This weekend Luke and I went to Las Vegas to visit Luke's family and to watch General Conference. While there, I was slightly reprimanded for my lack of blogging. So here I am... blogging. The only problem is, I don't have much to say.
Our life is pretty consistent right now. Nothing's new- no big news or changes. We're just enjoying the hustle and bustle of our every day lives, which consist of work, church, and school (for me). Luke and I enjoyed a wholesome conversation last night as we drove home from Vegas about how we feel we're always looking forward to the next best thing, and putting all of our energy and efforts into that-- aka a vacation, or saving up for the day we can buy a house, or when we're finally ready to start a family-- and while those are great things to look forward to, we forget to appreciate the "now" stage. Our life is so great the way it is right now- just me and Luke- and although we're thrilled about the idea of growing old together and all the events that will happen in our future, we decided to look forward to the future with just as much enthusiasm as we have for our present stage.
So- while it's not anything exciting and new- I'm grateful to be a 21 year old ( almost 22) girl happily married to the 25 year old man that I get to live a simple every-day life with. And I'll proudly blog about it :) cheers.

On another note- I am working on having a change of heart. For any of you who would like to know the secret to a happy, selfless lifestyle, read the book Bonds That Make Us Free by C. Terry Warner. It's incredible. Of course having a change of heart and being truly selfless and seeing others' worth is not easy and doesn't come simply by reading this book, but it really does open your eyes to how you can become the kind-hearted person you want to be (if you do indeed want to be a kind-hearted person. I suppose some people might not....?) Anyways, if you're looking for an eye-opening book, this is a great one and I suggest you read it (all you 3 people who might possibly read my blog).

<3

10 Days of Valentines

For the past 10 days I have felt like Hilary Swank in the movie "PS I Love You", except it's been even better because my husband is very much alive. Last Friday I got my first of 10 Valentine's gifts. I was greeted by:

and:

.
And this was just the beginning. Every day my sweet Valentine gave me a gift- big or small. The gifts varied from items of clothing, to roses delivered to me at work, to a simple walk on the beach. He had every day planned out to the T, and made sure I felt special every single day.

Luke and I haven't really been very good at celebrating holidays. We usually exchange simple gifts on V-Day but don't really go all out. We didn't even do anything for our FIRST year anniversary, which I thought was a big deal, but we were so busy moving into our new apartment that the event kind of slipped unnoticed. However, Luke made sure this Valentine's did not go unnoticed. He was so sweet and loving and selfless, and I'm so happy to have such a loving husband.

After the 10 days leading up the V-day, we decided to spend the actual day relaxing. I did not have to work so Luke took the day off to spend it with me. We enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive along the coast and did a bit of shopping.



Thanks babe! Love you. Hope you all enjoyed your V-day as much as I did :)

I'm An Aunt.... Again!

Today I became the proud aunt of THIS little beauty:
Oh how I just want to squeeze her. She looks perfect. I heard her cry on the phone today, and even her little cry is perfect. I cannot wait to see her and hold her and give her some loves tomorrow.

Baby, Mom & Dad are all doing well.
Congrats Hen & Jared! We love you, Oakden Family :)

Well What Would YOU Do if You Were Getting Kidnapped?

A few weeks ago Luke was in Texas on a business trip with his boss (whom we will call Jack). He was to be gone from Mon- Wed. It was Tuesday night. I had gone to mutual after being at work all day long and then had a Presidency meeting after mutual, so it wasn't until 10:00 pm that I was finally on my way home for the day and got to call my hubby and say hello- which meant it was midnight there in Texas. The convo went something like this:
Me: Hi hun. What are you doing?
Luke: Nothing, just got back to the hotel.
Me: Um... isn't it midnight there? Why were you out so late?
Luke: I went shopping with Jack.
Me: Shopping? What could you guys possibly be shopping for at midnight?
Luke: Just stuff, I don't know.
Me: I don't get it. What kind of stuff did you get?
Luke: Just random stuff.
Me: Okay you're being super sketchy right now. I'm going home and taking a shower and I'll call you before I go to bed.
So I got home, LOCKED the front door and LOCKED the bathroom door (because I'm paranoid like that when Luke's not home), and jumped in the shower. A few minutes into my shower I realize the shampoo bottle is empty so I slide the shower curtain back and reach out to the near-by cabinet to get a new bottle. Just as I grab the bottle I hear the bathroom door handle shaking. Someone was trying to get in! I freeze. A second later I see the door handle twist and the door opens. I seriously don't think I have ever screamed so loud in my life! And never for so long before either; it took a good 10 straight seconds of screaming before my brain realized that the intruder was none other than my loving husband who had returned home from his trip a day early and wanted to surprise me, but ended up terrifying me to death instead.
Now that got me to thinking that:
1. My bathroom door is obviously very easy to pick and I'm not sure I'll even bother locking it from now on because someone can still get in whether it's locked or not.
2. I'm glad my husband isn't really "sketchy" and was really only a few miles away from coming home to me when he said they were "shopping".
3. I need to work on my self defense skills because, honestly, if that were a true kidnapper I would have been stuffed in a bag and hauled into someone's car in .2 seconds. I did nothing but scream!! That's so lame! (Of course I'm glad now that I didn't do anything other than scream because it was Luke, and I wouldn't want to hurt him... but I DO want to hurt a real kidnapper if the time ever came and obviously I am HIGHLY incapable.


