Crazy Good Love - 2 Year Anniversary

Tyler surprised me by cleaning the house while I was at work. Not the way most guys want to spend their day off! He did such a good job too...vacuumed and swept...the whole bit! He also gave me the beautiful roses...they are such a pale pink it is cool!

I am amazed at what these two years have been. It is hard to describe...far surpasses my greatest expectations. I don't know if I ever really believed I would be this loved and this happy. Let's be honest, Tyler is a boy, and I am a girl...so we have our differences. But I can go from wondering what he is thinking to smiling and laughing like no other time in my life. It is very clear how God has used Tyler in my life and I pray that the Lord blesses Tyler with me as much as I am blessed by him.

We exchanged gifts...which we didn't plan but we both did. Then went to dinner and on a walk with Josey on the greenbelt. It was really wonderful. We are relaxing and watching some TV now. When I asked Tyler what one of his favorite things about marriage is he said, "Sleeping next to you each night." I agreed, it is a great feeling to sleep next to someone you love.

First Harvest

I have been picking Sugar Snap Peas for about a week and a half. They are amazing in salads. Today I picked our first cucumber. I put some in a salad and Tyler had his with salt. It was great. Having a garden has been so much fun...almost weird how much fun it is. I am already looking forward to next year. I will have a much bigger garden, in raised garden boxes, and in a different location. I have learned a lot this year, trial and error.

I am also doing herbs in my kitchen, mostly basil and parsley. I am hoping to be just like Giada, minus her amazing boobs (ha, who am I kidding, I just need the name of her doctor) and the TV show. :-)

Friends of summer

This summer I have been fortunate to hang out with some pretty cool people. My handsome husband, cousin Travis, Paige Fast, and Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas.

Libby just married one of Tyler's friends and we couldn't agree more with his choice of Libby. She is such a neat girl, makes you feel welcome right away and I have enjoyed spending time with her at a baseball game, their wedding, camping in the mountains, and Sushi/Graples.

I took Paige to a block party and it was a blast. She loved he bounce houses, but not as much as a person in a dog costume. She loved that thing!

Tyler, Travis and I have done tons together this summer. We are so glad that Travis moved to Idaho and are thinking of ways to keep him here forever. Him and Tyler are like twins, so sometimes I can't get a word in or I get picked on...but they are such great guys it is worth it. Haha!

I haven't seen some of my favorite people this summer...hope to soon. I am going to make a point of it in the next couple of weeks.

June 2009

June was a great month. Tyler and I did a lot of fun things around Idaho...along with our cousin Travis. He is renting our basement from us and he has been so much fun.

We went to a Renaissance fair at the beginning of June. It was much more fun than I expected...but Tyler and Travis knew it would be awesome all the time. Seriously, Tyler was looking forward to it much like a 9 year old boy would have. So cute!We went to a Greek Food Festival...yum! Tyler liked it too....his first Gyro experience.

We also went up to Spokane for Hoopfest. What a blast. Tyler's team didn't do as well as we hoped, but we had two other family teams that won their divisions. Neato! Ashley Puga met us up there too which was a lot of fun.

And My Soul Sings...

This morning at church I was humbled and confronted by the Lord. What a special time it was. I will blog more about it later, but this song started it all.

Lord of all the earth
And all of heaven
I come and seek Your face
Worship You with all I have within me
Humbled by Your grace

Every heart every nation
Every tribe all creation
Will bow before Your presence and sing

You are high and lifted up
You are high and lifted up
And my soul sings hallelujah
To the Lamb
The Lamb of God

Lord of righteousness
You come in glory
Bright and morning star
All my days I’ll worship and adore You
Healer of my heart

Every prayer every cry
You alone satisfy
We will lift Your praise
Again and again

Majesty
Majesty
Jesus Lamb of God
Majesty
Majesty
Holy are You Lord

Week of...

I have friends that make a "menu" each month of what they are going to make for dinner. While I love this idea because I love being organized, when it comes to cooking I usually get inspired during the day and can't stick to a menu. For the last two weeks I have done something new and it has been pretty cool. Just thought I would share it with you.

