Remember how I said we're married?? Well, we are! Woot! I decided today is the day I would give the recap of the wonderful day. Random fact: I can never for the life of me remember if we were married on the 28th or 29th! Sad right? Ya... I have to ask Shaun EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! Oops.
That week of was one of craziest weeks of our entire lives! You see, we were married in Draper Utah which is a place where both My family and his lives about 3 hours away from. I didn't want to be married in Idaho Falls because every one I knew from home gets married in IF (go figure) and Shaun doesn't really love the looks of the vernal temple... so... we decided to get married in Draper. Just because we wanted to, and that temple is beautiful! Because we decided to get married there we had to drive down the day before and stay in a hotel. We were up in Idaho spending the week and christmas with my family. It was quite funny my poor sister spent the entire week making signs for our reception and making out cake! She did awesome! Shaun and I wanted to have barn wood frames for our signs so we decided to make those by hand as well. Needless to say we were making these decorations all day wednesday while Kasie and the other girls in my family spent 10 hours yes... 10 HOURS baking the cake.
Thursday morning we loaded up Shaun's escape with every thing we would need for the next 3 weeks and headed down to SLC. On the way down I realized I didn't have ties for the fathers. REALLY? Thats when we went on a wild chase for a slate blue tie. Come to find out thats a horrible color to find. We found one that would be perfect at sears but of course they only had one in stock. Dang it. So we had the Idaho Falls store call all over utah to find us two more of the same one. Luckily ogden had 2! We took a little detour into Ogden only to find they only had one. I wanted to swear. I was totally cool till this point then I started to get a bit annoyed. We called all the sears stores we could find from Provo to Kaysville. We found one store that had one but we were running our of time. We still had to meet our wedding planner to drop of those wonderful signs that we made! We called Shaun's sister Shayla and begged her to go get the last tie. Just kidding we didn't beg at all... she did it with no hesitation.
Shaun's family was all pretty much in Draper so we decided to head that way and see them at the hotel. Fact: it was already 8:30 by this time. We got there and decided we really wanted to go sit in the hot tup. We slipped on our suits and sprinted to the pool. It was actually really fun, well besides the fact that the pool was FREEZING and Shaun wouldn't let me get out. Literally, every time I would try to swim to the edge to head to the hot tub I would feel a pyton tight grip latch onto my feet and pull to me the deep end again. Rude. Around 10 o'clock we thought it would probably be o good idea to get out and take me to the hotel where me and my family would be staying. By this time I was so tired I didn't think I would make it to my bed before I passed out.
When I got the the hotel I said bye to Shaun and jumped in the shower, jumped in bed and that was that. I was out!
The next morning I woke up at 5:00 and waited for Shaun to show up so we could head to get my hair did. Shaun went and grabbed us something to eat while I was at the salon and then we headed back to Sandy. The salon was in American Fork which was 35 minutes from where we were staying and the temple. We got back to the hotel a tad bit behind schedule. I rushed up to the room threw on my dress and met my dad in the foyer so he could take me to the temple. Poor Shaun was even more behind than I was. He had to wait for my brother to come up (he was eating breakfast downstairs) and open his room so shaun could get his suit. Then he had to run back to his hotel and get his dad. For some reason we had to have escorts which in my opinion was really weird. I didn't even see my mom nor shaun his dad until we went into the sealing room. Its Fine. Oh, did I mention Shaun was 20 minuets late?? Ya, he was that late for his OWN WEDDING! Goodness me...
Well, the Sealing was awesome and we even had a very special guest! Best surprise we could have had on our wedding day! LOVED IT! The sealer was actually a really good family friend who also sealed my Kasie (older to sister) to her husband Scott, and Rob (older brother) to his wife Tori. So it was great to have him there for ours as well. He did AWESOME! Ha, I guess I looked really bothered the whole time but thats because the whole entire time i was stressing about having to kiss shaun in front of everyone! Thats a big deal for me people... really big deal. Scary big deal.
We went out side and Froze our booties off taking pictures! But they turned out awesome! I'll post some as soon as I find the CD Kayleigh sent me. It's packed in some box somewhere.
