Live Laugh Love

Wedding Update and Addresses

2009-08-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

3 weeks from today and I can barely contain myself :) I am getting more and more excited the closer Septebmer 18th gets! For those of you that didn't already know, Mike and I will be sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple on September 18th, 2009, and will be having a reception that evening. Did I already mention how excited I am?!
Anyways, this last week has been dedicated to getting our Wedding Announcements finished and mailed out. While I was compiling addresses I realized that there are still quite a few I am missing. Soooo if you could all please do me a favor and email me your address that would be great! If you have given it to me recently, then I do already have it, but if you are unsure or have moved in the last few months, then please email your address to me at alysemakemson@yahoo.com so I can send you an invite!
Wedding plans are moving along, and things are coming together rather nicely. I am very lucky to have great family and friends that are so willing to help and do everything they can to make it as stress-free for me as possible (not to mention a fiance who has been great with me and my "breakdown moments" as there have been a few). I don't think I realized how much really goes into planning a Wedding Reception. I mean, I had my checklist and my books and magazines, but there are still so many things that take a lot of planning and time, all for a 2 hour reception lol. I am very excited for it to all come together! And the most important part of the day will of course be the Temple, where Mike and I will be sealed for time and all eternity - I SO cannot wait for that.
Meagan threw me a very nice Bridal Shower this last Saturday. Yummy food + Great family and friends + all about me (and awesome presents) = Awesome Day! Thank You so much Meagan, I had such a great time! I will have to post a few pictures when I get them from my sister :)

I AM ENGAGED!!!!!

2009-07-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

So I know some people have been waiting for this post for a little while now, but it is so hard to find the time to blog - although I do wish I did it more often.

That is my big news - I AM ENGAGED! And I am so super excited about it! Mike asked me to marry him on Monday July 13th, 2009. It was very sweet. He took me to this little park we have been to a few times, where we have had a few "special moments" :) We walked around the little pond and then layed in the grass just talking for awhile. Then he said, "Well, we should probably get going" so I stood up to leave. When I turned around he was on his knee and said, "Do you remember when we were here and you asked me what forever would feel like?" I said "Yes..." and then he said, "Well how about we find out together." Then he took the ring out and asked if I would marry him, and I of course said Yes!!! It was so sweet and so perfect. I am totally in love <3

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of us over the last year;

This is from our first trip together - We went to the Narutal Bridge in Payson

This is from a camping trip we took with my Mom & Dave's side of the family

This is from that same camping trip - We went into town to some mall one day and just happened to take this goofy picture. I love it though, I think it's so fun :)

One day after church, sometime around Christmas I think - I just wanted a picture of us all dressed up... I think he cleans up very nicely ;)

Just at dinner one random night

From our most recent trip to Prescott. We had a lot of fun this weekend - especially my slipping and falling in the creek :)

We had an American Idol party with Mike's Family. His mom and I made these shirts for everyone - It was really fun and we had a great time.

This is from our trip to Utah in March. The sign had an aarow pointing my direction and Mike thought it was hilarious.

I love this picture. This is also from our trip to Utah and I just LoVe the mountains in the backround. The weather was perfect and we had such an awesome time with his friends and with eachother.

This last picture was taken on our '1 year Dating Anniversary'.

I am very excited to be engaged to this wonderful, kind, caring, considerate, funny, (and sometimes gross - but that's him and I wouldn't have it any other way) man. Wedding plans are under way and hopefully I'll have time to keep updates on by blog about it all!

Birthday Fun

2009-05-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

So my birthday was this last weekend and I got to spend the weekend with Mike. We had a lot of fun, despite his getting pink eye on Saturday. It started on Friday when I got to work, and the girls here had decorated my office (it was so totally cute) and had all gotten me gifts and flowers (lots and lots of flowers) - it was so nice of everyone. Then my boss bought the office lunch and they had a cake and we had our own little party, it was quite fun if I do say so myself. I am so lucky to work with such great people.

