6 weeks and counting

6 weeks and counting! i can't believe how fast the time has flown by! there's still so much to be done! but on the other hand, i think i've been super productive and organized. (at least that's what i've been told.)

i'm so excited!

today my sisters' dresses will be finished.

this weekend we're taking engagement pictures.
next monday i will have my dress back.
next week, the final reception details will be figured out.
in two weeks, i'll have bridal pictures...

man. its getting close! i'm thrilled! (and a little nervous...) but mostly excited.
44 days...
here we come.

organization process

so we painted our room - almost completely. i still have to do the built-in bookshelf, and the closet doors.

but we're well on our way to making it "ours"! we've started to move things into the kitchen and the organization process has begun. its a little crazy and chaotic, but exciting at the same time.

_______________________

in other news, only 44 more days! i'm so excited! its gone by so fast! almost too fast at times. but things continue to come together, and it will be here before i know it!

abc's tag

apparently tags are the cool thing to do. and due to my faithful daily blog reading, i've been tagged for the second time. so here goes:

a. attached or single? very much attached to branson! :D

b. best friend? my mom, austy and brans (obviously). honorable mentions include: stu, elizabeth, kadee, angie and kiley, and alex & sarah - they all know me the best.

c. cake or pie? either as long as its not chocolate. but a nice lemon or strawberry rhubarb pie is always good.

d. day of choice? saturday if there's not a lot going on. but always sunday. sundays are never bad - time with family, church, sunday dinner. seriously, what's better than that?

e. essential items? chap stick, gum and my phone

f. favorite color? green

g. gummy bears or worms? i feel like i can eat more bears because they're smaller, but truthfully i think gummy worms taste a little better. (yes, bears and worms taste different. trust me.)

h. hometown? salt lake city

i. indulgence? i'm afraid there are too many to list. but i'm a sucker for lemon bars and on a non-edible level, tv series like alias, the west wing and friends. i get way into them.

j. january or july? truth be told, neither. i'm gonna say june. january is too cold, and july is too hot. june is always nice. hopefully june 12th will be perfect...

k. kids? no not yet. i have to get married first! then in a couple years...man! i'm gonna have cute kids! ha ha

l. life isn't complete without? brans and my family.

m. marriage date? june 12th! hooray! 47 days and counting...

n. number of brothers and sisters? 5 brothers. 2 sisters. soon to be 1 sister-in-law and 4 brothers-in law.

o. oranges or apples? if the choice is between a red apple and an orange, i'd take the oragne for sure. but if its, say, a gala or granny smith apple, i'd take that. but clementines are better than both.

p. phobias or fear? i'm afraid of ice cream trucks. i'm also claustro- and agoraphobic.

q. quote? "if music be the food of love, play on." - shakespeare

r. reasons to smile? a million. but to list a few (or like 20...): branson, mom, daddy, austin, taylor, bryson, tanner, braden, brindy, pieface, shannon, harold, kendyll, brad, wesley, dane, chad, blake, piano, sunshine...

s. superman or wonder woman? superman. he's more attractive to me. and he's superman... nothing tops that.

t. tag 5 people: angie, christie, frances, mckensie, teresa

u. unknown fact about me? i am double jointed in all of my fingers except my thumbs. and i taught myself how to play the organ when i was 13.

v. vegetables? i love all vegetables. except radishes.

w. worst habit? probably procrastinating and going to bed really late.

x. xray or ultrasound? ultrasound. they're much cooler. when i was sick in 9th grade, they did an ultra sound to figure out what was wrong with me. it was pretty cool.

y. your favorite food? i have so many things that i love to eat. but the top 5 right now are: creme brulee, sushi, sukiyaki, chipotle burritos and lasagna.

z. zodiac sign: aries.

tagged with pet peeves

**note: i apologize, before you read this, at the length. i got a little carried away.**

i've been tagged. christie tagged me to list my pet peeves. but truth be told, i'm a little uneasy about it. i have this deeply embedded fear that as soon as people know about them, they go out of their way to do them around me. so here's hoping that doesn't happen.

in no particular order, here are my top 10:

1- recycled air. this may sound ridiculous - isn't all air recycled, shan? no. i mean air directly exhaled out of living things. particularly humans and dogs. you know, when its warm air and is right in your face. i hate that. it makes me want to drowned in a sea of boiling lava. that's how much i hate it.

