The Fray

The Fray - photo slideshow

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Sorry, I finally had a moment to update the blog :).

I had the most amazing birthday weekend I have ever had in my life! My birthday landed on a Sunday this year and Mike and I felt strongly that we wanted to keep the Sabbath Day holy so we used part of Saturday and Monday to celebrate my birthday. Mike spoiled me to death. Just being in his company and having him take the day off for me was enough, but he surprised me with tickets to The Fray on Saturday night. It was the first concert we’ve been to together. I can’t describe how incredible it was. The two opening bands were Richard Swift and Jack Mannequin. We had heard one song of Jack Mannequin’s, Dark Blue, which we loved, but didn’t know that much more about the band. As they continued to play we fell in love over and over again. NEW FAVORITE BAND! The lead singer is incredible to watch live, he is so amazing on the piano. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been too. I seriously fell in love with all of their songs. They have now become songs that remind me of Mike ☺. Our new MONCUR THEME SONG is SWIM---SUCH a good message; it gives me chills listening to it; it makes you want to turn it up loud and sing it OUT LOUD when you are down on your luck! Mike was so sweet, after seeing Jack Mannequin perform live we rushed to the t-stand and bought their new album Glass Passenger, and one of their t-shirts (I am truly a Mannequin groupie now. We want to find out their tour schedule and configure a way to see them perform live again). We seriously could have been satisfied listened to them and going home but we stayed, AND The Fray was just as good. I didn’t realize how many good songs they had and how they were 20x better live. The performances were so powerful! Every time I think back on that night I want to re-live it over and over again; it truly has to be one of the best things Mike and I have ever done together. We love music so much and this ate the cake. Thanks babe!!

Sunday was amazing as well. I am so happy Mike and I have the same righteous desires, goals, and aspirations for our family. We both feel strongly about trying to do the things the Lord asks of us; we have truly felt that as we have lived the gospel more fully, especially when it comes to keeping the Sabbath Day holy, that we have been blessed 10 fold. It is so easy to make excuses being here and rationalize going out and doing something together on Sunday because that is Mike’s only day off, but we feel like it is worth the sacrifice considering the abundant blessings we receive in return.

After going to all of our meetings we came home, took a blanket out on the grass and read this book we’ve been enjoying together about a near death experience. I love being able to ponder and speculate with Mike about deep things. It brings us closer together and keeps us on track spiritually. Nika also had a blast outside, running around free as a bird, climbing up trees-she’s so funny.

I opened my gifts from every one later that night-everyone was so thoughtful and sweet-THANK YOU! Mike and I intended on playing games that night with his family but we lost track of time and it got too late so we ate some yummy dinner and laid around and talked all night. Mikes dad and brother Jeff came over to say hello and chat for a bit, which was really nice.

Monday was the best day! I am so grateful for all Mike does for our family, he works so hard, and yet he also prioritizes our relationship, and he did so today by taking the day off to spend with me. We woke up and went for an early swim together, which was so much fun! Then we decided last minute to spend the day at Carowinds theme park. IT WAS SUCH A BLAST! The weather was perfect! It was overcast-not too hot and definitely not cold. Ever since we first started talking on the phone we’ve wanted to go to a theme park together and this was our chance! We had such a blast on all the rides; seriously Mike makes me laugh so hard, he was crying because he was laughing like a little boy on this ride “Night Hawk,” where you are strapped in backwards and have no clue where you are going or what’s coming up next. It was so flippin funny! We made sure to hit that one twice and all the others once. We didn’t know there was a water park there so after riding all the rides, yes even some of the kiddie ones ☺, we drove home and got our swim suits (thankfully it was only 20 minutes away-I LOVE IT HERE-10 minutes to the city, 15 to the airport, 20 to a theme park-Mike and I want to find some place like this to live-it’s perfect)!

The water park was a blast; we had so much fun going down some of the rides together on tubes, floating lackadaisically (don’t you just love that word ☺) in the lazy river, and swimming in the tidal wave pool. It started to drizzle but it cleared up in no time and the sun came out-it was a perfect day!

After the theme park we came home, got ready, and Mike took me to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant- AZTECA! YUM! We just don’t understand how it can be so good, “where does all that freshness come from?” Mike kept saying over and over- he makes me laugh so hard. Seriously everything there is so yummy! We will definitely miss a few things when we have to return to Utah.

I dreaded the night to end because it was such an incredible weekend. I love Mike so much and I am so happy we found each other; I really feel like I am the luckiest bird in the world! We are perfect together! It was the best birthday ever!

