Resolutions

The new year is coming and there is so much I want to do I can hardly contain myself! I could never narrow it down to just a few resolutions, so I will make a list of resolutions and goals for the next year, aka whenever I get around to it.

1. I will buy new strings for my violin and play for fun.
2. We will both buy running shoes and go running (once the ice pack melts.)
3. I will move into an apartment that has closets large enough for my wardrobe.
4. I will buy some heels and learn how to walk in them.
5. We will work on genealogy on both sides.
6. I will buy adorable things for my home from Anthropologie that is not just off the sales rack.
7. I will write my thesis and graduate with my Masters degree. (It will take a lot to get motivated for this one.)
8. I will learn how to cook for just two people and not an army.
9. I will get my passport so we can be ready to travel.
10. I will relax and enjoy my last semester of classes ever!

Mind you, this is an ever growing list that I will mount on my mirror and read every day and will mount on the refrigerator for Richard to read every day. :)

2010 is gonna be good.

What We've Been Up To

We haven't posted in a long while, but here's a catch up of what we've been doing the past few months, besides being cooped up and studying.

Since my Dad has been in Japan, we've been taking my little sister, Emmie, from my Mom to give her a little free time (this is just a good excuse for me and a justification for Richard.) Here are a few pictures of what we've done with her.

With her little puffy vest she would go too fast and was so slippery she'd be all tangled up on these slides! Richard was a good sport and went down with her.

Piano time with hat and mittens. Don't ask.

She asked me to take her picture with the mannequins at Old Navy. This is Emmie with "her dog." We have a beagle at home. She insisted on these lovely white socks.

So strange.

She's such a cutie. Richard thinks she's crazy.

We went to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It was such a great time and SO beautiful! It made me miss it and wonder why I live in a desert/tundra. We got these pictures taken with the fam while we were there.

That's Richard "laughing." How attractive.

We decorated for Christmas! We bought some lights (the SWEET old school kind with the huge bulbs!) And unfortunately had to go with a fake tree this year...but we did borrow my Grandma's vintage Christmas ornaments from when I was a kid and it looks great! We love it!

Our favorite ornament, a little Turkish man!

Love it!

Merry Christmas!

Next, we will try to survive finals week. Then we will be home free and celebrate Christmastime with Richard's family! Yay! So excited!

Law School and Normal School!

While we were enjoying ourselves standing in line for 2 hours for Space Mountain at Disnyeland we found out some news...Richard got a 161 on the LSAT! Yay! That is in the 84th percentile and awesome. Ever since we have been researching Law Schools. Here are some at the top of our list:

1. Temple University (That's in Pennsylvania)
2. Pepperdine (Malibu)
3. Cornell (New York)
4. American University (D.C.)
5. Santa Clara
6. Indiana
7. BYU
8. George Mason (D.C.)

And a few more. We are SO VERY excited :)

As for normal school. My constitutional law midterm (Law, Politics, and War) that I wrote about a while ago got handed back to me yesterday:


This came from the hardest teacher in the department! A positive attitude makes a world of difference!

I love my life.

Can I just take a minute to tell you all how much I LOVE my life!

School is the hardest its ever been. (Can you say, Constitutional Law!?!) But I love it. A challenge, finally. Sometimes I complain, but really, it is such a blessing to be able to do this! I will ROCK the midterm on Monday (with some faith and luck!)

My best friend was married the same summer as me. I love her dearly and her new husband. It was hard there for a while when I was married and she was single, but now that she has joined our ranks, we are back at it again.

The temple is literally 5 minutes away from our house. Being able to go there and work for my family let's me forget about myself for a while.

Richard is awesome. Sometimes being a girl is just sucky. I'm whiney and my hormones (which I picture as little evil people whispering to my brain) tell me things like, "Be mean to Richard" or "Cry for no reason" or "You hate how you look today." Blah. Richard is just a champ. We laugh ourselves to sleep. Randomly when I'm in the car with him, I think to myself, when did all this happen? We are married? Life is too crazy.

Okay enough of this. :) I am just so happy. It took me a while to realize that the Federalist Papers will not kill me. I will survive and I will love it!

