LOVE /lŭv/ verb: David and Britni

Babies!

2010-10-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well, not the kind of babies you think actually....

Pretty much on David and my 2 year anniversary he surprised me by taking me out to little old Boulder City for the night (which was fabulous thanks to the peaceful place) where we stayed at a little bed and breakfast. Then the next morning woke me up at the crack of dawn (this seems to be a reoccurring thing for our anniversaries?) and took my SKYLINING! SO bomb, WAY better than ziplining. You get up to 80 miles an hour on the line and have to have a brake system stop you. No helmets necessary :)
After this very amazing surprise, we went back to our room, packed, then went and saw the Hoover Dam musuem and by then were exhausted, so came home.

Where do the "babies" come in you ask??
Well over the month or two previous to our 2 year anniversary, I had been feeling a few changes with my attitude toward babies. I realized that if it happened i would probably be okay with it. And this in itself kinda freaked me out since I knew how against having babies i was prior to this point. So i felt an attitude change, but wasn't about to intentionally get pregnant. I brought all of this to David's attention and he felt the same way. If babies happened it happened, but lets not have babies on purpose. Instead we chose to adopt some babies of our own :)
This is Rocky and Amelia our Sugar gliders! Oh how i Love them. They are the new addition to our family, our "babies"! *sigh* i love them, i love them, i love them to pieces!!!!

Who cries over hair? I do.

2010-01-10T14:01:00.001-08:00

This is true. I came home last night to David taking the clippers to his head and buzzing it as short as the clippers would let him. I was rather traumatized. I felt like someone else was in our room, and it freaked me out. I initially laughed when i saw him, then broke into tears. I didn't think i would be this sad over hair, but alas, i miss his red locks so much.

Trip to Canada-Officially up. Only 3 months late.

2010-01-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

So you can expect the Trip to Mexico to be up in march or April :)

October 9^th-18^th, 2009

So, David and I hadn’t taken the time to sit down and write about our trip to Canada in October, so we are doing it now.

Friday, October 9^th, 2009-We left on a Friday morning to the airport which turned into an entire day trip because our plane was so late due to weather. So, once we got to Canada, we got our luggage and went outside to look for David’s dad (James), and it was…raining. I hated it too cold. David’s dad doesn’t have a cell phone so it took a little longer to find him since we couldn’t just call. Once we found him I had my first bit of Canadian food, Harvey’s. It was hamburgers, and I only thought they were okay. They were a weird texture.

After Harvey’s we went to Grandma Richards and hung out for a bit until Gwen could come get David and I. Grandma Richards is funny, down side, I smelt like smoke when I came out of there. Gwen finally got us and took us to David’s moms (Susan) house which is where we were staying during our trip.

At Mom Richards, we visited with her for a while and she gave us a whole bunch of Canadian merchandise which was funny because it seems anytime she send us something there is something in there to represent Canada. We got this bag full of stuff that had t-shirts in it, umbrella hat, coffee mugs, stickers, socks, buttons, and the infamous delicious Homemade Strawberry Jam, among other things that I can’t remember right now. After that it was interesting watching the news in Canada, I liked it better. It would show the name of the country/continent, that they were talking about and then present all the news in that location, rather interesting and easier for me to follow. Then we hit the sack.

Saturday, October 10^th, 2009- We got up, got ready, and went outside, which it was a brisk cold and there was SO much corn! I’d never seen corn on the stalks up close so that was neat to me. I got to see Susan’s house in the day time too and it was a cute little quaint place, a little farm house. A guy from a car rental place came and got us and took us into Oshawa to rent a car for the day. Then David took me to Parkwood which is Xavier’s mansion in the X-Men movies. It was closed though, so we walked the grounds which were pretty and I saw a squirrel. It was SO fat lol. All the animals were fat, stinking hilarious.

After Parkwood, we went to Adale’s place where I got to officially meet our niece Rylee, and Adale’s fiancé, Dan. Rylee was too cute and such a little tease. I finally got to see all of Adale’s creepy crawlers too, which was not so cute. Bleh, to insects and reptiles.

We left their place and had Tim Hortons which is SO good. One of my favorite Canadian food places! Yum! Okay, now we go to Lars and Cyndi’s house out in the trees. When we got there only Marianne (pronounced Mayanna) and Lars were there. Cyndi and Asta were down the street at Asta’s horseback riding lesson. We sat in the kitchen chatting for a while, and I was very impressed with Marianne’s involvement in conversations, when she was so young, and yet, she was so genuine. She gave us the tour of the house and of her room, and played a little number on the piano for David’s out of her Disney book. I believe it was “Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio. After the tour we went outside to see a path that Lars had just made, where he showed us the oak trees were coming in and the bird and owl boxes her made. It was a beautiful walk and neat to hear the things he had to say, though at one point it got awkward on my end. Kind of funny actually, because it was only a coincidence. He was saying how white man would come into the forest and would pay to shoot animals just to take home their trophy, to “prove” that he was a man. Well, I automatically am thinking that he is taking a shot at Grandpa Garth, thinking maybe David told him about Grandpa, when Lars doesn’t really like American’s to begin with so I didn’t’ know how to respond. Luckily, David chimed in with the benefits to the community when those hunters come in.

Shortly after this little awkward moment happened, Aunt Cyndi totally jumped out of the trees trying to scare everyone, and that….was my introduction to meeting Aunt Cyndi lol. We finished our walk and went inside, had pie and visited with everyone and I met Asta. She was also very intelligent and genuine like Marianne was which I thought was a wonderful characteristic in girls so young. We finished chatting then David and I left to go to meet his friends in Whitby.

We got there a little early so we ended up going to the Putting Edge playing cosmic mini golf. I tried to count out Canadian money there, but apparently did it all wrong because David apologized to the cashier for his “American wife” lol. Putting Edge was very coo. Way better than King Putt in Vegas. It was bigger, and the obstacles were more fun. After our game we were to Jack Astors, for me to meet David’s friends that I hadn’t met yet. We pretty much just ate and chatted and David LOVED being out with HIS friends. Michelle Junkin, Julie Westover and her boyfriend, Neal Strickland and his girlfriend, Dan Clarke, Erin Strickland, his sister Lisa and her boyfriend, Jennifer Gearing and her boyfriend, and Chrys Bodurka and his girlfriend Ashley all showed up. Very fun!

It got late there and everyone left, but David and I weren’t tired yet so we went to Lake View Park and walked down the pier on Lake Ontario. David says it is more beautiful at night. Something really cool though was you could see a little light across it which was Buffalo, NY. I liked that. It started getting cold so we left to go home, but stopped at a convenience store first to get cereal and milk for the next morning.

Sunday, October 11^th,2009- This day we got up and went to church with James, Gwen, Lisa, and Gwen’s boyfriend, Dave. It was hands down THE smallest ward I had ever been to. It was very neat though because apparently everyone had been waiting to meet me so I had multiple people coming up and giving me hugs before I even knew their names lol. I thought that was sweet and something that will never happen again.

We left church, took the rental car back and changed out of church clothes, then we all headed up to the Kydd cottage in Haliburton for Thanksgiving. On the way we stopped at Swiss Chalet. That was very good. Haliburton- Holy tiny little cottage in the cold!!! I then met, Uncle Brian, Aunt Linda and Uncle Dennis, and their daughter Alexandra. After meeting everyone David, me, Susan, Gwen and Dave all walked up to a ski lift thing called Sir Sams Inn. It was quite the little hike, but gorgeous in the end. The colors represented Canada so well to me. We took several pictures, and rolled around in the grass. Then we walked back to the cottage where then David and I left on our own adventure, to the forest at the back of the cottage, which was 100 acres of Grandad’s property. We went on a walk, then we went back home where we had my first Canadian Thanksgiving.

We ate all we could eat, then Gwen and Dave took us home and on the way stopped at Uncle Todd’s, and met him and his sons, Travys, Jason, and Dayne. It was such a boy pad. All 4 boys and their dog Timber. We left to go home and on the way saw my first raccoon! It was SO cute I was excited! I wanted a picture, but David hopped out of the car and scared it. Sad.

Monday, October 12^th, 2009- It was James birthday and he came and got us and took us to the Tyrone Mill which was a 150 some old mill. Then he took us to the house David grew up in. That was something really neat to me. I was pretty sad that it was sold before we got up to Canada so David and I couldn’t stay there. It was a beautiful home and the spirit there was nice. It was set up so original. I can honestly say I’d have moved to Canada for that house. I loved it. After that we went to Purple Woods and saw where the maple comes from. We went back to Adale and Dan’s visited with them a while, went and had Whistle Dogs (bacon and cheese on a hot dog), then me met Lisa and her boyfriend and went to my very first hockey game. It was beautiful. I loved the sound of the puck making contact with the stick, and the atmosphere. I wouldn’t mind going to another game. We saw the Oshawa Generals play the Kingston Frontenacs. After the game we went back to Grandma Richards and Gwen and Dave joined us all. Gramps was up this time. We took James out for his birthday dinner to Mr. Greek. Home.

Tuesday, October 13^th, 2009- We slept in this day, and then went to Grandma Kydd’s for lunch. David asked her to make her homemade macaroni and cheese for me. It was good except the onions. It kind of ruined it for me. I really liked being that their house. It was a nice home and I especially loved Grandad’s cane chairs. They were amazing, a very neat hobby to have. I also loved Gramdma’s glass, she had so much and it was all very unique. I thought it was kind of funny Grandad on a “leash” though. It made me laugh; we were teasing him about it. The last thing I loved about the house was grandma’s apple pie. It was THE most delicious thing I have ever tasted. It was perfect.

We had to rush to leave there to go to the Johnston’s for dinner. I must’ve gotten so fat, everyone wanted to feed us. Okay, so funny, we get to the Johnston’s and David and I go to set our coats down in David J’s room, but couldn’t find a light and it was pitch black in there, then all the sudden someone turns on a light all I got startled by about 100 figures set up looking at me. Oh, David J. Dinner was nice, the Sowchuck’s came and David J’s gf Tara, me, David J, David, and Michael sat around listening to music and playing Nintendo 64-Bomber man.

Once dinner was over, David and I left to Uncle Don and Aunt Cheryl’s. They were so kind. I uploaded pictures from the wedding from face book onto their computer and we all talked on the couch. Our stay was pretty short there because it was so late.

Wednesday, October 14^th, 2009- This day David and I went in to Toronto on the GO Train. First, we went to the CN Tower for lunch. That was very cool. The CN Tower is the tallest freestanding building in the world and is much like the Stratosphere in Vegas. The restaurant we went to was similar to the one at the Stratosphere in Vegas too. Nice food, it rotates, I really liked being up there with David. After lunch we met up with David J and Ryan Van Steenburgh at the Silver Snail. David’s favorite comic shop ever. It was HUGE. After that we went to the Eaton Center (and met up with Tara) which is their mall, like the Fashion Show. At the Eaton Center David bought me a beautiful black winter coat. I love it. David’s dad then met us at Nathan Phillips Square and took us to the Toronto temple, which wasn’t actually in Toronto. It was a bit further away. It was amazing there. I love the temple. So small, and David, I, and James all did a session there. We stopped at Tim Hortons on the way home from the temple.

Thursday, October 15^th, 2009- We left David’s home today and started our trek back to Vegas, James gave us his truck to drive cross country, so we loaded it up and headed to Niagara Falls. The falls was too wet for me, but it was something neat to see once in my life. The big excitement for me in Niagara was Rossi Glass. It was a famous glass blowing shop, where they work in front of you and have thousands of pieces to choose from. It is one of three places in the world who make cranberry glass. We were there for about 3 hours or so if not more looking for something for mom and something beautiful for me to take home. While we were there one of David’s mission companions and his wife came to say hello. That was a nice little treat. We saw them, bought our glass, sent our post cards and crossed the border. We were officially back in the United States and taking the 80 home.

