Bravery

Last night, I was thinking about NieNie and Lindsey at therhouse and how brave I think they are. But, I think that they would say they are not brave, that they're just as scared as anyone else. And, I think, that is what makes them brave. Of course they are a little scared, or frustrated, and some days wish it wasn't them, but they keep on trucking, they go through every day even they don't want to.
That to me is what bravery is.

New Years Resolution?

Start using my camera and start taking pictures of Kyle and I, dangit!

Christmastime

It just so happens that I had the best Christmas ever. It was super busy, but a lot of fun.
Christmas Eve -
After Kyle got off work, we met up with his mom and dad and the four of us went down to my mom's in Spanish Fork. We spent a few hours down there, eating, chatting and watching a couple of Christmas movies. Mom and Dad headed back up to Nate and Mel's, and Kyle and I went back to our apartments.
Christmas Day -
Kyle came over at 6:30 am and we opened our gifts from each other. Kyle is amazing, and got me HP movies 1-6, the first season of Glee, new headphones for my iPod, and a calendar with pictures of Paris. I got him the book "What I Love About You" and I'm also going to get him a wallet and a conscerated oil holder.
We left for Nate and Mel's a little after 7 and got there about 8 am. We opened presents with them and the kids, and Mom and Dad Hanson, and later Alan and Jess came over. I got a great recipe file with family recipes from Mom and Dad, and .... my favorite present - a leopard print Snuggie. Kyle and I got matching ones from Alan and Jess. I was in that thing the whole weekend, it's so warm and fuzzy, I love it.
Around 2 we left and went down to my mom's and ate dinner, and watched Christmas movies, and opened a few more presents. We stayed over at my mom that night.
Boxing Day -
Alan and Jess came to pick us up and we went down to Price to stay at Gpa and Gma Hanson's house. The aunts and uncles and cousins came over, and we had a lot of fun eating, and playing with kids, and being with family. We stayed over night there, and did the same thing on Sunday, and then headed home around 5 pm.

We had a busy weekend, but it was so much fun.
I love my family.

Now I'm back to work... Yay. I get way bored working 8 1/2 hours, but that's ok. It's still fun. I work with the greatest people ever.

Full Time at Independent Study

Today, I entertained myself at work doing numerous things.
Namely,....
-eating pancakes and drinking milk at our pancake breakfast.
-watching SNL clips on hulu.
**my coworkers and I are the coolest ever. Rich was literally about to burst into tears from laughing so hard. So was Audrey.
-talking to a crazy old man who came in today.
** examples of things he said: "before I take my test, do any of you girls have daddy issues and want to run off with me? if you do, I won't have to take my final. We won't have a lot of money, but it will get me out of taking my test." OR "I told my wife if I don't come home today it's because I failed and I killed myself. She said that was good because if I came home and failed she would kill me." Lisa and I were not quite sure how to take his humor.
-reading Mormon Bachelor Pad.
-reading MLIA.
-trying to finish a super lame book that I checked out of the library, whose title I won't even mention here because it was so dumb.
-now, I am blogging.


Here are a few favorite gems from hulu... which all happen to be from SNL.

6 months!

Yesterday was mine and Kyle's six month anniversary of dating. It was a pretty busy day for Kyle, and semi-busy for me, but by 7:00 we were both done with all our finals, and everything else we had to do. Kyle came and picked me up from work, and surprised me with flowers and a card. We went out to eat at Chili's, yum!! And then we went back to his apartment and watched Zoolander. Greatest 6 month anniversary ever. I'm so incredibly grateful for him, only 4 1/2 months until we get married!! ... And there are no pictures, sorry. We're really bad at taking pictures together, we need to work on that.

Also, I am DONE with finals. Finals weren't too awful this semester, which I am grateful for. However, next semesters finals might be beastly, so we'll see how that goes. Plus my booklist totals like $700, yuck.

I made a couple of great purchases this week.
First, St Ives Whipped Silk body moisturizer. My skin has been super dry and itchy, but I hate using lotion. I knew I had to suck it up though, and I grabbed this kind to try. After using it for two days... I love it! On the bottle it said it was fast absorbing and non greasy, so that's why I decided to get it. And, it was totally right. Most labels lie to you when they say that, but not this one. Big fan.
I also got new toothpaste, it's Crest extra white with Scope! I think.... Anyway, I'm also a big fan of this, it leaves your mouth feeling very clean.
Isn't it funny the kind of purchases college students are so excited about??

Brandon comes home today for Leanna... Right about now, actually. I'm so happy for her, I love her to pieces, she's the greatest friend ever... Love you, Lea!

Aaaaand, it's almost the weekend. And there's no school for two weeks. And it's Christmas and family time. Love, love, love this time of year :)

NieNie

I just met her today.
I was in the Wilk by the Jamba Juice, waiting for Kyle, when I saw her, her husband and two boys. I debated a minute about going up to her, but I knew that if I missed out on this opportunity I would regret it.
I spoke to her for a few minutes, and probably sounded like a fool.
She was the nicest person, and I am so glad our paths crossed for at least a moment.

Click here to read the article about her by Jaimee Rose.
Click here to read her blog.

She really is the biggest inspiration.

And Now...

My weekend was awesome.
However, sadly, no pictures were taken.
Kyle and I watched HP #6.
On Saturday, we went on a couple of shopping trips, which both left us empty handed.
We went out to eat at Zupa's, and then made our way up to SLC where we met up with Nathan and Melanie, and we went to the MoTab Christmas Concert with Natalie Cole and David McCoullough. We had a parking ticked to park under the Church Office Building, and we ended up deep in the center of the earth under Trax somewhere, haha. We made it though, and the concert was amazing.
After the concert, we walked around Temple Square a bit (I was so excited to see our temple!) and waited in line to get some Lion House rolls, except they were all out. We dropped Melanie and Nathan back at their car, and then we (Kyle and I) met up with Alan and Jess and we went to In n Out in Draper. Kyle slept over at Alan's and I slept over at Jess's.
In the morning, we ate breakfast and hung around watching football, until it was time for Alan and Jess's ward. We went to sacrament, then we headed up to Nate and Mel's for dinner.
We played with the kids, ate a delicious ham dinner, and watched Claymations Christmas, and Garfield's Christmas, Hanson family traditions!!!

So, that was the weekend. And now it's back to reality.
I have a final today.
I'll take one tomorrow, as well as read a book and write about it for my SFL 100 final.
Then I'll take one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday.
Thursday just happens to be mine and Kyle's 6 month anniversary, so we're going out to dinner to celebrate that, and celebrate being done with the semester!

Oh, and you know that rumor that's been going around forever about the SLC temple closing down?? FALSE! Go here and read the news post about it from the Church. http://newsroom.lds.org/blog/

Previously...

I have so many things I want to blog about.

First, Sarah posted a trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1. I can't find it anywhere for the life of me, and I'm at work and can't get on facebook anyway, but let me tell you.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

I am a HP fanatic. I'll admit it. I can't get enough of HP gear. I get chills watching the trailers. Kyle surprised me and rented HP and the Half Blood Prince last night, and I was so excited I told him it was the best decision he had ever made, haha.

Second, today is Ugly Sweater day at work. And our Christmas party. I will post pictures later.

Third, classes are finished. I can handle finals, hopefully. I was so stressed out with all my last final papers, but now, I am relaxed, mostly. I can get through this.

Fourth, OMG, GLEE! For real, the finale was amazing.

I missed...

A whole group of friends that I am thankful for.

The MG's

Hands down, the greatest girls ever. Some of us waited the whole time, some of us didn't. Some of us are married to our missionaries, some of us are married to someone else. Some of us are single. It doesn't matter. Waiting for a missionary brought us together, no matter if it was right or wrong or didn't work out.

