Our First Married Christmas!

Since this is the last Christmas before Alec goes on a mission next summer, Ethan and I headed to California to celebrate with my family. I can't help but be extremely grateful to be in the warm sun again for a few weeks before we have to go back up to the snow. We drove down to California about a week before Christmas because part of our family Christmas present was a surprise trip to Los Angeles to compete in The Amazing Race!! None of the kids knew what we would be doing until the morning that we left and it was such a fun surprise. We decided to split up into girls vs. boys and boy was that fun.

Christmas in College

This year, we are headed to California for Christmas and I couldn't be happier about that. I usually get pretty home sick around this time of the year... home sick for my friends, California, the sun, and especially my family. I can not wait to see them all. We're leaving just in the niche of time too because it has been snow-free all semester and just as the snow starts to fall, we get to put our car into fourth gear and get out of here! ( I think it's fourth gear, I don't speak anything but automatic.)

One Year of Dating

It was probably quite a surprise to some people to see me get engaged and married to someone I knew less than a year. I get it, when I look at the situation from the outside, I am completely surprised myself. I definitely was not interested in getting married so quickly and I definitely wasn’t interested in dating when I met Ethan.

When I used to hear people say that “when you know, you know” I openly rolled my eyes. It seemed like such a joke and so far-fetched that I would just nod my head and agree with whatever sappy love story I was being fed.

But here’s the thing, it’s true.

Wedding Day: The Temple

It was absolutely surreal.

On August 29, 2015 at about 5:30 am, I woke up next to my mom at the hotel we were staying at in San Diego, CA. I knew once I was officially married, I would be sleeping next to Ethan every night; so I decided to find comfort next to my mom, the woman who created me and raised me to get to this point, just one more time.

Waking up, it felt just like any other day. I was calm and well-rested. I felt peace and comfort. I got up and took a shower, when there was a knock at the door. It was Joanna, the only woman I trust to cut or style my hair. The next knock came from Meagan, my best friend from high school. They came in the early hours of the morning to my hotel room in San Diego to do my hair and make-up because it was not just like any other day.

It was absolutely not just like any other day. It was the day I would kneel across the alter in a temple of God and commit to loving Ethan and standing by his side, as his wife, forever. And it was perfect.

(PS, Look at how he is looking at me, I love these pictures.)

Ethan's Surprise.

One of my favorite things in the world is surprising people! When I am a poor college student, it isn't super easy to do that always, but it is something I have loved to do since I was little. 

When I was in elementary school, a lady gave me some cookies. I decided that I didn't want them, and instead bagged them each individually and left them with notes for my mom pretending that her guardian angel was leaving them for her. I used to throw my mom surprise birthday parties, decorate my friends' rooms during lunch on their birthday in high school, I leave notes all over the house, and my first semester of college, I surprised my whole family by coming home for Thanksgiving. 

Katie's Wedding

While we surprised our family for the wedding, I made sure to let Katie know we were coming before anyone else so she would have seats for us at the reception. Since Katie is not LDS, and did not get married in the temple, it was king of fun and interesting to attend a wedding that was totally different than Ethan and I's. 

The day of the wedding was so much more relaxing than my own wedding day. My mom and I went to get our nails and hair done, then went home to get ready. We got to the venue about an hour before the ceremony started to help with any last minute things. Katie got married at the same place that Ethan and I had our reception, so there was a bit of deja vu going on, but it was fun to see how we did things differently. 

H A L L O W E E N

Ethan and I don't really like anything scary, so when we think of Halloween, scary movies and haunted houses are definitely not what comes to mind. This is seriously a blessing in disguise that he doesn't like it either because I hate hate hate scary things, so it it better that we just don't do it at all.

For Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins earlier in the month, and went to Ethan's brother, Ian's, Halloween concert. It was actually pretty good. I really enjoyed it because it was "Phantom of the Opera" themed, so I was familiar with a lot of the music.

Our costume fell through at the last minute, so we decided to be greasers at the last second. I think he looks dang good in a leather jacket, so I was pleased as punch about that.

Plus, he's definitely the one that I want.

;)

HIM & HER: two months of wedding bliss.

Ethan and I have officially been married for TWO whole months and, surprise! They have been the best two months of my life. For your enjoyment, I asked Ethan to co-write this blog with me. Here are a few things that we have learned about each other in our first couple months being married. 

| HER |

1. Ethan does not like to eat leftovers. To fix this little problem, I make four servings of dinner every night. We each eat dinner, then eat the same thing for lunch the next day. This is awesome because we don't waste money on uneaten leftovers, and we don't waste money by going out to eat lunch every day.He compromises with me and eats the same thing two meals in a row because I only make him do it one time.

Lemonade.

Alex Boye is a popular singer in the LDS culture. I heard he was coming to BYU-Idaho & sent Ethan a screenshot telling him to buy tickets because I thought he really liked Alex Boye. So, he quickly sent me a text back saying he bought the tickets. 