From there we headed to the luncheon which was fun. It was actually really good and Shaun and I both ate our entire plates! We were there for about an hour then headed back to may parents hotel to get out of my stinking dress and see how everything was going to work with Kasie and the cake. After about 30 mins of sitting and watching the news with my brother we decided to head over to see Shaun's family. It was a dang good thing we did too! I completely forgot that we had to be back at the reception center at 5 to take pictures. It was the 4:00 and everyone was taking naps.. OOPS AGAIN....
After a bit of rushed pictures and a little late start the reception was underway and it was a blast! We decided to not have a line.. which I HIGHLY recommend. I actually got to eat the food and dance! We had an great band that did an amazing job! We had a few friends come down to the reception that we met dancing and they sure kept the party going! The dance are was packed! I loved it, all of it! Best wedding ever!
Even though there were a few oops it all went really smooth and i was surprisingly relaxed the WHOLE DAY! It was awesome!
Remember how I said we went and saw Les Mis? Well... I had to write a review about it for a class. Thought I would share my feelings here too. Enjoy!
After a little searching on the
Internet I found a few interesting facts about this movie everyone has ranted
and raved about for months. The story of Les Mis starts in 1815 during the
French revolution. During this time money was very hard to find and many
members of the lower and middle class were out raged. This particular musical
has be done and redone hundreds of times all over. I myself grew up listening
to my mother sing in the random appearances she would make of Fantine all
around Idaho in the various Les Mis productions. Even though this movie has brought in over a
million dollars at the box office, I feel it was not something I would ever
care to see again.
There were many reasons I, myself
didn’t enjoy the movie. But, the main one was I thought that the music was
nothing compared to what I grew up listening to. I felt that Hathaway botched
“I dreamed a dream” and that Russell Crowe had a surprisingly good voice, but
not what I had hoped for. But on the contrary I did feel that Samantha Barks
and Amanda Seyfried did a wonderful job. They were strong in their roles and
their voices matched exactly to what I imagined.
I have never seen this musical live
and I can’t decide if I want to or not. Like I said, I love the music but hated
most everything else about it. A few parts even made me laugh is awe of how
awkward and weird the scene really was. The “whore house” (not knowing what to
really call it) was so weird that my jaw dropped and I constantly went from
looking at the screen to my husband to see if he was seeing the same thing I
was. The scene with Santa? Really? Was that needed? What the heck?
There was a few scenes that I did
fell were extremely strong and for the split 5 seconds, actually enjoyed the
show.The opening scene sent chills down
my spine. And I loved the scene where the boys were in the firefight and the
youngest boy was shot and killed. So, there were a few good things I can say
about the production but not many.
In the end, we walked out of the
theater, my dad asked what we thought, and when I said: “that was the dumbest
movie of all time” my family became immediately disappointed. Oops. The rest
loved it and felt that all the actors did a wonderful job. My sister-in-law
even got a bit defensive about the whole thing and refused to hear any more
negative comments about such a great show. Blah. In my opinion, if they ever make this movie
again…hire my mom, fire Hathaway, skip the awkward scenes and maybe and a few
lines where they actually talk! Then I
would enjoy myself.
Oh look, glee can sing better than Anne Hathaway... oh, just kidding... but I do like it a lot better.
Yes Yes, we are married. Wild right?? Im an ALLRED!! Whoa. Anyways....
Today im just going to write about christmas and the month of December. Ill give you the wedding low down later.
December was a crazy month. The first week was Shaun's finals week. I'm not sure why but he never seems to have finals just a ton of projects and papers due the week before. So needless to say we didn't see a whole lot of each other. Then the following week it was my turn to deal with finals. I ended up deciding to not take one final (it wouldn't have helped or hurt my grade) so that cleared up a bit of time for us. We knew that we wouldn't be back until after the wedding so we needed to move Shaun into the house we had been renting before we left that friday for roosevelt. And on top of all that we still had to make the final decisions for the wedding. I was ready to explode.
