Stepping Stones to Our Futures

Kory is going to Asia in a few weeks with the BYU Asia Business Study Abroad program!! I am so excited for him, it is going to be such an incredible experience.  I am extremely passionate about traveling, I think you gain so much education and experience through seeing other parts of the world.  I am so excited he has the chance to participate in this competitive program.  He'll be gone for 4 weeks, but I'll have people come stay with me and be working full time so I won't get too lonely.

Work is going really well.  I really, really like my job and I am having fun gaining more responsibility and learning more processes and procedures each day.  I've actually found that I really like having a career in retail, I like the random schedule that gives me a chance to sleep in a couple of days a week.  I like that there is something new going on every day.  I like that I can leave for work 8 minutes before I have to be there and have a couple of minutes to spare, amazing!

I have found a new love for reading.  I have NEVER enjoyed reading, but for some reason in the last couple of months I have started to really find it entertaining.  I have only made it through one book (which is amazing for me), and I have a good start on my second.  We'll see if this becomes a new love for me.  Anyone have any books they suggest?

I just started getting sick, so I had to come home early today.  I'm heading to bed now so that I can be rested for tomorrow.  Thanks to doTERRA essential oils, I haven't gotten sick for very long all year!  Hopefully that trend sticks!  Kory and I started learning about how essential oils work as natural remedies in December, and we've seen some powerful things happen by using them.  I love learning more about how our bodies work, and how we've been given tools in nature to keep them at their best.  We're going to have a doTERRA Wellness booth at the Utah Valley Women's Expo!  Come see us and get a hand treatment of facial, it's going to be lots of fun!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post! When I get pics from the BYU Traditions Ball I will post them.  Love you all!

Random Sampler

I noticed that there are some pictures I have not had a chance to post yet.  Kory and I have season tickets for BYU football.  We've been having fun going to the games.  We also have seats next to our friends Kyle and Mekelle, whom we love, so that's fun!  The first couple of games we actually had fairly good seats! Here are some pics.

The week before General Conference we also got to see my best friend Karly Jo, and her little sister Kimra.  Kimra was blessing her beautiful little baby.  Then after the blessing we got to enjoy some amazing homemade Cafe Rio pulled pork burritos and to-die-for desserts.  Here are some pics from that event.

In addition to those little picture updates, I can't help but add adorable pictures of other cute kids.  It's kind of funny how I always post pictures of Kelli's cute kids now that they are close to us.  It's just one of those things you can't help but do, I can't imagine what my blog will be like when I have my own children to post pics of.  Until then, I just love all of my nieces and nephews!  Here is Aubrey in my sunglasses, haha.

 

Hope you enjoy my little picture update! I think I'm finally all caught up...wait I never posted our Moab reunion... hmm... haha catching up on blogging is not fun!

Graduation!!

Thank You So Much for Making Graduation Special for Me!

Graduation was SO much fun! It was seriously some of the best two days ever. Mom and Stephen came down to celebrate with me. I always LOVE it when they come! Dad wasn't able to make it because he had other business obligations, but he was there in spirit. The night before graduation as we were falling asleep Kory kept saying, "I'm so proud of you." It made me feel so good! I love making my husband proud. On the day of commencement my Mom came over and helped me finish getting ready. She was also telling me how great I have done and that she was proud of me. I love making my mother proud! It was so nice to have her there! She drove me over to graduation and dropped me off so I wouldn't have to worry about parking. I was able to relax and reflect a little before everything got going, and it was such a wonderful moment.

Stephen was waiting in line to get great seats. Mom went over to meet him. Kory was able to come over to the parking lot where the other graduates and I were gathered before the procession started. I was so happy to see him, I was kind of standing around by myself so it was fun to have him there with me for a moment. It turns out he followed me the whole way taking pictures of me as I was walking in the procession for University Commencement. It was so fun! The lady behind me kept saying, "your husband is everywhere!" haha I agreed with a big smile. As I got closer to the Marriott Center I was able to find my really good friend Emily and we were together the rest of the commencement. Kory continued to find me and take pictures all along the way. When I got closer to the doors Stephen found me and put a beautiful lei around my neck. I walked inside the Marriott Center and when I finally got to my seat I discovered that my family was seated right above me really close! It was so awesome! Each of them had big smiles and waved at me. It was so great! Commencement began, several speeches were given but President Uchtdorf's was the best.

After commencement we gathered outside and took some pictures. That is when I learned that the camera Kory was using the whole time was actually my new graduation gift! Mom, Dad, and Kory went in on it and I absolutely LOVE it! After we took a couple of pictures we went to dinner at Brick Oven. I wanted to eat there to celebrate my BYU graduation because it is such a BYU restaurant. Needless to say dinner was great. I had to just keep telling my wonderful family thank you and thank you again for making the day so special for me. I was so happy!

