around people had left flowers and small american flags as mementos.
This tree is the only one that survived 9-11. As you can see they have gone to great lengths to help it survive, and protect it.
The view of the statue of liberty from the ferry.

We got tickets to be able to go up inside the statue to the top of the pedestal. I had to take all kinds of pictures because I was just in away of how it was put together. Of course it was also fun to take a picture of the lines and light and shadow it included.

It was pretty windy on the pedestal and you can see NYC in the background.

The absolutely amazing few from Liberty Island. Trust me I have a lot of other pictures but rather than torturing everyone with them here I am going to put them on my facebook page. I promise I will provide documentation of the rest of our adventure but I didn't want to overwhelm anyone, including myself. Needless to say I have a lot of pictures to go through.

Halloween Birthday Paty

2011-10-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

This last saturday I decided it was time to christen our house with a halloween party. Given that my birthday is right before Halloween this has always been one of my favorite holidays. And of course there had to be costumes. My niece Kelly came up for the weekend and my friend Erica came up for the day. Brad even managed to survive having his hair sprayed purple in honor of the occasion.

Who knew a witch, Amelia Bedelia, and a geisha girl could be such good friends. I was impressed with Erica's ingenuity with her costume. She says she has been using it for years and frequently will use it when she goes in to work with her kids classes and teaches them cooking. Brad's niece looking adorable in her little red riding hood ensemble. She had fun running around all night and charming everyone insight.

Can't you tell how excited Brad was to have a house full of people and purple hair as well. At least he tried to get into the spirit of the occasion with a skull t-shirt.
Who knew the green lantern would enjoy playing Wii games so much. It kept him occupied for most of the evening and so kept the destruction to a minimum.

Here we are again, hair is courtesy of Kelly. I promise she really tried to show me how to do curls with a flat iron, I will just have to keep practicing.
Brad's sister Angie and his sister in law Katie. Angie channeled her halloween spirit with spiderweb earrings, and Katie took her inspiration from lady gaga. Fortunately she decided not to go with the meat dress.
Friends for longer than I care to admit but since I am turning 36 and we were roommates in 97 I will let you do the math. We are both doing weight watchers and have lost a combined 37 pounds in the past 3 months. Go us. As Erica puts it she just has two babies worth of weight left to lose.
As you can tell we were all mesmerized by the Wii I think this was the point at which the boys were discussing the it isn't cheating just because you are winning.
Who me?

Couple of things

2011-09-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

First of all, for those of you who aren't aware Brad is a Cache County Sheriff's Deputy. For the past 3 years he has been working in the Jail as a corrections deputy, but his ultimate goal has always been to be a patrol officer. Well on Friday September 30 he will officially start his FTO period to become a patrol officer. So now the two of us will officially have a garage and driveway full of 4 cars. I am so excited for him, he is so excited, it is like watching a kid who has just been told that Christmas is coming tomorrow instead of 3 months from now. The other neat thing is that he was selected to go down to ST. George for the annual sheriff's convetion. He is going to have a busy couple of weeks because as soon as he gets back from that on wednesday afternoon we are hoping a plan to NYC. We are going to do lots of site seeing, go to Philly to see Tamara, and then to DC to do even more site seeing. We are so excited to actually be taking a real vacation.

Much Fanfare and Rejoicing

2011-08-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

We finally...... have a new computer. I can not even begin to explain to you how much faster it is then our old one. I will actually be able to update our blog on a some what regular basis. Maybe even pictures now and then. We have been having fun figuring it out. Of course part of that is the fact that this time around we got a MAC instead of a PC much easier to work on my pictures with. The pictures at the top of this post are from a photography class that I have been taking for the past 2 months. It is so much fun I have actually learned how to make my camera do what I want it to. Now I just need to practice. And with this new computer I will be able to download them and actually do something with them. So look forward to some fun posts with some pretty pictures.

2011-06-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

3 wonderful years married to the best husband ever. All I have to say is when you find the right person being married is definitely the best way to live. Happy anniversary to us.

Rain and random

2011-05-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

I think spring arrived while the clouds were dropping all that rain on us. The clouds have cleared and I am shocked by when the sun comes up and goes down. I was driving to work early yesterday and kept checking my watch to make sure wasn't an hour later than I thought. While the extra moisture makes for some difficult situations it also makes for some absolutely gorgeous green scenery.

On a different note, can anyone explain the thought process of people in stores who just leave random merchandise lying around. Like clothes sitting on the shelf in grocery, shoes with the DVDs etc. It seems like I spent most of the day yesterday at work picking up random merchandise that had been left all over the store. I just don't get it.

2011-05-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

We have been having all kinds of fun up here in Logan. The best thing about the rain is that brad hasn't had to mow the lawn.

2011-03-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Isn't our life exciting we are sitting on our couch watching Utah state play in the NCAA tournament. I am getting a kick out of listening to brad's comments to the tv. We had corned beef tonight in honor of st. pats day. Brad's comment was that it was different, he had 2 helpings so he must have liked it. We are having fun with the warmer weather planning out what we want to do in the yard, yippee for spring!

Coolest thing ever

2011-03-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

I have just discovered that updating our blog from my iPod is significantly faster than on the computer. Maybe I will manage to update a little more often now.

Welcome to the New Year

2011-02-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that Brad and I survived the holidays. Now if the weather would just decide what season it wants to be. We have been having fun during the last few months.

We took a quick trip down to New Mexico to spend part of Thanksgiving with my family since everyone else was going to be there. When I say quick I truly mean quick. We flew out of SLC airport at 7:30pm on Wednesday and flew back into SLC airport at 7:30pm on Thursday. Those are the breaks when you work in retail and the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving.

We took our annual trip to see the lights at Temple Square with Erica's family. She and her kids are always so fun to spend time with. We took some pictures using the tripod it was fun to be able to take night pictures that look decent.

Brad and I have been having fun playing in the snow. Last year Brad took a snowboarding lesson, so this year we got season passes to Beaver. So far we have been up to the mountain 3 times, it is so fun to have a hobby we can share together. I also got the opportunity to go to a women's snowboarding clinic, so much fun. Met some really cool ladies who snowboard and got to spend the day playing in 8 inches of new powder.

I am attaching some pictures from our recent adventures. I promise to try to keep the blog more up to date in the future.

Interesting Weekend

2010-10-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Event #1
Brad and I invited Rodney, Marja, and Alex to come up to Logan for the BYU vs. USU game. While Brad and a majority of the Logan were excited about the outcome of the game, needless to say the rest of were slightly nonplussed.

Event #2
Brad and I got to spend the two hours in between sessions of conference at Instacare because he split his big toe getting out of the shower. 2 hours and 5 stitches later is all patched up and ready to go. So much for a nice quiet conference weekend.

Update on our Lives and our house

2010-05-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

The end of February saw Brad and I on our way down to New Mexico to visit my parents. We went to visit my niece Megan at her place of work at the Farm and Ranch Museum. The following pictures are of some of her coworkers.

We got together for a girls night at Melinda's house, the necessary things were there. Pizza, chocolate, a chick flick and lots of girl talk.

On our way back up to Logan we stopped in Cortez Colorado to visit a friend of Brad's. Jim and Brad got to be friends working together just after Brad came home from his mission. He now teaches high school spanish in Cortez.

Now all the fun of moving. NOT!!!! In case you don't know this already, moving is not fun. These are just a few of the pictures of that fun little adventure, but at least it didn't snow on us. So I guess I will have to be grateful for a small favor.

This is the family room of our house filled with the boxes and furniture. It does look a lot better now but I don't have any pictures of that yet.

The front living room filled with more boxes and random bits of furniture. The piano will reside in this room eventually.

Brad looking like we all felt by this point in the day. Tired and tired, even pizza only did so much to pep us back up.

The family room starting to look a little more room like and a little less garage sale. The accent wall was one of the first things we changed, it was originally an olive green color, so it got painted immediately. The red wall in the master bed room got painted the same color soon after.

Big Announcement. We are......

2010-02-16T20:36:00.001-08:00

Buying a house!

Brad and I are about 2 weeks away from officially being home owners. These are pictures of the house that we are under contract for. It is out in Nibley, UT which is a small community a little south of Logan, which means a little closer to work for me. Further from work for Brad, but I think the big deep garage, and the primo finished basement has soothed that disappointment for him. I have a ton of other pictures for my reference and to show my family when we go down to visit them next week but I don't want to bore all you. As far as landscaping goes, under the snow there is grass and a sprinkler system, and we have 3 small trees in the yard. Wish us luck with the rest of the process, signing the paperwork, and moving.

