A Saturday of Sports

This Saturday me and Richard spent most of the day watching sports...BYU of course. First we watched the basketball game against Arizona State, it was in Arizona. This was a big game for BYU because we (meaning BYU for most of this post) are one spot out of the top 25 and ASU was ranked 17 (or 20, depending on which poll you look at, but either way...) so this could be our big chance to break into the national rankings! Woohoo. Only one problem...we lost...76-75. Talk about a heart breaker! And even worse is that we actually won the game, we should have beat them by quite a bit (we would have beat them easily in Provo). I have a few complaints about the game...most of which are blamed on the refs (I know that I am biased...but seriously...anybody who watched the game would agree with me regardless of which team you support, except ASU of course).
1. We got completely homered the entire game. Our players literally got thrown to the ground (no exaggeration...jersey grabbed and thrown to the ground) on several occasions and yet we are the ones that got called for the foul...I'm pretty sure that is backwards.
2. ASU was in DOUBLE bonus with 10 minutes left in the game (HOMERED!).
3. Harden (ASU's "best" player) had more free throws than the entire BYU team.
4. Only 8 of Harden's points came from something other than free throws (I don't think that makes him a great player, it makes him a player that gets bailed out by the refs every time he drives to the basket).
5. We didn't drive enough, if we had driven to the basket more we might have had a chance to get ASU in more foul trouble.
6. Jackson Emery fouled out with 5 minutes left in the game (the last foul was one in which he was knocked to the ground by ASU).
7. We did actually win the game, but the refs changed their minds after the buzzer. We were down by two with 3 seconds left and we had the ball under our own basket (our inbounds play was not good, but we still won). Tavernari took a shot that was completely tipped and not even close however he was able to recover it and throw a quick pass to Abouo who tipped it in (backwards) as the red lights went off and the clock hit zero. One of the refs called it good, giving BYU the win, however after reviewing the play they changed their minds, deciding that the shot came after the buzzer. This is awful because they called it good first and there was no way the video evidence was good enough to overturn their original call. It was literally a matter of fingertips, the human eye cannot see the difference made by a tenth of a second.
Here is the video of about the last minute. Note that in the beginning of the clip Lee Cummard (BYU) is literally hip checked and nothing is called. Also, at the end, no human can tell if the shot was off in time, but the ref called it good FIRST, that is the most important thing.
8. And lastly, we were 10-0 going into that game, we should be 11-0 now but the refs messed up our record on that one. We were the better team (cocky I know, but true).
Those are my complaints about the basketball game, and I will not be over that one for a while. Wake Forest (6th in the nation) comes to the Marriott Center in Provo on January 3rd, hopefully we win that (that will make me feel much better).
After the frustration of the basketball game we went to my house to watch BYU football play Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl. I am not too upset about this because it was just UGLY! We did not play well at all. :( So I don't really have a list of complaints for this like I do for the basketball game. But all in all it was not a good day to be a BYU fan. :(

Christmas Tree!

Today we picked up our Christmas tree from Richard's grandma's house. It was a wedding gift from her and Richard's Aunt Diana. So we were very excited about that and it is pre lit! Woohoo! Here are some pictures from the event.

Forgotten Carols

Last night we had a very fun evening with my family. First, we went to Los Hermanos for dinner! YUMMY! MY FAVORITE!!!

Then we went and watched Michael McClean's Forgotten Carols at the David O. McKay Events Center at Utah Valley University. It was a great night! (sorry the pictures are a little blurry)

Thanksgiving in Arizona

We spent our Thanksgiving Break in Scottsdale Arizona with Richard's sister Carolyn, it was a lot of fun. We left at about 11am on Tuesday when I got off of work and we got there by about 8:30pm. It was great to get there that early, we were thinking we would get there around ten. Google maps was not very reliable, it said it would take 10 1/2 hours but we made it in 9 1/2 . :) This is us taking a break at the scenic view...we think that is part of the Grand Canyon in the background...anybody know for sure???
The weather was beautiful! Carolyn and Chad kept saying what a bummer it was that we came on this week because it had started cooling down for that week and then was gonna be nice again the next week, but being from Utah we were more than happy with the 65 degree weather! It felt great compared to the 50 degrees we had been used to. We even went swimming on Friday! Woohoo! Swimming during Thanksgiving Break now that is the good life!