2- disrespect. particularly to people who deserve it the most. like parents or teachers, church leaders, etc. (i must admit i'm guilty at times, but not very often, and usually not entirely on purpose.) but in the past few years i've noticed it more than ever. people don't show respect and it really, really bothers me. especially to parents and teachers. you parents gave you so much your whole life, and you repay them by showing them no respect? nuh huh. that just doesn't fly with me.

3- swearing. i know a vast majority of the populated world uses some sort of profanity in their daily speech, but really? aren't the other words you could say? i just think it makes people sound unintelligent. if you can think of a better way to describe something or how you feel than with select 4-letter words, you seriously need to expand your vocabulary. seriously. go pick up a dictionary and read it until you have better verbal options.

4- incorrect alignment of things. i hate when things aren't straight. pictures. books. lines on a piece of paper. you get the gist. i'm slightly ocd about it. i have this need to fix it if it isn't straight. its a curse, really. however, this curse seems to leak out into other areas of my life, thus making me a fairly tidy person. (i have my moments of slobbery, but in general i'm pretty neat.) just do me a favor, when you hang pictures on a wall, or draw a map for someone, make sure they're straight. or i just might go insane.

5- when other people think they are more important than other people. for example, at my job, i answer the phones, but frequently find my calls interrupted by my fellow league staffers. they come up to my desk and just start talking loudly. i just look at them, holding up a finger to signal them to wait a minute while i finish my current call. but they just keep on talking, apparently thinking that that finger signal i gave them meant "please talk louder". its so distracting and then the person on the phone wonders whats going on and the remainder of my call consists of my grumbling how stupid and ignorant people are. its really just no good. who's to say they are more important that whoever i'm talking to on the phone? i mean, come on. wait a minute for me to finish and then you can yap in my ears. grr... it irritates me so much. have a little patience and courtesy, seriously.

6- ear touching. ever since i was little, i have hated people touching my ears. there's not a logical reason for it. i just don't like it. it really bugs me. in fact, in 8th or 9th grade, my friend johnny thought it would be a funny idea to sneak up behind me and touch my ears. little did he know, i was an excellent karate chopper. he flicked my ear, and right as he started laughing, i swung around and hit him in the chest and kicked his knee - completely out of reflex! so don't mess with me - "i know karate" (classic line from 'while you were sleeping' - thank you joe jr.)

7- squeaking sounds. like chalkboards or old brakes. hate it. it makes my ears hurt.

8- fake people. although i used to be quite good at it, i hate when people pretend to love you. there is a distinct difference between being polite and being fake. its polite to be courteous and not rude to other people, but that doesn't mean you have to be their best friend. in high school, i was surrounded by a few people like that. they were your best friend when no one else better was around... yuck. just be polite... not fake.

9- snow after february 15th. winter should end on valentines, snow should melt on the 15th and then summer should last from the middle of february until the beginning of july. i hate cold weather at the end of april - its supposed to be warm! its spring, for crying out loud. so no snow after valentines.

10- poor volume. i hate when things are too loud or too quiet. there IS a happy medium for sound. people talking on the phone shouldn't yell, but shouldn't whisper either. music in public places should be loud enough that patrons can hear what song is playing and easily recognize it, but it should be soft enough that said patrons can have a normal-volumed conversation. concerts should not blare noise out of speakers just to prove how loud the speakers can go. if the music is too loud, you can't enjoy it. its painful. and while we on the subject, why at every concert do they want the guitars and everything else louder than the vocals? i know that was a generalization, but i've been to a fair amount of shows and it seems to usually be the story - the bass and guitar have to drowned out everything else, even the drums! now, this isn't an attack on either of those instruments. i just so happen to love the guitar and the bass. i just also love pianos (when present in bands) and vocals. what's the use in writing words and singing them at a show if the audience can't hear them because the guitar is much too loud? dumb.

now that i've gotten my top 10 irritations (as of late) out, here are my top 10 things that bring my joy:

in a very particular order:

1- my family: daddy, mom, austin, tay, brysey, tanman, braden, brin, and pie face. they have always been my favorites and will be forever. i have the greatest family ever! we have our quirks and weird family idiosyncrasies, but we have so much fun together. always. my favorite memories are either around our dinner table laughing together, or trying to read scriptures or have family prayer but get so caught up in laughter we all end up crying on the floor because we laugh so hard. i love it.

