A great weekend! (Open House in Colorado Springs)

It's been a good week. This past weekend Morgan & I went to Colorado Springs for our open house (the last of the 'official' wedding festivities). We ate, visited with family, decorated, ate some more, and played games. It was SO much fun! Morgan is still the best boggle player that i have ever seen. He doubles the score of about everyone he plays and when we played Sunday night, his individual score was barely below the combined scores of the entire table. We really enjoyed the Colorado reception that we had. Mom Lyons/family did a great job decorating and the food was fantastic! We stayed up late playing and woke early to do the same. Consequently, today I feel like I have jet lag, I think driving for hours and hours on end contributes to the problem.

This weekend was especially great because it just reminded me, yet again, of how lucky I am to be married to such a great guy! I really could not picture me with anyone more perfect. I just love that Morgan has depth of character and that I learn more about him and fall deeper in love with him everyday. I am happy to report that marriage isn't hard yet. I had the idea this weekend that for some people maybe in never gets 'hard'. Maybe it is just life that gets 'hard' at times. Haha...who knows...I guess I will find out. Morgan and I like to pretend like we know ALL about married life after being married for SO long (3 weeks). This weekend we made at least 5 comments to Morgan's younger sister about what 'married life was about'. Of course it is all a joke. We understand we have a lot to learn, but what is life without a bit of humor, right? ;) One of our favorite moments of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon. Morgan has a gift for being clever and making people laugh. When this talent is combined with one of my giggly moods it is almost impossible for us to stop laughing or so we learned on Saturday. I was trying to nap and memorize words to a song I would be singing for Morgan later that evening, and he was trying to get ready for the reception. Both of these activities were of course made more difficult because neither of us could stop laughing.

I am one lucky wifey. :)

{5.12.12}

Here are a few wedding picture teasers. I am very pleased with them. Natalie did such a fantastic job!

Well, what does a person say about their wedding day...it of course was fantastic! I would like to say that I was cool as a cucumber, but the night before the wedding was about as restless as waiting for Christmas. I woke up around four and didn't completely fall asleep after that. Sick of the endless butterflies, and not quite breathing correctly, I decided that sleep was pointless around 6:00am. I got ready in the downstairs girls bathroom with all my dear sisters, a few cousins and two aunts. It was quite the adventure and felt like I was taking a trip back to high school when all four of us girls would get ready at the same time in the mornings. Morgan and I then grabbed everything we needed and headed to the Twin Falls temple.  

 We arrived at the temple and there were kind temple workers there to help us. I think we may have been the only couple being married in the Twin Falls temple that day. The sealing was beautiful. I told Morgan that I didn't think I was going to cry. Ha, that was a huge lie (to myself). I think I started crying the moment I walked in the room and didn't stop until it was over. It was SO incredible and special.

 We then, of course, took pictures outside the temple with family/friends. The weather was PERFECT! Nice and warm, but not hot and there was hardly any wind, which is rare for Idaho. My sister Rebekah did all the flowers. She is SO talented and did such a wonderful job.

 The reception was that night. Our theme was a new story and a new song because Morgan is good with words (expressing himself with words, and just loving them) and I am better at the music stuff. My sister's and mother decorated our great room with old books, old music, flowers, red and yellow ribbons, and old windows and crates. We served popcorn (Morgan's favorite), chocolate pretzels (Morgan's other favorite), and had an ice cream bar (my favorite...and now kind of Morgan's other favorite as well). One of our family friends, Alan, played the piano through the whole event. He played old music: big band, jazz standards, and ballads. He didn't use a single sheet of music.

 Halfway through we cut the cake, threw the bouquet and I sang a song to my new hubby. We then loaded up the gifts and drove off in the sunset...

Ok...it was past sunset when we finally were able to leave, but it was SUCH a perfect day. Now I am Mrs. Eliza Lyons, married to the best man for me and happy to start this new chapter in my life!

~ <***> ~

In the merry month of May...

Only 12 days until I am a married woman!! YAY!! I still can't believe it is May already. Life seems to be moving at an incredibly rapid pace these days. I finished my winter semester off with As and Bs and have almost comfortably moved into Spring/Summer. (Finally being married and moved into a real apartment, will complete the comfortable move to the new season). I have started working grounds with Morgan's crew. We both start work at 7:00am. That is pretty early for me these days, but I enjoy having the same schedule as Morgan so we can spend more time together. Wedding plans are going great. About everything is ready to go. My sister Abi made a demo of the wedding cake this last weekend and it was DELICIOUS!!!! The cake is going to be dark chocolate with raspberry and chocolate mouse filling and butter cream frosting with chocolate shavings and fresh raspberries on top. Can I just say, if you need an excuse to come to my wedding reception, the cake definitely counts as a fantastic excuse. It is SOOOOOOO good!!!!! I forgot to mention that we moved into our new married apartment for the Spring/Summer. Normally it is women's housing for Fall/Winter so it is super cheap and really nice and it also has a washer and a dryer. Great deal for us...at least until August when we have to move. Life is super great right now. I'm ready to be married, but am grateful for everything that I am get to enjoy right now. I am one blessed and happy girl!