Wednesday we went shopping to get everything that we needed for Thanksgiving dinner, since there was only four of us we decided against a turkey and went with a rotisserie chicken instead. The main thing that we focused on was PIE (as long as there was potatoes and stuffing I was happy and all Carolyn cared about was her pie). We made six...yes SIX for four people! Haha! Needless to say we spent the entire weekend eating pie. We had to chocolate, one banana cream, one pumpkin, one cherry, and huge Apple Crisp (which we are counting as a pie).

We played many games of Outburst and it was very fun, we enjoyed it and I enjoyed getting to know Carolyn because I haven't really been able to spend much time with her before. And we also got to know her boyfriend, Chad, which was a lot of fun.

Thursday we just spent the day eating, watching movies, and playing games, it was GREAT!

Friday we did the same. :)

Saturday Chad didn't have to work so we spent the whole day doing lots of fun things. First, we went hiking (which I don't love, but Richard's family loves hiking as does Chad so I tried to be a good sport...I failed a little...). We did a hike called Camelback and there was a lot of people hiking it. We only made it about 2/3 of the way because I was dying and so everybody was very nice and willing to turn around there. This is how much I enjoy hiking...Here is me and Richard with Carolyn's dog Shredder. This is as far as we got on the hike.
All four of us...After hiking and eating lunch we went and saw the new James Bond Movie "Quantum of Solace" it was fun. Especially because Scottsdale has a 5 dollar theater! And it has brand new movies!!! Provo needs one of those!!!!

After relaxing for a while we went to a big huge shopping complex in Scottsdale (expensive stores) to look at the lights. It was fun to feel the Christmas spirit! :)

Me and RichardRichard and CarolynThe Thanksgiving Break was great, but unfortunately it had to end. We headed back to Utah at 10am. We took a stop at the Glen Canyon Dam (the dam that makes Lake Powell) because Richard being the Civil Engineer that he is wanted to look at it (especially because they had just been talking about it in one of his classes). While in the visitor's center we found out that they give tours where you can go inside of the dam. I had no desire to do this but Richard did, so he went and I decided it would be more fun to sit outside and talk on the phone (don't worry, it was warm outside). So our five minute stop turned into 1 1/2 hours (we got there at 2:30 but the tour didn't start til 3 and then it was 45 minutes long). But we still got home by 9:15 so we considered the trip a success and Richard was very happy that he got to do his tour.

Graduate School

We are currently being faced with making the decision of where Richard should go to graduate school...stay here or go somewhere else...that is the question. He doesn't graduate until April 2010, but this is a decision that is supposed to be made quite a bit in advance. He will take the GRE next summer and needs to know which schools he wants it sent to because they will send his score straight to four schools for him. So in order to get some help on making this decision we attended a Civil Engineering Graduate Banquet that was put on by BYU's Civil Engineering Faculty. It was a lot of fun, and really informative. They had faculty sitting at each table, so that was really great for Richard to be able to talk to some faculty. The best part about that was that Dr. Gerber was the professor at our table and he specializes in Geotechnichal Engineering, which is what Richard wants to do, so that was GREAT!
The banquet started at 6:30 and we had a delicious meal catered by BYU (always good)! First we had salad and rolls. Followed by chicken and broccoli alfredo for dinner. That was all topped off with personal chocolate cream pies (so fun!), the had whipped cream and chocolate chips, and it was DELICIOUS! I wish I had thought to take a picture so tha I could make you all jealous, but I didn't, so you'll just have to imagine it. :)
After dinner there were a few different speakers talking about the advantages of graduate school. They informed us that starting in 2015 it is going to be a requirement to have a Master's Degree in order to become a professional engineer. Therefore, now is the time to do it because it 7 years they are going to be competing with young engineers who all have Master's Degrees.
It was a great night and it was really fun to meet some of Richard's friends from his classes! We had a great night!

My feelings on the new Prop 8 developments...

