The Story You Have been Waiting for

This is a long story, so you have to bear with me. I kept ruining the plans. If you just want the actual proposal, you can just scroll to the end.

Travis got in to town late Friday night. On Saturday, we went to his nephew's baptism in West Jordan. After the baptism, I was helping his mom get lunch ready and Travis disappeared off with Devin, his brother. I knew he was up to something, but I didn't know what. After the baptism, we headed up to Sundance to go snowboarding. It was my first time. I had been looking forward to it all week, but when the moment finally arrived I started getting nervous. It may have been because Travis asked if I had chains for my car and then we saw this:

(If you can't tell, that car is nose down in the frozen water)

I was being a bit dramatic on the way up and kept saying we were going to die. Luckily we arrived safely and got our gear on and set to go. Travis called me his little snow bunny. I think I look pretty legit. (Thanks Natalie for letting me use your gear!)

We started on a rope pull and I got up about half way before falling. We moved on quickly because Travis said it wasn't anything like real snowboarding. We practiced on the bunny hill and I could not do it. I was getting so frustrated. I said I hated it and I started to cry. Typical of a first time learner I guess. We went back up the bunny hill again and the guy that was doing the rope pull saw us sitting there. He asked what we were doing and Travis asked if he had any pointers. He showed me what to do and that time down I actually made it! That is what saved us for the rest of the day. I didn't hate it so much because after the first time I just wanted to go home.

(This is how I spent most of my time)

Now it was time to go up the mountain since we did buy tickets. (The original plan was for Travis to propose to me on the mountain) We went up the lift for what seemed like forever. It was time to get off, and of course I fell getting off the lift. (Apparently you don't have to duck when you get off) Our instructor guy was a couple chairs behind us and he gave me encouragement. The first time down the mountain was pretty slow. I did what the guy taught me to do. Even with that, I would go about 20 feet and face plant. I had a few good falls where I flipped over. I did get really frustrated at one point though. I yelled out "I hate this!" I took my board off and had to move over to get back on the easy path. I was pretty grumpy at that point. (It was at this point that Travis was scared to propose to me because I was so grumpy he thought I would say no) By the bottom of the mountain, I had gotten the hang of it ok. Since I was doing better, I wanted to try again.

We went up again. This time I did way better! We made it down a lot faster and I had a lot less falls. When we first got off the lift (this time I got off without falling) Travis wanted to stop and take a picture in this one place off the path but I didn't think that I could make it over there so I vetoed the idea. Proposal was no where on my mind. I was thinking more about staying on my feet. (Later that evening I figured out that it is because he wanted to propose there. I ruined that one. I kinda wish he had made me go over anyways. I guess it makes for an interesting story though.)

I think I look pretty impressive!

On our way back from snowboarding, I was driving and Travis said we should stop at a park to "take some pictures." As we drove up, a cop pulled behind us followed us the whole way. By the time we got up there, it was kind of dark and Travis didn't think it was that pretty so we just headed back to my place.

As we got to my place, I noticed that my bedroom light was on and living room light was on. I asked Travis if he went into my room and left the light on because I never leave the lights on. I also mentioned how Alisha must be home since the living room light was on. We park and I didn't have any shoes or a coat on so I grabbed my stuff and ran up stairs. As I was running, Travis said, "wait, wait, wait." I didn't think anything of it because I thought he just wanted me to slow down or help carry more stuff in. I said, "just grab what you can and come up." I soon figured out that he wanted me to wait because there was a surprise when I opened the door. (This goes back to his disappearance at the baptism. Also his level of stress when I mentioned that my bedroom light was on) As I walked into my apartment, I saw his mom finishing getting the table set for a candlelight dinner for two. I quickly step back out and shut the door again and waited for him to come up. I wish I could have seen the look on our faces as I walked in. At this point, I still didn't think anything of it because we had agreed to celebrate Valentine's day once he got there, so I thought the dinner was for that.

