Christmas in Paris

We spent an incredible week in Paris for our honeymoon. It was a very fun adventure for us. Between not having our luggage for nearly the whole week, finding our way around Paris on foot, trying to communicate in a country that speaks a language we don't understand, and discovering many very neat little places , it was definitely a memorable and exciting trip. One thing is for sure, we are very good at saying "Do you speak English?" in French. :D It was a great trip!
Some things that were particularly memorable:

• The bakery we got a sandwich at every morning and the very cheerful lady who worked there. It was so fun to eat our "breakfast" while listening to her very happy "Bonjour!"
• Our teeny tiny little hotel room
• Wearing the same clothes for a few days in a row and trying to find places to buy new shirts for Kent
• Crepes for dinner every night. Kent's favorite was the chocolate with banana, mine was ham and cheese
• The hilarious man who sold us the chocolates in his little chocolate shop
• How many stairs it takes to climb up the Eiffel Tower
• The "Christmas miracle" of Kent's suitcase finally showing up late on Christmas night
• Figuring out how to use our map and then being able to walk anywhere and know we would be able to get back to our hotel and
• The fun of a week in Paris being able to see all kinds of neat things and sleep in every single morning, without having to worry about homework or work or anything at all.

Our Wedding

We're married now! Our wedding day was absolutely perfect. It couldn't have been better in any way. We're so grateful for everyone who helped make it such a wonderful day. We are also grateful for the blessings of the beautiful temple marriage ceremony we recieved.

We should be getting the pictures our photographer took in a few weeks, so I'll have to let you see some of them when we get them. Kent's brother, Sam, also got some great shots that are on Heidi's blog. Everything was beautiful, and I can't wait to see what our photos look like!

Bring it on!

Well, here we are, only a week away!! It's pretty crazy right now trying to get all my stuff for finals week and school done and make sure everything is ready for the wedding. (My mom is the most amazing woman! All the things she's done for this wedding...whew.) I have so much to do I'm not sure how it is all going to come together in just a week. But one thing I know for sure is that Kent and I are definitely ready for the wedding. I'm so happy about this. I feel so much peace and joy right now. I have never been so happy about something before. I know that this is the right time, that Kent is the right person, and that we are going to be married in the right place, the Logan temple, and that Heavenly Father is pleased with us. Life is full of adventures, and this is going to be the biggest adventure so far!

Surprise shower

My roommate Jesika said she was going to take me out to lunch today. When we got to the restaurant, all of my roommates and friends were there waiting for us. It was a surprise wedding shower for me! So fun. We had a great time eating and I even got a few gifts.

AND, there's ten days left!!! WOW!

A place to live

We signed the lease for our new apartment today. There sure were a lot of papers to read and sign before we could get it. It is so relieving to know for certain that we have a place to live. And the inside of the apartments are really cute. I won't be able to get a picture of that, though, until we move in in January.
The inside of the "club house"

Another club house shot

The hot tub. Woo hoo!

Just Because

Just because there are 13 days left.

Thirteen reasons I'm excited:

1. Getting married. Wahoo!
2. Christmastime. I love the lights and the music and the tastes.
3. New adventures. They can be a little scary, but it's also exciting.
4. The end of the semester.
5. Finishing my massive final project for my Shakespeare class...Need I say more?
6. Only one more week of having to label everything I put in the fridge. I just can't wait to have my own kitchen where everything in it is for me to use!
   
7. Going through the Temple.
   
8. Traveling somewhere (Kent's not telling where until we get to the airport) as a wife.
9. Giving presents.
10. Having someone who always makes me laugh as my husband.
11. Decorating our own little apartment and making a home together.
12. Family and friends getting together to celebrate with us.
13. Starting a new part of my life.
    

It's December!

And that means we only have 17 days left. My visiting teachers made me a paper chain to count down the days. I can't believe how quickly the chain is getting shorter. It's almost here! I'm more excited to get married to Kent than I have ever been for anything else before.
Sometimes it seemed like we'd never be this close. But here we are! Hooray!

The Internship

We'll be starting in Texas on June 2 and go until the end of August when school starts up again. That's all we know right now until Kent gets another phone call in two weeks. I'm so excited, and very glad that we get to go. It will be a great opportunity for us. And lots of fun to be somewhere new for a while. We are very happy about this.

And the wedding countdown: 3 weeks from today!

