Did somebody say ROAD TRIP????

Our first 'married' trip together was spent (mostly in the car) on a road trip to Antioch, CALIFORNIA! Brian and I planned for a few months to make the trip out to Cali to see Grandma Nielsen and scheduled it so we could make a stop to see an air show as well. I have finally discovered Brian's love for air shows and especially his love for the Blue Angels.
After a day of straight driving to Cali, we woke up early and headed to San Fransisco Bay to watch the air show. We walked (way too far) to get to the bay and then found the perfect spot. Too bad for us that the the Blue Angels only did a quick pass-by that day because of the fog that had set in. We were pretty bummed, but were able to make it back the next day to see the real show.

{How can you not love this!}

{I think all of California was at this air show}

We were so glad that Grandma Nielsen let us come stay with her for almost a whole week! It was a fun chance for me to get to know her better and we hope we can go back soon! Grandma was such a sport to take us to an air base so we could look at the planes and then to walk the Jelly Belly Factory with us (despite how many times she's seen it).

{Is there any chance he won't fly someday?}

{I loved the Jelly Belly Factory. I have to admit, I even loved the hats they made us wear.}

Later that week Brian's parents drove out and Beth flew out from SLC. We somehow talked Jenny into flying out from D.C. and that made a full house at Grandma's. It was great to have such a group and we enjoyed every second. We spent a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and LOVED IT!

{This may have been in the kids area. So what?}

{So beautiful!}

On the "way home" we took a stop in Henderson, Nevada to visit the Howarth's. We have missed them being in Provo and stayed up pretty late playing Killer Bunnies and ROOK. I am sad I didn't snag a picture of their cute little boy, Matthew, but take my word for it, he's adorable. :) We hope we can get back down to Nevada again, but this time we'll avoid the Vegas Strip.

Back to Square ONE

Thursday, October 1, 2009 4:35 PM MST: I was sitting at my desk when my boss called me into his office, asking if he could talk to me. After going in his office, he sputters something out like "We're stopping... (sigh)... I've never had to do this before...." I think I must have blacked out what he eventually did say, but by now I had gotten the point. They were letting me go. Funny thing is that I have been looking for other jobs because I wasn't too thrilled about this one, however, just the week before, I had decided that I needed to stick it out and stay where I was. I felt bad for thinking it wasn't good enough for me, or that I deserved more money. Now, I have no job or money, so I guess I learned a valuable lesson. Always be grateful for what you have.

At least I know I've got this guy. He's all I need to keep a smile on my face. I'll keep you posted on the job search and all the interviews to come!

Back in Action...

I have a hard time posting when we don't do anything new, and then when we DO do something new, I feel too busy to post... Anyway, here's a little of what we've been up to lately.












I have come to find that I love finding ways to do dating on a budget. I sent Brian to Redbox one night and when he arrived home there was a note on the front door that said, "We're having a Luau in lieu of how much I love you..." I worked quickly while he was gone to move our matress out front so we could watch a movie as we (I) fell asleep and made 'grass' skirts and some make-shift leis out of tissue paper from our wedding gifts. We enjoyed haystacks and a fun movie that Brian had picked out.

Our next "super date" as I've started calling them, was a picnic in the front room of our little apartment. Brian headed to the grocery store for "something I forgot" and when he returned there was a note on the door that said "Life's a PICNIC, so let's have one!" We had peanut butter and jam sandwiches, raisens, chips, fruit snacks, and some deviled eggs. We watched Cool Runnings to top it all off.
I also recently got the opportunity to get back together with my three best friends! Crystal is now living in Henderson, NV; Sherstin just returned home from a mission in Brazil; and Jane just returned home from a mission in Canada. It was fun to finally be the four of us again. We went to Zupas' to celebrate and catch up.
Stay tuned for more updates. I am determined to do better at this!

My Husband Loves Me...

Okay, so as many of our vast amount of readers have noticed, we've put blogging on the bottom of our massive to do list lately. To settle some of the cliff-hangers from our previous blogging... yes, we did get married, yes we are still married, and yes, life is wonderful!

Along with all the happiness that comes with getting married, there are small amounts of stress and always new adventures. Brian has been so good to put up with me through some of these...

