Oh Christmas Time :)

Well, I made it through finals week alive. Thank goodness. For some reason the work load always takes me by surprise every semester around this time. It shouldn't, I should be used to it by now....but I'm not. Jeff and I celebrated Christmas together last night and it was super fun. There's nothing like your first Christmas with the one you love. It was a modest Christmas for us, but it was perfect. And it was even better because I made Jeff take us to Walmart to buy a tree a couple weeks ago, so we had a tree :) I told Jeff however that when we have a house, I don't want a fake tree anymore, I like the real ones. I like the smell of a real tree. They are a little messy when they are dropping their needles everywhere, but that's something I am willing to deal with. I mean, you can't have it your way all the time, can you?

Notice our pajama pants. Those are courtesy of the lovely in-laws! I love them. For some reason I get really excited when Jeff and I match. :) And I love Star Wars now, thanks to husband, so it it PERFECT :) The countdown begins...3 days until Ohio and I am super excited! Sydney is talking so much now and Ian is just as cute as ever. Oh I just can't wait :) It will be a great 2 weeks, but I can already feel the sadness of getting back to reality and school after that. Live in the moment, right? That's exactly what I am going to do. I am going to be lazy and enjoy myself! We are going to be participating in cookie baking day, Ian's birthday party, Christmas, New Years, and a lot of people seeing! It will be great fun!

Recently in the Dahl House :)

I had the sweet privilege of spending Thanksgiving with my in-laws. They are so sweet. We had a great time! Jamie and Ryan had gotten to Idaho Falls Tuesday night and Jeff and I had John hang out with us at our apartment. So, we ate Terriaki and the boys played video games (don't ask me what I did because I honestly do not remember....Pinterest maybe?). We woke up way too early to go to Idaho Falls the next morning and unfortunately Jeff had to work the whole day, but that's alright because starting Thursday he was all mine (sorta). On Wednesday before Jeff got back from work, I went to see Breaking Dawn with Jamie & Susan. Thursday was very delicious. Susan makes yummy food :) I also contributed a little; I didn't want to be a slacker. I made Strawberry Pretzel Squares! For those of you who have never heard of these, you need to try them. Go to my recipes tab and you will find the recipe there! :)

Friday we all left to Utah because Grandpa Dahl passed away that week, We were at his viewing Friday night and went to his funeral Saturday morning. It was sad, but I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel that helps me understand His plan for us and that this mortal life is not the end. I am glad he went though because he was suffering.He told us all that he wanted to go, that he was done here. Even though I didn't get a chance to know Grandpa Dahl very well, I know that he was such a great man. I love hearing stories about him! He is such a neat guy. The picture below is so cute. I hope that Jeff and I are still so in love and want to hold hands when we are old and feeble.

Happenings in the Dahl Household

We went to Jamie and Ryan's place in Utah and hung out with them conference weekend. Aren't our Nephews so cute? Kegan is on the right and Braden is on the left.

I forget when this picture was, but we just love photo opportunities!

We finally finished all the Star Wars episodes....and they were great!

 We made ice cream for the second time. It was delicious! :) We love our ice cream maker!

 And then....Jeff needed a hair cut. So...I cut his hair. I thought I did a pretty good job, so that seems to be the plan from now on so we can save some money and cut out trips to the barber shop!

The following is stir fry. This was husband's idea and man is he so smart. It has chicken, carrots, green pepper, some type of red pepper,soy sauce, maybe some spice that I cannot remember, and of course spaghetti noodles. DELICIOUS. It's definitely a keeper!! Go Jeff!

A weekend of fun!

Jeff and I had a really fun weekend, but I am sad that it has ended.   Friday night we went to a really yummy Teriyaki restaurant near campus. You pay nearly $6 for a meal for two and it is so delicious. Saturday, we loaded up our biking gear and headed for Harriman State Park. We won't go into to much detail, it was quite the lengthy bike ride, but let's just say that we biked up a mountain that felt like it was the largest mountain on planet Earth. It was so much fun though. By the end I was flying down that mountain. I was Super Woman. I felt bad though because I was holding Jeff up a bit. He's done this type of thing for almost his entire life so he's pretty stinking good at it.  We had a great time and I am looking forward to doing it again.

