The Holbrook Experience

Rex loves Holbrook. He has lived there since he was nine years old. After celebrating Thanksgiving with our own families we came together and drove to his hometown to stay with his family for the weekend. Rex's family is wonderful! They are so kind, generous, and welcoming. I felt at home my entire stay. The Self's have a beautiful home. It has this cracked colorful glass all along the front patio that reappears in the back yard. I love the backyard it is just really open and filled with huge trees complete with a swing! That is just the outside, inside it is warm and has hardwood floors. The comfy couches, pictures of family, and the food from the kitchen brought me a sense of comfort while I stayed there. I loved how I felt at Rex's home, it was peaceful, happy refuge. Rex would be so excited when he wanted to show and share parts of his life with me. We watched old home videos as Rex as a kid. He was so cute! I had a lot of fun doing that! We drove through town even though it was really foggy and he showed me the old pool he worked out, his mom's work, and these little tee-pee's ( I mean...big tee-pee's...haha Kevin!) We woke up early and fed the cows at his dad and uncle's ranch. That was fun to see Rex all helpful and happy. His uncle would be so funny in the car rides. Dave is a great guy. Rex's dad Scott made us some green smoothies for breakfast. After we ate we searched high and low for the Christmas tree, but couldn't find it. Rex wanted to go for a four-wheel drive! And there is a great rule in his family where only Return Missionaries can drive the nice new one! So Rex being an RM was more than excited to drive us. Rex is crazy! The turns and bumps of the mountains and hills in his backyard where like a roller coaster ride. I was just screaming and holding onto Rex for dear life. Haha. I will admit it was a blast even though I was legitimately scared a few times. We would follow the trail and entered into this boy land of awesome paintball fight location. We would climb onto the tower and just look at the beautiful orange, red earth around us. On the way back Rex let me drive! Ya-hoo! That was fun! Then we spent time getting ready then we went to the grocery store for some stuff for his mom. His parents went to a baptism while us kids ( Rex, Kevin, and I) went and prepared the horses. We were going to go horseback riding!!! I love to ride horses! That was such a neat and remembered experience. Just Rex, me, and his family with the outdoors was great! My horses name was Chief! I had a wonderful time talking with his family and we rode side by side. His family is so fun. We headed back to the barn and brushed the horses down. When we got back we all made this huge meal together. We made both chicken enchiladas and his Dad's tacos. Beth is so cute and she is such a delight to spend time with. She is always so considerate of what everyone wants. She has so many great qualities that I see in Rex. He gets a lot from his Mom. Well we ate and it was oh so good and yummy and delicious! Then we went over to his Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave's house to watch a movie. His cousins are so adorable and they have such a fun home. Sadly the projector didn't work so we ended up reading next to each other til we were both tired and went to our separate beds. That night was the night before my birthday and I was so excited to spend that special day with Rex and his amazing family that had opened up to me completely. My birthday was perfect and such a gift of everyone being so thoughtful towards me. I felt like one very special girl thanks to Rex. I'll give you details later.What a fun weekend I spent with his family! I loved having a peek through the looking glass of how Rex grew up.

Preparing for Eternal Relationships

So Rex and I happened to be in the same institute class which just happened to be on preparing oneself for an eternal relationship. This class really was such a gift to Rex and I. I feel like it helped lead us on our journey and gave us confirmation that we were doing the right things. Our relationship is growing everyday and to have the constant reminder of the church's view as well as our teacher, Brother Norton's view was on what a college date life should be like was extremely helpful. I enjoyed learning with Rex by my side and hearing his great insight! Rex is so smart! He is just a thinker and he really ponders about life, the gospel, and really what everything means to him. He personalizes everything to where he is at in that point in his life. Luckily I happen to be in his life and growing closer to him through our experiences with this class has been a delight! Sometimes Rex would have to work and I would head over after class to teach him what I learned that day. Sometimes the lesson was really an "awkward topic" and it would be hard for me to teach Rex about it because I didn't know my standpoint on the topic well enough myself. Rex would laugh and think I was cute, but really it was hard for me. This class had a focus on communication and how it is vital to making any relationship work. Lucky for me I'm a COMM major and love talking about the different ways men and women communicate as well as the theories behind those actions. From watching talks to reading from the scriptures to watching Andy Griffith, there was never a dull moment in this class. Looking back I see how it helped me grow and how it opened my viewpoint on marriage. To me, just graduating from high school and moving to college knowing no one was a huge step for me! I was just worried about finding friends, not finding someone to date! Haha. I guess the Lord had a different plan for me then I had for myself because he brought me to Rex and well Rex changed things. Things changed when Rex and I kissed. Things changed when I began to think seriously about dating Rex. Things changed when we decided we were officially dating. Dating was fun and I loved being around this wonderful man. Through this class as our relationship became more serious it helped me get to the point where I am comfortable with whatever the future holds. This is much different then the girl who came here kind of totally against early marriage especially after seeing her good friend sealed that summer. My mind has been opened and it is such a gift to me that I was able to learn from this class to really understand what lies ahead. This class was about teaching preparation and I, for one, feel prepared.

