the ruppers.

December Begins

2011-12-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

I know, I have been super lacking in my blogging. I have just been so insanely busy! (as I am sure everyone is during this holiday season and you guys are keeping up on your blogging, so I really have no excuse... ) But i just feel like it has gotten to the point where I need to hop on and write about what has been going on in our lives.

Today was the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional and it was so wonderful. We invited one of our couple friends over, aaron and cassie, and it was great spending some time with them and watching the message. One of my favorite parts was watching the Bible Video that the church has just put out. It is called Gift to the World. Click on the link to watch it!!

Yesterday Dan and I got invited to a "Registry Wrap-Up" party at bed bath and beyond where everything was 20% off. We really didnt need much at all because we got more than we needed, but we bought a gingerbread train (not house) kit, an extra set of sheets, some pillows, and a few other odds and ends. But the highlight was that we entered a raffle when we first walked in and after being in the store for about 10 minutes, our name was called over the overhead system saying we won!! I was so excited. I have never won anything before!!!

Friday night Dan's company took us all out to thanksgiving point to go on a trolley ride around the grounds and look at the light. It was the snow made it magical (and freezing). We went into one of the shops and found free apple cider (i love free things) and then we boarded the trolley. Really christmasy.

Thursday was dinner group which is always a blast. A couple in our singles ward invited Dan and I to join their weekly dinner group and it's always a great time, not only do I not have to cook on those days, but we get to socialize, play games, chat and see our friends.

Earlier this week, Dan and I had our date night and went and got burgers and instead of buying milkshakes, we decided to make our own. They were just perfect, and tasted better than any milkshake you'd buy.

Thin mint... yummm.

Last week was thanksgiving. Dan had to work the day before and the day after so we decided to stay local and go to Dan's aunt's house. A decision well made. The food was yummy and delish. And as a thanksgiving delight, I reached 100 days on my gratitude blog!!!

Black friday Dan and I both worked. Yes, I worked haha. I got hired on to work just on Black Friday at the Children's Place at the mall. I thought I'd just be greeting customers but I was actually put in the back folding. Folding and folding and folding..... but you know what, money is work and work is money! And the nice thing about black friday theses days is that it usually extends into black saturdays as well. So last saturday Dan and I went to target and bought us an adorable, $30, black friday deal, charlie brown christmas tree! Defiantly a must for getting into the Christmas spirit.

And speaking of christmas spirit, go to http://www.pandora.com/ OR download the pandora app on your phone and click on "add a new station" and search Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Holiday). Best christmas station. Bound to get you in the christmas spirit.

Halloweenie

2011-11-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Halloween was super fun. Earlier in the week, Billy and Caitlin came over and we carved pumpkins, and that was a blast.

The actual day of Halloween they came back over and we watched my favorite scary movie, "The Uninvited". Dan was really scared, and even though I'd already seen the movie 10x I was scared!! It was so fun. The scariest part was when a trick-or-treater would knock on the door, it would make us all jump! We all dressed up and that was fun too!

I was supposed to be Audrey hepburn and Dan was a sports fan

Billy and Caitlin did a mockery costume haha, i told them one year my mom made me dress up as a deviled egg and no one knew what i was... so what did they dress up as? deviled eggs. it was hilarious.

I also made some halloween cupcakes and Dan and I used our cupcake froster. That was fun.

And of course, Dan and I went on our date to Corn Belly's. One year ago, this was our first date. The date that changed our lives lol... it was just as fun the second time around. We got the scary passes and it was pretty scary.... wish i took more pictures but my phone doesn't have flash, the only one i took was this one:

Park City

2011-10-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Because we got married during the school semester, Dan and I had a short little weekend honey moon in park city. Our hotel was awesome, it had a hot tub in it, and i honestly think we were the only ones there because it is the off season. Here are some pictures of our car that the bridal party decorated...

Downtown park city was just beautiful. We went shopping at the outlets and eat great meals.

One of the restaurants we went to was called the Blue Iguana. Dan took on the challenge of the 5lb burrito...

yep it was huge....

i made a more simple choice

(pretending to have eaten the whole thing... ya right lol)

Bridals!

2011-10-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

I am so glad, and would recommend to anyone, to go take your bridals and groomals before your big day. It made our wedding day run so smoothly and we were able to have more time to take group pictures and have fun at our luncheon.

photobooth.

2011-10-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

I told my mom that I wanted a photobooth at our reception. I had seen other weddings that had done this and it looked so fun and you get so many cool pictures. My mom went strait to work collecting boas, hats, vintage chalkboards, and made a ton of fun masks. It was a total HIT at the wedding.

The Best Day Ever

2011-10-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Our wedding was awesome. The best day of my life. And it is true, your wedding day goes by so fast, you're lucky if you even get a slice of your own cake.... (it's a good thing our cater packed us up some of our food, cake and cookies!)

Here are some of the pictures our photographer, anna gleave, took (and bridesmaid, she rocked both roles)

Oct 8th 2011

2011-10-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Today is our big day!

24 Hours!!

2011-10-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Deux, Dos, Two!!!

