bought myself a right to a hubby

Eternal happiness has a price people.

And here in Utah County, that price is 50 buckeroos. 

That's a bargin if you ask me.

first look

Zane and I took our "groomals" this weekend. 

(One of the smartest wedding related decisions I've made.) 

Walking down my hallway in my wedding dress, to my future hubby squeezing his eyes shut, felt a little like glorified prom. 

But his reaction made me feel like it was my wedding day. 

one month. 

Grateful.

Over this Thanksgiving holiday I, like everyone else, spent a lot of time thinking about what I'm really grateful for this year.

There certainly is a lot.
The long list contains things such as, my job, my healthy body, my cute new condo, the holiday season, yummy food, nature, and seat warmers.
I feel constantly overwhelmed with blessings. Big and small.

But there are 4 blessings in my life that stand above all the rest.

My beautiful best friends. 

They are such examples to me of love and acceptance. 

They've made this little life more fun, and bright.

They got me through the roller-coaster we call high school, and really, for that I will be forever grateful. 

My wonderful family. 

The new, and the original members. The immediate and the extended. 

They are so unbelievably loving and supportive. Since I have decided to get married, those qualities have begun to shine through every member more than ever, and everyday I am grateful. 

I am also thankful for the silly, adorable, little ones that keep everything simple. 

My perfect husband-to-be, Zane. 

He is everything I ever dreamed up, and so much more. 

He has truly made me the happiest girl in the world.

And every other cliche you can think of.

He is mine. 

Last, and most of all, I am grateful for the gospel. 

I am grateful to know what I know, 

and all of the blessings that come along with that knowledge.

Happy Thanksgiving.

engaged stuff

Being engaged and planning a wedding are not as fun as the media makes it appear.

They involve stress, frustration, insomnia, fatigue, tears, and more.

But it does have it's upsides, like bridal showers!

I had the my first bridal shower last weekend, and it was lovely. 

I am so blessed to have such a supportive family. Borup and O'Gwin. 

Yes, being engaged does have it's down sides, but let's talk about the upsides too. 

I'm surrounded by loved ones who are excited to celebrate with me, 

I get to enjoy my last moments of not being utterly newly-wed poor, 

and Zane and I get to be silly, flirty, and obnoxiously affectionate before we grow old together and mature into a different kind of love.  

life is good. being engaged is good.

Thanks again to my family for such a wonderful shower last Saturday!

come on people

Breaking Dawn was perfection.

Everyone on FB has been posting some controversial status updates.
I guess you either hated it, or loved it.
I obviously LOVED it.

Yes, it was very cheesy. I literally laughed out loud at certain scenes. Me and my friends all did. That didn't change how much we all loved it.
It definitely followed the book perfectly. So to be honest, I have no idea what else people expected.
I mean, the whole book is a cheesy. Goodness, it is a 100 year old VAMPIRE, falling in love with a 16 year old. Disastrous love triangle with a lady-voiced WARE-WOLF included. Far from literary brilliance. But it served it's purpose.
An entertaining guilty pleasure for almost every teenage girl, and some boys, in high school.
So when it came time to turn it into a motion picture, why is everyone expecting award worthy acting, directing, or screen writing?

What we ended with was a cheesy, guilty pleasure, movie masterpiece.

Get over it people. It's TWILIGHT for heavens sake. Don't try to make it into something it's not, just take it for the cheap thrills it's worth.
Take 5 of your best friends with you, and it'll become a perfectly silly night.

So there is my vote America.

Breaking Dawn was totally worth the 1 hour of sleep I had to run on the next morning. 

If you disagree, your comments are unwelcome.

If you agree, feel free to send me an amen!

it's a good life

Lets talk about 2 different events that are making me a very happy girl...

A. 
Zane and I got our first wedding gift! Two of my favorite aunts, Launa and Tammy, can't make it to my shower on Saturday, but they save lives for a living so it's okay.
And because they are the best, they still wanted to celebrate with me, so they were kind enough to take me out to dinner. We ate at CPK, and chatted for an hour or so.It was lovely, and on my way out they gave me two gifts to take home to my hubs-to-be to open together.
We were pretty excited. Although my family has been more than helpful already. My parents, and my grandparents have already donated time, gifts, and money into creating my perfect home. This was our first "official" gift, wrapped and all.
It felt like a historical moment, so we took a picture.

A vacuum and comforter have never been so exciting.

And if I look like I've been crying, it's because I had. I was just missing my dad that night, okay?! 

B.

This morning at work I discovered I won this little competition they hold at my job! I was pretty proud, and I went to collect what I thought would be a dinky little prize. It turns out my job is pretty awesome, and I won a $50 gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond! Hello, that's where I'm registered! 

I am pretty sure it was fate.

And even though I went to work without a lick of make-up on and slicked my hair back, I had to take a picture of this moment.

Needless to say, I'm having a good day. 

Hope you are too!

sunshiiiiine

Although the extra hour was lovely, 

my favorite thing about the recent time change, is definitely waking up to light.

It is rather depressing, not to mention rather difficult, to wake up when it is pitch black outside. 

It makes my heart feel pitch black.

