A Parking Story

Let me tell you a story.

I'm awful at parking.

While dating, Taylor used to laugh at me and my parking skills (or complete lack thereof).

But Taylor has realized that it's come to the point that "laughing about it" isn't cutting it anymore.

So, he has resorted to re-teaching me how to park.

I pretty much get a little lesson every time we are about to park.

I act like I'm really paying attention and really focused on his parking lectures, but secretly, I am holding back my laughter until he gets out of the car. 

Because really...how ridiculous is this situation?

I am 21 years old, and my husband is teaching me how to park a car.

 And the saddest part?

I desperately need these lessons.

Don't believe me?

Take a look for yourself:

Taylor is trying to measure how far away I was from the curb....ha.

New day....same parking problem.

Taylor reparking the car.

I don't have a picture of trying to park in a parking lot.

But just imagine this little scene:

Taylor holding his breath and saying, "Think skinny thoughts, think skinny thoughts" every time he tries to get out of the car.

A debacle that usually lasts a good minute or two, because he is being so careful not to hit the car next to us with his door.

I tend to park very close to the car on the right-hand side of us.

Whoops. Sorry, Tay.

Oh, and look what I have:

A video of Taylor teaching me how to park so that he has enough room to park his truck behind my car.

Enjoy!

The theme of this little saga?

I am awful at parking.

And Taylor is significantly embarrassed.

The end.

August 6th

On August 6th, 2011, Taylor Ray got down on one knee and asked me a question I was so excited to say "yes" to.

The cute boy had me completely fooled.  I thought for sure, I would know when he was going to propose.  But he did such a good job at fooling me the entire day!

I'll have to have a blog post dedicated to that story.

See here for more details on our love story :)

Taylor proposed to me at the beautiful Stewart Falls.  We decided after we got engaged, that we would make it a tradition to hike Stewart Falls every year on August 6th.  No matter where we are in life, no matter what state we may be living in, I plan to take a trip to Utah to hike Stewart Falls on August 6th, until my limbs are too weak to make the memory-filled hike.

Here are pictures of Taylor and I celebrating our one year engagement anniversary at the top of Stewart Falls.  There was no one around to take a picture of us, so we struggled taking a good phone picture of the two of us together. But, here are our best attempts:

You know you spend too much time with someone when you make the exact same face, completely on accident, in a picture!

Hi, pretty ring!

Taylor's showing off his muscles...I'm just pointing to the waterfalls. Haha

Thanks, husband.

Don't really know what's happening here, but this one made me laugh.

Look closely... see that water bottle in the brush? Taylor and I joked that this was the same water bottle that I dropped from excitement after he proposed.  Ha...it very well might be! (see video at the end of this post and watch for the water bottle drop!)

As we were huffing while hiking, Taylor jokingly turned to me and said, "Why didn't I propose to you on a wave-runner?"

I could not stop laughing after that.

He told me that after years and years of hiking this, our future boys would ask him (in their best whining voices), "Dad, why did you have to propose to Mom at the top of a mountain?"

And Dad will reply, "So I could teach you how not to propose. I did it for you, boys."

Haha...even though he joked about it, we both loved every second of reliving such a beautiful memory. :)

Here is the video of that special day one year ago :)

Dear husband, Thank you so much for proposing to me. Thank you for giving me the most beautiful ring. Thank you for being my very best friend and eternal companion through this life. Thank you for making me want to be a better person every day. I love you.
"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." -Emily Bronte

Can't get enough!

I visited M, T, and baby Jack again at the hospital yesterday.

My goodness, that babe is cuuute!

I just can't get enough of him!

Here are some more pictures that I love:

I already love you to pieces, Jack!

So happy for this little family.

xoxo

the fourth.

And here's the video.

(call me lame, because I didn't get pictures or videos of the fireworks. the most important part!)

Happy birthday, America.

You are one beautiful country.

And we sure do love you.

Until next year...

Giant Jenga + Some

Taylor and I had such an awesome weekend.  

On Friday, we got to tour the Jerusalem set in Utah, where movies like this are being filmed.  It was built just over a year ago, so very few have seen it (plus, you have to know someone involved to get a tour), so we felt very lucky to have the opportunity! Thank goodness that Papa Gilbert seems to have all of the connections.  I took some awesome pictures, but no pictures are allowed to be posted until the filming is complete.  I figured I should obey the rule. ;)

On Saturday, I came home to find this:

When my diploma came in the mail, Taylor hid it until he could buy some frames to surprise me.  Good thing I didn't even think to wonder why my diploma hadn't come yet.  This put a huge smile on my face for three reasons:

1. I have a DIPLOMA from BYU! It feels awesome.

2. My husband was so proud of me (once again) for accomplishing this, and he told me over and over again. That felt great. :)

3. My sweet husband is always thinking of cute ways to make me happy.

SO much good food was had this weekend.  My favorites consisting of Outback and Red Robin.  We're still trying to plow through the massive amounts of giftcards we received from our wedding.  And we're still so grateful...because we had great excuses to eat at yummy places all weekend long (and for the past eight months)!

The Gilbert sibs at Red Robin.  The picture was for Ms. Kelsey Briggs, because we all miss her.  ...She's pretty much a Gilbert in our minds.

This weekend also consisted of a lot of giant jenga.  How awesome is this?

And, see videos to appreciate the greatness of it all:

hiya=favorite part ;)

And last, but not least...well, actually it probably deserves to be least, here are my faces while waiting for Taylor to finish getting ready for church on Sunday. 

All in all, our weekend was great.

No rhyme or reason

This weekend was wonderfully relaxing.  Taylor and I were able to spend a lot of time together cuddling, watching Netflix, eating good food, and being with family.   Last night, we went spent time with Marci and Tom (sister and brother-in-law).  We ate a yummy dinner (thanks, Marce!), played games, and had yummy ice-cream/cookie sandwiches. Yum.

The pictures (and video) associated with this post are a little random.  But, please enjoy nonetheless.

Taylor was craving Mongolian BBQ on Friday.  So we left work an hour early and went to fulfill his cravings.  It was so delish.  I'm already wanting to go back! It was an all-you-can eat again, so once again, I was done after one plate, while Taylor had about five more after that.

Oh hey, remember that picture I promised?  Here is the dress on:

Creepy eyes...but I'm loving this fun zebra dress.

I found this video on Taylor's ipod.  It was the first time I had ever seen it, and it made me giggle a little.  This was actually the same day that we got ENGAGED.   I'm excited to tell that story soon.  With all of its glorious little details.  What do you think? 

Anyways, background on the video: I was smelling some perfumes at Bath&Body Works.  I ran out of room to spray them on my arms, so this is what I resorted to.  Apparently, Taylor thought it was funny enough to video.

This is going to be a busy week for me.  I'm hosting dear sister's baby shower this weekend, so lots of preparing this week! I am excited!

 Enjoy your Monday!