Birthday Babe

 

Todd woke up this morning to me calling him on the phone asking him if he would pretty please come downstairs. I had hung this banner the girls and I made at work last night, and was standing in the living room strapped in to the new wakeboard I got him. He looked so cute in his jammies, half awake half asleep. He was like a kid coming down the stairs on Christmas. He had NO idea I what I was getting him. Which was SUHWEET cause every year he always seems to know what I am getting him—pesky little bugger checks the stupid online bank statement everyday. The bamboozlement of surprise was even more of a reaction than I had hoped. We had big plans to eat at VI for breakfast, but he was the cutest and told me that he would rather fall asleep beside me instead of going to breakfast (I had just got done working all night). After 4 short hours we stopped napping and went and had a Birthday lunch. Of all the fabulous places in Salt Lake, he wanted In-N-Out. He said since it was his birthday he was going to splurge and get the double-double. Big Spender… I know. Unfortunately we both had to be grown ups and go to work after that-frowny face. But he came and spent an hour with me at work tonight, we walked to the Primary Children’s cafeteria and got a slice of cheesecake and pretended I made it for his birthday. Wow, we are so awesome it blows my mind.

P.S I have moved 27 days of Todd to the bathroom mirror, a much more appropriate place for some of the things I have to write.  

Happy Birthday Babe!

Boy are you in for a treat today!!! Multiple treats actually...can't wait to get this blasted night shift over and open your presents. Get stoked, very stoked.

Todd the Mayor

Something I admire about Todd is he makes friends so easily and keeps friends forever. I thought I would never meet anyone that knew as many people as my Dad. It used to bug me like crazy that wherever we would go it would take us hours to leave because my Dad was always talking to someone. Welp, I think Todd might almost have my Dad beat. Last week at the 4th of July parade in Rexburg people that I grew up with would come talk to Todd, not to me-- to Todd. I kept saying, how do you even know these people? They are MY people. Everyone Todd meets becomes his person. We always joke that Todd is running for town mayor, if he see's someone he knows he will always go shake their hands, or give them a hug and ask about their kids, or their parents. I am more the type to pretend like I didn't see the person and keep walking. Todd told me the other day that he could tell me the names of all 132 people in his graduating class. Wow. I love that people are drawn to him and I love that he makes everyone feel like they are old friends. I have ALOT to learn from that.

Apologies to those who don't want to hear about Todd for the next 26 days. Tough luck. This is one of his birthday presents.

27 Days of Todd

        I love this picture because you can tell we are both smiling. Todds 27th birthday is right around the corner. I wanted to write down something I love about Todd, or Todd and I every day. Today I was remembering when my obsession with Todd Holman began. It actually started before our first kiss, but our little kiss in the rain sealed the deal. We had been hanging out NON STOP for 2 weeks before Todd kissed me, or I kissed him... we are not exactly positive which was which. It was 11:30 p.m on a weekday and it was time for me to go home from Bryces house (I was only 17 and had a curfew--lame). I HATED that nights ever had to end. So in attempt to stretch our hang out a little longer I called him after I got in my car and asked him if he knew where any good puddles were because it was raining like crazy. He said "ya follow me." So I drove in my car and followed him to a little intersection right behind the Sugar Salem High School. Todd stopped in the middle of the road and got out of his car and came back to my window. He said something to the effect of "well, we are here,something something something" that I don't remember then mid sentence he kissed me... or I kissed him. One of us went 90 and the other went 10, we can't agree on who actually pulled the trigger. Then he pulled me out of the car to jump in the puddles. So with our headlights beaming on us and the rain pourin down we jumped around in puddles, we kissed, we danced, we laughed until Todd reminded me that I probably should go home. I hurriedly jumped in my car and pushed the "2" on my speed dial to tell Kim that he had finally kissed me. Todd just told me a few weeks ago that he called his best friend right up to tell him too. Apparently, Bryce wasn't near as excited as Kim. I think I knew that night that I was going to marry Todd Holman. While he was on his mission I got confused for a minute, but really I always knew. Babe, here's to an eternity of kissing in the rain.

Sunday Walks

   

         I am convinced that I grew up in the most beautiful place on earth. Most Sundays in the summer and fall around sunset you will find my family walking around what we call “the circle'.” This is a little road that winds through trees and fields and around the river where we live. The boys are always throwing a football back and forth and my parents are always holding hands. I have so many great memories of skipping rocks, racing my brothers or riding on their backs. On one of the trails Hilary and Dan have their initials carved into a tree and on another trail  there is a spot where Todd and I spent an hour or two kissing in the woods while we were dating. I LoVe and miss everything about our Sunday walks. Last week was especially awesome because lots of my brothers and sisters were there so we had quite the crew. The weather was perfect and the sunset was beautiful. I hope so much that wherever Todd and I settle down there is a place like this to go with our little family. 

