WIlliams

CARPENTERIA

2011-07-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

We LOVE the BEACH okay, okay I LOVE the Beach and Brian KIND OF loves it! It is safe to say that anyone who knows a Hawley knows how much we love, love, love to camp at Carpenteria State Beach, "Carp" for short. This summer was extra exciting because it was Brian's first time there on family vacation with my side of the Family. Don't worry he survived and even wants to go back. Now he is a fully trained Carpenteria expert like the rest of us. Here are some pictures...

It did get sunny while we were there. I guess we only took the camera on morning walks ( gotta love June gloom)

It’s official we are sealed!

2011-06-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

May 30th we were able to go to the Columbia south Carolina temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. Lots of family and some of our friends were able to join us. Our families came threw for us and traveled from all over the country to show their support us. We had a wonderful day and are so grateful for the love and support of all of the people who helped us get to this point in our lives.

After the sealing we went back to our house where we had a luncheon for everyone who was at the temple and a few extras. We could not have done the luncheon without my mom. Gloria saves the day again! She is amazing I could not have gotten everything ready without her help.

We really tested out the house because 21 people ended up staying at our house on Saturday night. Luckily we scrounged up enough air mattresses for everyone. While in Charlotte the boys went out for BBQ and the girls talked and talked. We went to Uptown Charlotte to explore and had a wonderful time.

Parents

Grandparents

Everyone

RELAY FOR LIFE

2011-05-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

Friday night we walked at my schools relay for life. This is the first year I have ever gone to walk. I always payed to join the team but never made the effort to go and walk. This year it hit a little closer to home. My mom and aunt Linda both survived cancer this year. Brian and I thought it would be a good idea to go and show our support.

Our schools theme was “Tied to a cure”. The teachers at my school tie-dyed our relay for life t-shirts. It was so much fun. I think I would have made a great hippie! I wanted to tie-dye any and every thing when I got home. I tried to convince Brian to let me tie dye the sheets in the guest room, a table cloth, anything..... He said NO! How did I miss out on this fun until now!

We went to the big all night event and walked laps, talked with friends, listened to bands, and walked some more. We had a wonderful time and are so thankful for all of the survivors who are in our lives.

A Catch Up Post

2011-05-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Okay I haven’t posted since December…What can I say we have been super busy!

Here is a quick update (only a few of our adventures)… these are probably the things I would have posted about if I had not been such a slacker.

Christmas in Williamsburg.

We put a stone floor in Brian’s Office....It looks great!

Made a new years resolution to go to church.

Feb 1^st I became the Technology facilitator a.k.a the computer teacher at my school!

Had a Happy Valentines Day.

Worked in the Yard…. TONS! (The bulbs I planted are growing.. but they kind of look like giant weeds?)

Spring Break - I decided to rip out the floor in the laundry room and paint it while Brian was at work so he could put stone flooring in. It was the Hawley girl in me!

Easter at the Beach with Brian's Aunt and Uncle, Grandparents, and cousins. I LOVE hanging out with them!

More working in the yard.

We found a HUGE snapping turtle in our yard and a Lizard in the living room in the same week. Yikes!

We set a date to be sealed in the Columbia, South Carolina Temple (May 28^th)

I think that just about catches us up.

Flash Mob

2010-12-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I begged Brian to go to the mall with me...

This is why!!! There were approximately 3000 people.

See if you can find us we are in this video!!!

A Birthday Project

2010-12-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Brian woke up on his Birthday and decided he wanted to put in recessed lighting in our bedroom so he went to Lowe's and 3 hours later we had 4 more lights. We are going to add 2 more next weekend. I am getting better I wasn't even a little nervous when he started cutting big holes in the ceiling.

Ellie slept in the middle of the project mess

Happy Birthday Brian and Mom!

2010-12-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sunday was Brian's 34th Birthday. He gets better ever year! The 19th is also my Mom's B-day! We wish we could have been with my side of the family to have a birthday extravaganza!

WE LOVE THE HOLIDAYS

2010-12-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

Our first Christmas in our new house!! We love Christmas!!

Thanksgiving part 2 – Jackson Hole, WY

2010-12-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

We drove to Jackson Hole in a Snow Storm. Brian was white knuckling it most of the drive.

When we got to Jackson we went straight to Gros Ventre (you say it: grow vont) it is the Elk Refuge. We saw a herd of buffalo, some moose eating (I love all of the Moose), and of course lots of Elk. Brian was in heaven! After our Gros Ventre adventure we meet up with Jared and the fun times began. We love hanging out with Jared. We got to meet his current Girl Friend and her kids. They were really nice. They let us crash their family Thanksgiving feast. Brian's Dad, Bob, also came to Jackson. We had lots fun visiting with everyone, playing in the snow, and looking at wildlife.

Brian and Jared got up each morning and went Hunting. They did not kill anything but they went after a couple of big elk. It was a lucky week for the Elk! Due to crazy wind and -18degree weather the hunters were moving a little slow.

The first morning they went out hunting I tagged along to keep the truck warm and drive to pick them up. It was a crazy snow storm and the visibility was horrible but, the brothers were together and excited for their hunting fun to begin. Well, they were out for about an hour and I started driving up and down the road looking for them. I was starting to get really nervous then I saw Brian’s hunter orange in the distance. I got more nervous as Brian got closer. He was alone…where was Jared?

As I was watching Brian I noticed he was stumbling in the waist high snow. He was taking 2 or 3 steps then bending over and pausing to catch his breath. I started to worry that he was going to collapse. How was I going to drag him into the truck in this blizzard? Even if we wen't in the middle of a crazy blizzard how would I get him to the truck he is 2 times my size. How was I going to get him to the hospital? I had no idea where it even was! Was he going to collapse and be buried by snow and ice before I got to him? Was he going to turn into the iceman (you know the documentary they show every 6^th grader)? I might have been a little dramatic in my worrying but that’s nothing new. I was full on panicing!

When he finally got close I parked Jared’s truck in the middle of the road… my husband was going to freeze to death…traffic laws don’t apply at a time like this. He was covered with snow and his beard was frozen with big pieces of ice in it and he was sweaty from hiking around in the deep snow. Once we warmed him up we went to look for Jared we found him in a similar state. The boys warmed up and were ready to do it all over again the next day.

One afternoon Brian and I were total tourists. We had fun shopping at all of the gift shops. I almost bought Brian some moose P.J's but they were sold out of his size. My treat connoisseur had to stop at the candy store and I had to take a pic of him. It was a cowboy candy store...he was in his element!

On Thanksgiving (after I made our food assignments) we went out snow mobiling. Bob came along and watched. He said it was to cold and dangerous for him. We all had so much fun but I don’t know If Jared will ever let me drive his machine again. The boys were telling me how great I was doing at driving in the powder. They built up my confidence a little to much. I got cocky! I might have crashed into a snow drift and got the whole front half of the snow mobile burried in the middle of the snow. Then I might have gotten the other one stuck while driving to get Brian so he could help dig the first one out. Yep I might have gotten not one but 2 sleds stuck in a matter of 3 minutes. Way to go me. That takes skill. It was freezing and the boys were covered in snow and ice. I think Jared had icicles in his eyebrows. After playing in the snow we headed back down the mountains to go to thanksgiving. We were having so much fun that we stayed on the snowmobiles longer than we should have.

We were running late for Thanksgiving. We were supposed to eat with Jared’s GF and her extended family. Jared was stressing about being late and would not let us go home and change. Let me repeat this HE WOULD NOT LET US GO AND CHANGE OUT OF OUR SWEATS!!! He made us go straight from snowmobiling in layers and layers of sweats and snow clothes to a Thanksgiving Dinner with strangers. PROBLEM!!!!! Now, I can play in the dirt, mudd, and snow but I do believe you should get ready for a Holiday Dinner!!!! Needless to say we didn’t stay at the holiday dinner for very long! We ate, talked, and went to change out of our sweats! Jared, I am planning my revenge.

Once we looked appropriate for Thanksgiving we went out and walked around down town with Brian's dad. We had fun hanging out with Bob and joking around. We took our Christmas picture.

We loved playing in the snow and seeing Jared, Bob, and everyone else.

Thanksgiving Part #1 – Salt Lake Adventures

2010-12-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a fun trip to SLC and Jackson Hole, WY

Its no secret that I love Utah so when Brian and his brother, Jared, came up with the plan for us to go visit I was excited. We flew into Salt Lake and played there for a couple of days. Then we went to Jackson hole for Thanksgiving. Jackson Hole is where we went on our third date and we pretty much fell for each other there. It seemed like a good place to re-visit. Awww so cute, I know. We stared and ended the trip in Salt Lake so I am breaking this into 2 parts. Utah and Wyoming.

We flew in and went to Hotel Boyack (my God mothers house). While we were there we were able to visit with my brother, Morgan and his family, Valeri and Finn. His little boy is so cute! We meet up with them at Cabellas and herd all of Finn’s animal sounds. He thinks most things growl. We went to a BYU football game with Morgan. It was weird being back at BYU I kept looking around thinking “these kids look so young”…. I think this might mean I am getting old! While in Provo we stocked up on BYU Gear.

We were also able to visit with this long list of people:

My fabulous God mother Lori, and God Sister Lauren (and all the other Utah Boyack’s too)

Katie Huburt: One of my favorite roommates….We went shopping just like old times.

The Rowleys; Aunt Georgette, Uncle David and cousins, Calvin, Beckah, Sarah, Emily, and Thomas… They are so funny and we loved all of their jokes.

Brian's cousin Brent.

The Tyson Family.

And my dear friends, who I miss so much Ti-pan and Rod Works. I got a couple of things.

We tried to meet up with a few other people but we ran out of time… If we didn’t see you this time we WILL see you next time!

