A Wedding, A Honeymoon, A First Christmas, and More!

It has been 3 weeks since our wedding day and it was the most perfect day! We were lucky because we truly got to enjoy our day. The temple was incredible and although it was incredibly windy I could not have been happier. We got back to Salt Lake and were able to sit and eat lunch, get to my hair appointment, and then make it to the Country Club with plenty of time to take everything in! The wedding I had been dreaming about my entire life and planning for the past 5 months had become a reality! I would not have changed one thing about my day. Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped with putting it all together and of course thank you to everyone who came and made it a party!

It was off to New York for me and Daniel! We spent Sunday getting massages, relaxing and seeing Hunger Games before we headed to the airport! Although it was freezing in New York we had the best time. There was something magical about exploring a new city together. We would leave the hotel in the morning and just start walking till we found something we wanted to do or see. We went to Lion King, Newsies, and the Rockette's Christmas show, ate some great food, did every tourist attraction there was, saw the Thanksgiving day parade, and finished our last night off with dinner at a revolving restaurant over looking the city. We came home and thought Salt Lake looked pretty plain in the Christmas decoration department after seeing New York all lit up!

 I always wanted to get married in the summer but I think we did it at the perfect time. It has been great being thrown into our first Christmas together! We have decorated our apartment, gotten a Christmas tree, and done all the other Christmas festivities! It seems like we've been married for longer than 3 weeks but at the same time it is still all new. I still love cooking dinner and making Daniel lunches for school, everyone is just waiting for that to wear off! We would say that life is pretty great for the Claflin's right now! And in 10 days we will be on the beach in Hawaii celebrating Christmas with my family and getting a 2nd warm honeymoon!

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

A Final Post as Ms. Schneider

I am getting married in 4 days! To say I am ecstatic would be a complete understatement. I am excited, ready, and nervous to become a wife and finally be married to the man of my dreams! At the same time, I can't help be a little sad about our engagement coming to an end. It has truly been a magical five months and I don't think I have ever felt so much love and support.

To say "thank you" to everyone who has told me congratulations, thrown or come to parties, given generous gifts, done something for the reception, and helped with everything else could never be enough. The gratitude I feel is overwhelming and I will always remember the feeling I have had the past 5 months. I hope in the future I can contribute to someone else the way people have contributed to our wedding and marriage.

It is still surreal that I am actually getting married. I feel like I have been playing house the past few weeks while getting our new apartment ready. I can't wait for this dream of a wedding to become a reality, to jet off to NYC with my new husband, and to be able to come home and settle into this new adventure of marriage! 

for the last time as Ms. Schneider,

xoxo

A Welcome November

To say I am excited it's November would be an understatement. I am completely ecstatic. Want to know why? I am getting married THIS month! And boy is that fun to say! 

We have been lucky to have so many great parties thrown for us. Daniel and I just keep looking at each other and saying how grateful we are for the people, friends, and families in our lives.

19 Days...

xoxo

A Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the West Family!

We hope you've had a SPOOK-Tacular Day!

xoxo

Kanye, Kim, and baby North

A 4-Week Countdown

4 weeks left of being single, 4 weeks left of wedding planning, 4 weeks left of sleeping in my own bed. There are a lot of things that could be in the "4 weeks left". I am more excited about the "4 weeks until". 4 weeks until I am married, 4 weeks until I get to see my wedding come together, 4 weeks until I have a new last name, 4 weeks until we go to NYC, 4 weeks until I gain a whole new family, and more!

This week has been rough. Between school, work, wedding, and life I have stretched myself pretty thin and I have started getting burned out. Then Daniel puts his arm around me and tells me only 4 more weeks and I am instantly calmed down.

One of the things I am most excited about being married is that it is no longer me and you but it is we. We get to be our own little unit and we get to make our own decisions, we get to be in our very own place, we get to depend on each other for everything. I have decided that the "we" is going to be the best part about marriage.

4 weeks, 4 weeks, 4 weeks!

xoxo

A Trip to the Happiest Place

Last January we went to Disney Land and ran a half-marathon. We were instantly hooked on Run Disney races. We looked up the next race and it happened to be on Kacey's birthday in Disney World. Of course, we jumped right on it!

Luckily, this time around Daniel got to join in the fun. He had never been to Disney World and we were excited to show him around one of our favorite places! We went a few days before the race to make sure we had plenty of time for all the parks! We did the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Universal, Harry Potter World, and Hollywood Studios!

My cute friends the Welch's from London are working in Disney World. I was so happy I got to spend some time with Bre!

The race was Saturday night. It was a 10-mile Tower of Terror run. The entire course was decorated in Halloween with all the disney villains out and about! Every person in our family did it! Allie pushed herself in her wheelchair while the rest of us ran alongside her! It was the perfect end to a fabulous trip!

I love that my family is able to do so many fun things together and that now we get to add one more to our little crew!

xoxo

A commuter lifestyle

I am officially commuting to Provo every day. I use to think people that did this were crazy and now I am one of them. It really hasn't been all that bad but today it got a whole lot better because I rode Frontrunner for the first time.

I was a big girl and got on the website to plan my trip. I drove to the station and literally had to sprint onto the train before it left and then I just got to sit back and relax. Did you know they have Internet on the train? Genus! 

I was the most stressed about finding the bus after getting off the train but as I walked off there were 3 buses all going to BYU, I just got to take my pick! I made it to class and felt so relived! No more tired driving or frustrating parking just a nice relaxing train ride!

I have always said the commute would be worth it but now my commute is worth it and pleasant! Definite score!

xoxo

A Perfect Weekend

We spent Labor Day in our favorite place this year. Sun Valley. For the past 20 years my mom has been going to the U.S Open with her family, this year they finally threw in the towel and decided not to go. So, it was one of the first years we were together as a family for Labor Day.

Bike rides, mini-golfing, wagon parade, ice show, movies, good food, trap shooting, tennis, and good company made for the perfect weekend to end summer on! 

Daniel decided to match everyone this trip:

Now, my world has completely changed as school started and I am making the commute to Provo everyday and keeping my job at KUED. Wish me luck!

xoxo

Another Bike Race

Today the entire family did a bike ride together! The National Ability Center is a place in Park City that helps disabled people be able to do everything an able person can do! My sister has grown up going there and we have made such a special relationship with them.

Every year they do the Summit Challenge, a bike race to raise money. You can do 100, 50, or 18 miles. This is the first year every person in our family has been able to do it! My cute dad rides a hand cycle with Allie to make it easier for her. They started about 2 hours before us and we were able to catch them at the end and cross the finish line together! It was a great morning spent as a family!

xoxo