SO excited!!!

I bought Tangled today!!!


For those of you you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it! It's one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, and it's tough to make it on my top 5 at this point. That should tell you something about how truly amazing it is.

Can anyone say date night? ;)

The Travelers

Richard and I have done quite a bit of traveling over the past few weeks, including a trip two weekends ago to Arizona. I had never been to Arizona before other than a quick pass through, so I was excited to see where Richard grew up and to see some sun. It was a quick, 3 1/2 day weekend trip, but the 21+ hours of driving was definitely worth it!

We spent the first night in the "small" town of Kingman and stayed the night with Richard's parents. Then we were off to Phoenix, where it was actually in the 80's! I wore shorts and flip flops for the first time since September and enjoyed every minute of it. In Phoenix, we spent time with Richard's twin brother and his family, including going to a Phoenix Suns game. And they won, which made the game that much better! We also drove around visiting some of Richard's friends from college and more family. So LOTS of driving, lots of visits, lots of brown and sage brush, and lots of sun and wind, but all completely worth it!

Hooray for road trips! I'm so glad Richard likes to drive so I don't have to...(and I'm glad he always keeps his eyes forward ;))

We had pretty amazing seats for half of the game, and then we switched with another couple we were with. It's a little more exciting when you can see what's happening!


Our half-time special: dancing old women. It was hilarious!

Andrea, Robert, Richard, Me

A few weeks ago, we also made a quick trip to Vegas for a funeral. Despite the sad reason for us being there and spending a lot of time with Richard's extended family, we still managed to get out and explore a little, including visiting the new bridge over the Hoover Dam. Here is my favorite pictures from the trip:

Being afraid of heights, this was not an easy picture to take...

And in a few weeks, we're off to Oregon! I CAN'T WAIT to show Richard where I grew up! Maybe the grass and trees and rain will grow on him...green is his favorite color, after all ;)

Engaged!

I was going to update everyone on the most recent happenings of my life (aka: the past few weekends), but one specific event that occurred on Saturday blew them all out of the water. So without further ado, I would like to announce that

Richard and I are engaged!!!

And I can't even express how happy and excited and blessed I feel right now! I truly am marrying the best guy in the world. How did I get so lucky?

As for the proposal, it was perfect. Here's a quick rendition of the evening: Last Saturday, Richard asked if I wanted to go for a walk, so we drove to a bike/walking path along the Jordan River. However, the further we walked, the colder I got (the wind was blowing and my ears started to throb), so I asked if we could turn around and head back to the car. Later I found out he was planning on proposing to me on our little walk, but I kind of ruined that plan so...

...plan B. Richard asked if we could go for a little drive, so we drove around downtown Salt Lake City a little, and then headed up the hill north of the city to get a better view. Along the way, Richard said he remembered that the church cemetery wasn't too far from where we were, and since I've always wanted to see where President Hinckley is buried, we decided to drive around until we found it. His large tombstone wasn't too hard to find, and we got out of the car to get a better look. By this time, the sun had come out again and it turned into a nice afternoon. I was done looking after a few minutes, but Richard acted like he wanted to linger longer...until about 2 or 3 cars suddenly arrived. Once again, I found out later that Richard was tempted to propose in the graveyard before all those cars showed up. All I have to say about that is I'm sure Somebody sent those cars there on purpose ;) So, poor Richard had to shift plans again and retreat to...

...plan C. We continued to drive higher and higher and weave through the neighborhoods when Richard suddenly stopped the car right here:

It doesn't look like much except it had an amazing view. But, as Richard quickly pointed out to me, there were stairs and stairs had to lead to something great like a park. So we got out of the car and headed down the stairs to discover this:

Yes, there was a park after all. But the top picture is where we remained: in a private, grassy area above the park without anyone around. We stood talking and admiring the view for awhile, and then we turned around as if to head back to the car. Suddenly, Richard stopped and turned to face me. Then, I distinctly remember him saying (although he denies this), "Well, this looks like a good place." Well, I'm not really sure what my mind did at this point, but I knew he was referring to proposing, and I was suddenly thrown into that surreal, I can't believe this is really happening to me! moments and blurted out, "You mean you're going to do it now?" Richard's response, with a slightly anxious look on his face, was, "I don't have to do it now," to which I quickly said, "No, no, no! You can do it now!" Then I got a huge smile on my face and started laughing. Richard got on his knee and lifted up his pant leg to reveal the ring box hidden in his sock! It had been there the entire time, and I had no idea! Still on one knee, he opened the box and asked the big question. I was still laughing (more that shock laughter mixed with giddiness), but managed to say, "Yes, yes, yes!" We hugged and kissed and laughed together as the realization hit us that we were getting married! Then I remembered my camera in the car and took lots of pictures to capture the moment.

So like I mentioned before, it truly was ideal: the sun was shining, no one was around but us, the view was stunning, and I was with the man of my dreams. Perfect.

We found a nice spot near some tennis courts on the hill to sit and talk and enjoy the view (and my new ring!) for about an hour, and it was probably the best hour of my life. =)

The ring! Yes, I helped Richard pick it out. It was more important to him that I got exactly what I wanted than it being a surprise, and I was definitely ok with that ;)

Richard feeling relieved that that was all over with...He later joked that it was like ripping off a band-aid! I can't even imagine how nerve-racking proposing can be!