Kellie, Leanna, Steph, Sarah, Cassie, Nikki, Lindsay, Danielle, Emily, Kellie, Annika, Natali, Jenny, Adrianne, Sarah, Dani, Bonnie, Dawn, Cassee, Natalie, etc.

I love you girls, SO much.

I wouldn't have gotten through July 2008 to June 2009 without you.

And I still need you all.

EMG's.

Forever.

(These are just the first 10 group photos I found on my computer. And I was maybe a third of the way through the MG's file. We love each other.)

Makin' a List

In no particular order....
These are things I am thankful for.

1. Kyle "my love" Hanson.

Everyday I find more and more things about Kyle that I absolutely adore, and that make me love him more, and that make me realize again why he is so perfect for me.
Can you believe I get to be with him forever? I can hardly comprehend that. It sounds rather nice to me though.
Plus, he's cute.

2. My family, namely Mom and Charity.
Mom raised me, Charity taught me. And I love them both. I will miss them both so much when Kyle and I move to our unknown future location.
They're always there for me

3. My [future] in-laws.
I love them all already, and it's just the beginning of a long life of fun and family.
I'm especially grateful for Mel and Nathan for feeding us at least once a month, and letting us hang out at their house, and play with Whitney and Liam, and for just being there to talk and laugh and play games with.
I'm especially grateful for Whitney for teaching me how to be happy.
I'm especially grateful for Liam for letting me have a cute, loving, mischievous toddler in my life.
I'm especially grateful to Alan (and Jess) for letting Kyle and I hang with them and go on fun adventures with them.
I'm especially grateful for Blaine and Brooke and Allie for letting us know they're thinking about us even from a distance.
And I'm especially grateful for Mom and Dad Hanson for being there for us, and loving us, and being excited with us about our future.

4. The Gospel
My life would be a mess without the Gospel.
Without the Gospel I wouldn't be able to be sealed for time and all eternity to the love of my life.
I wouldn't be who I am today.
I wouldn't have a testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
I wouldn't know about Joseph and Emma Smith and their family.
I wouldn't know about the Atonement.
I wouldn't be able to use it in my life.
As I said, my life would be a mess.
(Also, shout out to my awesome Bishop and his wife who inspire me and make my life awesome.)

5. School and work: BYU and BYU IS
Sure, school is hard. But, I love it, and that I have the opportunity to receive more education.
I'm grateful for government pell grants who pay for my education.
I'm grateful to BYU heath insurance.
I'm grateful to have a job in this time of economic crisis.
I'm grateful that my job allows me work on campus, and do to homework in my downtime.
Another reason I'm grateful for school: It introduced me to Kyle (via our singles ward).

6. The Internet.
Without this I wouldn't know the joy of blogging.
And facebook.
And wikipedia.
And that if you go to the address googlegooglegooglegoogle.com, you get four google screens.

7. My friends.

I have way too many friends that have made a difference to list here.

Some names: Ayisha, Dani, Emily, Lexi, Mallory, Kaylie, Aaron, Collin, Mckall....

The list could go on.

If you're not listed, I still love you.

8.Burt's Bees chapstick.

and life, in general.

and the four seasons.

and everyone else who's influenced my life in some way.

That Person

Why can some people put what they are thinking into words without even trying and it sounds like music? sometimes I wish I was that person.
Why can some people craft and craft and craft and everything looks beautiful and put together? sometimes I wish I was that person.
Why can some people always dress like they're models and look so well put together even if their hair is in a messy ponytail? sometimes I wish I was that person.
Why can some people get straight A's in classes, sometimes without even trying, as well as be involved in things like choir, clubs, drama? sometimes I wish I was that person.
But then.
I remember who I am.
And I remember what I have been and what my potential is.
And I remember that He and he loves me.
And I don't wish that anymore.

There was this one day

that I had what I thought was an 8 page paper due.
But it turned out that it was supposed to be 10.
Let me just tell you that I am awful at writing papers. That's one of the reasons I changed my major from English. Writing papers is not my forte. (Although, I did rock at analysis papers my senior year of high school). (And I love stream of consciousness papers, because it's like I'm blogging).
Anyway.
The good news is-
In this class (SFL 240 - worst class ever) I currently have an 84%. This is awesome. I got a 91% on the midterm and a ... well a 67% on the last paper (20 out of 30 points, that was the paper which was 8 pages double spaced, and it almost killed me). Let's say that I get another 91 on the final, and another 20 on this paper. Subtract 6 attendence points, and that is still an 81% in the class. I will take that, thank you. Beastly, beastly class.
Other good news, I have a 94% in two classes, an 87% in one, and an 84% in another one. To you, these may only sound like ok grades, but they are awesome. I'm especially proud of my two A's, thank you. College can be hard and not fun, but I am doing awesome this semester. I have even gotten a couple comments in the testing center. Dang straight.

I just found out that two of my engaged friends set their dates in May. Mckall and Scott are getting married May 14, and Lacey and Ross are getting married May 19. Finally people are setting dates after ours. This makes me feel a little better. I just want to get married, dangit.
Ummmm, I can't of anything else to write.
No, false.

BYU won over the U on Saturday. I wasn't able to go, but Kyle did (and he brought me back an awesome BYU flag and beanie) but I did watch the second half, and freaked out. Kyle rushed the field, which was a great ending to his last football season here at BYU.
Also, Thanksgiving was fun, and a much needed break.
Kyle and I both worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but on Wednesday night after we got off work, we headed up to my mom's. We spent the night there, watched the parade in the morning, ate, and slept the whole day. Kyle was sick, and my sister wasn't feeling too good, so we watched Rudulph, and some Winnie the Pooh movies, and Night at the Museum. Kyle worked on Friday, and Saturday, but we did get to watch My Sister's Keeper on Saturday night. It was so good, and so sad. I bawled, and afterwards there was a nice wet patch on Kyle's jacket from where I had been laying. aha.
Yesterday we went to Aaron's homecoming, which was awesome. He gave a good talk, and it was fun to catch up with our friends from high school. A lot of us, (the girls, anyway) are married, or engaged, so it was kind of fun to talk about weddings and things like that.

Ok, now I'm really done, and I'm going to go put the finishing touches on my paper.

Oh, wait.
There are only 8 days of classes left. TWO WEEKS. This is fantastic news!!! And then I only have one more semester of on campus classes left. And maybe summer term. But still. This is exciting news to me. I am so ready to be done.

Someday...

I'm going to be crafty.
I hope that when Kyle and I get an apartment for grad school, it'll have two bedrooms. One for us, and one that can be half his office/study area (if he needs it) and half my craft room. I would love to be able to have a craft table, with all of my scrapbooking things, and material, and paint. Just room to be crafty and creative.

I have three big projects on my mind.
First, to scrapbook/make what will be our guest sign in at our reception.
Second, a calendar for our first year of marriage (also scrapbooked).
Third, a tied fleece blanket for us.

I'm going to start the first one (and possibly the second) over Christmas break, and I am very excited about it. I've missed scrapbooking.
Once we get to grad school, I'll most likely just be working (hopefully) full-time. I think I'll give myself a break before I start on online classes, for two reasons. 1) to save up money of course, and 2) just so I can have a bit of a break. I guess that's sort of a selfish reason, but that's just the kind of person I am. Not selfish, but one that needs a break every so often or I will completely burn out.

So, today I just started reading the Time Traveler's Wife, and I am a fan already. I don't have much more to say about that, just that I want to immerse myself in it, and I guess I can, since I only have TWO classes until Thanksgiving break starts. I do have to work full time tomorrow and Wednesday, but hopefully it won't be too busy, and I can read and get started on my research paper for my parenting class. Thanks to Kyle giving me ideas, I'm going to write it on the benefits of reading with/to children from a young age. I'm almost excited about it. Almost.

