Storm of the Century

The weather has been super weird this winter. The weather forecasters say sunny and in reality we have clouds. They say partly cloud with a chance of flurries, we have sun. It's like their just throwing darts at a board and saying whatever they feel like it.

On December 1st they got it partially right. As this storm was heading our way, these brilliant forecasters named it, and I quote, the Storm of the Century. That's saying a lot. Needless to say, there was a run on ALL stores for milk, eggs, etc (although I don't understand what these people are doing with eggs and milk when their power and gas are out...)

The storm came at 2am and woke me up. The wind was whipping through pretty good so I grabbed our wreath off the front door and went back to bed. We woke to chaos. The power was out, the winds were over 100 mph in some spots, roofing was being ripped off roofs, trees were downed, semis were turned over on the freeway, windows were broken. It was fun to stay home snuggled in a blanket and listen to the wind.

As I was sitting on the couch reading, I heard a HUGE crack. I hopped up to see the huge pine tree in front of our apartment on it's side. The root ball was so big it popped the sidewalk right out of the ground. This was a day I loved being a renter.
Our apartment complex had to be renamed; it was Lone Pine, now it's None Pine. Muahhahahaha I'm so funny!

This is the Bountiful Cemetery. Tragic.

This house up the street from us is condemned more or less. The wind knocked over a tree, that knocked over a power line, the started the house on fire. Reminds me of the song "and the root in the hole, and the hole in the ground, and the green grass grew all around and around and the green grass grew all around".

I love this picture. It's a short christmas tree with a loooooong trunk.

I don't know if I'd agree to the "Storm of the Century" because it was just wind. No snow, hail, rain, flash floods, earthquake, tsunami, etc. I will allow "a pretty bad-A storm" and possibly "the first breath of winter" something like that.

White Elephant - What Happened....

We had 5 couples at dinner, a grand total of 10 presents. Oh the possibilities!

Mine was picked first by the guy that I hoped would take it. Just kind of nerdy and most likely to blush and say "oh, it's.....lube." I switched out the birth control pills for condoms. It was fabulous. It really started the exchange with a good laugh.

Next opened was Alex's gift. Incense and an incense holder thing.

Other gifts were a 3-ball snowball maker, dew rag & St Guadalupe candle, lotus flower fountain (re-gifted wedding present), snowman candle & electronic sudoku game, Christmas plate, singing fish plaque, toilet seat cover & mittens, and a "Spring" wooden door hanger thing. A treasure trove.

The best part is when EJ stole my gift; his wife's face was SO priceless. Her mouth was agape in a half smile; a mix of bashful and shock. Tom later offered the dew rag to EJ so he could "role play" later! How funny is that!?!

We had such a good time. We laughed so hard about the presents - who gives a toilet seat cover? I LOVE white elephant gift exchanges. I told my co-worker about my present and she asked for permission to use my idea at a future white elephant party. I just want to say that I allow anyone to use my gift idea, just let me know how it goes over.

White Elephant

I LOVE white elephant gift exchanges. Love in all caps and spelled out. They are so funny. I do not appreciate when people do stupid stuff like a book. Really? A book? Come on. Or a fabric lint defuzzer. Gah!

Some great white elephant gifts in the past: a HUGE ceramic bunny cookie jar, mariachi band music and hat, an oversized box of toilet paper, a pineapple (hey it's winter), a t-shirt of a lady in Santa undies. It's glorious!

This year I am blessed. We have two white elephant gift exchanges, one for family and one with our Monday night dinner group. I am so excited for the second one. SO EXCITED! I about peed my pants when I put together all the pieces. [the group of friends are all married, mid- to late-20s. No kids.]

It started last night. Opening drawers. Starring into the closet. Wandering room to room. Back to the drawers to pull the stuff squashed in the back out into the open. I found it. Birth control pills. Hmmm, not very funny; more useful than funny. I'll keep it in mind. A pregnancy test. Hmmm again, paired with the pills it's kind of funny. I worry about offending someone. I wander into the laundry room. A used candle. Hmmm cubed. Then Alex suggests the pièce de résistance!