New Camera & trip to Grand Junction

2010-02-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

The weekend before our snowboarding adventure I went down to Grand Junction to visit my friend Candy and her new baby. It was a fun trip and it also gave me a chance to use my new camera. Candy kept apologizing that the weekend wasn't as exciting as it could have been but it was everything I wanted. Relaxing, fun, and I got to hang with Candy and her two beautiful girls.
On my way down to Grand Junction I stopped in for a little visit with Erica and got a couple of pictures of her and her youngest munchkin. Aren't they beautiful.

And of course since it was Brad's idea to get me this camera I had to torture him and take pictures of him as well. Can't you see the excitement?

Snowboarding Madman

2010-02-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hail the Conquering Hero!
Brad and I went up to Beaver Mountain today to do a little snowboarding. This was the first time I had been on the slopes in about 2 1/2 years. Which is a crying shame, especially since I got a new board last fall before I went back to school in Colorado. Brad, after a little convincing, agreed to at least try snowboarding.
It took some convincing to get him out of bed, dressed, and out the door; however, he was a good sport about my enthusiasm. We signed Brad up for a first timers deal that provided his lesson, rental, and lift ticket for $50. The best part was that not only did he survive the lesson with a smile on his face, but we did 2 runs together before going home. He learned the fun of falling in powder and going "poof", and even admitted he wouldn't mind going snowboarding again. Even better my old snowboard is the right size for Brad so once we get him some boots and bindings he is all set.
Unfortunately we forgot the camera at home, but needless to say it was a great day, awesome snow conditions, not crowded, and Brad looked adorable in his new snow gear and hunter orange beenie.

Big Time Blog Slacker

2010-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am the worst blogger ever. Between working (what feels like all the time) and a computer that is terminally slow I am not the diligent in keeping our blog up to date. With the holidays over and a 3 day weekend in front of me I am taking the opportunity to craft an update.

Fortunately we did take pictures to document most of our adventures. In case I haven't informed everyone I have been working for Target since August. Let me tell you, until you have worked retail between Thanksgiving and Christmas you have not truly experienced the craziness of holiday shopping. Needless to say with me working retail and Brad in Law Enforcement our holiday observance was a little less then traditional, but we still had fun.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and enjoyed the holiday season however you celebrated.

First up in the photo montage are from my birthday.

Mom thought that living in the frigid north I might enjoy and outdoor thermometer.

The newest addition to the Hansen Family Library Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol", good book fairly anticlimatic ending.

Brad got me some new shoes for work, while practical they also have cute little flowers on the side, it helps to add just a little bit of whimsy when you are on your feet all day.

In November Brad and I took his sister down to the MTC to prepare for her mission to Sacramento California.One of my favorite parts about Christmas is making Christmas cookies for family and friends. I usually just make sugar cookies, but this year i decided to throw in a little family tradition. Angel thumbprint cookies from Brad's family and Biscochos from my family.

Brad got a kick out of how my culinary efforts covered the kitchen in treats. Of course in our little kitchen it isn't hard to cover every flat surface with cookies. The funnest part of the whole enterprise was delivering them to family and friends and getting the chance to chat and catch up.

This year in stead of buying our tree from a tree lot Brad and I got a permit and went up to Idaho and picked our own tree out of the forest. I was even the one who cut it down, the chainsaw refused to work for Brad, so I went old school and used the bow saw.

We spent Christmas Eve at Brad's parent's house, his niece Mia asked to use our little point and shoot digital camera. Brad gave her a few quick instructions and turned her loose. The following pictures were taken by a precocious 5 year old.

this is Mia using an old film point and shoot before for conning Uncle Brad out of our camera.

Me and Kat, playing games and eating treats.

The traditional reading of the Christmas story.

Brad's father

sister in law Caroline, and mom of the artistic Mia

Aunt Laurie

Cute little Mia with her adorable glasses and grin.

Christmas afternoon, Brad had to work until 3pm so we opened presents when he got home.

Evidently enjoying the stocking treats.

Checking to see if there is anything left to find.

Tamara gave Brad this adorable Santa hat, doesn't he look cute.

Brad totally faked me out. He had me open this set of presents in a certain order had me totally thinking that he was buying me supplies to clean up and accessorize my camera. The final present was a brand new digital camera Canon rebel T1i, along with a macro lens to play with.

Brad's DVD haul.

Brad's new wool coat that he looks quite dashing in.

Brad insisted I upload this video he shot of me opening my new camera.

One Crazy Summer

2009-08-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Our computer was in the shop for a couple of months, and then I started a new job that is currently taking a lot of time. I finally managed to find a little free time so I am providing an update of the last few months.

Our landlord and friend spent a week camping (staying in her dad's tricked out fifth wheel) up at Bear Lake, we took a day off and went up to enjoy the scenery and cooler temperatures. Our friends have a couple of the cutest kids. This little guy is the youngest, not only cute but a chunk as well.

Brad and I were given a little handpowered snowcone maker for our wedding along with some snowcone cups and flavoring. We thought this would be something fun to share with the little kids. This is Brad being the snowcone king, and therefore cementing his place in the kids good graces.

Brad and I got the chance to play babysitter after the son of another friend camping with us took a header into the water spigot and had to be run to the clinic to get stitches. The mom was a real trooper, especially since she is a nurse and had to watch calmly while the techs at the clinic fumbled around trying to figure out how to sedate and stitch up her sons head.

My niece Megan got married in May, it was a beautiful day in American Fork. The groom was handsome and bride was beautiful. She chose the colors of yellow and green so everything was very light and summery. Megan's dress was very classy, the best touch was the broach on her sash is from her grandmother.

My handsome brother and handsome husband waiting for the cute ocuple after the wedding.

Elle and her cute green toenails waiting with the flowers for the bride. I really need to start getting cute pedicures too.

Look at those beautiful flowers, and grandmothers broach mentioned earlier.

One of Megan's bridals featured her and a neat vintage yellow truck and these adorable yellow shoes. So cute.

During the ring ceremony a summer storm started to blow in. While the decrease in temperature was much appreciated it did cause some problems with the flower arrangements on the tables. This is a picture of us all holding on to table linens and the flower vases.

The decorations were really cute they had the reception at a park in Orem with theses great pergolas. They had hung chinese lanterns in white yellow and green which as the sun went down made for some great ambiance.

We saw this rainbow from the freeway on our way home. Brad did a great job of taking a picture on the fly.

Spring semester of 1996 I had the opportunity to spend the semester studying in nauvoo. This summer we had a reunion, it was great to be able to catch up with everyone, and see where they are now. Of course no one thought to take a picture until most of the light had gone.

Theses are girls are the ones for the Yearsley house, where I lived. Elizabeth Steed, and Mandi Sorenson were not able to be there but Shannon, Jayna, Michelle, and I all managed to attend. It was good to see these girls.

The next of the event of the summer was Brad's nieces wedding. The cake wasn't real but it was still beautiful so I took a picture. I loved her use of apple green and eggplant purple, it was elegant and fresh all at the same time.

Chelsey's sister did her pictures and these were the ones they chose to enlarge and have the reception. I love her birdcage veil, so vintage and classy. The reception was at a refurbished train depot in historic downtown Logan.

These are some of Brad's nieces and nephews clustered around the buffet table. I don't know about you but this looks like trouble to me. They also look really cute discussing which treats they want.

This is the cute couple.

The next big event of the summer is my nephew Jeff's wedding in Boise. It was really fun because all of his brothers and sisters came into town. So I got the chance to see all of my new grand nieces and nephews. This is adorable little Hannah, Katie's youngest. Not only is she cute but she has really strong jaws.

This adorable little boy is Kristy's little Jacob. He was having fun exploring the temple grounds with Alex trying to keep him corraled.

My two beautiful sisters waiting for the couple outside the temple. I am impressed with their coordinating skills, especially since they also managed to work within the Bride's color scheme of yellow and red.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Gibson. I love the red sash.

Mom pinning the boutineer on the groom. I love her gorgeous flowers.

Caitlin getting hugs from Aunt Melanie. It was so fun to see all these cute kids and how they have grown up.

All the little nieces were in the absolutely adorable yellow and red dresses. They all had fun dancing and twirling in their fun skirts.

I am sure the photographers picture was much cuter but I couldn't resist trying to capture all of this cuteness.

Even the mother of the bride gets beautiful flowers. I even go the privlege of pinning them on.

The handsome groom, a college graduate and a new husband all in the same summer, what a lucky guy. Of course he also got lucky enough to snag Melanie, so I guess he really is lucky.

The goodlooking gibson group (how is that for aliteration).

My sister in law has the best style. If only I could manage to achieve a portion of that coolness.

More cuteness

Hanging out with uncle Rodney.

Jeff and Melanie have quite the dancing skills you will notice the gorgeaous red shoes in some of the other shoes. This girl really is a great addition to the family. Cute, smart, funny, and for some reason she likes Jeff so I guess we will keep her.

Aren't those three beautiful women. Rachel, katie, and Elizabeth. I can only hope that I will have equally cute children.

