101 & some things...

there are exactly 101 days until mike and i[ke] get married. some days that feels like waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many (most days) and then there are others where i can't believe it's soo soon. i need to find a dress, still. blah-- i mostly want to be a million times skinnier for my wedding which is why i'm putting off finding my dress. i should just go find a winner.

photo by alexa warren. soooo much talent in this girl!



a huuuuge thanks goes out to my amazing, talented sister, shelly. she is my wedding planner and i would be lost, confused, and crying in a corner without her. she is honestly, hands down, the best sister in this universe. she's got a beautiful smile and the best answers to everything--even if i don't ask. she lives her answers. i love you, shelly.

another win for michael in the settlers of catan department. we went to kemp's on sunday and played four people on a small board--out of control. and 5's were being rolled left and right. i think he cheated, yeah, we'll go with that : ) i'm sure kemp and whitney would completely agree.

paul and geri are on a cruise with my gma and gpa. i hope they bring me a mexican treasure. like a bracelett, or tanning lotion--a girl can only dream.

black friday was a success for best buy murray this year. and it was a long day-- we were opened for 23 hours. yucky. we hit some great goals though : ) *brushing shoulders off*

CHRISTMAS!:

christmas is in the air and i am soooo happy about it! i love seeing a christmas tree everyday and seeing lights as i drive in the evenings. the merry tunes play at best buy. life just doesn't get better than this. 


*hogle zoo*

surprise

we got to share in the festivities of brenda (momma jones)'s surprise 50th. i'd say it was a huge success!

surprise birthdays are some of the happiest magic, in my opinion. i have had many a surprise on my birthdays and it really is wonderful. mostly, i'm thinking of all the years my mom worked so hard to surprise me on my birthday. but i also had fabulous roommates and friends surprise me throughout my years. my 17th birthday is standing out pretty prominent in my mind right now. and my 19th. 

and i think surprises are great for relationships. surprise notes are better than burried treasure. surprise cupcakes are a dream come true. surprise flowers are like your favorite flavor of hot chocolate on a snowy day. michael is money with surprises.

mike and i[ke] got our engagement pictures taken on friday by alexa!!! it was so so so so good to see her. i miss her tons and i'm sad that it was a fast visit with a very specific event because we didn't get to meander through streets and streets of conversation. she looks soo pretty (like always!) and i forget how much i love her laugh. mike commented on it a least a dozen times. i'm super excited to see how pretty she can make me. no pressure lex, but maybe a little : )

the holidays are here! can we believe it? i actually can't. it's too quick. it just sneeked right up. i think mike just got home from work and i'm going to kiss attack him. sorry for the quick ending. loves

obsessed.

soo there is this picture of mike jones. i'm obsessed with it. it's prob the hot facial hair.

but seriously, i'm obsessed. it's currently the wallpaper on my phone

: )

i'm finally on my own at good ol' texas roadhouse. i am really loving it so far. but i tend to be staying up a little later and sleeping in a bit more, which i love--no complaints from me! a few nights ago i was up super, super late on facebook and pinterest (don't worry, i stalked ALL of you) and just surfing around getting some more wedding ideas. i could not stop thinking about mike jones. soo i wrote a little note for him.

to the man who won my heart,

as i read people's posts about falling in love and out of love strewn about the interwebs, i think of you. i think of us. our flaws and our strenghts. when i read about a couple going through a big fight i think of us and how much hurt comes with fights. how much sadness and pain. i get scared. i think of how unvirtous this world is, how corrupt. i get more scared. but then, i remember. you.

the posts about treating your woman like a queen and good communication--that's you. the sunshine and disneyland. the pink cupcakes and family vacations. good books and clean laundry. home cooked meals and a first kiss. letters and framed pictures. cheesecake and diamond rings. you are the good things in life.

your smile seriously kills me. every time. watching you hold a baby. seeing your dimple sneak out of your beard. hearing you talk to my dad. reading your love notes. singing in the car with me. the way you hear me. and the way you look at me.

we have a lot coming our way, baby. good and bad. it's kinda scary. but we can do it all with god.

with all the love i have and more,

your cake


*first roadtrip together, stg easter*

fresh strawberry.

this week has gone so well! on wednesday, i was job offered at texas roadhouse! i am so excited to start serving. it's the one by the mall just off the freeway--come visit!! and kylee got promoted at work. she text me that afternoon telling me that her boss gave her a gift certificate for the cheesecake factory. yum. i was so excited to go to dinner with ky. we love to get dressed up and eat. we are good at both.