We left that friday and headed toward the wonderful town of oil rigs and tractors. It was actually really fun out there that week. Shaun's older sister Shayla flew in early so she could spend some time with the family and brought her daughter Ansley. I was pretty fun to meet them both for the first time. Ansley is the cutest little girl in the WORLD! Shayla has taught her every one's names already so she would always ask for people specifically. Its funny, she learned Shaun's and I's names together so its always "Shaun? Syd?" not just one or the other. She would yell names out across the house when ever she wondered where someone was. Cute little story about Ansley. We were at Ariells (Shaun's Little sister) mission farewell the sunday we were in roosevelt and cute little Ansley would yell out "Ar-eo-lle?" every few minuets during the talk. Then we went to the lunch after wards and Ansley would yell it as loud as she could across the room until Ariell would stop what she was doing and acknowledged little Ansley. I loved it!! She didn't quite know what to think of everyone at first and was more or less (more of the more) hooked to Shayla the entire time. But she would get little spouts of courage and come play with us for a bit until she realized she had forgot about mom... then she was back to tears. It was pretty funny to watch her face when she did realize that too. Ha, I could go on and on about this little one... get over it... she's adorable!
That same week Ariell left for her mission. We were both pretty bummed that she was leaving when she did. We were getting married a week later and knew she wouldn't be able to make it. It was pretty sad. The night before we all headed over to the stake presidents house for Ariell to be set apart. We walked in and all I can say is... Holy Christmas Tree. This tree was literally 20 feet tall! AND it was real! ya, huge. Ok, thats not all I can say.. but it was a major talking point of the night. Ariell came out from talking with the president and sat down in a chair in the middle of the living room. Then all her brothers and her dad was asked to come stand in a circle. It was pretty cool to see all of her brothers surrounding her. The sprit was super strong and I cheated and looked up in the prayer and may have ALMOST, just almost started to cry. I didn't though. Ha. But it really was amazing. It makes me miss the fact that I didn't go on a mission a little more but im really happy I didn't. you know, cause im married now! woot! The next day we gathered around and said our goodbyes. It was a little awkward cause I was the ONLY one not crying. I was sad to see her go and was super happy for her but I'm just not a crying person. I wanted to cry just to fit in... but it didnt happen. oh well. But were super excited for Ariel- she will be great!
The next thing was to head home to Idaho to see my family for christmas. We headed up on christmas eve and had a fun night of playing just dance. Shaun was HILLARIOUS! That boy has hips that move like a black women and a shimmy thats sure to make you laugh. We videoed it and as much as I would love to show everyone, I feel that could be a very bad thing once he found out. So just use your imagination. Funny right?
CHRISTMAS! Everything had been such a rush for the last month that it didn't even feel like Christmas. Usually im pretty excited for christmas but this year I almost forgot about it. HORRIBLE RIGHT!? DOI. But it was still a great one. We had my whole family there minus my brother-in-law Scott (he was stuck working in Cali...shucks.) Seeing my nephews open presents was a blast. Payton (3) is OBSESSED with power rangers. literally obsessed. We found the old Power Ranger movie we use to watch "bloom of doom" and put it in for him. We almost couldn't get him to come up for presents cause he wanted to watch it for the millionth time. He got a few new power rangers and a power ranger suit. Super cute! We loved it! Emmet loves thomas the train now days and was so excited to get one he forgot about all his other presents. Short story: We have this little tradition to give my nephews soda when ever Kasie (my sister, their mom) leaves the room. Well i gave Emmett a sip and it ended up running all over him. So i rushed him into the bathroom and stood him in front of the mirror. He looked up and saw his reflection and that he had a Thomas the Train shirt on. He was so giggly and smiley it was great. He kept pointing and trying to touch the shirt in the mirror. When i showed him that he had in on him he was even more excited! Cute kids. They are great! Payton is such a stink that he always has us laughing. The kid will flat out ignore you. So funny... most the time!
Later that night we went to go see Le Mis... and it was THE WORST MOVIE EVER! Me and Shaun were both dying in there. There was a few scenes that were just weird and wrong and some other stuff that was pretty humors to us (when it shouldn't have been). We were checking our phone quite often counting down the time. Thats how much we didn't like it. And I swear its like 60 hours long! ok, 3 but still! BUTTTT the music was really good. I did really like that. And, dont take our word for it... tons of people have loved it. Just not us. My family was all disappointed in us when we said it was horrible. My sister in law Tori was even getting so mad at us she couldn't talk any more.. haha funnnnnyyyy.
I'm quite sick or writing now. Like, really sick of it. So im going to be done. But, in the end christmas was great and marriage ended up being even better.
