I've been so out of the blog world that I don't even know if people blog any more?
Let me start with last October.[2012]
I got a job. No, a career. I am a caseworker a.k.a. social worker and although, it has so many stressful, packed full of emotion, hair-ripping out days, I love it! I am truly motivated by my job and continue to love it more and more each day because I believe in change. I know people can change and I know this world can be a peaceful happy place. Plus, who doesn't want to advocate for the best interest of children??
January 2013.
Perry and I took our engagements. We took these pictures at Trolley Square, which I was originally sad about because I wanted to take them at another location outside. However, it was during the time where it was -15 degrees outside. We took like 3 shots outside and couldn't feel any of our limbs we were so cold. Our photographer was absolutely amazing and I am so glad we found her to capture our moments.
Her name is Natalie, and she owns Square Photography.
Picking a photographer here in Utah, is hard. Obviously weddings and families are a BIG thing here [pun intended.] Therefore, there are so many photographers. It was hard to choose and I was so overwhelmed by the amount. I came across Natalie because she photographed a wedding for one of my sister's friends. Perry, my mom, and I met with Natalie and just LOVED her. I feel like you choose photographers for their personality and we were completely sold on hers!
Here's some of my favorite shots:
February 2013.
I bought a new car! It was my first big purchase and it was great. It's such a cute car and I LOVE it! I thought it would be harder to "let go" of my first car. But surprisingly, I don't get attached to many things and was happy to move on. My little Cavalier was such a great car and I had so many memories in it!
March 2013.
I got my bridals taken. Again, Natalie was my photographer. I took these photos at Home Again consignment store. It was so great! So many different colors and textures and although it was cold, the weather was sunny. I couldn't show anyone my pictures until after my wedding because I like tradition of the groom not seeing the bride's dress until the day of the wedding. One of my amazing BFF's, Covie, made my hair piece for me. She did such an amazing job! My sisters, mom, nieces, Perry's mom, and Perry's sister came with me that day. It was a fun day! Natalie spoiled me and gave me SO many photos, which made it very hard for me to narrow it down on which ones to print.
Here are some of my shots:
April 2013.
In the beginning of April, Perry and I closed on our first home! We have a cute little townhome and are SO lucky we didn't EVER have to pay rent and have something to call our own. It's super cute and close to our parents, which is just what we wanted. We have so many plans to update things, like the kitchen and bathrooms, and paint, but we'll get there when we have enough money! I also have so many ideas and don't want to settle for a color theme in a room and decide I don't like it a couple weeks later. I never thought making decisions could be this hard. We didn't move in until May 3rd, when we got back from our honeymoon, but we didn't have much furniture, so we easily moved in a half day.
April 27, 2013 was THE BIG DAY!
Perry and I got married at This Is the Place Heritage Park and then had a big celebration/reception after. Everything went perfectly! I was terrified it was going to be bad weather, since Utah is so unpredictable. When I was picking up my dress, the lady told me her daughter got married last April and that it was a blizzard. She told me this after I told her I was nervous that it was going to snow. Needless to say, she didn't ease my mind. That day, I was able to sleep in and take my time getting ready. I then went and got my hair and make-up done by my hair stylist, Harmony, with my sister Jentri. I then went up to TITPHP and hung out for what seemed like forever! My friend's mom decorated the building and she did more than an amazing job! It was spectacular! She was so detailed and it really turned an average empty barn looking room into a miraculous wedding! We got married in front of a waterfall outside and it was PERFECT weather. It went so smoothly, there were no problems. I felt weird, because it seems like something always goes wrong. But nope! PERFECT. Did I mention it was perfect? We are so lucky to have amazing family and friends and we truly love all of you who helped make our day so special! My dad's friend from work married us. He got certified as a minister online a while back and did so great. It wasn't too long, it wasn't too short, it wasn't preachy, and we didn't have to write our own vows. (I think only the really talented people can write their own vows, otherwise, it's just awkward for everyone listening.)We then took pictures and got started with the reception. As I'm sure you are aware by now, Perry is half Samoan. We tried to meet in the middle of having a "white wedding" and a "Samoan wedding." Although it wasn't full-blown Samoan, it wasn't really close to a "white wedding." We