1 Year Anniversary!

I can't believe that Kory and I celebrated our one year anniversary this past weekend!  It just seems like the last year has gone by SO fast!  Nonetheless, I am so grateful that we have had such a wonderful year together!  We have been able to create so many memories: our wedding day/receptions,

moving in to our first "home,"

honeymoon in the Caribbean,

our first Christmas,

first New Years,

a trip to Canada,

a romantic first Valentine's Day, Kory meeting my brother, Stephen, for the first time when he came home from his mission,

Kory getting into the Golden Key Association and Marriott Business School,

my college graduation,

a road trip for my birthday,

first family reunions on both sides,

4th of July fireworks, a month in Washington working,

tons of game nights and hang outs with our new group of newlywed friends,

Kory getting accepted to the business strategy program, Kory's birthday,

my first career offer, a Halloween party,

and a fantastic Anniversary celebration!!  For our Anniversary we went to the Marriott in Park City and loved having a weekend away.  But it gets better, Kory got us tickets to go to the So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour!  He knows how much I love the show so it was so awesome!  We even had second row seats.  Our Anniversary was the most amazing weekend ever.  I love my husband so much! I am filled with joy looking back at this last year and seeing all of the wonderful memories we have made.  I am so excited to see what the next year brings.

Overview in Depth- Week 1 (June 25-July 1)

WARNING: This blog ended up being extremely long.

Alright! So I've decided that each day I will try to go more in depth about one of the weeks from my "two month overview." Here is the overview list again for the week I'll be talking about.

June
25: Flew to Virginia to be with Kory!
26: I went to the Matt Nathanson concert Oceanside at Virginia Beach while Kory worked.
29: We made Sunday dinner and played games with friends then went to the beach!
30: Kory and I went on a very nice date to PF Changs (one of our favorites).

July
1: I hated saying goodbye to Kory then had to catch my international flight.


June 25th was such a long travel day! Kory and I chose the cheapest flight available, which was also the worst itinerary of course. My flight was at 7am mountain standard time and then I didn't get to Norfolk, VA until 7pm eastern time! I had like a four hour layover in Newark, NJ or something like that. Plus, in addition to having a long travel day I had to wait at the airport while Kory finished working and could pick me up at 9pm. So I spent a lot of time in airports that day! I didn't sleep much the night before because I was packing. Packing was unusually challenging because I had to pack for both a week with Kory (where I cared what I wore etc.) and 5 weeks in Europe (where it just needed to be a light load).

Here is a picture of me waiting in the Norfolk airport for Kory to finish working. I made myself a little bed in the baggage claim, I put my two bags in an L shape, then place my backpack inside the L for a pillow. It was my own little sleeping corner where I slept for like an hour or so, haha.


Eventually I moved to the benches and sat and waited. Kory called to tell me that he had just finished work and would call me when he was on his way to the airport. Maybe 10 minutes later I saw someone creeping up behind the payphones and I thought to myself "I bet that's Kory." Sure enough it was. Kory was already on his way to the airport when he called, he wanted to surprise me by getting there sooner than I expected. Anyone that knows Kory, knows that he LOVES to surprise! haha. The reunion was absolutely wonderful of course. After being apart for several weeks, it was so nice embrace.

We walked out to the car hand in hand, Kory pulling my bags behind him. His roommate Spencer was in the car waiting for us. The three of us went to an Italian restaurant at town center Virginia Beach. It was a great place with very cute decor and authentic feeling ambiance. After that we headed home and watched a movie at Kory's. I can't remember what movie, I'll have to ask him hehe.

Then we went over to Scott and Becky's! They were the wonderful, fun couple that I was so lucky to stay with when I visited Virginia Beach. I am so glad I did because they are great, I enjoy their friendship. Scott worked with Kory.

The next morning, even though we went to bed really late, I woke up early and got ready so that I could go hang out with Kory before he left for work at noon. We had cereal for breakfast then just hung out and talked until he had to leave. Then I went back to Scott and Becky's where Becky and I shared our cute little relationship stories. That afternoon we went to oceanside Virginia Beach for an outdoor concert of some really great musicians. The atmosphere was so fun! It really made me feel like I was on vacation. Too bad the boys couldn't enjoy it too! This is the picture message I sent Kory while he was working and I was enjoying the live music on the beach.