Mom and Dad even got up and danced, haven't seen that one for a long long time. Dad may move slowly but he still has the moves.

Aunt Melinda wanted to get in on the dancing as well, Jeff was good enough to oblige. I think from the smile she was enjoying herself.

Stirring the hornet's nest

2009-07-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I know I am probably taking my life in my hands but I have some questions I am hoping someone can provide me insight on.

1. Why do people who have never been to BYU or lived in Provo hate BYU? ( not just in a sports rivalry setting)

2. Why do these same people view it as a virtue to hate BYU?

I just had someone make comments the other day about the fact that people who want to go to BYU aren't listening to the prophet when he said go to state schools and participate in the institute programs, and they are just being "good mormon lemmings". These types of comments are usually followed by some sort of caveat about liking and knowing people who went to BYU but they just don't like the institution. That always feels to me like when a teenager will say something insulting and then follow it with "Just Kidding". Okay, I am stepping off the soapbox now, I am truly just trying to understand this phenomenon, any insight is appreciated.

New Addition to the Family

2009-06-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce you all to the newest addition to the Hansen household.

We finally have a filing cabinet, the three filing cabinets are no more. The file folders are full, and even alphabetized. I feel like such a grown up.

Gorgeous former roommate and her handsome husband

2009-06-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

My former roommate Monica (The beautiful and amazing marathon runner) married Tim (the ultra cool real estate agent) on Monday, and had a reception at her parents home in Santaquin the next evening. The weather was a tad difficult, it insisted on sprinkling most of the time. Monica, still managed to look radiant and beautiful. Here dress was so classy and flattering, kind of like Monica herself.

I can't even express how happy I am for them. Monica and I were roommates about 10 years ago after I graduated from BYU. We had a great time playing softball, flag football, and watching movies that Monica usually slept through. I am so glad that a great guy like Tim (he actually runs the marathons with her) finally realized how amazing this woman is.

The other perk of the reception was that I got to chat with Erica while we drove to Santaquin. Brad couldn't come with me because of work. We had fun shopping for a present at Target, and just generally being chatty girls. On the "It's a Small World" front, we sat at the same table with a cousin of a family that Erica grew up with in Washington. It was a fun event, if you want to see a better picture of Monica in her gorgeous gown go to www.jbroadbentphoto.blogspot.com this is the same photographer who did my wedding pictures, she is amazing, as well as being Monica's sister-in-law.

Little Miracles Everywhere

2009-06-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors have beautiful rose bushes around their porch and along the fence. The side yard entrance to our apartment walks right past the fence line. Some of the roses have pushed through the fence so these are the little bits of beauty I get to see everyday.

It has been fun to watch the rose work it's way through the fence, bud and blossom. I love how there is beauty in the most mundane places. I think sometimes it is put there just to brighten our day.

It has been about 3 weeks and my garden is still alive in fact everything I planted has actually sprouted. I had to actually weed the other day, It has been nice for the past couple of weeks because it has been raining a lot so I haven't had to worry about my garden drying out. Behond the garden beauty.

Behold the plethora of radishes I will have to eat as the summer progresses. I probably need to thin them out but they just look so healthy I can't bear to get rid of any of them yet.
If everything goes will I should have fresh red potatoes to eat in September, I am hopeful that my first attempt at gardening will actually result in something edible. Here's to the potential for fresh vegetables.

First Anniversary

2009-06-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

A year ago June 5th Brad and I were married in the Logan Temple. I do have to say as great as that day was, the past year has been even better. I have to say that marrying Brad was the best decision I have ever made. We weren't able to celebrate on the actual day because of work schedules so Brad was sweet and brought me flowers at work. When he got home from work that night we exchanged gifts.

Aren't these the happiest brightest flowers you have ever seen, yellow alstromeria, and bright happy colored gerber daisies. It was a really nice surprise at the end of a long work week.

Not romantic, I know but whenever we go to picnics or bbq's with only one camp chair, Brad is always the gentleman and lets me have the chair. I decided that wasn't terribly practical or fair. Whenever we are shopping somewhere and I see a campchair he says "don't buy it we don't need it". So I decided to go over his head and buy him one anyway. So we are officially a two camp chair family.

I have recently developed an addiction to the foodnetwork show "Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives" so when Brad noticed this cookbook he decided it was the perfect gift. So I will be having fun trying out recipes from great local resturants from around the country.

We thawed out the top layer of our wedding cake. Brad thought our anniversary deserved a candle and song to make it an official first anniversary. My sister deserves props because even a year later, and after being frozen, the cake was still delicious.

Here's to many more wonderful years to come.

I have a garden!!!!

2009-05-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

My landlord finally moved his jet skis so I was able to put my garden in. These are the before pictures.

The pictures below are the after pictures. It is amazing what a few hours of sweat, some blisters, and a lot of mud on your shoes can accomplish. I have a little pot of herbs outside my backdoor so I can get to them easily for cooking. I am so excited to try gardening, I am hoping that I will actually have something to show for my efforts, I will keep you all updated on my progress.

I have little tomato plants, they are protected by stakes so that if it gets cold I can put plastic over them. There are also some bell peppers, a couple of cantelope and cucumber starts. I even found an unopened box of miracle grow in our storage room, so I can make an even better effort to make my garden a success.

My Sewing Machine Works again!

2009-05-17T17:41:00.001-07:00

My sewing machine has been having issues for the past couple of months making it difficult to do any fun projects. I had it serviced last week, and voila! it works like a dream now. A week ago at enrichment we learned how to make reusable shopping bags. I didn't have the supplies at the time but it ended up working out great because I stumbled on a sale that provided the fabric for three large bags for about $5. Below are pictures of two of the bags, I am rather happy with them. I am already figuring out ways to put pockets through the middle to change it from just a big open bag to something more like a tote bag, diaper bag, etc. So if you are interested in having a custom made bag let me know.

My Nephew Austin's Wedding

2009-05-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

First of all I have to apologize, I didn't realize how low the battery was on my camera, so I have a total of three pictures from my nephew's wedding. And they are all of the rehearsal dinner the night before. Oh, well I guess I will just have to make due with what I have.

Austin married a lovely young woman named Alissa, the color scheme of the wedding was bright pink and chocolate brown. The picture below is of the flower arrangements, I love the cute little cowboy boots.

Both Alissa and Austin are somewhat country, Austin wore cowboy boots with his tuxedo. They also provided a CD of music as a wedding favor, all of great country love songs (Brad managed to suffer through). I loved the fact that the music for the wedding was two beautiful fiddle pieces.

My cute parents enjoying getting to see their grandkids and other friends.

My adorable niece and nephew, I don't know about you all but I definitely didn't look with together and with it when I was 13 almost 14. Must have something to do with having cool older siblings ( in Elle's case) and a styling set of parents (in alex's place) I can only hope to look this cool someday. It was a great weekend. Brad took some time off, so he could come with me, the high point of the weekend for him was when he got to purchase his new handgun on Thursday. So we now have a Glock 22 and a Glock 23, we are so proud of our new acquistion.

Jeff's Graduation

2009-05-03T19:38:00.001-07:00

Last week my nephew Jeff graduated from BYU (Go Cougars!) it was a great weekend, not only did we have the fun of celebrating his accomplishment I also got to spend time with my parents. Here is the handsome graduate and his proud parents.
My adorable parents with their grandson. You will notice that the graduation gowns are navy blue, back in the dear dead days when I graduated they were black. I guess somebody decided a change to the school colors would be a nice way to update the look.

Onward and upward, the future waits.

Isn't he just the cutest kid ever, I am so lucky to be the aunt of a bunch of attractive nieces and nephews.

We had a great dinner at Rodney and Marja's house to celebrate the graduation. This is a picture of the graudation cake, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the little decorative diploma that sported a "Made in China" sticker. It was especially funny because of the engineering graduates that were honored there were quite a few who were double majors in Chinese.

That evening Mom, Dad, and I went to the wedding reception of my cousin's daughter. One of Uncle Robert's grand daughters, of course she had no idea who I was because I hadn't seen her since she was a little girl. But it was a fun occasion to see some members of the family. This is mom with one of my cousins.

See what did I tell you, I am the aunt of some really cute kids, and Matt now that he is home from his mission can actually enjoy the "scenery" at a place like BYU.

A proud Grandma giving a hug to the new graduate.

You can't tell, but I promise Jeff is getting is diploma on the stage.

Dad with his omnipresent book, he always has it with him, just in case he has to kill some time. We have similar pictures of him at my wedding reception and at my nephew Craig's reception as well. It makes things easy if we are looking for daddy, we just find a quiet corner and the chance is he will be sitting there with his book.

Waiting for the festivities to start. Don't we all look so enthused to be there an hour early.

