Finally!

Okay, so I'm a slacker. We've been married for over two months now, and I'm just barely getting around to updating on our life. Oh well, better late than never.

The past two months have been... unreal. I can't believe that so much time has past already, it seems like no time has past at all since Gentry and I were sealed. But at the same time, it feels like we've been married forever. I'll try my best to recap everything that's happened.

The week of our wedding was crazy. Nuts. Insane. We had so many last minute details we had to do, we were running around like crazy, and still trying to finish up our last few shifts of work. We left Wednesday for Delta, but not before going down to St. George for Gentry's tux and the flowers. Once in Delta Gentry's family was amazing, they helped out with everything from food to decorations, anything we needed, it was done. Thursday was our first reception in Lehi, it was a long day getting ready and finishing everything before we could enjoy the evening. So many friends and family came to support us, you could feel the love from every single person.

My best friend, Courtni, was our photographer for the next couple days. She was so awesome!

Our cake was incredible. So incredible, in fact, that we didn't eat a piece of it. We decided that we wanted the cake for both receptions, so we asked Gentry's sister-in-law, Jessi, to make the whole things fake, and we just cut a cupcake on the side. I have to say, that was one good cupcake!

While we had decided we didn't want to smash cake in each others faces, Gentry still managed to get some frosting on my dress. At least he was nice enough to clean it up!

Finally, Friday came. The day we were going to be sealed for eternity. We drove up to Manti together early, and it was so wonderful to just get to talk with Gentry about what was going to happen and our life. Because although we practically hadn't separated for the past six months, the term "we" took on a whole new meaning that day. Our sealing was incredible, I can't even describe it. It was hard to not be emotional through the whole thing because of how strong the Spirit felt.

After taking tons of pictures, we started the long drive back to Delta for our luncheon. My mother-in-law did a great job on the food, it tasted amazing! Gentry's dad sang us a song, as is tradition for every one of his sons. And then Gentry gave me a wonderful surprise: he sang for me too! He sang "She Thinks She Needs Me", and he had no idea how much that song meant to me. Needless to say, I got very teary-eyed.

Final task: our last reception. Everyone was pretty tired, but we were able to get through the rest of the festivities. We danced our first dance to our song "This Kind of Love" by Josh Turner.

In short, our wedding was amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything better, and I most certainly couldn't have asked for a better man to be married to. I love him more than I know how to say, and eternity might just be long enough to spend with him!

Ironies

Looking back, it's hard to believe that only six months ago I met the man I am marrying. That is one of the many ironies I've found in my life, those things that I swore I would never do, and yet I did anyway and much better things have come from it.

I heard a great quote once: "Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans." That is so completely true, and while we may think we've got it all figured out, we have to remember that there's someone up above who's got much better things in store for us.

Some of those things I thought I'd never do:

• Get married while I was still in college. 
• Yes, I'll admit, it's a little ridiculous, but everyone knows someone who chooses to stop going to school and they never finish their degrees after they get married. While that may be the right choice for others, that was something I never wanted to do, so it only made sense that I should just wait it out until I'd graduated. But as you can see, I'm defying my own logic, and lucky me I have a wonderful husband-to-be who wants me to go do as much school as I want and supports me fully.
• Marry someone I haven't dated at least a year. 
•  Probably terrible of me, but I used to make fun of those girls who had only known a guy for three weeks, and then up and marries him. I even had a close friend who'd only known her husband a month and then got married. I thought they were nuts. How could anyone be so sure that they'd chosen the right person in such a short period of time?
  Again, the joke's on me, because while my plan was to date at least a year, and then see how I felt about marriage, when the confirmation came a short time in, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Gentry and I kept going along like we'd known each other our whole lives, and once in a while we'd have to pause and remember: we've only actually known each other three weeks! Four! Two months!
  So while I used to be the one laughing at the girl's who got married so quickly, I only suppose it's poetic justice that I received it in return! And yet, like those girls, I don't even care what other people may say, because I know it's right. 

I could probably go on, but many of the ironies that have happened with me and Gentry wouldn't really make sense to anyone else except us. All I can say is that I'm so glad that things didn't go the way I planned, because my life is so much happier and complete with this amazing guy in my life. He is everything to me, and I can't wait until we're sealed for time and all eternity. Love you, handsome!

He's a Graduate!

This is a little late posting, but I wanted to show off my little brother a bit.

Jameson Gary Smith, 18, has now officially graduated from Utah County Academy of Sciences, and from Utah Valley University with his Associate's Degree! I wasn't able to go to his college graduation, but I managed to make it up for the UCAS one. Congrats, little brother! I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you!

More Edits

Lately I've had more night shifts, so I've ended up making a lot more picture edits. 

Whatever helps me stay awake!

This was one of those you don't expect to turn out, but...

Pretty much my favorite picture out of all our engagements... literally. 

It turned out so amazing, I've used it for so many things already!

 One of the many pictures that are deemed "bloopers." 

But it's surprising how many of the ones you think you hate at first, end up becoming your favorites.

 I tweaked the quote a little bit, but it totally applies to us! 

And in case you're wondering... 23 more days!

One to Go!

As of tomorrow, it will be officially one month until I get to marry the man of my dreams!

It's hard to believe that five months has gone by so fast... when we first talked about getting married, I told Gentry he was nuts, six months was way too soon to be getting married. And here we are, a month away, and now all I wish is that it would go a little faster!
It hardly took anytime for Gentry to find his way into my heart and leave me breathless... and now he's become the most important thing in my life. I love him more than words can say, and while he may argue that he loves me more, don't believe it for a second! I love him the most, and that will never change!

A Day with Friends

Every time Gentry and I go to St. George, we always have to go see our friends, Brandon and Courtni Loe. Gentry has known them for years since they all grew up in Delta together. He and Brandon have been best friends since high school, and when Gentry and I started dating, I was lucky enough to be inducted into the "wolf pack." Actually, Gentry told me early on that the only way our relationship would get anywhere would be if Courtni approved, because he knew she'd tell him the truth. You can imagine that it made me very nervous first time meeting her, because I really liked Gentry! But obviously she approved, and here we are.

I absolutely love Brandon and Courtni, they are so much fun to spend time with! Not to mention, they have the cutest baby girl, Savannah, who Gentry and I love to pieces. She just barely turned one, and so when we spent some time with them yesterday, we got to hang out with Savy too! 

I tell Gentry constantly that she is all the baby we need for a while!

Eating the last of her 1st birthday cake.

Grabbing a fistful!

 This is her "kissy" face. Haha

Laughing her head off at Uncle Gentry while he's talking to her: 

Sharing some cake with him...

Sticking out her tongue is one of her favorite things to do. I just had to follow suit.

You totally can't help but fall in love with this baby girl. Thanks, Brandon and Courtni for sharing!

Night Shift Creativity

I've been working a lot of night shifts lately at my work. Pretty much the one rule of the night shift is: you must stay awake! Not as easy as it seems, especially when you don't have much to do. So that when you have to get creative. I've been averaging about 2 movies a night, lots of sit-ups and jumping jacks, and then I start playing with pictures.
I'm a quote freak, I love the depth a person can create in just a simple phrase. So I added a few commonly known ones (and I few I wrote myself) onto Gentry's and my pictures together. (Hint: if you can't read them, click on the picture and it will enlarge.)

Always loved this Dr. Seuss quote:

It might be hard to believe, but I actually wrote this myself.

How I feel all the time about him:

This is actually a statement I wrote back when I was a senior in high school. I kept it forever, and then after dating Gentry a while, I happened to read over it, and couldn't believe I had found someone who had everything I had written about. 

Cannot wait 'til eternity!