First Christensen Vacation!

Well, I was pretty excited to finally fly to Atlanta to see Luke. We'd been apart for most of the break and considering we only live about 40 feet from each other in Provo, this whole across the country thing was something different. So I got on a plane on  a cold December morning to fly to the opposite corner of the country to finally be with Luke again.  Luke and I had been talking about this trip for so long and I was so excited to get off the plane in Atlanta and see him! After about 6 hours of flying, I made it to Atlanta.  I had gone from the cold air of the Pacific Northwest to the warm southern air.  The first stop from the airport was Chick-fil-a of course! This was not any old Chick-fil-a, it was in fact the very first Chick-fil-a.  It was was a nice sit down one actually, and felt very homey.  If only every Chick-fil-a were like the first one.

On our way home, Luke showed me a little of his hometown but I was very excited to get to his house.  And his home was filled with family.  I met his cute southern grandmother and finally got to meet his sister-in-law, Christine.  Everyone else I had already met and it was wonderful to be with them again.

The next morning we hit the road for New Orleans where we would then board our cruise.  Laura's (Luke's mom) neighbor was so kind to let us use her eight-passenger mini van so that we could all drive to New Orleans together.  It wasn't as tight of a squeeze as I thought it would be.  All in all, there's no better way to get to know my future in-laws then experiencing a quality road trip with them.

On our way we stayed the night in Mobile, Alabama.  I had no idea where Mobile was, so I looked it up on my phone and we seemed to be right on the gulf! I've been to many place in this world, but the Gulf Coast was somewhere I had never been to.  We stayed the night in a hotel and saw Les Mis.  I was glad I got to see it, and thank goodness for Mr. Wargo senior year.  Without him making us read the abbridged version, I would have been lost.  Anne Hathaway = incredible.

The next day we made it to New Orleans! I had never been on a cruise ship before and I was so excited! More of Luke's family would soon join us.  In all, there were fifteen of us.(11 adults, 4 kids). It was so great to have everyone together.  His family spans from India and Thailand, to Kentucky and North Carolina.  All coming together was rare and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of it.

The first two days were at sea.  It was so nice to relax and spend time with the family.  We played lots of games, especially Hand and Foot, a family favorite on my side as well.  To say I ate a lot is an understatement.  For anyone who knows me well, they know that I absolutely love food and that my size can be decieving.  I tried alligator, lobster, quail and frog legs for the first time.  I'd suggest them all, except for the frog legs.

Our first excersion was Progreso.  It was especially cool to be right where Luke did a study abroad just 18 months ealier.  Luke was enjoying being back at a second home for him.  I had been to Mexico before to visit some family, but I had never been to the beach of Mexico.  It was so nice to feel warm sun rays on my skin.  We were not missing Utah one bit.  We all even got an hour long back massage right on the beach with warm sun shining down on us.  The food was amazing as well, of course.

Oh the sun

Little AJ

Yummy food on the beach

I've never seen someone drink so much soda in a week.

Burying Uncle Luke!

Just strolling through the market

Where we had our wonderful full-body massages

That night it was New Year's Eve.  As midnight got closer, we went up on deck to dance until the New Year.  It was so fun and just really cool to celerate the new year on a ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, and Luke and I's first New Years together :)

The last sunset of 2012

Deck Party!

They're going to become parents this year!!!

The next day we were on the island of Cozumel.  We decided to stay the day at a beach resort and it was so nice to relax and enjoy the warm water and sun.  Luke and I even got to do a bit of snorkeling.  Laura and Logan went scuba diving and told us of vibrant fish and sea turtles that they got to see.

Such blue water!

The road trip back went well, besides Luke making three major driving mistakes within his first 90 seconds of his driving shift. But we made it back safely! On our way back we drove through the French Quarter of New Orleans.  I must say, Disneyland did a great job of replicating the city.

The next day Luke and I went to Atlanta. I fell in love.  I had no idea the surrounding areas would be so pretty, and I was there in the WINTER. And this is the girl who swore to her southern roommate freshman year that she would never live in the south.  I definitely could.

We went to The World of Coca-Cola which was way cool. Drank different sodas from around the world.  There are some pretty interesting flavors out there.  It was neat to see the CNN Center, walk through Centennial Park, visit Georgia Tech (So glad Luke chose BYU over a Georgia Tech full-ride, for obvious reasons :) and eat at The Varsity! Best onion rings ever.

 

 Luke is studying mechanical engineering and is thinking about going into manufacturing.  He obviously LOVED watching the factory work.

All in all it was a WONDERFUL trip.  I was so grateful that I got to spend so much time with Luke's family. I am now even more excited to become a Christensen.  Coming together was rare and fun and I am so excited to see them again at our wedding.