This is the part of the trip where things get boring. I’m sick with a cold, and we have 38 hours of driving to do. After Niagara we stop in Palmyra and saw some church history sites which weren’t as exciting as I wished they were. The only thing that I really liked was the Sacred Grove. I was disappointed with the rest. After we stopped we drove until David got tired which was somewhere in upstate New York, I think it was Dunkirk.

Friday, October 16^th, 2009- I’m still sick but we get up and drive through the rest of New York, the little portion of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and stopped for the night in York Nebraska.

Saturday, October 17^th, 2009- It gets a little more exciting today, I’m still sick, but we finish up Nebraska and decide to stop in Parker, Colorado to see the Govoreau’s. It was SO good to see them. I’ve missed them. As we were pulling into Parker, the truck started doing something funny, so we figured we ought to get it checked out. So we dropped it off at a place Kathy referred us too and while they were looking at it we went to lunch with Kathy and Emily. After lunch we found out the barrings in the front were falling apart and it was going to cost about $2,000 to fix the problem. They also said they couldn’t get to it until Monday, but we explained our situation and did us a favor and hired a guy to come stay late so we could have it late that night. So, we decided to stay the night at the Govoreau’s which was nice because David and I, and Kathy and James, went on a double date to see Where the Wild Things Are (which was a horrible movie). We sure did love being with them.

Sunday, October 18^th, 2009- We woke up at like 5am, James and Kathy woke up with us to say good bye and we were off. We finished driving through Colorado, drove through Utah, stopped in New Harmony, and had dinner with Mom and Ross in St. George (gave mom her glass and dropped off trees), then headed onward to Vegas, and got home at about 10pm to Dad’s to see Caiden and give them the things we brought back.

THE END.

Christmas letter 09

2009-12-17T20:56:00.000-08:00

Dearest Everyone,

Hooray! It is the time when we get to update you on our year! What have we been up to? Well, January I found a new and interesting job that I’m rather enjoying. I work for Chrysalis, a group home, for men with intellectual disabilities and behavioral problems; I have never experienced anything like it. It’s been a good learning opportunity on the patience and people front and that’s been good for me J. David is still working for Naylor Solar and loving “saving the universe one solar panel at a time” as he put it and we are still both working for Celebrate Kids, dressing up and making magic.

Earlier this year David officially received “permanent resident” status in the states which meant we FINALLY got to go up to Canada. I saw my first hockey game, met a good chunk of David’s family and friends, went to Niagara Falls, checked out Toronto, saw my first raccoon (it was awesome!), found out when a Canadian says something is “up the street” they really mean it is like 10 miles away, and it was confirmed I really don’t like the cold. David loved being back home in his natural habitat with family and friends and showing me his stomping grounds. We ended our trip in Canada by driving the 30+ hours home back to Las Vegas! SO much fun!

This past year at church David and I had to opportunity to serve the youth together. David in the Young Men organization (boys 12-18yrs.) and I was in the Young Women (girls 12-18yrs.) It was neat to go out to activities together for service projects or just to have fun. Recently though, I was called into the Primary to teach the 7-8 year olds, which I am totally pumped for! David shall carry on in the youth alone.

David and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in August, by going to San Diego. We went to Sea World for the day, where I got a killer sunburn and David thought it was neat to see all the sea creatures up close. The next morning David woke me up at 4:30am for a surprise, which turned out to be a hot air balloon ride! Gotta love him! The entire weekend was so nice to just relax with each other and celebrate US!

David is still rockin’ the xbox and working on his art skills. I started making cards as a hobby and in January will be going back to school as Hospitality major, which is pretty much an event coordinator. We both like to go indoor skydiving, go to dinner at my dads and play with my little brother and sister, hang out with friends, go up to Utah to visit my family, and spend a lot of time watching movies. Oh how we love married life without babies!

I’m pretty sure this was all the major events in life this year, new and old jobs, permanent residence, Canada, anniversary, hobbies, church…yup! Love and miss you all, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, David and Britni Richards!

Memories of my #2

2009-10-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i got the worst news i have ever received. I have gotten bad news before, but nothing like this. Around 5pm i got a text saying Robi Sundell (my #2 man after David) had gotten in a long boarding accident, flight for life had come out to get him and he'd been unconscious for 20 minutes. I was in shock and denial. I had a feeling in my heart that this was it, but didn't want that answer so i swept it under the bed. The worst feeling the the world i thought was embarrassment. But i have found something that one ups it. Anxiously waiting for news, hoping it is the good rather than the bad. I had gotten a call from Aunt Jan saying they got him on a ventilator, he was in a coma, and wasn't wearing a helmet (typical Robi). By 10:30pm i got message that said Robi had been pronounced Brain Dead and they were pulling the life support today at 1pm once all the family got up there. Shocked, devastated, tears, hurt, angry. How can someone make that kind of decision after only 5 1/2 hours??? I learned that you can't come back from no brain activity. Recovery does not happen. Alas i called upon my Heavenly Father for comfort. I'd been hoping the news was still incorrect somehow, but as i knelt down, trying to breath, i got a confirmation and the comfort i had been asking for.

Last time i saw Robison was last month when David went to Canada to help pack up his home and room. Robi was my "date" to 3 receptions. I'm glad it hadn't been ages since i'd seen him and it wasn't only for a minute. He is pretty well the only guy i have been able to hang out with alone since i've been married and David won't worry. Some things i love about him is the fact for our wedding gift, he got David onsie G's...that he wore on our honeymoon, lol thanks Robi. I love the time he took David and i riding in The Jewel. I was sick to my stomach, and yet it was some how SO fun. Little, Amanda and I went up to Provo for Spring break, and Robison, Mikey, Jeff, Little, Boyd and I decided at 10pm at night we were going to go on an adventure to Hobbitville in SLC. So ridiculous lol. I miss the 2am phone calls telling me about what date he just went on. I loved planning activities with him in the singles ward, and that he'd make time for me while i was up in Provo. Breakfast was our thing. We'd go out or i would go to his apt and he'd make me waffles. Robi has always been there for me, whether i am a crying nut case who just needs an ear, a date, friend, brother, advice, or just someone to hang out with, i can count on Robi. There are 2 things that mean the world to me, one- that Robi was at my sealing and i know he's have driven/flown across the country to be there and two. I only invited 2 friends to be at my endowment session apart from David and Aunt Jan. Robi made it a point to be there. And he has no idea how much that meant to me. Oh how i love him, miss him, and will always remember him. My life has been better knowing him. Wingman. Gentleman. Good man.

Exciting News!!!

2009-08-13T21:38:00.001-07:00

No, i'm not pregnant.

I just changed me page and got on for the first time May, that is all. Everything is well, David went to Comic Con in July, I went to girls camp last week, and we both are going to San Diego (Temecula) tomorrow for our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSAY!!! Hoo Raw!!! Whoever said the first year of marriage was the hardest is a liar. The End.

Brit

Update.

2009-05-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Since i got my new job i have been really slacking on my blog. It is the last thing i want to do in my spare time. However, I got to keep this thing up every once in a while i suppose.

David officially has his "green card" permitting him permanent residence in the states. The day we had our interview, directly after we found out we passed, we went home and bought our tickets to go to Canada. We are officially going October 9th-18th. Well, not the full time. We are leaving on the 15th to drive back home with all Davids stuff from Canada. I totally can't wait. It is going to be a blast.

David is in the process of his license. He took his written and passed on Friday and has his driving test on June 26th.

We have been to a few shows this year so far. In March we went and saw The Airborne Toxic Event. In April I drove to Utah with a friend and saw the Pussy Cat Dolls and Britney Spears, and in May, David and i saw No Doubt, Paramore, and The Sounds at Tiger Jam. Then I took Sondae to Taylor Swift last night. Gloriana and Kellie Pickler opened for her. Gotta love going to shows.

I finally saw Grandma and Grandpa P after all this time and it was fabulous. We were there for five hours talking about everything..Valentine’s day was on a Saturday and I woke up at 5:30am to make David a “pink” breakfast. It didn’t really turn out as I’d have liked though. He wasn’t as into it as I thought he might be. He however, took me up to the temple and we did sealings and then came home for a bit and then he took me on a surprise outing. We went out to Pahrump to a dry lake bed (though it wasn’t so dry due to the rain the night before) and had dinner out there. It was neat and the stars were fantastic. Young Women’s has been good. I stink at teaching the lessons, but besides that I have a blast being in there with the girls. I caved and cut my hair in February way short and now am regretting it. It is perfect for work, but other than that no good. I can’t really do anything cute with it. No fun.

For my birthday mom sent me really really pretty flowers at work which I love. She does it every year and it never gets old. Then when I got home, David had me open the gifts he got me and it was scrapbook stuff I have been wanting, and then he took me out to the Melting Pot. Yum! We decided we were going to make it a tradition for my birthday, I am totally okay with that too!

For Davids birthday it was a 3 day event. Sunday we had dinner with my family while Caiden was there and then on his actual birthday on Tuesday I took him out to Landry's for seafood and gave him his tickets to Tiger Jam, then on Thursday had a bit of a bday bash with Jhon and Kim Mosley, Chris Baugh, Amanda Ebert, Rachel and Christian Wood, and Britney Roberts. Speaking of Britney--I had friends finally come home off the mission. William Springall in Jan. and Britney and Josh McDonald in April. I am glad they are all home, but am soooo glad Britney is home.

David has been working 9-12 hour days for Naylor which is good. I got moved to the medical dept at Chrysalis and didn’t like it at first, but now love it. It sometimes is crazy as it is a dept. full of girls, but all in all is fun and good for me. I have a new best buddy. I attract Canadians ;). My friend from high school Jakob Tobler is engaged to a girl from Edmonton, Alberta and she is my left side. With David on my right and Steph on my left, life is fantastic.

Well i suppose this is all for now. Just thought i would give a little update.

Brit

a little update from jan 28th

2009-02-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven’t really written much about my new job at Chrysalis. I had a weeks worth of training from Jan. 6th-10th and then started work on the 12th. I work in what is called the Day Program and drive transport. When I was hired for the job I knew I would be serving men with disabilities, I, like everyone else was under the impression that I would be serving maybe elderly men, or men whose families could no longer care for them. We were all VERY wrong. I got to work the first day to find out that Chrysalis was the last stop for many of our clients. Most of the behaviors include sexual assault, elopement, physical and verbal aggression, and kleptomania, but was certainly not limited to these. Their disabilities are vary diverse as well, suffering from down-syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and every man in the program has been diagnosed with mental retardation.

Our clients are very much like children. They throw tantrums over trivial and minute problems just like a child, but the repercussions are more damaging. They have bad days like the average person, except their moods are more extreme. When I first walked into my job on Monday morning for the first time, I didn’t know what to think. The first thing I saw and recognized were that all of these men were children of God. Second, I believe they were all chosen or volunteered, and brought themselves forward to live their time on Earth this way because they knew someone had to take the job. They also knew, with God’s help, could endure the challenge placed before them or God knew they could endure the struggle. I immediately felt compassion. Within a few days though, I would struggle with the task at hand.