I call it "Choose your own adventure"

Contains:
one (1) small green candle that should smell like apples but only smells like burning, half used.
one (1) package of birth control pills.
one (1) EPT pregnancy test.
one (1) bottle of tingling sensation lube. Only used once (it was not my favorite thing)

Choose your own adventure, indeed!

Grandma's losing it!!

My aged grandmother is 92 and looks and acts about 80-something. She used to golf every day until she had shoulder surgery. She only lives in community housing because she was getting lonely in her house. She still drives (much to everyone's horror. She's a dual footed driver) and only have a little high blood pressure to ail her. She's ridiculous.

My sainted mother flew to Arizona and drove them to San Diego to be with my late Aunt's family to celebrate her birthday since she passed last year. As they're packing up the car to drive to San Diego Mom notices a stuff dog sitting in the car.

"Mom, are you giving that stuffed animal to Lily (Aunt Jan's granddaughter)?"
"No, it's to scare off any people who would rob us on the trip. We're just two women traveling alone." of course it is. And of course it looks nothing like a real dog.

At a pit stop, Mom gets out and says "bad dog, you stay in here. Bad bad dog" and slams the door. Mrs. Do-Good comes up with a concerned look and a furrowed brow.

"Do you have a dog in your car?" Mom and Grandma exchange glances and giggle.
"Why do you ask?"
"I heard you scolding your dog and you left it without the windows cracked for air" she huffs.
Mom and Grandma laugh and explain that it's a stuffed animal.

"Are you sure it's not a real dog in there?" asks the woman incredulously. Seriously? She asked if my mom was sure it was not a real dog. Did she even look at it? So funny, I thought I'd share.

Clean and Me

For months I have been aimlessly walking around our apartment, hovering over Alex as he works on projects, and overall being annoying. I need a hobby. I want to decorate but I don't have a handle on our style yet and we have a lot of stuff already. I have lots of beautiful pictures from the wedding that are still sitting in their envelope from the store. They whisper to me every once in a while but I get nervous putting holes in the walls and then deciding I don't like it.

A week or two ago I made coffee cake from scratch. Blueberry + raspberry filling. It was dang good. Even better cooled off. Warm coffee cake just tastes a little weird but the omelets were getting cold. But who doesn't love a big Sunday morning breakfast?

Alex's brother and sister-in-law camped out in our second bedroom for the funeral last week and I made two coffee cakes for them - blueberry and apple cinnamon. Loved it. I think I've found a new hobby. I like baking and cooking. I just always saw it as too expense to get blueberries (freakin $4 for a tiny container) and all that stuff. But as Alex has pointed out, any hobby costs something. Yarn, paint, fees, subscriptions, paper, stickers, etc. Every hobby costs something and it's just a matter of saying, I enjoy doing this so I'll give myself $40 a month to do as I please.

On Saturday we stopped in Barnes and Noble and as usual I grabbed Real Simple and Clean Eating magazines. I love reading magazines in the cafe and not buying them. I couldn't put the Clean Eating mag down. It was the Classic Comfort Foods one, all your favorite comfort foods redone for lower carb, fat, sugars intake.

The whole idea of the Clean Eating is eating plant-based foods or items that are only 2 or 3 ingredients. So smart.

I looked at Alex and said, "I'm going to Julie and Julia this magazine. Cook right through it." I still can't tell if he looked worried or excited. I'm not putting a deadline on it or anything but I am going to just work my way through it.

Last night we made Quick and Easy Fish Stew. I was nervous. Why oh why did I let him pick the first meal we make?! It was SO good! Shrimp, talapia, potatoes, tomatoes, and shallots in a slight creamy soup. It was so delicious. Everything ended up cooked to perfection; I blame the cayenne powder. Someone had seconds before I finished my first helping that's how good it was. Paired with an artisan 3-cheese bread, it was the best meal I've made in a while.

I'll do pictures on the next meal.

