Fall 2012 and then some

Cecilia: Holy goodness time flies!!  Even though Brandon and I haven't been in school, we've been extremely busy.  The beginning of October, I left my job at University Food Services and started another job at Macy's in the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls.  Brandon got 2 jobs- one at Opinionology (a call research center) and the other at Subway. He enjoys his Subway job very much.  Opinionology has since closed their doors so Subway is the only job for him until school starts (which is a full time job in and of itself) and then he will have both school and Subway.  I left my job at Macy's because the commute was horrid on gas and I wasn't bringing home much of a paycheck.

Brandon: Not to mention you didn't like driving home in the dark, especially in the winter time.  Icy roads don't make for a good drive.

Cecilia: This is true.  As it was, Brandon got a call from his parents a week and a half before Thanksgiving saying that his dad needed help at Welenco (seeing as this is the absolute busiest time of the year for them). After working things out with our employers, we made our way towards Lewiston for a few weeks a couple days after the phone call.

We had a pretty good time in Lewiston. I got to get to know his family a lot better and he was able to get twice as many hours of work than his other two jobs combined.  We went to a couple movies with his grandparents, sisters, and other members of the family.  One Saturday, Brandon and I took Emma to the duck pond to feed the ducks.  While we were there, there were lots of Canadian geese on the other side of the pond. So, naturally, Brandon taught Emma how to chase the geese and ducks "properly".  It was so cute to see the two of them running after the birds- Emma up on Brandon's shoulders flapping hers arms and Brandon yelling "KA-KAAAWWW!!" in their efforts to scatter the birds.

Brandon and I were able to go down and see the lights at Locomotive Park around the one year mark of us being together.  Instead of playing in the igloos, dancing with the penguins, and "eating" the basket of apples- we posed with the gingerbread men and once again- Brandon wanted to "eat" something.

Since Rexburg is a college town, it is hard to A) find a local job and B) get enough hours that you can support a family.  However, we have been lucky in both areas.  I was able to get a job at a local credit repair call center called Progrexion. I start that job on the 14th of January.  I was also able to acquire a temporary full time job working for BYU-I Custodial cleaning on-campus housing before the Winter semester starts.  I love this job-not only am I learning really good cleaning skills for a nice deep clean, but I'm also enjoying being around my coworkers.  A good portion of them are really nice and are respectful- as is my team lead.  A lot of people have resigned at Subway because of the Christmas break and the new semester coming up, so Brandon has been able to get more hours that way.

This year has been a wild one and has gone pretty fast in hindsight.  Christmas will be different than what Brandon and I are used to because we're just starting our own family traditions.  We are excited to do so, but that doesn't stop us from missing our families around this time of year.  We love you all!

Wedding and Utah Reception

Cecilia: Brandon and I headed down to Utah a few days before the wedding so we could get everything we needed (marriage license, clothes, food for the honeymoon, etc.) and spend time with my half of the family.  Before we knew it, it was August 14th and we were headed to Salt Lake City for an endowment session.  After we were done, we ate lunch and did some shopping.  By the time we got back to my mom and sister's apartment in Orem, I was wiped out (not to mention getting a wee bit nervous for the next morning).

Brandon: Yup.

Cecilia: Anyways, after Brandon left to stay with his family in Lehi, I pretty much went straight to bed...only to be up for another hour and a half because I couldn't sleep.

Brandon: My Aunt Shelly and her family came to visit my family in our hotel room so it's not like I could sleep either.

Cecilia: True.  After a whole night of tossing and turning (resulting in about 3 hours of sleep TOTAL), it was time to get up and go get hitched.  I was jittery and the tears started coming before I even left the apartment. I was missing my oldest sister and niece who were unable to make it due to circumstances beyond our control.  Mom and I (along with my dress, hoops, and veil) piled into Papa Gerber's car and we were off! Sabina, Robert, Linda and George were right behind us with my bouquet and the "fix-it kit" that is every bride and mother-of-the-bride's best friend on this grand occasion.

Brandon: In the meantime, I got dressed, Dad got dressed, and we drove over in the little red pickup. That's all.

Cecilia: Typical guys. In my fear of being late for my own wedding, we ended up getting there about 10 minutes early-including going through road construction.  When we got there I was a little nervous about Brandon NOT showing up...or being late.  However, he and his dad were right on time and the wedding was  beyond perfect.

Afterwards, we got LOTS of pictures taken. (Now I kind of know how a celebrity feels with all the cameras and flashes going off).  Here are some of our favorites:

coming out of the temple- absolutely excited

super long train

Huffakers and Gerbers

5 generation shot- pearls were Great-Great Grandma's and both  Mom
and Nana wore the hoops on their wedding days.

