Love is a beautiful thing

So I pretty much love this song.

I couldn't exactly tell you why, but it kinda makes me a little teary eyed every time I hear it. And if the conditions are right, I full out cry.

There's nothing especially tear-jerky about it, but my tears don't need a whole lotta jerking, if you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, my sister-in-law got married today, and it was lovely! It made me think of this song.

I'm so happy for her and my new bro-in-law. They are a wonderful couple, and it was a wonderful day! I'll put pictures up when I get some.

And now I'm tired. Really tired. Sleep needs to happen soonish...or just soon.

The Father of My Children

The day Maddy was born, I woke up from a nap and caught the two of them like this. I think Dallin still thought I was asleep, because he was all misty eyed. I slyly pulled out my camera phone and thus one of my favorite pictures of forever was created.

The father of my children is:

-devoted to every role he has-

-committed to constantly improving himself-

-the hardest worker you'll ever meet-

-capable of making anything happen, especially if it will make someone he loves happy-

-spiritually minded-

-smarter than he thinks-

-sometimes too helpful-

-disappointed in himself when he feels like he hasn't done enough (even though he always has)-

-freaking adorable with his daughter-

-the perfect balance to everything that is wrong with me-

-dang sexy-


Happy Father's Day to the father of my children, who, on top of being a generally exceptional human being, also happens to be the love of my life.


And of course, Happy Father's Day to my own wonderful dad - who never, ever made us kids feel like anything less than the most important thing in the world to him. Love you, Dad.

Make Someone Happy

Have you ever heard the song "Make Someone Happy?" You'd probably recognize it. ("Sleepless in Seattle," anyone?)

I heard this song the other day and it struck me how totally true it is. While it can be applied to pretty much everyone, I'm pretty sure it's a theme song for marriage. What if every married person totally focused on his/her spouse? What if every wife put her husband's needs and wants before her own, and every husband made his wife's happiness his top priority?

I'll tell you what. Everyone would be a lot happier. Everyone would be making someone happy, and everyone would have someone making them happy. Happy happy happy. I love this idea.

I don't know about your someone, but mine deserves to be happy. I'm not always very good at making that happen, but I think now is a great time to start being downright awesome at it. Here's to happiness!

Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
Make just one heart the heart you sing to
One smile that cheers you
One face that lights when it nears you
One guy you're everything to

Fame, if you win it
Comes and goes in a minute
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer
Someone to love is the answer
Once you've found him, build your world around him

Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
And you will be happy too.

Non-idiot

Even if I can be an idiot about computer things, it's good to know that I wasn't an idiot about who I married.

He's a non-idiot. Especially about computer things.

Apparently everything I do on a computer ever is backed up. Dallin set that goodness up, and so was able to restore my lost pictures without much hardship.

Talk about true love.

Is he the best?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: He insisted that I go with my family to Disneyland for the next three days. While that sounds like he might be trying to get rid of me (and, by association, the baby), I don't think that's the case. I think it's more likely that he knows I miss my laughing place and really want to go.

So thanks, babe.

Now, I have three hours to get myself and a 4 month old ready for Disneyland! Ready go.

Oh, and one more thing...as per Bekah's suggestion that I blog about this...

Daylight saving time is stupid. Stoo-pid. I've never even had to deal with it and I largely dislike it.

Daylight saving people, let me tell you something: YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY SAVING DAYLIGHT. YOU ARE JUST TRICKING YOURSELVES INTO THINKING THAT YOU ARE. OR BEING TRICKED INTO THINKING THAT YOU ARE. DEPENDING ON HOW TRICKY YOU ARE. I REPEAT - YOU WOULD GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF DAYLIGHT IN A DAY NO MATTER WHAT TIME IT IS. TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION, AND THEN MOVE TO ARIZONA WHERE WE HAVE SOME SENSE. THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF DESTRUCT.

NO, I'M NOT SHOUTING AT YOU. THE CAPS SIGNIFY A ROBOTIC TONE.

Ok, I think I'm done. A-packing I go! Wish me luck!

The AMAZING, the INCREDIBLE, the ASTOUNDING...

VALENTINE'S DAY MYLAR BALLOONS!!!
Ooooh! Aaaaah!

Ok so, I'm really no master at balloonery.

Although, I may or may not be in love with the word balloonery and just might have to become a master of balloonery so I can tell people that I am... and thus have infinitely more opportunities to use the word balloonery than I do now.

