License to wed

We got it! On Wednesday we went to the County Building and got our marriage license! It was so fun to sign papers and do all these official things. We wrote our new address on the papers so they can mail our license to our official Fortuna residence. It was great! We had an exciting experience while we were there, this cute couple decided to get "married" there so they could get a better deal on insurance and all that good stuff. They're having a ceremony next summer, but to make this marriage of theirs legal they needed two witnesses, and guess who they chose?? Me and Brad of course! We were the only obvious choice :) So they took us back into a little room and the four of us got to know each other, and then the lady who was helping us with our license no more than 5 minutes before all of this happened, comes in dressed in a black robe and has her notebook with the vows and stuff in it, and she acts like she hasn't ever seen us before. She said, "Oh hello, you must be the witnesses." Well obviously we're the witnesses...you brought us back here, duhhhh. She was funny. Anyway they just stood at the front of this little room and held hands and read some vows, said some magic words, signed a few papers, we signed a few papers, they sealed it with a kiss and bam, just like that they were married. Congrats Troy and Julia! I'm glad our signatures are on your marriage license for the rest of your life :)



BUCKET LIST:
The whole being a witness thing I thought was pretty awesome. I mean how often in your life do you get to be a legal witness for someones wedding...someone you don't even know?? I thought it was a good thing to be able to cross off my bucket list. Although that was never actually one of the things on my bucket list, I think it should have been, and now I can cross it off :) Here are some things that are actually on my bucket list, things that I really want to do before I die.
* Do humanitarian work in a foreign country
* Take a hot air balloon ride
* Complete a half iron man...maybe, hopefully.
* Get married in the temple (I get to mark that one off in 11 short days) :)
* Have a family
* Serve a couples mission
* Graduate nursing school
* Visit all 50 states
* Visit all the temples in the U.S
* Visit Ireland and/or Sweden
* Go on a cruise
Hopefully over the next half century I can mark some of these off. A half century feels like a life time away but I hear 50 years goes faster than you think, so I better get working on these. Anyone who wants to take me on a hot air balloon ride, to Ireland and/or Sweden, on a road trip across the U.S. or on a cruise, just let me know, I'd be happy to keep you company :)

Bachelor/Bachelorette Weekend

This weekend was absolutely awesome! We both have amazing friends who threw us bachelor and bachelorette parties! They were so fun! Brad's was on Friday and him and the guys went to Wendover for a boys night out. They left Salt Lake and hopped on the "fun bus" a bus that takes you to Wendover and a buffet dinner is included when you get there...classy right :) but he said it was a blast! They got there around 8 and the party got started. They got some grub and then hit the casino! After a long night of guy talk, taking their chances on the card tables and slot machines and a whole lot of fun, it was time to come home. They got back on the "fun bus" and got home around 4:30 Saturday morning. He said it was really fun and he loved spending time with the boys!
I had my shower on Saturday night and it was so fun! My dear friend Christine threw it for me and it was amazng. I got to her house and she had everything all decorated. The table cloth, plates, napkins and utinsils were purple and orange, my wedding colors. We had delicous food that was so gourmet, and covered strawberries (my favorite!) that were even decorated like wedding dresses. It was so cute! Once people got there we did some introductions and got to know each other while we ate, then it was time for games! We played pin the bouquet on the bride, a questionaire about how well I know Brad and for every question I got wrong I had to stuff a giant piece of bubble gum in my mouth! I started out doing really well, but slowly the questions got harder and I knew less and less. I ended up with about 7 pieces of bubbalicious in my mouth. It was quite the sight to see I'm sure. Then I got to open presents! I got so many wonderful things and appreciated it all! Then the girls had to draw a picture of me in my wedding dress without looking at what they were drawing, its a lot harder than it sounds! I have some really awesome pictures :) It was a great party and I appreciate my wonderful friends and sisters for throwing it for me and for everyone who came!

