4 Months and a Proposal!

February 28, 2014 was a GREAT day! 
Not only was it our 4 month anniversary, but Mark asked me to marry him!!!

We have been having wonderful weather in Utah lately so Mark and I had planned on going for a hike on Friday.  Of course that day it decided to be cold, windy, and rainy. Mark told me he had gotten off early because he was suppose to have baseball, but ended up not having it. We met up at his house and headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Now I'm not going to lie, in my head I had a feeling he might propose. I had asked him how hard the hike was and if i could wear normal clothes and he assured me I should dress normal because we would probably go to dinner later. (Smart thinking!) Once we got up the canyon we stopped at Storm Mountain. The parking lot was closed because of the winter season, but we thought we would be rule breakers and hike up that way anyways. As we were walking he started going super fast. He was holding my hand as we walked through more of the parking lot and picnic areas. He started almost dragging me along. I laughed and was like um can we please slow down a little bit? he just laughed and slowed down. At one point he said REALLY?? I was super confused. He said oh nothing. You just looked like you made a face. Well come to find out I had walked right through a clue he had left for me. (He went up early to make sure we really could hike up to where he wanted).

Clearly I dropped the ball by not noticing this GIANT M + A in the parking lot. I was too busy noticing the other set of footprints off to the side and trying to see if they matched the boots he had on. Come to find out they were his footprints, but he changed shoes to throw me off!

Once we got up to the top of the mountain we had an incredible view! It really was awesome!

I was busy looking at the view and he quickly turned me around and started to get down on one knee. He got really excited and was jingling his keys a little bit. Being the joker that he is, I assumed he was trying to mess with me. I had looked for all the signs of a ring box and hadn't seen a thing. He is the type to trick me and then surprise me later, so I really thought he was just joking. He told me he loved me and wanted me to be his wife. When he said will you marry me he pulled out the ring from his pocket. My first response was REALLY? I was honestly shocked because I thought he had been joking! He said YES, of course REALLY!!! I was yes and we hugged and kissed. I was so excited to put the ring on my finger and make it official. 

It is PERFECT! I'm in love with my ring. I can't stop staring at it. We were able to sit and enjoy the view and just chat. About 10 minutes after he proposed I really started to tear up and realize this was real. I was engaged. I was just so happy to be engaged to this amazing man.

We hiked back down and decided to go call family and friends. It was very fun to be able to share the news with everyone. We had a nice dinner at Rodizio Grill and walking around City Creek. We are so excited to be able to spend eternity together and start this new adventure together. I'm so grateful I found this amazing man. I've never been happier!

Valentine's Day

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. Mark thinks it's really funny because it really just isn't a big deal to me. I always say that I just want someone to love me EVERY day, not just on Valentine's Day. Basically, I don't need all the big fancy stuff or expensive gifts. I just want to be with the person I love. 

With that said... I surprised Mark with 14 days of LOVE. I picked out super cheesy valentines off of pinterest and made them for him. Things like I love everything you "DEW" and You are the only fish in the sea for me (I got him a kissing fish, that lives at my house). He loves presents so it was fun for him to have a present every day. 

He surprised me good! I had texted him in the morning and never heard back. I was a little bummed and figured he was probably in a work meeting. I literally had just voiced my sadness to a friend when in walked MARK! He had taken a half day at work and surprised me with beautiful flowers. 

I have to say, this guy LISTENS! I love, love, love tulips! Plus he got me white roses at Christmas and loved them. He decided to combine the two and they were perfect!

He really is the greatest!

We didn't have dinner plans, but found a great sushi restaurant and enjoyed being just the two of us. We went home and watched the olympics and called it a night. It was easily my most favorite Valentine's Day ever!

Ice Castles

I started seeing on instagram and Facebook lots of pictures of really cool ice castles. I looked them up and was so excited to see that they were in Midway. I'm pretty sure that I asked Mark if we could go see them EVERY day until we finally went. We decided to double with his cousin and his wife. We had a really great time. Totally worth it, although we almost slipped and died on the ice many times.

 I loved all the colors!

 We never have any fun.... ;)

I was surprised by the size of the castle!

I hope the ice castles make their way back to Utah soon!

Guess what....

I LIKE SUSHI!

Okay, not all sushi, but I have been very brave lately and tried sushi a couple of times. Mark loves sushi and so do his parents. He is really good about picking kinds I will like. I even ate eel and tuna. CRAZY!

Sushi is beautiful too! I had no idea. I also LOVED my fortune from a couple of weeks ago. Got Mark and I laughing pretty good.

Lately....

Life is pretty busy at the moment, but it has been wonderful! 

Here is a quick look at what I've been up to:

Saying Mark is a "car guy" is an understatement! He LOVES cars. I think cars are cool and pretty, but that is about it. I know nothing about them. We stopped by the car show and we both were drooling by the end. The top Mustang is my dream car! Oh my gosh! Seriously made Mark look at it multiple times with me. His dream car is the shiny red one.

 We had a night in of playing old school Nintendo! Grey box, rectangle paddles, blow on the games so they work kind of fun! It was awesome! We played LoLo, which is a mind/puzzle game for hours! Total nerds. I highly recommend doing that if you can. Perfect, free game night.

 Lini and Josh had a baby! I got to play Auntie to the other two for the day and got to see the new little one soon after he was born. Such a fun day! Mark, the drummer, showing me his mad skills and pretending to be hardcore. Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Salt Lake Temple.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I was lucky enough to get the day off. Mark had to work. I did get to take him to lunch though, which was out of the ordinary and very fun. I always enjoy a little extra time with him. I'll take whatever I can get! 

January has been great! Can't wait to see what the rest has to offer!

Christmas Surprises

Since I was gone most of December, Mark and I decided to do Christmas once I got back. I maybe couldn't wait though. While he was in California I decided to just give him his present. I decided over Thanksgiving to make a quilt for Mark. My mom of course got roped into helping me. Thank goodness for moms. I loved how it turned out and Mark was so surprised.

Mark and I have a joke about fishy kisses. You'll notice that we both stuck with that theme although we didn't know the other one was doing something with that as well.

Mark out did himself for my gift. He was so good about keeping it a surprise for me. The only clue I got was BLUE. I have never felt so loved. The night I flew in he went over to my house and set up my kitchen table for a fun dessert night. He bought me white roses, framed a picture of us, had sparkling cider, and ice cream! He sure knows how to make a girl feel special. He handed me the sweetest card and a BLUE Tiffany's box. WHAT???? Yeah...I was in shock. I opened it and the most beautiful necklace was sitting inside. It is an amazing fishy. I love it because it's exactly the type of thing I would wear. It is a fish, but doesn't look like a fish. It was the PERFECT gift. If you hear the back story behind what he had to do to get the necklace your heart would melt. I seriously couldn't be any luckier. Easily my favorite Christmas gift I have ever received. 

Christmas in California

Sunny and Fun are the perfect ways to describe Christmas in California this year! I was loving the weather and enjoying being with my family.

My parents and I enjoyed breakfast at IHOP! 

These white chocolate and raspberry pancakes were heavenly!

 These kids make Christmas so much more fun!

 Jayden got a huge bike from Grandma & Grandpa! 

He is all boy and LOVED riding it around!

 Santa was very kind this year.

 My babies... who are growing up way too fast.

 Every year we all get a new ornament. It usually represents something that you did that year. I thought a key was appropriate in honor of me buying a new house.

 More presents!

It was a relaxing holiday and always so wonderful to be with my family!