Showing posts with label Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Party. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Happy Things Happening

There are a lot of happy things happening this summer! I get to go home more often than normal because of all the happiness happening with both sides of my family. Some of it would be best described as bitter sweet. Emily and Josh are leaving on their missions soon which is sad but I'm proud of them.

Ryan and Dannie got married!

I love that they were married in San Diego. It made for one awesome weekend full of sun, family and Mexican food. What more could you ask for?

Such a cute couple!

We loved the San Diego Temple



Lindsy and Ryan got married!

Beautiful couple!

One of my favorite pictures from the wedding

We were not blinded by the bride and groom's love because of these sweet shades.

We danced. Oh, did we dance.

No trip is complete without seeing my beloved family! We went to the zoo and hung out with each other and had an absolute blast.

Love them!

Sister bear, Justin Be-bear, Lil' bear, Brother bear





Carson comes home from his mission!

I'm so excited to see this kid!!!!

He's the one wearing the mask.


Josh leaves on his mission!

He's so cool.


Emily leaves on her mission! (definitely a bitter sweet kind of thing)

I love this girl! She'll make an awesome missionary!!



Monday, March 25, 2013

Just Five Hours Away

A common phrase that I have been using this month has been "It's just 5 hours away!" People are always surprised and it always makes me happy to tell someone about mine and Justin's latest adventures.

Why have I used that phrase so often? Well I've been to some pretty fantastic places in March that are only a 5 hour car ride away. Columbus is conveniently located within a day's drive of so many fun places. Justin and I decided to explore a couple of these this month.






















First, Justin is the best. He surprised me with a trip to Niagara Falls for my birthday. A lot of people have asked how he managed to keep it a surprise. Justin is a clever one. He had me convinced that he was going to take me on some factory tour. Once, he even told me he was afraid his surprise would be boring. So when he picked me up from work I was expecting to put on a show about how excited I was to go on a tour of the Wendy's corporate offices. Instead, I found my large adventure coat in the back seat and my bags packed ready for a weekend at Niagara Falls! SO AWESOME!

We had a blast seeing the falls and walking the streets of Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side). Niagara Falls is pretty spectacular in the winter. The trees are all crusted with ice from the freezing mist and there are amazing ice formations along the river.
Best birthday surprise ever

SO COLD!

Niagara Falls - American Side

Niagara Falls - Canadian Side
Canadian homes are upside-down.
Justin and I decided that we needed a little break so we went to Chicago for our second trip in March. We are political nerds and often listen to NPR. My favorite radio show is Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! It is a comedic political news quiz that will keep you laughing for the entire 40 minute show. The main goal of the trip was to see WWDTM and it was TOTALLY worth the 5 hour drive. It was absolutely hilarious and our favorite panelist, Paula Poundstone, was there. She was so funny. The show is even better live. You can try to hear our laughs and "woots" here: http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35&prgDate=03-16-2013

While in Chicago we also went to Navy Pier and the Willis Tower. Both were a lot of fun. Standing on the little glass box that hangs out of the Willis Tower was much scarier than I thought. It was really dizzying to see how high up we really were, 103 stories I believe. 

We were also lucky enough to be there on St. Patricks Day weekend so we got to see them dye the Chicago River green! That was so fun. They even had a water-jet-packing leprechaun as part of our entertainment. 

Peter Sagal, host of WWDTM. SO FUNNY!

Paula Poundstone, isn't she a fabulous dresser?

It was foggy so the picture makes it hard to see how high up we really were.

View of the Chicago River

Dying the river green!


I hope that I can keep this tradition of traveling in March up. For the past 3 years, I've gone somewhere exciting around the world and I hope I can keep it up. In 2011 I was in the UK, and UAE, in 2012 I was in Mexcio, and this year I went to Canada and Chicago. Hooray for March!


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Becoming Kels Nels

It's official! I am off the market, I bit the dust, I've tied the not... whatever way you want to phrase it, I'm married!


 Justin and I were married March 29, 2012 in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple.  Little known fact to many, my 10-14 year old self always knew I'd marry a Justin. Just ask my sister, when we'd play house, my husband/boyfriend's name was always Justin.


What a glorious day... week it was! Our families lovingly dubbed ours a wedding festival rather than a wedding day. I feel like Justin and I planned our wedding perfectly. We had a dinner the night before and didn't have a luncheon so that we could have a later ceremony the day of our wedding. So to begin the thrilling saga that was our wedding festival...



Wednesday (3/27) was a fantastic day.   I had to go to work in the morning and that was lame and of little importance for this story. I picked up Emily at this point and we went off to get manicures and pedicures for the big day.  I had the bright idea to go to a school rather than a professional salon to save a few pennies.  Mistake made, lesson learned.  Emily was privileged to have a girl who spoke English. I did not receive such a nice perk. My salon lady, fashionista, stylist, beauty girl... (what are they called??) did not speak English and forgot my name within the first 3 seconds of meeting me. After Emily was greeted so warmly, my gal walked up to me and said, "oh, I forgot your name." Thanks, lady.

During the manicure I had my nails painted and look jealously over at Emily who was receiving a luxury hand massage. My girl decided it would be a great idea to put lotion on my just painted finger and smudged the paint a little. Thanks again, lady.

