Just Holding Your Hand...

Valentine's Day...

It comes with so many emotions.

Valentine's day is a celebration of love. But for 12 years of my adult life it was a reminder of what I deeply longed for. Sure, I dated, but it just wasn't the same. My roommates and I affectionately referred to it as "Single Awareness Day". I was by no means a bitter single person, but a day devoted to LOVE seemed to tug on the heart strings in a painful way.

Well, now I have a Valentine and I love celebrating this day of LOVE with him. I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband. He surprised me with flowers and booked a stay at an incredible hotel Friday night. He planned reservations at a delicious restaurant. It was amazing!

I used to dream of having a Valentine's Day such as this one with the man I love. But I never knew that my favorite part of this day would simple be having him to love.

As we walked from our hotel to our restaurant in the brisk air I snuggled up close to him and squeezed his hand so tight. I LOVE his hands. They are big and strong. They engulf my hand and I feel so taken care of. They are always warm and keep me warm. He keeps me warm and fills my heart with deep inner peace and love.

The flowers are beautiful and the dinner, scrumptious- but Valentine's Day is over.

Patrick, however, is mine forever and that is the best Valentine's Day gift I could ever hope for.

That's My Man...

Patrick is amazing... for those of you that know him, know that he is incredible with dates and remembering special events. Often people joke that it is the man that forgets anniversaries and birthdays- but not my guy. In fact, I have to ask him to help me remember certain things. He knows the date we first met, the date of our first kiss, the list goes on.

Today is a very important date and I have to admit, I totally forgot. On this day, three years ago, the appearance of my left hand changed forever. That's right, February 2, 2006 Patrick asked me to be his wife.

We had looked at rings and even picked one out, but they told us that it would take 2 weeks to have it sized. So I knew that our 'official' engagement would have to wait a bit... at least I thought.

Patrick is an amazing photographer and has taken seasonal pictures of the same waterfall... Spring, Summer, Fall... only the Winter season was missing. SO, on February 2nd he invited me to join him up the canyon to get the shot.

It was freezing and there was tons of snow but it was perfect conditions. We carried up the tri-pod and his camera bag was on his back. He got it all set up and then asked me if I could get him a different lens from the bag. As I opened the bag I saw a box from the jewelery store. I couldn't believe it. As I turned around, there he was on one knee, in the snow. "Erin, I love you, will you marry me?" He then pulled out a beautiful rose he had been hiding in his jacket.

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There was lots of kissing and several giggles. He gave me a piggy back ride back down the snowy path. All I could do is squeeze his neck and stare at my beautiful ring. We made some phone calls to family, but then headed to Sundance for dinner at the Foundry Grill. There is no cell phone coverage there, so it was our own private time. We talked and talked and he told me how when he first moved to Utah he only had a bike and several times a week he would ride up to this waterfall. He thought it was so beautiful and would be the perfect place to someday propose. Today was that someday.

This afternoon, Patrick asked me what I had in mind for dinner. When I gave him my planned menu he asked if I would be ok with something a little bit different... he knows me so well... I love surprises. He had made reservations at the Foundry Grill in Sundance. How Romantic!

The food was incredible and we enjoyed our table by the fire place.

The night we got engaged one of my students was working the deli counter right out the restaurant. I introduced her to Patrick and showed her my ring. She gave us hugs and then gave us a free sucker. So now it is a tradition... every time we eat there we have to get a sucker. Yum!

I love you so much Patrick. Thank you for all you do and for being so thoughtful. You make life fun and meaningful. How blessed I am to have you as my man!

Our Christmas Traditions

Christmas is not Christmas without traditions. This was our 3rd Christmas as husband and wife and we have created quite a montage of festive events.

The Christmas Lights at Temple Square are spectacular. We head up on Trax because parking is difficult to find. First we eat some dinner at Crown Burger, the best french fries in town, then stroll around looking at the lights. We watch the nativity, look at the Christus, go into the Tabernacle- we love it.

Another great tradition is watching Christmas movies. We own over 10 Christmas movies and we watch all of them before Dec. 25. From Charlie Brown Christmas, Santa Clause is coming to town, Elf, Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Story, Mr. Krueger's Christmas... we make time to watch them all.

There is a local theater that puts on AMAZING productions, but our favorite is their version of A Christmas Carol and it wouldn't be Christmas without it. My good friend, the drama teacher at the high school I worked at for 10 years, plays Scrooge and is the best I've ever seen.

Since the Christmas before we were married we have built a ginger bread house. Here is a picture of us in 2005 with our good friend Melissa.

We also find a great Christmas concert to go to. This year we went to the Salt Lake Symphonic Choir. They did a wonderful job and help to fill us with the Christmas Spirit.

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We have celebrated Christmas Eve exactly the same for all 3 years. I make our favorite Lasagna dinner, Patrick reads from Luke 2 and we watch the Luke 2 video made by the church. We then snuggle up and watch It's a Wonderful Life while sipping egg-nog. We love this movie and it makes me cry every time.

