BACHELORETTE PARTY

A few weeks ago, my roommates threw me a little bachelorette party! It was such fun and so much detail went into this little shin-dig. My roommate Shannon planned most of it and then she had to leave town because her grandma passed away. :( She put in tons of work for this to come together before she left and then my other roommate, Megan, and our friend, Anne helped with everything she didn't get to before she left. The food was great! The games were fun, and I got some fun gifts!



Thanks for everyone who came and planned! It was a blast!

WIND!

I first saw this video on my friend's blog and I really liked it. I think I like it so much because it's shows what a JERK wind can be. I really dislike wind. Especially on the day we take our engagement pictures. Here's why...





It was fun anyway. Hopefully we can use some photo shop and find at least one that won't embarrass us. And by "us" I mean me. :)

this IS the place

This weekend I went up to Utah again, with hopes of finding a reception hall. My future mother-in-law and I went to This Is The Place Heritage Park and found this little gem...


I offically have a reception site! I'm so relieved to have one more thing planned. And I'm so thankful for second opinions. Thanks Corinne!!

Palm Trees

This is what I see when I leave work. I love these plam trees! They look so cool against a clear sky. I think I love them because even if it's freezing cold or blazing hot outside, my brain is tricked, for just a small little second, into thinking I'm in paradise! Just thought I'd share. :)

ENGAGED!!

The ring that Rich picked out on his own. It's not a very good picture... but he did a great job! I don't think I could've picked out a better one.



I'm a little late in writing this, but I've been kinda preoccupied with making (or attempting to make) some wedding plans. I'll give you the condensed version of how it happened.

I drove up to Utah on February 19 to go skiing with Rich and some friends. When I first got there, we went out to eat and then when we went back to his house, he said that a friend of his called and said he could take us up to the top of the Capital building to look at the city. The Salt Lake capital building has 3 levels that let you walk around the dome (as long as you have an employee with you). So we walked around the first level and it was BEAUTIFUL! I love that city! And then we went up to the next level and his friend stayed back to "make a phone call". When we got to the spot where you can see the temple and the downtown area, I saw that there were flowers laying on the ground. I said, "Rich, someone left flowers up here!" and he just picked them up and gave them to me. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was very ROMANTIC! It was a perfect proposal! I don't think I've ever been happier. Then we went inside the dome where you can sign names. Rich brought up a Sharpie so we signed the wall and wrote the date and our wedding date (May 8 2010) for all to see. Then we went up to the very top level and were able to sign our names again up there and take some photos.

Now I'm just really excited to be married to him! I love him a lot and I feel so LUCKY that he wants to marry me. I also feel like I lucked out because he has an incredible family who has made me feel welcome from day 1. And I'm excited for when I can stop thinking about all these wedding plans... turns out I'm not much of a planner. :)

Mornings

For two weeks now, I have been doing a "trial run" of being a morning person. I have had morning person envy for a long time now, and I'm happy to report that IT IS POSSIBLE! I have been waking up at 5am and going to bed by 10. Now I can exercise in the morning, sit down and eat breakfast, do some reading, and get to work a little early. It's wonderful! The only set back I've had is that someone broke into my car, shattering my window, and rummaged through my stuff while I was at the gym. Luckily he left his cell phone in my back seat. HAHAHAHAHA! But other than that, mornings have been good to me.

The Year in Review

2009 was a really good year for me. It gave me some really great experiences and I think I've grown a little because of them. Here's a recap of '09:

My mom moved down to Vegas and I spent the beginning of the year hanging out a lot with her. This is us hiking at Red Rock. (This is why I love Vegas... hiking in January!)

I bought my road bike in preparation for my 1st sprint triathlon... and oh, how I love her!


I graduated from UNLV with my masters degree.

I participated in a couple sprint triathlons. I thought I would only do one, but I found out how fun and addicting they are! And training for them keeps me motivated to work out.


I made a few trips to Denver. One to see my sister and my cute niece and nephew. The other time was to see some good friends. I do enjoy Denver and I was glad to have some reasons to go visit.

I went camping for several days in Idaho.


I went backpacking in California.

The California Raisin made a comeback during Halloween.


And I was able to spend some quality time over Christmas with close friends and family.

I think I am learning to appreciate the ups and downs in life. There are lots of days that I wish I could just fast-forward through, but without them, I know I wouldn't appreciate the good days. This past year was filled with experiences that made me realize this and for that, I say, "Thank you 2009"!!