8.20.15

The greatest thing since opening a wedding gift containing a gigantic shower head has just happened to our marriage. people who are yet to be married- register for a giant shower head. it is a gift you will use every day. depending on your shower habits. but getting this shower head will improve those habits exponentially. You will smell and look nice, will get a fabulous job and become rich and famous, as i have done. We got our wedding photos back. So now you know what happens next. Prepare yourself for a whole lot of us. You can guarantee that I'll also be posting a select few to facebook, so if you see your pretty face below, brace yourself for little red boxes of notifications like you haven't seen since your birthday. I will add commentary as I see fit.

It was a beautiful day.



photos by aubrey jo photography
she's a boss

 "heh heh...sorry i have 80 buttons to do up on my dress and it took forever to get out here... heh."

hugs

hugs

hugs

and more hugs.

hope you like the back of my head.

is it ridiculous?

oh look. hugs.

 spencer looks like he's about to sneeze on us

 oh no, i dropped a bobby pin

"wow, look at that shoulder."

"i know, it's a nice shoulder."

marriage is...smashing your face into the one you love.

 harry doesn't like the kissing ones because he gets embarrassed.

obviously i'm all about them.

a pretty good interpretation of me in marriage:

trying to run, but tripping over my dress.

act natural

denied

just surprised his pants didn't rip

 how we usually stand

 idk

Needless to say, it was a very fun night. We know how to party. Thank you again to all who came and celebrated with us. Now go eat some pizza.

peace and cheesy bread at work
rrww

rockin it

I'm sharing all of these photos because 

1. I like them.

That's really it. 

Huh. 

Getting to the point is kind of nice. 

Rock on my friends.

peace and panini makers
rww

photos by Aubrey Jo Young

reality

Oh. Will you look at that? You thought this thing had died long ago. Well, so did I. Nevertheless, here we are. My sincerest salutations.

A month ago I went from single to eternally taken. It was fabulously fun day, thanks mostly to the family and friends that set up, cleaned up, and showed up. We had a blast. Thank you all. Some people say that your wedding day is "the perfect day" and I get what they mean. But really, it wasn't perfect. I mean, an 84 year old man from my parents neighborhood literally picked up our wedding cake and walked away with it. ok, so that was rather excellent. But we were late to get to the temple, left our wedding license in the car, had majorly sweaty hands the whole time...

I'm not trying to diss our bliss, because it was one of the best days of my life.
But it wasn't perfect.

You know what else isn't perfect? Marriage.

It would be difficult to guess that marriage is hard based on the perfectly lighted, cropped, and filtered photos that permeate all social media outlets. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat show what your home should look like, what crafts you should be doing, how organized you should be, what recipes you should have memorized, what adventures you should be on, what items you should be owning at what time in your life, or how to show your love for your spouse in a way that's cuter than everyone else. And you're supposed to do all this while delightedly trying to figure out how the heck to be married.

I lived in a society where it was semi-believed that once you got married, everything else would fall into place. The focus was marriage, and it's a great focus. But there's a whole lot more than "then comes the baby in a baby carriage." So, in the midst of all the "perfect" looking marriages, I'm happy to provide a reality check.

I have yet to bake cookies. There are still unpacked items in our front room, We have pictures and posters that haven't been hung up leaning against the wall. We own more than three books, a succulent, and a bird sculpture, so our home looks nothing like Pinterest. We don't make our bed everyday, or own an entire flock of sheep skin to drape over every surface. The chicken last night was dry. We disagree. We fight. Harry's ring got scratched the first day back from our honeymoon. The car is a mess. We missed our temple appointment yesterday. We eat all of the donuts as soon as we buy them. I don't pack myself cute little lunches. We don't communicate very well all the time. We unknowingly say things that hurt each other. We're late a lot. There are shoes in every major walk way of our home. in reality, there's only one walk way in our home. I haven't changed my name yet. We haven't got the car registered yet. We fight. You guys, we fight.

