Ryan and I have a lot of fun together when it's just the two of us.
Ryan is very good at accents. He has his awesome British accent, his German mad scientist accent, his five-year old Ryan accent, a whole range of Harry Potter accents, his mattress-store salesman accent, and recently I think we've been exploring some Spanish, New Zealand, and Polish (?) accents lately. We can go on for an hour in our accents - and sometimes we forget to switch out of them and it makes for some fun moments.
Ryan is also a very good cook. He invented a delicious steak marinade yesterday, put together the grill, and made dinner while I did homework. He's also great at vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the shower, and taking out the trash. We joke that someday I'll be a real wife - and in the meantime, he's doing a great job :)
We went to a nickel arcade for a fun date recently. Ryan was astounded to learn that I've never played Mario. He had to inform me that mushrooms make you grow, turtles want to kill you, hurling yourself at a flagpole gets you extra points, and jumping up and down on top of pipes makes you sink into the ground and get bonus points. In turn, I informed him that Mario is a plumber. Why else would he crawl around in pipes?
Sometimes we get to babysit for Rachel and Bruce. We babysat for them a couple of weeks ago - and by we I mean Ryan. I had class during most of it so he was on his own. I came just in time to traumatize Hailey while getting her ready for bed (in my defense, I had no idea that her reason for climbing into McKayla's crib was to get a blanket and not to wake up little sister!) Hopefully I'll understand our own children someday better than I understood Hailey!
We went skiing for Ryan's birthday. It was much more successful than skiing on our honeymoon - Ryan LOVES Alta more than Canyons and I have to say I agree. I like the runs much better, and it's so much easier to relax when there aren't crazy snowboarders whizzing around all over the place. We had this great moment where I accidentally fell - and slid halfway down the run because it was so steep. My feet flipped around so I was sailing down the hill on my stomach, headfirst, skis waving in the air, screaming for Ryan to help me. He tried to get in front and stop me, but that only resulted in me pushing him down the mountain too. Fortunately, the whole incident ended with me laughing hysterically and wishing I had a video of it!
February was full of fun adventures - we're excited for March - St Patrick's day, Jen's folk dance performance, springtime, callings, midterms, and more :)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Be Mine?
Ryan and I started getting excited for Valentine's Day waaaaaay back in January.
Personally, I think the holiday is a little silly. After all, why would you only spend on day out of 365 (or 366, for that matter) celebrating how much you love each other? Not to mention, the holiday is filled (and I mean FILLED) with all things pink. Eeuurrgchk. Pink is great. I plan to have a little girl someday and drown her in cute little pink outfits. But seriously. On February 14th, there's just too much of the color.
Nevertheless, Valentine's Day has its plus sides, and one of those is gingerbread houses. What, you've never heard of a Valentine's Day gingerbread house? Let me educate you:
Ryan building his gingerbread house masterpiece.
I have to brag about this. My house is UPSIDE DOWN. Yes, that's right. No glue involved. For the first time in my short frosting-making career, the royal frosting turned out just right, and everything stuck like magic. I think those houses were more earthquake-safe than our apartment building.
Our finished creations:
Our beautiful homes graced our coffee table until well after the holiday - by which time the candy had mysteriously disappeared off my little cottage.... don't know who might've done that...
Valentine's Day itself was quite an event.
It started with Jen quietly getting up with the intent to heart-attack the kitchen while Ryan was still asleep - only to have him sit bolt upright and insist she turn on the light.
And this is what she found. Turns out great minds think alike:
Apparently he had the same idea - only about three hours earlier.
No worries, I still had time to finish mine:
Later that day, Ryan surprised me with the coolest bouquet I've ever seen - and the tastiest, too:
And we finished it all off with a delicious dinner at Tucano's.
So despite the overabundance of the color pink and the increasingly ridiculous marketing schemes, Valentine's Day has, once again, proven itself a good excuse to have fun and celebrate being together.
Personally, I think the holiday is a little silly. After all, why would you only spend on day out of 365 (or 366, for that matter) celebrating how much you love each other? Not to mention, the holiday is filled (and I mean FILLED) with all things pink. Eeuurrgchk. Pink is great. I plan to have a little girl someday and drown her in cute little pink outfits. But seriously. On February 14th, there's just too much of the color.
