| seattle temple |

our new ward is really working us. i have 3, yes T H R E E, calling and breck has two. also, we have already been asked to speak on a combined youth panel. crazy! i think it is so great to get involved with the ward and been an influence to others as well as the youth.

one calling includes going with some other ward members to the temple each month. we love it! the seattle temple is beautiful inside and out.

i started out having a crazy week (took me 2 hours to get home the other night due to traffic) and i was being a grump. i knew it. breck knew it. and the big guy upstairs knew it. i could not unwind and the fact that my new job requires me to fight the traffic to get to work. when we went to the temple everything was put into perspective again. does 2 hours of traffic really matter? (well, kinda when you don't have a diet coke...jk) i was being selfish. breck was so sweet to me and just listened while i vented.  one thing i love about breck is he's not a huge complainer. me in two hours of traffic? major complainer. him in two hours of traffic? he might complain for a second but then forget about it.

A quote I heard (and needed!) this week:
"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." -Thomas S. Monson

| home sweet apartment |

the weekend i flew up with breck to look at apartments he was deathly ill. he had pneumonia (although he didn't know it at the time). he was such a trooper. we had to find a place by the following weekend, so we were def in crunch mode.

he had gotten worse since i flew in and by sunday morning checking out wards, i told him that finding an apartment was important but i would not go look for more apartments until he went to urgent care.

it was mother's day which meant we could talk to his brother, tate, who was serving a mission. breck probably said two whole words to tate and we signed off. it was the saddest thing i have ever witnessed.

anyway, we found an apartment that we liked and it has worked out! we are about 8 miles north of the city of seattle. which is great, because breck works right downtown so he drives to work (traffic = a nightmare).

our little 2 bedroom apartment has that "urban" vibe going on with the cement floors and i love it!

(there's still some area that i am DIYing...so more pictures to come)

Also, those black "go green" garbage bags next to our cute bench? yeah that's because everywhere charges for grocery bags here. ranges for $.05 -$.20 (thanks, norsdtrom). that by far is the hardest thing for me to get used to. booo.

| happy b-day america |

we spent the fourth of july week in seattle with my parents (and spokane the weekend before). it was a blast. we went to the ballard locks, found breck a suit and went on seattle's famous duck tour. the duck tour is a must! it is a land tour as well as a boat tour through south lake union. although it was hotter than hades, it was worth it. breck and i also went to a mariner's game. to say i love seattle is an understatement. i am so excited to begin our lives there.

| i like to move it, move it |

you know things are serious when YOU MOVE INTO TO YOUR FIANCE'S PLACE. yeah, talk about surreal. we found that it would be easiest to move my things to seattle before the wedding, rather than after. that way i am semi moved in and we won't have the stress of moving me.

my parents and i loaded a u-haul here in utah and then made the track to washington. i am so lucky to have the parents i do. they would do anything for their kids/grandkids. like, who pays for a u-haul and then gladly drives their child 16 hours only to help them unload it? scott and jolene, that's for sure.

| he liked it so....|

....he put a ring on it!

probably the happiest day of life thus far. and the best part? i had NO IDEA. sometimes i like to think i'm a pretty good detective, but he stumped me on this one.

i flew into seattle pretty late (due to crazy thunderstorms in utah). i felt bad because i knew he had work early in the morning. when he picked me up, i noticed how handsome he looked with a button up shirt and jeans. i just assumed it was a long day at work and he didn't have time to change.

we jump in the car and drive up to our apartment. when we got off the exit, he mentioned he had accidentally taken his dad's keys when he was home last. i offered to take them back to utah with me but he said his dad needed them asap because they were city keys for the baseball fields. his family friends' mom lives 5 minutes from our place. she lives in a closed community (with guards at the entrance) that over look the beautiful puget sound. there are estates after estates in this community. a lot of microsoft and amazon execs live there. it's unreal.

anyway, since she was "flying to utah the next day" he was going leave the keys on the back porch. her home was beautiful. however, there wasn't a lot of light. so me being the baby i am asked, "sooo how long are you gonna be?" he told me to just come with him so i could see the house. we walked to the back of the house and he "put the keys under the mat" (aka back in his pocket). then we started to walk back to the car and he said, "wait, she has this cool barn lets go look at it." (still clueless). we walk down this stone path. the moon was shining over the water and although it was dark, it was still breathtaking. as i turned the corner, i saw this swing set lit with white christmas lights, a picnic table, cake bites, a dozen roses, music, martinelli and a basket.

we danced and he held me and told me everything sweet thing you can imagine. after he knelt down and asked me to marry him we danced some more, swung on the swings and then made out way to the table. we drank martinelli, practiced feeding each other cake and then finally got to the basket.

he said, "since we are starting our lives in seattle, this basket is all things seattle." he included a dashboard holder for my phone when i'm trying to navigate my way somewhere, a mariner's t-shirt, dried honeycrisp apples from pike's place and my favorite bubble bath.

i totally melted. it was so romantic.

i feel so lucky to have met breck. he's a genius. funny. hard working. loyal. kind hearted. has a strong testimony. great family. stylish. and has enough nikes to last him for life (40+). i love him and can't wait for our many adventured ahead!