After Thanksgiving we went back to Salt Lake and went to Temple Square to look at all of the beautiful lights. We also had to drive by and pay homage to Hillcrest 98.

I really do miss Salt Lake and all of my Friends and Family that live there.

We miss these mountains already!!!

When It Rains It Pours

2010-11-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a crazy few weeks. My mom and Dad both had surgery. My mom had her thyroid removed and there were some complications and some drama but it all worked out. My dad had a major hernia fixed (the doc said it was an abdominal reconstruction). As if both parents isn't enough for us to worry about my Grandpa G.B. had open heart surgery too. Since my parents are far away and my Grandpa is much closer, in Atlanta, we opted to go help out there. He was staying at my aunt Linda's and all of my aunts and uncles in Atlanta are doing a wonderful job of caring for him. We got there the day he came home from the hospital. We were able to do tons to help out, okay it was mostly Brian that worked SO HARD but I was there for moral support and to help with some planning. Can I just say.. I am so lucky to have a man that can do ANYTHING. Brian got so much done and helped everyone out.

It was great to see my grandpa and report to my mom that he really is doing well. We had a few teary moments where we were all thankful that he was alive and sitting with us. We also had fun visiting with my aunts and cousins.

We are so grateful that everyone made it through surgery and that they are all recovering and getting better. We just wish we could have been in Glendale to help with my parents too, luckily my sisters, Hillary and Claire, are doing an amazing job of caring for them.

Me, my cute Grandpa, and his heart pillow

Brian, Ellie, and Cody... The dogs had a great time too.

Career Day

2010-11-05T10:14:00.001-07:00

Mr. Williams came to career day at the Bickett. The school I teach at is an "at risk" school and we did not have any parents volunteer for career day. Naturally I signed Brian up for it. He talked all about stone and rocks. He even showed some videos of blasting stone out of a quarry. The students kept calling him the "rock man". Once again I loved seeing him sit in the tiny first grader chairs. He was a great ROCK MAN.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

We had our first Halloween here in our N.C. subdivision and we loved it!!! We handed out candy with our neighbors Terrance and Lashanda, in our driveway (so trick-or-treaters would stay off the sod). We had TONS of trick or treaters. My favorite costume was a peacock with real feathers!

We also liked the teenagers with sideways hats and a boom box blaring Sting (really couldn't they find any rap.... or at least current pop music.. maybe some Beiber). They were "gangsters". When Brian asked them what they were they said "we are gangsters sir" all started laughing and told them they at least needed to be a little ghetto when they say they are gangsters. So they tried to say it again and the 2nd time it sounded like and English accent! That really made me laugh. I am so thankful that the kids in my neighbor hood think that gangsters say sir and just wear their hat sideways!

Working as Landscapers

2010-10-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our house almost a year ago the yard was a disaster. This past spring we worked on it to try and get it looking decent. By the time Fall came we had given up. Brian decided the yard was not salvageable and that we should just start over. Last weekend we had sprinklers put in. This weekend we removed all of the grass/weed combo that was our front yard. Brian rented a sod cutter and cut our yard into long strips. All our our neighbor men kept coming over to see how the machine worked and to see what we were doing. It was cracking me up how excited these men got about the sod cutter. was like they had just been given a new car.

Brian and I worked Friday afternoon and evening. We got the small strip between the sidewalk and the street cleared and sodded. The real circus began at 8:00am on Saturday when the whole crowd started working. The hole crew consisted of Brian & Me, our neighbor Terrance, our neighbor Jay, our neighbor Rob and his son Reid and the extra teen living at Rob's house Matt.

I stocked up on water and Gatorade. They drank 25 bottles of Gatorade and a case of water. We worked and cleared all of the old year away. Then we raked and leveled everything. Then we spread 5yards of top soil. Thanks goodness neighbors brought their own rakes and shovels. We to countless wheelbarrow loads, p the woods behind our house. (That is another project. We are trying to level our woods out). Then we got the dirt wet and started laying the sod. It was 8:00pm by the time we finished. It took 6 people 12 hours but our lawn looks great! We also saved $2,000 doing it our selves. WE are so luck to have such great friends/neighbors!

Brian and I got up this morning and finished laying the rest of the sod along the side of the house and leveling out the huge piles of dirt and weedy grass in our woods. Now we are officially exhausted and ready for a very long shower!

The sprinklers in progress

Brian working hard

Part of the sod

Part of the old yard that I rolled up

The boys clearing our old yard away!

The snake the teenage helpers were chasing me around our yard with

Ta'Da!

Waxhapalooza

2010-10-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

Since moving into our house in Charlotte we have made lots of new friends. One of our new neighbors has a huge party each fall. I think the party is an excuse for Jamie (our neighbor) to have a gig for his band. They call this party Waxhapalooza and it is a BIG event our entire subdivision is invited. Three Bands play, they serve TONS of BBQ (its the south, every thing is a BBQ worthy event) and they collect money for the Waxhaw Volunteer Fire Department. We took our chairs over and had a great time visiting with friends/neighbors and listening to some good bands. We are looking forward to next years event.

Jeep Rocks & Road Tour

2010-10-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

We went to the Charlotte home show, just to check it out. When we got there we noticed several MUDDY Jeeps. As we walked into the home show there were people in Jeep outfits telling us about the Jeep Rocks and Road tour. They said we could drive jeeps on the road or off-road course, this caught Brian's attention so we walked around the home show then headed to play with the jeeps. We had to register and swipe our drivers license. Brian said it would be fun to test drive the Rubicon so we did. We both drove the course over one BIG hill, bumps, rocks, and at an angle. A jeep person rides along with you to supervise, make sure you are being safe, and of course talk about Jeep. Brian drove the course first and did a great job. I figured it seemed pretty easy so I would give it a shot.

When it was my turn to drive I thought the point was to make the ride as bumpy as possible I thought I was doing great because I hit every bump hard and bounced us all over the place. The jeep representative even stopped talking about the Rubicon and was holding on. Apparently that is NOT the point of off-roading... who knew? Also, I might have gotten close to driving off the top of a 40 ft hill. Brian decided that if we ever own a off-road vehicle I will not be allowed to drive it. I think this just means I am ready for the Jeep Safari in Moab.

EARLY HALLOWEEN SURPRISE

2010-10-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

Brian came in last week and "needed me" to help him on the front porch. So naturally I went out to help. I didn't know he needed a reaction not my help!!!! He got his reaction. This giant spider was on our front porch. Since moving to the south I have encountered some of the biggest and weirdest bugs ever... this was one of the scariest. I guess this giant spider could tell our house was in full Halloween Mode and it wanted in on the action.

Top Sail Island & Family Fun

2010-09-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

We went to our Aunt Melanie and Uncle Glenn's beach house for a fun weekend in the sun with them. I am pretty much ready to move there. Top Sail Island is beautiful. A couple of Brian's cousins were there as well. I had so much fun talking to Melanie and Cherish... they are full of great advice. I loved playing with and holding Baby Alaina, she is so stinking cute I wanted to steal her. I absolutely loved her beach wear!

Aliana soaking in the rays

Me and Alaina going on a walk

The girls... Melanie, Cherish, Alaina, and me.

Brian, Glen and Seth joked around and had fun catching sand crabs. They did a couple of improvements on the beach house but we spent almost the entire weekend on the beach (my idea of a perfect weekend). We took big long beach walks all together.

The boys

Sand Crabs

Brian

We all looked for shark teeth in the surf. Brian had just watched SHARK WEEK and he was a little nervous but braved the possibly shark infested waters.

Brian and Seth Picking up SHARK teeth

Shark Teeth Seth Found

The shark teeth the rest of us found

The GIANT sand castle Brian and Seth made.

Brian inspecting Seth's craftsmanship

The sandcastle

The boys resting after spending 2 hours building the sand castle

Us on a windy walk

On the sand

What a sweet view!

I love the beach!

THANK YOU GLEN AND MELANIE!

WE LOVE YOU GUYS AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!

Brian's Animal Fun

2010-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

When we were up in Williamsburg for Labor Day Brian and Dave had a great time feeding all of the wildlife in the woods behind his parents house. We had a wonderful visit and were able to see lots of nature. We went to Cheatum Annex..(I prefer to call it cheetah man-x...sorry Dave!) it is a military base and it's gorgeous! We also went on a drive to look for deer. Dave knew a secret place on Jamestown Island were there were hundreds of deer. Brian was in heaven. I was sick so the only pictures we have were pictures Brian took of animals. Debbie and Dave have been feeding animals in there woods for a long time. Rocky the raccoon has been coming around quite a long enough that she has taught all of her 6 babies were the good food is. Here are a couple of spooky glowing eye pictures.

Summer

2010-08-24T05:24:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled summer and it is about time I post something about it. It came and went way to fast. Here is a recap of the Highlights.

We went to Atlanta 3 times... for the 4th of July, to buy fabric for a project (I'll get into that later in this post), to check on my Grandpa (he had his knee replaced) and of course to visit with our family.

I spent some time at the pool mostly with my friend Michelle.

We went to Orlando, Fl.

Us in FLORIDA. We didn't take pictures we didn't have our memory card in our camera... Oops! This is a cheesy phone camera pic.

Then there was my favorite part of summer... When my mom came to visit for a couple of weeks. You might think thats a long time to have your mom visit but we had a great time and did not want to send her back to L.A. While my mom was at my house we embarked on a major HGTVish project. My mom and I tend to think we can do anything. While it is great to think you can do a project the reality of completing it is another story.