Nevertheless, Valentine's Day has its plus sides, and one of those is gingerbread houses. What, you've never heard of a Valentine's Day gingerbread house? Let me educate you:
Ryan building his gingerbread house masterpiece.
I have to brag about this. My house is UPSIDE DOWN. Yes, that's right. No glue involved. For the first time in my short frosting-making career, the royal frosting turned out just right, and everything stuck like magic. I think those houses were more earthquake-safe than our apartment building. Our finished creations:
Our beautiful homes graced our coffee table until well after the holiday - by which time the candy had mysteriously disappeared off my little cottage.... don't know who might've done that...
Valentine's Day itself was quite an event.
It started with Jen quietly getting up with the intent to heart-attack the kitchen while Ryan was still asleep - only to have him sit bolt upright and insist she turn on the light.
And this is what she found. Turns out great minds think alike:
No worries, I still had time to finish mine:
Later that day, Ryan surprised me with the coolest bouquet I've ever seen - and the tastiest, too:
And we finished it all off with a delicious dinner at Tucano's.
So despite the overabundance of the color pink and the increasingly ridiculous marketing schemes, Valentine's Day has, once again, proven itself a good excuse to have fun and celebrate being together.
Kicking off eternity
Ryan and I were lucky enough to be able to have a full week for our honeymoon, thanks to a wonderful person who signed his time share in Park City over to us. The day after our wedding, we headed up to Park City, where we stayed until coming home on Christmas Eve day.
While we were there we:
- went out to dinner at some crazy restaurants
- walked around Old Main Street
- watched some of our favorite movies
- attended a singles ward sacrament meeting (who'd've thought that there's no normal wards after 11:00 in Park City?)
- bought some DayQuil for Jen's cold that she got from being outside for so long on the wedding
- swam in the pool while watching the snow fall outside
- spent a day skiing at Canyon's
- saw the lights at Temple Square
- visited the giraffes and elephants at the zoo
- rode in a horse-drawn carriage in downtown Salt Lake City
Pretty much it was a much-needed break from all the stress of
school and wedding planning - and a great kick-off to our eternity
together :)
While we were there we:
- went out to dinner at some crazy restaurants
- walked around Old Main Street
- watched some of our favorite movies
- attended a singles ward sacrament meeting (who'd've thought that there's no normal wards after 11:00 in Park City?)
- bought some DayQuil for Jen's cold that she got from being outside for so long on the wedding
- swam in the pool while watching the snow fall outside
- spent a day skiing at Canyon's
- saw the lights at Temple Square
- visited the giraffes and elephants at the zoo
- rode in a horse-drawn carriage in downtown Salt Lake City
Thursday, January 19, 2012
December 16, 2011
The day started around 5 a.m. when Jen's alarm went off and, per usual, she hit snooze about seven times. She wasn't really asleep, though. She was too busy realizing that she and Ryan were getting married THAT day. All the waiting was finally over.
Ryan picked Jen up around 7 and they headed down to the Manti Temple. It was super foggy, and you could barely see the road two car lengths ahead. Jen spent the first half of the drive making a playlist for the reception and laughing nervously every few seconds. Ryan spent the second half of the drive taking Steri Strips off his chin so they wouldn't be on during the reception. We both spent ten minutes trying to see the temple in the distance through the fog, only to realize we were looking in the wrong direction.
In the temple, Jen sniffled just a little on Ryan's shoulder as she realized that THIS was the most important aspect of the whole wedding, and wished with all her heart she hadn't spent so much energy worrying about all the other ridiculous details. Being inside the Manti Temple together was true, pure joy. All the family that we love so much were there [minus John - on a mission in New Hampshire] and it was absolutely perfect. After the ceremony, Jen requested a few minutes to sit with Ryan in the celestial room, and it was amazing looking around at everyone who had come to support us and realize that we were, in fact, married to each other for eternity. For forever.