Life in Utah: Scrapbooking & Firearms

2009-05-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Brad came home from training for the Sheriff's Department the other day. This is him looking all rough, tough, and law enforcement like. He had been at the shooting range all day doing manly type things and he came home to find the TV room covered in scrapbooking materials.

This is definitely something you don't see everyday, except maybe here in utah. Handguns and scrapbooking all in one convienent package.

Simple Things

2009-04-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have discovered www.goodreads.com and it is so much fun. Of course, I am a complete and total book nerd so keep that in mind. This site is another social networking type site, but the fun part is that it is all about letting your friend know what you are reading and what you think of those books. I have been having a blast looking at what my friends have been reading and compiling this great reading list. I am sure the Logan City library is going to get completely tired of me. Just thought I would share my newest little obsession, which will come in handy here in a week when Brad switches over to swing shift and I have my evenings free.

I also have to say I am so glad that we have a had a couple of days of wonderful weather. I spent Sunday afternoon in a chair on my back lawn, enjoying the decadence of reading a book out in the sunshine. Sometimes it really is the simple things that are the best.

Conference Weekend

2009-04-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

This past conference weekend I decided to make the trip south and spend some time with Rodney, Marja, and Alex. Along the way I also got to see a former roommate Katie Anderson and her cute family, and have dinner with Erica and her family. I made the trip alone because Brad is currently working the graveyard shift, and a second job so he spent the whole weekend working or sleeping. I figured he probably wouldn't miss me, so I decided to take advantage of my sister-in-laws great cooking.

On Saturday morning we spent the time putting together some quilts to use of some fabric that Marja cleaned out of her linen closet. I have decided that she has the best method for making quilts. She turns the fabric so it is essentially inside out, pins the batting to one side and then sews the whole thing together. This works great because then when it is turned right side out the edge of the quilt is already done. Here is my brother Rod and his beautiful wife Marja getting the first quilt ready to go.

Here is my brother showing of his domestic, pioneer quilt tying skills. Of course this is before I managed to completely smoke him with my quilt tying skills.

While the boys were at the Priesthood Session of conference Marja and I decided to go out to dinner and do a little bit of shopping. I was even brave enough to try sushi, to my surprise I actually liked the types that we had. One was a sunset roll and the other was a diva roll. Quite yummy.

This is the beautiful sunset we saw as we were driving home.

Saturday evening I managed to display an absolutely amazing amount of gracefulness at my brothers house. I was asked to take a pan of enchiladas down to basement refrigerator, well I thought I didn't need to turn the light switch on, I know the general lay out of the room, and was confident in my ability to get where I wanted to go. Well as they say in the scriptures it is better to choose to be humble then to be forced to be humble.

What I didn't see in the dark was that a drawer of the media cabinet I had to walk by was standing open. With one hand full of an enchilada pan and the other hand full of a cell phone, I didn't really have much to break my fall when my knee made contact with the drawer. So the previous pictures are of the damage I managed to inflict on the cabinet. The next picture is the damage I managed to inflict on myself. On Sunday my brother's family followed their conference tradition of going to the William's house for brunch. Accompanying us was a ton of delicious food. This is just a small example of the bounty we took with us.

On my way back to Logan I stopped off at Erica's house for dinner. It was fun learning how to make toothpick dolls, getting to see Erica's gorgeous dress for the big dance, and being treated with a scoop of chocolate ice cream because I ate my dinner.

Dance Date, alas no pictures

2009-03-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to post this blog in hopes the picture would show up in my email as proof, but 2 weeks and no picture so here goes. On Friday February 27th, our stake had a dance for the adults with a live band and everything. I thought this would be fun especially when our Valentine's Day got ruined by Brad's work schedule. Now any of you who know my husband know that he would rather have a root canal than go dancing. My wonderful husband also loves me very much and humors my whims as long as I don't go overboard. So we went to the dance. I was all excited for the much advertised floor show, which alas turned out to be two USU students singing show tunes that they didn't really know the words to. Brad actually danced with me once, I think the pain was muted by the fact that he could tell how happy it made me. We also got brownie sundaes out of the deal so it wasn't a complete loss. They even had a girl there taking dance pictures, with a backdrop and everything, who was supposed to email the pictures to us, but alas no picture has arrived. You will all just have to imagine how adorable we looked and the the look of long suffering patience on Brad's face. Needless to say I have a wonderful husband, who spoils me just enough.

Comfort Food & Springtime in the Rockies

2009-03-09T21:53:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago my niece McKenna put the recipe for a chicken pot pie on her blog. The pictures looked so yummy I just had to try it. I am happy to report that the taste lived up to the yummy pictures. Here are the pictures of my domestic efforts.

I think though that the next time I make this I will make it in a 9x13 pan instead of a pie pan. There is just so much filling that it made serving a bit of a challenge.

I think I jinxed the weather, I was being so excited yesterday because almost all of the snow had melted. The sight I was not expecting to see when I got up was my husband coming home from the graveyard shift covered in snow. Evidently it had been snowing all night, and then it proceeded to snow all day as well. So I thought I would treat you all to some pictures of "spring" weather in the rockie mountains.

This is a picture of the snow that has accumulated on top of the hot tub. In case you can't read the numbers on the tape measure that is 13 inches.

2009 Valentine Letter

2009-02-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

These are the presents my handsome husband brought me for Valentine's Day.

Dear Family & Friends February 7, 2009

It is time once again for the annual day of hearts, flowers, and jewelry (preferably from KAY or Jared, at least according to the television). This increase in jewelry commercials indicates that it is once again time to write my, or should I say our, Valentine Letter. This is an exciting letter to write because there have been quite a few changes this year.
Change number one consists of a change of name and a change of address. On June 5th, Elizabeth Larsen married Brad Hansen, and we set up house in Logan Utah. My family stepped up to the plate and not only dealt with a last minute change of reception venue in a graceful manner they also doubled as wedding planners. One sister made the wedding cake, mom made the gown, another sister did the hair and make up, one niece did the decorating and another niece designed the invitations. Maybe this is a sign that the Larsen family should go into the wedding business. The occasion was wonderful and only made better by the good weather dispensation we received after a week of cold rainy weather.
I spent the summer working at Target doing an internship where I received training in all the departments and they even let me try my hand at decorating cakes. It was challenging and a lot of fun. Brad spent a portion of his summer applying to work for the Cache County Sheriff’s department, and started work at the jail in August. So he now spends his time at work babysitting people who can’t manage to behave themselves. We traveled quite a bit right after the wedding with a reception in Grand Junction, CO and another in my hometown of Las Cruces, NM.
I do have to say that being married is tons of fun, especially to a guy like Brad who is kind, generous, funny, and gives great hugs. I have learned however, that if I couldn’t cook we would be eating out a lot. I do have to say though that Brad makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich so that is now his official job in our home.
Even though we were newlyweds, we decided it would be best for me to finish my last semester of school back in Grand Junction. So in the middle of August we packed up my car and I headed back to Mesa State College to finish my Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing. I graduated successfully in December and even managed to achieve a 4.0. Brad survived on his own, although he did mention that he was sick and tired of eating apples, yogurt, peanut butter and tortillas.
We spent our first married Christmas here in Logan, it was fun to see another families Christmas traditions. These traditions were a little different this year because just before Christmas Brad’s mother fell and broke her leg so we celebrated Christmas in the hospital. Christmas did have a bit of a drama to it because I found out right before New Year’s that I wouldn’t be starting my job at Target on January 5th. So instead of starting work I got the fun of starting to look for work. While the process was long and frustrating at times I started work at the end of January as an Office Manager for a company here in Logan.
I am including a few pictures from some of our fun activities during the past year. Hope you all have a great year, and remember that as fun as Valentine’s Day is it is important to make sure the people in your life know you love them everyday.

Love, Elizabeth and Brad

First Married Christmas

2009-01-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

We got to spend out first married Christmas at our own apartment. Don't we just look lovely. I let Brad sleep in while I got breakfast ready and then I just had to make him get up so we could have Christmas. The beanie I am wearing was made by a friend of mine, she does great work if you need something knitted.

Don't you just love my beautiful Santa hat, I felt that I needed to get into the spirit of the holiday. Of course by posting this picture you now all know what my lovely robe looks like. I made sure to get the type of candy that mom always put in our stockings growing up and Brad provided the nuts and fruit that are tradition with his family.

This is our beautiful tree that had a bit of hard life because it had to be moved after it was already decorated. I think my favorite part though was Brad's absolutely gorgeous morning hair.

We had a bit of an interesting time with Brad's family on Christmas day. Brad's mom fell the week before Christmas and broke her leg, so she was in the hospital. So we all gathered in a classroom at the hospital to open presents and spend sometime with family. This is Brad's niece holding the newest nephew addition to the family.

