Texas Trip

This past week Owen and I got to go to Texas and visit his parents. It had been almost 2 whole years since we had been there, so a Texas trip was long over-due. Luckily, Owen was working there that week so I tagged along too (one of the perks of working from home...I'm able to bring my work with me). We stayed with his parents and were there for over a week! I fell in LOVE with Texas. The warm weather, the gorgeous houses, the wide open spaces: I did not want to leave! I officially want to live there. Even though we were both busy with work, we managed to have lots of family and play time.

Owen's sister, Lydia, surprised us and came down to Texas for part of the week. What a great surprise! I missed her girls so much and I loved seeing them. They are 3 of the cutest things ever. I couldn't get enough!

We spent lots of time with Cherry's kids also (Owen's other sister). We don't get to see them too often since they live in Texas. We had lots of fun hanging out at the pool all week with these fun kids.

Father's Day ladder-ball game

Texas Sunset

Our Love Story : Part III

I couldn't believe I was actually going to live in Atlanta for the summer. At the time, it made perfect sense to go so Owen and I could be together. Kind of crazy looking back on it now. I finally told my parents my summer plans: live in Atlanta with people I've never met while selling security systems door to door. Of course, they were not happy...mostly about the knocking doors part. But I was going no matter what. I could not imagine staying in Utah all summer without my fiance.

After Owen's last final, we packed up the car and headed East. We were honestly so poor leaving Utah. We literally had $20 between us when we left. I don't even know how we did it. We made a stop in the middle of the night, sleeping in the car at a rest stop in Colorado (super sketchy). We drove the next day to Texas to visit Owen's parents for a few days. It was so nice to be back in Texas to visit and see his sisters there as well.

During our drive, we went through: Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and finally Georgia. That's 9 states! Its was a super long drive.

We had finally made it to Atlanta! We met up with the rest of the APX group at our apartments in North Atlanta. Our apartments were awesome: brand new and crazy nice. We met our room mates and the rest of the office. It was a bit scary joining an office that was already close to each other from previous summers. It was mostly married couples and young families, but we quickly made great friends with everyone. Owen's internship with GMAC wasn't starting for a month, so he was able do full time APX with the rest of us. It was starting to turn into a great summer.

I was SO nervous my first day of knocking doors. I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. Our days consisted of: going to the morning meeting, driving to our areas for the day, knocking on door selling alarms ALL day long. They literally don't stop until it gets dark. LONGEST DAYS EVER!

Luckily, I had Owen to help me. He had knocked doors for two summers before, so he knew the ins and outs of summer sales. We actually made a good little team. People loved hearing we were newly engaged and getting married at the end of the summer. It helped us get into houses, which meant more sales :) It also helped that people were curious why a little white girl was wandering around their neighborhood. We were a great little team. Even though the days were long and sometimes frustrating, I loved spending the time with Owen. It was such an adventure being in Atlanta doing something random like knocking doors, but I loved every part of it with Owen.

Some days, we needed a little break so we would sort of, kind of ditch work and play. We would sight-see, visit fun places and see movies. We saw every single movie that came out that summer. Those were my favorite days.

OLYMPIC PARK, DOWN TOWN ATLANTA

TOP OF HYATT HOTEL, DOWN TOWN ATLANTA

Back at our apartments, we would spend any days off at the pool with the rest of the crew. Nights were full of game nights, watching DVDs and going out to eat with the others. Sundays consisted of church (our ward building was right next to the Atlanta Temple - awesome!) and more BBQs at the pool.

We ended up in some scary parts of Atlanta, that's for sure. There was one area that Owen and I went to that was something you see in the movies. Scary people. Scary streets. Sometimes, we didn't even get out of the car. These people definitly needed alarm systems (even though they couldn't afford them half of the time).

Flat tire in a scary part of town.

Atlanta Aquarium

Atlanta Aquarium

About a month into the summer in Atlanta, we found out the North office was closing. People weren't doing as well as they wanted to, so they were moving on. We were panicked at first...there went our free housing and a summer job! Luckily, we found out there was a South Atlanta APX office. We quickly made arrangements to move down to their office for the rest of the summer.

We packed up our car again and headed to South Atlanta. We went to a small town called McDonough. It was about an hour south of where we were living. Rather than the city, we were now living in the suburbs. And again, we had to make new friends with the new office. The South office was full of a few married couples, but mostly single guys and girls. This office actually had quite a few other girls selling, so I was excited about that part. We got adjusted into our new apartments. Owen's internship was starting about now. I continued to sell and Owen drove up to Atlanta everyday for his GMAC internship.