Me standing at the top of the hill where we sat and talked for awhile. It was a beautiful day and a great view!

The exact spot where Richard proposed

Me being a girl...haha


And the ring close and personal:

I absolutely love it! It's perfect--simple, yet elegant. And it comes with the greatest gift of all ;)

To answer any remaining questions people may have, we're getting married on June 24 in the Portland, OR temple. 3 months may not seem long enough to plan a wedding from out-of-state, but June really can't come soon enough! I'm so excited to begin this new journey in my life with the man that I love.

My Valentine

As may be apparent by my lack of posts (and my allusion to the subject in a previous blog entry), I've been fairly distracted for the past 2 1/2 months; that is, distracted by one person--and in a very positive way. I'll call him my Valentine; you can get to know him as Richard.

Richard and I have been "dating" since December, although the initial starting date is debatable. We basically decided to break away from the traditional dating/courtship and do things our way, including emailing back and forth everyday for over 3 weeks (which really helped us get to know each other without the awkwardness) and going to his nephew's birthday party for our "first date" (aka meeting the family). But our story has been perfect; a fairytale come true. There's no denying I'm one lucky gal.

This past Valentine's weekend was one of the best weekends ever! By coincidence, a bunch of events fell in those few days, so Richard and I kept busy doing activities that we both enjoyed. Of course, the best part was having an excuse to spend every minute together, leading up to the perfect Valentine's day.

Utah Jazz vs. Phoenix Suns Game

On Friday night, we went to the Jazz vs. Suns basketball game at the Energy Solutions Arena (SLC). Richard is a HUGE NBA basketball fan, and an even bigger Suns fan since he grew up in Arizona. I thought it would be fun to go to at least one game together so Richard could teach me some more things about basketball, and so I could get excited about the game with him. We both really enjoyed it--especially when the Suns pulled ahead the second half of the game and won it in the end. I don't think I've ever seen Richard so happy before =)

We were literally sitting in the very back row at the top of the arena, but we enjoyed the view!

BYU's Cinderella Ballet

I guess because I was so willing to go to a basketball game with Richard, he was willing to go to a ballet with me. I'd never been to a real ballet before, so I was looking forward to it--especially since it was a production of my favorite fairytale, Cinderella. We met up with two of my good friends/former roommates, Haley and Kayla, and attended the ballet at BYU's De Jong Concert Hall. I felt like a little girl again as I watched the performance and got giddy with Haley after each heart-throbbing moment occurred on stage. We were even surrounded by little girls dressed up as Disney princesses, so how could we not get into the magic of it all? And I think Richard enjoyed it as well; at least, he can't stop talking about the guys in tights. ;)

After the ballet, I had Richard experience true Provo culture by eating dinner at J-Dawgs--one of the most famous hot dog places known to BYU students and alumni. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Valentine's Day!

Richard is by far the sweetest guy I've ever met. For Valentine's day, he had flowers delivered to me at work--and not just any flowers, but a bouquet of red tulips (my favorite)! The flowers were beautiful and literally made my day. But the kindness didn't end there. Richard treated me to dinner that night, gave me a few fun gifts, and wrote me a song. It was the perfect Valentine's day--and I was definitely spoiled.

As for me on V-day, I tried to be creative. So along with making him his favorite kind of dessert (which he actually didn't get until a week later), I decorated Richard's door and left him "Breakfast to go" on his doorstep. It was fun driving to his house at 5:45 AM and trying to rip tape off the roll...who knew tape could be so loud?! In the end, I finished my mission without waking anyone up. I'm glad Richard enjoyed his surprise "heart attack" and quick breakfast! I definitely enjoyed his reaction!

So life is going very well for me. I truly feel more than blessed to have Richard in my life, and I'm excited to see what the future holds!

"Be Humble and Full of Love"

"It is almost impossible to be lifted up in pride when our hearts are filled with charity. 'No one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love.'* When we see the world around us through the lens of the pure love of Christ, we begin to understand humility.

"Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. Nor does it mean denying or withholding the talents God has given us. We don't discover humility by thinking of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman.

"Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to Heavenly Father's purposes."

--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Image from http://www.jonspotphotography.com/
*D&C 12:8

Oh, January! (and Wedding Photos)

So normally I claim January to be the worst month of the year: it's cold, wet, and snowy, the holidays are over, and there isn't much to look forward to. However, the last few weeks have probably been the best three weeks of my life, so I have no reason to complain. 2011 has already been a great year for me! I feel pretty blessed, that's for sure, but we'll save the detail for another time.*

Obviously, I'm a little behind on my blog...I wanted to post a few photos from my brother's wedding, so maybe I'll go ahead and do that now. Trevor and Kristin were married on December 18th in the Bountiful, UT temple. It was a pretty great, easy-going day, and it was fun being able to celebrate with them. So, because I believe a picture (or pictures) speak a thousand words, I'll stop writing and post a few favorites instead:

The siblings


The family

Bride's maids!

(and check out our (slightly painful) shoes!!!)

Bride's maids and Groom's men

Jessica wanted to join in on the tie-tying fun

The first dance

Proof that my dad really CAN dance...this was probably our first dance as well ;)

Me and the bride (sadly, none of my pictures with Trevor turned out)

And they're off! It truly was a great day!

*and for all you curious folks out there, yes, it involves a guy--a pretty amazing one at that ;)