Familiarity

I have spent far too few moments treasuring the beauty of familiarity. The thought struck me late the other night when I was in the bathroom, cutting my husband's hair. I don't know why it struck me then. I've done it countless times before. But this time, somehow the simple intimacy of knowing exactly how he likes his hair and snipping my clippers accordingly while he watched me in the mirror seemed profound. There is something to be said about sharing your life with someone. Growing up and growing old together. That idea is often romanticized by stories and movies, but amidst the day to day living of that life, the appreciation for it can be lost. 

To be truly known by someone, with all knowledge of your past and present, your weaknesses and strengths exposed and still loved. That is beautiful. What a privilege it is to be the one that he knows better than anyone. And to experience the seemingly insignificant day-to-day of growing old together with someone. To me there's nothing, even in the constant stream of new and exciting, that could top or fulfill as much as that warm familiarity.

I love this boy.




That is all.




:)

Valentine's Day

heres to love...

heres to good morning toothpaste kisses

heres to mothers who know just what to say

heres to your dad telling you he's proud

heres to gentleman opening doors

heres to sunsets

heres to heart shaped chocolate boxes

heres to poetry and sappy movies

heres to putting forth your whole heart

heres to accepting ones self

heres to forgiving and forgetting

heres to smiles from strangers

heres to laughing just because

wishing you all a very happy Valentines Day

filled with love {of any kind}

Blurry picture of husband and I in Salt Lake at a cousin's wedding :) 

Husband.

I JUST love you. You've saved me from my self destructive ways... You are my calm and my peace. You are my constant source of encouragement and happiness. I love your little isms! I love the silly faces you make and the voices that go with them. I love when we lay on the living room floor and talk about nothing. I love dancing together in the kitchen every morning while we cook breakfast. I love resting my head on your legs while you tell me about your day. I love your sweet nothing whispers. I love how you are so sweet to me even when I'm not exactly the happiest person. And even when I over-react and get upset over silly things, you say "I love you anyway". I love that you care. I love that you listen. I'm so excited for this list to grow each new moment I spend with you. 


Here's to forever.

I love you,

Your Bay

Husband on his 23rd birthday :)

Isn't he handsome?

*sigh

                                                      

happy

Guess what?

I am happy.

We are happy.

I wake up to my husband pushing the snooze button.

I wake up happy.

I get texts throughout the day from husband.

{the silliest and sweetest of texts mind you}

I'm beaming all day {happy}

I come home to my happy husband who literally sweeps me off my feet when I walk through the door. Sometimes he hears my car pull up and runs to the door to welcome me. Then he kisses me all over my face and tells me how much he missed me and I drop everything. We go snuggle for at least 5 minutes before we get started on whatever the next thing on the "to do list" is.

And I happily do that thing.

often, happiness is an impulse.

but other times it's a decision.

I suppose there are a lot of reasons I could be unhappy.

But I choose to be happy.

and the husband helps a lot a lot.

:)

Wedding Day: Temple

May 6, 2011

Tyrel and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We believe that families can be together forever, even after this life. We love each other so much that we didn't want our marriage to last only until "death do us part"... we wanted forever. We chose to be sealed for time & all eternity in the Las Vegas temple.

Our ceremony was perfect.

It was what I had always dreamed it would be.

Sacred and beautiful with my best friend and man of my dreams kneeling across the alter from me.

The amount of people that were there was overwhelming.

To this day it makes me tear up thinking about how many people loved us enough to travel all the way to Las Vegas just for one day... just for us.

After the ceremony, as I slipped into my wedding dress, I felt that floating feeling again.

I was now a daughter in law, an aunt, a sister in law and most importantly a wife.

Tyrel was now mine forever.

And I was his.

Nothing could break that sacred promise we had just made to each other.

Eternity.

I turned around to look at myself in the mirror.

Mrs. Beckstrand.

Perma-grin :)

Our wedding videos:

I hope you'll enjoy them as much as we have...

I've probably watched the DVD about 50 or 60 times now... and that isn't even an exaggeration

<3

I loved this day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULdfMJn58g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGLdQXEGYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8giR5wArt2c

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY BROTHER IN LAW AND SISTER IN LAW FOR MAKING THESE BEAUTIFUL VIDEOS AND KAYSHA HOBBS FOR MAKING THE MONTAGE!

The best start of the best year ever...

Tyrel is my life... my forever. Secretly, I think he has been since day one. I knew early on (embarrassingly early on) that I loved him. I wanted him forever.


I knew it was coming.
I was getting impatient.. really really really impatient.
I was madly in love with him.
He was madly in love with me.
It was only a matter of time.


December 31, 2010.


I woke up with butterflies in my stomach. 


Could it be happening today?
No, the ring wasn't ready yet.


Tyrel had told me that my ring was supposed to be ready by New Year's Eve but some things had come up and it would be at least a couple more weeks before it would be completely finished. 


I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was devastated. 
I had waited for so long and for some reason, another couple weeks seemed like a lifetime. 


I wanted to be his and I wanted him to be mine.


