Ta-da!

Okay, a little early then...

CLICK!

Emily + Rick = Luv 4evr

They did it! Em & Rick got married Saturday in the Mesa, AZ temple. It was a very sweet sealing, followed by a VERY fun party (even though it rained!)

ohmigosh she's marrrrriiiiied!

are they too cute? and i love rick's tie--bold, daring, very rick.

a little GQ for the groom

emily's adoring fans

traditional girls-kissing-dad photo

:-)

:-)

Here's why Steve is great:

Last night Steve's roomie Eric flew in to stay with us for a week.

Eric asked what I do for a living. I explained that I'm in marketing--newsletters, blogs, etc. And Steve told him he should go read my work blog, that its really good. I didn't even know he'd read it until last week. :-) It just made me feel good. He's awesome.

(Sorry there are still no photos. We're working on getting a new camera!)

a very true love

We lost our little Maggie dog tonight, after 11 wonderful years. I feel like my heart will break, I love and miss her so much. I don't know that I can say anything to sum up who she was, so I will have to say simply that she was happy even when she was sick and hurting, and always loving. She has one the biggest hearts I have ever encountered. Love to you, Mags. See you again someday.

Fall Fall Fall

Haven't posted in a while... Things are busy at the Walton residence... Hmm...

I'm ready for fall:

• cozy sweaters and soft soft warm scarves
  
• cold weather and sometimes rain and lightning
  
• pumpkin decorations
• little kid trick-or-treaters
• scary movies
• back to school supplies in every aisle at Target
• hot cocoa and PJs with Steven
  
• winter on its way

One Year

That was us one year ago. Or a little over a year ago, now. A year ago we were on our honeymoon, exploring San Luis Obispo and eating fried zucchini at this quirky little restaurant with a waiter who sounded like Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove.

We've had our bumps in the road, but I feel like everything we have been through is worth it. Being with him is the best thing in my world--he gives me a reason to get up and go to work every day, and hope for a beautiful future. It's nice to know we have an eternity to come--we face things better together than we ever could have alone.


Hey baby? Thanks.

Steve Has a Blog!

Feeling pressured by how everybody else in the world has a blog (I think this is probably my 10th... really...), Steve started his very first blog last night. You can check it out here:

http://greenwaterfishbowl.blogspot.com/

Hooray! Blogging!

Swing on a Star

There was a meteor shower last night. And I saw it.

Steve and I took a nap at like 10pm so we could get up and watch it without throwing off our sleep schedules too badly (I need 8 hours or I am grumpy), and at about 11 got up and piled into the car, laden with a plate of brownies and Steve's fancy binoculars.

We tried to go up to Mt Soledad, but it was all foggy up there, so we ended up driving to our church parking lot. Its right by a canyon so it was dark enough. We layed on the back of the car and waited.

I always forget how cool shooting stars look. That long streak of light across the sky. I saw 4 and Steve saw 3, but we never saw one at the same time. It was really nice though, to actually relax and sit still long enough to notice the stars. I highly recommend it.

Kevin & Rachel's Wedding (part deux)

Since this was really my first wedding in a long time (besides my own) that I was going to be a part of from start to finish, and since my sweetie was the best man (meaning no time to sit around and chat with me that day), I dubbed myself unofficial photographer/videographer of these new Walton nuptials.

Here are a few choice photos of the cuteness that ensued on July 27, 2007. (Also please notice that my photography skills appear to be improving slightly, per goal #1 of 22.)

Kev & Rach burst out of the Manti temple doors!

Obligatory kiss for the cameras (poor things).

Must've been a good kiss... Rachel's veil came off!

Isn't her hair/veil combo gorgeous?

I just think this is adorable (of both of them).

Rick (Steve's sister Emily's bf) became Grandma Walton's unofficial chauffeur for the day.

Steve... :-)

Jessie being beautiful and sun-drenched.

Emily and Rick bringing sexy back.

...me!

I think Rick took this for us... Thanks Rick!

Ems & Jess giving their Daddy a kiss.

Simple Things

Things about today that I enjoyed:

1. Reading a magazine in the courtyard on my lunch break
2. Egg sandwich for lunch (that probably sounds gross... but its a childhood favorite)
3. A big hug from Steve after work
4. My co-worker, Jennifer, had saved me a bunch of boxes to pack up (we're moving soon)
5. Apple Cinnamon Cheerios for breakfast
6. Thinking about getting my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tomorrow
   
7. My bosses dog taking a nap under my desk while I worked. (Hard to tell, but that is his tail-end up against my computer tower as he snoozes).
8. 
   

Miracles

Kevin (Steve's brother) and Rachel's wedding is coming up in less than two weeks now, and it is pretty easy to fall under the spell of it all. I've been thinking, isn't it a miracle that two people can find each other, and fall in love, and be perfect for each other? I'm not saying that it's easy, or that marriage is simple, but isn't it just a miracle that you can love someone so much, and then they love you back, so much, and you work together towards this new life that belongs to both of you?

I think that is just one of the most incredible miracles of all.

I love weddings. I'm beginning to see why other people love them so much, too, even after they are married. It makes you reevaluate; it makes you remember.