Before writing this, I want to make it clear that this is in no way a note concerning discrimination against those who are homosexual or those who voted no (or would have if they lived in California) on proposition 8. I have nothing against those on the no side of prop 8, but that will not keep me from standing up for the things that I believe in.
It disgusts me that people are more than happy to vote on issues when they think that their side will win, but as soon as it doesn't they are right back there being disrespectful towards the people that have been doing the same thing as them, standing up for what they believe in. Many people are accusing the LDS church for the Yes on 8 passing, what they fail to realize is that the Catholic church and many people who have no religious affiliation at all are also standing up for prop 8. Yes, the church took a strong stand, which it usually avoids, but this is a crucial stand for the future generations of our nation. 70% of the African-American population in California also voted yes on Prop 8, they went out in record numbers to show their love, support, and respect for president-elect Obama and in turn voted yes on Prop 8 while they were there. Prop 8 passed, telling us that in the state of California there are more people in favor of traditional marriage than not, deal with it, propositions just like this one are passing all over the nation, not just in CA, Florida and Arizona also passed a ban on same sex marriage on Tuesday, as did a few other states. Be respectful and be good citizens, abide by the law of the land.
If you feel you must keep fighting it, do so respectfully and lawfully. Put it back on the ballot in a few years, until then, respect EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING, especially those things which are sacred in the religion of others, we will not protest in front of your religious symbols, don't we deserve the same respect? Respect is not conditional, all people deserve it from everybody, not just those with the same ideas, beliefs, and values.

Sundays are a wonderful day!

Last Sunday we spent the morning sleeping....until approximately 10:40 (because we don't have church til 1:20). Pathetic, I know, but it is the only day we have to sleep in so we take full advantage of that opportunity! :) After church we went over to my house to spend some time there celebrating my dad's birthday. Lorie and the girls also went over there. We had a delicious dinner of spaghetti (YUMMY! I love spaghetti!) and then we of course had cake and ice cream and watched dad open his presents.
This Sunday (yesterday) we were invited up to Richard's uncle's house for dinner and games. They live up in Ogden (about 1 1/2 hour drive) so we decided to go to Richard's grandma's church at 9 in order to get up there at a decent hour. So after a wonderful block of church meetings we started the drive up to Ogden. I sat in the back and slept while Richard and his Grandma enjoyed a conversation (don't worry...I REALLY enjoyed my nap!). We got up to his uncle's house around 2:00, just in time for a delicious dinner of lasagna, breadsticks, and salad. YUMMY! Then we played an intense 12 rounds of Scattegories! I love that game, it was really fun, but I didn't win...:( Grandma Christensen kicked our butts! :) It was a very fun evening. I love spending time with our families on Sundays it is a great and relaxing break from our ridiculously busy weeks! :)

The Great Adventures of Public Transportation

Richard is currently taking a transportation class for his major and one of his assignments is that he has to ride the bus 10 times by this Friday. Before last night he had one done (he is going to be riding the bus ALOT this week) so we made it part of FHE to go ride the bus to Cold Stone with one of his friends who is also in the class. We had no idea what an adventure that was going to be. So first off, you have to have the exact amount of money to get on the bus and it is $2.25 each, but we didn't have any cash. However, there is a gas station right by our house and the bus stop where we were going to begin our adventures so we decided to go buy something to get cash back. Upon finding out the candy bars are now .99 (rip off...what happened to .50???) we opted for a .10 laffy taffy so that we could get ten dollars back...in one dollar bills. hahaha!I don't think the gas station lady liked that very much, she claimed she was low on ones so we ended up with a 5 and 5 1's. We were trying to get as many bus rides as we could within three hours (that is how long a transfer ticket is good for) so we went online before leaving and staked out all of the starting points and destinations that we wanted to hit, which buses would get us there and what time and then which bus to get back on and what time for the next destination. We were all prepared and had it all written down on a handy dandy piece of paper. But being the smart people that we are we left that wonderful piece of paper on the couch at our apartment (I am pretty sure it is still there...). And of course all of the busses start with 83 (830, 831, 832) and we could not remember which one we were supposed to get on so we decided to let the 831 go by and jump on the 832. So we thought we were good until the bus driver told us she doesn't go as far up as the dollar theater/cold stone area. So she said she would drive us to BYU where we could catch up with the 830 that would get us there, so we said "sure, why not?" So we got on the 830 and began to become very skeptical as to whether or not this bus would actually get us to our destination...so we decided to jump off at a stop we knew was somewhat close to where we wanted to be and walk the rest of the way (just a few blocks).

