honeymoon

The whole thing was an absolute dream! First of all, we got to leave right after our luncheon because we had the reception the night before which was great! 

We made our way up to Salt Lake to the Anniversary Inn. It was starting to get dark and this place is up this creepy hill in a super austere building and we were kind of freaked out to be honest. Everything turned out fine, but there were not good vibes walking into that place! I was reading the little info book when we got in our room and turns out the building used to be the Salt Lake Prison a long long time ago. That explains all the creepiness. 

But it was the funnest thing! All the rooms are themed and we were in the lighthouse room! Our bed was in there!! We would definitely go back! We want to try out the jungle or enchanted forest room.

The next morning we left for DISNEYLAND!!! I haven't been since I was 6 so I was beyond thrilled. California was glorious. I felt all bundled up coming from Utah and immediately started shedding layers as soon as we got off the plane.

Everyone treats you really nice when they find out you just got married ha! Our car got upgraded and we were feeling great about life. Our hotel was right on the PCH at Huntington Beach and I was in love. I am just in heaven any time I'm by the water. More importantly the ocean. We checked into our room and then took a walk on the beach down to Ruby's diner for dinner. We had heard great things about it and we loved it!

I highly recommend getting the max pass the next time you're in Disney. You get all your fast passes on your phone and you get to keep any pictures that a Disney photographer takes! It's the bomb! 

Also, Disney during the holidays is a must. It was absolutely beautiful! The decorations are amazing and it just completely adds to the magic! I definitely wasn't complaining about Disney music AND Christmas music playing throughout the park!

We watched the lighting of It's a Small World, tried the grey stuff (it was delicious) and saw the Frozen musical!

 Aside from being in the happiest place on earth, we got a very important phone call. BRYAN GOT A JOB!! We played phone tag with quite a few S&I people but finally got the news that he will be teaching at Maple Mountain High School and we are thrilled! Bryan felt like his whole world had been turned upside down in just two days with getting married and getting hired. Now the future isn't a mystery! The director's favorite ride was space mountain and he asked us to have a moment of silence for him and do a dab so we made sure we got it on camera and sent it to him haha!

Car's Land was so dang creative!! I was so impressed with it! And after I got over the sheriff popping out at me on the Radiator Springs ride, I absolutely loved it!

I felt so blessed to be there with this cute guy! He is literally a Disney expert. I just followed him around everywhere and trusted his every move. He knew the times for everything, was a walking map, and knows the ins and outs like I've never seen before! It was such a party!

We also kind of loved staying at the beach and driving in every day. It gave us a chance to channel our inner La La Land as we drove on those LA freeways and then jam to the Beach Boys on our way back to the coast. I think I could've stayed there forever!

book review: the paper bag christmas

This was such a cute story! It was perfect to have a nice, easy read for such a busy month!

Our discussion focused on the character development of these children and really how they grew and the lessons they learned.

This story takes place in the children’s ward of a hospital and I think that so many valuable lesson can be learned from Jose who are sick. They have such a different perspective on life and although they are struggling, they always seem to have a positive attitude.

Through this book you learn the true meaning of Christmas and also of the good that can be done at this time of year. The rest of our discussion focused on service. We always say that we want to be more involved in service and yes, there are things you can do weekly or monthly that are planned out, organized acts of service. But just as meaningful are those acts of service that are simple, kind, and unplanned.

So I think that it’s more about being mindful of service and just searching for opportunities in our every day life and accept the opportunities that are presented before us.

I highly recommend this book for all!

pre-wedding shenanigans

early fall

I am sooo behind that I realized I never posted these fun pictures. We had a little family FHE and went to the pumpkin patch! There is never a dull moment with these boys!

I am so obsessed with fall! Except this year I really wasn't ready to let summer go! But I could look at these golden leaves all day!

We also went for a drive through the canyon to look at all the pretty leaves! I caught my photographer through the rear view mirror in action. He was such a good sport as I made him take pics while I drove haha!

We love going to new food places too! We went for Chom's anniversary and it was so good! We also noticed something about their branding and asked the guy there about it and confirmed that he did the design for Shake Shack as well! The sweet potato/regular fry mix was great! 

november

 We take any excuse to have a jeru crew reunion. This time it was for Nicole's homecoming! You could tell that she was an absolutely amazing missionary but we're so glad to have her back!

I also had a Bridal Shower! I'm so grateful for such a sweet friend like Greta who made it perfect even though so many people had already gone home for Thanksgiving! It was such a fun little group. Any wedding activity just seemed so surreal!

We got the UP group together for Savior of the World. We were have a grand ol' time reminiscing when we were all in it in junior high and all the lines and memories we could still remember. It was such a fun way to start off the Christmas season!

december

B and I took a road trip down to St. George for a softball tournament he played in. It was super fun to be in a little bit warmer weather and to watch a lot of ball games! They didn't make it to the finals but they played 6 games or so and we had a blast. St. George definitely has good vibes. We also got some much needed quality time in!

We made a cousin trip to the Jazz game! I was so impressed with the new Vivint Smarthome Arena. They did an amazing job re-doing it this summer!  Oh, how I missed it! It was a tough game but I will always love my Jazz!

 I went to the Nutcracker for my first time ever with Bryan's mom and sister. I was totally enthralled with the whole thing! My mom always says they should have put me in ballet because it's always been something I love watching even if I haven't had a ton of exposure to it. This was such a delight to see all the music come together with the dancing and such a fun story. I really feel like I got to do so many fun things to celebrate the season this year!

We got to go to the cutest little Polar Express Christmas train where the first half is totally dedicated to all things Christmas and then the second half is all about the Savior. I thought it was so well done. It's a whole neighborhood of people who put it together and they do a stellar job!