3 generation shot :)

After 6 very LONG months of being engaged- we were finally married! Later that evening we had a reception that my great aunts put together.  Here are some pics from that-

table center pieces- each table had two pictures of
Brandon and I

before we cut the cake

close up of our rings

cutting the cake

he gave me a face full

and I got him back

end result of our cake battle

 After we cut the cake, ate food, and visited with family and friends- we were ready to go to our hotel room and sleep since we were planning on leaving very early in the morning to get to our honeymoon place- Glacier National Park.  We had quite a long drive ahead of us and where as we only had 6 hours of sleep between the two of us for that day-we wanted to sleep.

However- some of the members of our families decided to do this to our truck-

Needless to say- when I saw this up close I literally started crying.  Neither Brandon or I were very happy about it because like I said- we were extremely tired and our feet were hurting from being on them a majority of the day.  It took us about an hour and a half to clean the truck and get it to where we could actually see out of it.  The extent of the damage was this- what you see in the pics PLUS petroleum jelly on the door handles AND the gas tank handle (that one we didn't find out until the next morning).  Looking back on it, we kind of laugh and I admit that it was pretty ingenious.  However, we didn't find it funny then and there. And we can promise that our siblings will be getting the same if not a more intense treatment when THEY get married.

We got to our hotel safely thanks to our friends Sarah and Daniel Woolston who graciously helped us get there and take our wedding gifts to Rexburg so we wouldn't have to take them camping with us.  Then we ended up going to Orem and getting our food stuffs for the honeymoon.  We said bye to my mom, brother, and sister.  Then we were back on the road to our hotel. Overall, we were just excited and grateful that we were finally married after 6 long months of being engaged.

WHA-BAM!

Brandon: Time needs to freeze sometimes in order for everything to be accomplished. Instead it keeps on moving and as such it never leaves enough for everything to be accomplished. Blogging included.

Cecilia and I have been very busy. We finished the spring semester of school then we were in Lewiston for a a couple of weeks before heading down to Utah. Then all of a sudden we're married and off on a honeymoon. Next thing we know we're back in Lewiston packing up things and heading out on the open road for Rexburg. That's pretty much our lives in a nutshell since our last post.

Cecilia: We headed out onto the open road towards Rexburg on Labor Day. Miles and miles of windy road, heavy/dense smoke, and nine hours later- we were in Rexburg.  We started to move into our new apartment that evening and so far haven't completed the move in.

Not only have we been moving our things in, but also been on the lookout for full time jobs since neither of us are in school this semester.  We got some paperwork done with the school and now Brandon is on the Winter/Spring track as well.  Which means we have the holidays off from school!! Hopefully that means that we'll be able to finaggle with work schedules in a way so we are able to travel to families for the holidays.

In our efforts to find these full time jobs, some have looked very promising so we're hoping that things will work out the we want them to. However, we both know that things will work out the way they NEED to.

Brandon: Yeah, and we might go into detail about these least couple months in a few later posts, but for now, please bear with us as we are in this hectic stage of life right now.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Cecilia: In the most famous words (among students anyways) from our beloved President Clark: "It's another great day at BYU-Idaho."  Well....for the most part.  Finals have been ridiculous for Brandon and I.  Our last finals on campus were today (thankfully). However, I still have a paper to write for one of my history classes. So I'm not quite done yet, but Brandon is (lucky guy).

This semester, Brandon and I both took a social dance class.  We learned (or re-learned) foxtrot, two-step swing, waltz, and cha cha.  We have two finals for this class- the class competition, and the social formal.  The competition was last Tuesday in the evening and we competed in waltz and cha cha.  We were competing against all the other students in the 180 social dance class (that's about 250-300 other students).  We made it to the quarter-finals for cha cha and we made it to the semi-finals for waltz.  It was a little disappointing that we didn't make it to the finals but at the same time we were grateful because of our homework load for the next day.  The social formal was last Thursday.  We were in the swing group.  It went really well, however, we were told that there were no lifts or flips allowed.  Right before we performed, we were told that we needed to give some groups more space because they had lifts and flips (grrr).


Brandon: Don't forget that you're not even supposed to to lifts or flips at BYU-I unless you're in a dancing class/crew and sign a nice little waiver that says that you won't hold the school liable for any injuries sustained.

Cecilia: Yeah, yeah... Most of our classes have already ended so that will make these next couple of days very nice.  Now we have more time to move our things into a different storage unit, do our white glove cleaning, and get packed and ready to go back to Lewiston for a couple weeks before the wedding.

Brandon: OH BABY!!!

