Officially Engaged

Well, the Ring that I've been waiting for finally came last night (Dec. 26). Riley did an amazing job of fooling me - I had no clue I was getting it that night!! Well the story starts way back in the first of November. Riley and I decided that we couldn't live without each other and that it was time to get married. I wanted Riley to surprise me with whatever ring he picked out, but he wasn't about to let me off the hook that easy. So after a while, he finally convinced me to pick the ring out with him. Riley has a cousin that designs rings, so we actually got to design the ring just how we wanted it. I'm glad now that I got to do that, cuz my ring turned out exactly how I've always drempt it would be.
We designed the ring the first of November, and then the waiting game started! I was doing okay with waiting until Riley took me up to see the wax model of the ring, and what diamond he had picked out. Once I saw my diamond, I couldn't stand it any longer!! I wanted my beautiful Ring.
Well, last night, Riley surprised me with my ring!! The night started off with dinner at Riley's family's house. After our amazing dinner, Julie (Riley's mom) announced that there was a prize for whoever guessed how many bulbs were on her Christmas tree. I glanced at the tree for a second and then announced that there 130 bulbs. After everyone guessed how many bulbs there were, Julie said that I had won the prize. (Little did I know that the prize was my ring) After our little game, Julie once again tried to get me to notice the ring that was hanging in a clear bulb on the tree, so she told me and Riley to go stand in front of the tree so she could get a picture. After the picture, (and me still not noticing the ring) Riley's family began getting anxious for me to see the ring. Kaylie (Riley's sister-in-law) said to Julie, " there is only one clear bulb on the tree" I decided to look at the tree to see if I could find the clear bulb. Well, I found the bulb, looked at it, then turned around and said, "is that the clear bulb you're talking about." It took me a minute, but I then realized that I saw what looked like a ring in the bulb. After it registered, I looked back to make sure I saw what I thought I saw and then turned around in shock. When I turned around, the most amazing man in the world was down on one knee. Riley asked me to marry him, and I of course said YES!!
The wedding date is March 14, 2009 in the Manti temple, and then there is a reception that night at Knight's Bridge Hall!! I'm so lucky that I get to marry the man of my Dreams. I'm also way excited for the wedding, but I'm nervous too because I've never planned a wedding before!! If anyone has any advice let me know.
P.S. I have pictures, but I was too lazy to upload them. I'll post them soon though!!

Vegas

Last weekend Riley and I took a trip to the city of lights. We went to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. It was nice to get away from the stress of finals. We started our trip Saturday morning by going to visit the highlight of my year - Cowboy Christmas!! The entire Las Vegas Convention Center turns into a Cowboy town. After walking our legs off at the convention center we decided we were hungry so we went to the Cheesecake factory - yummy!! Then we went to the mall in Vegas and walked some more. After all the shopping, I wanted to have Riley see the water show at the Bellagio. The next day we did some more shopping at another place called the Cowboy Marketplace and then went to Bass Pro Shops, which is one of the coolest places I've been to. After all that shopping it was time for the BIG SHOW!! We went to the Sunday night performance of NFR. We got to see the cowboy legends perform, and also as a bonus, brooks and dunn performed the opening song, Christy Lee Cook sang the national anthem, and Lee Greenwood sang I'm proud to be an American. After the Rodeo, Riley decided he wanted to ride the mechanical bull. He rode the bull for quite a while and had the entire crowd cheering him on. I thought it was pretty awesome. We had a fun trip, but on Monday it was back to the grindstone. So far I've finished 2 finals and my last final is Friday. I'll be so glad to get this semester over with!! Anyways, here are some of the pictures we took in Vegas!! Hope you enjoy

So I should be writing my English papers right now, but of course me being the procrastinator that I am means that I'm blogging instead. There hasn't been much going on for us, but we have some things that we are definitely looking forward to.
On Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th Riley and I are going to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. I can't wait to take Riley to Cowboy Christmas and to the Rodeo - this trip has been a tradition for me and now I'm glad that I can share it with Riley.
We are also looking forward to the Holidays. The good thing about me being a teacher is that I get to go home for the entire Christmas break. I'm going to try to get all the wedding plans done during the break so that I don't have to worry about it while I'm in school.
I also am still patiently waiting for my Engagement Ring so that I can be "officially engaged." Riley won't give me any hints as to when I will get it, so I guess I'll just wait even thought its driving me crazy - ha ha!!
Riley's mom likes to take picture (thank goodness cuz I always forget) and she took some cute pics of me and Riley the other day so I thought I'd post them!!