Day one-Assigned to my first two men, one with MR and one with MR as a result from brain damage from a wreck. I was threatened to be sexually assaulted.
Day two- Good
Day three- One of my clients was told he couldn’t have a soda and eloped. He wouldn’t respond to my calls and anytime I got within 5 feet of him, he took a swing at me. I also struggled with the support of my staff, director, and manager.
Day four-Good
Day five- Good

The first week apart from my clients, I struggled with family. After the first days incidents, David immediately wanted me to quit. Everyone was upset including my husband, father, step mother, previous exchange student, and friends in our Family Home Evening group. After the first day, I was so mentally worked up from what everyone was saying and telling me that I couldn’t do the job, that I didn’t know if I could go back, but I felt I should, so I did. The second day David told me he didn’t and wouldn’t support my job at all, it was too dangerous and I should quit. I was in the bath, bawling my eyes out in a new pair of heels, mentally preparing my Young Women’s lesson when I knew I had to stay. I was listening to an EFY track from 2004, when the song “His Love” started to play. “Jesus loved the man who could not see or understand”, my lesson was on Christ’s example, and there it was in the lyrics. He STILL loved them. It wasn’t conditional according to their behavior. It was more confirmation I needed to stay. The comfort in the job hadn’t come yet, but the confirmation to stick with it had. That got me through Day three’s incident and helped me endure everything that my family was saying to bring me down and tell me I couldn‘t do it. After that, the 3 day weekend came quick and it was well enjoyed with my husband. When Tuesday came I didn’t know what to expect. I was reassigned to two new guys, one autistic and the other bipolar and of course both suffered from MR. I also was asked to take the 5:45am-1:30pm morning transport shift in exchange for my 8am-3:30pm shift. I accepted. Anything during the day is Chrysalis’ time as long as I get my nights. I would start training the next day and leave my guys to another staff, not that I was disappointed as one of my new clients immediately made me uneasy.

The week was short and hectic, but I survived. I was so frustrated with my job though and how it was affecting me. I started becoming jumpy at home when David was being playful with me, and my mind was on edge at the office. I’m not a particularly angry person, so to walk into an unpredictable room every day definitely left me with fear. By the end of the week though, I felt like half of my battle had been won. I at least had made friends with the staff and knew I had their support. If anything with my clients became unsafe, they would at least have my back. This started to put my mind at ease, that I was not alone.

Weekend #2 was nice and relaxing, but it seemed the second my mind knew Monday was nigh it started to play tricks on me and tell me I couldn’t do the job, it was unsafe, I shouldn’t be there, the pay was awful for what I had to deal with and the hours were too early. I walked into work Monday morning just as scared as I was the first week. I literally felt like I needed to quit. However, my rational mind told me ‘no’. Chrysalis spent a full 5 days training me in NEO, Soar 1 & 2, medication, first aid, CPR and Human Rights, and proceeded to train me for a new shift that would be an asset to them later on. No, I could not give up that easily. I had to see what my superiors could do for me or suggest. So, I brought my concerns and fears to the attention of my director, Meagan. As I heard myself telling her how I felt more comfortable and in control on the confined space of the van than in the room full of staff, I soon was able to pinpoint what my problems and concerns were a little more. One, was that I am an incredibly organized and structured person, and that is how the van was, where in the office, the room was full of chaos and no set routine. Two, I didn’t fully understand the guys. Just by talking with Meagan even though not much was resolved, I found that just making her aware of how I was feeling relaxed me. The next day on Tuesday, she set me up with an appointment with one of the Behavior Specialists. I knew whom she was as she was in my singles ward, Zandra. Relaxation was present even more than the day before. I started to understand a little more and was glad that I had more support and someone who seemed to understand and know how I was feeling. I left feeling great and more of my burden lifted.

And here I am tonight, after Day 12 feeling more confident and relaxed at my job. There are definitely still going to be tense and stressful days I’m sure, however, I feel I have won half the battle, by having the support of my staff, exercising the separation of my feelings from home and work, and TALKING to someone about my concerns because they CAN help. Even though my clients rotate to someone new in 2 days and it has taken me a week and a half to understand them and it will benefit me in the future. One of these days it will just click, and I will get their respect.

Our Christmas card and Newsletter

2008-12-17T08:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends in the states and in Canada,

Hooray! Our first family news letter! I am pretty excited about this, however I don’t know about David, but I decided it is a good habit and tradition to get into. I love getting these from everyone else, so why not send them out ourselves?
It’s been an exciting year for David and I, getting married and all. I figured what I can address in this, is all the questions everyone has been asking about David and I. First, everyone wants to know how married life has been and what we do and such? Married life is awesome, can’t go wrong living with your best friend. I have had a blast learning how to cook and since I got laid off on Halloween, I have a lot more free time to learn new recipes, knit, scrapbook, clean, etc. David is still working for Naylor Solar and continues to love it. He plays the Xbox in his free time, sketches, sculpts, and plays his guitar. I love now that we are married; I don’t have to talk him into serenading me. It seems like every other day he is on his guitar. We love our new family ward. It is perfect for us. David is in the Young Men’s as a Deacons advisor and though there are few boys, he loves getting to know them and help out. We also have made some great friends in our ward. We have new and old friends come over on Sundays or Mondays with their spouses and we have Family Home Evenings. That has been so much fun for us. It’s been good to get to know so many great people. This October David joined the Celebrate Kids family and works on the weekends with me as a clown, elf, or helper, whatever the company needs. Let’s just say he is the cutest little clown and elf ever lol.

We are hoping to get up to Canada sometime in early 2009. We finally got David’s immigration papers sent in for his Green Card. No, that isn’t making him an American; it is just granting him permanent residence in the states. Everyone seems to think that now that we are married he is an American. It makes me laugh because he still loves Canada, it is his home and I am glad. Nothing can ever replace home or family. SO, once his paperwork comes in we can head up north and I can meet the rest of his family and see his home and things and places he loves. Speaking of family…NO, we are not having babies anytime soon lol. Not planning on it at least. Naturally, that seems to be a popular question. Let’s just take care of that question now.

We are ready for the holidays and have enjoyed decorating our home and tree (with popcorn and candy canes I might add) and being with family. We can’t wait for years to come!

Love, David and Britni Richards

Missing a Grandpa

2008-11-11T08:41:00.001-08:00

I dont even know where to start with this. I miss one of my grandpas. He was a grandpa by marriage from my dads second wife, and when they first got divorced i did my own thing in my own little world and a few months later started missing him. I keep a picture of him with me and think about him often, but it has been 3 years since i have seen him or anything. Everytime i drive down Charleston i look to see where his office was only to find it isn't really there anymore, at least i dont think it is. Well, she posted pictures the past few days and he is in some. It makes me miss him even more. I miss Grandma too, but its not the same.

Why, you ask haven't i done anything about this? Well despite my own wants and needs it isn't a good idea. Wife #2 everytime we come in contact thinks i have some hidden agenda or am working for my dad to spy on her or something. Contacting her family would be like opening a can of something that could hurt me, as it always does. It's not that they would react awful about it, its that SHE would. Like i said she thinks i have some sort of hidden agenda.

I don't want contact with her anymore. I don't want people to keep saying "Aren't you ______ daughter?" No. I may have been at one point, but not anymore. She was a good mom to me at times and we had some good times together. But that time is over now. She has changed and so have i. She served a purpose in my life, and i turned out someone i enjoying being. I'm more like her than i thought which is weird to think, there is so much about her that i'm not a fan of, but really truly believe we are not the same person. She uses her abilities different than i do and that is what makes us different from eachother.

I'm not about to walk into the lions den for my own wants and desires to be connected with Grandpa P. Its practically suicidal and leads me in an emotional direction i don't want to be in anymore that only she can cause.

The many adventures of being laid off

2008-11-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

well, i got laid off from my job on halloween. but have had an incredible time since, and David and i have gotten pretty close. We went to Orem last monday adn stayed with our friend John Laycock, and had a BLAST. Its good seeing friends that you dont get to see all the time. I hung out with Robi while David and John went to a Metallica show on Monday night then we all played together that night and on Tuesday. it was a nice little mini vaca. When we came back to Vegas that night it was back to business on Wed. i went and got a health card in child care and food handling, and picked up applications, on thursday got online and found some jobs and friday faxed my resume out to 8 different places and filed for unemployment. Saturday i got to work for celebrate kids for about 3 hours and that was about it.

Davids calling in the Young Mens is a new experience that we are both adjusting too, but we love it. We also love our little Family Home Evening group of couples. It makes my week at least. Since we've gotten married it seems my social life has dwindled so it is nice to know i will see people every Sunday or Monday.

I believe this is all that we have been up too lately.

Popcorn is weird.

2008-10-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Really though...think about it and look at popcorns. A little kernal that blossoms? Even the look of popcorn is weird and the texture...almost like packaging popcorns but not. I don't know exactly what the mystery is about popcorn, but it is definitely a mystery. That is all.

The Downer Blog

2008-10-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty disappointed right now and maybe a little pessimistic. So, there is the disclaimer before you continue. I have been thinking about things I'm good at the last few weeks, things to keep me busy while David is away throughout the week. Unfotunately, I have found that the things I'm good at could hardly keep me entertained. David draws, sculpts, plays the guitar, among a whole bunch of other things. I dont have anything like that. It's frustrating, but i am officially annoyed with my lack of talent. Every Monday David and I invite couples over to have Family Home Evening in our home. We take turns teaching the lessons and have a little treat and game and song and prayer...the normal. Unfortunately what this has led to...is me realizing i'm not cut out to teach anyone anything. Ever since i was little i wanted to be a teacher, until it became time to go to college and i found other things that interested me more. Well, it's a good thing i found something else til teaching was ripped out from under me once i found i was incapable of teaching. My lessons last like 10 minutes max, i need a guide and i feel like i'm getting the sympathy answers. When i try to make discussion about the lesson, and they have no idea what i'm talking about, but they try anyway. I don't know if that makes sense. But here i am trying to prepare my FHE lesson right now, wondering what in the heck i'm doing. It's even more frustrating, is its a topic i myself am passionate about, yet having nothing to say about it. Grrr. Alright. That is all.

Oh the crushes i had!

2008-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

So i get up in the morning and watch Saved by the Bell every morning before work. It got me thinking about the boys in movies or shows i had on crushes on....

Benny from The Sandlot

Devon Sawa from Casper and Now and Then

Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables

Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Man of the House and I'll Be Home For Christmas

Zack Morris...Saved By The Bell

The Lawrence Brothers from Brotherly Love.

A Wonderful Day!

2008-10-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, after a little over a month now from meeting with our lawyer David and I FINALLY got all our paperwork in!!! What this means...is next week we sign the documents the the firm typed up, and they file everything with the government which starts the process of David getting his Green Card, granting him permanant residency in the states!!! We are so excited! We had a little trouble getting some documents together from Canada and getting a hold of people, but alas as of today the paperwork is in and things can move forward! PLUS this means in about 3 months we can FINALLY visit Canada sometime after that! Yay!!!

Proud Domestic Moments

2008-09-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so i can cook, just not as well as i'd like...i wish it were more of an instict than anything. Instead i get out my cute little box meals when i make David and i dinner and have at it...i mean, i can make SOME things from scratch, just not as much as i would like.

My family likes to tease me and say i can't cook because before i had david i would have macaroni and ramen every night and thats all i ever made for myself, but i'm completely content with that. I was only cooking for me, i didn't need to put on a show.

Well, then we got married and i cooked about 5-6 days a week for the first month until i started to feel bad. I realized that i LOVE pasta and so i tend to make it...a lot. I didn't cook at all last week cause i felt bad and embarrassed that i made it so frequently...David didn't say anything to me about it, i'm sure he doesn't care, but sooner or later he is sure to get sick of it.

So, i was sick this entire weekend and didn't cook at all some more, and yesterday took a half day at work...so i had this genius idea to get out the many cookbooks we have and find some sweet receipes so i dont feel like david is suffering. Here was the problem though. I'm not huge on flavor and spices. I dont eat green, onions, red sauce, barely any veggies, seafood, or pretty much anything foreign. SOOO, looking through these cookbooks was practically pointless since they are made by professionals and might as well be crinkling my nose at everything on the Food Network channel. Then, i thought i would look through the receipes david brought into the marriage, from Canada. The problem with that was....i don't read canadian. I mean some of the thigns were self explainatory, but i'm pretty sure i would need all ingredients for it to work, and...i may speak Canadian sometimes, but i sure the heck don't read it.