Hey Folks! It's round 2 of the Allred Alert. Fun eh? Meh...
Well the story for today is how Shaun proposed. Get ready...
And...
GO!
September 29th was the day (I think) and a Saturday I doubt I'll ever forget. Quite possibly the longest proposal known to man but the best one out there!
2:30 (roughly) rolls around and I get this text: " Hey, I've been thinking and I feel like we need to be sure we know what were getting into before we get married. Could you come by around 3 to talk about it?" WHAT THE HECK!!! So.freaking.rude. I was super stressed that he was going to end it and I couldn't for the life of me think why he would. So 3 came and I headed to Shaun's ready for war.
I walked into his house quite nervous and up to his room to find that he wasnt in there. But a pig pigy bank was. It was accompanied by a note that read. I know you said you would never chase a pig but your going to have to follow it around to receive your love letter." I looked at the pig and coming out of the slot where you put coins in was little pieces of paper telling me where to go.
The first one said "where we first met" which was in one of the buildings on campus where they held the swing dancing class. So I headed up and to my surprise there was Lauren Nielsen with a video camera. She told me that in order to receive my love letter I had to do the line dance to Boot Scoot n Boogy. I couldn't remember the dance for the life of me so I just made a little something up (looked like a fool) and received my letter. It was a little green block with the letter F on it and a piece of paper that told me something about Shaun.
The next place on the list was the TSC patio, where the opening social was (for all of those who read my last post). There I found Cody Nielsen... with a camera... and was told to recite the poem Shaun wrote me for Christmas. I have it memorized but with people down there eating and me being on the spot I totally forgot. So I looked it up on my phone, recited it quickly and received my next "love letter". An O.
Third, Adam's house. Where I had to play my hand at poker. When I arrived Adam was sitting at his kitchen table waiting with all the cards and chips ready to go. I played my hand (won) and received the letter. An R.
Then.. the fun park. Quite possibly the most embarrassing one. I pulled up and saw our friend Logan standing out side of his car waiting. I was told I had to dress up like a cowgirl and run around. I had a styrofoam cowboy hat, cow skin vest, plastic spurs, a sheriffs star, and a toy gun to carry around. I put it on then realized I had to go inside to run around! I may or may not have thrown a fit. I was so embarrassed! Mind you it was a nice fit but.. still a fit. Finally I went in embarrassed as all get out and ran 2 laps around the rink with one of the employees. Then I received an E.
Then it was to shoot clay pigeons up providence canyon. This is what we did for our first date. And if you know me, I.CANT.HIT.ANYTHING! I went up the canyon to find Adam there with a shotgun and a couple pigeons waiting. It wasn't that bad until the 3 guys who were siting with their rifles started being A-Holes. They were telling me its not that hard to hit one.. Blah Blah Blah. I was so angry with them that I just wanted this one over. So Adam handed me his 9MM, put a couple on the ground and I shot them all. Take that jerks with a rifle and a scope. The letter... It was a V.
Twizzle Berry. Our second date. I went in and the cashier knew exactly what was going on. He took the camera, turned it on, and started to film. He informed me that I was to buy some ice cream. So I did. It was oh so good! I love that place! There was a group of ladies there eating who were so excited and super giggly about what was happening... weird. E.
THENNNNN Olive garden. I walked in and there was Shaun; sitting at a table with the last green letter waiting. He didn't say much about all of it other than that I had to tell the waiter a special something before I could get the last letter. Ever heard the song "Going to the chapel of love?" If not... Here
Anyway I had to tell the waiter "I'm going to the temple and im going get married". The minor, nice, fit came again. That is such an awkward thing to tell some random person! But.. I did it and the response was hilarious! It went a little something like this...
"So I have something I have to tell you"
"ok?"
"I'm suppose to say, I'm going to the temple and I'm going to get married"
"OHHHH?! Thats exciting.... when?"
"I don't know!"
"uh.... [very awkward moment]"
[Shaun starts to laugh]
[I go BRIGHT red]
And that was that. He hand me the letter and tells me to order. We ate and then... nothing. So I got a little confused and wondered if this was all going to happen another day. So, I asked if we could go four wheeling. He said sure, and we left the restaurant.
Confused? Ya, I was too.