Life is tragic

My niece died today. Alex's sister Jessica carried her baby for 7 and 1/2 months and she lived for 6 and 1/2 hours.

Originally, doctors thought she had Down Syndrome and we came to terms with that. Aleena had Trisomy 13, she had an extra pinky on one hand and an extra thumb on the other.
I cannot fathom what Jessica is going through. Alex and I have been trying to think of something to do for them but every idea seems so shallow. Food, flowers, a card, brownies... the only thing she might use is Kleenex and a body pillow to hug.

Alex got a call at 4am saying she was born and he rushed down to the U of U hospital to be with the family. He said the Spirit filled the room so intensely when he walked in. Aleena must have been such a strong spirit. She was not expected to make it through child birth but she did. And Jessica got to hold her for 6 hours. I'm sure Jessica and Jonathan didn't notice anyone else in the room, they only had eyes for her.

For no reason...

My sweet husband of 3 months called me yesterday.
"Are you going to be leaving at 5 today or closer to your usual 5:30?". I tell him, as always, I'll try to leave at 5 but no promises.

He is up to something, I can feel it.

I get home and see a beautiful bouquet of lilies, roses, and something else else darling and orange. He bought flowers because the other night I shared by secret desire to always have fresh flowers in the house.

Alex leads me to a piping hot bubble bath. He lights some candles and I slosh around in cucumber melon heaven.

After I have sufficiently pruned, I towel off and I'm given a full body massage (TMI? sorry)

Then we have dinner and attempt to watch the original Oceans 11. The disc kept skipping and we weren't too sad to turn it off. We snuggled on the couch and watched an episode of Bones then off to bed. We read our books for a half hour then snuggled to sleep.

A perfect evening.

The best part is, he wasn't in the dog house or in trouble. He wanted to do it because he loves me. In case any of you are wondering, yes. Yes I am perfectly happy.

I know... I know

So I thought for sure I would blog more often after the wedding but for some reason I just haven't. I'm not quite sure why that is. We're have lots of fun activities we've been doing - like fishing, baseballs games, going on mini stay-cations, going to plays, visiting with family, traveling to Illinois. Lots of stuff happening but I don't seem inclined to blog about it.

Partially it's because my gmail photo capacity is just about full - how does everyone else avoid that? Maybe my photos are too big.

Partially it's because I'm lazy. Lazy about some things and crazy on top of others (that's what he said - sorry I couldn't help it). Our firm merged with another in June and it was a seriously rough 2 months but I think we're hitting our stride. I'm working about 9 hours a day, usually skipping a lunch break to make sure everything is done. By the time I get home, I don't want to do anything but sit on the couch and talk to my hubby.

So sorry. I'll be better. I'll work on a post of honeymoon stuff because I have some GREAT things to show you. All I'll say is that Alex and I love people watching. 'nuff said.

Private Parts

I'm debating if I should remove the privacy of my blog and have the comments posted after I've reviewed it. Does anyone even care? Does it make a difference?

The Wedding and Open House

Oh my heavens, I'm sure you saw the plethora of pictures on Facebook. In hindsight, I should have posted only a few then put my favorites on here. Now you've seen my goods...I'm like a hooker on the street corner. dang it.

I put together a few collages and am trying to find my cable to connect the camera and computer, I think I misplaced it in the move. As soon as I find it or procure a new one I will post pictures of the honeymoon, etc.

[Coming out of the Temple.]

I need to find someone that took a picture of me doing the arms up "VICTORY!!!!" pose

FAMILY
[The entire group; The Beacham Family]
[Alex's Parents and Grandparents; Mom and Dad]

[The Dietrich Group]
[Becka's Parents and Grandma; Mom and Dad]

MY GIRLS
[Becka with: Chelsea Marie; Natalie; Stephanie; Molly]
[Becka with: a very pregnant Lauren; Laurel; Truly]

I am so thankful to my sweet girl friends that came from other states to be here. Some have been with me on my life road for years and been with me through the rough patches, thank you for your support. Thank you for coming from Washington, Kansas, Missouri, and Nevada...and Bountiful. Love you girls!