I pull out the last cookbook we have, and my last hope for new receipes. It was the cookbook i have been using for sometime now, but only for pancakes and orange julius'...my Aunt Lynne's cookbook. Thank heavens...there was my kinda food in there. I found 2 receipes i wanted to try for this week and pulled them out and went shopping....HECK FREAKING YES I MADE HOMEMADE BREAD ANNNNNNDDD A CASSEROLE WITH HOMEMADE MASHED POTATOES NOT BOXED ONES!!!!!! lol am so proud of me.

And all Seasons have started...

2008-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, i really don't watch much TV, i'm mostly a big movie go-er. HOWEVER, i have the 3 shows that i watch religiously...Heroes- on monday nights, and Smallville followed by The Office-on Thursday nights. I am more than caught up on The Office, but would never miss an opportunity to re watch all 4 season because they are THAT good! We own season one, and one day i hope to own 2, 3, and 4. I love watching them over and over again...with that being said, The Office first episode of season 5 is on tonight...i will miss it though because David and I are going to see the Foo Fighters at the Joint. Sooo, tomorrow morning and i will be up and on nbc.com i'm sure laughing my head off. Man, i LOVE The Office. Smallville is my next love. I own seasons 1-6 and yesterday David brought home season 7 for me. That was quite the little surprise :). Last week Season 8 or Smallville started, but i couldn't watch it because i missed the last two episodes of season 7, but now that i have season 7, i'm watching those two episodes today, and can start season 8 next week. And, my new love is Heroes. I got into it during the spring and borrowed (and now own) Season 1, then watched Season 2 online, and its season 3 premiere was on Monday... It was good stuff. Well, now that i blogged and dragged on about the 3 greatest shows ever lol i can't wait to see what is in store for me with Jim and Pam, The Villians, and Smallville

is ALWAYS a surprise!!! Yay for my shows!!!

Sadness or Anger: I don't know which, but i'm a raging tornado of it!!!!

2008-09-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

So there i was looking at everyones cute blogs today, and finally figured out how to change my template to something cute...little did i know it was going to DELETE all my friends and pictures down the side when i got it! I'm soooo angry and frustrated right now! I don't know everybodys links SO please add them....i would like to say it is important that i get everyones back, and it is true i read everyones on my list, but these for sure i want to recover...Brooke wood, erika childs, liz case, brighton noorda, morgan baldwin, aunt jan, rob and rashahn chatwin, ashley demille, myra bybee, cassidy willhite, jen broderdorf, jen hurst, misty barrett, laura cutler ugh....this is all i can remember right now from my list. freaking thing. grrrrr. I'm definitely a raging tornado of anger!

Utah-Our Vacation State

2008-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday this past weekend we had Dad and Sondae and Culel and Jessice over at our house for pizza and a movie. Oh man...our house isn't exactly Culel proof (though i think no ones is) so, we tried to proof it as much as possible and he STILL found things ot tear down adn get into! He was such a little terroist lol! Everyone left early because they couldn't get a hold of him, he wanted to touch and play and tear up EVERYTHING lol. I even took him and jess on a walk to the pool house in the middle and made him walk so he could be worn out, and on the way back it hit him and he started stumbling around so i picked him up and carried him the last bit. Clearly that last bit was enough to give him his energy back because the second he walked into the house it was like he'd never left lol little fart.

Saturday, David and i left up to see my grandma Ellen p in Duck Creek. I haven't been up there since i was younger to hang out for one because i work weekends and never have the time, and two because i am lazy and New Harmony is closer. So it was quite the treat after we made a point to get up there to hang out with Grandma and her best friend Jane. We had dinner with them, and got dirty riding four wheelers, and played Sequence and Jokers Wild with them. LOVE it. I can't wait til they come back down to Vegas so we can play here :)

ALSO this weekend. We left Duck Creek and went to play in New Harmony. I hung out with mom because David was helping Ross work moving hay and filing up the sewage trenches with dirt. Why you ask do i saw it was a vacation when David worked?? Well, because he had so much dang fun working and playing on the loader lol!!!! I was getting a kick out of watching him because i new he was having a blast...so i took pictures of it knowing i was going to blog about it today lol.

And Finally the RECEPTION...

2008-09-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot something in the last blog about in between the Sealing and Reception. David and i needed to fill the car up with gas so we stopped at a 7-11 on the corner of bonanza and lamb or something and this guy came up to us and asked for a ride, David told him that unfortunately we were on our way to our reception because we had JUST gotten married, and this poor homeless man whipped out a dollar, handed it to david and told him to never spend that dollar to always keep a dollar on him and congrats and walked away. Though now, we have no idea where that dollar is, i thought it was quite the lesson. This man giving us what he had with a little advice to go with it. Good Man.

After we left Aunt Jans house and went to the reception, i went around and just doubled checked on things, making sure the laptop with the music on was set and ready and the projector and bringing in my bag to change clothes and such. about 10 minutes til people were supposed to show i went and changed back into my fluffy wedding dress and then it was show time...until we couldn't find Mom. I ran out to the car to get my phone and called her. Of course she was lost! lol i stalled a bit but then finally got into the receiving line with Dad, Sondae, David, and Susan until her and Ross showed up, then they joined us. I can't believe some of the people who drove out to be with us!

Within 45 minutes to an hour the room was full every table filled and some people standing i was surprised, but very pleased. Chris announced that we were going to be starting the Ring Ceremony and our bridal party lined up and Bishop Andreason came over. I was pretty much against the Ring Ceremony since the beginning, and even the day before we were married. BUT it was something David really wanted, so i incorporated it in the way he wanted. I was nervous for one because it was in the middle of the Reception. Every reception i have ever been to people are in and out of the building and it is never quite. Our reception was perfect though. By the end of the Reception, the Ring Ceremony was my favorite part of the night. Thank you David. Ok, so the reverence in the room during the ceremony was astounding and the Bishop did SUCH an amazing job. He touched on the temple and what goes on in there and somethings our Sealer said, and then talked about the rings and what they mean a bit. I was incredibly impressed and pleased with how it played out.

Next came the Surprise Video. I had been working with David sisters a little over a month before the wedding to get a video of them and a congrats or whatever they wanted to say to us. I knew it would be important to David because of how close he is to his sisters and he was kinda bummed they couldn't make it. The video obivously wasn't as good as them being there, but it was pretty up there to David and HIS favorite part of the reception. He had no idea that it was in the schedule, so after the Ring Ceremony when i got on the mic and gave my nervous little "speech", he was all smiles.

Dun Dun Duuuuunnnn!!! This is the next little surprise i planned in for David without informing him. A few nights before the wedding David and i were at Aunt Jan and Uncle Lloyds when Uncle Lloyd suggested we cut the cake with a sword (mind you this is while Jan and i are polishing and decorating the thing we were cutting the cake with!). Uncle proceeds to take David in his room and show him a sword and get him all hyped that he could use this sword to cut the cake. David comes back into the front room and asks if we could cut the cake with the sword and i hold up all the work Jan and i just finished with the cake cutter we were going to use and told him absolutely not. So fast forward a bit. He kept bringing up the sword over the next few days and i kept telling him no. Then the night before on Friday, I was packing all the things up for Jan to take to the church while i was still at the temple taking pictures and stuff and the sword had been left out. I asked Jan if we could really use the sword and got the okay, so i hurry and decorated the handle all girly like :). Hey, if i was going to cut our cake with a sword the sword would be decorated lol! Anyhow, so the day came, the time came and Bryana presented the sword to David and again i got to see his face light up lol. SO good. It makes me happy. He was so stinking excited he got to cut the cake with that sword lol.

After the cake cutting was the Special Dances. Dancing with Dad was an adventure because i can only really dance with David so i kept tripping, you just couldn't see cause my dress was in the way. I didn't get to catch much of David and Susan dancing, but when i asked him about it he was pretty happy about it. Then there was our first dance to our song "Forever"-Ben Harper. mmm David. Good stuff :)

Then...We danced it up!!!

Money Dance next and we made bank! I was nervous at first because we didn't to be like the time when the crickets come out. We were excited though because on our honeymoon we didn't have to spend any of the money we set aside for the honeymoon, just all the money from the money dance and still had some left over on the way home. David made the most though lol. I kept dancing with the same person for quite a while, for every one person i danced with he danced with three...i see he is a popular one and a good choice lol ;)

THEN it became time for the garter/bouquet toss. First of all my dress is very restricting...so when the time came to throw it, i was being careful not to hit the lights on the ceiling, but to also, throw it far. Well, i did good with the ceiling part, but the far part didn't happen. It didn't even make it to the older girls. I was disappointed and embarrassed, but there wasn't really anything i could do. I really couldn't throw far. The garter toss is where the humor comes in lol. Right after the bouquet disappointment, David came up to me and asked me what leg the garter was on. I was so confused lol i was like "what garter?" lol and then the light bulb came on...i didn't even have it on! When my photographer was helping me get my dress back on, i was so worried about making sure the back of my dress was pinned up that i totally forgot to put the garter on!!! lol Sooo, i ran into the changing room and put it on and ran back out and sat in the chair they had set up for me lol. Funny thing that garter lol David got down in there with his teeth, buuttt it got caught on my G's so he snuck a hand up there and got out safely lol. His toss was wayy better and i'm sure a lot more fun for the guys.

We cut the reception short because we had nothing left to do but the last dance and exit to sweet bubbles. So we danced while my brother and sister and David's cousins passed out bubbles and changed while everyone was heading outside so we could run through them to our car. When we got to our car it was decorated with car paint and oreo's and a mysterious sucker stuck to the hood, and we drove away.....

The End. :)

Wedding Day before the Reception!!!...With the most amazing husband ever!

2008-08-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, SO, i got up early the next morning, and by early i mean around 7-8ish, and helped Aunt Jan with the little poem that was framed on the favor table and other small tasks. Aunt Jan made me and Jenny breakfast which was waaay yummy (Jenny said with me that night!), and then we were both off to get our hair done. Jenny got hers cut and i got mine did all pretty for the day. Brakell freaking rocks. I didn't realize that i didn't schedule things well and i would be cutting it close to get to the temple on time...luckily i was in Jan's mustang..:) needless to say i made it home quicker than normal lol. So, got home, had everything packed and in the car, and Jan, Lloyd, and I took off and headed for the temple. It was weird i thought i was going to be nervous, but i wasn't. I was anxious more than anything. I got to the temple and David and i went and sat in one of the recorder rooms and made sure all our information was there and correct then went our seperate ways to change. I love being in the bridal room, that day there was apparently like 15 or so other weddings going on, so there were about 4-5 other dresses in the room. Love it. Ok, so i got dressed and met David in a waiting room right by of our sealing room. It may or may not be sacriligeous, lol but we were definitely being silly and kissing, and just, being us. There was a bit of a complication so our ceremony was running late. My Grandpa Garth accidentally forgot his recommend in Utah and he was one of our witnesses. So we decided if he didn't show up, then we would ask David's Uncle Rick to be a witness, but then no one could find Uncle Rick lol! After about 5-10 minutes my temple escort came and told us it was time, that they had found Uncle Rick and everything was ready to go.