As the day went on, it seemed like any other day. 


We went to dinner with my family and came home to watch the different countdowns around the country. Pretty normal, right?


As midnight came closer, Tyrel and I left to find a special spot to watch the firework show on the strip.


I still had those crazy butterflies but I just couldn't let myself get too excited. The ring wasn't ready.


We ended up at a little park not too far from my house. We were proud that we found such a perfect spot that wasn't overly crowded.


We kissed and cuddled as we waited for the fireworks to start.


As midnight hit, the show started and we had our first kiss of the new year. 


I started snapping pictures as Tyrel held me close.


Has tonight been as wonderful as it would have been if the ring was ready? He said.


Of course. I said with a smile. 
After all, nothing mattered more to me than being in his arms.


So, how would the night have gone?
I probably would have gotten down on one knee right?


Probably. I said.
(I was still turned around taking pictures. I love love love fireworks)


And then I would pull a little box out of my coat pocket?


I turned around to find my sweet Tyrel down on one knee.


That's all it took for a thousand butterflies to turn into a hundred tears.


Bay, will you marry me? He said with a huge smile.


Yes! Yes yes yes!
Saying yes had never felt so right in my entire life.


We kissed and cried and marveled at the ring and cried and kissed again.


It was perfect that way.
And it only got better.


We laughed.
And giggled.
And I couldn't stop staring at my left hand.


We're engaged! He yelled as he picked me up and spun around.


I love you, I said.
I love you, He said.


And the best part is, we get to love each other forever.

Our song

When You Got A Good Thing

by Lady Antebellum

Everybody keeps telling me I'm such a lucky man
Lookin' at you standing there, I know I am.
Barefoot beauty with eyes that blue,
Sunshine sure looks good on you, I swear.

Oh, I can't believe I finally found ya baby.
Happy ever after, after all this time.
Oh, there's gonna be some up and downs,
but with you to wrap my arms around I'm fine.

So baby, Hold on tight.
And don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know, when you got a good thing.

You know you keep bringin' out the best in me,
And I need you now, even more than the air I breathe.

You can make me laugh when I want to cry.
This will last forever, I just know.

I know.

So baby, Hold on tight.
And don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know, when you got a good thing.

We got a good thing, baby.

So Hold on tight.
Baby, don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know,
We got a good thing Baby.

Once upon a time...

True story:
Driving from Salt Lake to Provo 2009.
Me: "Mom, do you think I already know the person I'm going to marry?"
Mom: "I'm not sure, why?"
Me: "Just wondering... I wish I knew who it was"
Mom: "I kind of have a feeling he's serving a mission right now..."


But seriously though.. this is where the real story begins :) 

I was done with boys. So done. Tired of boys only acting like gentlemen. Tired of not clicking with anyone. Tired of lame dates. Tired of believing there really was a prince charming out there waiting to sweep me off my feet.

I had started a list when I was about 16 titled "Qualities of my future husband". (Original right?) That list was getting longer and longer. I truly believed that there wasn't a guy out there that would live up to all of the qualities on my list. (Little did I know!)

Anyway, I was working late one night when I got a text from a friend inviting me to go to a singles ward pool party with her after work. (I was done with the singles ward too, home ward is the way to go) She tempted me with "there are new cute guys in the ward that will be there!" Eh. No thanks.

After getting off work and going home, my mom asked me what plans I had that night. I told her there was a pool party but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. Being the supportive mother she is, she suggested I go... even if it was just for a few minutes. And I did.

I arrived at the party, feeling awkward as usual, (you'll soon find out just how big of an akward magnet I really am) trying to quickly scan the crowd for my group of friends. And guess who was with them... the "new cute guys in the ward". Great.

We all introduced ourselves and after a few minutes of talking, decided to move to the hot tub. I climbed in wondering how much longer I should stay before it would be appropriate for me to leave. And that's when it happened...

Oh, Alexandra this is Tiny!

Tiny? I whispered to my friend.

He's one of the new cute guys in the ward, nobody can remember his name so we call him Tiny because he's so tall.

Actually, my name is Tyrel. What's your name?

This is the part where my face starts getting really red and really hot. I start getting super clutsy and I stutter all over my words. (Awkward right?)

Alexandra. Nice to meet you.

I was so done for. Instant crush. So much for the whole being done with boys thing right? He was seriously the cutest guy I had ever seen which was definitely a plus, but what was even more attractive was the fact that there was something different about him. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to be his best friend. There was a special feeling that he carried with him. I knew he was a good guy.

We talked the rest of the night about nothing and everything all at the same time. He was a small town boy from Fillmore, UT. He had just come home from a mission to Montana and was now in Las Vegas for the summer selling food storage.

Like I said, major crush.

When it came time to say our goodbyes, I didn't want to leave and neither did he. We flirted and he asked for my phone number, which I excitedly gave to him. He walked me to the back gate and we said our last goodbye. I walked away feeling like I was floating on air. I really liked this boy. I turned around to see if I could get one last look at him only to find him peeking over the gate to get one last look at me too.

Twitterpated.