Brian successfully managed to pull off my 23rd birthday (gifts still welcome) with a gourmet strawberry cake and a smart selection of gifts. For those of you who know I love carmel popcorn, you will be happy to know that Brian got me a popcorn popper for my birthday along with Anne of Green Gables on DVD (wahoo!) and an ice cream maker (watch out Mark, we are going to try and rival your yummy Oreo ice cream!). I also learned that Brian still looks the same in pictures as he did as a 6 year old. :) What a wonderful birthday!Another area where I've been spending MOST of my time lately is school. If you haven't noticed the new banner Brian made (also for my birthday), I am *hopefully* graduating next weekend! When we got married, I had just 2 GEs left to graduate. After finally finding a full-time job, I realized that taking both at BYU would be impossible. Long story short, I ended up taking my Bio100 course online in three weeks... insane. I literally came home from work for lunch and studied, took my notes to work and studied, ate dinner and studied, and did I mention... studied? That is the main reason this blog has been suffering and why I am so impressed at Brian's support in school when all I did was study. I think he (and hopefully I) could tell you what each of these parts are what they do... PS: This is a cell- Eukaryotic to be more specific (because it has a nucleus).Most recently, we have been 'spring cleaning'. I know you all thought that blogging was the only thing we were sluffing off, but it turns out it took us two months to buy a vacuum after we got married. The day we bought it, I was excitedly vacuuming our room and I found four large very similar spiders behind my nightstand. I was grossed out, but vacuumed them up without hesitation...

Last week Brian and I pulled out my new popper to make carmel popcorn. After I popped the popcorn, we ate a quick pasta dinner and I made the carmel to pour over the popcorn. As I was pouring it on, I saw a spider climbing out of the bowl on a string of web. YES, this actually happened. As I was dumping out the carmel (into the sink at this point) I saw another little spider crawling around the lid of Brian's water bottle next to the sink.This was NOT okay. After panic mode, we popped some more popcorn, which I quickly covered with a towel after it was popped, and got some household Raid. Brian was so great to pull things away from the walls and spray and kill them...This is only one of the nests we found... Gross.All-in-all a gross and disturbing experience that turned out to show me that Brian can indeed kill spiders, and that he is much more like this man than I previously thought..

Falling in Love...

I’ve been completely overwhelmed lately with how amazing Brian is. I mean, I know the guy is wonderful- I’m only a week and a half out from marrying him, but WOW! J I don’t know how in the world I ended up with him, but I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I find new reasons every day that I love Brian and I wanted to share a few with him and all those devoted readers to our blog…

Brian is the most patient man I know. This is a quality I thought I once possessed, but after seeing the way Brian is with me and so many other people, I’ve found I haven’t even scratched the surface. The recent decision-making regarding wedding plans has to be one of the hardest things for me. I hate making decisions. I especially hate making especially large decisions for especially special occasions. Through all my stress and all my faults, Brian just slowly talks me through it and takes me in his arms to make me feel better.

That brings us to the next reason I fall in love with Brian more each day. Brian always makes me feel better, no matter the occasion. I can be stressed, excited, ornery, exhausted, etc., but when Brian is added to the equation, it all becomes something better. There is nobody else that can patiently take me from a crying mess to making me laugh and truly feel better about the situation. I’m sure this one will always come in handy!

Brian is one of the smartest people I know. I am constantly amazed at how much Brian knows about computers and, well, basically everything. It’s fun to see him play with blog backgrounds and work on pictures for our wedding. He’s starting up a website for backgrounds and loves to learn new ways to do website stuff. I admire his love for technology and his desire to keep up on the ever changing technological advancements.

Brian is a worker. I don’t know anybody more determined to do their best in everything they do. When I am exhausted or ready to quit, Brian is always there to push me forward. I have found that I have quite the struggle doing things that I don’t like/want to do. Surprised? Well, Brian has somehow got the drive to do those things and just plow right through them.

Something I really love and admire about Brian is that he is always striving to become better. Many of the qualities I have mentioned about Brian aren’t just natural. He has seen traits he wants to gain, or weaknesses in himself and then worked hard to become better and achieve those characteristics. I am so impressed by this because I know we will always be progressing together.

