Our "honeymoon"/Family Vacation to Disneyland!

Well, school is in full swing, but before I tell about our most recent happenings, I first have to blog about DISNEYLAND!!! My sister also blogged about it, and probably did it more justice than I will. You can read her take on it here.

So, Disneyland was our 'honeymoon' if you will. Morgan and I wanted to go there after we got married, but since my parents had already planned this trip, we decided to hold off and just go with the fam. It was SO fun! We missed four days of school, drove a total of 2 1/2 days, visited Las Vegas (which Morgan had never been to), went to Disneyland for 3 days, the beach for one day, and an Angels game. We also ate ourselves silly, but what is a vacation without good food right?

We left the Sunday before Labor Day and drove all day, arriving in Las Vegas that evening. We then got up early the next morning and walked around downtown Las Vegas. We went to the M&M world, which I have never been to, and caught a little show at the Ballagio. We then hopped back in the car and drove 7 LONG hours to Anaheim. Morgan and I sat in the back seat in the van, so we had a little room to sprawl out, take naps, eat, read and watch a movie. We reached our hotel a little before dinner time. It was SO close to Disneyland (or rather California Adventure). We could see into the park. I was SO excited I could barely sit still all night. I'm afraid it may have driven my dear hubby a little crazy. :) As we were reading our scriptures and getting ready for bed, we hear a loud bang. I thought someone must have been shot. However, soon we realized that it was the sound of the fireworks in Disneyland. We were able to watch them from our hotel balcony. They were beautiful!

The next morning we went to Disneyland, bright and early. We had a fun day even though it was really hot. We came home tired and sore and crashed. The next day was another day at disneyland and that was followed by a day at the beach. It was the first time I had been to the beach when it wasn't freezing outside. The water was cold, but the warm air made it perfect. We body surfed, built sand castles and got fried. We then were back to Disneyland for half the day on Friday and then we went to the Angel's game. It was a fantastic week. Here are some pictures:

Updates

Well, it has been a while. I can't believe school is going to start in two weeks. I feel like my summer was just not long enough. Morgan and I have been trying to do as much as we possibly can before school takes over our lives. Our next adventures are: Going to the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo, going to Disneyland with the fam and using up our starving student discount cards before they expire! Life is great. Sadly we have been so busy that I haven't taken a single picture to put up. That's my next goal. ;)

An ordinary day at work....

This is an excerpt from my journal a couple days ago:

The smell of dirt filled my nostrils. The purr of mowers could be heard as I sifted through the dirt at my feet. It was a hot muggy day, but cloud covered and so not unbearable. My husband was using the 48 lawn mower off to my east by the tree I was cultivating. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a flash of blue. I looked just quick enough to catch the figure of my husband jumping behind the a tree trunk. Not wanting to be taken by surprise, I moved over to see what he was doing. He looked at me and held up a finger to indicate to me that I should be quite. I moved in closer to him. He told me to try to hide behind the tree so John, our boss, couldn't see us. Then he looked at me and said, "Kiss me." Ha...funny boy. I did, and then with a sheepish grin on his face, he practically skipped back to his mower to continue his work. Haha...got to love him!

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. :)