All our guests and family went to the luncheon put on by my in-laws while Alex and I did some additional photos around the temple grounds:

[Favorite]

After the luncheon we went off with the photographer [and Chelsea acting as assistant] to take additional photos downtown. There's an old barbershop which I thought would be perfect since my first idea of a grove of trees didn't pan out. Utterly tragic; I almost cried.

As Chrissy would say, pictures are more fun with props.

[Shoes, flowers, and rings]

After the second photo shoot we barely made it back in time for our open house. We were right on time and guests lined up. We had a pianist playing classical music when you first walked in and signed the photo mat.

We had a chocolate fountain with dip-able treats like strawberries, cream puffs, brownie bites, bananas, etc. My crazy Aunt Jan went around asking people if she could drip their food for them because "it's so fun and I am so good at it". Crazy loads of fun, that Aunt Jan.

We had herbal and fruit teas and cucumber water; delicate breads like strawberry, pear ginger vanilla, zucchini with chocolate chips, and pound cake; lots of fresh fruit; nuts and dates.

The best, in my opinion, was the brie. I have learned that I love smoked gouda and brie cheeses. We had 3 bries - one topped with honey (for the unadventurous), raspberry jam (for those that like it sweet), and chili pepper jelly (for those that wanted something new). We also had some normal cheese for those that were just plain boring. You should have seen the ridiculous amounts of crackers out. Makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

When we cut the cake, I was astounded at how many faces were staring back at me. The house was PACKED. My favorite part is that my itty bitty Grandma was watching us cut the cake on my Uncle Don's camera screen he held up to see us in the back. How tragically funny!

We mingled around and made awkward conversation with a lot of people and wonderful conversation those we loved.

Two short hours later we trotted downstairs together and Alex helped me out of my dressed. When people noticed I was missing someone mentioned, she's probably downstairs getting changed to leave. My Mother says, I should go help her get out of the dress. That someone responds with, Alex is down there, I'm sure he can do it. My Mother [bless her heart] flew into frenzy, HE CAN'T BE DOWN THERE HELPING HER UNDRESS! To which that someone responds again with, they're married now. I think it's ok Sue. Recognition passes over her dazed look and she breathes, relieved to not worry about us getting into trouble anymore. Now it's not trouble, it's just fun ;)

We rode off into the sunset towards Park City and our first night of honeymoon.

It was epic.

Standby for launch...

I have so many pictures it's taking a while to upload everything and find the time to do a few posts. Pictures are on my facebook page. If you don't have a facebook account go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150211916992093.308114.531322092&l=6884bb7910

Just a few to tide you over

I am SOO excited for the plethora of pictures coming my way. I have pictures from my bestie Chelsea Marie with photos from the bridal shower/bachelorette party two nights before the wedding plus all of her photos from the open house. AND the photographer at the temple and after. I cannot even tell you how many times I've said to Alex, " I am so excited to see our pictures!".

Our photographer added these to facebook and I cannot begin to tell you how I'm dying to see the rest!!!

A Taste of Things to Come

Remember when I told you about the wedding plans and open house? I left out my favorite part. The overall open house has a vintage-ish theme [as you all know I love a good themed party]. My dress is ivory, I'm doing a lot of linen runners, I'm using my tea cup collection, I found fabulous old medicine bottles for the vases, I have a TON of fabulous polished silver trays and tea sets, and hydrangea are the flowers of choice with some beautiful crepe-papery lisianthus. It just screams vintage.

This is my favorite part. The focal point in the entire open house will be the cake wall. My Mom has all my Great-Grandma's antique furniture from the 1920s and earlier. We're using a 1930s desk as the cake table and we filled the back wall with vintage gold frames. Then I had the fabulous idea to add all different sizes and shapes of B's for Becka Beacham.

Isn't this SO fun?! I love it. We laid it out on the floor a few weeks ago and diagrammed it so it only took an hour and a half to put it up last night. I sat up until midnight or later just staring at it. I felt like a kid at Christmas, I wanted to drag my bedding up to the kitchen and sleep under my beautiful B wall.

