So, Its March 30th. Travis and I have been married 18 days. Our days have been very full. To recap on the month. On Sunday we went to our new ward, 2nd ward, and that was tons of fun for me. 2nd ward is the ward I grew up in (birth to 13 years old, then they spilt boundaries and we were put in the newly created 5th ward) and there I got a kick out of having Sunday school taught by my Primary Sunday School teacher (Bro Sniegowski). Also since my last post, we moved out of Travis' Parents house, and into our apartment (hence we went to our new ward...). The start up costs involved in a wedding and a new household has been surprising, but we're doing okay. Other exciting news is that I finished my first stage of allergy shots last week! Since July last summer I've been going every week to Dr Footes office for my weekly dose of Dogs, Cats, Trees, and Grass. I finished that series successfully, only missing maybe 4 shots due to either bad weather or bad cold that wouldn't let me breath. Anyways, now I'm entering stage 2. I only go in every other week now to be injected with allergens. Stage 1 went quicker than I thought it would though, so this is really exciting to me. Maybe it won't take 3 whole years......
Anyways-I'm loving the married life. Travis and I are happy and in love. We do get nervous about what challenges we might face, but we have faith that as we cling to each other and the gospel it will all work out. Its like Pres Hinckley once said. That he would prepare as though he were to die tomorrow, but still continue to plant his cherry trees. (Sorry If I just butchered that...)
Its been wonderful to go to the Temple and to study and pray together and learn more about one another daily. We look forward to Summertime (all the snow is melting, hurrah!) and having family visiting, and to the upcoming weddings of family and friends (Steven Tibbs/Kendra Day, and Nicole Jensen/Alex Hansen, and Jung Tak/Jacob Ames) and the opportunities that those weddings give us to reflect on our own commitment and covenants. We also are looking forward to this wonderful conference weekend and that chance we have to hear from our prophet and the apostles as they speak what our Heavenly Father would have them say.
What a beautiful and blessed time it is.
Here's some of my Favorite Shots from the wedding that people have posted and shared with us. Enjoy! (PS: Hint hint to Jayme, I CAN'T WAIT to see the rest of your photos!)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Shop till you drop
Travis and I got home on Thursday night/Friday morning. Our new (to us) apartment isn't quite worked out and official yet, so we've been really thankful for the oppourtunity to house sit in Northpole while his parents are still traveling and visiting family in Colorado and Oklahoma. However, Travis did turn to me today at one point and said "I don't like being at home, it doesn't feel like we're married." I'm definately ready to get our own place, and coordinating our rides to and from school and work will definately be simpler when we are established in town rather than in North Pole.
Friday though, I had allergy appointments, and needed to pick some stuff up from my mom and Rulon's house where all my belongings still reside, so we went into town, and while there picked up his wedding ring and made our first trip to get groceries as a married couple. :) Yay. We also ate at the Freddies Deli before the actually shopping commenced, because we were both starving and would have bought a ton of junk and snacks and anything that sounded good and totally would have regretted that. Anyways, it was funny, while we were eating, he looked at me and said "Okay, what do you want to make?" I was taken aback thinking huh? I have no idea.....so I called amanda for recipes and decided on her Pumpkin spiced white chicken chili. Then while looking for all the ingredients, I was having the hardest time finding canned pumpkin. I finally asked someone who no joke, said "Theres actually a shortage right now, there was a frost and all the pumkins died so noone had pumpkin nationally." WHAT? It cracked me up. I bought all the other ingredients anyway, hoping that there would be pumpkin at Travis' parents house, and to my luck there was. So I made that for dinner tonight/for the rest of the week ;)
In case your not a follower of my sister Amanda's blog, here's the recepie. Hope you already have your canned pumpkin!
Pumpkin-Spiced With Chicken Chili
About 2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, roughly chopped into bite-size chunks
3 15-oz cans of Cannellini beans (or Great Northerns), drained and rinsed
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 4-oz cans of chopped green chiles
2 heaping Tablespoons of canned 100% pumpkin
2 cups fresh or frozen corn (about 2 cob’s worth)
1 ¾ cup low-salt chicken stock
1 12-oz can of low-fat evaporated milk (I like to do 6 oz milk, 6 oz cream)
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper to taste
Friday though, I had allergy appointments, and needed to pick some stuff up from my mom and Rulon's house where all my belongings still reside, so we went into town, and while there picked up his wedding ring and made our first trip to get groceries as a married couple. :) Yay. We also ate at the Freddies Deli before the actually shopping commenced, because we were both starving and would have bought a ton of junk and snacks and anything that sounded good and totally would have regretted that. Anyways, it was funny, while we were eating, he looked at me and said "Okay, what do you want to make?" I was taken aback thinking huh? I have no idea.....so I called amanda for recipes and decided on her Pumpkin spiced white chicken chili. Then while looking for all the ingredients, I was having the hardest time finding canned pumpkin. I finally asked someone who no joke, said "Theres actually a shortage right now, there was a frost and all the pumkins died so noone had pumpkin nationally." WHAT? It cracked me up. I bought all the other ingredients anyway, hoping that there would be pumpkin at Travis' parents house, and to my luck there was. So I made that for dinner tonight/for the rest of the week ;)
In case your not a follower of my sister Amanda's blog, here's the recepie. Hope you already have your canned pumpkin!
