Last Year on Our Anniversary

I promised Spence that I would post about our anniversary last year. It got really crazy with the packing and the moving and everything. And by the time I got to it, it seemed silly to post so late. So instead I am doing it in conjunction with my post about this year's anniversary. Better late than never. Just as a warning, I will be doing flashbacks to last year for the next few posts.

For our second wedding anniversary, we had a marathon of activities. We woke up early and played golf with my mom at the Country Club. We scrambled. I am okay and have a decent swing, but my short game sucks. Spencer could be really good, except that he swings too hard and makes it like a baseball swing and that makes his ball fly really far but it slices like crazy. When he doesn't swing as hard it is just beautiful.

After we went golfing, we ate at the Country Club. They have really good food. Then we went home and we went to a movie, "The Happening." It is co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. We really like his movies, even though they are weird and a little silly. This one was pretty gruesome. And the old lady out in the woods totally freaks me out because she will flip from being nice to being mean and crazy. That is super scary to me.

After that we played racquetball. Spencer is really, really good at racquetball. It comes natural to him and he makes it look so easy. Me, on the other hand....I am the worst racquetball player in history. I am just not very coordinated with my hands and a racket like that. So he played me left-handed (yeah, he is right-handed) and still killed me! I still had fun, though. We also played a round of butt-ball.

Then we went swimming. We swam and danced in the pool. It was nice, except for this old guy that kept swimming close to us. Even after we moved, he would come near us again.

Then we went to Jimmy Johns and got sandwiches. We took them to Tautphaus Park in the lilac circle. We sat on a blanket and had a picnic. It was really relaxing and romantic. I love lilac circle because I love the smell of lilacs. I always have. They remind me of my Great-grandma Watts. The smell makes me happy and fills me with memories. I wanted to have them at my wedding, but it was too late. And I was worried if I moved the wedding up to when they are in bloom that it would rain.

I'm wearing my "More Cowbell" shirt. Awesome! And I look like crap because we were just swimming.

Isn't he handsome?! And he has the most beautiful eyes!

He loves Jimmy John's.

Then he gave me my present. I totally started to cry. He was so sweet and thoughtful! He made our blog into a book! It was hands down the best present ever! It was fun to look back on all of the things that we had done in just one year. I am still floored by what a great gift it was.

The dedication reads:

Brianna, I love you so much. My life has truly been wonderful for the past two years. I'm excited to take on the new challenges and new adventures that await us. Happy Anniversary, babe. I love you. Moose

After the park, we went to my parents house and made a fire. We made some smores. My parents sat with us by the fire and we talked and looked at the stars. My mom had a constellation book. It was really fun to just sit around the fire and talk and be together.

Then we went inside and watched a movie. Then we totally passed out. We were exhausted from the day's activities. It was a lot of fun to do so much in one day. We had a blast.

I love being married to Spence because we have so many things that we like to do together. But we also love to just chill and be lazy, too. I think that we would be happy in any circumstance as long as we were together. We are a good match. We fit together well. We challenge each other and help each other to grow, but we have the same goals and morals and interests that it works.

Spencer once wrote to me:

It is the things in common that make relationships enjoyable, but it is the little differences that make them interesting.
you are difficult and different... and I love you for it.

Three Years

I wanted to put the pictures in a different order, but the blogger won't let me.

On June 23, 2006 I married my best friend, Spencer.



We had been best friends for eight years. Best friends that fell madly in love with each other. We couldn't be apart anymore, so I packed up and moved to Utah.

This is my best friend since first grade, Whitney. She helped me with my wedding. She drove up to Idaho every weekend from Logan to help me make plans and arrange flowers and cake and invitations, etc. She is a good friend. And I will love her forever.



I am so happy that we met and fell in love. I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else.



We were sealed for time and eternity in the Mount Timpanogos Temple.




I love that I can kiss him every day just because I can.

I had the support of my family and friends who had to travel to be there on our special day.

Don't I have beautiful sisters?!

