2 Dresses

I'm so excited that I can finally blog about this! A few weeks ago I was surprised to get a text from one of my good friends from high school, Michelle Fowler, asking if I would be able to come up to Idaho on February 23. I was a little suspicious at this question being that it was so far out. I told her I would make myself available to come up to Idaho and asked why (even though I was positive I knew the answer). She informed me that she would be getting engaged soon and that's when they were planning on getting married. I was so excited for her! But, what came next melted my heart! She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids because of the impact that I have had on her life. I was (and still am) so touched to know that I have touched someone's life so deeply. I am so excited for her and I'm so happy that she has found someone that treats her so well. I am so proud of her for living such a Christlike life, and being such a great example to me, that she is worthy and found someone else who is worthy to be sealed for time and eternity in the temple. I know it wasn't even a question in her mind of if she would get married in the temple, and it wasn't how, it was when. This is the second wedding that I will be able to be a part of in this way, outside of my family, and I am so excited! She will make a wonderful wife! So, congratulations to Michelle and Logan on getting engaged last night! I am so so happy for you!

Gratitude

I have so much to be grateful for. I have loved feeling the spirit of gratitude from everyone around me. I think I take this month for granted and would feel even more ungrateful if I didn't take an opportunity to share my feelings of gratitude and take a moment to reflect on the many blessings I have. This most definitely is not in order of importance, but nonetheless I am so grateful for each of these.

1. My husband - I am constantly reminded of how wonderful Chandler is and I hope he knows it too. I am so grateful for all he does for me. I couldn't have found a better person to spend the rest of my life and all of eternity with. He knows what makes me happy, and he is quickly learning what upsets me. And, he loves to clean! BONUS!

2. My family - I am so grateful for my family and their constant love and support. They are always there for me and I love living so close to many of them. I have felt especially grateful these past few weeks as we have been able to spend more time with everyone.

3. My in-laws - I have always known what an amazing family I married into, but recently that knowledge has grown. I am so grateful for the way Richard and Jane have lived their lives and the way they have raised their family. I can't wait until they can move closer! Chandler's brothers are so awesome to keep in touch and we enjoy video calling them often, sometimes all at once! It is so fun and I wouldn't trade them for anything!

4. My Savior - It comforts me so much to know that I am a Daughter of God. I know that he is always there for me when I need him. He paid the ultimate price for my salvation and because of that I can live with my family forever.

5. Music - I love music! It is so inspirational. I love (and miss) playing the piano so much! Someday...

6. Hobbies - I love having something to do. I have started sewing more since mom gave me her old sewing machine and I can't get enough of it. If only I didn't have to lug it out every time I wanted to use it, then I might do it more.

7. Health - I also recently got a gym pass and I am actually enjoying going and being active. I love running, but I hate running in the cold and this allows me to stay active during the winter. It has caused me to take a look at my lifestyle and start eating and being more healthy.

8. Education - I am so grateful for my education. People are always appalled when I tell them that I have already graduated and the next thing I say is, "It's just an Associate's Degree." Well, it's not JUST an Associate's Degree. It took a lot of hard work to get there and, although it may not be BYU, I am still proud of my degree from LDSBC and I see it as a major accomplishment. Now we just need to get Chandler through the rest of his schooling.

9. Employment - I have been very fortunate to have the jobs I have had. The job I had in high school basically fell in my lap and it was one of the best jobs I have ever had! In college, I took time off work to focus on school, but as soon as I started looking for a job I was able to find not only one, but two! What a blessing! And not even a month after SwiftPro went out of business I started my job at the Airport. I know that is because of my hard work and education. I have worked hard to gain a good reputation with my employers and I have been so grateful for the recommendations and friendship of all of them.

10. My Sister - There is no replacement for your sister. Even though I now have many sisters-in-law that I love and get along with so well, no one quite understands me the same as Danielle. She is always there for me, she understands me, and she loves me no matter what. I can't wait to spend more time with her during the holidays. I'm so glad she still lives so close and I can see her often.