2011-10-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

3 Days and Counting

2011-10-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

4 Days!!

2011-10-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hahaha, how funny is this....last fall, when dan and i had first started dating, i did the love calculator for us. It said we had a 75% chance of making it!

Only 5 Days!

2011-10-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

6 Days Left!

2011-10-02T13:05:00.001-07:00

One Week!!!

2011-10-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Holy cow. One week from today Dan and I will be getting married!

8 Days!!

2011-09-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Proposal

Her Side

Dan and I rushed through our finals quickly back in April 2011 so that we could leave early to spend some time getting to know Dan's parents in AZ. Wednesday, April 20th, we headed out at 5am on our 9 hour trek... I had ZERO idea I would later be getting proposed to by my best friend.
Dan, his brother and I were driving back to his place that night when Dan nonchallently asked me if I wanted to drive around and see his old 'stomping ground'. Steve (his brother) said he didn't want to join so Dan dropped him off and Dan and I drove around his old hometown. It was fun seeing everywhere he grew up! After the tour, he told me there was one more place he wanted to show me. For a split second I thought he might be popping the question but I ruled that out because the timeline didn't make much sense! We had just barely gone ring looking, and had just finished finals, just finished a long long long drive...
Anyways! We ended up back at Dan's house and he parked the car. I was slightly confused because I thought he said we were going one more place and yet we were back where we started. I got out of the car and with a look of stress Dan told me he had forgotten his keys so we would need to go around the back.
We walked through the back gate alongside the side of the house and Dan told me a funny story about him hiding back here and scaring his sister from the window. It was that point where I had completely ruled out the idea of Dan asking me to marry him, and yet as soon as I rounded the corner of the house into the backyard, I saw a table with roses and candles and a box.
I looked at Dan, and he was smiling and he grabbed me by the hand and walked me over. I was too shocked for words, so excited that I didn't even cry, and watched as Dan went down on his knee and asked me to marry him.
It was just perfect. I love you Dan!

The Proposal

His Side

As the end of the semester approached Lauren had plans to go home to Chicago to visit her family, but we still wanted to go to Arizona so she could meet my family. So we decided to hurry through finals and drive to Az. My brother, Lauren, and I had a lot of fun driving and trying not to get lost with her tomtom GPS. Actually I can't remember if we used that because she says I don't like it haha. But, we made it to AZ and she met my family. We spent some time for her to get to know my family and they enjoyed meeting her. A few days earlier I had picked up her ring and had it sent to AZ to be waiting there for when we arrived. Good thing, because if I had the ring those last days before we left it would have been burning a hole in my pocket! At the end of the evening we dropped my brother off at home and just she and I went around town and I showed her the places I grew up. You know, schools, and hang out spots, and other places, but not too many because I wanted to get to the last place! After we had seen a few places I said that I had one last place. So I drove home and we got out of the car. I made up a little lie, my cunning wit on the spot haha, and told her that I didn't have a key so we would have to go through the back gate. As we walked I told her a quick story about scarring my sister through a window, really I did it just because I was so nervous. Then we walked around the corner and she saw the table, roses, candles, and ring box. We walked over and I got down on one key and said the most romantic things I could say while my hands were shaking haha. I asked the love of my life to marry me, she said yes!! and then she reminded me to put the ring on her finger haha! I felt pretty proud snatching up such and incredible girl!

19 Days to Go!

2011-09-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone! Only 19 more days to go! Be sure to take a look at our wedding website and RSVP if you haven't already!
http://www.mywedding.com/danandlaur/

First Date

Her Side

I was sitting in class at 10am when my phone rang. I glanced down and saw an unknown number calling. I decided to leave the classroom and answer it, hoping that it would be someone from the Bishopric to give me a calling but instead it was Dan asking me out for a date that weekend! Or was it really a date? He had never made it that clear. I called my mom right after class for her advice because I really didn't know if it was a date or just a group hang out!!

It was, hands down, the best first date I have ever been on. (and yes, it was a date) Dan and I had so much chemistry right from the get go! We went to Thanksgiving Point and went to the corn maze. We played tether ball, lassoed a saddle, bounced around on this huge inflatable pumpkin, walked through an inflatable dinosaur body, raced around on tractors, and got lost in the corn maze (we cheated to get back to the start). I wanted to grab his hand but was too nervous haha. My favorite moment though and one that stands out was when we were sitting on a giant cobweb across from each other, and the way he was looking at me, and the butterflies in my stomach, just got me thinking 'oh my goodness, this guy is just want I have been looking for!'
I had such a blast with Dan, i didn't want that night to end... from then on, I was hooked.