At long last!

Sorry we are the worst at blogging, but we finally found some time to blog about the most important day of our lives so far...three months later. We LOVE our pictures, but since we can't post them all, if you want to see more visit annarasmussen.com/blog. But if you are in the SoCal region beware, you might be making up reasons to get pictures taken after viewing that blog.

We love each other. Time is a funny thing when it comes to love. I wonder sometimes why it took me so long to fall in love with Richard, while at the same time, wondering when it all happened.

Richard is perfect for me. We are opposites in as many ways we are similar. He loves to surf, I can't tread water. We both love reading. He is tall, I am short (except in this picture, take that!)

I love planning our adventures together. We will never be rich, but rich with experiences we say! From little trips to keep ourselves from suffocating in Logan, to planning our first real big adventure after we both graduate! Woohoo!

There are so many amazing things about Richard I don't even know where to start. I love everything about him. From his glasses to his willingness to let me change his style. (Loose pants just don't look great on boys so skinny.) There are some crazy things too...like his laugh and the way he mutters in Russian under his breath which kind of creeps me out.

I love that our way of life doesn't bother us. Right now we live in an old dingy, one bedroom apartment. We have no T.V., sleep on the floor, and have Quasimodo for a neighbor. (I will include a pic as soon as I deem myself sneaky enough for the task.) We have a simple life as students, but we really couldn't be happier. We don't have space for all of our stuff, so it's piled up all around us. It reminds us of how fortunate we are.

This picture of us pretty much sums it all up. Amidst school and bills and craziness we can't stop laughing. We are two of the most happy people in the world.

Silly Post

This is a conversation we had earlier today.

9:33 AM Richard: curry for lunch?

9:34 AM me: unless you want something else.

Richard: Hm...

I'm fine with that.

I can also make burritos! That is why I kept the del taco sauce from yesterday.

9:35 AM me: sweet

9:36 AM Richard: yep :)

We can just have curry though.

That is fine.

:)

me: no it's okay.

especially if we're going to eat it again for dinner...

9:41 AM Richard: yeah...

maybe for lunch we can do ramen or burritos

me: yeah that sounds fine

9:42 AM ok i'm going to jump in the shower.

i feel yucky.

if you used up all my conditioner i will kill you.

9:44 AM Richard: I haven't used it at all.

:)

me: thanks :)

I believe I am in the perfect relationship.

Things About Us.

Hello all. We've been happily married f0r just over a month and it's been awesome! We've learned so much about each other and about making a life together. In the spirit of learning new things about me and Richard, we felt we would share some things YOU might not know about US. :)

1. The first real lesson learned in our marriage is Weinerschnitzel everyday is no good. Just because fast food is cheap (and delicious) does not mean it will make you (or your tummy) happy...
2. Our two new favorite shows are Ghost Adventures (Travel Channel) and Whale Wars (Animal Planet...thanks Stewart). We watch them obsessively.
3. We have the names of our future children picked out already.
3. We've discovered Epic Pet Wars. (iPhone app. Check it out.)
4. Richard is precisely 10 inches taller than Erika.
5. We try to be fashionable, but we can never stop buying dead men's clothes and elementary school mascot shirts at the DI.
6. Erika can never make up her mind. If it weren't for Richard we would have died of starvation long ago.
7. We both drive our dream car (except neither of them are the right color.)
8. In 3 days we each have a 20 page paper due. We are awesome at procrastination.
9. We've made the long journey to Yogurtland and back.
10. Richard is so strong he cracked his Tungsten ring.
11. Richard gets mad because Erika leaves all the cupboards and drawers open. She is getting better.
12. Richard designed Erika's ring all by himself. She didn't even get a chance to peek at it until he proposed.
13. He tells her he loves her a thousand times a day.
14. The first time Richard came over to meet her family, her little brother shot him multiple times with his marshmallow gun.
15. Erika got REALLY excited when she learned about Hogwarts Land.
16. We are excited to move into our teeny apartment in a few weeks.
17. Erika's love for shopping has resurfaced upon moving to Las Vegas. Richard tried so hard to suppress it...
18. After dating for some time we decided we should get married. Then we moved to opposite sides of the world for 4 months.
19. We both miss actually having a summer vacation.
20. We LOVE being so close to family in Vegas. The heat, not so much...
21. We are so lucky to be able to go to the temple; by ourselves and with our friends.
22. Midnight Pomegranate is our favorite.
23. We love Yasuko, our pizza lady.
24. It rained on our wedding day...but we have amazing pictures! (They will be posted. I know I am SO SLOW.)
25. We love the gospel, each other, and our families. We couldn't be more blessed.

