California dreamin

Last weekend, we high-tailed it straight outta Provo and headed for warmer weather, and sunny shores. The drive was boring to say to least. We had no idea we were even in California until we came over the Sierra Nevadas. Really, we thought we had been driving through Nevada forever because it was so ugly. Then we came down the mountains into this gorgeous valley. Seriously, so green and lush and just beautiful. I could live in California just for that view, except for the fact that the gas prices are ridiculous ($4.30/gallon??) and the earthquakes, and the traffic. All are kind of deal breakers unfortunately, because I am so so in love with the beach.

Back on track. We stayed at Nicole's parent's home the first night and their home is nestled right up into the mountain. So freaking gorgeous. There are no words, it really is beautiful up there. We slept in the next day, or what felt like sleeping in. California is an hour behind us, so really it was probably a normal time to get up. We had planned to go to Newport Beach and then go by the temple. Nicole's dad (who is a hilarious guy by the way, always cracking jokes) suggested we go to the LA temple and then down to Santa Monica pier instead, much closer than Newport.

So we drove down to Santa Monica, and finally found the temple. It kind of rises out at you from the middle of the city. Such a gorgeous site. It sits up on a hill, and has all these green plants and beautiful flowers around the temple. And it's huge. It's funny, we walked into the visitor's center (Dan had to pee) and everyone commented about how big this temple it--something about it being the largest temple by square footage.

We walked around the temple for a few minutes. There was such a lovely breeze and the weather was perfect!! I could not have hand picked a more perfect day to be around the temple and down at the beach.

We drove down to the beach, and that traffic through downtown Santa Monica heading towards the promenade and the pier was ridiculous. Honestly, it was probably nothing compared to how bad it normally is/could be (it was Good Friday, so everyone had the day off from work). But we made it down to the beach!!

I could hardly contain my happiness when we got to the beach. There's something about the beach. It just brings peace to my soul and happiness to my heart. There is no place I'd rather be than sitting on the beach, breathing in that salty air, and letting the breeze hit my face.

We just laid on the beach for probably two hours, just enjoying the time together and relaxing. We walked down to the pier and ended up eating at Bubba Gump's!! It was so yummy, and Dan has never looked so happy to eat seafood.

 

This guy was standing still like a statue!! It was absolutely crazy. I really just sat there watching him for probably 5 minutes!

This is the ferris wheel (obviously...) on the Santa Monica Pier. Now, I took this shot because I've been watching Private Practice lately, and they always have shots of the Santa Monica Pier and this ferris wheel. It always makes me giggle to myself when I watch it now because I can say that I've been there!! Woot woot!

We went back to hang out with Trent and Nicole that evening, and got some fro-yo and sushi. It was so so much fun hanging out with them. I really can't wait for them to get back from their honeymoon and back to Provo so we can have more couple friends. It's been so great through this whole thing seeing Trent so happy. Dan says it all the time that Trent is back! This is the real Trent, his happy goofy self, and Nicole totally and completely compliments him with their goofiness. It's adorable.

The next day, we had a few hours to kill before Trent and Nicole's wedding. So we went to get pedicures!!! I love love love my husband. Seriously, he is the greatest and I just love him for so many reasons. One of the newest reasons is he went to get a pedicure with me! (I really hope he doesn't kill me for posting this.) Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture together. Should've known that the weekend before Easter would be packed with mamas getting their toesies done. So it was either wait for an hour or just sit one chair a part. So we texted the entire time. We had places to go after so we couldn't wait forever!

After, we went to Pieology. It's a yummy Chipotle-type restaurant for pizza that's only in California. Dan's coworker told him about the restaurant, so we drove to Azusa to try it. Oh my gosh it was TO DIE FOR!! Dan got the Hawaiian pizza, and I got the Buffalo chicken pizza. It's on thin crust, so you don't get too full from the crust, and they cook it in a brick oven. So so so yummy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I actually want to drive back to CA just for the pizza.

