packed and ready.

we are headed for the CALIF-ORN-I-A.

daron surprised me with tickets about 2 weeks ago.

(there may or may not have been some serious "womanly persuasion" involved)

regardless, we are going. 

and i feel like a lucky bumble bee.

i know i am antsy when i am ready to go an hour before i have to leave for my plane flight.

"ohh whatttt!?"

can't remember the last time that happened.

or if it ever has.

but i am thinking i may do this whole "be ready early thing" more often.

it's quite relaxing.

i am able to enjoy my new favorite delicious snack that i have been obsessed with and listen to this lovely song...

on repeat.

Artichoke baked in the oven.

(easiest recipe known to man)

what is pretty even after you eat it?

only artichoke...

oh california, i hope you are ready for me.

my new home

i am here to say miracles happen. miracle = a full time job. for me! i found a job and will be working at Goldsmith Co. Jewelers in provo. i have 3 things to say to you all.

1. come visit me

2. come visit me

3. come visit me

i don't know what i am doing. the job has quite the learning curve (that's an understatement). but it really (REALLY) helps to practice with people you know. and people...i need all the practice i can get. and let's be honest, it is always nice to see a familiar face in a new setting.

friday and saturday were my first 2 days. i feel so grateful for an opportunity like this but i am also going to be adjusting to a very different schedule. i will go from working 9 hours a week to about 50. (hence "my new home") when i first came home and told daron i got the job, we both were in utter shock. then there was lots of screaming and jumping around. i have never seen daron so proud. i didn't know how proud of me he could be. it was lovely.

but we will miss each other :( i work monday - saturday 9-6 with one day off during the week. not having saturdays will be the hardest. this has all happened so fast. tuesday i was asked to drop my resume off (part of why the celebration of sweet potatoe fries was necessary), thursday i interviewed (for an hour and a half) and friday was my first day. 

at the same time, i kind of can't believe how okay with it i am. everyone and anyone that knows me knows there isn't a better place i would rather be for 50 hours a week. i could literally sit in goldsmith all day. and the people i work with are gems. i love them all. and that is big deal. so far, everyone has been so kind, so patient, and oh so helpful. 

wish me luck. i am nervous but so excited.

(p.s. i feel the need to make a slight clarification. i have been told by some that this post made people think i was prego. i feel so bad! this is a little baby secret that really is not a huge deal. (it is but it isn't kind of thing ya know?). and i had no idea that was what was going to be assumed. oopsies. it will probably be quite the let down comparatively. but i will say, i wish all of your guesses were right. i'll be preggers...someday. and i sure can't wait)

Last night

i don't know how it is for other married couples, but daron and i have a serious cuddling predicament.

daron: -a morning cuddler. 

always wakes up one happy camper that just wants to 

kiss me

hug me

snuggle me

love me all over

dani bree: -a night cuddler. 

always wants to be literally intertwined with her man before she sleeps. 

will grab daron's

arm

leg

chest

his finger if she has to 

just so she can feel his presence next to her

this presents a problem. especially since both D&DB have a very hard time compromising.

daron is a poop butt at night. he is grumpy right before he goes to sleep

and incoherent. i will tell him "good night. i love you"

and i hear "uh huh"

(this also has to deal with the fact that i will crawl in bed like an hour after him, sometimes. bad habit. i know)

then, of course, in the morning, i am then the same to him...he wants to cuddle with me and kiss me and i am 

grumpy

incoherent

confused

tired

still half asleep

etc.. etc...

but then there is last night...

where we compromised.

(or i should probably just say daron compromised...)

he let me grab his arm (!!!) and pull it into my chest nice and tight

and then... (drum roll)

HELD MY HAND

oh it was wonderful. i honestly couldn't sleep for a while because i was just thinking about how

great it was and was reminiscing on the very first time that daron and i ever fell asleep like this.

we had been dating a whole week and we were at lake powell together.

we fell asleep on top of the houseboat, laying, facing towards each other

holding hands.

it pulled my heart strings. and clearly still does.

it was a moment i will never forget and (sweetheart- this line is for you)

one i really wouldn't mind reenacting night after night after night.