On the day that we got married, my dad decided to get up early and try to fix my sink. It was so random that he suddenly thought that the morning of my wedding was the right time to do it. I was freaking out! I was like "Dad! I have to get ready!" And he was like "I'm almost done!" It never got fixed. My dad is so cute and funny like that. He wanted to help. I think that he had some nervous energy, too, and needed somewhere to let it out. But that just wasn't the time or place. It is so funny to think about it now.

Joyce was so excited about us getting married. The minute we got engaged she was so excited to help and to plan. It was cute.

My mom and dad helped so much with the wedding. They spent hours getting the house and yard ready for the reception and planted a million flowers. I remember when Spencer asked my dad for permission to propose to me. He was so scared. I guess that Kar and Lex and my mom saw him at my dad's office and he was nervous and pale and shaking. He is so cute.

This is my grandpa. It meant the world to me that he was at my wedding.

This is my grandpa and grandma. Like I said, it meant so much to have them both there. It wouldn't have been complete without them. I miss my grandma so much...

We are so grateful for the support from our friends and family. So many people drove to be there on that special day. Thank you.

Before we got married, Spencer and I were sitting in the celestial room. We were both so nervous. I just wanted to puke. I was shaking and sweating and nauseous. Spencer said he felt the same. I was just so scared and thinking about how huge this was. Then when we knelt across from each other, it all went away. All I saw was the person I love most in the whole world. I hardly noticed anyone else in the room and I hardly heard a word that was spoken as we were sealed. I just felt so much love and I was just beaming. The feeling was unforgettable.

We began our journey together. Well...and Brady.

We were being bit by mosquitoes in this picture.

This year, we both had to work on our anniversary because of our up-coming trip to Idaho. I got Spencer a small refrigerator for our bedroom. I know that it sounds silly, but he gets up all night long to go get more water from the fridge downstairs because his water is hot and he likes it cold. And we end up with a million water bottles by our bed. This way ONE water bottle will stay cold in the fridge all night. He mentioned that he wanted one once. And I couldn't think of anything else and he didn't want anything else. So we have a fridge by our bed. And he LOVES it!

I was at work and had a really bad day. In the middle of the day, the secretary called me to the front and I had these beautiful flowers waiting for me. I started crying. It had been a really awful day. It meant the world to me that he remembered and did that for me.

That night he gave me some exercise clothes and rollerblades! Just what I wanted!! He is so thoughtful. I can't wait to have Brady pull me on them. I just hope that I survive!

It was a wonderful anniversary. We ordered food and brought it home and ate it and watched movies and went to sleep. Just the kind of celebrating we needed to do because we had to go to work the next day.

It has been a beautiful three years. I am so happy and content with my life. I made a good choice. I love Spencer more than anything else. And I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives and all of eternity together. I love you, babe.

My Missionary Brothers-In-Law

On May 8, Mikey got back from his mission in Florianopolis, Brazil. We got to talk to him on the phone. I told him that he needed to get busy to be in the 24-hour club like his older brother, Spencer. He said that it was unlikely. I am actually proud that he isn't. We wish that we could have been there to welcome him home, but we couldn't. So instead, I stole pictures from Mindy because I am a photo pirate. Yarrrr matey!

This is Mikey before his mission.



This him coming down the stairs at the airport. He grew another inch! That is crazy to me. And Spencer is jealous.







Mindy decorated the house...

...in U of U colors!! Which is a most grievous sin to Mikey, who is a die-hard BYU fan and likes to go by the name Hawsmo. The BYU cougar mascot is named Cosmo.

He openly expressed his feelings about the decorations.

On June 3, Greg left for his mission in Portugal. He has been doing well in the MTC and is already a district leader. We are so proud of him. And I miss him already.

It has been neat for me to have brothers-in-law that go on missions. Since I don't have any brothers, I never have had to go through that before. It is hard when you can't talk to them or see them for two whole years. I don't know how Joyce has done it five times! I am scared to have to face that as a mother. We love you Greg and miss you and will be praying for you!!

