Surviving School

I can't even believe that we have been in school 3 weeks, or that Keiton and I have been married over a month, or that we haven't washed away in the crazy rain that has hit Utah!!  Balancing two schedules of work and school have turned us into zombies but these past 3 weeks have been crazy busy, crazy fun.

In my design and assessment class our teacher started off by showing us the Mormon Message "Create" by President Uchtdorf (the link is there check it out!)  It is a really good clip about how all of us have the capability to create.  Then my teacher asks everyone how do you create?? I was thinking, shoot, I definitely am not a creator I don't do anything "wifey" or "artsy".  After reading the talk by President Uchtdorf my mind changed.  Pres Uchtdorf said ANYONE can create, he said it is a principle that if we apply in our life, will help us find the path to peace, hope and joy, who doesn't want that right?  Our Heavenly Father is the perfect example of creativity and as His children we have that same potential. President Uchtdorf said "as you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."  So I have been thinking about it the past few weeks, how can I create and honestly I was surprised that creating isn't for Super Women that we do it all the time.  It can be as small as create a positive attitude in your life by how you react to things, create a pattern of expression gratitude, create and strengthen friendships in your life and the list goes on and on.

Here are some of the great memories that we have created throughout the past few weeks.

We got to put that tool set to work as we put together a TV stand and table with 4 chairs and 2 benches.  We were up all night putting everything together, it looked like RC Willey had thrown up in our living room.

The after picture :)

New job at the BYU Preschool!!!  

In preschool we are starting a fall unit, I got to cut leaves off trees  and turn them into pain brushes, hope it works out because last time after painting I ended up with paint in my hair, in my ring and all over my shirt. . . 

These are just a few of our Pintrest successes! Braided pizza and hamburger wraps.

Awesome tickets to BYU's amazing game!! Thank you Dan and Kim!! We got to go with Dan, Kim, my dad, Emily and Jenny! It was one of the best nights ever!!!

New family tradition! Setting up an air mattress on the weekends and watching our favorite shows, then going on a fry and Mcflurry run at midnight :)

Our favorite drink at Soadalicious the "AK Special" <3

"The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create." President Uchtdorf.

Seven Days in Paradise!

We had a lot of fun with our friends and family at the luncheon!  When it was over I was expecting to go back to our apartment in Provo but Keiton being the sneaky romantic that he is had a few surprises up his sleeve.  When we got in the car he asked if I wanted to go on an adventure, to fly to Neverland and that's when the adventures started!

We ended up in Midway (our favorite town) where we stayed in a really nice resort!

The next morning we left super early to fly to California! Where we spent a week in paradise and had SO much fun!

We hopped off the plane at LAX!  We stayed in Longbeach before we got on our cruise!

We went on a four day Carnival cruise! It was four days of all you can eat everything, sun, laughs, and so much fun! We got to be adventurous and try shark, alligator, frog legs and snails-- surprisingly we loved all of it. We got to spend a day on Catalina Island where we rented a golf cart and rode all around the island and down to the beach!

Then we got to spend a day at Ensenada Mexico.  We got authentic Mexican tacos, SO GOOD!! When we were walking around all the vendors kept yelling out "Hey! we have a BYU discount!" or "Hey we're friends of Mormons- 50% off"  We thought it was so funny they could just look at us and know we are LDS, maybe it is the fact we were dressed modestly or the fact that two young kids were on their honeymoon.  My favorite was our tour guide, as soon as he saw us he said "newlyweds?" "Yep!" "Utah?" "haha yeah!" and then he asked "how many kids do you want?" haha I joked around and said "at least 9 or 10" then we were best friends with Alejandro the rest of the trip! 

After we had eaten all the cruise had to offer we got off and spent a relaxing day in Longbeach and the magic continued when the next day we went to DISNEYLAND!! 

Being in the happiest place on earth with my prince charming was the most magical Disney experience EVER!! 

The 60th celebration was AMAZING! Diamonds everywhere, electric parade, World of Color, and the fireworks!

Our week in California was a blast, it was the best week EVER! There were no stresses just me and my best friend laughing so hard and living the dream! It was a week of bliss and we are loving living out our happily ever after together!!

Our Best Day EVER!