I have to say I love being 29. You know, a lot of people don’t, but I look forward to my 30’s-it is a new decade with so many better things to look forward too! The 20’s are weird-you are trying to find your place in life, figure out what to do with your education, date crazy boys, make silly mistakes (although I will no doubt make those till I’m 80). I just feel wiser, more content with myself then I ever have been, more confident in myself then ever before…aging is beautiful. I’m jumping out of a airplane on my 30th! ☺

Here are some pictures of our weekend (Carowinds below this entry, The Fray concert above). Video clips will be coming soon, I haven't been able to convert them yet. But in the mean time below is a pre-music video of SWIM, and I created a whole new play list with Jacks Mannequin and The Fray songs (which you will want to pause if you want to listen to the music video).

The Carowinds

Carowinds - making a free slideshow

SWIM-Jacks Mannequin

Just a little background. Andy started a punk rock band in CA, Orange County in high school, won battle of the bands, and has made his way since 98 touring the country and making two albums. In 2005, middle of his career, he was diagnosed with leukemia. MTV is making a documentary of his days being diagnosed being in remission.

You can check out a glimpse of it on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJH6s-9zrJg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftheplaylist%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2008%2F01%2Fjacks%2Dmannequin%2Dleukemia%2Dstruggles%2Dfilm%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded

Knowing that kind of makes the song Swim that much more powerful. We LOVE Jacks Mannequin!!

This is just his acoustic version, if you want to listen to it with the band (which is amazing) you can play it on my play list (side bar).

SWIM

The Fray

The Fray - making a free slideshow

It's GREAT!

It's been one full week since Amanda came home and life has never been better! The comfort, the peace, the love, the joy I feel when I'm around Amanda is so wonderful. I love every minute I get to spend with my babes! It's amazing that another person can bring so much happiness and comfort into your life. Marriage is truly an amazing thing and I couldn't have asked for someone better than Amanda!! The relationship we have is so true and so special. I cherish our relationship and love how it continues to grow and develop. Amanda is so good to me, she always makes sure that I have something to eat before I go to work and then when I come home she always has dinner waiting. She spoils me!! She gives me a big hug every day when I get home. It's such a blessing to be able to come home to loving arms. We have had so many fun and silly moments just since she's been home. We've stayed up late talking about numerous things...and fallen asleep in each others arms. We've played around like 5 year olds and laughed our heads off. Our ability to laugh at things has made life that much more enjoyable. It's so easy to take life too serious and get stressed out about small things....and we do it all the time but what brings us out of those moments is laughter and a good sense of humor!! I love my life with Amanda. She is such a wonderful wife and I cherish her and appreciate all she does for me and for herself as an individual. I LOVE YOU BABES!

I'M HOME!!

I'M HOME! YEAH! It was so amazing to see Mike for the first time after three weeks. I peeked down ahead of the escalator and saw his shoes, I knew it was my babe, and excitement and anticipation filled me. That is one bonus of being away-being reunited feels like the first time we met! I love love love my life with Mike! I missed him and Nika so much! It was so good to see my family; I love them incredibly! But I was ready to come home and be with my new family ).

It is getting so hot and muggy here :( YUCK! Plans for the rest of the summer-devote everyday, for the amount of hours Mike is working-6 days a week, 8 hours a day, to my studies. I know, sounds like a fun summer huh? I only have two months to complete my courses online or I won't graduate next April. I took a month off and it was much needed; now I have to get BUSY, play time is over. Graduating next year is top priority right now so everything else will have to be sacrificed, unfortunately; thus is the life of being a student. THANKFULLY Mike is working all the time so I can use that free time to study, study, study!!!

Mike and I are so excited for the upcoming events next year. I know, I know, live in the moment right??? BUT HOW CAN I NOT BE EXCITED! Next April I will accomplish a life long dream-graduating from BYU! YEAH. Mike and I will also be sealed in the temple the same week as graduation-so hopefully you guys can all plan to be there for both events :). We are planning a trip in the summer to Grants Pass-YEAH BOTH OF US HANGING OUT WITH MY CRAZY, FUN, FUN, FUN fam :). We also hope to tour Europe for a month or so and tour the east coast (HOPEFULLY FIND OUR NEW HOME!!!) YEAH!! Thanks babe for being so wonderful, understanding and adventurous. Who knows where we will end up, where we will call home next :). The next five years of our life is going to be adventurous, I can feel it! So much to do, so much to see together!

I LOVE BEING HOME!!