Our First Date

His Side

Wednesday morning, after class, I walked home and decided it was time to call that mega hottie I had once seen. I grabbed the ward directory and gave her a call. She picked up and I asked "are you in class?", she lied and said "no". I mentioned to her that there was a corn maze at Thanksgiving Point, and asked if she would like to go. She lied and said "yes", really what she meant was "I've been dreaming of this moment all my life".
Friday finally came and we were off to the corn maze. After I paid for her ticket, she finally realized it was a date, and that we were not just hanging out. We grabbed a map and started looking around the grounds. As we walked through the corn maze I remember her telling me about the "mom job" that she wanted to have. She told me that she wanted to be a dental hygienist because it has flexible hours and is easy to maintain with kids in school. I remember thinking that she was a really incredible girl. After the corn maze we did all kinds of other things. We roped cattle, and went into a spooky maze, we sat in a big rocking chair together, and talked so easily together. I remember hoping that she and I would some how end up in a corner together while in the dark spooky maze haha. We spent the whole night talking and having so much fun together. Towards the end of the night I remember sitting on a playground spider web thing with my brother and his date and we were all just talking. It was there as I sat across from her that I really saw how special she was. That might have been our moment haha! The date was long and I was worried she was going to think it was too long, but I was just having so much fun with her. Also, on the way to the corn maze and on the way home we listened to the greatest band called, "Imagine Dragons". One of their songs called, "Tokyo" is now one of our wedding songs. After I dropped her off that night I knew I wanted to get to know that amazing girl more!

My Taylor Swift Updo

2011-09-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday I made my first attempt at an updo. I have been looking at TONS of wedding updo pictures and felt really inspired to give it a try (especially after Dan told me he likes it when I pull my hair up, and he also likes a lot of the messy sort of updos i've been showing him).
Anyways, I woke up this morning at 6:45 (my body has already adapted to hygiene school hour) and couldn't fall asleep, so i just started watching 'how-to updo' videos on youtube.
Found this one:

watched it a couple times, then set out to try it myself.
I sunk a lot of time just trying to get it started, and it got to the point where there was no turning back to just a normal hairstyle because then I'd need to reshower... so i stacked up all our chairs in the bathroom, put a mirror on top so i could see what i was doing in the back, and then just started sticking bobby pin after bobby pin.
But you know what, pretty soon the whole style took shape and i was loving the result! i can't wait to try it again and other fun hairstyles. Heres a pic of the back, wish i had take a few more of the sides and front but i didn't.

Stoned.

2011-09-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

Last tuesday, Dan and I set off up the canyon to collect logs to make our candlestick holders for our wedding. As we were up there, I started to feel really weird. My lower back was hurting and I was feeling really lightheaded and nauseated so I sat down at a picnic table to figure out what the heck was wrong! The pain started getting worse and worse in my lower back so Dan helped me get back in the car and we drove to an urgent care in provo.
The pain continued getting worse and worse as we drove, but as if by magic, by the time we got to the urgent care, I suddenly felt completely better and was embarrassed, thinking that I had made up that pain, so I told Dan that I wanted to go and not waste the doctor's time.
We carried on with our day activities and finished our candle stick holders (which look amazing!). As we were doing that though i started feeling crapy and realized that this isn't normal. I had Dan take me back to the urgent care (felt bad, he had to drive me all over), saw the doctor and he told me that I have kidney stones. Kidney stones?? I had to get a CT scan just to be sure and yep, I had a kidney stone. (and i threw up all over the hospital parking lot... i think i killed the grass in 3 different spots)
The doctor told me that it was small enough to be able to pass it on my own. Gave me some painkillers and a prostate relaxer (yah i know.... it was supposed to help) and sent me on my way.
For the next few days I put up with the waves of pain. Jana would come over every night so I wouldn't be alone, which was great of her. And I just waited around to pass the stone...

By the time Sunday came, I was really not feeling well. I could barely move, no matter how I sat or laid or stood my back was in agonizing pain. Every time I got up to use the bathroom (and use my funnel-strainer) would end with me throwing up... I didn't make it to church, instead i made it to the ER.
Dan drove me, checked in, got shot up with morphine (which still wasnt strong enough to even budge the pain), had an ultrasound (also i made a funny joke and had dan text my mom saying that it wasn't kidney stones, it was actually just morning sickness ...she didn't find that funny), and also got put into my own hospital room with a magic button that i could press every ten minutes to get dilaudid (a pain killer 10x stronger than morphine).

This is me getting rolled away to my room, thank you dan for taking this lovely picture.

Monday morning the doctor came in and told me that stupid kidney stone hadn't moved at all since I had the CT scan and that was causing lots of problems so he said he wanted to preform a uteroscopic kidney stone removal. They knocked me out, and when I woke up, I had a nurse standing right there holding a bucket in my face trying to get me to look at my 3mm stone. I remember thinking, get that out of my face. (anesthesia makes me grouchy)

That little dot caused SO much agony.

Dan and Jana were in my room when I got back up to my room. Pain was gone. And then I spent the rest of that day and the next recovering in the hospital. My mom had such a kick telling everyone i gave birth to a 3mm stone named "Spike" lol. My dad also joked around sent me a text asking if he'll grow up to be a "hockey player, or just the puck?"

Hahaha me right after surgery.

My first time getting to eat in 24 hours!!

So so happy (and hungry)

A stent was left in me to avoid infection... and having that removed was not a very "fun" experience either, but ever since then i feel great.

So, that is what we have been up to. As of this moment, I feel a million times better, and getting better each day. I still cannot believe I had a kidney stone.

I Survived!