Brad's mom gave all of the members of the family emergency backpacks it was fun to watch the little kids open them and wonder what exactly this present was all about. Our new emergency backpacks are all packed, ready to go, and in the closet.

Here is the lovely new bathrobe that my mother made for me so now I don't have to wear my old (15 yrs) ratty one with a hole in the shoulder and under the arm. Thank you Mom! I love it.
The search has ended! Ever since I saw "The Lakehouse", I have wanted a red, toggle closure coat and have been unable to find one. I would find the right style but wrong color, or right color wrong style. My wonderful husband saw one in a day after christmas ad and bought it for me for Christmas. I love it, love it, love it. And I really love the fact that he gave me something that I truly want.

2008-12-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

Brad and I spent Thanksgiving with his family and fine Turkey day tradition we broke out the football Brad got for last Christmas and played a little catch in the front yard.Brad looking all rugged and athletic

Brad's brother Dave, with Chace and Adrian.

Chace being rugged and athletic like his uncle.

He could go all the way!!!
I will say that one of the parts of marriage that takes the most getting used to is adjusting to a different families traditions. It is still fun, just different. We didn't manage to get pictures taken but Christmas night it snowed about 15 inches here in Cache Valley. So I am definitely getting the appropriate initiation to Logan winters. Let me just say it is impressive, at least it would be if we owned something more technologically advanced than a snow shovel.

A Day Off

2008-12-20T18:44:00.000-08:00

Brad finally had a full day off so we decided to take the day to run some errands in Salt Lake and have lunch with my Rodney, Marja, Whitney, and Craig. We finished off the day with a pizza fest with my friend Erica and her family and then a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. This trip was important because Brad has never seen the lights at temple square. We had a lot of fun and even managed to get some fun pictures.

It may have been snowing but Brad is all smiles.

Erica's family, Brad and I all bundled up to see the lights.

I just thought this looked cool and I am glad I was able to capture it on the camera, it really looked like this.

Riding Trax downtown so that we didn't have to park. Brad and I with Matthew and Jarom Miller.

Erica, Bill, Elanore, and Margaret Miller having fun on the train.

Margaret and her beautiful hat.

Christmas card anyone?

At temple square they have this lifesize nativity scene that gets lit up by spot lights about every 15 minutes while the christmas story plays. Well there was so much snow that they had a guy out with a broom sweeping off the wisemen. You can see him standing behind the camel.

I just thought the snow looked cool falling through the spot light beams so I had to try to capture it.

We also had lots of fun this past wednesday, we finally managed to get my couch into the apartment but it wouldn't make the turn in the hallway to get into the room that was our TV room so we had to switch our bedroom ad the TV room. Here is some photographic evidence of the insanity.

The beginning of the insane room swap. Still smiling.

On a fun note we got our first christmas tree, it is cute and little just like our apartment. Of course because of the moving rooms insanity we had to move the tree as well which I am sure Brad enjoyed that little adventure. It has been fun creating some of our own Christmas traditions.

I'm Done!! I'm Done!! I'm Done!!

2008-12-11T23:07:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am officially done with school and will be moving up to Logan tomorrow morning. It is so nice to be able to come home in the evening and not feel like I have to do homework, it is absolutely decadent.

Some Random Pictures

2008-11-13T07:46:00.001-08:00

I was going through pictures I had downloaded from Brad's camera and thought I would share a few of them. Some are from the reception in New Mexico, some are from the reception in Grand Junction, and others are just random. Enjoy! I thought random was appropriate for a Thursday morning after only about 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

Can't you tell Dana is just thrilled to death with the reception preparations? (NM Reception)

Is mom excited for the reception or just happy she doesn't have to try to keep food cold in a cooler and can use her own kitchen to cook in? We may never know. (NM reception)

This was the weather Brad and I drove home from our honeymoon at Bear Lake in. I want you all to understand that this was June 11. In case you didn't see it the first time, it is JUNE!

Had to include a picture of two adorable men. Jarom was a hit at all the receptions, he definitely upped our social standing just by being such a darn cute chunk of a kid. Of course I don't need to say anything about how devistatingly handsome my husband is, that is just understood.

For those of you not able to be at the Grand Junction reception, my niece Megan did a great job of making the Institute look a little less utilitarian. She even went so far as to bring in special guests, like R2D2's girlfriend. (Previously the trashcan)

A dress that twirls really requires no explanation. (NM reception)

Birthday Weekend & Graduation

2008-11-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

Brad attended graduation ceremonies for the Corrections Academy, I was unable to be there because it was during the week, and unfortunately I still have classes to finish up. But I did tell him to take pictures.

I was able to go up to Logan for my birthday it was so much fun. First I stopped off in Orem and had dinner with Rodney, Marja, and their exchange student Jorge at PF Changs. Yeah! for chinese food.

Brad and I spent saturday doing absolutely nothing productive, went to the gym, went for a little hike up Logan canyon, and listened to the USU/ Fresno state game on the radio and of course had dinner at Cafe Rio, my personal favorite.

Birthday Weekend

2008-10-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am excited to be heading home this weekend to spend my birthday with my husband. We don't have any big plans but it will be nice to spend time together. After that I am going to have to buckle down and finish up my school work, so probably no more trips until Thanksgiving but after that I will have one week of classes and then finals and then I will be done. Yippee!!!!! Yippeee!!!! Wahoooooo!!!!!

Brad is now officially official at the Sheriffs Department, he has successfully passed his field training period. So kudos to my handsome wonderful husband.

More Pictures

2008-10-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, Happy Birthday to Marja. The most wonderful sister in law in the world who made sure that I got the most beautiful flowers ever for my wedding. I can't even begin to say thank you enough and now I forgot to send prompt happy birthday wishes. Sorry for being deliquent, what with the holiday and traveling I completely lost track of the days. Sounds like you had a great day being pampered by the wonderful men in your life. Enjoy all your fun books, I am completely jealous.

I finally got pictures of the bridal shower we had here in grand junction. I have decided that this is a compelling argument for having my own digital camera rather than relying on others so that if there is a delay it is my own fault not anyone elses.

I also just finished ordering our wedding photo album from mypublisher.com. It will be here in about a week so I will be able to tell you all if it is as wonderful a service as it seems to be right now. For the non-scrapbooky of us out there this is a great thing, no cutting, no pasting, no buying tons of paper and supplies. Simply download the software, drag and drop the pictures, pick a lay out, finish the book, and order. Voila! A personalized professional looking photo album.

Okay, here are the bridal shower pictures.

Women's Football Clinic

2008-09-11T20:35:00.001-07:00

I know this happened a while ago but I just got the pictures from it so I figured I would tell you about it. My friend Erica and I went to the BYU Womens Football Clinic. This is a fun event that the BYU Football office has been hosting for a few years now. It is a lot of fun and a chance for the female BYU fans to ask questions about the game without being laughed at by any guys.

This years was especially fun because we got to tour the press box and the home locker room of LaVell Edwards stadium. We asked questions of a panel of players (please don't ask me to remember names of positions). Coach Mendenhall spoke, which of course everyone loved, and then we got instruction from the different special teams coaches.

The best part of the evening though was running drills on the field of the stadium, these were fun, I am sure the coaches were getting a good laugh at our expense but who cares. We then gathered on the 50 yard line and watched last seasons highlights on the jumbotron. Definitely cool. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves BYU, football, or both. It is usually held the end of July and costs about $20. They provide dinner, t-shirt, media guide, and various other goodies. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Almost Done

2008-08-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well the summer is almost over, my last semester of classes start on Monday August 18th. This means that I will be heading back to Grand Junction on Sunday to live with a Friend of mine to finish school. Brad and I know this is the best way to finish things up for school but it doesn't mean we are happy about being away from each other for 3 1/2 months.

You will all be happy to know that Brad has finished his first week of work with Cache County, he even went to work today armed and in full uniform. He is really enjoying it, learning alot, and having a great time. I am so proud of him and how hard he is working, especially since he has had to be at work at 7am which is new for him.

I have one huge victory to declare, I finished the thank you notes from the wedding today. Whew!!! I am all for Thank you notes until I had to write out about 150 of them. Here is my hint, if you are taking a gift to a wedding reception, write your name legibly and include both first and last name to make it little easier on the bride.

Wish me luck as I head out to finish up school and keep Brad in your thoughts as he learns a new job.

Jobs beginning, jobs ending, and school almost done

2008-08-03T18:39:00.001-07:00

Guess What!! Brad will be starting with Cache County Sheriffs Department on Monday August 11. He will be working in the jail babysitting all the people who have a hard time behaving themselves.

I will be finishing up my internship with Target on August 8. I presented my project finding to the store managers in the area and the district managers on August 1. It seemed to go well I got alot of positive comments. It has been an interesting summer. I have worked with every team in the store which has meant going in to work at 3:30am and sometimes coming home at 11pm. So needless to say it has been a little crazy but lots of fun.

