For the LOVE of Valentines Day!

It has been fun getting my blog all decorated for Valentines Day! Special thanks to Melissa who taught me how to do this photoshop stuff - it is addicting! So I thought I would give a little history of Seth and I since Valentine's day is tomorrow, are you ready for this novel? I'm copying Kyra's post, cause I loved it!

I can't believe it has been almost 10 years since meeting him! It was love at first sight for me, but he needed a little convincing! I found a lot of old pictures we had scanned in for our wedding, I'm so happy I found these!So as they say "A long, long time ago..."
Seth and I met at his best friends apartment warming party on Labor Day 1998! His best friend Brian was dating a high school friend of mine and I was literally dragged there! I think they were trying to get us together...well as soon as I saw him I knew he was for me! He was so quiet and shy, (I love that type) - he was quite the challenge for me especially because he had a girlfriend(who all his friends hated by the way and they were on the way out anyway - I'm not like that!)! Well I just flirted(attacked)and invited him out with a bunch of us to go dancing 2 nights later! I told him I know he has some stuff to take care of and I paged him(we had pagers then - isn't that hilarious!?)with my phone # and told him to call me when he was un-attached! He tried to give me his #, but I told him I didn't need it. (Later he told me that he was surprised I was so forward and then didn't want his #! That's just how I roll, I mean reel them in!) Well 2 days later the night I invited him to meet us to go dancing I got a call from his best friend's girlfriend saying that Seth told her to tell me that he would be there! :) He broke up with his girlfriend right before coming out to meet us and then he played hard to get all night! I was so frustrated that I started flirting with other guys! Later we went back to our friends house and he was sitting on the couch being his quiet self so I went and sat by him. He would not warm up to me, so I asked him if he wanted me to go and he said no. I told him well you're not really acting like you want me here... he then moved closer and kissed me! I was pretty surprised to say the least! He later told me that he was waiting for me to do that! Yeah right, I'm not that kind of girl! So anyways, he became mine! We've been going strong ever since! We took these pictures(my most favorite pictures) in a photo booth a week later.

So we dated for 4 years, yes I know that is a pretty long time! But we were young, he was 20 and I was 19 when we first met! And only those crazy Mormons get married so young! LOL! :) I was not active in church at the time I met him so it made it all a little harder, I had never planned to be away from church as long as I was. I had originally just wanted space and to experience a something different to know what I really wanted...well that's when I met Seth and I really wanted him! So it just became easier and easier not to go back to church(even though I really wanted to go back, I was just afraid it would scare Seth off - isn't that funny how Satan works!) So here is some of our dating pictures...




We got engaged the day our first nephew Austin was born - Feb.20th, 2002! Quite a special day! Seth had been planning it for that day, he told my sister Erin at the hospital that day that she was kinda taking the wind out of his sails by having the baby that day! But I think it made it even more special! :) Here are some of our engagement photos...



We got married on September 7th, 2002! It was a fabulous and emotional day! I had waited so long for that day! I just realized that I only have a couple wedding day pictures of us on my computer! :( I need to scan in the better ones! Well here is the couple I have...

We loved being married and being able to have our own place(and still do)! Even if it was only an apartment on a 3rd level that we rode in an elevator to get to, which smelled like dog pee(the elevator) and we woke up every morning to the next door neighbors alarm clock and then his second hand smoke! :) Good Times!
In February 2005 I went back to church and Seth came along with me, I was so nervous and scared that I was going to be chastized and looked bad upon but it was totally opposite! I couldn't beleive how loved I felt! We kept it a secret from our families because we wanted to do it without any pressure, Seth started the missionary lessons and gave the missionaries a run for their money! I'm glad he took the time to find out for himself and not just do it for me! He got baptized in July of 2005, here are some pics... Funny thing about Seth's baptism day is that he was actually on crutches - you can see them in the picture! I thought it would had pushed the baptism back, but he didn't let it faze him - take that Satan! :) Well on the actually day of it we showed up and our friend Don Sedgewick (who helped teach Seth all the lessons and who Seth chose to have baptize him) came limping in... he had pulled a hamstring or something playing tennis! Then the water in the baptismal font was really low because something went wrong there, not really sure what but it was gonna make it really hard for him to actually submerge my poor handicapped man! Well they actually got it done on the first try! The spirit was so strong, it was such a great day! We didn't invite a lot of people to this because he was doing it for himself and our future family and he's shy! So I hope we did not offend anyone by not involving them, but it was so nice being more intimate. It was really awesome to actually surprise my family with his baptism! They were so proud of him!
We moved into our 1st home, where we live presently in October of 2005. It was fun coming and seeing our home being built! We love it here! Our ward is awesome and we have made great friends!

We got sealed for all time and eternity in the San Diego Temple on September 9th, 2006! A really special day for us, I'm glad we were able to get to there! I know it's not the way I was taught, but it worked for us - The sealer said to me,"You really gambled and won!" - I wouldn't recommend it though! I love these pictures, doesn't Seth look funny in this one below - he's really happy!:) Also this one with my Grandpa Bills I'll treasure forever, he was really wanting this for us and I'm glad we were able to do it in his lifetime so he could physically be there, he passed away a few months later.



