Helping Grant a Wish

I've been interning at Make-A-Wish North Texas this fall, and it has been a blessing in more than one way. A few weeks ago I got to be a part of a truly remarkable experience. I was a wish granter for an 8 year old named Brian who will be getting a kidney transplant soon. His wish was to go on a shopping spree and he received more than $1500 and  in-kind donations to get whatever his heart desired. We got picked up in a limo and headed out for his big day that he'd been anticipating. Brian couldn't keep a smile off his face. And neither could I. Seeing his excitement the entire day as he bought things that he's always wanted, made me so happy.

We went to a few different stores and the mall where managers and staff members treated him like a king. I couldn't believe the hospitality of all the store owners and how they went the extra mile to make Brian's wish day special. I was particularly touched by the manager at GameStop who had made a big sign welcoming Brian to the store and provided him and even bought some things for Brian on his own dime. I was reminded that there are still so many good people out there.

Throughout the day, Brian kept saying that this was the best day of his life. It was one of the longest shopping days, but certainly the most memorable. Helping him pick out his TV at Best Buy and having him pick out toys at Wal-Mart, playing with him at Legoland, made for a day where I was reminded how good it feels to do something for others. 

Make-A-Wish is such an amazing organization and I feel grateful to be a part of it! Brian touched my heart and I will never forget him. 

Celebrating Our 1 Year!

Ian and I celebrated our one year anniversary on August 17th!! Can you believe it's already been a year? We can hardly believe it.

To celebrate, we decided to stay fairly close to home and kick it in Dallas. We thought a weekend get-a-way would be perfect and it was a short drive (we're a little tired of road trips!) which was nice.

On Friday morning, Ian surprised me with this beautiful bouquet :) He knows how much I love flowers. The picture is blurry, but it was the only one I got!

Friday afternoon, we headed to Dallas to go to a Death Cab for Cutie and Iron & Wine concert. As we were driving there, the area became really rundown. There were hardly any stores and it was sketchy. We wanted to grab a bite to eat before the concert, but there were only two choices: McDonald's or Burger King! haha I hate fast food, but we had no choice. So we sat in our car eating McDonald's (a little scared of our surroundings; there were three cop cars right next door). Romantic dinner, right? We laughed about it, even though it wasn't our idea of a nice anniversary dinner.

We got to the concert and it was outdoors, so it was absolutely boiling outside! But we managed to stay fairly cool thanks to some giant fans. The concert was so much fun!! And we discovered a new band that we like: the Oh Hellos. I love their sound! They're kind of similar to Mumford & Sons.

 

After the concert, we checked into our cute hotel called the Le Meridian near the Galleria. It was really nice and we got a great deal on it!

Saturday morning we headed to the Dallas Arboretum which was so beautiful! It was definitely a romantic spot. Even though we got there in the morning it was still hot as heck! But it was worth all the sweat. Here is a video we took of this lovely tunnel of trees, which was our favorite part:

                         Here are some other pictures Ian took of our favorite flowers and plants:

                      

 

Can you see why Ian took me here? It is breathtaking!



















After exploring this "secret garden"  we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. We've been to a few different aquariums in the Bay Area, but I have to say the Dallas one is the best one I've seen yet! It has exotic animals and fish from around the world. What was neat, is that this aquarium is in the middle of the city with all these skyscrapers, and then there was this jungle like place that made you feel like you were in the Amazon or somewhere tropical! So cool.

 
 Here are some of the highlights of what we saw:

  

   

After exploring the aquarium, of course shopping was a must. Dallas has lots of great malls! We went to Grapevine Mills and they had some good outlet stores like The Loft. Ian bought me a little something :)

On Sunday I gave Ian the gift I've been working on with my very talented friend Morgan Urness! She is an amazing graphic designer and helped me make a gift that was special and one-of-a-kind! There are some minor errors on this png  because I was too lazy to update my newest, error-free version. Sad I know, but you get the idea! :) 

That pretty much sums up our romantic weekend! Our first year has been a great one and I look forward to the years ahead with my best friend. I am truly blessed to have a husband like Ian. He is too good to me :) Happy Anniversary honey!

 
   

Reunion in Washington

We've finished another year at BYU-Idaho. Ian is officially done with his classes! Both of us just have an internship to complete before we both graduate in April!

After our semester ended, we headed to Washington for an Andersen family reunion in Washington!

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I had to write about our time there, because it was lovely. Being in nature is something we needed after the stressful semester. I read this book on the way to the reunion. It was an 11-hour drive so reading was a good way to pass the time. And it's a pretty amazing story of a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail all by herself!