School starts again on August 18, I will be returning to Grand Junction to finish up my last 4 classes and Brad will be staying here in Logan. While this is not the option we really love it will take the least amount of time and cost the least amount of money. I figure if military wives can say goodbye to their husbands for 6 months to a year, I can tough it out for 3 1/2 months. Especially since we can see each other on the weekends and talk every night.

We have had a nice weekend off of work, sleeping in, working out, going to dinner, watching movies, playing minature golf, hiking, going to Brad's nephews baby blessing. It has been fun.

I got to go to the BYU Women's Football Clinic on Thursday and can I just say I am impressed with the program, with the players and with the coach. Coach Mendenhall gets it, he understands that as players for BYU they are equated with the church, so he holds his players to a high standard of behavior both on and off the field. The highlight of the evening was sitting on the fifty yard line of LaVell Edwards stadium watching highlights from the 2o07 season on the jumbotron. Very cool.

More Wedding Photos

2008-07-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

The beautiful Logan temple and the gorgeous weather.
Even the groom got surprised by being kissed
What is more romantic than a grassy lane and a parasol

The park had a beautiful setting for photos

Megan and Erica made this pretty sign for the gate at the park.

Okay this time I am going to try to actually put some captions with the pictures. Maybe one of these days I will manage to make my blog as cool as other peoples but for now this will have to do.

Let me start by explaining that about 5 weeks before the wedding, we found out that the highway out to where our reception was scheduled would be closed, so either we would have to reroute everyone 40 miles out of their way or find somewhere else to have the reception. Well I decided that I didn't want to make people drive that far so we began looking at other options. Brad suggested we look at a pretty little park in Providence, it was beautiful so we reserved it and sent out postcards to all of the Utah wedding guests to let the know of the change.

The off shoot of this joyful little switcharoo was that my family was forced to pull together to pull off a beautiful reception. They did a beautiful job I could have asked for more. There is a great story that goes along with this too because obviously since we were having the reception outside success was contingent on weather cooperation. The weekend before the wedding the weather was gorgeous however by monday afternoon clouds had rolled in and the temperature dropped. It was cold and rainy on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. We decided to go forward with faith that things would work out and we would be able to have the reception outside. When we went into the temple it was still drizzling, when we came out 2 hours later at 1pm the sun was out and the weather was beautiful. The weather stayed beautiful for the rest of the day and we woke up Friday morning to clouds and rain again. I know that in the grand scheme of things the weather at a reception doesn't really matter but it was nice to have our faith pay off.

Wedding Pictures

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

I finally managed to get my computer to cooperate so here are some of the pictures from the wedding, when I get a chance I will put more on here. I have a lot of great pictures so if you want copies please just let me know.

Lunch with the family and Josh's blessing

2008-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Joshua Peter Crane's blessing.

Brad and I went down to Salt Lake last night, Aunt Arda was kind enough to let us stay with her so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it to Kristy and Peter's church by 9am. Brad and I thought it would be fun to take advantage of the fact that I live close enough to family now to be able to be at family type things. So we went to the blessing of Kristy and Peter's little boy Joshua. It was also a good chance to say goodbye to Kristy before she and Peter move to Indiana for Peter's residency. I thought it would be fun to include some of the pictures that we took. I have decided that for snapshots this little digital camera is the best thing ever.

2 weeks, 14 days, a fortnight! In other words entirely too long

2008-05-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

2 weeks from today I will probably be eating breakfast in preparation of the big day. Yep you guessed my wedding is exactly 2 weeks from today. Not that I am excited or anything. Brad and I are getting our marriage license today so that will be the last of the official paperwork that we have to obtain. Yeehaww!

Okay i need some advice, we are moving into a slightly rundown basement apartment and I need some ideas of how to make it more homey. Please share any low cost ideas you might have, thanks.

Reception Park Pictures

2008-05-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures, they uploaded in the wrong order so the ones of the park entrance are at the end of the post. Let me know what you think. Megan, I saw an idea where they had taken small glass votive candle holders and using wire had suspended them from branches, which looked really cool. Also we are looking to seperate the food prep area under the pavilion from the guests so any ideas to accomplish that will be grately appreciated.

Rather than trying to attach pictures to emails I am just going to post the pictures of the reception site on my blog. It really is the cutest little park.

I feel like a kid before Christmas.

2008-05-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got up to Logan on Saturday evening, moved all my junk into the apartment, and have been figuring out reception stuff, internship stuff, and cleaning the apartment since then. Are we sure it is really only Wednesday? It really feels like it should be at least Friday, but then again that could be because it is now only 15 days until the wedding. Not that I am counting down or anything.

I found out that I will be working in the Riverdale Target store for the summer. I am all suited up with khaki pants and red polo shirts. I have the sneaking suspicion that I will be sick of those colors by the end of the summer but maybe I will discover that retail is in my blood.

Brad has a really busy couple of weeks coming up. He is finishing up his corrections officer training program so lots of tests and such, he is also getting ready to apply and test with the Cache County Sheriffs department, oh and let's not forget that he is going to be getting married here in 15 days. Gee and I thought I was busy while school was going on.

FYI: Location Change.
For all of you who read my blog and are planning on attending the utah wedding reception due to road construction the reception has been moved to:
Von's Park
350 E Center Street
Providence, Utah

Hope to see you all there.

The Countdown

2008-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

20 days to the wedding, but who cares because I will see Brad tomorrow evening. Yippee, now if my car can just handle the weight I have loaded into it.

Five Weeks From Today

2008-05-01T13:23:00.001-07:00

I am officially starting the count down. Brad and I will be married 5 weeks from today on June 5 in the Logan Temple. Yippee........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tag You're It!

2008-05-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have been officially tagged by Whitney. So I will now attempt to tag others.

The rules of THIS game of Tag are:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 lovely little facts about me.

1. I will have been married for about 2 hours by this time 5 weeks from today. It is about time.

2. I love, as in obsessed with, Reese's Peanut butter. The less chocolate and the more peanut butter the better. Whoever decided to start making Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, Christmas Trees, Hearts, and Pumpkins is a marvelous and wonderful person.

3. I love libraries and bookstores. I wish that I could buy more books but that is why libraries are so nice they let you read the books for free.

4. I have the most wonderful, delicious, adorable, marvelous fiance in the entire world. I don't care what anyone else says or thinks, I got the best man out there. This same man also deserves the medal of honor for putting up with an emotional crazy woman who is trying to plan a wedding, go to school, and maintain high GPA. I love you Brad.

5. I want to be a pastry chef, and run a little bakery. However if I did that I would probably look like a custard filled donut and that would be sad, so maybe that will be my someday dream.

6. Fall is the best season ever, of course that opinion might be biased because that is when my birthday is. I love watching the leaves change color and that first smell of woodsmoke in the evening when it starts to get colder. Love it, love it all, why do you think my flowers for the wedding are all fall colors.

7. My sugar cookies with cream chees frosting are the best ever, only challenged a little bit by my milk chocolate chip, peanut butter chip, pecan cookies. In fact the sugar cookies have been specifically requested for a barbeque next week.

I am tagging: Kristy, Katie, Janessa, Katie B, Peggy, Raquel, and Brad.

Wow, my mom is talented

2008-04-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad came up to visit this week, because the point has come in the dress making process that requires it to be fitted to me. And I just have to say that my mother is one talented lady, it isn't even finished yet and it is already beautiful. We are going to David's Bridal tomorrow to try on sashes so that mom won't have to make one. We are doing shopping for fabric for table runners and shopping for the centerpieces.

Melinda sent a piece of wedding cake up for me and it is really really good. I don't know why she was worried about if I would like it, I mean after all it is cake and mom loves it so I was sure it is great. Now I can give it my full and total endorsement. I feel bad for mom and dad because they came all this way and my schedule is such that I am not available all that much.

Brad said that he is jealous that I got to try the wedding cake before he did, but he decided that he could be patient.

I have great news: I have been offered an internship for the summer with Target. It is a 10 week internship and I will get 3 credits of academic credit for it. Of course it is necessary for me to pass a drug test and a background check, so it might be a little shaky (because of my crazy past) wink, wink. I am the most boring person on the planet I pity the person who has the job of processing my drug test because it is absolutely boring. I am really excited about this opportunity because I will get to learn all about Target and how it works.

Brad started his training as a corrections officer this week, so far he has enjoyed it. He has said that he would like to work his way up and become an instructor at the police academy. I think this would be marvelous because I know that he would be really really good at it.