So, I admit, I did not go to the game on Saturday. It was too cold... yes, I am a bit of a wuss. But I figured, I didn't really want to go, and plus, that would give Kyle some guy time with Blake and Bryce, so it was a win-win situation. Actually, BYU won, so it was more like a win-win-win situation :)
I also will admit (although if you don't already know this about me, we might not be friends) that I strongly dislike Twilight. The entire series. I read the books, because I figured I might as well read them, so I can base my opinion after actually reading them, instead of what I heard. Yes, hated them. Bella's the biggest whiner, Edward's creepy-possessive, and Jacob is really good at manipulating and pressuring Bella (well, so is Edward). I ended up seeing Twilight with the MG's one night at a dollar theater, and I'll admit, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Mostly because of the company. I definitely was not looking forward to New Moon. And so no, I haven't seen it, thanks for asking. But, if you want to have a girls night when it comes to the dollar theater, I'll tag along.
Speaking of other things I dislike, there are only two others I can think of - Miley Cyrus and Megan Fox. I have nothing to say about Miley, except I'm disappointed that Nicholas Sparks wrote a book/movie script just for her. Gross. As for Megan Fox, go here to read the article in the New York Times magazine about her. She's really ridiculous.

Ooook, the end, sorry, I got on a little rant, and I totally didn't mean to.
I'm going to go read some more.

Aaron's Home!!!

He got home last night at 7:40, AND I talked to him this morning, AND I get to see him tonight.

GLEEEEEE!!

And I got his last letter in the mail today. Well, it got here yesterday, but we checked the mail today. It is so insane that he is home. We've known each other for over four years now, and he's like the brother I never had. I'm so excited to see him, and I'm so glad he's home :)

I also bought a totally cute coat the other day. We don't need to talk about how much I spent on it, but let's just say this coat is going to last me a long, long time.

Isn't it beautiful? I love it.

Hm, what else? Kyle has an apartment again! That is great news, with all new tile, (fake) wood flooring, new carpet, the works! It's great.

There are only 3 more weeks of class (excluding next week, Thanksgiving!) and then finals. This semester has gone by way fast. As of today, Kyle and I have been dating 5 months, we've been engaged a little over two months, and get married in 5 1/2 months. Psych. I'm so excited.

News from my friends.... James is home, and Nikki's been able to see him, so that's exciting. Kaylie and Lj get married on Saturday, and I am so excited for them! Leanna and Steph's boys come home in December, and Kellie and Ryan are so dang cute together. Love, love, love.

Life is great.

4 1/2 weeks of class left, what?

I would really like to get into Glee. Would someone please remind me when it's on? And where I can find the first few episodes?? I've been listening to the music from Glee this morning while at work, and I love how they do fantastic covers. I also watched... episode 4(?) today. Preggers. I loved it. Glee, please. (Shout out to Sarah - you watch Glee, right? We might have to become Glee buddies.)

Second, I would really like it to be 2010. I have all these great resolution type things that I want to get going on, but I want to start them in 2010... But I'm afraid if I start them right now they'll die out by the end of the year.
Also, I want it to be 2010, because that is the year I get married. Yes.

I'm trying to get Kyle to agree to "elope" to the temple with me, and then we can still just have our reception/honeymoon in May. He's not buying it, haha.

I love my ring. LOVE it. I also added one more class - well, I dropped Dance, and added SFL 325 - Strengthening Marital Relationships. I'm going to take it with Dani, and it will get one more class out of the way... I'm trying to get all the classes I can in before we move next year...

Photos

I'm bored

and a little bit restless.
Kyle's at work right now, and I have so many things that I should be doing.
Dishes, for example. Or studying for my test on Monday. Or cleaning my room.
But I don't really feel like doing any of it.
I'm really ready to get out of my apartment, and have my own. No offense to my wonderful roommates, but I just want my own space (well, space for Kyle and I) where we can decorate, and just hang out, and it is only us. I want to "nest" I guess.

But, are you ready for the best news ever??
After 8 weeks and 1 day, I have received my ring! It came in on Wednesday, Kyle and I went and gave them my "loaner ring" back so they could switch the diamonds, and we took the wedding band home. I wore the band for 24 hours, and then last night we went and picked up the ring! It's perfect, and I am so excited to finally have it and to wear it! Yay! Kyle's keeping the wedding band though, because he thinks I'll wear it... Which I probably would.

Last night Kyle and I went up and watched the Jazz game at Alan's with him and Jess. I promptly fell asleep cuddled up next to Kyle on the lovesac.... So I wasn't too much fun, I'm afraid. I always love hanging out with family though :)

Alright, I think that's enough of that...

I am obsessed with our engagements.

Thanks for looking.

Things on my mind...

Kyle and I get married in 6 months and 4 days.

Our Halloween was pretty fun.... I got to sleep in, and Kyle got to go to work at 8 am. Kyle and I shared a quick lunch together, and then it was off to take the GRE for him! It was a super long test (3 1/2 hours) but he did really well on it! 90th percentile in Verbal, and 80th in Quantitative! (... Those could be switched, but either way, it's pretty great!) I made dinner while he was gone, so we ate when he came home. Then we carved a pumpkin, and watched Secret Window. Ok, so Kyle technically carved the pumpkin, while I worked on my paper, but it was a cute pumpkin!

Yesterday we made a really yummy roast in the crockpot for dinner... And we watched a couple of movies with my roommates, and went to church, and took a nap, and did laundry. Kyle's apartment is still in pieces, sadly, so we've been spending most of the time at my apartment. Oh! We watched the CES fireside too, President Uchtdorf spoke, and it was amazing!

I have an 8 page SINGLE SPACED paper due today at 4:00. I am on page 5. Thank goodness I can write at work. But still, I am about at my limit. I'm proud of myself for even writing that many pages single spaced, since it's hard for me to get past 5 pages double spaced, usually. Also, the paper is only worth 30 points. What? This class is ridiculous. Good thing I got an A- on the midterm.

I registered for classes last week. I am currently registered for...
Humanities 202. I get to take this class with Kyle. And I love the Humanities... Exciting!
SFL 290: Critical Inquiry&Research Methods. Not excited for this class, but it seems that the teacher I chose has some pretty good reviews? Let's hope so.
SFL 351: Socialization Across Childhood. This one should be good and interesting.
STAT 221. Other wise known as death to Brittanny. Good thing Kyle's taken this class before and can help me, and that my Relief Society president has a Masters degree in Stats.
Dance 131: Beginning Jazz Dance. I need to get back in shape somehow. And this will be easy, fun and still give me a work out since I haven't danced since last fall semester. I am VERY excited about dancing again.

Ally just got engaged, and Kaylie and Lj get married this month, huzzah!

I got an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night, but didn't know it. Good thing my phone turns back by itself.

Only 3 1/2 more weeks until Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving Break!!

I just found a cool trick. On Google Calendar you can subscribe to specific sports teams and all their games show up on your calendar. I just added BYU Football and Basketball, and the Utah Jazz, sweet!

I'm not going to lie, I am so excited to have my own apartment, and to not have to go to class, and do work, and be able to be a wife, and cook and clean only mine and Kyle's stuff, and to decorate an apartment, and to just be together. SO excited!

Quick Edit:
Nikki's James comes home on the 11th, yay!
I will hopefully get my ring this week!
Christmas is next month!
We only have about 5 1/2 weeks of class left, and then finals.
It was a nice day today.. I walked to work at 9:30 in a skirt and wasn't cold at all.
Quote: "When you love someone your eyelashes go up and down and little stars shoot out of you."

My Work is Cool

Currently, I am sitting at my desk, dressed in a John Stockton jersey, eating candy from my cute halloweeny decorated box. Candy that I gathered by trick-or-treating around my office.
Here at Independent Study, we believe that work should be fun and enjoyable.
Thus, this week for Halloween, we have all been coloring on our down time. Coloring halloween coloring pages for a coloring contest.
We decorated boxes last Friday at our team meeting, and today we have brought candy, put it in our decorated boxes, and then we can go around and trick-or-treat at others cubicles.
We could also dress up, hence the John Stockton jersey.