THE BEST SHOW EVER!

Okay, so Erika and I went to a Sherwood show last night and it was AMAZING! At first we were having our doubts. They were as follows:
1. This venue is small and pretty ghetto.
2. There aren't very many people here, maybe there won't be enough energy to make it a good show.
3. The first opening band was the worst thing I had ever heard...I'm not even joking.
4. When Sherwood was setting up we were the only ones standing in the front....and almost the only ones in the room.

But then! Sherwood started to play! And from the first song until the last it was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! Here is a video of end of For the Longest Time, which was the last song they played.



Richard wrote all this without me, so I decided I needed to put my two cents in too!

It was really something spectacular. Going through times of hardship when they acquired thousands of fans, my years of loyalty paid off with an intimate show, playing a lot of their old stuff, and a personal shout out from Dan. It was AWESOME!

I danced like a crazy person but had the time of my life! It made me realize just how grateful I am for these guys and their amazing music. I've taken for granted how I've grown up with them and how much I love their music.

At Tommy's request, I will now post about the worst band I have ever heard, which, interestingly enough, played before Sherwood. It is always darkest just before the dawn, right?

These were the quintessential garage band that should never, ever leave the garage. One looked like the fat Jack Black in the movie School of Rock and the other one looked like Chris Farley from Tommy Boy. The bass player looked pinched like a heroine addict and we didn't see much of the drummer, thankfully. Their music. Let's just put it this way, they had to skip one of their songs because they couldn't get it together, one included a 5 minute guitar solo that was so bad my ears were bleeding, and their final song was a tribute to 2Pac that lasted an unholy 10 minutes.

I'm pretty sure the only thing that could have redeemed that was the one and only Sherwood.

My homeboys...this is how awesome they are.

Update!

Hello all!

Just wanted to update kinda what's going on in our lives. This is my second to last week of work (yay!) and Richard is in class all day from 9 to 4 non-stop. The wedding plans are coming, although we are still trying to pull together all of the little things. Who knew that flowers would cause SO much drama!?

Things on my mind lately:

• Weather. I keep checking the extended forecast for the month of June (like the weather people are ever accurate anyways) and yesterday is gave us this picture for the 20th:

And today it gave us this picture:

So we'll just keep praying for the best!

• We can't wait to move to Las Vegas! I'm not sure exactly what our plans are, but it will be nice to finally have a summer! We are so lonely up here and we are excited to see Zach and Zaira again!

• I am really excited for Bridal+Richard pictures this weekend! It will be fun and we just got Richard's suit back from the tailors and it looks great! :)
  

• The real reason I am posting all of this is because my boss is gone, I'm done training my replacement, and I am SO bored!

• I also really want a pair of these shoes:

Not only are they eco-friendly, they look awesome. And on top of that, whenever you buy a pair of these shoes, the owner donates a pair to a child in need. Sweet! Not only am I satisfying my need for sweet awesome shoes, I am going to be helping a child with no shoes in a third world country. Blake Mycoskie is my hero and there should be more people like him in the world.

The end.

Wedding Day Dress!

Ta-da! The dress is finally done! I thought I'd share some pictures with you, since many of you have been waiting in utter anticipation. Wait no longer, the moment has come!




Here it is! Complete with my little shoes. (Ignore the messy room in the background. Those are all of the things we bought/received for out apartment that we never moved into.)


Again, this time with my eyes closed!

The back.

We are both very happy about it, as you can see.

Next up, Richard's suit coming tomorrow! :)

"Sometimes...

