MR. & MRS.

The wedding is over and life is starting to go back to normal. I guess I can say normal... we've never been married before so we're transitioning into what I'm assuming will be our normal life. But we'll talk about our new life together and transitioning in another post. This post is about the wedding.

Our wedding day was perfect. Absolutely perfect... It was even better than I would've ever imagined. The garden where we had our ceremony was so beautiful, so striking, so absolutely amazing and gorgeous that I can't find a word to describe it (not even the thesauruses had a better word suggestion). The colors from the flowers, the blue sky, the warm sun... and it was all just so bold. Yes... bold.
The music timed perfectly, my dad looked so happy and Codee cried. My handsome husband I saw standing under the arbor was the best thing my eyes has ever seen. I can't describe the feeling I had walking through the windy mossy path. It was just perfect. I don't remember anyone from the ceremony but me, him, Bishop Gray and our vows. I couldn't see anything else but the moment I was in.

Our reception was a blast! It was so good to see so many people. I never got bored with our line. Although I'm sure my bridesmaid and the groomsmen were bored out of their minds. Our cake was delicious and thank heaven he didn't smash it in my face. Our dessert crepes were fabulous. First dance was like no other dance I've danced before.. and the entire night was AMAZING.

...MORE PHOTOS COMING TOMORROW...

The Hoover Dam

Being a student of Engineering, and also working in the field there are a few projects in our country's history that I find very fascinating. One of these projects was the Hoover Dam. On our recent trip to Vegas to visit our friends Seth and Kirie, we had the chance to go to the Dam. Before I start, I probably need to apologize to Seth, Kirie, and Rachel for all my random Dam facts, and proving what kind of nerd I really am. Now, all you blog followers get to put up with a little more nerdery as I once again share random (useless) information about the Hoover Dam.

The Hoover Dam began being built in 1931, and was completed in 1936. The Dam is built in Black canyon and was originally to be called the Boulder Dam. The name was changed later in construction and surprised many people. 112 people died in the construction of the dam. The first man to die, ended up being the father of the last man to die in construction(Random Fact #1)

The dam itself was poured in sections, like legos. Refrigerated water lines were placed through the concrete helping to cool the dam down. Concrete generates quite a bit of heat, so these lines were necessary with the amount of concrete. If they hadn't ran the water lines, the dam would've taken an estimated 125 years to cure, and probably would have ended up cracking and crumbling(Random Fact #2)

The dam is 660 ft wide at the bottom and narrows as it goes up. The amount of concrete in the dam is astronomical. There is enough concrete in the dam to build a 2 lane highway from San Francisco to New York City.(Random Fact #3)

Because of the terrorist attacks and the potential threats (Thanks alot Bin Laden) a new bridge is in the process of being constructed so that it will not longer be necessary to drive across the dam. This bridge is equally as impressive as you can see from the pictures. Many of you may not know what I do for a living, but I inspect construction projects, and have been able to work on 5 bridges, (None of this magnitude) I cannot wait to one day have my hand in the building or designing of a bridge this impressive. Also, we want to thank Seth and Kirie for letting us stay with them and showing us a great time. We missed them as soon as we left, thanks guys, can't wait to come down again.

Rachel throwing a quarter into Lake Mead off the top of the dam. She wished for a new baby(I'm pretty sure)

This is the new bridge. Look how high it is from the river.

The new bridge from underneath

Looking down the face of the dam

Lake Mead

Water intake towers on the Arizona side

All 4 of us. Thanks again guys, we had a great time

WEDDING THINGS I'M EXCITED FOR...

Wedding stress has been killing me lately! I don't feel like myself lately, I'm just a big stressed out mess. But I'm trying to stay positive so here are some things I've bought this week that I'm excited for.

A pearl bracelet to wear with my dress....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KirstenKuehnDesigns


My garter....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/elegantgartershop


Our cake topper....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/myfrivolities


And I'm most excited to spend the rest of my life with this guy....

