| seattle temple |

our new ward is really working us. i have 3, yes T H R E E, calling and breck has two. also, we have already been asked to speak on a combined youth panel. crazy! i think it is so great to get involved with the ward and been an influence to others as well as the youth.

one calling includes going with some other ward members to the temple each month. we love it! the seattle temple is beautiful inside and out.

i started out having a crazy week (took me 2 hours to get home the other night due to traffic) and i was being a grump. i knew it. breck knew it. and the big guy upstairs knew it. i could not unwind and the fact that my new job requires me to fight the traffic to get to work. when we went to the temple everything was put into perspective again. does 2 hours of traffic really matter? (well, kinda when you don't have a diet coke...jk) i was being selfish. breck was so sweet to me and just listened while i vented.  one thing i love about breck is he's not a huge complainer. me in two hours of traffic? major complainer. him in two hours of traffic? he might complain for a second but then forget about it.

A quote I heard (and needed!) this week:
"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." -Thomas S. Monson

| wedding video |

it is crazy to think we hit our two month mark this week. time flies when you are with the one you love most. before marriage, i always looked forward to the day i could reflect on my life and spouse and be able to say "...and i thought i loved you then." we are only two months into marriage and i already feel the deepest amount of love for breck. he's the one that keeps me laughing, brings me a diet coke unexpectedly, the hardest worker i know, puts God before anything else and truly makes me the happiest. i want nothing more than to make him happy and he pushes me to the best that i can be.

this week we also received our wedding video. i loovvvveee it. it is so fun to look back on that day and see us (and others) in action. that was such a special day and a video is something we will cherish forever.

Breck + Stephanie | Wedding Day from Alexia Lauren Design on Vimeo.

| wedding day 8-22-15 |

our wedding day was everything i wanted and more. the day started off with me getting my makeup done and then went over to katie's salon to get my hair done. when i got to the salon, my best friend's wedding was blaring. i loved it! katie always knows how to make things special. after the salon, i headed to the temple! our sealing was at 2pm, so breck and i were to be there at 12:30pm. 

the whole day was the most surreal feeling. all of your life you think and dream about your wedding day. i kept pinching myself and asking, "is it really my wedding day?"

our sealing was B E A U T I F U L. i knew from the moment he started talking to breck and i, i knew he was the one who was suppose to seal us. he had a playful, yet soft and charming personality. he gave us the best advice, too. 

not only did we think that our sealing was amazing, everyone kept saying "i have been to a lot of sealings, but that has to be the BEST one we've ever heard and been to." made us even more happy!

when we came out of the temple, all of our friends and family were there waiting and cheering for us. we quickly took pictures and then raced back to sleepy ridge golf course in orem for more pictures and our reception.

our reception R O C K E D. there were SO many people (i think we counted 300+), the line was clear down the stair well and out the door. we eventually had to just cut the line to get on with cake cutting, bouquet toss, dancing and our sparkler send off. 

my mom did an amazing job decorating. we had a photo table, a candy corner, a kids table and even a photo booth. i know she was stressed up until the wedding day, but it all paid off. both of my parents worked so hard to help us have the wedding we wanted. i feel so blessed that they are my parents. 

it was amazing the love and support we felt. people traveled near and far to let us know how genuinely happy they were for us. not only that, people kept saying "i love your love story." and i do too! 

the best part? shelby, our sister-in-law, packed us S I X to-go boxes of reception food. don't worry, we ate all of it the second we got to the hotel room. we were starving! also, shout out to my brother who was so thoughtful to being me a diet coke during the reception (however, i think i only got two sips. boooo.)

| i believe in a thing called love |

it is crazy to think that our wedding day has come and gone in the blink of an eye. breck and i were very fortunate from christmas on to see each other about every three weeks. however, after my last visit to seattle at the end of june, we were in it for the long haul. 45 days of not seeing each other was way hard, maybe more so on me than breck. when you know you want to be with someone forever, you want forever to start immediately.

