Places and Things

My whole life, I've always wanted to travel. I get Travelzoo's Top 20 deals, Budget Travel emails, National Geographic gives me pictures and updates on Facebook, the Global Volunteer Network emails me all of their opportunities, etc. BUT, I want to SHOW you the places I want to visit someday. I could say "everywhere", and leave it at that. But after looking at these pictures, how can you NOT want to go?

Look how small the person looks in the HUGE cave!

Elephants in Kenya

 (I love elephants, and have always wanted to go on a safari.)

 After watching An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle,

I think the Empire State Building is a must.

 GREECE. I've always wanted to visit this place.

This church in Greenland. (It is a replica of the church that

Erik the Red built for his wife when became a Christian.

He built the stone wall to keep the animals/livestock out.)

Ireland...mmm. Jon and I watched Leap Year last week (Jon admitted that

he really liked the movie - "a good chick flick"). Every time I watch it,

I want to go see and stand on the cliffs of Ireland.

I love this walkway in Japan. (As long as I could find a cool stone
stairway like this, I don't care WHERE it is!)

I'll admit, I always worried that I would get into a kayak, flip over, be stuck, and drown.

(This was before I realized that they made bigger, roomier holes for your body, too.)
Don't the rocks and the water look amazing?

I just want to step into this lake
and go for a night swim...

Look at these huge trees in Madagascar! What a sight.

Along with all of the beautiful views, I also want to know all about the culture and the people.

I would love to help these women and carry a basket of tea leaves on my head, too.

I would like to eat at this restaurant...

Infinity pools... I love them! I can't get over how cool they look.

Zip lining! Talk about an adrenaline rush!



A romantic gondola ride. People say it is expensive

and overrated, but I still want to go on one!

See the pyramids, and ride a camel. (This picture

kills two birds with one stone!)

Doesn't this roller coaster look awesome!? Look how

steep that drop is! ( I always wait in the longer

line to get in the front seat. That's the best spot!)

Anyway, that's all for now. There are so many more things to do and places I want to go! I'm sure there will be a "Places and Things II" blogpost coming soon...

Surprise Date

Jon and I went to the Bingham Canyon Mine last week - he took me there for a "surprise" date, followed by walking around Gardner Village and looking at the cute shops and sampling the fudge.

Unfortunately, we forgot our camera at home, but the open mine was amazing! It is the largest open mine in the world. Look at the size of that truck!! They were HUGE! The workers have to climb a tall ladder just to get to the steering wheel.

If you look really closely, you can see how tiny

the huge trucks look on the road. We saw a semi truck

pass one of them and it look SMALL compared to it!

We walked around the Visitors' Center and watched a few informative videos and put quarters in the  magnifying machines so we could see some action up close. (I'll remember not to wear a dress up there again - the wind was blowing around like crazy and I had to hold my skirt down the whole time!)

Here is what the official site said about their huge hauling trucks: "There are about 80 gigantic haulage trucks operating in the mine. These trucks carry from 255 to 320 tons of material in a single trip. The largest haulage trucks have 1,300-gallon fuel tanks and use very low-sulfur diesel fuel. The fleet of trucks will travel more than 10,000 miles a day."  CRAZY, huh?! No wonder they have to be so big.

It was a nice 45 - 60 minute drive to get there, and on the way we stopped by Daybreak - a community of newer homes. I drove by this neighborhood once before, 2 years ago, and could never find it again. It's right by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I'm so excited we passed it!! I have been wondering where it was located for forever, and I had forgotten what it was called. I love these houses -  you usually don't see these kind of houses in Utah. Jon said there are houses just like this in North Carolina, so we may have to settle there. (I really don't like the brick/brown stucco houses in Utah - I like more character and color!)

Daybreak has their own shops, community parks, running trails, lake and the yards are beautiful (because of the HOA).
I always thought I would want to live in a place with a huge, well taken care of yard, but I definitely do not have a green thumb (and I lack the passion for it). They have small yards, but they each look so nice and have flowers/trees/etc. The houses range from small to large, depending on your budget and the size of your family.

Here are a few of the houses they have there:



 

 

 

I just think they are so cute and pretty. They remind me of houses by the beach back home. Someday....!

Wedding Pictures

(These pictures will be out of order. Blogspot is giving me trouble. So first are pics of the reception, then of the temple!)

I started to write a loooong post about the wedding and reception, but it was getting to wordy, so here are a bunch of pictures and a few comments for some!

Reception: table centerpieces - a mix of candles and flowers

Mom and dad

Jon and I dancing our first dance, to Doris Day's

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Terri took our pictures, and got some

developed right away to have at our reception!

The sky that night - the weather was perfect!

Our "growing up" and "dating" pictures, strung between the trees.
(I found this idea on a website and loved it!)

Jon's dad and mom

Guests enjoying the ice cream bar

Grandma and Grandpa

My girlfriends from the Somersworth ward surprised

me and came to our reception!
Megan, me, Hillary, and Amber

Dancing with dad, to Frank Sinatra's:

They Can't Take That Away

I think Chris was like this most of the night...haha!

