Baby it's cold outside

It has been a fun and exhausting month! Andrew and I have done sooo much in the past little bit that I think it's time for a quick recap.
Right after we went to California (our last post) my mom was checked into St. Mark's Hospital here in Salt Lake for surgery. For about 2 weeks before she had been having a hard time eating and keeping her food down. The doctors found that because of so much surgery, radiation and chemo the opening from her stomach to her small intestines had closed enough to keep her from digesting. Luckily, her doctor did his magic and she returned home a couple weeks ago! They did find more cancer which we already knew was a possibility so that was pretty sad but she's a miracle for even making it this far so we have faith.

I finished this semester without going mad although I was close once or twice. Andrew is still working for Sadie's and being an awesome husband.

We had an overwhelming Christmas this year. I never knew having 2 families could be this awesome! The entire Webb family got together for Christmas morning and then we headed to my parents house in the afternoon. Andrew gave me the most wonderful camera! It's a Nikon D60, if anyone knows what that means, and I love it! I'm a little picture crazy right now so pardon my excessive photos but I just can't get enough of it! After Christmas day we went to the GR. We love that place so much.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and hope you have the best new year!

Franny and the Traz.

Andrew and I went to San Francisco last week with my family to visit my Grandpa and go to his annual company party. Andrew had never been to Franny, as he likes to call it, and we tried our best to make his trip enjoyable! We went to Alcatraz aka the Traz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Warf, Chinatown and many more!

I don't know why this picture is with our California trip pictures. Probably because Andrew loves his mustache.

He looks like he belongs at the Traz.

The GGB with my dad and my brother

The Traz

At the Stanford Museum of Fine Arts, it reminded us of DC when we went to 500 museums in 5 days and this was Andrew's standard position while I meandered around.

At the top of the Hoover Tower at Stanford

This video is of Andrew rocking out karaoke style with his new friends at the party. They did Neil Diamond, Simon and Garfunkel and Elvis Presley while my family stuck to Bill Joel's Pianoman. Tommy and John were Andrew's back up singers but John decided to not do a Neil song because it "wasn't in his key" Who cares? It's Karaoke!

Flowers and Chocolates

I haven't had too much time to write anything now that I have a job that I actually have to work at. This is the latest on my end...So Andrew has been sick for the last couple of days and when I say sick, I mean really sick. I think he got a combination of my cold and whatever his brother John had last week, poor guy. I've tried to uphold my parent's standards by being as sympathetic and caring as I can possibly be and it totally worked! Even though he's not better yet he came home and surprised me with flowers and a tiny box of chocolates!!! He is just too cute! I was so shocked because I hadn't done anything that special besides force Dayquil in him. He's just so sweet! Maybe he should get sick more often! Just joking...xoxo

Quirks

Tagged

The Rules: Link the person who tagged you Tell about 6 quirks of yours Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same Leave a comment to let them know

1. I constantly play with my rings, even my wedding ring! I can't help it! I do it when I think, I guess. I've lost many a ring that way. I lost one on the bus in Italy and made Tracie crawl around on the dirty bus floor to find it for me! I love her!

2. When I say goodbye on the phone I say "m-bye" instead of just "bye". I think my mom does it to. I never noticed it until someone pointed it out, I tried saying "bye" for a while but I can't resist saying "m-bye"

3. I don't like water from a glass unless it has ice in it and I can drink it from a straw. My teeth are sensitive :) and I have OCD.

4. I hate movie theatres. They are always soooo cold, my feet stick to the floor and the random guy that always seems to be drawn to the seat next to mine is 300 lbs. so needs his chair plus mine and is eating a hot dog and nachos. GROSS! I can't stand them but sometimes when a movie is worth it, I endure.

5. I keep all of my shoes in their shoeboxes. Andrew makes fun of me about this one because I even keep my cowboy boots, that I step in horse maneur in, in a box. I just like my shoes looking nice and organized.

