PUSHED BACK...

Today was supposed to be the 100 day countdown until the wedding. A day that I've looking forward to. No more triple numbers. Earlier this week Codee called me when I was half awake and said,
"Guess what?!"
"What?"
"U2 is coming to Rice Eccles on June 3rd!"
(My half awake response) "Oh cool, do you want to go?"
"No Rachel, they are coming on June 3rd... the day of our wedding..."
".... uhhh ...." "Are you serious!!! NOOO!"

This is problem because the Outdoor U2 concert is a mile away from my Outdoor wedding. So as soon as my morning voice was gone I called Red Butte Gardens to see what they could do. (BTW-The ladies up there are so nice and understanding) After making some phone calls, the wedding coordinator called me back. She said Rice Eccles was starting sound checks at 3 and the opening band was coming on around 7. And there was a good chance you could hear "Testing Testing 1 2 3" in the middle of "I do". Plus there is going to be 60,000ish people driving up that way and traffic would be a nightmare! And after 4 years of driving up to the University every day I know how horrendous traffic is up there.
Every Friday and Saturday in June was already booked. And there was only one Thursday still open for the month. June 17th... So we had no choice but to go with June 17th... unless we wanted our guests to fight traffic and a possible "testing testing 1 2 3" in the middle of the ceremony. On the positive side, Red Butte Gardens is having their annual fundraising gala on the 18th. So the gardens will be in their best tip-top shape. And there is less of a chance for rain.
So June 17th is the date! Maybe the couple extra weeks will help me get ahead of all the wedding planning.
p.s. Bono, I'm expecting a BIG wedding gift.

WEEKEND OF LOVE

Aaahhh... Valentines Day. I find that most people either hate it or love it. We are on the "love it" side. Not that we need a special day to celebrate our loviness (if that's a word) but it's just something to look forward to out of our day to day routines.
Friday doesn't really count towards Valentines because Codee dragged me to the Hunting Expo. I guess it was just payback for the 2 bridal shows I dragged him too. But I did it because I LOVE him...
Saturday we planned on going out to delicious Market Street but halfway through the day I thought cooking dinner together might be more fun. Cooking is actually something we really enjoy doing together. So we made a shrimp, scallop and noodle pasta dish. It turned out just okay... But just as we sat down to eat Codee put a blind fold over my eyes and then presented me with a beautiful flower arrangement... lillies, roses, carnations and a bunch of other non-traditional Valentines flowers. Which I loved because I really wasn't wanting roses.
Sunday, I got more flowers! Codee heard me saying I wanted red tulips at the Hunting Expo. That night we had tickets to Josh Turner out in Wendover with my honeybee friend Tina and her fiance Andrew. We met at Squatters downtown (which is amazing by the way, the mac & cheese and the italian pizza are to die for) for some good pub grub. Then we took the long and boring drive to Wendover. The show didn't start till 8 so we browsed the casino for a bit and headed to the concert hall about 7:40. Well, when we got there the doors were locked and nobody was waiting in line. Once they let us in we realized the show had started at 7. Oops! My fault... So we enjoyed 5 out of 16 songs and then got back into the car for the long drive back. All well...
So overall, I'd say we had a successful Valentines weekend, minus missing the Josh Turner concert. I had a fun weekend hangin out with my love.

ETSY

I recently started an Etsy store in my spare time. (It's part of my mission to becoming a domestic goddess.) I've started making wood home decor items. Eventually I'd like to add sewing creations, scrapbook stuff... anything my imagination and creativity can come up with.
So far, I've had 3 custom orders completed. And am working on another one right now. I've really enjoyed doing all of it. And with Codee doing school and homework most nights, its given me something to do in my free time.
Anyways... check it out... spread the word to your friends and family. I really want to get the word out there. Thanks for your help!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AllMyLove86

CHRISTMAS 2009

Codee and I had an amazing Christmas! The day was a little crazy trying to visit family, but that's how it always is right? Codee came to my house in the morning and we opened presents with my family and then we did our gifts for each other. My parents got us a kitchen table! I already knew that's what we were getting because we picked it out in November. But it's what I've been telling them I want all year.
Codee spolied me with new jeans from Buckle, a fossil watch, a cowgirl bracelet that I love, a new purse and gift cards to my favorite craft stores. And just when I thought he was done, he went out to his car and brought in a big heavy box... with a Kitchenaid Mixer!!! I've been saying we should get one for a while but I didn't think he'd actually suprise me with one.
After gifts we made breakfast with my family and took a nap. Later that night we headed to both of my grandparents to have 2 dinners and desserts.
Since the majority of Codee's family lives in Cache Valley we couldn't drive up for the whole day. So we went up to Wellsville/Logan the Sunday after Christmas to spend the whole day with them. His mom made a delicious Christmas dinner and we exchanged gifts with everyone. It was so nice to get away for the day and head out of Salt Lake.
Altough we had an amazing Christmas with gifts and all, the real gift and thing I was most thankful for this season was family. I feel so lucky to have Codee in my life and that's the best gift I could ever ask for. We also have AMAZING family members around us. They are so much better then any gift from Santa. It's hard sometimes being away from Codee's family and not seeing them very often, but when we do see them I feel so loved and so grateful for the time we have with them. I'm so excited to officially and legally become a part of his family. Next Christmas I will be Rachel Raymond... YAY!!!
My mixer!!!

