Some Stories About Us and Our Journey

This is where we had some of our first pseudo-dates and later some great real dates. I was in California for a few weeks during the summer of 2004 with EFY and Denise flew out to see me two times. I really looked forward to those visits and the time we shared together. We packed those weekends with a lot of fun a created a lot of nice memories.

Going to Jamba Juice is one of those memories. This is a favorite place to grab a snack on a date and favorite place to get pregnancy nourishment. Mango-a-go-go, Peach Pleasure, or Orange Dream Machine are our favorites.

During our courtship this was our favorite candy to share. Denise gave me a big bowl of Reese's Pieces just before I left for EFY in California to enjoy while I was gone and remember all the times we'd shared them together.

We have some special memories of visiting the Salt Lake Temple on the night we were "officially" engaged and obviously on the day we were sealed. The night we were engaged we attended an endowment session at the temple and then after we had left the celestial room we were walking slowly around admiring the beautiful woodwork when we met one of the temple workers who took us on a private tour of some neat places most people don't get to see in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a really cool experience.

This would be Denise's favorite type of mouth to work on, anything with lots of calculus/tartar. Before she was a dental hygienist she was a dental assistant and went through dental assisting school over at University Mall while we were dating. She always looked so dang cute in those royal blue scrubs they would have to wear as a uniform.

Brandon's favorite type of mouth to work on, anything that has to do with dental implants. Denise is the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of dentistry. I was a wandering soul when we met with no real direction as far as a career goes. As she got to know me better she started talking to me about dentistry and thought I should look into it because she thought I would really like it; I did and I do. At first I thought I wanted to be an orthodontist because I didn't like the site of blood but enjoyed the idea of shifting teeth and bone around to create a nice smile; Denise wasn't convinced and knew that orthodontics wasn't for me (she was right as she usually...okay, always is). Now one of my favorite things in dentistry is surgery, blood isn't an issue for me as long as it stays in the mouth.

Our favorite music to listen to and favorite music to dance to. Denise is the best dance partner because no matter how bad you are she makes you look good while still letting you feel like you're the one leading. We have several good memories of dancing together, mostly country swing dancing. We took a country western dance class together at UVSC and we would have to rotate partners every few minutes so we weren't just dancing with the same person all the time. I always looked forward to being her partner and was always bummed when we had to rotate again; she was the best in the class.

Our favorite appetizer to share; queso with warm tortillas and chips. Warm tortillas at mexican restaurants have been something we've shared many times, the first being on my birthday in 2004 at a place that no longer exists called Tortilla Flats right by the dollar theater off of University Parkway in Provo.

Our favorite type of food to eat. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, flautas, fajitas, chimichangas, taquitos, tortillas, queso, tostadas, frijoles, and arroz. Tortillas, salsa, cheese and sour cream are standard items in our refrigerator.

Los Hermanos Mexican Restaurant: Summer-Fall 2004

One of our favorite desserts to eat; Tres Leches Cake.

Our favorite anniversary dessert to eat, Creme Brulee. Fried Ice Cream would be another favorite dessert that we like to share but I couldn't find a good picture of it. The first place we had Creme Brulee was at The Roof restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on the night of our first kiss. We've eaten some good Creme Brulee through the years at The Roof, Chef's Table, Scenic Loop Cafe, Chart House, and Target frozen food section, (they have some good stuff you can make at home under the broiler). The first place we shared Fried Ice Cream was at Los Hermanos in Provo. Unfortunately I was never privileged to enjoy the Fried Ice Cream at Rio Bravo but I hear it was the best.

Our favorite San Antonio Mexican restaurant. This is our default, never dissapointing, always good restaurant we can count on for a good time and good food. We went there tonight for our anniversary dinner. We'd be happy to take you there if you come to see us in San Antonio.

One of our favorite cities, Chicago, Illinois. We've been on some fun dates here over the years. First was Navy Pier on my first trip to Illinois as Denise's boyfriend. Next was an Odyssey night cruise with dinner and dancing (see picture below, highly recommended). Then an overnight stay at a fancy hotel for one of Denise's birthdays. And most recently to see Wicked (also highly recommended).

Odyssey Dinner Cruise: August 2005

Our other favorite city, Salt Lake, and favorite hotel to stay in. Denise said she felt like she was on the luxurious Titantic when we were at the Grand America for our honeymoon. We went back for one night on our one year anniversary and hopefully we can go back again some time.

Our favorite vacation destination even though we haven't been there yet together (any tropical island/beach). Perhaps it will be our favorite 10 or 20 year anniversary celebration spot. We do have some good beach memories though in San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Catalina Island. We went to the beach in San Diego together (below) along with the rest of Denise's family on one of those pseudo-dates I mentioned earlier, it was a lot of fun.

Coronado Island, Sand Diego: March 2004

Our favorite place to meet each other for the first time. This is the church building in Orem, Utah where our singles ward attended when we met and while we were dating. I remember very vividly the first time I saw Denise and what she was wearing, she looked awesome. I was up on the stand before sacrament meeting and noticed her when she walked in, and then noticed how quickly she was approached by some guys who sat with her.

That church building is actually the oldest in Orem I believe and has some neat old building character like stained glass windows. We had a ward activity one night in the gym and a limbo contest was held. Out of all the contestants it eventually was down to the final two, Denise and myself. I ended up winning and felt really cool being the best limbo dancer around, but Denise later told me that she let me win...I believe her, she's got the skills to back it up.

I don't know about Denise but this is my favorite picture of the two of us. This was our engagement photo and was taken at Dayna and Randy's wedding reception. I don't even think we'd talked seriously about marriage until after this photo was taken, but it was very shortly after.

Time marches on and six years can go by pretty fast. We've had experiences like these that are great to remember and others that we'd like to forget, but anniversaries and blogs are about the good times, the stuff that makes it all worth it, and its been fun to reminisce. Thanks for sharing it with us.