 

You might not believe what I have to say next, but I had never before seen an entire Star Wars Episode in my whole 19 years of living before last night. We watched episode 3 and man, I am hooked. Jeff and I are planning a trip to the D.I. this week to get a vhs player so that we can watch the others (his parents only had that one in dvd form and the others in vhs). Can you say Star Wars marathon??

One month anniversary and Our Apartment! :)

Lots of happenings! Monday was our one month anniversary and Jeff came home from work with flowers. We went to a place called Big Jud's. They have massive burgers there. Jeff and I shared one and we were stuffed. After that we went to Fat Cats (an arcade/theater/bowling/etc..) and we went glow putt putting (thanks to our starving student cards, we only paid 4 bucks!). It was way fun :) Sorry I don't have pictures. I left my camera in Ohio and just got it yesterday in the mail from my mom along with more cards with money. They just keep trickling in and it's fun because part of me feels rich! WOOOOHOOO 25 bucks! Today I got my ring back. I have missed it so much. I hate feeling like I have to fly under the radar because my marital status is not obvious without my ring on because after all, I look like I am 12.

The following are pictures of our new little apartment!

This is our cute bed.

This is our cute closet that has no door. Oh, hello world!

Left side of kitchen when you walk in to our humble abode.

Right Side.

Little Bathroom.

Living Room. And our nice T.V. that Jamie and Ryan got us :)

The other side of our living room. It has changed a little bit, there is now a couch on that wall where the table is and the table is on the other side by the T.V. I would take a picture, but it's a little messier than my liking.

Sorry it's been a while....

Here are some more pictures from our wedding :)

August 26, 2011~ We're Married!!!!!!

These are our preview pictures, they look so great. That was honestly the best day of my life. I love my husband so much :) And I get him for forever!

Life as IT gets closer :)

Meet my family!

My sister Sydney and I :)

 

My cute brother Ian

 And then there is that fun thing that I am in the process of doing. It's called packing... Just for everyone's information, I am sending 9 packages out to Idaho tomorrow morning. Maybe if I tell them I am getting married and I am just a poor college student, they'll give me a discount? I wish it worked that way. I would be a really happy camper. But we're probably looking in the ballpark of $150-$200. Sad. There goes some good, hard earned, McDonald's money.

Me and the FAM are headed out on Tuesday so this is going to be the last blog post before I am married. I am so excited to get married to my best friend. He is so great. I love him to death! And I hope he still loves me after he sees those 9 boxes that come in the mail. :) Wish us luck at the temple!P.S. Sorry I don't have a picture of my parents. I will sometime though. Probably in the wedding pictures!

Mexico....

I don't normally wish I was in Mexico, but as of right now, I do. That's because my other half is there and I wish nothing more than to be with him. I am out of communication for a whole 3 1/2 days. Yeah yeah....I know that it isn't that long, but when you're in love and apart, anything and everything seems like forever including this time I have been away from him. Plus, I am a baby. I hope he is having fun though. It will be considered his last HOORAH with his family before we get hitched. And It's official, we can say that we are getting married this month! YAY! It's very exciting. I will say that this engagement has felt like an eternity. BLAH! But we are almost there and as of the day after tomorrow, we will see each other in 20 days!!! I am beyond myself. I just can't wait to marry my best friend. But more than anything I know that the wedding is the ceremony that binds you together, but I also know that marriage is the thing that needs the most work. And I know that both Jeff and I are willing to do whatever it takes to make our marriage last for eternity. I love him dearly and pray for his safe arrival back into the U.S. :)

One More Month!!!

Well, it is official...ONE MORE MONTH and I will be Mrs. Whitley Dahl. I am so excited. I wish I could explain just how excited I am. People ask me if I am nervous to get married and I think to myself Heck NO! I am marrying my best friend. What's scary about that? Right now it is just really hard for me to be away from him. It is the hardest thing to be away from your best friend especially if you are engaged to them. That's alright though because in 28 days from now I will see him and that will be such a happy day. Crazy couple of days that's for sure with all the last minute wedding plans. It will be a very exciting time though. I am so excited for my parents to go out there and see where I have been. Idaho is a really neat place, if you have never been or are not my Rexburg pals, I  really recommend it. It is so much fun. I think I just love it because it's country. And one thing that's on my mind right now is awkward newly married couples. To all of our friends, we promise we won't be that way. Promise. Okay, sorry I am rambling. Forgive? Okay, good. Anyways, I am very excited for what this next month has to bring! Wish us luck!

