anniversary weekend

I love how even driving 45 min and staying in a hotel can make it seem like you’re on vacation even if you’re not that far from home! We had the perfect weekend celebrating our anniversary.

We started out the weekend by going to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Christmas Concert with Kristen Chenoweth. I have never been to this concert before. Tickets are basically IMPOSSIBLE to get but we lucked out this year and now I don't know how I'm going to cope if we don't get them in the future. It was absolutely AMAZING! Full of all things Christmas and Kristen was very entertaining.

On our wedding night we stayed at the anniversary inn in salt lake and loved it even though it's at the top of this scary hill and used to be a prison (yikes!) and wanted to go back this year to try a different room! This is the venice room and I think I liked it more than the lighthouse room we stayed in last year.

The next morning we slept in, which is always so nice, had breakfast at the hotel, and then made our way to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to buy something from the giving machines! We ended up getting eyeglasses and an eye exam. It was so fun to see all the things you could choose from though and think about all the people you could help!

We also took a quick stroll through the decorated windows at the Grand America and then stopped for lunch on our way home. It was absolutely lovely.

On Sunday, the actual anniversary day, we both had to teach at church so it wasn't anything exciting, but I think we got enough celebrating in. We also tried our cake topper and it was surprisingly good after sitting in the freezer for a year!

one year

People will tell you all sorts of things about what to expect during your first year of marriage. If you're engaged, you probably ignored all of it because you were so in love that you couldn't even fathom that anything would go other than smoothly because of how perfect you are for each other.

Having known Bryan for 6 years before we got married, and being a little bit older than maybe your average Provo couple, I would like to think that I was a little more prepared and able to see things a little more clearly than others.

That being said, our first year of marriage went pretty much exactly how I thought it would go, which was GREAT! Maybe we're setting ourselves up for really hard things to come in the future, but most everything really did go quite smoothly!

It has always just felt right. Yes, there were small adjustments that needed to be made (hello, living with a BOY is weird in and of itself) and there were discussions where we didn't always agree on, but isn't that just a part of being human? Overall, Bryan and I make such a great pair and support each other on everything.

If I picked just one word to describe the past year, it would be HAPPINESS. Seriously, my life is just so much more simple now. I don't have to worry about going out of my way to be social, I can go to bed at a decent hour, I have more time to spend on my job as well as the things I like to do, and I have a built in adventure buddy. I can't remember the last time I felt really upset, worried, stressed, or just down in general which is so refreshing.

Honestly, the year flew by and I'm sure it will continue to be that way. But I am so grateful for this life I have and to get to spend it with Bryan every day!

Happy one year to us!

book review: the mistletoe promise

Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful. 

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks - until the evening of December 24 - he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship.
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she beings to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets. 

If you're in the need for a super easy, Hallmark-type Christmas book, look no further!! Richard Paul Evans comes out with a new Christmas novel every single year and I look forward to spending a few hours reading it over break.

I love books that are set in places that you've been to or can connect with because it automatically makes the book more personable for you. I get so excited about things I recognize in books! This one takes place in Salt Lake and the main character eats a Cafe Rio pork salad for lunch each day. I don't know if I could eat it that much, but I love myself a Cafe Rio pork salad. After reading the book when it first came out, I took a trip up with friends and we went to Asian Star which is another restaurant they go to.

Of course in these Hallmark-type stories, the plot is fairly predictable. Heartbroken girl goes on a quest to find herself, meets extremely attractive and wealthy man that for some reason takes interest in her, they start dating, they have some sort of miscommunication which causes one of them to leave usually from another city or in an airport, and then miraculously they understand the information that they failed to listen to the first time, and they live happily ever after.

Even though we know what's going to happen, for some reason they never get old!!

This one has some deeper content that I hadn't remember before but it totally adds depth to the characters and makes them real people and I love what we get to learn from them about forgiveness and self-love. Also about finding ways to cope, move on, and become a better person.

I highly recommend this book to anyone!

deck the halls

Having your own house to decorate is so much fun!! I realize it's going to take several years to acquire all the necessary items to fully deck the halls, but I think we did pretty well for ourselves this year!

 Being from Washington, I kind of demanded having a real tree! It's one of my favorite parts about Christmas, but I quickly learned that WA trees and UT trees are NOT the same. I don't regret buying one this year from the cutest family farm, but I'm not sure that it's realistic in the future to get a real one while living in Utah.

Don't worry, much to Bryan's chagrin, we had two tree, a real and fake one. His with colored lights, mine with white lights. He says his will be the favorite though because it was the one with all the presents under it. ha!

He has some of the most beautiful ornaments that he got on his mission in Germany, as well as this Christmas village and an advent nativity.