:-)

until then, i will keep thinking and dreaming about it and it will keep making me smile.

today

was the greatest.

i didn't want this day to end.

it was an eventful day...

full of events that i cannot share.

yes, i have a secret!

and it is killing me!

maybe i can share in the future.

maybe.

we will just have to see...

as for now though,

i want to remember today for a very long time.

credit to L-ham and jess

for making today the bomb.com

and credit to gurus' sweet potato fries

for making our celebration so delicious.

it's somewhat embarrassing awesome to say that

2 large batches of your sweet potatoes fries was not enough

and so we had to order a 3rd.

oh today, how i loved you so.

i cannot wait for the day i get to reveal you,

i will love that today even more.

goodnight!

poop or yummy yummy goodness. you decide.

Peeps.
please meet wally.

Wally is a 490 pound fast food addict that entered our living room last monday night on the show "extreme makeover: weight loss edition." Wally's journey begins on a high note as he loses a total of 110 pounds in the first 3 months of his transformation...but then, not being able to control his addiction, his journey rapidly spirals downward by gaining the weight back and not being able to finish what he started.

wally, is now in big trouble.
by who?
by me.
ever since daron met wally, he proceeds to yell wally's name like a dying witch as i try and enjoy a childhood  treat that i have recently been obsessed with. it is one of the saddest tragedies. every time i try and enjoy this dessert i enjoyed as an itty bitty child i have to hear daron's voice saying
"WALLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" "WALLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
over and over again.
just reminding me that every bite i take i am getting closer and closer to wally's 490 pounds and most likely looking like a food addict myself (especially when i am having my 3rd bowl)
i feel bad for wally. i really really do.
but i am even more sad that i cannot enjoy my simple yet glorious yummy dessert.
wally, i wish you all the luck in the world but i sure wish we had never met you.

childhood dessert
vanilla ice cream loaded with chocolate syrup, mixed until porridge texture.

he calls it: poop. i call it: yummy yummy goodness.
............................................................................
until wally came along!

Saying goodbye.

is lame. really lame. 

we made it short and quick of course. just like pullin' off the band aid. 

daron and i are officially the only ones left of my family in good old utah. 

i know it has been a great thing for our marriage to be on our own in our little house in lehi. 

but it doesn't make it any easier being the odd ones out. my true feelings are: when i think about how we will be here for 2 more years i kind of panic and it sounds like eternity. i kind of feel my throat closing off and my heart beats faster. i don't know why. there is nothing wrong necessarily with the state...i think it is more the fact that neither daron or my parents are here and so we feel far from "home." our old homes. 

i guess it just takes a while to adjust to not being "from" the place you grew up for 18 years of your life. at least it has been a harder break for me. when people would ask daron and i where we were from in puerto rico and he would say utah, i could feel my face immediately become very perplexed..."utah?? really? we are?" every time he answered that question it caught me off guard. it has hit me that that really should change. daron and i have our own little family. it is little but it is wonderful. it is just the two of us, growing closer more and more each and every day. i know, without a doubt, the day we leave this place...when daron  gets into some program for school and we have to say goodbye...i will be sad. and it will be a time where i look back at all the wonderful experiences we had here. the experiences that defined our relationship. defined who we are as a couple. for it is this house, where our own family began. no other house will we be able to say that about.

i do not want that day to come, where we are packing up and moving on to a new adventure, and feel as though we let this time pass thinking too much of our future. about what was next, everything to look forward to thinking "once this (whatever that is) happens..." oh, it will be so good.

i want to feel as though daron and i took not a moment for granted, lived up every day we had, and have no regrets. Life moves too quickly to only be thinking about what is ahead. i am grateful for times like these...that remind me to take full advantage of my present.     

oh, and of course, there is this edible goodness. who decides to start smiling right when b.j. and elle have to leave. figures, right!?

PR in a nut shell

meaning...through lots and lots of pictures. note to self: never think it is a good idea to put this many pictures up again. that was horrible. once i started i just had to finish. no wonder i throw one picture up per blog post. i feel so worn out.

i had to keep reminding myself that i am going to be grateful i went through and organized all the pictures and put them up. i know i will be when i can't sleep, pull out my computer and start reading old blog posts and laugh at myself (i do that all too often). it's safe to say to the pyfers and jewkes that our first family vacation was a success!