1- (yes i know there are two #1's, but due to recent events in my life, i couldn't put branson and #2, now could i?) you guessed it, branson. he is my utmost favorite. i love him so much. and i'm so excited for these next 48 days to pass so he can be mine for eternity. he is so great to me and i can't think of anything i'd rather do than be with him. just the other day, he came to my house with a cup-full of tulips he had picked out of his yard for me. how sweet is that? it made my whole day.

sidenote: branson's family is also included in #1. they have quickly risen to my favorites as well. i know i haven't known them long, but i'm so grateful they are also mine for eternity and i'm looking forward to spending more and more time with them as their new daughter and sister in law. and i'm super excited to be an aunt! i'm sure wesley will warm up to me sooner or later... ha ha

3- the temple. i love the temple. nothing compares to the feeling inside the temple. it can't be duplicated anywhere else. and can't fully be described in words. but i love it. and can't wait to go again. i need to go soon! (this one also includes my love for the gospel, and the church of jesus christ of latter day saints... thanks to which, we have temples. so its all inclusive.)

4- playing the piano. although lately i've been frustrated at my level of skills. i have seriously lost part of my talent, but i'm slowly getting it back. practice makes perfect, right? right. but i love being able to sit down and play. i love reading a piece of music for the first time and knowing that i can read it and play it right then and there. pianos are such great instruments. they're so versatile - from classical to jazz to pop to rap songs that include piano. great. i love it.

5- cooking. i love making food for other people. i love the satisfaction of making something, having other people eat it, and knowing how good it is. i love it. i mentioned this a week or two ago when branson and i had chad over for dinner and he basically licked the creme brulee pan clean. that made me so happy. it bring joy into my life to make other people happy with food.

6- extended family. our family is quite unique in how close we are. my best friends are my cousins. that's how its always been. we all get along quite well and have so much fun together. ping-pong tournaments with 20 people crammed in one room, running around yelling, "paddle head! paddle head!" ha ha or just gathering together for some good food and good chats. my family is great.

7-good friends. i have great friends. i've made a lot of friends throughout the years, and most have moved away or i've left behind. we probably don't keep in great contact, but when big life events happen, the lines of communication are always open and people are notified and allowed to catch up a bit. these are the people who have helped me grow - i've had a lot of great examples in my life to look up to.

8- perfect fitting jeans. in this day and age, everyday it seems to get harder and harder to find jeans that a) fit well and b) are modest. its so hard! i'm so short that i have a hard time finding jeans that are the right length. they can't be too short - they have to cover my shoes. but they can't be too long, or i trip. so you can imagine the complexity of my jean shopping excursions. along with the length, i'm picky about color. i hate blue blue jeans. i prefer really dark washes or really really light ones. none of this medium blue-ness. so you can imagine my joy when i found the perfect pair of jeans yesterday. they are zana di jeans and are a dark stonewash. they're fantastic.

9- good music. lately, a lot of minimalistic jazz - madeleine peyroux and melody gardot are my current favorites. can't get enough. but also noteworthy (ha ha i made a joke): big bandish jazz - i.e. michael buble, harry connick jr, ella, frank, the classics. acoustic jams. chill pop - i.e. jack johnson, colbie caillat, donovan frankenreiter, missy higgins, paulo nutini. i love it all.

10- sports. i really love watching a good sports match. baseball particularly, but also basketball, football and soccer. lacrosse and rugby also make the list. i love a good competition between two good teams. like say the angels and the red sox. (angels beat the red sox today 7-5, bytheway. yay!) a good baseball game, a bag of peanuts or seeds, a tall glass of water, and i'm set. take me out to the ball game. i'm ready.

melody gardot

amazing.

at 19 she was hit by a car while riding a bicycle.
the injuries sustained left her with the need now
to wear dark glasses and carry a cane.
her doctor believed in the power of music therapy
and encouraged her to pursue music
so she recorded an ep from her bedside entitled
"some lessons - the bedside sessions"

but man, the girl can jam.
she's incredible and truly inspiring.
and beautiful.her melodies

bosch universal plus

i have the greatest parents in the world. i believe i have mentioned that a few times before.

