On a wonderful day like today,

I defy any cloud to appear in the sky,

Dare any raindrop to plop in my eye

On a wonderful day like today.

On a wonderful morning like this

When the sun is as big as a yellow balloon;

Even the sparrows are singing in tune

On a wonderful morning like this.

May I take this occasion to say

That the whole human race should go down on its knees,

Show that we're grateful for mornings like these

For the world's in a wonderful way

On a wonderful day like today.

-- Anthony Newley - 1965

I am posting this at exactly 12:01 AM because as of one minute ago, Monday officially began. If you were to ask me about the last seven days, I'd probably say I'd rather not talk about it. My lip wax last Tuesday? Rather not talk about that either. And whether any of my major/minor end-of-January-crises are warranted or not, I'll take defying raindrops (or snowdrops) and 12:01 AM. 

our first thanksgiving.

November can really be summed up in three syllables: last weekend. The rest of the month was great, but it can't beat four days of Christmas movies, leftovers, and apple pie (and Max all to myself!) We spent the weekend up in Salt Lake, staying overnight in our favorite hotel and seeing the lights on Temple Square. Minus the crowds, it's always so pretty.

Not pictured:
Earlier this year I thought I had found the deal of the century on a $2.50 baby turkey. If you know me, you know I capital LOVE/love turkey. I called my mom about this and she said there was no such thing. I insisted that there was, that it was currently sitting in my freezer, and when I showed her a picture, all I had to do was read the fine print: I had purchased a baby hen. I still have no comment.

To make matters worse, I called my mom just last week telling her of the good news again! I had really found a baby turkey this time! Since Max and I were spending Thanksgiving day with his family, we decided to have a mini-Thanksgiving dinner of our own the night before, and this baby turkey would be perfect.

Unfortunately, when I told my mom the good news, she reminded me (again) that there is no such thing as a baby turkey -- never has been, never will be. I told her she was wrong, I even checked it twice. It was indeed a baby turkey, perfect for two! So I went ahead with the preparations, thawed it the night before, got home from work ready to put it in the oven and... I had purchased processed turkey meat. I had no idea there was even such a thing. Little cubes of white and dark meat and I nearly fell over in my kitchen. It looked bad, real bad. My first thought was to cancel Thanksgiving, but I did what I always do and I called my mother. She told me I should never be allowed to go grocery shopping, and reminded me that I could always buy a fresh turkey (no thawing!) and still have it ready that night! So I ran to the store at four in the afternoon, picked up a real honest-to-goodness-turkey, and four hours later... we feasted.

And then I burned the pumpkin pie.


Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was what I would call memorable. Alls well that ends well, I say.

disneyland!

Unfortunately, I took maybe four pictures while we were in Disneyland for the remainder of the weekend; too many fun things to do, and I made zero time to capture all of our memories (regretted)... So what I do have to say, is that out of all the many trips out there with family and friends before, my trip with Max had to be my all-time favorite. He hadn't been since he was a little, so it was like going with a seven-year old version of Max. 14 hour marathon days park hopping (even though we were both exhausted by the end of the trip!) was the best.

And just for future reference: Mickey's Halloween party was like, the best Halloween party ever. They give you handfuls (handfuls!) of candy (and only the good kind!) at all 390,483 candy stations throughout the park. Plus all the rides have zero lines because everyone else is excited about the trick-or-treating. After stopping at only two of the stations, Max and I ran around the park like crazy getting on as many rides as possible (completing 21 rides in four hours!) eating two bags worth of candy! I had to stop at one point and just jump up and down. Not a joke. I was just so excited! This felt like every kids dream come true! And even though we had had enough of a sugar high to last us a month, we made sure to stop for some pineapple dole whips - theyrethebest.

Thesis statement: Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.
Add candy, costumes and no lines? Happiest-est place ever.

PS. Radiator Springs is totally worth the wait.

first unofficial day of fall 2012.

"The First Unofficial Day of Fall" is a tradition three years running, so I thought why not continue the celebration? It's kind of like Thanksgiving, because there's no specific date, really, it just always happens to fall on the second Saturday in September.

So we celebrate it.

As tradition would have it, we usually kick off the day by listening to Christmas music, eating french toast, making trips to the library for old black and white scary movies, and snacking on a batch of homemade caramel popcorn... so the un-holiday was celebrated again! Nat King Cole sang about chestnuts roasting on an open fire, we ate (and ate) all-you-can-eat french toast at Kneaders, (first time, by the way, and it was amazing) And we ended the night up the canyon taking pictures of barely red and golden leaves, with our black and white scary movie of choice: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.

May any made-up tradition that includes all or any of the above, always continue.

wedding - details

The dress,
The marriage book :)
The morning of,
The temple,
The boquet,
The dinner,

The detail shots are some of my favorite, because truth be told, I hardly paid any attention to them at all. Months and months of planning, and you'd think I would better appreciate all the hard work that went into that day! But I have to be honest and say that I didn't, and really, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Thank goodness we have these pictures at least, because everything from the Vera Wang gown to the peony boquet turned out lovely.

wedding - friends

I really liked what Brittany quoted on her blog the other day, because it fits so perfectly well with the way I feel: You can never make new old friends.