Part 2 of The Most Incredible Week EVERR!

Thursday morning Jeff basically told me that I was sleeping in because we both went to bed super late. I am so grateful for him. He is so great to me. I am such a lucky girl. After he got done with his classes, he came back and woke me up. I hated waking up, but loved having him there to do it. He is my best friend. That day we went to Pocatello, Idaho to a wedding decoration place called Country Creations. It was the best. The lady was so helpful. She basically has a barn next to her house where she does all her business. She has wedding backdrops, all the table clothes, and even tables. Doing it there made it so easy. Wish we had one in Ohio, but it's not wedding country out here. Welcome to Idaho; It's in the potatoes! Before we went back to Idaho Falls, we decided to grab some lunch at Wendy's. Here's Jeff and I. We probably looked silly doing this since it was in front of the door, but that's alright. haha

After we came back and waited for John (Jeff's brother) to get back from work and went to the courthouse to get our wedding license. When we got there, we had no idea where to go. So we decided something with the name of social in it might be a good place to start. I mean, it's kind of a social thing to get married, right? No such luck, she gave us directions to go upstairs. When we got to the top, we had to go through a mini security thing (just to make sure we weren't trying to bring a gun into the court rooms or something). Jeff didn't have such good luck with that. I guess his shoes have nice soles that contain metal? Interesting. When we made it to the right place we were met by an unhappy lady. Oh well. We got what we wanted. While we were in there filling out paper work, though, a lady came in and told the other lady behind the desk that she was getting married in the morning and didn't know if her husband would make it in time before they closed. They told her to bring him back in the morning. They were scheduled to get married in the Idaho Falls temple at 9 the next morning. We wished her luck.

 Ya know, in the state of Idaho it only takes $28, photo I.D., and your social security number to get a wedding license. Jeff and I thought that it was funny that they made us read about STD's. ha Nope, none for us, don't you worry state of Idaho!

When we got back from that field trip, we went to a potential wedding luncheon place for dinner. It was very good. I'm sorry though, I forgot what it is called. After that we rode over on bikes to a man's (in Jeff's home ward) house who does catering to see what he could offer us for the wedding luncheon and it seemed like a "go" until the next day when he called and said that he actually can't do it, so that part is still in the works, but we'll figure it out. After we made that stop, Jeff, me, John, and his friend Cindy went to see Transformers 3. I thought that it was a really good movie, but I don't think Jeff liked it as much.

The next day was Friday and normally Friday's make me happy, but not when I know that I am leaving someone great in a matter of a couple days. That morning I went with Jeff to his science class with him, it was fun. I just love being with him, it doesn't matter what we are doing. After class we sat in the MC (also known as the cafeteria) and I ate food and we just hung out. He left me a while later to go to work and my friends showed up a little after that.

I told all my friends to meet me there so I could give them a wedding announcement. One of them actually has a blog; LaKesha, I met her in math class first semester! It is almost impossible to meet up with all of my friends in one week. It makes for a surely crazy week! After that I hung out with my roommate Brooklyn and Kylee and their roomates for a while at their apartment talking about getting married. We had a nice talk. His parents then picked me up and we stopped by the taco bus on the way to his work. They dropped me off and I spent the night there helping him and his friend Grayden make ice cream for Reed's Dairy. It was fun but tiring. That night we stayed up late once again. It was so much fun. I am in love with this man.

