Brad and Heather

Visit bradandheather.tumblr.com to see the stream of our lives pretty much as they are happening.  Great stuff.  A post or two now with more to come.

So a ton of you have probably noticed, but the pictures aren’t showing up on the last two posts!  We know why this is happening, and its totally WordPress’s fault! So happy reading and not looking at the pictures, we’ll see if we can get them reposted soon.

Ok so after all that happened I stopped off at my Uncle’s house again and chilled for a bit, well… I should say warmed up, cause it was soooo cold outside! Anyways. Then we ate a little snack and were off to the North Hampton House for the dinner!

This part was really wonderful as well. Before getting back into my dress, I decided to check out how they decorated the room we were going to be in. I was so ecstatic when I saw it! Just look!

I had to do some touch ups w/ Ashley’s help, where I switched to a green orchid for my hair. The blasted thing didn’t really want to go in, but as we already know, Ashley can do ANYTHING! Woot woot!

Then when Ashley was finally getting somewhere with that orchid, my mother was buttoning up the back of my dress.

Woot! The orchid is in place!

So all the while, there’s this ADORABLE baby sitting here in the room, so some pictures had to be taken!

After Ashley finished w/ my hair, she helped my Mom!

Here are some shots of me just posing and having fun.

Time to go downstairs!!!

Now for some more shots!

Heather asked to borrow our rings, we we allowed her to, we had no idea what she did with them until we saw this!

Look at all of those people!!

The food was Delicious! We had Chicken Marsala, raspberry lemonade, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, a roll… oh man I’m hungry!

It was time to cut the cake!! (Brad and I felt pretty clueless…)

So good! The top layer was Chocolate cake w/ a mint filling. sigh… and just because I know you’re dying to know, the second layer was carrot cake w/ a cream cheese filling, and the bottom layer was a marble cake with a chocolate mousse filling. Heaven I think. I have to admit that eating cake is one of the most flattering things anyone can do!!!

Ok, so I take that back. Well, while everyone was munching on their cake pieces, we decided to have a little program. This program started out with something we call Gift Baskets. This tradition started in my family when we discovered that it was a tradition in the family of my oldest brother’s wife’s. (Terrible wording, I know). We decided to keep it in our family and I’m sure glad we did. Here’s how it works. So the parents are in charge of coming up with items to put in a “basket” (something my family changed a bit is that we put it in something different each time, like a laundry bag etc.) that would help the groom survive the bride or vis versa. They also tell a little story along with it to help explain the item. It helps everyone in attendance to get to know the bride/groom in a fun way. My parents decided to do it a little differently this year and ask my siblings to choose something they would put in the basket and have them explain it to people. This meant a lot to me and made it even more fun!

First to go was Brandon. He told of how as a family it was never, “What are we going to do tonight?”, it was “What movie are we going to watch tonight?”. Our family loves movies. It’s just a fact. So far he has succeeded in coming up with a reason to supply every one of my siblings with the movie, High School Musical. He finally found an excuse to give it to me! His wife, Elena, added in there that I loved giving back massages, so a automatic back massager was added in there for Brad to use on me while watching movies. 😀 I cannot complain! Thank you so much!

Next was Ryan. He told the story of when I was very young we were at a pool, and I saw everyone else having a good time and decided to try it out for myself. I somehow escaped the eyes of those watching me and stepped into the pool. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to swim. So yes, I was drowning. I had my eyes wide open and saw, as he put it “…most handsome brother…” swimming towards me to save me! (I actually remember this story and seeing him coming at me). So in honor of this, he chose a pack of inflatable arm floaties. What a brother 🙂

So Tyler had to bring up the fact that of all the children in my family, the one thing that he and I had in common that the others didn’t, was the trouble-making we did. He explained that the punishment I received in my latter years at home, was washing the dishes. To help me out with that in my new home, he decided on an Industrial Strength Dish Scrubber, with two replacement brushes. We’ve used it up here in New York, and love it.

Holly’s turn!! Holly and I were especially fond of watching movies together. Once she left for college, I didn’t know what we were going to do! But wait! We found a way, that’s for sure. We decided to watch a movie we both had and be on the phone w/ each other at the same time. Or… if one of us didn’t have the movie… well, Skype was the way to go! I would turn on the movie, Skype holly and we’d watch it together. What a life. We loved Romances, so she picked Persuasion, you know, the one by Jane Austen. Watched it on the honeymoon. So good.