Last night Kyle and I were in a silly mood. And we went to Macey's and bought a pumpkin to carve, and about $20 worth of candy to eat on Halloween.

Also, it just started snowing.

Double also, I really like Taylor Swift. I'm watching/listening to covers she's done on Youtube, and she is good. No denying it.

Happy Halloween!

For more photos go to...

http://picasaweb.google.com/theuniqueb/Engagements?feat=directlink

or you can check on my facebook page.

I am so happy with them!
Missy (russell) Eyre took them, and she is fantastic :) Thanks Miss!

Sneak Peek!

(Click to Enlarge)

Also

I am incredibly bored at work... Only one more hour.
And I have been coloring most of the time.
We're having a Halloween coloring contest among co-workers.
And so that's what I've been doing.
We were encouraged to color on our down time today, and there is even a brand new set of crayons by the printer.
I love my job.

Dear Sierra-West,

I am very angry with you right.
I want my ring.
Sincerely,
Britt

Let me tell you a story about Sierra-West. Kyle paid for my ring on September 9th. They told him that it will take 4-6 weeks. When it had been four weeks, we called up and asked them if they have any info. Our friend Steve (aka the guy who sold the ring to Kyle) wasn't there, and so the guy said to call back next week. Kyle called back at least 2 or 3 times the next week (which was last week) and they kept saying that it was too late to get a hold of the manufacturing company. We went in on Friday... Told us the same thing. Kyle went in yesterday (the 6 week mark) and they called the manufacturing company, who apparently said they would call Sierra-West back, and then Sierra-West would call Kyle back today. Has not happened.
As Kyle said, "I'm going to go in there and tell them what I think about their customer service."
As someone who has worked in Customer Service for the last 2 years, I'm very disappointed and upset with them. Hello, we just paid you thousands of dollars and you can't even bother to call us back? Ridiculous.
Bah.

Also, I have had the longest week ever.
I have taken 2 tests already, and still have one more to take. I should have turned in my paperwork to the Academic Success Office, but because of one ridiculous faculty member who will not answer emails or show up for his office hours, I can't. And so now the deadline is past, and I can't register for classes until sometime during Christmas Break. Also ridiculous. Some professors...

On a happy note about professors, Professor Larry Nelson is awesome, and amazing, and everyone should take a class from him. I went in yesterday confused about a concept, and he helped me understand it. I had in my hand the take home midterm, and he went over that section of the test with me, and walked me through the questions I had wrong, so I was able to put the right answer down. Yes. He is the bomb. I also got a 96/100 on my first paper in his class. He is an insanely hard grader (I had a class with him last semester) and never got above like a 75 on a paper. The fact I got 96 blows my mind. I am doing so awesomely in classes this year... I feel like I'm the honor roll student I was back in high school. Go me.

Also this week, I finished the book White Oleander, by Janet Fitch. I then proceeded to watch the movie, directed by Peter Kosminsky. LOVED it. It was dark, haunting, a bit disturbing and graphic, and very thought provoking (all of those more so in the book). I was so impressed with how closely the movie followed the book. There were whole dialogues taken straight from the text. It doesn't exactly have an uplifting ending, but was incredible nontheless. I did enjoy the book more, but that is usually the case for me. The book isn't for everyone, but I for one, enjoyed it (but maybe I'm secretly dark like that, haha.)

This weekend should be pretty good... It will consist of a lot of relaxing, and watching sports (Kyle's idea, of course). It's the Homecoming game on Saturday, against TCU, and ESPN Gameday is coming. This is apparently a big deal. I would go, but ... I'm not sure if I can get up for 8 am on a Saturday. We'll see. I guess I'll also start on my next paper as well. I love college.

And on an ending note - Slate Magazine has named President Monson as the number 1 most powerful person over 80. Kind of awesome. The link (in a word) for whatever reason isn't working - so go to http://www.slate.com/id/2232918/ to read what it says about President Monson, and to see who the other 79 "80 over 80"'s are.

I'm about 97%

better.
I have a slight cough at morning and at night, and I have a sore throat for about 30 minutes in the morning, but other than that, I'm great.
I am suuuuper tired today though, and when I'm tired I get kind of passive, and moody. Poor Kyle asked me today if I was mad at him. No dear, just sleepy.
Taking engagements was so fun! (Kyle didn't think so....) Missy's great, and Jordan came with her and made me laugh the whole time. Sundance is gorgeous this time of year, and we ran into quite a few families taking family pictures. When I get photos back from Miss, I'll post some :)

Also, quote of the day: "He's going to have scoliosis by leaning down and kissing you. He'll have it for the rest of his life, and it's all your fault." - Darren.

I've read two good books lately, one is "Me and Emma" by Elizabeth Flock. It's amazingly written in the perspective of a small town 8 year old, and is also sad, as it recounts her story of being abused (physically, sexually, emotionally) by her stepfather. The book I just finished today is "Oystercatchers" by Susan Fletcher. This is a narrative that artfully twists between first and third person, as a 28 year old woman recounts her life to her comatose 16 year old sister who she never accepted until her accident 4 years before. The book talks of love, life and how the mind works. It's prose is haunting. It's a slightly hard read in that there are times there is a lot o description, but I still enjoyed it.

I still have a little over 2 hours left at work. I am going to fall asleeeeep.

Plain White T's

and Snow Patrol were awesome live. Even though I was feeling like crap. And even though Tom Higgenson was feeling like crap and so Plain White T's only played three songs - I'm glad Tom still decided to play those three, instead of canceling the show. Kyle and I left while Snow Patrol was still playing, because I felt so sick. But they were great live, and I loved their Irish/Scottish accents. Thanks to Kyle for giving me those tickets for my birthday, going to the concert with me, and then leaving early. You're the best.

I did have a great weekend, even if I wasn't feeling my best. Friday night, Kyle didn't have to work, which is basically unheard of, haha. We hung out, and ate lunch at Zupa's and dinner at the Brick Oven. Saturday we went out to lunch with our moms at the Olive Garden which was so fun, and so good. We went to the library, and then that night was the concert, which was great. Yesterday I didn't go to church because I had been the whole night before coughing, so I tried to sleep, which didn't work out to well... Anyway, we went up to Nathan and Melanie's for dinner, which was a great time. It was me, Kyle, Alan, Jess, Mom Hanson, Nathan, Mel, and Liam and Whit, so much fun. I love my [future] in-laws.

Kyle and I are taking our ENGAGEMENTS today, up at Sundance, and it is going to be fantastic. I'm so excited. It'll be a lot of fun.

Update on my sickness, I'm feeling quite great, except for the blasted cough that will not go away. It's the worst in the mornings and at nights. I haven't been able to sleep very well at all, and then I wake up early and have to cough more, ugh. Oh well, it's ok.

Oh, and one more thing

Kyle gave me a present of sorts this weekend.
We had a ZERO football weekend.
This is a huge deal.
He's addicted to watching football and getting football scores update like I am addicted to facebook, and blogging.

Maybe one day I"ll give him a zero blogging/facebook weekend.
If he asks nicely.

I didn't even ask for this weekend, he just gave.

Yup, he loves me.

