So...it's been awhile. Since I last wrote I got married, went on a wonderful honeymoon, moved, and started school and am now about halfway through. So, yeah, nothing new with me ;)
For all those who are not satisfied with my two line catch-up summary, I will go into more detail.
Jeff and I were married in St. George. We drove down to St George Thursday afternoon and had an amazing wedding dinner that night at the Black Bear Diner with the friends and family who had traveled all the way down to St. George for our sealing. I loved having such a small number of friends and family there because it was so much more intimate-every person there had made such an impact on our lives. Both of our parents came, as well as all of our siblings (minus Jeff's brother who is on a mission) and my sisters-in-law. We also had Jeff's grandma and grandpa Duerden, my grandma Ruggles, a few of our aunts and uncles, Jeff's childhood friend Matt, my amazing friends Holli, Caitlin, Laurel and her husband Phil, Britney and her husband Adam, Alli, and Lynzee. My mission president, who happens to live in St. George, and his wife also came to the dinner and sealing.
That night I barely slept, partly because half of my family was all staying in one small hotel room, and partly because I was so nervous for the next day. It was surreal to think that the following day my life would change forever. My dad gave me a wonderful father's blessing which brought me peace of mind and comfort as I started to get anxious about what a big decision this was.
The next morning I woke up at the ridiculous hour of 5 a.m. and left with my dad to go have my hair and makeup done. I sat in a chair for hours as Kelli transformed me from the walking dead to a bride. Once she was done, my family picked me up and we drove over to the St.George temple.
As Jeff and I sat in the waiting room next to the sealing room and watched as all our guests made their way to our sealing room. What was amazing about our sealing room is it is right off of the celestial room, so all of our guests were required to dress in white. It was a beautiful sight to walk into the sealing room and see a room full of our loved ones all in white. As corny as it sounds, it was like getting a glimpse of heaven, especially when considering the significance of the ordinance done in that particular room. Jeff and I sat down next to each other and listened as our sealer spoke about the sealing ordinance and the importance of the covenants we have made and would be making with each other. We then were asked to go kneel at the altar. Words can't describe how it felt to look across the altar and see Jeff and hear the words "I now pronounce you man and wife, legally married for time and all eternity." The wait was over, and were now married.
After the sealing we exchanged rings, and then we all left the room together. I was escorted back to the beautiful bride's room where my mom was supposed to meet me to help me get my wedding dress on. Yeah, she stood me up. I got the dress on by myself and the nice temple worker helped me hook it and put my veil on. I then walked out to the foyer and met up with Jeff. We waited for a bit and then walked outside to meet all our guests. And then came the most awkward moment of my life (which is saying a lot for me); all of our guests just continued to talk pictures with NO ONE coming to greet us. So Jeff and I stood there awkwardly as our pictures were taken 100+ times (I now understand better what celebrities must feel like...). After everyone decided to stop being awkward, we took a million pictures with our family and friends, doing our best to stay out of the blazing St. George heat. And then came the time to make the 4 hour drive back up to Salt Lake for our reception in Draper.
The reception was amazing and it was so great to see so many of our friends and family throughout the years. We had a candy buffet that was a huge success, as well as a photobooth. It was just the fun, casual reception we had hoped for. Apparently it was a little too casual because when it came time to cut our cake, turns out we had completely forgotten to get a knife to cut it. Being the resourceful person that he is, my dad offered us the back of a fork, and it actually got the job done. Word to the wise who are planning a wedding--don't waste money on a cake knife and server--the handle of any utensil works just fine.
Before we knew it, the reception was over and we were rushing to our car and driving away to go to our surprise honeymoon (courtesy of Jeff's parents) to Key West, FL, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica!! We flew out to Florida first and boarded the cruise ship there. It was absolutely amazing and better than any honeymoon I had ever imagined. We had a great time together and enjoyed all of the islands, even Jamaica where the people are far too pushy (but we found the secret to avoiding them is simply speaking French to each other and they leave you alone). The week flew by and before we knew it we were heading to Indiana for our second reception with Jeff's side of the family.
We got to Indiana really late because of a very delayed flight. Despite the late hour, Jeff insisted we head over to Steak and Shake because it is something he really misses from Indiana. So, at 11:30 at night, we ate dinner with his family. We then drove over to his grandparents Receveur's house and spent the night there. The next day we had another fun reception at his grandparents Deurden's backyard--this time instead of having a photobooth, we had a cotton candy machine :) I got to meet many of Jeff's relatives, which was way fun because usually we only see mine since we are in Utah.
The honeymoon was definitely over once we got home to Utah, since we both went back to work right after, and then school started. This semester has been crazy for both of us and hasn't allowed us to spend much time together, which makes those once-a-week temple nights and date nights highly anticipated. Jeff is an amazing husband and I am so thankful that things worked out the way they did for us because I can't imagine life without him. He is by far my better half.
