Our Wedding Video...two years late :)

When Parker and I got married, we debated getting a videographer to document our big day but instead thought it would be really cool and fun if we bought a bunch of flip vids and passed them around to our friends and family at the beginning of the two day celebration so they could get real footage of REAL moments! It was a great idea, but unfortunately didn't go as smoothly as planned. We totally forgot about getting the flip vids back and somehow lost track of pretty much all of them, haha. SAD, I KNOW. There's so many moving pieces in a wedding that it's easy to see how they weren't on the top of our heads. Anyways, the past almost two years we have thought that all footage was gone, but last weekend WE FOUND ONE HIDING AWAY AT MY FATHER IN LAW'S HOUSE! best. news. ever. I didn't know what to expect as this was only one of ten of the flip vids, but I literally was near tears when I watched all of the footage on this flip vid. My father in law's best friend, Ty Kattenhorn was in charge of this specific one and couldn't have done a better job at getting some good clips from our wedding festivities for us! (although you'll see in the video that he accidentally calls everyone my name....it's okay, we had just met hahaha)

ANYWAYS, I saw it and just wanted to compile a quick video with some of the highlights from our wedding day. I'm so thankful Ty went around and asked advice from some of the closest people in Parker and I's life, and captured the moments of us coming out of the temple and seeing all of our friends and family as a married couple for the first time.

It's crazy to think that this was already almost two years ago! Also, is it weird that I look at this and just think that we were babies? This was such an exciting time as we started the rest of our lives together. We have grown so much since that special day. And I thought I loved him then.......

IOWA

Growing up in Texas all my life, I still remember the day my parents told my sisters and I that we were moving to Iowa. I was a sophomore in high school and thought that my whole world was crashing down. I loved Texas and never imagined we would be moving. I had a lot of great friends, was on the high school dance team which I loved, and was happier than ever! I thought that moving to Iowa halfway through high school would mean that the next two years would be really lonely for me, and that I would be living in the middle of nowhere, where I didn't know anyone, and didn't have any interest in getting to know anybody. I specifically remember thinking to myself, "It's okay. I'll get through the school days, and go home and call my friends from Texas every night and it'll be fine. I already have the best friends in the world, I'm okay with not making any friends in Iowa. I don't even want new friends!" Boy, was I wrong!

Moving to Iowa in the middle of high school did more for me than I think I even give it credit for...

It taught me to rely on my Heavenly Father above all else, and that prayer can get you through just about anything.

It taught me that no matter where I go, I will always be able to find a family I belong to the second I walk into a church building with fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

It turned my family members into my best friends and some of my friends that I met into family.

It made me rely on my family more than ever and really cling to them. It also taught me that my family is the BEST and contains people who I didn't choose, but if I would've had the choice, would've been my first pick.

oh, and that your parents always know best.

It taught me to break out of my comfort zone and meet new people. (after getting over the first couple weeks of practically being mute at school and eating lunch in the bathroom stall, yes this happened)

It taught me that some of the strongest friendships are those separated by distance, and that distance doesn't have to scale down the intensity of a friendship or relationship.

Every wrong person for me helped me to understand what I wanted out of my future and who I wanted to spend it with.

I also think I owe moving to my being accepted into BYU for college. It helped me to re-focus myself academically and really buckle down the last couple years of high school to get my grades up and be where I wanted to be. (and I owe BYU to a ton of other amazing things that have happened in my life...like that guy up there)

It taught me that it doesn't matter where you are, but who you're with.

It also taught me how to endure winters. (a little too much, still bitter about this one -15 Iowa temperatures)

It introduced me to some of the most amazing people in the world who taught me a heck of a lot about life and friendship and how to be a good one.

It taught me to not take people or things for granted, and to always appreciate the people in your life, because you never know when they will be taken from you.

(a huge reason my family moved to Iowa was to be closer to my mom's family and help my Grandma take care of this guy. so glad we did.)

It taught me that corn fields aren't even that bad and are actually beautiful. And that it's okay if you live two hours away from the closest awesome mall. And that nights where there's nothing to do and nowhere to go actually end up being the best ones. And that there is NOTHING BETTER IN THE WORLD than driving down dusty back roads with the windows down listening to country music with your best friends in the middle of night. And that sunsets are worth stopping for and appreciating. And that your favorite job you've ever had might be working at a grocery store. And that if it starts raining at an outdoor concert, you stay and sing a little louder. It taught me that it's worth staying up until 3am even if you have work at 8am so that you don't cut a really good life talk short.

I am forever grateful to Iowa and the experiences I had there and people I met that have helped shape me into who I am. Although I haven't even lived in Iowa the past four years since I've been in school in Utah, it holds a special place in my heart and is forever one of the places that I will call home.

My parents just sold their house in Iowa and are now in the process of moving back to Texas. I am excited for them and their next journey in McKinney, Texas, but it is definitely bittersweet and I will miss going back home and visiting that awesome house on Fox Hollow Court in Marion, Iowa.

I'll love you forever, Iowa.

See ya soon, Texas!