We're going to Texas!! Kent got the internship. Wahoo! More information is coming...

Monday

Today has definitely been a Monday. To each class I've been to so far there has been something due that I forgot about or wasn't prepared for. I found out I only got a C on my test last week that I had finished feeling really good about. We took a quiz in one class and I only got 4 out of 10. Hm. I haven't unpacked anything yet, and I feel like I need to sleep another day or two. :D

BUT, it is a good day because it is the start of the last three weeks until we are married!!! We got a storage unit today to put some of our stuff in at the end of the semester. It is coming so soon. I'm so excited! And it was so good to have Thanksgiving break to get so much wedding stuff done. We're pretty much ready to go now. It will be here before I know it; it's so very close now!!!

Oh, and Kent has been playing phone tag with the guys from the internship in San Antonio for the past few days, so hopefully he'll catch them soon so we can find out whether he got it or not.

So, here's to the hardest Monday of the year and the excitement of starting the end!!

Black Friday

Until this year I had never been to the day-after-Thanksgiving sales. My parents usually go for a good deal on a toy for Christmas or something, but I had always opted to sleep in. This year, though, I had a bunch of stuff I had to buy for our wedding, and so I went along. We woke up at 2:30 a.m. and then split off to the different stores. Josh went to Al's to get something I needed (what a good brother!), my dad went to Staples, and my mom and I went to Shopko. It was crazy! But also kind of exciting. Some people get really serious about their good deals! We like to get stuff, but we're not mean about it.

We were trying to get a "roboreptile" toy for my brothers and some of my cousins, so my mom directed me to "race to the toys, and grab three roboreptiles. Apparently every other person in line had the same instructions. So as soon as the doors opened it was a race to the back, people knocking over other displays, shoving past each other, pulling pajamas and coats off the racks as they ran past. Exciting! :D Within half a minute (I'm not exaggerating!) all of the roboreptiles were gone and I had to drag my stash back behind the shoe aisle so no one would steal them from me. Anyway, we had a very successful morning altogether, though, and between the four of us we made it to Al's, Shopko, Staples, Kings, Magical Moon Toys, Bath and Body Works, and Home Depot. And then we came back and went to bed again at 8:30 a.m. Fun stuff!

We had a very good Thanksgiving with all our family. It was very, very nice. I can't believe how fast this week of break from school has gone. I haven't even had any time to just sit and relax yet! I've been just as busy, if not even busier, than I am at school. But it has still been refreshing to do something different and spend time with family.

Oh, and Kent won $50 at Costco yesterday because he ate a total of 6 lbs of food!! What a crazy guy. After finishing his last plate and weighing in for the contest he was sick. He's very motivated. I would not throw up just for $50.

One month from today!!!! Hooray!

Wedding Shower

One of my friends and her mom threw me a wedding shower yesterday. It was really nice, and fun to see people from the wards I've been in. We had hot chocolate and doughnuts for the refreshments, and it was more of an open house type shower, with people just coming and going. I had my Blurb book I made for people to sign and I set up pictures and my wedding dress for everyone to look at. It was great, and we got a ton of great presents! Kent said that Teresa would be wanting to see what I got, so here are some pictures for everyone!

Oh, and we went out yesterday and bought a beautiful painting of the Savior to hang up in our apartment. We got it from Seagull Book. It is a Greg Olsen painting called "Gentle Healer" and we got a very large one with a beautiful black frame and a light green mat around it. I love it! I would take a picture of that, too, but it's in bubble wrap and wouldn't show up very well.

My mom and my sister etched "Andersen" into these casserole dishes for us.

My mom made this afgan for us to use.

One of my old Young Women's leaders gave us the most creative gift--a game to play while we eat popcorn, then we can brush our teeth and use the toothbrush holder and then we can read a bedtime story to each other.

Christmas Tree

We were put to work hanging the lighted garland above the cupboards.



It is still before Thanksgiving, and we put up the Wood Family Christmas tree. We have never done it this early before, but since Kent is here now, we decided to go for it!