Sweet Serenity

One of those beautiful moments when life is perfect.

Vegas- Girls Style

          Last week we took a little girls trip to Vegas to celebrate one of my BF Jenna's 25th birthday. The lineup included Me, Kim, Jenna, Mallory, Haily and Heather. I had worked 60 hours the week before the trip and I was SOO tired, ya know the tired where you can't stop laughing and everything is the funniest thing you've ever heard--tired. I was this tired the whole weekend, which just made everything that much more fun. I haven't laughed till I cried so much in such a short period of time I don't think ever. The trip started out awesome with us girls packed into the most uncomfortable two door car ever made, jammin to the Spice Girls. Topics included...well never mind probably shouldn't blog those topics. Then we arrived and immediately unpacked and headed for the pool where a man acted like he was reading, but was really listening to our conversations for an hour, he didn't change the page on his kindle one time! We all got ready in one hotel room(think Madison State Basketball minus the red and white paraphernalia)and then went to Recycled Percussion show . We had VIP tickets which included all the free drinks we wanted, so we loaded up on Shirley Temples and watched the show. Jenna got called up on stage and had to wear a cow mask and do tricks with drum sticks. After, we met the band- where the band obviously fell madly in love with all of my friends. Numbers were exchanged and that landed a few of my friends hanging out with them in the Tropicana at 2:00 a.m and that landed me and another friend at the penny slots pretending my name was Star waiting for their pointless conversations about eyeliner and tattoos to end. Their conversations gave us very funny material to laugh about... not a totally wasted hour. After a few blisters in our high-heeled feet and alot of people watching on the strip we called it quits and went to bed around 4:00.

The next days itinerary included alot of pool time! Thanks to a friend we got VIP passes to the Trump pool, we got those cool round sun beds and everything. Once again my friends were flocked with cute boys offering to buy drinks. What a life right? It was times like this where I was INSANELY happy that I was married and I didn't have to bear the awkward flirting. Thank you Todd. Then, after a few hours agonizing over outfits and hair we were ready to hit the strip. We hit up Serendipity, the Sugar Factory and the Miracle Mile Mall. We meandered into the Belagio where once again we were bombarded with groups of boys. This was where the night got FUN! Heather, Mallory and I made it a mission to scare off all the boys by our dance moves, or by our sheer craziness. It was a HOOT! We got back to the hotel and slept for and hour and a half then I had to catch a flight back to SLC so I could work the night shift that night. I literally slept from take off to landing. Mouth wide open and all... can you say exhaustion? I'm fairly certain that I'm coming down with something from lack of sleep, and I'm not sure my feet will ever recover from wearing heels, but it was SO worth it.

I would like to thank the Spice Girls, obese woman at pool #1,CPK, Mayton,our spirit animals, Buzz (our morning waitress), Justin from Recycled Percussion, the Brazilian man at the Belagio (actually he should thank me... thanks to me blowing on his dice a few times I won him 1,000 dollars--exactly like the movies!) the Hard Rock Cafe girls, the Chinese kids car and the midget naughty girl card lady for making our Vegas trip one for the record books!!! 

My Dad

My Dad is my hero. He and I have a very special relationship. I know it's a parents job to make every child feel like they are the favorite, but my Dad does an excellent job of making me feel like his favorite. As long as I could remember I have always wanted to make my Dad proud. The worst memories of my life, are those times when I have let him down. One of the high lites of my wedding day was dancing with my Dad. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it, and every time I hear the song "I loved her first." One of the first things I think of when thinking about my Dad is sacrifice. He gives everything to us kids, he worked so hard so that we could have every opportunity we wanted. He doesn't just sacrifice for us, but for others as well. Sometimes my mom will tell us the random things my Dad does for other people. It blows me away how much he gives to others. What energy he doesn't give to his kids, he gives to my mom, then the church and leaves little for himself.He doesn' t have a selfish bone in his body... don't ask where I came from.