We Haven't Forgotten Who Reads Our Blog

Brandon: So despite recent inactivity on our blog... we just want to say that we haven't forgotten you all. It/s been quite a busy life in trying to keep up with school demands. Both Cecilia and I are taking 17 credits this semester and as such, most of our time is spent doing homework. Oh there is the occasional freetime, but most of the time when we talk about updating the blog, we just don't know what to talk about.

Cecilia: Well we do know what to talk about, we just don't get around to it.

Brandon: Ok, so maybe we do have some ideas about what to talk about, but we just haven't done the typing required to do so.

On the other hand, school is going fairly well. We have about 6 weeks of school left! You can sure feel it in the atmosphere - everyone is ready to be done with the semester. I must say that Cecilia is really looking forward to school getting out. She can't wait for August 15th.

Cecilia: It's 5 weeks and you can't wait for August 15th either.

Brandon: I said 6 weeks because that's what someone said this morning in my FDAMF class and I said about 6 weeks. I'm not denying your August 15th claim.

In other news.... we'll be bringing you more later.

Brandon's Family

Cecilia: As I have mentioned before, I didn't really know Brandon's family when we started dating.  I knew that his parents were the stake DJ's for the dances, Cameron was in band, and that Alyssa was involved in sports.  I didn't really know that there were two younger siblings after Alyssa.

So, naturally, when I went would go over to his house, I would feel a little intimidated.  I was completely out of my comfort zone and so I clammed up.

Brandon: You were just fine, other than you were unusually quiet.

Cecilia: Yes, that is what I meant by I clammed up.  I was in unfamiliar territory. Anyways here's my point of view on his family:

From what I've seen of his dad, Todd is very much a business man and handyman.  He owns his own stove and grill store.  I hear he's amazing at the grill.  He also cares a lot about his family.  That makes me smile really big ^_^

Marilyn is a homemaker and she bakes and cooks some really good stuff.  One of my favorites is the poppy seed bread with orange glaze.  Brandon and I playfully fought over who got the glaze that dripped onto the pan.  She also plays the piano and teaches seminary.

I mainly associated with Cameron because we were in band together throughout junior high and high school.  I was a year ahead of him.  I thought he was a little weird but cool for an underclassman.

Brandon: Wait, you actually thought he was cool... but weird... Glad to know I'm not the only one.

Cecilia: Yes, Yes I did.

Anyways, I mainly saw Alyssa at Church activities: stake dances, stake Girl's Camps, etc.  After I graduated high school, I wasn't able to go to the church activities mentioned above, so I didn't really see Alyssa around until Brandon and I started dating.  Holy goodness Batman!  She was really tall and absolutely pretty. I do remember one time that Emma wanted Alyssa to do the "pink man dance" with her on the Wii and Alyssa humored Emma and danced it with her. That made me smile :)

Darcie is really cool :)  I've only interacted with her a couple times.  Most of the time that I was over at Brandon's place, she was doing homework or was with friends.  But the times when we were both at the house, I learned that she plays piano and plays with Emma.  She and Alyssa both have a really great sense of style.  There was one time that Brandon and I were playing Just Dance on the Wii and he got Darcie and I to have a dance off.  That was really fun :)  It's probably one of the best Wii games out there in my opinion.

Brandon: You may think it's one of the best Wii games out there, but I'm here to tell you, it hates people, particularly me.

Cecilia: Only because you don't get into it babe :)

Brandon: Oh I get into it, but it won't accept my amazing dance skills.

Cecilia: Well I guess we'll just need to play it more so it gets used to you're amazing dance skills. Anyways-

Emma- She's 3 years old. Let's just say that she LOVES anything princess and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Emma and I had a Princess Tea Party in December.  We got dressed up in our princess dresses and had hot cocoa with Chocolate Gold Fish. Brandon was a good sport and got dressed up in his prince clothes and participated.

All in all, Brandon's family is really great and talented.  I can't wait to get to know them better and become a part of their family.

Classic Fun

Brandon: For those of you who don't know me very well, I like to play games. Board games, card games, group games, and, of course, video games. One video game series that has always been a favorite of mine is The Legend of Zelda games.

I remember playing the original Zelda game when I was really young. My dad had a N.E.S. (Nintendo Entertainment System) and had the game. I remember watching him play the game and go through the dungeons. Eventually I started playing the game and I got hooked.

The next Zelda game my family owned was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64. I never completed the game for years, mainly because there was a creature in the game that I did not like. However, I still loved to play the game and had a blast with it. Since these first two games, I have been ecstatic about the series.