But anyway, MB (Master of Balloonery) or not, I don't think I've ever owned a balloon that lasted as long as these amazing, incredible, astounding Valentine's Day mylar balloons have! So even if it's completely normal for this kind of balloon to last this long, I've never had a longer lasting balloon, so therefore I can be totally amazed! Woot!

I mean, I was impressed yesterday (Sunday) when I woke up and they were still afloat and I realized that it had been exactly two weeks since Valentine's Day...

BUT THEN I realized that Dallin had given me these amazing, incredible, astounding Valentine's Day mylar balloons the day BEFORE Valentine's Day, and my mind was officially blown.

I mean, they're not even dwindling. They dwindle not.

I told Dallin he should have done one of those "I'll love you until the last one dies" kind of thing.

(In case you have no idea what I'm talking about...person gives sweetheart flowers with note saying "I'll love you until the last one dies." Sketchy...until you find out one of the flowers is fake. It's supposed to be cute or something.)

But then we had this whole discussion about how if the flower is fake, it couldn't really "die" anyway, because it was never really "alive," so it might not count, depending on how stingy and unromantic you want to be.

So Dallin said he'd love me a century for every day the balloons were still afloat. I took it, but I'm kind of regretting it now...because since we're going to be together for eternity, well... eternity divided by 100 years is still eternity (one of those weird math things), so either my balloons are amazing, incredible, astounding, ETERNAL balloons or...

it'll be a really long eternity after the first 2000 years.

Maybe I need to get me a helium tank.

For the love

Just thought I'd give you a quick lil summary of our Valentinesian weekend, since it was full of people I love, things I love, food I love, and just love in general.

Saturday, I woke up to balloons, chocolates, and ROSES. Mmm mmm that's a good start to a day. I have a picture of this, but my camera is...not within arm's reach. Just imagine it. It was as good looking as you can imagine (which is not an insult to your undoubtedly colorful imagination, but rather a compliment to the excellentness of this gift).

I got ready and then we went to breakfast at IHOP. Nothing like having a great breakfast you don't have to make!

And then Dallin, in all his hotness and sweetness, said we should go get me some clothes, which, let's face it, I've been in dire need of. I ended up with some new jeans (so badly needed) and a cute shirt. Lovely.

We browsed Barnes & Noble for a while (does anyone else LOVE doing this?) before dropping off Madelyn at my parents' house and going to dinner and a movie. We finally saw "Sherlock Holmes," which I thought was fairly to moderately spectacular, and then went to Olive Garden, which is basically my favorite food this side of the universe.

And, of course, the whole day was full of flirting, kissing, hand holding mushy-ness. Because we like each other almost as much as we love each other.

Sunday, I gave Dallin a heart attack. I used the time immediately following Maddy's early morning feeding to put little paper hearts on his mirror, around his desk, in his shoes, etc. Some of them were even couponified. I love giving coupons. We went to church, made delectable red velvet cupcakes in the afternoon, and then went to my parents' house for a steak dinner, various desserts, and Olympics watching.

So yes, it was a practically perfect weekend. I'm very lucky to have a guy that tries so hard to make me happy...especially because he usually succeeds.

Hope your weekend was full of love too!

L-O-V-E

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary




E is even more than anyone that you adore




Love is all that I can give to you




Love is more than just a game for two




Two in love can make it - take my heart but please don't break it




Love was made for me and you.




[trumpets at end of song]

My second favorite holiday

I've been noticing that in recent years, and much to my dismay, Halloween's popularity has increased rapidly.

I especially noticed it this year, when I stumbled upon more than one blog whose writer claimed that Halloween was her favorite holiday.

Well, I'm calling you out, liar. Christmas is your favorite holiday. If you have a soul and love joy and Christianity more than a holiday with little to no intrinsic value, then Christmas is your favorite holiday. Unless of course it's so incredibly obvious that Christmas is pretty much everyone's favorite holiday that you don't even feel the need to rank it amongst the other holidays.

Which is weird, but ok.

Halloween can be your second favorite holiday... I guess. But personally, I don't understand how it can be with a day like Valentine's Day around!

I. Love. Valentine's. Dallin said the other day that it was "my" holiday. I was kind of questioning it at the time, but he's totally right.

Let's think about it: Love. Chocolate. Roses. The color pink.

Need I go on? Those are like, my most favorite things in this world.

