August 15th, 2015, aka the Start of Our Forever, part 3

Our luncheon was just at our church building, and we had Chick-fil-a catering platters of the chicken strips, nuggets, chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, and cookies! It was delish! Cam's mom and sister-in-law had set up the gym the day before with a bunch of tables with beautiful flower centerpieces. Unfortunately I didn't have my photographers come to the luncheon and I don't think anyone took pictures of it. It was fun having both of our families there to eat and celebrate with us!

Cam and I stayed to help clean up the luncheon and then we headed first to my house for me to change out of my church dress and into some basketball shorts, then went to his/his sister's house. Once we got there, I zonked out on Cam's bed. I was exhausted! Cam snuggled with me for a bit, but then he hung out with his family for a few hours before the reception.

Cam woke me up at 4:30 and informed me that my hair had totally come out, so I texted my sister to have her come early to the reception so that she could fix my hair. *HUGE Shout Out to her for being willing to do my hair for me multiple times that day!* I then headed back to my house to start to get ready for the reception. I got home and the backyard looked AWESOME!! Mom had done an amazing job with all of the decorations!

Then I went into the kitchen and saw our doughnut cake! Holy Moly it was amazing!! I don't like cake, so we had a Dunford Chocolate Doughnut pyramid cake! Our cake topper is a rockin' out Minnie and Mickey, cause Disney. We loved it!

A lady in our home ward, Melanie Ward, did all of our flowers, including the ones on the doughnut pyramid. They all turned out gorgeous!

Emily came over and fixed my hair, then it was time to get back into my dress. At 6pm, the wedding party started to arrive to take pictures before the reception. I may be biased, but I'd have to say that our wedding party was the best! With it being a mixture of family members and best friends, we all had a great time!

After we took pictures, it was about that time for the reception to start! Leatherby's had arrived and set up. Then, the first guests began to arrive!

August 15th, 2015, aka the Start of Our Forever, part 2

Our sealing ceremony was beautiful! Ah I still think about it, with our family all around us, seeing Cam and I being sealed for time and all eternity! *To learn about LDS Temples and more about what a "sealing" is, go here*

After the ceremony, Cam and I went back to our dressing rooms to get into his suit and my dress. My mom and sister came with me to help me into my wedding dress and to touch up my hair. They then went outside to wait for the big reveal! Cam was then waiting outside my dressing room to see me.

Cam and I decided that we weren't going to have him see my dress at all before that moment, so I was pretty excited to see his reaction. It was pretty awesome! Man, I love that boy!

My grandpa opened the big gold doors. We walked out in the sunlight to cheers! It was just like I had imagined. Our family and friends were all there to celebrate our marriage and I couldn't have been happier and more grateful for all of the love and support!

We walked out and didn't really know what to do...so then our photographers and videographers told us to kiss, which we were plenty happy to do! Cam went in for the kiss, and may have gotten a little carried away with it, if ya know what I mean ;) But hey, I wasn't complaining!

We took pictures at the back of the temple, then headed around to the front steps to take our group pictures. It was really hot that day, which was kinda rough, but hey, at least it wasn't raining!

After the group pictures, Cam and I went around with our photo/videographers to take more pictures together. It was hot and long, but it was awesome. Here is one of my favorites, just because it was so random and unique!

We were laughing pretty much the entire time. We would try to take a serious picture and I couldn't keep a straight face! I couldn't stop smiling and giggling and looking at Cam!

After what felt like a lifetime in the beating sun, we were done taking pictures. We started heading back to the doors at the temple and my mom was there waiting for us to make sure that I could get changed out of my dress ok! Ah she is the best!

We got all changed into our "street clothes" and headed to the luncheon, where the rest of our family had already gone to while we were taking pictures. I was starving and so ready to chow down on some Chick-fil-a! And it was delicious for sure! Cam and I are all about their chicken strips and nuggets, so what else would Cam and I choose for our luncheon??

August 15th, 2015, aka the Start of Our Forever

I decided to take a short break from my Utah Girl/Cali Boy series to let you all know about our wedding day!

The week leading up to the 15th, I worked an 8 hour shift on Monday, had a 3 hour class on Tuesday, then worked 12 hour day shifts on both Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday my manager came up to me and said, "Aren't you getting married in like 2 days? Why are you here??" At times I wondered the same thing, but I am glad that I did work, because it made the days go by faster and I was making money, which is always a plus!

Friday, the day before the wedding went by fairly quickly actually. My mom and I finished up a few reception preparations throughout the day, cleaned the house, etc. Cam's parents and grandma had gotten into town the day before, so I spent some time at Cam's house with them.