Another thing I fell in love with about Brian is that he is such a sweetheart. I love Brian’s sense of humor and his craziness, but underneath the teasing and the goofy side there is the sweetest core. I love that he can always tell what I need and is so tender and sweet to me. He always does a wonderful job of showing me how much he loves me.

And if this list wasn’t long enough, Brian does all these things with a humble heart. I can make lists upon lists of the things I love about Brian and all his strengths, but he would never flaunt them or even agree with me on most of them. Like I said, he is always working to become better and always seeks opportunities to become better. I am so impressed by his ‘behind the scenes’ attitude of working hard, doing his best, and often times not being rewarded for it. Hopefully I can fill that part of his life.

All these qualities won my heart and showed me how much I want to be with Brian forever. He didn’t take no for an answer, pulling his strong work ethic into the mix and was determined to prove to me that we belonged together, no matter how long it took. Along with all of these qualities, Brian helps me want to be better. His enthusiasm for life and his desire to be better is such a blessing and I hope that some of his wonderful qualities will rub off through the years! Brian, I am so excited to be your wife and I can’t wait for that exciting adventure to begin! I love you honey!

Top Ten Texting Hoofs, ..oops, I mean Goods... no wait, Homes, no..Hoods...Goofs. Yep, Texting Goofs

So, we've all made quite a few blunders while texting, right? You know, texting 'he' instead of 'if' or 'on' instead of 'no' or 'me' instead me 'of.' See, there was one right there (I apparently have a T9 keyboard). But, I've come to the point where I've make so many mistakes that I thought it necessary to share with you my top ten. Some aren't funny but so common that they have to be included. Some are embarrassing; others are ridiculous, but all have been sent my me at least once.

10. suppose/purpose
Okay, not that funny. But hey, that's why it's number ten. I just figured I should bring it to everyone's attention so that it doesn't happen to you. It won't be embarrassing. It will just sound like none-sense and make you feel like an idiot.

9. art/apt
A month or so ago, when asked by a friend where I was, I replied, "I'm looking at the new art."
Yes, it's true; I'm quite the art connoisseur. Should I not have been looking at the new apt in Orem that I was supposed to be moving into that week? No, I was too busy at the Springville Art Museum looking at modern art.

8. pond/roof
Again, "Where are you?" a roommate asks. "I'm on the pond."
Well, that's just great. We were supposed to watch a movie on the roof in about five minutes and you're apparently playing in a canoe on the pond. Who's going to bring the TV up now?

7. mail/Magleby's
As one of my roommates goes down to pick something up from another apartment, I make an additional request. "Could you get some Magebly's while you're down there?" You see, sometimes, when you use a word enough in my phone, it auto-completes it.
In fact, get some P.F. Changs and Tucanos while you're at it. I like variety.

6. Brian/asian
Have you ever had someone send you a random text asking, "Who is this?" If you text that to me, I might first start you out with the clue, "I'm asian."
Next, I'll tell you something like, "I have dark hair," and really narrow it down for you.

5. truck/usual
"Are you driving your car today?" "No, I'm driving the usual,"
which happens to be my car... so,.. yes... I must be driving my car.

4. eating/dating
This has happened more times than it should. "Who are you eating?"
How long have you been eating her?

3. wide awake/wife cycle
Here's a goodie. Chelsie caught me in a lie with this one. She once asked me if I was awake. My answer: "Wife cycle!!!"
Just not wife cycle enough to know what in tarnation I'm texting. Yeah, I was pretty tired.

2. kites/lives
"Wanna hang out?" "Nah, I'm busy. We're playing with lives."
Lives!! Do you understands, LIVES!!! Quit interrupting.

1. weeding/wedding
This one tops them all. Mainly because I can only imagine what was going through Chelsie's head when I texted it to her. I was headed to Spanish Fork and Chels asked me why. My reply: "I'm helping my mom with wedding plants." WHAT?!?... It gets better. "What kind of plants," she asks. "Ferns."
That's right, I want wedding ferns at the reception because it's my special day and if I don't get them, get ready for Groomzilla.

(1/2. clogging/blogging)
If that's not enough, when telling Chelsie that I was making this post, I almost told her I was clogging. That would be quite a sight.

T Minus Two Weeks...