I still have so much that I'm thankful for, but I'm sure you are all bored by now. But as always, I appreciate reflecting on all that I have been given and blessed with. Love you all!

Too Long

It has been way too long since I have posted on this. I am trying to be better. In recent old news, we went up to Idaho for Spud Day! It was so fun! I think Chandler agrees that this is a tradition to keep. He loved the Spud Tug. Here are just a few fun pictures from the weekend.

Logan thought it was funny to put his candy bag over Chandler's head. Love the big smiles!

Cherice and Kenzi. Like mother, like daughter.

Luke and grandma.

The parade. These guys ride go karts around for Shriner's Hospital. They were pretty fun to watch.

The big Broulim's shopping cart.

And a dancing midget.

Every year they break in a new cement truck to mix the instant potatoes and fill up the potato pit.

They then have a tug-o-war tournament, losers fall in the pit of potatoes. They usually put the missionaries up against the army men just for kicks and giggles. This year the missionaries were actually in the tournament. They got second place!

We had a pretty fun weekend up there. We were even able to see Chandler's brother, Spencer, and meet 3 of his roommates. They were pretty impressed.

Last weekend we celebrated our anniversary by going down to St. George. Friday night, Chandler was pleasantly surprised to receive four lower bowl tickets to the Jazz game from his boss at work thanking him for his hard work. The tickets were $100 each!! We asked Chandler's cousin, Josh, and his wife, Chelsey, to come with us. I used to work with Chelsey at Bath and Body Works. They just got married in August and we hadn't seen them since then so it was nice to catch up with them. The next morning we headed down to St. George. Chandler rented a car for the weekend and we ended up getting a Dodge Journey. It was really nice, but there were definitely things I missed about our car, like heated seats, and a sun roof, and the GPS Navigation. It was a very nice car though and it was fun to drive. Saturday we just relaxed, had some lunch, went shopping (I got an awesome new coat that was 30% off at Maurice's! I love that store!), relaxed at our hotel room, went to dinner, and then relaxed some more. Sunday, we slept in, got some breakfast at the hotel, relaxed even more, and then headed on home after getting some lunch. We wanted to drive through Zion's on our way home, but it was $25 just to drive through it. So, we decided it wasn't worth it and continued on our way. But, we were just itching to see some sights. We pulled off at Cedar City and started driving up through some canyons. It was so beautiful. We found out the road would lead us to Brian Head, which was our second choice of scenery, so we continued on. We reached a point were we could see snow in the mountains!!

We had to pull off and at least get one picture of the two of us. This is something I ALWAYS forget to do!

So, we kept driving and the more we kept driving the further we got. Until we saw this beautiful scene! Holy cow! How did we get up that high so fast!?

I know, this is the lame self-taken picture, but it's better than nothing.

As we got closer to Brian Head we saw this yurt. On the other side there was a sign that said, "Winter Ranger Station." It was pretty neat.

I have never been to Brian Head before so it was neat to see all of the beautiful scenery and fancy hotels and whatnot.

It was so nice to have a relaxing weekend without a time schedule and worry of keeping a clean house. I still think everyday about how lucky I am to have such a great husband. I am reminded time and time again of how well he treats me and how special he is to me. This was just another one of those times. He made sure to get a hotel room with a jetted tub so that I could finally have a nice, relaxing bath. We don't have one in our new apartment so I have missed my occasional bath. I am looking forward to many more years of our eternal marriage and happiness.

Hair Family Vacation, Beckham's Blessing, and Hanson Family Reunion

Chandler and I had a great time with his family these past few weeks. I don't even know where to start!

Chandler's oldest brother Chris got married two weeks ago. This event is what brought us all together. Chandler's parents and little sister flew in from Illinois and stayed with Jane's sister in Garden Grove, just outside of Anaheim, and Tyler and Rachel flew in from Texas with their two kids and we all stayed at a hotel about 10 minutes from Rob and Sarah's house. Chandler's Aunt Beth also surprised us and flew in from Missouri. It was so fun to have her there! We had lots of fun visiting and catching up with family. Later that night, they all decided they wanted to go play in the pool and also went over to the neighbor's pool to go down their water slide.