Working seriously sucked without Owen. This about when I my work dedication quickly went away. I would get dropped off in my area (by myself) and walk to the closest store (WalMart, Grocery Store, ANYTHING) and hang out until Owen picked me up after his internship. Every once in a while I would still go out and sell, but it was hard and kind of scary doing it all by myself. Definitly wasn't a fan of it. The only days I would really sell is when Owen would come with on Saturdays.

We still managed to fit in time for fun between Owen's internship and my knocking doors.

ATLANTA BRAVES GAME

ATLANTA BRAVES GAME

Any down time in our new apartments were spent at the pool or playing tennis, or both.

It was in the South office that we found our pup, Jax. We had been talking for a few days about getting a puppy (mostly because EVERYONE had puppies at this office, so we were puppy hungry). We drove in the the Wal-Mart parking and saw this cute guy for sale. It was love at first sight!

4TH OF JULY

4TH OF JULY

4TH OF JULY

Our office went river rafting together in Tennesse one day. It was super fun, except for when our raft tipped over in the rapids. Not cool, but makes for a good story now.

We spent our nights playing tennis at the courts at our apartment complex. Puppy Jax loved tennis too.

Atlanta was definitly an adventure. A really good adventure. I'm glad Owen and I had the enitre summer together. It made us grow closer together and rely on each other more than ever. I knew I could count on Owen to take care of me out there, and he did. I loved that summer with Owen. We made awesome friends in both offices and made the greatest memories together.

I spent the last part of the summer trying to plan our wedding that was coming up in August. A few weeks before our wedding, I flew home to Arizona to make final wedding preperations. Once Owen's internship finally ended, I flew back to Atlanta to drive back home with Owen and our puppy. There was no way I was going to let him make that long drive alone. On the way back, we stopped by Owen's parents in Texas again for another quick visit. We finally made it to Arizona a week before our wedding. I couldn't wait to marry my best friend...we were so ready for it. I couldn't wait to be Owen's wife.

SF Adventures

Over the past few weeks we have been able to do more fun activities:

We visited my cousin and his family who lives North of San Francisco. They took us to some nearby wineries to check out. The vineyards are beautiful! I can't wait to go to Napa sometime and see more. I hear they even have Sparkling Apple Cider for those who don't drink wine. Perfection!

We then headed to a Redwood National park. The forest is so green and the Redwood trees are HUGE...Both around and tall. I have always loved the redwood trees and I'm glad Owen got to see them too. Northern California really does have beautiful sights to see!

I spy a banana slug:

Last week we were invited by Owen's manager to go to a Giants baseball game at AT&T Park. And even better, they were playing the AZ Diamondbacks! However, I quickly decided my new allegiance lies with the Giants, only because the fans are AWESOME and I no longer knew a single player on the Dbacks team.

The game was really fun...probably the most fun baseball game I've ever been too. It's great to have an exciting crowd who was excited about the game. The Giants were the 2010 World Champs after all! And I loved sporting my new Tim Lincecum hoodie.

This last weekend Emily and Levi came back in town and stayed with us all weekend long. It was Emily's 25th Birthday so we celebrated! We did lots of sight seeing, shopping, eating, laughing and enjoying eachother's company. I loved it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY! Best friends for 22 years and counting!

Fiesta

mini sombreros

margaritas
enchiladas
pinatas
bean dip
spanish music
dirty mustaches
carne asada tacos
key lime cup cakes

HAPPY CINCO de MAYO!!
amor, el allens

I Love Tuesdays

I love Tuesdays when they feel like Saturdays.

Owen and I worked in the morning then headed to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

The high was 75. The sun and sand were nice and warm.

Smash Ball + Surfing + Sun = A Perfect Beach Day

We decided we will definitely be making more weekday beach trips.

Our Love Story : Part II

Owen and I realized we didn't want to do a long distance relationship. We didn't even want to try it. After spending every day with him for the last 2 months, I could not imagine being away from him for any amount of time. I decided I was going to Utah.

It was two weeks before Christmas (and two and 1/2 weeks before Owen was leaving to go back to Provo) that I finally told my parents my plans to move up to Utah. Even though I didn't have a place to live yet OR a job, I convinced them it was a good idea and I was going to be okay. I was so nervous to go. I was 23 years old and had never, ever lived anywhere else besides Mesa, AZ.

Two days after Christmas, I packed up my life into my little Honda Civic, then Owen and I drove up to Provo. I was going to stay with his sister, Lydia, until I found a place to live. Owen had already had a place to live with his roommates at Highland Park. Everything was so new and exciting for me! It was so fun being there with Owen. And I knew he was going to take care of me.

