If Only

If I had all the money in the world, I'd buy these things today.

First of all I gotta get me a house, but not any type of house - a castle house!


Then I'd make sure Reggie had his own place too. (Sorry Loki and Leonard, I love Reggie more then you)


Of course I'd make sure to have plenty of room so I could start up a the best dog rescue ever done. I'd be able to give pretty girls like her a permanent home.


I'd also buy myself a ridiculous hot tub, naturally.

(And yes, I'd make my friends wear those outfits too.)

Then I'd get this Christmas tree. I love how classic looking it is.


I'm being pretty selfish arnt I? I'd make sure to get Brandon this bad boy. He deserves it.


Being piratical though, I'd really just like to get the new Sex in the City movie, and matching scarfs and gloves.




What would you buy today if you could?

A Happy Thursday

My sister found some old pictures of our mom. I am just always really, really happy to find things like this. It gives me a little bit of the piece that seems to be missing.






Oh man, I miss her.

Home Decorating

Its officially been a month that I've been married, and a month since I've lived in the condo together. It is starting to feel like home now to both me and Reggie. In September Brandon, my dad, and myself spent a lot of time decorating the place to be more husband/wife appropriate instead of bachelor style.

So, lets take a virtual tour of the new place shall we?

Before we start - please don't judge me and my style/cleanliness. I'm new at all of this. ha.

When you first walk in you'll see the front room/part of the kitchen.


My dad painted the entire place, so all the colors you see we have picked out. I love my blue wall, and especially my red leather chair. Next is the kitchen, where there is a small table, and a small kitchen really.



The bedroom is probably my favorite room.




Last is the bathroom...oooo....aaaaa....




And there you have it. It's a small place, but it is our place. That is what matters the most. I look forward to be able to decorate a house, and all the other places we end up living at. You never know where life will take you.

Fall Lovelyness

Over the weekend Brandon and I had some peeps over to the condo for a pumpkin carving party. I seriously had a blast. But you know me, I love anything to do with Halloween. I think everyone else had a good time too. Some of the ideas people had amazed me, I'm not that talented.




My pumpkin is the one smack dab in the middle on the bottom row, and Brandon's is on the far right. I love the owl and house too. Seems like a lot of work to me!

Sunday I drove with Amelia and Brandon up to Big Cottonwood Canyon where the colors are amazing. Seriously, some of the trees were so bright with color that I was taken back while passing them. We found one really bright red tree and of course had to take our picture with it.



Oooooh yeeeaaah. I cut my hair too. You likely?


It was a very lovely fall weekend if you ask me. Why can't the trees be these colors all year round?

Puppy Love

Well, Reggie is still alive. It's been a wild ride for the last three weeks. Reggie took it really hard when we moved, and y'all know about the struggles I've had keeping him locked up in the house. I was pushed to my limit, wondering what was going to happen if Reggie kept acting up with his really, really bad behavior.

As luck would have it after that week we became friends again. He has been on some anti anxiety medication which is doing wonders for him! Now he takes drives all the time with Brandon and I, gets more treats, and even goes to the dog park. He has reminded me why I sacrifice and love him so much. Through and through he is a good dog, he just acts up every once in a while. (I wonder where he got that from?)

I just love this damn dog.

Current Events

We interrupt your life for this breaking news - live from Lehi, Utah. It's Rachel's current events.

First off - being married is wonderful. I love knowing that I have Brandon forever (cheese moment). Although, him working nights and me working days/going to school at night, leaves very little time for us to see each other during the week. And that my friends, bites the big one.

Second - Yesterday was a little hectic. Ok, really this entire week has been hectic. I won't even tell you the story of the DMV, because its really depressing and I don't really want to talk about it. But, yesterday I found myself having to pick between going to Orlando for work next week, or staying here and not missing school. I went back and forth on it for a long time. Both had pros, both had a lot of negatives. Eventually I decided that I needed to stay in Utah and give myself some time to relax/recover after that crazy engagement/wedding stuff. Today I feel a lot better knowing I don't have this trip hanging over my head. I also don't have to miss a week of school - which is very important seeing how they would have never let me make up or turn in any assignments that week. Laaame.

