Where The Red Rock Is

On our honeymoon we took a quick trip to St. George, Utah. After a long semester we were honestly just so glad to be going anywhere at that point. I had never actually stayed in St. George before that. We went to Las Vegas the first day and into Zion National Park the other two days of the vacation. I am a sucker for national parks and new adventures to places I haven't been before. So... I did a little bit of research before we went, looking for ideas of what we could do in the park. Some of you may have heard of it, but we settled on hiking The Narrows. For those of you who don't know, you hike up the river through the towering red rock canyon. We were there in April, what they would consider to be their potential "flood season". Dry suits/splash jackets and pants were high recommended for the temperatures were to be chilly. On day 1 in the park we just scoped things out and enjoyed the scenery. We observed the people coming out of the Narrows to try to decide if we actually wanted to rent all the gear, or if we wanted to just bag it all together instead. We checked out the water levels, air temps, water temps, etc. We came to the conclusion that we would go for it and just see how it would go. We just wore what we normally would if we were white water rafting. A definite must have for the hike through the river was a good pair of closed toe water/hike shoes, like Keens or Tevas. We luckily already had these from rafting. Initially the water was chilly but once we got used to it the temperature wasn't bad at all! It was such an awesome hike and I would recommend it if you are headed that direction. I do love the strenuous/difficult hikes but this once was one of a kind. Everything towers over you and for a moment you feel tiny compared to the rest of the world. I love how nature can always surprise us in those ways. It such a beautiful thing to know that God created these "nooks and crannies" and "surprises" for a reason and we are able to go out and enjoy them!

The Wedding

On April 11, 2014, Dakota and I tied the knot at the Idaho Falls Temple. It was such a great day and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. It was probably one of the best decisions that we made as a couple. We were sealed together for time and all eternity on Friday evening of the 11th. The next evening was our reception. The reception turned out great! We decided to go with a light beach theme following how our engagement happened. I got my dress from David's Bridal, my flowers were done by Lacey Secrist at Elegant Blooms, and our decor by Kim Hardy at Unforgettable Events We loved everything and the businesses were so great to work with. We also hired Carolyn Anderson to do our photos. They turned out great and we loved them! She is awesome and super fun to take pictures with. All of the links are included to see their other work. Everyone was just so great to us! It was great to have friends and family to come out and support us!

The Proposal

In December of 2013 I went on vacation with Dakota and his family to the Oregon Coast. I LOVE the coast there. I LOVE that you can be on the beach and turn around to thick mountains of pine trees. Its just my style. We drove for 12 hours and we finally got there! His family rented a house right on Lincoln Beach, which was beautiful. The next day we did some sight seeing along the coast and such and I took some of Dakotas family pictures on the beach. The weather was chilly but sunny and clear. We thought it would probably rain and be foggy the whole time so we felt pretty lucky. Dakota had been teasing me for a few weeks prior about rings and little comments here and there about being married but never about what when or where. Imagine that from Dakota! We all went to Taco Bell for lunch and of course Dakota shows me one of the hot sauce packs that says "Will you marry me". I laughed and told Dakota to stop embarrassing me in front of everyone. Little did I know I was the only one not in on the secret. Later we got back to the house and everyone wanted to go out and walk around on the beach before the sun went down. We went to the beach and Dakota talks me into giving my camera to Annie (his sister) so she can take a picture of us. He started leading me away from her instead. I'm thinking hello Dakota Annie is over here. We get to a spot and I look down and there is something sticking out of the sand. He tells me to look to see what it is. I pull it out and it is a big green bottle with paper and a baby rose in it. I got the paper out of it and it read: Roses are red, Violets are blue, I have a big question for you. I looked up from the paper and Dakota was down on one knee and he pulled a little treasure chest out of his pocket and opened it. It had the ring inside and I was just bawling of course. All of his family was around us taking pictures and watching us. This was all happening while the sun was starting to set. I don't think I could have asked it to be any other way. It was a dream come true! We plan on making it back to Oregon soon.

Our Story

About Us:

(Our junior year, 2009)

We go clear back to 5th grade, and the day that he "broke up" with me after "going out" for almost a whole week. It was tragic. Both of us were born and raised in the Blackfoot/Snake River, Idaho area. We always had run ins here and there with mutual friends but nothing very spectacular. We never actually talked very much, until Presidents Day weekend in 2009 (our sophomore year). Shortly after we began going out. He drove a little Red "power" Ranger and I was currently in between friends. I couldn't tell you what it was about him, but I liked him a lot. Thinking back on it, we were so random and it's a little bit mind blowing that we are actually married now. It could have been his sarcastic comments, the way he did what he wanted without a single care, or the way he would smile a little shyly towards me. He still does those things. He caught me off guard when he would stop in the road and ask me to dance, get me a trophy for performing in Cats the play, or take me out in a row boat in the middle of Ridleys parking lot after a huge rain storm. He always keeps me on my toes. But he did one other thing that I will be forever grateful for. My first year of college didn't treat me so well. I was in a hole and a little bit lost. He brought me back to church. It was slow and a little bit scary for me. It seemed to fill the hole I was in. He kept pushing me to do the things in which I needed and eventually talked me into applying to BYU-Idaho. I thought he was crazy and that it was a long shot. Taking into consideration that I never took seminary, wasn't active in church since I was much younger, and never even really knew BYU-I existed. I thought my chances were slim but I applied anyways. I heard back a week later with an acceptance letter, and suddenly I was surprised and had a little more direction then I had before. I felt comfort and blessed to be able to "start over" at a new school. Sure, there is a lot of detail in the span of almost 5 years, but I try to keep it short and sweet. Dakota and I only became closer after that. Followed by The Proposal on December 4, 2013.