Livin' the Good Life!

New Blog!!

2009-09-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Jeffandlaurenallen.blogspot.com

Engaged!

2009-06-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry this post is coming so late but it's been a crazy past couple of weeks and I haven't had time to post about the engagement yet! But for anyone interested in our cheesy romantic proposal...here it is.
As far as some background information, I was informed that we would be going ring shopping in a few days and I was pretty sure that the proposal would happen on my birthday (May 22nd).
So one week before my birthday Jeffery took me down to my favorite Sushi restaurant for a weekend date. Everything was totally ordinary...he wasn't acting nervous at all so I had no clue what was going on. We ordered our miso and sushi and when they brought out our food the sushi was on a gigantic red plate and shaped into a heart. It was soo pretty I just said, "oooh sweetie look how pretty that is..." And then like an idiot I see this weird box sitting on top of the sushi and I was so confused! So I picked it up and then it hit me. My first thought was "oh man, if this is earrings or a necklace I'm going to be soo ticked!!" Haha. So I nervously open it and there is a little heart shaped piece of paper in it that says,
"This ring box is empty, as you can see. If you want to know why, ask Jeffery!"
So I turned to look at him and he pulled out the ring and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him! It was so romantic. I said yes of course and then they brought out a huge bouquet of long stem roses and the whole thing was just perfect! I was SO surprised...well, that's even an understatement! I have the sweetest finance in the whole world! And he picked the ring out completely alone (which you would think would be scary!) But he picked the most GORGEOUS ring on the planet! It's soooo perfect and I love it!
So there it is...our love saga! Our date is August 15th in the Salt Lake Temple!
I LOVE love!!

Congrats Chris and Mike!

2009-05-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Chris and Michael Anne were married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 2nd! The wedding was a blast and it was so fun to meet all of Chris's friends from New York and Penn. They were both so happy and it was so fun to see! They are now on their way back to NYC to settle into their new apartment together! Here are some pics of the beautiful couple for everyone to enjoy!

Welcome Home Elder Allen!

2009-04-19T11:51:00.001-07:00

He's finally back and it still feels so surreal! Let's just say I'm the happiest girl in the world right about now!
Here are some pics from the airport Friday morning!

The Crew- anxiously waiting!

He looks so good!

T minus ONE

2009-04-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

ONE Week From Today!!!

Camp-a-roonies take 2

2009-03-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

MOAB- Arches National Park

Ben, Liz, Laur, Ali and Brian at Delicate Arch

There's just something about the Great Outdoors...(although Liz, Ali and I only ever really need each others company to be thoroughly entertained!)

Trip Highlights:
Tattoos
Tent snuggle bunnies
new "bum touching" techniques
Rolled-down windows...AH
Corona Arch sun bathing
Delicate Arch

My Spanish Sistas

2009-03-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Liz, Laur, Sarah, Alex, Kendal

With Kendal's looming wedding day I had to come to term with the facts ... our 5-some is done forever. But it did cause me to reminisce on the good ole' days traveling the world with Team-A.

Camel riding in our Kandurum dresses in Morocco

Our many "hostel" nights with 5 in a bed..Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Style

Siestas in Porto

"Team Africa" Family photo shoot...complete with the dog

Let's face it...we were "kind of a big deal"

I love you guys! And don't forget,"I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom"

"I'm Lovin' It!"

2009-03-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else noticed that these yellow arches have taken over the world? What is it about the greasy burgers and fries that have captured so many hearts?
I must admit that this blog was inspired by my recent previewing of photos from my Spain Study Abroad. I was reminiscing how every place we went (and Alex will attest) McDonald's was the most posh "restaurant" in the city! I'd like to know their secret...

This is a picture of a McDonald's in Porto Portugal

Grandpa Prince

2009-03-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's weird to think about your parents or grandparents before you knew them. What were they like? Were they spontaneous, did they do anything crazy? How did they compare to me at my age?

I started an Oral History Project with my Grandpa where I just ask him questions about his past, he talks, and I transcribe it. He was just a little older than me when he was in the Navy in WWII and it's always fun for me to listen to his stories because it's a side of him I never knew. A side when his life was so hard and sad, but he also had some crazy and adventurous experiences.
I wanted to include two new stories he told me that I had never heard before.