We stayed at Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum, which was absolutely beautiful! I was able to meet all of Ian's dad's family. There were nearly 200 Andersens there! Everyone was so nice and welcoming. They made me feel right at home. They are a fun bunch of people and I can see where Ian gets his humor and charm :)

We did some fun things at the ranch. There was a nice lake where we went canoeing.

There was also a big water slide where we went tubing. It was a blast. Ian was having so much fun, that he popped his shoulder out of place! There was a really bumpy part and he flew off his tube and landed wrong on his bad shoulder. It freaked me out!! I've never seen it out of place before. Thankfully it went back to normal and it didn't stop us from going on the slide some more :)

We enjoyed a day of horseback riding. Ian's horse was an angel but my horse kept trying to eat the plants so he'd stop and hold up the line! haha

One of my favorite things we did was star gazing. It's so peaceful to just lay there looking up at the stars and just talk. Nothing beats star gazing in the middle of the woods! We could see the Milky Way and a ton of shooting stars and satellites! We had a competition to see who could spot the most satellites. Let's just say, Ian has a good eye :)

All the kids there loved Ian because he made a campfire for all of us to roast s'mores! We even discovered they make SQUARE marshmallows. Can't believe I didn't know about this before. haha

After the weekend, I didn't want to leave! I had never been to Washington, and by that time I was already won over.

I would love to go back to Ensign Ranch someday and take our kids there. It was a lovely place :)

P.S. It was also Suzi's birthday when we got there (Ian's younger sister) and so I made her this gift to decorate their apartment...I love crafting!

Spring Break: California and Vegas!

Spring break was the best!!! We spent the majority of the time in California with my family. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to be home again! I haven't seen my family since my wedding. It was weird coming home though because I didn't even stay in my own room. And my room looked different, but my mom still kept some of my things and even decorated my room with some of the wedding decor. She calls it my "shrine." haha You think she misses me much? :)

While we were with my family we went to Jake's baseball game and cheered him on. He is such a good little left-handed pitcher! I was mostly amazed at how tall he's gotten. Holy cow. It made me realize how much time has gone by since I've seen him!

We taught everyone how to play bocceball ( one of me and Ian's favorite outdoor games) and every morning Ian and Jake were outside shooting gophers with a pellet gun. Too funny to watch how intense they got about it.

Then the little kid inside of him really came out. Ian wanted to go play arcade games with everyone so we spent the day at Boomers and drove go-carts and played miniature golf. We had way too much fun playing Deal or No Deal.

We even got to go visit Laura and my cute little nephews and niece Oakley!  She is only a month old, she is precious!

                                     

Ian and I went and had a picnic at the park where he proposed to me. It was neat to be back exactly where we were last year. We grabbed our Mr. Pickle's sandwiches that we had that day and a blanket and headed to the river. It was lovely and brought back so many good memories.
       
              


The day before we left, my whole family went to Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. It was seriously so fun! I haven't been on roller coaster rides for years. We had a blast!! We watched an elephant and dolphin show which was amazing! And I got absolutely fried from walking around all day. But that's okay. Hey, I wanted some California sun and I got it!

I didn't want that day to end. Because I knew Friday would come and we'd have to leave. I cried that night because I didn't want to leave!! Time really does go by way too fast sometimes.

On Friday we left and of course as we were driving away I start crying my eyes out!! Poor Ian, having to deal with my emotions. But he was so sweet and he always knows how to comfort me.

We had another fun part of our trip to look forward and soon enough I was okay and excited for our next adventure! VEGAS!!

I took way too many pictures here. But I won't post all of them for your sake. I haven't been to Vegas since I was 11. Ian and I decided to stay at the Luxor. The pyramid hotel that projects a giant beam into the sky at night.

I remember seeing it as a girl and I thought it was so cool. Well now I finally got to stay there! We got there Friday evening. It was about a 9-hour drive to Vegas from California. Honestly, car rides like this one do not seem long at all. I was captivated by the Elizabeth Smart book and fell in and out of naps. Ian always makes me laugh until my ribs hurt, so I don't mind road trips :)

We got to the Luxor and I was so excited! I walked in and couldn't believe how huge it was...it was like its own world with a mall, exhibits, restaurants. It was spectacular! We didn't book the hotel room ahead of time so there were only 9 rooms left for the night! We were lucky to get in.

We met up with our buddy CJ who just got a job as nurse in Vegas. We haven't seen him since the wedding and I know Ian and CJ wanted some bro time. He met up with us at our hotel and we headed out on the town for the night!

Vegas was HOPPIN'! There were so many people everywhere probably because it was spring break. But at least it wasn't terribly hot like during other
times of the year. April is a perfect time to go. We walked everywhere. I mean everywhere. I love being in a city filled with lights, music and people!