A couple days before the concert, almost a month after buying the tickets, I asked Ethan if he was so excited to go to the concert. He answered, "I guess, I've heard he's pretty talented." Turns out that while I thought Ethan really liked Alex Boye, he only bought the tickets because he thought I really wants to see the concert. We both laughed and decided to have a good time anyway. 

The concert had an African tribal sound to it, so I didn't understand a lot of the words, but the moment Alex Boye walked into the room, you could feel his spirit. It was obvious that he was a good, kind man. He performed all night with high energy and loads of light in his eyes. He sang songs about how one should love themselves, reminding us that we are golden, nothing can stop us from achieving our dreams. 

Besides his rendition of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, I probably won't remember a lot of his songs, but I will remember how this kind man used his talents to uplift those in the room. It was quite different than any concert I have been to. 

He sang a song called lemonade playing off the old phrase "when life gives you lemons..." reminding us that when hard things come your way, add some sugar so things won't taste so bitter. During the show, he requested that the audience post pictures on social media with the hashtag #byuiboye and it was trending, so fun! Even though there was a miscommunication about why we attended the concert in the first place,  Ethan and I chalked it up to a great night where our spirits were uplifted. 

Honeymooners (Part IV)

Okay, okay. You're probably wondering when the honeymoon posts are going to end... probably never because we love each other lots! But our actual honeymoon ended at one of the best places ever, Disneyland!!

Since we were only 20 minutes from Disneyland after our cruise ended, we called my friend from high school who worked at Disneyland and asked if she was working that day to get us into the park. She said yes, but it wouldn't be until 4pm. At first we hesitated, but Ethan hadn't been to Disneyland since he was 8, and I'm genuinely obsessed... so we couldn't resist the offer!!

We got breakfast and hung around Downtown Disney while waiting, but the moment she got to the park, we were so anxious to get in. 

It's Fall, Ya'll!

I'm not like your typical basic white girl who loves the fall. I don't like wearing boots and scarves, and I'm not pumpkin's biggest fan. However, it wasn't until I moved to Rexburg a couple years ago that I saw the leaves change for the first time, and that is beautiful. 

I don't love fall because it means that Rexburg is going to get really cold, but I do love that it means the holiday season is coming quickly, and holidays mean family and the pure love of Christ. I love that, so I don't hate fall all that much.

To celebrate the month of October, we decorated our home with some Halloween decorations, but nothing too fancy since I finally decorated our house to begin with. Ethan and I decided that we needed to bring some Halloween traditions into our lives starting with attending the pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins! 

My family went to the pumpkin patch every year growing up with all of our extended family, but Ethan hasn't been for like 15 years. We decided it would be best celebrated with some of our favorite people, the Nystroms!

California Surprise!

My sister, Katie, got married October 3rd and my parents were trying really hard to get me from Idaho to California for her wedding. Unfortunately, with school, work, and plane tickets being close to $500 for a weekend trip, it seemed like getting there wouldn't be possible. So we concluded that we just wouldn't be able to make it home this trip.

Honeymooners (Part III)

Every morning on the cruise, Ethan and I ordered breakfast in bed, free of charge! That's the biggest perk to a cruise: everything you need is paid for!

Honeymooners (Part II)

After our relaxing stay in the condo, Ethan and I drove to Long Beach where we left on our cruise to Catalina Island and Mexico. Neither one of us, nor our families, had ever been on a cruise before, so we had no idea what to expect. 

Honeymooners (Part I)

After the most perfect wedding, Ethan and I arrived at our condo for the weekend. Since it had a full kitchen and living room, it was fun to relax in a little apartment for a couple days before we left on our cruise. My mom called ahead and had it decorated with sparkling cider, chocolate covered strawberries and rose petals everywhere. It looked beautiful. I had to sneak a few pictures while Ethan was bring stuff up from the car. 

Bridals

As I said in the previous post, taking pictures ahead of the wedding was seriously the best idea ever. I know a lot of people do get the chance to walk down an aisle, so if you want that element of surprise, go for it! 

However, if you don't mind doing it ahead of time let me tell you...being able to have pictures taken before my wedding made things so much more easy-going. I wasn't in a rush, I had loads of time to get my hair and make up done, and we got to choose the weather and location! Take it from the queen of stress, it was well worth it. Plus, it saved us tons of time between the ceremony and reception. 

The First Look.

A week before our wedding, we decided to do a photo shoot in our wedding attire. This means that I was I okay with Ethan seeing me in my wedding dress before the ceremony. I was only okay with this for three reasons...

The Proposal- May 9, 2015

It was a Saturday night, he took me to my favorite food place available in Idaho... Olive Garden.

He said we should dress fancier because "we haven't been able to go on a real date since we've been up at school because we've both been so busy." 

ABOUT US

I'm Kayla, he's Ethan.

I like sparkles and lemonade.

He likes frisbee and sporty cars.

Together we're the Watsons. 

We like cooking dinner together, 

 roadtripping and watching Friends.