We went back and started getting ready for the wedding. We were both just so so happy for Trent, and Nicole. It was so great to see them both so happy and in love with each other. I told Dan I wanted to get married again just to be that focused on each other and that moment and being so so happy, just like we were the day we got married.

 

The ceremony was beautiful. Nicole was beaming and they both couldn't stop smiling. Not that I blame them--being married is the best thing ever. We took pictures in between ceremony and reception, and Dan and Trent were taking a few pictures together. They both stuck out their butts, and Nicole and I happened to be right there so we started laughing! I can't wait to see how those pictures turned out. The reception was beautiful. One of the most beautiful church buildings I've ever seen. The cultural hall had exposed beams and gorgeous stained glass. The ceiling was lowered with beautiful fabric and Chinese lanterns, and ugh it was just so beautifully decorated!!!

The father of the groom and father of the bride made speeches, both beautiful tributes to Trent and Nicole. Then the best man was asked to give a speech. This caught Dan totally off guard and Trent wanted it that way. For the life of me, I can't remember what he said, but it was a great message to Trent and Nicole and great tribute to the long and wonderful friendship that Dan and Trent have been blessed to share.

We went to see Captain America 2 that night, and the seats were recliner chairs!! Super legit, but it definitely made me sleepy.

We left the next morning, very begrudgingly. We had done so well at not talking about school or anything else we needed to do once we got back to Provo. The drive back was fine, but it always seems like the last stretch from St. George to Provo takes FOR-EH-VER (*insert Sandlot reference here). But we made it back, very uneventfully I might add.

"Nothing soothes the soul like a walk on the beach."

Vacation

 

Last Thursday, we jumped on a plane at 9:40 pm going from Denver to Salt Lake City. We landed around 11:10 pm, got picked up by my gramma and great gramma, and hit the sheets pretty hard. We

were both pretty tired
Friday, we met up with Dan's family at the Draper temple to see them! We haven't seen them since February! We also got to see little Camden!! Oh my goodness I'm in love! As soon as Matt and Rhianna got out of the car with him, I ran over and just snatched him up. He was so smiley and happy and chubby! So seriously adorable. We met up with them before they headed up to Salt Lake to go to Temple Square and we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for my sister in law's wedding.

The sealing was at 3 and you're supposed to be there 30 minutes early. We got there and headed upstairs to wait to be take to the sealing room. Not going to lie, as soon as we got up there, everyone knew exactly who we were. I mean there's no denying it. Kason looks exactly like Dan. It honestly made it kind of awkward, but we brushed it off. I guess if people are going to stare you should hold yourself together a  bit right?

Well anyway, we walk into the sealing room and I was immediately overwhelmed with a sense of peace and security, only the kind the temple can bring, except it was stronger, more reassuring. Through this entire experience, I've been calm, level headed, and honestly super excited for Jami! I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose Dan, and then she found Brad, and I still couldn't be happier for her! But about 2 hours before the wedding, I started to worry. Not about Jami, because I knew she was sure, but about Dan. I didn't know how he would handle it. I knew he was happy for her, and he wanted to be there, but it was his brother.

Anyway, back to the peace. It was amazing. I started tearing up right then and there...not a good sign when you still have to make it through the actual sealing! I enjoyed that peace so so much. I can't even begin to describe it. I didn't ever have the privilege to know Kam, but I've heard plenty of stories about him. And from what I heard, I knew he was there in that sealing room that day, if only for Dan and I to be reassured, but it was exactly what I needed.

Jami and Brad walked in, they were sealed, and I couldn't keep the tears back. I was so incredibly happy for her, and Brad. We walked by to congratulate them, I gave Brad a hug (awkward for the first meeting?) and just told him to take care of her, because we love her and Kason. Still crying. All it took was one look and Jami and I were both crying again. I just gave her a big hug, told her I loved her, and that I'd see her that night at the reception. I really don't think I could've said anymore...I was crying too much.