Friday night Mike and I went out to dinner and a movie with one of his coworkers and his fiance. We don't go on many double dates, but I think we both agreed that we very much enjoyed it and it is something we would love to do again. The boys let the girls pick the movie, so we decided on 17 Again :) If you have not seen this movie, it actually is quite entertaining. We loved it of course, and don't let the boys fool you - they loved it too! Mike woke up on Saturday morning with pink eye, so he pretty much stayed home all day. I did hang out with him at his house for most of the morning and early afternoon, then went to my brothers Improv competition (which they did so dang awesome) and then went back and we had dinner together so that was fun.

Sunday was great. Mike made it pretty special for me, and we had a great time together. Sunday didn't work to celebrate with my family because we all had separate things going on, so we decided to get together another day this week. So first I woke up and spent some time with my sister and Chandler. I opened some presents from them, and from my parents (thanks so much!) and then went over to Mikes house. That evening we took a drive to the temple to watch some videos and then walked the grounds and just talked. It was very enjoyable until a bird just about attacked Mike (there were seriously birds everywhere) and we both kinda freaked out a little so we decided to head back after that. We drove around some more and then went and had dinner with Mikes family. After dinner they brought out a cake that his mom had made (so yummy!) and some presents for me. It was so nice of everyone! It was determined that I am now a whole box of candles worth old lol.

I had a great time hanging out with Mikes family that evening. They are all so good to me! I was even able to convince everyone to play some Rock Band with me! Here are a few more pictures from Sunday...

Mikes younger sister Sara and I. She is graduating today Woo-Hoo!! She made me the sweetest card with the sweetest story in it, I sware it brought Mike to tears :)

This is Mikes other younger sister Kellie and his mom. Okay, so on Monday morning while I was at Mikes house his mom was washing her car. When we left that afternoon I walked outside and there was a big red bow on my car and she had washed my car for me too! I couldn't believe it. I felt so bad because it was soo dirty, lol. It was so sweet of her. She said she just wanted to do that for me for my birthday. I still can't believe it.

Look at this beautiful necklace. For my birthday Mike got this necklace for me. He is so good at listening and picking up on little things, because I mentioned to him that I loved this necklace, and what-do-you-know... he got it for me for my birthday! He also got tickets for us to go see the Fray with Jacks Mannaquin in July - I am so excited for that too!! Thanks babe!

Here's Mike and his sisters jammin to Rock Band. I had such a great time playing with them. Thanks for playing with me guys :)

Thank you to everyone who text, called, (or didn't call) that thought of me on my birthday. It was a great one, and I am now 1 year older making me 24. Nice.

Quick Little Update

2009-05-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

So I know i'm not the greatest at blogging, but here's a quick update with 1 picture for now. This was from about 2 months ago when Mike and I went to Utah (amazing trip and I totally want to blog about it sometime for my own benefit). We have been dating for over a year now, and things are fantastic! Also new news in my life - my sister got married just over a month ago! She is now Mrs Chandler Faas. They eloped to Vegas and just had an Open House last weekend. They are super happy, and he is a great addition to my crazy family! I don't know that I have much else to blog about right now. Life is good, work is busy and great, and I totally miss hanging out with all of my friends! So enjoy this picture for now (Marie) and I will try to remember to post more later... I am much better at reading other peoples blogs than posting on my own :)