Princess Dresses and much more

2008-04-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

I was the guest of honor at my first official bridal shower. My sister-in-law, sister, and best friend were kind enough to through me a party. They were also kind enough to no subject me to any ridiculous party games for which I am exceedingly grateful. We had lots of delicious food, a must for any successful party, lots of presents, and much fun. Erica and Katies provided a 72 hour Honeymoon survival kit complete with feather boa, bottles of water, baby oil, and peanut butter crackers. Marja got her contribution at Victoria's Secret and when Katelyn (who is 3 years old) saw what was in the boxes she exclaimed, "oh, look princess dresses". So we laughed for the rest of the evening about my "princess dresses". Everyone was so generous and lots of cousins and even my Aunt Arda came it was great.

Well, it is officially official. The announcements/invitations are in the mail. I am sure the guy who picks up the mail at the campus drop box loved opening it up to find 350 envelopes. Many kudos to Brad for sticking the return labels on every single envelope and then helping to put the announcement inside, and to Candy for inserting maps, sticking stamps, and moinstening envelope flaps. All that is left is the hand delivered ones, which will make church entertaining because it is always fun to hand out things in hopes that people won't be offended they didn't get one.

To update everyone on the count down we are under 2 months now. Yippee!!!!!!!!!! June 5th everybody, June 5th is the big day.

What's it Worth to Ya Baby

2008-03-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have decided that weddings are all about opportunity cost. What are you willing to do yourself and what are you willing to pay others to take care of. I have discovered being a fulltime student really raises your opportunity cost. Since I seem to barely have time to sleep I find myself being more and more willing to pay someone to take care of things. Thankfully I have very helpful, generous, and giving friends and family, so that makes creating a beautiful event even easier.

Spring Break

2008-03-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how after a vacation you need another vacation to recover? Suffice it to say I had a marvelous spring break, I got spend 10 days, count them 10 days with Brad. It was wonderful marvelous and over way way way too soon. Not only did I get to spend time with Brad but I also got a MAC makeover and finally found shoes that fit. Whitney and Marja had fun playing with my wedding hairdo and watching me be made over.

I am in discussions with McKenna about figuring out wedding announcements and they are looking really good so far. The plan is that during Conference weekend we will have a major envelope stuffing party and get them all out and sent. So if any of you are bored you can come join us and get paper cuts too. That weekend will also be the first official bridal shower and let me tell you I am a little nervous about the gifts that are being planned. But I have done my share of embarrassing people I guess it is my turn now.

Invitations, Dress fittings, and homework

2008-02-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to understand why people take a year to plan a wedding. It isn't that any of it really that difficult, it can just be sort of wearing to make decisions. The exciting thing is that I think Brad and I have nailed down the dates for all the wedding events and such. So hopefully that means that during Spring Break we will be able to order our invitations, that will be a big checkmark off the wedding to do list. So along about the beginning of April if any of you are bored feel free to stop by for a wedding invitation stuffing party.

Don't even get me started on the dress, the pattern is lovely, and the finished product will be absolutley beautiful, but the process it annoying. Making a wedding gown is difficult enough, making one long distance, well my mother and I should have our heads examined. Also as a side note vogue patterns are of the devil and are sized for short women. Mom has had to add 3 inches to the bodice and sleeves just so I won't look like Dorothy wearing one of the munchkins dresses. The second attempt at the bodice is currently in the mail on its way back to mom, so we will see what the third incarnation brings.

And of course there is school to contend with, so if any of you are good in accounting or love to do marketing plans, you might be able to make some good money if you offer to impersonate me and take a few tests for me.

I saw a quote the other day that sums it up "Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal". I keep reminding myself that my goal is to marry Brad Hansen and live a good life and the rest is just frosting.

Changes!! Changes!!!

2008-02-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

Attention: The wedding date has changed! Brad and I will be getting married on June 5th. Put that on your calendars. June 5th!.

Brad has signed up for a corrections officer training program that has the final practical exam on May 28th, review for the final on May 29th and then the written final on Monday June 2. Now this may not sound like a big deal but May 28th was the big family bbq, May 29th was the wedding, and June 2 was the monday after the honeymoon. Umm, let's think about this, no.

So rather than get irritated, fight fate, or throw a fit I suggested we just move the wedding to the next week, so we did. Same schedule of events, same places, just one week later. Now if we can just get the schedule for the rest of the open houses and events worked out we will be sitting pretty.

If anyone goes to the Dillard's in Logan be sure to stop by and say hi to Brad he is working security there and is evidently bored out of his gourd.

2008 Valentine Letter

2008-02-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends February 7, 2008

I hope this New Year finds all you doing well and enjoying life with all its twists and turns. I was reminded that the season of hearts, flowers, and cupids was coming when an animated monkey singing “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe” by Barry White showed up in Mesa State Bookstore. This indicated it was time for my yearly update.

As you may recall from last years letter I decided to venture back into the world of higher education in pursuit of a business degree. I have managed to maintain a 4.0 for the past three semesters and I have decided to concentrate my studies in the field of marketing. This seemed to me to be the most universally applicable of the degrees available. I am actually really enjoying my studies and learning some really cool things.

This past I got tired of how gas prices were affecting my pocketbook, so I bought a bike. Now this is not just any bike, it is pink beach cruiser with white hibiscus decals all over it, the tires even have a flower tread. I got metal saddle bag baskets, a headlight, and taillight so I have been riding my bike all over town. Beyond the gas savings and exercise benefits of a bike, you just can’t help but smile when you see a pink bike with flowers on it. I will admit that since it has started snowing my bike isn’t getting quite as much use, but is still nice to have when there is no snow on the street.

The start of the new semester has brought a few other changes along with the New Year. I am now working as a cashier at the campus bookstore; it is a lot of fun always busy with lots to do. The only problem is all these books being purchased that look really interesting so then I start thinking about taking other classes. This is not a good thought process when you are trying to get through school in an expedient manner. Working with people is definitely fun, of course that could be because I love watching people.

And speaking of people watching Tamara and I went on a cruise in August. We stopped in Grand Cayman and Cozumel, swam with stingrays, and even bypassed a hurricane. It was nice to be away from life for a little while; I got a decent tan, a great pedicure, and ate wonderful food. The best part was spending a week with my sister a definite plus to the festivities.

I accomplished my goal of running a 10k race on July 4th in Provo UT, my time was under an hour so I was very happy with the experience. It was a fun week with reunions for both Mom and Dad’s families, hanging out with family is always a blast. On Friday July 6th I went on a date with a very sweet guy by the name of Brad Hansen. We met at Crossroads Mall, wandered around downtown Salt Lake and before we parted he gave me squeaky cheese brought specially from Logan for me. Well as the saying goes the rest is history, we have talked everyday since then and have decided to get married.

That is right you did read that correctly, I will be marrying Brad Hansen in the Logan Temple on May 29, 2008. Let me just tell you that he is definitely worth waiting for.
They always say that if you want to find out if God has a sense of humor tell him your plans; it hasn’t been the easiest year but definitely one of the richest. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and I wish the same knowledge for all of you.

Registering: All the fun, none of the money

2008-02-05T21:31:00.000-08:00

Brad and I have been having fun zapping all the lovely items in Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. For the uninitiated out there this means we added all kinds of fun items to our bridal gift registry. It was a lot of fun to pick things out for our house and life together, and the best part was that we agreed on pretty much everything.

It has been a great couple of weeks on the getting to see each other aspect of life. I was up in Logan 2 weekends ago, and Brad came down to visit me this weekend. We definitely feel that we could really get used to this being able to see each other everyday business. It was fun to wander around stores laughing and giggling about all the things we could register for. We watched movies, talked, laughed and generally had a great time. The highlight of my weekend in Logan was the beautiful sparkly ring that Brad gave to me. I just have to say that my fiance has wonderful taste.

We are beginning to think that our relationship and our visits with each other are related to the weather patterns. When I was up in Utah, I got stuck for an extra day because snow storms had closed 2 of the passes I had to go through. Which meant I had to miss my 8am class on Legal Environment of Business, I was absolutely heartbroken let me tell you. Then when Brad came to visit it started snowing on Sunday and it took him 7 hours to get home. So if you would like some snow invite one or both of us to come visit.

I think that is all for now, things are going well, even with the snow and homework to get in the way.

Details, Details, Details

2008-01-20T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well we are moving right along with the wedding plans and getting ready to merge our lives together. Although I do have to say it is quite interesting to try and do a bridal registery long distance. Definitely one of the more entertaining aspects of the whole long distance relationship things, trying to describe towels and bedding over the phone.

As far as the wedding plans go we have found a place for the reception, the temple is booked, we have a photographer, and a pattern for the wedding dress. So all those things are falling into place.

Now all Brad and I have to do is survive the next semester of school for me and get through FTO with the Logan Police Department for Brad. We are both doing the best we can to be positive about having to be apart but let me tell you it ain't easy. I have a new found respect for war brides, and military wives.