Thirdly - Speaking of school, last night in my Hematology class (aka blood class) I for the first time, was able to draw blood from a cats jugular. I'm very proud of this, especially since most cats are from the devil himself. You have one person restraining the cat which isn't easy. They are small, and they squirm, and they have very sharp teeth and claws they are not afraid to use. Then I ever so swiftly have to dig through their massive amounts of hair, find the jugular vein (which is harder than it looks), and stick them with a needle, finding the vein and getting some blood. Looks a lot like this...


Have I mentioned how much cats like this? I have little love bites all over my hands to prove it. Either way, I got more blood out of him then he did me. Who is the superior species now?!?

Fourthly - I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Sleep, carving pumpkins, hanging out with family, bugging Brandon, and eating some Halloween treats is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Thats all for the current events. Stay tuned for an update on Reggie the dog. Has his owner disowned him because of his horrible behavior? We will find out after the break!

Dear Mom, [My September 17th]

Oh mom - September 17th was a wonderful day. I woke up very early, my nerves just couldn't take it any longer. I convinced Craig, Brittni, and Trent to go to IHOP with me. I knew it would probably be the most I would eat the entire day. Then to kill some time we went to see the movie Easy A, which I do not recommend. Just sayin'.

But before I knew it, it was time to head over to the hotel to get ready. Luckily I had all my girls there, and Becky to do my hair.



The funniest part about getting ready for me was that I kept very calm the entire time. I thought for sure I'd be pulling out my hair. And again before I knew it, we were going downstairs to meet up with my dad, I started then to get a little nervous.

As the bridal party was walking down the isle, my dad started to cry - which of course made me cry. So, I have no cute pictures of me walking down the isle. It was pretty much just me crying the entire time with my big baby of a dad. However, seeing Brandon at the end of the isle calmed me, I couldn't believe how good he looked.



There was a chair left for you in the front row in between my Craig and Ron. When I look at these pictures it gives me chills, because I can feel you there when those pictures were taken.



So, there was the ceremony part. To be honest I don't remember much of what was said. I do remember thinking to myself that Mike did a good job speaking, and that Brandon was very emotional the entire time. In fact, I mostly kept my eyes on Mike for fear that if I looked at Brandon I would cry too. I think I almost slipped up my vows too, but that isn't too important right?


Let me tell you, I was so revealed when the ceremony was done. We met up with our witnesses to sign the paperwork and everything was official. I'm glad Grandpa Billy was able to sign for our side, and Brandon's dad for his. Brandon was crying even more while we were signing the marriage licence. I think it started to really hit him at that point we were married, or that he would have to deal with me for the rest of his life, I'm not sure which. Ha. Before we met up with our photographer to take pictures, we got to see a sneak peak of the reception set up. Let me tell you, it was better then I could have imagined it.








Alyssa made all of the paintings - which turned out fabulous. How could you expect anything less though from her? She helped me create a painting with your favorite saying on it, I wanted everyone to know that you were there too.


I think everyones favorite part was our mustache bar, where you could walk up, pick out a mustache, and strike a pose. I know I had a good time with it.




After I got a quick walk through of the place, we took a ton of pictures with everyone. My smile was already starting to hurt.

















Phew - thats a lot of pictures. Right?

Brandon and I had our first dance, which I thought was magical.


There was a lot of dancing in fact. But besides Brandon's and my first dance, the daddy-daughter dance was my next favorite memory. I started out dancing with Craig, then Ron cut in, and last was Grandpa. It was a moment I know I'll never get again, so its a new treasure of mine.




Everyone seemed to dance - even your parents! Grandma told me it had been almost 30 years since they last danced together.






And last, but not least, was the cake cutting. I sticked to my word that there would be absolutely no cake smashing. Let's be honest, that is just tacky.


It wasn't long after the cake, that I was partied out. This day, to say the least, was one of the best days of my life. I felt like I was able to share so much of myself, and you, and of course Brandon to everyone else. The love and support that I felt all day made the crazy planning worth it.

I sure got a handsome husband out of the deal...


I love you with all my heart - thank you for being a part of my September 17th. It means everything to me. I'll be talking to you soon.

Love,

Rachel