We walked out of the temple and immediately started looking for Kason. I just wanted to see him. We found him running around in front of the temple. I called out his name, he looked, and with a huge grin on his face started running towards us. He jumped (literally) into my arms and gave me the biggest hug in the entire world! He hugged me, looked at me and smiled, and hugged me again. It was the best feeling ever! That little boy has my heart wrapped around his finger, and he probably knows it too. I guess that's what I get for watching him every week for the last year.

We walked around for a bit waiting for Brad and Jami to come out. Finally they did!! Haha. They looked so so so happy!! It made me a little nostalgic for my own wedding. I remember that feeling. Vividly. It's one of the best feelings in the world. I love the look on Brad's face because you could just tell how much he loves Jami, and Kason.

 Just walking out the doors!!

 

This was so precious! They walked out and Kason came running up to give Jami and big hug!

Love this new little family so so much!!

So funny story...after they took a couple pictures, the photographer asked everyone to go up and congratulate them. Well...everyone kind of stared at each other wondering who would go first. Awkward. Jami's dad, Jeff, decided to break the ice and gave her a big hug. Then Dan and I went over and congratulated both of them (minus the tears this time) and then we left.


Her shoes were awesome! Toms!! And Brad had on Chucks!! So legit!!

We went down to Lehi to meet back up with Dan's mom and dad. We stopped at their hotel, hung out for about an hour or so, and then got ready...again...to go to the reception (which I didn't take pictures of...DUMB!!!). I love it though! She had so many cute decorations. I got nostalgic...again! I think I really just love weddings...especially the pictures. She had lights strung across the backyard and had red, yellow, and white Chinese lanterns covering some of them, and some of the lights just bare. It looked so cute! She also had a chalk board with their love story written on it. It had all the different times they would fly to see each other, when they said I love you, when he proposed, all of it. Precious! They also had (and this was my personal fav) a jar for a "Honeymoon Fund." Genius idea!! I wish I would have thought about that! Pretty much I just loved it all. She had antique doors, a big J with a little B and J on the sides, it was just awesome. Major props on the decor!!

It was fun just to be there and see her so happy. We took pictures with Camden and Kason, and we also took a big family picture with Jami and Brad, but that one will have to wait till her photographer gets her pictures back.

Everyone at the reception was loving on Camden though! I mean he is pretty much the cutest little baby ever, but the photographer was in love with him! It was hilarious to watch because we'd look over every so often and there she was snapping pictures of him!

Matt, Rhianna, Kason, and Camden.

After the reception, we went and grabbed some food at Texas Roadhouse before we went back to pick up Kason for the night. It was so yummy and so fun to be there together with my family. Camden was being fussy, and I felt so bad that Rhianna couldn't eat her food, so I grabbed him from her and just rocked him in the booth. He fell right to sleep too. It was so adorable, and it was right then that I just felt like one day I'll be a good mommy...hopefully :].

Dan and I drove back to Lehi to pick up Kason and go back to the hotel and swim. Well by the time we got back to the hotel it was 11, and unfortunately the pool closes then, so we just planned on going that next morning. I wasn't worried about Kason sleeping with Dan and I because Ethan has slept in my bed so many times that I didn't think it was a big deal. Well I severely underestimated his ability to roll from one side to the other in the middle of the night. He would roll from being right next to Dan to being right next to me. Back and forth. But it was okay. The next morning though, Dan and I were pretty exhausted. Dan however, did NOT want to get up. It was kind of cute. It reminded me of the time we were supposed to go to Six Flags and he wasn't out of bed until 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave! We skipped breakfast, went to the pool and swam for a few hours. I have a million and a half pictures from there, but I'll spare you. One day I'll upload a good one to fit right in here.

This is Kason trying to push Dan off the bed so that he would get dressed so we could go swimming! Haha. After swimming, we went to IHOP for breakfast, and then drove back to Lehi to drop Kason off with his Grandpa Jeff so he could spend time with him before he left too.

