Hawaii...finally :)

I've decided that the time to do this is never going to make itself...so I'm going to have to have to make time for it! Again, I will be putting a lot of months into one post, so there will be lots of pictures but not a ton of words.

Okay, this story I do have to explain because it was pretty awesome. Ry and I left Saturday morning for our 1 of 3 flights to Hawaii. First flight went well. Second flight, same. I can't even remember where we had our layover between those two they went so well.

Our second layover was going to be about an hour and 45 minutes, so we got off the plane and found a seat and waited. An hour and however many minutes later they started to board the plane. We went to get on the plane and sure enough we were at the wrong terminal! We were at Delta's when we needed to be at Hawaiian Airlines....CLEAR across the airport! Literately. We ran, jogged, speed walked for...30 minutes. Needless to say, we missed our flight. And...the next flight wouldn't be leaving until the next morning. About 14 hours away. I had been crying long before because of the blister about the size of a silver dollar on my ankle. (No worries, some lady that worked at the airport tried to comfort me by telling me about the time her best friend died.) And then I found out we'd be spending the night in the airport. Poor Ry. I still feel bad. He sat there and lovingly listened to me while I listed every thing I hated for about five minutes. I'm not disappointed that I don't remember the list. Although, I'm pretty sure my stupid socks that wouldn't stay up and protect my ankle was on that list.

Anyways...we caught the flight the next morning, along with another kid from the company who did the exact same thing as us...and we made it to beautiful Hawaii! And we made it to our ghetto apartment!

Alright, so it wasn't terrible. It was just bare and didn't feel like a home. Oh, and the other couple had found like 20 cockroaches in their place so far :) I think we only killed two. I am proud to say that I killed one of those two. With a stapler. I know, I'm pretty brave, huh?

But we got to move! To a very very beautiful place that was free of cockroaches. But we still had friends there!

This is Daisy. I loved her. I let her go in our house, and I'm not quite sure if I ever did see her again...they all look so similar...but I did enjoy finding them and catching them every once in a while!

We lived across the street from the Marriot Hotel and four lagoons. We didn't spend a ton of time here, but they were great for playing Spike Ball and hanging out for a little bit when we didn't have much time to drive anywhere. They were so so pretty.

We went on a Sunday drive and stopped at the Dole Plantation for a minute. The little pineapples were so cute! For some weird reason I always thought that pineapples grew IN the ground. Like a potato. Umm...oops.

This was my absolute FAVORITE thing at the plantation.

These fish were soooooo dang funny!! I wish the picture would do justice. There were quarter machines with fish food and the second someone would throw food in they would all swarm and jump and get on top of each other and flap their tails....oh goll. Loved it. So funny. Poor things.

We also stopped here on our drive. I'm not positive what beach it is, but it was really pretty.

I have to put a quick plug in for the Quayle's! I think the was one of the first times we hung out with them...ish. Anyways, they became our great friends over the summer and I absolutely love them to death!...However, we didn't get any pictures of us together on this day, so I will show you them later :)

We did a lot of fun things that I didn't or couldn't get pictures of. One of our favorite things to do was go boogy boarding. Us and the Quayle's would go a couple times a week to a beach we found called Sherwood Forest. I never took the camera tho because I was scared it would get ruined or stolen. I'm a little sad we didn't get pictures. Another thing we would do all the time was go snorkeling! There were two awesome beaches by us with super cool fish and coral and turtles! But...no pictures. I think I have a picture of one of the beaches later though.

A few weeks into the summer our boss came out and surprised us all with a day off. And this is what we did...

So amazing. Absolutely loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat!

I was sad that the temple was closed, but it was still really neat to see it! It's absolutley beautiful! Poor Ry didn't fee very well that day.

We went to...something Lookout...Pali...Polly...Pauli...It was fun! Ry found this cool little trail on the side of the mountain, so we followed it....

The hike was really cool! We were going through crazy trees and roots and branches and stuff. The view from the top was AMAZING!

We also went on the "waterfall" hike. Ry found a nice root to swing from :) I guess he thinks he's Tarzan? and I'm Jayne! Kinda....

We also got to spend a morning at Pearl Harbor. I'm glad we got to see that.

A few weeks later Todd came back! We love when Todd comes because we get to do something crazy and fun :)

We saw some reeeeeeeally cool things! We even touched an octopus!

The famous Boots & Kimos macadamia nut banana pancakes...these were DELICIOUS. My Ry, who couldn't care less about food, was glad we drove over an hour for them! THAT'S how good they were.

