A {late} New Year's Post | 2012

I almost decided it was too late and too daunting to do a little year-in-review post.

Then I thought, wait a second...2012 was a pretty.big.deal. The biggest yet.

So, scratch that decision - we're doing this. Ready for a rewind?

My first full month of being engaged to THIS guy. 

He proposed to me after picking me up from the airport from a trip for work,

right before he went home to Indiana for the holidays. I was one happy girl.

I flew to Indiana after Christmas and had so much fun spending New Year's with his family.

We went on a date to St. Louis during that trip,

and ate dinner with a beautiful view of the arch.

I remember feeling so happy and at peace and more than ready to marry this wonderful man.

After the holidays, we went home to wedding plans,

Michael's last semester of school, and my job at Imagine Learning.

It was such a fun time. I loved living with Logan and Jenny's family SO much.

Here's a snapshot of one of the many memorable Family Home Evenings we spent with them. 

We still eat pizza on Mondays to carry on their little tradition. 

For some reason I just like eating pizza knowing there's some pizza-eating going on in Lehi, too.

February was the busiest, craziest month at my job. I loved it.

We had a conference in DC at the end of the month,

and it felt so good to be back there. I love that city.

 I visited Ali in Boston before going back to Utah,

and we had a blast.

We watched the Super Bowl, gave Toby Keith a chance (mistake),

ate all our favorite Boston foods, and just loved seeing each other.

Then it was time to get back to Lehi, and spend time with these cute kids.

At this point we found out that we were Indiana-bound come July,

so I was soaking up my time with them.

February marked the start of the pinwheels...

Oh we just made SO many of these for our wedding reception.

I am forever indebted to Michael and my sister-in-law Jenny.

Pretty sure none of us got anything out of all four sessions of General Conference,

but those pinwheels kept us awake, at least.

We.made.so.many.

And February 2012 marked the best Valentine's Day yet. 

Michael and I passed each other on University Ave in the morning,

dropping off little surprises on doorsteps and desks.

Everyone at my office passed out Valentine's, and we had a pink breakfast.

It was the best love day so far.

 March was FULL of wedding prep,

and I'm pretty sure poor Michael almost burned all those pinwheels.

The only thing that got us through stuffing all those invitations

was the promise of a Sammy's burger and shake after.

I started getting a little nervous about the whole marriage idea,

(it's a big big deal,)

but then something would always remind me how completely 

excited I was to be with Michael forever.

I drove that I-15 stretch from Provo to Lehi and Lehi to Provo WAY too many times that month,

WAY too late at night on WAY too little sleep. It was great.

 My sweet friends at work threw me the most colorful and thoughtful bridal shower.

It was so fun to spend eight hours a day with them. Best part of my job.

 I took a lonely trip to Philadelphia for work,

but eating every meal at Reading Market and spending time

with the author of this blog definitely brightened things up.

And my boss at work taught us all how to make a pie.

So Jenny, Lydia, Jaren and I ate it outside on the porch,

and life was just so good.

Michael graduated on April 20th, and I was so proud of him.

He spent so much time helping me with all sorts of wedding things,

but he still managed to be the smartest kid at BYU. I'm sure of it.

Then the VERY next day, was a beautiful spring morning...

and we were married.

For all eternity.

It was perfect, 

and I am so grateful for every single thing (and person) 

that led us both to the Jordan River temple that day.

We had such a party after. 

It was the most incredible feeling to have SO many people we love in one room,

for such a happy, happy occasion.

Heaven is going to be such a good time. That's what I learned that night.

Our families made that day so beautiful. We are so grateful for them.

And I am so grateful for Michael. 

You guys, he danced that night like it was his favorite thing in the world.

It was the best.thing.ever.

I replay that in my head so often,

nothing makes me smile faster.

(And IF you want to replay it in real life,

you can come to my house and watch the DVD. 

We maybe shouldn't tell Michael though?)

I felt like our reception was 8 minutes long,

I was just so happy and loved everyone in the room so much.

