Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas in Utah

Celebrating Christmas in Utah this year was just what I hoped for- tons of family time, eating too many sweets, and a major snow storm :) I missed having a white Christmas and so the snow made me so happy. Our trip also consisted of seeing a bunch of "Christmasy" performances- the Nutcracker, the Savior of the World musical production at the conference center (so good), and Les Miserables. We saw Les Miserables on Christmas day and I probably cried at least 3 times during the movie. Just loved it!










Andy Warhol is one of my favorite artists, and so I was thrilled to find out that his work is on display at the BYU Museum of Art. They had these cool silver clouds there, and so my dad, Sophia, and Oliver played a game of "don't let the clouds touch the ground". It was so funny to watch.




My mom and I gave each other the same present for Christmas. Guess we think alike!

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Merry Christmas

“Let us make Christmas real. It isn’t just tinsel and ribbon, unless we have made it so in our lives. Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is peace because we have found peace in the Savior’s teachings. It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others.” – From “Christmas is Love” by President Thomas S. Monson


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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Our First Wedding Anniversary

Today marks our 1-year wedding anniversary, and what a wonderful year it has been!

Dallin has made my life so full of joy and happiness! As many gifts as I've had in my life, there’s nothing like the gift of my husband. I thank God every day for him. My husband inspires me to be a better person and he does something every day to make me feel special. I am head-over-heels in love with him and am looking forward to all the new life experiences in front of us!

We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday, and Dallin surprised with a whole day full of fun. First he took me to get my favorite breakfast- crepes! Then we went and got a couples massage together. It was AMAZING...to say the least. I definitely want it to be an annual tradition:) After, he took me shopping and then to a really nice dinner at a place called Bella Vista in Woodside. It is in the mountains and overlooks the whole city. I loved it. Then we went to a ceramics store and painted a plate together to have a little keepsake for the day. He also made me dessert when we got home and gave me a present. He is the sweetest boy in the world. We had so much fun celebrating our 1 year.


Due to this occasion, I thought it would be fun to post a picture of us as just friends- this was taken 1 year before we even started dating. Looks like love might have been in the air then!




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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

We had an ugly Christmas sweater party this weekend- and man did everyone show up in some hilarious outfits! It was great. We chatted, played a game of mafia, and drank some holiday wassail :)



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Monday, December 3, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving from Maryland


Dallin and I went to his hometown of Potomac, Maryland this year for Thanksgiving break. I'm obsessed with where he grew up- it is one of the most beautiful places and so close to DC. This was such a fun trip because of all the siblings came to his parent's house and they are so fun. I  feel like I am just laughing the whole time we are together. Here we are in Georgetown shopping on Black Friday.



This was our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple, so I got to be apart of all the great Bills family holiday traditions. To start the Thanksgiving day, the boys always play a "Turkey Bowl" football game.This year they also got all of the kids to play a game. They were so cute to watch!





Another tradition is that they drink a lot of Welch's sparkling cider with their huge Thanksgiving feast. After eating, we passed around a little corn jar and took turns expressing what we are grateful for. They do this every year. The corn jar has a special meaning to them because when their house burned down many years ago, it was one of the few things that survived the fire. This is definitely my favorite tradition.





We also spent time playing with our cute 8 nieces and nephews. I love them all and it's so fun being "Aunt kayla"!



Hannah and I went to the mall at midnight for Black Friday. We went looking for sales, but mostly we wanted to experience the chaos since we had never done it before. The lines were absolutely crazy.


We did a lot of shopping this trip, and managed to see both the new Twilight and Lincoln movies. The last day of our trip we spent downtown DC at the Botanic Gardens. We went to see their Christmas display- every thing was decorated and made me so excited for Christmas time!
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Sunday, November 4, 2012

The Day I Got Engaged

Today, one year ago, is the day I got engaged to my wonderful husband! It was one of the best days of my life. At the time, we were dating long distance since Dallin was working in California and I was finishing up my last semester of school in Utah. He told me that he planned a special day for me because he missed me, and that everything was already paid for, I just needed to show up with a friend to the places he sent me. This didn't seem out of the ordinary because Dallin was always doing nice things for me. So, first Candice and I went out to breakfast at my favorite Crepe place in Utah. They brought us out my favorite breakfast- Strawberry, Banana, & Nutella crepes. To top it off, the server gave Candice and I these pink shakes topped with sprinkles. Next, we both got professional massages. It was amazing.



After I got home from that, Natasha came out with me to the next place, which was off to the nail salon. We got pedicures together. I was surprised that Dallin picked out such a good nail place (must have had sisters help). Then, we went to Nordstrom where they had a gift card on hold for me to shop for whatever I wanted- My man knows the way to my heart ;)


After that, Dallin's sister-in-law Hannah picked me up to take me to dinner in Sundance. As we were walking to the restaurant, she said that Dallin left a gift for me by the bonfire. I looked over and there were rose petals surrounding a present. I opened the gift and there was a note from Dallin inside. As I started to read, out walks Dallin! I was totally shocked. He told me the sweetest things before he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He had been calling me throughout the day pretending he was at work and in meetings- little did I know he was in Utah the whole day (and met with my dad). I felt so much love and happiness and peace in that moment. It was perfect.


We then had dinner together at a restaurant in Sundance, and I think I stared at my ring the whole time. After, we went to Shane and Hannah's house and tons of friends were there to surprise us and say congrats!
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Monday, October 29, 2012

Girls Weekend in Murphys & Happy Birthday Kelly!

Happy Birthday to my Best Friend Kelly! Today she is 24 years old, and we celebrated this weekend with a girls trip to Murphys. Kelly's parents moved to Murphys a few months back, and so Kelly thought it would be a great idea to house swap with them for the weekend. So, nine of us girls went up to have some fun in the mountains for the weekend.



On Saturday night, we went to dinner, watched the Giants win a game at another restaurant, and then went out dancing. We danced for 3 hours and it was so fun, even though we were the only ones there not in a Halloween costume (guess we didn't get the memo).





During the day, we hiked around Calaveras Big Tree State Park, which apparently used to be one of the seven wonders of the world at one point (but who knows). It reminded me so much of hiking around the Muirwoods just north of San Francisco. The trees were so big and tall and beautiful. After our hike, we went to White Pines Lakes to eat lunch and kayak. Kayaking around the lake was my favorite part of the day. It was just so peaceful and fun being in nature.




Here we are again at Hotel Murphys. Somehow, we managed to go here every day of the trip, which made us totally feel like locals since we started recognizing the same people. The trip was such good girl bonding, and I am so glad that I got to spend time with these amazing people! These girls are all so fun to be around, and we laughed too much together. They are all such beautiful people on the inside and out, and I feel so lucky to have formed friendships with each of them!


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