So here we are now married 5 years, working on 6! It seems crazy, wonderful, fast and slow all at the same time! But I'm sitting here remembering how impatient I was with everything... it helps me feel better now that I'm dealing with other things, because I know now that it will all turn out how it is supposed to be and so far it has worked out well for us! So here is to LOVE and I challenge you to blog your love stories, I would love to read them!!

Santa Rosa Plateau Trip

So today I made Seth really happy by going with him to Santa Rosa Plateau in Murrieta! He has been begging since the last time we went which I hated! I am not a hiker and the last time I had agreed to go if no hiking was involved...but there was hiking! I made him promise nothing like that today, it worked out nicely and we both had a fun this time! It is really pretty there since the rain created the Vernal Pools and the Linderiella Santarosae(Santa Rosa Plateau fairy shrimp) were there along with a few other critters as you can see in the slide show! Fun place to take the family and take pictures!

The Hair Chronicle

First off I thought you all would enjoy these 2 pictures! I had my hair dome in "corn rows"(it hurt so bad!)in Hawaii in 2003 for fun, not as cute with such pale scalp - but my hair has never been so small! The other picture is the after I took the braids out - pretty funny, Seth had to snap a picture before I washed it out!
MY HAIR used to be such a hard thing for me to deal with, only my mom can truly understand because she was there every time I had a breakdown about it! My poor mom wanted so badly to help me, but being someone who has stick straight hair that can hardly hold curl she was definitely lost when it came to my unruly curly hair! I experienced many hard haircuts and being teased about how big my hair was! A kid who sat behind me in a high school class actually asked the teacher if they could change their seat because they could not see past my hair! And another girl asked if my dad was black, my hair was so kinky! So my mom and I tried almost everything to make me happy about my hair! I got pretty good at doing it curly, but I remember the day I came home after having my hair professionally styled straight to show my mom and she actually cried! She was so happy for me! And then when I washed it a couple days later and couldn't get it straight myself she helped me do the best job we could! Now I can do it by myself (Aren't you glad mom?) it just takes awhile!
So this picture is in response to the challenge from Kyra(who by the way has perfect hair, I challenge her to find a bad hair picture of herself - I betcha she can't!) to post my worst hair picture. I think we all got on this because we have all had haircuts we weren't to happy with, mine are due usually to the person who trys to style it after getting it cut! No not me, yes there was a time that I did not know how to do my hair (I will post those pictures later, I have to scan those in - they are before digital!) but I don't know why licensed hair dressers don't know how to style curly hair! It is ridiculous! I've really only had 1 hairdresser who has done a good job, I loved her! I used her for a few years, luckily around the time we got married - she did exactly what I wanted for my wedding! But I no longer live close to where she is(if she is still there)or have the $ to get her service! So I make do with cutting it myself, which I did a few months ago - wasn't so bad if I say so myself! Or going to some cheap place like Fantastic Sam's, yeah I know - not smart! But at least I have learned to not let them style it! Example this picture(I know not having makeup on is not helping this picture either but oh well! LOL!)! This pictures is from a few years ago when I got a cut at Fantastic Sam's. I was in a hurry to get to a birthday party so I made the mistake of letting them try to style it! The lady convinced me she knew how to do it, she started brushing it and blow drying it, and started getting bigger and bigger until I realized she did not know what she was doing! I finally stopped her before it got even bigger(I don't know what she was trying to do, but all I could see was frizz!) and left to go home to wash it and style it myself! But I took a picture before for Seth to see and now you can all enjoy!
Curly hair can be a wonderful thing(as long as you know how to do it) but the trick is keeping it long. Well this last Monday I went to get my haircut at FS's and told the lady I wanted it layered(like usual) - she asked "short or long layers" and I said LONG! Well I now wonder what short layers would have been! When I styled my hair curly afterwards it was so short! Especially in some spots and it looks like a ridiculous curly muffin top!! So for the next few months you'll see me with straight hair, I took a picture of my hair straight for you to see - see the short pieces? Just imagine that curly! ANYWAYS I now have what was called the "Rachel" haircut, you know the one popular in the late 90's from Friends? Yep, that's my hair! Check it out...I'm bringing it back in style! :) It is actually growing on me though, I'm just so glad I can do my hair straight! Hope you have all enjoyed the hair chronicles, I will post the sequel "My younger hair days" when I get them scanned in!

Memory Monday!

Back in the day when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore...
So I'm going back to high school! Only in pictures though! I had so much fun in high school, I had a great group of friends who I'm still in contact with now! We had some crazy good times together! Off roading, being chased by police cars and helicopter (good story), rose parades, golf course mud mischief, jamming, modeling at kmart and to many more stupid but fun things we did! This is a shout out to the ones who are my blog buddies, here's to our high school days! Good Times! Enjoy the slide show!