I love that my Dad wears cowboy boots,but is a very sophisticated person. I love that on Saturdays we can always count on him to be outside making up some project to do. I love that he always seemed to have an endless supply of 20's in his wallet. I love when he laughs really hard and his shoulders shrug up and down. I love that he is literally a genius-photographic memory and all. I love that he calls me Suzer or Suz. I love that he eats Maverik hot dogs for lunch. I love that he has enough confidence to drive an old green motor home, or the worlds oldest tractor down the highway,especially when he can afford something alot nicer. I love that he treats Todd like one of his sons. I love that he kisses my mom at the top of the stairs every morning and every night. I miss listening to fast strikes on the ten key in his office, (he always worked with the door open even though it was always SO loud around him). I love that I can tell you that at around 7:20 in the morning he is putting his socks on the bottom steps at our house, that 7:30 he's eating bread and jam. Then at around 10:00-11:00 at night he will read the newspaper while we all talk around him, and he usually won't go to bed until the conversation dies down. I miss the routine and the security of living under my Dads roof. I miss his voice, his terrible jokes,his prayers, and miss being happy when he finally got done with church stuff at the end of the day, not necessarily to hang out with him, but just to have him at home. I feel like I was blessed to have the perfect childhood thanks in large part to my Dad. I know no better man on the earth. I love you Dad, more than there are words. You are not just my Dad, you are my friend and my hero. Happy Fathers Day.

Cape Cod

 

   Ahhh Cape Cod… besides the food, the Cape was,my favorite part of the trip. The beach, the lighthouses, the people. It was perfection. We rode bikes around Provincetown,ate, and saw all the fisherman. It was such a perfect time to go because it wasn’t tourist season, so we had a beautiful beach with a sand dune to climb, all to our self. We also tried to save this creepy unicorn horned crab like creature, but we were unsuccessful because a seagull had eaten off a few of his legs :( I never want to forget how serene it was just sitting on the beach listening to the waves and just being together.

Our Bubble

There was a guy on the bachelorette that said something that I think perfectly fits Todd and I. It is what I think of Todd and I, but never could come up with the right words. He said something like "I want to live in this un-realistic bubble where we think that we are more in love than anyone has ever been, in the whole world." The minute he said it, I was like that is EXACTLY how I feel. Today that feeling was magnified even more. Todd had to give a talk in church, and I worked the night before and just woke up to go to his talk. The guy before him ended 7 minutes before he was supposed to, so Todd went to bat early and I missed the whole first of his talk. Apparently he had explained this or something to the congregation. When I walked in and sat down he was in the middle of quote and he looked up and saw me and got this huge grin on his face and so "oh hey, there she is...hi and then waved at me." I waved back, and he went right back to his talk. He was giving examples of choices that we had made together, and big dillemas we had gone through and how many nights we would pray together to make the right decisions. At the end he started his last story by chuckling and saying "this story reminds me so much of Suz," the story was about a little girl who bought these darling shoes, but there were a size too small. She bought them anyway because they were so cute (I have been guilty of this on one or more occasion.) I just started up at him with this stupid little smile and SOOO much pride and happiness, thinking he is talking about me! About our life, about choices we have made together. I had no idea what he was going to say in his talk, and felt so flattered that most of his examples included both of us together. It reminded me of his mission homecoming talk when he started his talk off by saying "it's been a great day, I woke up to a beautiful sight, have my family here and..." Me and my family snickered because we knew he was talking about me, we may or may not have fallen asleep together the night before. I knew that day, that I wanted to marry that boy....

Anyways, Todd finished two minutes early and then the bishop asked me to come bear my testimony, which is basically one of my nightmares come true because I looked so homely. The whole walk to the podium all I could think was, I look so gross, oh my gosh I didn't even get ready, I was mortified... Trauma-rauma for sure. But, I pulled it out and was happy there were only two minutes to fill. Todd laughed his head off when I sat down, he knew that it was killing me that I didn't get ready. Afterward a lady came up to us with tears in her eyes and "You two just tear me up, I couldn't stop crying through your whole talk, you two for some reason, just tear me up. I just love you (pointing to Todd) so much, and I don't know you Suzy, but I just am overwhelmed with how much I love both of you." She made my WHOLE day, and made me forget that I stood in front of the whole congregation with little makeup on and my hair in a slick back ponytail.

We spent a perfect few hours together after church before I had to go to work, doing all of our favorite Sunday things. The sun was shining, our sunday dinner was amazing, and I could not have asked for a better day in our Todd and Suzy bubble.

Boston Red Sox

 

           The Boston Red Sox game was definitely a high light of the trip. Just watching Todd at the game made every singe mile worth it.The stadium was even more amazing than we thought. Every seat was taken, everyone sporting red, blue, and white. Todd said that he was living his dream. When the closer came in the whole crowd went NUTS and starting dancing to some irish song. During the seventh inning stretch the crowd sang “Sweet Caroline” with their own little Boston Red Sox twist. Despite having to watch the game wrapped up in a blanket, and the minor incident that landed us in a police car identifying a dangerous criminal, the night was PERFECT.