As we were walking we were keeping our eyes open to see if there was in fact a stop that was closer. Turns out there was a bus stop right where we wanted to be! Was it the 830 which we had just been on! Of course it was...but guess what else...it was also a stop for the 832, which we had been on in the first place!!!! (the bus driver apparently thought we meant the cold stone and dollar theater at the University Mall)

So after that wonderful adventure we had our ice cream and then ventured to find the bus stop that would pick us up and get us back to Gabe's house (Richard's friend) to play Wii for a bit. So we started walking to find the 831 because that is the one that Gabe knows stops right by his house! But of course the only stops anywhere to be found were for 830 adn 832 so after wandering aimlessly for about 15 minutes we finally had to have Gabe's wife turn around and come pick us up (she was the only smart one to drive instead of hop on the bus!) in the Denny's parking lot after we walked there from the dollar theater!

After playing Wii for a bit Richard and I walked to the bus stop to get home, and it was the wonderful 832 with the same driver we got the first time that told us to switch to the 830. haha. But that ride went smoothly and all was well.

Moral of the story: beware, public transportation is more confusing than you think!

Long overdue pictures from lots of different things

At Richard's house after eating a delicious dinner of lasagna and baked vegetables!

Riding the "T" (train) around Boston.

Hiking in New Hampshire -- the day before we got engaged! :)
I went to New Hampshire with Richard after winter semester so I could meet his family. This is us looking over the ocean in Maine a few days before we got engaged. (You might recognize this from our wedding announcement!)
Richard took a trip with me and my family to California for a week in April. This is us on the carousel (Grandma's favorite ride) at Knott's Berry Farm.
Richard and I love going up to Idaho Falls to visit his brother and sister-in-law when we need a break from Provo. This is us snowshoeing in the Tetons in Wyoming on one of our trips up there

Conference Weekend

We had a great conference weekend, spent mostly in our pajamas! :) On Saturday we had a couple from our ward over for belgian waffles before the first session of conference. It was a lot of fun! After the session was over we played our Wii for a little while to entertain us until the next session. Then Richard and I watched some football games until it was time for him to go to Priesthood session.

On Sunday we went over to Richard's grandma's house to watch conference. We ate BLT's for lunch and played a few rounds of Ticket to Ride (we LOOOOVE board games!). Then we enjoyed the last session of conference before going to my house to hang out with my family and eat soup in bread bowls for dinner!

A Friday at the Dentist...

So as a part of my new commitment to doing better on keeping my blog updated, here is my first story...

I have a tooth that has been bothering me for quite some time so before the wedding I got a temporary medicated filling put in so that I wouldn't have to worry about the pain for at least a couple of months. So the time came to get the temporary filling taken out and the permanent one put in about 2 weeks ago. I did this only to find that my tooth absolutely killed when anything cold touched it. So bad that I couldn't drink anything except through a straw on the opposite side of my mouth. I couldn't even brush my teeth with cold water because it hurt so bad.

So after dealing with this pain for a couple of days I decided it was unbearable and called the dentist to see if I could get another temporary filling put in only to hear that the next step was to get a root canal. So that is how I spent my Friday morning, in the dentist's office having the nerve in my tooth removed. Woohoo. Luckily I was so numb that I didn't feel a thing and I used it as an excuse to miss my classes. :) Which is nice every once in a while. I also got to spend the day with my mom in her classroom because I didn't want to go back to Provo for my classes. So I ate school lunch with my mom and corrected some spelling tests.

My mouth was a little sore over the weekend, but now I am doing much better and my tooth no longer hurts! Woohoo! So I guess it was all worth it in the end! :)

New Commitment

So after having a discussion with my mom about how much she enjoys looking at people's blogs I have decided to make a new commitment to work on my blog more often, so we will see how that goes. Luckily I do hardly anything at work so if no other time I can at least keep up to date on it during work....so here it goes...

Life when football rocks!

So we are now three weeks into the semester and three games into football season. The Cougars are doing great and that is what matters! Richard and I are having a great time watching our Cougars stomp some teams while coming out with very clutch and heartstopping wins against others. :) There is talk early of the Cougars having a chance to break the BCS (aka play in a nationally recognized bowl game against a nationally recognized team!). BYU is ranked 14 in the AP Poll and 11 in the USA Today Poll. So needless to say, this football season rocks! And I am loving EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!!

It is afterall "The Quest for Perfection"

Time for an update...

So after talking to my mom she made me aware of the fact that my blog is long overdue for an update...