I decided our new house needed drapes I'm not talking about pre-made panels from target or bed bath and beyond. I thought we needed custom one of a kind drapes. Now why I didn't decide that one or two rooms needed these custom drapes I don't know... I guess the phrase go big or go home applies here. I didn't realize how much work it was going to be either. While we were in Atlanta we went fabric shopping with my aunts. Brian stayed home and worked on man stuff with my grandpa GB. He and my grandpa were so cute working on their projects.

Brian says when I decide to do something there is no changing my mind and this was the case with this project. I was determined to get drapes made for a long list of rooms...

Living room,

Dining room

office

master bath

1/2 bath down stairs

Sun room/Kitchen

Family Room

I had no idea how much work this project was going to be!!! Wow! My mom and I spent 12-14 hours a day for 1 week sewing and sewing some more. When we finally finished I was very proud of our hard work! The drapes look great and make our house feel more cozy. We LOVE LOVE LOVE them and could have never done it with out my moms help. Here are a few pictures.

We started with this...

We used the entryway to lay out the HUGE panels

Ellie helping out

Brian's Office

Formal Living Room

Family Room

The pillows we made to match

The kitchen/sun room (This is my fave)

Summer went by to FAST but was fun filled! I wonder what our next project will be?

Ellie got Mail

2010-06-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Our nieces and famous flower girls, Adalyn and Cosette sent us a package this week.

They just had a dance recital how cute are they!!!

The girls sent Ellie a package with two darling little dresses. She has been wearing them all around the house. She looks so FANCY! Thanks Girls we miss and love you!

Ellie napping in one of her cute new dresses.

Ellie Loves her new dresses!

Nap Time

2010-06-13T06:45:00.001-07:00

Brian and Ellie LOVE to take naps! I walked up to the man cave and found this...

Myrtle Beach

2010-06-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Myrtle beach! Brian's mom and step dad were there. Dave's family goes every year for a week and since we are only 3 hours away we headed on down! Dave's parents are in their eighties and have been going to Myrtle Beach for years it is like their families Carpenteria. For those of you who don't know what Carpenteria is I will post a blog about it soon! I was loving that his mom was walking around in her swim suit and getting in the pool! That is my goal for when I am in my eighties... playing at the beach! I loved being at the beach it is so relaxing to me. Brian was sweet and made sure to go on walks with me and frolic in the ocean.

Debbie, Brian, Whitney, Dave

Grandma and Grandpa Mason and us

Out to dinner with everyone!

Hotel

A huge swan we saw.

A little fish brian caught in the surf?

Sunrise

Brian standing by the pier.

Us getting home from the beach.

Going to dinner.

Spring Cleaning

2010-06-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yahoo our house is clean we just pressure washed and painted! So our shutters are all the same color now!!!!

The Week of Williams

2010-05-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

This past week we had Biran's Big brother, Jared came to visit. He lives in Jackson Hole so the sun and high 80's were pretty exciting for him. We LOVED having him here and we wish he lived here in Charlotte! (Hint, hint Jared). While he was here we introduced him to some of what the Carolina's have to offer... beautiful women, good food, and hard red clay dirt! We tried to have some fun and let him rest but Brian loves to do projects so they worked and joked and worked some more.

Brian and Jared on a hike in SC

Brian and Jared

They fixed a leak on the roof.

They changed the out side lights.

They tore apart a window and fixed it.

They added dirt and mulch to the flower beds and front yard, well EVERYONE helped with this. (the boys bought pallets 60 bags of top soil and 2 truck loads of mulch it was quite the task)

Brian and Jared working Hard!

Most improtantly they put closet organizers in the master closets. So now I have a "Sex in the City closet" compleate with bright lighiting, a full length mirror, and tons of storage space. Thank you my very own Mr. Big and his Big brother.

Before

After

The trip wasn't all work and no play... we had more Williams come and visit ( Brian's Mom and Dave, and sister Jennie all came down to visit. We were hoping to get all of the east coast family down here to see Jared and celebrate Brian's moms Birthday... maybe next time.

Brian, Whitney, Ellie, and Jennie

Debbie and Dave

Brian, Jennie, Debbie, and Jared

We had a great time with everyone. We ALL spent Friday working in the yard and got tons done. His family was a HUGE help and our yard looks 100 times better. We loved grilling out, playing games, and visiting with his family. It is always good to see family.

Spring Break/ Easter

2010-04-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

I teach at a YEAR ROUND school (I know what was I thinking, right). This will stink when I only have 5 weeks off during the summer but it was great for spring break TWO WEEKS OFF! My two weeks were not school free...I decided to go threw ALL of my files and clean them out. What a task! I also spent some time with a few of my friends in the sun and I'm happy to say that I have the start of a great tan!

Brian's aunt and cousins all stopped by on their way down to their beach house... Yes it was tempting to hide in their trunk and stow away for a few days at the beach! We had a great time visiting and having dinner. I was excited to meet Brian's cousin Tiffany. She meet my expectations and was as great and nice as I had had been told. I tagged along on a couple of work adventures Brian went on and was happy to get to spend extra time with him. This hole 2 weeks of spring break should go national!

Brian, his aunt Melanie, his cousins Seth and Tiffany, Tiffany's daughters Avery and Kaili

Kaili and Ellie

Brian, Whitney, Avery

Brian Being a cute cousin!

We went up to Virginia for Easter and spent the weekend with Brian's mom, sister, and grandparents. It was a crazy fast whirlwind trip but we loved seeing everyone. Brian's grandpa has very interesting stories and he intrigues me. I love asking him questions! Brian got to go to priesthood session (if you don't know what that is its a a church thing) with his grandpa, they used to go together so it brought back some good memories for both of them.

Brian and his Grandpa Glen

We loved being able to see them and get away for the weekend.

Monster Tree Take 2

2010-03-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Yes we got another monster tree this past weekend this one was bigger than the last and required more work...what were we thinking!!!

Our new tree!

Jay and Jamie Helping Brian get it out of the truck.

Brian pulling it out of the truck with his 4wheeler.

Digging the hole...Ellie wanted to help

It was a little embarassing driving back from the nursery with this much tree sticking out of the truck!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

On St. Patrick's day I came home and saw new cabinets!!! YAHOOO!!! Brian put cabinets up in the laundry room! It is not a completely finished project but here is an idea of before and after...

Before....

After!!!

We still have to get a counter top for the lower cabinets, put the washer and dryer back and tile the floor but it is a huge improvement!

career day!

2010-03-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Mr. Williams Came to career day at good'ol Walter Bickett and he was a big hit. Hey, 2nd graders LOVE rocks! They especially like shiny colorful rocks, not to mention that they all think they need a "measuring laser" to use instead of a ruler. The fact that he is married to me did help his popularity. One of the little boys said "um Mrs. Williams he is a big dude, I would never get in a fight with him." I guess if Brian was a smaller man this student would have challenged him to a fight??? Brian did a great job and I was very proud of him! I forgot my camera so just visualize Brian sitting in a tiny chair taking to 2nd graders. It was funny!

Our Monster Tree

2010-03-07T15:28:00.001-08:00

Brian asked the landscaper for his company about getting a new tree. He said he had one for $100. This tree was supposed to have a 3 inch diameter trunk. We went to pick it up on Saturday and got a MONSTER TREE... that was 4 times bigger than we were expecting. It took Brian and 5 other guys to get it out of the truck and in the ground.

Our Old tiny baby Tree!!!

The new MONSTER TREE!!!

Brian staking it down.

The monster tree sticking out of the truck!

It went 10 feet past the truck bed!!!!

The roots, for being a tree they wrapped it up nicely.

650 pounds of tree roots!!!

It looks great we can't wait for it to get green and leafy!

Posion Ivy

2010-02-28T13:18:00.001-08:00

Beware of this nasty stuff!!!

We cleaned out our back yard (it was kind of over grown) and BRIAN GOT POISON IVY!!! He is so alergic that we have had to go to the doctors 3 times!!! He is on meds and has gotten shots... I didn't realize that the oils from it were so dangerous! I have cleaned, washed, and wiped down everything! I hope he gets better soon!

Habitat for Humanity

2010-02-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday Brian and I had the chance to work on a habitat for humanity project. Our realtor is really involved in the community and sent us an email asking if we would like to come help out.. I think he figured Brian is a big guy and they could really use his man strength.

We read the list of items we needed to take... hammer, utility knife, screw driver, hard hat, gloves, tape measure, safety goggles, and a tool belt. Brian had ALL of the items for both of us except for one thing... no tool belts! We went to Lowe's and got tool belts. This shopping experience was pretty funny.... Brina picks up a couple of belts then decides he wants this rugged dark brown leather belt and he is done... (he looked way hot in it). Now, I am picking up every tool belt option holding them up to me, modeling them for Brian and asking lame questions like.. Does this look the cutest? Which one is the most feminine? (its a tool belt NO TOOL BELT IS FEMININE) Does this make you think of the tool time girl? Does this make you want to nail me? He thought I was funny, hey that's why we are married. He told me which one was the "cutest" and I ended up getting the lightest color of suede that they had he said it was the best choice for me.

Once we had our belts we were ready to go...

Layered construction worker is clothes.. Check

Loaded tool belt... Check

Safety glasses...um sunglasses... Check

Big heavy boots.... Check

When we got there we went right to work. I was nailing and hammering for hours and wore my arms out. I guess at one point I was hammering a little too enthusiastically because I shook my hard hat off into the mud. I was really trying to be in the construction zone so I put my muddy hat back on and kept working... Brian was a machine and did about 10 times more work than me. He could hit the nails in with or or two hits and it took me about fifteen. I loved watching him hauling huge boards all by himself when it took 2 of the other guys to carry the same thing!

We had a great time made some friends and felt good about helping gout. We were able to complete the installation of all the roof trusses, hang OSB on the exterior walls of the home, install the OSB roof decking on both sides of the roof, and finished the day by securing the safety rails around roof. Not bad for a days work!

