{2011 in review}

Here is our 2011 in review to the best that I can recall-- I did have to rely on Facebook statues and the little to no pictures I took this year:

January

Battled snow and school

Jack had a staff infection and had to wear the CONE of SHAME

According to my FB statuses- I was sick often and Pierce took care of me (surprise)

February

Went to my Grandma Rueckert’s 80^th birthday party

Enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday with just Pierce and me…and TONS of food!

First Valentine’s Day as married people

Threw my first ever bridal shower for my friend Marie

March

Went to Vegas for a Lacrosse Tournament

One of my besties Marie got married & I got to be a bridesmaid

April

Hawaii for 10 days with my family

Traded Pierce’s car in for a sweet Commander!

Oogled over Prince Will & Kate’s wedding

May

Birthday Month for us!

Finished what will be my last semester of school forever or for a while (yet to be determined)

June

1^st Anniversary

attended my cousin Melissa’s wedding (so beautiful)

attended many Real Salt Lake games in the Summer

July

4^th of July at Real Salt Lake Game with the family

Pierce’s (attempt) at gardening

Harry Potter- yes it’s worth mentioning.

August

Went to Michigan to help Chelsea & Travis move

Became an aunt/uncle to Miss Charlotte

Went to AZ to visit Chase, Helen and Charlotte & see my cousin Ashlyn get married

Pierce started school

September

Became an aunt/uncle AGAIN (8 days later) to Liam

Lacrosse try-outs—this is a BIG deal at our home

Attended our first USU hockey game in support of Pierce’s cousin Stewart

October

Found out I was pregnant!

Moved into a 2 bedroom

Bought a CAR!

November

Moved…. Again! (Thanks to our parents, Nate, Carly, Haley & Marie)

Thanksgiving with Pierce’s parents and Chase & Helen

Announced our little baby to FB aka the World

December

Christmas spent with both families

Found out our bean is a BOY

New Year’s Eve with the Walkers

{choose who you love, love who you choose}

So when my Brother and Sister-in-law had their 1st anniversary she made a great post celebrating and said that they had made it further than about 60% of people who get married young. At first I thought "well, not in Utah" but I am sad to say that I am actually wrong.

Lately, I've been noticing some of my Facebook friends’ names have started changing- back to their maiden names. It's shocked and saddened me that so many girls my age are getting married and then suddenly within the first 2 years of marriage, suddenly get divorced. Getting married in the temple doesn't guarantee the marriage will work out but I think being LDS we have more understanding and are told by our church leaders that you are in it for the long haul. It makes me sad that people are wanting to get married but then forget the love they had, make mistakes and aren't willing to take the steps of repentance and “have different views”. I don't want to offend anyone with this post but just reinforce that marriage is often not taken seriously. I understand that in some cases, people are better not together but it doesn't mean you should take the easy way out the first time around.

It reminded me of a talk that Pres. Monson gave this last conference in the priesthood session, I am just going to share a couple quotes from it but you can read the whole thing here.

“If you are concerned about providing financially for a wife and family, may I assure you that there is no shame in a couple having to scrimp and save. It is generally during these challenging times that you will grow closer together as you learn to sacrifice and to make difficult decisions. Perhaps you are afraid of making the wrong choice. To this I say that you need to exercise faith. Find someone with whom you can be compatible. Realize that you will not be able to anticipate every challenge which may arise, but be assured that almost anything can be worked out if you are resourceful and if you are committed to making your marriage work.”

“Brethren, there is a point at which it’s time to think seriously about marriage and to seek a companion with whom you want to spend eternity. If you choose wisely and if you are committed to the success of your marriage, there is nothing in this life which will bring you greater happiness.”

“Choose a companion carefully and prayerfully; and when you are married, be fiercely loyal one to another….“Choose your love; love your choice.” There is great wisdom in those few words. Commitment in marriage is absolutely essential.”

I love that we have leaders to turn to that understand us and understand what Heavenly Father wants for us. They know probably better than anyone that marriage is not the easiest thing but that it is so worth it.

All of these thoughts lead me to one of my favorite songs, Marry Me by Train. The most powerful words are seen right here on my blog “Marry Me, Today and Everyday” to me, that means that each day you have to re-commit yourself to your spouse and in a sense marry them every day. Pierce and I will be the first people to admit that marriage is not perfect, but it’s great. That we don’t always see eye to eye, but that we love each other more than anything. And that we want this in our lives and we want it together and with each other. I truly have a testimony of marriage and the quality of life it brings to my own life. I have a testimony that we are not supposed to end up in this world alone. We have countless examples of good marriages and I want to be the little old couple that has been married for 50+ years. Marriage isn’t always easy, so you need to “choose your love” so that you remember that you love this other person when it does get hard and then “love your choice”- work on loving that choice every day.