We walked into pretty much every hotel to check them out. One of my favorite ones was the Bellagio. We stopped and watched the water show they have in their huge pond. There was a lot to see and I'm pretty confident we saw it all. My aching feet could testify to that


On Saturday we discovered that there was the Bodies Exhibit in our hotel and there was no way we were going to pass that up! We got a student discount (yay for being college students!) and it was worth every penny. We literally got to see real human bodies.  Yeah it was a little gross at times. Ian and I felt a little queezy in the beginning but you get used to it. It was more fascinating than anything. The most amazing part of the exhibit was the fetal development section. We got to see embryos just 14 days old. Crazy how tiny and un-human like they look. It was incredible!

Later we headed out on the town again. We couldn't resist stopping at the M&M store. The store had four floors, not even kidding. Look at all these brilliant colors! They even had silver and black ones. We made a mix of our own. My favorite were the raspberry chocolate ones!

  

At night we met with CJ again and went to Treasure Island to watch Mystere, which is a Circque de Soleil show. I've heard so much about these shows, and I felt lucky to be able to go to one. The tickets were not cheap. We got to sit right in the front, second row. Best seats ever. The show was mind blowing! People doing crazy acrobatics! It was very entertaining. I could watch that show again and again. 

The next day we headed back to Rexburg and got to visit my daddy, grandma and brother for Easter in Utah on our way back. 

It was a great vacation! Now we have a new semester to "look forward" to.

The Idaho Life

It's been awhile! We have been so consumed with getting settled in and surviving our classes that I've had to put my blog last. But we're still alive and well! Here's a recap of our lives the past couple months:

Roadtrip!

 We broke our trip to Idaho into about four days. The first day we made it to Gallup, New Mexico. The car ride there was so fun. Ian is the best travel buddy ever. He never fails to make me laugh! We get so goofy. It definitely makes the 26 hour drive entertaining! Music is always a must when we drive places  and I think I have never listened to more Panic! At the Disco and One Direction all at once. I think I even made a One Direction fan out of Ian. Miracles do happen. 

It was late when we arrived in Ghetto, I mean Gallup, New Mexico.We went to the Wal-Mart there I was a little scared for my life.Sketchy people everywhere. I was happy to have my hubby by my side! We then were drifting off to sleep in our hotel, when all the sudden I hear someone rattling the door knob, and I freak out thinking someone is trying to break in!! I wake up Ian and he immediately jumps up and looks out the window. Turns out, it was some roudy kids trying to open the door to their hotel room. I seriously had a heart attack, for no reason! It probably didn't sound that scary, but I honestly believed someone was breaking into our room!

The next day, we made it to Utah where we stayed with my daddy and sister for a couple days. We haven't seen each other since the wedding! I was also able to see my brother Chad who I don't get to see very often. I love family time. 

We headed to Rexburg and now we're living in the coldest place on earth! Really, I don't know why people would choose to live here, other than being here for school. It snows like crazy and sometimes when I wake up in the morning it's a balming -20 degrees. That's normal right? But I love seeing the snow on the ground, and when the sun's out it's absolutely beautiful. 

  

New Apartment!

Our little apartment is perfect for us! I would post pictures of it, but believe it or not, I STILL don't have all our decorations up. But it's charming. My favorite part of the apartment is the kitchen. I am obsessed with the white cupboards! They add so much light to our apartment. But my most favorite part is our view. We can see the temple from our bedroom window, and it's so pretty when it's lit up at night! It is a wonderful reminder of the promises we made in the temple.

What I really like about our apartment complex is our neighbors! The first night we moved in, our neighbors came outside to introduce themselves. They had gotten married in  San Diego just a week after us. They were so nice, and one night they brought over cinnamon rolls. They told me they were gluten free, and I was so impressed that they somehow knew we ate gluten free. But it turns out, she is gluten free so it was a coincidence, and we totally hit it off from there! And I'm so grateful we have some married friends, because Ian and I thought all the married couples would kind of keep to themselves. But we've gone on double dates with them, and we all get along so well! They are so much fun. 

Kaylona and I now watch the Bachelor every week together. I'm glad I found someone to watch it with me, because Ian was not even remotely interested in that show. haha 

Our ward is great. There are 99 girls in our Relief Society. Most of us are newlyweds but there are some  couples with babies. I got called to be Relief Society Teacher, and I taught my first lesson on Sunday. I think I'm going to enjoy it! 

Other semi-interesting news: Ian is now volunteering at the Hospital and is doing a mini internship in their PR department. He loves it! I know that working in a hospital will be perfect for him.

Well, that's all for now!