2011-08-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! First semester of hygiene school is done. It was a stressful week of finals but so worth it to get done. Here are a few pictures from the semester. I am packing up my apartment right now. Tomorrow Dan and I fly out to chicago! I am so excited for a break but already anxious to get back to school to start working on real patients!!

(I need 3 patients a week starting at the end of september, so if you'd like your teeth cleaned by me it's only $10! comment or email me for more info)

Practicing instrumentation on a typadont!

We crammed a bunch of us in the car to get some "pre-spanish stay-awake" snacks.

My awesome class! UCDH 2012!

Do you see me right smack dab in the middle??

Class Pizza Party!

A delicious game to help us work on our tooth numbers!

SWAGGGGGGG- So many perks going to hygiene school! We each got this amazing toothbrush gift set!

My awesome lab partner lol

How cute is this? And tastey... a group presentation teaching us about occlusion.

Looks just like her teeth!

This picture makes me laugh. My eyes were watering and I am pretty sure I am gagging. I am not a very huge fan of the fluoride gel treatment, the foam trays were too big for my mouth, i was drooling like crazy, and it felt like i was suffocating for those 4 minutes... but it did make for a great picture (and now my teeth are protected haha)

I LOVE SCHOOL!!! It's hard, but so worth it!

55 Days to Go!!

2011-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

We Went West Willingly

Jump Up Jump Up and Get Down

2011-08-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a really fun day! This morning we went to Jump-On-It with Dan's family and got a lot of our jitters out.

Katie!

We all got pretty tired by the end!

Dan and I riding the purple elephant

Graduation!

2011-08-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Dan graduated from BYU this weekend! I am so proud of him. Did you know that in these last 5 years, Dan severed a 2 year mission and got a degree from BYU? It goes to show that you can do anything you put your mind to which has been inspiration to me as I have been studying for these finals. It has also been great having his family in town to hang out with and spend time with!

The speakers at graduation were wonderful. The professor that spoke talked about how the phrase 'knowledge is power' is only half true. "Knowledge can be power, you need to put action to it!" I thought that it was a great speech.

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone:

Done and done.

62 Days to Go!

2011-08-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend. My roommate, the awesome Anna Gleave, was back in town just to take our engagements. At first I was really nervous, but Anna made it so fun for us! She was bubbly and told us just how to stand and pose, and she even let us kiss in front of her! haha

For ANYONE looking for a great photographer, Anna's work is wonderful. Seriously, check out her stuff.

Originally we were just going to go out on friday night, but the sun set here in utah a lot quicker than expected so we got a double shooting session because saturday we went out again! So half my pictures I have curly hair, and the other half strait. I know, I'm a lucky girl! But now we have so many pictures, it'll be so hard to choose which one for our invites!

We also went to an outdoor rooftop concert friday night, ate dinner at diego's and in-n-out, went to the mall a bunch of times, worked, and grocery shopped. Busy busy, but so funnnnnnn.

I am officially approaching the last week of my first semester of school. I know, it feels like i just started huh? Everything is going so fast. I cannot believe that it is already 7 days into August. As soon as finals are over, my parents are flying dan and i out to chicago! we are so excited for that, and as soon as we get back we are going to dan's family reunion. With all these activities, I know the wedding is REALLY going to sneak up on us (which is good, because we are just super excited & ready to tie the knot!)

One more thing, my little brother has started blogging. It is super funny. Check it out and follow him here: http://natewutzke.blogspot.com/

we've gone mainstream.

2011-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

We went to the 3D dollar theater when my family was in town and Dan and I educated my mom and brother about hipsters. We had a super fun time punching out the lenses and modeling our thick, black framed glasses. We also went out planking. What is planking you might ask? It is an internet sensation that hipsters like to partake it. But you know what, as much as you might mock, we had a really fun time!

The newest and latest trend is "owling". That is where you perch up on top of things like so:

Family in Town!

2011-08-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

It was so awesome to have my family here for a few weeks! This has been my first summer ever being away from them and it was great to spend time with them. My mom and Nate were here for like 3 weeks (one of those weeks though they spent up in Canada). My mom and I were able to get some more wedding plans done and taken care of and Dan was able to get to know my family more!
Dan took Nate climbing, it was really fun. Here are some sweet pictures

My Roommate Is Back!!

2011-07-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Anna is back in town!! It is so good to see her! She has been in Spain all summer touring Europe and doing a study abroad. You've got to see her blog. We picked her up from the airport and she took us out for frozen yogurt at Spoon It Up.

Back together again!

I have the cutest fiance!

Delicious goodness!