{2010 rEcAp}

Well this year has been a roller coaster of emotions!! We've had the best year of our lives and cannot wait for what 2011 holds for us! I thought I would do a recap of the last year and some fun memories we made!

Dec. 31st 2009- The plan was for Pierce to propose at midnight on New Years 2010....but my cute hubby couldn't stand that the ring was in his pocket while we were going on rides at Disneyland....so at 10-ish in the morning, Pierce walked me over by my favorite ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" and popped the question!! I was so surprised and overwhelmed but I have to say it was one of the best engagements I've ever heard if I do say so myself!

January--

Here we are ringing in the New Year as the newly engaged!

(We realize that this isn't the best picture of us, but we had been at Disneyland ALL day!)

We celebrated Kayla and Trent getting married in Vegas!

We attended the Jazz/Miami game! (Pierce's 2 favorite teams!)

And of course I started planning the wedding of my dreams!

Other things that happened in Jan:

- I had double knee surgery (boo)

- Pierce was the best nurse during the recovery process (still owe him big time for it!)

February--

We were in lots of love! Continuing to plan the wedding!

Love this picture below!

March--

We both continued to work. Pierce was attending school, while Karissa was not and Pierce was getting all A's (he's a smart cookie).

Pierce was helping his sister Chelsea "coach" Jordan Lacrosse-- all the while this is how practices were! Just Kidding!

April--

We took all our engagement pictures (thanks to Chase) and sent out the wedding invites! Everything was coming together great!

Pierce's parents also gave us the great opportunity to go to a dinner where were met President Packer and this guy below who gave us some marital advice that I won't forget!

May--

We both celebrated birthdays in May! (No pictures for some reason)

Pierce moved into our apartment at the end of May!!

And we watched Ben (Pierce's best friend/mission companion) marry the perfect girl for him, Alex!

I also got my bridal pictures taken in May by Chase. His website is amazing if anyone wants to check it out click here.

June---

Our wedding day! The best day of our lives, being sealed for time and all eternity to each other! We were so grateful to all the planning and work that went into it! We were blessed to have family come from all over to celebrate with us as well!

As you can see, June 5th was a beautiful day and we were so lucky to have everything be perfect!

I am so grateful that I have married my best friend!

We also went on our honeymoon that was such a blast!

We went to Mexico and had so much fun! It was a fairy tale wedding and honeymoon for sure! But we were just as excited to actually start our lives as the new Mr. and Mrs. Walker

July--

Pierce held his first ever Lacrosse camp for the girls team and it went great!

We also welcomed this little guy into our world!

Dogs truly are man's best friend and he quickly became a huge part of our worlds. He is our cuddle buddy and best friend and always makes us laugh. Jack loves Pierce and Pierce loves Jack. I love their relationship.

August & Sept.--

Pierce was working, Karissa trying to find a job and finally did through her good friends the McPartlands! So grateful for work and being able to live on our own and pay bills and struggle through the newlywed phase of life!

Towards the end of August, I found out that I was pregnant. We were a little stressed and excited and surprised!! Sadly, by the time September rolled around, I had miscarried. It was a really hard time for me, but I am so thankful that I had Pierce there by my side. He was my rock and strength, even though I knew he was hurting too.

We started school! Both of us were up at the U and we were so excited to have some classes together!

I don't really have any pictures of Aug- Sept (haha taking more photos a new year's resolution?? Think so.)

So here are just a few random pictures...

October--

October was filled of school, work, and date nights on the weekend. We house sat for Pierce's parents while they went on a trip for his dad's 50th birthday! We also threw a surprise party for Jeff and below is Pierce being the MC for the event. He did a great job and is always a great public speaker!

We also were struggling with leaving Jack at home so much by himself, even when he was going to my mom's while I was at work to play with her puppies. When we learned that Jack's sister was never bought, we jumped on it and brought Izzy into our world. It's crazy that we have had her since the end of October, because I don't remember Jack without her anymore! She is such a fun personality to have in our house, so girly and innocent (or she likes you to think she is haha). But either way we love this little ball of sunshine!

PS- excuse the demon eyes in this pic!

Also in October, Pierce held Lacrosse Try-outs and had so much fun! He is looking forward to starting the season as the Head Coach!

November--

At the beginning of Nov. I ran a 3K with Helen! It was really fun, cold and made me tired! It was the first time I had actually ran since my knee surgery-- yes I am kind of a baby haha! Anyway, Helen and I loved it and were pretty proud of ourselves!