Our Christmas tree traditions include: putting up the tree, having every person help put the decorations on it, having eggnog to celebrate, dad reading "Mr. Wilaby's Christmas Tree" using all his fun voices and letting us finish the sentences for him, getting matching pajamas my mom makes, then setting up sleeping bags and everyone sleeping in the living room so we can look at the lights. It was so fun to do it and especially to have Kent here! He fits right in with our family it just feels so good to have him here. My little brother, Nathan, pulled me aside yesterday and said, "Becca, did you know that Kent is my brother?" "Really?" "Yes, he's part of our family now." The Christmas music, the lights, the decorations, my family all together and Kent with me. It was one of the best nights ever. I love Christmas!
My dad always "lifts" one of us up high enough to reach the top and put the bow on. We take turns each year, and since Kent has never had a turn, it was his turn this time.Eggnog mustache. Yum!



Oh, and Dan, we tried to take pictures of the Christmasmobile but Christmas lights don't show up very well with my camera. Sorry!

To Thanksgiving!

It's time for Thanksgiving break! Wahoney! I'm so glad. It has been a very, very stressful week. The kind of stress that wakes you up at 4 a.m. and doesn't let you go back to sleep. But I just have one more class today and then we're off!! We'll spend a few days together at my house and then Kent is flying back home to be with his family for Thanksgiving. And we've got a ton of things to do while we are home...like getting a marriage license (I can't believe it is really happening!), address our announcements, have a wedding shower, pay for flowers and other last minute details, and get everything ready for the big day in a few weeks. And we're going to have some fun, too: tonight we're doing our Christmas tree at my house along with the accompanying traditions, and we'll probably take my siblings out for ice cream again, etc. I'll take pictures and let you know what we get done!

Acts of service

Last night a bunch of my roommates from last year got together and we had a "girl's night." It was a blast! I love those girls so much. We had a lot of fun doing some of the things we always enjoyed doing last year when we lived together. I'm so grateful to have friends who love me.

I'm looking for suggestions about what I can do for some of my roommates that I'm trying to show more love towards. Any ideas of little acts of service I can do for them? Kent's suggestion was to polish their shoes like he would do for his mission companions in the MTC. I don't think that would work as well for my roommates...

Today I'm grateful for Christmas lights (Kent put some up in his car! "I'm spreading Christmas joy throughout Rexburg!"), good friends and a fun night, going home for Thanksgiving in five days, and for getting married in 36 days!!

The Interview

Well, I talked to Kent while he's waiting in the airport and he said the interview went really well. Each interview was about 45 minutes long and he just talked with the managers. They just asked him questions about his personality and behavior, etc. He said it seemed like they were just trying to get to know him a little more. That is great, because Kent is so good at making people feel comfortable and in having his personality shine through when he's talking to someone personally. He said he feels really good about it. He also got more information about where he'd be working, the department, his salary, and the situation as far as them helping us find an apartment, paying for housing, etc. We find out in about 2 weeks if he gets the internship. We would go in the summer, probably leave sometime in the middle or end of April and stay until August, so we'd have lots of time to be there and work. Now that the interview is over we've done everything we can; all we can do is wait.

Speaking of waiting, today is the 6 weeks mark!!! For some reason, six weeks feels way less than seven weeks did. It seems like now that we've reached six weeks away, we can actually see that it really is going to happen! We're getting married... Wahoo!

San Antonio!

Early this morning I drove Kent to the Idaho Falls airport and he's now on his way to San Antonio, Texas. Today he's going to be shown around the USAA company and then tomorrow afternoon he has his official interview. We are really hoping we get this internship--it would be such a fantastic opportunity for us to save up a good chunk of money, live somewhere on our own for a while, see somewhere new, etc. Kent says he's not very nervous for the interview, so it's a good thing he's doing it and not me--I was up nearly all night worrying about it. :D But then, I am really good at worrying. I might get an award for my talent someday...

Anyway, I know Kent isn't going to take any pictures of San Antonio while he's there, so I found a few on the internet, and it looks like a gorgeous place!! It would be so fun to live there for a while, and have some fun things to do; to get out of Rexburg for a few months would be great.


Well, we're praying hard for this. Hopefully it all works out! Last night Kent and I figured out our schedules for next semester--our classes and the hours we will be working, and we also made our budget. We're going to be just fine as far as money is concerned, so even if we aren't supposed to get this internship we'll be all right--the Lord is going to take care of us.

We won't find out for a few more weeks if Kent gets the position, but I'll update when I find out how the interview and everything went!

Less than 50!