This is a picture of the crowd at the concert.


The next day, Friday, I woke up in the morning to hang out with Kory again before work again. Then that afternoon Becky and I went to The Pie for lunch with another friend. The Pie is a great pizza place close to the beach that has very gourmet combinations. It was so good! We really enjoyed going out to lunch with the girls. This is a picture that I sent to Kory while he was at work that day.


That night Kory and I just relaxed at home and enjoyed each other's company. Here is a picture Kory secretly took of me just laying around on the floor, haha.


A self portrait of Kory being silly :)


Saturday Kory had a long day of work. Becky and I went grocery shopping to get stuff for Sunday dinner and ran some other errands. We were going to go to the pool, but Virginia Beach was really really smoky that day because of wildfires in another state (I don't remember which). It was hot, and very gross outside. I felt bad for Kory having to knock door to door in that! I went and met Kory for lunch, he had already gotten a sale before lunch that day! I was so proud of him. I picked him up from work that night, too. So that he would get home faster.

Sunday we slept in, yay! I love sleeping in :) Then we went to church at the Virginia Beach single's branch in the afternoon. After church we came home and started making Sunday dinner. Kory was making BBQ ribs and veggies, I made the fruit salad, and Becky made banana cream pie! Yummy dinner! Here is a picture of Kory, the chef.


After dinner Scott, Becky, Kory and I played Phase 10 dice while we watched the movie Waterboy. Phase 10 dice was such a fun game! I'm pretty sure I won, but I can't remember. Kory is very competitive. In the beginning Scott was saying that Kory so far had the best score he had ever seen in a game. I was totally losing. Then in a twist of fate I pulled ahead! Go me! I think Kory was ok not winning as long as I was the one that won. He's so good to me :)

When the games were over Kory and I headed to the beach since the sky had finally cleared up. An evening stroll on the beach is one of my favorite things to do. It was so peaceful and romantic. It reminded me of when Kory and I first got to Virginia Beach in May (I helped him drive from Utah to Virginia). It was the first time that either of us had walked the Atlantic coast. I remember we were standing in the sand and I started singing to Kory "I dig my toes into the sand, the ocean looks like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket. I lean against the wind, pretend that I am weightless. And in this moment I am happy, happy." It's an Incubus song called "Wish You Were Here" that we both know. In fact it might be on my play list at the top of my blog? I'm not sure. Anyway, it was a great moment. One of the ones that stands out the most in my mind when I look back at the last several months. Well, back to the Sunday I was originally talking about. Here are some pics from that night. We were sitting on the lifegaurd tower overlooking the ocean and listening to the waves. The wind was blowing my hair everywhere.






Monday I spent my day repacking for Europe. Then I picked Kory up from work. We were on our way home and took a detour to the mall "really quick." We were walking through when Kory suddenly pulled me into a jewelry store! My heart started beating really fast as he walked me through the store and sat me down in front of the diamond rings. We had been talking about marriage quite a bit over the last several weeks. But this week when we were together we both knew without a doubt that we wanted to be married for eternity! That was the moment that it suddenly became very very real.

After our little detour, Kory and I headed home so we could change clothes before going out to dinner. We wanted to go out on a date our last night together before I left for Europe the next day. We went to PF Changs. We both love PF Changs. The first time Kory had ever been there was when I took him there on a date back in March. We went there again on a date when we were in Virginia Beach together in May. And now again in June because I got Kory a gift card there as a special surprise I sent him in the mail. So it has kind of become "our restaurant." It was a wonderful night. After our date we came home and I changed into comfy clothes. We just hung out and enjoyed each other's company. Here are some pics from after the date. Kory took another secret picture of me laying on the ground, haha.



The next day was the sad day that we had to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes! Kory drove me to the airport and helped me check in. While we were waiting in line I had one of my favorite songs playing over and over in my head so I pulled out my iPhone and shared it with Kory. "Bruised" by Jack's Mannequin. The lyrics go, "I packed my bags I'm good to go. You met me at the terminal. Just one more plane ride and it's done. We stood like statues at the gate. Vacation's come and gone too late... Hours pass and she still counts the minutes that I am not there. I swear I didn't mean for it to feel like this, like every inch of me is bruised." Kory told me he really felt like his "other half" was leaving him, and I couldn't agree more. I'm glad that my plane was delayed and he was able to stay and have lunch with me. Here are some pictures from the airport.




