The Newlywed Life

SO...Newlywed life....


Over labor day weekend, the Hazen clan traveled to Ohio for our (Sam and Mine) Ohio Reception.  We had a little hiccup with out travel plans due to a problem with our plane. Luckily, we were able to find a flight leaving later that day that could still seat all 8 of us. It was kind of fun spending time with my new family in the airport. It was a good bonding experience.

I LOVED visiting Ohio with Sam. I got to show him around to some of my favorite places. He got to see special places that helped make me into the girl I am today. We also got to spend plenty of time with my nieces and nephew who made us feel SO welcome. I think they were more excited to see Sam though...whenever they saw me alone, they would ask where Sam was and try to find him. :) It was so cute watching Sam bond with each of the kids. At one point, Sam was cuddled up with my niece Noelle (the baby) while watching a football game on his phone. He was trying to teach her to say "Oklahoma stinks" or something like that. It was so cute.

Our Ohio reception was so fun. I loved seeing family that came in from out of state and seeing so many people that I knew growing up. My mom did such a great job with the reception. The food was delicious and I enjoyed dancing. I always do. :)

 I introduced Sam to Graeters! And of course he loved it because how can he not?

 I love this handsome man.

 Horseback riding with Hannah on an Ohio Night. I love that Hannah and I are related now!

 Went on a Nature Walk with my family

 We drove past a field of sunflowers and my mom quickly drove to the side of the road and made Sam and I get out for a picture, It was so spontaneous but I'm so glad we did!

 My family and I went to Youngs Dairy after our Nature Walk

Sam and I visited my grandmother grave. It was hard not being there for the funeral but it was such a special experience to be there with Sam.

Newlywed life has been bliss. Full of cuddles and kisses. Oh and football :)  Sam is a HUGE football fan. We have been to two of his highschool games (oh the nostalgia!) as well as one of the UTSA games where he goes to college. And we watch every. single. University of Texas game (GO LONGHORNS) and then some. Its a whole new world for me. I still dont understand half the rules but Sam is patient with me. And its prime cuddle time :)

 At the Westlake Highschool Football game

At the UTSA game

I had my first failed meal a couple of weeks ago. That hasnt happened in awhile. I felt like such a failure. But Sam is so great! He happily exclaimed "yay lets get a pizza!". So we have decided that whenever dinner doesnt turn out, its pizza night. 

At the end of september, my friend Patrick came to visit me in San Antonio. I loved seeing him and was so excited to introduce him to Sam. Fun fact: Patrick has visited me everywhere I have lived since we were at BYUI together. He is such a great friend. So it made me so happy that he and Sam got along so well. As most of you know, Sam is a pretty quiet guy, so i was worried it might be awkward at first, but Patrick is so good at carrying conversations.  Im hoping since Patrick lives n Oklahoma now, He and his wife will visit again!

Over General Conference weekend (the first weekend of October) Sam and I drove up to Austin to spend the weekend with his family. His brother Neils and sister-in-law Kelly were also in town so it was a little reunion. On friday night, Sam and I went to another one of his highschool football games. His parents have season tickets (Texas is pretty intense about their highschool football here. I mean their highschool has their own jumbotron!) so they gave us their seats while they volunteered at the concession stand. Which meant great seats AND free snacks. SCORE! :)

On Saturday, we drove over to the Hazen ranch where Sam's parents are building a ranch house. The house is on a hill and has a gorgeous view. AND it's HUGE!! It'll be perfect for all our family reunions. All of us kids picked a room and wrote scriptures on the framing. It was such a fun experience. It was crazy thinking about how this building will hold so many future memories for our family.

The Hazen clan (minus Hattie)

On Saturday night, while the men went to priesthood conference, Connie (my mother-in-law) and Kelly and I had a girls night. We went shopping and visited Sams childhood neighborhood and then went out for crepes. It was fun having some girl time. (We missed Hattie though!) I really enjoyed getting to know Kelly a little better.

Its tradition in Sam's family that Vince (my father-in-law) will polish all the leather shoes in the family. It was funny seeing all the cowboy boots lined up next to one another.  I am DEFINITELY in Texas.

Okay, I have to admit, one of my FAVORITE parts of conference weekend was taking a bath in this beauty!!! The tub is so deep! and Connie let me use one of those fancy LUSH  bath bombs so the water smelled so sweet and my skin felt so smooth. With the candles lit, and my classical pandora station playing, I was in heaven!