Earlier that day Cody came and get Shaun's four-wheeler to fix the tire for him so we decided to take Cody's up the mountain. It was a pretty fun little ride and I having a blast and completely forgot about all the weirdness that just happened the last few hours. We got to the top of Logan Peak and there was a fire going with a cooler sitting next to it. OH dear... I didn't want to get too excited so I led my self to believe it was a coincidence. But, lets be honest it wasn't. So I started to get really nervous and tried to stall by hurring to the cooler to grab the stuff for s'mores. I wasn't ready for this so I figured i'd delay it a little by roasting a mallow up. But, Shaun wasn't having that. He told me we needed to wait for the coals. He pulled me up, wrapped his arms around me [me about to faint] and he asked if I knew better what I was getting into. *Remember each block was accompanied with a note. The notes told me he would always be my best friend, an honest man, gushy stuff like that.* Then he told me what he was getting into.. more gushy stuff. Then it came... He got down on one knee and asked THE QUESTION! I didn't know what to do, and my head was spinning so i just kept saying yaay over and over... and he wouldn't get up. I felt like he was down on his knee for years! Finally he stood up and asked if I wanted to see the ring. Oh ya, the RING.. ha forgot about that all together. Guess thats what he was waiting for me to see before he got up. Oops. Well after it was all said and done Lauren an Cody popped up! They were filming the whole thing! Thats great!
Any ways. Super fun day and super memorable experience. Loved it all!
Well folks, this is Shaun and I's new Blog. We thought it would be nice to have one so friends and family can see what were up to while in Georgia!
If you haven't heard the news... Were Getting Married! December 28th is the day, and I sure hope you can all make it! But... thats not what this post is about. This is about the dating story, our dating story to be exact.
This is how it started....
In fall of 2010 I decided to take a "country swing dancing" class with my friend Heidi Spjute. While here at USU I got involved with some friends who would go to the Fun Park and swing dance every Wednesday night. Sounds completely stupid I know, but I promise it was actually a blast! So, Heidi talked me into taking the advanced class to learn how to do lifts and other fun things! Well, in this class there was this really cute guy that I noticed once or twice but other than that not much else to say about it. He was a bus driver for the campus shuttle so Heidi knew him (sorta) from riding it every once in awhile. One day I noticed she was talking to him and wanted to see if maybe, just maybe I could get him to ask me out. So I headed over to where they were chatting and... no such luck. So that was that and I forgot all about the cute guy from class.
It wasnt tell almost a year later that I saw Mr. Cutie himself again! This time I had a few friends who were part of the the country dance club put on a social up in the TSC (student center on campus). I had a busy night but a couple friends kept begging me to at least make an appearance. So I begged my roommate to go up with me so I could dance one song and she would make sure I was only there for half an hour. Well, I went up danced my song and was walking out when I noticed a bunch of my friends standing on the stairs talking. I figured I better say bye before leaving so I made my way over there. As I got closer I noticed Mr. Cutie was part of this circle. Didnt think much of it other than that. You see I was actually dating a guy at the time and alot of my friends made it very known that I was. So I went to say bye and after them making fun of the fact that I had to hurry home before____[ex boyfriend] found out, not true but still kinda funny. That was when Mr. Cutie piped up with some remark that totally threw me off. You see, I think I had heard him only maybe say 2 words up until this point so for hims to throw out a jab, a super funny one at that left me speechless. Well after an awkward line of hugs and goodbyes I walked back down to my apt... and that was that.
THEN, me and ___ broke up so my friend decided to have a big poker night with a few friends in some what of a celebration that I was now single again. Well I went over to Adam's house sat down and started to deal my hand for poker. All the sudden in walked another friend Logan with his roommate who just happened to be cutie! Even though I hadn't thought a second about him I couldn't help but smile when he walked up the stairs. Logan sat next to me and cutie next to him. We had a blast, all of us, we were all laughing the entire night. I remember looking down the table to see if he was laughing that the same things I was every time something funny was said. I still remember how embarrassed I would get because I couldn't stop staring and I felt a bit creepy. But it whatever. I also found that he was SUPER witty and hilarious He made fun of me just as much as any of the others and took all the jabs from any one else, twist them and shoot them right back 10x harder, it was HILARIOUS! But, that was that, poker ended and we all went home.