The next day I woke up bright and early for my college convocation. Kory dropped me off at the Marriott Center and Mom went with me to make sure everything was ready to go for my name to be read. Stephen was saving seats--he is so good at that--so that once again they could be close to me. As I lined up with the other graduates I was amazed when at one point I was given a yellow sticker which indicated I was the first American Studies major in the alphabet so far. As a Nelson, that would have never happened to me. I guess that is a perk for having a last name that starts with an H (even though it sound like it starts with a Y)! I ended up being the third one alphabetically among my American Studies peers. Therefore, I got to sit front and center! It was awesome! I turned toward the audience and could see my wonderful family smiling and waving. I really enjoyed convocation, the speeches were outstanding. Of course I loved walking across the stage, hearing my name called out, and receiving my BYU diploma. Kory was there to snap a picture right as I was leaving the stage. Again, the whole thing made me feel so special.

Afterwards we again gathered outside. I got to see my Aunt Laura and grandma who came to congratulate me. They are so thoughtful. Then we took some family pictures. We went over to the Gordon B. Hinckley Visitor's Center and met President Samuelson. We took some pictures around the Visitor's Center.

Overall Graduation was so awesome! I absolutely love my family and all that they do for me. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel like a queen the whole weekend. Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful phone calls and gifts. Even if you weren't here you added to my graduation experience, and I love you.

Day #1 University Commencement.
In the parking lot getting ready for the procession!

My amazing husband came to visit before it started,
and let me know he would be watching for me.

He did watch for me! haha
I'm walking to the Marriott Center with the other grads.

He's still following me :)

When we got closer to the Marriott Center we got to see President Uchtdorf, Elder Nelson and BYU's President Samuelsen. It was so neat to see them watching us and waving to us as we passed. I think that is the closest I will ever get to them.

I found my friend Emily and as we were walking I look up and see Kory again! :)

Notice I now have a lei, as I was walking up to the entrance of the Marriott Center I heard Stephen yell, "Ana Lee!" then he ran up to me and put this on me. It was so cool! Kory as my paparazzi and Stephen decorating me with a lei, it made me feel so special.

Emily walking into the Marriott Center. I had no idea I was being watched, but I'm not surprised. I'm so glad I found Emily, it made graduation way more fun than being alone.

There they are! My family! (Kory took the pic) With seats only 20 ft away from me!
Stephen did such a good job getting seats.

My handsome husband! He is seriously the sweetest ever!
Look at those beautiful flowers!

My wonderful mother and my best friend! Mom thank you so much for all that you have done to help me become who I am today, I love you!

My family! I'm sad Dad wasn't able to make it because of business, but he was there in spirit.

Walking down the hill to take pictures at the Brigham Young University entrance sign.
Stephen was caught like mid-sentence haha. He is so fun I love him.

Day #2 at my Humanities College Convocation.
I got to be front and center as an American Studies major.
Plus I was the 3rd one alphabetically, moving from N to H got me a better seat! haha

This is where I got to clap for my family who supported me and helped me become who I am today! I loved being able to look right at them while I was clapping for them.

Diploma in hands, yeeeeaaaahh!

Congratulatory kiss :)

Family picture with the diploma!






Beautiful April flowers at the Hinckley Visitor's Center.

The real "Y" Mountain!

"Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve"

CONGRATULATIONS Kory!!!

Yesterday Kory got accepted to his major within the BYU Marriott School of Business!

Just in case you didn't know why that is so cool... Business Week ranked the BYU Marriott School #5 in the nation for top undergraduate business schools! Ranked above UC-Berkely, MIT, Cornell, and Emory!

Click here to read the article.

Mom is really excited that Kory will be hanging out at her old stomping grounds. She graduated from the Marriott School of Business in Accounting. Everyone else is excited for him too!

Kory we're so proud of you, congrats!

By the way... don't forget to check out the blog posted before this and comment for the give-away! One more spot left! :)

Midterms and Moving

We FINALLY got to move into our apartment! It is so awesome! We are very excited to have a home base now. Mom and I drove the Yukon pulling a trailer full of furniture for our place from Boise. I spent a few days there packing up and loading things in. It was so much work. I surprised Kory with a piano! Mom is letting us borrow hers for a few years until Kory can get his own. I hope that he is able to enjoy it. I know he would be way more excited about a TV than the piano (opportunity cost wise, if he had to choose between the two he would pick the TV). But I really wanted to surprise him with something I knew he wanted. I hope he sees it as something he will enjoy more than something that is in the way of him getting what he really wants, the TV. Our apartment is fully furnished, thanks Mom and Dad! But even better, Mom has been here to help us get settled and allow for both of us to stay here. I stay in the bedroom with Mom and Kory sleeps on an air mattress in the family room. I bet he will be so sick of air mattresses by the time November 8th rolls around. When Mom leaves I will probably go stay with my friend Emily again.

