August 2016
I wasn't even back to Idaho Falls yet before that course change happened. Annaleese had already gone to bed when I got a Facebook message on my phone from a friend back home. I was not sure how to respond and I almost didn't. In fact, the question was so out of the blue that I was wondering if maybe she'd been hacked or something. I was going to go back to bed but I had a strong feeling I needed to just answer her. So, I did.
August was still feeling pretty normal to me. Usual wildfires. I guess they weren't that usual. The Henry's Creek fire burned up more land than I remember ever seeing burned at once. My sister's husband's family lost a lot of their ranch to the fire. That was pretty dramatic. My dad and sister went up to the ranch to help her in-laws try to fight the fire and save as much as they could.
This was just the beginning of the fire, but it spanned a lot of land already in the beginning and moved quickly.
This was a strange cloud forming out in the Ammon Foothills that I could see forming from my backyard out of the smoke coming from the fire.
I went on a blind date set up by the friend that messaged me on the way back from Minneapolis & St. George.
All dolled up for the date.
And celebrated Azer's 1st birthday. This kid was the cutest. He wasn't sure about eating his cake and didn't know how he felt about his fingers getting into the gooey frosting.
I loved watching him experience this new thing in his life. Because he lives so close I have been able to watch this kid grow up and that was a real treat. He definitely was my #1 guy. Even though I'd just been on a pretty hot date.
Oh yeah, that blind date I went on. It was with my friend's nephew. And it was amazing. He took me to the museum to the exhibit I had been dying to see. The one about the Rebels of the formation of America in 1776. And we went to lunch at Carino's for Italian. Although, we did more talking than eating.
September 2016
Took an impromptu road trip into the hills to see the fall leaves with my dad, Uncle Dave, and Grandma Butler. It was a nice road trip. One that I was really glad to have the opportunity to take with them. I enjoyed riding in the backseat with my grandma and able to be silly with her for the duration of our trip. I will cherish that trip forever as it was the last road trip I had with my grandma.
And that quiet little blind date taken? Yeah, there were more dates. And more. And even more. And texts. And dates. And more texts.
Well, something is happening here, so might as well document it with a selfie. 😉
October 2016
My favorite part of this time of the year is getting to see all the pumpkins. I like carving them, I like seeing what others have done to decorate them. I love Halloween.
This year it was fun to get to see Azer's first reaction to pumpkins. I love discovering the world through his eyes.
I got to reconnect with my "bestie" cousin and her adorable daughter. Brittanie and Lennie enjoyed some delicious food with me at Panera Bread (my new addiction). And I got to gush to her about this new boy in my life and be all girlie with her.
Oh yeah, and I went out on another date with that guy. We went to pick pumpkins with his brother's little family. I guess you could say that I was starting to fall in love with the entire family. Friendships were growing. I enjoyed spending time with Beth, Brett, and Lil Brett.
This guy took me to my very first Jazz Game. (I didn't know at the time that my cousin's husband just got a job with the Jazz, selling tickets!) And then we had a brief, romantic moment atop the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. It combined two things I love: rain and city-scapes; but it did rain us out of enjoying the rooftop for too long. I wouldn't know until later that the rain I love so much prevented a very special event from happening. 😉 But more on that later.
November 2016
So that guy I went on a blind date. The one I'd gone on many more dates with. The one I picked pumpkins with. The one I spent time with his family with. My Utah Jazz fan companion (he turned me onto a love for the game). Well he had a very special gift in his pocket when we visited that rooftop. While I took quick pictures of the view, and while we got rained out (or off for that matter). We spent maybe five minutes atop that building before they closed it for safety. Apparently rain can make for slippery footing. We went to that Jazz game, and he contemplated...
But it wasn't until a Sunday afternoon, on our way home from church that he asked me to the Idaho Falls LDS Temple Visitors Center. (The Idaho Falls Temple was still closed for renovations). It's our favorite temple. And it was my favorite time of the year. The beauty of the fall leaves, and my favorite place on earth.
