Memorial Day Weekend!

I got to go home for memorial day weekend which was really nice! I got home Thursday night and had been craving Quodoba for forever (since Rexburg has no real food) so I went and picked up dinner and met up with Jon!!! It was SO great to get to see him again! :) Friday morning I got ready and went out for a day with the girls. Mom, the sisters and I spent the day in Denver wedding dress shopping! Sadly, Steph wasn't able to make it for the weekend and she was greatly missed! We did, however, spend most of the day texting or calling her getting her opinion on lots of things! I found the PERFECT dress! It was like the 4th of 5th dress I tried on but we kept trying on dresses for a bit just to make sure. By lunch time we'd narrowed it down to just a few dresses and decided to take a break for lunch. We went to On the Border (yumm!!!), hit another dress shop, but then headed back because I was missing "my" dress. We tried on the ones that were still main contenders, but THE dress was still THE dress! Once I put it back on, I refused to take it off. We then played with veils and tiaras and then were looking at bridesmaid dresses and I just walked around the store in my dress. I didn't EVER want to take it off! The day was total success and I had a blast with my girls! Jon and I had a fun date planned for the night, but we were both too tired so we were going to rent a movie and just hang out, but ended up hanging out with his roommates and their girlfriends which was totally fun. The next day Courtney came into town and we spent the day running more wedding errands. That night Jon and I grabbed dinner and took it up to Horsetooth for a picnic. It was the first place he told me he loved me, so it was really fun to go back up there. Sunday I drug Jon to the ward I grew up in and got to introduce him to all my people which was so fun. After church we went down to Colorado springs to see Jon's family and meet his brand new baby nephew (pics to come when I get memory card adapter). Monday we got up and CeeCee came in to town to take our engagement pictures! She did an AMAZING job and we all had a blast! Thank you SO much CeeCee and Mommy for helping us with those :) ! Afterward we went out to Greeley for a memorial day BBQ at CeeCee's and got to make s'mores which is just about my favorite thing in the world. I hated going back to school on Tuesday, but I'd really missed my roommates and it was good to see them. I miss my family, and can't wait to come home again! Hope you all had a fabulous memorial day weekend too!

Girls Weekend

I love my girlfriends! They ALWAYS make me laugh!!! I got to hang out with my girls this weekend and it was a total blast. I took a trip down to Utah to go wedding dress shopping (I didn't find "the one" but I had a blast!!!) I got to stay at Lauren's new apartment and go shopping with Lauren and Laura. It was so great to hang out and laugh and reminisce about fun old times! It was great to chat about inside jokes. Good times!

I love you girls! Thanks for being my besties! And, on another note, I get to go home in 3 days! I have all sorts of fun plans with my family and the love of my life! I'm so excited to go wedding dress shopping with my mom and sisters and have date night with my man and go see my (future) baby nephew! Such a fun weekend planned. I can't wait!!!

Wedding Plans!!!

Well, it's official! The temple date has been set! Saturday, September 4th at 11:00 AM! Just under 4 months. I can't wait! College life is busy without planning a wedding, so needless to say, there's never a dull moment in my apartment! Things are starting to come together slowly. Jon and I are fortunate to have lots of connections. His mom is doing the invitations for us, my brother-in-law, Steve, is a phenomenal caterer, my sister-in-law makes beautiful cakes. We've met with some rental places on decorations, talked to a DJ, and have an appointment with the butter cream cupcakery. There is absolutely no way that I would be able to get this done without the help of my AWESOME family. Especially my mom, she's helping out so much! My colors are Victorian lilac (a dark, dusty purple) and buttercream yellow with a touch of navy blue. And I'm going with a sort of fairytale vintage theme. I can't wait!

School is going really well. I'm enjoying all my classes, not so much the homework though. I LOVE and adore the girls I live with. We have so much fun together! We're all going to a BBQ tomorrow that I'm super excited about! And then hopefully to go see Iron Man 2. It's been a blast, but I am, of course, missing home and Jon quite a bit. Just over 10 weeks and I'll be home again!!!

Also, Happy Birthday to my beautiful and amazing sister! I love you Cee Cee! 25 looks AMAZING on you! ;) Wish I could be there to celebrate with you! Hope you have a fabulous"you" day! Love you Sister!

I'M ENGAGED!!!!

Well, unless you have no access to facebook or anyone in my family with a phone, you have probably heard. But just in case you haven't.... I'M ENGAGED!!! But even for those of you who have heard I wanted to post the entire proposal story.

