It's the most wonderful time of the year! ☃

Merry Christmas!!!

We have a tradition in my family that we get PJs on Christmas Eve from my parents and then we drive around and look at Christmas lights on everyone's houses. It was refreshing to remember that Christmas was actually happening this year. I've been so busy trying to get everything ready for the 29th that I almost forgot my favorite holiday! I'm feeling especially grateful this year. I just had the opportunity on Wednesday to go through the temple and receive my endowment. It was the most spiritual experience of my life. I encourage everyone to get their lives in order and attend the temple. The Temple truly is the house of the Lord. I can't wait to go back and learn more! This Christmas I have been thinking more about the true meaning of Christmas and the reason for the season. I am so grateful to my Savior Jesus Christ and all he has done for me and my family. I am also very grateful that I found a worthy young man who could take me to the temple. Wednesday was a dream come true for me :) I have never felt closer to Marty. I love that man... so much it's a little ridiculous. 

We went to the Draper Temple.  I attended the open house last year and it was amazing how different it felt to be inside after it was dedicated. The Spirit was so strong that it was penetrating.  I hope I always live worthy to be able to attend the temple. I am so excited to go to the Logan Temple this Wednesday and be sealed to the love of my life forever. :) 

My parents gave us a beautiful framed picture of the Logan Temple to hang in our future home. The Logan temple will always have special meaning because that's where both mine and Marty's parents were married and Logan is where Marty and I met. ♥

My uncle Jim loves to play santa every year :) he's so cute... It was fun to have him and my "gramma" Carol around for Christmas this year. 

I gotta say, my siblings did an awesome job with presents this year. Thanks Missy for the adorable wallet! and thank you Bryce for the way cool watch! I love you both :)

Missy gave Bryce a basketball hoop... It's good to know that no matter how old our family gets we will always be young at heart and love our toys. 

but the best part of today...

I surprised Marty at work :)
My sister and I drove to Bountiful to surprise Marty and save Christmas ;)
No one should have to be alone and working on Christmas... especially Marty...

Mission accomplished. Best Christmas EVER!

4 days till our wedding!!! oh I can't wait! 

Merry Christmas! This really is the most wonderful  time of the year. 

The Bachelorette

I have great friends...

The kind of friends who make me laugh...

Friends who know the real me...

Who make me feel like no time has gone by...

Who are there when I need them the most...

Who would do ANYTHING for me...

They know how to help me relieve stress...

They throw a heck of a party...

They love life...

And life loves them...

 They are all Beautiful...

And I LOVE them ♥

Thank you for the best bachelorette party a girl could ever ask for :)

I love you chicas!

Get married so we can hang out!!!





* only sparking cider was involved in this night-no alcohol :)

wedding madness

We are finally in our last Two weeks before the wedding...

I couldn't be more excited! I also couldn't be more overwhelmed... I've been planning and gathering things for months and now it's almost show time! AHHHHH! I hope I can get my growing TODO list done before then... 

It's a good feeling to have finals out of the way and to be home instead of isolated Logan. 

I'm going to miss Logan and Utah State... I really am. 

But I am so excited to finally get my life with Marty going :) We've been not-so-patiently-waiting for a while now...

Well Tonight I got the opportunity to attend one of my good old friend's wedding reception. Amelia Urses-Ence. She looked BEAUTIFUL of course, as did there reception center which was a lit green house. It felt like a tropical jungle inside. I was surprised by the contrast when I stepped out the door and Jack Frost bit my nose. I am so happy for her and her new husband Justin :) 

-but I have to say, I am also a little jealous... I would do anything to be done! and finally be married to the man of my dreams.. we're almost there... deep breath :) 

Also I have to congratulate Marty's good friend and groomsman Reagan Baker. He proposed to his cute girlfriend Jordan last night :) Hang on to her... she's a good one. 

And I have to now give credit to some magic playdough... stay with me, I'll explain. 

team marty & wendy

team brian & jill

team reagan & jordan

Last February there was a triple date that occurred.  Marty and I had been dating for a few months. Reagan and Jordan had been on a few dates. Brian (Marty's brother) and Jill (my room mate) were set up by Marty and I on a blind date. Marty and I were engaged in July. Brian and Jill in October. Reagan and Jordan last night. yep. 3 for 3. Pretty awesome night. :) The legend of the playdough is real folks. The couple that builds random playdough sculptures together, stays together. Believe it. 

Both of the other two couples will be married in March of this year. Hence- a whole lot of wedding madness around here. 

Finals and Love...

Life is a constant final exam.

When we fall in love and get married, it’s like having a group test.

Still hard,

But now you get to combine your knowledge and experiences.

Sometimes neither one has the answers.

So you skip that question and you’ll come back to it later.

Together you spend a long time on some questions while you breeze through others.

You take turns erasing each other’s mistakes,

And alternate whose turn it is to sharpen the pencil.

You get breaks in between the sections on the test.

This is when you both get to go to recess,

And kiss on the swing set,

Or eat your sack lunches in the cafeteria…

Bucket List

    When Marty and I had only been dating a few weeks we came up with a "dating bucket list"

              I now know that was just his sneaky plan to keep me around... ;) nice work babe.

We came up with a list things that could be potential dates.