I've talked about them before, and I'll talk about them again. Most of these people knew me and Max before we even dated. Most of these people heard about our first date (six years ago) the day after it happened, or were there to witness it themselves. They were the ones taking me to Wendys the night Max left on his mission, so I would eat a frosty instead of cry. They were there the day he got home, when I was so nervous I really almost threw up.

Words will never be enough for how grateful I am for this group of friends, because in so many ways, I am so much of me because of them. Their influence and example, their jokes, and their quirks, their secrets and their stories. Letting me feel and be a part of an amazing group of people.

Walking out of the temple and seeing the familiar and happy faces of so many extraordinary friends, made everything about our wedding day even better.

the best day.

I have wanted to write this post since the day I got home from our honeymoon, but I feel like time is the one thing that changes the most when you get married, because it goes by so much faster.

When we got our wedding pictures back, I was just over the moon (thanks a million to Sara and Robin and their dad too!) Looking at them make me so happy. That day was truly the best day of my life -- and you'll hear that from anyone who gets married, (and everyone may have different reasons,) and although there are a thousand of reasons why, and a million tiny moments I would wish to live over, the best part would have to be the time we had in the temple.

Up until the day of the wedding, everything went by so fast it was almost hard for me to really grasp the fact that I was actually getting married. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but it wasn't until the moment we pulled up and I saw the Salt Lake City temple across the street, and knew for the first time I'd be getting to go in, and I'd be going in to get married... well, it all finally sank in. Right then and there.

Words will never be enough for the way I felt. The sacred and special and profound realization at the enormity of the decision I was making (or had already made,) companioned with a tremendous amount of assurance, faith, peace and most especially a love for Max and for eternal promises and for families that I had never felt so profoundly before -- it made me cry and smile and feel so, so happy, that happy doesn't even begin to describe it. I kept telling Max that life is worth living for that one day alone; it is tremendously, incredibly, unbelievably special.

I was reminded of all those feelings last week, and probably not for the reason you'd think. Max and I got in our first big disagreement. (disagreement always sounds better than fight, doesn't it?) Big enough that we both needed an hour of the silent treatment. When we finally got around to making up, I was not only upset with myself for the way I had acted, but for wasting two hours of our weekend on this pointless fight. So I cried. I apologized two or three times, and so did he. But Max, who is usually the better half, just smiled and told me that those two hours weren't going to be the end of the world (or our weekend, for that matter). We have a very long time to love each other.

And that's what reminded me.

Knowing that relationships last forever, and that the promises I made that day in the temple were blended with the world eternal; knowing that I get to work on my own relationship with Max forever, that I get to have him forever, and that our time together will be forever... well, I felt so happy, it reminded me of the feeling I felt the day I got married. And happy doesn't even begin describe it.

--

(I'll post more pictures this week! I have a million + one thousand more that I love.)

our time capsule.

Three years ago I talked about a time capsule we buried. I referred to it as a treasure box, something that held my most favorite memories. And just a few weeks ago, we finally opened it – the five year marker had come.

Opening that box, sitting on the high school bleachers, with the two best friends I had buried it with years ago, was nostalgic and bittersweet in a thousand ways. I could list the hundreds of memories it brought back, mostly all the things it made us miss, but that would take too much time. It was enough, though, to make me feel 17 again.

We had buried our first cell phones, old wallets, corsages and our 2007 graduation glasses and tassels. I had forgotten about the high school mixtapes, msn conversations (don’t judge us for printing those), matching Hollister boxer shorts (you can judge us for that. I would too.) and passed notes. But what I found most special, out of all the memories I had wanted to place in that box, was a letter I had written to myself five years ago.

Truth be told, I was actually amazed at how insightful this letter was, considering I was just graduating high school at the time I wrote it. I had written a list of what I had expected out of myself, what I hoped I'd do in those five years, what I hoped would be different and the same. Although I won’t write all of it down, I will treasure that letter almost as much as the treasure box itself.

As we finished going through our pile of memories, laughing and even gasping at some of the final things we found, I guess what I really felt the most was this sense of time that has passed. I felt it. Those five years have come and gone. Five years spent in so many ways. So much has changed, so much has remained the same – mostly though, so much has happened; so many “clever twists” as Kylie would say, and that has brought both heartache and joy. Endings and beginnings. (I’d like to add, all for the best, too.)

Opening our time capsule five years after it was buried was memorable in every way that it could be. We laid in the grass for a little while afterward, talking about our treasures and as I looked up at the stars, all I wanted to do was pause time. I sometimes forget how fast it flies by, but things like a time capsule certainly remind you.

Soon enough we plan on meeting again to bury another treasure chest. As I’ve been looking around for what I’d like to put in the time capsule this time, I have felt overwhelmingly grateful to be in my skin. To be me. That wasn’t something I’d expect to feel, but I’m sure glad I do.

--
photos:
//the time capsule buried in 07 
//our first cell phones
//homecoming corsage 
//kylie's love (clever twist: then and now)
//mr. clause is actually max! 
//sara's first boyfriend.. and our forever favorite friend mr. lewis.
//sweet sara, who looks like elton john. 
//the letter.