Wedding de Halberts

MAY 6, 2016

Everything went just peachy. Weather was perfect, decorations were adorable, food was delicious, fireworks didn't light anyone on fire, and the sendoff was killer. Plus, Melissa and Scott adore each other and in the end, that's all that matters.

April-May

About a month ago, Travis and I decided to go on a kayaking/camping trip. We had originally planned on going to Canyon Lake and staying the night there but as we drove through, realized there weren't many real places to camp, so we continued driving to Apache Lake and figured we would camp somewhere in between the two lakes. We found a pretty decent looking spot and drove down the dirt road for a while. There was one good camp spot but we kept driving to see if there was anything better. As Travis turned around a corner our headlights shined on what looked like a huge pile of trash. At first I was thinking, why would someone leave that out here, as we drove a little further we both silently realized it was more than just a big trash pile. Yeahhh...pretty sure it was a hobo hideout. And with that creepy feeling we continued our drive further to get some distance between us and the hobos(it really was creepier than it sounds). We ended up passing Apache Lake and driving down the long twisty dirt road to Roosevelt Lake. There really weren't any other turnoffs that we could camp out at. After what seemed like forever, we made it to Roosevelt Lake. Stopped for a bathroom break and admired the dam, then continued our search for a camp spot. We finally found a spot that was far enough away from the road and set up camp in our little van. The original plan was to kayak to a spot and camp there but it was way too late at that point. We made a quick dinner and ended up falling asleep not too long after that. The next morning we didn't even use the kayaks so the trip was sort of a bust, but I would do it all over again. It's those kind of things that make memories and turn trips into adventures.

This was the only picture we got from the trip. Lets just say it was a tight squeeze to get those things in there.

Some senior pics I shot of Jess

Mother's Day minus Melissa.

HOTTIE.

Love my Trav.

A race to the car for shotgun didn't turn out as I anticipated..poor shirt.

Pool time with Shelly's kids a few Saturdays ago. We babysat all day while she went to a dental convention. At the end of the day Travis told me he never wanted kids..haha, funny.

Arizona Science Center

My cute baby after surgery. He was a little loopy but nothing like his last surgery.

A day of disc golf at emerald park.

Feeding ducks in the irrigated backyard. I didn't want Trav to leave the house much after the surgery and he was restless so we resorted to this. The dang ducks didn't even eat any of the bread we threw(and there was a lot of it) so there's probably clumps of bread all over the yard now..oops. Don't tell grandpa.

Finally getting the stitches taken out of his hand..hallelujah!

(P.S. Some of these pictures were taken by the beautiful new camera that the padres did finally give to us. Woohoo!)

Surprise

Lots of news:

First off, Melissa is engaged!!! Woo! Scott proposed on the lake and Melissa dropped his phone in with all the pictures of the two of them...bummer. But I guess at least she didn't lose the ring! Date is set for May 6th in the Mesa temple. I'm excited for them.

Turns out I'm not going to NAU or SLCC. Sad. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be. It will all work out in the end. Travis and I applied to BYU Idaho this past week so hopefully we can still get into there! I'm praying we do. 

In other news, we're moving to Jackson, Wyoming for the summer! We'll be working for a white water river rafting company with Caitlin and James. We bought a little trailer to live in for the three months we'll be there for $600!! Which is crazy cheap compared to everything else we were looking at. Downside is that the trailer is in Idaho right now so we can't really work on it or see it in person, super lame. But, for 600 bucks it's worth it. Travis' friend Terel bought it for us so we got to tour the inside through facetime which was cool, but nothing is the same as being there for yourself. SO basically we just bought our first home for $600.

Also, I got a job at lifetime fitness a couple weeks ago! Except for now I'm leaving to Jackson in like 2 months so I'm not going to be working there for very long..whoops. Hopefully they don't get too mad at me for leaving.

A few weeks ago, we played dress up for Lauren Ruettinger(fetter). She was looking for some couples to practice her wedding photography on and asked if we would be willing to help her out. She also had a friend practicing makeup and hair skills on me for her portfolio. Ended up with fake eyelashes and a whole lotta makeup that I don't normally wear caked on my face, but it's fun to get all dolled up every now and then. Lauren even made us flower bouquets to pose with..how cute is she? I did have to pretty much scramble up a mountain barefoot in my wedding dress for her to get the pictures she wanted but I suppose it was worth helping a friend out. Afterwards, she let us take the flowers with us. When we got home I walked into the bathroom, after telling Travis we didn't have any vases to put the flowers in, to find this:

Haha he's a keeper. 

The picture taking has been pretty slim these past few weeks so that's all I really have in terms of photographs. But..rumor has it, my parents are getting us a nice camera for our wedding present. Downside of the rumor is it's been almost 2 months since our wedding sooo maybe that's not happening. I'll keep my fingers crossed for now because that camera would be really nice while we're living in Jackson.