Then suddenly, we were running through sparklers and we were outta there!

 And away we went to Mexico.

We went from the busiest, craziest month,

to absolutely nothing to do but see how many pina coladas we could drink in one day.

(A lot.)

Danny and Diana sent us parasailing for our wedding present,

which was SO nice of them. We both loved it.

(Michael definitely loved it more than our paragliding experience...)

That week was so wonderful. And considering it's just 19 degrees outside my house right this moment,

I think I'll just keep thinking about Mexico for another two hours.

We flew from Mexico City to Amsterdam. ? 

I'm sure the airport was convinced we had drugs on us.

We met Michael's parents, Rachel, Katie & Ryan there,

loaded up our bikes, and explored the tulips.

It was so beautiful there. Windmills and water everywhere,

and we just could really get used to that carefree feeling that comes after weddings and graduations.

And I could really get used to eating Kinder bars every day.

We loved being there with Michael's family.

Even in the moments when it hurt to sit on our bikes,

or anywhere else for that matter.

Luckily those 20-40 mile bike rides each day were pretty much 

as flat as you could hope for, so we could keep up with Michael's parents.

They were much better at training for that week than we were...

Thank you, Daetwylers, for those great memories! 

And the motivation to get on our bikes more :)

We came back to Utah for just a short couple months,

and we loved that brief time of two full-time jobs and lots of time to play with friends and family.

My aunt Tanya married her best friend Dan in May, 

and my family was thrilled for her. She's one of the best people I know.

Then after three weeks of being married,

I left for a few days to go to Texas for work.

Michael missed me. And I missed him. And I never knew Texas could look like that.

When I got back from Texas,

we got to work on our Utah to-do list.

We had to fit in all our favorite things before Michael left for school!

My beautiful friend Jaclyn married Mark in June,

and I loved that we were still in the same state for that sweet day.

She was my random roommate my freshman year in Heritage Halls,

and we just loved each other from the start.

We lived together for three years at BYU,

and I learned so much from this girl. Mark is one lucky guy.

 We took a red-eye flight straight from Jaclyn's reception,

to meet Michael's family in Florida.

Michael has driven down to Florida once a year his whole life,

and I love all his stories from those trips.

We loved being there with our cute nieces and nephews,

and spending time with Michael's family. 

He spent the majority of that time playing "ninja" with his nephew,

but I think he liked all the other parts, too.

 Right after Florida I went to my last conference for Imagine Learning in San Diego.

That was a bittersweet trip...bitter because I was so sad to leave my job,

and sweet because look at all the cupcakes I ate while I was there.

Sprinkles, you guys. I had to.

I even went on a solo date to Wicked one night,

and felt like the luckiest girl.

Logan and Jenny had pizza night and Family Home Evening in Provo land one night,

and Jaren and Lydia loved the duck pond. It was so fun living close by.

We went to one last show at the Hale to see my friend Deb,

before she left town to make it big in NYC. I know her guys. Let it be known,

before she gets super famous and you don't believe me.

And then for one weekend Michael and I pretended we knew how to be parents,

and we took Jaren and Lydia to Cedar City while their parents visited Ali in Boston.

We don't know how to be parents.

But, we're a pretty good time, so I think we'll be ok.

Right after we unpacked our first little tiny home,

we packed up our first little tiny home.

So sad, right? But I loved it there, and we'll always remember it.

Michael left early in July for Indianapolis,

to start dental school. 

His mom was SO nice to help take our stuff and drive with him to Indiana from Utah.

So, recap: in our first three months of marriage,

we spent more than three weeks apart.

It kind of felt like we were doing the whole marriage thing wrong.

 I stayed in Lehi for two more weeks with Logan and Jenny,

to work one last conference in Provo for work. 

This was our yearly conference where all our off site employees come to Utah for a week.

I was so glad I could say goodbye to everyone before leaving.

My company had a barbecue up the canyon that week,

so Jenny and I brought her kids and their friends to it.