Throw in the fact that The Precious and I spent our first full day together on Valentine's Day (click here for the story if you haven't read it...seriously) and you have the recipe for the second best darn holiday there is.

I'm not sure what we are doing for Valentine's this year. I guess it's a surprise...and Dallin is the master of perfect surprises. Probably not something too extravagant though...we're, um, poor. But you know what? If I've got a hunky guy to snuggle with and tell me he loves me, Valentine's is pretty much a success.

I think it'll be a great weekend.

Happiness Is...

having a husband that makes sure you always have a supply of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food in the fridge.



Love you, bambino.

Mother's Day-slash-Anniversary

That's right.

Mother's Day this year - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - marked the one year anniversary of this happiness:

Ah. Bliss.

Seriously, this year has been amazing. I love my husband with all my heart. I know he loves me too. And I'm so excited for the rest of our very own eternity. I'm sure there are many surprises in store...

like the one we experienced last Saturday.

I say "we," because apparently Dallin had no idea what was going on either. We were in this together, saving the world - or at least the President.

Let me explain.

So Saturday morning, Dallin made breakfast. I came to sit down to eat, and noticed an envelope with my name on it sitting on my plate.

"What's that?" Dallin asked.
"Oh, I don't know," I said jokingly, sure it was a love letter from him as usual.
"Well open it," he said.

I argued that it would probably make me cry, and I'd rather do that alone, but at his urging, I opened it. I was glad I did.

It was a letter from none other than Jack Bauer - who, in case you've missed out on one of the best television shows to ever exist, is a special agent involved in thwarting attacks on our country. He's pretty much a stud.

So Jack told me that he was working with the government to rescue the President, who was being held hostage. There were all kinds of details in there, but basically, they wanted my help.

I was given an address and told to go there to do some research. We left immediately (obviously, since this is pretty top priority stuff). With the help of our handy-dandy iphone (which we named Chloe - which all you 24 fans should get), we reached the designated location. It was a Barnes and Noble (to research - obviously!). After a few minutes in the store, we were approached by a contact that presented me with an envelope. This had a B&N gift card in it, along with the address of our next location.

The letter told us we were going to be doing some physical training, so we went home for a bit to change. Then with Chloe's help, we reached the next destination - an incredibly nice gym. I'd told Dallin I was thinking about getting a gym membership so I could stay relatively fit during my pregnancy. We toured the place (did I mention- incredible?) before our tour guide informed me that I was already a member there! Woot! So we hung out there for a while, went swimming and stuff, and then it was time to move on to the next location.

All I knew here was that I needed to pick up a package. It happened to be a flower shop, and waiting for me was a lovely bouquet of hot pink roses and daisies! I. LOVE. FLOWERS.


From there, we were told that we would have to meet up with some contacts. Ultimately, we were hunting down a guy named Victor Creed. The next address led us to a restaurant where we had some yummy dinner, and our waiter brought an envelope with another letter and movie tickets inside. "Wolverine!" YES.


So we went and saw "Wolverine." The bad guy's name? Victor Creed.

Of course, he was defeated. Day saved. Problem solved.

My last envelope included some "Thank you coupons" from the government as tokens of appreciation. These will give me future opportunities to get massages, hand off dinner preparation, and send my dutiful husband out to get some strange food I'm craving at any and all hours.

One coupon made me a promise - that our family would take a vacation together every year. This is something that's very important to me, since my family has always tried to do it in the past, so it means a lot to me to be carrying it over to the future!

I can't believe I got so lucky. How many guys put this much thought into a present? This guy is THE BOMB.

Or Weapon XI. Whichever you prefer.

Holla!

Ok, so the bridal shower was a success. At least, I think it was a success. If you were there, please tell me it was a success. Thanks.

In honor of the fun bridal shower games, I thought we'd play a little blogging game. This game is called "You might be _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ if..." Ready? Here we go!

You might be _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ if....

You avoid drinking orange juice because it hurts when it comes back up.

You're still tired after 10 hours of sleep.

You can't cook/smell/look at raw beef. You just can't.

You strongly feel that smells of all kinds should be outlawed. Like, legally not allowed to exist.

You hear a sad song and it makes you cry.

You hear a happy song and it makes you cry.

You can't be on time to your first class of the day.

You've outgrown your sports bra.

