New Blog

Jason and I started a new blog! Here's the link.

Oregon

This past week Jason and I went to a family reunion for his mom's side of the family. It was held in Echo, Oregon at Grandma and Grandpa Cook's house. That whole area of Oregon is farmland so they basically live in the middle of nowhere. They used to own a lot of land that they farmed, but sold it all in recent years, with the exception of their apple orchards. They have a big house, a big yard, and a big pool- perfect for a big family reunion.

There were around 70 or 80 people in attendance (Launa is the 7th child of 8). Each of Grandma/Grandpa's children had a room in the house or the trailer (which is what Launa and Steve had this year) and the rest of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren either slept in tents or on the floor somewhere in the house. Jason and I took a tent.

There were lots of fun activities like Pool tournaments, ice cream eating contests, shooting clay pigeons (my first time to shoot a gun), and going out on their house boat. We had a great time, and it was so fun getting to meet the rest of the family.

As most of you already know, on Saturday Melissa lost her baby. Clarisa was 1 lb. 10 oz., 13 inches long, 26 weeks old, had dark hair, and Melissa said she's beautiful. Please keep Melissa and her family in your prayers.

Wedding Tag

I got tagged!


1. What month and year were you married? June 2008

2. How did he ask you? We went to dinner at the Mayan and then went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to look at the lights. We sat down on a bench in front of the Temple, and started asking me questions (as part of our on-going question/answer game to get to know each other even better). One of his questions was if I would marry him!

3. Where did you honeymoon? The first night we stayed at a really nice hotel in downtown Ft. Worth. The next day we went to a romantic bed and breakfast in Vicksburg, Mississippi on our way to a Caribbean Cruise with my family! (The cruise was planned before the wedding)

4. Can you still fit your dress? Yes

5. What was the worst gift you got? ...

6. What flavor was your wedding cake? French Vanilla with buttercream icing. mmm.

7. Were you a bridezilla? No.

8. What's one thing you would change about your wedding? Nothing. It was perfect!

9. Do you still look at your wedding pictures? Ya, we just went through a bunch yesterday.

10. What colors did you use? red, black, and white

11. Where did you tie the knot? the Dallas Texas Temple

12. What's one funny thing that happened that day? The heel of my shoe broke right before the reception while taking pictures! There were 2 attempts at fixing it, but neither worked. I ended up barefoot (which was more comfortable anyways)

13. How many showers did you have? 2- one here in Utah, and one in Texas (I was present via web cam)

15. Did you give any wedding favors away? yes. Hershey's kisses with heart wrappers inside of tins.

16. Who caught the flowers and garter? Jason's sister, Kelsie caught the flowers and there was no garter...sorry Melissa.

17. Who was your officiant or minister? Jason's Grandpa Cook!

18. How much was your wedding dress, undergarments and all? I dunno...somewhere between $500 and $600

19. Was there dancing? Heck yes!

20. Where was the reception? Walnut Creek Country Club (same as my sisters!)

21. Would you go back and do it over again? Yes!

22. How long did you have to plan your wedding? 6...long...months...

23. What kind of car were you in when you drove away? My mom's Toyota Solara

24. How many in your wedding party? 1 Maid of Honor, 4 Bridesmaids, 1 Best man, 1 Groom's Man, and 2 Flower Girls

25. Did you do anything different in your wedding or reception? Not really.

26. Did you save the top layer of your cake for your 1 year anniversary? no, we ate it on our honeymoon!

27. If you saved your cake, did you eat it? (see above answer)

28. What was the grand total spent your wedding? no idea.

I tag Andrea, Melissa, Shanna, and Jenna!

Catch-up

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. Unfortunately I do not currently have internet connection at home which is why this post will not include pictures.

I have had an incredible summer so far. I lived out of a suitcase for 7 weeks straight, and have visited 13 states (not including airplane trips).

The first two weeks in May I spent at my Grandma Black's house. I had moved out of my apartment and needed somewhere to stay before going on tour. It was wonderful to get to know her better and spend time with her. Growing up in Texas, I never really had the opportunity of going and staying with my grandparents. So my contact with them was limited to family vacations to Utah every once in a while. Meanwhile, Jason started working with his dad's company doing commercial construction. We spent as much time together as we could.

I left for tour May 14 with the BYU Chamber Orchestra. We started in Washington DC and zigzagged up to Maine and back down ending in New York City June 4, where we performed in Carnegie Hall. We went to many church historical and US historical sights, performed several concerts in various venues, did a couple firesides a week, and did lots and lots of driving. We mostly stayed with host families, all members of the Church, and a few hotels. It was really hard to be away from my fiance for so long right before getting married, but it was a very rewarding and educational experience. We grew close as an orchestra, feeling like a family, and we improved more and more as an orchestra making our Carnegie concert amazing. My parents came to the concert, which meant a lot to me. That was a dream of mine, to play in that famous hall.

On June 5, we flew back to Salt Lake City and the next morning, Jason and I flew down to Texas to prepare for the wedding the following week. It was a pretty busy week, but it was honestly relieving after my exhaustion and stress from tour. It was great seeing family and friends again, and especially finally showing Jason my home and past. A chunk of the week was dedicated to cleaning out and packing up my room since my parents are moving. That was quite the task. On Wednesday I went through the Temple for the first time. It was such an incredible experience, and it was such a wonderful feeling to know that I had lived my life in a way that I was worthy to go to the Temple. I'm so grateful to the good examples of my sisters who did the same before me.

