Idaho - How we Got Here and What We're Up To

So... here we are in Idaho. I thought I should post some pictures of our move and what we've been up to since we got here.

We moved to McCammon, ID in May when CD started work at his new job in Pocatello. He works graves and this was a huge adjustment. (Still is!) Despite the fact that I slept without CD for 25 years, now that I'm used to him being there, I don't sleep much while he's at work. Another adjustment: living in a town with a population of 805! I've never lived in such a small town, but other than having to go to "town" (Pocatello) for certain stuff, it's been kind of fun. People seem pretty friendly and I'm starting to get assimilated.

We only brought necessities when we first got here and spent May and June making numerous trips to Utah to move all of our stuff and clean our apartment. It's been a whirlwind and we're relieved that we're all out and done with the old apartment. We even got our whole deposit back! Woo hoo! HUGE thanks to my awesome family who spent a ton of time moving and cleaning our Utah apartment! I only got a picture of the moving crew (and not even all of them- Jay and CD joined the next trips' movers) but my mom and sisters helped me SO much by cleaning too.

HUGE thanks also to CD's family and friends who helped us unload in Idaho and who are continuing to help us get our new place finished. And I'm SO grateful to my mom and dad for hauling the trailer up to Idaho twice to move us. We stopped at produce stands along the fruit highway and at the Brigham City LDS Temple to make the trips more fun, but I'm sure it was still a big sacrifice for them! 

My dad, CD's dad, Jake and CD fixing the trailer

Jake and Carson were a big help! :)

Okay, maybe Jake helped a bit more than Carson, but Carson's sure a cutie!

Mom insisted on taking a "Moving Day" picture of us- so here we are sporting our moving day clothes in front of our new place.

The whole moving process was so stressful for me and I'm SO grateful for all of the help and for my patient husband :)

One of the things that I love about Idaho is that its SO BEAUTIFUL! I just love all of the open space, hillsides and mountains. CD's family always takes these drives to different areas close to our home and I love seeing all of the mountains and wildlife. We even saw a tiny baby deer with its mom a few weeks ago! It's been really fun exploring Idaho. We also go up to the mountains and have campfires and fish. We've actually had a lot of campfires since we moved, both in the mountains and in our yard. You'd think I'd get sick of fire-roasted hot dogs and s'mores but I don't! :)

We spent a day on our family friend Wolfe's boat and CD caught these beauties! I didn't get a picture before they cut off the heads, but they're pretty good-sized! I enjoyed relaxing on the boat with the sunshine and breeze and Kayla and I sat at the front of the boat and got splashed when the waves picked up. It was a really fun day.

Because we're completing an addition to CD's parent's house, all of CD's extra time is spent working on it. We finished the bedroom, so that's exciting... we painted it gray and I love it!

Next up is the kitchen and we bought red paint for the kitchen and it's almost ready for that step! CD's dad and friends have been AWESOME helping us get it done, but it's a long process! Can't wait to get it done and be able to unpack all of our stuff.

Other than the above, I've been trying to find things to entertain myself as an insomniac in a small town, so I've been organizing a recipe spreadsheet, working on my karaoke lists, and learning/relearning to crochet. It's always a good thing when a room in the addition gets to paintable state because then I can help with the addition (I don't really know how to do anything but paint). 

So overall, life in Idaho is good! I'm looking forward to our plans for the rest of the summer now. :)

1 Year of Wedded Bliss

Ok so I thought it might be fun to start this blog out with a little history of the year that changed my life forever, 2012. Forgive me for the length of this post, it has been a truly incredible year.

I married Cecil (CD) and became Rachel Morris 1 year ago, on June 23^rd, 2012 and we are sooo incredibly happy together. We are thankful every day that we found each other. He is absolutely perfect for me and sacrifices so much to make me happy.

CD's proof that I'm an angel :)

CD and I met online... It’s funny because we talked for a couple of years before we ever met – I guess neither of us were that into the “met online” thing. There were a couple of times we talked about meeting, but there wasn’t really a good time and then it finally came to a point that we were so close that we just HAD to meet and he drove from McCammon, ID to Henderson, NV to see me in January of 2012. It was incredible… it was like we’d known each other for years, partially because we had been talking for so long, and we were instantly in love. It felt like a dream to have someone who knew me SO well and who I loved and trusted so much and this dream has continued for a year and a half now.  He still lived in Idaho, but we just made things official and decided he would come down as much as he could, which he did 2 more times in the next month, hitching a ride with members of my family from Salt Lake to Henderson. He’s not the most social person, so I’m sure it was a sacrifice for him to spend 6 hours in the car with strangers (now in-laws) to come see me. I looked forward to his trips so much and we made the best of the long weekends with a ton of family hang-outs and some adventuring in Henderson and Las Vegas.