Alright, I know I said I wasn't going to write much, and so far I've done pretty good! But this picture deserves a little explanation. So some of the guys got spears to go spear fishing (boys...with spears...while I'm snorkeling next to them...scary!!) and Ry really really wanted one, and I was kind of mean and didn't realize he was serious, so according to him "I didn't let him get one" (sorry sweetie). But it's okay! As you can see by the picture, he borrowed one and speared a fish! I was so proud! What you can't really tell...unless you know fish, is that it is a puffer fish. He speared a puffer fish. How random is that? We took it onto the beach and let the little girls see it and rinse it with water and we tried to get the water out of his belly. The worst part was it ended up in our freezer. Ry or I don't even like fish. So what in the heck he was planning on doing with it, is beyond me. Him and Juice gutted the thing (good work Ry! ...if you know Ry, you will understand why I say that) and stuck it in the freezer. Well I went off to work and luckily Ry did a little research on his friend in the freezer...and found out that he was really really poisonous. Phew. Glad he figured that out! So he took it outside and put it next to the garage. Well, a bit later it smelled so so so so bad. I guess our roommates didn't appreciate it next to their bedroom and by the front door, so they decided to punish poor Ry for putting it there. So mean. They put it under the seat in his car! I think the bag leaked fish ocean water, because his car wreaked the rest of the summer. Literally. I think we drove with the windows down and a bottle of Febreeze for the rest of the summer. Punks. So...that is the story of the poor puffer fish who lost his life for no good reason.

Hawaii was awesome...there are so many more cool and fun stories I could tell and pictures I could post, but its already taken me 3 months to complete this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it!

Someday...

I will have enough time to post, I promise!  I have so much to say and so many pictures I want to show, but absolutely NO time! I am feverishly (is that how you spell it? is there a spell check?) writing because I just got out of four hours of class, I have to do my online class, and I have to leave for the hospital to go pee in a cup so they can determine if I use drugs. Don't you hate that? I sure do... Can't I just pinky promise that I don't? Guess not!

Well, let me get to the point of this post. I pinky promise that someday I will find the time to write all about our amazing summer adventure and post a million pictures. Promise.

But for a quick quick update...

• We moved to Highland into Carly's basement and we absolutely love it! We have a ton of fun with the kids and it's great to be able to see them so often. It does get a little roudy sometimes, but we don't mind :)
• Ry and I are both in school full time and working hard to keep up with the demands of it
• We got Trafalga and Seven Peaks passes! Anyone want to join us?
• I just got hired at UVRMC to work on the 6th floor. In hospital! With nurses! I couldn't be more excited and more scared.
• We are currently on Season 3 of 24. Please do not discuss details of other seasons with us. Not to point fingers or anything... *ahem* Roger Goodwin. Thanks a lot dude.

I'm sure there is a lot more I can write, but I need to go drink some water!

Much love,
us

1:48am and counting....

I don't particularly want to go to sleep. I have a plan in my head to stay up ALL night tonight because I have a long flight in the morning and I would much rather sleep on the plane than sit and be bored. So...I'm starting my second official post!

First four months of being married...
                            were tough. Not because living with him so difficult to do, but because I never got to see him! It was so hard. After winter break, things got hectic. Ry and I both go to school at UVU - He's going to become a graphic engineer, and I'm going to become a nurse. Ry had started a new job at the Radissan and worked way too many hours for his own good. There would be weeks that for three or four days straight the only time we would see each other was in the morning before I took off, or at night when he would wake me up to say hi before we fell asleep.

Which reminds me...I do have a pretty awesome story. Some nights I would purposely fall asleep on the couch so he would have to wake me up enough for me to walk to our room, so I could say hi and see how his day was. One night I had fallen asleep on the couch, thinking I was so smart with my plan...I kept waking up thinking I had been asleep for hours and that Ry had to be home. I would search and search for my cell phone to check the time, but always fell back asleep before I found it.

Finally, I searched until I found it. It was 6am! I was so bugged! He made me sleep on the couch ALL night! So, ornerly (is that a word?) I climbed into bed with the intention to wake him up. He snuggled all close to me...meanwhile I'm still fuming a little bit...finally I grumpily asked him why he didn't wake me up.

Confused. He didn't know what I was talking about. My husband lost me in our 600 sq. foot apartment.

Now his side has a sad twist...

When he came home he found my wedding ring in the bathroom. He thought I went out with my single, cute friend, Holly. Haha. Poor guy. I guess we both had a little bit of a rotten night.

I don't have many pictures from those few months except for spring break. Here are a few!

Snowmobiling in Idaho

I have a confession that I'm not so sure I should confess right now...but I will in hopes that my sweet sweet siblings don't tattle on me, *hint hint* :) When Ry and I went snowmobiling we found this awesome spot that had never been touched. There were a ton of oak trees around and I was cruising through them and weaving around when I SMACKED into a tree! It scared the living daylights outta me! Luckily I hurried and shoved the machine into reverse and got us out of there. Ryan didn't particularly like my reversing skills...but we survived! Once we determined the machine was okay, we had a good laugh!

last couple of pictures for the night!...I can't not post pictures of my man's birthday...

I should't be surprised that he pulled a face...

