| 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!

| tour of utah |

i never thought i would be so sad to leave utah. utah has everything! there's always so much to go do and see, indoors and outdoors. although seattle, has SO much to do too, i really will miss utah.

one thing i have always wanted to go experience was the tour of utah. while scottie was on his mission in san fernando, california, the tour of california went right by his apartment. so as i am living up in park city and the finish line was here, scottie and i decided to venture on over to watch the finish.

biking is so nerdy but SO awesome. on stage 6 out of 7 of the tour of utah, riders had a 13,000ft of elevation gain. talk about athletes. the whole aerodynamic of why they ride so close to one another fascinates me. 

riders started at park city main street and ended there as well. the energy at the finish line was intense, like gave me the chills! riders flew (i mean, F L E W) right past us to the finish line. i bet that was the coolest feeling to finish after seven days of riding.

| johnson bridal shower |

my sisters, lindsey and lisa, were kind enough to throw me a bridal shower. it turned out perfect! my mom was in town for both showers. while she was here, we finalized a lot of wedding things. can't believe it's exactly two weeks away! 

| thank you, mr. postman |

early last fall i wasn't sure where breck and i would be a few months from then. long distance was hard. when were we ever going to live in the same place? i was a teacher, so the only possible time we could live in the same city or state would be in the summer. 

however, i had a feeling "go through the holidays," and boy am i glad i did. i had that impression a few times, but i was a little confused. mainly because through my eyes, we would see each other for a few days during thanksgiving and christmas break and that would be it. w r o n g. the big guy upstairs sure knows us better than we know ourselves. 

breck was able to live and work in utah from thanksgiving break until my birthday, january 10th! he didn't find out until mid-novemeber. we both look at it as a tender mercy. during that time is when i knew i never want to be without him. 

so since i knew then that we were going the distance, i made him the cutest book of us on shutterfly for christmas. we look at it all the time! i am sooo obsessed with shutterfly.

for the wedding, i made our guest sign in book on there. i also made a cute little book called "our story." it is officially my new favorite!! this book tells how we met, places we've been and things we've done, how we knew each other was "the one," and the engagement from his perspective and my perspective. i know it is a book we will always cherish and look at! 

so thank you, mr. postman. i don't think i have ever been so excited about the mail before!

| shark bait ooo-ahah |

this last spring, scottie mentioned he wanted to check out the newly revamped aquarium in sandy. i wanted to go as well, but the only time i could was saturday. saturdays + teachers + places like that = no bueno. i love kids, but my weekends are a time to be kid free.

anyway, i had two free tickets. so since i have a new roommate here in park city (aka scottie), we decided to venture down there when we both had a day off. side note: we go to grab my tickets and they expired in may. awesome.

the aquarium was awesome to the least. i am a big advocate in hands on learning and the loveland aquarium provides the perfect opportunity. they had ocean exploration, antarctica (and penguins!), an african safari and utah exploration.

and let's just say after seeing a visual of how big great white sharks really are, i am fairly confident i could take one on. jk. they're H U G E. i actually just want to go cage diving in the ocean and see them from the distance.

overall, we had a great day. i was grateful for the opportunity to hang out with scottie. it is really starting to hit me that i am moving away from utah and won't have these simple opportunities and luxuries.

| tis the season |

one of my best friends, cheryl, got married this last weekend! she is the most kind and most genuine person i have ever met. she truly wants the best for everyone and has helped me through many life trials! what's funny is last year at this time, we both would have never imagined we would both be engaged and married by summer 2015.

i am so happy for her and jordan. they got married in the draper temple and it was perfect! she had a million bridesmaids (okay, 16). i mean, you kind of have to when you are one of nine girls! my favorite part? after the temple another bridesmaid, laura, and i went to the gas station to get a fountain diet coke. we show up and the entire howard family was there getting their diet cokes too! it was classic.

| s p r i n g |

spring activities included:

last minute biking trip to boise

gillian turning the big 3-0

some "bunny" coming for easter

spring break in st. george

hiking angel's landing 

kylie and courtney's dance recital 

{ oh and kylie is now 12. whhaaa? }

third row jazz tickets and making our own kiss cam

breck getting pneumonia on our apt hunting trip in seattle 

mani/pedi's with all the girls 

getting stuck in the denver airport with my nieces