But we also forgive. We apologize. We comfort. We pray. We laugh. We hike. We make each other chocolate milk. We check to see if the other has taken their Claritin. We make trips to IKEA so the other feels like errands are getting done. We discuss. We watch Jimmy Fallon clips. We plan which vinyls to buy next.

So just in case you feel like you're failing, know I've totally been there. And more likely than not, everybody has. We all just need to keep doing our best. So you bring us cookies and we'll show you the most cringe-worthy moments of the GOP debate.

Marriage is not perfect.
It's the hardest thing I've ever done.
But that's why it's so rewarding.

peace and "Please no, Trump!"
rww

save it

There's a lot of crazy happening around here lately. I mean, I've never really thrown a party before in my life, and now I'm planning one to rival my little sister's 1st birthday i tell you that was the craziest party the canyon rim neighborhood had ever seen. Fortunately my mom is master party thrower, so you can look forward to another event done by Jennie Weiler and co. 

Harry and I are just trying to not gain too much weight between now and the day we wed. And by trying I mean not trying because we ordered an entire pizza for lunch today and ate it all in about 9 minutes flat. Here's to taking out seams of wedding dresses! But I mean, pizza makes me happy. And tasting wedding cake. And saying "Yes to the Dress" no matter what the circumstance I'm saying yes to is.

Harry: "You wanna climb tomorrow with me and my buddies?"

Rachel: "I....I....tense moment with Randy's anxious face... I'm saying YES to the DRESS!!!!"

Harry: "Ok cool."

Rachel: twirls

Anyway, we were going to get married in September, but why do that when you can get married in August? 

Life: "You wanna get married in August rather than September?"

Rachel: "I....I....tense moment with Randy's anxious face... I'm saying YES to the DRESS!!!!"

August 20th. 

Love to see you there.

peace and dominos
we'll probably just order a bunch of pizzas in place of catering

rrw

the deets

Let's have a conversation, you and I.

............................................................

YOU: Hey, how was your weekend? Do anything fun?

ME: Yeah, it was great. I went up to Montana and went boating for a couple days. I always love going up there and just enjoying the beauty that is Big Sky Country.

YOU: Cool. That's way fun. You got sunburned though. You look like a tomato.

ME: Yeah....I don't really know what to say. You'd think I'd be smarter seeing as I did that whole college thing, but ...yeah. Not really.

YOU: Yeah, well, your skin is radiating heat, so I'm just going to slowly edge away and leave this conversation.

ME: Ok...but...wait...myboyfriendactuallyproposedtomethisweekendandisaidyessoguesswhatimengaged!!!
(awkwardly shakes hand in your face)

YOU: Wow! Congratulations! Let me see the ring!
(admiration ensues)

YOU: So...tell me the story. Were you surprised? Were there tears? Did you look like Clifford the Big Red Dog when he asked?

ME: Saturday, June 20th, Harry and I spent the day at the beach boating and canoeing and applying sunscreen because yes, I was already toasted by that point. We also went into town to buy fudge for my mom's birthday, and Harry wore his rain jacket because he insisted that it might start to rain. Really he just needed the big pockets to store "things" in. After our errand in town, we went on a jeep ride up into the mountains around our cabin. It's beautiful and there's a lookout over the lake with trees and wildflowers everywhere.

(you make a face to show that you understand how picturesque this all is, but I shove some photos in your face anyway)

ME: So, there we were, and I could guess what was going to happen next. I mean, I knew he had had the ring for about three weeks, so if it hadn't have happened then, I probably would have just ended up asking him myself, because equality and women's rights is a thing. Anyway, I just looked at him and kind of made to leave after a little bit of time. He stopped me and said, "Wait, wait wait wait wait..." Then he knelt down and asked me to marry him.

YOU: That's so awesome. Congratulations. What do you have planned so far?

ME: Well, we have the Salt Lake Temple for September 5th and someone to take pictures of us looking naturally and candidly elegant in a nature scene at some point. 

YOU: Well neat. Send me an invitation and if I don't already have things to do that night I'll come. As long as there is good food and I don't have to drive more than 15 minutes. This conversation has now gone about 9 minutes longer than the 4 seconds I allotted to this encounter, so I'm going to leave now.