Todd and Suzy Road Trip Song

A few months ago we had this crazy idea,To take a road trip for 8 percent of the year,We packed up our car and slept at truck stops
That freaked us out, so then we moved to hotel parking lots (we even slept at a hospital)Are you technically homeless if you are living in your SUV Don't mock the silk curtains ya we know we look creepy

6200 miles to go, 28 more days on the road.
Oh how I wish this would never end, paid vacation you are my best friend. (thank you BMT)

If the GPS says six plan for an hour after, if your husband has a mouse size bladder, jk babe I would never insult your bladder like that. Specially when this trip has made me so fat. I've gained so much weight that it isn't even funny, when I get home I'm going on that wierd diet with cayenne pepper, lemon juice and honey. ya

3200 miles to go, 16 more days on the road. oh I wish this would never end. Does this really have to end?

We'd like to give a shout out to stuff that was really cool, like parking and tolls and that cop in D.C what a tool, and while we're giving props we've got to thank mother nature, for making it rain everyday on our adventure, But its okay I'm not bitter oh no, it's just lucky I look so cute in a poncho.

1400 miles to go, 6 more days on the road. Oh I wish this would never end, but we're runnin out of money so I guess it has to end. Bummer

Drivin in the rain and feeling so free, just me and him not a single worry. Ball parks and diners, and my feet up on the dash, blink 182 crackers and layin on his lap, ya, waffle house breaking camp and even lame kansas, these are a few things that we are going to miss.

325 miles to go, 1 more day on the road, oh how I wish this would never end, this sure feels alot like Heaven.
Public restrooms
Creepy homeless dudes
Obese Americans, lots of African Americans,
Now our road trip has to end.

Day 6

Today was a pretty low key day, because it was Sunday. We fulfilled one of Todds dreams of going to a Braves game at Turner Field. The game was won by a homer in the eighth inning. So sweet. We logged five hours of drive time today. I felt so content and happy just laying on Todds lap watching the trees of Carolina pass out the windows. It was a peaceful perfect day. Kind of lame paying four dollars a gallon for gas, but what do ya do. We cracked up at some of the people of Atlanta... some were soo ghetto. We've never seen more gold teeth, or dreads with bandannas in our lives, alot different than the street of Salt Lake. We are getting quick at packing and unpacking our little toaster R.V. I'm sure by day 28 we'll have it down to no time flat. Now it's time to watch a little modern family and settle in. Goodnight from North Carolina. Tomorrow we hit D.C!

Great American Roadtrip

Greetings from Atlanta Georgia! We are having the time of our lives. In five days we have covered a good part of the country and crossed alot of things off our bucket lists. This country is beautiful, and the people are amazing. We have had fun just hanging out in the car talking, playing the guitar and just being together. These pictures are a few highlights. Unfortunately blogger takes forever to upload, but facebook doesn't. So if you want to follow us, check out our facebooks. Today we changed our plans a little bit and decided to throw over visiting the smoky mountains for an Atlanta Braves baseball game, just a little three hour detour, but so worth it. Atlanta is Todds favorite team. T minus 12 hours till game time. Go Braves. (oh and we are only on day five of our trip, I accidentally put day 8 in Nashville)

Road Trip Day 1

Day one: 13 hours drive time, 832 miles covered, 4 states, 5 innings of baseball, 4 tanks of gas, 2 minor quarrels about organization (don’t judge us-- I worked all night, and Todd stayed up late preparing) and one AMAZING dinner at Stuebens restaurant later, we successfully made it through our first day. We were tickled to death when everything actually fit in the car. (I have a different outfit for all 28 days) Todd made me a little bed and I slept the whole way to Denver. We fell in LOVE with Denver the second we drove into the city. It looks like you are going to drive straight into the pitchers mound on Coors field. We saw the lights and the people and realized there was a Rockies game going on. We were BEYOND stoked because two home town boys Clayton Mortensen and Matt Lindstrom were in the bull pen. Matt actually pitched an inning and went three up, three down. We went and yelled at Clayton in the bull pen and he waved. I told EVERYONE around me that I grew up with Clayton and that we were really good family friends. It was weird to see him in a Colorado Rockies uniform, instead of the Madison Cats one I grew up watching him in. Freaking CRAZY that he is in the big leagues. Go Morty. After the game we drove three or four more hours until we finally settled down for the night. You could say night one didn’t go completely as expected. We had a harder time fitting everything in the front two seats than we originally anticipated. It was really fun though, plus or minus the part that we were dead tired and I had a minor panic attack because I thought we were trapped in the car, and having to brush my teeth with contact solution. Overall though, day one was awesome. I thought it would be hard to drive that long, but we breezed right through it just chatting and singing the whole way. I can’t wait to see what day 2 holds!Picture to come tomorrow hopefully, 3G can only do so much...