After going back to change, the temple workers hunted down Jen's veil, hunted down her bouquet, and left to hunt down her husband. Then she and her mom got tired of waiting and walked out to find Husband waiting anxiously in the waiting room where he belonged. We emerged from the temple to 20 degree icy cold-ness and spent hours taking pictures (literally!). Disclaimer: Jen really did not realize how long we had been taking pictures. She just wanted to make sure she got good pictures of the special day. And she did, courtesy of Abby Alger Photography:
You can see more at Abby's website.
Two hours late, we arrived at our luncheon, where we ate and our parents told embarrassing stories and we spent a lot of time staring at each other and thinking about how we'd just married each other!
Then we rushed to Jen's house so she could fix her hair before the reception.
Then we rushed to the reception, where Jennifer's mom helped her back into her wedding dress, and she decided to be efficient and put on her garter for later, only it proceeded to fall down the whole rest of the evening, and she had to keep twitching it back up her leg.
Then we took family pictures.
And at 5:45 the people started coming.
The cultural hall was decorated BEAUTIFULLY! There were Christmas trees with white lights surrounding the whole room. We stood under an archway, and there was a picture table by us with some of our beautiful engagement photos, and even a large framed picture from our wedding day.
At 7:45 we finally escaped the grasp of a never-ending line of people who all wished us well and congratulated us. We shared an eclair. We cut some cake and fed it to each other (and the whole time we were discussing how very weird and awkward this cake-cutting thing was!). Jennifer danced with her dad to My Little Girl by Tim McGraw, and he cried and she cried and it couldn't have lasted long enough. Then she danced with Ryan to You and Me by Lifehouse, and when it was over she wished it could start all over again. Ryan even spun her, ballroom style. It was absolutely perfect.
Then Jen tossed a bouquet and aimed left (so McKenzi could catch it)... and it went left. Yeah. That's all we'll say about that. My eternal apologies to whoever had to snatch their hot chocolate out of the way of a speeding bouquet missile... And Ryan pulled off the garter (which had been hanging out around Jen's ankle for several minutes) and Logan caught it mid-air in a hail-mary pass sort of move (okay, I have no idea what a hail mary is, but it sounded cool.)
After Jen changed back out of her dress, and Ryan changed out of his tux, they said their goodbyes and exited the building amid a flaming passage of sparkling sparklers, (batch number two: batch number one burned out after the false alarm...) And they headed off to the Grand America for one night, and then a romantic week in a condo in Park City - courtesy of a very good coworker - complete with a fireplace, kitchen, and flatscreen TV and dvd player. [Honeymoon Heaven!]
It simply couldn't have been more perfect. But then, this is Jen and Ryan, after all - and our story, though not always easy, and not always ideal, is perfect. Perfect because we love each other and will do anything to make one another happy - and that's what marriage is all about.
Ryan picked Jen up around 7 and they headed down to the Manti Temple. It was super foggy, and you could barely see the road two car lengths ahead. Jen spent the first half of the drive making a playlist for the reception and laughing nervously every few seconds. Ryan spent the second half of the drive taking Steri Strips off his chin so they wouldn't be on during the reception. We both spent ten minutes trying to see the temple in the distance through the fog, only to realize we were looking in the wrong direction.
In the temple, Jen sniffled just a little on Ryan's shoulder as she realized that THIS was the most important aspect of the whole wedding, and wished with all her heart she hadn't spent so much energy worrying about all the other ridiculous details. Being inside the Manti Temple together was true, pure joy. All the family that we love so much were there [minus John - on a mission in New Hampshire] and it was absolutely perfect. After the ceremony, Jen requested a few minutes to sit with Ryan in the celestial room, and it was amazing looking around at everyone who had come to support us and realize that we were, in fact, married to each other for eternity. For forever.
After going back to change, the temple workers hunted down Jen's veil, hunted down her bouquet, and left to hunt down her husband. Then she and her mom got tired of waiting and walked out to find Husband waiting anxiously in the waiting room where he belonged. We emerged from the temple to 20 degree icy cold-ness and spent hours taking pictures (literally!). Disclaimer: Jen really did not realize how long we had been taking pictures. She just wanted to make sure she got good pictures of the special day. And she did, courtesy of Abby Alger Photography:
You can see more at Abby's website.
Two hours late, we arrived at our luncheon, where we ate and our parents told embarrassing stories and we spent a lot of time staring at each other and thinking about how we'd just married each other!