...things just don't work out the way you plan." - Harvey Bushkin, Heavyweights.

This is the story of my life, especially the last week or so. I found out today, the florist can't get a hold of any of the flowers that I wanted. None of them. Sad day. There are a number of things that haven't worked out...perfectly, but alas, there is still hope, for there are people who love me and are doing the best they can to make my day the most perfect day of all the days. :)

Thus, again it is time to count my many blessings.

I love Richard more every single day. Guess what he did for me? He bought me those shoes I couldn't buy myself. Isn't that what the best of friends do for each other? He does what I can't and reminds me that it's okay if I can't do everything by myself. And he thinks I'm pretty all the time.

I pick up my wedding dress on Saturday! The most anticipated of days for any girl.

I get my hair all prettied up tomorrow. I love that feeling, especially since I've let my hair become a curly ratted mess.


I have the best family-to-be and spending time with them this past weekend reminds me that there are other people who are thinking about me and Richard too, and I don't have to do all the stressing...I'm sure Kathryn has her fair share since me and Richard aren't exactly on the ball on many things...

Thanks Danielle for all of my frantic, daily advice seeking. Sometimes Richard just doesn't understand the importance of hair, jewelry, make-up, etc, etc, etc, and I can never decide what I want. She's had my back from day one and has been digging up little nuggets to make our wedding great all around!

I have a Mom who lives and breathes and works every minute of the day for me and my little sibs. It's been pretty stressful for a number of reasons for my family lately, and yet she dedicates time for my wedding every single day in the midst of potty training, cleaning, yard-working, shopping, and all the other "fun" things Mom's get to do. Thanks Mom.

I also have very supportive family. My Grandma is trying so hard to understand me (which is quite a feat for anyone, right?) so she can make the reception just how I've dreamed of.


I have so many things that I need to enjoy everyday that I don't and so many things to look forward to that I discount. Everyday is something to be lived, not simply endured. I love that the hardest times are sometimes when you learn the best things! :)

All is well! I'm getting married in 3 weeks! Yay!

THE SHOES!

I finally found the perfect shoes. I love them. But the saddest part is I can't bring myself to buy them...

$110.00 can buy a lot of things:

Gas 4 times.
Food for 2 months.
1 car payment.
4 cell phone bills.
110 chicken sandwiches from Wendy's.
1 pair of spectacular wedding shoes. Ouch.

Wedding Plans...

Okay, so I have begun planning in earnest. Now that I'm committing to all these things, I thought I might need a second opinion. If you see anything on here that is hideous and you are thinking I am out of my mind, please let me know. A combination of birth control pills and general stress has fried my brain. :)

Okay, firstly. The decorations I am really excited about. My grandma has done flowers for a long time and we decided to do the flowers ourselves. I have always wanted a simple theme, this is kinda what I am envisioning.



I love, love, love the jars of random arrangements of flowers!
This is what I want my bouquet to look like...I think.

Maybe this?
I've always been transfixed on two things, and now especially for my wedding: my hair and my shoes! I REALLY wanted to leave my hair down, but since my dress has a high collar, it would be sad if no one could see it. So I've been thinking something like this:

Or this:

But I really wanted something like this:

And the next step plaguing my mind is to veil or not to veil. I've already decided a short one is the best fit, but there are too many options. Maybe I should go without? Sorry about the creepy mannequin heads. Let's see:

This one is my very favorite (minus the feathers, ick) :

Or should I do something completely different?
Or...
And for shoes. These were the ones I was dying to have, but I can't find them ANYWHERE!

And these are pretty sweet:
But I will probably have to settle for something like this: (I know Richard is tall, these heels are for you, Grandma)

For the reception I am really excited about the theme! We are just doing a simple rustic backyard wedding party! I decided to have cupcakes instead of cake (except we will have a little one to appease my mother), and flowers and candles and grass. :) Although it stays light out super late, we are going to string up some lights and have lots of candles. I think it'll be sweet awesome.

Here is kinda what I am envisioning:




Obviously there are a thousand other things that I need advice on, but this would never get done. Expect a Part II. :)