my whole life, i have always wanted a bosch mixer. my mom had one. grandma had one. carlene and kiley used one... i just wanted one of my very own when i grew up.

well, as my wedding present from my parents (along with my wedding and all the money they are forking out...) they gave me the bosch universal plus 800w mixer.isn't it lovely?! i love it. its so sleek and powerful! I can't wait to really use it! last night they let me open it (i'm making two wedding cakes in may and they thought it could be useful for that...) and then suggested i make smoothies with it for everyone.

it works like a charm. i can't tell you the great joy that fills my soul when i hear it working. seriously. i think i giggled. ha ha

but now i have 4 different kinds of whisks/paddles: the wire whip, the batter whisks, the cookie paddles, and the dough hook. i can make anything! ha ha its so exciting! i can't wait. branson's going to love this present the most - he gets to reap the benefits.

i can't thank my parents enough. they're so great to me. maybe the first thing i make should be something for them. yes, good idea, shan. but now, what to make...

ready to go

anyone else hate friday at 4:00pm like i do? its the longest hour of the whole week...

4:01pm...

4:03pm....

4:04pm...

seriously. will this work day never end?
i'm ready to bail. in the immortal words of john denver...

"all my bag are packed, i'm ready to go..."

sharing a car

so branson and i are sharing a car...

did i mention that branson and i are sharing a car? hm... its mostly hard because we work at different ends of the valley.

but on the plus side, i get to see him every morning before work, and he picks me up from work every day.

i can't wait until our sharing a car doesn't consist of picking each other up in the morning or dropping each other off at night... it will be much better when we leave from the same house every morning.

and he better know that this is a telltale sign of my deep and devoted love for him... i don't share cars. in high school, sharing a car with my brother austin caused quite the rift between us at times. so brans, feel special. i must love you a lot...

(laughing quietly to myself...)

harassment

if one more person i work with gives me crap about getting married, etc... i'm gonna go insane!

seriously... you would not believe how often someone harasses me about it. please make it stop!

rusted fingers

yesterday marked a moment i've been waiting for for far too long. my piano was fixed!!! hooray! the hammer broke on b flat a while ago, but i haven't had time to get it fixed. but yesterday, my piano tuner anne came out and fixed the hammer, re-glued some of the notes and tuned it. it sounds lovely! i was so excited to sit down on that turquoise bench and play that turquoise piano like it had never been played before...

branson made fun of me a little bit - he said i was like 5 years old again; wanting to help and watching anne's every move, shooting off eager glances at her every minute. i can neither confirm nor deny those accusations, but i can say i was absolutely thrilled when i got to help out.

as soon as she left, i rushed over to it, wanting desperately to tickle those ivories. however, after i sat down, i realized how truly out of practice i've gotten. i'm awful! it was a rude awakening. although, i should probably clarify - i'm still alright. i haven't lost complete dexterity in my fingers, i'm just not as quick as i once was. my fingers are rusted. i just haven't used them like i used to lately. but, now that my piano is fixed and that i am living under the same roof and don't have to play at someone else's convenience, i'm going to get back to where i was. a step above average. that's what i'm aiming for. cause right now, i'm just at average. man, i used to be so good...

let the practicing begin! i'm so excited!

last night after anne left, i played for close to 2 hours. poor branson. he was probably bored. but he humored me and sat and listened to me the whole time. it made me happy. (even though i was hitting wrong notes left and right...)

but the sound of this piano is phenomenal! its such an old piano - the board was cast in 1904. over 100 years ago! and it sounds great. its got that vintage, old, full sound. i am in love with it. and its in great condition. the pins weren't ever doped (back in the day, people used to put a lubricant of sorts on the pins to get them to move easier, but it would rust the strings after a while) which is great. every thing is wood... i'm proud to say there's no plastic in my piano. (a lot of new pianos are made with plastic pieces. some say that the plastic is more durable and is better, blah blah blah. newsflash: its not.) and its fairly clean, considering how old it is.

now i want to go play some more... blasted full time job that keeps me from my piano during the day. boo...

santiago chile north

i can't fully express how excited i am to have two brothers out on missions. my brother austin (as previously mentioned) will be in toronto, canada. and branson's brother chad got his call last night to the santiago chile north mission. two different hemispheres... crazy! but i am so excited for both of them.