Tres Gourmet

2011-07-25T11:47:00.001-07:00

Dan has really gotten into the show 'MasterChef' which has been awesome for me! He has been inspired to try cooking all kinds of amazing things for us to try. Friday after he picked me up from work he surprised me with this delish crockpot lasagna:

Together we made a chocolate coconut pie for dessert

Yummm

On Saturday we went to the pioneer day fair in provo and purchased this really cool picture frame and clock

Meal 2: sausage rolls!
Dan had me carmelize onions and green peppers, and then we cooked our sausages, rolled them in homemade pizza dough that Dan and Steve had made, and then cooked them in the oven. Soooo good..

all done! Yummm

Obama came to taste too. Dan wasn't a huge fan of sharing our food.
After dinner, we watched Legacy in honor of it being Pioneer Day, my idea. However, once we got it on, Dan decided to call his folks and I fell asleep on the couch. So really only Steve watched haha. We then drove Steve down to our condo in Springville so he could see it! We hung out there for a while because it was much cooler than the boy's apartment.When we got home, we decided to fry up the leftover dough with berries inside. It was really good, but poor Steve kept getting splashed with the oil.

Oh yes, I spilled on myself a ton of times that day.

Another culinary success!

Best Sliders

2011-07-17T12:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Dan and I decided we wanted to go paint ceramic plates at Color Me Mine. When we got there though, they only had one plate left so we decided to wait and spent our time instead walking around the Riverwoods Shopping Center in Provo. It was super fun walking around and going into fun stores. We then stopped for some burgers. Marley's Gourmet Sliders makes one if the BEST burgers in town and I love their shoe string fries!

89 Days to Go!

2011-07-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

How We Met

Her Side

It was one of the first ward activities we had on a Monday night and we got to play these fun outdoor games in the parking lot of my apartment complex. My roommate Anna and I were playing Twister for most of the evening and when it got too dark to play, we switched activities and went to play 4-Square. That's when I first met Dan but was too intimidated to talk very much to him!
Later that night, Anna and I called 'dibs' on which boy we thought was cute and of course, I picked Dan!

How We Met

His Side

Our first ward family home evening was a mass mess of "get-to-know-you" activities. I remember walking around, meeting a few people, but seeing a cute girl across the room. We never ended up in the same game and before I knew it, she was gone.
The next time I saw her was at another family home evening, where we played four-square and twister. Finally, she showed up as I was chatting about intramural soccer. She came over and I finally got introduced to her as we all talked.

Broken Down in Fillmore Town

2011-07-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been such a crazy weekend!
After school on thursday, Dan and I took off to go stay with some friends in St. George. We had so much fun playing with baby Wade, rock climbing, swimming, BBQing, going to see Brigham Young's winter house, hanging out and playing games (Perudo and Mad Gab)!!
Here is some pictures
To begin, I caved and got a cool camera app for my phone. We had some fun (well I had fun) playing with the different film and flashes!

Dan is giving me the look to stop lol

The drinking fountain outside Brigham Young's house!

This tree got struck by lightening and they had to have a tree surgeon come put in a metal rod to hold it together. A tree surgeon.

Ali looking beautiful in the sun shine with baby Wade!

WADE!

A tumble weed! That was a fun surprise to see next to my car

Yep, these are my feet wearing Chacos!

If you look really close you can see the boys wayyyyy up on that rock setting up our ropes so we can climb!

How beautiful is this?!!

Perris and Dan walking back from setting up the ropes

Dan climbing away

Perris belaying!

The pretty sunshine a few miles before the breakdown!

So allow me to explain what happened next! Dan and I were driving away, having a lovely time chatting and we had reached our half way point. Two hours from St. George, two hours to go to Provo when suddenly the RPMs on the car shot all the way up to the red zone. Dan let his foot off the gas and when he went to accelerate again, the car wouldn't go. So we pulled over. I called my dad (who is out of the country, $4 a minute!) to see what to do. We called AAA, then called Dan's bro to come pick us up, and then we waited. Waited and waited. We were so blessed that nothing bad happened. Everyone that helped us was so friendly. I did have to leave my car in Fillmore.

Fingers crossed that it wont be too expensive to fix cause I have heard that new transmissions cost over $2000.....

Anyways, here are two pictures I took when we were being towed. I was super scared because he let us sit in the car as we got towed!

What an adventure! Something I am sure Dan and I will never forget!! haha

Stars and Stripes!

2011-07-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

This morning, Dan and I walked down to center street to watch the parade! It was so fun. So many floats and people! Last night when we were driving back from my uncles house people were already lining and camping out on the streets. We did end up finding a great spot to watch the action!

I tried to come up with a red white and blue outfit

Scooby Doo!

The bad guys from Star Wars

This reminding me of the 'It's a Small World' ride at Disney

There were lots of beauty pageant floats

After the parade we went and did some service for one of the families in our ward. It was actually really fun getting out into the sun and working hard! Dan, Steven and I went and dug up weeds and paid down rocks. Later Dan and I went down to the park and had a little 4th of July BBQ. It was delish!

The three of us then went down to go see the new 5ht Fast and the Furious. It was exactly what we expected, incredibly unrealistic, poor acting, lot's of action.... it was awesome.

We ended the night watching a few fireworks from Dan's balcony and playing a few rounds of Mario Kart and Just Dance.

All in all, an amazing day. Happy 4th of July!

Be a Hero!