I was banished to my room until everything was ready. Travis and I had a beautiful candlelit dinner. I was absolutely stuffed. Then he pulled out dessert. (His backup plan was to propose after dessert) I begged him to eat it later. I was so exhausted that I asked if we could watch a movie and then eat dessert. I told him I would enjoy the dessert so much more if we ate it after the movie. He finally agreed. He was so patient with me as I kept ruining his plans. I asked if I could blow out the candles and he was really hesitant and he finally said yes. Later he said that he felt like I was blowing out his dreams.We started watching the movie and it was terrible so about 30 minutes into it I told him that I was just going to go to bed. He said that we hadn't had dessert yet and I said that we could just eat it tomorrow. I started getting ready for bed and he was like, "first we need to do our heart fortune test. Come here." I told him I only had one contact in and asked if that was ok. He re-lit the candles and said we needed to each chose one of the candy hearts and do whatever it said. He chose a green one that said "big hugs." He gave me a big hug. Then it was my turn. That's when it hit me what was about to happen. I chose a pink one and he had written, "Will you marry me?" on it. I remember me saying, "Is this real?" He said, "Yes. Amber, I love you. Every time I think about you it makes me smile. etc. etc. etc. I want to take you to the temple with me. Will you marry me?" I said "yes." I cried. We hugged. I laughed because I had in one contact, my hair was a mess and we were in sweats from after snowboarding...romantic huh? Then he told me how he wanted to do it while we were snowboarding and this was his last resort and I almost ruined that too. I went to take out my other contact and put on my glasses so I could really see my ring. I called my mom and dad and cried again. I wasn't so tired anymore. So, that's my story. Life with Amber never goes as planned. It's something he has gotten used to I guess. I am just glad he is persistent!

He is a better writer, so check out his blog to see his side of the story.

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! Travis may be the reason I like Valentine's Day now, but I have pretty much always liked Valentine's Day. Why you may ask? That is an easy question. Valentine's Day is full of my favorite things. The major colors are pink and red. Hearts are everywhere. Flowers are given to the girls. There is an abundance of chocolate. What else could a girl ask for? Oh, and you get to watch chick flicks. My question is, how can you NOT like Valentine's Day?

Last year was my first year with a Valentine. You don't have to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. Spread your love with friends or family. My kindergarten kids don't have Valentine's and they were as happy as could be today. Maybe we should learn a lesson from then.

Since Travis isn't here to celebrate Valentine's Day with me, I thought I would do a flashback to a year ago. Last Valentine's Day, Travis, me, Jeff, and Jessee took a little road trip to Colorado to visit Travis' best friend Jared and his family.I was pretty much sick the whole time, but it was a lot of fun. It was cute the way he took care of me though. I knew at this point in our relationship that I really liked him. I think he was still deciding. During the trip, we went to the Olympic Training Center. It was pretty cool because we visited the same time while the Olympics were going on.
On Valentine's Day, the boys cooked the girls dinner. (the girls had to help) Then Jared had Anne call us upstairs like she needed help, but we knew what was going on. The boys put flowers, candles and cards on the table. Then they came up and got us. It was perfect! Travis even made a cute little homemade card. I told him it is going to be hard to top that Valentine's Day off.
It was a great trip and I had fun getting to know Anne and Jared better. (Fun fact about them...they just had their 2 baby earlier this month!)

Travis and I will celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend when he gets here! For everyone else, Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Bedspread

I am in LOVE with this bedspread. Travis doesn't like it and keeps telling me it isn't that great. I disagree. If it wasn't so expensive, I would just buy it in spite of his dislike of it. :)

I can't figure out how to add the picture because it is from the internet, but go to this site: http://www.home-decorating-co.com/jennifer-taylor-yorke-bedding.html

Superbowl

So, this is the first year I think I have ever done the Superbowl "right." I like football. I really do. But you see, it is a lot easier to get into a game if you care who wins, like BYU football for example. I love going to those games! So, not having any attachment to the Steelers or Packers made it a little harder to get into. This is especially true because no one that I watched the game with really had a preference either. The commercials were fun though! But, we did the food part right! Nathan and I went over to Bradford and Heidi's house. Heidi's 2 brothers, Jake and Joey, were there as well.