But seriously... What would YOU do if you thought you were getting kidnapped?

Luke and I had a great Holiday break! Both of our bosses let us take a whole week off from work, so we were able to spend a lot of valuable time together, with Luke's family, and with friends.

We spent Christmas in Vegas with Luke's family. We got spoiled with a lot of great gifts and enjoyed our time playing games, talking, and watching videos of previous Christmases in the Stephenson home.



During our time in Vegas we also did a little site-seeing and visited Red Rock Canyon, which I had never even heard of before, but is super cool. Next time we're in Vegas I'm definitely going to bring my tennis shoes so we can climb around instead of just watching everyone else.



After 5 days in Vegas Luke and I started our trek to Utah for our friend's wedding. We got caught in the worst snow storm either of us had ever seen, and both got extremely sick from hanging out the window and snapping the frozen ice off our windshield wipers. I was so looking forward to being back in Utah visiting our friends, playing games and hanging out but Luke and I were so sick we were hardly able to enjoy anything. I swore I would take a ton of pictures over our break, but sadly being sick really made me lose any motivation I had to take any. Sadly this is one of the only pics I took while in Utah. This was while we were outside the Draper temple waiting for Nate & Liz to come out. We were beyond freezing.



We spent New Years Eve at with some of our friends and their family playing games.

Since being home Luke and I have both made our goals for 2011 and took some time to reflect on the good/ bad of 2010. Ultimately we both agree that we have had a year of many blessings. We love being here in San Diego with great jobs, awesome friends, a nice apartment, and each other. We have loved taking this adventure and exploring this new place together. We loved 2010 and can't wait to see what 2011 holds!

Not gonna lie... Lately I have been missing this:

Christmas time in Utah. Christmas hasn't really felt like Christmas for a few years now... it's just not the same when you're all grown up. But somehow Christmas time still felt Christmasy the past 3 years I spent in Utah. I'm sure the crisp winter weather had a lot to do with that, and although that's all I ever complained about when I lived in Utah ( and I still wouldn't trade the SD weather for Utah's weather in a million years), it did have a way of making "it look a lot like Christmas". The snow, Christmas lights, late night runs to 7-11 for hot chocolate, and gingerbread house competition with friends definitely made the cold winter days bearable. This time of year makes me reminisce on the fun wintery things Utah has to offer. I'm actually excited to visit the good old state of Utah in a few weeks for New Years. Luckily, though, I only have to endure the freezing cold for a few days rather than the 8 months I used to have to go through. Yay!

On a side note- Did any one else think the latest Harry Potter movie was a major let down? Luke and I thought it was dumb- we were definitely not impressed.

When I Thought My Husband Died.

This past Saturday was my sister's baby shower, so I went to LA for the day to join in on the celebration. Meanwhile I left the Mr. at home. Throughout the day I wondered what he was up to and how he was doing, but never heard from him, so I figured he just wanted me to enjoy the morning with my mom and sisters without interrupting me. By 1:00pm I thought it was strange that I hadn't even gotten a "How's it goin'" text and decided to text him and see what he was up to. No response. A few mins later texted him again. No response. Luke knows that I freak out if I don't hear from him after two texts. No response= he's dead.

So I called him, left a voicemail, and texted him some more. (Good thing I'm his wife, otherwise my persistence would have been super stalker-ish) I tried to not let it worry me and just enjoy my time with my family. Kendra had an AMAZING baby shower with so many fun friends, great food, and tons of gifts. Then us girls and Jared went out to lunch and did a bit of shopping on 3rd Street Promenade. All the while I had not heard from my boy. The time came for me to say goodbye and head back to Carlsbad, so I got in my car and drove back a little too quickly, hoping that within the next two hours he would call. No such luck. 2 hours later (and a lot of terrifying thoughts of what I would do without Luke) I pull into my apartment complex. As soon as I get to the gate of the complex I get his call. He left his phone in the car all day on accident and didn't even realize it. He was laughing hysterically at all the "Where are you?" "Are you okay?" texts and the "I hope you're not dead" voicemail. I, on the other hand, did not find it very comical. What would I do w/o my hubby? IDK... But at least I don't have to think about it anymore, because he is very much alive and I am very happy about that.

Me and the pregnant woman herself.

While I'm posting pics, this is me and Luke over Thanksgiving break at the fish hatchery- one of my Dad's favorite places....

Luke and I got box tickets for a Clippers vs the New Orleans Hornets game. It was so much fun!