I didn't know that Cody, yep my blind date guy, had brought 12 red roses to the visitors center before we went to church.
We sat down in front of the welcoming image of Christ. And he excused himself off to the bathroom. Having been a long time since I'd been to the visitors center, I wandered over to the pictures of the First Presidency. While I was smiling at a picture of one of my favorite apostles, Pres Uchtdorf, Cody came up behind me. When I turned around I saw him with the roses, and that special gift he'd had in his pocket in SLC. I already knew what was happening before he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
The lovely missionary couple at the center that were in on it were now grinning. The sister was having a hard time containing her excitement before and told us we'd want a picture taken. So she kindly took our picture. Though it wasn't the best lighting or picture.
And then we took our own as we walked the greenbelt. We tried to get the temple in the background. But it's kind of poetic that it's a faint image behind our heads. (We both wanted to wait for the temple to reopen so we could get married there, but the reopening kept being delayed.)
I said yes.
Of course.
Attended The Forgotten Carols on a double date that then turned triple when we met up with my mom and dad after. When we planned the date we didn't know that my dad would be asked to sing in The Forgotten Carols so that was an added treat.
Thanksgiving was a quiet little event with my parents and my brother, and I tried out my very first custard-like pie. It was delicious. Butterscotch, my favorite.
December 2016
Christmas was approaching and I wanted to get more serious about losing weight before the wedding. I started a program that my cousin introduced me to and started to see results right away. I was dedicating 12 weeks to hit a Wedding Weight goal. (I lost 30 lbs by the time I got married!!)
We split our very first Christmas together between our families and I got absolutely spoiled with presents from both sides. And somewhere in there was a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.
As the year came to a close a couple of other exciting announcements came for our family.
And my joke with my mom over the years about my life being like poor Edith from Downton Abbey was becoming a little more true than I imagined.
January 2017
Oh, and that big scary birthday I was worried about? Well it was one of the happiest birthdays I've had. The best present of all was that I had just 2 months left before my wedding. As part of my birthday present, we were able to pick up my wedding ring. And the custom wedding band we designed would come later in the month. The ring is diamond and sapphires (adding my very favorite color into my ring.)
February 2017
My sister threw me a Tea Party Bridal Shower, and it was so fun. We took photos on a Polaroid type camera and scrapbooked the pictures.
In between wedding planning, hoping my custom ordered wedding dress would come in time for the alterations I was gonna need after losing so much weight, I got spoiled on the very first Valentine's Day that I actually had a very special love in my life. Finally! They were no longer "Single Awareness Days" for me. Yipeee!
And then toward the end of February, my heart got broken. A woman who was influential in my life, who I had so many years of memories with: from road trips in the RV, to drives to see fall leaves, washing fresh carrots from the garden in her backyard pool with my cousins; a woman I loved, respected, and deeply miss, left this life. It was so hard to go and sit with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and dad in my grandma's nursing home room and watch some of the final days/hours of her life. But those are also days that I will never forget. Bittersweet moments, tucked away in the sadness, where I got to see my cousins, aunts, and uncles in a new light as we all struggled together to deal with the hardest trial.. I came to admire them for the little things they did to care for my grandma.
The last picture I took with her helped me capture her silliness as I tried to sneak a selfie with her. Even though this was taken a year and a half before her passing, I didn't know at the time it'd become so significant.
Sneaking my picture
Getting caught and getting that finger wagging she always gave.
March 2017
The day before my wedding, we said goodbye to my grandma. It was a beautiful funeral and I was glad to have my whole family there. It even allowed some of them to attend my wedding. :)
Finally the day had arrived that I'd been waiting for what seemed like forever. I married my best friend, surrounded by friends and family.
And of course, the day wouldn't be complete without a photo with the woman who was at the heart of it all. So grateful I listened when I thought I needed to answer her text.