Pumpkin-Spiced With Chicken Chili
About 2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, roughly chopped into bite-size chunks
3 15-oz cans of Cannellini beans (or Great Northerns), drained and rinsed
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 4-oz cans of chopped green chiles
2 heaping Tablespoons of canned 100% pumpkin
2 cups fresh or frozen corn (about 2 cob’s worth)
1 ¾ cup low-salt chicken stock
1 12-oz can of low-fat evaporated milk (I like to do 6 oz milk, 6 oz cream)
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Chop into bite-size chunks. Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and a pinch of chili powder.
1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Chop into bite-size chunks. Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and a pinch of chili powder.
2. In a large heavy skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over med-high heat. Saute the chicken until starting to brown on all sides and cooked through (no longer pink inside). About 5 minutes.
3. In a large stock pot, saute the onion in two tablespoons of olive oil until soft and tender (about 8 minutes). Stir frequently to avoid burning. Add the garlic, green chiles and all the dry spices – stir another 5 minutes.
4. Add the cooked chicken, beans, corn, stock, milk and pumpkin. Combine well and simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste from time to time and adjust seasonings as desired.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Mr and Mrs Travis Michael Payton
Hello Hello.
I've gotten several messages on facebook saying that the people want to hear our story/wedding exprience, and I decided that now that I'm married I should start a Family Blog, so here it will be found. Hopefully, this will help us remember the details of our days and share with our friends and family the wonders and adventures our journey has in store for us.
So, to begin our wedding tale, we'll start with
After that we each went to get changed from our ordinance clothing, and ready to go greet everyone. They had a special walkway and exit for newly weds, and everyone was out there with a million cameras. It was funny, I wasn't prepared for all the attention. Or for the wardrobe adjustments. But, we got lots and lots and lots of pictures. I can't wait till they're in. Jayme was more than wonderful. I kept having to blink and close my eyes though for how bright it was and how tired my eyes were from fighting all the emotions earlier.
After all pictures were said and done, me and Travis had about an hour to get to the Reception. During that hour, we went to get a bite to eat, our first meal as a newly married couple was (drumroll please) Burger King. Yep. Then at the reception we enjoyed a plate of chocolate covered strawberries while Travis helped set up the music, and guests gathered for the refreshments. And my and Travis greeted and talked with everyone. It was another moment when I just thought "I'm so glad we came to Utah" It was good to see everyone. The day was just perfect. I loved it! One of the highlights for me at the reception was our beautiful beautiful cake. I couldn't beleive it. Not only was it beautiful, but also delicious. I almost didn't want to cut it though because I loved it so much. But, there were three layers, and each a different layer. This is my favorite part, because when discussing with my aunt what kind of cake I wanted I first said "Something cinnamon" and she asked for a second choice-to which I replied in the middle of classes while kinda rushed and sick of planning, so half joking I threw out "I don't know, fun-fetti. ...or something fruit filled." Turns out I got all three. I had a layer of cinnamon cake, fruit filled cake, and fun-fetti. It cracks me up.
After the reception, we were brought some food from Traci and Keith to enjoy on our short honeymoon. Ham sandwiches, mini camping sized boxes of cereal, and left over wedding chips and salsa, and cake. We enjoyed our fancy room with a fancy tub, and coupons for Sunday Brunch, and included Monday Breakfast. It was all really absolutely perfect. On our way to the airport, Travis had the wonderful Idea to take our wedding flowers to my dads headstone. Trinity was again our very helpful and kinda chauffeur for this trip. We quickly ate the rest of the wedding cake at the airport before passing security and then watched some stargate at the gate to the plane. From Ut, we flew to Denver Colorado, and spent the week with Traci and Keiths family, Tuesday night having an open house with Travis' colorado family at Aunt Pats beautiful house.