We took a bunch of pictures back at Jami's house with Kason, and then we left and drove up to my Gramma and Grampa's cabin for the rest of the weekend. We got a little lost on the way there, but once we figured it out, we arrived just fine! We finally met Caitlin's boyfriend David and had a really fun time on Saturday talking and enjoying each other's company.

We saw some deer, well quite a few deer actually, while we were there. It was super cool!! I haven't seen that many deer up there in a long long time! Princess Caitlin was actually down under the balcony and tossing carrots at the deer and they kept coming closer and closer. They had to have been at most 5 feet away. It was pretty cool! And I had to get a picture in with Dan and the deers. Him, Matt and his Dad were just dying that the deer were so close and they couldn't be hunting ;].

My Grampa made mountain trash the next morning (tradition of course!) and everyone loved it!! The Haban's left that morning and headed back to Az. We decided to skip out on Church that day...terrible, don't judge...and we just hung out some more. I really don't know what we did on Sunday to be honest. Dan and I left for the airport at 4 so we could make it for our flight. We actually ran into Jeff at the airport and sat next to him on the flight home. It was nice to talk with him and enjoy the company. We got back to Denver safe a sound, and as soon as we stepped off the plane, I wanted to go back.


I don't think so much that I want to be back in Utah, but I just want to come back to school...to our friends...to our family. I think the vacation was exactly what we needed, and to be reminded that we do actually like it there. It was so great to see our families, to be able to see Brad and Jami get sealed in the temple, to see Kason, and to just be together again.

Not going to lie...I'm looking forward to summer vacations next summer. It will be grand.

Oh and this picture was too cute not to share.

And just because we need a new picture update...
I think we're pretty cute if I do say so myself.

The Devirgination Vacation

The much needed update. The title is for Abbie. It's all her fault I even thought of calling this blog post that. Anyway, back on point.

Finished school and finals, like an absolute crazy person, and was all moved out and packed out of my apartment and driving home at 7 am Wednesday morning. Needless to say, I was pretty much a zombie. I ran a bunch of errands with my mom, picking up/out odds and ends for decorating and getting the flowers and such. And of course the manicure/pedicure! So relaxing and much needed! Dan got to my house later that night and we got a few things together before hitting the sack.

We had to be up by 4 and out the door by 430 on Thursday to be out in south Gilbert to take bridals/wedding pictures. I didn't want to take a million pictures the day of the wedding around the temple and stuff so we did all of it the day before. Now, when I don't get enough sleep I'm super hyper and usually in a pretty good mood, so picture taking was so fun! And my photographer (BrieAnna, Four Six photography--totally recommend her! She's awesome and so fun and talented!!) was absolutely hilarious. She even had a mountain dew for me!

The first place we started at was with a horse in an alfalfa field at literally the crack of dawn. The guy whose property it was thought we were getting married that day (small lie...doesn't hurt anyone right?) and that BrieAnna and I were sisters. Too funny. But anyway he was way chill and let us take pictures with his horse Jack, who was gorgeous! Side note: I was honestly slightly terrified of Jack. Mostly because he's HUGE and because if anything should go wrong, well I can't exactly out run a horse and especially not in a freaking wedding dress! But the pictures came out beautiful.

Then we went just around the corner to a fancy shmancy custom homes development. The back fence wasn't quite finished so we walked in and there's a grove of trees that were all in rows and it was pretty much beautiful! Especially for Arizona!

We went to the front of the development and the little office type thing that would have a security guard or something in it was so awesome!!

Then it was off to the temple and we took some more there and then headed to Denny's for breakfast afterwards.

We went back to my house and started setting up the tables and chairs for the reception. I was seriously so excited and relieved that it was almost over. Then maybe life wouldn't be so crazy anymore.

Friday morning, I woke up around 6, took a shower and blow dried my hair then headed out to get my hair done at 745. The lady that did my hair said she was so surprised I was on time because most brides are like a half hour late and they expect to still leave on time. Well I told her I didn't have time to be late so I made sure I was on time, haha. Then my parents and I headed out to the temple to be there by 1015.