Well, there you have it! Week 1 of my two month overview. I hope you enjoyed the in-depth version. I'm sorry it ended up being so long!

Overview of the Last Two Months!

My goodness, I have had SO much happen in the last two months. It has probably been some of the most exciting two months I have ever had in my entire life. Let me give you an overview of what I have been up to since my last blog. (By the way, I deeply apologize to each of you who have been patiently waiting for it to no longer be "Sunday" ha!).

June
25: Flew to Virginia to be with Kory!
26: I went to the Matt Nathanson concert Oceanside at Virginia Beach while Kory worked.
29: We made Sunday dinner with friends and played games then went to the beach!
30: Kory and I went on a very nice date to PF Changs (one of our favorites).

July
1: I hated saying goodbye to Kory then had to catch my international flight.
2: I arrived to Edinburgh, Scotland.
4: Missed America, and the 4th of July, and Kory... a lot.
5: We did baptisms at the Preston, England temple.
6: Saw Liverpool, England for a few hours.
7: Arrived in London, England.
10: Saw TWO shows for cheap! CHICAGO and Jersey Boys.
11: Day trip to Stone Henge and Bath.
12: Flew to Amsterdam.
13: Held our own testimony meeting then toured Amsterdam.
14: Drove through Belgium, stopped to visit EU Council in Brussels (and eat waffles).
15: First full day in Paris, France.
17: Day trip to Normandy.
19: Toured the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
20: Attended church at Geneva ward where they spoke french, then met ex-patriots.
21: International Business Presentation by Nestle.
22: Full day in Zermatt, Switzerland where we saw the famous Matterhorn.
23: First full day in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland one of the most beautiful places.
25: Travel to Salzburg, Austria.
26: The Sound of Music tour.
27: Matthousen Concentration Camp.
28: Day trip to the BMW factory in Munich, Germany.
29: Tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle (the one Disney's was based off of).
30: First full day in Milan, Italy saw The Last Supper.
31: Venice! We saw a phenomenal Vivaldi concert.

August
1: Spent the day shopping in Venice.
2: Florence, Italy where we saw Michaelangelo's David.
3: Bore my English testimony to the Italians. Then day tripped to Cortona Tuscany.
4: Rome, Italy!
5: Day trip to Pompeii (the preserved city) and the Italian beach.
6: Saw the sites and enjoyed making our last few memories.
7: Put a package together for my cousin Jonathan serving his mission in Rome.
8: A LONG flight back to the USA then a WONDERFUL REUNION with Kory!
9: I knocked door to door with Kory and watched him make a sale, so fun.
10: Kory and I sang as parts of a quartet in his branch sacrament meeting.
11: Kory finished his last day of work! We celebrated with PF Changs.
12: We got in the car and left Virginia Beach and headed for DC.
12: My first time to Washington DC! Played tourist, visited my good friend Kylee.
13: Drove to Cleveland, OH to see Carissa then Toledo, OH to see Kelli and their fams!
14: After checking to make sure the car was ok, Kory and I started driving again.
15: Kory and I made it back to Provo, UT!
16: Kory and I had lunch at my cousins Jon and Gina Cheney's.
18: We jumped back in the car and drove home to Boise, ID!
19: Kory flew home to Washington to chill with his family.
22: I flew up to Seattle to see Kory again! He picked me up with beautiful flowers!
22: Kory and I had a blast spending the day in Seattle and a the Mariner's game!
23: I met Celeste! Then visited my cousins in Puyallup (Don and Jodie Fowles' family).
24: So much fun enjoying the sabbath with Kory and his family.
25: Kory and I flew back to Boise.
29: HAPPY 6 MONTHS to ANA LEE and KORY! We had a cute picnic by the Boise River.
29: Somehow Kory and I squeeze in ANOTHER road trip this summer...Priest River, ID.
30: Kory, Mom and I do yard work at grandma's house and attend graveside service.
31: Attended church in Priest River then went to Lind, WA for Sunday dinner and drove home. Kory got to meet a lot more of the family! We loved seeing the Fowles.

September
1: Kory leaves for Provo after spending the day with me. School starts tomorrow. I will join him next week. But I am missing him loads already!