I have diagnosed myself with

swine flu.
That, or a really bad cold.
But isn't it more fun to say I have a killer virus? Just sayin'.
Really though, I feel so sick.
Kyle's been sick a couple of times in the last month, and I thought I had gotten away with not catching anything from him. I should've known it would catch up to me. I'd had kind of a scratchy throat, but I chalked it up to allergies. But yesterday when I woke up with a sore throat, I knew it was more than that. By the end of the day, my throat hurt, my head ached, my ears ached, and my insides felt like they were swollen and sore. Ugh. I woke up feeling the same way today. I somehow got through work, but proctoring (aka sitting and reading) for two hours, and then for the last two hours, thankfully it wasn't that busy so I wasn't talking on the phone the whole time. I ditched out on my classes today, and came home after work, and slept for a couple of hours. Do I feel better? No. But oh well, such is life.
The lame thing is that of course this week I have one 7 page paper due, a genogram (which for those who don't know will take at least 2 hours to make), and a journal entry due for another class. Bah, whyyyy does it have to be the week I'm sick? At least I don't have any tests. That would be awful.

Ok, done complaining about my sickness.
I've discovered a reason why I hate waiting to get married. It's hearing all the horror stories about how couples were engaged, and then one of them died in some horrific accident or something, and so they left this world NOT SEALED. Uh, scary?!! I feel like my chances of one of us dying are increased drastically by waiting so long. I know this is a completely irrational thought, but it's one I have had a couple of times lately.
Speaking of getting married, guess what I got in the mail today??
My letter from the Salt Lake Temple confirming our appointment to be married. You can't tell me that that is not exciting. That made my day, for sure. Also, I *might* get my real setting/ring this week. Please?? I would love it.
Holly (Kyle's mom) flies out from Oklahoma on Friday, so we'll be playing with family for the next week, yay! My (future) in-laws are fantastic, I just love them.

Kyle and my's weekend was good. Friday night Kyle worked, and while I should have gone to the BYU/Aggies game with Sarah, Ginger and Nina (sorry, girls!) I opted out (I do love football, but...) to go shopping with Em, and then out to dinner with her and Shelly. Saturday was General Conference, which was amazing of course, and then while Kyle was at Priesthood, Adrianne and I went over to Lindsay's and just chatted for 2 1/2 hours. I love those two so much, and am grateful for all the help and advice they're giving me about my wedding, as well as just the support in general that we give each other, love my MG's, love my girls nights. Our girls night ended with husbands/fiances who wanted us back, so Kyle came and picked me up and we went out to eat at Zupa's with Alan and Jess. Sunday was also General Conference, laundry day, and we went and visited my mom and Charity. We ended the night early since I was so sick, but it was still a great weekend!

I'm loving this fall weather, although I dislike walking to work at 9:30 am in it.
We're getting married in 7 months and one day. Yes, we are counting.
So, I've been excited for Aaron and Collin to come home, but GUESS WHAT? They both will be home before my wedding, what?! That's crazy. Aaron comes home in one month and eleven days, and Collin's year mark is 7 days before our wedding, so he will maybe be home too. So, so weird.
Missy is taking our engagements a week from today! Hopefully it's not freezing. I finally figured out what we're going to wear, I'm so excited :) ... As a plugin, check out Missy's blog, she's amazing.
I've starting being too hard on myself again. I go through stages where I do this, and that is the stage I'm in again. But, I'm getting myself out of it... I just judge myself against other people sometimes, lame of me, I know.
Kyle's been fantastic while I'm sick. He's not feeling too good himself, but he puts my needs in front of his, and I'm grateful for that.

10/1/09

I feel like I have joined an elite club. The Engagement Club. It's like, all of a sudden, all the engaged girls I know, as well as all the engaged girls in my classes are all bff's. Comparing colors, dresses, reception venues, invitations, the list goes on. I find myself talking to girls I haven't talked to before, because now have one thing in common - wedding planning.
...

A day later.

I just went back and reread some posts from last year, mainly winter semester. It's so funny to me how life turns out. But I love it. I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

An interesting thing... I became aware of an internship opportunity for this summer in my Intro to Family Processes class. There is a research project called the Flourishing Families Project. My professor is one of the professors in charge of this project. They have 500 families in Seattle, WA and 200 families in Provo that they study and collect data from in order to see what sorts of things make families happy and stay together, etc. At first I thought you had to be available to go to Seattle, which obviously I wouldn't be able to do. (although, that would be sweet as they pay for housing, and it's in Seattle, and it's also a paid internship). But I found out that you can do just the Provo families, so I'm going to go to the Info Meeting next week and find out more about it. It's roughly 20 hours a week, and they pay $200/wk, which is roughly $10/hr. It would also fulfil my internship/capstone credit, which would be fantastic! So, I'll see how that goes.

.... One more day later - it's now October 1!

Can you believe that it's October?! Wow! And the cold weather... I love it. I have been so sick of being hot all the time, I'm ready for fall and fall colors. I love wearing long sleeves and sweaters, so it's the perfect season for me. Kyle hates it though, he definitely loves the heat, so it's kind of funny. The one thing I do hate about the cold is walking through the rain, and having a cold nose and cold ears. I get awful ear aches when it's cold outside, so I'm not looking forward to that at all.... Hm, Kyle and I got library cards, which is awesome. He had to keep me from checking out about 8 last week. So I got three, but now I'm done with them, and we're going back tomorrow to get more. I am such a reading freak. I can't get enough of books. But I have this problem where when I start a book, I can't put it down, it's all I can think about. Not so great for homework and such. Speaking of homework - I have not missed an assignment yet this semester. It's kind of a big deal. Also, on my first test for Family Processes, I got an 88%. This is a miracle, I'm so proud of myself. Ok, so on my Marriage Prep test I got a horrid score... But I'm trying not to dwell on that.

Life is good to us. Kyle and I are happy. Sierra-West said that my ring will hopefully be ready next week! *cross your fingers* and Kyle's mom Holly comes out next week, so it will be fun to finally meet her and spend more time with the Hanson's! :)

Oh, life

Kyle called the temple yesterday, so we officially have an appointment. May 6th, at 10:20 am. We're also cool enough that we're booking so far in advance, that we're the first ones on that day, holla! Haha, so that is the exciting news of the week!

Bah, I always have such good things to blog about, and then I forget when I sit down to blog.

Oh well, moving on.

I have a test to take tomorrow. And then one to take on Monday. Thus starts my crazy semester, other than reading and small assignments. Once this starts, I'll be on track with at least one test or one paper a week. Yes. I love college.

My findings of the week.... Are first, if I don't do a minor (which I am thinking I won't, in the interest of time and money) after winter semester I will have 7, or 8 classes to complete my degree. 5 of those classes are available online through Independent Study (where I work! so I know all the ins and outs there). Then I'll only have 4 (or 5, I don't remember) left. I'm thinking about doing summer term (2010) to get two more of them out of the way. So, I will do 5 classes online while we're out and about at grad school. I can possibly even do my internship? Who knows, it might be a possibility. Which means, I will only have 3 classes (2 if I do my internship out of state, and 1 if I am adding a class) to complete. So we could come out here for a summer, I could finish up, and get my diploma. Sweet! That is the plan. So I may not graduate until like 2012 or something, but whatever. It's fine. I'm excited about my plan. Or trajectory, if you will. Which reminds me!!!

Yes, Heroes started on Monday. It was interesting, yet so good. I'm excited to see where this season goes. I kind of stopped watching in the middle of last season since I got crazy busy, but I can't wait to watch all of this season, plus catch up on season three! (Oh, the reason trajectory reminded me of Heroes... Claire's crazy roommate had a trajectory of her future).

Also, these:

are my new addiction. So good! I eat them at work all the time. Speaking of work, it's going great, I really love it. Tuesday and Thursday nights are my favorite. There's not a ton of people working, and there are not a ton of calls coming in either, it's just chill.

Ok, well I think that's about it. My life is pretty bland, yet pretty great.

Oh, I'm also ready to have my real engagement ring. Dear Sierra-West, please hurry up and make it for me!

Untitled?

Kyle and I watched this movie on Friday night (or maybe it was Thursday...) In any case, it was weird. Super, super weird. It was creepy, like a scary movie should be, and weird, since you had no idea what was going on and...
**spoiler alert**
once the aliens came into the picture, well, it reminded me of Indiana Jones 4. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone, but it was interesting, and had a good.... idea, I guess.

