The Rehearsal Dinner

"Rehearsal dinner" is just the term I use to describe the dinner the night 

before my wedding, because Mormons don't actually have to rehearse anything.

After doing our best to change into normal clothes while in the car,

(which is really difficult when you're in a wedding dress)

we made it to Salt Lake City, where our close friends and family were gathered

to celebrate with us and eat some good ol' Cafe Rio!

How good is that stuff?

Anders and I ate hustled in and got the party started.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so we ate like cave people, I'm sure.

After a few words from our fathers, everyone lit a sparkler.

 And then things just got crazy!

My Aunts were dancing and laughing,

I was being pulled in every direction for a picture,

and there were sparklers being waved around every which way!

I was just so happy to see everyone having a good time.

I was so grateful to have my family in Utah with me!

I was even more excited for the biggest day of my life.

Without wasting too much time,

I was whisked away to my bachelorette party...

And boy, did we party!

Bridals

Our bridals were the beginning of the 36 hour wedding chaos.

I really didn't want Anders to see my dress till our wedding day,

but I also wanted the "first look" picture.

So, the day before our wedding we snuck in this amazing photo shoot

by Jenna Bechtholt Photography.

We managed to blind fold Anders all the way up to Heber

(which was a hilariously complicated journey)

and get those first look photos I've always wanted! 

There was a chill in the air and the wind was going crazy from time to time, but I loved seeing the two of us in our wedding clothes for the first time!

It's honestly hard to choose a favorite but here are a few.

 ^^^I was obsessed with the back of my dress^^^

 ^^^So handsome!^^^

 Did I say a few??

Jenna did such a good job, there are just too many favorites!

Anyways, after we started to go numb from the cold,

we called it quits and headed to our next adventure...

The rehearsal dinner!

A New Last Name

Hello dear blogging universe,

I've been neglecting you, but not on purpose!

You see, I got married to my best friend and we have been in our own little dream world.

The word I can best describe my wedding day is surreal.

It is the strangest feeling when it is finally "your turn".

Even with the little ups and down that accompany a wedding day,

we were both on such a love high that we couldn't come down.

 Our reception was absolutely perfect,

and marriage has been so wonderful!

I mean, it has only been 2 weeks so it better be wonderful, haha ;)

I'm so grateful for this man and his love.

He is so perfect for me and I can feel his undying devotion every day.

I love him.

I love that I never have to be separated from him ever again.

These are just a few pictures from our bridals, taken by the amazingly talented Jenna Bechtholt Photography.

We took these the day before our wedding.

I can't wait to see the rest!

A full blown wedding day post will be up soon.

Until next time, 

MMP

My First Event

2 days ago, on the 18th,

was my first event for PRSSA.

In case you have forgotten I am the VP of Events for the UVU PRSSA chapter.

The event was called "Rock Stars of PR".

We had Sam Schultz come speak (owner of Sammy's, home of the pie shake)

and Jacob Jones from The Fictionist (Imagine Dragons used to open up for his band).

It was a great learning experience. 

I know I can take what I learned from this event 

and make the next one even better. 

Half way through the event Sam mentioned his buddy, 

Jef Holm (from Emily's season of The Bachelorette) was sitting in the back of the room.

Apparently they are buddies. 

So naturally I had to get my picture taken with him.

Jef was very kind and talked to Anders & I for a bit.

I think it's going to be a great year.

Did you know I'm getting married in 18 days?

18 DAYS!

Carolina In My Mind

This last weekend my mom was in town!

She was here for the annual "sisters reunion" with her sisters and my grandma.

I didn't actually get to hang out with her too much but it was fun to see her.

On Monday she even made me breakfast and drove me to school!

That hasn't happened since 2006 ;)

Between running errands and visiting with family,

Anders and I went to the James Taylor (Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Utah Symphony)

 concert on Saturday night. It was amazing!

I grew up listening to James Taylor on our road trips to Utah.

He still has an incredible voice and knows how to work the crowd.

 ^^I love this cute boy. Can we just be married already?^^

We are getting married in 26 days!!

It seems like it will be here before I know it,

but it also feels forever away.

Thank goodness I have school to worry about or else I'd be thinking about it all the time!

^^My mom driving me to school on Monday. She doesn't even know I took this picture^^

My favorite James Taylor song.

Guess what?

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Hello Old Friend

Hello old friend,

I have been caught up in the hustle and bustle of school, work, and wedding planning.

Do you forgive me?

I hope you do...

But just in case you aren't sold,

I have a few pictures to soften that heart of yours.

One month from today I will be a married girl!

Can you believe it?

They grow up so fast.

Cali Part 3- California Adventure!

The next day we wore our matching Yellowstone T-shirts 

that Anders got me from his recent trip there.

Yep, we were that couple. 

But I think it is necessary to be cheesy every once in a while.

We quickly ran straight to Carsland once California Adventure opened up...

Us and everyone else in the park!

I stood in line for the Racers ride while Anders stood in line for a fast pass.

Best decision ever.

When we went back to redeem our fast pass,

it only took us 5 minutes to get on the ride (when there was a 2 hour wait).

Anyways, that ride was a blast!

And Carsland is fantastic.

I felt like I stepped into the movie.

Very well done.

We continued to ride as many rides as we could before the rush hit.

It usually hit around 11am.

We rode Tower of Terror about 3 times in a row.

NO line. It was awesome.

By lunch time we were starving and filled up with a burrito 

at a delicious Mexican restaurant in California Adventure. 

We also went to the sourdough bread factory

and tried to go to the Mission tortilla factory 

but they changed it to a Ghirardelli chocolate shop.

Soooo naturally we had to get ice cream!

If you know Anders and I at all, you know how much we love our ice cream.

 

When we saw Chip and Dale walking across the street
I got really excited and started running towards them screaming,
"Chip n' Dale! Chip n' Dale!"
Now, being the Vegas native I am I heard the words coming out of my mouth
and immediately thought of the strip show Chippendales.
I suddenly felt like a pervert and just walked away.

As mentioned in Part 2, we found this hilariously awesome Disney club.

We made it a priority to go again the next day.

^^The step sisters loved Anders!^^

^^Cat fight^^

^^Walked by Vince Vaughn and quickly turned around 

to stalk him like the weirdo I am.^^

Our second day at the parks we went to Disneyland for the second half of the day.

We saw everyone walking around with sweet celebratory pins so we thought we

would check to see if they had any just engaged pins.

Well, a nice Disneyland employee snuck us the last couple pins they had.

Apparently they are discontinued because too many people get engaged at Disneyland.

We promised to never tell anyone that he gave them to us.

So for the rest of the trip whenever anyone asked us about them,

especially the employees, 

we just made up a lame story.

HOWEVER, we got the best treatment having these cutesy pins plastered on our shirts.

For example: We got our own boat on the Small World ride.

See picture below. 

Everywhere we walked someone was shouting "congratulations!"

We didn't mind it at all!

That night we explored every inch left of Disneyland that there was to explore.

Being thoroughly exhausted, we called it a night.

On Sunday we went to church in Mission Viejo and hit the road!

 

We made it to Vegas just in time to eat dinner with my family.

This last New Years Eve when Anders came to visit me for the first time
we wrote each other letters that we weren't supposed to open for 6 months.
8 months later we remembered to grab them.

That night we sat alone and read our letters to each other out loud.

It was so sweet.

I'm so glad we made it this far.

I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend the rest of forever with.

Monday morning we hit the road again.

This was our final stretch to Utah!

It was sad to come back from such a perfect vacation.
It's always hard to come home after a vacation.
But we had some wedding planning to do!

Till next time.