Life is Sam-Tastic!

Well its about that time again...

I received quite a few messages, texts, and phone calls after my last blog post...apparently you all want to know more about my relationship with Sam.

BASICALLY, I love this kid. Yes I said LOVE. With a capital L-O-V-E. Of course I didn't know this right away, I had to do some soul searching to decide whether I loved Sam or loved being in a relationship. But after wise counsel from my parents,prayer, and a completely understanding boyfriend who patiently let me take my time to figure this out, I have come to the conclusion that I love him. And I choose to love him every day. I love how handsome he is. The way he tries to be a gentleman ;) The way he holds me and respects me. I love the way he makes me laugh and the way he fulfills his priesthood duties. I love the way he treats his family and how serious he is about his schooling and his future. I could LITERALLY go on and on...but I wont. :)

That being said, I DO love being in a relationship. I mean I have absolutely NO free time anymore...and I stay out a lot later than I probably should. But I love every minute of it. I try to see Sam pretty much as often as our schedules allow. And do you blame me? He's a cutie!

For those curious about how we met, here is a brief history....  I met him at the fourth of July activity last summer.  I had just moved here a few weeks earlier and did NOT want to go to the activity...but I did. And I'm glad :)

He is in my singles ward and in the choir (that's right...he sings *sigh*) and we have the same group of friends. So I saw him pretty regularly. He is a pretty quiet person..BUT...I didn't know this at the time so I just assumed he didn't like me because whenever we were in group settings he wouldn't talk to me. So when our mutual friend Jared set us up on a date in October (on Halloween actually) I was a little worried about how the date would go. But the date went well...I carried the conversation... but this is when I realized Sam is just a quiet person, so that made me happy. I hate being hated.

Like I said, we had the same group of friends so I saw Sam pretty regularly and since our group date I started feeling more comfortable around him, but I was TOTALLY surprised when he asked me on a date to go to Six Flags in December. (It's still warm enough here to do that...crazy huh?) Of course I said yes....I love roller coasters and I liked Sam...as a friend. But I was curious to get to know him a little more.

After the date, life was kind of a blur with the holidays and everything. I went home to Ohio and he and his family went to Ireland for Christmas so I didn't even know if I could text him or anything... and I was still unsure of whether I wanted to move out of the friend zone. But when Sam got back to San Antonio, he continued to pursue me with diligence,patience, and respect. And then all of the sudden we were officially a couple in January.  It just kind of happened.

As far as what I have been up to since the last blog post...

March was the month for weddings!

Sam and I have mutual friends (Ricky and Ali) who were married. Sam was the best man. They had a beautiful reception at a country club here in San Antonio. They had a smores bar, candy bar, and photo booth! The funniest part of the reception though was that I happened to catch the bouquet AND Sam happened to catch the garter....
Neither of us really even tried...they just came RIGHT at us! And of course we both got teased quite a bit because of it :)

 Me, Ali, and Liz. I love these ladies!

 PHOTO BOOTH!!!

 

Sam and I with the bouquet and garter :)

 

My younger sister Samantha was also married in March. It was so fun going home to Ohio and spending time with my family and extended family. It was a lot busier than usual with all the wedding preparations and family events, but I am so glad that I got to be apart of it all. It was such a special time. My mom did an amazing job of transforming the church gym into a beautiful reception. We spent hours decorating and my mom spent even MORE hours preparing all the food. Lets just say, my mom really knows how to throw a party on a budget! I was amazed!
 And one of my favorite parts of the trip was that Sam came to Ohio for the wedding! He got to meet most of my family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... and of course my immediate family which I was most excited about. He was only in Ohio for 1 day and it was the day of the wedding, so things were pretty crazy, but I was excited to finally introduce Sam to my family.  It was a little confusing with two "Sam's". I didn't realize how much I called my sister Sam until my boyfriend was around. haha

 My twin sister (Katrina) made this quilt for Samantha for her wedding. Isn't it gorgeous?

 

The day after the wedding happened to be Sam's birthday. He and I spent the whole day together traveling back to San Antonio. I loved sitting on the airplane, holding hands :)
I had bought a bunch of small, inexpensive, gifts that each had some sort of meaning or inside joke and randomly gave each one to him throughout the day. I loved seeing his surprised face whenever I gave him one of the gifts.
The biggest surprise of the day was the surprise party I threw together while I was in Ohio. Sam and I have great friends that didn't hesitate to show up and bring snacks. Our plane ended up landing earlier than it was supposed to so I had to stall for a bit. I remember trying to come up with ideas to stall and Sam always had a solution. Fortunately, or unfortunately I'm not really sure, I ended up losing my keys to my car. (I found them later thank goodness) So I had a legitimate reason to stall until everyone was ready to surprise Sam. He had NO idea :)

Sam wearing one of his gifts on his birthday. Such a stud!