The third trip he made was on Valentine’s Day 2012. I worked anxiously all day, so excited to see him that night! When I got home (after driving high speeds all the way home from my job at the time), Tara told me he had gone with my dad to St. Timothy’s church in Henderson to feed the homeless… Ok, that’s nice of him to help…. I guess I could wait another hour to see my love. Little did I know that he was asking my dad for permission to marry me. In hindsight, I should have known what was going to happen that night, we had already talked and prayed about marriage, he had even shipped the ring to my house, with Jana’s help, and told me it was my Valentine’s Day present, but I guess I was still expecting it on my birthday because he was really adamant about planning to be there on my birthday a month later. Anyways, that night, he let me choose where we went to dinner, so we got Port of Subs sandwiches and ate them at a park. It was a bit chilly but we didn’t mind cuddling up.  Then we went to walk around at the MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas- something we’d done every time he visited because I love it there. When we first got there, we couldn’t find any parking because it was Valentine’s Day. I was driving and CD just said that was fine, we could go somewhere else, but as I was driving out of the parking lot to leave, the very first parking spot had become available (Lucky us!) so I pulled in and we started walking. When we reached the middle of the bridge, we stopped and looked out on the water. There was a man singing Italian songs in a gondola below. It was actually pretty funny- he must not have had any customers because he kept singing different snippets of songs, kind of randomly so it was kind of romantic, but also kind of funny for us. CD had his arms around me as I looked out on the lake and up at the stars and I just kept saying it was so peaceful and I could stay there forever. He had both arms around me, but he kept moving his right arm away from me and then he pulled away from me completely. I figured he was just ready to go so I turned around and he was on one knee in front of me and he asked me to marry him. I went into a girly, “Oh my gosh”y, hands-waving episode during which I think I said yes (but asked him later, just to be sure) and we spent a happy moment hugging and kissing on the bridge. It wasn’t until we were leaving the bridge that he asked me if I had even looked at the ring, but apparently that wasn’t first on my mind because I hadn’t really and it was BEAUTIFUL!

I sent pictures to Jana, who had already seen the ring and already knew what was going to happen, and then we drove home, where my mom, Jana, Tara and Jay were hanging out in the living room. They asked how our night went and what we did, so we told them (leaving out the proposal for a moment). Jay admitted to us that it took him several years of marriage before he worked up the nerve to tell Tara he didn’t like Port of Subs and I replied “Well, I guess he’ll have a chance to tell me later too, because we’re engaged!” as I showed them the ring. All us girls were crying and it was a really sweet moment.

Once we were engaged, it seemed impossible to live so far away from each other, so mom and dad actually let CD occupy one of the rooms of our house while he looked for work in Henderson. We made a trip to Idaho and I met CD’s family and loved them instantly.

We were so happy and went into full-on wedding-planning mode, which my whole family helped out with SO much! We took our engagement pictures at the same place we got engaged, Lake Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas LDS temple. My sister in law Taryn did an AWESOME job with these pictures and our wedding pictures. She caught some really good ones of expressions we make all the time. She coached CD by saying "Smile or Smolder!" It became our mantra for the day, trying to avoid expression-less faces. It was pretty funny.

He he I still give him this look all the time. It is usually accompanied
by an "Oh really?" or "Hmmm" 

These are our invitations: I worked with someone to design them and I love how they turned out!

We had put a deposit down on an apartment in Henderson and were immersed in the whirlwind of wedding planning, but we ended up deciding to move to Salt Lake City, UT really last-minute before we got married. After a trip to Utah and some prayers, we just felt like we should be up there. It was closer to CD’s family and I had several siblings up there and CD (who is Idaho-born-and-raised) was melting in Vegas. We just decided it would be better for us. So 3 weeks before we got married, I started a new job in Salt Lake. CD stayed at my sister’s house and I stayed at my brother’s house as we frantically looked for an apartment to rent while finishing last-minute wedding preparations. In hindsight, I must have been crazy to add stress to the wedding-planning process by moving, but it was worth it for that year we spent in Salt Lake.