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On Christmas morning we get up early, open presents, make a yummy breakfast and then head to my sister's house. We feel so blessed to have family near by... it just wouldn't be the same without them! We stay in our PJ's all day, play with the kids new toys, work a puzzle and eat until we are sick... it's perfect! For the last two years my niece and nephews have come home with us that evening- we love it! Here is a video of them playing at our house last year. It makes me smile...

December is a special time of year. How thankful we are to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior with so many fun and meaningful activities. We love Him and are thankful for all He has done for us.

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The decorations are all put away, but hopefully we can keep the Christmas Spirit in our hearts all year round...

True Love

I don't like blood.

I don't like raw flesh...

It makes my stomach do weird things.

You may be wondering what this is...

This is a picture of true love.

A few weeks ago Patrick had a little spot removed from the side of his head.

I went to the doctor's office with him.

I held his hand until they made me move to the other side of the room.

Days passed and it was time for the stitches to be removed.

Patrick had an early meeting and would not have time to go to the Dr. office that day.

So he asked me to do it. I told him he was crazy.

He offered me money, big money. I told him he was still crazy.

Until I saw him in the bathroom trying to remove them with a razor blade- himself.

I rolled my eyes and told him that he owed me... big time.

With the removal of each stitch I couldn't keep the grunts of disgust to myself.

I dry heaved, more than once.

These suckers were stuck in there good.

Yeah, only because of true love.

I love you, my Frankenstein lover boy!

A Good Laugh...

I needed a good laugh.

Patrick can always make me laugh.

His wicked computer skills hit the spot.

When I saw what he had done to this picture I laughed so hard my stomach ached.

It was the best abdominal workout I have had in a long time.

It brought happy tears to my eyes.

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I am extra thankful I am a girl... I would have made one scary boy. But, Patrick on the other hand is quite pretty- don't you think?

Laughing is good for you.

I remember my freshman year of college- being stressed out of my mind- multiple tests to study for, papers to write, working etc. As roommates, we would sit in a circle and on the count of 3 we would laugh as hard as we could for no reason. Our bodies didn't know we were faking it, but after a minute of deep hearty out loud laughter we felt more calm.

Sometimes you just gotta fake it till you make it.

I just did a Google search:

Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma Linda University in California have been studying the effects of laughter on the immune system. To date their published studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

I'm no doctor... but we can't afford NOT to laugh.

Find a reason, any reason!

You can increase the health of the people around you!

Extra endorphins??

Bring it on, baby!

Rise and Shout!

The Cougars are out!!

We both graduated from BYU a few years ago and still are huge fans. I'm pretty sure Patrick bleeds blue... he is a Cougar fan through and through!

We have season tickets and game day is a very special day at our household.


We leave our house TWO hours before the game starts- it takes us only about 25 minutes to get there... but we have to make sure we are there before the kick-off.


Here's a picture of Patrick as we are walking to the stadium. We park a mile away to avoid traffic. Notice how empty the streets are at this point... hence the benefit of being so INCREDIBLY early (that is what Patrick tells me, wink). In about 30 minutes this becomes a sea of cougar fans. Today the stadium was full- 65,000 people! Awesome!!

BYU won and we had a great time! We have been lookin' forward to this day for 8 months.

Rules for a BYU FOOTBALL GAME:

• Arrive at least 30 minutes before the game starts
• Sing the fight song (along with all the fans) at the top of your lungs every time we get a touchdown... rah, rah, rah-rah-rah... GOOOOOO Cougars!
• NEVER-EVER leave a game early, even if we are winning (or losing, heaven forbid) by a landslide, even if it is raining, snowing, hailing, or 100 degrees (like today)
• And we always wear our Cougar blue!!

It's fun to be together, but what I equally love is that my sweet husband loves to include my cute dad, who is crazy-nuts about Cougar Football as well. My dad lives in another state, but Patrick calls my dad to talk about an upcoming game, after the game, and often times during the game. I love it!

Go Cougars!!!

The best two years of my life...

Today is our two year anniversary. I can honestly say it has been the best two years of my life!

Patrick- I love you so much and feel so honored to be your wife.

You bring me such happiness everyday!

You make me feel beautiful.
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I love that you send me flowers for no particular reason.

I love that you laugh at all my jokes.

I love being your woman and I LOVE that you are my man!

We knew we would be apart today (I’ll explain later) so we celebrated last weekend.

We drove down to a tiny little town and stayed at a cute bed and breakfast.
It was so romantic!
It was adorable!
It was perfect!

I love you babe! Happy Anniversary!

Fun with my Hon'

We just got back from a great little mini-vacation.

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Patrick needed to go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for some business. We decided this would be a perfect opportunity to head up to Yellowstone and enjoy the beauties of the earth.
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Holy cow… it was AMAZING.