Richard and I have now been married for just under 4 weeks and we absolutely LOVE it! Our apartment is great, it is small, but plently big for just the two of us. We love being able to decorate according to our own taste and not having roommates (except each other of course).

We took the week off of work last week so that we could play and be lazy and have a break before heading into the crazy life of college students! We ran a few errands that needed to get done, we ate lots of yummy food, and did some fun little outings around Provo. One day we went to Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking around and getting some fresh air!

We started school today, but both of us only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mine doesn't start until 3 and Richard's is at 4. So we both just worked in the morning. Richard got a job that started today working for a groundwater software company. He is doing tech support for them and he is very excited about it because it is a Civil Engineering company (which is right down his ally since it is his major).

There is a very brief update (sorry) and it will have to do for now!

It actually came!....and went...

So the countdown is officially over...I am MARRIED!!! Woohoo!! I have now been married for five days...I know full of experience now...haha...not! But regardless of that I am absolutely loving being married! It is the best...so here is an update of how things went.

Monday, August 4, 2008...moving in...
We got to move into our new married apartment on the Monday before the wedding. It was a very long and hot day but it was great and exciting to move in! We got a lot done and after a full day of moving my mom took us to Los Hermanos for dinner...that is always exciting! YUM!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008...more moving...
My mom and I went over in the afternoon to do some more unpacking and make the apartment look like somebody could actually live in it...we thought that was a good idea since richard was actually living in it! It was fun to have it all clean and cute for when Richard got home from work!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008...the day before and the BBQ/pasta bar...
In the morning I ran a few last minute errands with my mom and then I got a manicure and pedicure (thanks Lorie)! It was really fun to get pampered. Then I went home and relaxed for a little bit, it was great. Then I went over to Richard's aunt and uncle's house to help with some last minute prep for the BBQ/pasta bar.
Instead of doing a luncheon on the day of the wedding we opted to do BBQ, which turned into a pasta bar, the night before to keep the chaos of the wedding day down. It was so fun. Richard's mom really did a fantastic job putting it together! It was really fun and everybody really enjoyed themselves! We had appetizers of bruschetta, grapes, and cheeseballs. Followed by a delicious dinner of ceasar (?) salad and pasta with the option of alfredo with chicken or marinara with ground beef. Both of which were delicious! We then we had a delicious dessert of catered ice cream from Cold Stone, it was so great!
We also had great entertainment by Chris Merritt! He is mine and Richard's favorite musician. He is a great local musician...check out his website.

Thursday, August 7, 2008....WEDDING...
The sealing was at 11am in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and it was absolutely beautiful! It was so great and we got some great advice! We came out of the temple and were greeted by family and friends! We were at the temple taking pics until 2:15 at which point we went to Wendy's to pick up some lunch. :) We had to be at the reception at 4:30 for more pictures and then people started coming at 6 and we were on our way to the cabin for our honeymoon by 8:30. It was a long and exhausting but beautiful and perfect day!

Our weekend honeymoon consisted of eating, sleeping (A LOT) and watching the olympics! It was GREAT! We both really needed a lazy weekend to recover from the busy last 3 1/2 months!

Yesterday we had a bunch of family over for dinner and present opening it was really fun!

I am now Jessica Lynn Christensen!

Because life isn't busy enough....

Before I get into the events of yesterday I will quickly update you on wedding stuff. All of the planning is pretty much done, now it is just finishing touches on everything and some picture stuff. We are now down to 16 days so that is very exciting...now to yesterday...

I was sitting at home in my apartment watching TV while waiting for Richard to get home so we could eat dinner and go over to our friend's house for a game night when I got a phone call from Justin...

Jordan had a pretty bad accident on his bike. He was riding up the hill to our house (in a hurry to try and get home in time for FHE) and there was a big huge trailer hitch (the kind that stick out of the back of a truck) sticking out across the sidewalk and he was almost to the top of the hill and getting tired so his head was down concentrating and he didn't see the hitch and hit his head on it and cracked his head open. After riding in the ambulance to the hospital he got 20 stitches. His cut was 4 inches long and about 1/4 inch wide and deep...so it was quite the eventful night at our house. I spent the night home with my family because Jordan wanted me there when he got home and that wasn't til about 11pm.

Less than 30 days and the art of bargain shopping as two poor college students...