Sexy thing
Regardless of the not-so-great service, Emily and I had a good time. I love being with her. She's the best friend I've ever had.


Dinner was great! We held our dinner at a church and all of our closest friends and family came to support us and eat delicious Cafe Rio.

Justin and I also learned what would happen to us in the next 1,5,10,20,30,40, and 50 years. Sounds like we've got a lot of kids coming our way and very diverse careers including thespian endeavors, public speaking engagements, and law. We've got an exciting life in front of us, Justin!

Amazing friends!

Really High 40 - Because we are that cool


The next day was the big day!!  It looked beautiful outside. The sun was shining, it was warm and there was no wind. It was everything we could have asked for.

On our way to the temple!

Our sealer, the man who married us, was Craig Zwick of the Quorum of the Seventy. When he spoke, the entire room went quiet to listen to his beautiful, powerful and heart felt message. It was a beautiful ceremony!   There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room.  What a beautiful and powerful experience it was to be sealed to my love for all of eternity and to have my family there supporting me. I'm a pretty lucky girl.



My mom promised me that I would never forget the look on Justin's face when he saw me in my dress for the first time. I can tell you, I never will. The look on his face was so sweet and made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

Photo courtesy of the amazing Emily Burt



We took our grand exit outside to a totally different day. It was blustery, rainy and cold. You know what, I didn't mind a bit. As long as I can remember, it has rained on most important days in my life so it was only appropriate for mother nature to get a little choked up at this blessed event. Everyone I love was outside waiting to see our smiling faces.  I got a kiss from my groom... hehe.. and a few hugs from family and friends. We smiled a whole lot, not just because we took boat loads of pictures (that will come soon I hope) but because we were completely happy.



Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure:




Naturally we had to make a quick stop by Wendy's to celebrate with the friendly staff and to feed our very hungry stomachs.  We were still wearing our full wedding ensemble so the kind Wendy's people got a good laugh and gave a hearty "Congratulations!" 
                                                   


We took oodles of pictures once we were at the reception hall. That was fun. Our photographer, Chris Wood was amazing. You should consider him for any of your photography needs. 


PARTY! 

Our line was simple, just Justin, our parents and me.  It was a lot of fun greeting old friends and meeting new ones. I'll tell you what, Justin is one loved man. Every person that came through that line raved about the amazing man I was getting. I had to agree. We had some great friends come all the way from Cedar City and California to our wedding. It was so great to see them!! 

Nobody can resist giving Justin a good game... pinch.
Sorry for any of you who came right at the end of the formal line. We were supposed to be cutting the cake and all that jazz so I may have tried to get the line to move a little faster by spending about 1 second talking to each person. That probably wasn't the best for PR. I'm sorry!

Naturally we had Cold Stone cater. Because we're just that awesome.

Then we cut the cake! It was truly a piece of art.  Justin's aunt, Tya, spent hours on this stunning 40 pound cake. Not only was it visually stunning, but it tasted amazing too! 


I wasn't really sure if my handsome groom would smoosh cake in my face. We'd discussed it before, but never came to a decision. He squished cake in my face. The squished cake then made a little trek all the way down my dress.  I feel I got the worse end of the deal. I hardly got Justin at all.


Then I threw the bouquet. All of the girls lined up about a mile away so it was unfortunate that I was not blessed with a wicked throwing arm.  However, it did make it to the bottom of the stairs and my cousin Becca caught it. Wohoo! 


I got to have my daddy daughter dance. I loved that. I remember dancing on his feet as a little girl and I will always remember my dance with my dad at my wedding.

My Dad and I and Justin and his mom

Then we partied it up! We had all sorts of dancing going on afterward. Christopher even led us in some Zumba. I have the coolest family ever.

Justin and I may or may not have forgotten to plan a get away... so our sweet friends and family threw rose petals from their corsages/boutonnieres and the pebbles from our centerpieces. That was pretty sweet. Loved it! 

To sum it all up, we had a blast. We're living happily in Salt Lake in our cosy new apartment. I sure do love Justin.  
We know how to have some fun

I'm so happy to be married to the man of my dreams!

(As of now I only have the pictures from friends and family and just a few from our photographer. I'll probably post more later!)



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I still play dress up

I love Halloween.  Sadly, I have the misfortune of being in class this Halloween. That is an outright crime against partying! How am I supposed to dress up and have fun if I'm stuck in class? OUTRAGE!

Because I am pouting right now, I am also reminiscing on all the fantastic Halloweens that I've had over the years. Admittedly, I haven't always been such an awesome costume designer. I went through a "too cool for school phase" that resulted in a tragic loss of awesomeness. Cowboys, who needs them? Vampires, cliche. Such lame costumes have no place on a blog like this. Now it's all about channeling the awesomeness. That's right, awesomeness.

The following is just a sampling of my Halloweens over the past few years.

80's night. Though not for Halloween, it was during that time of the year. 2008

Cleopatra. Yep. That's my mom's prom dress.  2009

Poison Ivy.  Again, not on Halloween, but like I said, I still play dress up. 2010

Oompa Loompas. To date, this is still the best costume I've ever done. 2010

Smurfs. We made those hats. Hand stitched them in fact. 2011

Zombie run. Coolest running experience ever. 2011
People step it up. No more lame costumes! Channel your inner awesomeness. The impossible can become possible if you are AWESOME!