Love the wrapping paper :)

...to be continued...

Our Beginning Was Something Like This...

Well, Christen did it! She convinced me that starting a blog would be a really good idea. Now I'm overwhelmed because I want to start from the beginning of when my new little family was created. And that would be filling everyone in on what I have been doing for the last 19 months of my life. As much as I wish it could, not happening. I was going to try, but decided that less explanation and more pictures would be kind of fun. So...here I go.


Ry and I met January 30, 2009. It was a blind date. Needless to say, I was absolutley terrifed. We went bowling, and had so much fun. I remember being thrilled that he was teasing me because that meant he was having a good time. We never did get a picture on our first date, but we got some on other dates shortly after.

He was hoping I wouldn't think he was a nerd for what he was picking me up to do. I hadn't been to Classic Skating in years...I loved it.

Draper Temple open house (attempt)

We tried to go to the Draper Temple. Of course it wouldn't be open on a Monday night. Oops. We still had a lot of fun!

I got to meet Ry's family for the first time on Easter. They were comfortable to be around from Day 1. Except when they asked me how old I was. I felt a little bit awkward telling them :)

Supercross! For some reason, this is one of his favorite pictures...

And this is one of my favorite pictures...

The night before he left for Philadelphia for the summer.

That night was a hard one for me. A couple days before Ryan had given me slippers that he got from Uruguay. I know it sounds funny, but when he gave me those slippers that he got on his mission, I knew I was someone special to him. We knew at the beginning of that summer that him going to Philly would either make us or break us. Phew! I'm glad we made it.


We talked on the phone every single night. We would chat during the day, text when we weren't talking, study the scriptures at night, and pray together every day. Sometimes we would coordinate what movie to rent and both get treats and get in comfy clothes and watch a movie together. He even sent me a blue tooth so I didn't have to hold the phone. Some nights we would talk until we fell asleep.


We had a lot of fun getting to know the spiritual and emotional side of each other. He would send me packages, and I would send him packages. That summer was one of the worste, and one of the best summers ever.


Luckily...I didn't have to go four whole months without seeing him. He came home in June for Brandon's farewell.

Sunday evening after B's farewell we went for a little hike. My shoes got ruined, my pants got soaked, I almost passed out, and I was freezing when we got home...but that hike was extremely special. I love you Ryan.

Boating in June

It was so so much fun to see Ry in June. Saying goodbye each night was incredibly hard. That would explain why his parents found us asleep at 4:30am one morning. Oops! Or why I didn't go home until 5am the night before he left. Then he was gone again for a few months! We continued to send each other pictures and talk every day. We grew really close. And then he came home and the adventure continued!

Ry's battle wounds from running 13 miles in basketball shoes

We were always doing fun things! I've learned from Ry that life isn't just about working hard, but that it's also about having fun and making memories with people you love!

...and then a few weeks after he got home he told me he wanted to marry me. In three years *pause* divided by 12. Did you do the math? I was floored. Poor me. The kid thought I was an idiot when I couldn't "figure out how many months that was". Truth was, I was speechless.

So...I started to plan! We fasted and prayed...it was the easiest decision in the world. I had asked so many times before that the second I started to even form the question in my thoughts and prayers, it would be an immediate, "yes for the millionth time! you know!"

This would be the man of my dreams...the day he proposed.

...and this was the day he proposed. We had so much fun going down to St. George with the guys. His friends are awesome and I love them to death.

I wish I had a picture of him actually proposing...I have an awesome video, but I'm not sure how to upload it...maybe I'll figure it out someday :)

I was so suprised when we were hugging and he got down on one knee. I didn't know what to do! So I kept bending down to kiss him :) Haha poor kid. He treats me so well. I wish there were strong enough words to describe how I feel about him. Eternally in love!

I wish I could put them all up! Mel did an amaaaaaaaaaaazing job!

December 29, 2009

All because two people fell in love....

Honeymoon #1

After the reception we went to Little America for the night. Our room was beautiful!

We thought we escaped our car being trashed...nope!

The next morning (after we found somewhere to clean the car) we headed up to Jordanelle. Ry was the perfect sweetheart and took me shopping and took care of me when I was feeling sick. We had a ton of fun spending time away from home together. We even found a cool hill to go sledding!

Ry was so sweet to surprise me with our getaway after the wedding. Especially because we were already planning on going on a cruise! Here are a couple of our favorite moments from

Honeymoon #2

The ice skating show was so cool to go to on a ship!

In Belize we went cave tubing. We saw a LOT of bats!

The ruins were really, really neat to see. Ryan's parents were super sweet to treat us to this. We loved it!

  We LOVED the ship. I wish there were more at sea days so we could play on it more!

In Costa Maya we rented a jeep and drove around the island. We found a super cool blow hole and pulled over for a while to play!

It was pretty cool to ice skate at sea...and kind of hard!

...and that was the gist of 2009 for us...