happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to the BEST dad in the whole world!

I LOVE YOU! :)

2009 in photos

Oh what a year 2009 was..

This year brought incredible blessings, laughs, and good times,

as well as a little stress and a few tears..

But me&Ry couldn't be happier about this great year we had!

Now, we will flashback to a favorite memory from each month..

Jan.

We took advantage of our season passes at The Canyons.

Ryan is the best teacher!

He was so patient with me, and my skills really improved.

We made some great memories up there!

Feb.

We spent our first Valentine's Day together.

(I'm not counting high school.. that's kind of embarrassing).

Ryan made me this "sick" puppy-gram.

Mar.

I turned 20!

Ryan learned how much I love birthdays and made mine SO special!

Apr.

We got engaged!

After quite a few years of being in love.. we decided to seal the deal..

May

This was a rough month.

Ryan recovered from major surgery on his jaw. [hence the swollen face :( ]

I stayed in Provo for the Spring semester while Ry healed in Arizona.

My man drove between Provo and Mesa 3 times [10 hours each way] to see me.

Now that's love!

Jun.

My besties in Provo threw me an AMAZING bridal shower..

Definitely a highlight of the year!

July

We went with the Skousen family to Lake Powell.

My first time EVER! (Can you believe it?!)

We had so much fun!

I can't wait to go again as a married couple!

Aug.

Probably my favorite month of '09.

Although it was blistering hot outside...

We were MARRIED on the first.

We honeymooned in Coronado California

Then we spent another week in Oceanside with the Skousens.

(Such a fun vacation! I can't wait to go back!)

Sept.

Our tans began to wear off the second we drove into Provo...

We moved back to Provo together!

It has been so fun to decorate and furnish our little apartment.

Ry has proved to be quite a talented handyman.

We were able to enjoy college football season.. live!!

Oct.

We watched the leaves change outside our window.

I also honed my baking skills.

I began a yearly tradition of making pumpkin cookies on Oct. 1 just like my mom.

Next year, I'm making half the batch!

Nov.

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving together!

It was our first in Utah as well.

It was fun to host dinner at our little apartment,

and learn how to make all the goodies! :)

Dec.

We had so much fun spending the Christmas season together!

The best part was being family, friends and everyone we love.

The end of 2009 is a little bittersweet for us.

We are sad to end a great year that has been filled with important events.

However, we can't wait to see what 2010 has to offer!

so long, 2009

2009, you've been good to us!

Hoping you enjoy the last few hours of 2009.

Wising you a Happy New Year!

Shelb&Ry welcome 2010 :)

oh, utah!

So, let me start off by saying...

I kind of hate when people rip on Utah.

It really is an AMAZING place.

Most of the time, I LOVE living here.

BUT!

I am kind of hating on Utah right now...

I haven't even been back in the state for 24 hours,

and I am already suffering from numerous ailments.

These include:

headache

congestion

white, DRY, itchy skin

depression

sun depravation

acne

chills, aches, pains

etc., etc., etc.!

(okay maybe this list is a little dramatic)

But let me just say, the reason I know Utah is the cause of all my troubles, is because I didn't have any of these problems in Arizona..

The minute I crossed the border into the big U everything changed.

(And to think I've been defending Utah this entire time...)

The temperature on the drive in.

After work today, I came out to my car and I saw this...

A giant, THICK icicle dripping from the top of my trunk all the way to the ground

it was stuck to the ground in a huge ice puddle. serious stuff!

Me&Ry are a little nervous that we may be in for a long winter...

So, we have decided to do things that make the winter in Utah enjoyable!

(thanks for the advice mom!)

Here is the list I've come up with so far:

1. snowboarding

2. looking at the snow covered mountains

3. snowboarding.......

hmmmm... we'll keep working on that one.

happy happy holidays

Although Christmas has come and gone, we are pretending we aren't in Utah...

...but instead under the mistletoe!

At least all the holidays aren't over! We still have our first married New Year to celebrate!