Speaking of Sam's birthday, the weekend before my Ohio trip, we went to visit Sam's family in Austin and we celebrated his birthday.  I always love visiting his Austin. We always do such fun things! We went to visit Voodoo Doughnuts in Austin (I went to the original Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland during my Oregon Road trip)  We also went to the Zilker Botanical Gardens and walked around enjoying nature.
Every time we go to Austin, we always go out to dinner to these delicious restaurants. We went to Phil's and got the most AMAZING burgers! And this last time we visited Austin (last weekend) we went to Gordoughs ( A savory doughnut place) and a delicious Gelato  place for dessert. Austin has some REALLY good food places and I always enjoy my time there. Plus I like Sam's family :)

 Happy Birthday Sam!

 At Zilker Botanical Gardens overlooking the Austin skyline

My doughnut dinner. It was FANTASTIC!!!!

As far as my current life goes...

My contract at work ended and they offered me a position to stay on at the building full time. So I am going to continue working there for the time being which I have mixed feelings about. I love my coworkers and the patients but sometimes I want to change things up and try something new and get a different experience. But I'm comfortable where I am, so I cant complain :)

I am also getting my OWN apartment! I get to move in next month. Its a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. Its much closer to work, and church, and Sam, and basically everything. I'll miss living with David and Elaine though. I love having family dinners and I LOVE the Cibolo area. I'll miss going on long walks around the neighborhoods and having a brand new Walmart (that is never crowded) in walking distance. I liked living in a small town. Small towns are what I know. It's what I was born and raised in. But I'm so excited for this new adventure! I feel like such an adult! I've dragged Sam all around to go furniture and appliance shopping. Poor guy. He's such a trooper!

 SO Sam being the super sports fan that he is, found a great deal on some Spurs playoff tickets. So of course he bought them. We were both so excited. The Spurs are a BIG deal here in San Antonio and Sam is definitely a fan.  We went and bought jerseys for the game and everything! Unfortunately a few days before the big game, we found out the game was on Sunday. So we ended up selling the tickets to a friend and watching the game at our friend Liz and Johns home. We made the most of the situation and made dinner and dessert and wore our new jerseys while we watched the game. :)

I got Patty Mills jersey.  So now I have a jersey with MY last name on it. Plus I have decided that he is my favorite player... so it's perfect!

 On Saturday, Sam and I went to Sea World. FOR FREE! My aunt and uncle have seasons passes tickets and had a bring a friend free day. We had such a nice time riding roller coasters, watching shows and Sam played some carnival games and won us some stuffed animal friends. We named them Patty the Penguin and Tiago the Turtle. They are named after Spurs players :)

 Patty and Tiago

Other Randomness...

 My coworker Roger tells me about all the good food places here in San Antonio. (Seriously. I have a whole list of places to try.)  And basically every one I have tried has been a success. One of the food places was called Sam's burger joint and I just HAD to take Sam...especially since his favorite food is burgers. It was a match made in heaven.

 My same coworker Roger went on vacation to NYC and brought me back a chocolate-y souvenir...so how do I thank him? By playing an April Fools Joke on him on his birthday...because I can. :)

My caseload at work has been slower than usual so I have been getting off work pretty early which has allowed me to spend time with Sam on campus. I got to go to institute with him AND go to his business law class. Institute was really interesting...business law was  really NOT. :) But it was fun getting a sneak peek into the daily life of Sam.

 Institute fun!

 Dying Easter eggs in Ohio with my little loves.

 Noelle and I were car buddies

 I made a sign for Sam for when I picked him up at the airport...Carson wanted to make him a sign too :)

 Crazy Kids <3

 One Sunday we went for a Sunday drive with some friends. The wildflowers here are so beautiful! I just had to get a picture of the blue bonnets!

 Oh yeah! I got a haircut. Its a bit shorter than I wanted. So its been an adjustment.

 A few weeks ago, David and Elaine were puppy sitting for a weekend. The puppies were so tiny and adorable!

Sam teaching my cousin Ben how to tie a tie.