You go to the doctor, they stick a gel-covered probe up your (whoa!), and suddenly, you're checking this out on a monitor:

If you are experiencing any or all of these symptoms, talk to your doctor. They'll probably tell you the same thing they told me: that you're:

HOLY CRAP I'M PREGNANT.

It's true! I'm about 10 weeks along and we are beyond excited for our new addition due November 14! Yes, I love to complain about being tired and hungry and sick and all that, but really, I could not be happier about this miracle that is going to bless our little family. And Dallin? Well let's just say that half of you reading this probably have already heard our big news, and that it most likely came from someone that Dallin just couldn't wait to tell. He's been busting more than I have!

So there you have it- in another 6 1/2 months there will be a mini-Katie or mini-Dallin that you will be forced to look at pictures/videos at on this very blog. I mean, not that you won't want to, since this kid is gonna be hot stuff...but you know. YAY!

Also, if you're upset that this wasn't actually a game, I'm sorry. I've already repented of my dishonesty. Now it's up to you to forgive.

Love Story

Disclaimer: If you are a woman who has ever been upset with her husband for anything related to his lack of cuteness, creativity, or thoughtfulness, DO NOT READ. I will not be responsible for renewed marriage troubles. Disclaimer over.

Do I ever stop writing about how amazing my husband is? Why no, thanks for asking.

Tomorrow, the 13th day of February in the year of our Lord 2009, marks the 1 year anniversary of me and The Precious. Here is a picture of us:

This was our "Be hard core" picture. Oh, aren't we cute?!

Here is the story of how The Precious and I came to be together.

I was at work on a typical Wednesday, when my manager informed me I would be leaving early. Woo hoo! No arguments there. I called my studly boyfriend Dallin on my way home, and he suggested we make the most of the extra time to hang out a bit. We had been dating for a few months, and were very much in love, you see. So I hurried over to his place.

We were there for a little while when Dallin got a phone call. He got off the phone and said he had to go out to the East Valley to pick something up for work. He asked me if I would like to come along. I say sure.

So we drive. We go pick up a CD or brochure or something, and start making our way back. This route brought us in the general area of Falcon Field airport. Dallin started talking (again) about how awesome it would be to get a pilot's license. He talks about this a lot. Being where we were, he suggested we stop in somewhere so he could get some more info about how to go about fulfilling this dangerous dream. I thought this was a silly idea (mostly because I don't approve of this dream), but he really wanted to, so we did.

We choose a "random" place, go inside, and Dallin starts talking to an instructor and student there. I walk around and check the place out while their talking dollars and hours and whatever else. As we're about to leave, the guy says "You know, we were just about to take a quick practice flight up to Sedona. There's room if you guys want to ride along." Dallin had class. I had homework. I was terrified. We said sure.

The plane didn't start right away. How does it feel to be sitting in a plane that won't start right away? It feels like you don't want to be sitting in a plane that won't start right away. I was about to voice as much when we got the thing running. And we flew! It was beautiful. Scary. Loud. But beautiful.

We landed in Sedona, and it was cold! Dallin had brought his sweatshirt, and I put it on. The pilot said he was going to go visit a friend up there real quick, so we had half an hour or so to do as we wished. We went for a walk. We went to this beautiful lookout that we had visited when we went to Sedona when we first started dating.

The sun was setting. I was holding the hand of the boy I loved. The boy I loved laughed.

"So do you know why we came here?"

"Huh?"

"You getting off work early. Us having to go pick something up at Andrew's. A pilot just randomly offering us a flight..."

"Dallin-what?"

"I brought you here so I could ask you to be my wife."

I cried. He cried. Some random lady said "Say yes!" (I hate you, if you're reading this. Moment ruiner.)

"Will you marry me?"

I said yes. He didn't hear. He bent down to get something out of his shoe. Enter The Precious. It was tied to his shoelace. I didn't look at it. I put it on.

"So is that a yes?" (Told you he hadn't heard me)

"YES!"

We hugged. We kissed. We cried. We laughed. We called our families. My family was on their way up to meet us for dinner, which Dallin had arranged. I called my girlfriends and squealed. I finally looked at my ring.

We had not gone ring shopping. I wanted a surprise. Dallin had asked my best friend what I had wanted, and she helped him with some ideas. He picked it out on his own. The Precious fits me perfectly. It is the most perfect ring I have ever seen.

Dallin loves me like crazy. I couldn't tell you why. But The Precious reminds me every day that this incredible boy asked me to be with him for eternity.

That's my love story.

I want to get away...