Jon's nephews, serving at the ice cream bar

The cake

(We just cut into the cake - we figure the ice cream bar
was good and we didn't need to serve cake also. It was
delicious and I loved the simplicity of it!)

The favor bags
(we ordered salt water taffy from
The Goldenrod in Maine... people could
go fill up their bags with different flavors!)

The day before the wedding, I took my endowments out in the Provo Temple. Afterwards, Jon's family and my family went to Carrabbas for dinner. After dinner, we all went to a local LDS church and Jon and I received father's blessings. It was a perfect evening.
Right after the temple Thursday night

Here we are coming out of the temple - NEWLYWEDS!

(Jon was making sure not to step on my dress...)

Chris and Marian ran right up to us and asked, "Did you guys get married?!"

Bridesmaids!

With Grandma and Grandpa!

Jon and the nephews

Jon with his two *single* brothers

Ring Bling

"Jewelry takes peoples' minds off your wrinkles." Finally, pictures of my ring. I don't even think my mom has seen it yet! Originally I had chosen a different ring online (the ring that Jon proposed with), but after trying it on and wearing it for a few minutes, it started rubbing my pinkie and middle finger so it was uncomfortable (the outer ring embellishments were just rough or something). Jon insisted I needed a ring that day, (he didn't want me showing family and friends a different ring that I wouldn't be keeping), so right after he proposed we went ring shopping! We went to about 5 stores, but nothing was popping out to me. I didn't want to settle with one that was just "okay", so we went to the mall and looked at JCPenny. We were looking in the jewelry counter case together, and at the same time we saw one said "that's it!" We spoke to the lady at the counter for about 30 minutes (turns out we had some connections through work/school), and she even gave us an extra 15% off! I'm glad we found this ring so I didn't have to "settle" with one that I didn't really love. BUT, I love this ring. The pictures don't do it justice. It sparkles and shines and it is my favorite accessory. :) (The pictures make the middle stone look huge!)

Dang, my fingers need a diet! Ha ha...

Oh They Say When You Marry in June...

June 17th, to be exact! (Unless we choose the Jordan River temple, which is closed that day. But, probably not...)

Last night Jon and I decided to get marry on Friday, the 17th. We are in the process of calling temples now (Jon has been very proactive and finding out how big the sealing rooms are, what dates are available, etc. - that's good since I'm such a procrastinator!) Right now we're looking at the Oquirrh Mountain and Provo temples, and maybe Draper. I'm already stressed out about the planning - I even dreamt about the invitations last night (well I dreamt that I made them myself and they looked awful! Apparently I can't cut straight lines in real life OR in my dreams.)

The ENGAGEMENT story!:

Last Thursday, Jon picked me up from work at 2:30 and we went to Carrabbas (mmm!) for lunch. (I had a very good suspicion that he was proposing that day. 1, because he doesn't hide surprises or keep secrets very well - I think he gets too excited, 2, he kept hinting that St. Patrick's Day is really lucky, 3, he kept asking how I would like to be proposed to (in public, private, outside, inside, etc. I told him that I was NOT planning the proposal FOR him, haha!) and 4, he asked me if my room would be clean and if I make my bed every morning...kind of an odd question. Anyway, we went to my house after lunch and I was kind of expecting to see something right when I walked in - I'm not sure what I was looking for, but maybe balloons or flowers or any kind of hint. There was nothing there, so I thought maybe he was asking later in the evening. But then I walked into my bedroom and I found this:

The sayings are cute. They read:

"At the end of the rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold.

At the end of a story, you'll find it's all been told.

But our love has a treasure our hearts always spend.
And it has a story without an end.

"At the end of a river, the water stops it's flow.

At the end of a highway, there's no place to go.

But just tell me you love me and you are only mine.

And our love will go on until the end of time."

I thought it was pretty cute. Behind the pot of gold was a really nice card that Jon wrote me, telling me how much he loved me and wanted to marry me. It also said to "dig through the gold" to find the real treasure. Of course I knew at this time that the ring would be buried in there. So I dig through and dump the candy out and I found a little green box. I was kneeling on my bed the whole time digging and he was kneeling on the ground watching me. So he takes the box from my hand and opens it and I sat at the edge of the bed and he started shaking really hard. I honestly don't remember everything he said (I wish I did, but I was so caught up in the moment!), but I know he said he loved me and wanted to be with me forever and that he wanted me to be his wife. He started to cry, and I gave him a big hug and said "of course I'll marry you" or something similar. I really don't remember our exact words!

I am so happy and I love Jon so much. I am very excited for June 17th and to spend eternity with him. He's my best friend!

Right after the proposal:

Later that night: (I LOVE my ring!!)

It was a long day, and I don't know why my nose looks bruised...(well, I'm sure I smudged my makeup...or something haha).