Owen started school at BYU right away. I got busy looking for a job and an apartment right away. Within the first few days in Provo, I found a job doing administrative work for a company. (I only did this job for a few weeks then found a better job doing insurance work). I took me a few weeks to find an apartment I liked. But the one I found was perfect. It was a Belmont which was right down the street from Owen's apartment. It took about 3 minutes to walk back and forth between our places. The girls I lived with were super nice. I'm glad I got so lucky with a great place to live. I was finally starting to feel like I had a life in Utah. The only part I really did not like was the snow and cold. I was not a fan of it. I hated driving in it. Those cold, snowy days is when I missed Arizona the most.

Owen and I spent any extra time we had with eachother. There were days I would go to school with him, and there were nights he would sit a work with me.

We spent weekends going on dates or out with friends or just hanging out between our two apartments.

Owen took me to all the fun places you could see around Provo and Salt Lake. I loved the dating period in our lives. It was fun and care free.

:.Sundance Film Festival.:

We spend a lot of time with Owen's roommates. I'm glad he lived with such fun guys. They really made that semester a blast.

:.Owen's roommates.:

We spent a lot of time with Owen's family too. It gave me a chance to get to know his sisters better. We were always at Dan and Lydia's playing games or watching the girls or hanging out.

:.Lydia's House.:
The best thing about that winter semester in Provo was having our season passes at The Canyons in Park City. We would always go snowboarding at least once a week. Owen bought me a brand new snow board at the beginning of the season. He was a lot better than me at the time, but he was always so patient with me on the slopes. Little things like that showed me how much he cared. I loved it.

.:The Canyons:.

.:The Canyons:.

We went back down to Arizona two different times for weddings. We drove down with friends both times. It was such a good break from the cold and snow. And it was nice to see my family again. I loved these little road trips with Owen.

.:Arizona trip.:

.:Arizona trip.:

.:Arizona trip.:

.:Arizona trip.:

Some of my other favorite memories of that Winter semester in Utah were:
..going to dollar movies Monday nights..
..watching tv series all night long with Owen and his roommates..
..Wendover trips..
..going out to lunch everyday: especially jdawgs..
..FHE Monday nights with Owen's ward..
..poker games with Owen and his roommates..
..80's night in Salt Lake..
..concerts..
..hot tubbing it up at 24 Hr. Fitness..
..cooking for Owen and his roommates..
..going to church with Owen..
..late nate ranchiritos..
..dance parties..
..games at the Liddles..

.:General Conference:.

By this time, Owen and I had talked about getting married. We looked at rings and talked about it all the time. We knew we would eventually get married, we just didn't know when. Owen wanted to get married sooner than later. I had mixed emotions. I knew I wanted to marry him, but I felt like I had just gotten out of one so I wasn't in a rush.

On Easter Sunday, Owen had the idea of hiking the Y in Provo. I had never done it before (since it was snowy since I got there) so I was excited to go. When we got to the top, there was a Easter basket sitting on a boulder. Owen told me to go look inside. I don't know why I didn't catch on...but I didn't for a while. I kept telling Owen it probably belonged to someone so we shouldn't mess with it. He kept insisting we look in it. So finally I did. In one of the eggs, there was a pretty little ring. Owen got down on his knee and proposed. Of course, I said yes. I definitly wasn't expecting to get engaged that day...what a surprise! But I was so happy. I was so happy to know that Owen would be mine forever.

.:Engaged:.

.:Engaged:.

.:Engaged:.

The school semester finally came to and end. The snow started to melt and Utah suddenly become warm and beautiful. Owen had an internship set up in Atlanta for the summer. Again, I was faced with the decision to stay in Utah (pretty much by myself), go back to Arizona (where I had no job) or some how go to Atlanta with Owen so we didn't have to be apart.

.:Spring Time in Provo:.

.:Spring Time in Provo:.

The week before Owen was leaving for Atlanta, we took our engagement pictures in down town Salt Lake.

.:Engagements:.

.:Engagements:.

.:Engagements:.

.:Engagements:.

.:Engagements:.

At the end of April, Owen and I left for Atlanta. I decided to go with him. I got the bright idea to do APX summer sales in Atlanta with an Atlanta office. That way, I could have a job and have free rent for the summer. But most importantly, be close to Owen. Everything totally worked out! We found out that the North Atlanta office for APX was about 10 minutes away from Owen's intership office. Also, Owen worked out a deal that he would work for APX (since he did it for the last 2 summers) until his internship started and then on Saturdays. That way, he could live for free at the apartments as well. It was seriously perfect. The only hard part was telling my parents I was leaving my newly established life in Utah to knock doors by myself in Atlanta. They weren't happy at all. But I still went. There was no way I was going to be away from Owen for the whole summer, especially now that we were engaged.

So our next stop...Atlanta for the summer.