It's a wonderful time to be alive :)

This has been a very exciting time for me.

In May, I moved into my very own apartment! I love it! It has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Large ceilings and private balcony. It is on the 3rd floor which at first I was concerned about, but I've actually come to love it. And I always feel that much more "active" climbing all those steps and I don't even get winded anymore. Speaking of active, my apartment is in the same building as the gym,clubhouse and right next to the pool. Needless to say, I'm happy.

A friend of mine from my ward (Makenzie) moved in and she is staying in my extra bedroom. Its nice having a roommate again :)

Sam was a big help with moving and getting settled. I have been so blessed with getting all the furniture for my apartment. My coworker Roger gave me some couches and my aunt Elaine found me a table and chairs for super cheap. I have also accumulated a bed, washer, dryer, and TV stand since then. :)

Sam being a "handy man" and assembling my TV stand :)

Sam and I have started taking turns making dinner. I love when Sam cooks for me. It's SO attractive!

A group of our friends went on an excursion to Gruene Texas. This adorable country western small tourist town. We went to lunch at Gristmill and walked through some of the local shops. They had "Texas sized" onion rings and delicious burgers and sandwiches. It will definitely be a place I visit again (in fact I went back a few days later with my family ;) )

A little over a week ago, I had family come visit. My mother, youngest brother and my twin sister and her children (Carson, Grace, and Noelle) came to visit me in Texas. It was a last minute trip but we had a great time.On Friday night, we had dinner at my Uncle David and Aunt Elaine's home and then we went swimming at the Bastian's pool.  Well Sam and I didn't swim because we didnt have swimsuits...but we had fun watching everyone else swim while sitting on lawn chairs and sipping Dr. Pepper. :)

On Saturday we drove to Austin so my family could meet Sam's family.  We went to Voodoo Doughnut (of course!) and later went out for delicious snow cones at Snow Beach (it had the finest shaved ice I have ever eaten!), went to Zilker park, and had a FANTASTIC BBQ dinner at Sam's home.  Our families meshed really well, which we knew they would.  We were only a LITTLE worried... ;)   Also, my nephew Carson STILL says he misses Sam's brother Jack. I think he misses him more than me. haha

 Sam and Carson playing together.

 Playing at Zilker Park

Snow Cones!

Noelle wasn't a huge fan of Sam at the beginning of the trip. Basically she wanted to be with anyone else BUT Sam. But over time, and me pushing them together a lot, she came to love him and even sent him away with baby kisses minutes before she left Texas.  This is one of the many times I tried to push them together and Noelle's face expresses it all!

On Sunday we spent the day with David and Elaine's family and then my family came to my new apartment to have dinner and go swimming in my pool. It was fun going to church with David and Elaines family. It was even more special because some married friends of Sam and I were blessing their baby at  church that day and I had NO idea! So when we walked in, we saw a bunch of our friends sitting in the pews :)

I think Sam really won her over when I made him hold her at church and feed her fruit snacks. He just needed to woo her with sweets. Works every time!

On Monday, after work, my family, Sam, and I went to Randolph air force base to try out a flight simulator. My uncle David got us in and taught us how to fly the simulator. It  was so fun! Isn't my uncle cool?

 Sam at the Simulator

 My mom at the simulator

Owen at the Simulator

Afterward, we went downtown to visit The Alamo and go to dinner at the River walk. We went to The Rainforest Cafe and the kids LOVED it! Every 20 minutes they have a "thunderstorm" where the lightning flashes and all the animals come alive. I loved watching the children's faces! 

Noelle's face everytime the Thunder storm started and the animals started moving. haha

We also took a boat ride on the River walk. Because, its just fun to do :)

Owen at the Alamo :)

Grace liked all the Princess Carriages

On Tuesday, after work, Sam and I took my family to Gruene Texas for lunch and to visit the Purple Chair ( an adorable local Childrens bookstore). The kids loved playing with the toys and probably had more difficulty leaving that store than saying goodbye. There were tears all over the place...not all of which belonged to the children. Its always hard for me to say goodbye. Especially to those cuties!

WE LOVE GRUENE

The day after my family left Texas, I traveled to Utah. It had been over a year since I had been to Utah. I didn't realize how much I missed it until the mountains came in view. My old roommates Amberly and Kelsey came to pick me up from the airport and I stayed in my old house in Holladay. It was such a strange feeling being back. It felt so much like home staying at my old place and seeing people that I love. I LOVED visiting people in Utah. I was surrounded by people that I love and people that love me!  I went to lunch with my friend Katherine from graduate school and then to dinner/icecream/movie with Sarah.
The next morning Wendi picked me up to have breakfast and then I spent the afternoon on temple square. I always loved going to the Salt Lake temple when I loved in Utah, so it was so nice to be back in a place so familiar and peaceful. I loved walking the grounds and reminiscing. I made some pretty important decisions on temple square. Like moving to Texas! I also went to the family history library to surprise my grandparents who are serving their missions there. It was fun to see their surprised faces and meeting my grandmothers friends.
 My friend Liz came to pick me up at temple square and we drove up to Logan for some even more reminiscing.  Liz took me ring shopping (just for fun) and then we went to dinner at Firestone and met up with Mike. Samantha and Brendon met up with us for some Aggie Ice cream and then we went over to  Sky and Dean's home where I was able to see Julie and Monte. SO MANY LOVED ONES!!!!  I love Logan. It has always been such a special place to me. So many happy memories.

