Steve, Gloriana, Colorado, and Thanksgiving

When L and I got engaged we had the whole family planning discussion and agreed that as poor, starving college students we should wait to have kids. But Landon knowing he is marrying someone who is super baby hungry agreed to let me have a cat. He hopes that the kitten will give me something to take care of and keep my baby needs under control until we can afford an actual baby.

This being said, a few weeks ago we were offered a free kitten from Landon's friend's parents {welcome to Idaho where everyone is somebody's brother's neighbor's kissing cousin twice removed}. Anyway, we got our sweet little kitten {who loves Landon a heck of a lot more than he loves me. Rude} 

We named him Steve {On account of we first thought he was a girl then had to come up with a boy name on the spot when it was discovered that he was in fact a boy, and now he knows his name so it's too late to change it to something less ridiculous} On occasion, he does like me. But Landon is by far is favorite.

Shortly after Steve we scored some cheap tickets to the Gloriana concert here in Salt Lake. It was a totally awesome concert, if you ever get a chance to go, GO! It was super good and they definitely know how to entertain. 

For Thanksgiving we took off to Colorado {Thanks to Grandpa who found us super cheap tickets, we got to fly instead of making the 9 hour drive} L was super nervous, it having been his first time meeting my family. But all went great and they loved him and he loves them! 

Then because we are crazy, the Saturday after Thanksgiving we got up at 5 AM, hopped on a plane in Denver, got off the plane in Salt Lake, got in the car and drove to Clifton to have Thanksgiving with his family. 

At the moment, he is the favorite uncle. But kids are fickle so ask again next week. He'll be demoted again until Christmas for whatever reason I'm sure. 

Extra bonus: I got to get on a horse again for the first time in probably close to 2 years {we don't have a lot of horses in Salt Lake City} And even though it doesn't look like it in the picture, Mason was more excited about the horses than I was! 

Welcome To My Life

You know that saying "you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy"? Well, just take that sentence, multiply it by 5 and welcome to my life. I absolutely adore  my fiance, and one of the reasons I love him so much is that he is country to the core, but sometimes I sit back and wonder what the heck I am getting myself into.

When we're in Salt Lake we can pretend to be nice, classy people who go to the Opera on Monday nights

{P.S. We are not Opera people, we are people who will go to the Opera in good faith and then leave at intermission}

And we can pretend we're that really cute couple that dresses up to walk around the park for an hour...

 {P.S. I think we're that really cute couple regardless of where we are, but I might  be biased. Maybe}

And then we go up to Idaho and suddenly, we're this couple...

I stand around looking pretty and taking pictures while my fiance does all the hard work...

And then he decides to put me to work...

He's a smart boy, he's already learned if there's one thing I'm good at it's holding things and standing around supervising work being done. My job was to hold the screws.

And then stuff like this happens....

If you can't tell... this is me driving in the car, following my fiance as he drives the lawn mower down one of the main roads in Clifton

I think the rest of my life is sitting right there in front of me. At least I like this view! 

{Plus, he's pretty cute from this side too.}

I think I'll keep him, even if my job is always to hold the screws.

Yes We're Engaged, No This Is Not A Joke...

Ever since we went "Facebook Official" with our engagement our phones have been constantly blowing up between Facebook and texts and phone calls. And for the most part people have been really excited for us. But we have been asked a few times if this is a joke. So no. This is not a joke. We really are getting married!

The other question is people wanting to know how we got engaged so here goes {plus a little background}...

Landon and I met randomly a few months back when I went on a date with his roommate and our mutual friends threw a Wii Party a few days later. The girls were all "come so you can flirt with Adam!" Adam and I obviously didn't pan out and I think we both knew that was going to happen from the get go so no harm, no foul. Anyways, I'm at this party and in walks Landon. And as corny as it sounds we both did the whole "go to a mutual friend and find out everything you can about them" thing. 