had the Tehamata group and family members perform Polynesian dances. Then, I surprised Perry with a dance of my own. His cousin, Maryann, taught me, and it was so hard to keep it a secret from him. I'm pretty sure he knew something was up, but didn't think I was doing it by myself. I was so nervous and Perry's uncle Mike, who was our MC, keep pushing my performance back. To be honest, I thought everyone was going to judge me and call me "that stupid white girl trying to dance a traditional Polynesian dance." They might have still said that, but I didn't care anymore. I did it for my husband. Perry's auntie Meripa catered our wedding and did such an amazing job. The food was delish. Who gets to say they actually eat at their wedding? WE DID. Although, I am a bit picky about what I eat and DID NOT want a lot of traditional Samoan foods. I have never tried some of them, but know by looking at them that I probably gag. I wanted the things that I liked at our wedding, and we got that and then some. In the Samoan culture, they have these dances called Taualuga's. You usually dedicate or perform these for someone else and then people will come and dance with you and throw/give you money. I do not know these moves and was rather embarrassed the whole time. The first one was for Perry's dad's golf club. Perry and I started dancing at the same time, then they all came up and joined. People were literally throwing money at us, shoving it down my dress, and putting it in every crevice possible. Then we had another one for our families. I started this by myself and had no clue what I was doing. It was really fun and I felt so much more comfortable when more people came up and danced with me. Our DJ was great and knew how to play songs that got people going. Perry's cousin's also planned a flash mob, which unfortunately, I didn't even know was happening until it was half way over. Throughout the night, people came and gave us hugs and congratulated us. I was completely blown away by the amount of people came and showed us their love. The whole time, I was really alert, happy, and well aware of what was going on. I told Perry that night that I would easily be able to remember each conversation I had or who came and talked to me that night. I woke up the next morning and couldn't even tell you one conversation I had. HA HA. I do remember seeing a lot of people and remember talking to a lot, but as far as who didn't come, I have no clue. I know I've said this before, but it was perfect. Everything was beautiful and it really was the best day of my life.
After the performances and eating, we were supposed to have dancing, however, everyone just left and started cleaning up. So then Perry and I left too.
Perry surprised me that night and got us a hotel room at the Little America. It was beautiful! The room was probably the size of the whole first floor of our home and the bathroom was amazing. It had the biggest vanity and jetted tub with a shower attached. One day, I will have a bathroom similar if not better than this!
We then left the next morning for our honeymoon. One word of advice, I strongly recommend waiting a day or at least waiting until the next evening before having to be on a flight for your honeymoon. It was stressful to pack everything for the wedding and then everything I would need for the next week at the same time. Then I was so tired and had to get up way early to get everything together to get to the airport on time.
Perry and I went to San Diego. Neither of us had been, and it was MUCH cheaper than what we were originally planning for. Unfortunately, we stayed in the ghetto. Our hotel had barbwire fences surrounding it and it was just really dirty where we were at. While driving on the freeway, we were the freeway exit right before the international border, which I thought was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I don't have a passport so we couldn't go and see what it was about. We thought for sure being that close, there would be an AMAZING authentic Mexican food restaurant. But one night we drove around for 2 hours, going up and down neighborhoods, back to the hotel, GPSing everything, and nothing. We then had to go to Mission Beach, but finally had an amazing Mexican meal. We went to the beach, Sea World, and San Diego Zoo. Coronado was my favorite and I wanted to stay on that beach forever. While at the zoo, we were there for about 6 or 7 hours, walked around all day, and we still didn't see all the animals. It was way fun though! We also went downtown that day too. We rented a convertible and tried to drive up the coast one day but only made it about 20 miles out and decided to turn around. We also weren't very smart and got sunburnt in the car. We were thinking "Oh, we're in the car, we don't need sunscreen." Um, no. Our shoulders, foreheads, my hair part, and top of my legs were like lobsters. Ouch! We came back the following Friday and moved into our house. Well, that night we moved our bed and then everything else the next day.
Here are some pictures of our wedding:
Did I break a record for the longest blog post?