My caseload at work has been pretty inconsistent recently which has caused a lot of stress. I was waiting for my Texas professional license to be issued with my new name and due to some department changes, I had to wait for a little over two months. So while I waited, and my caseload dwindled, Sam started job hunting. At first he was more particular to finding a job that would give him experience for his resume for when he graduates in May, but after weeks of NOTHING, he started applying for just any job to help support our income and to relieve some stress.

Two weeks ago, Sam received an interview with Enterprise for a part time accounting internship. And after a second interview, he received a call that he got the job!!! Its perfect because its part time because they wanted a person who is currently in school and majoring in accounting. And when Sam graduates in may, he can start working full time. Sam started training this week and so far loves the company. And we get a discount on car rentals :) Its been an adjustment having him at work though. I'm so used to having him around all the time (except for when he is gone at his night classes) but since he has been in training, I have only been able to see him about an hour a day. So I've been struggling with loneliness and trying to figure out how to be alone again. After 26 years of being single you think it wouldn't be this hard being "alone". haha

Sam and I are now in a family ward which is fun. I REALLY like our ward. All of the women are so friendly and I feel like I have met so many people. Sam and I have been invited to dinner by a couple of people in the ward already. SO NICE!!  They have also kept me pretty involved in the ward by asking me to teach, give women rides to events, and having Sam and I set up the ward temple night this month. Sam and I also got callings. I am an activity days leader (I work with the 8-11 year old girls) and Sam is a Webolos Cub Scout Den Leader.

On Saturday, Sam and I went to our wards "Trunk or Treat". It was combined with another ward so there were A LOT of people there! A lot of which were dressed up which was fun. There were SO many kids that Sam and I ran out of candy pretty fast even though we bought two huge bags of candy. I was impressed with the variety of costumes. There were a lot of original costumes.

Sam and I dressed up as well. After WEEKS of trying to figure out what to wear, Sam and I decided on being Belle and Gaston. We were able to find most of Sams costume at the thrift store and I pulled out the sewing machine Katrina bought me and MADE my costume. That's right....I MADE it. Even I cant believe it!

 Belle is my FAVORITE Disney princess, She like books. I like books. We are practically the same person ;)

Belle and Gaston

On Monday, Sam and I went to Cibolo to have dinner wit Elaine and the Kids and to pass out candy while she took her kids trick or treating. A young couple from the ward (who we had dinner with a previous sunday night) helped keep us company as we passed out candy. It was a great way to spend Halloween night. I love Cibolo. Im so grateful Elaine invited us over,

Other Happenings:

 After a stressful week, Sam set up a pampering saturday for me. I had breakfast in bed, Sam took me for a nature walk at a local park, took me to lunch at Torchys (We were excited to find one in San Antonio) and then he took me to a book store and bought me books. He know me so well. It was such a perfect day. Later that night, we went to a masquerade party at our friend Liz's house. Sam and I made our masks for a "Family Home Evening" activity. So we were excited to wear them as we watched Phantom of the Opera.

The masks we made.

 Wearing the masks we made.

Occasionally Sam will cook me dinner and he has REALLY stepped up his game. From burgers to grilled chicken and homemade bacon mac n cheese. He spoils me.

 We went on a double date a couple weeks ago to a haunted house. Sam was great and held my hand the whole time! Then we went out for icecream! (personally, I think that's how every date should end ;) )

Maybe marriage is making me crafty?  I made a wedding shadow box. And I love it. I never get tired of looking at it.

And that's my life right now. Ups and Downs. But mostly Ups. :) We are blessed and happy.

Call me MRS. HAZEN!

A LOT has happened since my last post.

I went to Utah (again) for my friend Maria's wedding.

I was one of the bridesmaids. It was a VERY short trip. I got in late Monday night. I stayed at my friend Sarah's home (yes she already owns her own HOUSE) and woke up early the next morning to go to the temple for the sealing, stayed a little while for the reception. Then met up with Kassi and Katherine (friends from grad school) for a little while on my way to the airport. All in all, I was in Utah for less than 24 hours. But the trip was worth it. I LOVED catching up with old friends. Both Maria and Sarah were bridesmaids in MY wedding. And it was fun to talk about Speech stuff with Kassi and Katherine. I don't know a lot of SLPs so it was nice to vent and also talk about our favorite parts of our jobs.

Oh, I celebrated a birthday and I'm now 26.

Sam took me out to breakfast for my birthday at Magnolias Pancake Haus, which was fantastic! Its a pretty happenin' place so we had to wait  a little while, but it was WORTH it!  Later that day, Sam and I drove to his parents ranch and had a picnic (it was pretty toasty, but the views were gorgeous), then when we drove to the park where Sam proposed and took pictures while holding hands and reminiscing. The next day, a few friends from the ward threw me a birthday party with cake and icecream. My favorite part about birthdays :)

My brother got his mission call (Colorado Springs mission) and reported to the MTC just days before my wedding. 