Then came the day of my dreams...marrying Jason. It was the most incredible experience of my entire life. I have never been more excited or happy. After the wedding, we had a family luncheon at Abuellos followed by pictures (more pictures), and the reception. It all turned out so well, and we had a great time. We stayed in the Embassy Suites in Fort Worth that night. We were in the best room on the Ambassador's floor with a great view of downtown. Our suite had a whirlpool tub, a 2-headed shower, a king-sized bed, and plasma screens in all 3 rooms (they were cool to look at, though we didn't actually watch any tv).

The next morning we went back to my parents house to open all of our gifts with the whole family and then we left for our honeymoon! We stayed at the Belle of the Bends mansion in Vicksburg, Mississippi for a few days. It was a beautiful house, built in the 1860's. We had a very relaxing time. It was nice to finally be alone.

We met up with the rest of my family in Alabama on Monday for a cruise to Mexico. It was a 5 day cruise. We stopped at Cozumel and Calica. In Cozumel we went snorkeling, and canoing in a "glass bottom" canoe and in Calica we went to see Mayan ruins at Tulum and Coba. The cruise was awesome. I loved finally seeing and spending time with my sisters and their families, and Jason and I had a great time on our extended honeymoon.

The Sunday after the cruise Jason and I flew back to Utah to start our new lives. We got all moved in to our new home (Jason's family's old home a couple miles north of campus). That next Friday we had an open house at the Allphin's. We had lots of family and friends there. It was great to see them all again.

This week, Jason started working with his dad's company again until he can find a job that will work with school. I am also currently looking for a job...other than that, life is awesome!

Arches

The day after Jason and I finished our finals, we took our first road trip to Moab to see the arches. It was so fun going out on our own little vacation that we got to plan by ourselves. The weather was perfect. Since all the kids around were still in school, it was not very crowded. We did 4 different hikes and hiked around 8 miles total.

Park Avenue:


The Windows:

Double Arch:

As lovely as these pictures are, I had to show how windy it was!
No wonder the arches were formed.

Delicate Arch:

Tagged

TAGGED

Okay, I was tagged by my cousin Stef, so here it goes!

5 Things on my To Do List this week:
*Pack and move out of my apartment.
*Move my stuff into the house Jason and I will be living in!
*Read Killer Angels (assigned for our orchestra tour to the Northeastern US).
*I'm getting my Bridal pictures done today so before that I need to get my nails done and somehow do my hair with the help of my roommate.
*Enjoy being out of school!!

5 Snacks that I enjoy:
*tootsie rolls
*popcorn
*ice cream
*fruit
*smores

If I were suddenly a Billionaire?
*Put most of it in savings
*Buy a new viola
*Eventually buy a house
*Pay off the rest of Jason's schooling
*Go on an awesome vacation to Europe!


5 Places I have lived
*Garland, Texas (born and raised)
*Arlington, Texas (2nd grade till graduation)
*Provo, UT

5 Jobs I have had
*Scrapbook Cottage
*I taught private viola lessons for a couple years
*Apple Orthodontix as an assistant
(this 5 thing is hard...)a

5 Things People may not know about me
*I am left handed
*I only have 47 days left until I get married!
*I'm going on a cruise this summer with my family
*I like taking long, luxurious bubble baths with candles and music
*Unfortunately, I can't dance, but I really wish I could

Pictures!

Yay! Our pictures are available! If you want to see them, go to www.tomgarzand.com- click on "Your photos" at the bottom- and scroll down to "Katie and Jason Engagements".

Engagement Pictures!

On Friday afternoon we had our engagement pictures taken. As we drove over to the appointed meeting place, it was cold, windy, and starting to rain. We were really worried we'd have to reschedule. However, as our photographer got all of his equipment set up and we started taking pictures, the sun poked out from the clouds. The weather ended up being perfect for pictures. We had so much fun and our photographer was really great! I can't wait to see the pictures!

Dance the night away

On Thursday night, Jason and I went on a triple date with my roommates. Jenna's date reserved his church building and the two of them made everyone breakfast for dinner. Then Amanda's date taught us how to country swing dance. Jenna is really into it, and Amanda has gone with her a couple of times, but it was new for the rest of us. Jason and I really like it, and had so much fun learning. Amanda's date told us afterward about this country swing dance place that he works at in Provo, and so we all went to it Saturday night. For the first 30 minutes, an instructor taught us line dances and country swing dancing, and then the rest of the time was ours to dance. This was the first dance Jason and I have ever gone to together, and we had a great time.

Also on Saturday, Jason and I played tennis!! We have been trying for the past couple weeks, but we kept running into problems like snow on the court. This was Jason's first time to play. After teaching him a few things and practicing a bit, we played a game, best 2 out of 3. We found out while practicing that he has an amazing serve. He doesn't quite have the control yet, but when he gets it in, it's almost impossible to return, because he hits it so hard. So he won the first game we played because of his crazy serve, but I came back in the end and beat him 2-1.

We are finally registered!! I didn't realize how long it took or how difficult it was. We registered at Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It took hours...I'm glad we're done with that.

Golf and Puzzle

Last weekend Jason and I finished a puzzle we bought at the DI (it was the first time I had ever been to DI), and we went miniature golfing!

It was only missing two piecies.

I won, by the way!