Now when I wake up to skies like this...  

It puts a little sunshine in my soul. 

It also doesn't hurt that my sweet boy wakes up every morning at 6 to keep me company. Even though he doesn't have to wake up till 8. He always makes sure he's up to make getting work a little easier for me. 

Blessed, is the word of the day. 

or life. 

Roasted Cashew

Remember the masterpiece we called the cloud room?
Well thanks to hours of dedicated work, mostly from Zane and his mama, the cloud room is no more.
This is how we spent our Saturday...

It started off a little something like this.. 

The ceiling was also blue, which made a little extra work for us. 

 a little over exposed.

And the finished product looks a little like this!

The pictures are a little misleading. They make it seem like we did this all on our own, but like I previously mentioned, Missy, Zane's momma did most of the work. I have to give credit where it's due.

I worked wonders with the blue tape though. 

Needless to say, I'm enjoying "roasted cashew" much more than the clouds. 

One step closer to making this little place our home. 

P.S. I requested Zane participated in No Shave November, and I'm lovin it. 

Whaaaaaat?

Guess who came home last night?!

Miss Hillary Ann!

Finally home from her 4 month service abroad!

And who greeted her at the airport?! none other than her best friends, and family of course. 

We were so excited waiting for hill to come out. Our little hearts were pounding like she was our missionary. We just love each other is all. 

She had no idea we were coming to meet her there, so she was definitely surprised when she turned the corner to see us all standing there. And because she didn't know we would be there with cameras, taking all sorts of pictures, she also didnt have a spec of makeup on. But she was beautiful, as always of course. 

We're so excited to have her home!

And she is so excited to have her car...

haha completely candid. 

After we got home, we all sat around at hills house and talked about Ecuador for a couple hours. We also got some presents. Hill gave us each a cozy blanket especially picked out with the colors we requested. She's the best!

And most important event of the night...

Added stickers to the poster of course!

I'm so happy to have Hill home. I can't wait to have my bestie in Orem with me.

And even though I didn't get home last night till 2 in the morning, and I had to wake up for work at 7, picking her up from the airport was worth it.

selflessness

Since I got engaged, all of my money goes into the bank.
Straight into savings, or used for marriage related things.
Although, I do find marriage shopping fun, my inner Nordstrom online shopaholic  has begun to slip out here and there.
The new twist on the addiction that makes it all okay is, now I'm addicted to picking out cute stuff for the future hublub.
Which is basically selfless.

And in all honesty, he needs some clothes.
He hasn't bought himself a winter coat since before his mission, and he is 25!
And I'm pretty sure I see every shirt cycle through within 2 weeks.
He is going to freeze his little buns off if I don't donate to the cause!

Plus, I ALWAYS make my selections from the sale department okay!?

So the census is, pure, selfless, necessary service.
Momentary guilt, gone.

A Borup Day

Saturday was a Borup day.

Zane and I spent all day long with my side of the family, and they kept us busy. 

First we had my cousin Mandy's baptism at 11. Her older brother, and my cute cousin Tyler got to baptize her, and it was pretty special to be apart of the event. Zane got to participate in her confirmation, which was also really special. 

After, we celebrated with the family, and ate the most delicious homemade tacos. 

Definitely gave Del a run for their money. 

This would be beautiful Miss Mandy

After we managed to all nap for a little bit, and then we were up and on to the next item of business. 

My cute mom made an appointment at "The Chocolate" for some taste testing for my wedding. 

Needless to say, it was delicious. Their sugar cookies are my newest obsession. I think The Chocolate will replace Yogurtland just fine for the winter season. 

You can try them for yourselves at my reception.

Isn't my boy so dang cute?!

After the chocolate we made a trip to Roberts, and Home Depot. Bought a few marriage necessities here and there, and then we were off to BYU. 

It was my sisters first appearance in the improv comedy show Laugh Out Loud.

So of course, the whole family went to support. 

We had a lot of fun, and Bri did such a great job. Who knows where she got the desire, or the talent, but she's got it. 

She was a little unsure if she was glad we were there or not

We love each other lots. 

The first picture of the new full fam-bam. 

It was a real busy, but perfect little saturday. 

7 months

I believe I have mentioned how much cuter my cousins are than your cousins.
But, I took two little girls out to the park on Friday and I just couldn't even handle all the cuteness, so I am telling you again.
My cousins are cuter than yours, and here's some proof.
Get ready for adorable overload.

We fed the ducks too

Megan refused to pose for any picture, except for this one, with her hand in her mouth. 

Mikelle took this picture, she's a regular old photog

Love these little girls

Brooke Date

I have the best boy ever.
After I've had a rough night, full of unnecessary tears, Zane takes me out on a Brooke date.
Which means he chooses activities that he knows I really want to do, regardless of how he feels.
We ate at Five Guys, cause he knew I was craving it.
Then took me to my favorite place in the world, Yogurtland. Even though he says it smells like estrogen.
And then to finish it off, we went and saw Footloose. A pretty much girl movie he knew I wanted to see, that I absolutely loved!

He knows how to cheer me up pretty quick. That's why we're gettin' Hitched.