You can see that Kamden was all about the candy explosion,

but Lydia had some serious anxiety about the blow up slides.

I was even there for Jaren's birthday during those two weeks,

so that was really lucky!

This Spiderman boy just loved turning five.

Then I said a sad goodbye to these two and their family.

Thank you, cute Miner family, for taking SUCH good care of me last year!

Then my sweet parents drove me yet again to the Vegas airport.

We have taken that route together quite a few times,

which always involves good talks during the stretch of road that I can actually stay awake on.

Then I landed in our new home, Indianapolis!

It was so good to be with Michael again,

but it sure felt surreal to land in a city for the first time knowing that you live there now.

We spent a lot of time that month putting together our new apartment,

and driving around getting Craigslist finds. 

Oh, and I ran out of gas. And didn't know where I was.

And...ok, the transition was a little rough. But now it's funny, right?

I still refer to it as "the time that the truck broke down,"

and Michael tries to tell me that nothing is actually broken when you forget to put gas in a car.

Whatever. I'm in a better place now, and the gas gauge hasn't gotten the best of me since.

My sister quit her job in Boston this year, 

to start the Speech Language Pathology grad program at BYU.

We planned from the day she moved to Boston five years ago 

that we would drive across the country together when she was done there.

So, in early August, Michael and I did another two weeks apart,

and I flew to Boston for one last perfect day in that city with my sister.

My parents met us there, too,

and then began the road trip of all road trips. Seriously. 

It was so crazy long,

and we loved it.

Then I left these two again,

and they were getting tired of me dragging out this goodbye process.

But that just goes to show you that goodbyes with family don't ever have to be sad.

You'll always make time to see each other and find a way to make it happen.

(Like...when they all come out for the fourth of July this year! Be excited.)

So I waited for my plane with this bird,

and went back to Indiana for REAL this time. 

No more of that two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off type of marriage.

September was birthday month,

and it involved a lot of raspberries.

That's kind of just what it was. Birthday month and berries.

 In October we met Michael's parents in Loogootee, Indiana,

and visited a lot of Amish shops and farms.

Michael was in jail for part of the time,

but I had to let him out to ride in a buggy with me. I couldn't let him miss that.

The people there were so nice, and we loved meeting them. It was a beautiful day.

Dental school continues. And this really is their homework.

It's the real deal.

 Our weekends started filling up with things that pop up when you Google

"top things to do in Indianapolis."

Like the art museum, up above. Being held up by a thousand tiny hands is definitely something.

Other big news in October was starting my new job, 

and finally finishing our first nightmare of a project 

(that we now love and hold no hard feelings towards).

 

November meant BIRTHDAY time for Michael,

(complete with a week-later sunny trip to the zoo and a Pacer's game),

late night dates with election results,

finally finishing the table of popsicle sticks,

and a new little nephew in our life. Nice work, November.

 We watched Fall fade away with some sadness

(goodbye, frisbee after work & school),

but Thanksgiving in Evansville got us in the mood for the holidays.

 

Then suddenly, December. That month that is always here so suddenly.

It brought beautiful sunsets, just like all the others.

 We put up our tiny Christmas, and loved the one downtown as well.

Our holidays came on fast, and we loved it.

I'm sure you remember our Christmas in Utah, 

 and New Year's in Evansville.

We were so lucky to be able to see both our families over the holidays.

And let's be real. We were so lucky to experience everything we did in 2012,

and to be sealed together for eternity.

I loved last year, so much. I know that it was more than these highlights and pictures...

I mean, weddings and moving and job searching, 

those big changes don't come without opposition and discouragement, and little freak outs.

But when I look at what I'm blessed with, and who I'm blessed with,

those moments fade away fast. And these are the memories that stick.

I loved last year, and I am so grateful for everything I learned during it all.

So here we go, 2013. 

I'm ready to let you be your own kind of wonderful,

because I think 2012 is going down in the books as pretty unique,

and better than I could have ever planned.