Shawn’s birthday was over a month ago but I never posted about it. So on Friday October 21^st, his actual birthday, I surprised him with the very nice leather jacket he wanted from Buckle. I’m glad he loved it! I took a picture of him in his jacket and he said,” I look like freakin’ Justin Bieber!” So when ever he’s being a punk I call him Justin…he just loves that haha ;)  For dinner we went out to Olive Garden and then we went to see Real Steel (way good movie btw!). It was a super fun night and we just spend it together. Then all day Saturday while he studied I made him the most amazing cake ever! That night his family and mine got together and we had hamburgers and cake…so good. 

Speaking of yummy foods, Shawn and I finally used the fondue pot we got from our wedding!! We made a delish chocolate fondue recipe and dipped fruit, brownies, cookies, pretzels, marshmallows, and PopTarts in it. And of course…Shawn spilled on himself haha. Our next adventure with the fondue pot is tortellini dipped in creamy alfredo sauce, yum! We had our first fondue party with our friends Eric & Eliza, and Aaron & Callie. It seemed to be a big hit!

This year for Thanksgiving we went up to Logan with Shawn’s family and boy was it cold! There was even snow on the ground. We left Wednesday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. We watched movies, played games, waxed eyebrows (just the girls), had delicious food, and loaded up furniture that his sister Marie gave us. She gave us a coffee table, night stand, entertainment center, lamps, and a couch. I’m so excited to finally have furniture. This year was my first experience with Black Friday Shopping and holy cow it was crazy! I can’t believe how into it some people get and how serious they are. Shawn’s dad, Lenny went to KOHL’s a little before midnight to pick up a memory foam mattress pad for us and the line was clear past the store and around the corner of the K-Mart next door…people had been waiting in line for 4+ hours. I just thought to myself, do people really not have anything better to do for 4 hours on Thanksgiving night? 

Shawn, all three of his sisters, his mom, and I went to Old Navy at midnight and got the stuff we wanted while his mom Mary Ann got in line. Then we got over to Shopko and the checkout lines were already crazy! We were in line from 1:15 am to 3:00 am! I never thought I’d want anything bad enough to wait in line that long but we did anyways haha. Then we went home and slept for about 4 hours and Shawn and I went to a few more store at 8 and came home and slept some more. It was weird waking up 3 times on the same day ha. We got lots of good stuff though and most of our Christmas shopping is done. One of the most exciting parts about our trip to Logan was meeting our little nephew Asher who was only about 2 weeks old. He is so so so little (there’s a pic below). I loved seeing Shawn hold him and cuddle up to him :)

KAYLYN & GARETT ARE HAVING A BABY! I’m super duper excited!! My feeling is that it’s a boy, but we’ll see. They have really cute names picked out for either gender. It’s great that they will be closer now…they are moving to Provo in a week! Shawn and I are flying up there this weekend and driving down with them next week. We are going to Thai Bamboo, Forever 21, and maybe snowboarding while we’re up there….should be a fun getaway before our big move and school starting.

Speaking of fun getaways, Shawn and I got completely spoiled by my aunt and uncle in Vegas this weekend! We drove down Friday after work and met my aunt & uncle and my parents at Society inside The Encore for dinner. Super fancy, super good food! Then we knew they had their show and Shawn and I were just going to go window shop/walk around while they were there and meet up with them afterwards. But my Aunt Patti says, “We already bought you guys tickets so your butts are going to the show.” J We were like “ok!” We went to Le Reve and it was spectacular! The word amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it!! It was a French watershow with dancers, harnesses, and amazing music. Shawn and I were in the second row and the other four were a row behind us. We were all incredibly impressed! Then we went back to the hotel…they got us our own room with a king size bed, yay! Shawn and I watched The Killers and then went to bed. In the morning we all met downstairs for breakfast at the hotel café and again, the food was fantastic! My favorite part was the little ketchup and Tabasco bottles (see below)…they were so stinkin’ cute! After breakfast we all went to two convention centers where they had rows and rows of booths selling cowboy stuff (modern cowboy stuff too). At about 2 it was time for Shawn and I to head back because we had stuff to do. We stopped by Panda Express on the way out of town and hit the road! 

When we got back into town we had to hustle and get dressed in our formal attire and go to two Christmas parties, one for work and one for our ward. Unfortunately, they started at the same time so we went to our ward one first and had amazing Fillet Min Yan (or however the heck you spell that!) and chatted for a bit before we headed to the work one. There we got our picture taken, visited with people for awhile, got some prizes and then headed home. What a fun weekend!