last night, we met up with brad, kendyll and wesley and we all went down to provo to see chad as he opened that white envelope. he lives in the dorms, so we were crammed into the common room with, what seemed like 50 byu students. in reality, there were probably only like 15 or 20, but it felt like more. but it was cool to see how much support chad has down there. he is quite the popular kid... girls were all over him (i have to laugh at myself for a minute - when all of these different girls were hugging chad, crying, etc... i found myself taking on the role of "the older sister", which is what i am, though i'm not sure that's how chad sees me. i'm probably just his brother's fiance. anyway, i found kendyll (who's the oldest and only girl in their family) and myself sharing expressions and wondering who were these girls? what are they doing all over chad? are they good enough for chad? etc... it was funny to me. but its only because i love chad like my own brother and i just want the best for him...)

it was fun to spend time with brad and kendyll. i love them. kendyll and i get a long really well, and i'm so glad! i was a little nervous when first meeting her - what if she didn't like me? or what if i didn't like her? but i think this is the start of a beautiful sisterhood. i can't wait to spend more time with her!

anyway, yay for missionaries. chad is going to be a great missionary. i'm really excited for him. and i'm so excited for austin. my two brothers on missions. they'll be great.

god bless those 19 year old boys...

moving

so monday marked the start of our move. and by our move, i really mean my move. branson will move in june. however, we moved over all my stuff monday night and then spent last night moving boxes from room to room, trying to get somewhat organized.

now, don't let this lead you to believe that we are close to being done working, because that would be a silly, silly lie. we have so much to do! last night i started cleaning what will eventually be our room. when its done, it will be awesome, but currently, its dusty and dirty and gross. it was an old family room that kinda turned into a storage room for a while - with old bookshelves, cedar chests, futons, chairs, books, books and more books, and other stuff. but, it has a fire place, two windows, two closets and is a rather large room. it will be delightful. i just need to finish cleaning, paint the awful wood panels a lovely shade of white, and scrub the fireplace.

i feel slightly like cinderella.

sidenote: when i was younger, i'm not sure why,
i distinctly remember my baby brother braden singing (in a very gusgus like voice),
"shanna-relly, shanna-relly, night and day its shanna-relly,
make the fire, fix the breakfast, wash the dishes, do the mopping"

anyway, its fun, though. i'm so excited to be finished. we'll paint this week hopefully, and then can go from there. its so exciting! we have a home! i think our biggest project will be the bathroom, however. it needs SO much work. essentially new plumbing, new shower walls, a new sink, new flooring (its got lovely pink carpet at the moment, complimented by the lovely lavende-colored walls. branson loves it. ha ha just kidding.), as well as shelves. and a deep clean, might i add.

man, good thing i like to clean. i've got my work cut out for me.
but i can't express how excited i am to bask in the joy of a clean, new-to-me house. i'll be sure to put up before and after pictures. its going to be unrecognizable.

bill of rights

so every once in awhile when i check my email, an article on the side catches my eye. for some reason, an article entitled, "the wife's bill of rights" was what caught me this time. its pretty entertaining - i found myself laughing quietly to myself a few times... so here are the highlights:

the wife's bill of rights

by jill adler

preamble: "we, the wives of america, love being married to the husbands of america. we know we have our faults, but with our ever morphing roles these days, there's a lot of pressure on us to be superhuman. we care for our families, manage the home, keep ourselves attractive, and even bring home our share of the bacon. we know we sometimes las out, but we really do want to 'live happily ever after' with you. our mutual acknowldgement of these amendments can go a long way toward achieving that"

"amendment III: we have the right to demand you finish a household job... if you wash the dishes, do them all and clean the sink, too. don't just bag the trash, take it outside to the bin. if you start a load of laundry, put it in the dryer and fold it too. we don't like nagging anymore than you like hearing it."