Updates

1. I only have one final left and then I am done with the semester.
2. Wedding plans are going great. We have 'officially' less than a month until we get married.
3. I inherited some furniture from my aunt this last week and it is taking over our apartment.
4. I am thus excited to move into my new (married) apartment and set things up.
5. April this year has been yo-yoing back and forth between warm and cold, but I am enjoying the warm days when they come and everything is in bloom and looks lovely!
6. Yesterday, i went to Zupas with Morgan on our way back from an audition I had for Utah Opera Chorus in Salt Lake. The audition went well, and Zupas was fantastic (as always). I think it may be my new favorite.
7. Morgan, with his superb skills, was able to get me a second job working on BYU's grounds crew this summer. So, I should be starting that soon.
8. Yesterday it rained all day, and even though it was cold, it smelled SO good! I love the rain!
9. Wedding announcements are almost out. YAY!
10. I found this excellent article that you should all read.
11. This YouTube video is also pretty great.
12. I am loving this song right now.
13. I'm engaged to the best guy I have ever met or dated and I feel extremely lucky!

The End. :)

Here it comes...the engagement story :)

Since EVERYONE wants to hear the story of how I got engaged, here it is. ;) The first paragraph is thoughts on Morgan and the second one is the actual story (just in case you want to skip down).

I really, really enjoy spending time with Morgan (shocking I know). He is sweet, good, and helps me to just be myself. From the beginning, I could tell that he did things in accordance with the gospel, which was a great comfort to me. He is the whole package. He plays sports, he is spiritual (and you can tell!), he is kind and good to those around him, he is smart, he has goals, he is optimistic, he has self-confidence and he is super cute! Ah! SO many great things! We had real conversations right from the get-go, about politics, religion, life principles, dreams/aspirations, traditions, etc. We talked about everything and nothing was a no-mans land. You know how it is with some people, there are just some topics that you never bring up around them, either because it will make them angry, or they just won't understand. Morgan and I have never found an issue that was like that. Everything was fair game and because of that, i didn't feel limited. In the past I have dated guys who I felt like I had to dumb down conversations for or where I didn't feel comfortable talking about religion (not a good sign, girls, just so you know). I love that with Morgan this is not the case. When we started getting to know each other, I basically started to realized that I had never met a man like Morgan. I really didn't think it was possible for someone to have ALL the things I want/need in a man. I actually was quite discouraged before we started dating that I would have to settle. Well, I am grateful that the Lord showed me that I didn't have to. Thus, this led me to the point where I was laying in my bed one night looking at the ceiling. It was dark and my sister was still awake. I needed to sleep, but I was SO excited! I wanted to marry Morgan Lyons. MARRY HIM!!! AH!!! And, I couldn't wait to tell him either. The next day the news came out. It was a very funny experience looking back, because of course we wanted to talk, but we had no idea what to talk about. I remember turning to Morgan that night and saying, "I don't know where to start. I've never done this before!"

Now for the engagement story:

We got engaged two weeks later. Here is the story. I knew Morgan had the ring because in a moment of complete freak-out (on my part) he had to confess his secret proposal plan (sad I know). So, I had been teasing him over the weekend and all week that we couldn't talk about wedding plans because there was no proof of engagement (I know I'm a stinker). On Tuesday, he sheepishly turned to me and said, "So, do you want to go to dinner sometime this week, maybe Thursday?" Of course we all know what that meant, so I said Thursday would be fine. All day I could barely hold still I was SO excited and the worst part was I couldn't tell a single soul!!! So, that night he came to pick me up and we started heading toward the freeway, "I hope you're not hungry." He said, "Because we have a little bit of drive." Honestly, I was STARVING, but of course I wasn't going to say anything. Now because my darling, is not so good at directions, I eventually found out we were headed to SLC because I had to navigate. That was alright though, because Morgan still managed to stump me by finding a cute little restaurant called Caffe Molise about two blocks south of Temple Square. For all y'all who have never eaten there, you should. It is DELICIOUS!!!

<Skipping back a bit> I should probably mention that when i got in the car and glanced in the back seat I noticed a jean blanket and a coat. So, I suspected that we would be doing something outside, which didn't bode well for me because I was in a skirt and I have tendency to get cold really fast. So, after dinner Morgan started driving north. This was the wrong direction for heading back home, so I kindly asked if he needed my help to get back to the freeway. He said no and just kept driving. We drove to the conference center and then parked. We got out of the car and Morgan grabbed the coat in the back for me and then gingerly picked up his jean quilt.

Now let me explain how significant the jean quilt in the back seat of the car was to Morgan and I so that the rest of this will make sense. Morgan has a jean quilt (in case you didn't already gather that detail) that he got from his Aunt Jeanette. It is AWESOME and I fell in love with it at first sight the day I left for Christmas vacation. Consequently, I stole the awesome blanket and took it to Idaho for Christmas where I cuddled in it every night. This blanket has a multi-colored gingham back and the front is jean squares, some of them still with pockets.

