Nostalgia

Last night the wives got to decorate the locker room for the senior football game this afternoon. 

I brought my balloons, streamers, and poster board and walked into the lavell Edwards stadium locker room for the first time. 

A million memories came flooding back to me as I had done this all of high school for Hunter as well. 

Of course these lockers are bigger, nicer, and more official. Oh, and it didn't smell half as bad as the high school locker room! 

But... It brought back the exact same feelings of excitement and pride for our team, and love and adoration for Hunter. 

I've loved watching him play all these years and I'm so grateful it didn't end in high school. 

I stood back and looked at his locker all finished, just as I had in high school. I smiled and pictured him running out in his helmet, cleats, and shoulder pads just as I had in high school. Only now, we're married. And next year, I'll bring our baby girl with me to decorate daddy's locker. 

I was sure feeling incredibly sentimental, and incredibly grateful that we get to experience this journey, and all of life's other journeys... Together. Forever. 

So here's to your first year of college football lovebug! I can't wait for the years to come :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

Ps. It gets better... He played in his first college football game today and I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. My eyes were wet, my heart was pounding, and my hands were shaking. I've seriously missed watching that stud play. He's incredible. And he's all mine ;)

2

I Made Some Things.

I remember everyone telling me that once you get married, you hardly ever see your husband.

With work and school schedules you get dinner and the evening together, then you fall asleep, wake up, and repeat.

Well I'm here to tell you that you really hardly ever see your husband when you marry a football player. 

Summer is nice. 

Not much is happening football related. 

Then Fall camp comes and well... the rest is history.

My amazing husband is currently on a plane that will be landing in Connecticut any minute now.

You better believe I've been praying, and checking my phone every few seconds to see if he's landed. 

The BYU Cougars will be taking on the UCONN Huskies Friday evening and my handsome husband will be returning around 4 in the morning.

Then he'll be on another plane the next weekend.

I'm not trying to sit here and complain because really, I am SO grateful that we get this opportunity.

I'm so grateful for the BYU football program and how much we are loving it so far.

Those boys sure are spoiled ;)

And, I completely support my husband in this dream we both have been dreaming up together since high school. 

I'm just sitting here alone in our condo, eating cookies and cream ice cream, praying my husband is safe, and kinda really wishing he were next to me.

Anyhow, the actual point of this post was to post a few pictures of some of the crafts I did since Hunter was in Fall camp.

I had a whole lot of fun in Michaels, and a whole lot of fun putting my new wreath and sign together. 

Because football season is here, and I am SO beyond proud of all the hard work my husband has put in to be where he is, I decided to make a wreath to show him how happy he makes me and how I'll always be there supporting him. 

The spot above our T.V was looking a bit empty after I took down my seasonal decorations. 

So, I decided to make something to hang for the off seasons!

I am fully aware that my handwriting is well... bad. 

But, I wanted this sign to be in my handwriting to make the verse more personal. 

Also, paint is difficult. 

And, that is all!

I think I'll go make dinner now.

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

p.s. Hunter just texted me, he landed safely. Phew! 

0

He Asked, I Said Yes. (The Proposal)

Well hello there :)

This whole being engaged and planning a wedding thing is a whole new world to me.

A couple months ago, I would have had each blog post planned and known exactly when I would post it.

Then planning a wedding in less than two months happened and suddenly this little blog of mine has become way less of a priority. 

Sorry about the delay, but I'm really really loving this time in my life :)

I can't believe it will be over in a little less than 13 days!

Alright, on with it:

So, Hunter is in Utah attending Brigham Young University and waking up at 5 in the morning almost every day for football workouts. It's still beyond me that he was on a mission like 6 weeks ago. 

I'm in San Diego planning our wedding, working, and getting ready to be a wife!

Yep, we're apart again. But what's new right?

So after the week of pure bliss, we had to leave each other again. 

As mentioned in my previous post. 

But, he came home to give me my sparkly ring about 2 weeks later :)

(by the way, it is a really fun feeling looking down at the keyboard and seeing my diamonds sparkling away on my finger!)

When the ring was purchased, it was quite a bit bigger than my midget fingers. 

So it all ended up working out because Hunter and I were apart while the ring was being sized.

We clearly were in a time crunch with the date we chose to get married, so we did pretty much everything out of order.

We've always been just a little different anyways :)

Most of the big parts of planning were out of the way, but we only had one weekend to get everything done that needed to be done together. 

Hunter came home on January 24th and practically right as his plane landed we were in the car on our way to get ourselves a marriage license.

That was an experience.

You will find all sorts of characters in a place like that haha.

I think half of the people were looking at us thinking we were babies and way too young to get married while the other half probably thought I was pregnant.

But $70 later, we were licensed to wed in the state of California :)

(You really have to pay for that? So stupid.)