So as you can see I have a LOT to write about and a lot of pictures to share too. I don't even know where to begin? At least you have the overview now? haha. It is late so I am going to go to bed. But I hope you enjoy my little calendar of events!

Love you all!

The End of May

I absolutely love May! It is my favorite month out of the whole year. Not because it starts out with May Day, but probably because it is my birthday month! haha, so I am a little bit biased. When I look back on all of the May months of my past I have very fond memories. Growing up my Mom always had really fun birthday parties for me. I think every year of my life until my senior year of high school I had a birthday party. When I was little it was always fun to have the neighborhood kids and my cousins come over to swim and play games. Spring is such a fun time to have parties. My best friend in elementary school, Bekah Campbell, had her birthday on May 15th. We use to have to coordinate every year who got to have their birthday party on what weekend because often we wanted the same weekend. It always worked out though, and of course it was more fun because it meant we had birthday parties two weekends in a row!

As I got into junior high I started having a "beach party" theme for my birthday every year. We would open the pool in our back yard and put up tiki torches. Then we would get a ton of leis from a party store and I got to greet everyone that came with a lei and a kiss on the cheek. It was such a fun tradition! There use to be between 30-40 people that came and all of us would have a blast. Everyone would have competitions to see who could do the best trick off of the diving board. We played other silly pool games that were always really fun like colors and marco polo. We even set up the volleyball net and get some good games going. My group of close guys friends had a band so they usually played a few covered songs for us too. It was just a really great way to end the year, get everyone together and ready for summer break!

I have also been very blessed to have some very unique and exciting experiences on my birthdays. For my 19th birthday I was in Paris, France and I got to go up the Tour de Eiffel at night while the lights were all lit and sparkling. That was so cool. I was backpacking Europe with my cousin Brandon and his two friends. Brandon's birthday is the day before mine, so we got to celebrate two birthdays in a row. I bought his dinner on his birthday, then the next night he got mine haha.





On my 20th birthday I was living in Hawaii on the North Shore of Oahu going to BYU-Hawaii. I don't think anything is better than enjoying the island life on your birthday. The day of my birthday we just hung out at the beach. But later my friends ended up throwing me a party. They got me a cake, and we had a BBQ. It was so much fun!





For my 21st birthday I was back in France. This time I was in Lyon with the BYU Business Study Abroad program. It was our first day in Europe. I went to dinner with some girls in my program. While we were eating dinner I was looking around the restaurant at the interior design and taking it all in when I met eyes with two men sitting at a table across the room. I smiled then turned away. I made sure not to look that direction the rest of our dinner, because its always awkward when two people accidentally catch eyes at the same time. So while I was avoiding looking over there, one of the French men had purchased a long stem beautiful red rose. While all of us girls were chatting he came over to our table and singled me out. He said, "this is for you beautiful girl," in his French accent and then kissed me on each cheek. I turned bright red and just said thank you. I couldn't believe that out of five girls I was picked out and given a rose by a handsome French man on my birthday, haha. After we paid the tab I went over to their table to thank him again. They invited us to sit with them and they would buy us cokes (because we do not drink alcohol). We sad for just a few minutes and while we were talking I learned that it was his birthday! When I told him it was my birthday also he didn't believe me, "fate" he called it. It was a funny experience and definitely made my night. I enjoyed having a great story to tell and a beautiful rose to smell for my 21st birthday.




On my 22nd birthday I was actually in Boise. But the next day I moved back to Hawaii, this time the island of Kauai, for a summer internship. So I got to enjoy the island life again. It was fabulous!



This year I celebrated my birthday quietly at home. But it was so great. Kory sent me the most beautiful bouquet of Hawaiian flowers and a cube picture frame with super cute pictures of us. It was the most thoughtful and wonderful gift ever! He really made it a special day for me.




Oh the month of May has so many wonderful memories. I love May because the weather is great, and the flowers smell good and are beautiful. I love May because it means that summer is here, or almost here! I love May because I get to look back at the year I have had and remember my great experiences. I think this last year of my life has been one of the best. I have learned so much, and have really grown a ton as an individual. I have met some amazing people who have been the best additions to my life! I love where I am, and especially where I am going. I cannot wait to have another amazing year.