Best night ever.

Well, almost.

Okay, maybe not even close. But you must admit it's pretty darn cool when you plug in your husband's camera and find a treasure of goodies. Like pictures from the night he proposed, our honeymoon, and our first apartment that I didn't even remember we took.

A couple of things:

1) Um, also because of these pictures I decided the short-hair look just isn't for me. Sorry, husband, I'm growing it out.

2) And Mom - you never thought you'd hear this from me but you're absolutely right. Now that I've got straight hair, I actually miss my curly hair. Is there a way to get it back that doesn't involve pregnancy? (Pregnancy made my hair stick straight - no joke - but I'm not ready for that phase again, just to see if it would go back curly. I'm not a crazy person!) Help me.

K, mates. Now that we've got that settled, anyone want to meet pre-baby, pre-wedding/newlywed Alie & Tyler? {In my own words, "Aww. Look how cute I am!" Can we just rewind two years and give me back my youth? I know I'm not old by any means (I'm twenty-two) but just look at us!! And my hair. Just look at my hair. Gah.}

That's a fat marshmallow in my mouth. Date night roasting marshmallows on the BYU belltower lights. Kind of successful and very buggy.

I remember knowing something was up that night because Tyler insisted on taking a picture at Cold Stone. Hmm...

And then he proposed to me an hour later. :)

One of many BYU football games.

Cold Stone. Again. (Can you tell Tyler spent a lot of time outside that summer?)

Ugh, would ya look at that red hair. One of the many mishaps before our wedding where I tried to (professionally, might I add) get the red out of my hair, unsuccessfully.

Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband concert, still with red hair.

Fast forward to our honeymoon! I think we're sitting in a jazz lounge on the cruise ship?

"Formal Night" on the cruise ship.

We picked snorkeling for our excursion. We had a blast! (I still remember we tried to fix Tyler's crooked sunglasses several times this trip...)

I think this was in Ensenada but I'm not sure.

I wasn't going near that thing.

But Tyler got pretty cozy with it.

It was pretty chilly our entire cruise, hence the jacket. (It was December, after all.) We decided this rastafarian singer was the best part of the entire cruise. We made sure to tell him that. :)

I think this was before a show.

And I have no freaking idea why we would have taken a picture with this crazy lady. Maybe because it was ridiculous that she was part of the kid show?!

Tyler always picked the best restaurants on our trip.

Nothing really to comment about this one except that apparently neither of us looks good in sunglasses.

We loved the molten lava cake so much that our waiter snuck us the (secret) recipe. Go Icky! 

This was our first apartment's kitchen. No countertops and only one usable cupboard. I'll never complain about a kitchen again!

... which kind-of-sort-of-doesn't-really-but-we'll-go-with-it brings us to where we are today:

We look really different. I don't even really recognize me!

 But we are so happy. :)

Our Story

Update: Here's the digital version so ya'll can read it. I had to separate it into two because it was vertically gifted (ahaha, instead of vertically challenged? yeah? no.) Click on each image to view it larger.

I love Taylor Swift's lyrics to Our Song. I think it would be so sweet to have your own love story put into a song for the entire world to hear.

But alas, neither Tyler or I were given the gift of song. I played percussion in high school, but that was mostly playing the music given to me. I can't sing or dance, but fortunately I discovered I can draw and create.

About a year and a half ago I created a poster for Tyler with "our song" on it for our first-year wedding anniversary. I didn't want any of the details of our engagement to be forgotten. (It's kind of funny because my older siblings argue sometimes about how things "really" took place when they met, but it was 5+ years ago for all of them and none of them can remember! I wanted a way to always keep our story straight.)

Hence, this was created:

And I finally framed it. It took me well over a year and a half to print and frame it, but it finally got done! I was so excited to show Tyler yesterday! :)

Lone Star Taquiera

don't you just want to snuggle up with him?

I really wish Salt Lake City was a tad bit closer. Maybe a 20 minute drive instead of 40? Nonetheless, Jack was pretty good for the ride. 

We started off by going to IKEA, which is always fun and eventful. I can't wait to decorate our home with more IKEA furniture in the future, starting off with a new kitchen table. Tyler picked one out for us, but luckily I get dibs on picking out the chairs. :) We're waiting til we move to San Diego next year to purchase a new table so we don't have to move it.

We then went to a fantastic Mexican restaurant about 5 miles east of Salt Lake City downtown. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, and since we're big Guy Fieri fans, we just had to check it out. Best idea EVER. The place was FABULOUS. Whoever decides to come visit us next, we're definitely going there. Seriously, it is worth the drive. 

It's called Lone Star Taquiera and it's at 2265 Fort Union Boulevard in Salt Lake City. Fantastic service and absolutely delicious, legit Mexican food (the "legit" part comes from Tyler, who actually lived in Mexico for two years so I highly value his opinion when it comes to this.) Go check it out. I had the carne asada burrito (super moist and tender carne asada), but Guy Fieri also raved about the sea food they have. I think it changes daily. We also got glass bottled coke imported from Mexico, which is a must-have if you've never tried it. They use real sugar instead of corn syrup and the taste difference is huge. I first had it in Mexico on our honeymoon, and I've been sold on it ever since. We each got our own, but the bottles are so big you could easily split one between two people.

And last but not least, here are some pictures of our little family in Temple Square. I just love it there, especially during Christmas time. But we didn't realize it was family night (us Mormons have what we call "family home evening" each Monday night) so it was really crowded. Plus it was the last Monday before Christmas, which also didn't help. But I think Jack had a good time. (He pretty much slept the entire time, which to me equates to a fantastic night out!)

2 Years!

the night we got officially engaged

Happy Anniversary to Tyler and I! I can't believe it's already been two years. 

I've had so much fun this past year as our life has changed drastically. I got pregnant, we moved 3 times, we spent the summer internship living with my parents in San Diego, Tyler accepted a job offer for next year, we had a baby, I graduated ... geez, when I list it like that I really see that so much has happened! Each year of marriage just gets better and better.

Tonight we are stopping by Ikea, and then heading to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. (We'll get little Jack all dressed up in his bear suit so he can stay warm!) We might go out for a light dinner there, but we hope to go to a fancier restaurant while we're in San Diego for the winter break.

My relationship with Tyler is the very best thing in my life. Period. 

I really couldn't ask for more. I love you, Tyler Shaw Jones.

ONE YEAR!!

For our one-year anniversary, Tyler made me dinner, with candlelights and everything. It was very romantic. :) We drank Jones Soda (which is quite appropriate) and ate chicken parmesan and spaghetti. Yum. I made Tyler this for our anniversary:

I'm planning on getting it printed and framed in a tall, black frame, but we need to find one first.

And...I forgot to take a picture of us until right before I headed into bed, so here's Tyler and I (sans makeup...ick.) at about 11:30pm on our anniversary.

p.s. Thank you, Tyler, for crossing off the "have a romantic candlelit dinner" off my lifetime to do list!