People always say to enjoy everything that goes on during your wedding and just soak it in because something is bound to go wrong.  .  . I thought that was a myth.  Especially with how great our day started I thought we could avoid the calamities that supposedly always happen.  So our day was off to a great start, Keiton found out he passed his language exemption text and got 16 credits of Lithuanian for his transcript, blessings of working hard on a mission!!  I interviewed at the BYU preschool and found out that I got the job!!  So we were so happy and off to a good start!

Luckily our only wobbles happened before the reception started.  They were little things like: my earring wouldn't go into my ear because my ear had closed over so, my cousin Whitney put her cold hands on my ear and numbed them as she repierced my ear (successful parent trap moment):  one of the bridesmaids was really late, delaying all of the pictures, finally she came and we had to change the location of the pictures because of time, we also took groomsmen pictures without Keiton's brother-in-law, and started the line without his dad. . .

However, the reception itself was absolutely perfect! Everything was exactly what I always dreamed it would be!  Flowers, lights, pictures, maple bars, purple everywhere, beautiful cake, dancing, and lots of good treats (too bad we never got to taste any).  It was a blast to share the night with our friends and family  and we are so grateful for those that came! We definitely are blessed with amazing people in our lives :)

It was a surprise when we walked out and saw how Keiton's brothers, the groomsmen and brdiesmaids trashed our car.  We got to clean that mess in the pouring rain and poor Keit was cleaning the inside until 1:30 in the morning :/

That made our early morning come really fast and before I knew it there was a knock on our door.  My heart started to race as I opened it and saw Keiton standing there with a huge smile o his face!  With that we were off to the temple! It was perfect! Every single minute of it.  Being in the temple surrounded by our closest friends and family was one of the most incredible experiences ever.  It was the most beautiful moment of my life and it made absolutely everything leading up to that moment worth it!  We became official for all time and eternity <3 together forever!!! I am so grateful for the gospel and that I have the amazing opportunity to be with my best friend FOREVER!!!

I decided it’s time!. . . I have always wanted to get into blogging and now with the wedding around the corner and all our crazy adventures to come, I figured this is a good way to stay connected with our friends and family that are spread out all over the country. So here you go. . .  here’s our story <3

It’s crazy just how busy life can get! Right now, I am working full time and trying to get everything ready for August 8th and we are up to our heads with purple decorations,literally!  The “wedding room” has exploded making it the “wedding house.” Picture frames, lanterns, center pieces, fabric, you name, it if it’s purple it’s in the Monroe’s home right now ;) It’s in the heart of this craziness that I have to take a step back and think about just how blessed I really am!  So I am going to go back-- reflect just a little bit on mine and Keiton’s story and how we got to where we are today!

We are both BYU students and we met at the wonderful Alta apartments!  On Sunday evenings our ward has ward prayer, or “ward stare” as Keiton likes to call it, ya it’s as weird and awkward as it sounds. . . But hey it worked for us!  That was the first time we met. Keiton sat by me and my cousin Kelsey and invited us to his apartment for a game night.  It must have been a pretty good night because the next week he asked me on our first date.  It was a classic BYU date, bowling, pool, pop ‘n sweets but it’s ok I’ve forgiven him for that because we had SO much fun and we stayed up pretty much all night just talking and laughing.  Things kind of took off from there.  We started going on “adventures” every night when we would get home from class.  All of the sudden we weren’t just going on dates at night, we started spending all day together too- lunch dates, study dates we even took a road trip to Manti.  It was happening, as much as I tried to deny it at first, we were falling in love!


It happened so fast and so naturally, it was like I couldn’t even remember what my life was like without Keiton in it.  My whole life changed forever when Keiton picked me up on April 10th, I thought we were just going on a picnic with his brother Aaron, sister-in-law Kayle and their kids.  We drove to Midway and found a beautiful bridge with lights all over, we had a few minutes to kill before they would get there, so Keiton and I locked a lock on this bridge and threw the key into the water, right then the lights turned on and “Thinking Out Loud” started playing.  I was so surprised when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! Hands down the best surprise EVER!!

We are just so excited for August 8th! I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the entire world because not only do I get to marry my best friend in the entire world but I am seriously marrying the most amazing guy EVER! I am so grateful that through the Priesthood Power families can be together FOREVER!!!! Knowing that makes me the happiest girl <3