I still haven't seen the movie yet, but I read the book. Over the weekend. I loved it! I couldn't put it down. Ask Kyle, it was all I was doing. There is a super twist to the ending, different than the ending in the book, and there are a couple extra characters. Even if you've watched the movie, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Amazing!

Other news of the weekend.

The BYUvFlorida State game was a bust. Awful, terrible, humiliating and disappointing game.

That's all I have to say about that. 19th in the rankings.... No good.

I'm getting a little more into wedding planning. Or rather just thinking of specifics of what I want. We're going to call the temple this week to book our wedding, yay! :) It's so crazy, and fun. Hopefully since we still have like... 7 months, I can take it all in stride, and not get too stressed or become a bridezilla, haha. I also can't wait to get my real band for me ring... Jenny's wedding is October 13th, so I am using her wedding day as the date that I hope to have it by.

Also, I got a new calling in my ward, I'm the Primary teacher! Every third Sunday, the families of our bishopric come to church with them. So, I get to teach Primary. We have six kids to teach, one 2 year old, one 4 year old, one 5 year old, one 8 year old, one 10 year old, and one 11 year old. So, as you can see, it's quite a range in ages. There is also a Primary president, a Nursery teacher and a helper. You wouldn't think it, but with those 6 kids, we need all four of us in there! So, it should be a lot of fun. I taught my first lesson yesterday, which went well, considering how much effort it takes to keep the kids under control, ha.

New Blog!

Kyle and I have a blog, it's kyleandbritthanson.blogspot.com - there's not too many posts on it yet, but as we go along with planning and things, I'll be updating it. Kyle will maybe occasionally post too :) I'll still be blogging here too, so check back whenever you want to!

PS

Kyle took me ring shopping for my birthday, I just didn't announce it on my blog. Now you know.

I said yes!

Wellll, it's official.
Yesterday, September 13, 2009
Kyle Scott Hanson asked me to marry him.
And I, of course, said yes!

The story, in brief, goes like this.

Kyle came to church with me yesterday, since my church is earlier than his, and we were planning on going up to Salt Lake to visit his best friend's family and then going to his brother's house for dinner. We wanted to eat lunch before we started our small journey though. So on Saturday, we had planned to go on a picnic, but Kyle said he was "too tired" and how about we switched it to Sunday after church, and go up by the temple? I was totally ok with that. Note that it is not uncommon for us to go on picnics, or to go visit the temple grounds. So nothing was out of place there.
So, after church we made pb&j's, got some chips, and went up around the back side of the temple, where there is a sort of hill overlooking the temple. We laid out our blanket, ate our food, and then chatted for a little bit. We had brought my Eternal Marriage manual with us, so we could read a talk (also not uncommon, we try to read a talk every day). Kyle was like, how about we read this one today? Which happened to be about Love and Unity. I thought he had just picked one at random... (hahaha) so we read that. When we got to a certain point in the talk, Kyle said something to the effect of he loved me and wanted to marry me. Now, we're cheesy like that all the time, so I said the same thing back and settled down to finish the talk. At about this point, he was kind of starting to get up, and told me to stand up. I was all sorts of confused, considering we hadn't finished the talk yet. I started standing up, and asked, "why?" He said because I want to ask you to marry me! He asked me, and I said yes without even thinking. I was so in shock that it had happened! After that, he took me over to his car, where he had had his roommates Sam and Garyn come and left a dozen roses, and a card on the seat. Sam and Garyn were actually hiding up in a cul-de-sac taking pictures, so then they came down and Sam took a few more.

The rest of the day was pretty crazy, we were both a bit in shock. Me, since I had no idea that it was coming, and Kyle, that he had actually done it! Crazy! He was seriously so sneaky, and so good at hiding it from me! We went up to Midvale, and visited with Kyle's best friend Blake and his wife and family. Then we went over to Nathan and Melanie's for dinner. We tried to get people to see that I had a ring on my finger but we were both too excited so I'm pretty sure we ended up just telling everyone. After dinner and hanging out at Nate and Mel's we went to ward prayer to see the Bishop and Bro V to tell them, and then down to Spanish Fork to visit with my mom. Busy day!

So, I had picked out my ring, and Kyle had the final say on my diamond and everything (such as sizing) should have been good to go, but because my ring size is so small (a size 4) the jeweler dudes decided it would just be safer to just make a new one in my size, so no diamonds fell out or anything. Something like that. So, that takes 4-6 weeks. Kyle decided he didn't want to wait that long, so I just got the diamond set in a simple solitaire setting until my ring comes in! It's still so pretty though, and the diamond is gorgeous, very sparkly, and colorless! :)

Our date is May 6th, which is exactly two weeks after Kyle graduates from BYU with his Bachelors in Psychology (minor in Business Management). So there's the story. We're so excited!!!

Well...

I like this layout, for the time being at least.
Sorry I haven't updated much. My life is fun, but not too blog worthy.
First, I would like to say that
BYU BEAT OKLAHOMA.
That is definitely blog worthy.
Provo was really out of control on Saturday night, and it was a lot of fun! I just watched the game at Kyle's. Tyler had a bbq, so we spent a bit of time up there, but there were so many people there that we decided to just watch it down at Kyle's. Great game, fantastic really.
Monday was Labor Day, so we both had school off, and I had work off. Not Kyle though, missionaries don't get a break, and so neither do the teachers, which is kind of a bummer. We went to the Blink 182 concert that night though! It was so awesome. Especially Travis' flying drumset solo. Oh my goodness, that was a-mazing! Loved it.
Other than that, this week has been just the usual. School, work, homework, and hanging out with Kyle. Life is good.
I'm trying to think about what else to write about.
OH! Missy and Jordan are getting married TODAY! Wow, that's crazy to me! It's going to be fun to go to their reception tonight and see everyone, and see them, married! Woohoo!

Under Construction

Please be patient with my ever changing layout.
My blog is currently undergoing some changes.
aka
I hate every layout I try.
I'm sure I'll find one I like someday.

Posted on Friday, not Tuesday

Ok, I'm going to attempt to start a blog post at work, in between calls and training. So if this post at a later time... Well, deal with it.

So, on to the joyous adventures of my birthday!

First, I went to work 10-2. That was all nice and fun.
Kyle picked me up from work, and then we head back to his apartment to pick up some provisions to make lunch. He was changing and doing a couple of things so I laid on the couch to take a power nap. So, Kyle came back out of his room with two dozen roses, and two bags of chocolate covered pretzels (my favorite!). So, we ate lunch, and hung out for a while. Later he took me to Tucanos for dinner. Yum, so good! We went back to his apartment, and when we went in.... SURPRISE! Happy birthday to Britt! About 20 of my closest friends were there! Kyle had arranged a surprise birthday party for me. So, the rest of the night was spent eating cake and ice cream, doing Mad Libs, chatting, and breaking open a pinata.

So, it was a GREAT birthday. The best!

The next day, Kyle and I went up to SLC and met up with Alan and Jess (Kyle's brother and his girlfriend), and Nathan and Melanie (another of Kyle's brother and his wife) and their kids Whitney and Liam. We went to the Hogle Zoo! So that was a lot of fun too, we were all pretty exhausted, but it was worth it. When I get photos from Nathan, I'll add a few on here.

