As Old As Me...

Today is this guy's 28th birthday!

I'm 9 months older than Rod, and he LOVES to rub it in, old people jokes and all... But on his birthday, and for the next 3 months, he is just as old as I am! And I take full pleasure in rubbing that in! (Right back atcha Babe!!) Today, I want to share just a few of the reasons why I love this cute boy...
- He can ALWAYS make me laugh, even when I'm in the worst mood and (in my grandma's words) in need of an attitude adjustment!
- He makes me feel safe.
- He tells me I'm beautiful, even on my most unbeautiful days.
- He is a great son/grandson/nephew/brother/cousin...He is amazing with his family, and just watching him with them I know that he'll be a great husband and father too!
- He is a very hard worker, and he is very good at what he does!
- He loves to cook, and he is great at it! (and on the rare occasion that I get home after he does, he loves to surprise me with dinner!)
-He is very smart!
-He takes such good care of me! He is always willing to listen to me, always asks how my day went, and always takes care of the things I detest doing -vacuuming, taking my car to the shop, killing bugs, etc...
-He is a great friend, and my BEST friend!
There are many more, but for now I'll just say...Happy Birthday Babe! I hope your day is wonderful! I'm so very glad you were born! Thanks for letting me be your girl! XoXo

Splendid Summer

Just a little recap of what I've been up to the past few weeks...
For the 4th of July, Rod and I went to the Riverton Carnival with our good friends the Frehners- Jake/Courtney, and the Necaises -Cary/Chelsey/Baby Daxton. We didn't go on any rides, but we did enjoy the greasy goodness of carnival food, and we watched the fireworks!

The Girls

Daxton's First Fireworks!

Cary, Chelsey & Daxton

Jake & Courtney
Rod & I

Happy 4th of July!!

Last weekend was the Kenny Chesney concert! My cute friend Courtney got me a ticket to go with her and Chelsey, so on Saturday, we had a BBQ at Courtney & Jake's house, and then we headed to the concert for a girl's night out, and the guys stayed in for babysitting duty!

Country Girls
Kenny Rocking The Stage
Thanks for a super fun night girls!

Happy Summer!!

Dates, Colors, & Inspirational Indecisiveness

Over the weekend, Rod and I sat down and settled on a date for our wedding -

June 30, 2012

will be the big day!

Let the (real) planning begin!

I have to make a lot of decisions, and if you know me at all, you'll know that decision-making is definitely not one of my strong suits! As astrology will tell you, Libras (my zodiac sign) are known for their indecisiveness... I've never put much stock into the whole astrological business, but when it comes to that facet of it, they nailed me right on the head... Anyway, I've been trying to decide on color schemes... I've probably gone through about 30. I think I've finally settled on one, but who knows, it could change again! For now though, my colors are - Black, Ivory, Green, & Burnt Orange just for the flowers (here it looks more red, but you get the idea)... I think I want to do a woodsy theme, using tree branches and greenery in the decorations...

I have a lot of spare time on my hands while I'm at work, because I sit at a desk and type all day... Boring. So, every once in a while (every day) I take advantage of the internet and all of its wonders! Usually I read the news, other blogs, catch up on facebook, and occasionally do some online shopping, but more recently my focus has shifted to wedding-themed sites. (Okay, I've been looking at them for years...But now it's for real!) The Knot is one of my favorites, and they have a feature that lets you build an "Inspiration Board" to put together ideas of what you want your wedding to look like... So, on one of my exceptionally bored days, I whipped one up just to get the "idea" ball rolling...

The pictures are kind of hard to see, but that's what I have in mind so far! We'll see how many times I change my mind in the next few months.... :)

Freedom - It's a Wonderful Thing!