That night, my mom and sister went out to dinner for my "bachelorette party" at Applebee's. We had virgin Strawberry Daiquiri's! It was delish! After dinner, I realized that I hadn't gotten any shoes to wear the next day, so we went to Payless and got me some. Then my sister had to go home to put her daughter to bed, so mom and I headed home as well. I didn't want my party to end just yet though, so my brother, parents and I played Mario Kart on the Wii for a few hours. It was a blast! Then, I headed to bed, hoping that I would be able to sleep throughout the night.

*Side note: Apparently August 15th was a super popular day to get married, because even calling a few months in advance the earliest time we could get at the temple was 11am. My mom was worried that it was gonna end up being super late in coordination with a luncheon, but it actually worked out pretty well.*

I got up around 8am, showered, ate a bit of breakfast, and then my sister came over to do my hair. We had to be at the Oquirrh Mountain temple at 10am, which worked out great so that I didn't feel rushed, and I was able to sleep in to a reasonable hour. Mom and I headed out the door around 9:45 and met Cam in the front of the temple right before 10. We then headed into the temple, about to start our forever.

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 5

That next week was a rough one for me, but I listened to Cam's Disney Mix through the hard times. I couldn't stop thinking about him and I needed a reason to reach out to him aside from FHE. So, I was that weird girl in the ward that got his number from the ward directory and texted him. "Hey Cameron, it's Becca. Thanks for the CD, it has been a real help this week. You're the best." or something to that effect. I don't remember what he texted back, I'm sure something sweet and great.

The next few weeks there were occasional texts back and forth, usually initiated by me. I was a twitterpated girl, but I didn't want to lose my cool. I looked forward to each week seeing him at church and FHE. We would hang out after FHE with the crew and I got to know him a little better each time. With these hang outs, Cam and Chase discovered that I am very uneducated when it comes to movies, which was a common topic of conversation. So that led to a movie night at my house to watch "The Goonies."

*Side note* I have no idea how I had never seen the Goonies before that time, seeing has how I kinda really love Sean Astin. Anyway, it was a good night for me.

The doorbell rang. Cam was the first one there. He came in and I sat on the couch to see where he would sit...he sat on the loveseat. The doorbell rang again. This time it was Ryanne. She came and sat with me on the couch. Then Chase came and sat with Cam on the loveseat. That's how it stayed throughout the movie. After the movie, we were all hanging out and at one point, Ryanne ended up on the loveseat with Chase, so Cam came and sat on the couch with me. That was the first time that I thought that maybe there could be something between us.

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 4

The "Disney Rock" education included these songs, here, here, here, here, and here. It was awesome and my eyes were open to a whole new world! But it wasn't the songs that were the best part of that car ride. It was the fact that Cam was singing along, at the top of his lungs, having the best time of his life. My eyes were definitely open to him.

So we made it to Applebee's, had half-price apps, talked about movies, etc etc. I was laughing the entire time. Cam and Chase (another boy in the singles ward) were hilarious together and I got a great ab workout that night from all of the laughs. At one point I may or may not have spit water out my mouth and nose from laughing so hard....only Rachelle can confirm that ;)

We drove back to the church to more Disney Rock and then I think I may have gone home with Ryanne, I'm not totally sure. I just remember the next week being very confused, as I had be crushing on another guy at the time and trying to figure out what I was feeling about both him and Cam.

The next Monday came around and I rushed home from clinicals so that I would for sure be able to go to FHE. I had to see Cam again, and hopefully we would do something afterwards like we did the previous week. And something we did! Applebee's again, cause, ya know, half-price apps. Cam offered to drive again, and I kindly accepted...slash I "called" very loudly that I was going in his car. When I got in, he handed me 1 of 7 or 8 burned CD's that he had made for all of the crew.

"Alright Becca, this kid is a good one. Don't let him slip through the cracks." My head started buzzing for this kid, ya know, girly stuff. But I didn't want to jinx it, so I had to play it cool. I didn't say anything to anyone about my thoughts for him, at least not for a while, although apparently members of the Bishopric in the Singles Ward/the High Councilman over our ward say that they knew from the start...

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 3

"I LOVE your hoodie!" I had gone straight from clinicals to FHE and hadn't gone home to change out of my scrubs and Buzz jacket.

"Hey, thanks!" In my head I'm thinking, "hey, he's kinda cute..." So I sat down at the table that he was sitting at. Then my mom came over to the table and said, "This is Cameron, the FHE Co-chair. You know Kassie in the home ward? This is her brother. He lives in the next circle."

So, game night for FHE starts. With Cam and I at the same table, we started playing a card game. (I think it was Meet it, Beat it, or Eat it, but I could be wrong). Then, he got a text. His text tone stopped me in my tracks. (Ok, that's probably a little dramatic, but it was a game changer.) The tone was the tone that is on the Star Tours ride at Disneyland!