Okay, we've gone far too long without updates! Things around here are pretty crazy with wedding plans. From engagement photos to finals topped with innertube waterpolo, we're just trying to keep our heads above water and something that obviously got pushed off the radar was the blog.
Most recent updates include that Brian has a new job- working for Leadership Excellence. He's not convinced that this is anything more that a job for now, but is enjoying the sales experience he is getting and would love to tell anyone more about it (more than I know, that is...).
Brian is living in the apartment that will we 'ours' in just two weeks. TWO WEEKS!!! Can you believe it? I am so excited to finally be Brian's wife and to start forever together. We have a candy chain and have been counting down since about 100... let's just say it was far too long of a chain to begin with and that we almost ate it all so that our wedding would come sooner (figure that out)! Just 13 pieces of candy left and a lot of excitement for the next two weeks to be done (finals and all)!
Our recent activity on a quite competitive BYU intramural innertube waterpolo team proved to be one of the funnest things we've ever done. We both played defense and Tara was on our offense. We had an awesome team comprised of some stellar people from our team last year and really did awesome. We were ranked as #4 in the top division (of three divisions) and beat the highest ranked team and then lost twice to knock us out of the tounament. We were disappointed but proud of our final ranking as third overall in BYU. Don't be alarmed, innertube waterpolo is acutally a very competitive sport (YES, I said SPORT) and if any of you have watched a game of ours, you would soon fall in love with it as well.
Anyway, we'll have more posts to come and keep you all updated on our wedding and the countdown!

Bryce Kim Christensen Tribute

As some of you may know, one of my closest friends was killed in a car accident on Wednesday morning. As I drove by the accident on my way to work that morning, I didn’t make the connection that it was Bryce Christensen. You see, Bryce told me only days before that he had bought a new car and I had yet to see it. His father, Kim Christensen (also driving to work), came upon the accident, noticed the car looked a lot like Bryce’s, and called Bryce’s phone but received no answer. He stopped just in time to help them pull Bryce from the vehicle and ride with him to Mountain View Hospital. I received the news of that accident the following morning shortly before I had planned to call Bryce to invite him to attend our marriage ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple.

Rather than go into detail on some of the accomplishments of Bryce’s great-lived life (No amount of writing could ever do him justice), I would like to just include a scripture and some quotes that were shared by Bishop Cope at Bryce’s funeral service earlier this morning.

Bryce’s missionary scripture that he requested be on his plaque: “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” –Alma 34:32

“Before embarking on any journey, we like to have some assurance of a round-trip ticket. Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through—and not around—the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live. As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” –Russell M. Nelson

“Death is only the blowing out of a candle because the dawn has arrived.”

Before visiting with Bryce’s family, I tried to find anything I had that would provide for them another memory of Bryce. I was only able to scrounge up a few minutes of skateboarding footage we had taken a few years earlier. Bryce wanted to make a skate video together at that time and wanted to call it B.R.B. You see, Bryce thought he was so clever because it was a play on words. It would stand for Bryce, Richard, Brian, and also for Be Right Back (meaning we will be right back with another video). I now think of Be Right Back as a reminder that Bryce will only be gone for a short time.

The song in this video is Bryce’s favorite, one that the two of us have had as ringtones for the past few months. Only after hearing the words from his mother did I realize the significance of them.

Modest Mouse – The World At Large

Ice-age heat wave, can't complain.
If the world's at large, why should I remain?
Walked away to another plan.
Gonna find another place, maybe one I can stand.
I move on to another day,
to a whole new town with a whole new way.
Went to the porch to have a thought.
Got to the door and again, I couldn't stop.
You don't know where and you don't know when.
But you still got your words and you got your friends.
Walk along to another day.
Work a little harder, work another way.

One of my last memories of Bryce was talking with him about moving out and attending BYU. He informed me that he would be staying home until his parents were ready for him to leave (Bryce’s younger brother Dallin was to leave for a mission to Sapporo, Japan a few days later and Bryce thought it would be too hard for his parents if both left at the same time). Bryce never did take my advice about moving out (thankfully) but I found through my visit with his family that he did take the advice about talking to his dad and applying to BYU. He was accepted to winter semester on Tuesday morning (the day after winter classes had started).