although we got married on saturday, august 22nd, tuesday august 18th was the day i looked forward to all summer. that was the day that breck flew in. i couldn't wait to just be with him! people kept asking me what the "countdown" was, and every time i said i was just counting down to the day breck came.

i decided to make a sign for breck when he got off the plane. i mean, if there were ever a time to make a sign for him now was the appropriate time, right? the sign read "wedding week, baby!" i could not even contain my excitement. i was SO giddy! the second he text me telling me his plane landed, i stood right now and help up my sign. i was clearly aware he wouldn't be come down the escalator for at least fifteen minutes, but i didn't care. so many people stopped me to say congratulations and one lady even said to her friend, " i want to stay here to see his reaction!" it was a sweet reunion and almost a surreal feeling knowing it was OUR wedding week.

the rest of the week was jammed packed including: marriage license, bridals, me going through the draper temple, wedding dinner at La Jolla Groves and the wedding!

| taking advantage of little moments |

this getting married and moving to seattle business is really starting to sink in. i've realized that after i move, i won't have opportunities to go out with friends or family like i do now, so i have been trying to fill my days up and soak it all in.

the other night my friend bre and i went shopping and to the cheesecake factory. she is hilarious. i usually think it and she says it or vise versa. i've never met someone who literally has the same thoughts and interests as i do.

the next day, i went to city creek with my future in-laws. we walked around, shopped and ate at blue lemon. yum! i truly love breck's family. they always make me feel so cared for and so special.

that evening i met my favorite co-workers EVER at cubby's in lehi. we stayed there and laughed the night away. we were there for two and a half hours! rocky mountain elementary truly left me with the sweetest of friends. i told them they better still go diet coke runs and send me selfies while doing it!

| he liked it so....|

....he put a ring on it!

probably the happiest day of life thus far. and the best part? i had NO IDEA. sometimes i like to think i'm a pretty good detective, but he stumped me on this one.

i flew into seattle pretty late (due to crazy thunderstorms in utah). i felt bad because i knew he had work early in the morning. when he picked me up, i noticed how handsome he looked with a button up shirt and jeans. i just assumed it was a long day at work and he didn't have time to change.

we jump in the car and drive up to our apartment. when we got off the exit, he mentioned he had accidentally taken his dad's keys when he was home last. i offered to take them back to utah with me but he said his dad needed them asap because they were city keys for the baseball fields. his family friends' mom lives 5 minutes from our place. she lives in a closed community (with guards at the entrance) that over look the beautiful puget sound. there are estates after estates in this community. a lot of microsoft and amazon execs live there. it's unreal.

anyway, since she was "flying to utah the next day" he was going leave the keys on the back porch. her home was beautiful. however, there wasn't a lot of light. so me being the baby i am asked, "sooo how long are you gonna be?" he told me to just come with him so i could see the house. we walked to the back of the house and he "put the keys under the mat" (aka back in his pocket). then we started to walk back to the car and he said, "wait, she has this cool barn lets go look at it." (still clueless). we walk down this stone path. the moon was shining over the water and although it was dark, it was still breathtaking. as i turned the corner, i saw this swing set lit with white christmas lights, a picnic table, cake bites, a dozen roses, music, martinelli and a basket.

we danced and he held me and told me everything sweet thing you can imagine. after he knelt down and asked me to marry him we danced some more, swung on the swings and then made out way to the table. we drank martinelli, practiced feeding each other cake and then finally got to the basket.

he said, "since we are starting our lives in seattle, this basket is all things seattle." he included a dashboard holder for my phone when i'm trying to navigate my way somewhere, a mariner's t-shirt, dried honeycrisp apples from pike's place and my favorite bubble bath.

i totally melted. it was so romantic.

i feel so lucky to have met breck. he's a genius. funny. hard working. loyal. kind hearted. has a strong testimony. great family. stylish. and has enough nikes to last him for life (40+). i love him and can't wait for our many adventured ahead!

Relationship Goals

...but seriously.