Some Past Adventures

Playing catch-up: A few of the adventures Travis and I have been on lately.
Brown's Peak Details:
Travel buddies: Melissa and Scott. Vehicle: chop-top explorer (with Scott driving..)
Summary: We left Friday night so we could hike Saturday morning. A few bumped heads and several cracked eggs later we made it to the trail head where we camped for the night. Needless to say it was an exciting ride. Slept in hammocks and made it a quick hike to the top the next morning. It was a night and day difference from the last time Travis and I hiked Brown's Peak. We could actually see this time! And neither of us were sniffly or using the other for a tissue.
Humphrey's Details: Travel Buddies: James and Caitlyn(and maggie). Vehicle: James' cute new jeep Cherokee.
Summary: This trip was pretty freaking cold. But awesome. Hiking in the snow was a new experience for me. Travis and I did it in regular old tennis shoes so we had soaking wet feet by the end. Luckily for me I had wool socks on so my feet stayed pretty warm despite the wet snow. Travis not so lucky. James gets altitude sickness pretty bad so we almost turned around and went back a couple times, but he ended up pushing through to the end(well pretty much the end). The top of the mountain was sooo cold with the wind chill. It made it almost unbearable. And the false peaks got pretty disheartening after number five or six. We ended up getting about a half mile from the top(to one of the peaks) and calling it good. The cold was just too much for most of us. Travis decided to finish to the top by himself(and I'm still kicking myself for not just joining him) then catch up with us on the way down. It was definitely a hike for the books. Once we made it down, we rewarded ourselves with some much needed thai food in Flagstaff.
Peppersauce/oracle/mud caves details:
Travel buddy: Brock. Vehicle: The Civic.
Summary: Had a fun little third-wheeling party with Brock. Explored a good amount of the cave and had a glow stick fight in one of the small back rooms. It was a pretty short lived trip because Brock needed to be back for something but worth the drive.

That view,

I don't know why we can't take a normal picture.

Made some pretty sweet jack-o-lanterns. 

On the peak.

Sooo pretty. And sooo cold.

Marriage

Sooo I'm married. And my husband is the greatest. Really. He does so much for me. I hit the husband jackpot.

Wedding breakdown: Got married in the Gilbert Temple Friday(Jan. 22nd) then spent the night in Payson at the Majestic Mountain Inn(sounds fancy huh?). It was a cute little hotel room, pretty average aside from the jetted tub and fireplace. The reception went by sooooo fast. We barely even had time to cut the cake or throw the bouquet. And our car was destroyed. Soap, confetti, balloons, beautiful drawings from Travis' friends you name it. Needless to say, we made a quick pit stop at a car wash before heading up to Payson.

The next day we had our reception in Taylor and stayed the night at the bed and breakfast in Snowflake. Also equipped with a jetted tub and a huge bed...you literally have to climb stairs to get on it. The breakfast was delicious, hootenanny pancakes and fresh fruit..yummy. We then made our way to Sedona to stay for a couple days. Some of our activities included: Devil's Bridge, Cathedral Rock(also where the mystical vortex was located), Chapel of the holy cross, tlaquepaque, and crescent moon bay. We also hit up some Buddha statue temple place one morning...I'm so grateful I have the gospel.

The other pictures on here are from the New Years trip Travis and I went on. On New Year's Eve, I slept over at Kristin's house with him(well I was in the bed with Megandee and Jessica so not really with him but you get the point) and we woke up at 5AM to drive to the Grand Canyon and start our all day journey. Crazy I know. But it was so much fun and I wouldn't change anything about it. We also stopped to see Canyon de Chelly and some "dinosaur" tracks and bones in Tuba City, ate some local native food at the Bashas there and took lots and lots of pictures with our selfie stick and my father's camera. Then made our way down to Taylor to stay at the parent's house. What a way to kick off the new year right? Travis has the best ideas.

Moral of the story..get married. And go on honeymoons and 15 hour long road trips with your best friend. It makes for a great life.

 

Our view New Years Day.

Cute but gross.

All day drive got nothing on us.

Selfies with Sloan, our travel buddy.

Lived my childhood dream of going to Tlaquepaque for my honeymoon.

At the vortex. I was obviously done with pictures and ready to be out of the wind. (but it was great)

One of our sunset spots. (crescent moon bay)

My lovely sister-in-laws at my bridal shower. (minus Krissy)

Thoughts

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are often more dull than otherwise. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

 -Gordon B. Hinckley

I love this and him. Kinda helped me to put into perspective my life right now. Life is wonderful. You can have some amazing people and happenings in your life. But not always is it going to be bliss. We have to accept the fact that we as human beings are not perfect, nor is life perfect. Things don't always work out the way we want them to. And that's okay. We have a tendency, especially with social media nowadays, to compare our lives to others and think that we have to live up to this illusion of the perfect life. Truth is, nobody has that. We see people in their best light. We don't always see what goes on behind the scenes. Don't compare your shortcomings to another's triumphs. It's not fair. Our Heavenly put us here to experience the good and the bad. And oftentimes we find ourselves living somewhere in the middle. Brigham Young said that every experience is necessary for our salvation. Instead of wishing our lives were paradise, we need to remember to thank God for all we face, even our trials and seemingly ordinary days. It can a strange concept. But if we humble ourselves and rely on our Savior and Father in Heaven, we find that we are strengthened through them. We are better able to endure these less than remarkable moments.
This is not to say that we're doomed to a boring life of mediocrity. Life is full of joy and happiness. And I live for those blissful moments. But unfortunately, not every moment in our lives is meant to be blissful. It can't be. We can't experience only the most exciting parts of the ride. We must endure it all. So next time you begin to think you are being robbed of that perfect life remember, you're not. You're simply experiencing the whole ride.