Chandler on the water slide.

Chandler and Austin.

And again.

And again. They tried landing on this tube, going through the tube, and all sorts of other things.

Chris's last day of being a single man!

Richard had to try it out too!

Austin and Blake also had lots of fun with the little fire truck Uncle Rob had. They loved pushing each other in it and sitting in it and using the little ladders on the side.

Austin pushing Blake in the fire truck.

Chandler playing with Austin.

Austin using the water hose.

Austin also tried on Grandpa Dan's work outfit and tool belt.

The next day we spent more time with the family and then headed up to Redlands for the wedding. Of course I forgot my temple recommend, but it was super easy to get in anyway. They just looked me up and verified that I had a current recommend and I went right in. It was a beautiful sealing and they had lots of support from friends and family there. Janelle's dress was VERY pretty. Her mom made it! It seriously was gorgeous! I took lots of pictures with our new camera! So, sorry if this post is picture overload, but it was so easy to take lots of pictures.

All of Chris and Janelle's nieces and nephews.

Austin, A.K.A. The Stud.

Jane's sisters and parents. L-R Erin, Beth, Grandpa Dan, Grandma C, Sarah, and Jane.

Austin loves tires for some reason.

Our family, minus Spencer.

All the boys. I missed the picture of all the girls. :(

Blake and Austin.

Someone in Janelle's home ward restores old cars and let them use this for some of their pictures. It was a pretty cool car!

Tyler, Rachel, Blake, Grandpa Dan, and Aunt Sarah at the reception.

Blake and I playing at the reception. I promise he was laughing, not screaming.

The beautiful wedding cakes.

First dance.

The next day we headed up to Grass Valley where Grandpa Dan and Grandma C live. We had lots of fun helping Grandpa with some of his work on the property, playing games with each other, and going shopping with all the girls.

On the way to Grass Valley, we stopped and visited Merced, California. This is the home Richard and Jane lived in when Chandler was born.

Tyler and Chandler helped split logs that Grandpa Dan had from a tree that had fallen down.

Meanwhile, I played with Austin's toys.

Action shot of Austin's karate skills.

"You gotta show off to your girlfriend. Make it look like you're working hard."  
- Grandpa Dan

Richard smashed a spider in the log splitter.

Amanda and Blake chillin' in the swing.

One of Grandma C's happy trees. She decorates them with mardi gras beads.

Chandler was looking forward to shooting grandpa's guns all week. It's a 22 so it had no kick to it.

I shot a gun for the first time! AND I hit the target on the first shot! I must say that I quite enjoyed it.

Rachel hit the target on her first shot too. Grandpa Dan called us Annie Oakley the rest of the day.

Tyler helping Austin shoot the gun. He's starting him at a young age.

Jane taking a shot at shooting.

We had to roast some smore's one night. They were so delicious.

After our visit in Grass Valley, we drove up to Boise so we could visit McCall and have some fun there. We spent all of Friday up in McCall. We rented some kayaks and floated around the north part of Payette Lake for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of us in our kayaks, mostly because we (and by we I mean Chandler) were afraid to get the camera wet. But, we stopped at a rope swing to have some lunch and I took a few pictures there.

Payette Lake

I promise I wasn't mad. I was eating and smiling at the same time.

The rope swing.

Chandler found some shades someone left.

Tyler

Chandler

Chandler...plugging his nose as he went in.

Rachel

Rachel's awesome gymnastics moves.

Austin watching from the sidelines.

Tyler

And...they ended up being lady shades, so he gave them to Rachel.

Blake playing in the sand, and probably eating it too. oops.