About a week later Adam sent me a text asking if i would go dancing that night, I said no because I had a ton of home work that really needed to be done. But for some reason adam wouldn't let up! I made a deal that I would come for an hour but that was it, he agreed and I headed that way. When I arrived I grabbed Adam danced a couple songs then decided it was probably time to leave. But before i even got off the dance floor adam stopped me and asked if Shaun and called me yet. I was so confused A. I didnt know any Shauns B. Why would this "Shaun call me"? I asked who he was and he told me the other bus driver who came to poker. I got super excited and blurted out "no, why does he want to ask me out?!" After it came out I felt quite dumb but was relieved when Adam said "ya, but I probably shouldn't have told you that. So, if he asks you pretend you had no idea." I was just fine playing along as long as Shaun did actually ask me out. After this short conversation I looked up and there Shaun was looking over at us but talking to another girl. I was completely confused. I watched him for the next little while and he danced with the SAME girl over and over and over. And when they were in between songs they would walk off and keep talking. I decided Adam must have the wrong idea cause from the looks of it he already had a girlfriend. Checked that of the list. Until Shaun asked me to dance and during the dance asked me to go four wheeling and shooting that weekend. Confused, yes. I asked Adam what was going on and he explained the other girl situation to me.. which is a whole other, super funny story for another time. Well dancing that night was a success, I finally had a date with this guy I had a crush from a distance on and I got to dance. No home work was finished but strangely enough I didnt really care.
Well... to four wheeling and shooting we went and lets just say my shot wasn't the best. I literally didn't hit one pigeon. And was quite embarrassed. Especially given the fact that he was hitting EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. Geesh... and i felt it was a super awkward date mostly because I didn't know any one there and every one else did and I was super shy. So I maybe said 3 words the entire time. After shooting we went at ate at cafe rio and then he dropped me off. HA, that was pretty awkward too. I didnt really know what to do cause i figured I'd never hear from him again so I opened my apartment door and found that it was FULL of people. How awkward is that. doorstep drop off and all your friends are sitting watching the entire thing. DOI! So i gave him a weird side hug type deal and ran in and shut the door. The end... so I thought.
A couple days later I received a text from Shaun saying that he wanted to take me out again but was super busy so, maybe just something short like ice cream. I was SHOCKED. But, of course I went. He picked me up at the library and we headed down to Twizzle Berry and ended up talking for about an hour. I thought it was pretty awkward, mostly because im not a fan of small talk and that was what the entire hour consisted of. On they way home he told me that my friend Adam had asked him if he wanted to double sometime and that he was thinking they should that coming friday. It was really weird mostly because I couldn't figure out if he was asking me or just telling me that Adam wanted to do that. So I just kinda sat and said nothing until i was getting out of the car and Shaun said "so... do you want to go this weekend?"OHHHH you are asking me... way to make that one clear buddy, but of course! I didnt say that- but I thought it!
That friday we headed down to ogden and for the first time I started to feel a bit more comfortable with Shaun. We ended up being early for dinner so we walked over to Peir 1 and looked around the store to kill some time. It was pretty fun but still some what weird especially given the fact that his sister was on the date with us. She went with our friend and Shaun's roommate Logan so it wasn't that bad. I know Logan and Adam pretty well and they always seem to bring the outgoing side of me out- probably good for Shaun to see that. Actually that was the whole reason Adam decided we needed to go on this date. Thanks ADAM! At the rodeo it got a little awkward, Shaun decided he wanted to hold my hand but I felt super awkward given the fact that Adam, Logan, and his sister would all be witness to this happening for the first time! So I refused to let him. He kept putting his hand on my leg and trying to move it closer to my hand but I wasn't having it. I folded my arms and consentrated on the rodeo. Period. As we walked out I felt bad for what I just did, and didn't want him to think I wasn't interested so I grabbed his hand and held it all the way to the car... AWWWWE.. sick.
After that we started "hanging" out a lot more and even made it through Christmas break, and kept on dating after that. We have had a blast together! We have been to concerts, bungee jumping, boating, snowboarding, zip lining and many other things! After he spent a summer in Georgia, he came back and proposed! It was great and I'll tell that story another time. But now were getting married, and moving to Georgia to start our lives together. Im quite excited!