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!!
I am so proud to live in this beautiful country where we have the freedom to do/say/think/feel whatever we choose, and I am so thankful for the people who are willing to sacrifice their time/efforts/lives to make sure that we continue to have that freedom. Thank you, thank you, to all of the people serving our country, who have to spend time away from their friends and families so that we can be with ours...
A special thank you to my "little" brother Aaron, and my sister-in-law Marci! Aaron is in the army special forces - That's right, my little brother is a Green Beret, how cool is that?! And Marci is a medic, jumps out of planes, and pretty much kicks some serious bum! She is one tough chica and I definitely would not want to be in a boxing match with her!

Thanks for serving our country! I'm super proud to be your sister, much love to you both!

And much love to you all!!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!!

A Tale of Two Boobies

Yes, you read that right. I apologize for the PG-13 title, but that is what this post is all about... I've recently had some work done in the pectoral region... But this story actually begins about 8 years ago. You see, I had always been a little bit self conscious of my lack of assets in that particular area... To illustrate, here are a few pictures from my freshman year in college... Yes, that is all padding. And yes, I was living in Hawaii (It's totally okay to be jealous!)...

My grandma Millie, (who I grew up with - more on that later) was well aware of this fact, so one day, just before my 21st birthday, I got a call from her asking if I would like an upgrade for a birthday present! What girl could resist?! I of course said yes quite enthusiastically, and only 3 weeks later I no longer needed to stuff my bra with Kleenex...

Well, everything was great for a while. But, as time and gravity continued to do their jobs (a bit over-zealously I might add), and my metabolism pretty much abandoned his post, my two girls began a sad journey which left me looking like something out of a National Geographic magazine. You know, the lady from one of those New Guinean villages-where the women are all topless-who nurses all of the village children... Needless to say, this was not the look I was aiming for -->



Yikes, right?!?!

So, 2 weeks ago, after 8 years together, my salene friends and I had a parting of the ways... And I am more than happy to be back to my old, flat-chested self!! I haven't taken any pictures yet, so for now, just trust me when I say that I am no longer eligible for a photo-op in any magazine article on third-world countries! What a relief! Now, if I could just find a way to get my 21-year-old metabolism to come back...

All Grown Up

In the marriage department, I'm a pretty late bloomer - not by normal standards, mind you - I'm 28, which in any other state (or country) is a quite reasonable age to think about settling down and starting a family. However, I happen to live in Utah - the mystical land where young girls fresh out of high school race to become wives and mothers before they hit the dreaded "old maid" age: 22. So, in the crazy rush to the marriage/mommy finish line, I have been running dangerously behind, and I'm about 6 years past my prime...Luckily, just a few days before I was about to head out and buy the necessary 5 cats and "factory reject" sign to complete my official transformation into spinsterhood, I happened to stumble across a handsome lad named Rodney, and I realized that owning copious amounts of pets, and wearing curlers, a hair net, sweatpants and slippers to walk laps at the mall would have to wait a while... That charming chap swept me right out of my shoes, and after dating for just over a year, we got engaged on June 1st! Here's a picture of my ring (which he picked out all by himself!!)


He did a good job, don't you think?!

I am so excited and I feel so lucky to have found such an awesome guy, who has also become my best friend! We haven't decided on an exact date yet, but we are thinking about a Saturday next June, so I am just in the beginning stages of wedding planning...I'm going to try my very hardest not to become a crazy person like the bridezillas on reality tv whom I would love to slap in the face! At this point, it's still a bit surreal to me - I've been planning my "wedding" since I was a teenager, but to be planning the actual event makes me feel like I've finally become a grown up, and I'm inching ever closer to the marriage/mommy line!
Anyway, I'm sure there will be several, (if not many) more posts about the nuptial planning as it gets underway, so please stay tuned!

Back In The Blog Saddle...

Well, it's been a month since my 2-post blog was deleted on accident, and I've had a hard time regaining the motivation to start over. I began this new blog pretty soon after the other one disappeared, but I didn't want to start posting and have the same thing happen again, so I just wrote a small post and then let it sit to see if would last... So far, so good! And since this past month has held some pretty fun and exciting events in my life, I figure I should get back on the horse, so to speak...
So, here's hoping that blog #2 will stick around for awhile!