Jack's Mannequin and The Fray Concert

On June 17, we went to Darien Lake to see Jack's Mannequin and The Fray in concert. It was really good. I really like the voice of the lead singer Andrew McMahon.






The band's name is a combination of the title of a song Andrew McMahon wrote, "Dear Jack", and a band name he considered, The Mannequins. He stated that he had grown bored of the "The" band names, so he had decided to combine them.



Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and had a bone marrow transplant. A lot of his music is therapeutic writing and you can hear and feel what he was going through at that time. I really love all of the emotion that he puts into his music. He made a full recovery and does a lot of fund raisers for cancer.

Andrew McMahon started out in music initially as the lead vocalist and pianist for the piano rock band, Something Corporate, which is another band that Spencer and I like. The primary impulse behind McMahon's solo project Jack's Mannequin was a song he recorded in December 2000 titled "Locked Doors". He felt the song was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that if he ever decided to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record. The idea seemed outlandish until late summer of 2004 when both McMahon and his bandmates were exhausted from months of touring. They decided to take a temporary break. During the time off, Andrew wrote music that he put on an album that was well received.

We really liked watching Jack's Mannequin in concert. It was awesome.

The Fray was also playing at this concert. I have been a fan of them since they first came out with the How to Save a Life album. They are a four-piece piano rock band from Denver.

Isaac Slade is vocals and piano, Joe King is guitar and vocals, Dave Welshe is guitar, and Ben Wysocki is drums and percussion.

I love Isaac Slade's voice. It is so unique and he can sing so high.

I love the emotion and feeling of the lyrics and the way that he sings the songs. You can feel the ernestness and there is nothing that I love more about songs that the emotion that creates it and that it evokes when you listen to it. It is emotion that makes art what it is and that brings us together even when we are strangers.

It rained during this concert, too. We were smart this time though and got seats under the tent. They sang the song from the movie Beaches "I think it's gonna rain today" because it was raining. It was very beautiful. It was colder at this concert than at the DMB concert, though, and really windy. We still had a good time in spite of the weather.

We love going to concerts even though we are the older people there. We have decided that we don't care. We like to dance and sing and be together enjoying music.

Dave Matthews Band Concert

My friend Courtney is a Dave Matthews Band fanatic. She goes to as many of their concerts a year. She drives for hours just to see them play. So she called us and asked us if we wanted to go to the concert that was coming to Buffalo. Since we like concerts and I had seen DMB at the SLC Winter Olympics and liked them then, I said yes. And I invited my friend Nancy and her daughter.

The concert was on May 27. We went early and tail-gated. That was a blast! We cooked hotdogs and hamburgers and played tailgate golf and Frisbee and sat around and talked. It was really fun. There were a lot of hippies there. And a lot of pot. The concert is outside at the theme park, Darien Lake.

We went into the concert and just as it was about to start, there was a huge down-pour. It was like we were in a shower. I can't believe how much it was raining. It was a good thing that Spencer and I brought ponchos. It was fun to dance around in the rain and sing along to the songs that we knew.

It was more fun to people-watch. People were so drunk and sitting down and passing out and barfing everywhere. When the rain let up, people were trying to dry out their weed with their lighters and trying to save it and smoke it. It was really funny. Then it would start to rain again.

Nancy and her daughter left really early. Spencer and I left not long afterwards. It just wasn't our type of concert. It was mostly ad. lib. and not a lot of singing. It was mostly instrumental solos. And they didn't play any songs that we knew well. And with the pot, and the throw-up, and the rain, and the smoke...we were just disappointed. So we left early and avoided the traffic jam.

It was fun to go and tailgate and see Courtney in that setting. I felt bad that Nancy and her daughter, Lizzie, hated it so bad. But in the end the tailgating and spending time with Spencer was worth it. We had fun playing in the rain and laughing about the whole experience.

Here is the DMB logo, Spencer got a shirt with this on it.



Here is the lead singer.

And here is the whole band.

We look forward to our other concerts we have planned this summer.