We then spent the evening walking around downtown San Diego where we found the USS Midway where we went to our first prom together.

We even found the pier we slow danced on.

(and this time we realized how unromantic the atmosphere was hahaha)

Afterwards, we went over to my parents house for dinner.

It was delicious and it was a lot of fun spending time with them.

Once dinner was over it was time for Hunter and my dad to have their "talk."
My mom and I grabbed milkshakes as they discussed whatever they discussed. 

Luckily he survived, ha
So now, Hunter was officially able to give me my ring and the biggest news of our lives could finally be announced.
On January 25th we had a full day planned.
It was an interesting feeling waking up and thinking "Today I am going to officially be engaged. What should I wear when I get proposed to?"
Haha, like I said we do things a bit differently.
I knew Hunter would be proposing that day, I just didn't exactly know how.
So, we were off to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond to register for wedding gifts.
yes we totally did that before we were "officially" engaged but I already felt like I was :)
Let me tell ya, it was a blast having Hunter scan all the fun little things we needed for our first home together.
Well, I think I had more fun but he was a good sport :)
Afterwards, we went back to his parents house to quickly grab lunch before we headed out to the beach.
As we were on our way to the beach I had a little feeling in the back of my mind that he would propose there but I wanted to be just a little surprised so I played dumb haha.
Once we got there we laid on the sand and enjoyed Hunter's first time at the beach in over two years.
We walked down to the water to play around.
We were all smiles being in 75 degree weather in January at the beach together.
Then... I uh split his lip open.
Haha yes you totally read that right.
Hunter was standing behind me and I was holding his hands. In my head I thought, "oh if I lift myself up a little bit he can hold me." So, I jumped up (I'm a spaz) and my head hit his chin. He was smiling, so once my head hit his chin he bit his lip.
There was blood, and I felt like crying.
Lucky for me he is the sweetest boy and didn't make me feel bad for ruining all his plans.
Go me.
We laid on the beach together and I pretty much felt horrible, but being with him made it a whole lot better.
We decided to go to a few other memory spots once we left the beach.
We went to a park where we had a fun little date and reminisced on old memories. We passed by another park with even more memories. Then we went to a park that overlooks all of San Marcos and pointed out where our first kiss was, where we went to high school, my parents house, and his, and other spots that were memorable to us.
I was on the verge of tears thinking of all the history we have together and looking over the town where we made each of those cherished memories and fell in love oh so young.
(We always say that Tattoos On This Town is totally our song)
We talked about how far we've come and how much farther we have to go.
Then, it got better :)
We started walking higher up the trail when I heard Hunter say, "Hey Aleigh, Catch!"
I turned around to see him tossing me a football with the sweetest grin.
I almost didn't, but luckily I caught it :)
I quickly noticed that my beautiful ring was attached with a pink ribbon tied on the ball.
Then he ran up to me, got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife.
 To be his for time and all eternity :)
My eyes got teary but I of course said yes and jumped into his arms.
Yes, kisses were involved after he slid the ring on my finger and we took a moment to look back at the city where I cheered him on several Friday nights as he led our football team to victory.
Back then, I had only dreamed of him asking me to marry him.
But that day, my wildest dreams became a reality as I joined his team forever and became his receiver scoring the most amazing man in the entire world to be with for eternity. (So much better than a touchdown haha)
The Lord just knows us so much better than we know ourselves.
Although it involved a bloody lip, he led us to that park to remind us of the amazing journey He has led us on.
He led us to one another and we quickly figured out we were perfect for each other, and now I get to say that I am marrying the man of my wildest dreams in the most beautiful temple in the world.
Nothing brings me greater joy than knowing I will be HIS Mrs. Moore and that we get to share eternity together.
I constantly ask myself how on earth I got so lucky.
I didn't know it was physically possible to be so passionately in love with someone and to be so completely happy.
The rest of the day I was giddy beyond belief.
He was too :)
We couldn't leave each other's side for more than five minutes without feeling like the other half was missing.
We were totally that annoying couple, and I'm so not ashamed.
Sunday January 26th Hunter finally gave his homecoming talk and I sat there amazed at what an amazing man he is.
He is so in tune with the spirit and knows exactly how to make sure there isn't a dry eye in the house.
I looked down and saw my sparkly ring on my finger as he was speaking and was suddenly reminded that that amazing man is mine, forever.
My eyes welled with tears as I once again felt like the luckiest girl in the entire world.
We had to say goodbye once again that day, and that was truly the hardest goodbye yet.
We both got quiet in the car on the way to the airport when the tears did the talking.
We spent a little while talking about our future eternal family and the happiness and joy that would bring us.
Then, it was time to say goodbye once again.
We blew kisses as I drove away and the tears leaked from my eyes the entire way home.
So it goes, we have been apart since.
Thank goodness for facetime and phone calls because truly, this is torture.
Somehow, the two years we spent apart were easier than this is.
But, I cannot wait to marry my sweetheart and never have to say goodbye for more than a few hours again :)

So there ya have it!
That is how we got engaged, and it was truly perfect in every way possible for us :)
I love Hunter with every ounce of my being and I am thrilled to be his wife!
Here's to eternity :)

Maybe I'll find some time to catch up on wedding planning now that we're getting married in 12 days!
aww music to my ears :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

1

Our Senior

Senior night is a pretty big deal.