Oh I just LOVE this wall. It's so freakin' awesome.

T Minus 10...9...8...

Eight days. Today is eight days from the wedding. A week from today is my wedding eve. I plan on saying that to Alex, "happy wedding eve". I'm just that silly.

I believe we are pretty much done with planning. I sat down with my wedding planner [Mom] last night and we did a schedule of days next week and what needs to be done on or before each day. Friday has a big list but luckily we'll have a lot of helpers around. Everything is pretty well planned and taken care of, it's just buying the food.

I'm making a dozen breads over the weekend, strawberry and pear/vanilla/ginger. My sister-in-law Janene [bless her] is making chocolate-zucchini bread when she's not taking care of her baby. We're all going to be baking up a storm then freezing everything.

I need suggestions on the chocolate fountain. We have strawberries [2 crates from Costco], banana, brownie bites from Costco, and pound cake bites. We are NOT doing graham crackers, marshmallow, cinnamon bears, or pineapple.

Is that enough or do we need more dipable items? What do you suggest?

Shoes...glorious shoes!!!!

This is one of the best parts of the prep work for getting married. Looking for shoes. *sigh* who doesn't love shoe shopping? Shoes always fit, they never hug your thighs wrong or make your hips look like saddle bags. I know if I ask for a size 8.5 I won't get what should be a size 6.

But I need help, my dress lady suggested a website and now I'm caught. I can't decide on which one. I need help with this HUGE decision.

I need your vote. Imagine me in a red, white, and blue outfit pointing at you with a huge, meaty finger. And a stove pipe hat. And a beard. No, scratch the beard.

Initially I thought I'd do something fun like this.

But I can't find anything. All the greens are sea foam and I'm more of a sage green. Or a brown.

Here are the contestants so far, please feel free to vote or add a suggestion. My dress will be ivory.

Unlisted File Complete Platform
Ivy Ankle Strap Sandal
Lasonia Wedge Sandal
Chinese Laundry Platform Sandal
Hannah Sandal
Karla Slingback
Ashley Platform Sandal
Electra Platform Sandal
Forbes Peep-toe Pump

That's it. What do you think? I'm open to suggestions. I've looked at Macy's, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Zappos, Overstock, Payless, and few others. I have just over a month to go and I need to get these ordered.

Brown bag anyone?

Two months...that's all I have left. The time has been flying by and I feel like I have used it well. Would you like a sneak peek of the wedding and open house? Well you are invited.

Where are you having said open house?
At my parent's house in Bountiful. Their large, open house is perfect for an event of such magnitude. The upstairs will be for the guests and the downstairs open to family.

What are you colors?
They WERE green and white. Crisp and clean. Then it was green and ivory (my dress is ivory). Final answer? Ivory, chocolate, and green.

What will your cake (hopefully) look like?
Ivory fondant and chocolate royal icing scrolled like this:

What flavors will the cake be?
Chocolate cake with Bavarian custard goodness in the middle.

What do your invitations look like?
This link is to our second proof. I'm trying to find a linen paper so it has the fabulous texture of linen. (Linen is the accent fabric we're using)

What do your flowers look like?
This is the inspiration bouquet, I will be using the cream and ivory colored peonies.

What color suit is Alex going to wear?
Brown, he looks AMAZING in brown.

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
Where AREN'T we going? We decided to drive to CA. We love driving. We talk talk talk talk talk talk talk. Plus flying was $500 per person. Eek!

No seriously, Becka, where are you going?
First stop on Saturday is the glorious but not so far away Park City. We needed somewhere close [let's get this party started, right?! TMI??]

Aaaaanywho, we're staying our first night at the Newpark Resort & Hotel. I am so stinkin' excited for this room, it has it's own private deck with hot tub overlooking the nature preserve. HELLO!