David and i walked down the hall into our ceiling room, it was beautiful. However, the second i walked in, i about started bawling. There in the corner of the room was my Dad's brother, my Uncle Dennis. He is almost identical to my dad and i couldn't help but picture my dad and how he wasn't there. Before the ceremony even started i was all watery eyed, so i kept my head down and David was squeezing the life out of my fingers for one reason or another :). After i regained composure i was able to concentrate more on what the sealer had to say. He was a silly guy lol. Kinda off the wall really lol. Anyhow we got through the Sealing, said the "I Do's" and were off again. It was weird. There was this part during the sealing that i could REALLY feel that we were married, that if happened and we were welded together. And then when we left the room it was gone, and it just felt like we were playing house again. I think that it was important that i felt the distinction though, it made it final. Anyhow, so David and i changed into our wedding getup, my white fluffy dress and his sexy suit, and exited out the east side doors!

This is gonna sound silly, but exited out those doors was just one of those things. lol Everyone who gets married in the Vegas temple has the "doors picture" the one right after you get sealed adn you bust through the doors and everyone is out there waiting....ya i freaking loved this part! lol And of course after we came though the doors david had to do his embarrassing bit...*sidenote* so while we were dating, david would ALWAYS like to embarrass me in public with this phrase "everybody, everybody! This is my hot girlfriend!" so its kinda been an on-going joke, and when we got engaged, he had to "everybody, everybody, this is my hot fiancee!", so OBVIOUSLY right when we can through the temple doors to see everyone, after we were officially married David held his hands up and "everybody, everybody! This is my hot wife!" lol i dont think he could help it. After that it was awkward for .5 seconds, when we didn't know what to do. Everyone was just kinda standing around so we started to make our way around everyone receiving the congrats and giving out hugs. After that our handi dandi professional photographer got bossy with us as requested and called out names ordering us around for group pictures. It was freaking hot outside! 3 in the afternoon and we were rockin and rocking taking pictures, walking up hills, jumping around...good times, good times.

Finally we were done with family pictures, bridal party pictures, and David and my individual picture business and we were finally off. We stopped and put gas in the car and got drinks then went to Aunt Jans to sent out a little something for her and Uncle Lloyd adn to NAP. We were sooooo tired and we hadn't even conquered the reception yet. So, i showed David our wedding bands because he hadn't seen them yet, and then fell asleep on the couch. It wasn't until Aunt Lynne, who was staying there, was like "you guys had better get up if you dont want to be late to your reception!" that we woke up.

Stay tuned for the reception part of all this....

20 of my favorite Husband things

2008-08-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

I love:

-coming home to my husband
-making dinner for him
-getting new things for our apartment
-cuddling with David
-waking up to my husband
-talking with my husbands sisters
-grocery shopping with David
-being punch drunk with my husband
-holding hands with him
-catching David's eyes from across a room
-going to the temple with David
-hanging out with my family and David
-road trips to Utah with David
-showers with David
-FHE's with just the two of us in our new apartment
-Texts to and from David
-knowing my husband loves me
-having a husband to love and adore
-taking pictures with my honey
-having my best friend as my spouse

Getting Married to...THE best man ever...Days prior to the wedding.

2008-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, lets start our story 3 days before the wedding. I'm not going to detail it all because that would take far too long, but i will give you enough.

Wednesday! Davids mom and grandma were both in by tuesday night so we decided it would be a good idea for them to meet my family prior to the wedding so we set up a dinner at my dads house on Wednesday night. We were running late but finally got there and my family had cooked a very yummy yummy dinner. I got out our table topics box (its a box of a whole bunch of questions to kill awkwardness lol). Susan and Grandma Kydd were being pretty quiet and so i got out the box deciding we didn't need awkward silence the entire night because my family i think would have been quiet as well if not forced lol. So i got out the magic box which was fun and interesting hearing everyones answers...the night was short lived. It didn't go bad at all...it served its purposed, and they met, it ended up not being awkward and ya. SO--the in-laws met.

The next day (Thursday) was a really really busy day for me. I knew Davids family wanted us to come play with them which was a good idea. I would feel really bad if all these people came all the way down from the north and only saw us at the reception. That is retarded. So we tried to make time for everyone. Anyhow so thursday i took off work a bit early and loaded up the trailer with EVERYTHING that was going to the chapel on friday for us to start decorating. Then David came over so we could go up to the temple (i wanted to go one last time before we got sealed). After the temple we went to the Imperial Palace which was where Susan, Grandma Kydd, Uncle Rick, and his kids were staying. Susan went and got Davids friends and cousin, David J, Erin, and Ryan while we were at the temple so they were all in the room when we walked in. This night was sooo nice. I have mentioned before how i love associating with anything David is associated with. I want to meet alllll his family and every single one of his friends. I love being able to put names with faces too. I have known Grandma Kydd since we first started dating way back in November, and i have been able to visit with Susan and David J online. It was even more neat though to meet uncle rick who i've heard so much about and his cousin Ryan. **Sidenote: Ryan is pretty much the nicest guy ever with the most amazing dreadlocks ever lol. Anyhow i LOVED that we were all there in that little hotel room hanging out visiting and getting to know one another. This was one of the two best nights prior to the wedding. The brought gifts for us down from Canada for David and i to open there and they wanted to hear how we met and he proposed. It was a really special night for me being there with his family and friends who i already have fallen in love with. They are amazing. That night after we left we went and unloaded the trailer at the church that i had loaded up earlier that day, cleared out the entire cultural hall, and ATTEMPTED to hang the lights on the ceiling, however, there was some confusion to how it was done and it didn't happen. So we all went home.

Friday! The busy day. I got up at 7:20am to go get the key to our apartment then met David at the chapel to let him and the boys in to set up the ceiling since we finally got the correct way on how to hang the lights. While they were hanging lights, me and Little (Erin) and Brighton went back to my place and loaded pretty well much everything that i owned onto the trailer we had unloaded the night before. Susan was there finishing our cake and Aunt Jan finishing our favors. We were so proud of ourselves lol when i have guys help me move it take about 2 hours to load everything. Darn right it took us three girls only an hour and a half haha! After we were done we went over to the chapel to help the boys, but they were practically done so we swapped! The boys went and unloaded the trailer at the apartment and us girls beautified the hall. We took a bit of a break in the afternoon when Rachel met up with us and got some supplies we needed then all met back up to finish everything at the church that could be finished. Then it was relax time and we all went out for pedicures then went our seperate ways. Later that night after seeing David the last time before we were married, went to the church and finished all the final little touches, which pretty much was everything audio related. THEN i went to my Dad's house to see my sisters one last time before i wouldn't for a few months. Bry was leaving back to DC while i was on the honeymoon and Bailey up to Reno for her first year in college. It was such a precious night to me being there with just my dad and siblings--Bry, Bai, Caiden, and Culel. I loved it was just us family, sitting around, watching the olympics. Everyone was asking me questions about when i went through the temple the week before, their parts the next day and times they needed to be places though. Caiden was perhaps the cutest about it though. He asked me just before i left if he was going to be able to see me before i HAD to become a Richards lol. I told him no and he proceeded to tell me he didn't think i sounded good as a Richards and i should just keep being a Shirley lol. Good stuff. Anyhow, this was the other precious night to me. Then i went home, hung out with aunt jan a bit, and went to bed.

The stories will come....

2008-08-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

when i get back to work monday and have nothing to do, in the meantime, you can rest your eyes upon these!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36763&l=0d954&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36855&l=1c7d3&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36857&l=b4546&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36859&l=8031f&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36860&l=56817&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36864&l=d1623&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36865&l=23ce2&id=508082012

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36868&l=0b3b4&id=508082012

The Canadians are coming! The Canadians are coming!

2008-08-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Canadians are here!
Davids friends and family started coming in last friday night and the last bit come in tomorrow. Just a little update on things, since it will be about a week or so til i get back from CA. On top of getting ready for the reception and wedding and everything else, we get to play tour guide. It has been really fun, and an adventure to balance. Everyone has been wanting our attention, especially davids friends and family coming all this way so we are trying to accomadate everyone. Last night we had a little family dinner so davids mom adn grandma could meet my immediate family. I have been getting the last things together (i.e. my dress pressed, the rest of the decorations, and others small details).

Planning the wedding has been a blast but i am SO ready for it to be over. I have a ton of people who have made my life easier. A few of the important who have been life savers is my cousin Chris stepping up to the plate to DJ last minute, Lori Wong and family, who solved the ceiling crisis, Brenda and Lorraine taking a lot of work and decisions off my hands, Melissa Brandley for reading my mind with the flowers, i'm excited to see how they come out, she is amazing, and Jackie Noorda, pretty well providing all decoraion. These people are the ones that will be making the reception run that everyone will be attending and have saved me from SO much stress. And of course my very very sweet Aunt Jan who has been my hero. Literally, I dont know what David and i will do without her. As excited as i am to move in with David i will be sooooo x10 sad to leave her presence and household. She is so wonderful. Well, these are just a few thank yous, more will be in order after the wedding. But man these guys have saved me from panic befor eit happened.

Alright all, be back in a week...ish :)

Temple

2008-08-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

Well, after all the fear and panic, i finally went through the temple this weekend :) it was wonderful. I loved being there with David, and i'm not going to really say much here, but that it was amazing and so natural....

THE best weekend with my Fiance...So far. :)

2008-08-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend after all my dress drama finally worked out. John did me a HUGE favor and drove my dress down from Orem to Cedar City so i would have it for the pictures. HUGE HUGE HUGE Thanks to John. He is a lifesaver yet again. So we were incredibly busy running back and forth from utah all day Friday for a sealing and reception for Davids friend Monica Hopley. She looked beautiful! It was nice to meet another friend of his from Canada. It has pretty well became my new favorite thing. It makes me even more excited for when David J, Erin, and Chrys come down. Anyhow, after the reception, we took Monica's sister and mom to Las Vegas so they could make their flight, then went and picked up Breaking Dawn...a must in our weekend...then finally got to Davids to pick up his suit and nap at 2am. And had to get up at 5-530 to get to St. George by 830 to get my hair did. So we race up to St. George, got my hair did for bridals, that i'm not posting til after we're married :). And then took Casual fun ones. i had SOOO much fun with David. He looked absolutely amazing in his suit. Here is a few of the goodness and joy.

2008-08-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

My Dress never came in. I am pretty upset with the bridal stores right now though it seems there isn’t much I can do. They haven’t been very helpful and rather rude. The worst part is I scheduled pictures this weekend and everyone made arrangements for me only to find my dress isn’t in, nor do they know where it is at. We are still going to take pictures, but in casual matching clothes, it think it will still be cute, but I wish the dress was here. We get married in 2 weeks and no one seems to know where it is.....Wait, hold that thought. My dress is supposed to be here on Wednesday. I just called the place…again, and that is what they said. Freaking people. I want to strangle them all.

David is in St. George today. He went to his friend Monica’s sealing. I wish I could have been there. It makes me more anxious to get married despite how nervous I may have or will be. I just want to be with him.

I got my hair done Wednesday to test things out, and it ROCKED! Even David liked it. I went down to the Sahara and Lindell chapel to surprise david after he got out from his interview, and was sitting in the lobby. Well, he came out of the office, looked as me...did a double take, STILL didn't recognize me lol and started walking out to his truck lol. I was walking after him adn was like, “ummm, did you forget something?” and he turned around like "what?" lol needless to say he had no idea it was me for a split second. lol everyone loved it though, and i stinking love it.

I think that is all the news for now. This upcoming week is going to be busy, we are trying to shove a TON of stuff into a week before David’s friends and family start coming in from Canada. It will be a good time.

Alas, it set in...

2008-07-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

The panic, or fear, or anxiety or whatever it is set in last night. I pretty much hate it. I didn't think it was going to happen. I have been SO incredibly calm through this, more calm than i thought i was going to be actually. I kinda broke down yesterday over everything. It lasted like 4 minutes while i was at work and then the water stopped and that was all....until i was heading to the chapel to meet with the Bishop for my recommend. I was all quiet, which for interview isn't normal for me, and kept thinking that right then and there he was going to tell me no now that the invites are out, we are two and a half weeks away and everything is set in motion.

