The Valentine

So here I am again writing about our life. Less for others and more for myself...as it seems that this 'blogging' helps keep me sane.

I took a bus trip to Arizona to see my family. Stopped over in Vegas and met a new/old friend. :)

 Sat at table 11 for lunch. :) 

Saw Fremont all lit up

And spent some quality time in a beautiful bus stop.

I got to spend time with my family and my sweet babies...

I got a haircut while I was there...and then cut Tye's when I got home. :) 

We were super poor for Valentine's Day, so Tye wrote me a poem:

I made him a card...and we decided to go to the hot springs with our friends. It was supposed to be just a few hours trip. Home by about 1am. :) hahaha. We got partway up the road to the springs and discovered that the road was closed for snow. So...we decided to hike the rest of the road to the trail...and then hike the trail to the springs. So about 3 miles later we got to the trail head. Once there, we realized that the shoes I had chosen to wear were not in the slightest appropriate for the hike. I was falling and slipping and there were dropoffs to our side that did not look like any fun at all. I was in tears from falling and from the terror of falling off the side. About halfway up the trail, our friend Liz traded shoes with me since she was familiar with the area and the terrain. That made it a little easier for me. We got to the hot springs and spent about 2 hours there. It was wonderful. I have never seen so many stars in the sky...the water was so hot...none of us wanted to leave, but by now it was 3am...if we didn't leave now, we never would. So we all got dressed and began the trek back to the car. I knew from the start it was going to be hell. My knee was throbbing in pain going down the hills. By the time we got to the end of the trail to the road, I was ready to give up. My knee kept locking up...my legs were on fire, and I knew we had a good couple of hours ahead of us. Every corner we went around was more discouraging. It took us nearly 4 hours to get back to the car. 4 long, torturous hours. I couldn't hardly move for the first day or so afterwards. There are no pictures because this all took place in the middle of the night. 

So this is where we are. This is our life to date. We are moving forward. 

The new

It's been a long and exhausting month. It was also quite beautiful. I had my very first White Christmas. :) It was our first "real" Christmas together. (Last year we were not in the same city...lol, but we had our own Christmas a few days later.)

We had a beautiful time with friends.

We opened the presents we bought for each other and those from our loved ones.

Then Tye put together his new desk...and swore. A LOT! :) hehe. I promised to buy fully assembled presents from now on.

But when all was said and done, it was a thing of beauty!

And the apartment was a bit of a mess:

We went snowboarding. It was my first time. Poor Tye spent almost 4 hours going down half a run with me. I was doing ok until I fell and hit my head twice...then I was a chicken. And boy...did I hurt for a few days after. :) I'm ready to go again now though.

After so many parties and good times over Christmas weekend, we spent New Year's Eve at home by ourselves. It was really nice. We watched the ball drop (on New York time ;) and then kinda drifted in and out of consciousness for the next couple of hours. Kissed again at midnight and watched the fireworks in downtown Salt Lake from our bedroom window. This is our second New Year together. It really is a beautiful thing.

Probably the only thing missing was my babies and my family. Next year the little ones will be with us...and it will be perfect.

This year has a lot in store. Mostly in preparation for next year.

Life is beautiful.

2009

Quite the year we've had. It's been a long one. It's been a difficult one. It's also been a beautiful one. The first half of the year I think was the hardest. The second half things started to fall into place. We went to U Fest for my birthday which was AMAZING! 

We spent some quality time in our backyard:

We went out on dates to fancy Scottsdale restaurants with giftcards we were given:

                                                               

We went to Jerome with Tye's parents:

We began planning a move to Salt Lake. Things were slowly coming together. Then I came down with mono. :) Spent some super quality time on our couch. Lots of sleeping. 

Drove to Tucson a few times. 

Spent time with the kids: 

And then a month before we moved, this amazing thing happened. My long lost family found me: 

That was an amazing day. 

Followed by a whole lot more amazing days. 

                                                     

A few short weeks later, we packed up to move.

Stuffed the car as full as possible, and we were on our way! 

Went on job interviews that didn't pan out, spent our first two weeks here sick, and then it all began to come together. We found our beautiful, cozy apartment that we knew we wanted from the moment we walked in. 

The second night in our new apartment as we were lying on the floor (we had no bed yet) keeping each other warm, Tye proposed to me. In his perfectly beautiful words: "Before we got the bed in the house we were pretty much camping out on the floor. While we were trying to keep warm and enjoying each others company I knew I didn't want to be with anyone else and just felt like it was the right time. While we were laying there in each others arms I asked her. No ring, no knee, just the knowledge that I love her and want to be with her. Sweet and simple."

It was all could ever have hoped for. I accepted...so grateful to be in that moment. 

The next morning, we went out on our back porch and there was a praying mantis:

A good omen for us...two showed themselves to us after the first time Tye kissed me and again a couple weeks later. 

We both got jobs. Granted, they aren't ideal and we see a lot less of each other and are tired and stressed a lot, but we got jobs. And our praying mantis friends continued to visit us on days that brought us good fortune. 

We went for walks in the beautiful fall weather

                                                   

And then came the snow. 

We went for our first walk together in the snow. 

We had a fabulously fun Halloween together. 

A lovely Thanksgiving on our own....some strep throat over Thanksgiving weekend, and today hung our stockings (from his parents) side by side on our fireplace. And it is Tye's 30th birthday! Happy birthday love!

The future looks bright.

Now that we've caught up to today, I will try to keep this updated often.