We were really tired at the end of the day but we can't wait to do it again. Hey, we might as well put our tool belts to good use!

I think I will stick to teaching!

Whitney's muddy boots!

Brian and Whitney

Brian ... note the tool belt!

The whole group!

Team work!

Building walls!

Hammering!

Brian working hard!

Garage Improvements

2010-02-24T13:20:00.001-08:00

Most of the people who read this are my teacher friends or my family so you all know how much teaching stuff can be acquired after a while. Well 7 years of teaching has made it so that I have quite a collection. Also, I am Gloria Hawley's daughter which means that I think every holiday is reason to go all out, decorate, and celebrate. Between holiday decorations and school boxes and moving our garage was being taken over. While I have been stocking up on holiday decor Brian stocks up on tools an man stuff. The combo was a little overwhelming. Brian decided he was going to fix the garage clutter problem and make it so we can park in it. He has been working to build shelves, well they are more like big lofts in the top of our garage, to store everything. He is so handy and I am so constructionally challenged! I am so proud of him and his shelves!!! They look great and hold a ton!

Snow

2010-02-24T13:14:00.001-08:00

It snowed a few weeks ago (I have been meaning to post this for a while) and I was so excited to have a "snow day " at home with my lover boy!

It doesn't snow much in Charlotte so this tiny little bit of snow was a big deal I know it is nothing like what our friends and family up north got but we still had fun with it!

The snow made me miss Utah!

Big and Tuff Boys!

2010-01-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

Since I wrote a blog about our fave girls I thought it is only fair to post a shout out to our fave boys. The Wolfgram boys; Parker, Hamilton, Tate, and Eli. These boys are great at doing "man things" with Brian. Trust me you don't want to know exactly what these "man things" are... They are sweet with Ellie and I am always impressed with how well they listen to their mom, she is good (I am always making mental notes on how my Aunt Linda parents). These boys helped us move into and clean our new house. They took a few breaks for Nerf arrow wars with Brian...By the way Brian just found his airsoft guns and is bringing them on our next visit to the Wolfgrams! So watch out! We love you guys!!!

Our Favorite Little Girls!!!!

2010-01-13T14:34:00.001-08:00

Brian sister-in-law Shaunna (yes the very one that set us up... and made our happily ever after a reality) came to visit with her girls. Brian's brother Ben and his family live in Seattle but... sinceShaunna's family lives about 2 and a half hours away from us and the closest airport is in CHARLOTTE! This means any time they go to visit her family... which is kind of often (a girl has to see her family) we get to see them. Yet another reason why we love living here!

Anyway they were here for a few days this last week and we had a great time! Debbie and Dave came down, Glenn, Melanie, and Courtney also came over on Friday for dinner. It was so much fun to have everyone over. I love that we have enough space for so many visitors!

Brian and Cozette with Ellie.

Debbie and Dave

Addalyn and I making dinner! YUM!

We rode the train uptown. We went to the Discovery museum. We all LOVE LOVE LOVED the museum! I think Brian liked it more than the girls. he kept saying "come over here look at this!" We laied on a bed of nails... played with percussion... saw lost pirate treasure... created works of art... built towers... crushed a trash can... and so much more. We also had fun with infared (Okay Shaunna and I were the most intrigued by theinfared). We thought we were being sneaky as we tried to see the hottest parts on our bodies, you know, temperature wise...but mostly we were giggling like middle school kids.

Brian with the girls getting ready to head to the train.

He is going to be one HOT dad!

Brian on the bed of nails!

The girls playing with air-streams.

Grandma Debbie and Addalyn!

Us and the girls at the museum.

This is Cozette's princess pose!

The girls fell in love with aunt Whitney's halfway unpacked closet.. it was Uncle Brian's idea! We played some serious dress up! Hey, in my day I was pretty much a dress-up queen! We made a huge mess... and did some serious accessorizing! Of course they are good at being fancy... HELLO... they were my flower girls! Next time they come it will be even more fun because the "dress up" selection will be organized!

This is my favorite pic.... SO chic!

We loved having everyone over and we can't wait to see them again!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

Brian and I went and spent Christmas in Willimasburg with his mom and Step dad. I used Dave's pictures because I didn't take many.. Yikes! It was my first Christmas away from my family so I was a little nervous about not being there for all of the Hawley festivities. I missed and called them a ton for updates but I loved doing all of Brian's Family traditions and hearing about his Christmas memories. I was lucky to spend the holiday with Brian of course and with Debbie and Dave I have grown to be way close with them and I am so thankful I am part of their family!

We had a great time relaxing, eating, opening gifts and shopping. Brian's mom made all of his favorite holiday foods which I thought was super nice of her. The Williams side of the family has a tradition that Christmas eve they all go out to dinner and watch a movie. We went to the Center Street Grill and then saw Avitar 3D... we LOVED the movie it is very Fern Gullyish (Hey I liked Fern Gully too) we can't wait to go and watch another 3D movie I am excited for Alice in Wonderland.

Debbie opening up a gift!

Us opening up gifts! Notice our cute Christmas P.J.'s

Ellie playing with her present from Grandma Debbie!

Debbie and Dave feed animals in the woods behind there house so Ellie and Brian had a great time watching them. Okay Brian was watching them and Ellie was so excited about the Birds, Deer, and Squirrels that she was shaking, squeaking, and bouncing up and down (look at her feet in the pic... she is mid bounce).

The day after Christmas we went and met up with Brian's Dad, Bob his sisters, Jennie and Melissa. We had a good time and wish we could have spent more time with them.

We had a wonderful Christmas and can't believe it was the 3rd Christmas we have spent together! We hope you all had a great one too!

New Paint

2009-12-31T05:39:00.000-08:00

So we changed some paint... cleaned some carpets and... good bye house with creamy yellowish paint, teal paint, hot pink paint, and UGLY vines.... Hello our new home!

Before...

After!

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After talking to some neighbors I have a little bit of info on the family who used to live here...

This is what i know so far...

Single mother (a cougarish type)

1 Teenage son (who painted a hot pink bathroom)

1 Friend of Teenage son who got kicked out of his home

2 Enormous Rottweilers (they were mean they bit the mail man... really they did!)

1 cat

New House

2009-12-08T11:37:00.001-08:00

YAHOOO!

We closed on our new house today 5 days after our original closing date! Here are some pictures of the new place. We have a busy week coming up with painters, carpet cleaners, and movers. I hope all of our scheduling woks out and we are moved in just in time me for Brian's Birthday and my first day of Christmas Break!

Also, I have been rehearsing dorky movie lines to say while we move in (thanks to Carrie in the Sex in the City movie) I am sure Brian will be so amused!

My favorite part of the house!!!

The Front of our cute new home

Us on the porch

Our HOT PINK bathroom (the painters are coming over tomorrow)

There is also a HOT TEAL bedroom

There are a ton of stairs... maybe it is a sign that it will be as great of a place as Hillcrest 98

Master bath - I can't wait to clean it and use it!!

Don't worry the painters are getting rid of the tacky toll painting.... ASAP!!

Bonus Room (Brian is claiming this as his man cave)

Kitchen - I'm making Christmas cookies as soon as we are unpacked!

breakfast area/ sun room

Dining room

As we complete projects we will post before and after pictures!

Thanksgiving in the ATL

2009-12-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

We went down to visit my relatives in Atlanta for the second Thanksgiving in a row. We stayed at hotel Wolfgramm and of course loved spending time with the boys, Hamilton, Tate, and Eli...the other 2 Wolfgramm kids, Parker and Brooke, were in St. George having their own brand of Thanksgiving fun. We love staying with them and always have a great time playing and chatting with them.

The boys didn't play in the turkey bowl this year because Parker the super start athlete was MIA. Brian was relived, he was sore for a week after last years game.

We went to my Aunt Marge's new house (it is gorgeous) on Thanksgiving and of course had a great time visiting all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts, and grandparents. The food was great.. it is still weird to me that they call stuffing dressing and cut in in squares like brownies...its a southern thing that my mom abandoned when we Californiaized. It was a huge crowd and a great day. My aunt has Port Marion china (every plate has a different plant or flower on it). I ate off the mistletoe plate... on our way over to the food Brian was humoring me and kissing me under plate i kept holding it over my head... a little cheesy but very typical!

We got to hang out with my cute grandparent one night and my grandpa was telling us amazing stories about his childhood.

It is nice to be so close to my family!!!!

Making Soap!!

Me and Samuel.... he is an awesome wolverine!

The boys taking a breather from playing football!

We stayed with this little guy, Eli, and he is a riot!

Brian, Julie, and the famous wolverine!

New House Update

2009-12-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to close this afternoon but it has been postponed due to the sellers attorney...UGH I hate waiting!

NEW HOUSE

2009-11-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

After Searching since July we have found a house... YAHOOO! We are so excited!!! I will post more pictures soon. We cant wait to get into it and unpack all of the stuff we have been missing for the past few months. There have been so many times when we have looked for something only to realize it is in the garage... the garage of our apartment is backed floor to ceiling wall to wall and is currently the black hole that has gobbled a ton of our stuff.

A little about the house it is the city of Waxhaw a suburb of Charlotte. It is about 20 minutes away from Brian's job. We have friends who live in the subdivision (The Brewer-Nann Family) and so we will know at least one neighbor. The house was a foreclosure so we have a few projects that will keep us busy but since Brian is so handy we will have things looking great in no time. I am sure I will post each of these home improvement projects. We are going to be closing the week after Thanksgiving. So I am excited to be in the house for Christmas.

More pictures still to come!