At that everyone brought desserts, and so at the end of the evening it was pretty funny when the diabetics were all gathered around the dinning room table checking their blood sugar levels. A few others got in on it to, and we all tested to see who's sugar was the lowest, mine winning at level 87. Travis' mom losing at 218 (Her target range is 80-100). It cracked me up. Thursday we flew home to Alaska, and now we're spending the last few days of spring break in Northpole. We had fun yesterday going on our first grocery shopping trip as a married couple. Wich reminds me that now, I must be getting to the kitchen. Its dinner time! Goodnight!
I've gotten several messages on facebook saying that the people want to hear our story/wedding exprience, and I decided that now that I'm married I should start a Family Blog, so here it will be found. Hopefully, this will help us remember the details of our days and share with our friends and family the wonders and adventures our journey has in store for us.
So, to begin our wedding tale, we'll start with
Chapter 1.
Leaving Fairbanks.
Our plane was schedualed to leave at Midnight on Wednesday night/Thursday Morning. In order to get everyting done, I had to ditch my dance classes and clean and pack. We decided that Travis would go home, and I'd head out to Northpole to pick him up later so that he could leave his car there. On the way to pick him up, I saw some gorgeous Northern Lights. Now theres something you must know about me and the Northern Lights. They have always felt like a symbol of Heavenly Fathers love. Crazy? Maybe, but whenever I'm down, or stressed, or worried, or anzious, or need a little bit of reassurance, I see the Northern Lights. And, this was one of those nights. Not only that, but on the way to the airport, with Travis in the Car, the lights got even more fantastic. They were dancing all over the place swirling and stretching and moving and shining and gleaming. I don't have enough words to describe it. But, it was the typical Green I've seen my whole life, till in a flash-the edges swayed and PURPLE ligths glimmered on and off. Spectacular. I really felt like Alaska, like Heavenly Father was saying "Way to go. Have a fun trip!" (I think those would be his exact words actually). The next adventure was our plane. COMPLETELY FULL. And Travis and I did not have seats next to eachother. We asked the lady at the ticket counter, and at the gate counter and both were unable to do anything. So, while on the plane, a few rows apart and waiting for our neighbor passengers to board, we were figuring out how to ask them when the ladies next to me appeared and one asked, "Do you two know eachother? My Husband is sitting up there and we were wondering if you'd like to switch seats?" I look to see where he's at, and turns out her husband is neighbors with Travis! I exclaimed, "I'd love to switch, thats my Fiance up there!" And thus went the beggining of a perfect trip.
Chapter 2
Utah
Once in Utah, Travis sister Trinity picked us up from the airport and we went straight out to lunch at the Olive Garden. Can this trip get anybetter? We had no glitch in picking up our Mairrage Licence, or in meeting up with Travis Parents and friends Kristin and Jay who opened their home to us for that first night. Which was an adventure. Their House was out to get me. I stayed in the daughters room in the basement, and so they got me a space heater, which kept shorting all the power to the room. At one point, after my shower and after everyone else had gone to bed, the power went out again, so I went to switch the breaker, and a few minutes later, the fire alarm went off. It woke everyone up, and was scary, and embarrassing, but Kristin was very gracious and reassuring. I still swear it wasn't my fault, but I can't figure out who else or what else would have caused it either.
The Next day, Friday, Trinity was super helpful in taking me and Travis to run errands, hair cuts, nail appointments, last minute shopping (needed to use my Victoria Secret gift card, and exchange Garments). Then before heading up to Logan and after dinner with the whole gang, we stopped by the Ogden City Cementary where my dad is buried, it felt innapropriate to go up to Logan and get married without having stopped there first since we were in the state.
That night, in Logan, Travis was feeling pretty sick, and so his dad and my brother in law Jordan gave him a blessing of healing and comfort. Afterwhich I took the seat and had Travis give me a blessing-which was beautiful and poingant, and exactly what I needed. We rested well-excitedly but well that night.
Chapter 3
3.12.2011
Perfect perfect perfect day!