We really should have just started dating right then and there but he tells the story that I disappeared for months and would randomly reappear. I say I just had no idea he liked me.So after months of that we finally had a day where we really hit things off. Talked for hours, held hands, had an unofficial first date kind of thing. Then I went missing again {at this point I was fully aware that he liked me but had no idea what I wanted to do about it} Repeat that last part a few more times and we get to about a 1 1/2 months ago... Landon came down to my apartment one night and we talked for hours about just about everything. A week later we kissed and about a week after that I finally got him to define the relationship and ask me to be his girlfriend. {not that there was much persuading that had to be done}

About 2 weeks into being official I took him down to Provo to meet the gang and then he took me up to Idaho to meet his family. At this point I'm pretty sure we both knew we were going to end up getting married {well, I knew and he claims he knew by then too....} 

And as for the proposal..... one night we were just sitting around talking and somehow the conversation just turned to marriage. Neither of us really remember how exactly, but suddenly it was like "hey, let's get married". At that point we both sat back and looked at each other asking if this was seriously happening but we both felt really good about it. So the next time we went up to Idaho his family already knew we were going to get married, and wonderful mom offered us his grandmother's wedding ring to use. I put it on right then and there and refused to take it off. {The funny thing is when this conversation with his mom went down, Landon was out in the field working with his dad, came in for dinner and all the sudden just stared at my hand} He pitched a little fit about needing the ring so he could propose for real {he ended up doing it without the ring}

So for the official proposal I suggested we go for a walk around the block since it was so nice outside. And as we were coming back from our walk he led me to the backyard where there is a nice little patio with grape vines and a swing {it's kind of our little place we go when we want to talk without being distracted by roommates} And as I went to sit down on the swing I turned around and he was on one knee. He asked me to marry him and I said yes!

Anyway, long story short, I really love him and think I'm gonna keep him.

Idaho Take Two

I have a confession to make. I'm in love with Idaho. {bet you all thought I was going to say with Landon... well I love him too, but this post isn't about Landon. kind of...}

We made another trip to Idaho last weekend. Again, mostly because we could. But Salt Lake is such a madhouse during General Conference weekend {364 times later, we still can't direct traffic and pedestrians} so when Landon asked if I wanted to go I didn't object much. 

We left Friday night after Landon got home from the gym {he's on a new gym kick and I'm just loving the idea of gym germs during flu season, needless to say, I don't accompany him on these jaunts} which meant we didn't hit the road until after dark, I have suspicions that it was all part of Landon's master plan to avoid more of my video camera antics. 

After rolling in pretty late Friday after a long week of craziness we practically went to bed the minute we hit the door. And Saturday was just as low-key. Between sessions of Conference Landon went out to the field to help his dad work and I hung out with his mom and ran some errands. Sunday was just the opposite. Most of his siblings came over {I had already briefly met most of them, so it wasn't totally overwhelming} and it was definitely not low-key! 

I absolutely love it up there, I've told Landon more than once I would live up there in a heartbeat but sadly,  it would be hard for him to find any work relating to his major or me to find any work relating to mine up there which means we all but had to cross it off the list of places we could live.

All in all, the trip was wonderful. Nobody tried to feed me to the cows, I survived family initiation, and being up in Idaho where we don't have to worry about school or work at the moment always leads to good and meaningful conversations. 

September in Review

September has been super crazy and I feel like such a slacker on the blog front! So, big news first!
Lyss is just 38 days from having Felicity and the closer she gets the more bummed I am that she's so far away. I'm gonna be so so so sad when that sweet baby gets here and I can't love on her.

{I had to Facebook stalk her baby shower pictures cause she's just so cute and preggers}

Devin got his mission call to Santa Maria, Brazil and is leaving in February, I'm super excited for him but I don't know how exactly I am supposed to function without being able to harass each other.