Barktoberfest

2009-11-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

This year we took Ellie, her boy friend Spencer, and Spencer's mom Shannon with us to BARKTOBERFEST. It is a huge dog party. There were a ton of dogs... lots of treats....and costume contests. Most of the crazy pet owners in Charlotte were out and it was some great people watching. My favorites were the dog being a camel, and the dog who was James bond in a tux with his owner wearing an evening gown. Of course we dressed Ellie as a princess (it was her same costume from last year buy hey there is a recession going on so we saved a few bucks) and no we did not dress up to match her maybe next year! It was the largest crowd of dogs she has ever been around and I think Brian was more nervous than Ellie... He kept picking her up and holding her because "there were too many big dogs around"... he was being very protective and it was so cute!

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE

2009-10-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late since it is October and I am still writing about summer! That does sum it up.... I wish it was summer all year! This labor day we went to Smith Mountain Lake (it is in Southern Virginia... It is also the lake where What About Bob was filmed).

We went and stayed there with Brian's BFF Steven, his daughter Olivia, and Steven's parents Joe and Roxanne.. Stevens parents live there and man oh man am I jealous!!! The views from their deck are beautiful. We played in the water, went on sunset boat rides, played in the water, went tubing, walked around the lake (not the whole thing it is BIG), and played in the water some more! Steven's dad Joe was vicious when he was pulling Brian and Steven and he made them FLY off the tube more than once!! It was funny when the guys got back in the boat they were telling Joe that he gave them a 20 year old ride not a 30 something year old ride... and that they were too old to be tossed around like that! Now for some pictures....

Brian and Steven on the ride of their lives

Steven and Brian before they wiped out!

Cheese'n it up on the boat!

Whitney and Olivia... note the matching braids

Brian hanging on...

Whitney and Olivia on our boat ride to have dinner!

Snake Hill

2009-10-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

My friend Shannon and I walk our dogs everyday. Well we did until I got a job...but I am glad that I am working so it is OK that our daily walks are now weekly walks. We walk from our apartments past some restaurants and doctors offices, then down past a construction area, down a dirt hill, and then on a "path" (a construction zone with huge pipes and back-hoes) that leads us to the Greenway Walking Trail of Charlotte. This is our own personal short-cut to the Greenway. We usually walk between 4 to 8 miles and we are considered regulars. Yep we know the other regulars and the construction workers are familiar faces. Now that you kn0w our routine I will tell you about the traumatic event that changed our path.. goodbye sneaky shortcut.

It was a beautiful sunny humid southern end of summer day... Shannon and I were walking along talking about houses, jobs and boys when we approached the hill... like normal we started to walk down... about 1/3 of the way down the hill I froze in terror. About a foot away from my little Ellie was the biggest snake I had ever seen not in a cage. It should be in a zoo or reptile house somewhere! This snake was slithering across our pathway and covered the entire path which is about 10 feet wide!!!! I could not move for about 3 seconds then when I did my body did a weird leg kicking jump scream combo... while screaming I turned yanked Ellie's leash and started running...my scream lead to Shannon screaming seeing the snake, screaming again and running as well. We sprinted to the top of the hill out of breath and scared to death. Our construction worker friends were running to us because they could hear our screams and thought a homeless guy tried to kill us or that we found a body.... they were thinking something was seriously wrong.. and it was HELLO we were almost killed by a giant snake!

We frantically told them what had happened between our gasps for air and wiggling around to get rid of our creepy feeling. They died laughing and told us that because it was all black it was a "good snake" the kind that keeps cotton mouths and water moccasins way. I was very confused by the term GOOD SNAKE! Are you kidding me this snake looked as big as the snakes that eat babies out of huts in small villages!!! I am pretty sure it was related to the huge snake in Harry Potter.

Once we caught our breath and got some composure we had to walk the long way on the side walk to get to the Greenway and we have not braved "SNAKE HILL" since! We are waiting for winter when the giant beast who so rudely made our personal walk way its home will be hibernating!

The After Party

2009-08-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

My sister Claire nannies for a darling little girl named Alex. Alex is a pistol and always saying funny things for example she was calling Hillary's reception the wedding after party. I loved it and so this blog is about the wedding after party and by that I mean the 5 days we stayed after the wedding. If you are reading this you know that I like to have a plan and a schedule... it kind of drives me crazy when things are not planned especially for Holidays or Trips. I had been making reservations and planning activities for a month. I feel like when we are out there we need to do all of my favorite things, visit as many people as possible, and show Brian a few cool places LA has to offer. Lucky for us my Aunt Carol and Uncle Steve let us borrow their car while we were out there. Thanks again guys! Here is a very quick recap of our trip.

This trip we...

did tons of wedding and family stuff

shopped down town in the fashion district and at the alley

went to a Dodger Game - they lost SAD!

went to the Los Angeles mesum of Natural History - I hadn't been since Prom

went to the Beach - with the Boyacks we love the Boyacks and miss them tons!

celebrated my 28th Birthday we had a fun party! (Brian got me a very very sparklie necklace and I am having a hard time not wearing it 24/7)

went to Roscoes, in-n-out, north woods

meet up with friends for Pinkberry

had a hotel getaway (it is always fun to sneak away for a night)

shopped with my mom

put away wedding stuff - a huge task

went to the beach with Hillary and James to take wedding beach pictures

visited the nethercutt car musem - I liked the phantom 4 rolls royce and the silver dusenberg the best.

Now for some pictures!

Me and Stephanie at my birthday!

at the car museum

us posing by old cars

at the natural history museum

Claire our Dodger expert and us!

Claire and I decked out in our Dodger blue... check out the sunset!

Go team go!

Having fun at the game!

WE LOVE L.A.!!!

Hillary & James got MARIED!

2009-08-16T19:28:00.001-07:00

This is a pic I copied from my cousins face book... It is the only one with the bride and groom

Garrett, Brian, Me, and Miss Nevada aka Lauren

You can see the tented ceiling in the background... we did that!

Me and Lauren

Brian and I taking a break from dancing!

We went to home (LA) for my little sister Hillary's wedding. I went out the week before to help my mom and Hillary. We worked hard! Hillary married James Reyes who has pretty much been her boyfriend FOREVER (I think they are going on 8 or 9 years) so he was already like family. We are excited to have another member in our family and My dad, Morgan, and Brian are all excited that there is another guy! The wedding was beautiful, it was well worth our efforts. We loved seeing friends and catching up. I don't have many pictures actually I don't have a single pic of Hillary and James on my camera opps!!! Once I get some I will post more.

Summer FUN!!!

2009-07-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

We went out on the lake the past 2 weekends with Rob and Kimberly. They are pretty much our favorite locals!!! They have a pontoon boat or as they call it a party boat! I thought it was going to be an old man fishing boat but I was so wrong!!! I got a full lake education. I now know about everything from speed boats and lake police to the red neck yacht club (all to boats tie on to each others boats and people go from boat to boat drinking and what not)! We didn't tie up... maybe next time! We rode around the lake then we grilled, played in the water, tubed, and got some sun! I love love love (yep 3 love) doing anything with water so I have been loving playing on their boat! Here are a few pictures.

Brian and Rebel playing lake biologists and exploring the creatures of the lake!!

Me and Kimberly!

Brian Tubing!

Me and my nephew dog Rebel (one cute and fluffy puppy)

Brian feeding ducks... they were eating out of his hands... I was too scared to try!

Sitting on the Boat having fun!

THE SCHOOL YARD SALE

2009-06-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Brian and I have been packing and moving for a while now, umm since March... In all of our cleaning out we had developed quite the junk pile (it took over the garage). So it's no surprise that when the Bunker Hill Elementary School's annual PTA yard sale came around we were EXCITED! We had a ton of stuff to get rid off and were ready to go! Debbie and Dave (Brian's parents) came up to help us! Seeing how neither of us had any yard sale experience we had the bargain site... people jut couldn't believe our prices... and we couldn't believe anyone would pay ANYTHING for our old stuff. The people watching was also entertaining. We set up long side the "other Mrs. Williams" (one of my teacher friends) and together we sold, sold and sold. Our favorite part of the whole event was our view!!!

This was the view... this lady was set up across from us! She was so funny every time we looked over she had less clothing on!

Some teacher friends working hard! The one in the black shirt is a Mrs. Williams too!

Brian looking good!

Me & Miss Becca Grace being silly!

Dave and Debbie supervising! We always have a great time with them!

Secretary of Education at Bunker Hill

2009-05-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to sit on a panel of 6 teachers and 3 parents and talk to the Secretary of education Arne Duncan. Now this isn't the state secretary of Ed... it is the BIG GUY!!!! It was great to voice my opinions, and we all know i have plenty of them, on what is working and what is so not! I hope what we had to say will help Arne make some much needed changes!!!! He is on a tour of 15 states so he may be coming to your state next!

BABY...... FINN HAWLEY

2009-05-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

We have a new nephew! My brother, Morgan and his wife Val had their baby. He is such a cutie and look at all of his HAIR! He was born May 4th! They named him Finn. Brian and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM!!!

Air Show

2009-05-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went to Langley Air Force base when we were down in Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago! Let me just say I'm a pretty GREAT wife because I had a fever and was way sick... but went on These adventures anyway. Dave is retired from the air force... so he has lots of perks perks... and can get us on base. I think he was pretty important and ranked high but I am not and rank expert. All i know is that they salute him when they look at his military ID and that impresses me! Anyway, It was my first air show and I was amazed by how much power the thunder birds have. I kept asking questions trying to figure out how the air show demonstration was like TOP GUN only to find out Top Gun was about the Navy and not the air force. It was disappointing info but I got over it. Brian LOVED watching all of the planes and has already started planing our trip to next years show.

BETH!