Now let's move on to the story at hand... While getting out of the car into the frigid air, I stood some what impatiently, while Morgan gingerly picked up the blanket from the back seat. We then started walking. Naturally, I thought we would go to temple square, but Morgan turned and started walking toward the west side of the conference center.

We walked around to the Southwest side and then Morgan sat down on a fountain, motioning me to sit next to him. He took the infamous jean blanket and gingerly laid it on the ground. He then told me that there was an object in each pocket that represented some of his favorite dates/moments that we have had together. He pulled out each object and had me guess what they represented. The first one was a racquetball, representing our first date when he didn't expect me to show up to take him to ice cream and so he was still in his sweaty racquetball attire and in the middle of doing laundry. There were various others, my favorite one (besides the ring of course) was a concert program that he had saved from the night he decided to marry me. This particular concert was actually in the little theatre in the conference center (which was next to where we were sitting, on purpose of course. Morgan thinks of everything). It was during this concert that Morgan decided he wanted to marry me. He made friends with a sweet old lady that night who asked who he was there to watch. He pointed to me with pride and the older lady, after taking a look at me shared this story. "My husband was in the Tabernacle choir and has been performing for most of our married lives. What you need to decide, is are you ready for a life in the audience?" Morgan thought about it and realized that he was and would feel pleased to do so! Such a cute story. 

In the last pocket that we looked in, Morgan pulled out a ring box. I was SO excited to see what he picked out for me, that I started getting really fidgety. Around this time, while it was still freezing, it started raining as well. Fortunately, I was so excited about the ring that I forgot all about being frozen. Well, he asked and I consented. The ring was put on my finger, hugs and kisses were exchanged, and then I decided I was cold again. So, we walked back to the car and drove home. We are planning on getting married on May 12th! Only two more months (almost)! Here's looking forward to the next adventure!

"I should have been a great many things...

...Mr. Mayer." -Jo March

I have been thinking about this quote from Little Women. I have always been a big dreamer. One prone to thinking up a million different plans and then having at least 3 different back up plans to those plans. It is just what I do. I think it is...fun. :) So, this morning I was thinking about my future educational plans, and realizing that I want to do so many things. I am studying vocal performance, which I love, but what about all those other pursuits that fell to the wayside. I have thought about being a nurse. What a demanding yet great line of work to be involved in. I think I have what it takes to be a nurse. What about a seminary teacher. I think I might be able to do that one as well. What about an architect, an interior designer, a news reporter, and many more. There is just SO much that I want to do and learn.

My dad has often expressed the same dilemma, if you can call it that, in his own life. Consequently, he is a jack of all trades. I feel the same way. I dabble in many things and don't become extremely proficient in any of them. So, is this a problem? Not really. Where the issue lies is that I feel like I can take on too many things bogging myself down. Especially in college where my area of study is so narrow, I just do not have the time to pursue all the things that I would like to. Maybe someday I will get to explore everything that I desire, but until then I'll just claim that "I should have been a great many things."

2011 {in review}

Here is a little taste of what I have done in 2011. Enjoy!

{January}

Turned 21 and got a ukulele for my birthdaySigned-up for a triathlon and started training for a marathon.

{February}

Had one of the best Valentine's Days with my three other single roommates!

And...more fun with my dear roommates!

{March}

Did the Rex Lee Run.

Went skiing with the family. I also learned to snowboard. I don't have any pictures of that though.

Signed-up for the Utah Valley Marathon.

{April}

Went to conference with my sisters.

Decided to live with Abi next year. (Best. Decision. Ever!!)

{May}

Had a great weekend home with my family and partied with my mother on Mother's day.

{June}

Decided to give a recital.

Changed my major because of said recital. (Read this post for details)

Went to dear Colorado Springs to visit one of my favorite people J-Hart!!!!!!!

{July}

I did the Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho with my sister Rebekah. I'll admit I was extremely afraid of drowning, and crashing my bike. When I finally got to the run, I was SO happy.

{August}

My roommate Lindsey got married. Her reception was beautiful. I was glad that she included me in all the festivities! Her and her new hubby are probably one of the cutest couples ever.

I went to the famed Cassia County Fair & Rodeo. It was a party! I also bought a pair of cowboy boots (necessary attire for watching the rodeo o' course).

School started! New major, new apartment (with my sister, YAY!), new ward and a completely different ball game.

{September}

I RAN A MARATHON!!!! Probably the biggest thing of the year. It was quite the experience. You can read a little about it here. I liked it so much, I'm signed up to do another one next June. (I think I may be crazy!)

I am BYU Concert Choir's president for 2011-2012.

{October}

BYU homecoming fun!

Went to my first opera at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. It was fantastic!

{November}

Had Thanksgiving with the family in Idaho. We all ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning,

shot shotguns

and ate SOOO much pie!

{December}

Barley lived through the end of finals week. It was a pretty challenging semester.
I had Christmas up in Idaho!
While home, Abi and I held our annual Christensen Christmas Ball.

Overall it has been a pretty productive year, and this next one is gearing up to be even better!! :D