*The Items highlighted in yellow are the ones we achieved :)

        

  1.  Kiss in a steam room 

 2.  Kiss in the rain

    3. Sky diving ( Marty went with out me in Hawaii, but I am still determined to do this at some point)

   4. Volunteer work /service ( we try to look for opportunities where ever we go) -this one can never be checked off.

5.     Hike to a waterfall (emerald falls, Zion 3/18/10)

6.   Build a snowman

7.    Sledding

    8 Hold hands in the mall

   9  Have a lazy day (St George 3/17/10) spring break :)

10 Ride jet skis together-Woo! Bear lake!

11. Trip to IKEA- inspired by 500 days of summer

12. Bear Lake together -several times now :)

13. Lake Powell (house boat)- summer 2011! 

14. Lagoon  - FRIGHTMARES

15. Raging Waters

16. Cowabunga bay

17. Ice skating

18. Temple square

19. In n out  (St George 3/19/10) -he didnt like it though :(

20.  Kiss at midnight on new years eve (12/31/09-10)

21.  Drive in movie

22.  See the penguins at the aquarium may 12, 2010! 

23. Snow shoeing -Jordan pines (1/12/10)

24. Candle light dinner on an over pass

25. Side walk chalk (wendy)

26. Day of summer in winter (1/23/10) -we both loved this one so much it may have to be an annual event 

27. 7 peaks

28.  Hike antelope island (marty)

29. Dinner cruise on great salt lake

30. Kiss under water

31. Bear lake winter trip

32. Roll in snow and jump in hot tub

33.  Bikes

34.  Picnic (St George 3/10)

35. Zoo

36. Discovery gateway

37. Fly a kite (5/12/10)

38. Star gazing

39. find shapes in clouds

40. Frisbee

41. Hike angels landing (3/18/10)

42. Bells canyon

43.  Road trip (grey hound St George 3/10)

44. 4 wheeling

45.  Fireworks 

46. Baseball game-the bees

47.  Run through gateway fountains

48.   Walk the dogs buddy & Jeni (3/21/10) - and countless other times

49.  Lay in grass on a blanket- St George (3/17/10)

50. N64 Mario kart

51. Build a fort

52. send mckayla and tayton a package - soon to be my niece and nephew :)

53. go to a play - checked this of last night! Mid Summer night's dream! 

54.  crash wedding ( we have been to a wedding together.. but we were invited) 

55.  build sandcastles

56. Attend a Jazz game

Most of these things were based off the fact that we are both summer people and we were trying to find a way to make it through the long winter moths together. 

We have done many fun things in addition to this list.. what a great year we have had together :D

I can't wait to start making our life bucket list and check off even more adventures to come.... 

Ps... 18 days!!!!!!! ♥♫♥♫♥♫♥♫

The countdown is upon us...

We are down to our final 3 weeks!?!?!?!! When did that happen???

Well I am beyond excited :D I can finally get excited! I've been telling myself not to think about it too much because I wanted to do well in school and I didn't want to spend all my time sad that Marty was far away... but now I can be EXCITED!!!


We both did well in school, the wedding plans are under control... life is good ya'll :)


I watched this movie today called Christmas Wedding I felt like they made it for me and Marty. When the movie began they were 3 weeks away from their wedding... what the? I swear life is full of coincidences...


Well as a tribute to Christmas being 2 1/2 weeks away and our wedding 3 weeks away... here's a little christmas from a time when life was simple... 

Marty on the left and me on the right :)

A tribute to my time as an Aggie...

This is my 5th and final semester at Utah State University. This is the place where I became an adult and learned who I truly am. Going away to college was my first experience living away from home. I have learned how to deal with room mates, wash my clothes with coin-operated machines, make new friends with all kinds of people, I learned to adapt to constant change, and I guess I learned some academic stuff too...  The lessons I have learned here are priceless (although I'm sure my parents think they can put an exact dollar figure on it-Thank you for your support and this opportunity, it was money well spent). Utah State University was my Harvard. It's my dream school, and the only one I applied to. Both my parents were Aggies and the true blue blood runs back for generations before them. In High school I had no idea what I wanted to major in, then on a fateful day in April of my senior year, I went to an A day at Utah State and discovered the Hunstman Scholar program. I was immediately intoxicated with the idea of being a businesswoman. I threw together an application and by some miracle I was accepted in. Even though I was only a part of the program for the first year and a half of my experience at USU I gained a lot from the opportunity. I met Jon M. Hunstman and toured his HQ and made some friends that I still sit by in my business classes. The program wasn't right for me but it definitely put me on the right track for the rest of my education. I now have passion for what started as mear curiosity.

The friends I have made here are some of the best friends anyone could ask for. They kept me going when all I wanted to do hide from the pile of homework that was growling at me from inside my backpack. Many of them have transferred to other schools, graduated, and left for other reasons but I will never forget them. Every semester has been a filled with different people. It's funny how having a different class schedule opens your eyes to a whole new flood of people. Just when I think I'm starting to know a good portion of the students here I meet all new ones! This place is huge, and yet there are friendly faces everywhere you go.

I will always remember Logan and Utah State because this is where I met the love of my life. He doesn't understand my love for Aggieville but this will always be the place where we met and fell in love, so for that reason I believe this place has a special place in his heart as well.
After this semester I will be transferring to Weber State University and become a wildcat... but in my heart & soul I will always be a true Aggie.
Thank you USU and all the many many people who made this place my home for almost 3 years. I love you all.

Freshman year...

Sophomore year...

Junior year...

Thank you USU and all my fellow aggies.. I love you and I will miss you..