2011-07-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

The lesson in Relief Society today was about honesty. The very first thing listed in the 13th article of faith is that "We believe in being honest". Honesty is so important in our life. Complete honesty is what is necessary for our salvation. President Brigham Young said "If we accept salvation on the terms it is offered to us, we have got to be honest in every thought, in our reflections, in our meditations, in our private circles, in our deals, in our declarations, and in every act of our lives".
We are striving here on earth to be like God, and God is honest and just in all things (Alma 7:20).
The mormon message this week is on honesty. (I cried watching it)

"ill turn in the first one of you that cheats, and you better believe it!"
A few days ago I was watching one of the first episodes of 'The Office' and there was a quote about how to be a hero.

"Hero stands for honesty, empathy, respect and open-mindedness". -Mr. Brown
I think that the O should be changed to 'obedience' instead of open-mindedness. If we can just remember to be a hero (honesty, empathy, respect and obedience), I know that we will be able happier in life and be a better disciple of Christ.

My New (temporary) Ride!

2011-07-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well a few months ago, Bruce (the car that my sister and I share) got into a little accident. Bruce was parked on the side of the road and had a car reverse up and onto the hood.

It happened right before finals, so it was hard for my sister and I to take care of it. But recently I was able to get a few estimates on it to give to the lady that caused the damage. After going to the place she requested I get an estimate, and also after going to another cheaper place I found, the lady ended up going through her insurance company where they had me drop the car off at their requested placed.
I'm glad we went that route because I got a SWEET rental car! Her insurance company told me that I would get a similar car to my mitsubishi galant, but when the car rolled up, it was the new 2011 dodge durango! It has been way fun zipping around town in it. Maybe they'll just let me trade when it is time to return it!

Dan the Man!

2011-06-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

I love Dan, he does so many things for me without me even having to ask. Last saturday was cleaning check and Dan totally offered to come over early in the morning to help me vacuum, mop, and scrub.
Later that day my car wouldn't start and it was Dan that hopped on the phone to find jumper cables.
This past week my car died and Dan helped me jump it again. And on Saturday, my car died again... Dan drove me all the way to highland to work, drove around to 3 different stores to find a car battery, waited for an hour while it got changed, came home and then turned around to come pick me up.
He is so wonderful and I am SOOO excited to get married to him October 8th!

I love you Dan! Thank you for all you do.

Climbing on Rocks

2011-06-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Friday was SUCH a fun day. Dan took me rock climbing. At first when he asked if I wanted to go, I thought he meant at an indoor facility... it wasn't until the night before when I actually pieced it together we would be going OUTdoors. 7am came early and by 8am we were off to Rock Canyon. I have to admit, I was pretty scared, but not Dan haha, look at that smile:

As Dan was unpacking he was teaching me the rules. "See this rope? This rope can never get dirt on it because it will make it bristle and then you'd die.... see this carabiner? this can never get tossed because if it hits a rock, then you'd die."

So Dan and I hiked up the back of the mountain and dropped down the rope to his brother so we could climb up the other side. I cut my leg on a stick.

haha cute dan

aww it's us! This was right after I finished climbing. I didn't make it up very high haha I was too scared

The boys as they get ready to tackle their next mountain.

Okay this picture still scares me. Dan is 'lead climbing'. You have to free climb up till you come to a metal ring that has been drilled into the rock and then hook in your quickdraw carabiner onto it once you reach it. If you fall, you're falling down to your last quickdraw. It's a pretty far fall. AND Dan in climbing on pretty much a flat piece of rock, just a small, baby crack to try and shove your fingers in to hold on.

Such a monkey, giving me a heart attack watching me from afar.

I am fake climbing in this picture haha, kinda looks like im scaling the side of a mountain though right?

Dan pondering life.

After climbing, I had to go to work. But then after we had a Dutch Oven/Hot Dog roast with the Barns and the Smith's! It was so fun, such a good night getting together with our old friends!

Look at those coals burn! We ran out of lighter fluid and the Barn's ran to the store to save they day.

Billy and Cait grillin their dogs!

Aaron and Cassie!

Dan and I!

Happy Birthday Dan!

2011-06-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well today has just been so fun. It was my sister's and my fiancee's birthday (and i had two midterms, but that is beside the point).

I asked Dan what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday a few weeks ago and he said that he wanted a 'fun' cake. I also texted his mom to see what he liked and she told me, and i quote, "probably vanilla with neon food coloring and neon colored frosting. And sprinkles. Multicolor."
So, i put my baking skills to the test. When i got home today from school i filled on the tv, guess what show was on... Cake Boss (how appropriate). And from then on, I put my creativity to the test.
At the begining of the semester, the girls and I had a rainbow party and we made a rainbow cake. I liked how fun it looked when we cut into it, so I wanted to make a fun, multicolor cake that looked cool when I cut into it.
After calling my mom like 5 times to learn how to make frosting, i began my rainbow cake journey.

the first layer was my red, orange and yellow swirl and the second was my purple, blue and green swirl.

Into the oven they went:

it made a rainbow mess:

As they cakes came out and were cooling, I wrapped up Dan's presents. One of his favorite movies of all time is Footloose and he is proud to admit that, so I had to get it for him. There is a great scene in the movie where Kevin Bacon punch dances out his range that one of my all time favorite movies copied. That movie is Hot Rod. So I got Dan that movie too. (we watched it tonight, and seriously, that movie gets funnier and funnier each time you watch it)

I also got Dan a scalp massager. 1) because he loves to have his head rubbed and 2) he can do it himself and i wont have to anymore lol

And lastly, I got Dan a pair of crocs. He has always been secretly envious of mine, so i figured it was time he joined the croc club.