I'm pretty sure that it isn't the getting married fact. I know i am supposed to marry David, no doubt about that. But i have had a few dreams lately and still can't shake the idea that even though i have both recommends and the marriage license and all the other requirements that i am going to get to the front desk and be denied. Like, "Sorry, it was a cruel joke, your recommend isn't actually valid, come back in a few months" or something. I mean i go through the temple next Saturday for heavens sake! This kinda stuff can't be happening! If i am going to bee feeling like this for the next 2 1/2 weeks til we get married it is going to be VERY long.

As for other business...the fine tuning of things is going well. David and i finished covering the bases of our trees all pretty last night so they don't look like plaster in a bucket. We've had our license for ages, we both should have our recommends by next week, friends and family from Canada start coming in next Friday, our beastly project of our music is finally polished and complete after two weeks, I get my hair colored today and test out sweet styles, AND i'm crossing my fingers my dress comes in this week since we are supposed to be taking pictures this weekend in Utah. Thats the wedding stuff, then tomorrow we are going to see Carolina Liar and the Ataris AND Breaking dawn comes out this weekend :)

Bridal Shower Pictures

2008-07-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have been way busy lately and am too tired/lazy to post the actual pictures up here. So here are the links.

http://www. facebook. com/album. php?aid=33581&l=a2c49&id=508082012

http://www. facebook. com/album. php?aid=33586&l=2369c&id=508082012

24 Days, Bridal Showers, Dark Knights, Colbie Caillat, and the best fiance ever.

2008-07-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we are now 24 days away from the wedding and 3 weekends. I'm surprised how calm i am. I know it hasn't sunk in for David yet. I asked him on Monday night and he said not really, maybe it will either 11 days in or after we are married...goofball :) lol.

So last wednesday i had my first bridal shower. I have two. One my aunt is throwing this saturday for family, and one that my maid of honor threw for me last wednesday for my girlfriends. It was a freaking blast! I love just hanging out with friends every now and then. After me shower this saturday i will put up pictures, but for right now it can wait.

Friday night David and i went and saw Dark Knight in the IMAX theater. All i have to say is it was PERFECT. The best batman movie yet. The Joker was amazing and i loved that it didn't drag on like Batman Begins. There were about 3 times where the movie could have ended and it didn't it was still just as good. I mean some movies when they can close it and seems to draaaggg oooonnnn, not this one. It was very well executed. ALL of it.

I have been telling David for a while now how stinking excited i was that Colbie Caillat was coming to town adn i was VERY tempted to get tickets. David two weeks ago got Colbie tickets for me, the show was last night, and it was freaking awesome! I took my girlfriend Erin Cory with me. Colbie is kinda our thing. Well i had been wondering for a while who was going to open for Colbie, since it wasn't advertised at all, only to find Jason Reeves was! I was sooo excited! I flew to Dallas last year and saw Colbie, except it was far away and Jason wasn't there. Sad day. Anyhow, we were SO close to the stage, Jason opened, Colbie touched mine and Erins hand...twice. Not to mention the serious eye contact that was going down. I about peed my pants when Jason came out in the middle of Colbie performance and they sang "Droplets" together. Practically amazing. THEN after the show, Jason came down and signed our tickets and took a picture with us! AMAZING. Anyhow...Amazing night mmmm.

David is going to Comic Con this weekend to get his nerd on as we like to call it. He and our friend Christian are pretty darn stoked about it too. They crack me up. Last night they went and bought sketch pads and planned out the entire trip of who they needed to talk to and see and get signatures from, and all sorts of stuff. He's so stinking cute i love it. lol

Anyway good story. Recap. 24 days, 3 weekends. one bridal shower left, Dark Knight was perfect, Colbie was amazing, and David is going to Comic Con this weekend. Oh! and hoefully my dress comes in on time next week as it is supposed to.

Well, i finished it and am starting Eclipse....

2008-07-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

I was quite impressed by how New Moon played out. It made me depressed at first and i couldn't help, but love Jacob's warmth and kindess of opposed to the eerie nature of the Vampire, yet i wanted Edward back so badly. I think what sold me was the irony. Her best friend a werewolf. Her lover a vampire. Destined mortal enemies, sure to cause internal conflict. it was beautiful. And the treaty at the end. KNOWING they were going to turn her into a vampire. Uh...SO good.

The marriage ultimatum was perfect and the voting...yum! The tension of being in volterra was so good and learning about the extra powers i thought that was neat, the different talents. The marriage proposal was sweet irony as well. Bella is so in love with Edward, yet not the kinda girl who would settle down, which as you are reading you can only be angry with her, because Edward is perfect. As i was reading about the guy who could feel relationships, i loved it how deep the love was, that it was starling. You could only root for them to be together. It was frustrating to me that Jacob is a werewolf, but i am going to assume that will come together as i start reading Eclispe.

I was surprised how partial to the vampire i was. Clearly the werewolf was much more warm and friendly, and even when i stopped to think about it i knew the vampires were creepy. Yet, the Cullens weren't. I think their icy blinding skin would freak me out and therefore i have a really hard time picturing any of them beautiful. There are so many things about them i don't like, but maybe the worldly image of the vampire is still in me and i can't shake it. I don't know if any of this makes sense. All i know is when i think vampire it creeps me out, but when i read i am more partial to the vampires then to the werewolves. Or maybe it goes back to what they represent. The werewolf as a friend and vampire as a lover. And I would automatically choose David over my friends. It's like Bella says: Love is irrational.

However, depressing New Moon was...it was perfect.

I'm gonna make this short and sweet...

2008-07-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

Many of you are familiar with this book. New Moon, the Sequel to Twilight. I started it two days ago and am on the 7th chapter. I was late boarding the Twilight boat on this one, but alas i am here....and LOVING IT! Until i started reading New Moon. It kinda puts me in a bad mood or a mellow one rather with edward being gone and all. It makes me sad. I think it is because to me, Edward represents David in my life. i was so sad yesterday that i didn't feel myself, i didn't want to go to my bridal shower last night because i felt so depressed as if David was actually gone, because Edward was gone, or maybe i just felt for Bella. It wasn't until i was driving down the road heading to my Bridal shower and david was heading toward me in his truck that i felt better. I'm silly. Anyway it was all better and i was back to normal after i saw david. It was weird, ive never had a book do that to me. And i dont like that Bella is hanging with Jacob, as nice as he is, i dont like it. i feel like bc she is hanging out with jacob she is cheating on edward. I mean he has to come back right? i dont like the feeling so much that i get when i read because it is so depressing, but i have to read it because i want him to come back. So these are my thoughts. That is all.

The Beauty of Stealth Mode

2008-07-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have had a date with Robi to go off roading in his jeep for sometime now. On Sunday....during sacrament :)...we set up a day this week. We figured it was really hot outside so we needed to go during the night, so we set it up for last night after FHE to work with mine and David's schedule.

Robi was our trusty adventure guide and Sierra our jeepmate, as we headed out past the 215 on Summerlin parkway. We were out for a good hour and a half and the best part of our adventure was in the beginning.

So right after you pass the 215 heading west and slightly go right, you hit construction. Of course there is a security guard there sitting at a gate to make sure there aren't punks that go back on the site and all sorts of other shenenigans. I'm thinking "DANG IT! What a party ruiner, now we have to reschedule." Wrong. Robi pulls The Jewel up next to the security guard...WAVES...and takes off lol! The Jewel hauls! The Security guard...lets call him Ed, whips around and starts chasing us! We start flying down the road thinking we could out run him until a loader on the jobsite pulls up out in front of us and slows us down! We see Ed coming up quick on us and what does Robi do? Straight squeezes past the loader and we take off again! However, Ed does the same thing to keep up with us! We get a considerable amount ahead of him where Robi puts The Jewel in Stealth Mode and takes of straight instead of curving left with the main road!...And Ed didn't even see us! He curved left and we got away and started our off roading experience!

SO, as we get out to take sweet pictures a helicopter comes flying over us...with its spotlight on...we were kinda panicking since the area we were in was owned by Howard Hughes and the aircraft was freaking circling around us for a good 2 minutes. Finally Robi got out of the jeep and waved...and the helicopter left! lol What the heck!? I think it is the hair. I swear it is full of magic and secrets!

To finish off our expedition we didn't die, though i was very grateful it was dark outside so i couldn't see what we were teetering on among other things. On the way back out we drove around the gate. Ed was waiting...in Stealth Mode. We waved again...drove past to Summerlin Parkway...and he watched....at least he recognizes defeat :).

So what did i learn?
1. Pee before getting in the jeep
2. Blow past Ed to maximize your jeeping experience.
3. If you get motion sickness jeeping is not your sport.
4. The Jewel is a rockstar.
5. Jeeping is literally an art.
6. The Jewel's backseat is magical.
7. Don't drink gatorade while jeeping. It gets in your eye.
8. DON'T WEAR SKINNY JEANS.

Bridal Stores are Ridiculous.

2008-07-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Why is it that every bridal store i have called seems to stress me out. Actually, i wouldn't consider it stressing me out. I would classify it as angering me profusely. Make sense? When i was finding my dress i called about 4 stores to find out if anyone had it in stock only to find, that it wasn't and if i wanted it, it had to be made and shipped out of China. This meant that i would have to wait until the week of July 30th for my dress...isn't that cutting it a bit close though? I called 3 months in advnace and it is still taking forever? You would think bridal stores deal with important days all the time, and know that brides don't like to wait long periods of time for essentials. I mean, are they expecting me to show up naked if it isn't in on time??? Honestly, I think it should be a requirement to keep that crap in the states. None the less it was from a Utah venue...isn't Utah the marriage capital of the world? To me that screams, hey we have dresses in stock so you can get married tomorrow. Apparently i was wrong.

So, then this weekend we found THE perfect dresses for my bridesmaids, and they are being rushed to be here on time. Well, the sales lady told me they would be here by Aug 8th. So i got paif for them over the phone. THEN went i called back for additional info., she was like oh no, they get in from CA, 2-3 days AFTER August 8th....Holy crap!? Are you kidding me?? LIES AND DECEIT! She told me they would be in by Aug 12th, which means i am going to have to RUSH to get them. My mom will have to drive to Cedar to get them, then after i get off work at 5, meet her in either St. George or Mequite, then on the 13th have them fitted to the girls...it will take a day ish to have them done and we pick them up on the 15th. What the crap!? Freaking Bridal Stores. I hate you all.

Happy Slurpee Day to all and to all a Good Slurpee Day!

2008-07-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

I think that we should take a moment of silence for the Slurpee. It changes lives...puts smiles on faces, turns bads days to good, cools down us Las Vegans from the heat, and they are tasty among many other things. So silence time...now!............................................Ok stop.
Mmm slurpee. Today, next to my birthday, is my favorite holiday. Who wouldn't love these little cups of joy? I am convinced God sent us a little piece of heaven. So in honor of us avid Slurpee go-er's i have a little something to make you giggle and appreciate the Slurpee even more. And for those of you new Slurpee comers...Better late than never. Jesus forgives you and you aren't going to hell anymore. Choose the right and bring others unto this little cup of goodness. Happy Free Slurpee Day everyone! Get a free slurpee! and enjoy!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A SLURPEE ADDICT WHEN...

-You know what Slurpee flavours the local 7-11 currently has

• You know what the consistanies are like -- either before you arrive and/or pour from the taps

• You know the names of the Clerks that work at 7-11

• Your tongue is stained the color of your favourite Slurpee flavour

• You deliberately take your time while drawing your Slurpee from the machine and dottle before going to the till, in order to "defrost" before heading back into the cold.

• If you don't arrive at your usual 7-11 store as you usually do, they ask what happened to you the next time that you go there.

