Anniversary Part I

March 28, 2009 was the one year anniversary of our wedding day! Just saying it makes me tear up! Nothing ever felt so right. We were finally getting married after 3 years of waiting.

That morning I woke up around 4:30 am for a shower. There was a basket of breakfast goodies from Sister Vanvleet that helped to sustain me that morning. An old highschool friend helped me with my makeup. Even her boyfriend showed up to take pictures with a smile on his face!

After she was done I only had a few brief moments to myself. I remember looking around the room I had grown up in and trying to keep myself from crying. There were so many memories--good and bad. I wanted to relive the good and fix the wrong. But I realized that the chapter of my life that involved that bedroom and its memories was now closed. It was a poignant thought--the point of no return. Don't misunderstand me, it was for the better and I was sooo happy and excited! It's just an interesting spot to be at: ready to race headlong into the next part of your life while knowing that you have officially ended childhood years. Although my dad will always be my dad, he would no longer be my priesthood leader. My mom wouldn't be there in the same way either. JT would be my everything--although my parents would laugh at this and say he had been my everything for a LONG time now. :) True, but now it would be official!

Well, sufficeth to say, the excitement and happiness outweighed the nostalgia and I raced out of the house to have Kindy Morris do my hair. She was sooo nice and fun! I had a good time talking to her as she perfected my do. By the way, talk about talent! I pulled a hairstyle out of a fashion magazine and she not only copied it--she improved it!

Once I got home I was faced with a HUGE dilemma. My hair was now perfect but I had forgotten to wear a button up shirt! There was NO way I would be pulling a T-shirt over my head. Without thinking twice, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of scissors. I burst into my parents bedroom begging my mom to cut my shirt open! Everyone thought it was really funny. I think that shirt is still lying around somewhere. It's a casualty of my wedding day. I then changed into...something else? I don't remember anymore.

JT came and picked my mom and I up for the drive to the Newport Beach Temple!!! I didn't mind sharing the car ride with my mom at all. I was fully aware that after that day I would get him forever! Plus.....we had a little fun with my mom. She's too sweet. We first serenaded her with our then-favorite song: "Take You There" by Sean Kingston. JT and I switched doing the backup vocals and made no attempt to stay in key. She was begging us to finish by the end. THEN I had an "Anchorman" moment. We drove by the sign off the freeway that read San Diego. Me: "San Diego. Spanish for a whale's vagina." Mom: "Really? Then I wonder what Diego means." JT & Me: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA". Then we explained ourselves. We got a dirty look for that one.

After what seemed like forever, we pulled around the corner and saw the temple on our right! Just then I was struck with a wave of hunger and begged JT to find food for us. So while the Trout caravan turned right into the temple parking lot, JT's car kept going straight on past it! We pulled up outside of a Carl's JR and I ran inside to order food and to beg for it's timely completion. Not being in my wedding dress, they probably thought it was a bit early in the morning to be ready for prom.

Once back to the car we headed to the temple. The temple workers were so surprised to have us arrive on time! We were taken back for a chat with the temple president. He gave us a picture of the Newport Beach temple and a copy of "The Proclamation On the Family". Due to a mix up, there was no sealer available for us!!! The temple president happilly cleared his schedule and was honored to do it himself.

After that we separated and I got to hang out in the Bride's Room with my mom and JT's mom. It was really relaxing and pretty. They helped me get into my BEAUTIFUL wedding dress. The temple workers were shocked when I told them that Bonnie made the dress! It was the perfect dress.

Once ready, JT and I were able to meet up again in the Celestial Room where we sat on a couch and giggled while we waited for the ceremony to start. For this next part you need to visualize this: a couch with JT sitting on the right end and me sitting in the middle. When the temple president came over to talk to us he sat the left side. I had a poofy dress with a bustle in the back. To keep from ruining it I was sitting on my side talking to JT. Having the temple president sit down on my other side meant that I had to stand up, shuffle myself around, and literally PLOP myself down on my side facing him! We burst into giggles again.

THEN...it happened. We got married! Not just married either, but sealed for time and all eternity. Close friends and family surrounded us. It was everything I ever wanted. Everything was so beautiful, peaceful, and......right. We made it to the temple together. It took us our entire lives to prepare for it--but there is nothing better we could have chosen. The best part was knowing that we were worthy to be there, that our Heavenly Father wanted us to be there, and that it was the right time to be there.

Things That Go Boom

After a day of APX training (for the men) and exams (for myself), the Trout brothers and I went shooting!!!! I got to shoot guns! Finally. I was good at it too.

We took off through Lehi and kept driving....and driving.....and driving....you get the point.