And I did!

As I mentioned in my Christmas post, my never-fails-to-impress husband Dallin gave me a trip to a bed and breakfast in Lakeside as a Christmas present. We were planning on leaving Sunday afternoon after church, but the news of snowy weather made us alter our plans a little bit. We left church early and stopped by my parents' house to borrow their 4wd truck, and then we were on our way!

On the road. No cars, people, or animals were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Sugar. A necessity on a roadtrip, of course.

And so we made it from the Valley rain:

to the mountain snow:

We dropped off our stuff at the amazing bed and breakfast and headed out for some Chinese food.

Dallin was a natural with the chopsticks

but Katie didn't quite...get it.

Yeah, it's ice cream.

We headed back to the B&B for some R&R. Let me show you what we were dealing with here.

Our very own living room complete with fireplace.

Our very own bedroom complete with bed.

Our very own bathroom complete with jacuzzi tub.

So...

After our very own night complete with no pictures...

We had an amazing breakfast (can you say peaches and cream french toast?), and then we ventured out into the winter wonderland to take some pictures...

And we built a snowman... without wearing gloves. Stupid? Perhaps. I only lost one finger to frostbite.

Ah, and I have to include this short video. Written by Dallin Harris, filmed/directed by Katie Harris, starring Dallin Harris, voice-overs by Katie Harris.

mov03242

Alas, all too soon it was time to head home. We got some great pictures along the way!

We also got some great burritos along the way (the Burger House in Miami...a family favorite), but I didn't take any pictures of those.

Pictures and burritos aside, it was still sad to come home from our oh-so-relaxing getaway. Perhaps I should have titled this post "I want 2 getaways..."

Funny? Yeah, didn't think so.

Also, I love my husband. This is one thoughtful man I have.

Valentine's Day, anyone?

hahaha jk...

but seriously...

Happy Thanksgiving Back.

Who got the "You've Got Mail" reference? Who got it? Love you.

Yay for turkey day!

Mostly because we got to spend it with Dallin's family. I mean, I love Thanksgiving with my fam and all (duh), but really, we don't get to see them hardly at all, so it's so nice when we do! Especially on a grand day of thanks.

As odd as it may seem, we met up with them in Las Vegas, since Thanksgiving was happening in St. George and apparently that was the most convenient airport for them to fly into. But that was just fine, because it meant we got to spend a day in Vegas! Dallin and I left pretty late Tuesday night, so we didn't get to the hotel until about 2ish, and then we were up at 6 on Wednesday morning to go to the Las Vegas temple. We spent a few hours there. I didn't get any pictures because it was cold and rainy, but it was such a good experience for us to all be there together doing temple work. After that, we went back to the hotel for a nap...which turned into more of a sleep...and left at about 5 to hit up the strip and see a show.

Dallin, his little bro Dayton, and I walked around to check some of the sights of Vegas:

The sweet fountain at the Bellagio...which we actually only ever saw from across the street because of timing issues...

See?

The "Trevi Fountain" at...Caesar's Palace? Not sure...but this one doesn't have gelato shops surrounding it like the real one does...sigh...

My very most favorite hotel...THE VENETIAN! Yes, I have a favorite Vegas Strip hotel...you gotta problem?

Not only does this place have replicas of stuff from one of my most favorite cities ever, but this is also the very hotel that houses the Phantom theater! Dallin and I came here when he surprised me with Phantom tickets in July. (story here). And, you should probably know...me+phantom=heart. Like, a big heart with glitter on it.

Anyways, after our jaunt down the Boulevard, and dinner at Chipotle (mmm...Chipotle) we headed to Planet Hollywood to catch the hypnomagician show we had tickets for. We effing waited for an effing while before they effing let us in to see the effing guy....if you don't get my drift, the guy was a cusser. Like, an Irish cusser. We walked out after 15 minutes or so. LAME. But then, we went and saw "Bolt." Disney rocks. They just do. It was a good movie! And there was only one f-bomb in it...

sometimes I think I'm funny.

Thanksgiving morning, we packed up and headed off to St. George. It was actually a pretty short drive.

Cool foggy-ness on the drive.

St. George was great! I've driven through numerous times, but I've never actually stopped there. My favorite part was the leaves- fall leaves! Those just don't happen round these parts.

Beautiful!