Sunday, Kyle and I hit up both my ward, and his new ward; 5 hours of church in all, it was pretty crazy. We went up to Lehi, and had dinner with his cousins Bethany, Ashley, Melanie and Rachel (and Melanie and Ashley's husbands, and Melanie's 2 twin baby girls). So it was fun to meet more family members, eat good food, and play with babies :)

Ok, now, a few days later (Friday) I'll finish this post.
So, SCHOOL started on Monday. Back to class. This semester I am taking

Strengthening Marriage and Family
Intro to Family Processes
Parenting and Child Guidance
LDS Marriage and Family
LDS Temples

Should be a great semester. Kyle has the LDS Temples class with me, so that's a lot of fun. This week has been crazy, trying to get in the groove of school and work, but it's been fun too. It's nice to have some more structure added into my life.
I guess that's all I have for right now.... This weekend is the first BYU FOOTBALL GAME. Kyle and I are so excited! And on Monday (no class or work!) we're going to the Blink 182 concert, sweet! Life is good to us right now :)

Holy facebook notifications, Batman!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Yes, I am one of those people that will tell everyone it's their birthday in order to get people to give them things and tell them happy birthday.
Just kidding.

BUT, it is kind of a big deal. Since, I am turning TWENTY, 20, vingt, etc. No longer a teenager. It's kind of nice. Now, I think people might take me a teensy bit more seriously. But we'll see. I guess I still look like a teenager, ha.

Ok, moving on.

This week has been a good one. I started my new job, which is really great. There's a ton of fun people, and on my down time I can do homework (once school starts) and read, and read the news online and things, haha. (In fact, I'm at work right now.) Yes. Work is good. There's quite a lot to get, and understand and things, but it's still pretty great.

Only one of my roommates has moved in, her name is Karen, and she's from Argentina, and is here to learn English. So, we haven't talked a lot, but she is very sweet and cute.
We got Kyle all moved into his apartment. We went on an adventure to IKEA and Cabela's. At IKEA we bought a bamboo plant, cute! Haha, it made me think of How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days... "You killed our love fern?!!" Ha.
Last night we went to Charity's back to school night, and then had dinner with my mom and Chari. It was so fun. Chari just adores Kyle, so it's always fun.

Well, I'm going to go, but I'll let you know all about what fun things Kyle apparently has planned for me today... :)

Thankful... Saturday?

I have SO many reasons to be grateful right now, it's really almost ridiculous how much I am blessed. I know I complain sometimes, but I truly do have an amazing life, and I love it.

1) I have the best friends ever. I love the MG's with all of my heart. There really is no words to describe the bond between us. We were able to spend two days together this week, since both Lindsay and Kellie got married. We each have a different story, and different strengths, but we're all very strong women, and I love them all!

Outside the SLC Temple after Lindsay's luncheon.

Standing in line at Kellie's reception.

2) I got a job. I have been pretty stressed out about this lately, but now I have a job, I'm feeling not as stressed. 20 hours a week will be great for me, financially, and to get me off my lazy bum.

3) Next week is my birthday week! Not only do I start my new job, I also get to spend time with Kyle before school starts and our schedule's get out of control crazy.

4) School stars in a week! I really am so excited for school to start... To have more structure to my schedule, and to go forward in my major classes, and to learn! Not to mention getting my GPA up, and proving myself to... Well, myself.

5) I am just so thankful for Kyle. He always knows exactly what to say, even from like 50 states away. (Ok, that's exaggerated, but still.) I really have no idea where I would be without him.

Those are just a handful of things that I've been extra grateful recently.

Now, a few more random thoughts...

*Kyle gets home tomorrow!! The longest week ever is almost over!
*Dani's birthday is tomorrow!
*I get to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication tomorrow!
*I got a Mary Kay facial done today by my friend Laurie, and I am sold. Seriously. I love Mary Kay now. I want to buy everything. My face feels fabulous.
*Aaron comes home in less than 3 months... What?!!
*Last night after Kel's reception, we (me, Annika, Emily, Natali and Steph) went over to Steph's house, and watched 17 Again. Love that movie!
*Aaron's birthday is on Tuesday!

I GOT A JOB!
I can't even tell you how excited and thankful I am! My friend Tiare told me there was a possibility that her work was hiring, so I sent in my resume to her supervisor. I had an interview this morning, and she called me this afternoon offering me the job, hurray! I'll be working in Customer Service at BYU Independent Study, so basically taking inbound calls and answering questions. And, in my downtime between calls, I can work on homework. best. job. ever. I'll be working 20 hours a week too, which will be great, moneywise.

Other exciting news... Lindsay Anne Neeley is now Lindsay Johnson :) Her luncheon was gorgeous, and it was of course so fun seeing the girls. Linds and Preston just look so happy together. Gah, I love them.
Also, Kyle comes home in like 2 1/2 days. This has been the longest week. I'm ready for him to be home already.
Another also, Kaylie and Lj got engaged, which makes my heart happy.
And one more also, Kellie and Kevin get married tomorrow.
SO MANY WEDDINGS, both coming up, and just being planned.
I absolutely love it :)

Good News Tuesday!

- I sent my resume into BYU Independent Study.... Hopefully I get an interview!

- Lauren might be able to move in with me! We just need to convince my almost-future-roommate to switch contracts with Lauren. That would be great news!

- I became friends with my cute friend Ali on facebook and got to catch up with her.

- I found out that the total for my books this semester is $120, not bad at all!

- I went through my senior year box, and reminisced a little bit about my senior year... Mostly Dance Company.

- I talked to Kyle for over an hour last night, and we discussed some important things. Only 5 more sleeps until I get to see him!

Another Wonderful Week

I just got of the phone with Kyle. He left for Oklahoma this afternoon for 8 days. Lame. You'd think I'd be used to the whole distance thing or something by now, but it still sucks. No fun. But I'm gald he can go to visit his parents, and wakeboard, and do fun things out there :) I have quite the list of things to do while he's gone too, so it should be a productive week.

Things to do this week: Find a job! Go to the temple, Organize my room and kitchen, Go to Lindsay's wedding, Go to Kellie's wedding, Write to Aaron and..... I guess that's about all.

This has been another fun week, not a whole lot to talk about really, but still good. I've mostly been helping Kyle pack up and move his stuff. I inherited a few things while he's gone too, such as his big screen TV, his Xbox 360, Rockband, a stereo, and a bookcase. Things I've semi-permenantly aquired from him are a desk, a bag from Paraguay, food, and his extra set of car keys.

I got to eat out at Macaroni Grill with Ayisha, Janae and Katie last night, and at Yamato with Britt and Ash tonight, where I got SUSHI. I seriously love that stuff... Yum!!

There's only two more weeks until school starts, which is kind of scary. Summer is rapidly winding down. It feels like it has been a LONG summer, but that it has gone by very fast as well. I know that makes no sense, but that's how it feels.

I'm sorry this is kind of a jumbled mess, I'm pretty tired, only having got like 6 hours of sleep last night, so I'm a bit out of it. I'm off to bed now.... I'll post something more coherent in the near future :)

Quick Notes

Kyle should be home in just a few minutes. (In fact, he just called me as I was typing that).

The Braves won last night, which makes for a very happy boyfriend.

I had dinner with Aaron's family today. It was so great to see them all. Which reminds me! They have Aaron's officially release date. November 16, 2009. He gets home in the evening. I freaking can't wait. That's in 3 months and one week from today, yay!

I love Sundays.

Lindsay's bridal shower was yesterday, and was a lot of fun. It was me, Natalie Young, Natali Wyson and Emily Petersen of the MG group... Love them!

I am starting to apply for jobs, wish me luck!

3 weeks until my birthday!

First off, freaking Lj comes home today. Lj is my friend Kaylie's fabulous missionary, who has been serving in Hong Kong since July 25, 2007. Kaylie is one of my best friends from high school (at Lehi) and I have been around since her and Lj met when we were sophomores. And I was there the summer they hooked up. They are absolutely perfect together, and I am so so so excited for the both of them.

Second off, I got KHK's invite. Love it Kel!! Lindsay and Preston are getting married on the 2oth, and Kevin and Kellie are on the 21st. These two girls totally deserve it.
Also, Annika got engaged last night! Her text made me scream. So happy for all my wonderful MG's getting married.