The girls and the gifts :)

Back row: my sister Melinda, Aimee, Lisa, Jessie
Front row: Crystal, Christine, me and Jessica


Say Cheeeese :)

Thanks Christine for an awesome and fun party! Thanks girls for coming! Loveeee youuuu all!

The other day I had my first two test for nursing school. I was so nervous and I was stressing about taking these tests all week. My cute Bradley got up early and surprised me the morning of my test with these beautiful flowers! I got A's on both my tests, so they must have been extra special good luck flowers :)

Round Two

This weekend was full of fun things! It started off on Friday when Bradley took me on a double date with our friends David and Jessica. David is one of Brad's mission companions and Jessica is his sweet wife. I met them 10 months ago when we did a double date with them last November. They were engaged and it was our very first date. The boys decided they wanted to do a replay of our first date, since that's where our history began. Now they're married and we're engaged, and I must say that round two was definitely more comfortable and easy than round one :) I'm sure glad I'm done with awkward first dates.

He took me here

It's a pizza buffet down in Provo, and it is so good! The first time we went there I think we each ate one tiny slice of pizza (first date jitters I guess) but we definitely got our 7 dollars worth this time. :)

Then we went here

This place is so funny! Its an improv show and some of the people who work there are hilarious! This is definitely better than a movie for a first date...or any date.You can get involved with the comedians if you want to and its really funny to see your date laughing uncontrollably! :)

Then we had a BRIDAL SHOWER!
It was our first shower so far and it was excellent! We got so many sweet gifts! Cleaning supplies, cookie cutters, a pizza stone, a really nice skillet, placemats, salt and pepper shakers, a popcorn maker, markers, scissors, a pumpkin pie dish in the shape of a pumpkin :) and tons of other things! I can't wait to put it all in our new house!

After that I went and took my BRIDALS!
It was so much fun to get all dressed up, get my nails and toes done, get my hair done, put my dress on and smile for 4 hours! I took them up at the Capitol and Memory Grove. There was a wedding going on at Memory Grove, so I didn't get as many pictures there as I would have liked, but it was still so fun! The weather was perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better day.
I met Bradley at the Temple after my bridals and we took some pictures there. I'm a planner and I'm worried about having bad weather on our wedding day, and I would be so devastated if we didn't have all the pictures that I've been looking forward to having since I was a little girl. This was the first time he has ever seen my dress. I definitely got the response from him that I was hoping for! He looked so handsome in his tux...of course :)

Always Remember, Never Forget

Thank you to all the brave men and women in America who fight for our freedom everyday! I am truly grateful.

Family Weekend in Bear Lake

We had such an amazing weekend! We got to go to Bear Lake and spend time with not just one of our families, but both! My family goes up there every Labor day to spend the weekend with my grandparents, and it was perfect timing and Brad's whole family was up there for their family reunion. We spent the weekend boating, playing cards, playing a really fun family trivia game, eating delicious food, hot tubbing and more! It was so nice to get away from everything and just relax with the people we love most. We even had a special treat, my brother Brad who lives in Illinois got to spend a few hours up at the cabin. It was so nice to see him, we missed Mel, Chloe and EZ and also Catharine and Kirk, but we can't wait to have everyone together in just a few short weeks. All in all it was a fabulous weekend and we're sad it's over.

Uncle Brad and baby Michael. He's getting so big :)

doing what we do best...napping :)

OUR APARTMENT!!
We stopped by our apartment to see how the remodeling is coming along. They are just starting to rip things apart. I'm getting so excited and can't wait to move our stuff in and make it our home!

Our new address

The front room. We are really excited about the fireplace!

The dining room

The kitchen

The bathroom. As much as we love the pink sink, we will be happy to see it go :)

Bradley is really awesome and painted all of our furniture while I was at work! He did such a great job, it all looks amazing! We have a kitchen table with chairs and a coffee table! I'm so excited, only 27 more days!