Wahoo! On Monday we passed the 50 day mark. That's amazing! It's coming so fast. We are so excited. So excited, in fact, that when our Family Home Evening group carved pumpkins for our activity, Kent and I carved ours with a Christmas tree and "Dec. 18" on it.
Kent working very hard on our pumpkin. That square in the back is the "Back door" that Kent decided would be better than a lid. We had to make it a little bigger in the end so we could reach far enough inside to get all the yucky stuff cleaned out.

All right, only 49 days to go...

Good Stuff

Tonight we went to the William Joseph concert. It was really, really good. Kent even really enjoyed it, and piano isn't usually his thing. I absolutely loved it, but I have always loved classical music. William Joseph was entertaining and incredibly talented. I'm always happy to go to a concert where I leave not exactly sure which song I liked best because all of them were equally impressive. The whole time I was just thinking "if only I could get my fingers to move that fast!" I went home last night to get some wedding stuff decided and taken care of, and I'm very glad I came back to Rexburg in time for the concert. It goes on the top ten list of events I've ever attended. Hm. I wonder what else makes my list. I'm going to try and list them. (Not in any particular order, just numbered in the order that I remember them.)

1. Wicked
2. Les Miserables
3. Blast!
4. William Joseph
5. Ryan Schupe

Well, maybe I'll have to think about it. I've been racking my brain and going through all the concerts, etc. that I've ever been to, and I can't decide which are my favorites. I'll have to go back and look through my journal. Sounds like a good Sunday activity.

And the rest is history...

I thought it would be fun for me to tell the story of how Kent and I met. We were talking about it last night to a few of our friends, and I realized how so many little things worked together to bring us together. Last winter semester, our ward did something called "Sweet Swap" where two apartments would meet on Sunday nights for a dessert and to discuss the next week's Sunday School lesson.
When they came for Sweet Swap on January 21st, I noticed right off that Kent seemed to be a really nice guy. I sat in the seat next to him on the couch, but then I had to go get my scriptures and while I was gone, my roommate took my seat next to him! So when I got back, I was a little bossy and I made her move, because I wanted to share my scriptures with him. Then, during the lesson, Kent made a comment about the verses we were reading, and that really impressed me.
That night I was wearing pants that my roommate had given me. They are white with pink and tan stripes on them. I kind of think they look like pajamas. But Kent noticed them and thought they were really cool. And I wanted him to talk to me, but he thought I was cute and was too afraid to make eye contact with me. :D
My roommates dared him to prank our apartment. That night, after he had left, we were sitting in our living room and we could hear someone making shoveling noises outside. Kent had dragged snow up the stairs in boxes to stack it against our door. We were very impressed with the fact that he'd done all of this while we were all sitting right there in the living room.
On my way to my biology class that day, I saw Kent talking to someone in the hallway, and I was so brave and I went up and even touched his arm as I told him how great that prank was. I went to class, and a few minutes later he walked into the classroom. We had no idea we were in the same biology class. Then, the next day we had that class again, I sat next to him. And the rest is history.
I love Kent so very much. He is very faithful and his testimony is strong. He knows how to work, and he's very determined. He knows what is right, and he follows through with what he knows he should be doing. He has a way of making everyone feel so comfortable and at ease with him; he's very easy to trust and everyone knows right away that his intentions and friendliness are genuine. He adores children, and kids love him because they know that he really cares about them and understands them. He loves to have fun, and he keeps me from getting too serious or stressed about unimportant things. And he can always make me laugh. Oh I love him! I am a lucky girl.

I'm a "wuss"

As of Thursday we are officially past the two month mark. Wahoney! That's amazing. It really is going faster than I could have imagined. It will be Thanksgiving before we know it, and after that, we're pretty much there!

Last night we watched the movie Signs. Now I'm really not a scary movie person. Until this summer I'd had never seen anything scarier than the first Pirates of the Caribbean. (Kind of pathetic, I know.) I have always had a very active imagination, and I get scared really easily. But then Kent introduced me to Jurrasic Park this summer, and I really kind of enjoyed it. But I could definitely see why my mom never let me watch it as a child. (I literally jumped out of my seat at one point.) Anyway, on Thursday night we watched Signs. It wasn't that scary, really, it was kind of fun and I liked the movie. But then Kent dropped me off to go to bed pretty early-we had a temple appointment at 5 in the morning to do baptisms with a big group of people. So I went to bed at 9, but I didn't go to sleep until midnight. Yeah, I couldn't get the images of the aliens out of my head, especially the part where the hand grabs the little boy out of the coal chute. (At that part while we were watching the movie I jumped so bad that I was shaking for like 30 seconds!) And I didn't want to turn off my light, but then I realized that even if my light was on the aliens' skin changes colors and I wouldn't know the difference. And I was grateful that I had a glass of water on the desk right next to my bed. It's really pretty funny now, and I was laughing at myself too, but that didn't help me go to sleep... Yeah, Kent just told me that his family is going to say I'm a wuss. And I guess I am. :D Kent laughed at me in the morning when I told him about my night. He's such a nice guy.

