the sleepover in the treehouse

this weekend, travis took me on a date
to the red iguana and then surprised me with an
overnight adventure at the anniversary inn

the room was themed "bridal veils falls"
the bed was like a treehouse

we enjoyed the luxurious robes.

the bathtub was incredible! the water
came out of the rock like a waterfall.

cheesecake and apple cider were waiting to entertain us

when you laid down, this was the view looking up.

they brought breakfast right to our room

you know you're jealous of my egg yolk yellow sweats.
and that they are sexy.



one of the greatest moments of the night was at dinner.
we were waiting behind this huge jeep who cut us off
and then started backing up closer and closer to our car
travis moved backwards and they totally took our parking spot.
so naturally we were a little upset with them.
then inside, we see that the guy is this huge macho meat head guy.
and we are sitting at the bar and who is seated next to us?
of course our friend from the parkinglot.
then he starts talking to travis.
"what's up man? why aren't you eating?"
travis told him it was spicy and he needed a break
so the hairy, man's man proceeds to instruct travis
on just how he should eat his meal.
and my kind husband just smiles and ignores him
while i laugh my head off.

pretty much we just have a great time
everywhere we go.
the anniversary inn was wonderful
you should try it out sometime!

belated honeymoon post catch up

these pictures are completely out of order.
but basically this was our honeymoon :)
myrtle beach, south carolina.
we stayed in a condo right on the beach
we ate a ridiculously huge amount of seafood
(i love lobster ps that picture is a joke)
we swam, went running, parasailing,
mini golfing, watched inception, went to an aquarium
relaxed, watched a huge thunderstorm
and started figuring out the whole marriage thing.

six months ago today

Travis Randy Botcher married me.

it was July 31, 2010, a saturday morning.
he came over as i was finishing up my hair.
of course i was freaking out.
"it looks bad! i should have had someone
do it for me!"
i was being a bit grumpy about it.
travis calmed me down, as always.

he drove us to the temple in his
black toyota tacoma, the
car he picked me up in
for our first date
almost two years before.
he was all smiles.
his new suit looked so handsome
and his blue eyes literally sparkled.

the salt lake city temple
was everything i had ever dreamed of
white and cream and glittering chandeliers
happy attendants directing us to the right rooms.
the man who sealed us together was
wise, kind, and clever.
my dad cried.
holding travis's hand over the alter
i felt a kind of love and peace
i had never known before.

the luncheon and reception
turned out perfectly
even with all the rain.
my grandparents danced for the band
getting soaked with huge smiles
on their faces.
i sang for travis, a song
i had known for years
and wanted to find the man
it was talking about.

family, friends, loved ones
all there celebrating the love
and commitment we made.
at the end of the night
it felt perfectly natural to
leave together.
to start a new life.

it's not always easy.
and even though i get
upset sometimes.
and consider blowing our
savings to fly to a
beach somewhere, alone,
(i've never gone so far as to
look up flights mind you)
i would never trade the
past six months
for anything.
i'm the luckiest girl
to have married travis
and i love him more than words.

thanks for putting up
with me for the past six months
darling :)
hope the next six are even better.

love you!

life 2011

(pictures compliments of melissa robbins)

it's friday. i don't have school on fridays. i had planned on being superproductive and working on school, doing homework, and cleaning. so far today i have
-spent time with travis :)
-worked on music with benny. :)
-played with four little puppies. :)

so the homework cleaning working out thing. not so much.

school started. it's going really well! at first i was pretty overwhelmed with all the reading each teacher assigns. (seriously, do they think their class is the only one i'm taking?) but now that it's been a few weeks, im feeling better about all the stress.

i am taking 13 credits, mostly because i can't afford to take more than that. intro to psy, psy 2010, cultural traditions of asia, and gender and contemporary culture. the university of utah is my third college, and probably least favorite of the three for a few reasons.

-the giant size. suu and byuh were tiny school, allowing the students to get to know each other better, smaller class sizes, etc. it is nice that my teachers wouldn't notice if i'm not there, but still.

-it seems that the professors at the u, mind you i have only had six so far, are pretty academia crazed. like, im an undergrad, i don't want to be spoken to in your gradspeak language. i don't understand that yet. please dumb down your lectures and actually teach or find a new career. im not paying you thousands of dollars in tuition money so you can talk at me about how smart you are.

so my gender studies teacher is pretty intense. the other day she was talking about the bible and the story of genisis.

"god created man. man was lonely. (making mocking finger quotations here) god took a rib from adam and created woman to be his subordinate."

ok so yeah, it's a gender studies class. i figured we would be discussing homosexuality and sexual preference. i didn't think my teacher would be teaching her personal opinion so freely. if i raised my hand and said some right wing conservative bit about gay marriage (which isn't necessarily my opinion, just being extreme here) she would be pretty upset. but she can sit there and misquote the bible and mock my beliefs and not expect to be contradicted.

we did get into an argument about gay marriage on the second day of class. i was saying that both sides feel like the other side is infringing on their rights. gays for the obvious reason, and the other side feeling like their beliefs are being compromised. she said, i understand what you're trying to say, but i don't agree. she didn't agree that someone else had another opinion. she was pretty upset and now i wonder if she will grade me differently because i got her riled up.

anyway. enough about school. my brother left on his mission. travis and i have sold five of the puppies. life is good.

the other day when i got off trax coming home from school i walked to my car. inside, was a book i have been wanting for months sitting on the steering wheel with a note love you. this is my equivalent to receiving flowers. :) when i got home the whole house was clean, laundry done, and yardwork done. seriously, i can't say enough about how wonderful travis is. :)

enjoy some puppy pictures :) that one of me shows off my not showered, not made up face. gross :)

nothing to do with you

wrote this tonight. it's on the way to becoming a song with melody, chords, and benny shell on guitar.

and it's about the love of my life.



don’t come over here
looking at me that way.
don’t try talking
those fancy words at me.


you’re not the one for me
don’t fit into my plans.
i’m dreaming big and tall
don’t try to slow me down.



cause darling, i had it all figured out.
i knew just what to do.
have a life and a house and a pretty little love
and nothing to do with you.



think you impress me with
those good looks and your charm?
think you can win me over
using tricks like that?



think again.



(guitar, mandolin, and piano instrumental)



no i can’t take it
when your hand is holding mine.
don’t want to feel your mouth
so warm and slow and fine.



cause darling, i had it all figured out.
i knew just what to do.
have a life and a house and a pretty little love
and nothing to do with you.



just stay away from me
stop showing that you care.
take back your good jokes
all of our chemistry and flair.



(bridge)
you’re not the one for me
regardless of those eyes.
the way they see into the
secret places, long lost places,
pain i’ve hidden, joy you’re bringing
fear of falling, love i’m feeling-



so darling, we have it all figured out.
i know just what to do.
have a life and a house and a pretty little love,
and all i want to do is
all i want to see is
all i want to love is you.