One of Codee's new watches

Fabulous Christmas

Our cute little tree in my bedroom

Codee. Nat. Chase

Londyn (Codee's neice with her dress up box we got her)

INSEPARABLE

This obituary was in Sunday's edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. It's a local Notebook love story. Although I didn't know these people I really hope to have a love like theirs as Codee and I start our lives together.
Neal B. Olpin 9/28/1926~12/30/2009 JoeAnn B. Olpin 5/9/1929~12/30/2009 The sweetest love, life fully lived, now complete. Neal B. Olpin, our Papa, passed away Dec. 30, 2009 just seven hours before his sweetheart of 61 years, JoeAnn Broyles Olpin, our Grammy, both passed away of natural causes. Inseparable in life; together in passing. Born September 28, 1926 to Albert W. Olpin and Katie Irene Stephenson of Salt Lake City, Neal graduated from East High School, then joined the Navy in 1944. Neal continued his education at the University of Utah in pre-med courses. He determined his life's course, personally and professionally when he met JoeAnn, a dental assistant. Born May 9, 1929 to Joseph E. Broyles and Irene Crane, JoeAnn graduated from South High, Salt Lake City, and worked as a dental assistant where she met her sweetheart, Neal. As newlyweds, Neal and JoeAnn moved to San Francisco where Neal graduated as Valedictorian from the University of Pacific School of Dentistry and began his dental practice of 42 years in Salt Lake City. Neal and JoeAnn were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, May 6, 1976 by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Grammy and Papa loved nothing more than spending time with their family.

CHRISTMAS EVE

I think we may have started a new Christmas Eve tradition. We went ice skating downtown at the Galivan Center on Christmas Eve. It was so fun being downtown with all the lights and the Christmas music. It definitely put us in the Christmas mood. And surprisingly we didn't fall!!!



I took a picture of this slush because I thought it looked like a heart. AAWWWW...

HOBBY

Since graduating, I have so much free time. No more papers and thesis statements. No more staying in the library till 1 a.m. cramming for Mass Comm Law. No more video editing for hours. No more sleeping in the Union Buliding. And definitely no more driving all the way to the U everyday.
So with my new found extra time I have become a craft junkie. Yes, one of those girls who goes to the craft store 5 out of 7 days of the week. (I was a regular everyday in the summer, its slowed down to once a week.) I started scrapbooking over the summer... just mine and Codee's life thus far. I've also taken up wood crafts.
I never thought I'd be a craft junkie but here I am with hundreds of dollars invested to Joann's Crafts and a basement full of paper, funky scissors, stickers, stamps, paint and hundreds of ideas of projects just waiting to be done.
With the holidays out of the way I'm excited to get back into my crafty groove.

My friend Anne and I each made one of these adorable "BELIEVE" blocks for Christmas.


A cute snowman card I made.

INDIAN RUINS

While in Blanding for Thanksgiving Codee and I went on quite the excursion looking at indian ruins. His aunt and uncle own over a hundred acres of land with multiple indian ruins on them. They gave us each a four-wheeler to ride and we set out for the afternoon.
When we started I thought we were just going to one ruin that they had been talking about. But they took us to 5 different places on their property. I can't even begin to describe how amazing everything is. At each ruin you can find broken pottery, arrowheads, tools, jewelry and many other things. What is so amazing about all of it is that the ruins are from the Anasazi Indians from approximately 1500 years ago. YES I said one thousand five hundred years ago. Some archeologists even believe they emerged around 1200 B.C.
With each site we went to the trip became more amazing! I am now completely fascinated with the history of this region. I even brought home a few pieces of broken pottery. You have to see the pictures I took!!! And I apologize now for the picture overload. Words simply can't describe everything we saw. The first 2 ruins had to be dug out. Yes... someone sifted through all the dirt and has uncovered the ancient homes. And you'll see a picture of my brusied, swollen ankle from when I accidently rolled the four-wheeler over myself while going up a steep hill.
Their dogs that seriosuly ran miles while we rode the four-wheelers.

Ridin' dirty

Welcome home!

The front door

Some sort of work place. They think maybe for grinding grain or working with food.

The next ruin


Writing on the wall

Another location

This one was way up on the ledge of a cliff

I don't think I could live a week here...

They think this is where they would sharpen thier tools and sticks

And they saved the best for last. This ruin was underneath a cliff and seriosuly spectacular!










And my big ankle! This was right after it happened, it was literally black 2 days later.

This is some of the pottery, jewelry and tools they've recovered from their property. All the pots were smashed and have been carefully glued back together. They spent over a month looking for one missing piece on one.