Christmas was a little different for Me&Ry this year. Instead of the 2+ weeks we typically spend in Arizona with our families, we were lucky to have a week off of work for the holiday.

our AZ activities included..

SHOPPING

(BEST shopping)

EATING

(incredible food)

spending time with loved ones

temple lights

family parties

DRIVING

(10 hours each way..

and I felt like we never got out of the car while we were there!)

relaxing

watching TV

playing with my pups

(I already miss them!)

seeing a movie

being pampered

and hopping from family to family!

Our first married Christmas together was one to remember.

...more details to follow :)

the amazing Christmas extravaganza

One of my favorite childhood memories, was on Christmas eve, my parents gave us a Christmas story book. We would put on our p.j.'s and snuggle on the couch while my dad read us the Christmas story. I think the book giving only lasted a few years because we always wanted to re-read the books we already had!

One of my favorite stories that we would read is called The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza by David Shannon.

The story is about a dad who is so obsessed with decorating the house for Christmas that he drives all of his neighbors crazy, runs up the electricity bill, buys every lightbulb he can find, and kind of forgets the real meaning of Christmas. It's has a great ending though! It's an incredibly special book to me because it brings back so many memories of wonderful childhood Christmases.

Well.. this year I have a Christmas extravaganza on my hands..

Ryan has gotten really into putting up lights.

(I use the term "puttING" because it is still going on..)

He insisted that we use solid colored lights on our house.

I wanted icicles, but he won.

We looked at multiple retailers (Wal Mart, Target, Smith's, etc.) until we found the perfect bulbs.

Good thing he's so tall! It was quite a reach..

Don't they look GREAT?!

At first I was a little skeptical about colored lights, but once I saw them in action, I fell in love!

*NOW.. this is why I feel it is such an extravaganza.. These lights weren't enough. We had to go back to Wal Mart a few days later to buy lights for "the bush."

(It is seriously a pile of sticks,

but Ry thought it needed a little Christmas love too.)

Ryan really wanted to buy some sort of blow up festivity, as well as a slew of reindeer for the front lawn. I told him, there just isn't enough cash-flow this year. (hopefully that will stall him!)

Ry went BACK out there in the frigid conditions to make our bush more festive.

The house is now complete!

Christmas bush

I'm not gonna lie, our house does look pretty cute. It is by far the brightest thing (including street lights) in our entire complex. Our neighbors must be jealous, or hating us because they can't sleep at night due to the glare.

*Secretly, I love that Ry has gotten into the real spirit of Christmas. His enthusiasm is so cute and it has made this time of year really fun!

I love our new tradition of going nuts with decorations on our little apartment..

However, I am a little scared to see what tricks he is going to pull when actually have a real house of our own..

deck the halls

Well.. its once again my FAVORITE time of year.

The halls are adequately decked in our home which has brought with it the magic&spirit of Christmas!

*I have to admit that Me&Ry are semi-obsessed with decorating. We keep finding new places to add lights or a garland.. I think we've finally stopped.

our magnificent tree. a BIG thank you to Ry's mother for helping us out with this.. and the ornaments.. and our wreath.. and other decorations. You're the best!!!!

knit stockings we got at Smith's.

they've got the "ski sweater" look goin' on. LOVE.

Decorations on the piano..

(from left to right)

candle warmer providing holiday scents galore

mini-tree

hidden nativity

christmas piano music played daily

santa

unhidden view of the nativity

quilted snowman that my mom made for us.

she quilted that bad boy by herself :) So cute!

cozy, cuddly, comfortable, CHRISTMAS living room

I love to sit by the tree while Ry plays the guitar and look at the lights.

It's so ROMANTIC.

(and it's pretty much all we have to do because we don't have TV.. haha)

the lights in our room!

(bed is unmade due to cuddling by the lights)

and finally.. garland in the kitchen

*Pretty much every room in our place is decorated. It's so fun!

Ry said he wants to leave it up all year long..

...I'm not so sure about that.