6. From Whitney's "The way people chew their food can drive me crazy! I hate when they have their mouth open, crunch too much, or talk while chewing. It makes me want to vomit! The worst is when I am talking on the phone with someone and they are eating and talking on the other end. It doesn't matter what kind of food it is, I believe there is a way to eat it appropriatly." I second Whitney's. My little brother Aaron will tell you that I cannot handle when I can hear people chew, it's just disgusting!
Well, that's just some little odd things about me, I'm sure there are a million but I'll stick to 6 for now!

Travel...

A while ago Krystal and I went to St. Anthony, Idaho. We stayed with Krystal's grandparents. They are, in many ways, an example of how two people should spend their years. The town is beyond tiny, and its full of characters and inside secrets that everybody knows. Krystal's grandma has the energy of a bumble bee. Her grandpa will not stop working, moxing, fixing, or anything industrious--despite the kid pleadings. Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed.
Styles and I spent a long time in Cody. It was obviously a big deal for me because I got to stare at the bonafide artifacts of Mr. William F. Cody--the man who is most responsible for creating the myth of the cowboy. I loved it. Krystal like the guns. (which by the way she is a better shot than I am)
My first time in Hawaii was on our honeymoon. Krystal's grandpa was kind enough to let us use his condo in Maui. I now understand why everyone raves about Hawaii. It is almost as if you feel that you, and you alone, have a special connection with that place--even if you have only been there but once.

Horses and the GR...aka 'sexys'

We like to call these pictures 'sexys' because thats how we look. Right? The story goes that on one of our first rides I asked Krystal to take a picture of me. Naturally, she agreed but hadn't fully understood my humor. As I was riding away into the scenic sunset I yelled back "Do I look sexy?". I kept stressing to her how I wanted to look like Jim Craig, Butch Cassidy, or even Mathew Quigley. In any case, we had a great season thus far. We have spent most of our time riding at the GR. It is so exciting for us to get out and be with different people like Victor the Peruvian cowboy, a cursing buckaroo that cowboyed for the indians, buttheaded brothers, or just being with each other. Regardless of who we are with, the GR has been extremely theraputic. And I suspect that it will only get better.

Recently, I found a poem by Waddie Mitchell that was right on.

What will I tell him you ask me

When my son's trying to make up his mind

To ride for a living like I have,

Or explore what the world has to find.

Could I tell him its sure worth the doing,

Could I tell him I spent well my time.

I'll just say from the start, son its gotta come from the heart

It aint somethin' that comes from the mind.

I'll tell him the truth as I know it.

Of good years, hard winters, and droubt.

The excstacy of winning a round now and then,

Givn' the courage to stay in the bought.

The adrenalin rush, when your bustin up brush

On a cowpony, agile and stout

Of having the rug jerked from under your feet,

When you here the outfits sold out.

I'll tell him that cowboys a verb, not a noun.

Its what you do, more than a name.

And he'd be foolin' himself if he's figurin on

Any sort of material gain.

I'll remind him of spring calves a buckin'

Of the joy, and the pride, and the pain.

Of livin' a life that is easy or hard,

At the discretion of nature's refrain.

What will I tell him you ask me,

When he's there tryin to make up his mind

I'll just say from the start, son its gotta come from the heart

It aint somethin' that comes from the mind.