Then we rushed to Jen's house so she could fix her hair before the reception.
Then we rushed to the reception, where Jennifer's mom helped her back into her wedding dress, and she decided to be efficient and put on her garter for later, only it proceeded to fall down the whole rest of the evening, and she had to keep twitching it back up her leg.
Then we took family pictures.
And at 5:45 the people started coming.
The cultural hall was decorated BEAUTIFULLY! There were Christmas trees with white lights surrounding the whole room. We stood under an archway, and there was a picture table by us with some of our beautiful engagement photos, and even a large framed picture from our wedding day.
At 7:45 we finally escaped the grasp of a never-ending line of people who all wished us well and congratulated us. We shared an eclair. We cut some cake and fed it to each other (and the whole time we were discussing how very weird and awkward this cake-cutting thing was!). Jennifer danced with her dad to My Little Girl by Tim McGraw, and he cried and she cried and it couldn't have lasted long enough. Then she danced with Ryan to You and Me by Lifehouse, and when it was over she wished it could start all over again. Ryan even spun her, ballroom style. It was absolutely perfect.
Then Jen tossed a bouquet and aimed left (so McKenzi could catch it)... and it went left. Yeah. That's all we'll say about that. My eternal apologies to whoever had to snatch their hot chocolate out of the way of a speeding bouquet missile... And Ryan pulled off the garter (which had been hanging out around Jen's ankle for several minutes) and Logan caught it mid-air in a hail-mary pass sort of move (okay, I have no idea what a hail mary is, but it sounded cool.)
After Jen changed back out of her dress, and Ryan changed out of his tux, they said their goodbyes and exited the building amid a flaming passage of sparkling sparklers, (batch number two: batch number one burned out after the false alarm...) And they headed off to the Grand America for one night, and then a romantic week in a condo in Park City - courtesy of a very good coworker - complete with a fireplace, kitchen, and flatscreen TV and dvd player. [Honeymoon Heaven!]
It simply couldn't have been more perfect. But then, this is Jen and Ryan, after all - and our story, though not always easy, and not always ideal, is perfect. Perfect because we love each other and will do anything to make one another happy - and that's what marriage is all about.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Pre-first day of forever
The last few months of being engaged were pretty crazy. We were busy finishing up with school, getting ready for finals week, and planning all the last-minute things for the wedding that we'd somehow forgotten about until the end. Jennifer's mom had a wonderful friend take over the entire kitchen/reception refreshments operation, and Ryan's parents had the tough and difficult task of taste-testing all the Italian food in Utah valley to find the right meal for the luncheon (poor them!). In any case, we still managed to find time to have fun:
Going to a murder mystery dinner by BYU up at Spring Haven Lodge
Writing letters to Santa Clause, c/o Scott and Lisa
Having fun at a bridal shower with Ryan's family
Freezing to death and eating great food with the Cougar Club at the last BYU football game
Celebrating Thanksgiving with Jen's mom
Playing hockey for the last time of the semester
Practicing for and dancing in Christmas Around the World (Jen is a member of the BYU Folk Dance team)
Attending the Provo Temple with both sets of parents
Hanging out in the emergency room after an eventful night at the ice arena - Ryan fell, scraped his cheek, split open his chin, and got a mild concussion
Jen got her first taste of how the adrenaline kicks in when you're taking care of someone you love. It lasted until the doctor came in and took over with his needles, and then she had to step out and sit down while the nurse brought her some juice because she got so dizzy... Jen does not like blood...
All in all, it was a wonderful engagement! We wrapped up that week by taking a bunch of finals, some of which we studied for, others... not so much... We also spent our last engaged week moving out of old apartments and into our new apartment, finishing up Christmas preparations, getting temple recommend interviews and a marriage license, and getting pretty much no sleep. Friday the 16th came at a perfect time :)
All in all, it was a wonderful engagement! We wrapped up that week by taking a bunch of finals, some of which we studied for, others... not so much... We also spent our last engaged week moving out of old apartments and into our new apartment, finishing up Christmas preparations, getting temple recommend interviews and a marriage license, and getting pretty much no sleep. Friday the 16th came at a perfect time :)
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