Little Love Notes

I love you more than a dirty Dr. Pepper

You have the cutest lips/buns

No one can impersonate grumpy cat better than you

I love you because you wash the dishes when I gag at them

You had me at our first date :)

I left these little notes around the house for Ryan to find during this past week and it made me so happy to hear his hearty laugh upon discovering them. Definitely worth the few minutes it took to print them, write little somethins' on, and tape up. Cardstore has free printable love notes just for you to print & use! They don't have to be relegated just to the week of Valentines, use them anytime through the year to show your loved one some...well, love :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Why We Work

We work because we are patient with one other when we need to be. Especially with his latin sassiness and my over-dramatizations. {Speaking of which, he texted me this pic earlier today saying this kitty reminded him of me...}

We work because we've been through crazy ups and downs in our first 2.5 years of marriage together that most couples don't go through in 5 years.

We work because he does the dishes cause I gag every time I smell them, and I walk down the super creepy and small stairs to switch over laundry cause his arms are too buff to fit.

We work because when Ryan is tuned in juuusstttt right, he says exactly what I need to hear and it gives my heart warm fuzzes.

We work because we love to have fun and absolutely love including our friends and family in on that. Which usually means that I'm creative direction for the parties we throw while Ryan gets to help pull the vision all together with his handyman know-how.

We work because he understands my need for: hot bubble baths, new shoes, fashion magazines, talking with my family a couple times a week, and Audrey Hepburn movies.

While I understand his need for: his football obsession, educational podcasts, crazy colored no-show socks, and growing ridiculous mustaches {example below.}

We work because I look forward to seeing his half-asleep smile in the morning and he likes to wrap me up in his warm bear hugs when I get home from school.

We work because we are a great team, and I sure am looking forward to all our years of adventures together {i.e. our couples to-do list which includes going to a Super Bowl and traveling to Italy} :)

Midway Ice Castles

Back in December I snagged a Groupon for the Midway Ice Castles knowing that it would be a perfect budget friendly date! Especially since it's hard to get myself to go out on dates during the wintertime...cause all I want to do is cozy up in blankets, eat pizza, and watch Netflix. We finally went this last Friday and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Even driving up to Midway was beautiful, I snapped this picture and just enjoyed looking at all the snow capped trees. Sometimes I forget how pretty Utah really is, so it's nice to have these reminders every once in a while!

Ryan was being a rebel and punching some of the icicles...that dork. It was cool to see these manmade ice castles and walk through all the different mazes and crevices they had to offer. At nighttime they have LED lights inside the castles light up to make it even more magical, how cool is that??

We even saw Queen Elsa and Princess Anna from Frozen come to take some pictures, and it just made me wish I was a Disney princess! Although, I do think that I have the whole Sleeping Beauty thing down ;) This is something that I would definitely want to do next winter, it's a good excuse to get out of the house and make the best of the freezing temps here :)

Christmas Day 2013

We have this tradition eeeevery year, to take a picture on the stairs before opening up our stockings & gifts under the Christmas tree. So there you have it! Christmas Eve was filled with family festivities at my Grandparents, then we drove home from Anaheim and enjoyed some hot chocolate around the bonfire with my favorite people (minus Evan). Then Christmas day was so low-key, fun, and relaxing. We had a blast opening presents, talking to our missionary, and then eating a delish turkey dinner!

My dad thought it would be funny to get me and my mom some plastic sharks to warn the men in our lives of that time of the month...obviously the boys thought it was hilarious. Me and mom on the other hand?! A little less amused...

Ryan got an orange in his stocking because he had mentioned that is what he got growing up, so Santa threw it in there for good measure ;) Andddd I also unwrapped another shark, this time and ornament *face palm*!

Another family tradition is picking up some new Christmas pjs, and because my parent's house is decked out in Grinch-inspired Christmas decor Jesse and I decided to match :) This Christmas break has been one of the most relaxing by far for Ryan and I, and we can't wait to tackle what this next year has in store for us. Graduating BYU, finding a career/direction, and planning more family trips! 