"Is that from Star Tours?? I LOVE it!" He turned to me and nodded.
"Yeah, I love Disneyland! Is that where you got your jacket?" He asked in reply.
"Sure is! I love Disneyland too!"

*Side note, Disneyland has always been my favorite place on earth. I had told my family for years that I would go there on my honeymoon. If the guy I was going to marry didn't want to go to Disneyland, I wouldn't marry him. Yeah, it's a deal breaker.*

FHE ended and Ryanne invited me to go to Applebees with some other people in the ward. Cam happened to be one of the people going. Ryanne then mentioned something about "Disney Rock." I didn't know what that was, so Ryanne decided I needed to learn. That "Disney Rock" education would happen in Cam's car on the way to Applebees. So I got in the car, and the initial attraction was solidified.

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 2

No, Cam was not at the Summer Snowball Fight. BUT, a bunch of the people that he hung out with in the ward were! After the fight, I was invited by Ryanne and Chelsa to come to Jamba with a bunch of other people in the ward.

I was STOKED! Up until that point, I didn't feel like I belonged in the ward, seeing as how my parents are pretty much who I hung out with the majority of the time at ward activities. After that night, I felt like I could make it in the ward.

I went to other FHE activities and had a good time, but still felt like I was going mostly because my parents had to be there.  I started school up again in August and I had my Pediatric clinicals on Mondays. They were to go from 6:45am to 6pm, so I didn't know if I would be able to make it to FHE anymore, not on time at least because I had an hour long trax ride home.

My first week of clinicals I was pretty nervous, mostly just from starting something new. To help to curb those nerves, I wore my stylin' Buzz Lightyear hoodie (which is fitting to wear into a children's hospital, right?). Little did I know that that hoodie would change my future forever.

Read Part 1 here.

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 1

May 2014:

There was a knock at the door. It was the Stake President of the Young Single Adult (YSA) Stake. Earlier in the year, my parents were called in to be interviewed for a potential calling in the YSA Ward Bishopric. The Stake President then said to my dad, "We would like to call you to be the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric."

I had been debating for a few months if I should go to the singles ward, but had been very anti-singles ward for a while. I guess that Heavenly Father had gotten fed up with my attitude about it and this was a way to almost force me to go. (jk, my parents are great and need to be in the ward, it wasn't all about me.) A lot of people in my home ward had that same opinion and let me know it! (in a very loving way)

The Sunday that my dad was officially put into the bishopric, one of the lady's that my mom and I visit taught in the home ward was blessing her baby. Because my mom had to be in the singles ward for when the change was announced, I stayed at the home ward for the baby blessing. After the blessing, I headed to the singles ward.

As I walk into the chapel of the singles ward, my mom is up bearing her testimony and talking about her kids. I walk in the door and stand at the back as she says, "My middle daughter will be coming to this ward, and oh, she just walked in!" Eyes....lots of eyes turn around and look at me. Thanks Mom. Ruined my plans to lay low in the new ward.

Fortunately (or so I thought at the time) I was going to Ghana in June, and then Young Women's Girl's Camp was in the 2nd week of July, which I was Assistant Camp Director. So, I didn't end up going into the singles ward OFFICIALLY until the 3rd week of July.

As the 2nd Counselor couple, my parents were in charge of going and helping with Family Home Evening (FHE) each Monday night. Once I got back from Ghana, I started going to FHE at the ward each week. I didn't really talk to a whole lot of people there....until the Summer Snowball Fight, where everything changed for me in the ward.

2015: The Year of Change

January:
Change of my circadian rhymes ~ I worked my first (of many) night shifts, so my life became semi-nocturnal.

February:
Change of age ~ I ended the epic 22nd year of my life and started my 23rd!

March:
Change back of my circadian rhymes ~ I finished my capstone hours, which means that I was done with night shifts, for the time being.
Change of countries...for a day ~ I went on a 4 day cruise with my parents to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico for Spring Break.

April:
Change in Student Alumni Board status ~ I attended Senior Sendoff and my final SAB meeting as a student.

May:
Change in student status ~ I graduated from the University of Utah's Nursing School with my BSN! Woohoo!!

Change in relationship status ~ I went from best friend and girlfriend to FIANCE! I get to marry the best guy around!

June:
Change in career status ~ I got a job as a nurse!
Change in license status ~ I passed the NCLEX! So I am officially an RN, BSN!

Change in house occupancy ~ My brother came home from his LDS Mission in New York!

(Photo courtesy of ML Photography)

So all in all, 2015 has shown to be a crazy year so far! Awesome, but also crazy life changes! Here's to the rest of the year!