{Dev's only mildly excited, and by mildly I mean ridiculously}

School started up again and I'm slowly getting into the swing of things. Having Landon around has been really great, but getting into the swing of things now includes the swing of his schedule {which is almost totally opposite of mine} and that's a pain sometimes. My textbooks finally showed up yesterday which made me happy- now I can actually do homework and not just pretend I know what the heck is going on!

I got called as Relief Society Secretary, which has been fun so far but also feels a little bit overwhelming. We have a ton of girls in the ward and I know a handful of them. Learning names has been my priority for the week {I'm not doing super hot}

I'm moving the first of October, which is good and bad. I'm excited to pay less for rent, not so excited to lose my own place. I've gotten kind of attached to my cute little studio. And the ability to do things at all hours of the night and not worry about bothering other people or people bothering me. I'm not thrilled about the moving process {especially since Landon and I are planning on heading up to Clifton again shortly after I start moving} but it should be okay this time since I'm not moving states, just down the street basically.

Idaho

Landon and I made a trip up to Idaho this weekend. He had a few things to get done back home and I was pretty much just along for the ride. {Mostly though, we went just because we could.}

Seriously though, if I could be back home in 2 hours I would be making the trip all the time so I don't know how he doesn't do it.

It was a real kick watching him point out all these things on the way up

And for a while he didn't mind my obnoxious road trip camera behavior {look how cute he is!}

At some point he got kind of fed up with it but was trying really, really hard to be patient with me

Anyway, 2 hours and a million random video recordings later, we got to Preston, ID where we watched a couple of his nephews play football and I met some of his family {who are all super awesome, by the way} then finished the trip into Clifton {I'm in love with Clifton. It's so sweet and it makes me miss being outside the city so bad!} 

We just had a blast running around doing farm work {and by doing farm work I mean I took pictures while Landon did all the hard work}, playing with cows and dogs, and hanging out at the lake.

Nothing can compete with Colorado sunsets, but Idaho was pretty dang close. 

{PS by lake, I obviously mean puddle. It was pretty low... something about a hole in the dam}

It was a fantastic trip! We were both nervous about me going up with him {new girlfriend meeting the family and all} but I don't know that it could have gone any better. It was so much fun and we're looking for an excuse to go up again soon {plus, Landon and I managed 37.5 straight hours with each other and nobody got hurt or called names. I think that's more of an accomplishment than any of it}

{This is honestly the only picture of me from the whole trip. I think I prefer being behind the camera}

Home Again...

Back to Utah! As much as I love Colorado, it just seems wrong to call it "home" these days. The entire time I am there all I want to do is get back to my day to day life. Not that the current state of affairs is my day to day life.
I came back to Utah with a house guest. Ashley came out to visit some friends and is crashing at my place. Which is great, it's nice to have company since I don't have roommates. But you know that old saying about company and old fish? After a while it starts to stink?
Ashley doesn't stink and she's way fun. But I am anxious to get back into the swing of normal life and get myself ready to go back to my last semester of school {fingers crossed!}

Driving Home

The Wyoming weather gods have forgiven me! Or something like that. For the first time ever I drove home and wasn't caught in a snow storm or torrential down pour or 400mph winds. There was no traffic and no freak shutting down of the highway. Given, I left Salt Lake at 3:30 in the morning, and that may have contributed a little bit.
But that's beside the point. The point is, whoever is in charge of making driving from Salt Lake to Denver the suckiest thing ever has forgiven me.

Quick Updates

I know, I know, I've been really bad at blogging lately. I mean really, really bad. I go an overhaul my entire blog, change the URL, rant and rave about how I'm mixing things up. Then I fall off the blogging planet... Sorry. I'm a hypocrite. I'll own that.