• Your reflex aims to ensure that your Slurpee remains perpendicular to the ground, without spilling, if you may slip and fall.

• You know where all local 7-11 locations are.

• Know how good or bad the consistencies are by just looking at the product, before even drawing it.

• You have a need to stop whenever you see a 7-11

• You have several Slurpee cups sitting around

• You do favors for others only because you've been promised a Slurpee reward.• When you develop withdrawl symptoms if you don't get your daily (if not hourly) "fix"

• When you have pictures of Slurpees placed into your photo album, tacked to your walls, or framed, not to mention various pictures of your favorite 7-Eleven store.

• The 7-11 clerks know YOUR name.

• You never turn down an opportunity to have a Slurpee, even if you are having a migraine and have a nasty cold.

• You find yourself lecturing others on Slurpee Etiquette, the importance of constancies, and the best 7-Eleven's around town.

• Whenever somebody starts to talk about cup sizes, your initial thought is, "yellow cup or clear cup?" Your embarrasement is soothed by another Slurpee.

• When the clerk says, "you again?" Except, they aren't all too surprised.

• When your sister wakes you up in the middle of the night and asks if you want to come to the 7-Eleven with her, you only hesitation is whether or not you should wear a jacket.

• When you ask for a wad of Slurpee coupons for your Birthday and/or Christmas present

•If you had a catch phrase if would be: "Mmmm....Slurpee" "Wanna go for a Slurpee???" "I'm thirsty" (often followed by the preceeding quote) ... or would somehow include 'Slurpee' or '7-Eleven'

• When people refer to you as the "Slurpee girl" (or guy, if that applies)

• When you start your day with a Slurpee, or end it with a Slurpee

• When it's not odd for you to always be seen with a Slurpee at your side.

• You sit on the heat register because its -30C outside and not warm enough inside to keep you from shivering as you drink your Slurpee.

• When the bitterly cold winter is no reason not to have a Slurpee. In fact, it's a good thing: that way, your Slurpee won't melt on the way home.

• When the "bestest" present of all would be a life supply of Slurpees.

• When the best part of playing volleyball is getting the after-game Slurpee. A big one to celebrate your win, or a big one to cheer yourself up.

• When, in the dead of winter, you get yourself a Slurpee and a hot chocolate to balance it all out.

• When the only thing that gets you through the school/work day is knowing that you'll be able to get a Slurpee at its end.

• When, after every burp, you truthfully comment (aloud or to yourself), "Mmmm. Tastes like Slurpee..."

• When you try to grow a Slurpee tree by "planting" a Slurpee cup into the ground. [Sadly, this did not work...]

• When all your doodles contain the images of or the words, "Slurpee" and "7-Eleven."

• When you think (and believe) that Slurpee cures everything. [someone told me this only applies to myself, and that Slurpee only makes me feel better--not them. Who knew?]

• When you wait for the do-not-draw-product-when-flashing light on the machine to stop blinking just so you can have some of your favourite flavour

• When you somehow manage to always have a Slurpee in your hand.

• When you feel personally insulted when people call slushes from other stores "Slurpees." You also then make it your duty to lecture them on the differences between Slurpees and the other stuff, and how wrong it is to call any non-Slurpee a Slurpee.

• For Halloween you want to be a Slurpee

• You pretend to look at other merchandise while sipping on your delicious Slurpee and head back for more after the cup is half empty, before lining up to pay for it.

• When you figure out you can get 64oz (1.9L) of the necter of the gods (Slurpee!) by using a DoubleGulp cup.

• You get offended when you see someone drinking an Icee or a Froster

• You buy a Slurpee to comfort you in times of frustration

• Nothing discourages you from getting a Slurpee

• You fake a sore throat just so friends and family pitty you and buy you Slurpees to "soothe" your pain.

• You drive around town to 3-4 7-Elevens until you find the perfect consistency or flavor--this happens a lot in the summer on a hot day when you really need a Slurpee and you go in and its all watery........so you go to another store........and another......and another.......until your mission is complete!

• Free imitators won't do, so you go out of your way to get to the nearest 7-Eleven to get the real thing: a Slurpee!!! And it's definitely worth the drive!

• When you pull up to the 7-11 parking lot you quickly scan all the customers in the parking lot and get anxious when you see a lot of Slurpees in their hands because you know the consistency is all screwed up now.

• In your mind you consider it a heroic sacrifice to let your friends have the good Slurpee first when the consistency is in jeopardy. TRUTH!

• You get brain freeze but continue to relentlessly sip until there is nothing left.

• When the clear Slurpee cups end up replacing you're cubboard cups at home.

• You get a PHd in Slurpee-flavor mixing

• You convince two of your friends to drive you to 7-11 to get Slurpees and when you finish your Slurpee 20 minutes before they finish theirs, they end up giving you theirs because they are too lame to finish them and you can't let good Slurpee go to waste.

• Before you go out for the night, you make sure that you have the exact amount of money for a large Slurpee because you know a Slurpee-run is inevitable.

• You tutor new-comers on how to maximize their Slurpee experience with tips on applying the dome lid, opening the plastic-encapsulated straws.

• You know just how to tamp the cup on the counter to settle the product to make room for more.

• You rant at any strange 7-11 which has the audacity to NOT serve Coke (or Pepsi...it'll do in a pinch) Slurpee.

• When there machine's down, and you've been in day after day to check, they buy you a free Slurpee to apologize when they finally get back on track.

• Your dream job is to "shop" 7-11's to determine whether they are up to spec and report back to headquarters your findings

• You re-draw the "food pyramid" with Coca-Cola Slurpee replacing the "carb" section at the bottom.

• You visit eBay, Google, and every other search engine known to man in the hopes of finding an actual Slurpee machine for sale.

• Your fondest memories of childhood include being allowed in the *gasp* backroom of your local 7-11 to search for that one rare comic-book hero Slurpee cup you needed to finish your collection and the joy of finding it and handing it to the clerk to have it filled up (these were the days before self-service Slurpees)

• You consider it sacrilege when someone overfills their Slurpee cup and it spills over the side of the cup and onto the floor.

• You consider getting a 7-11 franchise just so you can make your own Slurpees (tm and all!) in full accordance with the law.

• You patiently wait for the clerk to do whatever magic is necessary to get a non-functional spout to work because, dang it, you want THAT flavor and no other.

• When there is a 7-11 5 minutes away, but you opt for the one 30 minutes away because they have more flavors

• You know you are addicted if you are too lazy to get up, and send your *other* out at 2 AM to get a slurpee!

• When the back seat of your car is full of slurpee cups just in case you stop for a slurpee and someone else is with you. Then they can use one of your cups because refills are cheaper

The Exchanging of Names

2008-07-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, Happy National Free Slurpee Day! I LOVE slurpees! mmmm.

Ok, now for this interesting experience. So you know how when you are thinking about someone or a recent conversation or whatever and then go to call someone and accidentally call the person you were thinkin about instead.

Ya well this happened to me last night, but with a text. It was awful. Not only did i fill in this persons name in the text, but i sent it to her instead of the real recipient. It wasn't a bad thing....assuming the recipient received it. The was someone who had been driving me CRAZY, like everytime i saw them or heard their voice i was like wow...notta fan. i was letting the friend that i had vented to know that things had been getting better. I didn't want them to think i was a complete hater and let her go on thinking i didn't like said person, when i was feeling better toward them. Ya well this text got sent to the wrong person, with the wrong things inserted and i got a call from the person i sent it to and was sooo embarrassed. Totally a text gone wrong. I tried to explain the accident and i think it didn't go so well. Regardless. Words to the Wise. Check who you are sending your text to. It saves you from day later embarrassment.

My Little Helper

2008-07-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

So, after David and I were engaged the wedding planning started. I had a dress two days later and it all has been pretty well downhill from there thanks to the excellent contacts i have and my ward family. However, that doesn't mean there hasn't been a few bumps in the road. David and i rarely get in heated confrontations. We both share our opinion, and compromise from there. He has really opened up a new side of me, having to consider someone else in my life. Well, as the wedding plans were flowing, apart from parental drama coming in from all angles, the tension started flooding in between he and i...over wedding plans.

Most brides would say that their fiance had no hand in the planning or minimal...so that is kinda what i was expecting. Getting help when i asked for it. I mean i didn't want him to just be like "Okay tell me when and where" and i didn't want to not include him at all, so that when i really needed an opinion he would think it didn't count, so i just assumed he would be on the sideline and if he had something to say he would let me know since he has never been shy to do so.

Oh boy, was i wrong. He wanted a hand in it ALL. It made sooo much more work for me and he became annoying...at first. It started off because he just didn't see where the reception was going. Of course i took that as a blow to the face as he didn't trust what i was doing with everything. So, i was like fine if you dont like the way i am doing things then you do it and handed him the binder and got out of the car and went in the house. I can't stay mad at David though. Not even possible, so i went for a run to blow off steam and went in the house to call him and ask what he wanted to do and what he wanted to get out of all of this. Of course, he got all cute on me and romantic and my little heart just melted. "I just want the wedding plans to be something we can do together, so that the wedding is ours and memories for US. Not you and your girlfriends." How could i refuse a proposal like that? He said he just couldn't see the 'vision', so he was just hoping it would come.

The next day i got to work and printed off pictures on the web of what daisies looked like, typed up a list of all the decorations i had in mind or had been getting together, a list of time and days i was meeting with people so that he knew in advance that way if he really wanted to be involved there were no excuses, and a floor plan for the reception area, among a ton of other things. I sure was upset at first that it was making more work for me, but now i am sooo glad he wants to be involved. I love going to meetings with him and hearing his input on things, and this is all why i love him.

Well, the reason i wanted to post all this was because last night i had picked up the arch from my Dad's house that he had made for us, and took it home to decorate. I had Jan and David directing where the vines looked best while i was on a stool tying them onto the arch. Then it came time to weave the vines in and out of the arch and intertwine the flowers in with it all. David was ALL over that. It was so stinking cute lol i couldn't help, but smile. After all he is the artsy one between the two of us, it would look better if he did it anyway. lol He is the idea and sketch, and i make it happen.

I stinking LOVE it lol....and him :)

The Book....Round 2

2008-07-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

So here is the last little bit of love story, to have everyone caught up, then i can blog about more recent things and things that are probably more interesting....SO we are going to speed things up til the engagement. So we started dating in October, he kissed me in November, and then came with me to Utah for Thanksgiving. On the way home on Sunday i broke up with him for reasons i'm not going to get into, then Monday prayed about it and knew for a fact we were getting married, but didn't say anything to him. Five days after having the urge to tell him i love him, i did, 3 long weeks of torture and riding into January, he reciprocated with the L word and that same night we decided we were going to work toward getting married. A month after that we let our parents know, and three months after that, into May, he proposed. So that brings us to the proposal....

I finally got off the plane from being in DC and NYC for 4 days…first off and was super excited to see David, so I text him and he told me to go to the baggage carousel and look for my name.