On Saturday, I got to see SAM! Sam, Jared, Micah, and I drove to Bountiful for Russell and Lindsey's wedding! They had a beautiful wedding and reception. After the wedding, Sam and I went to dinner with my grandparents and Samantha and Brendon. Unfortunately, by this point I was feeling pretty tired with all the excitement from the past few days so I left early and went back to the house to relax. Around sunset, I took Sam on a walk around my old neighborhood. I went walking around that neighborhood every. single.day.  I would always daydream about my future. About my future job. About my future living arrangements. About my future relationships. So much has changed in a year. :)

My only regret from the trip was not getting a picture with Katherine or my grandparents!

I ran into a few girls from my ward when I went swimming at Turnberry (one of the few places I used to live in SLC) with Amberly. It was so fun running into Amber and Quincy :)

 In Logan with Mike and Liz. My traveling buddies.

 My old roommates Kelsey and Amberly. Love these girls!!!

 The Salt Lake Temple!

 Wendi and I looking pretty good for a  Friday morning if I do say so myself!

 Liz and I at Needhams. That's right. Liz took me ring shopping! haha Isn't she the cutest?

 Sam and I on our walk around my old neighborhood. Look at those mountains!

 Micah, Sam, and I outside the temple at Rusell and Lindsey's wedding.

Friends at the wedding

 SARAH and I at the movies after dinner and icecream. Love this lady!

Skye and I! I've missed her! I haven't found a walking/ girl talk buddy like her. She's one of a kind :)

SAMANTHA!!!!! One of my favorite sisters.

On Sunday, Sam and I caught an early flight (thanks Samantha and Brendon for taking us to the airport) to get back to San Antonio. I love traveling with Sam. Holding hands on the plane is SO ROMANTIC!

On Monday, I was a little stressed with all the errands that I needed to run. Sam showed up at my house and "proposed" that we go to lunch, go for a walk and THEN run my errands. And I agreed. We went to lunch at a small restaurant that we had found a few weeks before and then went for a walk at a park where we had been on a few dates previously.
The thing was it was like 100 degrees outside and pretty humid. But I thought it was so cute that Sam wanted to go for a walk because he knows how much I love going on walks.
We had been walking for a little while and I realized that I was carrying the conversation and that Sam was being pretty stiff and quiet. Whenever this happens, during a date, or pretty much whenever we are together, we take turns saying "Hey! Ask me a question!". So naturally, I said "Hey Sam! Ask me a question!". He just replied with an "ummmm" and we kept walking. We walked over to a bridge and Sam finally stopped,turned to me and said "I've got a question for you. Its actually a question I've been wanting to ask you for a while now". He started getting down on one knee and I thought he was kidding because he told me he would try to trick me.
 I started taking off my sunglasses to laugh at him when I saw him pull out "THE BOX". I just remember thinking "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh" and then Sam said "Kitara, will you marry me?" He opened the ring box and the ring fell out! He stumbled to pick up the ring and then all I can remember was hugging him and trying to breath  (I don't even remember saying yes, but Sam assured me that I did). I had never felt that way before. My body was trying to cry and laugh at the same time. We were hugging and then kissed, then hugged, then kissed again. And then I realized I had never even really looked at the ring. So I asked to see the ring again. IT IS GORGEOUS!!!! More beautiful than I ever even expected! Apparently Sam did his research and checked out my pinterest page. I had posted this ring to my page like 5 times, but I never thought I would get it. It was my DREAM ring. And what makes it even more special is that the band and the main diamond belonged to Sam's grandmother. It's just so perfect! I cant stop looking at it!

So  this week has been pretty crazy with all the wedding preparations. Sam and I have set the wedding date for August 13th so there is a lot to do, and not a ton of time. But honestly, everything has been working out so smoothly! We booked the temple, the reception venue and have picked out the meal. Sam and I drove to Austin and took our engagement pictures at 7:30 am yesterday morning to beat the heat. There is still a bit to do but we have had SO much help from both sides of our families. Which is really so helpful seeing as I only have so much time to plan with working during the day.  and Sam has been great. He made a schedule for our wedding planning so I wouldn't get overwhelmed.

Last night Sam, Neils, Kelly and I went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Torchy's and then we went to a concert for Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, and John Fulbright. Sam's parent's had given us the tickets (yay free events!). It was the first time I had been to downtown Austin at night time. So that was pretty cool :)

 At the Concert.

Sam and Neils and Kelly (my future brother-in-law and sister-in-law) at Torchy's

Life is good. I am SO happy!!! I am getting married in 54 days! To Sam Hazen!

**WARNING...this is about to get mushy....**

I am just so in Love with Sam! I am so excited to spend eternity with him. He is the first boy to hold my hand as well as my heart. He was my first kiss. He is my best friend. I get so excited to see him every. single. day. We try to spend as much time together as possible and it just never feels like ENOUGH time. I cant wait for the day when we don't HAVE to say goodbye. I am SO excited for August 13th when I can become his wife :)

Okay...enough of that!  Love you all!

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.