Christmas In The Pacific Northwest

A lot of people don't like the rain. The fact of living in it for 8 months straight makes them sick. But I just love the rain! And more importantly, Christmas isn't complete without a good dumping of rain. And that's what it did this year, the whole week long. We had so much family and so much love, and it was the last Christmas of its kind. Within the next 6 months I will be married and Alex off on a mission, so we both don't know where we will be next Christmas. But we made the best of this one.

My Christmas break started off with a little bit of a surprise. I went in to Dr. Alder for my routine teeth clean and came out with an appointment for later that day to get a root canal done. Even though I was in no pain at all, apparently I needed one done ASAP. I was so blessed that they found it before it got painful. Since I am leaving to be with Luke's family right after Christmas, they needed to squeeze me in and that same day worked best! So a few hours later I was in for my first root canal. Check!

Then the family started rolling in! My grandmother was the first to come, and a day later my other grandparents from California. What was extra special this holiday season was that my aunt an uncle along with my beautiful cousins moved to Felida (only 10 minutes away from us!!). Almost too good to be true. My cousin Bri and I are 6 days apart and Madi and Alex are only a month apart. It was so much fun catching up with them! It has seriously been WAY too long. Last time we had seen each other, Bri and I were eager to get our drivers licenses. And now I'm engaged and she's moving off to Portugal. I'm so excited for her!

Downtown Portland shopping is always a must. I had a wonderful time with my mom and grandparent shopping at Pioneer Squarer.

Christmas Day was beautiful. With us all being older (seriously we're all over 18 now, wow) we didn't actually open presents until 11. Presents are always a great part to the day of course. Then the rest of the day we lounged around. The perfect Christmas in my opinion. Just a nice and relaxed day together. Lots of games and reading done. It was a wonderful Christmas with family.

And tomorrow I fly across the country to be with Luke and his family, and head to Mexico fro the cruise! So excited! Even though we didn't get to spend Christmas together, we did get to Facetime.  What would we all do without modern technology?

The Proposal

I guess I should share the proposal story.  I've probably shared it over 50 times (just like any engaged woman), but one last share.  So here we go:

Long before the proposal, it came up how I'd want my proposal.  I told Luke that I don't want anyone there, nothing elaborate, and want to be completely surprised.  He made sure I had everything I wanted in my proposal :)

November 11th, 2012-  So I woke up thinking it was any other day.  As a Relief Society president, it was a particularly busy Sunday for me.  Morning meetings, presidency meeting, and then yearly personal interviews with each of the sisters the ward.  But I knew that at 3 pm I'd finally be free.  Luke and I were planning to go to his grandparents for dinner as we usually do on Sundays.

Luke wanted to do something a little different this Sunday afternoon, however.  He wanted to take the Alpine Loop to Sandy, which meant taking the state park road that loops behind Utah's incredible Mt. Timpanogos. The drive was amazing.  The sun was just setting on the west side of the mountain and the snow on the ground made it even more amazing.  At this point, I still thought it was just a simple drive through the state park.  

Then we came to the Mt. Timp trail head  and Luke parked the car.  He came up the the genius idea that we should take a stroll through the snow, while I had no coat or any snow attire whatsoever. I immediately refused, but after a chatting from Luke of how I need to be more up for adventure, I got out of the car, with his snow coat on me. I'm sad to say that I was not the most pleasant girlfriend to have at the time, I don't like being cold. Lucky for Luke he knew what was coming.

I saw a sign, told him that that was all I was walking to, and I walked to that sign.  While we were there we talked as I shivered, and then he used a trick that would only work on a girl as gullible as me.  He said "Look at those people waving over there." (Too often I feel like Erin from The Office).  I spent a good amount of time looking for the people "waving" in the trees, but when I finally looked back to tell Luke that there are none (I can't believe myself sometimes) there he was.... on one knee.  I'd like to say that I cried, that I smiled, that I don't know what... but I froze.  Never in my life had I been so caught off guard.  I didn't know what I was feeling. I said yes of course, I knew that I was going to marry Luke (I knew that a long time ago), but I was not expecting to get engaged so soon.  After my surprised emotions had finally settled, I was just a happy little girl with my VERY happy fiance and BEAUTIFUL engagement ring! 

The many phone calls began (my parents didn't answer until the third time I called, Sundays are busy) and we stopped by first to my aunt and uncle's to surprise them with the news and then finally to his grandparents.  We headed back to our apartment complex to tell our friends, and there was the greatest reaction.  My roommate almost hyperventilated and about 20 girls screamed around me in excitement.  Quite a night! He couldn't have done it more perfectly.  Private, simple and the biggest surprise of my life :)