To help illustrate my point, I have played every Zelda game except 2. Another point is I had to get the newest game in the series The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

After being with Cecilia for a while, I asked her about games... particularly video games. Cecilia has never played video games much, so I wasn't too surprised when she said she hadn't. This needed to change in regards to Zelda.

Cecilia: I prefer video games like Wii sports, Rock Band, Call of Duty Black Ops: Zombies, Plants vs. Zombies, Age of Empires, and Angry Birds.

Brandon: So, after writing an essay for my English 101, which happened to be on Zelda games, I decided to give Cecilia a little taste of Zelda. I downloaded an emulator for my laptop and got the original Zelda game to play. I went over to her apartment and sat down and started playing. Naturally intrigued on what I was doing, she came over to investigate.

Cecilia: Actually we were both sitting in the chair and you were like "Here. Play."  I was like "Ok. I'll try it."

Brandon: Well, I thought that's how it went...Anyway, she kinda snickered at me because she knew I loved these games and wanted her to try. So she took me up on the offer and I gave a shot.

HOLY SALT LICK BATMAN!

I had know idea what I did. She was more than hooked. She would only allow me to give her directions. I was basically not allowed to touch my laptop so that she could play and figure it out. I don't remember how long she played, but it was for a while. I don't even remember what I did to get her off.

Cecilia: I played for about an hour and a half.  You didn't do anything to get me off.  I decided to be done because we'd both been on the computer for awhile and the music was starting to get annoying on top of Caroline playing her Katamari game on the TV. So that's when I decided to get us all together for a board game.

Brandon: UGH! Katamari! ... I'm glad she liked the game, but I think I will have to be a little more cautious.

Cecilia: I wanna play it now.....

Brandon: Homework first, then Zelda.

Cecilia: Looks like Zelda will have to wait until break then...

We're off to see the wizard...

Brandon: Cecilia and I have this thing where sometimes when we're walking, we break out into into song and start skipping. If you couldn't tell by the title it's the wizard of oz song.

We'll break into song most anywhere. The sidewalk is the best place for it. One of our first times, if not the first time, was in a church parking lot. I think we were taking out the trash.

Cecilia: It was right after Cody Glad gave you the candles from the LCSC Cross Country fundraiser.  And I was wearing my dance shoes because I could :)  You forgot to mention that we skipped AROUND the church building and through the parking lot to get to the Lone Ranger.

Brandon: Oh that's right.

Another time I can remember was when we were walking somewhere in Rexburg. We skipped right past a movie theater and I couldn't tell what the people inside were thinking. However, a car pulled in to a parking space shortly before we reached it and you could see the lady that was driving and she had a big grin on her face.

Cecilia: We were walking to the Madison County Library so I could inquire about a job.  We also had our backpacks on so those were bouncing up and down on our backs...well...my back, your side since you have a side bag.

Brandon: I forgot we had our bags with us...

Cecilia: The most recent time was last Monday when we were coming back from Walmart and C-A-L's Ranch Store.  We each had a couple bags in our hands and we started skipping at the laundromat and we almost made it to the stop light but I got tired.

Brandon: It's really fun and you should try it sometime. Not only does it put a smile on your face to sing and skip, but it put's a smile on other's faces as well.

Cecilia: Absolutely :)

February 11th, 2012

Cecilia: So I bet some of you are wondering as to why February 11th is mentioned specifically.  Well that is because it's the day that Brandon proposed to me :)  So sit back, relax, maybe even pop some popcorn because here comes a pretty good story.

Our story begins a couple weeks before the 11th.  I had seen an ad on the school website about a Valentine's Formal that the school was putting on. I showed it to Brandon and he asked me if I would like to go. I said yes. I hadn't been to many formals in high school and I LOVE dressing up all fancy like so I was really excited.

I told my roommates about it and they were excited as well. They were offering to help me with my hair and my makeup and offered to take LOTS of pictures before I could even ask them myself. So we were a bunch of excited squealing girls (very unlike ourselves).

Brandon: Very unlike yourselves? Not true, maybe not all the time, but there have been other times since and I think even before then where you have been very squealy.

Cecilia: Not as squealy as when I told them. This was MAJOR squeal-age. I think I lost some hearing due to it. Anyways-

I brought down two of my prom dresses- a sky blue one and a pastel yellow one.  I was having trouble deciding on which one to wear.  I didn't have to do any adjusting to my blue one but I really wanted to wear my yellow one. One of my roommates let me borrow a pair of her shoes and a jacket so I could wear the yellow one. So I decided that I was going to wear my yellow dress. The only thing left to do was finding a tie that would match the dress at a decent price.  Brandon and I found one that matched perfectly.  So everything was set for the big day.