The next morning we're off to Las Vegas. We both hate Las Vegas but it's more than halfway from Salt Lake to CA and there's no way in H-E-Double hockey sticks we're staying in Cedar City or St. George. We're booked at the fabulously-not-as-grand-as-anywhere-else-in-the-USA Hilton.

Then the fun begins. We're staying in the most darling hotel in Anaheim. Yes we're going to Disneyland for 2 days. We will stay at the Anabella Hotel for 2 days, it's just around the corner from the park. I requested the rooms with the woodfloors and plantation blinds. Isn't so darling?! Gah!

Next we're staying at probably the nicest Best Western I've ever seen. Since we're checking out of the Anabella the last day we're in the park we needed somewhere close by to crash that night. This one fit the bill.

Our last hotel is the BEST. You will all be drooling and so jealous. We're going to the Loews Coronado Bay Resort. On Coronado Island. Yes, THE Coronado Island. Oh.my.gosh! I am so excited. SO EXCITED!!!! Just laying on the beach or by the pool and not moving...unless it's for extra-curricular activities. I am so stinkin' stoked.

This is going to be the longest and shortest two months of my life. More to come. We're going to start collecting plates and centerpieces and putting them together. Maybe I'll have some pictures later.

Birthdays x 4

Our family has become relatively large. Not according to most Mormon families, but considering we started off as 5 and now we're 12, we're HUGE! Last year everyone had their own birthday party. Mine last year was the "crazy" birthday. Since we are such a gigantic family now, we're combining birthdays. We have 3 in January, 2 in February, 5 in March (including Alex's siblings), 2 September, and 1 lonely June and November birthday.

I mean, talk about spring fever... did anyone count it out?

The Venue:
We convened at the blessed Costco in Bountiful for the party. "Costco?" you ask with a raised eyebrow and an incredulous tone. Why yes. Isn't it normal to have birthday parties at a special location? And isn't Costco special? You can buy tires, the best chocolate muffins ever, salmon, and the most ridiculous amount of toilet paper all in stop. Amazing I say.

Dad gave each couple $10 to spend on dinner. Cheapest meal he has provided for the entire family in years! Where can you get a hot dog and drink for $1.50. I had a chicken bake because hot dogs give me the throw-up shivers.

The Event:
We divided into teams, each team had one of Geoff's kids (or their own) to slow them down for help. We were Team A for Alex [Alex, me, Mara], Team B [Geoff, Janene, Ben], Team C was Alex's sister and fam [Nicole, Phil, Carter], Team D was named Team Destiny [Debbie, Dan, Megan].

Each team was given a list of 10 items to find in Costco. The clue was either the name of the item or a hint.

Objection of the Game:
Match the item number and write the price. Items ranged from dog jerky, to pillows, sticky notes, soup, life jackets, mac 'n' cheese, etc. We had so much fun running around trying to figure out the items. I'm sure we looked a little out of place racing up and down the aisles without a cart. Team A was the only team to find all 10 items within the 30 minute time limit. Just stating the fact. Not braggin'.

We sang a very somber and embarrassed "Happy birthday" to Mom, Alex, Dan, and Carter IN COSTCO. Talk about embarrassing. At least none of us were teens when that would have been mortifying. Still...I had a slight flush on my face I think. We had a Costco cake and everything.

The Booty:
First place: Team A won a $25 gift card to Costco.
Second place: Team B won a LED lantern
Third place: Team D won fabulous granola
Fourth place: Team C won chocolate covered pomegranate

Thank you Mom and Dad for doing the leg work of finding the items and creating the treasure hunt. Thank you Costco for inadvertently hosting our birthday party bash. It was great. See you next year!

Do I look different to you?

Last night my Dad frantically called my name from the top of the stairs. I received a letter from the First Presidency!

"Dear Sister Dietrich:

After reviewing your petition, the sealing performed at the Los Angeles California Temple on August 8, 2003, between you and your former spouse, idiot jerk-face retard, has been canceled as of the date of this letter." Dated February 28, 2011.

I've been walking around free for the last 4 days and I didn't even notice. I was sure I'd feel a change in the air, or like I had lost something. Or like I was being snipped. Or I'd sleep more soundly that night.