"amendment VII: we have the right to keep and bear tons of girly bathroom products. you have your tools; so do we. these items are enpensive and to be used sparingly. it brings no joy to see your $15 bath bar shrunk down to the size of a quarter after two passes on your chest and legs." ha ha ha

"amendment IX: we have the right to flirt. not the kind that makes you jealous, but the healthy practice of connecting with another person on a non-sexual level. light banter is fun, quick-witted, and encouraging to our self esteem. it might even remind you of why you fell in love with us. and if it gets us a smokin' deal on that new furnace or a free stay for the family at a million-dollar ski chalet, so much the better."

others include: the right to keep small secrets like hair color and lame tv shows we watch, the right to talk to our girlfriends every day, the right to be grumpy once in a while, and the right to clean air. (for the whole article, click here.)

but, gentlemen, do not be disgruntled. you have your own bill of rights as well. here are the highlights from that:

the husband's bill of rights

by craig playstead

"preamble: we, the husbands of america, do not claim to be perfect. we're far from it. while we love being married to the wives of america, we have a few things that we'd like to straighten out. we're not asking for the world here. we understand that things like following our college football team to every away game is out of the question, as are after dinner cigars. however; there are a few minor things that we'd like to clear up to make our marriage a happy one."

"amendment II: we reserve the right to dislike your friend's husbands. we promise to give the guy a fair shot, but when he starts acting like a moron, we can no longer authorize events with that family. and yes, wives have the same freedom to blackball when the tables are turned. it doesn't mean we like your friend any less, it just means that... we don't want to spend our rare time off with them..."

"amendment III: we have the right to have a few things of ours in the house. everything we hold near and dear to us shouldn't all be in the garage. while we understand that our framed KISS concert poster might not make it on the living room wall, at least throw us a bone. the scene in 'juno' where jason bateman realized that everything he held near and dear was in a 200-square-foot room was a gut-shot to us all."

"amendment X: we have the right to still use chivalry. yes, we know women are strong and independent, and we dig that. but allow us to open the door for you, or give up a seat and act like a gentleman once in a while. the world will be a better place because of it."

others include: the right to watch the big game, the right to not be scolded like children, the right to have as much bathroom reading material as we need, and the right to teach our children how to defend themselves. for the rest of the article, click here.)

ha ha i'm laughing again! i can't help it. the writers were very clever, and i have to admit, i think both sides have valid points. and like it says in the wife's preamble: our mutual acknowldgement of these amendments can go a long way toward achieving that happily ever after we've all dreamed about.

so here's to understanding
and working towards that 'happily ever after'

sunday dinner

so last night we decided to have branson's little brother chad over for sunday dinner. after church, i made a fresh garden salad, a delicious pot roast with red potatoes, carrots and green beans on the side and my most favorite thing, creme brulee, for dessert.

after i stuck the pot roast in the oven, we ventured down to provo to pick chad up (aren't we nice? i think so...) and then got back in time for dinner to be ready about 30 minutes later. it was so fun to hangout with chad. he is one cool kid. he is currently at byu, finishing up his freshman year. he gets his mission call this wednesday. i'm so excited for him! it will be cool having two brothers out serving missions - my brother austin, who will be in toronto, cananda. and chad, wherever he's going. i can't wait to find out. its so exciting!

anyway, i had decided to have dinner at the house (sidenote: we are having a hard time coming up with a name for it. while its still my grandma's house, we have kinda a hard time calling it that. i mean, she lives next door. that's 'grandma's house' now. but we feel kinda weird about calling it 'our house'. but i guess if we're living there, it kinda is our house minus the financial ownership. ha ha we'll figure something out. but i guess for now i'll just call it 'our house'.) then we wouldn't have to worry about disturbing mary and brad who were having dinner at the condo i currently live in. so 'our house' it was.

it was so nice! we set the table with nice plates and glasses, and for a minute or two, it felt like our home. branson and i love our house and we are so excited to live there. i've been excited to live there for years, but yesterday was the first time i finally felt the first little feelings of being in our own home. shanna and branson's home. aww...

dinner was great. the food turned out well. the pot roast wasn't one of my best, but still was decently delicious. but the hit was the creme brulee - chad had never had it before. before dinner, i let him help brulee the top with my torch. i started out doing it, but chad looked so interested, so i asked him if he wanted to try. he was hesitant at first, but then was excited about it. branson took over for a minute and chad made fun of him, pointing out the spots branson was missing. ha ha it made me laugh. but when it came time to eat it, chad basically licked the plate clean. he loved it! i was thrilled. it was the best one i've made yet.

and i decided that nothing is better than sunday dinner with family. here's to many more...

