The Honey Moon

Our first trip as a married couple 

*The Highlights*

1. Park City. 

We spend our first two nights at a resort in Park City called the Whyndom. During our only full day we had there, we decided to go see a movie Ryan had been dying to see called Hunt for the Wilderpeople. It is directed by a man named Taika Waititi, who worked on some episodes of Flight of the Conchords (one of our favorite tv series) and directed What We Do in the Shadows (this hilarious movie about vampires). He also directed this other movie, Boy, that we had just recently seen. Oh, I should also say that this guy is from New Zealand and Ryan and I have been on a huge "we want to live in New Zealand" kick. 

Annnnyyyywayyy, we go see this movie, which is only playing in two theaters in Utah by the way, and it turns out to be one of the best movies ever made. I am telling you, this is WAY better than any movie being advertised right now. It's hilarious, heart warming, has a great plot, and has super fun accents throughout the whole film. Go see it. That's all I have to say about that. 

2. Jackson Hole, WY.

The rest of our trip mostly took place in Jackson. The first 2 days in Jackson we went river rafting down Snake River (Ryan got sunburned here), kayaking in our little kayak at Jackson lake (I got sunburned here), and stayed in a tent cabin at Colter Bay. 

3. Yellowstone.

On our 3rd day in Jackson we decided it would be fun to take a trip up to Yellowstone for the afternoon. We got to see Old Faithful and other geysers and pools they have around the south end of the park. We chose the perfect time to go, because not two days later the road to Yellowstone got closed off because of a wild fire. We saw part of the fire driving back to Jackson that night. It was pretty terrifying watching hundreds of trees up in flames in the distance. 

4. Jenny Lake.

Our last destination was Jenny Lake camp ground in Jackson. It is a camping area very close to the Tetons and it's very beautiful. I'm going to be honest, through all the beauty and relaxation I wasn't able to kick this worry of bears coming around at any given moment. The camp director gave everyone who entered camp this big speech about bears and how they like coming through the area all the time. "Don't leave food out. Even toothpaste can attract them. Change out of your clothes after you cook, they can smell the grease on you. You never know when a bear might show up. You could be doing everything right and it will still come around." My fear was in total vain though, because there was no site of any bears at all.

We spent this time relaxing in our hammock, swimming in Jenny Lake, playing Speed, sleeping in our awesome tent that we are both in love with, and eating delicious dutch oven meals (that I was always worried a bear would smell). We also made a couple stops in the town of Jackson to eat and shop around. We had a super yummy chimichanga at this place called Merry Piglets. And we watched a spontaneous town shoot-out performance. 

 

Ryan says, "Yeah it was fun."

So there ya go!

It's Been Awhile

The year is TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN.

I haven't written in this blog pretty must at all since I went on a mission. I tried writing again when I got home but things were weird and I didn't know how to be normal anymore...

And now here we are.

Where have I been????????

Um, well, first of all, I love writing. I think about doing it all the time. So I guess I love to think about writing.

Second, I'm incredibly annoyed about the fact that my blog has a huge TIME GAP in it, and it is for that reason that I have entirely neglected yet so often thought about posting anything in over a year since I came home.

But guess what, I am going to get over that RIGHT NOW.

Yes I have tried starting other blogs. I couldn't get the format looking how I wanted, and yes that means I couldn't possibly write anything. It has to look right.

So here I am, back again. I'm not switching to word press because I don't want to pay money to have an online journal even though it might look like way cool or whatever... I mean, maybe some day I'll get one of those going.

So here I am about to actually commit to a post. Wow. Here I go.

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I just need to write down that I truly believe that nothing worth having ever comes easy. I was looking at the formals that Ryan and I got done before our wedding and it really just hit me for the first time in months. The fact that he and I are getting married is actually kind of a miracle.

I mean seriously. We had a long distance relationship to start out with. Me being at SUU and him at BYU. We saw each other on weekends sometimes. We talked on the phone, texted, and skyped a lot.

Then he went and served a mission about 8 months later. I didn't see him for almost 3 years! Why? Because halfway through his mission I decided I wanted to go serve one too! So we communicated purely through letters and emails for all that time.. with calls on Christmas for about 25 minutes a piece.

Then on top of that, I come home from my mission and I'm like, woah, this is too much. I'm freaking out just about being back in the real world. I can't handle having a boyfriend! I loved him so much it honestly hurt. I just wasn't ready, and frankly neither was he. So let's add more time apart to this journey, 6 months to be exact. We spent 6 months dating other people, being with ourselves, figuring out what we wanted.

Then around Christmas time of 2015, we are ready. We decide we want to be fully committed to each other again. We have a blast of a Christmas break (mostly watching Flight of the Conchords and eating peppermint ice cream), and the rest is history.

Now almost 9 months later, here we are, engaged, happy, feeling great about life and each other.

Getting to this place wasn't easy. There were times when he was on his mission where I would just cry because I missed him so much. And when I was on mine I'd wonder where he was and if we'd ever really end up together. I questioned things. I looked at other options. Why? Because I was only a month shy of 19 when we parted ways the first time and I'm only 23 now. I am young. I feel young. I've never been one to jump into big decisions, and this has been my path thus far.

Ryan is my best friend and my soul mate.