The next morning me, Jeff, and hos mom all left for Utah. When we got to his grandparents house in Ogden, we took his grandma with us and went to this craft store called Quilted Bear. This was in an effort to find ties for all the men in the immediate family for the wedding. We found 4 of the same ones and had to deal with a few different other ones. I think it will still look very nice though. When we got back, Jeff and I went to Salt Lake. First we hit temple square. I love temple square. It is always so much fun. It makes me want to be a missionary, but it looks like that won't happen (not me being single anyways), that's okay though. I am ready to marry my best friend. I got my temple dress that day, so that was really exciting. Later we went to the Gateway mall not too far away. I love this mall because it is outside. I think outside malls are so much fun. I enjoy myself. We ate Panda Express for dinner and it was so yummy! I wish we had them here in Ohio, but it's probably better that we don't. After walking around for a while, we left to go see Jamie, Ryan, and the twins. We ended up going to Dillard's and other stores with them to find some wedding outfits. After that we got back to his grandparents house and said bye to Jamie and Ryan. Jeff and I stayed up late that night, once again. It seems to be routine around him. And the next day was so sad. We went to sacrament meeting at a church down the road and then we went back to his grandparents house. About an hour later we headed for the airport. I was sad the whole way down, but tried to make the most of it. We got to the airport and parked. We waited in this line to get my ticket that took forever and waited in a forever long security line. I didn't want to say goodbye. I was standing in the security line and he came over to me and kissed me across the separator and that was the last kiss I will get from him until 2 days before our wedding. I love him dearly and I am the luckiest girl on the planet!

Part 1 of The most Incredible Week Ever!

Where to begin? I guess I will start from the beginning. Let me just say really quick that this has been the most fun week I have ever had. Jeff and I always have so much fun together and it doesn't really even matter what we are doing. We would have fun if we were stuck in an elevator for hours!
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I got into the Salt Lake international airport around 11 PM on July 1st. Jeff's dad met me at the airport because he was already in the area. We drove from Salt Lake to Idaho falls that night and finally arrived at their house the next morning at 3. Seeing Jeff was the best thing ever. I am going to be a little mushy really quick, but seeing him made me feel like I was home. I am just so comfortable around him; he makes me so at ease. We stayed up until somewhere between 4:30 and 5. Even though I was super tired the next day, it was completely worth it. Jeff's sister, Jamie and her husband Ryan were in town for the holiday weekend and they wanted to go to the Bodies Exhibition so we left the house that morning to go. If you have never seen this and you aren't too queasy, it is such an educational opportunity that you should go and see! When we got back from that Jeff's aunt Karen and daughter Marcie were waiting in the driveway. They came to be at my bridal shower a few hours later that day. We got a lot of neat things at my shower. We got a really cute apron, bunch of cook books, another set of silverware, 2 really nice pillows, and a framed picture of the Idaho Falls temple. It was really really fun!

 Monday, the fourth of July + Jeff's birthday was really fun. When I woke up I ran to his room to wake him up to give him his presents. I made him a photo book on shutterfly and bought him a yo-yo. He has always told me that he loves to yoyo and he taught himself how to when he was very young, but I didn't know how good until I saw him around the house playing with it. My man can yo-yo! After that we got up and got ready to go to breakfast with Sam and Caira. Sam has been Jeff's friend for a very long time. Sam and Caira got married in January and since meeting Jeff, we have all become good friends. Jeff and I will actually be living at the same place they are as of September 1st!After a very fun breakfast with them Jeff and I went to the fourth of July parade. It was fun. After the parade ended, Jeff and I ran some errands and laid on the trampoline in their back yard. We hung out all day until later that night when we went to the fireworks! Did you know that Idaho Falls has the biggest firework show west of the Mississippi? Welp, now ya do! :) I had such a great time just sitting there holding hands with my best friend.

This is the best shot I could get

Me on the way to the fireworks

Jeff on the way to the fireworks, isn't he the cutest? :)

Tuesday morning Jeff and I left for Rexburg because, for Jeff, it was back to reality (school). While Jeff was in class, I went to go see my old roommate Lizzie. She is so great and so much fun. We were planning on rooming together during winter semester, but since I will be married, I guess that won't be happening. That's okay though, we will still be close friends. After Jeff got out of class we went to my storage unit to see what was in there and it turns out that him and I already have a dinnerware set for 8 (plates, bowels, cups, etc...) and a really nice cookware set. We went to Sam and Caira's apartment to see what it will look like where we will be living. It is really cute actually; small, but  for 2 people, how much room do you really need? That night we went to the sand dunes with Jeff's friend Grayden and his girl (no they aren't dating)  friend (kaitlyn). Wednesday I went with Jeff to his New Testament class where the discussion was about Jesus and the washing of the feet; it was a really interesting lesson. After his classes ended, we met Susan (his mom) back in Idaho Falls to look at cupcake stores for the wedding reception. And we ate together as a family that night at dinner and had family scripture study. Jeff then continued working on a project he had and then we watched a movie and cuddled together. Cuddling with him is like a little slice of heaven on earth :)

Tomorrow! I love ya, Tomorrow!!!