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This was my first trip to Yellowstone and I loved every minute of it.

Patrick is an incredible photographer. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Old Faithful...

These were the hot springs- such beautiful colors!

We saw LOTS of wild life. Can you see Patrick in this picture? :)

A herd of about 100 buffalo caused quite a traffic jam. No one seemed to mind

This crow posed for us

These grizzly bears were about 50 yards away. Phew, we survived!

My cute husband pulled the car over and told me he would be right back. I looked up to see that he was picking me this adorable flower. The camera was in my lap and I snapped this photo.

It was a PERFECT day!

The sun started to set so it was time for us to go.
These are the famous antler arches in Jackson.


EVERY night we stopped for ice cream. In this picture I think that I'm deciding Patrick's Peanut Parfait is looking better than my chocolate dipped cone. I'm pretty sure I helped him eat this one!

We had a wonderful time. My favorite part was being with my baby. We love road trips!

What a blast!

We went back… way back

All the way to the 1800’s.

For the last few days Patrick and I had the chance to be a “Ma and Pa” to 6 teenagers at our Stake Youth Conference. There were 180 kids and probably around 50 adults that came together to prepare this reenactment of the pioneers crossing the plains with handcarts. We did not travel 900 miles over 3 months, but we did have a mini experience traveling 22 miles in 3 days.

We were so impressed with the youth… willing to tackle every challenge given them.

For example…

~Carrying Pa for ½ a mile when he “broke his leg”.


~Being mobbed and having our handcarts ransacked.


~Carrying Ma on the handcart for 30 minutes after she gave birth.

~Carrying the handcart for a while because of a broken wheel.

~Dancing at the hoe-down

~Being kicked out of our campsite by angry men.





~Trekking through the mud for almost 2 miles.



All of us came away with a greater appreciation for the pioneers and all they sacrificed to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley… a place where they could worship what they believed without being persecuted… a place where they could live in peace without fear.

My favorite part was getting to know Cecilia. She is my great-great grandmother. We have no journal entries from her, only dates that piece together the puzzle of her life. We know when she was born, married, baptized, had babies, buried her babies, traveled to Utah, and died.

We were asked to get a rock and write a pioneer name on it that we would represent on our trek. We would find out as much information about this person and carry it with us.

I chose Cecilia. I wanted her to become real to me and prayed that in a tiny way I could understand her experiences.

I will not write all the particulars, but I will say that I feel like I know this incredible woman and appreciate the sacrifices she made to bring her family to be near the members of the church.
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Patrick and I were both thankful to have this opportunity... it was a lot of hard work, but it has changed us forever!

"What's yours is mine, and mine is yours"............ is NOT a literal statement!!

O0ps!

This is what happens when I accidentally put MY socks in Patrick's drawer- especially when he's rushing to leave extra early in the morning...
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Patrick had an appointment with a Dentist in Tremonton (a hour and a half drive) early one morning. He was up by 5:30 and out of the house by 6am... before I was awake. I remember him asking me something, but could not remember what it was, until he got home that evening.

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"Did my socks shrink?", he asked as we walked in the door. "I have been trying to pulling them up ALL day." He pulled up his paint leg and I almost fell over laughing. I've never seen him wear anklet dress socks before.

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I am extra careful now when putting away laundry.

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Luckily I didn't put my underwear in his drawer!

All Aboard...

I'm not sure how it started, but ever since we've been married Patrick has carried me upstairs, piggy-back style, when it's time to go to bed. Our routine is very consistent: we make the rounds and turn off all the lights, lock the doors, and then Patrick goes to the bottom of the stairs and stands there with his hands out to his sides ready to catch me. I usually do a running leap to jump as high as possible. Sometimes he runs up the stairs, sometimes he pretends he's gonna drop me and sometimes I pretend I'm already asleep before we get to the top. We are nuts, and I love it!

Marriage...

I've heard it said many times that the first year of marriage is the hardest. This is understandable, two lives coming together, different opinions, different cleaning styles, different genders, etc. etc. etc. We are now heading towards our second year of marriage and I can honestly say it has been the happiest year and a half of my life. If the first year was the hardest, I am giddy with anticipation for the next 50.

Perhaps waiting to get married until I was 33 years old had something to do with it, but I love everything about being married. Some women complain about picking up after their husband, doing his dishes, cleaning his whiskers out of the bathroom sink... I love the fact that I get to live with my "boyfriend", even with his boy smells and a baseball cap in every corner. I love that I get to eat dinner with my best friend every night. I love that my husband is manly enough to have to shave everyday! I love falling asleep in his arms. I love that he's always willing to warm up my freezing feet and I love waking up with my man right next to me. I never have to wonder what I'm doing on Friday night, because as far as I'm concerned, curling up with him on the couch and watching an old movie with some extra butter popcorn is as good as it gets!

We are so blessed!

Yep... Life is good!