The Mission Inn

There is this hotel in Downtown Riverside called the Mission Inn, who decks out their interior and exterior with amazing lights and Christmas decorations every year. Plus, in the walkways around Mission Inn there are booths selling mini donuts, hot chocolate, and other delicious treats to snack on while admiring the lights. Yummmm. The last time I had been was in high school, so I was stoked about taking Ryan to check out all the gorgeous lights with some of my good friends on a group date!

When walking around we saw this Cinderella-like horse carriages taking visitors around the Mission Inn streets to look at the lights, and being the girls we are...we all really wanted to hitch a ride. My best friend Sam's stud of a boyfriend David took it upon himself to run to the Carriage Booth and claim the next ride for us. We were bummed to discover that they had closed up for the night, until this women randomly drove up with her horse & carriage saying "I'll take ya for 40 bucks." We couldn't hand her the cash fast enough!!

After scarfing down our mini glazed donuts, taking the princess carriage ride, and admiring all the gorgeous lights we slowly walked and caught up on each other's lives while making our way back to the car. Sam {the girl in the the second couple picture} and Taylor {the guy in the last pic} have been my friends since middle school, so it was pretty surreal to see them getting to know & hanging out with my husband. I sat there imagining what our lives would be like in another 5 or 10 years, and where would we all be? Though, seeing my Provo and Corona lives collide to create such memorable nights like this make me extremely grateful for the friends & family in my life :)

The Day After Christmas

I don't think it's a secret here that I absolutely LOVE Disneyland. I'm just happy that I grew up only 30 minutes away so I could visit the happiest place on earth whenever! We had the grand idea of hitting up Disneyland the day after Christmas, thinking that instead of being at the park people would be sleeping in and hanging with their families. When driving in to the parking lot we noticed "huh, there aren't many cars...so it probably isn't busy." Then we walked to the trams and also noticed the lack of people waiting, SCORE. We are so smart. 

Then we walked into Adventureland and the place was completely PACKED. There were Disneyland workers herding people along on the walking paths with their orange light up sticks. Our first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which usually only takes about 15 minutes in line...our line had 5 switchbacks and we waited for an hour. It was crazy!!

After Pirates we hit up Haunted Mansion, Teacups, Storybook, then ended our night with Star Tours. When we hit the Teacups ride we barely fit into the dang cup, our knees were all stuffed together around the spinning wheel. The boys had our cup spinning at a ridiculous speed, getting off the ride I was soooo dizzy! Afterwards, when walking over to the Storybook ride we were shoulder to shoulder in a crowd that was moving at a snails pace. In all my years of going to Disneyland, I had NEVER seen it this crowded! Plus it didn't help that I was still getting over my dizziness from Teacups, I felt like I was on crack and drowning in a crowd of foreigners who didn't know English and didn't know how to read the Disney map. NOoooOOooooooo!

After an hour long wait for Star Tours, some churros, and becoming sufficiently nauseous while being rebel spys...we ended the night with snagging some pictures in front of the Christmas tree on Main Street. Even though it was an insanely busy day, we had a total blast racing from ride to ride and snacking on Disneyland classic treats as a family :)

A Christmas Throwback

I realized that I never posted my pictures from Christmas last year, and still want to share them with all of you. Thus, a Christmas throwback! I was working retail during the holidays and was not able to leave Utah, so my family came up from So-Cal to spend Christmas with Ryan & I in our 'lil yellow brick house.

I went all out with a real tree, stockings for everyone, and lots of Christmas decorations to help them feel like they were at home. I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, it's so festive & fun! Our Christmas decor theme is a "winter candyland", so we have lots of candy ornaments on the tree and even a little light-up candy house. Plus I looove penguins, so they are all over our house! 

If you haven't noticed, Evan is a total ham when it comes to Christmas photos! After opening up presents, we made a turkey dinner topped off with Evan's homemade apple pie {yumm}. Then we hit up the theaters for our Christmas movie tradition, and finished off the night by a warm fire. I was so grateful that my family came up to be with Ryan & I for the holidays, it was fun hosting them for Christmas. This year we will be going down their way for the Christmas break, and I can't wait! :)