Today is the 4-year anniversary of my blog!
When I asked Paul what I should do for this momentous occasion he said I should write
"I've only been blogging for 4 years, but it seems like I've been blogging my whole entire life!"
While this may be extremely touching and nostalgia inducing ---I think he was mostly making fun of the fact that I think this is a significant moment. But as a treat for you - I came up with this fantastic idea, let us take a little trip down memory lane with some of my favorite blogging moments as well as some never-before-seen pictures and details.
(This is also basically a trip down Paul+Christine memory lane, since I started this blog about the same time we started dating!)
My first blog post: November 21, 2007. I reminisced on every weekend Paul and I had spent together thus far. This picture was not included in that first post - because it was Paul's picture and we didn't share pictures then. Paul always says this is when he knew I liked him because I came in close for the picture. He liked it. I think this may be the first picture ever of us together, at our first FHE in a new ward.
Guess what was a mere
8 blog posts later? hahaha... too quick. But luckily, it worked out.
Plus, I never explained this awesome part of engagement night. He proposed on the side of a mountain, so as we were walking back to the car (I thought) he was going kind of slow, then he made a right when we should have made a left. Then - he calls into the woods "hello?" and someone yells back "not yet!", but we kept walking (now very slowly) and we find this nice table all set up under the stars, with our favorite Thai food and everything romantic. It was really neat. (Thanks Camie and Cody! Sorry Paul proposed too fast and you didn't have enough set up time!) :)
That summer, we were in the best shapes of our lives and we ran a
1/2 marathon (ok, I was in the best shape of my life - Paul had already ran a
full marathon! It still makes me tear up thinking about him crossing that finish line).
What I didn't post about, was how Paul convinced his two best friends Kurt and Justin to come down to Bryce Canyon and enjoy a day of hiking before hand.
(And now, Kurt and Justin have both found nice wives too! In fact, Kurt's wife
Paige is pregnant with their second kid and Justin's wife Alli is pregnant with their first! Holy cow!)
I failed to post about the million times that Paul and I drove back and forth from Utah to Idaho while we lived in different states while engaged (with gas at $4.50 a gallon) - and how one weekend in Idaho we had a badminton tournament. It was fun.
(After Paul saw this picture he said "maybe I should start lifting weights again... :)")
But I have behind-the-scene footage of that day too!
Like how I was going crazy with excitement that morning.
Or how I wore Paul's clothes instead of my dress while we were setting up (pre-rain).
What our reception was going to look like - in Mindy and Jason's beautiful yard, until the rain clouds drove us away into the most beautiful reception center at the neighbors. How lucky!
And - our Open House in Idaho Falls the next weekend.
Soon after we were married we took a
trip to Washington where Paul served his mission and were able to see a family Paul helped teach and baptize go through the temple.
And also enjoyed the sights in Seattle, like Pike Place! How did I resist posting about these flowers the first time around? They were so nice!
Since becoming part of the Frandsen family, six new
babies have been born (plus twins on the way right now!) Getting to meet these tiny little things has been one of my favorite things - plus watching them grow up. Looking through old pictures for this post, I can't believe how much things have changed!
For example: This crazy little guitarist Irelynd (we had her and cousin Erica over for a sleepover at our first apartment) is now an old mature lady in Jr. High/Young Women's.
In Fall of '08 I did write about
writing for the Daily Universe, but failed to document when Mark carved a pumpkin with us for FHE (this was brought up in the a phone conversation the other day and I was the only one who remember it - so here is some proof.)
And I never included this gem, right before Paul and I rode the
sky coaster at Lagoon that summer, right before Mongolia time!
Right after Paul got back from Mongolia, we hiked
Havasupai, to date one of my favorite trips ever. I am missing those tan legs right now.
Of course, we've enjoyed many Lake Powell trips in the past few year....
this one being one of my favorites since Paul was there (he's had to miss a few!) . But I didn't mention a trip we took that Fall to the Frandsen cabin - with lots of 4-wheeling fun, 500 (the Frandsen's favorite card game), and sow belly, cackle berries and light and flufflies (aka bacon, eggs and pancakes - a cabin tradition). We just love O'Dell and Ona.
We had one of the
worst days ever that December... But we also loved the snow that covered our porch. Boy I miss that tiny apartment...
We
graduated from college... but I forgot to show you about how that Spring I got to babysit Mykita all the time and we had great fun together on that porch.
We enjoyed that summer in Provo - we still think of it as the summer of our dreams. We would work (a little) and play (a lot!). My favorite memories are waking up in our cozy little apartment, watching the Tour de France in the mornings, then Paul would go ride Alpine Loop or we would Mountain Bike in the glorious mountains, and we might have dinner at Happy Sumo or Thai Ruby and/or dessert at Coney's. It was a great time.
We also had the
June trips of wonders (Disneyland! Lake Powell! Oregon/Northern California, Nevada!)
Then, we made the big move to New Jersey! We got to know the
Shore,
the City and felt grateful for family who came to visit us.
(I can't believe this was over a year ago! Holy smokes!)
Then, we came to know the sport of
Cyclocross and the passion has only grown since. I also got to start
coaching lacrosse which was the best news of my life and really helped me love New Jersey and make it feel like home. But, I don't believe I ever showed you this picture of my crazy team who just hanging out being weirdos before practice one day - yes, rollerblading. (Plus, look how nice all those lovely green trees look! It's rare to be above the trees in New Jersey, but the school I coach at is on a rare hill. It's quite refreshing, those trees get me a little claustrophobic!)
We went to
LONDON! It was so unreal to get to travel overseas and I hope to do it a million more times.
I didn't show you this great picture of us in our nice London hotel room.
Or...
How we had a long layover in Canada, and went outside the airport so we could count it as a country we visited.
Then Paul left for several weeks this past summer so I got brave and lived alone again and then decided to
apply for Survivor. Then we went to Minnesota, Utah and Idaho, and maybe I forgot to tell you above that one time Paul did cockroach races at Rutger's Field Day?
Around this time in our lives, Paul gave me a new computer and it made my life - most especially my blogging life, much easier and more efficient - therefore not much of our life was left undocumented because it was so easy! However, I don't know that I posted this behind-the-scenes of
Jeff and Demi's wedding. Paul hates waiting for people - even people to come out of the temple after being wed. :) He also hates my constant need for pictures - I think he is expressing frustration about one or both of these things.
And you remember that recently we learned from the master artist himself,
Bob Ross. But I didn't show you this great artistic picture I sent to Paul when he was gone on a cyclocross trip and I missed him and needed a good laugh. This did just the trick.
And that pretty much brings us to November! Four years of good times and memories and a little behind-the-scences fun. Thanks for reading, enjoying and sometimes commenting! :)