I left Thursday afternoon to return to Idaho for my second semester. Jon and I had been talking about marriage but I asked him not to propose until after I had left for Idaho. I told him I didn't care if it was the day after, as long as it was after. So Thursday we had our tearful goodbye and I headed of to live approximately 587 miles away from my love. The next few days were very rough and emotional. I had a difficult time getting in to my apartment because of a misunderstanding and I had that extra stress on top of the stress of moving in. It was FABULOUS to see my roommates again, but also really hard to be away from Jon. We were talking on the phone several times a day, and he seemed to be taking the long distance thing a whole lot easier than I was. Saturday night he called me on his way home from work and seemed very distant and distracted the entire conversation. At 9:30 he told me he wasn't feeling well and needed to go to bed. I though this was very strange since he sounded just fine, but told him to go get some sleep. He immediately accepted this response and was anxious to get off the phone. I was feeling very down at this point and went to crawl in to Jule's bed with her and Syd (which is by the way a twin size). I was telling them how down I felt about the whole situation and didn't feel like I was getting much sympathy. They were being a little weird and just laughing off certain things I said. When I jokingly made a comment about how comfortable we all were and that we should just sleep like that Syd quickly and sternly replied "NO". Feeling rather lonely and confused, I went to bed, planning to wake up at 8 the next morning for church.

Morning came and I was woken up by someone shaking me. I rolled over and looked up and saw Jon standing there looking very handsome in his suit. I was SO shocked to see him there. The first words out of my mouth were "what are you doing here? you can't be here!" Syd and Jules sat in the hallway and captured (blury but sweet) pictures of the magical moment.

I was so excited to see him I didn’t notice he was holding a ring. I just wanted to hug him!

Oh goodness I love this boy!

Telling me he loves me and needs me and doesn’t want to ever have to do anything without me and asking me to be his wife!!!

Trying on the ring!!!

VERY happy to be engaged!

My BEATIFUL ring (with wedding band)

We spend the remainder of the week cuddling on the couch, doing dinner with friends, shopping in IF, watching movies, playing at the park, making wedding/marriage plans, and spending LOTS of time on the phone with our relatives sharing the good news! It was an amazing weekend and very hard to see him leave on Tuesday night. But, now I get to put my missing him time in to planning a wedding!

By the way, we’re tentatively planning on a September 4^th wedding. We know that’s at a difficult time for everyone but would love to see as many of you as can make it.

Back to Idaho

Wow... time flies! I head back to Idaho tomorrow to start my spring semester at BYU-Idaho! I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I'm excited to be going back to college life but sad to be leaving home. I move in to my old apartment on Friday, and start school again on Tuesday. At the very least, it should be an adventure. I believe it will be a semester of transition and changes for sure. I look forward to it and will be sure to keep you updated! :)

PS: September (particularly Labor day weekend) may be a very very good time to make a visit to Colorado ;)

You know when you feel old???

When you have a baby niecelet that is turning 9, that's when! Little Avey Baby is 9 years old today! Crazy! My very first niece is 9 years old! I love you Baby Girl!

Avey Baby,

I love you! You are such an awesome little helper! You have a huge heart and always seem to know what people need! You are always first to offer a hug or help in whatever is needed! You are growing up so fast and you are so mature! You are a beautiful and independent young woman! Keep up the great work baby girl! I love you! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Auntie Mary

Goodbye 2009!

I have to say, 2009 was probably the biggest year of my life to date. It's crazy to think about my life a year ago. I was a high school student living in Ft. Collins, and now I'm a college student living (most of the year) in Rexburg, Idaho. It's been a lot of fun! I've met some amazing people (miss you Syd!) and learned a lot!

Highlights of my 2009:

Avey Baby got baptized!

I had my Senior Prom!

I Finally graduated from High School! It was weird, you work toward something for so long, and it's a strange feeling when you finally accomplish it.

I went camping and a bear tried to attack our tent. What an experience!

I turned 18 and embraced my inner princess!

I moved to Idaho and love it there! And started College and BYU-Idaho

I got roommates and met some of my new best friends!

I took a roadtrip to Idaho with my new best friends to surprise my nephew, Bryce, for his 15th birthday. On our way back we hit a crazy snow storm, all the roads shut down, and we were stuck in a hotel in Laramie for the night. We ordered Pizza and watched "say yes to the dress" and thoroughly enjoyed our adventure!

I went to see David Archuleta with my Bestie! Does life get any better?

I moved back to Colorado and will be spending the next 4 months working here until going back to BYU-Idaho

2009 brought with it lots of fun surprises and twists! I can't wait to see what 2010 brings! Happy New Year!