Or at least it was for me.

I remember walking alongside my sister down the grizzly football field over four years ago trying to imagine what it would be like when it was my turn.

Then I blinked and it was already my turn.

I remember that night crystal clear.

I had curled my hair, and then wondered why as it began to rain...

I tried my hardest not to tear up as I had each parent holding onto my arms,

We were all smiles, despite the rain, but I had a sinking feeling as I realized it really was all coming to an end.

We won that game, a fight broke out on the field, and it definitely poured. 

It was absolutely wonderful.

Every memory came rushing back as we walked my little brother down the field on his senior night.

I can't believe the last of us kids had his senior night.

Time doesn't hold on for anyone, that's for sure. 

I'm so proud to be his sister.

He makes me laugh uncontrollably with his amazing sense of humor.

He's sweet, loving, and has the best intentions.

 I still can't seem to grasp the fact that he isn't necessarily my "little" brother anymore.

I love you Andrew!

Finish strong :) 

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

0

Just One More Thing.

Actually two.

I will never quite understand why Miley went crazy, other than the fact that Hollywood will just do that to ya... but I still feel so sad for her.

I miss Hannah Montana, her beautiful locks, and the sweet southern girl she was.

She was an idol of some sorts to many young girls.

I have had a hard time growing up and seeing people change in ways that Miley has.

It makes me so sad to see girls prance around in skirts that are clearly too small for them, or to wear those shirts where quite frankly... why wear anything at all?

What guy is ever going to respect you?

What confidence are you ever going to gain from that?

Oh, and how are you ever going to teach your children to do the opposite of what you are doing?

I'm sorry, I just... don't understand.

Anyhow I found an amazing blog post from a girl that just gets it.

I thought you all might like to read it as well.

So, here ya go!

Also, football season is in full swing!

My brother's first home game was on Friday night.

It was a blow out.

I almost felt bad for the other team.

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

0

I scored big time.

Elder Moore has about 4 month left. 

Well who actually really knows how long he has left...

I don't.

I sure can't wait until we finally know a release date. 

Anyhow, he doesn't have very much time left.

That being said I decided I wanted to send a package for just about every reason my little mind can think up. 

Because well, he deserves it :)

Football season, as I have mentioned quite a few times before, has always been quite an exciting time in our relationship. 

He played football in high school, I was a cheerleader.

Whenever this time of year comes around we both get so excited and a rush of memories quickly come back to us. 

Hunter is really quite an amazing athlete. Football being his specialty.

We have hopes and dreams of seeing him in a cougar uniform playing in LaVell Edwards Stadium. 

The odds are looking to be in our favor :)

So, here's to football season!

The best season. 

I'm running out of cheesy sayings.
Side story: Sunflower seeds will always remind me of Hunter and Friday game days. Back in the day he used to always wait for me to get out of class. I don't have any idea how he was always the first one out, but he always managed to be there waiting for me. On Fridays I would see him standing there with his game day jersey on with one hand on his hip and the other on his backpack strap pretending to stare off in the distance. Ohh Hunter. I would play along and prance over in my little cheer uniform with my pony tail swaying from side to side. He would look at me and say in that tough guy voice: "sup baby girl" with one cheek stuffed with sunflower seeds. He would then wrap his arm around me and we would walk away together giggling. Oh game days... I sure do miss them :)

CougarADE!

If you know Hunter's family at all, you would know they are die hard Raiders fans.
Yes, Raiders fans.
A sweet, Mormon, practically perfect family of Raider's fans.
I love it. 

A Nike sweatshirt and this year's BYU game day shirt :) 

All things spiritual.
The stripling warriors thing is a temple recommend holder.
The standard of truth is quite incredible.
And the two talks can be found here and here

The Miscellaneous fillers.
The notepad had some cool encouraging quote on it.
A hacky sack.
That card is the best. "Who's counting?" Me! I Am!
Pictures in my matching BYU shirt and the shirt he gave me for my birthday :)

All put together :)

And of course, the decorated flaps :)

And there you have it!

This package is currently on its way to Ohio for my sweet Hunter :)

Feel free to use any of the ideas you please!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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