So Much, So Much

2008-09-09T14:28:00.001-07:00

There is so much to blog about, and so little time to do it! Brynne and I have been all moved into our place in Maricopa for a few months now, so we're just getting everything organized and set up the way we want it. It seems to take forever and cost a lot of money, so slowly but surely we're getting it all together. Once it's all painted and decorated we'll have to have a party or something to have everyone come out and see it! Michael and I have taken a few different little trips to places, and have had a blast. I really want to post pictures of all those things soon. Stephanie got home from her mission a few weeks ago, and it's so much fun to have her home. Tiffany and her family came in town to visit because her brother came home from his mission, and one of our friends Dustin Plastow got married, so those were great excuses to get to see some friends. My friend Marie had her baby, and even though I haven't seen him in a couple weeks he is such an adorable baby! Work is good, it keeps me pretty busy, and i'm currently learning some accounting things A LOT more indepth (something I never thought I would ever do) but it's been pretty good. Free education is a great thing right? That's what I keep telling myself. I'm going to Vegas this weekend to see my family out there, and my friend Mark came home from his mission, so it'll be fun to get to hear his talk in church. I'll have to post pictures of all of the above things very soon, in the mean time I just wanted to get this out there :) Hi to all of my friends that live so far away and I don't get to see or talk to very often. I think about you guys all the time, and miss you all very much!

Caylee's Graduation!

2008-07-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe Caylee has already graduated High School! (Well she graduated like 2 months ago, but I am so behind on my blogging! lol) You always hear people talking about how certain things make them feel old, and this is one of those for me. It is so fun to think that Caylee is at this new place in her life, with limitless possibilities. Change can be such a good thing, and I remember being at the stage she is at right now, and having it be the coolest thing ever. I am so proud of her and the wonderful person she is. She truly is beautiful on the inside and out. She and a few of her friends had a little party to celebrate, and there were lots of pictures taken at that and on the night of Graduation. Here are some of those pictures for you all to see...

They had the party at Tatums house, and they had these little displays set up for each of the kids. They were all so super cute!

Tatum, Zach, Colby, and Caylee! I thought this picture was so fun!

Caylee, Dylan and Brynne

Best Friends! Tatum and Kylie are two of Caylees bestest friends ever. They are so adorable all together, and have so much fun when they are all together.

Graduation Night!!!

Horray for the graduates!This picture was so funny.. I was taking it of Dylan, my dad, and Caylee, and then Brynne ran into it real quick just like that lol. It was pretty funny.

It's always about the graduation dress, which you barely get to see because it's covered by the robe the whole time... which is why you get fun pictures like this one. Super cute outfits girls!

Caylee moved to Las Vegas about a month ago and is living with my Dad and Cathy. She is working at Smiles for Life, learning the ropes and getting her foot in the door for what she hopes to have as a career someday. She is going to go to Community College starting this next semester for a couple years and then her plan is to become a dental hygienist. :)

Happy Birthday to Me...

2008-05-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to post a few of these pictures real quick. My brithday was this last Saturday, and it was great. Brynne and I got the keys to our house (which is sooo exciting!) and then we went out to lunch with Meagan, Abe, Hudson, and Kaitlyn. I always enjoy spending time with them, and really am looking forward to living closer to them again. Anyways, then that night Michael had planned to take me out for my birthday, but didn't tell me where. It was really sweet.. he showed up to pick me up with 2 boquets of flowers (which I was secretly hoping he would bring me flowers, and not only did I get 1, but I got 2 kinds lol) Then he took me to As You Wish, which by the way is a great date idea. I've gone with a friend of mine a few times, but Michael and I had so much fun painting and talking and laughing at all the different colors we were trying to make blend together. It was a very fun time, we'll just have to see how the cookie jar we painted with almost every different color turns out.

After we finished at As You Wish we went to dinner at Macayos, which was very yummy. Then we went out to my new house so he could see it, since he's never actually made it out there with me. It was a great time, and I appreciated the thought he put into planning the things we did. You see, everything we did was something I had mentioned at one time or another, so it was really very sweet.

This is what the Cookie Jar looked like when we finished painting it, before it went into the fire thing to come out all nice and shiny lol.

Here's the flowers he brought me - before I had a chance to put them in vases. I thought they were so pretty!

Thanks to everyone for your Birthday wishes! It was a very fun day.

It's Official!