Twenty-Two

I had a great 22nd birthday. Here is how it went....

Steve presented me with a beautiful birthday cake at 12:02am, the exact minute I was born.


He had made it entirely by himself, and it was beautiful. Two layers of fluffy vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. It tasted just as good as it looked. And he did all that detail using just a ziploc bag with a little hole cut in the tip!!!

We wanted to take a lot of photos of it before we ate it, because of its prettiness. YAY CAKE!

We got up early (for us) on Saturday morning and went over to the movie theater to watch Ratatouille! It was so cute! And as always with Pixar, brilliant and beautiful. We got lunch at Jack in the Box (that's what I wanted) and then headed over to the mall for some shopping. That wore us out, so we came home and watched a couple of episodes of "Planet Earth" (so neat!) before heading out again for another adventure...



We drove up the 101 in search of fun & food.



We passed the Del Mar Fairgrounds...


...and ended up at Grandview Beach, the beach we went to for our wedding photos. Those are my birthday-toes in the water. The tide was so high that the water was almost touching the cliffs behind us.


Steve started frolicking in the water.


It was so warm that he decided to go for a spontaneous swim.


Only problem with that was that he ended up soaking wet, and with no change of clothes.


He tried to wring out his pantlegs, but that wasn't too successful.


I gave him a kiss, even though it was MY birthday. (So he should have given me one, right?)

We had dinner at this delicious bakery on the 101 called St. Tropez Bakery. We sat outside and munched on sandwiches. There was a lot of good people watching there, and also a live jazz band out in the plaza, so we had a really nice time. We were going to head down to ColdStone, but got sidetracked by how dirty the car was and headed to...


The CAR WASH!!! (We're in it. See the windows?)


It terrified Steve.

After the car wash we did make it over to ColdStone, where I cashed in my coupon for a free "Love It" size (medium) chocolate icecream with gummy bears & brownies mixed in. We shared it. Speaking of, you can sign up for a FREE COLDSTONE BIRTHDAY ICE CREAM at their website!!! YAY!

Also, enjoy this video of us in the car wash:

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays!

Yesterday was both my Dad's and Steve's brother Kevin's birthday. I am still in the process of making my Dad's gift, so I'll post pictures of that later. Steve and I made a music video for Kevin's birthday, using a song he really likes called "Snails" by The Format. So here it is for your enjoyment:

Paper Flowers

I came home from work today with a massive headache, and Steve, cute thing that he is, met me at the car and left to do all our grocery shopping for me, because he is an angel. When I got into the apartment, I found this on the table.


I think it's pretty obvious that I have the most adorable husband in the entire world.

I want to blog, but I feel like I have so much to say and not even enough energy to say it... :-)

We went up to LA this weekend for Allana's endowment session, which I was honored to escort her through. I've never been to the LA temple before, but it was neat because it was so different than San Diego. And it's where my parents got married, so that was very special, too. Steve and I think we found the room they were married in (there were four, but we only saw two).

Valen Times

Steve & I had a mini-Valentine's day yesterday. He had to work (we now "affectionately" refer to the restaurant as "The Pot") at 4:45, so we didn't do anything big. That turned out to be good, because of course everybody in North County went out to eat last night, and I'm not big on waiting for a table.

Steve gave me my gifts before he went to work--I got home from school and Steve had strung a single ribbon all along the perimeter of the apartment. When the ribbon crossed over something meaningful--a book we read together, our fishbowl, etc.--it had paper hearts taped to it that said things he loved about me or the apartment. It was adorable. So I got to walk through the whole apartment and see all the things that remind Steve of me. It made me so happy, especially because so many of them were just about goofy things we do together, like making "speed brownies"--we jump up, usually during a commercial, and run to the kitchen to make a batch of brownies as fast as we can. We divide up the steps so we are very efficient. We're getting our time down considerably with each round, too.

He also gave me a DVD set I really wanted of a Korean movie called Il Mare. It's the movie 'The Lake House' was based on, but it is way better. Anyway, I was pretty excited about that.

Then Steve went to work and I got to work on a bunch of homework. Ick. But I'm almost done with midterms, and I'm officially done with school for this week, so I'm feeling a lot better. I watched LOST with James, Mike, & Krystle. Steve got home about 10 minutes before that ended.

When we got home he called his mom to say happy Valentine's, and then I gave him my gifts. I bought him a copy of Gray's Anatomy (the actual anatomy book, not a DVD of the show) because he was ogling it in Barnes & Noble. He was really happy about it. I also made him a DVD of all his mission videos, complete with animated intro & menu. I was really proud of how well it turned out, and he kept saying "No way!" as he watched the menu I made, so that was pretty gratifying. Nice to get the effect you're going for.

It was pretty late, but since we didn't get a romantic dinner we cuddled up with some Martinelli's sparkling cider in champagne flutes and watched part of Pride & Prejudice (the A&E one; I'm a purist), so all in all, it was a very cute day. We're going to go to Ruby's for dinner on Friday for our special dinner, so that will be a nice carrot.

I'll post soon... (maybe)