After the cake was done and frosted, and the presents wrapped and ribboned, we went to Seven Peaks Waterpark (again, the best investment!) and had a blast going down some slides and floating down the lazy river!

THENNN.... we went to Fuddruckers. Yum.

Curious to see how the cake turned out?? Me too. I was dying all afternoon to see what it would look like once we cut into it! Here:

the birthday boy!

Happy birthday Dan!

And I need to add a birthday shout out to jana, Happy Birthday Jan!

She is so tan!

Suave.

2011-06-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

well i ran out of my wonderful avon shampoo that has been discontinued... it was a very sad day... and now that i have a wedding to be saving for, i have decided to opt out for a more cheaper hair care regime. i've used Suave before, smells good, and they have been advertising non stop about how their product is just as good as the high end beauty supply stores... so i bought a bottle.

first, watch this commercial

who can resist a gay hairdresser saying 'suave??!?' in unbelief?? I know i couldnt.

Anyways, after about two weeks of using Suave, i have noticed a horrible change in my hair. today has defiantly been the worst... see for yourself:

scary. Dan calls it 'jungle hair', except he says it in spanish. and it is, it is jungle hair. tomorrow i am buying new shampoo.

What have i learned from this experience?? it's great to be frugal... BUT there are some things you can't skimp out on ie-shampoo. and toilet paper.

A Date Has Been Picked!

2011-06-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

we are very excited to announce that

October 8th

will be our big day!!

For more info you can check our our wedding website here: http://www.mywedding.com/danandlaur/

Good Things to Come

2011-05-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

A great little clip we watched today. We love the Mormon Messages the church puts up online.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recalls his days as a poor young father with a broken-down family car and testifies that for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are better days and good things to come.

What we need to remember is that "some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." -Jeffrey R. Holland

Our First Big Purchase

2011-05-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

So you wont believe how thrifty Dan and I are... we've been looking at apartments online and kept seeing ones we like that are in our price range... but the kicker has been that they only have washer/dryer hook ups. We want an apartment with a washer and dryer because let's face it... our quarters are better put to use playing Galaga. So anyways, I told Dan that maybe we should look into buying a washer and dryer (an investment we will eventually have to make anyways) and we found these beauties on the ksl classified website! The ad had only been posted no longer than 1 minute and the asking price.... you wont believe this... $25 for the matching set!
At first I thought it was a joke. For April fool's day this past year, my mom's old roommate's son had posted an ad on craiglist giving away her washer and dryer for free and posted her phone number. She woke up to a ton of phone calls asking about her brand new washer/dryer that she was giving away..... so naturally I thought this offer was too good to be true! But I called the guy, he seemed nice (I could hear a small child whining in the background, so clearly a family man) and he told me that he had just bought a new set and just wanted to get rid of this one!

So this morning Dan and his brother and friend drove down and picked it up, and now Dan and I are proud owners of a washer and dryer for $25 lol.
A funny side note, I texted this picture to my parents and they laughed. They bought a very similar set when they first got married!

Also tonight we made these delish cupcakes. Super easy to make and bound to impress anyone you make them for:

They are my grandma's specialty, but I didn't have all the ingredients to make them from scratch so I used a package of just normal chocolate cake mix (we used German Chocolate because it was on sale, and because I am German [if there was Canadian Chocolate cake mix, Id buy that instead]). Mix it up like the box says. In a separate bowl, mix:

a package of cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pour the cake mix into muffin tins 3/4 of the way full, and add a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Makes 24.

We also watched King's Speech tonight. I loved it.

Oh my goodness, one more thing to add.... dan bought a Wii today!!!! It is black and it is so fun. He did his price shopping and found a great deal at Target. Now that we have mastered being experts in deals, I need to work on my mario kart skills!

Bye Bye Nails.

2011-05-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, to begin... my laptop burned out its fourth charger two weeks ago and for the past two weeks I have been without a computer that was able to blog. It has been awful!
But I want to give a shout out of thanks to Dan's roommate Andrew for letting me use his old apple desktop. It kept me on task by not being able to load facebook, youtube, my email or this blog AND provided my quiet apartment with a quiet hum so I didn't feel so alone.
Anyways... Dan has just informed me that no one cares that I havent blogged in a while so I will just cut right to the chase of things we have been up to recently.