So we are now under 30 days until the glorious day of August 7th! YAY!!! :)

In the last 3 days Richard and I have really become quite the bargain shoppers...especially when it comes to furniture...we need furniture but there isn't much money to purchase it. Luckily, from my house we are taking a couch and dresser so that is helpful but then there is the issue, of desk, bed, entertainment center, etc. So what is the solution...craigslist and ksl.com....great sources. We found an entertainment center on craigslist for $35 and we found a bed (metal frame, box springs, and mattress) on ksl.com for $75! Yes...I used bed sounds gross, but we checked it out and it is all very clean and nice, and only a few years old, and when you are poor engaged college students you take what you can get. :) YAY! So we are pretty excited about that.

So the great thing is that we now have furniture that we can put into our apartment...the problem is that it is July 9th and we can't move anything into our apartment until August 4th. So the trick is finding a place to store it. I have a feeling my parent's house is going to really get filled up...I am sure they will love that...especially since they just dejunked and cleaned the basement....hehehe.

DOWN TO A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well...in case you couldn't tell from the title it is down to exactly one month until the wedding day!!! Tonight me and Richard are going over to my house to finish up addressing announcements so that they can be sent off! YAY! Things are coming together well but life just gets more and more insanely busy with everyday! I don't think that it will ever end! Nothing too exciting is going on, just working on lots of little wedding details but it is all coming together very well and I love it!

YAY FOR AUGUST 7TH!!!!!

Under 50!!!

I don't really have anything to say except that I wanted to let you all know that it is now offically...LESS THAN 50 DAYS UNTIL AUGUST 7TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

52 Days and Counting! :)

So we are now down to 52 days, it is very very exciting. We are getting lots of things done, everytime we get something accomplished I get more excited and realize just how close it is getting! We are quite a bit under 2 months now. YAY!!! Yesterday was Father's Day and it was fantastic! We went to my house and had lunch with my family and then we addressed wedding announcements for what seemed like an eternity and we are only about halfway (if we are lucky). So that is kinda stinky but exciting at the same time because I am SOOOOOOOOOO exicted to start sending them to people. I like the announcement a lot and I am excited for the day to come! Have a fantastic day! Love you all!

58 Days...

So much for my daily posts...obviously life is far too busy for that! Haha...shocker...NOT! Life is going good. This week is my last week of Spring Term classes...YAY! Finals are next week...yuck! But yay I am almost done! And then I don't have to go back to school until September 2nd! YAY! I am soooooo excited for the whole come home from work and leaving work at work. I love school but it is a bummer sometimes to realize that even when i am done with classes I still have 5+ hours of homework left. But when I am done with work I am really done! YAY! I am pretty excited about this...but I still have to find time to plan a wedding...that is the trick! :) But we have our announcements all done and ready to send...well except for the addressing...which is what we will start doing this weekend...woo hoo...not fun, but I am excited to send them out so it is worth it! YAY!

64 Days...

So I am thinking that once I get to about day 50 I will start a daily entry of the countdown and how each day is making me more excited and keep you all up to date on how the wedding plans are coming along...hahah. So brace yourself!

64 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

66 Days...

So I am now down to 66 days until I marry the love of my life. In 66 days at this time (11:00am) we will be getting sealed for time and all eternity! YAY! I cannot even begin to describe the joy and excitement that thought brings to me! Wedding plans are going very well, it is really fun to see everything starting to come together. Our announcement is all designed and so now we just have to get it printed and address a billion envelopes and then they will be on their way through the mail! I am very excited, I love our announcement! :)
We have picked out a cake, I have my dress, the reception center, photographer and the announcement. So as much as we have done there is still a lot left to do. But it is all just part of the fun and excitement! :) We are both very excited and cannot wait for August 7, 2008 to come. That will definitely be the best day of our lives to this point! I am so excited to see you all and share this special day with you!
But I must say that getting addresses from people is quite difficult and coming up with the list of people to send announcements to is very time consuming, but it is all worth it! YAY!!!! 66 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!

Time for an Update...

So I have now been engaged for just over 3 weeks. YAY!!! Only 11 weeks and 3 days left...hahaha... :) There is still a lot to do but things are coming together well! :) I have found my wedding dress and everything that goes with it to make me feel beautiful on August 7th. :) I have my endowment scheduled, our announcement is almost done, and we have a reception location. So all of that is very very very very exciting! :) If you can't tell by all of the smiley faces that I have been using I am very very very excited! :) :) :) :) :)...
I am about halfway through my Spring Term classes so that is exciting. Even though the classes are double time because they are done in 7 weeks istead of 3 1/2 months I really like it because it doesn't give me time to get bored and lazy. :)
So between planning, working, and school I am very busy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love every minute of it!
Love you all!

