How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 8

Alright, it has been 8 months since I last posted, but I can't leave anything undone, so here is the end of our "how we started dating" story....if I can fit it all in one post. Maybe two. Here goes...

In the parking lot of Applebees before we all headed out, Ryanne took me aside to chat. She told me that Cam had been texting Rachelle and saying that he thought that I had been trying to hold his hand when we had watched the Goonies. I was intrigued and had hope slightly renewed in our chances.

Ryanne and I then rejoined the group and Rachelle offered to have Ryanne, Cam, and I come over to her place to watch a movie that night. I knew that this would be my chance to try the hand holding again. Ryanne ended up driving us all to Rachelle's and I had butterflies the whole way over. When we got to Rachelle's, we decide to watch Crazy Stupid Love. Before the movie started, I went to the bathroom, cause, small bladder problems. When I came back, I sat on the couch next to Cam. Next thing I knew, Cam's arm was around me! I was thrilled! We cuddled the whole movie :)

The next week, after FHE, we again went over to Rachelle's to watch P.S. I Love You (I know, we like chick flicks). Again, we cuddled all through the movie, and I actually ended up falling asleep during the movie. After the movie was over, Cam drove me home. He walked me to my door and we had a long hug, a really long hug...and then I ran inside. (Little did I know, Cam was left on the porch, stunned at what had just happened.) I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't kiss him until he had actually asked me and taken me on a real date. And it was SO HARD! I so wanted to kiss him that night!

Later that week, I got a text from Rachelle telling me that for her birthday (which is a couple days before Halloween), she wanted to go out to Cafe Rio on Halloween with a big group of friends. Obviously I was so down for that, cause, Cafe Rio. A few hours later, I got a text from Cam asking if I wanted to go with him. (He also included that he was sorry it was a text because I was at clinicals, and sorry that Rachelle had already sent me the text before he was able to). I told him that I would love to go with him! It was an unconventional first date, but still a date.

Halloween came around and that morning I had a disaster simulation course for nursing school. Without disclosing details of the simulation, there was a part where I had stage makeup put on to make it look like I was hurt in an earthquake. To make it even better, I was wearing the shirt that I had gotten from "Zombie Tag" earlier that year. After the simulation course was over, I headed home and decided to leave the makeup on, because Halloween. Finally, dinner time came around and Cam picked me up to go to Cafe Rio. We went with a bunch of our friends from the Singles Ward and it was a great time!

After dinner, our friends all decided that we were going to go to a Halloween party that some other girls in the ward were throwing. Before heading out to the party, Cam and I headed back to my house to see my parents passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters, then went over to my sisters' so that I could see my cute niece's costume for her first Halloween (she was adorable, by the way!). After the visit, we headed over to the party.

The party consisted over a lot of dancing, mingling, and eating. When the party was dying down, a group of us decided to head over the Chase's house to watch a movie. We would obviously watch a Halloween movie, right?? Nope, Newsies. Because I had never seen it, and it is one of Chase's and Cam's favorite movies. During the movie, while Cam and I were cuddling on the couch, Cam leaned down and kissed me on the head!!! YES!! So, I looked up at him and kissed him for real :) :) :)

As he dropped me off later that night, we made it official, we wanted to start dating officially!


Well, there you have it peeps! I love my Cali Boy and I'm so glad we were able to find each other. And the rest is history :)

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 7

On my Southern Utah trip for Fall Break, I found out that I had won a photo contest through UPC (Union Programming Council) at the U. The prize was tickets to that upcoming Monday's production of Thriller at Kingsbury Hall.

I was torn. Monday Night was FHE at the Corn Maze, aka prime time to see if there was anything with Cam. Monday was also my parents anniversary...which turned out perfectly. I ended up giving the tickets to them so that they could celebrate, and not with the YSA ward.

So, the time for the Corn Maze came. I was stoked. I was also happy because since it was the first week after Fall Break, the new rounds of clinicals hadn't started yet, so I was able to go to FHE at all. I met at the church, but then ended up driving myself because I stopped by my house to grab a bigger coat.

The rest of the corn maze is kind of a blur, but I remember that we all started out in a group, but then at some point Cam and I ended up going off on our own, away from the group. It was a dream come true. We went around the maze together, but he didn't hold my hand at all, even with me making it very available to be held.

We got to the exit of the maze before the rest of our group, so we decided to just wait at the exit for them. We started joking about how I am always cold so that I was glad that I went home to get a bigger coat, while Cam was just wearing a little jacket and said that he wasn't cold.  That led to me stating that my hands were still cold, which FINALLY led to Cam holding my hand...for like 5 seconds. Ha ha, he then heard our friends coming out of the maze so he let go pretty quick. (Don't worry, I have called him a chicken many times since then).

After the maze, we went on our frequent Monday Night outings to Applebees. Cam and I ended up driving together, so then we sat next to each other. I was really happy and excited...then Cam spent a good portion of the time talking with the girl sitting on the other side of him, which was a new girl to our ward. I was bummed. I was sure that he was into her more than me. So I spent the rest of the time at Applebees trying to make the best of it, which is actually the night that me and my friend Chase kind of bonded and became good friends.

I thought that any chance of something happening between Cam and I was dwindling before my eyes.

How this Utah Girl met her Cali Boy, part 6

Time to get back to our love story, since it has been like 6 months since I posted for this series...

So, Cam and I were on the same couch on the Goonies movie night, and he leaned pretty close to me...my heart was pounding! I was almost giddy! Then, as the night came to an end, he gave me a hug on the way out and I about freaked!

I don't remember if it was the next week or week after, but for Fall Break I went down to Southern Utah with my parents to do some hiking at Zions and see a play in Ceder City, with plenty of pool time as well. I snapchatted Cam quite a bit while I was on the trip and texted him on and off throughout the week.

*Pic from the trip, top of Zions and then finishing LOTR on the drive to Ceder City*

When it was time to come home, I was texting both Cam and my friend Rachelle about what some of our friends were planning for that night. The original plan was to go to a Haunted House, which I didn't know how happy I was about joining, but I wanted to spend time with Cam so I was torn...but by the time that I was almost home, the plans had changed and we were now all going to meet at our friend's house and then go buy some pumpkins to carve, which ended up happening at one of the nearby churches so that we would have enough room for everyone to carve at the same time.

Cam and I spent the next few hours carving next to each other, which was just a blast with all of our friends. Then, after the carving, we headed back to one of the girl's houses to watch Hocus Pocus! Once at the house, I sat on the couch first to see where Cam would sit, cause I was a twitterpated girl and thought that would be a good idea...but then he didn't sit by me and I spent the whole movie pouting.

The next Monday FHE was at the Corn Maze, where everything changed :)

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!

Obligatory New Years Eve Post

I decided yesterday that I probably should post something on here for New Years, especially because I haven't posted anything since September...uh sorry? 

But, I feel like I have nothing really brilliant to say, except that this year has been a pretty good one! Definitely one to remember! 

Here is a picture overload from the past few months, most likely not in order!