happy birthday

yesterday was my birthday - and what a birthday it was!

i spent most of the day with branson. i needed a new drivers license (mine expired yesterday) so we went to the drivers license division in sandy and then went and picked out tuxes for our wedding.

fyi: they're gonna look good. so just know that out of the 13 men in tuxedos, the one who will look the best is getting married that day, two have been off the market for 20+ years, two are going into the mtc during the summer and are off limits for two years, two are date-able - their names are taylor and blake - check them out, one is a 14 and wishes he was date-able but alas he is not, one is 12 and already has 6 girls chasing after him, so you'll have to take a number or just knock out your competition, and one is 10 and will be the one greeting you at the door. when you see him, say something along the lines of "braden, you look good!" it will be fantastic.

and last but not least is the cutest of them all...
the dreaded pirate roberts. thats right. wesley.
he'll be the little boy running around in a tux.
i can't wait.

after that, we met branson's sister kendyll at cafe rio for lunch. i just adore kendyll. she is so cute! and so nice. truth be told, i've always been nervous about having a sister-in-law. what if she didn't like me? what if i didn't like her? that would be unfortunate. but fortunate for me, i am getting the best sister-in-law ever! i couldn't ask for a better one than kendyll. she's great. i'm so lucky!

after lunch, we went back to my place and watched a few episodes of the west wing (if you didn't catch by now, i took the day off of work. and it was totally worth it) because we had a little downtime. i ironed a dress and we watched the episode where president bartlett gets sick and has an "episode" (if you watch the show, you know what i'm taking about. and if you don't, well, too bad for you because i'm just gonna leave it at that and if you're truly interested and promise to take good care of the discs, i'll let you borrow them. maybe.)

and now on to the best part of the day. better yet, the best day of my life.

so i'm getting married in june, right?
and my brother leaves on his mission the week after, right?
right. so we both, at some point, needed to go through the temple. so we talked to our bishop and stake president and cleared it with them to go together and do it on my birthday. and can i just say that it was the best birthday present ever! it was such an amazing experience. i can't even fully explain how wonderful it was. and not only was i with my brother, but a lot of people that i love also came. my grandparents and most of my aunts and uncles were there, my cousin kiley came down, my cousin jonny and my cousin kathy, our good friends alex and sarah, our south carolina chef mock too. but most importantly,
branson was there with me.

i can't tell you how overwhelmed with joy i was when i walked into one of the rooms and saw my family there waiting for me. it was the most amazing feeling. i definitely saw a glimpse into heaven. that's what it will be like. me and my family and the people that i love. yup, that's heaven to me.

i wish i could think of the words to express how i felt. but i'm afraid my vocabulary is much too limited to do so. just know that it was the best day of my life. and that it couldn't have been better.

after the temple, we went to dinner at sizzler. taylor brought the rest of the kids and we rushed in right before it closed. it was nice to be there with the rest of my family. i love them. seriously. i have the best family in the world. we all took full advantage of the salad bar and all-you-can-eat shrimp and ate too much. and then went back to my parents house.

i just have to take a minute and say how much i love my parents. i know everyone loves their parents and thinks their parents are the best, but i really think mine dominate everyone else. they are so generous and kind. they do so much for everyone! ask anyone who knows them, they'll tell you that they are great. see, its not just my biased opinion. anyway, they are so good to me and i will be forever in their debt. i owe them basically everything. i'm so grateful for them and i hope they know how much i love them and am so glad that they are mine forever!

on top of everything else, they had gotten me a few presents: the long awaited, thought-it-would-never-be-published, amazing transcripts of george winston. now, if you don't know who george winston is, i highly recommend that you find out. he is a phenomenal pianist. i'm not lying when i say he's one of the best. and trust me, i know good from great, and he is quite great. (and part of the excitement is due to the fact that the man has not ever published sheet music or anything. any songs of his i play are because i learned them by ear. so you can imagine the joy i felt when i saw the actual notes!) i'm so excited to play his songs! (and guess what?! my turquoise piano is already in the house we're going to live in... so i'm even more excited. playing george winston on my turquoise baldwin upright grand... can life get better than this? i submit that it cannot! ha ha ha) but not just that - my parents also bought me a knife. not just any knife, though. a cutco knife. but not just any cutco knife. the santoku knife. i have been in love with that knife ever since i saw our south carolina chef mock use it when he made us dinner. he swears by that knife, and so do i. and now i have my own. i'm in love with a knife. ha ha.