We also didn't mind getting treated to flowers, cards and breakfast from our hubbies and MIL!

Christmas is also Pierce's favorite holiday and the only one he says that we can actually decorate our house for.... SO at the beginning of Novemeber, we bought a tree! Then it snowballed into buying all of our Christmas stuff and setting it up way before Thanksgiving! But I didn't mind :)

We celebrated Turkey Day with Pierce's parents and grandparents and neighbor! I don't have any pictures but the food was to die for!!

Dec--

December we celebrated being married for 6 months! Wow, how time flies when you are enjoying life! We just wrapped up the holidays with my family and Pierce's family and I stole some pictures from people to show some fun activities we did!

Gingerbread contest--- so I had this idea for about a year that I wanted to do the house from "UP"....the rules were that we had to all use the same supplies... well that created a challenge for us to do the balloon part of the house...

Let's just say it didn't pan out as well as we had hoped and we got last place. Dead last. Crap.

Next year, Pierce picks the theme.

Here we are with Santa! He came to the Walkers for a visit to Locke and Ava (our niece and nephew) but we were lucky to snap a photo with him!

Lastly, we rang in the New Year at the Walker's (a little early tho because we all were tired/sick/had to wake up in the morning).

Happy New Year's! (Yes Jack is drinking from Pierce's glass).

We cannot wait for what 2011 holds! May it be better than the last!

{Bon Voyage}

Ok, so I have some more pictures to post with news about our life as of late! I guess we will start off with our honeymoon!!! Woo hoo. We went to Puerto Varellta in Mexico! It was all thanks to Pierce’s good family friends, the Laws (thanks Dennis and Karey!!). After our reception, we went to stay overnight at the Grand America Hotel is Salt Lake, they overbooked us so they upgraded us to …..Drum rolls please….the Presidential Suite! It was 7,000 square feet and had everything from 3 bathrooms to a kitchen to a dining room! Although we didn’t get to stay in there late enough to enjoy all the coolness, we thought it was pretty lucky! We flew out Sunday morning and had a fairly easy flight into Mexico. We grabbed a taxi that took us to this beautiful sight:



Our hotel was amazing and had such cool elements for the décor. Here is us with some of the huge statues in the entrance of the hotel!




Our days consisted of sleeping in (because it was much needed after planning a wedding). Watching 2 whole seasons of Leverage, laying by the pool, venturing out to Buceras to buy necklaces, wallets, shoes, and dresses, eating the best salsa and guac I’ve ever had! We also went zip lining through the rainforest while we were there and it was a really great adventure. I don’t have any personal pictures of this because they wouldn’t allow cameras on the tour but then would charge an arm and a leg for you to buy the ones they take… so I will have to load the picture we ended up buying later.

So overall this trip was awesome because I got to be with my new Husband! Some funny story out our honeymoon:

One day we walked out to the beach and were just playing in the water, we saw a blue thing floating and I said “it looks like a jellyfish, we better move”….so we went about 50 yards away and then we just were sitting on the edge so the water could run over us when all of a sudden Pierce says “ow, ow, ow” and I see the Jellyfish around his arm so he stands up and is trying to shake it off. I start freaking out and say “Come Here, Let me pee on you!!!” so I attempted to pee on his arm but it didn’t go so well haha! Then I went and found a lifeguard and he barely spoke English and just said “ice and white wine” We didn’t know if he meant to drink the white wine or to pour it on him. So we got some ice at the hotel and just iced the burn. It turned out to be scary but I was grateful that Pierce was ok :)


The last few days I got super sick and was throwing up so we ended up leaving Mexico a few hours sooner than we originally supposed to – darn you chips and guac!

Anyway, more posts will be coming this week! Enjoy.

{10 days}

Knowing that you marrying the person that you are so IN LOVE with for ETERNITY is the most AMAZING thing. I am so excited to start FOREVER with Pierce!! Everything is much more meaningful in my life! He balances me completly, we goof off and love like there is nothing else! We will learn to be kinder to each other, the arguments will be handled with care, every night together is spent as if it is your last.. not one day is taken for granted; because you know that the love of your life will be by your side forever. I can't wait to start our own little adventure called LIFE with him. Pierce is my best-friend, my soul-mate, and my team-mate and soon to be husband. Together we can accomplish anything, and we will:)

{Can you believe it???}

Days until this:



and....



and....



Oh and did I mention these:





And for sure can't wait for this:



Can I just say we are SO excited to get MARRIED!!!!!!!!