I quickly write out a page titled "Week of Month Day-Day." Then I list the days and any special notes about that day that Tyler or myself might need to remember. For example, we are having friends over on Thursday night and I have girls night on Friday night. The next section is dinner. I list the days that we will both be home to have dinner together. The rest of the nights we either do leftovers or sack dinners at work. I usually list the main course options but don't assign them a day, that way I have 4 or 5 ideas of stuff that I have on hand. The last section is a goal section. Last week my goal was to have the house clean before we went to Park City. I pretty much accomplished that goal and I think it was because I wrote it down. This week my goal is to catch up in my summer course and to wash my face every night. Anyway, this has helped keep us on track, try it if you need some motivation and a "communication center" for those busy days.

On to the goal of washing my face every night. I know, how gross is it that I don't get to it every night. I always wash my face in the mornings, but evenings are hit and miss. No wonder I don't have amazing skin. This isn't rocket science. So, I am going to try and wash my face at 8:00 or 9:00 every night. Usually I wait until bed time and after I brush my teeth I am too tired to stand. Haha. So doing it earlier should help. So, bug me about this and make sure I do it. I'll keep you updated on my progress and if my faces shines with thankfulness for much needed night time attention.

Family Vacay in Park City, UT

Tyler's parents invited us on a family vacation to Park City. We hadn't been there so we were pretty excited. The weekend lived up to our expectations. We have a great time with his parents and sister. Activities included tennis, uno, movies, sushi, shopping, the Olympic park, a huge zip-line, and lounging around. We are thankful for our family!

Tara Graduates

My sister-in-law graduated from NNU this year. Yay! What a beautiful girl!

Life

If you know me, you know I think things through, I am a list maker, etc. Getting married young (20) was no rash decision on my part. With countless people "mentioning" how young I was I bought a book and emailed friends that had married young. I knew that I wanted to get married, and I didn't have a fairy tale image of marriage in my mind. I knew that it was going to be the best and hardest thing I ever do. One friend that I emailed was Megan Mackeson. She was married young and had been married for a couple of years when I emailed her. Megan and I were friends in high school, not super close, but we were friends and have some good laughs and memories together. For some reason, she is someone that I feel I can email or ask any question about any situation and she isn't going to judge, she is going to give me an answer full of wisdom and prayer to go with it. What a blessing she is! Her email about getting married young was awesome. One concern that a lot of people had was how much I would be giving up. Megan said (not word for word, her words are better), "Yeah, I might not be able to go out with my girlfriends as much as when I was single, but when I do, I have a loving husband to come home to. On the nights that I don't go out, I have a loving husband at home with me." How neat!

Now I am married, for almost two years, and I love it. Getting married young for me turned out to be great, I have longer to be married! :-) Obviously, after marriage comes babies. No, I am not pregnant. I have always wanted to be a mom. Lately though, I am realizing what a blessing it will be to be a mom and how much fun it really will be. Also one of the hardest but best things I will ever do. We want to wait a little while longer to have kids, but my heart longs to care for someone like I see mother's caring for their children. I love reading blogs of young mothers, and Megan is no exception. How neat to have so many pictures and videos of first events, cute little quirks, etc. I can't wait. Although I have baby fever, I don't have it enough to do anything too serious about it. It doesn't help that I can already tell that Tyler is going to be an amazing father. He is so loyal and wise, I can't wait to team up with him and the Lord to raise our kids!

So, good job moms. Keep the pictures and videos coming to I can live through you for awhile longer! You are all amazing!

22

Back in March I turned 22! I enjoy being 22 more than 21 because now, when I say my age, people don't associate my age with drinking, partying, long nights of regret, etc. I always thought that was funny about being 21.

I didn't take a lot of pictures (I know, I am mad too!) but here are two from the party at my in-laws house. My dad and his wife came to town for a couple of days and spoiled me rotten with Jewelry and an amazing seafood dinner. I had a lemon-drop, appetizers, two lobster tails, and dessert. More please!