2 weeks ago we headed down to Hurricane to take our engagements and my bridals. It was such a fun weekend. Codee's friends Nate took our pictures and he did an amazing job as you can see. Thanks Nate!

We found an awesome abandoned amphitheatre in the town of Toquerville. It was my favorite place to take pictures. The ones in the desert are in Leeds/Harrisburg, another small southern Utah town. And the ones in the telephone booth and the garage/old doors were done on Main Street in St. George. I'm seriously obsessed with these pictures!

SUCH A SIMPLE CONCEPT

So much to blog about but I've had no time to do it. Work, wedding, Bees and coaching softball consume my time. But here is a quick story I want to share...

Last night we went to dinner at Tucanos and while we were waiting to be seated a much older couple came and set next to us. They asked if we were newleyweds and we told them we were engaged. They told us they had been married for 63 years. I asked the couple if they could give us one piece of marriage advice what it would be. They simply said "Just love each other... be good to one another." It made me think how important the little things are and what a simple concept... love each.

Easter Chicks

Mariah and I had craft night last weekend. Codee went up to his friends to watch the UFC fights so we had a girls night. We made these really cute chick eggs from my work. We painted the our chicks and glued fun paper to the front of them. Then we added beaks, feet and eyes for the finishing touches. They turned out adorable and we had a blast hanging out. They made a great addition to our Easter decor.


Mariah's Chick

My Chick

NATALIE

Natalie is my sister and best friend. She always has been and always will be. She is always there to listen , give support, scrapbook with me, run to the grocery store with me at midnight... anything and everything... she is always there. She truly is my best friend.
Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with having pre-cancerous cells on her cervix and uterus. We had to wait for blood tests and biopsy procedures before anything could be done. After nearly 2 months of waiting she finally had her surgery on Tuesday. The doctors went in and removed half of her cervix and scraped off all of the cancer and pre-cancerous cells on her uterus. The surgery was successful and thankfully didn't take very long. She has been home for the week recovering and should be back to normal next week.
Over the 2 next years she'll have multiple check-ups and hopefully no more surgeries. And the doctors are pretty sure she'll still be able to have children. I am just so thankful that the problem was caught in time. If she had waited even a month longer then the cells would have all been cancer and she might not have had any chance at having kids. I am so happy to have my sister around for a long time and maybe one day become an aunt. I love you Nat Nat!

Did you know every 47 minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with cervical cancer? HELP PREVENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HumoHUC8yQ

GOOD THINGS HAVE FINALLY COME OUR WAY

As some of you may know, I was completely miserable at my job. I was working at a portrait studio. I loved taking pictures and working with the customers that came in. And I was so excited to be doing photography every day. Long story short... my original manager was relocated to another studio and a new lady was brought in. She was seriously awful! My job became HELL. It became all about sales and only spending TEN MINUTES in the camera room with each photo session. Are you kidding me?!? I can't do pictures in ten minutes. And the studio cut my hours from 30 a week to 5. FIVE HOURS people! I can't live off that! So for about 4 months I looked REALLY hard for a new job. Nothing promising ever came about. So I opened an Etsy store and started decorating wood crafts to pass the time.
One night when I was at The Wood Connection (the store where I buy my wood crafts) I ran into the owners wife and after a short conversation she offered me a job. I seriously couldn't believe it. It was so easy! I immediately quit the portrait studio and started at Wood Connection a couple days later. I have been there 3 weeks now and I absolutely LOVE it! It's not even like work to me. Everyone is so nice and I love going to work in the morning! Not to mention it literally takes me 90 seconds to get from my driveway to the time clock. And I've already been given a raise with another one coming in 2 weeks. And I can get as many hours a week as I want. So I've been working at least 40.
It has been such a blessing getting this job. If you only knew how awful I felt at my last job. I felt so degraded and unappreciated. And poor Codee had to put up with a couple nights of me sobing my eyes out as I left work. It is just such a relief to finally be somewhere where I'm happy and being doing something that I love. I know I won't work there forever but it'll be nice to enjoy until Codee is done with school and we can move somewhere when I can use my degree and pursue my real life dreams.