Happy Marriage!

We're so happy. We got a lot of gifts. Thank you so much!




You know, I'm so happy, I feel like Bryan is a gift.
He has abs like a muffin tin. He likes my cooking.


I even make pies for him.


Apparently I messed up on this pie. But Bryan ate it anyway.



Uh oh.




I was so mad! That's the second time I put salt in instead of sugar...

But, we're so happy.


He makes life so interesting!

Wedding Announcements

Our wedding announcements are on Bryan's website:

BraunInvitations.com

He designs wedding announcements, so he did ours! Take a look.

Oh! By the way, I'm engaged.

I'm very sorry I haven't mentioned this until now. Bryan and I are getting married in two and a half weeks!

Yay! On November 25, the day before Thanksgiving. (Sorry about all the headache that causes.)


How did he ask me? Well, for our first date, we played frisbee golf on campus. And so several weeks ago, I found that same scorecard taped to my front door. We played the same game again, except at each hole Bryan had left something special for me to find.

One of these was a picture we took on our first date. There's Bryan and Holly, one year ago!

At the last hole, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes!

This is my engagement ring and my wedding ring. I just like simplicity.
We're getting married here, in the Draper, Utah, LDS temple.

Halloween

Do you remember that one blog post exactly one year ago? Halloween? Well, I went to a dance that night and met Bryan. We've known each other for a year now! We found another Halloween dance to go to and had a lot of fun.




This weekend we also went to a haunted house on campus. But I guess some of the workers had to go, so they went out to the line and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to help scare people. So we volunteered! It was so much more fun than going through ourselves!

Back to School

Heidi has inspired me to keep up on my blog. So:

We are almost a week into school. I love my classes. Love, love, love. This is my last semester before I start the Elementary Education program (I needed to start in the winter so I could be ready to start my internship in the fall. Instead of student teaching, I'll have my own classroom! Woo! But that's not for a while.) For now, I'm thinking about these:

Food Preparation in the Home
Finances
Family History
Geography (one class for my major! yeah!)
Symphonic Band
Basic Vocal Skills

I love them all. I am still working hard, but this time loving every minute of it.

Oh, you probably want to hear about my mission in Nauvoo! I'm going to have to work on that one for a bit. I want to make it good, with pictures and everything, so you might have to wait a little longer.

For now I will tell you this: I had the time of my life. I miss Nauvoo so much. I love that little city. I am so grateful I got to serve others by entertaining them for a while. I also got to serve our visitors by giving tours in some of the homes and shops there. I told stories of the people who lived there and the way they did things, and what they believed in. I think they would like it that their home is now a place where people can go to learn about Jesus Christ, about modern prophets, and the things in which we have found lasting happiness.

Yes, it was hot, and humid, and buggy, and tiring, and blah blah blah. But that's not important anymore. What is important to me now is the memories of loved ones I served with, ways my Heavenly Father changed me, perspectives and insights I gained, and the opportunity to show God how much I love him.

More to come later!

Holly's Going on a Mission! Tomorrow!

Those two posts I posted a second ago, I wrote weeks ago and have been meaning to post... they're not proofed as well as I intended to, please don't judge me and remember that I really do believe in grammar and punctuation, I just have no more time.

Recall that I auditioned to be a performing missionary in Nauvoo, Illinois? They did not select me. Until about last Tuesday. The director called me and said he needed me in a week and a half. So, I packed up my things and leave tomorrow. Sudden? Yes. A bit.

So I'll be in Nauvoo ( beautifulnauvoo.com ) for the next three months. I won't be able to call, or probably facebook. However, if you wish to send me a letter, (which would be great!) send it here:

Sister Holly Brison
P.O. Box 215
Nauvoo, IL 62354

I officially am a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

I leave tomorrow. I am so excited! I get to go play the trumpet for people all day, six days a week. And on the seventh, I'll be learning about and teaching about what matters most to me, my God.

See you at the end of summer!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, Holly? It is April. I know. Sorry. Good story: Some friends and I made some Valentine's mailboxes! Just like the good ol' days. Just in case anyone wanted to send us some Valentines, they could. :) Sure enough, I got a letter in my Valentine’s mailbox! It was from Bryan and it told me to check my email. It turned out I had an email from a mysterious address:

“Clue 1: I am in your freezer. Melt me.”

Somehow he had snuck a giant snowball into my freezer when I was not looking.

Inside was this.

Scanned picture of 400

Do you see it? It took me a while. (One time, we were going to hang out, but bryan wasn’t ready. So he told me to count to 400 and then come over. I didn't count. In a little bit, he texted me saying, "…400!" )

But when I got to his house he was not there. Instead, taped to the inside of his window was a folder made from newspaper with this sign visible from the porch:

“Packet for Holly Brison. Inquire inside.”

Included in the packet was a blank piece of paper with the title “10 things I love about Holly Brison” and an envelope. The envelope contained number 1...

In each following envelopes were numbers 2-10. They were all very nice things to say.

The envelope also contained directions to the next envelope. When I found that envelope, I found a photo cut in pieces.

This is a lounge on campus, and on a table inside was a chocolate kiss and another envelope with pieces of a photo. Ah. The Tree of Life statue on campus.

I found the next envelope taped to the side of the statue.

This was in the envelope. The number has been censored to protect the innocent.

Image of 1,2,1,2,2,2,2,1,,2,,1,

The number belonged to a good friend of ours, whose number I did not have. She, without revealing her identity, sent me to a locker in the PE building, where the next clue was! ...Bryan got a clue in the girls' locker room...? Looks like it...!

5. in the locker was an envelope with a cut up picture taken in a certain spot in the courtyard of the JFSB. “stand in the place where this picture was taken.”

On a bench was a bag with a cookie and another envelope. I didn’t see it when I walked by, but in the snow Bryan had inscribed… a very nice message. I don’t know what it said, because the snow covered it up. He probably remembers, but I don’t. Oops.

There was a cut up picture of a place in the library.

This is what I found! In the library! Food in the library! Scandal.

Do you see that orange heart shaped thing above the kisses in a heart shape? It was the next clue. Ga! What does that mean?!

Got there, signed on, and there was a folder labeled HOLLY BRISON. I figured I could open it. In it were two folders, labeled 1 and 2. Inside each folder was a 1 and a 2. Inside each of those folders… inside each of those folders…

I have a clue for this! Remember my 1,2,1,1,2,1,2 thing. So, by opening the correct folder as shown by the sequence, I finally found a document that said CLUE!!!

“Look under your keyboard.”

Look under the keyboard?

DA! I’ve been sitting here for five minutes! Under there was envelope 8 which contained a call number for a book in the library. The note in the book said CALL ME RIGHT NOW! DON’T MOVE!

What?! I am in the library! I hate it when people talk on the phone in the library. I refuse to talk on the phone in the library!

Fine.

HIS PHONE RANG RIGHT BEHIND ME! It was coming from a book. A hollow book.

He left his phone. In the library. What if I never found it?! What if someone else found it!

Anyway, somewhere there was a note telling me that I should open a file on his phone and listen to a recording he made for me. It led me to the upper floor of the building where he was waiting.

Valentine’s day: got all dressed up, had good friend Josh Spencer, a professional chef, to cook chicken cordon bleu.

And then Bryan spent the rest of the night throwing up. Don’t tell Josh.