one year down...

that's right! Kendrick and I made it to our one year anniversary on September 26th! honestly, I don't know why I just phrased it like that, because let's be real, Kendrick is just about the easiest person to be married to.

we spent the morning at the Salt Lake temple, reminiscing the perfect morning that we had there exactly a year ago. whenever I think back to my wedding day, I am flooded with emotions. I envision the precious time Kendrick and I had alone together in the celestial room before our sealing, or kneeling across from him in the ceremony, or hearing the words that we were sealed for eternity... I feel nothing but peace and love from those memories. that was such a special day for me, and what I felt in each and every one of those moments, I know I will never forget.

the plan was to do some sealings that morning, but due to the women's conference being held that weekend, the Salt Lake temple was closing within a half an hour from the time we arrived. we decided to grab some breakfast at the Lion House pantry (in honor of our wedding luncheon that was held there). sadly, we weren't craving any of the lunch items that were being served, but they did offer us some hot and delicious rolls (and they were also free- win, win).

after breakfast, we headed over to the Legacy Court apartment complexes in Midvale to put down a security deposit on our new place. earlier that week, I had received a call from the office manager letting me know that an apartment would be opening up within a week (we were on a waiting list for one in November). it was super nerve wracking to bump up our move-in date so far in advance, but Kendrick and I both felt good about the decision to move sooner than later. we were thrilled to find out that our unit was on the third floor, and compared with all of the others that we've looked at during our extensive apartment hunt, this unit was actually pretty nice!

I wish I could say that the remainder of our anniversary was spent doing something exciting, adventurous, or even romantic, but to be honest, it was spent at home packing. we were headed out to California the next day and our move-in date for our new apartment was the day we came home. from our trip. if that's not a lot of packing, I just don't know what is.

happy one year anniversary, Kendrick! I mean it when I say you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. you've taught me more about love, patience, and selflessness in this past year than I could have learned in a lifetime. I am so excited to spend the rest of eternity by your side, learning, growing, and watching every single one of our dreams come true.

I love you!

summer nights the lightning strikes so close to our house, all the lights go out. I will sing your favorite song along with all the raindrops falling down. and I will dance with you, till the sky turns blue. I will spend my whole life through, falling more in love with you.

here's to 24...

to say that my birthday weekend was amazing would be an understatement. Kendrick made sure that the weekend was extra special, and he completely spoiled me! married-birthdays really are the best.

I got off work early on Friday and came home to Kendrick and a stack of beautifully wrapper presents. with it being my birthday weekend, I was allowed to open one of them, of course. we decided on the largest one (because I had maybe sorta bought it myself...)... a beautiful new Kate Spade bag! after cleaning up the house a bit, we were off to dinner.

Kendrick and I had eaten at Cheesecake Factory with his parents a few months back, and since then, I could not get the orange chicken that I had out of my head! so naturally, I picked the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner.  in retrospect, for what we spent, I would have probably picked somewhere else. the wait for our table was over an hour long, and my chicken ended up being pretty dry (and Kendrick wasn't too impressed with his fish and chips either). and to top it off, the Cheesecake Factory doesn't even offer free cheesecake for birthdays! what is this?!

we walked around City Creek for a little while, until we decided to call it a night. I'd like to say that we stayed up, doing exciting birthday things... but we were both out by 10 o'clock.

the next morning started early- it was my birthday! I was 24! Kendrick brought all of my presents in the room, and let me open them in bed. I'm telling you... for having such a manly husband, he picked me out some really, really pretty things.

 (candle and bowl from anthropolgie, jewelry box from target, day planner from lilly pulitzer)

we got ready for the day, and headed to a crepe place called Greenhouse Effect Coffee and Crepes (crepes are one of my favorite foods, so Kendrick found this place for my celebratory birthday breakfast). it was a really neat place with outdoor seating underneath a beautiful vine covered pergola. I ordered the strawberries and cream crepe with a hot chocolate and Kendrick settled on the ham, cheese, and egg breakfast crepe. both were delicious!

the next few hours were spent apartment hunting. obviously, not the most fun of birthday activities, but Saturdays are really the only days that allow enough time to do that. however, the birthday gods must have been smiling on us that day, because we were able to find and apply for the perfect place in a prime location. crossing our fingers it works out!

for dinner, we met up with Harmony and Jeff at Rocky Mountain Raceways (tickets courtesy of my dad). it wasn't exactly the best dinner, but you really can't beat free. we watched the races for about 20 minutes before making other plans to see a movie with our friends Colin and Sara. we ended up seeing a new scary movie called The Visit, and it was pretty freaky- even Kendrick yelled out in the theater at a particularly jumpy part.

on sunday, my parents threw a birthday dinner for me and Danny, and Kendrick's sweet parents drove up to attend. we had hamburgers, corn on the cob, peach cobbler, and a heap of brownies in place of a birthday cake... in honor of me. because, how else would you honor me?

it was such a great birthday and I am beyond grateful for my family, friends, and cute husband that made it that way. here's to 24!

we didn't know...

Kendrick and I wanted to do something different for labor day (and when I say different, I mean we weren't planning on staying home watching Netflix). it didn't take long for Kendrick to stumble upon the brilliant idea of touring Timpanogos Cave! going on a little adventure sounded like the perfect solution to both of us.

labor day ending up being absolutely beautiful and we were thrilled that we'd be spending a majority of the day outside, enjoying the weather. Kendrick spent the morning playing golf with his dad and brother, and I had fun sleeping in, watching One Tree Hill, and having breakfast with my family. once twelve 'o clock hit, Kendrick was home and we were on the road to Timpanogos.

in retrospect, going the Provo/Sundance route was significantly longer than American Fork canyon, but in our defense... we didn't even know that American Fork Canyon existed, and that it connected to Sundance. with this little detour, we ending up being thirty minutes late to our cave tour. the nice lady at the front desk explained to us that we could join a later group, and after writing a big scary "LATE" on both our tickets (she made sure to highlight it as well), she told us we should start hiking up the trail to the cave, to ensure that we would be on time for the 3:30 group.

for starters, Kendrick and I were both completely unaware that there was a "hike" in order to get to the cave. I remember when Kendrick first threw the idea of Timpanogos cave at me, he mentioned a "short dirt road", which he honestly thought it was! neither of us are hikers, and I can say that neither of us were ready for the 1.5 hour, three mile hike up the mountain.. we were so not ready.

this was about five minutes into the hike- we got this!

1/2 of the way there... trying to keep positive.

but in all honesty- it was fun! it was a challenge and definitely took some team work (switching off who carried the backpack every twenty-minutes), but when we finally got to the top- we were darn proud!

the cave tour was super cool, and super cold. while we weren't prepared for the hike, we were prepared for the temperature drop in the cave, and each brought a couple of warm jackets. we saw all kinds of funky stalagmites, and my favorite were the ones that you could put a flashlight up to, and the whole thing would glow. the variety of textures that you see on cave walls completely astounded me, and they are all referred to as different types of food, like "cave bacon", or "cave popcorn". whoever named them was super, super hungry.

this giant stalagmite is called the "heart of Timpanogos", as it really does look like a heart hanging down!

the hike back down the mountain was a breeze, and we even jogged about one-third of it. my favorite was jogging past people who were panting and wheezing as they made their way up the mountain, because we looked super die-hard, and little did they know that we were practically crawling up that mountain only an hour ago.

I already can't wait for the next adventure with my best friend, even if it leaves my bum feeling bruised and sore the next morning like this one did.... (TMI?)

probably.