Kory has five, I repeat FIVE tests this week! He has a test in every class he is taking this semester. Which, by the way, are very challenging classes. Therefore, Kory needs to stay at the apartment more than I do right now. I can handle it a little longer, even though it kind of starts to weigh on you after a while. I think Kory and I are both feeling the burden of this awkward transitional stage. But don't worry about us! We are very happy and healthy (for now, let's hope it stays that way)! So back to the tests, Kory took his Calculus test on Friday and he got a 95% only missing one question. What a stud! He is so smart. He says he is going to contest the question he got wrong, if it's the one that he thinks it is. Oh Kory, so competitive but it really pushes him to be the best that he can be. I am so proud of him.

Since we have the Yukon and trailer down here we went and picked Kory's things up from his friends' basement (they were being stored there for the summer). Somehow when Kory was getting in and out of the car his phone was dropped on the ground in their backyard dirt. Well unfortunately, he ended up driving over his phone! Luckily, it still works! But both screens in his phone are completely shattered. So don't try to text him, and if you call be sure to leave a message because he surely cannot see a thing. That was the sad story of the weekend.

Wedding planning is coming along very well. Things are crazy busy right now. I had a consultation with the cake and flower ladies. It went really well. There was one point where we started talking about prices that I got a little stressed and my eyes watered up. My mom said, "look, she's going to cry." So of course, since she pointed it out...I cried! In front of the cake lady in the middle of my consultation appointment! It was so embarrassing. Funny how you can hold back your tears no problem as long as no one asks you what is wrong or points out that you are about to cry. Stupid birth control combined with stress makes for easy tears haha. But anyway, after that I think she felt sorry for me and she kept talking about things that she would do for free for me (and Kory). Like a 4 inch cake for Kory and I to take home, and some intricate design work that she normally charges a lot for. It was really sweet of her. I think everything is going to turn out so great! I have this vision of how I see things, and sometimes other people have different ideas than I do. That is hard sometimes, because I really am trying to make everyone happy. I hope that I am because I really do care a lot about making it a special occasion for everyone.

There is so much to do and so little time. I am super tired. But absolutely love life right now. I am so happy! I feel truly blessed to have so many amazing people in my life: my wonderful fiance, my parents, my brother, my future in-laws, my friends.

There's No Place Like Home

There's no place like home...especially when you don't have a place to call home!

I'm back in Utah now. Kory is a couple of weeks into school and he seems to be doing really well keeping up with everything. He has a pretty tough semester. He is taking the rest of his prerequisites for applying to the Business School. That includes calculus, statistics, and economics in the same semester. Kind of a lot to keep up with. I am only taking one class this semester. Kory and I are taking LDS Marriage and Family together. It is really fun to have a class together, especially one that supplements our preparation for marriage.

Other than my one class with Kory, my plan for the semester is to just work full time and do wedding planning. I have only been back for a few days, so I haven't made too much progress. But hopefully I will get more accomplished soon. My highest priority right now is finding a great job.

I am still living out of a suitcase. It is so awkward, and I really have a hard time staying organized but you do what you can. I have been living out of a suit case since the end of June. It is getting old really fast! Kory and I found our apartment for when we get married. It is a really nice one bedroom place. We are super excited about it! It isn't available until September 20th though, so Kory is homeless right now too haha. It will be a great story to tell our kids, "when your dad and I were engaged we didn't have anywhere to live so we just lived out of our cars." haha, no not really, we have been staying with friends. We are getting married November 8th so it didn't make sense for either of us to sign contracts in single housing apartments because then we would end up paying for November an December rent that we didn't even use. So that leaves us at friends' apartments until at least the 20th when one of us will move into our married apartment.

This last week we did some really fun things. On Thursday we went the dollar movie theatre and saw Hancock, starring Will Smith. I liked it. It's about a super hero who made everyone in the city upset with the ways he saved them because he destroying everything in his path along the way. But it turn out good, and has a cute ending. Friday Kory and I went on a little hike up at Sundance Ski Resort. We rode the chair lift up to the top and then walked along the trail. It was a lot of fun. We both love the outdoors, and it was something we hadn't done before. Saturday we went to the BYU vs. UCLA football game. We absolutely killed them 59-0 so that was fun. I like it when our team is good :) We were not very good the first two years I was at BYU. So overall it was a really great week.

I hope things are going well for each of you. Love you guys!