and then we were married

It's been one full week since Jantz and I became husband and wife.

And it's been the best week of my life (and I'm not just saying that haha)

We have been so busy trying to put our apartment together (love that we can finally call a place "home"!), Jantz working nights, taking care of random bills, and cleaning up all the messes I make (I can't deny it, sometimes when I try to clean I end up with a bigger mess than I started with), me trying to study for a comprehensive exam that I have to take tomorrow morning, and trying to get all of my preparation work done for the class I'm teaching that starts next friday (which i'm super excited for!...that is if I can get everything put together in time...).

So until things clear up a little bit, here are a few pictures from our wonderful day :) Our photographer, Jessica, was just amazing! Absolutely loved her! She was so sweet and captured so many great moments (like during the ceremony when I didn't know what to do with my right hand, so it looks like i'm picking a wedgie. you just can't pose that haha). but really, she was a doll and did an incredibly wonderful job. I'll post some more in the next few days :)

and here's hoping for just as beautiful a reception in Utah this Saturday as there was last Thursday in Colorado.

a lost post

I was just glancing through drafts that i've never posted. and i came upon this. i honestly thought i posted it....but clearly i didn't. I wrote it in December of 2010 (the middle-ish i believe). And, it kind of fits in perfectly with the wedding coming up. It's hard to believe I wrote this so long ago, because i still feel the same way, only way more :)


about one year ago jantz and i were sitting in my car talking. and he decided on this moment to tell me he loved me. when he got up the courage to tell me he loved me. i cannot tell you how excited i was to say it back. it was a scary feeling i thought i recognized, but this time it was different. it was so much better. and the year that has followed has only made manifest over and over again how very special and amazing love is. and how very special and amazing he is. he has, time and time again, exceeded my expectations. he had to work extra hard to get me on the same page he was; i was sure he was just like every other guy.

i'm so grateful for his love. he truly is my very best friend. i swear he knows me better than i do. he's so observant. really, he remembers everything. i'm grateful for his ability not to judge people at face value. he really does have an amazing perspective on life. he knows what's important and he knows when to make a big deal of something and when to just let things go. we're both still learning. every day i think. but we always have each others back.


people can talk all they want, but i just can't deny how much better my life has been since he has been a part of it. I've learned so much about myself, and about what life is really about. of course i've made lots of mistakes, but it has only worked to make me better. we've definitely had our share of hurdles, but honestly, it has only made us grow closer, not farther like i think a lot of people would prefer.

on to the important things, like how he got me addicted to lifesaver mints (the green bag) and raised my affinity for reeses. oh and how i now own sweatpants (he helped me pick out my first pair). and of course the ever-growing love of new places to eat, like on the border and taco bell (just because he loves mexican food and looks like a mexican does not mean that he is one....although sometimes i wonder).
all the hours on the phone and all the money put into being able to see each other. it's all priceless to me. I know i can't live off of love, but i certainly can't live without it.


looking back to this day so long ago, after going through so much, it's fun to reminisce about the time when we were so innocent - we had no idea what life was going to bring us. we were just two kids who became friends and then wanted more. we didn't know what saying "i love you" would amount to a year later. all the hard things we would go through. all the fun times we would have. how much our love would grow through it all. the changes and moves that would be made so that we could be together. we just didn't know. i don't know where i'm going with this.... all i can say is that i love him so much more than i did (or even thought possible) in December of 2009. and i even love him more than i did when i wrote this, last December.

so busy this is all i have

Who knew the week before your wedding would pass by in a blur and leave you so busy you barely have time to go to work?

I seriously cannot believe it's already Wednesday! What happened to Monday and Tuesday?

So far, I've packed up all my things and moved (most of ) them into our new place. Our beloved new place that didn't fall through! It's going to take some getting used to, not having granite countertops and an elevator to take me up and down to underground parking (not to mention the lack of bugs in my room). But this new place will work too.

Tonight is my lingerie party (hosted by two of my amazing bridesmaids and roomies). I'm not going to lie, I'm really excited :)

Oh, and I found out last week that I'll be teaching a class in the fall! Which is both terrifying and so wonderful. I just hope I can find time to prepare before school starts!

two weeks

two weeks

from this moment

I will be a married woman

hiding away in the colorado mountains

with my brand new husband


Things have been extra rough these past couple weeks, and I feel like I've been extra sentimental. While everything is certainly whipping past me at lightning speed, it is slowly (but surely) making its way through my mind. like it's trying to remind me to remember and cherish these moments. these last few weeks of being just Ali.

Some days I feel like my whole world is going to change once we're married (change freaks me out sometimes). and that's a pretty scary thought. But it isn't really (going to change, that is). Because I will still be me. And Jantz will still be Jantz. And we'll still love each other just as much (if not more). We'll just be "Jantz and Ali" from now on. and we'll live in our own house. with our own things. and we'll still go have fun every weekend.

I've wanted to be Jantz's wife for so long, and I can't wait for these two weeks to pass so that it can finally happen.

Song of the Week: Terrible Things by Mayday Parade. 

This song is so touching. And this band is one of our all time favorites. 

We're seeing them in concert on our honeymoon :)

and one more year has passed

Monday Jantz and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary.

That's right people. TWO years. whoa.


Thankfully we remembered on Saturday so we were able to go celebrate at our favorite anniversary place, Cheesecake Factory (which also happened to be National Cheesecake Day, meaning half off cheesecake, so, score us).

For some reason we've decided to get wedding presents for each other (even though we don't really know why this tradition exists or what the presents are supposed to be. I already bought Jantz's, which is record present buying time for me). And since our dating anniversary corresponds pretty well with our wedding day, we decided we would just do the wedding present thing a few days before the wedding.

So Monday rolled around and we exchanged brief "Happy Anniversary's" in the morning, but otherwise I was so busy all day. Luckily I ended up close to a Chipotle around 9ish, so I got Jantz's favorite burrito (and got it completely right, which is quite the feat). Chipotle is a 30 minute drive from us, so the fact that I was close to one meant I had to get him a burrito.

And that was his unintentional anniversary present. haha. I put it on the table so he would see it first thing (pretty romantic I know).

But that boy, he's the sweetest. He showed up with a rose and symphony bar (you know, the amazingly delicious one with toffee and almonds). It completely made my heart melt.

So, to my future husband: thank you for the past two years - they've been the best of my life - and I can't wait for the many many more, thank you for every single thing you do to make me smile every day, thank you for all of your sweet gestures (especially when i'm grumpy), and thank you for choosing me to be your wife. I love you.