ME: Ok, thanks so much though. I hope you can make it because suddenly I feel so much gratitude and love for people that might buy me the type of dish towel I want.
(said distractedly since I have recently developed a fascination with my left hand).

..................................................

But in all honesty, we're really excited and grateful for everyone who has played a role in our lives. Please come and eat our food because I sincerely want to thank you for helping me get to this point. I mean let's get real, none of us thought I'd ever make it.
#notsingleforlife #miracleshappen #onceinawhile #whenyoubelieve
reference?

peace and proposal stories
rrw

Went to Zion. 

For the third time this month.

I'd go again next week.

Because it is awesome. 

peace and plenty

rrw

free wisdom

Well people, I've made it. I made it through the pages and pages of reading. I survived the research, the writing, and the presenting. I withstood the battering of other's opinions and I took all my finals. It's over. My education is now complete. I know everything there is to know. And because I'm now working full time and becoming an adult and going to 7:30 am meetings where we discuss the quarterly reports, percent gross increase of clientele and rolling 12 month audits, I now reveal my sought-after knowledge of how to survive a college education at Brigham Young University.

1. Avoid the Creamery on 9th during the evening on Monday (FHE night), Tuesday (Early Mutual Group night), Wednesday (Normal Mutual Group night), Thursday (Late Mutual Group night), Friday (1st Date night), Saturday (2nd Date night) or Sunday (blessed sabbath). If you do go, don't ask for a shake any time past 10:30 pm, because while they are open for another half an hour, the entitled freshman behind the counter will have prematurely cleaned all the blenders and will not soil them another time simply to satisfy your late night craving.

2. The printers in the SWKT will always be offline for 10 minutes every hour. That 10 minutes will always be right before your class on the 7th floor. Go to the MCKB to print off your 23 page paper when you have procrastinated printing and are now about to fail your research class.

3. The first floor of the library is the quietest place to study, but it is also 20 degrees colder than the rest of the building. Take your parka.

4. Hiking the Y is a rite of passage and all those who defy such tradition have cold, cruel hearts. you know who you are. 

5. Caffeine isn't sold on campus. It's actually not that big of a deal. People should just drink water anyway.

6. Don't study in the Media Center...ever. But especially not on Saturday afternoons when all the little boys from the surrounding neighborhoods come in to use the computers to play some sort of destroying aliens game. Yes, they are allowed to do this because their parents bought them a pass from the BYU library so they could use the BYU computers instead of their home ones. No, the student employee behind the circulation desk can do nothing about it. Yes, you can reprimand the 11 year old boy next to you and tell him to go play soccer instead, but yes, you will feel old, cranky, and guilty afterwards.

7. Take Writings of Isaiah from Brother Ball at all costs. Someone is yet to take me up on this advice, but I will proclaim such truth until it is the last word upon my lips. Life changing stuff.

8. Try not to get too sad that you're not dating anyone while everyone else seems to be dating someone. Instead, leave America and do cool things. then you'll come back and someone might think you're kind of cool and then you'll start dating in your last year of school. maybe. i don't know. it could happen i guess.

9.  Always remember to take your water bottle with you after class, for if you leave it behind it will enter the abyss of the lost and found, whose clutches will cling to your vessel of liquid like a sticky elastic hand on glass. analogies.  i've got 'em. 

10. Talk to your professors outside of class. I didn't realize that I was a person until my last year of school. Lame. You think they're intimidating because they have more education than you. And you're right. Go talk to them anyway and they'll help you, with more than your paper. And then when you walk across the stage at convocation they'll whisper your name out and wave to you and you'll wave back and kind of start crying because you actually do love them. It's weird.

11. Getting a degree is kind of a family affair. Keep them close. Go home or call on weekends. That way when you can't imagine writing another paper in your life while you're just a freshman HA! your family can gently remind you that you have 3 and a half more years of writing much more difficult papers. 

So yeah. Go to school. It's worth it.

peace and go cougs
rrw