2009-05-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Beth was in D.C. for a math conference and I drove to see her. We went on a night tour of the monuments... mostly I talked her ear off!!! It was so fun to see a familiar face and catch up! I wish we could have spent a couple of days together! She is as cute as ever! I miss all of you pony girls!

Fun in Charlotte!!!

2009-03-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

I am soooooo excited to be moving to Charlotte.. there are a million reasons why I think I will love this move! I will spare you all million! Two weeks ago when I was down visiting Brian we did a few of my favorite things...one being shopping... I will be minutes from a mall... the second being going to a sporting event.. this may be a surprise but after growing up going to Dodger games i really developed a love for going to games.... now don't even think about making me watch it on t.v. BORING!!! Anyway, we got to go to one of the many Charlotte teams games... We went to the Bobcats vs Pacers game.. We had a great time!!! Also one of the cheerleaders had the best hair ever!!! I even thought of asking her about what products she uses.. I should have snapped a pic of her..... next game!

MOVING!!!!

2009-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Brian got an offer to go to Charlotte, North Carolina!!! His company wants him there in 2 weeks let me say that again TWO WEEKS on Feb. 16th.... we have so much to do between now and then!!!! We are so excited and we are packing and packing! I am going to stay up here and finish out the school year then head down in June! I think we are about to re-live the weekend visits and teary goodbyes of our cross country dating!

Home Improvement

2009-01-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

The Kitchen Counters and Back Splashes Before....

Brian STARTING to cut into the walls

Ellie helping her Daddy! She doesn't like to stand on the cold tile or hardwoods so she balanced on Brian to keep her paws warm. She spent almost the entire day like this!!!

The new back splashes! The white in the corner is my flash reflecting! What an awesome husband I have to just whip this out in a day!!!!

More Back Splashes!!! By the Sink!!!

Last weekend we decided we and by we I mean Brian would put in full height back splashes and under counter lighting in our kitchen so this weekend we embarked on quite an adventure! Brian cut holes in all of our kitchen walls... cutting holes might be an under statement.... he took a knife and cut huge strips out of the walls. He then did a ton of electrical work and I mostly stood around watching and trying to be helpful. He got the lights in and then it was time to bring in the granite. Granite is to heavy for me so our friend Steven came over the help lift and place the back splashes. They put them in really quickly and Ta-Da.. a new and improved kitchen!!!

CHRISTMAS AT THE HAWLEY HOUSE

2009-01-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

We spent the holidays with my family and boy was it crazy! We had a great time! It was nice to be warm and hard to come back to the 20 degree weather we are having right now! I miss them and it is harder to get on a plane and zip to LA for the weekend now that I live so far away. We were busy, busy, busy! We went to a ton of holiday dinners and parties, did some serious shopping, went to the observatory, cleaned out my parents garage, Brian put a microwave over my mom's oven, we went to the Getty Villa, hung out with our family, went to the Bush's Boxing Day party, played a lot of Rockband, went to the rose parade, and did some more shopping. They opened a Ti-pan 40 minutes from my parents house we went twice! Ahhhh how I miss Ti-pan & Rod Works!!! The pictures are more fun than reading all the details so .... enjoy!

Us with Santa at our family Christmas Eve Party!

Brian being a Shepard in the live Nativity at the Family Christmas eve party

Us at the Long Beach Canals..... Check out the house in the background

Our cute "Normal Family Picture" Emily and Hannah are too cute!

At the Getty Villia in the Gardens

Brian checking out the LA Observatory's Basement

Now this is my kind of shooting star (it was made of 250,000 peices of star shaped jewlery and was a few hundred feet long)

A coyote we saw in Griffith Park. Creepy!!!

Playing at the Carousel it was built in the 1920's! I used to go there a ton when I was little!!!

Christmas Cards

2008-12-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

Since we got married one of the first thing on my holiday list was sending out Christmas cards. When I was little my mom always sent them out and I always loved opening them. It took more work and more stamps than I anticipated but I did love printing the Williams Family on the return labels. Above is our Christmas picture Ellie was not wanting to be in the picture doesn't she look happy!!!

Antietam Battle Field

2008-12-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

The Faculty at my school is really good about keeping me informed on all of the fun local events. I try to experience as many of them as possible! They recommended going to Antietam Battle fields for the 20th annual lighting. I was sure it would be GREAT! So Brian and I headed out for our battle field escapade...

We had been told that there may be a wait... The wait was 2 HOURS!!! Luckily we had eaten a head of time and had plenty of Christmas music. We finally got to the entrance and headed in.. I had no idea it was going to be so amazing. It was worth the 2 hour wait and i would wait that long again. They only do it one night a year because it takes so many candles, and so many volunteers!

If you don't know your history here are a few things you should know. Antietam was the bloodiest battle of the civil war 23,110 solders were killed, injured, or never found after the 9 hours of fighting ( They light a luminary for each of these solders). I thought 23,000 was a lot until I saw 23,110 luminaries burning in the dark all of hill sides were covered. As we were driving a silence fell over us. The feeling of reverence for our country's history and for the lives of all of the civil war solders who lost their lives fighting for their beliefs was really baffling. Even more mind blowing was the thought that that day in September so long ago, each of these luminaries would have been a fallen solders body. You wouldn't have been able to see the ground for miles and miles. We drove threw the battle fields for 1 hour (it took 1 hour to see all of the luminaries). Each turn we took I thought "there cant possibly be another luminaries" and then there would be thousands as far as I could see. If you are ever able to see it Brian and I highly recommend it!!!

THANKSGIVING

2008-12-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

My little sister Claire came and stayed with us for the week before and the week after thanksgiving! We went on tons of adventures.... and we had a GREAT time! Here are a few of our adventures...

Claire

1. Apple orchard- There is this great orchard and farm store by our house it is called Marker-Miller Orchard. It is large this farm place that sells about 50 kinds of apples and all kinds of homemade baked and canned goods. They have the best apple cider EVER! I am kind of addicted to it! So I think everyone who visits needs to go there!!!

2. D.C. - the monuments mesuems ect. - we went to the tomb of the un know soilder and saw the changing of the guard, the white house, the washington and the lincon memorials, the iogima monument, the natural history mesum, the national art mesum and gardens, the pentagon, and the capitol building. We rushed so see as much as we could in one day! It was 19 degrees and we were running all over.... How CRAZY!!!

3. We went to 8 different states (doing touristy things) - West Virgina, Virgina, D.C, Georgia, Tennessee, Pynsilviana, Marlyand, and South Carolina! WOW!

4. We saw all of our Georgia relatives and we ate with all of them. My aunts used to go and stay with my mom when they were in college so this thanksgiving now it was our turn to drive 10 hours just to be with family for a holiday. We stayed with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Stewart and thier 5 kids, Brooke, Parker, Hamilton, Tate, and Eli. We saw graddparents, aunts, uncles, and tons of cousins. They were great and made sure that they made all of our Thanksgiving favorites. Our Aunt Marge made a ton of our faves she even made 2 sour cream puond cakes! I learned my mon makes her stuffing the western way and not the southern way! Mom! We called her and asked why she didn't stay true to her roots! She said it tastes the same!

Claire, Aunt Jo, Grandpa GB, Me, Brian, and Julie

5. We played with our cousins - Brian was a football star! He had tons of funs with all of the boys, there are a lot of them. They played in the turkey bowl, then they continued to play football for hours and hours. By the end of the trip Brian was so sore he could barely walk but he loved playing rough with all of our future spots star cousins! The kids can't wait for thier new cousin Brian to come and visit again.

The uncles, and Cousins playing in the Aunt Linda's Front yard

The Boys striking a pose... Brian was playing in his socks and he wore holes all in them... we laughed pretty hard! Then we were informed that that is why the boys just play barefoot.

6. We shopped- we did some christmas shopping and of course when you get Hawley girls together they stock up on lip gloss. Gotta Love MAC!

7. We made yummy treats - Brian's nick name in my family is "the treat connesour" (He really does love treats that much) and so it is kind of a given that when someone visits from the Hawley family they make him a treat. Claire made him his favorite cookies home made oreos. He even stashed some in the freezer for treat emergencies!

8. We went to a low country Boil - I was a little leary of this family event when my aunt marge asked if we wanted her ot have a low country boil. I have to say it was so much fun! She covered all of her tables including her antique formal dining room tabble in foil and then dumped the food on the table. We had a great time sliding food around with wooden paddles and catching up with our more distant relatives.

9. We went to the varsity!!! Everytime we go to Alanta we have to go to the Varsity at least once it is Atlanta's In-N-Out.

10. We took out Christmas card picture!

We had so much fun having Claire visit and we loved seeing all of our GA relatives!

Williamsburg

2008-11-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

While we were having our early Thanksgiving in Williamsburg we went to William & Mary (the oldest college in the country). We also went to colonial Williamsburg, and the York Town battlefields. . We love walking around and playing the tourist... it is an excuse to do dorky/silly things!

Us goofing off!!! (Leaning to the right)

Brian, Me, Debbie (Brian's Mom)

Brian and I with the founder statue @ William & Mary

Cozying up to Thomas Jefferson in Colonial Williamsburg...it is said to be good luck if you rub his head... You know we did!!!!

Enjoying the fall foliage at the York Town Battle Field

Early Thanksgiving

2008-11-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

We will be in the ATL with my family for Thanksgiving so we decided we needed to have a pre-Thanksgiving with Brian's Mom and Dad! Brian was very excited to have a few of his favorites... Nana's rolls, orange rolls, sweet potato casserole, brown sugar pound cake, mashes potatoes, stuffing, and all the rest of the traditional Thanksgiving food! Debbie taught me how to make some of their family recipes. We had a great time!

Brian driving down to Williamsburg! Ellie sat in his lap the whole drive!