On Wednesday I did two big things.
Number one, I drove Kyle's car. I haven't driven a car since I was a junior in high school. That is a very long time. Yes, I know I'm a little behind on my driving skills. I just drove around 15 mph on the dirt roads by Price, but it was kind of refreshing for me to do that. And I love that Kyle wants me to drive his car. I also found out that I don't have to take Drivers Ed again. Yes!!! I just have to go get my permit, get comfortable driving (which could take forever) and then go take my road test. Success! I'll get working on that....
Number two, I shot a gun. I am TERRIFIED of guns. Kyle took me shooting while we were down in Price. I used Alan's .22, which was great because a) it's not that loud and b) it has no kick. I shot a bottle on my first shot (we collected old beer bottles to shoot) but I assure you it was beginners luck. I was terrified and Kyle had to come help me, I would not shoot that thing on my own.

Here is a picture of my adventure on Wednesday:

Oh, and you may wonder why we were down in Price? We were visiting Kyle's Grandma and Grandpa Hanson. And we also visited with Ryan (Kyle's cousin), Lindsay (his wife) and their two kids Ellie and Bracken. Good adventures!

Yesterday Kyle and I went on a date to Color Me Mine and Yozone. Kyle hadn't been to either place, so it was a lot of fun. He loves painting, but is such a perfectionist. He painted a smiley face bank, and I painted a big mug. I'll post pictures when we get them back.... So my week has been fun. I'm going to be super busy starting in a couple hours until Sunday, and Kyle's gone and I won't see him until Sunday :( Boo distance. But it'll be ok of course... Life is good to us :)

I should...

be cleaning my apartment.
But instead I am making a bigger mess by cooking.

Also, I remembered two more concerts that I have been to.
**The Rocket Summer, with Phantom Planet
(Duh, one of my favorite concerts ever!)
**97.1zht Jingle Ball in 2004? Maybe? Sometime around them. Bowling for Soup, Switchfoot and Hilary Duff performed... As did a few others, I think.

Bonnie's wedding was on Saturday. It was fan-freaking-tastic. She looked great, Aaron looked great, the food was amazing and the photo booth was so fun! I am so doing one of those. And I of course loved seeing the MG's. And meeting Preston, who was exactly as I expected him.
I was super busy last weekend, and will be this weekend too! And, I got to meet Dawn and Cassee!
Alan, Jess, Kyle and I went camping on Friday night. It was a fun little one-night getaway. On our way home on Saturday morning we went and hiked up to Bridal Veil falls. Then Kyle and I ran errands for a little while, and then came home and took naps. Then it was off to Bon's reception. We got home a little after 9:30, and I was exhausted. We watched Rocky, but I was not very conscious during it.

Yesterday was Kyle's last day in our ward. Boo! But that's ok... After church we chatted, and ate, and went to the park, and made dinner, and went to ward prayer, and watched the Braves/Dodgers game, and watched PS I Love You. I love that movie, but it makes me cry.

Today I am being a bum. I'll go clean now. And pay my rent. And check the mail. And do dishes. And do my hair and get ready for the day. Blah.

Life is Precious

While having a talk with my mom yesterday, it hit me how precious and fragile life is. And how fast it can be taken away. I was talking to my mom while I was in the car with Kyle, and as I sat fighting back tears, he reached over and grabbed my hand. Everyone needs someone to be there with them, to have someone to lean on. And you need to keep that person (or those few people) close. Maybe hold them a little longer, tell them you love them more often, talk about the things that really matter... Because really? Who knows how much time we have?

In other news... I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House one last time yesterday, with Kyle. Still as wonderful, beautiful and amazing as always. I love the Spirit that is there. And I of course teared up when the husband and wife shared their experiences in the sealing room. It's really my favorite part.

This is such an exciting time of year!! Dani and Ryan, and Bonnie and Aaron get married on Saturday! Trevon and Mark both come home in less than two weeks! Kevin and Kellie, Lindsay and Preston, and Kaitlin and Darren are all getting married in 3 weeks. My birthday is in 4 weeks. School starts in a little over 4 weeks. BYU football season starts in 39 days, I think it is now. Holy crap, where did the summer go?? I love it though, it's so great. My life is so fantastic right now. I just need to find a job. But I am sure that will come. I am way excited for school to start... I guess a lot of people feel that "back to school" rush, and I most certainly always do. You know, the whole, I'm going to do a lot better than past semesters, and am going to study and not procrastinate as much, yadda yadda. And of course, as I always do, I really do think I will! For one, all of the classes I'm taking are major or minor classes (minus the Religion class, but it's a marriage and family class, which directly coincides with my major). Also, Kyle has elected to become my study buddy, which I know will help me a lot. Also, the fact that if I don't get my grades up I could potentially fail out of BYU... Eek. I'm going to do awesome this semester. Just you wait.

Oh, and two more things to look forward to....
The Blink 182 concert in September, and the Plain White T's concert in October, both with Kyle. Sarah blogged about how she's a "concert virgin". I most definitely am not. Here are a list of note worthy concerts I have been to in my life...
*LMNT, Baha Men, and A*Teens - ok, so it's not so noteworthy, but it was my first "real" concert. Lex and I went for my 12th birthday at Thanksgiving Point. It rocked.
*Yellowcard with ... Taking Back Sunday maybe? I don't remember.
*Fall Out Boy with Hawthorne Heights, I'm pretty sure.
*Dashboard Confessional... I don't remember who opened for them.
*Kenny Chesney
*Jamboree Music Festival with Dashboard, Colbie Caillat, Aquabats, Love You Long Time, and a few others.
*One Republic
*Various local bands
*Chris Merritt
*Kelly Clarkson
... Hmmm, those are all I can think of for now. I really do love concerts. Something about the LOUDness, the screaming, the rush (especially if you're in GA), the bass up so high it's pounding in your chest, singing along at the top of your lungs knowing that you'll be hoarse in the morning, the ringing in your ears afterwards that makes it so you can't sleep.... Not to mention seeing your favorite band LIVE (especially if they're good)... I love it all.

And that concludes my blog post today... My AC is finally fixed! Yay! So, I'm off to do the cleaning that didn't happen for a week.

OH! And one more thing. Today is Caleb's YEAR MARK. I can hardly believe how fast time has gone by.

24th of July

I had a pretty great 24th of July, although it didn't start off so well. My AC broke (and is still broken, I'm going down to the office again today to complain) that night, and so I was awake all night! It was so hot. I went over to Kyle's at 8:30 am, and he made me breakfast and we watched the parade together on TV. I stayed at his apartment and took a nap while he went to work. He came home, and we made fajitas for dinner and then went up to Alan's where we lit off fireworks, and watched the Bachelorette and ate pie and socialized, which was a lot of fun. Oh, we also went to visit Em on the way up, and got to hang out with her family for a bit :)

On Saturday night Alan, Jess, Kyle and I had dinner then went to the Bees game. We lost, but it was still fun, and afterwards we got to go out on the field and watch fireworks. Some of them were SO LOUD. I do not like loud fireworks at all... haha, but it was still a good time.

Sunday was also great fun. Church was good, I had my committee meeting, and then went visit teaching with Cathy since her companion couldn't make it. I went over to Kyle's, we took a nap, and then made a delicious linguine meal from scratch, we were so proud of ourselves! We went to ward prayer, and then chatted, and watched Hoosiers, Kyle's favorite movie.

Yesterday we went grocery shopping, hung out, watched Indiana Jones and the Lost Arc, and had a party for Jay! Jay leaves today to Brazil for the next 5 months. Kyle's way sad about it, since Jay's his best friend, and pretty much his brother, but it will be awesome for Jay!

So, as promised, here are some great photo's from when Jay, Mal, Kyle and I went golfing a while ago... We don't look the greatest because it was so hot, but it sure was fun! :)