Vampires and Werewolves

Braden: "Do you wanna play vampires and wolves today?"
Leah: "Sure how do you play?
Braden: "I'm the vampire and I win."
Leah: "That makes me the werewolf?"
Braden: "Yup you lose, I win."


This was a conversation Braden and I had via text messaging this morning while he was at work. hahaha. I have been anti-Twilight for a long time now, but I decided to give in over our trip to Seattle. It's totally ridiculous, plays into every female fantasy of what men are like in their dreams. Which is why I can't put the dumb thing down!!! Braden always teases me about it and then 20 minutes later he'll ask, "So what's happening now?!" haha. He's addicted too! He will never admit it and it's a good thing he never looks at our blog. He would probably be upset I just exposed his secret.

I am taking a rhetorical criticism class this summer and I can't wait to start my paper on why this series is so appealing to women of all ages. I just can not comprehend why this series has become such a phenomenon. Stephanie Meyer, the author, isn't even a good writer!

I know, call me a hypocrite because I have fallen in the bandwagon but if I am going to write this paper then I have to do thorough research! right? Right, so now that I have just finished the second book last night, I can now move onto the third. It's just for research though, I swear.

Washington Vaca. 2009

Ahhhhhhh vacation. So much anticipation and then it's over in the blink of an eye. Braden drove to Washington and I flew to meet him there from Cali (I went to support my mom, she had surgery and is now cancer free!!!! ahhhh another sigh of HUGE relief) . We spent a couple of days in Wenatchee, WA. Spending time with the Harker's and friends. I must say this was a vacations of firsts for me. We went golfing with my father-in-law Scott on Monday (I have only ever been miniature golfing), Tuesday he took us fishing (another first) and Wednesday we went for a bike ride through Cashmere which only took about 30 minutes because it's that small. We also went fishing again that day and caught so many fish I can't even count. Of course we enjoyed some excellent food made by my mother-in-law Joyce and Country Boys BBQ, the best BBQ ever! For the next couple of days we headed to Seattle to visit our friends Kyle and Kate and there new baby boy Keaton! That's who I am holding in the picture above. We had a blast with them. We went to Pike Place Market, took a tour of underground Seattle, and went to a Mariner's game. Braden and I love Seattle! I don't know what it is about that city but we are just drawn to it. The Mariner's game was a quality game versus the Red Sox. The stadium was about 60/40, so the competition and intensity was extreme. The Mariners hit two home runs to win the game 5 to 4. It was awesome!!! It was an amazing vacation but for now it's back to school, work and real world.

Easter '09

For Easter Sunday we headed down to Fillmore, UT to visit with the Martin family. We had a great time visiting with everyone and enjoying a great meal from Grandma Martin. It was a beautiful day and we went for a drive up this dirt road to look at the irrigation creek for the farm. It was a fun, muddy, bumpy ride. It was a great Easter Sunday!

It's our anniversary!!!

We have reached our one year mark. WohooO! We celebrated on Saturday the 14th even though it is really Sunday the 15th. We started off the day with a trip to the temple! It was a beautiful day here in SLC, there were tons of brides and grooms everywhere. It was fun to reminisce on our day one year ago. What an awesome year it has been and how it flies by. We then went out to dinner at this Japenese restaurant called Kyoto. It was a really fun experience and great food. At dinner I asked Braden what he has learned within the last year. His repsonse was, " I learned that women are smarter than men, women are cleaner than men and that I DO clean." Haha. I love his humor. We talked more about it and the list could go on forever. Here are just a few of the things I have learned about life, myself, Braden and marriage in the past year:

• Patience beyond belief
• Let it go
• Laughing makes forgivness much easier
  
• Take a step away and gather your thoughts when fighting
• Have faith through every trial that we go through
• Lasting memories don't cost money
• If you are going to say sorry, mean it and know why
  
• Take time everyday to have a valuable conversation
• Selflessness is true happiness
• Support each other through everything
• Lastly, bills suck

Braden and I are so excited for what our future holds. Our first year has been so fun, but don't worry we have had our share of trials and hardships so far. But those have only made us a stronger couple!

21 at last.

Yes, I have finally turned 21. It was a couple of weeks ago but it was such a fun day. We got to go to my favorite place for breakfast, The Park Cafe. Then we went to the gateway mall and I was able to shop....ALL DAY LONG. I don't think Braden realized what he was getting himself into because I took my sweet time in each and every store carefully deciding what to spend my birthday money on. I kept hearing a big sigh coming from the boy following me through the stores. haha But I just kept kindly reminding him, "Babe, remember it's my birthday." That night we saw a movie and our friends Morgan and Alex came over for some birthday cake. Then we went to a party at a bar! Wow, my first time ever going to a bar... it was pretty lame. haha. A guy offered to buy me a drink and I just laughed and said sorry I don't drink. We sang kareoke (also a first) and had some good times. Overall it was an awesome birthday. Wahoo for being 21.

V Day and B Day

This weekend was eventful to say the least. On Saturday I was woken up at 7 am!!!! But it was the sweetest thing to wake up to. Cinnamon rolls and yummy eggs and bacon. What a sweetie! He woke up at 630 on a Saturday? He's crazy, but I loved it. We went to a movie and out to dinner that night at Biaggi's. This wonderful Italian restaurant. Braden made up his own dish and even had other guests drooling over it. The waitress decided to call it, "The Harker." Braden requested to collect all the royalties, but they wouldn't have it. That was his "ego-boosting" moment of the day. On Valentine's day I asked to have my birthday present early. He had spilled the beans a couple of days earlier on what he got me, a pocket-size digital camera, so I asked to get it early so we could take pics of Valentine's day, his birthday and mine. They may not be the greatest pictures but atleast I talked my way into getting my present early ;). Anyways, Sunday was Braden's big day. He was so excited because apparently it had been three years or so since the last time he was able to actually celebrate his birthday. So I made sure everything was about him all day. We went to church, I made him his favorite meal (tacos), we played his favorite video game (Mario Kart Wii, at the moment, it will change tomorrow) for hours and ate cheesecake with some great friends. It was really fun making everything about him on his birthday because on Friday I know I can use all the same excuses about mine :). Muahahaha. All in all, it was an amazing weekend. We spent some great quality time together and enjoyed every second of it.

The Baby!

Apparently this is what one of our kids will look like. I don't really see it except for my ears :). I found this website that was really fun. Check it out! http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us/