Oh my heck!! So Shawn opened up the cabinet under our kitchen sink and guess what was waiting right there for him?! A very much alive and scary scorpion :( eew! Shawn grabbed a spoon and scooped it out then smacked it with a shoe til it was dead. This was the after math. Oh man it was nasty the way its poison leaked out of it. It was all I could do not to toss my cookies! So for the next two nights we stayed at Shawn's parents' house. I'm running out time and gotta go so I'll finish up real quick. Shawn and I are flying to Spokane in December! Wahoo! We are flying one way on Saturday the 17th and driving all the way back down to St George (16 hour drive) on Wednesday the 21st. We get to go to Thai Bamboo (best Thai food ever!) and snowboarding. I've never been boarding before so it will definitely be entertaining for everyone else haha. Kaylyn and Garett are moving to Provo so we volunteered to fly up and drive back down with them so they don't have to each drive a car alone. I can't wait for a little get away before school starts and our big move...before things get crazy! More later.

Sorry this post is going to be a bit long because it’s the first one and I have to catch up a little! You all know how the fairytales go….boy meets girl, asks girl out, date for a few days, get married, and ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after. Well, our fairytale has definitely got a little spin on it. I moved To St George the day after Thanksgiving in November of 2009 which happens to be the exact same day that Shawn flew home from his mission. We didn’t meet until August of 2010 when we were playing soccer with a mutual friend. I thought he was really cute and asked my friend about him. For the next 4 months I invited him to do things with me and my friends but he always had some lame excuse or reason why he “couldn’t” haha. Little did I know that he was avoiding me. Well I got sick of that real quick and on December 18th I asked him on our first date. We tripled with my sister Kaylyn & Ruben and my friend Karlie & Drew. We ate dinner at Chili’s and then went bowling. I thought the date was fun, but I totally thought he was not interested in me at all. I discovered two things that night….I suck at bowling and that Shawn really was interested in me! About a week later, after a few walks and long discussions we began “officially dating”. Everyone says they knew by February that we’d get married, but it took Shawn and I bit longer than that to put it together. On July 4th of this year he sent me on a scavenger hunt around town to places we had been on our dates. At each location there was a purple balloon tied to a bag of marbles and an envelope. Inside of each envelope there was a clue leading me to the next place until finally I ended up out at the new airport where we had danced for the first time before it opened up. When I got there he was standing by his car waiting for me in the parking lot. He had the first song we danced to playing and asked if I would dance with him. Of course I said yes and we danced to the one song and then he put another one on and I began to wonder what was going on. He stopped about half way through that second song and pulled a little black box out of his pocket. I cried (I’m a baby I know!) but I cried, tears of joy for sure. He asked me if I would marry him and I said “No”. Jokes, jokes…I said “Of course I’ll marry you!” Oh and even more than a pretty diamond, I wanted the amazing man that gave it to me.
 
September 10th, 2011 was the best day of my life. I got to wake up and say, “I’m getting married today!” I got to do nothing and have people tell me “no” when I tried to. I got to spend time with lots of family who came to support me. I got to spend more than an hour getting ready. But most important, I got to be sealed to my best friend for eternity. Like I said, what a great day! Shawn’s grandpa Cooper sealed us and we were so excited that a large number of our family and friends could be present. After the sealing we had a super awesome luncheon. Ooh the food was so good! Staheli Catering provided the food. We had Italian roasted chicken, their famous mashed garlic red potatoes, steamed vegetables, rolls, and salad. Oh yeah, and yummy cheesecake! Between the luncheon and the reception Shawn and I moved some of our stuff and some gifts over to our apartment, took a nap at my parents’ house, and didn’t have to do anything…nice and relaxing. The reception was B-E-A-utiful! Our moms, sisters, and all the help did such a good job. The guest started showing up at about 7:00 pm and from then until 9:30 Shawn and I didn’t sit, go to the bathroom, or really eat. We had so many people to greet and talk with, we were busy. But we didn’t complain because it was so great to have everyone’s love and support :) After the reception Shawn and I walked out to find our car had been vandalized by a bunch of hooligans…aka our bros and sis. We drove to Mesquite that night and then the rest of the way to California the next day. It was way fun!


The honeymoon was over and we had to get back to real life. We unpacked, opened gifts, and got settled into our little (I do mean little) apartment. For the first few months we will be living in a studio apartment behind the house of a guy that we know from work. It’s really nice and really cute, but also really small. But it’s perfect for newly weds who only need a place to live for 4 months. We had fun spending giftcards and decorating it. I posted pics below!!!

Our humble abode :)

Isn't it beautiful?!

Look how cute he is!