Dallin's family (we were with his Dad's side) is wonderful. They were very accepting and made me feel very welcome, even though I didn't know a lot of them! I gotta be honest, a main topic of conversation was the Twilight movie, so of course I had something to say about that! The actual Thanksgiving meal was delicious, and I even found a way to stuff myself without using my back teeth!

(Side note: My teeth/gums/cheeks/mouth are all doing fine. I actually had bruises on my cheeks, which made me sad...but they are gone now. Side note over.)

Unfortunately, all the happiness was much too short lived. After a too short nap...

...it was time to hit the road. I had to get back for work (stupid work...grumble....hate...job....grumble grumble) so we were off. It was definitely much too soon, and it made me sad! Dallin was incredibly sweet and drove the whole way...probably just as much for his own safety as for my well-being...

We drove past AZ Mills mall at about 12:30 AM on our way home, and saw the parking lot PACKED and freeway exits backed up for a mile! Craaaaazy. So glad I'm not into Black Friday shopping (and also glad I had the day off at American Eagle...)

I'm so grateful for my husband and my family. I'm grateful for the Church, for my Heavenly Father, for my Savior, and for my testimony. I'm grateful for my home, food, clothing...all the things that make my life so comfortable. I'm grateful for this country, and for the beautiful Earth we have been given. I'm grateful for good friends. I'm grateful for music, for flowers, for cookies, for rain, for good movies, for telephones, for good smelling candles, for Dr. Pepper, for pillows, for cars, and for air conditioning. Did I already mention my husband? Maybe I should again...my husband.

It was a spectacular Thanksgiving! What are you grateful for?

Most Wonderful Time

Oh my.

I'm not sure I can explain to you the goodness of the good news I have.

WHITE FUDGE COVERED OREOS ARE BACK!

WOOT!

My love for these delicious morsels has distorted my thinking. I can no longer decide whether the appearance of these Cookies (yep- capitalized) means Christmas is coming, or if Christmas coming means the appearance of the Cookies! Either way, I bought two boxes.

Holidays are grand. Wait until I get a hold of some Mint M&Ms.

6 months!

As of Monday, November 10, Dallin and I have been married for six months! Crazy! How time flies when you're loving life.

We had school on Monday, so we didn't really get to do much during the day, but Dallin did have a nice surprise waiting for me when I got up:

He was already up and working extremely hard to get a lot of work done so he could take the day off with me on Tuesday, since the bank would be closed for Veteran's Day. Plus the flowers and a sweet card... don't be too jealous.

That night, we went to The Cheesecake Factory, since someone gave us a gift certificate there for a wedding present. Mmm...love that place.

We actually ended up having 25 cents left on the gift card and no cash to tip the waitress...we gave her a gift card to American Eagle with a few bucks on it...hope she likes that store!! (who doesn't, really?)

Tuesday was a fantastic day! Seriously, it will be doubly hard to go back to work after being able to have such a great day with my hubby. We got up, had breakfast, met with a couple dentists about advice on my wisdom teeth, picked up our projects from As You Wish (I didn't get pictures from our visit there, but you will see our projects soon enough!), and then...we went Christmas shopping!! For ourselves!! We are now the proud owners of a lovely, 7 ft tall (cough-fake-cough) Lucas pine tree! Woot!

We also got ornaments and lights for it, after much discussion about colors, shapes, sizes, and wiring. Man, Christmas is hard work...but so worth it.

After obtaining our Tannenbaum, we decided to take advantage of the lovely day and go walk around Tempe Town Lake. It really was beautiful outside!

Our location by the fountain, plus the wind direction soon proved to be a bad combo, so we eventually relocated...

After our nice walk, we were a little tired, and I had some online homework to do, so we went back home and watched Pirates/did homework. Then we went out to do some browsing for Christmas presents, before coming home and eating our cheesecake that we brought home from the Cheesecake Factory. Yum.

It was pretty much the best six month anniversary ever.

I'm so grateful for Dallin. I'm grateful for all he's taught me since I met him, and for all we've learned together since we've been married. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful best friend, someone that lets me pick the movies, cry on his shoulder, talk about my problems. He is hardworking and diligent, and he loves his job, but he would never put it before me, his family, or his church responsibilities. He takes care of me - he does the dishes when I don't want to, calls the dentist when I tell him my teeth hurt, and kills the bugs in our apartment. He respects and appreciates me, and has made me feel more beautiful and more loved than I ever have before. He's my Superman - how could I ask for more?

Ti amo, bambino.