Our wedding on June 23^rd 2012 was perfect. I could write all day about how every little piece came together perfectly, how great my showers were and how many, many people committed COUNTLESS hours to make it perfect. I’ll break down a couple of memories that stood out. My dress was one thing that I REALLY wanted to get right. I wanted the sleeves to be longer than they were when I purchased the dress, so I spent a lot of time looking for a bolero to go over it. Not finding anything that would work, we decided to have my mom sew new sleeves on, but even finding the fabric was a headache! I ended up going to a woman who sold a variety of specialized fabric in her home and she found great matches for the fabric, lace AND beading that was on my dress, so the day before the wedding, a few of my bridesmaids (Jana, Jillian and Anna) and I went out to my sister Candice’s house to try on the finished dress. To say that I was anxious would be an understatement, but I put the dress on and it was PERFECT! All of us were crying and hugging and it made me THAT much more excited for the next day. After that, we went to get pedicures, to decorate the church and then to a “rehearsal dinner” of sorts at Simply Sushi. My sister Jana had gotten a hotel for the bridesmaids to sleep in the night before the wedding and we (Jana, Jillian, Anna and I) had a mini bachelorette party that night and then all woke up early to get ready. We were kind of taking our time and by mid-morning we were running a little late and packed up our stuff as fast as we could to head to my sister’s house where the ceremony was going to take place. A couple of minutes later, we realized that my hoop slip for under my dress was left at the hotel (I won’t mention any names of which bridesmaid was supposed to grab It *cough* Anna! *cough* he he), so Jillian did an illegal U-Turn (we’re talking U-Turn where the light is red AND there’s a “No U-Turns" sign) on a busy street to get back to the hotel to get it. Sure, it added a little stress, but it was a funny memory. We spent the rest of the ride listening to "A Thousand Years" (Still reminds me of my wedding every time I hear it) and "Marry You" and talking about how crazy (and awesome!) it was that I was getting married. The ceremony was beautiful! CD was so nervous about speaking in front of that many people (even just those couple of words), but it turned out I was the one who was quiet in my "I do". I was emotional, so it was barely able to be heard, but CD spoke loud and clear! It was beautiful weather, if a little windy. It was such a happy day and I was just so happy that everything came together. We had a reception that night and then another reception in Vegas a week later and then we moved into our new apartment in Salt Lake City.

My girls were all cryin'! :)

Hugging my awesome ring bearer, my nephew Soren

My beautiful Maid of Honor/BFF/Sister Jana

The "Best Man" Carson!

My lovely flower girl and new sister Kayla!

We love our moms!!!

And our dads!!!

The Morris Family

The Brown Family

The Reception

My cake was AWESOME! I loved it :)

First Dance as Mr. & Mrs. Morris!

"Amazed" (CD was singing to me- it was so cute)

"God Only Knows What I'd Be Without You"

My Cute Sisters!

Bein' Goofy, but wasn't my dress beautiful?! My mom is the BEST!!!

Love my girls! :)

These guys make me look GOOD! Love 'em lots!

"You Shook Me All Night Long" 

(Is that song even allowed to be played in the church?! Owell...)

I LOVE Jana's face in this! I threw it RIGHT to her- it was a BEAUTIFUL toss!

I loved my flowers!

Holding handfuls of confetti, waiting for the bride and groom's exit

"You Shook Me All Night Long" Encore

We have loved life as newlyweds and we still feel like newlyweds one year later. We enjoyed all of the major seasons...

Summer...

First Cabin trip!

Hunting Season...

We look good in camo! Even at 4 am!

Our first car! We call it our "Wedding Car" because it is a 

2012 model and is red, black and silver like our wedding colors.

Winter...

All ready for church in front of our first tree

Cute ornament my mother-in-law gave us

Our first Christmas morning together!

At the beginning of 2013, we hit some struggles. I was let go from my job in January.  At the same time, CD was having gall bladder pain and ended up getting his gall bladder removed in early February. The spring was a rollercoaster for us. We were both looking for work and interviewing for potential jobs. CD had some part-time work as a machinist for a while, but he wasn't getting paid very much and it was really far away. Finally, he got a job as a machinist at a shop close to our apartment and we started to feel like our struggles were over, but then they let him and numerous other employees go after only 4 days there. All we could do is stay positive and keep interviewing for jobs. Every month, we weren't really sure how we were going to pay our bills, but we were taken care of and I will forever be grateful for how blessed we have been this year. Plus, the trials of this spring have brought us closer together.

At the end of April, things started looking up for us! CD was offered a job in Pocatello, so we decided to move to CD's hometown of McCammon, ID. He started his new job in May and likes it so far.

He also finished his classes and got his Associates degree in May. It was really difficult to finish these classes while enduring gall bladder pain, recovering from surgery, working when he could, stressing about money, etc. He's amazing and I'm so proud of him.

This year of marriage has been the best time of my life. CD is the best husband in the world. He surprises me all the time with how thoughtful and understanding he can be. I get why some people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but it was truly a breeze for us. Yes, we struggled, but we struggled together. We learned a lot about each other and sometimes that process was hard, but it was also SO rewarding! I'm more confident than ever that Heavenly Father sent this man to be my best friend, my support and my eternal love. He makes me so happy and I can't wait for all of the years to come.

Because this time in our lives is so much fun and we’re so in love and having so many new adventures, I think it is important that I document our lives a bit. We’re not the best at taking pictures (CD can’t keep his eyes open for pictures! We tried to take a pic after we got engaged, but his eyes were closed in ALL of them! It’s so crazy. Lol) but we’ll do the best we can.

See? I'm not making this up!

I also have several of these types of pics in which he looks a little bit high :)

Check back for more updates on our lives as we start into our 2^nd year of marriage (crazy!) and adjust to life in Idaho. I figure this is one way I can stay connected with my family and friends who are not among the 805 population here in McCammon. :) To those friends and family (AND those in McCammon too):

Thank you for your love and support... You've helped to make this year the very happiest of my life.