Quick update: I'm two weeks {Actually, like 4 days} from the end of my second semester! And as much as I can say this semester has been low key and super easy and all that, I'm super stressed out about the next couple weeks. And it's making me a super unpleasant person, I am sure. Being so close to the end means if all goes according to plan I only have one semester left {then I have to go join the real world, and that's scary}

Aside from school I've been job hunting like a maniac. And am super over it. Job hunting seriously sucks. I don't know how people can do this for extended periods of time and still function as human beings. Cause being at it for just the last few months makes me want to stick a pen in my eye and claim disability {I probably shouldn't publish that though, if I ever do do it the word premeditated is going to get thrown around} But in all seriousness, I feel like I was never prepared for this part of my life. I feel like growing up, elementary school prepares you for middle school, prepares you for high school, prepares you for college, prepares you for what exactly? I'm learning all these things about design and I can totally knock out designs and such, but how exactly do I find a job doing that? I don't know. Find a job doing anything? I don't know that either.

And then in all my free time {funny joke!} I've been trying to stay involved at church and with friends. I feel like I slacked majorly in those categories last semester what with all the craziness in the moving, adjusting, course overload and shenanigans that went on.

I've been toying with the idea of starting a design blog since I started school. And lately I've really been playing with it, but haven't really known what direction I want to take it in or how I want to go about doing it. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. But I'll keep everyone in on that as it develops....

A Prayer of Thanks...

Today, I just want to list a few things I am very thankful for...

Dear God, thank you for Jenny, who has been so persistent in trying to get me to a rodeo this summer

Thank you for rodeos

and cowboys

Thanks for chaps,

and cowboy hats

and for who ever invented Wrangler jeans. Amen

The rodeo was a complete blast and totally worth the wait to go to! The weather could not have been better and there was only 2 cowboys who got their bells rung for them {which is really saying something after watching these guys get thrown around} And as much as I would love to share all of my pictures of cowboy glory I have about 145 and not enough time. My voice is totally gone and my tailbone {which I am convinced is broken} is not happy I sat on concrete for 3 hours. But we had a fantastic time!

Just Stop Growing Up...

Here's what I want to know:

How did this baby

Possibly become this Kindergarten Graduate?

And when on earth did this baby

Become this sassy 3 year old?

I seriously find this so sad! They aren't my babies anymore. Well, okay they were never really my babies to begin with. But I don't want them to grow up! I seriously have no idea how I am going to deal with it when they are my own kids.

I'm going to end up as one of those moms who just keeps having kids cause I can't stand my babies not being babies anymore.

This is beyond depressing. Just stop growing up. Right now.

Consolations

"The Lord sends us hundreds of little consolations every day, most of which we never even notice. But it is His way of reminding us that He loves us"

I think I heard this quote in a movie somewhere. But I'm not sure which one or who said it. It was not me. I know that much. 

I was thinking about it today though. I seriously woke up so cranky today and was not in the mood to deal with much of anything. So when my apartment parking lot was torn up and I was pretty sure I ran over a bird and hit traffic and didn't understand class I was pretty much over everything. I was just going to go home and wallow in self pity and maybe take a nap. 

{Cause that's the solution to everything right?} Maybe not, but as I was leaving school I was waiting for someone to back out of their parking spot and watched them back right into someone else's motorcycle. And as bad as I felt for that guy, I was so glad it wasn't me. I had this moment where I thought well everything else sucks but at least I didn't hit someone else with my car. 

I was still in a mood but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been in the morning. When I sat down to do my homework though I pulled a sticky note out of my drawer and lo and behold it had that quote on it. Ohhh. Yeah. Talk about a 2x4 to the face. 

I have bad days, but they really could be so much worse. And I am so glad that I wasn't the one to hit that person's motorcycle. 

Blog Overhaul

Yet again, I have been struck with blog envy and have decided it was time to change things up. Again. 

I am moving everything back to the home page for now. It was just too hard to keep up with all the different pages. Maybe some day I'll get blog savvy and make it work for me. But that day is not today. 

I'm probably gonna mess with templates and wall papers and such for a few days when I have time. And by time what I really mean is a reason to procrastinate my homework. So more changes are to come.