| s p r i n g |

spring activities included:

last minute biking trip to boise

gillian turning the big 3-0

some "bunny" coming for easter

spring break in st. george

hiking angel's landing 

kylie and courtney's dance recital 

{ oh and kylie is now 12. whhaaa? }

third row jazz tickets and making our own kiss cam

breck getting pneumonia on our apt hunting trip in seattle 

mani/pedi's with all the girls 

getting stuck in the denver airport with my nieces

| grandpa ransom |

after christmas 2014, i had a feeling it would probably be the last time i saw my grandpa ransom. he was aging quickly and getting slower as the days went on. i knew i couldn't let christmas pass without getting few pictures with him and spending some extra time with him. the best part was that on christmas we all wore plaid for fun. without telling my grandpa he showed up in plaid too #twinning

in january of this year was his 90th birthday. he had been looking forward to this mile marker of a birthday for a while. he kept telling my mom, "i just want to get to my 90th birthday."

soon after he hit ninety (like literally days after), his health started to decline. FAST. he got pneumonia, went to a nursing home, got pneumonia again and the cycle went on. on the night of April 7th, i got a text saying hospice called and my grandpa had passed. he was only on hospice for a matter of hours. so that was a blessing that he no longer had to suffer. it broke my heart to think of him suffering. he was such a sweet and gentle man who loved his savior, jesus christ. he was a self made man who worked hard for the lifestyle he wanted. he loved his sweet wife beth, who he is happily with once again.

i will miss the drive up to grandpa's house. i will miss picking raspberries. i will miss swimming in his -40 degree swimming pool overlooking liberty lake. i will miss eating stale lemon drops. i will miss dropping in and watching mariner's games with him. i will miss him tickling us until we could no longer breath (okay, maybe not...). i will miss his the way he scrunched his nose when he laughed.
most of all, i will miss him.

families are forever.

| be mine |

i look forward to valentine's day a little more since being a teacher. the kids get so excited to show off their valentine's day boxes and exchange valentine's. not only is it a fun day at school, it is also the same weekend as presidents' day which means no school #winning. this year (and last) i was able to go to kennewick. washington to be with breck. no lying that long distance relationships are hard. but it makes those weekends that we are able to be together that much more special and exciting. valentine's day was a friday and i was to fly out that night. my brother, scottie, dropped me off at the airport. i was giddy and couldn't wait to land in wa! as i'm sitting at my gate, i notice that the time to board had already passed. people waiting to board the plane were getting restless and i could tell something was going on. finally, the attendant got on the intercom and announced that my flight may be delayed if not cancelled due to fog in the tri-cities. what the? i called breck immediately and he was so confused. he lives in kennewick and the airport is a just few miles away in pasco, but he said it was mostly clear skies. i was so bummed. delayed would be fine. but cancelled? we are already on limited time anyway, that would just put a damper on things. after what felt like forever, the attendant gets back on to announce the flight was cancelled and won't fly out again until 8am. i was exhausted, disappointed and mad. all i wanted to do was to get to wa! i would be lying if i said i got a tear or two in my eyes. anyway, lisa and scotty came to my rescue at midnight.

i eventually made it to washington (without delays!). i was so happy to be there! after i arrived, breck and i bolted to seattle. we had a blast! 

things we did:

• snoqualmie falls
• coach outlet ;) 
• pike's place fish market
• gum wall
• sunset boat tour
• ate at the crab pot. where they little cook the seafood and dump it on your table and give you utensils to eat it. bomb dot com
• space needle when it was dark (umm hello romantic)

we had done all those things a million times before. however, it was more fun to do them together. the rest of the time in kennewick consisted of lounging, making yummy food and driving around. the weather could not have been more perfect. you know what they say. west coat. BEST coast.

{ Washington}

For the 4th of July I went home! My friend Cheryl's sister goes to Gonzaga Law School, so she met me up in Washington to party! Being home is the best and my parents are such troopers these days (benefits of them being retired and bored). I had them going and going. We spent a few days in Spokane and then bounced to Seattle.

The drive to Seattle is my favorite. You are surrounded by mountains of pine trees. That is one thing I miss about Washington. First stop in Seattle? was Snoqualmie Falls. Just driving along I-90 you would never know those falls existed.

After that, we took Cheryl on the normal touristy things: Space Needle, Pikes Place, The Great Wheel, Ivar's and we even took a ferry around the harbor. I had never taken that particular ferry before and it was interesting listening to the history of Seattle.

Two things Cheryl noticed about Seattle:
1. How old the city is. She said she was expecting the city to be a lot newer.
2. And I quote, "There's really not a lot of beautiful people here." That made me laugh so hard, but she is so right. People are so chill in Washington. North Face and dark denim? You're set. Not to mention it's pretty much the granola capital of the world. She grew up in Utah, which is a 180 difference from Washington. In Utah, life in general is a competition whether people like to admit it or not. Who can look the cutest, nicest house, best car, the list could go on. Point is, people take a lot more care of themselves in Utah (I think it comes with the Mormon culture too).

Being home is always rejuvenating. Brings me back to solid ground. Not only that, it is my dream to live in Seattle even for a small amount of time someday. I can't get enough of that city.