We walked in and sat in a little waiting room waiting for Dan to get there. We had gotten there probably 10 minutes early, but he was 20 minutes late!! I was getting progressively more and more upset as the minutes ticked by. Eventually he came around the corner and I was so happy he was there but so peeved that he was late at the same time--a very complicated emotional time. Anyway, everything went great and we were both grinning from ear to ear. The sealing was absolutely wonderful! Everyone there was smiling, though I'm sure none of them were as happy as Dan and I were. As we walked out, I felt like I could finally breathe. We'd made it. We'd finally made it. Granted we have a LONG road ahead of us, but we'd made it to the most important moment of our lives up to that point. It took 3 tries to actually walk out of the temple doors, but we walked out, and took a huge group picture and then headed over to the luncheon.

It was so fun to see all our friends that had come to Phoenix to be there for us and support us. After the luncheon we headed back to the hotel and killed probably 3 hours and took a nap! Seriously, no sleep in the last week and it was killing us!! The reception was absolutely beautiful and it was perfect. There wasn't anything I would have changed. I danced with my daddy, and then my husband, and then through the bouquet. Then all of us (our group of friends) were all dancing to the different songs that were playing. It was so fun. We left for the hotel that night through a tunnel of SPARKLERS!!! I can't wait to see what those pictures turned out like! We left, then realized we didn't have any food so we drove around the corner and back to my house, grabbed some food, and then left.

The night was ours. And it was beautiful, and absolutely worth waiting for.

The next day, we went back to my house for brunch, opened up all our presents, separated what we were keeping and returns, then packed up the car and headed down to Sierra Vista. Well the Phoenix reception went off pretty well, not too many problems, but let's just say Sierra Vista just went not as planned. As soon as everyone was there, it was totally fine, but we left a little late, and then my parents left even later and then got stuck behind an accident!! Dan and I both felt sick after we got there and its probably because we hadn't eaten an honest meal in 3 days, but you do what you've gotta do.

So we showed up to the reception 5 minutes before it started and so did my parents. So that worked out conveniently. The food was absolutely delicious! Teriyaki sticks, kalua pig and rice. So delicious. We danced to the Hawaiian wedding song, which was beautiful. I met so many people who kept telling me what a great guy he is, and it's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who thinks so! His auntie danced the hula for us, and seriously I cannot move my hips that well at all. Like it's practically a sin how well she can move!

There were more friends that came to the Sierra Vista reception and it was so great to see them too! We took lots of pictures and it made me sad just because we're all going separate ways. After being together for two years, we're moving on and in different directions. They're the friends that you hope so desperately you stay friends with forever. They're that awesome and that special. We've already planned a 5 year reunion back in good ole Thatcher. Hopefully that works out.

Saturday night we stayed in Bisbee at the Copper Queen Hotel. Seriously old hotel, but super cool. We had breakfast the next morning there and then drove around Bisbee for a few minutes, got quite a siteful of the hippies, and then headed back to Sierra Vista and opened all our presents, ate some more lunch/breakfast.

We left Sierra Vista and headed off on the long road to Texas. We stayed in Van Horn over night then headed out to Austin. Oh and side note for anyone traveling to Texas, they're 2 hours ahead. Yeah, so we got in around 1 am. This time zone thing is still throwing me a little bit and I have to be careful when I text my sister or call my mom and make sure its not 6 am or something crazy like that!

Anyway, we made it to Texas on Monday and then found out we didn't have furniture. Well it's okay for the first night right? Try the first four nights. I was pissed. Then we finally got furniture and our apartment actually felt like home. And so far, things are great. Definitely getting a job though. I get way too bored just hanging out all day long!

But I love it. It's absolutely beautiful. It's so green and lush and there's actually trees! The humidity isn't too bad either. And basically, I love being married!!