Kent got an email yesterday about the second interview for the internship. He has to go to San Antonio on November 5th. That is a Monday, so he's going to have to miss school, which will be really hard, but this internship would be very good for us, so it will be worth it if he gets it. We're very excited about it all. We've talked about all of our different options for the coming years, and all of them look good. We are blessed with many opportunities ahead of us. It is going to be great, no matter what we end up doing.

To clarify

Just so everyone knows, in my first post I wasn't saying that I'm getting rid of the idea of a professional photographer for the wedding. I am really excited to get good, high quality, and professional pictures for our wedding day. I just don't think I'm going to try and reschedule my bridal pictures again because it's been such a pain and the weather has not been cooperating. I only need one or two really good bridal pictures, and we got a few nice ones with my brother taking them. But Chelsea (my photographer) is definitely still doing the wedding.
These are some of the pictures that Chelsea has done. She does a great job, and I'm really excited about it. Hey, 9 weeks from tomorrow!!

Guitars Unplugged

Last night Kent and I went to a concert called Guitars Unplugged. They have it every year, and it is a lot of fun. It's probably the biggest event of the semester. The Hart auditorium is always packed up to the ceiling. Students audition with their groups or on their own to perform in the concert. The only requirement for a group is that there has to be at least one guitar. And the music and lyrics have to be honor-code clean, of course.


On Friday, we went on a group date with some of my friends. We did a picture scavenger hunt. Each couple had to drive around Rexburg and take pictures of specific categories. Some of the things we had to get pictures of were: something from your childhood (me in a shopping cart), something seasonal (curly fries from Arbys--Kent's idea), something your mother wouldn't approve of (pretending to be eloping up at the Rexburg temple), and a BYU-Idaho tradition (falling on the ice on the stairs). It was really fun.


And, Kent and I have found an apartment!! We are going to go fill out an application tomorrow. It is so nice to have that decided! One of my coworkers is married and she was telling me about her apartment complex and then she offered to give Kent and me a tour of it, so we went and Chelsea and her husband told us everything there is to know about the place. It is about three years old, so it's still very nice and clean. The apartments don't have a lot of storage space, but they aren't as small as some we've looked at for the same price. But most of all, this apartment just seems to be the place we've been looking for. We've looked at so many places, it is nice to finally find one that feels right.

Good News!

Kent got the second interview for his internship in San Antonio. So at the end of this month he's flying to Texas for that interview and we'll find out two weeks later if he gets the intern position. It would be such a great opportunity for us, so hopefully we'll get it. It's nice to know, though, that even if we don't, the Lord will take care of us and that things will happen just the way they are supposed to. But for now, our path is leading to Texas!



Here's a picture of us on a hike to "polygamist cave."

Ten weeks left!

Kent and I are at the official ten week mark. Wow. It seems very unreal that we're actually getting married, and so soon! But it's true. In the meantime, life goes on as usual. Lots of school and homework, working too many hours a week, church callings, and trying to see each other at least a little bit in between all of that. It's going to be so nice when we finally have the same place we call home. We do a scripture study together each night and last night Kent told me that I say the same thing every night. "I wish our scriptures were in the same place!" I'm feeling like the next ten weeks are going to go faster than I had imagined, though, and soon our scriptures will be in the same place.

On Sunday I got all dressed up and had Josh take some "Bridal Pictures" for me because the rest of the weekend had been terrible weather and I didn't want to make my photographer work on Sunday. But they actually turned out very nice! I'm thinking that maybe I won't have my photographer do pictures after all and save the money for something else, like food for a few months... I would post some of the pictures here, but Kent isn't allowed to see them yet, so you'll all have to wait, too.