2008-05-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yea! It's official... I am now a homeowner! Brynne and I closed on our house today! We went this morning for our walk through at 9:30, and thankfully Meagan came with us. Lets just say she is very detail oriented, and isn't afraid to point things out and speak her mind (I wish I was a little more like this in my life). Without her there today I would have found things after the fact when I couldn't do anything about it, but since she was able to come there was plenty of orange tape for the workers to take care of :) I need to thank both Meagan and Abe for all their help throughout this whole home-buying process. I must say it has made things a whole lot easier (and even more fun) than I had imagined. Now Meagan will have to deal with me living close to her again, haha. Actually, it is all her fault anyways... both times now she has had something to do with the places I have chosen. I am very excited to be living close to her family again, and I am super excited for Brynne and I to start moving into our new house! Thankfully Brynne and I get along very well living together, it's nice to have a sister for a roommate. Anyways, then at 2:00 I had to be in Scottsdale to sign the docs, making it all official. The place is super cute! And I can't wait to get the walls painted and start moving in. I'll put up some more pictures soon!

Biggest Loser

2008-04-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have always thought this show had a great concept, and have loved seeing the transformations that happen with the contestants physically, and in other aspects of their lives. Before this season I had never actually watched a whole season of the show, but for some reason I was excited for the Couples Biggest Loser, and was drawn in on the first episode. I have absolutely LoVeD the whole thing. There is just something about watching the happiness that comes to these contestants as they drop the weight each week that is a huge motivator to me in my efforts to reach my own weight loss goals. Its exciting to say that I am down 20 lbs since making the decision to take control of my weight. I'm sure I would do much better in my excersizing efforts if I had Bob or Jillian pushing me all the time! This show is proof that with determination, eating right, lots of excersize, and believing you are worth it, weight loss is possible.

For the first time in the Biggest Loser history this years winner is a woman. Congratulations to Ali and all the other Biggest Loser contestants on their weight loss success!
Ali's transformation: Starting Weight = 234 ~ Ending Weight = 122 ~ Total Weight Loss = 112

First Home!

2008-03-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

That's right... Brynne and I bought a house! We started looking around back in January because we knew we wanted to buy a house to move into when our lease was up at our Town House. We had decided that despite the drive, Maricopa sounded like a great place to live. The houses are so inexpensive out there, and with the way the market is right now it totally made sense to buy. We have a fantastic realtor (and it's double fantastic that he's my best friends husband) that listened to what it was were were wanting, and then did some research to show us houses he thought we would like. We only went out 2 times before we found the house we bought, and then the funny thing is that we just happened upon the one we have because of Abe. I meant to put these pictures up a couple weeks ago for people to see, but have been so busy with life that I haven't had a chance. The house is quite a bit further along since we took these pictures, so I will have to put some new ones up soon!

Tagged by Amber!

2008-03-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

So my dear sweet friend Amber Phillips tagged me a couple weeks ago, and I am just now getting time to do it! I know.. horrible!

1. Where was I ten years ago? Ten years ago I was living in Las Vegas, and in 8th grade. Taeya and Aubrie were my bestest friends at Kenny Guinn, and I'm sure I was just trying to fit in with all "the cool kids." My dad would take us toilet papering at night, and to empty parking lots and let us drive around. I had major crushes on 2 different boys, and was such a drama queen lol.

2. 5 things on my "to do" list... Currently on my ongoing list of things right now is balance my checkbook, finish reading 'the Host', get my nails done, return my calls, and get caught up at work! (Ha! - I wish!)

3. Things I would do if I became a billionaire... Mostly the same things everyone else would do - payoff all my debts (and my familys as well), buy a nice but modest home and decorate it exactly how I want it, buy the Lexus I would love to have right now, Travel - definitely travel.. there are so many places I want to go and see, Invest and put some away, Shop!, leave really big tips and give some to charities, share some of it with my family and friends of course - maybe take everyone on a cruise or something super fun! ....Only in my dreams.... (:

4. 3 of my bad habits... Butting into conversations that I have nothing to do with (making things worse), Trying to make everyone happy (sometimes at my own expense), and being the 'Attorney for the Defense' as my mother likes to call it - basically standing up for (or arguing) the opposite side of whatever the issue is. They all kinda tie in together - all things I try to not do so much!

