5 monthiversary. . .

logan & i have been married for 5 months today!
thus, it is our 5 monthiversary (it's a real word...according to urban dictionary).
we got married on august 25, 2010 in the salt lake temple.
we went on our honeymoon to a little place called aspen, colorado!
we enjoyed sunshine, good food, mountain biking, & hikes in 4 fun-filled days before school started on the 30th.
we stayed in the molly gibson lodge, 2 blocks away from downtown aspen!


we ate dinner at a place called little ollie's twice while we were there.
it was a thai restaurant that honestly had the best pad thai i've ever had!













the next day we were pumped about going mountain biking!
we rented some bikes at a place right by the lifts that take you high up in the beautiful mountains of aspen.
i had been mountain biking before so i wasn't too nervous, and the man at the lift assured me that the trails we would be riding down were "easy rides".
so we took the lift up to the top of the mountain to begin our adventure!

we got to the top of the mountain and after some debate about which trail to take, we made our way down the mountain.
i quickly learned that the man at the lift was a liar.
these trails were treacherous!
maybe i was just being a baby about the whole thing, because logan had NO problem racing down the mountain like a bat out of hades.
i had to walk my bike down the trail. that's right. i was terrified.
we literally got 1 shot of me on the bike because i was on it a grand total of 8 seconds.













i then became the designated photographer for logan and his solo mountain biking adventures.
after one run (that's right..one) i decided to wait at the bottom while logan took a few more runs down the mountain.
i was mildly terrified while taking pictures because a) he was going so fast i was sure he was going to crash and die, and b) because he was pretty specific about wanting some good action shots of him on the bike.














i thought i did a pretty good job, and he was happy with my photo skills:)
the next day we went on a run in the morning on a random path we found right by this gorgeous river. we decided to go hiking that afternoon in these ice caves called the grottos.
it was a little scary going down into the caves, but well worth it!

that night we ate at little ollies (again) and went to the rocky mountain chocolate factory. yum!
we enjoyed our chocolate treats while sitting on some benches downtown.

overall aspen was a fantastic place to honeymoon.
we highly recommend it to anyone wondering where to take their next vacation.
we can't wait to go back!

happy birthday to me. . .

i turned 23 on january 20th!

it was probably the best birthday i have ever had:)
i woke up that morning slightly confused however.
logan was nowhere to be found.
i checked the bathroom, kitchen, front room, upstairs, etc. but he was definitely missing.
i called his phone.
it was in the house.
i checked to see if the car was gone.
it was parked right outside.
confusion.
i went back into the kitchen and noticed through the window that the door to the shed was open.
this was odd.
i went out the back door into the freezing cold and peered into the open door of the shed.
"logan?" i said as i saw him crouching over something in the corner.
"maren!?" he yelled, looking up at me like a fat kid with a stolen brownie.
"what are you doing out here?" i asked in shock.
"happy birthday?" he said with a slight frown. "it's not finished yet".
he moved away and revealed my birthday present which he was still spray painting.


logan made me a jewelry tree!
i've wanted one for a while because i have so many necklaces, and i saw one at urban outfitters i really liked, BUT i love this one even more because he made it and its perfect:)


after my birthday surprise from logan i took him to school, went to the gym, got home and made lunch and then took it up to campus for us to have a little lunch together! the rest of the day we went shopping and i got some nail polish, eye shadow & a shirt from target:)

that night we went to dinner at india palace!
the last time we ate there was the night we got engaged back in march 2010.
the food was amazing (as usual).














logan and i were both happy as little clams, especially when the waiter found out it was my birthday and brought me a free scoop of mango ice cream!

















later that night we met up with john, ashley, alli & tanner.
they made me a giant cupcake for my birthday which was devoured by the next afternoon.

best birthday ever:)

a first for everything. . .

they say there is a first for everything.

first day of school. first date. first job. first apartment.

you get the idea.

this is my first blogpost. perhaps it's not as monumental as some "firsts", but it's still neat.

this past year has been an incredible adventure in terms of "firsts" for me, so i decided it was a good time to finally start my first blog.

after typing the word "first" so many times i realized it's kind of an odd-sounding word. say it in your head like 8 times in a row.

first. first. first.

weird.