(flamenco beach on culebra island or heaven. either name fits just fine)

(needless to say flamenco beach wore us out. beau and amy slowly passing out is my favorite) 

the stormy (adventurous) day when cat was ill

la estacion

and some random randoms

My favorite excusions: 1. Flamenco beach (no need for an explanation there)

      2. Bioluminescent Bay (a must do)

my favorite part of the trip as a whole: getting to know the locals

-Keshley

-Hyrum

-Nora

-Miguel

Keshley and I met on the plane (her picture is above). I asked her what brought her to puerto rico. she replied by shaking her head. it didn't take long to realize she didn't speak english. for the last hour of the plane ride i wrote to her on a napkin in spanish trying to communicate with her. (emphasize the word trying) we got to writing so much that we filled the napkin and she pulled out her notebook so we could write in the back of it. she is 14. from carolina, puerto rico. she was in the states visiting her aunt. she doesn't like the city of san juan but recommended culebra and vieques beach and said the people are nice in "some" of the places. haha that is just part of the "small talk" we had.

Hyrum. he was my favorite. we met him in the ward on Sunday. Hyrum's dream is to be called on a mission to Salt Lake City. he practically screamed during the meeting when we told him we were from Utah. why does hyrum want to go to SLC so bad on his mission? so he can go to general conference.

yeahh, that made me almost pop a tear.

oh puerto rico. how we miss you so.

"mawwiage, mawwiage is what brings us together today"

or for the past weekend.

                      

        one of these is not like the other :)

 

wonderful venue, adorable details, and a gorgeous bride.

you can't ask for more.

even with everything though, i have to say the ceremony was the most beautiful.

and that is how it should be.

CONGRATS David and Kirstin Hansen!

can't wait to see YOU.

text messages- from lover

daron reads this post, and then i get these text messages from him.

haha. i love him. 

i'm pretty sure there is nothing sexier than a family man.

ooo give me give me give me.

sexy home remedy

tonight i was asking daron if he thought a certain someone was sexy. he said "no. i don't think anyone else is sexy besides you." i of course didn't believe him and somehow the conversation ended up with me convincing him that i am really sexy and all of the reasons why. after my big long spiel he laughs at me. ru right? then he informed me that he can't take me seriously with this ridiculous glob of toothpaste/salt mixture on my FATTY cold sore. i may have forgotten about the home remedy on my lip.

so yes. i have a cold sore and it is kirstin's wedding this weekend. i want to cry. i am a bridesmaid (which i have been so greatly looking forward to) but now i am terrified i am going to ruin the pictures. obviously the bride will look gorgeous and most likely no one will notice me. but if they do and they notice this MONSTER of a cold sore it will not be pretty.

and for anyone who has had a cold sore before, you know smiling hurts like a banchy. you feel like your lip is about to split open. smiling is not your friend.

defeated, i decided i should listen to the home remedies on random, most likely non credible websites that said eat lots of dairy.

so this gallon of ice cream and sexy me are enjoying each other tonight.
go away cold sore. go away.

laugh with me.

pictures of puerto rico to come. maybe. ha we hardly took any pictures but at the same time there are so many pictures. and it just sounds kind of exhausting to do. and, quite frankly, i don't really even know if pictures do the beaches and adventures justice. it was hard to capture how incredible the places were. but for now, i wanted to show a picture i thought was quite comical.

thank you to bryan who took this picture. he did a great job "in showing how tall this tower was" which is exactly what i wanted him to do. i just had no idea he was going to show how tall i am as well.

seirously...who says i am short?? they are confused!

vaca update

a phone pic from our stay here in puerto rico.

you may think this post is about to boast about how amazing/incredible/blissful/romantic and just perfect our tropical vacation is here. let's just say the trip has been... "adventurous"

we have experienced everything from missing flights, lost luggage (that did not eventually arrive for more than 3 days) gloom doom weather to people barfing one after the other. me first (all of sunday) daron was next (all of tuesday) and poor poor cat is the sick one today. amy, beau, and bryan better be scared because this stomach bug is mean. and to top it all off hurricane emily decided to scare everyone off so every tour on the island closed down.

this all results in one too many episodes of america's next top model, the E true hollywood story of taylor swift, LOTS of swimming in the luke warm spa that smells like dead fish or poop (it's debatable as to which one), juggling fake fruit, a NOT OK amount of "tiny wings" whatever the heck that is, and about our 100th round of phase 10. 

don't get me wrong, there is no where else i'd rather be. it's nice to know "...the sun'll come out....TOMORROW!"  :)