I was so excited to be able to skype with my family while Ryan opened his mission call. I was a little bummed to find out that Ryan would be reporting to the MTC 3 days before my wedding, but at the same time I was just so happy for him. Such an exciting adventure!

Sam and I got our engagement pictures at Mount Bonnell in Austin. We took them at 7:30 in the morning to avoid the heat and we were STILL "glistening"

I had two amazing bridal showers.

I dont know how I became so fortunate! Some friends here in San Antonio worked with my aunt Elaine to throw me a bridal shower. Friends from the ward, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law came and Mary also drove up from Lake Jackson to be there. We played fun games and watched a cute video of Sam answering questions about me. He actually did surprisingly well. He and I are pretty good at communication :)

 Connie was AMAZING at this game!

Me, not so much... :)

Connie's  friends (Connie is my mother-in-law) also threw me a bridal shower in Austin. She has such kind, generous friends. One friend organized the party and put together the games and food and the other friend had the party at her gorgeous home. I was blown away. We had a delicious dinner and played "pin the mustache on the groom". They had a blown up picture of Sam and we all tried to put a mustache on him. It was pretty funny! It was also nice talking to so many woman that knew Sam when he was growing up. I had fun telling them about how we met and how he proposed. They oohed and aahed and told me how amazing sam is. (like i didn't already know ;) but it was fun to hear.

There were adorable signs placed in the yard

I had a bachelorette party (who would have guessed?)

Ive never thought I would have an actual bachelorette party. I'm not really the "scandalous" type. But a few friends got together and organized one for me. It was mermaid/under the sea themed. Isn't that adorable? The decorations and food were adorable. We decorated bras with seashells and ate yummy food. It was so kind of them to put that together for me.

I had my bridals taken at the capital building in Austin...the ONE day it rained!

I had a bedbug scare a week or two before my wedding.

You know what is something you DON'T  want to hear just two weeks before you have your wedding? That you MAY have bedbugs. My roommate was getting some mysterious bug bites and so we had the pest control people come. Long story short, 2 treatments, Packing up the ENTIRE apartment, and $300 dollars later...no bed bugs. I was SO stressed. This literally came at the worst time. My wedding was DAYS away. But anyone who know me knows that I hate any and ALL bugs so I wasn't taking any chances.

I got MARRIED!

My family came to town the thursday before my wedding. I had been anxiously awaiting ALL day!  On Friday, a group of us went sight seeing downtown to see the Alamo and the riverwalk. My friend Liz joined up with us and we went out to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe on the riverwalk. (for the kids) The waiting staff made me stand and the sang a "happy wedding" song to me. It was a little embarrassing, but funny and my family got a kick out of it.

That night was mine and Sam's rehearsal dinner. We had it at the club in one of the smaller rooms that has large windows overlooking the golf course. We had a delicious Tex-Mex Buffet dinner and everyone seemed to enjoy the video that Sam and I made (my uncle David put the video together and it turned out great!) and they also enjoyed the printed out text messages between Sam and I. We printed out a few flirty text conversations over the span of our relationship. It was hard choosing which ones to print!It was fun reading back through our entire relationship. We have grown so much!

The next morning I got married!!!!  Everyone kept asking if I was nervous, but I wasnt. I was more excited than anything and stressed about getting ready in time. My mom and I got to the temple a few minutes later than I wanted (I took a little while getting my hair done...but it was worth it. Katrina did an amazing job!) and we had my cousin Arielle meet us at the temple to do my makeup. In my haste, I forgot to bring the wedding certificate, To be honest I had completely forgotten about it. It was packed up somewhere (do to our bed bug scare) so that was a bit stressful! Luckily, Katrina was running a little late so she was able to search my apartment, find the wedding certificate, and bring it with her.  Its a good thing I live pretty close to the temple! Besides that, my wedding day was perfect. I cried during the ceremony. I didn't think I would. But looking into Sam's eyes I just realized that I loved him SO much and that I have waited so long to meet him and marry him. All the lonely nights, all the pleading prayers, all of it was worth it. He is worth it. And I was just so happy. Plus, Im pretty sure I saw him getting a little misty and I just lost it! I loved being surrounded by intimate friends and family. I even LOVED that it rained during our pictures. I was afraid that we would all be melting in the heat.
The reception was also held at Oak Hills Country Club. It was in the banquet hall and the decorations were LOVELY! We had an amazing BBQ buffet (yes, Sam and I got to eat...we were first in line) because it WAS a Texas wedding after all! :) Sam's aunt Elaine made our cakes. She made me a beautiful cake with lace and flowers. It was just so classy. I think everyone was most "wowed" by the grooms cake. The Dr. Pepper cake (yes it was Dr. Pepper flavored) was a fan favorite. Speaking of Dr. Pepper....everyone was given a bottle of Dr. Pepper for a Dr. Pepper Toast given by Sam's Best Man, Ricky.  There was dancing and eating and smiling and laughing. The reception ended once I changed into my traveling dress and cowgirl boots. Sam and I left the reception hall with people lining the way waving ribbons and bells and whistling. It. Was. Perfect.