I got down there, looked around for a bit, preparing for something embarrassing, when I finally saw my name. It was a limo driver lol. He took my cell phone and handed me an envelope that said BRITNI AFTON SHIRLEY. Inside was a message from my love. “HEY BABY I have not seen you in a few days so I thought I would do a little something special for you. There are a few instructions you will have to follow in order to have the best time possible. First- you need to give your phone to the driver. I know it’s like asking you to cut off your arm, but trust me, you will have more fun. Second- use this camera to document your adventure. Britni, we have a great story and I know you love to share it with others. There are so many chapters in this, our real life, and so much more yet to be written. So when you reach your destination go in and enjoy the memories. Oh…one more thing…I love you. -David James Richards.” The limo driver took me to destination one, Fast Lap. I went inside and John was there! John Laycock! We took a picture together and he handed me In ‘n’ out and envelope that said “Friendship and Communication” on the front. I got back in the limo and opened it. “Do you REMEMBER our second date? This place doesn‘t look like much from the outside, but inside it is nothing less than go-cart heaven! Here is where I learned just how fun you really are. You put on that full racing suit and the crazy neck/face sock thing…lol…we were silly and I loved every minute of it. I also learned I can totally own you on a racetrack. After chasing each other around on the track I think we went to In ’n’ Out, grabbed a burger and I took you home. We ended up sitting in my truck for a couple hours talking and talking. We have always been able to talk to each other even near the start of our relationship. I think that is something that has helped us and will be a great strength in years to come. What a wonderful night that was! I had crazy fun!”. Destination 3, Fly Away. I got my envelope from the front desk labeled “Adventure and Love”. “This is where we took our relationship to new HEIGHTS. This has always been a fun place for me to come on my own and forget about everything and just fly! It was so much fun to be able to share this place with you. You looked a little nervous, but you went for it anyway. You showed me your adventurous side by doing something you had never done before even thought it was a little bit ‘dangerous‘. Although we were flying…I had fallen for you (remember my silly card?) I was slow to admit it, but I loved you then and had loved you for some time…and I love you to this day (only more)”. Then I was taken to Zach Smith’s parents house, where David’s truck was parked and the envelope on it. I knew David had to be around there somewhere so I looked around, but didn’t see him. Envelope was titled “…and all the little things…” and it said-“As random as this seems, this represents the little things. Do you remember saying goodbye as night after spending some time with each other? We would stand out by my truck, or by your car and chat. Our hands would play (the way only our hands do) I would put my arms around you…and toss you into the sprinklers! Lol! There are so many fun little moments that mean so much to me:- grape cream slushes, having a crazy girl jump on my back at a football game, hanging by my truck, Christmas, surprise lunch visits, Valentine’s Day, kissing on the Wood Family’s couch (lol), California with my sisters, Disneyland, New harmony trips…I love all of these memories. The best part is that they are with you. They are OUR memories…ok…next stop!” I kept going. I was sure I was going to see him at the next stop. The temple. After all, this was supposed to be a mini date. So, I figured he would be there and we’d study or something. I was wrong though. Bailey, my sister, met me there, and I was very happy to see here. It was really weird pulling up to the temple in a limo. Way weird. Anyway, Bai was there and gave me the envelope “will make eternity” It said, - “Of all your stops tonight this may be the most significant. I know that the temple has been an important place for you. It has been a place to reflect and a refuge from the world. The time I have spent with you at the temple and the conversations we have had in and around this Holy House are precious to me. I have LOVED studying and serving with you here. I am excited to enter these doors with you and be sealed for eternity in the near future (or as we like to call it-Infinity Plus One). I hope to return many times with you to do work for those who have gone before us. I love being here at the temple with you.” Next stop Jan’s house, which is where I live now... I didn’t know why. I was SO confused. I figured I was going there to change and get pretty or something, then he was taking me to dinner, but wrong again. Jan and Lloyd were there with the next envelope and camera… “Home”. I was only supposed to change into a tee shirt. “SO I figured you would want to drop off your stuff and clean up after a long flight. But, BE QUICK! Because you must be out the door by 5:40pm…if it is 5:40om right now, drop off your stuff and get back in the limo. Lol. If you have some time I suggest something casual…jeans and a t-shirt! Maybe a super awesome tee that your boyfriend got for you. He has good taste…ok…go!” I left the house with one final envelope. They gave me two at Jan’s, the last one said “for us“. and inside it said- “YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY to a very special place for us. When you arrive I hope you know where to go. I want you to give this envelope to the driver when you get out and say thanks to him for me. Be sure to get your phone! Call or text me when you are outside. I am excited to see you. Are you excited to see me? I will be waiting patiently for you my love.” I was then taken to the House of Blues…our first date. I got my cell phone back, walked in, text him like it said to, and he told me to go into the Dining room, I didn’t know where it was though, so I called and he told me. I knew it the second I walked in. Our friends were standing there. All the envelopes put together had a message. “Britni Afton Shirley, Friendship and Communication, Adventure and Love, …and all the little things…will make eternity home for us".

I walked in, walked over to David and kissed him, he was holding a box in his hand. He told me he needed me and that there was a reason our friends were there, and that he loved me. Then got down on one knee and said “Will you marry me?” I was all smiles and kissed him and whispered “yes” into his ear. I was shaking so hard. Lol Theneveryone in the restaurant broke out into applause and all our friends came over and looked at the ring because apparently David wouldn’t let anyone see it before me. lol Eric Trigg, Erin Cory, Erynn and Devyn Manu, Jasmine Reuel, Charlie Cory, Josh Mojica, Matt Hurley, Trish Williams, Whitney Shofner, John Laycock, Chris Baugh, Robi Sundell, John Harden, and Christian and Rachel Wood were all there to witness the event.

Apparently on Sunday at church David went into the Priesthood and Relief Society and made an announcement saying he was proposing and he needed their help to show up if they could. So, there they were. I love that these people took time out of THEIR day to support us, that means a lot to me. I visited and found out practically EVERYONE knew. That kinda took the fun out of it for me. I have been planning for months on who and how I was going to tell everyone, and David had already done that. All my family and friends knew. Oh well though. I can't have have everything my way :).

David and I then went to his house and he told me how he talked to Dad. I love that. Apparently Dad was all smiles the entire time, then Sondae told me when I called her later that Dad was excited and proud of me as was she and couldn’t think I could find a better man, so i was happy about that.

At David’s I changed my status on Facebook to “engaged” lol love it. Then David took me back home and we told Aunt Jan and Uncle Lloyd the details. I called mom on the way home at like 12am her time. She didn’t know. I was glad I got to tell someone. I love David so much and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Go on adventures!!

So this is the Engagement Story! We get sealed on August 16th and i'm sooo excited!

The Book of Love...Literally. A Book

2008-07-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

I frequently get people who ask me how David and I met and want the full on love story. So, I think it will be much easier on myself if i just post it here, and then can direct those curious to my blog. It will save so much time and effort. And i fully apologize in advance, if somethings are hard to understand. I get flustered trying to explain the story because there is so much involved, i can't decipher what all i want to share.

David and I have known each other for about 3 years now. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (see Mormon.org for details) in my ward for about one transfer. We had talked and such since he and his companion were over at our house for P-Days. So, skip to April 2007, David had been off his mission for almost two years and had been living in Vegas for a year and a half and i had been dinking around after been graduated from high school for two years. It was a Sunday night at I was at a CES Fireside, being a busy body, when this guy with long red hair and jeans walked up to me. It took me a second to recognize him, and realize i knew him..."Elder Richards...err David?" (Don't ask me how i remembered his first name)...."Britni Shirley?" So, we swapped the "How are yous?" and "What have you been up to?" business and i got his number and he left. I don't know what made me do it, but on the way home i sent him a text that was something along the lines of "Hey, if you need anything let me know." Who knows, maybe i felt bad for him lol.

We had randomly been texting back and forth for the next month or two, and then June arrived. It was a Friday and I was driving to go to my friend Robert Chatwin's wedding reception in North Las Vegas. And when i got there to my surprise, so was David. I don't know why i was surprised. I knew they knew eachother. Throughout the night, Rob kept telling me i needed to date David, and i was like nooo i can't, and embarrassed that he was suggesting i date someone like i was a little girl or something. I kept my eyes on David the entire time, he is gorgeous after all :)...and he was being silly, i enjoyed laughing at him. Slow song came around, he asked me to dance...my heart was fluttering. I was dancing with a hot guy...

Fast forward to a few weeks later, i get a call from him asking me if i wanted to go see Tiger Army with him. I had no idea what that was, so he told me it was a concert, i told him yes i would love to go, however he need to check to make sure there was no age restriction because i wasn't 21 yet :). I found out later on that apparently he was sweating bullets calling me and practiced everything in his head for like fifteen minutes and when i told him to check for restictions he was nervous even more...awwww cute lol! Everything turned out fine though until the day of the show. I didn't know if it was a date or not and that made me nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I had been on quite a few dates over the past month and they were all sorts of formal: Guy gets me from my house, opens the doors, buys the popcorn, kinda thing...This however was not like that. He bought the tickets and i was meeting him at the House of Blues. I was nervous the entire way there not knowing. I hate that sort of stuff. It makes things awkward. Again, everything turned out fine though. I got to the show, and i LOVED the closeness between he and i. The floor was packed and he had his arms around me to keep nasty sweaty huge guys off me. I loved that feeling that he was protecting me.

Over the upcoming months we dated casually with surprise "Harry Potter Trips" at 3am, Grape Cream Slush runs, In and Out meetings, amazing dates to Fast Lap, movie dates at his place and more. I slowly got to know him and what he was about and loved it all. I didn't know i was in love with him yet though. I was a huge busy body and he used to tease asking me to pencil him into my infamous planner. However, i never felt i needed to make time for him. Anytime he called all my plans seemed to magically disappear for him. It was such a fun summer and i enjoyed his presence. Take note that i didn't ever like just one guy at a time lol i liked to keep my options open, so i had all sorts of "projects" going on. I had liked David, and mysteriously cleared my schedule for him over other guys, but also had crushes on a few others as well.

Once the end of summer rolled around though we didn't see much of eachother. We would still text, but not physically see eachother. I was busy with school and had started playing with new found friends whom i absolutely adored and he must have been busy as well since he hadn't called. September came and went and we started into October. October 13th, the day of the UNLV vs. BYU football game. I had never been to a college football game so i went with my friend Logan and enjoyed myself hanging out and visiting with friends and watching the game. After the game following everone out i saw the back of David's head and recognized him at once, and jumped on his back! I was SO excited to see him! He realized it was me and i hoped down and we began visiting. I found out he didn't have a ride home, so i Logan said it would be no problem if we dropped him off out in Timbuktu. This is the day that we consider our friendship turning into a relationship. Nothing dramatic happened, and yet it did. We had never had any sort of physical contact with eachother apart from our first date at the Tiger Army show. As we walked to the car, we were all sorts of flirty. I would walk in front of him, then hit the breaks and he would wrap his arms around me briefly, then release and we repeated the whole way to the car while catching up. Once we reached the car, i got in the front and he in the back and i dont know how it happened, but our hands were playing. We weren't talking, Logan was preoccupied on the phone, and our hands were slowly playing with eachother. Some times briefly holding hands then releasing to play some more. My heart was more fluttery than usual and i didn't know why. It's not like i had never held hands before. When we got to his house I left Logan and went in with David. We cuddled and watched TV til he took me home. It is all practically history from there. We saw eachother everyday from there on out. Three or four weeks after that we had our first kiss. I kissed THE most grizzly man in the world because he was in a beard growing contest and hadn't shaved in two months and it was amazing lol. Alright, more story to come...

The Start of Something New

2008-07-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is finally, I decided off a whim that I needed another internet addiction in my life aside from Facebook. Though, I think this may be more beneficial. I have been slackin on the journal front, and so now I can print these out and stick um in. David isn't too thrilled about the blogspot idea, but he doesn't like myspace or facebook either, so whatever. He is never online anyway unless he is shopping or playing on Youtube lol.

I decided I needed a blog after i saw my friend Laura Cutler's page. She just got married, and has it all updated, and seeing as i'm not too far behind her i thought it was a great idea and SO cute. I kinda feel like i am at a point in my life that is incredibly adventure filled and this way everyone can keep up and eventually one day (in the not so near future) when babies come along, i can be like the cute moms that talk about their families. I love reading those stinking things. I mean "its like a right of passage for married people... not officially married until you start doing married people stuff like get a blog and wear velcro shoes" right?