Number 1- best purchase ever... the Pass of All Passes. $49.95. Get's us season passes to Seven Peaks waterpark, unlimited activities at Trafalga, season passes to Owlz Games and Utah Flash games.
So far we have already gotten our money's worth. Last monday we went to the batting cages with Andrew and Catherine and last weekend we went to Trafalga and did laser tag, go carts, and bumper boats... WHICH reminds me..... Dan loves to start trouble. Well, not necessarily start trouble but he loves to instigate it. We were waiting in line for the bumper boats and this one little kid started to spray us while he was on the ride. Dan ran and grabbed a paper cup, filled it up with water, and flung it over the fence (cup and all) and hit the little kid. The ride operator came over and told Dan it was okay, as he too reached down, filled the cup up with water and threw it at the little kid. A water fight broke out... when the little kid's got off, the ride operator told their mother that he had taken down their information and was going to get their season passes removed but he said nothing to us. (As I re-read what I wrote it doesn't seem that funny... maybe you had to be there)

Number 2- Hygiene school (for me), I am sure dan is bored of me always talking about it, but I do LOVE it.last week i took my first radiograph... tomorrow i get to learn how to take blood pressure.... however last night was a little sad for me as I sat there, clipped my nails down to the bare minimum. I realized that I will never again have long nails....

Number 3- dan has just informed me that this blog is only about me so now I will write about him. he has been very busy with school.

Tulip Festival!

2011-05-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Dan and I were reunited! He picked me up from the airport right on time and gave me three beautiful tulips to get me excited about the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point that we went to later that day!
The weather was beautiful and worth getting a cherry tomato red face for.

A little collage I made of some of the beautiful tulips!

Lauren is Almost Back!!

2011-05-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the last night before my beautiful fiance Lauren gets back in town, so my brother and I went climbing and out to eat. We climbed for a while and had fun. Then we went over to a new burger place called JWCs. We each got the chile cheese hotdog with a bunch of fries. It was super good, but a hassle in the castle to get down haha. In the end my brother had a good laugh at my struggle and sent a picture to Lauren. I quote, Lauren: "loveeeee the pic your bro sent!!' We had a fun night and here are some pictures.

Climbing with my brother.

This is the big meal.

After the big meal.

What day is Prom?

2011-05-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've picked my man, my ring, my dress, reception hall, food, type of flowers, colours, and today I got my shoes. We weren't planning on it, but my mom and I passed by a DSW today and I suggested we just go peak inside for ideas. I have never even been in that store before, but I have a great friend who rants and raves that DSW is the best shoe store ever. We walked in, I glanced around, and there I saw the cutest pair of shoes. Tried them on, decision was made.
As I was walking around in them, making sure they fit okay, a lady said to me "those are really cute shoes, when's prom?"
I laughed and should have been more quick on my toes to respond "it was three years ago" but instead all I said was "oh it's for my wedding". The lady blushed and quickly ran away haha.

But this has happened a couple times. When I went into try on dresses, the ladies at the front desks would ask me if I had come to try on prom dresses! I guess that's a good thing though!

Time Apart

2011-05-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well this past week I went home to go visit my family in Chicago and Dan stayed in Provo to get started with school. It's been weird being apart, especially since last week we got to be with each other all day everyday! But we have helped pass the time by taking pictures and sending them to each other and skyping. I know, we are pathetic... can't stand being apart!! haha
Here is what we've been up to while apart:

My first day back in town my mom and bro took me to Portillo's, my FAV restaurant here in town.

Nate Dogg and my Momma!

Chocolate cake shake... yummmmmmmm

Toque and I went running, our housing development always has the prettiest flowers planted!

my ring... again. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nate taught me how to play the kazoo!

aww Toque!

My mom and I outside Lou Malnatis... one of the best deep dish chicago pizza joints!

My mom and I coordinated our outfits

My mom is much better at the model face than I am!

Nate and I

Delish pizza!

Cazookie for Nate's birthday!

Me and Nate's baseball game!!

Dan rock climbing!

Dan playing Galaga!! On our second date we went for a walk down on Center Street. We walked by a window and Dan did a double take. I turned to him and asked "were you looking to see if that PacMan was a Galaga machine?"... ever since then, Dan and I have loved playing Galaga around town. The best machine we've found in down at the dollar theatre. The machine in the basement of the wilk is terrible.

*** I also want to add in the fact that Dan is sporting our awesome friendship bracelet we made for each other.

Dan's been so productive on his homework while I've been gone! Maybe I should leave more often!

Um...I don't think thats a good idea!

Webcam Pictures

2011-04-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

A while ago Dan and I took some funny pictures on his Mac! I love them, just wanted to show them off:

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Getting to spend Easter with Dan and his family was super fun! We got to go to church and Dan introduced me as his fiance. Took him a while to figure out the right way to phrase it haha. Here are some pictures from that fun day:

the easter egg dye!

our eggs:

I had to throw my ring in there haha

everyone getting our eggs on!

dan and his momma!

delish strawberries! (i had to have an annagleavephotography.com moment lol)

lemon bars! my fav.

cute butt!

Easter Sunday Outfits!

The Easter Bunny came!!!

Mesa Temple Easter Pagaent!

2011-04-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

I had a blast getting to look through Dan's scrapbooks!

Chalk and Bocce and the Mesa Temple!

2011-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun time getting in the easter spirit! All four of us got chalk in our easter baskets so we decorated the driveway and side walk!

We also got water guns in our basket... watch out!

Dan and I went down to see the Mesa Temple!

Love this picture!!

We are engaged!

2011-04-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

Last night we got engaged!