Prophet Thomas S. Monson

Movie Night!

You know those times where you run into people you know at the most random places. Ha. Well the night Rex decided to take me to see Thor 2 we ran into our Preparing for Eternal Relationships institute teacher. It was too funny! He gave Rex the big thumbs up for taking me on a date! I will never understand men. Thor 2 was amazing! It was so action packed, dramatic, and still funny! Oh my I loved the interns! Haha This movie was such a spontaneous surprise and comical relief! It was my first time going to the movie theater since home as well as my first time going to see a moive in Thatcher. Rex is just way to thoughtful and good to me! Rex made this movie so much better just sitting beside me with my hand in his and with a smile on his face as we experienced a movie together for the first time in theaters!

Our Day on the Mountain!!!

What a wonderful day this was! Three things: Rex, me, and Mount Graham. Oh how much fun we had exploring the woods! Rex has an obsession with climbing trees! He is really a great climber. He would just climb those trees. Something I really enjoyed about this day is that there was no time constraints. We just walked hand in hand up a trail just savoring the scenery. There was no rock unturned, path untaken, or crevice unseen. Coming together and just being alone in nature brought such peace to my heart. This was a morning of relaxing and for the first time since college I could feel my heart sigh. I was so happy that day! And the reason for that is Rex. Even when he fell from a tree and slid 20ft into another tree I was terrified, yes, but more than that I realized how much I care of Rex and his well-being. I don't want Rex to be hurt or feel pain. Seeing him fall before my eyes made my heart jump. I ran down and tried to help me but actually ended up hurting myself. haha. Classic Taylor move. Rex had a nice battle scar from his nice fall and you can see it above! Also, he shirt says, "I'm Worth Waiting For: Abstinence Until Marriage." Oh my. Hahaha. He got it from a stake dance when he was younger...I just think it's funny that he wore it ON our date. Oh Rex. Rex's sliding down the mountain was our way of ending our day on the mountain to a dramatic close. As we head back to town we had a great discussion about silly, important in the long run things like how many kids we wanted, names we liked, and holidays. Rex got us a dominoes pizza and we headed to get a Redbox. I convinced him to get Here Comes the Boom with Kevin James and oh my how hard we laughed! I love this movie because I watched it with my entire family and watching it with Rex made it so much better. Hearing his life and seeing his happiness makes me feel special. Rex and I deepened our relationship that day. We never even had awkward moments. We are great at spending time together and enjoying each other's company. Rex is so fun, goofy, and athletic! I had an amazing day with him that day...looking back I truly reflect on it as one of my favorite days where it was just the two of us!

Thumbelina!

One night Rex and I did a movie night at his work. Rex actually wanted to watch Thumbelina! I have never had one of my brothers be willing to watch a cute animated movie with me because...well...they consider them "girl movies". Haha. Luckily, I have Rex. I haven't gotten him to watch a Barbie movie with me yet, but this was a great start. It was fun watching him watch a movie I grew up loving. We had our own favorite parts, but when we happened to laugh at the same part it would make me smile. I love watching movies with him because it connects us and we have more quotable material to laugh at with every movie we do watch! Anyways that was a wonderful, simple night of Rex and I merely bonding over a childhood classic tale.