Engagement Photos

2008-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some of our engagement pictures. I thought you all might like to see some of them. Brad gets the medal of honor for those pictures, he was very sick that day, later running a temperature of 102. The wedding is coming together nicely and we are starting to pull our lives together etc.

It's Official

2008-01-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well it is officially official. Brad and I will be getting married in the Logan Utah Temple on Thursday May 29. Just thought you would all like to know I spoke with the office there at the temple and we have a reservation. I can't begin to tell you all how excited I am. I got so lucky when I met Brad he is the best guy I have ever known, he treats me so well. Everyone just keep us in your prayers as we try to finish out these next few months leading up to the wedding. Thanks for all the encouragement and support that we have received from all of you.

What is so difficult about sleeves

2008-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Brad and I have ventured in the wild and wonderful world of formal wear. Which for him is fairly simple. Black 4 button tuxedo (tres chic) with a white vest and necktie (tres handsome and classy). I however am having a devil of a time. You would think that with all of the wedding dress designers out there I would find something that really really like. That however is not turning out to be the case. Here are the problems I am running into.

Problems:

I don't want a train and evidently that is blasphemous in the wedding dress world.
I want actual elbow length sleeves this too seems to be too difficult. (If one more sales lady says we can do any of these dresses with an elbow length sleeve, I might scream. Don't they understand that I would like to see how the dress looks with the longer sleeve before I buy it)
I have a larger bust and all dress designers assume that if you are that size on top you must be big everywhere else. So the dresses are either so tight in the chest i can't breathe or they are big as tents but now I can breathe.
What is with the cap sleeve, don't they understand that is the fattest part of most girls arms and all the cap sleeve does is draw attention to it.

Okay, I am done ranting now, just got a little frustrated there for a minute. I have found an absolutely beautiful pattern that my mother will be making my dress from. And i also managed to find out that you can order really nice high quality bridal fabrics from JoAnns they don't carry them in the store but they can be ordered.

On the plus side, we have chosen a date so put Thursday, May 29, 2008 on your calendars because we will be getting hitched. And we are narrowing in on a location for the reception so that is helpful as well. If anyone has any suggestions, hints, or tips I would love to hear about them.

Venues, Invitations, and Caterers. Oh, My!

2007-12-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I really hate the media mill for giving us normal folks a glimpse into the nuptials of the highly rich. While it is fun to imagine what it must be like to be able to give your guest swag bags with hermes scarves, coach bags, and tiffany bracelets, it can also seriously distort your sense of what is realistic and necessary in a wedding. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a wedding fairy that could wave her magic wand and you could find the perfect venue, with tables, chairs, and linens included, all for the bargain basement cost of undying love and devotion. Even better the caterer who would do everything at cost, without requiring me to thaw taquitos from sam's club while figuring out how to serve them without looking tacky, cheap, or horror of horrors both.

This doesn't even begin to encompass the fun of playing diplomat between his family, my family, and various friends and relations. Where will the happy occasion be, when will it be, who will be invited, who will pay for what, and the list goes on and on. You would think these questions would be easily answered but just wait, everyone will have an opinion about what is the right thing to do.

It is fun to plan and to dream and wish and hope and pick out the flowers and the dress, and the invitations, and plan the food that will compliment your theme. Just don't get stressed, don't get too demanding or possessive, and when it really comes down to it remember this is a party not the 2nd incarnation of the Spanish inquisition.

Kind of addicting

2007-12-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

I am kind of amazed at how addicting this blogging thing is. I don't really have much to say, just felt like rambling for a little bit.

I have discovered that planning a wedding when you are a very opinionated person can be a bit of a challenge. I have a vision in mind and it becomes very frustrating when no one really seems to share my vision. Oh, well I guess that just means I will have to get creative. I will admit that www.theknot.com and www.weddingchannel.com are fun because they have pictures of actual real weddings. This is good because they usually provide much better ideas then the professional websites that are just trying to get you to buy their products.

I don't know if I have mentioned this before but being in long distance relationship is completely yucky. I don't recommend it at all, but alas and alack it is what I am stuck with right now so I have gotten good at looking at the positives.

Positives of a long distance relationship:

Conversation: You have to talk to and get to know the person you are in a relationship with because talking is all you have. I figure Brad and I have talked to each other more than couples that have been together for a year because we can't just sit and watch a movie together we have to talk.
Save money: Can't go on dates every weekend, so it saves you money. (of course this all goes out the window when you can finally travel and see each other)
Good Foundation: Allows you to make sure that you really do like each other and it isn't just the hormones making decisions for you.
Solidifies Commitment: Long distance is not easy you have to work twice as hard to make sure the other person knows you care for them and that they are important, because you don't have the other nonverbal forms of communication.
Lots of Special Occasions: Because you don't see each other much, what time you do spend together is a special occasion.

Okay, now just to balance it out.

Negatives of a Long Distance relationship:

No Hugs: On those long, hard, irritating days, when all you need to make the world better is a hug, they just aren't available.
Lack of real life face time: Can't just be together, on those nights when you don't ahve much to say you can't just sit and be together you have to talk, gets old sometimes.

There are my random thoughs for the day about long distance relationships. Long distance is not what I would have chosen but when I decided to try the on line dating thing that was one of the possibilities I had to be willing to accept. I is possible, even doable, just not ideal so to all of you out there in long distance relationships, keep your chin up.

I get to go try on wedding dresses this saturday, should be fun to play princess for a few hours.

2007-12-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

So I have been having fun all day at work looking up pictures of ideas for the wedding. And can I just say the biggest problem is that all the bridal models have long hair and mine is short, so coming up with ideas is a little difficult.

Here is a picture of Brad and I that we took in September when he came to Grand Junction to visit.

Entering the Technology Age

2007-12-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

It is amazing what you will do for love. Since I have started dating Brad I have driven up to Logan, Utah and back for one evening, gotten a cell phone, and started a blog. I have been given the "dubious honor" (as Brad puts it) for updating and taking care of our newly started Blog.

I taking this on as a way to keep long distance friends and family updated about our upcoming wedding. I was starting to get carpal tunnel syndrome from writing so many emails answering all the same questions. So to simplify things I will just give people a link to our blog. Isn't it nice how technology can make things simpler.

I realize for a while this blog will be sparse as I try to corral pictures and information, but I figured the best place to start would be with the basics.

Brad and I met on May 29, 2007 via www.ldsmingle.com. He sent me a smile at 11:45pm and I responded because even though his profile didn't have a picture I figured any guy whose sister would vouch for him at least deserved a chance. We chatted on line for about 2 weeks at which point his computer decided to give up the ghost so we were forced to move our conversations to the phone. Since that seemed to be going well we set up a day when I would be up in Utah, our original plan was that I would go up to Logan for the day, but then all sorts of family decided to show up for the family reunion and I realized that I couldn't give up an entire day. So, literally, the evening before I called him up and asked him if he would mind meeting me in Salt Lake for the afternoon. He was so nice about the change of plans and understanding about the fact that I wanted to spend time with my sister that I don't get to see very often. This won him big points both with me and with my mom.

So I met him in Salt Lake we went to lunch, wandered around crossroads mall, and went to the Joseph Smith movie, it was great he was nice and funny, but really really shy. During the movie he put his arm along the back of my chair but that was as far as it went. After that day we have spoken on the phone everday since then. We have become best friends and I can't imagine not ending my day without talking to him. I went up to Logan in August for a police department party, after which we held hands. Then he came to Grand Junction the end of September for a weekend, which is when we kissed for the first time. I went to Orem for Conference weekend and then again for my birthday in October, and he came down and stayed at my brothers house. I spent Thanksgiving in Logan with him and his family, and it was on Sunday afternoon that he proposed.

Such a romantic story. We were cleaning out my car after church so I could get packed up to go home, and we walked around the side of the house to through stuff in the garbage can. Brad was crying saying how much he missed me when I was gone and couldn't wait for the day that he didn't have to say goodbye anymore. He stopped, gave me a big hug, looked me in the eye and said, "Elizabeth, will you marry me". I replied, "Yes, I will". He apologized for not having a ring, but he had been planning on waiting until Christmas but he just couldn't wait anymore. I told him I didn't need a ring I just needed him. So we laughed and giggled and talked about how happy we were to be getting married. Then we went inside to tell his family, and call my family. It took me 3 hours to track down my mom, I didn't realize their church was in the afternoon and then she was over at my nieces house for dinner. So I had to call my niece Heidi's cell phone and ask for Grandma. When they figured out what I was telling her there was much cheering. I guess about 3 minutes before they were asking mom if she thought Brad would propose over Thanksgiving and she said probably not because if he had I would have called. And then guess what I called.

So far the plan is to be married in the Logan Temple on May 29, 2008. We haven't figured out completely what I am going to do about school etc. I will post information as I get it, flowers photographers, dress, etc it will all be here, including gift registries (hint, hint).