I was being the D.J. on the drive (3 & 1/2 hours)

Brian conferencing with his mom about what he NEEDS her to cook...

Post our scarf fest... now lest go play in Williamsburg!

Brian excited about the 4 bags of rolls that he was going to take home!

SICK SICK SICK

2008-11-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Brian and I have been SICK SICK SICK! He had the flu and I have mono... I thought getting it once and having my spleen almost explode was enough for one girl! How we managed to have separate illnesses is a mystery to me! Anyway, we have been coming home from work, eating dinner and laying on the couch, and SLEEPING! Here are some silly pics we took while we were feeling like Hell! I should have taken a pick every day do document the last 2 weeks of our feeling yucky! Wait they would have all looked the same us on the couch different hoodies! Being sick is not very fun!

We were sicker than we look!!!

Sleeping !

Even when is is sick he is cute!

Domestic!!!

2008-11-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, I had the last Tuesday off and I decided it would be so much fun to stay home and pretend I was pretty much the best house wife ever, (really lets face it, I have mono and am supposed to be resting otherwise I would have gone shopping) While I was making the most of my "resting" I got all of the laundry done, cleaned the house, and even managed to make a gourmet dinner. Yes, I think I would make a great stay at home wife... I could surf the Internet find fancy recipes and spend hours cooking, and decorating, I just might polish silver too . On my domestic day I made sesame seared ahi tuna, (I even made the maranade, and a dipping sauce too), the sides were rice and green beans... but the tuna was DELISH and I Was quite proud of how it turned out because I had my doubts, at first the tuna looked like something I would find in the tide pools!!!

Once it was cooked it looked less like a spotted rock and more like something YUMMY!

Since I have such a great husband he raved and made me feel like I was the chief at a 5 star restaurant. YUM!!!

Halloween!!!!

2008-11-04T05:58:00.000-08:00

Ellie the little Princess!
All of the Trick-or-treaters loved her costume!
Our Mantle all decked out for the spooky holiday!
Us in our Costumes... Princess Bride!!!! Oh Westley!!!

We have been ready for Halloween since the beginning of September! Yep I was a little antsy to but up holiday stuff in our home! Now I am dying to decorate for Christmas!!!! I have to wait until after Thanksgiving!!!

Sky Line Drive

2008-11-04T05:47:00.001-08:00

We bought an annual pass to Sky Line Dr. It is a national park that is 150 miles long and sits atop the Shenandoah Valley. We had a great time looking at animals, I liked the fuzzy caterpillars, Brian liked the deer, seeing the leaves, and having a yummy picnic! I think this beautiful getaway might become a regular on our list!

Tractors, Tractors, Where are the SUV's

2008-11-04T05:10:00.000-08:00

So I was at work and greeting the students as they got to school..I do this every other week it is what I do instead of recess duty...When all of the sudden I had to do a double take I saw a huge red tractor headed my way... More than that there were little boys riding on hay in the trailer being pulled by the tractor!!!! What!!!!! I thought kids were supposed to come to school on buses, or in mini-vans, or maybe a SUV....It is true in Bunker Hill they sometime arrive on tractors! Once I pulled my jaw up to its normal spot I ran to get my camera this was something that needed to be documented!!! It turned out that the kindergarten was having their own stay-cation and instead of doing their normal fall field trip they brought the farm on over... The high school FFA kids brought cows, sheep, goats, kittens, pigs, and puppies, they went on hay rides on the tractor it was intriguing!!!! I would have loved this when I was little!!!!

Fort Monroe

2008-11-04T04:57:00.000-08:00

I love the beach!!!
I was amazed the crabs tail was leathery!!
Being Silly!!!
Brian and I were looking out at Naval Ships!

We went down to Williamsburg and thanks to DAVE (he is retired Air force, I am still learning about the ranking but he was ranked pretty high before he retired!) he got us on to fort Monroe. It has a MOAT... a real MOAT! Yes a fairy tale &castles MOAT! It was actually built to protect against an attack from the sea. It was neat to see houses that Abraham Lincoln stayed in and the cells where they jailed the leaders of the south after the Civil War. It was also fun to listen to stories about all of the rules Dave broke when he was a kid growing up there! I really loved playing with the dead horse-shoe crabs on the beach... I was amazed they were huge! I guess all of my dads tide-pool lessons when I was little paid off!!! We also saw a shark egg... I can't wait for our next Williamsburg adventure!

FLOWERS

2008-11-04T04:47:00.000-08:00

WOW! My life has changed so much...last September the only flowers I was worried about were the ones that got sent to my school! This September I have spent hours worrying about planting flowers in my front yard! I am loving the change! So, I have been reading about fall flowers, digging, fertilizing (eww), and planting! I will have to take some pics and put them up. I am very excited because our yard has some color in it!!! Brian has been very patient with this whole process because he can do anything, its true, he just knows how to do every possible thing I can think of for us to work on and instead of doing it him self (that would have been the quicker and quieter choice) he walked me through the entire thing so I could feel like I did it. AHHH! He really is great! I just hope I don't kill my new project too soon!

Fun WIth The New Family

2008-11-04T04:32:00.000-08:00

We love visiting Brian's Mom & Dave

Brian using his COWBOY skills!!!
They were doing a reinactment... prople were sleeping in these tents on straw!
OUr cute family with one of the guards... The buttons on his uniform were all hand cast and they were IMPRESSIVE!
Ellie and her dad checking out the chicks of long ago!

Brian's mom and step dad live in Williamsburg... it is sooo cool!!! We have gone down a few times to visit and check out some of the many tourist hot spots there.... Ellie even got in on the fun!

Moving

2008-11-04T04:23:00.000-08:00

Brian had to move all of my stuff across country... He came out the last day of the school year!!! As if the last day isn't crazy enough! We filled up a huge 28 foot U-Hal here is a picture of just one of the rooms we unpacked this summer... Luckily Brian's brother (he is cute and single) helped and made the drive with Brian. Then his family came over and helped him unload the truck... Thanks Fam!!!! I think it drove Brian nuts to go from a regular place to a home full of boxes, wedding stuff, and of corse HOME DECOR!!!!! By the way I miss Ti-pan something fierce!!!

The County Fair

2008-10-31T09:26:00.001-07:00

Until August 9^th my only knowledge of the county fair was Charlotte's Web. Brian was shocked I had never been to one, I think they are a big deal in more rural areas or maybe just on the east side of the country, because I NEVER heard of them in L.A. and never went to one in Utah. Well we parked on a giant dirt field and started our approach. I need to provide a little more information so you can fully picture this..1. We just had our car washed before driving onto the muddy field...2. I was wearing a cute little skirt and sandals.... 3.I forgot bug spray...4. Neither of us were wearing anything thing with holes in it or with the sleeves cut off…. We were a little out of place. Now as I am half walking and half prancing because the long grass is tickling my legs and bugs are biting my ankles Brian Points out random blood on the ground near MY feet...YUCK! I don't love seeing large blood spots on the ground. We decided it must be from the animals because we were walking by the large animal pavilion.

We ventured in to look at the animals and do some investigating... I was a little worried that one of them would be bleeding all over the place, lucky there wasn't any more blood. The entire time we were doing this I must have asked 500 questions to anyone and everyone who would answer. "Umm hi I have never been to a fair before.... Why are those pigs slimy? What is over there? Are those kids really going to try and put the slimy pigs in those giant bags? Does it hurt the pigs? Why do they squeal?" I was like a 4 year old who just wont let up on the questioning!! I was amazed by how large the bulls were and I was also amazed that someone put a male and a female sheep in the same pin… that was ummm interesting!

I decided I needed to see more!!! As we walked I kept singing lines from the songs in Charlottes Web... You know the song about the fair after the lights go out that Templeton sings. As we walked I tried not to gawk at all of the pregnant teens and the soon to be pregnant teens. The people were interesting. We even ran into one of Brian's X-girlfriends. This may seem weird but I love seeing who he used to date before we fell MADLY in love, it is entertaining!!!

While we were walking around Brian asked if wanted to see the second place cow. I said YES of course!! He grinned and pointed to a food stand and told me the guy walking by was eating it!!! My face sunk and froze. Suddenly, Brian was laughing hysterically. I felt much better when he promised they weren’t serving the runners-up in the cute cow competition, I refused to eat a burger just incase...

We watched these GIANT tricked-out tractors pull thousands of pounds. This was the most popular event at the fair! We saw trucks doing the same thing. There was even a tractor that had a woman driver. It did not seem like a girlie sport to me but I decided I wanted her to win. I only wanted this because I figured it would really bug all of the men drivers and, I thought that would be funny to watch. Apparently only rich farmers enter these contests because the tractors looked nothing like tractors. They had jet engines attached to them and paint jobs like low riders. I don’t think they plow with those fancy tractors. I did however decide if I ever am in a situation where I have to plow a field I want a hot pink tractor with glitter flames and the words BABY DEER painted on the side (I really saw one like this) it was my favorite one because it was a Jon Deer tractor… I thought it was much more cleaver than the other names. The other ones were all named after hunting asceeories or as I like to call them murder tools!!

We got a funnel cake and a snow cone. It seemed like that was a must. It also made me feel like I was living a Jon Cougar MElencamp song! This was an adventure because I was getting to see a carnie up close!!! Brian had told me that carnies were almost their own breed. While our cake was frying I watched the carnie closely... I swear she picked her nose... Brian said I was imagining things. Then she held the plate against her dirty pants, the food side touching the pants. EWWWW! I only ate to top of the cake. Well while she was making it she was screaming and swearing and talking to a friend of hers. It was then I learned it is the dream of all female Carnies to "Marry a rich man so they can move and live in a big house and never work at another fair". Man OH Man... The fair is better than the best of reality T.V.