 3 generations!

 My traveling dress and cowgirl boots

Father/Daughter dance

 I loved having both the rehearsal dinner and the reception at the country club. It was the PERFECT venue for Sam and I. Plus it was fun having free valet parking for our guests ;)



After the reception, Sam and I drove to Galveston where my in-laws had booked us a  bed and breakfast (The Victoria Inn). We stopped at Whataburger for dinner (of course) because Sam treats me fancy ;)

I went on an amazing honeymoon.

The next day Sam and I boarded our ship. We had booked a 7 day cruise for the honeymoon. Our ship was Liberty of the Seas (Royal Caribbean). The cruise was really the perfect honeymoon for us. We could choose to stay in our cabin all cozy like, or venture out to the many things and shows on board. There were pools, water slides, mini golf, rock climbing, basketball hoops, shops and restaurants. Basically we were NEVER bored and had the best time. We went to Roatan Honduras and went to a private beach. We ventured around Costa Maya Mexico and visited Chichen Itza, one of the wonders of the world during our stop in Cozumel. Chichen Itza was our favorite part of the trip. That and the delicious all you can eat foods and icecream. :)

When we got back from our honeymoon, life hit us hard. We came back to a flat tire. It was rainy (the weather on our cruise was perfectly sunny) which made our drive home long and sometimes a little intense. My father called me to tell me in person (so i didn't find out from Facebook) that my grandmother, who lived with me until I went away to college, had passed away the night before. And Sam got some upsetting news from school that delayed his plans for graduation. Sunday was a rough day...in fact a few days this week were pretty rough.
My grandmothers funeral was on this week and I HATED that I was unable to attend. I was basically a mess all day. (And the day after) There were times where Sam would just hold me as I cried. So many memories were flooding my mind. Poor Sam. I would be fine and then just burst into tears. Sam was so amazing though, he cooked all the meals that day, held me while I cried, listened to my stories, and asked me questions about my grandma. He also reminded me that she loved me and even though she wont get to see me in my wedding dress, I will get to see her again. I love him.

On friday evening, Sam distracted me from my troubles by driving me to Austin where I could spend time with my new family. :) We went to his old high school's football game. High school football is WAY more intense than anywhere I have lived. It's a HUGE deal. His parents gave us their season tickets (yes, thats a thing) so we got to sit in really nice seats! His high school (Westlake) is nationally ranked. They have their own Jumbo Tron! They also have both cheerleaders as well as dancers at each game. A lot of their players are recruited for college football. Sam used to play on the team so it was cute watching him talk about "the glory days" while he explained the rules of the game. (I'm not sporty...at all.) While we were at the game, Sam instantly noticed some guys that play for the University of Texas. They were literally standing right in front of us. I could have reached out a couple inches and touched their shoulders. But I didn't of course...that would be weird. I DID however ask one of them to take a picture with my husband because he was geeking out right next to me and I just KNOW that made his night!

Other pictures over the past couple months :)

 At our friends Tiffany and Trent's Reception

 Buying my first pair of boots during date night

 Exploring the Mexican markets in San Antonio with family friends

 Glasses shopping with Sam

 Marvel party. Sam was Venom and I was Kitty Pride

 We visited the bench where Sam "accidentally" told me he loved me :)

 Sitting on our "love" bench

 Sometimes we match on accident. Go OHIO!

 The portraits for the wedding reception AND the ribbons that my mother-in-law made. She made us a sign-in quilt as well. She is so talented!

Sam's new glasses. We got a call AT the reception saying the glasses were ready for pick up... just our luck! haha

Sam and I have been really enjoying married life. I love having my best friend with me ALL the time. We have been working hard on making our house a home. We still have some work to do, but progress is definitely being made.