basically it was the most amazing birthday ever. i couldn't have asked for a better day. and to top it all off... it felt like spring! it was sunny and fairly warm most of the day.

just another way it was a great day.

happy birthday to me.

disclaimer

official disclaimer:

when i said thanks to my good friend sarah, i neglected to mention her husband alex, who originally got my hooked and in love with the west wing. so what that sentence meant to say was this:

"thanks to my good friends sarah and alex
as well as to the negligence of the post office,
i was given the complete boxed set. its awesome."

sorry, al.

the west wing

so recently, branson and i have gotten hooked on the west wing.

last summer when i got my wisdom teeth out, i went through the first four seasons in like two weeks. i love it. i got addicted real fast. but then i got busy and didn't have time to finish out the other 4 seasons.

but - thanks to my good friend sarah,
as well as to the negligence of the post office,
i was given the complete boxed set. its awesome.

so branson and i started from the pilot the other night. and we absolutely love it. its one of my favorite shows! its fun to watch together. we curl up on the couch, pop in the dvd and can watch a whole disk in one sitting. i guess time flies when you're having fun! and what's more fun than the inner workings of the west wing on the big screen, however fictitious they may be? and the best part is - branson loves it just as much as i do.

evening tv

have i mentioned that i love branson lately?

well i do. a lot.

last night after work and a doctors appointment (which was an interesting experience - i'll leave it at that.) branson came over for dinner. i had picked up dragon diner chinese food on my way home and we enjoyed dinner together, a common thing for us. (for the record, i can't look at fortune cookies the same... none will ever be as good as the one at the jasmine... :D ). after dinner, we sat down and watched the news for a minute, and then watched wheel of fortune and jeopardy. its like we're already married and watch game shows in the evening together. ha ha i never thought i'd see the day.

we also watched super-nanny - a show where a british nanny comes into american homes and helps teach mothers how they should be dealing with their children. its amazing to me how ridiculous some of the scenarios are. some people's mothers, honestly. anyway, while we were watching, i fell asleep, surprise, surprise (i always fall asleep - i think that there are waves of sleepy-ness that come out of tvs and into my brain, making me fall asleep... cause seriously! it happens everytime. i can recall one movie we've watched in the past month or so that i haven't fallen asleep during. sad, sad life. you'd think i were getting old or something. but i'm not really... interesting. hm...) and poor branson, he just sat there watching tv. i'm horrible, i know. but what can you do? and branson still loves me - even through my somewhat narcoleptic episodes.

anyway, he's just so great and i am so excited
to have him all mine for eternity.
69 days... i'm sure it will be here before i know it.

no joke

for the record, no, getting the house was not an april fool's joke. its the real deal...

the house

good news! scratch that - GREAT NEWS! my grandma is going to let us rent her house! my childhood dreams are being fulfilled! i'm so excited!

when my grandpa died of leukemia about 4 years ago, my grandma shortly came to the conclusion that the house was too big for her to live in alone. so she started to rent the duplex next door. (by some strange coincidence it was up for rent at the same time she decided... it was a pretty awesome deal) anyway, grandma moved next door and left the house vacant - it was already paid off, the only expense being utilities each month. so grandma decided to keep the house as a place the family could all gather and have family parties and also as a place people could stay when they were in town.

i had decided that one day i would live there. my mom bought her grandma's house, so why shouldn't i carry on the tradition and buy my grandma's house? i thought it was a great idea.
so after talking to branson and my mom about it, i finally presented the idea to my grandma.

she was so excited and so cute! she was thrilled that we could go to relief society together and that someone would be so close to take care of her and help her out when she needed it. also, she was excited that someone would be taking care of the house and the yard. i love grandma! she's so cute.

anyway, i couldn't be more excited! all i want to do is go move in right now! paint the walls... play my piano (this is a big deal: i have a turquoise baldwin upright grand piano... yes, its truly turquoise. totally rad. anyway, my parents didn't have room for it, so it was put in grandma's house. and has been patiently waiting for me til now! ha ha), move in our furniture... i'm so excited! hooray!