After a fun morning on Payette Lake, we decided to walk around the small town of McCall. We went to a pastry shop, Stacy's Cakes I think it was, and a fabric shop and then looked around for a place to eat dinner. We eventually decided on a burger place and it was really good! We then headed back to Boise and said our goodbyes to Tyler and Rachel and the boys. The next morning, Chandler and I headed to Shelley for little Beckham's baby blessing. It was so fun to see Matt and Jessie and their kids again and Beckham is just the sweetest, most cuddly baby ever. 

Matt blew out his birthday candles AS we were singing happy birthday. 

Kennedy helped herself to the frosting.

Logan with his ice cream cone.

Kennedy's cousin Lexi sharing her ice cream cone with her.

Kenzi with her ice cream cone.

Aunt Cherice holding Beckham.

Grandma Hanson with Beckham.

You can call me Auntie Devrey!

Aunt Danielle with Beckham.

Kevin and Tiffany also joined in on the festivities, but I forgot to get a picture of them. :( Anyway, After the blessing luncheon we headed down to Pocatello for the annual Hanson family reunion. We had a great dinner and then headed to the pool with Brett and Cherice and crew, Danielle, and dad.

Chillin' in the kiddie pool.

Kenzi and I

Logan pushing Brett into the water.

WE HAVE THE SAME SAME SWIMMING SUITS!

After the family reunion we HAD to get some Mr. Pizza. I think Chandler has become addicted. So, we had some subs and bread sticks and then Danielle, Chandler, and I went to the drive-in for a double feature of Brave and The Avengers. I, of course, fell asleep for both of them. I tried my hardest to stay awake for The Avengers but I just couldn't! Chandler was awake up until about the last half hour of Avengers and Danielle slept through Brave so she could watch Avengers. So, I would say it was worth it.

Chandler and I traveled back to good ole Salt Lake City and met up with his parents coming back from Boise. Chris and Janelle came over to get Chris's car and then we went over to see their apartment. It is adorable! Monday we spent the day with Chandler's grandparents down in Orem. Amanda, Janelle, and I went and saw Brave, I stayed awake this time. We then went back to the grandparents house and had some lunch and played some card games. Chandler had to work that night so he couldn't join in all the festivities but he was able to come down for the morning. For diner we ordered some Village Inn and had some pies from Village Inn and some wedding cake from Chris and Janelle's wedding. The next day, Richard, Jane, and Amanda flew out to go back home. It was so fun to be with everyone and take a relaxing vacation! We wish we could do it more often! 

Now it's back to the real world. Chandler has started his new job at Ultradent here in South Jordan and he is loving it. He works late hours, which means I won't see him for about 16 hours most days, but he loves it and is grateful for the opportunity. I am almost done with school. I only have about 3 weeks left!! I also got a job working for Central Parking at the SLC Airport in their accounting department. I am getting everything together to start on Monday and I am super excited! I was really scared that they wouldn't be able to work around my school schedule for the last couple of weeks but I was surprised to get a call two weeks after my first and only interview and receive a job offer. In speaking with the HR lady today, she said that she had called three of my references and received excellent feedback from all of them with things such as rockstar, amazing, hard-worker, and "Don't miss the chance to work with her."

I am so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life and for all those who continue to support me and build me up so I can reach my full potential. I'm so grateful for the education I have been able to receive and for the hard work ethic my family has instilled in me. I have such wonderful examples in my life and I love each and every one of them! I am so grateful for Chandler and all he has done for me this past month. I was so heart broken to hear that SwiftPro was closing, not only because that meant that I was now unemployed, but that something I was working so hard to help build up was now no longer a part of my life and the people I had come to love being around I would no longer see every other day. That day was a really hard day for me, but Chandler was there all day to comfort me. He even joined me that Saturday to spend time with my boss, Holly, and some of her friends down in Orem. I know it wasn't his first choice in spending his Saturday, but it meant a lot that he went with me and had fun with me and one of the people who has made a huge impact in my life and someone I consider a close friend. More to come later as we continue our search for a new apartment!