Prince: While we were over seas the first time, we were the first cargo ship that went from New Maya, New Caledonia to Guadalcanal. Guadalcanal was the point where we stopped the Japanese from any further expansion.
Uh, one day I was talking to the armed guard personnel that were on board and we were back on the fantail of the ship. And I’m walking forward and I look out and here comes this torpedo wake right at our ship. And I started screaming, “Torpedo, torpedo!” And I ran up the stairs to get as high as I could so when it hit I’m out, you know, your out of the way a little bit. And the thing went under the ship and exploded on the beach! (Laughs)

Prince: The first nine months we were in the Pacific and then we came back to Panama. We went through the Panama Canal and ended up in a place called Sparrows Point, Maryland. For nine months I never saw a soul that I had known before, and I never hear a word from my family.

Prince: When I was through in New York I had a friend, his name was Floyd Roach and he was from Park City. And, uh, we went all through our training together ...
When we finished school he was transferred to a destroyer in Mare Island, California. That destroyer took off to go to Hawaii and they’ve never, to this day, determined what happened to them. They just disappeared.

Pinch me!

2009-03-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

Has it really been 23...yes...23, months since I had to say adios to my best friend in the whole world? I would say the time has flown, but lets face it, that would be a complete lie!
However, today is monumental that's for sure! I can't believe we're on the month count-down! I think Liz and Ali want to kill me for over-obsessing....I can't help it!

What a STUD!

Jeff's Farewell

Saying Goodbye...glad that day is over!

Camp-a-roonies

2009-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

There's just really nothing like embracing the beauties of nature! Not showering for days, smelling your worst, cooking over a campfire, and peeing behind a big hill over some sticker bush...oh ya, and lets not forget spooning all night in a tiny tent trying to keep warm!
I LOVE Camping!
Nathan was nice enough to invite us to go camping this weekend at Goblin's Valley. Friday we met up with about 15 other friends and set up camp, roasted mallows, sang kumbaya while holding hands...you know, the usual campfire rituals. Friday night was absolutely bitter cold and I don't know what Liz and I would have done with out Brian to keep us warm all night! It was quite the experience! Saturday we hiked up Bell and around Little Wild Horse canyon trails. It was absolutely gorgeous. Camping always reminds me of my insignificance in the world and definitely puts things in perspective. I can survive with just a tent, sleeping bag and hopefully a fire to cook the wild animals I hunt for food! I mean is that new sweater really a "must-have?" It's sometimes nice to remember how vast and amazing the world is that God created, and that I'm only a tiny part of it. The canyons we hiked were so awesome because not only were the rocks shaped in the craziest forms, but it was always amusing to see that one huge tree that sprouted out of a rock. Or all of the vegetation that could live in such a desert. Or, as Brian so eloquently put it ; "Something beautiful can blossom amidst adversity... Just like all of us!" - one of Brian's many sentimental take-home lessons!

Happy Birthday Jeff

2009-02-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Big 21st! I LOVE You!

This picture was taken two years ago! Crazy!
Feb. 25th, 2007
51 Days....woo who!

2009 Goals

2009-02-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking about all of the things I want to accomplish in 2009 (this is inspired by Courtney as well) and I finally composed my own list! They are not really in any specific order...besides number one, which I'm looking most forward to! :)

1. Spend way too much time with Jeff!
2. Take the LSAT
3. Finish our book (Ali and Liz!)
4. Start practicing cupcake recipes
5. Go on a fun trip with friends (Lake Powell? Hawaii?)
6. Go Sky Diving
7. Run traditional PC 5K on July 4th and 10K on the 24th
8. Give someone a Book of Mormon
9. Get an article published
10. Find an Internship

A Birthday Weekend

2009-02-22T21:34:00.000-08:00

In the past, this week has always been a crazy one. Matt's birthday was on the 23rd, Dad's on the 24th, and Jeff's on the 25th!
It has always been expected that Liz, Ali and I were to make Matt's favorite cake and leave it on his bed for him. We couldn't bring ourselves to break the tradition this year, even though he's not with us anymore. We made him his cake, and an awesome card, courtesy of Al's artistic drawing abilities! His grave was covered in snow but its always humbling to visit and it was fun to see that others had left birthday wishes as well.
For Dad's birthday the fam got together and we feasted on crabs legs! I felt like it was my birthday!! He'd probably kill me for publishing his age on the web but lets just say he's well past half a century!