Heidi and Bradford spoiled us! We started off by having hot wings, pizza bites, fried mozzarella sticks (yummy!), a fruit plate, chips and homemade salsa. Oh, and I can't forget about the Dr. Pepper! Then, after a very entertaining halftime show (enter sarcasm here), we had dinner. I was so full from the snacks that I could barely eat anything else. Bradford cooked Bratwursts with onions and grilled peppers. We also had real french fries. Everything was soooo good! Something that I took from this experience is that I want to be like Bradford and Heidi "when I grow up." (aka-when I get married) They just had an open house and welcomed anyone. Joey brought a friend, and I am sure if I asked, I could have brought a friend and they would not have cared. Another one of their friends came over later too. They just took care of us all and shared whatever they had. When I asked the day before if I could bring anything, Bradford told me no. When I tried to clean up before we left, Heidi made me stop. I learned a good lesson that night. Sharing and giving makes you feel good. You do it to make others happy, but it makes you happy too. It is a win, win situation. So, when I finally grow up, hopefully I can be like Bradford and Heidi.

This was a group of anti-photo people, so here is the only picture I got. Me and Princess Brooke! I love her!

Ashley Dee

Me and Ashley our Freshman year

Yesterday I got to go to one of my best friend's baby showers, so she gets a whole blog post!

Ashley Dee and I were roommates my freshman and sophomore year at BYU. She has been one of my best friends ever since then. She is from Farmington, Utah. She graduated in Early Childhood Education, just like me. The only thing is that she got married and is teaching her own kids and I am teaching other people's kids.

Ashley Dee is one of the nicest people that I know. She is always thinking of others. She is a great example to me in living the gospel. She is funny, loves country dancing, and has a fun, quirky personality.

Ashley is one of those people that even if we haven't seen each other in a while, we can get together and talk like we haven't missed a step.

It was great to see her and catch up on each others' lives. We should get together more often. Here is a picture of us and her cute little baby belly. She is one of my only friends that is going to have a baby girl, so I FINALLY got to buy some little girl clothes. I was pretty excited! I love buying baby clothes. Mom says it is going to be bad when I have a little girl. Ashley loved the polka dots!
She is due on February 23. Hopefully she will come early. Ashley Dee, I love you!

Black High Heels

Have you ever had a pair of shoes that you just love and you can't get rid of? For me, they are my Black High Heels. They are nothing extremely fabulous, but I love them! They go great with my dress pants AND my skirts! They are the perfect height. They are comfortable and they were cheap. I think they were the first pair of high heel shoes that I bought after my mission.

So, a little fun fact about Amber: I am not a shoe person. I would much rather spend my money on a new pair of jeans. Travis makes fun of me because I will buy a pair of jeans if I like them, but in order to buy a pair of shoes I have to LOVE them.

I have been trying for months now to find a replacement for my Black High Heels. I have another pair of completely plain ones that I wear with my dress pants and dressier ones that I wear with my skirts, but I need a good in between pair.

Today is finally the day that my black high heel are going in the trash. (boo hoo) Here is why:

(A picture is worth a thousand words)

I have tried to salvage them as long as possible. You will notice the purple duct tape. That is to cover up the holes that are in the bottom of both shoes. It was a rainy day and I really wanted to wear them, but I didn't want wet feet. I came up with this brilliant idea. It worked great...until I crossed my legs and one of my cute little kindergartners said, "Miss Broadhead, why do you have tape on the bottom of your shoe?" Aren't kids great? There is reason one.

Reason 2: You will notice that one of the rubber pieces has come off the heel. Instead of going "click, click, click, click" down the hall, I go, "click, clop, click, clop." It is a little embarrassing.

Reason 3: Today I discovered that not only is there a hole in the right shoe, but the whole sole is starting to come off.

Those are the top three reasons. Others could be included but will be left out for now. So, beloved Black High Heels, you have been good to me. You will be missed!