15 HOURS and 30 MINUTES....and counting

We are no longer counting down the days...we are counting down the HOURS!!! It's 5:26 am and I'm wide awake!!! I just woke up and felt butterflies in my stomach as I realized TODAY IS THE DAY!! I am SO excited! We are only 15 hours away! I can't explain how excited I am and how much JOY fills my soul just thinking about having you home! I love you with all my heart!

Favorite memory of the day would have to be our FIRST kiss!! YUM!! The whole night was actually really enjoyable. We met at the Olive Garden parking lot in Sugar House and then we drove over to Fat Cats to play some arcades, air hockey, basket ball, etc. The first thing we did was play air hockey. You put up a good fight but I had to beat you. :) I remember I loved that picture of you on LDS Planet where you were playing air hockey. It was one of my favorites! After air hockey we played some arcades, shot some hoops and won a bunch of tickets on Deal or No Deal. We turned our tickets in and got a little chalk board, (you wrote-'Mike is amazing' or something like that on the chalk board) we also got an airplane, chinese finger cuffs, bubbles, some laffy taffy and a few other cheap toys. It was so fun! I still have some of those prizes in the back of my car. After that we drove down to The Melting Pot to have dinner. We had an hour or so to wait so we walked down the street to this little city library and we looked at books together. I remember sitting next to you and I was watching you read and studying how beautiful your face was. I loved the way your face looked as you read and I kept on thinking about kissing you. After a while we went back to The Melting Pot and had dinner. Dinner was AmAzInG!! And I remember afterwards being completely stuffed!! We then went to Gateway and walked around....holding hands and being silly together....I remember feeling so lucky to have such an amazing girl by my side. I was so proud to be walking around in public with you. :) You had a surprise for me.... you took me to the Planitarium for the U2 light show!! I wanted to kiss you so bad during the light show. The only thing I was thinking about was kissing you!! Every time the song would change, I would say to myself, "ok, this is a perfect time to kiss her....just do it" But I couldn't get myself to do it. The show was really cool and I was sad when it was over. I loved sitting next to you holding your hand and anticipating kissing you. The whole show I had butterflies! After that we walked over to the fountain and they had just shut them off....but we didn't know that so we ran through them seeing if they would turn on but they never did. You say I kissed you at that point....but I don't call that our first kiss...although I did give you a little peck on the lips. :) We sat down on the bench and it lightly started to rain...the air was cool and it was a perfect fall night. I had been watching your mouth move all night and had been staring at your lips and I couldn't take it any more. I leaned over and kissed you for the first REAL time and YUM!!! All the butterflies in my stomach went away as I felt our lips touch... it was so amazing. I had wondered what it would feel like to kiss you for so long...ever since I had been in Kansas City. I mean, you do have the most beautiful lips in the world how could I not wonder??? :) Anyway it was awesome....and all I wanted to do after that was kiss you. I dreamed about kissing you....I thought about kissing you...all I wanted to do was kiss, kiss, kiss..... After that we drove back to Olive Garden and we turned up the music really loud and sang along... I think we sang along to Champagne Supernova... It was so fun, and I remember feeling such a connection to you, I felt so comfortable with you. It was an amazing night and I was on cloud NINE! After I dropped you off I was in a daze just day dreaming about kissing you and how amazing it was!!! And for days after that, that was all I could think about. I was addicted to your mouth! Definitely one of my favorite memories!!!!

Last FULL Day-DAY 20!

Can you believe I see you tomorrow!!?? Thank goodness!! I am so excited to see you!! It really has been so fun to see my family, they make me laugh and I love them so much! Hopefully next time though you will be able to join me! :); I am already looking forward to it!

Favorite memory of the day has to be when you drove down one Sunday, while we were dating, and met me in the Provo Towne Center parking lot. I took you for a ride around town in the mustang-top down. Then we went to a little park, BEST Park ever, in Springville. We walked arm in arm down this little marshy path surrounded by bushes and weeds. I remember laughing with you as we talked about the lovely scenery :). I felt dumb taking you there and at the same time I thought it was completely funny. Then we laid a blanket on the grass and dodged frisbees flying by our head as these lame-O guys played their weekly, competitive frisbee toss game. I also remember some kids lost their dog and I tried helping them find him :). You kept shooing bugs away from your face, taking cover under the blanket; it was so funny! I thought you were such a prissy boy :). Then as the night went on we laughed our heads off as we spoke Southern to each other-first time- and now it's like our little tradition :). That moment I knew you had such a great sense of humor and that I was completely addicted to you! That night I remember we went both went home and texted each other throughout the night all these stupid southern things about John Deer tractors, nappy gnats in your hair, etc. I was laughing all night that night.

You are the best! You know that??? I completely adore and love you a million!