We finally got there and scoped out the right location. The menfolk used a paper booklet as a target. There was a lot of shredded paper after that. First, there was a pistol.

Then we pulled out Stephen's awesome assualt rifle! The kick on it is almost nonexistant.

Last, but not least, the shotgun! That was crazy big and powerful! The shells (?) were HUGE! JT put in smaller ones for me. It was pretty hardcore.

I have photos of JT with the shotgun, but I'm having trouble posting them. It'll come later then.

Diversity is the Spice of Life

We like to have friends over for dinner on a pretty regular basis. Usually though, I stick with things I know how to do well like chicken caeser salad pizza or orange chicken. When we had our neighbors over (with the cutest little baby boy!) JT specifically requested that I cook something...different. I looked through my Rachel Ray cookbooks and found this really yummy looking pork chop recipe. I was excited because it included seasoned garlic brocolli spears! I figured I was at last going to find a way to feed JT vegetables! Well, I was mistaken. JT informed me that he didn't like them even though I did. Back to the drawing board!

The apple cinammon sauce overtop was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bringing Home the Bacon

Many of you may wonder how JT has adjusted to life outside the military. You probably think of him confined to a normal 9-5 job and wonder how he does it. The answer: he finds outlets for his...creative...energy. JT spends his down time at work playing pranks on his coworkers.

The first prank was saran wrapping an entire office out of love. The second was sticky-noting an entire station. The third was moving the entire contents of a station. The fourth was stapling all the dixie cups together and filling them with water in a drawer. The fifth was filling a drawer with 30 stuffed horses. The sixth was saran wrapping "bricks" of cash. The seventh was hiding a 2-way radio in his boss' office and talked to him while watching him search for it. He thinks that's it....

Here's a few pictures to prove it:

She should've known better...

JT moved Snickers' bed into the office when he locked her up last night.

Snickers wanted to find a comfy place to lie in the living room.

Now devoid of a personal bed, she sought comfort elsewhere.

Anyone recognize whose bed she's lying on?

It wasn't long before someone else noticed where she was.

ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny thing is, this is the second time Snickers has chosen to do this.

BYU Married Ball

We attended a dance last month, but I never got around to blogging about it. After a brief mental breakdown on my part (nothing I used to wear fits anymore) we arrived at the dance. We weren't expecting anything amazing. After all, it was a free dance for married people. We were pleasantly surprised! They had a live band, sandwiches, and a fair amount of people there! We had a lot of fun. I think we annoyed a few other couples with HOW much fun we were having. I've never seen JT just let go like that before. He was really dancing and having a great time! I was soooo happy. I had hoped he would be able to relax and have a good time. There were a few couples who had obviously taken ballroom dancing classes. We made fun of them and tried to copy them. It wasn't that they weren't good...they were really talented! The problem was that they were doing these beautiful motions with looks of absolute boredome and concentration on their faces! I thought someone was testing them or something! JT spun me around the dance floor--literally. I got dizzy. At the end of the dance I presented him with a rose. He got upset because I stole his thunder. Oh well. We had a really good time! We highly recommend crazy dance festivities to everyone!

Family Home Evening

Last night JT and I invited Stephen and Lacie over for family home evening! It was soooo much fun! They came over around 9 pm and I was playing with Mija in the yard while JT was putting brownies in the oven. I was trying to tire the dog out before she had a chance to go crazy with the excitement of meeting new people. It didn't work. But Stephen and Lacie were really really good at helping her to stay calm! I was really impressed.

We set up our table in the living room and pulled out the best game ever known to man: "The Celestial Companion Game"--deluxe edition. Yes, I'm serious. It's basically a glorified and churchified version of the newlywed game. There were some really funny questions. For example: "would you characterize your relationship as (a) there is sunshine in my soul (b) o how lovely was the morning (c) does the road seem long? (d) master the tempest is raging". Funny stuff! We played 2 games. The first game won the right to have the losing couple buy 99 cent chicken sandwiches from Wendy's and the second game won the right to have the losing couple buy 99 cent french fries. Lacie and Stephen won both games! I guess JT and I don't know each other as well as we thought. ;) After finishing off the smoothies JT made for everyone, we headed out to buy them their winnings. I was surprised by how good those sandwiches are!

We came back to watch the finale of "The Bachelor", only to find that our DVR recorded "After the Final Rose", and not the finale. JT and I didn't care, but Stephen and Lacie raced home to watch the finale! We watched the final rose episode and knew what had happened before Stephen and Lacie had driven away.

So that was our way fun night of funness. I'm glad they could come over! We REALLY enjoyed playing games with them. Maybe we'll have to do a joint family home evening once a month.....