And for Jeffery's birthday...let's just say I'm stoked it's the last one he's not here for! 54 days and counting baby! I can't even wait! I sent him a package (that probably won't reach him till he's on his way home) but hopefully a big long love note on Wednesday will suffice!

Ten things that BUG me!

2009-02-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

I was tagged so I feel completely obligated!
Here goes...
1. People who use the Library computers to get on facebook! And, well just facebook in general!
2. When you call someone, they don't answer, and they text you five seconds later, "Hey, what's up?"
3. People who wear sunglasses indoors
4. Boys that try and hit on you at the gym. Um...ya, I really am there to work out, not to talk to you
5. People who clip their nails in odd places
6. Those few months where the snow is melted so you can't ski, but it's still there so you can't play outside
7. When hair dressers put all that gunk in your hair that just makes it look completely greasy after an hour
8. Terribly slow service at Restaurants
9. When you are talking to a "couple" and you think they are listening, but in the middle of your sentence they kiss or lovingly gaze into each others eyes...
10.When people can't comprehend that, yes, you really are from Park City

I tag Jessica...your turn!

Bungee Jumping... no seriously, BUNGEE JUMPING!

2009-02-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

It started off as a simple google search one night when we were bored and wanting to do something crazy; yesterady it ended with me jumping off a 165ft bridge with nothing but a cord strapped to my ankles! Literally, the most thrilling and exhilarating experience of my life so far!
The bridge was in Glen's Ferry Idaho, about 4 hours away. We hit the road at 6:30 am (after dancing all night long at our Valentines party!) and met up with our instructor, Chris, at noon. He gave us a quick tutorial and then we hiked up, underneath the bridge, where we would be jumping from. Five of us were harnessed together while the other person jumped so that we could pull the jumper up. Sounds simple, but we were standing on this very narrow, maybe 3ft wide, gratted plank that shakes and swings everytime a truck drive over the bridge. You can see the water beneath you as you walk back and forth with nothing to hold on to but two tiny wires on each side of you! If that wasn't intense enough, it gets to my turn, they call me over, strap my ankles to a cord, and tell me to step out onto a 5 inch thick metal rail where I will be jumping from!! Wow, I don't think I've ever been so scarred, and so excited at the same time. I found that nothing gets you to jump more than peer pressure and a 5 second count down!
Now you can all watch the video of me terrified out of my mind (hence the fact that I don't say a word throughout the video!)
After jumping and experiencing 3 huge pull-back jumps, they pulled me up, put me back on the rail and told me to jump again! Beleive me, the second time was just as bit as scarry as the first!
The whole experience was so incredible! We are hoping to do it again in Powell this summer with a drop three times as big!

The Crew! Ben, Me, Liz, Courtney, Brian, Ali

We think we're pretty cool

"Kiss on the Lips" Valentines Dance Party

2009-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

I've found that the three of us like to find any excuse we can to throw a dance party! Our "kiss on the lips" party was a great success (although my kiss got rain-checked for a special someone to be home in 2 months!) Despite many of our close friends bailing at the last minute because of the three day weekend, the party was still a rockin' hit. We cleared out our furniture, plugged in the stobe light, blasted the speakers, and danced the night away. We also had a chocolate fountain and goodies for those bums who never dance! By 10:00 our little place was packed full of bodies!

Skiing our lives away!

2009-02-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

So I don't know if there are three girls that love the snow more! This winter has been relatively slow, but has definitely produced some amazing powder days for us! Rain or snow I feel like we spend our lives on the mountain! We worked out our schedules to ski Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at Sundance because it is so close and we have been having a blast!

We love you Matt!

2009-02-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

With all of our high school crew home for the holidays we wanted to have a formal dinner to remember Matt. We had one similar for Ali's birthday in High school so this was a "take 2" of that night. We were so excited to have Dave there and tell stories and watch videos of Matt. It was so much fun to be back with the old group of friends again and reminisce. We also had the boys over for dinner at our apartment in Provo before they went back to school.

Dave and his girls

The Gang

Fall Semester

2009-02-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

Returning to BYU in August brought many new changes and exciting experiences. Liz and I finally convinced Ali to move in with us (a dream of all of ours since birth!) and now the trio has been officially re-united! We have spent the fall meeting new friends, throwing dance parties, pulling pranks, and having fun ... but above all, building each other up.
I'm excited to start my own blog and record all of my experiences!