Wanted...

WANTED: Photographer

-I would prefer a professional (I've never had professional photos done)
-Dave would prefer someone for free

If you have any recommendations, please let us know. Email me at richlizards@gmail.com

Bout Time

Oooookay, I'm tying myself to the wall and getting things DONE today.

I wish I were a Chuck

Doesn't she look delightful? Well, she is.
I completely connect with this fictional character.
I want to be like Chuck when I grow up.

My Letters to Deceased Celebrities

Found here.

And it was beautiful

I saw the world in 3-D today.

A glass with noo lense...oooohhhh ooohhh a glass with no lense. Repeat. (Please sing to the tune of "A cat with two heads)

EB3 R.I.P.

Once in a lifetime opportunity. Over? Really?

April is all about change. Hard, cry-over, discouraging change.  This was the best thing that happened to me. The minute I stepped in that room the first time I knew I needed to stay. The East Bay Third ward was a very unique singles ward for our church, it was part deaf, part spanish, part native american and the rest of us. I have grown so much in the last three years. During this time I've had many: heartbreaks, triumphs, I fell madly in love here, I felt true anguish here, I had a few near death experiences and the deepest bonds of friendship. Seeing the end is just about devastating. Yet, there must be some good from it. My theme for a month now has been "stop thinking about what you'll miss, focus on what you'll gain." Hard but wise counsel, that hopefully someday will click.

 One of the first activities of EB3

 Those first volleyball nights

Summer nights that never ended

 birthday parties

 A decision to return to EB3

 A decision for Dave to return

 A number of friends

 A secret lover

 A few inside jokes

 Game nights, forts...

BBQ's and new faces

Some hard times

Some floating moments

 Fun get-togethers

 Loving friends

 Hilarity at it's finest

Some best times...

"I have been changed for good."

Smashed Snails=College

There is something about handing over that last final...you go into a state of euphoric JOY! Finals are proof we are miracle-workers. No sleep, constant tears, days of hard work and the feeling of never-ending drudgery come to an end today. It is remarkable the amount of work that is put into one week's time.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I could connect to snails today. Usually, my fast paced, back-boned, goober avoiding life tells me our personalities would clash. However, as I was walking across campus I looked down and saw hundreds of stepped on, smashed and dried snails. 

Snails are like students, the fresh rain wakes us up, we go about our day crossing roads we need to and then POW the pressure suddenly hits us-seeming unbearable. Some of us break, others survive. 

Thank goodness today I am not the weakest link.

Goodbye! 

"Altar" Your Thinking

So I went to the Bridal Fair on Saturday. Now I'm about to do something I try not to do so don't hate me. Please understand that these are extremes (probably rare cases) and I'm merely doing this for my own amusement. I can't help but to bask down to a low level. Here is a list of the stereotypes I encountered of the lovely brides-to-be:

-The Naive Bride: She looks twelve. Heck, she probably is twelve and what the scariest part is that the majority of the brides I saw at the bridal fair fell under this exact category. It's hard to imagine that these brides fully know what they are getting into, you wonder if they have enough allowance saved up and they make you realize you're older than you feel.

-The Pre-pre-pre Planner Bride: This girl has been planning her wedding since age three. Sometimes she has everything picked out, primped up and ready to go before she even meets a man. This is the kind of girl who has enough stamina to wait for a missionary, keep bridal planners and these girls make one awesome maid of honor.

-The PHishy (the Pretty Hott but fishy) Bride: It seems like she is very calm and completely sane but you know those fake nails, whiter teeth, botoxed lips and expensive tan didn't take ten minutes to do. I always wonder what brings out the "Bridezilla" in them.

-The Free-loader Bride: These brides are mostly along for the ride as long as it's fun. They hear "free food" and are more willing to go to bridal fairs. They sign up for every contest but take things way too laid back. Three months seem so far away and planning far in advance is not their cup of tea.

I, of course, am the free-loader bride but what a bunch of great tasting FOOD! I'm so glad Jessica suggested going to this shin-dig (back in January.) She has the case of the pre-pre-pre planner bride (and as a young child I was too, who knows what happened) but lucky for me, it's awesome to have someone as excited as her! She helps me plan, gets her hair done with me and is not too pushy.

Sitting here with Dave at My feet

So I'm sitting here at the end of a spontaneous day and Dave is dead asleep on the couch. (Early for a friday night, right?) Poor kid. Anyways, I just think he has the cutest face while sleeping. His lips are so big that they droop to the side. It's adorable and I'm so grateful for the warmth he is giving my cold lil toes- I have them buried right under his belly.

It's all good DJ, I'll go biking by myself.

For real this time

July 9, 2011

Manti Utah Temple

1:00 pm

My New Roommates

Who knew I just moved into a war zone.

Reactions

- Of course all you have to do is flash the left hand to the sisters and they squeal with excitement but here are some of the other reactions

-Jessica, Kenzie, JiHye, Dave and I went to the festival of colors. Dave did a fake proposal in front of them. Jessica didn't believe it, JiHye screamed.

-Samantha was leading the music in sacrament meeting and I held the hymn book high enough for her to 

see

 -Bryndi called me ten minutes after he proposed. To my knowledge she had no idea.

 -Kristi literally jumped for joy

 - I got up to make an announcement about the "role." I flashed the ring and pandimonium broke out. Katie C walked right to the front of the room and examined the ring.

-Bethany randomly ran into Dave, she of course did a classic Bethany

No one said it would be easy, RIGHT??

Well after doing some intensive research (meaning I went onto the website and looked), it turns out the Manti Temple is closed the 23rd! We will discuss other arrangements and update the finalized plans soon! In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful comic strip about dogs:

http://thisisdogfort.org/files/2011/02/comic-00047_fs.jpg

Goin' To The Temple and We're Gonna Get Married...