-Waddie Mitchell

Our little love story

It has been a little over a year and a half since Andrew and I met. It all started when my friend and I convinced a couple of her old high school buddies to go 80's dancing with us. Andrew will tell you that I didn't pay any attention to him but how could I not pay attention to his wonderful dance moves??? He had to borrow $5 from me to get into the club which I was never expecting to see again! Lucky for me, Andrew is a very honest person and insisted on paying me back. A couple weeks after we met I got an e-mail from him and we started communication that way. I wasn't sure what his intentions were in the beginning but I loved being with him and had too much fun every time we were together!One winter night we went sledding at 11:00 at night and Andrew hit a jump and got the air knocked out of him (haha), I watched as he was thrown from a 1,000 pound bull and pushed along the dirt like a rag doll bruising almost every rib (scariest thing ever!), he stayed at my parent's house while he was recovering from ankle surgery, in the Spring he finally got the courage to take me horseback riding and we've been doing it ever since, he told me he loved me on accident as we were having one of our serious serious talks, we watched conference together while his mom rubbed our feet, as well as, movies, Jazz games and bull riding. When he went to D.C. for an internship we spoke on the phone every night for hours and I was able to visit twice, what a blessing! We went to Mexico with his family for Christmas, Idaho and Wyoming just for fun, St. George with our families for Thanksgiving and Easter and a million mini vacations to the ranch. He proposed this past winter with a walnut scavenger hunt, a box of chocolates, and a beautiful ring! How could I resist??? We have spent hours upon hours talking about the world, politics (bleah), the gospel, us, our future and anything in between!I am so grateful for him and our wonderful adventures! But most of all I am grateful for the gospel and the blessings that have brought us together. We feel blessed beyond belief to be together for eternity with so many wonderful friends and family members by our side.

L is for the way you look at me

So this is my first attempt at writing on our blog! I am completely inspired by my new sister-in-laws, Drape and Brooke, for their adorable blogs and decided to be more like them even though I don't have any cute children! That can definitely wait but for now married life is so much fun! The wedding and reception were amazing, we couldn't ask for anything more. We had a beautiful brunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where 2 of Andrew's fellow Prevaricators read their inspirational poems written just for us, Abby played the harp with Martsie accompanying on the piano and Andrew's Grandpa, who's a concert pianist, also played the piano. The food was amazing, they even had hot chocolate, my favorite! After the brunch everyone headed over to the Salt Lake Temple. Somewhere between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Temple we lost Andrew's dad and my mom so we were a little late getting in to change, oops! Despite the tiny piece of chaos the ceremony was better than I ever imagined. President Walker, the Temple President, was our sealer and gave great advice about serving one another and that's about all I can remember. I was so nervous and excited that I can't remember a whole lot! I just remember being overwhelmed by the Spirit and gratitude. I am so grateful to be able to sealed to Andrew for eternity and I am grateful for the preisthood authority that can do that. We are so blessed to be part of the few that have the truths of the gospel in our life and the opportunities to utilize the blessings of the gospel. We went to the Jordan River Temple last week and the name that I had was from 1588! During the session I kept wondering what she was thinking. Was she excited? How would that feel to have to wait so long to have the fullness of the gospel? I am just so grateful that Andrew's and my parents taught us so well and built that foundation for us! We love you and are so grateful for all that you have given us!

The Temple was amazing, everything about it was just perfect! After the temple we took a million pictures, hit up Wendy's and then left for the Ranch and got stuck in 5:00 traffic, of course! The next day was the reception and I am soooo glad we did the temple and the reception in 2 days. It let us focus on the temple and I think it really helped me not get too stressed. My family showed up a couple hours early to set up, thank heavens because I could never do it all myself! I went and started getting ready and the next thing I knew there were caterers, the flower lady, the cake lady, Andrew's family and my family all asking me where I wanted things. It was pure chaos! Luckily, I trusted in everyone's judgement and left most of the decisions up to them and it totally worked! The flowers were beautiful, the food was delicious and the cake...oh, the cake was the best! It was so good and Andrew loved his surprise cowboy groom's cake! Tracie did my hair all beautiful and cinched me into my dress just in time to take family pictures! The photography turned out incredible so thank you everyone for standing around and posing for 2 hours in the hot sun! The pictures made it all worth it! After family pictures we stood in line for a bit then cut the cake, threw the bouquet and we were out of there! Andrew is amazing! He was my rock the entire time, when I would start to get stressed he would save the day and figure everything out. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful man and my bestest friend! He is so sweet and always puts a smile on my face! We have had so many wonderful adventures together and I am so excited for what is to come! I love you sweetie!

Engagements....

I did not give Styles a whole lot to work with.

"Will You Marry Me?"...

I asked her. And thankfully, she said "yes".