11.11.11

b and linds officially tied the knot!

it was so much fun to spend all day celebrating with such wonderful friends and family!

we are so blessed.

everything was beautiful and i was on cloud 9 the entire time.

amber flew into town which made it even better.

[that, and 13 dozen left over cookies]

after the wedding we didn't waste much time before decking the halls.

mike was a trooper and helped 24/7 which made it the perfect weekend!

ps. sunday we got to see river&saylor and mya&beckham in their primary programs and it was the cutest/sweetest/best thing i've ever seen! my favorite was the little boy who picked his nose during his one-liner at the mic.

i.died.

river baby.

river max is 5.

i can't believe he's turning five tomorrow.

time is moving way too fast.

i still remember missing rivers first birthday on my trip to europe with the utah ambassadors. i remember calling home during the party as someone held the phone up to his ear and i wished him a happy day and told him i loved him.

i distinctly remember sobbing my eyes out after hanging up the phone. it broke my heart to be missing the balloons and cake and presents-all in honor of my favorite little boy. it broke my heart to think he wouldn't know i wanted to be there more than anything.

over the past five years i've had to miss many of those birthdays. a summer in utah hasn't happened for quite some time. but i've realized more and more that my favorite part about leaving is coming back in august and catching up with my river dude and re-learning his favorite shows and snacks. we usually get to pick up right where we left off... with scooby doo and m&m's.

my friends always joke that the only way a boy has a chance dating me is to win over river dude- and thats the absolute truth.

i love my little five-year old river dude more than the whole sky.

happy birthday baby boy.

deuces.

instead of looking back i've decided to look forward.
22 goals on my 22 birthday

[1] fly a kite
[2] get my mba
[3] never stop reading
[4] visit australia
[5] learn a language
[6] get married in the temple
[7] vacation in a hut on the ocean
[8] be the best mom in the world
[9] never stop meeting new people
[10] live in a big city
[11] laugh till i cry [at least once a week]
[12] skydive
[13] always write thank you notes
[14] take more pictures
[15] never forget to pray
[16] stay healthy
[17] drive with the windows down
[18] tell people i love them
[19] put glitter on everything
[20] always put myself last
[21] take a spontaneous vacation to anywhere
[22] learn to cook and love it

ps. thanks for all the birthday wishes. so blessed.

east.er.

ducks. eggs. candy. birthday cake. family.

the best.

[having 89 photos in the last few posts is largely due to this gem of a sister and her mad camera skills. embrace it]

socool.

toomany pictures.

it happened.

i graduated.

whatttt?

biebs.

this guy. was at the party.

thanks to j.cheesman

what a guy.

surprise!

i finished my last college finals on wednesday.

what a day.

after spending the afternoon at yogurtland and shopping at nordstrom with my two best friends [jake and jess] i went to my parents house to figure out what dress i was going to wear for graduation.

there were lots of balloons on our porch, and cars everywhere-i rolled my eyes, convinced my mom over-did it with young women's again...

little did i know all of my best friends and family had taken time out of their busy schedules to help celebrate my graduation and birthday!

what a day.

and my sneaky sister (who i had g.chatted with that morning telling me she was working on a paper and was actually IN orem, IN my parents house) surprised me by flying in from DC!

what a day.

i spent the whole night feeling so blessed and so grateful by all the people surrounding me with love. i couldn't have asked for anything more.

during a crazy hard time, never in my life have i felt so much love.

what a life.

thank you to everyone and anyone who made this happen.

endings.

i feel like after this year i really understand the proverb

"all good things must come to an end"

i have been involved in so many good things,
especially this last year
[london. gmsa. violin. musa. research assisting. family vacas. byu. words with friends. marketing specialist. old academy. grad school appl. grandpa. new friends. library. twitter.]

but ive watched as many of those things have ended.
and i know that many more are going to end. very soon.
whether i'm ready or not.
so here's to new beginnings. and to the unknown.

new town.
new job.
new lifestyle.

new boys.
new school.
new friends.
new scene.
new life.

grateful for the past. ready for the future.