Well, you may ask me...What are you doing up so late? And my answer to that question: I have no idea. My plan was to go to bed early. That obviously didn't happen. My money is on the fact that I am so excited to see Jeff tomorrow, that sleeping is no longer on the top of my list. I know, it isn't healthy...yaddah yaddah yaddah but in all honesty, I am totally alright with that. I think I will make up the lack of sleep tomorrow on my five hours of plane riding or the 3 1/2 hours of riding in a car. Either way, I think I will be set. Well, I think I am about to hit the sack FINALLY so I will see you in Idaho! Woot Woot! :)

F-O-U-R MORE DAYSSS!

It is official. In 4 more days, I will be back in Idaho to visit my dear fiancee for 10 whole days!! I miss him so so much. Good thing we have FOREVER together :) He says he has many fun things planned for us! I don't know if I should be nervous or not...Jeff is the rough it up type so if I get there and he expects to go dirt biking on an 18 mile trail, that would not be surprising at all. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into. That's okay though, I am totally willing :) UPDATE: We get our wedding invitations today and I am so excited! We ordered them through Shutterfly. I have gone through Shutterfly for other things before and it has turned out well, so hopefully this time will be just the same. Oh and something that I realized about Jeff recently, he is a great cook. I am not with him, but he tells me about how he always makes dinner for his family. Last night he made steak kabobs with vegetables. Oh, I must say that I am marrying the most incredible man and I am so excited. I love him more than anything! :)

How we met!

There are so many things that could have prevented us from meeting.  1.) Jeff asked his mission president if they could send a request to the area presidency approving an extension on his mission, but his mission president told him that he thought it was best that Jeff went home when originally scheduled. Jeff got off of his mission on August 26, 2010 (exactly one year before we will be married...that was not planned). 2.) Jeff went to ISU (Idaho State University) before his mission and planned to go back and finish his degree there. About a month before he got off of his mission, he told his family that he wanted to go to BYU Idaho when he got back instead. So, his dad registered him for classes and got on the ball. Jeff got back from his mission 2 weeks before school started. 3.) If Jeff's dad would have put Jeff in a different English class, we probably would have never met. And the reason I say this is because our paths would not have crossed otherwise. We both have completely different majors, there's no way this girl would be an electrical engineer (I am majoring in Elementary Education).

Jeff and I met on September 9, 2011 (which  is the same day a year later we are having our wedding reception in Ohio and no that wasn't planned either!) in English class at the weeee hours of 7:45 in the morning. (Yeah, let me tell you that I probably only looked decent for this class for the first week, then it was rolling straight out of bed and into the closest outfit.) Even though this was technically the second day of classes, ( I had English Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and school started that Thursday) I still wasn't sure what to expect. I was still nervous and reserved. I walked into English and I sat down. Not in front, but not in back. The middle row is my comfort zone. Before class started, this guy behind me started talking to me. I am not sure exactly what he said. I imagine that he introduced himself to me...Jeff. And I smiled and listened politely, but honestly, I did not have any interest in socializing. Before class officially started and we said prayer, our teacher, Sister Croft told us all to get to know the people around us. And there went Jeff...again. He started talking. I just really didn't want to because I was shy, but he was persistent. And I wish I did, but I do not remember what we even talked about, my guess is probably something along the lines of "Where are you from" and "What year in school are you", you know, all the things you normally ask someone you first meet at school.  Come to find out later, that Jeff really is a shy guy himself, so this was all temporary until we really got to know each other better. So, that is how we met! :) And one last thing, my stake patriarch back home told me that I should stay away from Return Missionaries when I got there. Jeff introduced himself to the class and told us he just got off his mission from Argentina two weeks prior, but later on, I didn't care ;)