I was so excited and relieved that I cried. The sealing was the last thing holding me to him and that old life. GONE! HOORAY!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am. Words cannot express the joy and freedom I feel.

And now, a series of 3 word sentences:
I'm marrying Alex. On June 11th. In the temple. At 10 am. Isn't that awesome!

I finally have a sealing time. I couldn't schedule it until I had the cancellation letter. Now I can order invitations.

Let's get this party started!!

The Boulevard

This afternoon I went for a walk...by myself...on Bountiful Blvd. Dangerous times, I know. As I started out I realized this might be the first activity I've done by myself in a while. Immediately I went into Jason Bourne mode where everyone is a potential threat; each person was quickly assessed as to how I'd take them down.

Fortunately, the walk was uneventful as far as violence goes.

I did stop to watch a gaggle of wild turkeys. Are they a gaggle or a flock? Are geese the only ones that gaggle?

Don't you love the way snow looks after it's been there a while. It turns into crystal or glass. I loved that a slight breeze would send a light dusting of these ice crystals across my cheeks as I passed under evergreen trees.

I breathed deeply as I walked. I noticed I have been cooped up in the house or office way too much. I LOVE fresh air. It was so crisp (32 degrees) and clean. I felt as if I would start to lift off the ground if I took a huge gulp. I would take walks during work with my bestie Chelsea at our job years ago and when we'd come back she'd always say we smelled like "outside", sort of metallic.


Today, it smelled like blue. Bright, clean, fresh blue.

This is whatever mountain across the Great Salt Lake. Such a clear day.

I almost didn't want to go home, except my chin had frozen and was numb.

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving...

I'd agree with that. Oh Jenna Rink/Jennifer Garner how right you are. I was under the impression I would dread 30. I would not be a fan. I would look at my life and say, "welp, it's all down hill from here".

A few things I'm looking forward to with being 30 years old [or at least try to accept it graciously]:

Being called ma'am
Saying "when I was your age"
Going on trips with my new fabulous camera


And the biggest thing I'm looking forward to with being 30 years old.....



















GETTING MARRIED TO ALEX!!!!


That's right ladies!!!

On my last day of being in my 20s, Alex sent me on a treasure hunt around Salt Lake. Isn't that awesome - he knows I LOVE treasure hunts so much that he made one for me. I walked out of my last appointment at 4pm and found him in my office with a bouquet of flowers and a scroll. He looked so hot in his suit, was freshly shaven, and smelling oh so manly that I knew what was going on. I had NO idea it would be today though.

Each scroll was handcrafted. Beautiful paper and calligraphy that he wrote himself. The final clue led me to Macaroni Grill where he was waiting for me. We ordered dinner and after I came back from the bathroom [seriously, every time I get nervous or excited, I have to pee. Without fail. And I had to spit out my gum because I knew there would be some serious smooching to follow] and I found the last scroll on my plate [click here to read it] because it is just beautiful.

He is such a tender soul, he knows what I've been through and can provide what I need. Needless to say, I finished reading and looked up at him with tears in my eyes. He hopped of his seat and knelt in front of me and asked me to marry him. I said yes of course and, as anticipated, there was much smooching. We spent the rest of dinner side by side saying "You have a fiance. How do you feel about that?"


So it's official. Even facebook official. How do ya like them apples?!

I was so jazzed up last night I couldn't sleep so I journaled about the experience and took pictures with my new fabulous camera. The last one shows how awesome it is. It's an antique ring from the 1930s that we bought at the most glorious antique jewelry shop in SLC. Love the owner Tanya. She was so helpful and nice, not pushy.



JUNE 11th HERE WE COME!!!!

Isn't that just AWESOME! AGH!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!

A glimpse of things to come...

You think your man is hot. Check out this stud.

There is nothing better than a pile of snow clothes.

2011

Dear First Monday of 2011,

Please be kind. We've got a long road ahead of us. Let's try to not get off on the wrong foot.

Sincerely,
Rebekah