I went to New Hampshire and came back ENGAGED....

So this past week I went to New Hampshire with my then boyfriend (hehehe) Richard. We went out to spend a few days with his family, whom I had not met yet. So that was a lot of fun, I got to meet his parents, sister, and grandma. It was really fun, they are all really great! We did lots of fun things: we went up to Maine, down to Boston, hiking, and relaxing (but not much of the last one...we didn't have enough time to relax...).

On Saturday, April 26 we went to what is called the Bedford Village Inn, it is a cute little restaurant/inn. We went to one of the restaurants in there and got a chocolate bag (a delicious dessert with cake, chocolate mousse, and fruit in it). And we just enjoyed each others company and then he took me to a park, which is one of his favorites spots in town (and now mine as well) and we sat and talked on a blanket for a while and then he asked me to marry him. And I of course said yes! It was a great way for him to ask me, it is very us. Nice and laid back. :)

So now that our secret is out it is officially time for us to start planning our wedding! YAY!!!! :) So this summer is going to be very busy for me, on top of planning a wedding I am also taking classes and working, so I will be plenty busy!!! :) But I am VERY excited to be busy!!! :)

Some Pictures...

California!

I took off on Saturday with my mom, brothers, and Richard (boyfriend) to hang out in Cali for a few days before finals start. It was mom and the boys spring break so being the responsible people that we are Richard and I up and left with them right before finals! hahaha!
As irresponsible as it may have been I have no regrets, and it was nice to have a break before finals and unfry my brain for a few days. On Sunday we went and hung out with family that was lots of fun as always...never a dull moment with our family! Haha
On Monday we went to Knott's Berry Farm from about 10-4, that was also lots of fun and then we got to eat a delicious dinner at El Torito. Yummy!
On Tuesday mom, grandma, Justin and Jordan went to Disneyland while me and Richard played games and went to the beach. After a few beautiful and warm hours on the beach and in the cold water we went home and got clean to go to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Then we went and walked on the pier at Seal Beach and got Cold Stone...I LOVE ICE CREAM! If I could live off of it and not die in a year I definitely would!
Wednesday we went and got donuts in the morning then we had In and Out and Volcanoe Burger for lunch. Then we played games and hung out until heading up to the LA Sports Center for the taping of American Gladiators, that was fun.
Thursday morning the fun and games were over, back to Utah. Now it is Friday and I have two finals down and two more to go...and then on Wednesday it's time for another vacation...this time to New Hampshire! YAY!

Update

Well, I figured that since I have sent out invites to view my blog I should probably post something that may be of at least some interest to all of you...
Since I haven't talked to a lot of you (at least not as much as I should) I will try to give you a detailed but brief update on my life in the past few months (I operate by BYU semesters).
I am majoring in Political Science at Brigham Young University in Utah and I love it! Life is great in college, busy but great! I am at a great place in my life right now. I am also working on a minor in International Development (that is my true passion, but they don't have the major, so I went to the next best thing). This is my fourth semester here, but as far as credits go I am a junior, so that is fun. But a lot of those credits don't do much for me as far as graduation goes so I have about 1 1/2 or 2 years left despite the number of credits that I have.
My apartment complex and my ward are fantastic! I love them both, I have so much fun and I am really glad that I decided to live where I do and with who I do. :)
It is the last full week of classes. And finals start next Friday and then I am done for about a week. But I am going spring term so I don't have much of a break. But spring term is only 6 weeks so come the middle of June I will start my actual break! :) But I am really excited about my classes for spring term so it'll be good. And it isn't long enough to get tired of my classes, and besides I love my major so I enjoy my classes.
I am dating a great guy and we have a lot of fun together. We have been dating since October so we are going on 6 months...an eternity...I know. Haha. JK. Things are great and we always have a blast together, he is a really great and fun guy.

The Beginning

So because of my need to blog on the class blog for my terrorism class at BYU I have decided to enter the wonderful world of blogging for myself, this way people will actually know what is going on in my life from me and not from everybody else! :) So this is the intro and the next blog will be something of actual interest!