we decided to go on friday night since mike had a million softball games, or three. either way. kylee and i met at 7pm and waited an hour to be seated, talked our faces off becasue we are good at it--mind you, we both have communication degrees. gosh, i love that place and love being at the front door because that's where i first saw/met mike jones. reverse to new year's eve:


kylee and i got all dressed up that friday night with expectations to look hot and eat good food (sound familiar?). we got to the restaurant earlier than the boys so we put our name on the list and stood by the door chatting like crazy because we hadn't seen each other for a while since she had been home since finals. i see ian walk in the first door, pulling open the second glass door. following him was a man. long red hair, which i didn't especially love, but i did love his frame. muscular and solid. he walks in and immediately him and kylee are talking. he didn't even look at me. i must not have looked as hot as i thought haha. he spoke confidently and matter of factly. i was intrigued by their converstaion. then he saw ian put his arm around kylee so he looks around for his date and spots me. then we talk a little, but i have to admit, i was a little shy meeting this tall, handsome stranger. something about his adorable nose and crooked smile : )


fastforward back to september 2011: we are finally seated and we order the chicken quesadilla appetizer. holy smokes it was delicious. then we get our entrees. talk some more and laugh. it was a perfect night. then time for cheesecake. i had zero room for my fresh strawberry slice. kylee conviced me to order though. hers was brought first and then mine was brought over, "...and who ordered the diamond cheesecake?" my brain was soooooo confused. mike? i glance over and see my man serving my cheesecake. i look back at him--freshly cut hair and a shaved face. he was soooooo handsome! but wait.. he said diamond? diamond. diamond? and why is he here?? whaaaaat?

i look at him, back to the plate just brought to me, back to him. back to the plate. there is a RING on my slice of cheesecake! i look at him again, "do you have something to say?" haha count on me to ruin a precious moment!!

he kneels down, right there. tenderly picks up my hand and recalls our first meeting at this very place, then tells me how he loves me and many things he loves about me. he loves a lot of things about me. who knew? the list was like ten minutes long. good work mike ; ) and then he asks if i will marry him. yes!!!!! and we kiss. everyone claps and cheers. it was  p e r f e c t .

*grown ups*

pinterest

pinning interests. brilliant idea!

breezy, my sister, calls me a few days ago to tell me about cute wedding ideas she is finding on pinterest.com. i was super curious and requested to join. ADDICTED.


you have boards that you pin photography, ideas, sayings, recipes, people, whatev and people can "follow" each other. it also has the information where you found it. it's almost like free advertising for people w/o them knownig about it. i love the sayings on there. i dedicated a whole board to mike. it's cute! check it out guys:


http://pinterest.com/scherb11/pins/

*meeting your gma and cousins at OG**

powell

first trip to lake powell!! wahooo!!


ryan and shelly have a houseboat down there which is super cool, and it was the first time i'd ever been on a houseboat. it's said house then boat, not boat house--sometimes i said it wrong...  anyways, the weekend after labor day is supposedly the best time to go since the lake isn't very crowded and the weather is super awesome since it isn't so hot, but still great weather.


it rained.


hahah but it was still so fun! the oldies (allison, shane, emily, jason, me and dawes) got to sleep up on top under the stars and under the bats--eeeek! there's a wicked slide off the back, and two bathrooms. it was wayyy cool.! we spent our days wake boarding, skiing, and tubing. fun!!!!


but the sad part was, mike wasn't there. and the cell service was horrible. occassionally, in the evenings, i'd get service up on top before i fell asleep, nothing great though. it was hard. ten days away from my man. yuck.


tuesday rolls around and dawes had to head back to slc for work. i definitely hitched a ride back with him. i know it sounds dumb or lame or whatever, but i was going crazy and was soo sad and was missing mike way way way too much. the skin around my eyes was all dried out from crying. judge me.


i had this awesome plan to surprise him at work. i text him and told him my cousin, dani, was going to swing by before nine and drop off some make up she wanted to exchange. he didn't suspect a thing. i was doing such a good job not to text him or anything on the ride home. and occassionally when i did i just would say all the fun things we had done or food we ate--boring stuff couples text about when they are missing each other. 845 rolls around and i creep into his office. i saw he was on a call so i walk behind him and kiss his cheek. he thought i was dani!! hahaha and he was so confused! and then he was just staring at me and had to say a couple times to his customer, "yeah, i'm still here."


that night he left me a cute note about how much he loves me. seriously, did one of his sisters tell him to write love notes all the time? how did he learn this ancient, forgotten skill. he's amazing. and i'm so happy to be home.


*le nonne & pear pasta*

mustache.

today is mike's first day of school. i should get him a cupcake!....but what would i get? cookies 'n cream, red velvet, ice cream sundae, raspberry limeade? he has a tough semester ahead, but he is going to do great. he's smart and a hard worker. and maybe, just maybe he will let me do some of his homework? haha, believe it or not i'm missing college with the assignments, readings, group projects, and papers. gross, right?

(*this pic was taken last sunday on our way to jace's farewell. i love the stache!)

we had a great weekend-- played some settlers that neither mike nor i won. we might have to squeeze in another game tonight. i'm feeling lucky. we also played some corn toss against dan and roland last night while the kids played in the sand. my mom took some video footage on her iPhone and in one movie natalie skips across the bottom, randomly with a shovel- it's hillarious!!

sidenote: i've been looking for jobs today. so if you know anywhere hiring (from slc to provo), let me know. i really do have too much time on my hands and am looking for an exciting challenge.

natalie and i have had a pretty fun summer together! we go shopping, to the pool, and to the sweet toothfairy. she is just the cutest girl in the whole wide world. if my little girl(s) could turn out like her, i'd be set. her vocabulary recently exploded and she just has the cutest things to say. "what? what? what?", "noo, much!", and "actually baa-ma, my mom says yes." she has to take a breath between almost every word in the sentence, but it doesn't slow her down too much.

*rodizio grill, trolley sq.*