It was the morning of the 11th.  Brandon and I had breakfast outside of his apartment (outside because we can't go into each other's apartments until 12pm).  We talked for a little bit about possible temples to get married in, what we were going to do after we were married, etc. No, we weren't engaged yet but we knew it was going to happen.  After breakfast, I went back to my apartment and bummed around. I did a little bit of homework, cleaned up a little, watched a movie, did some laundry, etc.

Around 2pm, my roommates-Caroline, Cheyenne, and Rachelle-helped me get ready.  Caroline did my hair in pin curls.  Once those were in and setting, Rachelle did my make up while Caroline and Cheyenne got the living room all set up for a "candlelit" dinner.  Here's the end result:

They had turned on some romantic feeling music so we could listen to it while we ate.

Once my make up was done, Caroline came back and finished my hair. Both of these processes took longer than I had anticipated. At this point, Brandon was out in the living room waiting for me.  I felt bad because I was 30 minutes behind schedule.

After my hair and make up had been completed, my roommate Cheyenne helped me into my dress so I wouldn't mess up my hair too badly.  I was finally ready.

Before I walked out into the living room, Caroline went out in front of me and said (in her big theater voice) "ANNOUNCING THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL EVER- CECILIA GERBER." I was kinda blushing but you couldn't really tell what with all the make up that was on my face (most of it tinted foundation so the flash from the cameras wouldn't white me out against my pale yellow dress).

Brandon: I have to add my two cents. First of all, I arrived and waited patiently for Cecilia to finish getting ready. In the meantime, Caroline, who had conspired with me, had told the rest of Cecilia's roommates my plans for the evening. So when I got there, I had this bulge in my pocket that I asked for assistance to conceal. Caroline was able to hear us conversing about the "precious" and had to come out to tell us to be quiet. Luckily Cecilia didn't hear a word of it. Everyone was excited, but Cecilia had no idea why ALL of her roommates wanted to go along to the picture-taking.

Cecilia: Yeah, I was completely oblivious as to what was happening except for the fact that I was going to a formal looking amazing and I had a very handsome date to go with.

Anyways, so as I walked out into the living room after Caroline announced me, I looked at Brandon (who was very fuzzy because I wasn't wearing my glasses for the evening).  He didn't really say anything and had a small smile playing around his lips.  So I didn't know what to think about how I looked to him.  He looked so handsome in his suit and with the tie that we had found.

Brandon: And you looked absolutely, stunningly lovely.

Cecilia: That's what you've said :)  We sat down to dinner, which was spaghetti and salad.  Once dinner was done, we put on the boutonniere and corsage that I had made for the two of us the night before.  Here's what we looked like-

Once those were on and the cameras were warmed up, Caroline, Cheyenne, Brandon and I headed to the temple to get some pictures taken.  Here are some of my favorites out of MANY-

These were taken on the backside of the temple. It was starting to get dark and so I suggested that we go to Smith Park and get some pictures in the gazebo. Brandon offered his arm to me and we walked up the stairs together.

Brandon: Now remember, I conspired with Cecilia's roommates and she had no idea. There was no box in my pocket. I gave it to Cheyenne to hold on to until I was ready. I couldn't have Cecilia bumping into me and feeling a box. So when we started up the stairs, I held out my hand, ever so subtly behind me. Cheyenne slipped it into my hand and up the stairs we went.

Cecilia: Here are two pictures that prove this point-

We got to the side of the temple by some sitting benches when Brandon stopped me.  He said "I love you", gave me a kiss and BAM-went down on one knee.  

I was speechless.  He pulled out the ring and I stopped breathing.  I just stood there with my mouth hanging open so any size of bug could have flown in there and fit.  He asked me to marry him and this is what went on in my head- "This is really happening. He just asked you a question. Answer.  Breathe.  But don't hyperventilate."  So as a result of my brain almost shorting out, I answered "yes" but it came out very squeaky and in the form of a question. *facepalm*  I had imagined my response/reaction to be a little more graceful and a little more me but seeing as it took me completely by surprise (since he had me believing he wasn't going to propose until the end of the month) it wasn't so graceful.

After all that excitement we headed to Smith Park to take a couple more pictures in the gazebo.  These are my two favorites-

After all the pictures were taken, we went back to my apartment, had rootbeer floats, and I made a couple phone calls to family since we had a little bit of time to kill before the dance actually started.  We headed to the dance around 8:15 as a newly engaged couple.  We both had lots of fun at the dance.  We left around 10:30 (the dance ended at 11pm), went back to my apartment and watched a little bit of a movie before curfew.

And that concludes our story of how Brandon proposed :)