5. 5 places I have lived... Chandler till I was 7, Las Vegas till I was 14, Queen Creek till High School graduation, Las Vegas till November 2005, Tempe currently until May of 2008 when Brynne and I move into our new house in Maricopa! Lots of moving back and forth between Arizona and Nevada. :)

6. 5 jobs I have had... I have had a LOT of jobs, lol... but I could never stay at one job for too long during High School because the next one that came along always sounded so much better! During HS I worked at Walgreens, Cold Stone, Razzleberrys (I LoVeD this place!) Frys, and Bag N Baggage. Then I've also worked at Target, Victoria's Secret, and Prescriptive's (a makeup counter at the mall). But my FaVoRiTe jobs would have to be the ones i've had since all those... Hairstylist, Nanny, and whatever my job title at my company now is :) So I know that is way more than 5, sorry!

7. Something most people don't know about me... Hummm lets see... Well something that people might not know, and most people that do know, forget they know (and then always act surprised to find out again), is that I can't bend my thumb. I was born without the joint in my left thumb, therefore it does not bend. I also don't have the muscle in my hand (that is probably developed from use of the thumb). So my left thumb is quite smaller than my right one... it's kinda funny. :)

Well this was fun... thanks for Tagging me Amber, and making me think about things I don't usually think about, lol! I'm not going to "Tag" anyone... but anyone who reads this feel free to consider yourself 'Tagged" by me if you'd like, because this was fun to do!

Disneyland and California Adventure Trip!

2008-03-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

Recently the 'Makeler' family, as we call ourselves on my Dads side of the family (it's a combination of our last names Makemson and Bowler) had the opportunity to take a vacation together. Everyone but Brian, who is currently serving a mission in Adelaide, Australia, was able to go. We definitely missed having Brian with us, but are so happy he is doing so well in Australia! We had many reasons for this vacation of ours... Cathy's dads Wedding, Cousin Kanani's Baby Shower, and a 2 day trip to Disneyland and California Adventure! We are fortunate enough to have taken many trips to Disneyland and California Adventure as a family, (thanks Dad and Cathy) and always have a wonderful time together, making funny memories to last a lifetime. Here's some pictures from that vacation...

Austin, Dylan, and Garen thought these goggles were so cool, I just love this picture of them!

Dylan and Austin bought the goggles and wore them around the park all day. It was hilarious to see the way people reacted when they saw them! We had them walk out in front of us for awhile just so we could catch the expressions on peoples faces as they walked by.

Here's a quick shot while we were in line for Space Mountain!

Breakfast at IHOP! Yummm!

Grandpa Cayton's Wedding! Okay, so I wasn't able to take very many pictures at the wedding because my flash wasn't working very well on my camera, but I had to put this picture on here because I thought it was hilarious! I was taking a picture of Dad and Dylan, and Caylee decided to jump in at the last second, (and looks adorable) and Dylan made the silliest face!

The long weekend we were able to spend together was tons of fun!

Starting Out

2008-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

I am excited to say that I have decided to start my own blog :) I have quite a few friends who have blogs, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoy being able to keep up with their lives through them. For a while I thought it would be silly for me to do because the majority of my friends who have blogs are married and starting their own families, and I didn't know what I could possibly have to say about myself... but then I figured I could just use this as a sort of 'timeline' or journal of things in my life. Then if friends and family members decide they want to look at it, then that makes it all the more fun! Plus, it will make viewing my friends blogs easier since I can have all their links in one place! So with that I guess I will start my own little blog, and I hope to have lots of fun with this!