Dave and I officially decided:

Manti, Utah Temple
July 23, 2011

Deciding was pretty hard but Manti seemed to suit us more. We can hardly wait!


Why get Married in a Temple?  Dave and I want to be married forever. As members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we believe that families can be sealed for eternity. More information about these temples can be found here.

Oh that one day...

 Pepper and I enjoying ourselves thoroughly.

 Hairy Chest and Tess. No wonder she didn't like him, she couldn't even remember her name.

 Eating and bonding with the horses.

 Right before he popped the question.

 Where he popped the question.

I called Him Carl

Wednesday 23, 2011
I felt it. Today was the day. I woke up excited with energy.

I couldn't decide what to wear and ended up changing five times. Eventually, I ended up with my purple shirt which I thought would suffice the occasion due to the fact that the first time we met, I was wearing this shirt.

As classes started to continue, fears swarmed my mind. I went through every possible scenario. Did I know what I would say? No. Then my last class was dismissed and I went numb. I felt like I was floating along the hallway, across the sidewalk and to the car.

When I got home, I ate something (it always helps my nerves.) Dave picked me up and was obviously nervous but I tried not to notice. In the car we listened to a CD we had made the previous year and I'm pretty sure we sang because that is common.

I remember arriving in Springville, I didn't even try to act surprised that there were horses. I just smiled, he knows that I always dreamed about a horseback riding proposal. After multiple tries we opened the gate to the pasture and I immediately went into Horse Heaven screen saver. I miss horses! It's good that Dave felt talkative to the owner because I could only concentrate on connecting with Pepper.

Why Wednesday?

Oh. My. Over-loved. Kneecaps. 

That was the BEST.

Thanks Hon. For your rendition.

Before I say mine, I kept pondering: Why a Wednesday? I used to think every Wednesday would be the hardest day of the week. Until I met David J. He always made my Wednesdays better, from the first time we met til the day he proposed. That's why he proposed on a Wednesday, it was just proof that he sees the best in every thing.

The Way It Went Down From The Hairy Point of View

Now here's the way I sees it.

I try my best to be sneaky, but I just don't have it in me. The thought of popping the long awaited question (well, in my eyes) just made me too darn excited.

I headed to work as usually around 8:30 a.m. and tried to keep myself busy so I wouldn't flood the earth with my nervous sweating. This did not work. So I left work and worked out for 2 hours, thinking of the million different scenarios that could happen during this adventure.

Around 3:30 I went to pick up the lovely Lizish and she was looking incredibly beautiful, as usual. Whenever I envisioned this day in my head, she was wearing purple. She did not disappoint! I had set up with a gentleman from Springville, whom I've never met, a horseback ride for me and Lizi.

From very close to the moment I met Lizi, I knew if I were to propose to this amazing woman, it would need to involve a horse. If I were to correlate any animal to Lizi, it would definitely be a horse. They are majestic and beautiful, with a spirit that can never be tamed. Any respect you receive from this mysterious creature is earned, and the same goes for Lizi.

We started out by currying and brushing the horses, something I knew nothing about. The horse that was assigned to me (Bella, if I remember correctly, which I probably don't...so, sorry....Bella..?) seemed to be extremely wary of me...or indifferent. Lizi was a natural with her horse (Pepper) and went into her own world. Of course this wasn't unexpected, as I know that Lizi when with a horse will go into a wordless form of communication with the horse, instantly gaining the horse's trust and affection. Actually, this was partially a part of my plan, I knew I had to distract Lizi enough so that she would be startled into saying yes to me....JK!

*It's important to note that throughout this entire process, I had no clue when I was going to propose. I thought maybe I'd be riding behind Lizi on a horse, as I am a greenie and she a seasoned veteran. *

We mounted our horses and started out on a small ride around the neighborhood. Lizi seemed natural on top of her horse, her smile lighting up the day and raising the temperature in the air (possibly just for me, she's very beautiful). I, however, was having quite a time trying to figure out how to hold the reins, position my feet without too much or too little pressure, and still look handsome sitting on top of the horse, not so sure I accomplished this. After a while of gallivanting around, we brought our horses back to the stable. The man who was kind of enough to let us use his horses loved giving me a hard time about being a wussypin with the horse. Can't argue there.

After we stabled our horses I knew it was time. I took Lizi out to the pasture with the horses. After taking a brief dinner break in the trough, I wiped my face clean of hay and lead her out to a stump in the middle of the field. It was incredibly sunny outside, which was wonderful since the previous 4 days and the next 4 days were all rainy or snowy. After talking for a little bit, I knew that I just had to do it. This wasn't going to be another first kiss incident where I was a sissy when I had the chance and ended up having to wait a week for another opportunity.

While she had her head turned, I knelt down in horse poop and held out the ring for her to see. I don't quite remember what I said, because my entire world was focused on her face. The way her eyes lit up affirmed every good feeling I've ever had about this woman. She didn't even look at the ring, but made eye contact with me and said the word I'd been adamantly anticipating and praying to hear, "YEES!!!!!!!!!".

I knew this was the beginning of something incredible, a life full of happiness (and sadness, I'm not completely unrealistic) with the woman I love so dearly, starting a family of our own filled with righteous children. Sometimes it doesn't feel real, it's completely surreal, but other times its SO REAL. I'm ready for the life of hard work and joy while my eternal companion and I dedicate ourselves to the Lord and help build Zion.

I love Elizabeth Anne Richards with all of my heart, soul, might, mind, earlobes and big toes, and I always will (even if I lose the toes).

Hairy Chest