This weekend we are going to another fair...Every County has one...I plan on going to as many as possible. It is the best entertainment… I only wish I could bring witnesses…I LOVED it!

Honeymoon

2008-10-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland, Brian had never been and I decided it was a must, and then headed up to the Hawley Family’s favorite place… Carpentaria Beach, It is right next to Santa Barbra. We played in the sun, explored the tide pools and had great fresh seafood! Now every year when we vacay with the Hawley family we will remember our HONEYMOON!

Playing in Santa Barbara...

Playing at the beach...

Playing at Disneyland...

Wedding Wedding Wedding

2008-10-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

More Wedding Pictures...

2008-10-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

More Pictures

2008-10-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

Pictures Of The Wedding

The WEDDING

2008-10-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

We got married on June 21st! Yes, we have been married for a month and change and I am just getting around to doing this!!! We have been busy! On to the wedding . . . It was perfect, except for the heat, it was 105 degrees when we got married (outside) at 5:00p.m. Brian was sweating so much he had to wipe sweat away before he kissed me ok actually; I said umm are you going to de-sweat??? It was funny. We loved having all of our friends and family sweating there with us!! I have about 3,500 pictures... any relatives who’s pics I don't have and read this…. please put them on a CD for me! THANKS! So every detail was exactly perfect . . .a huge relief . . . I am kind of “detail oriented”! Detail oriented is my mom’s nice way of saying an anal stress case!!! My mom is one of those amazing women; you know the ones who can do anything and everything. She, with the help of her inner circle, the G-2 ladies, did the food, decor, set up, flowers, ect. It is only fair to say that all of her friends are amazing too! I will try not to make this too sappy… My favorite moments were walking together as husband and wife back down the Isle, getting more bling, dancing, these last 3 aren’t moments they are just decorations. . . the lanterns (they had antique chandelier crystals wired to them), and the flowers, I also loves the crystals they put on my bouquet, wait 4 things the cake stand and cake!!

Side note on the flowers: I got to go downtown to the flower-mart, for those of you who are not L.A. savvy... the flower mart is a few HUGE warehouses that are open from 4am to 12noon and packed with wholesale flowers. They sell directly to local florists and they ship flowers all over the country to florists. My friend Heidi who was in charge of doing the flowers let me go with her to pick flowers out. I had a grand time walking threw selecting some of the flowers for my big day...

The day after we got married we got all dressed up again and went to the beach to take pictures …. I was changing in and out of my dress in the parking lot at Malibu beach.. It was pretty funny and I am sure it was entertaining to all of the onlookers!

Easter

2008-10-31T04:25:00.000-07:00

Our Engagement Picture Photo Shoot

Our House

I went to check out my new home for Easter and I loved it! The only bad part about going back to visit Brian was the fact that I had to return to Utah ALONE and keep teaching for the next few months. Being there and seeing what lays a head was so exciting! I meet my soon to be friends & family. His sister Jennie took out engagement pictures... Thanks Jennie! We explored the area and I was relieved by a few of the retailers I discovered... Trader Joe's, Baja Fresh, & H&M (to name a few). It was a relief to find out I wasn’t moving to a big barren swampland full of bugs and snakes (this is what my sisters love to tell me live in WV will be like). They are so wrong! This is where I will be moving what a fun house!

We Got ENGAGED

2008-10-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

We got ENGAGED! First of all let me start of by saying that I think I am probably the luckiest girl ever! I am pretty sure I am indebted to Heidi and Shaunna forever.

Friday morning 2 dozen roses were delivered to my school. My friend Sarah brought them into my classroom and stayed for me to read the note. It said, "My Love, I hope these brighten up your day. I will see you sometime very soon". I freaked out wondering how soon very soon was. Brian had told me that he was going to be in some stressful budget meeting and his phone would be off. I started wondering if he might be on a plane and not in meetings. I was then obsessed with asking any and every adult I saw if they thought very soon meant he was on a plane. A few hours later he appeared in my school cafeteria. I was so surprised I hugged and hugged him and children ran up yelling "HI MISS HAWLEY"S BOY FRIEND!” He brought presents for my students, mechanical pencils and little stone information books. My students were very excited and asked him tons of questions like when he was going to marry me, and if we wanted a boy or a girl kid first. He handled it well until they asked him about having twins and if he would like us to be like John and Kate plus 8. His face was priceless!

When my class went home we headed to my house so I could shower and change out of my oh so sexy Farnsworth Elementary sweatshirt. He had been telling me my ring would not be ready for weeks and weeks. I was thinking he just flew out to surprise me he is so sweet that he would do something like that. I wasn’t very suspicious of any thing but I had to check every compartment in his rental car just to be sure! I didn't find anything! He told me I had an hour and a half to get ready. It takes me a long time to do things with my limited mobility (crutches). I was ready early this is kind of shocking if you know me. We headed out to a mystery Italian restraint that turned out to be Spencer’s Steak and Chop House. If you haven’t been there I recommend it! It was very romantic! He had reserved a corner booth in the back that was very private. At this point I was still 90% sure that he wasn't going to pop the question. We had a delicious and leisurely dinner. I even thought Brian’s hands were shaking because he hadn’t eaten all day!

After dinner he asked what I wanted to do. I replied by saying that I wanted to get engaged. Ha I didn’t know I was really about to! We headed to some place he wanted to check out. This place just happened to be the Grand America Hotel. Once we got there I was about 50% sure he WAS going to ask. We went up o the top of the hotel and in the room were 3 dozen red roses in a vase that was hand painted with matching glasses. The glasses said true and love. He is so thoughtful! The room overlooked all of Salt Lake and had a beautiful view of the snow covered mountains. It was so romantic. We sat down and talked and smooched and talked some more. After changing the topic away from us getting married a couple of times he asked if I wanted to be his wife. I was like, yes are you thinking I don’t want to be? Then he smiled got on one knee and pulled out a beautiful yellow ring box with an even more beautiful ring in it. He asked if I would marry him and be his wife. I gushed a YES, shed some happy tears, and kissed and kissed him!

I was so excited to marry him! I couldn’t wait to be his cute little wife! He was definitely worth the wait because I really don’t think there could be anyone who is more perfect for me!

CHRISTMAS AT THE HAWLEY HOUSE

2008-10-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Christmas was a little crowded Mom, Dad, Me & Brian, Morgan & Valerie, Hillary & James, Claire, and Katie...wait my grandma Zola was here a lot too! That is a lot of people to squeeze into my parents house. It was fun to have my brother and his wife Val here it was their first Christmas with us since they got married. I loved having the family all together!!

I was a little worried that my family would be too much fun and excitement for Brian but he handed them with ease! On a more shocking note my family loved him! I think this is a first for the Hawley’s usually at least one-person hates who I am dating. Yes! There have been times when they all hated who I was dating. (Maybe some of you remember this) I was very relived that Brian fit in so well since I had planned on keeping him around! We went to all of our holiday parties, shopped, snuggled, ate and ate and ate, I showed him the alley, we went to the canals in long beach, and we even got brave enough to say I LOVE YOU! My favorite part of him being there was the day we went and looked at sparkly jewelry, the kind that goes on your left ring finger!!

Foot Surgery

2008-10-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

I had foot surgery in December. I got in a car accident 9 years ago and as a result my ankle is fused. It always hurt a little but in October that changed. I was on a date and took a step, I yelped, almost fell over, and then cried. I could handle the pain but the embarrassment of squealing from the pain in public not a chance. I made an appointment the next day. When I went in the Doc said he could fix it but he had only done similar surgeries a hand full of times (as if I wasn’t nervous enough!)

This is what the doc did….

1. They cut off my heel

2. They cut threw the bone in the joint that was fused when I was 17.

3. They cut 1 in x 1 1/2 in of bone out of my hip

4. They took my hip bone and stuck it in my ankle joint

5. They fused it, this means they screw it all together until the bones heal and the joint won’t move.

6. They screwed my heel back on.

It hurt like HELL & all I did was whine about missing Brian to the nurses, doctors, and everyone who came to visit!

Thanksgiving

2008-10-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Brian and I spent Thanksgiving together with his family (his family is so much fun) and it was perfect! After our romantic trip to the Teton’s and Jackson Hole we both hung up our player shoes. We knew we were in trouble, I think this is how people over the age of 25 view falling in love with some one on the other side of the country…. TROUBLE but were loving it! I don’t think either of us stopped smiling the entire time. We went on a 4-wheeler ride and I got to wear the official Fed-Ex artic gear. Thank you Jared! By the time I took him to the airport we decided he would come out for Christmas and meet my family! We were moving fast but hey we were deep in like!!! We were both way to stubborn to admit we were in LOVE quite yet!

How We Met

2008-10-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Heidi (my friend) and Shaunna (Brian’s sister-in-law) set us up last August. We emailed and talked on the phone for a couple of months and then finally Brian came out to visit. He was really coming out to visit his family & kill animals (he says its “hunting”), meeting me was just a bonus. Our first date we went out-to-dinner and then went over to Heidi & Mike’s for a visit, and so Heidi could meet Brian and tell me her opinion. She is a great matchmaker and has married off quite a few teachers, which is why when I was playing with Kennedy in the other room she asked Brian how many kids we wanted to have! By the end of the night we had made plans for our 2^nd date. The next night we went to one of Utah’s famous haunted houses. We used our fear as an excuse to stay VERY close!!! A lot of screams and a few smooches later he took me to meet his family they were not scary at all… yep I meet the fam on our 2^nd date!!! By the end of our 2nd time seeing each other we were both pretty giddy but I played it cool! He started asking about my Plans for Thanksgiving and couple of days later we decided I should go to Jackson Hole with him and spend the holiday with his family!