I got my hair done at like 8:30 am and there I met up with my Friend Jayme, our photographer. After that we ran back to the Hotel to get ready for the temple (All I had to do at that point was makeup and get my temple/wedding clothes. At the temple, we were first greeted by my friend Ariel and her husband David and son Jeffery in the parking lot. Then, we hurried inside to the temple, on the way passing and greeting my cousins and uncles who were there early-it was wonderful to see them there. Thats when I was first thinking, "I'm so glad we came to Utah!" The temple workers then took me and Travis to talk with a sister who got our mairrage licence and living ordinance paperwork together. Then we were sent seperate ways to get dressed. The sisters who took me were so sweet and so helpful. In the locker room they had saved a locker for me and left a beautiful white satin robe for me to change into and to wear into the brides room, where I finally caught up with my mom and wedding clothes. After changing into my wedding dress, and into my temple ordinance clothes, I finally got to go up stairs and meet up with my groom. We passed the room we were to be sealed in as our family and friends shuffled in, and we were sent to wait for our sealer in another sealing room. Emotions were running high and travis and I got to talk, I got to pat my eyes dry (everything was so perfect so far, and my eyes were leaky with the emotions in my heart) Our sealer then came and spoke with us for a minute about the ceremony. Then he left us again to get our witnesses (Travis' Dad and my Grampa). At this point I was so excited, happy, a little nervous, that my eyes were still leaking and Travis graciously took my used tissues and put them in his pockets. (I didn't have any). We were then finally escorted by the sweet little sister who had taken me to and from my dressing room into the sealing room and our family and friends were all there waiting, I felt a sense of calm. My eyes stopped leaking. And the excitement and anxiety turned to peace and joy. The ceremony itself was beautiful, and the sealer said some really special things before, after and at the end of the ceremony that I needed to hear, and at which my emotions really overcame me and tears of joy came sputtering out. We were then able to greet each of our guests and meet eachothers families and friends. It was perfect.
After that we each went to get changed from our ordinance clothing, and ready to go greet everyone. They had a special walkway and exit for newly weds, and everyone was out there with a million cameras. It was funny, I wasn't prepared for all the attention. Or for the wardrobe adjustments. But, we got lots and lots and lots of pictures. I can't wait till they're in. Jayme was more than wonderful. I kept having to blink and close my eyes though for how bright it was and how tired my eyes were from fighting all the emotions earlier.
After all pictures were said and done, me and Travis had about an hour to get to the Reception. During that hour, we went to get a bite to eat, our first meal as a newly married couple was (drumroll please) Burger King. Yep. Then at the reception we enjoyed a plate of chocolate covered strawberries while Travis helped set up the music, and guests gathered for the refreshments. And my and Travis greeted and talked with everyone. It was another moment when I just thought "I'm so glad we came to Utah" It was good to see everyone. The day was just perfect. I loved it! One of the highlights for me at the reception was our beautiful beautiful cake. I couldn't beleive it. Not only was it beautiful, but also delicious. I almost didn't want to cut it though because I loved it so much. But, there were three layers, and each a different layer. This is my favorite part, because when discussing with my aunt what kind of cake I wanted I first said "Something cinnamon" and she asked for a second choice-to which I replied in the middle of classes while kinda rushed and sick of planning, so half joking I threw out "I don't know, fun-fetti. ...or something fruit filled." Turns out I got all three. I had a layer of cinnamon cake, fruit filled cake, and fun-fetti. It cracks me up.
Chapter 4
On our Own....for a little bit
After the reception, we were brought some food from Traci and Keith to enjoy on our short honeymoon. Ham sandwiches, mini camping sized boxes of cereal, and left over wedding chips and salsa, and cake. We enjoyed our fancy room with a fancy tub, and coupons for Sunday Brunch, and included Monday Breakfast. It was all really absolutely perfect. On our way to the airport, Travis had the wonderful Idea to take our wedding flowers to my dads headstone. Trinity was again our very helpful and kinda chauffeur for this trip. We quickly ate the rest of the wedding cake at the airport before passing security and then watched some stargate at the gate to the plane. From Ut, we flew to Denver Colorado, and spent the week with Traci and Keiths family, Tuesday night having an open house with Travis' colorado family at Aunt Pats beautiful house.
At that everyone brought desserts, and so at the end of the evening it was pretty funny when the diabetics were all gathered around the dinning room table checking their blood sugar levels. A few others got in on it to, and we all tested to see who's sugar was the lowest, mine winning at level 87. Travis' mom losing at 218 (Her target range is 80-100). It cracked me up. Thursday we flew home to Alaska, and now we're spending the last few days of spring break in Northpole. We had fun yesterday going on our first grocery shopping trip as a married couple. Wich reminds me that now, I must be getting to the kitchen. Its dinner time! Goodnight!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Excitement!
Tomorrow enters what I've termed "The Blast off Zone" Because it's the final 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Weddingday countdown. I finally feel like things are settling into place. I have this week and next week of class, with a trip to the Anchorage Temple for my endowments, and then we leave for our wedding. EEEK! Its just felt more and more right every day. I love Travis so much.
When we get back, we should have an apartment-and I want to go to the ice park. Yay!
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