Ok, so my mom is hilarious. She decided that she and Holly would sing My bonnie lies over the ocean… with a twist. You see, when I was younger I asked my mom what a body line was. She didn’t really have any idea what I was talking about. So she asked me the context. I replied with, “You know, like, (start singing) My body line’s over the ocean, my body line’s over the sea, my body line’s over the ocean, so bring back my body to me…” she laughs and explains it to me. So there they go, singing, My Body Line’s Over the Ocean. Sigh…

Next is the story of the markers. When I was still young enough to be in a crib, I had somehow gotten out and was looking at my mom. She saw me and noticed that I had marker all over my face. Her first reaction was, “Oh how cute!” Then the panic sunk in and she thought…. “wait…. if it’s all over her face, then it must be all over the…. OH NO!” Sure enough… the walls of our new home were now decorated by a(3?) year old. My mom purchased one of those sets of clear markers that go with this paper that when you draw on it, color appears. Just to be safe. I’ve already had a lot of fun with it up here in New York. Thank you MomE!

This one was also a story of my younger years. So my friend Spencer and I were bored as our families talked, so I suggested we go downstairs to play. As my mom tells the story, her friend calls and informs her that her son’s hair looks like it has been cut. My mom checks up w/ me and sees that, yes indeed, mine was too. So my telling of the story is as follows: We got downstairs and I was trying to think of something fun to do that we hadn’t done before. Then it came to me! I knew where my mom had put the sewing scissors! I took them out and told Spencer to hold still and we could cut each others hair! Oh what fun we had. 🙂 Since it was very noticeable that Spencer had gotten more than a few hairs cut, my mom thought it best to give us some clippers so when I start cutting Brad’s hair, he will at least have a chance of looking presentable. 😀

Dad’s up now! Since he knew we’d be going to New York, he thought it would be good to get us a guide book for such a big and thriving city! (We have needed it here. It’s been awesome!!)

Now my dad pulled out some shoes. When we lived in Oklahoma I loved to wake up and see my dad off to work. He would start driving off and I would wave and sometimes go chasing after the car. This being a constant thing, he bought me some shoes, he himself chose for me. I plan on using them whenever I start chasing Brad as he goes of to work.

Brad’s parents are now up!! His mom came up with so many things!! They were great. 😀 This one here is she holding an almond. I believe that it had to do with a Jewish wedding tradition… I really have to ask her for all the details on these things! They were just so new to me- and soooo cool! It’s better to hear it in her words though… cause she is a woman who knows what she is talking about!

This is where she reads a letter for me and Bradley from her parents, (I think). They gave some great advice!

Ha, this is a book that she put in there as a joke. It was a book with 19 steps for wives to learn to be the perfect housewife. It is a good read. The Good Wife Guide-19 Rules for Keeping a Happy Husband.

I am actually not sure what this is, but I look forward to finding out!

Here is a jar that you can seal shut. It represents Brad and I being sealed together (I believe)

This is a really cute card. It represents birthdays at the Hall house. They get their favorite food and put a candles in it! Happy Birthdays!!

We got a $2 dollar bill to represent us two as being one.

A wedding album!! All of our memories will be put in here!

Dad Hall chose to put a sack lunch in the basket. Evidently, when Brad went to school, he hated sack lunches, I don’t remember the whole story to perfection, but I do remember that he ended up with them finding all of his sack lunches rotting in his locker. Gross. Haha.

After the gift baskets my dad announced that there were to be a couple of musical numbers. This is when I got up to go sing. Brad had kept begging me to sing at the dinner, but I told him no. So my singing was a total surprise to him. The song I chose was, “Grow Old with Me” by John Lennon. I love it and had shared it with Brad, but it was nice to be the one to get to sing the words to him. So here’s a shot of me singing while he sits on the stairs and listens.

This is a shot of him during the song… if you look close enough you can see that he is tearing up. I love him.

Next was a song by my dear friend Sarah Gunnerson (a previous roommate) with a GORGEOUS voice.

We decided to dance while Sar was singing. Here’s a shot of our first dance EVER. I made it a big deal that we not dance together until our wedding day. So this was a great thing!

After the dance and song, Brad stepped up to the mic and said some great words. He is an amazing speaker. He is my world!

After changing into my getaway clothes, we went outside to find this! Brad’s roommates had had some fun… at our expense.

There were some balloons in the car and people decided to have some fun and POP them.

And we finally made it into the car, with all of our luggage. So much luggage… sigh…

I started to panic a little bit about this point. See if you can tell…

The last shot!!! Oh and check out Mom Halls’ cake balancing skills!! That takes talent! 😀

So we took the car to the car wash and realized the machine didn’t take fives… well no, it takes them, just doesn’t give them back. So we then had to use 3 more dollars for a wash. Next on the agenda was getting to Park City. But wait! Someone (I will not name who, but it wasn’t me) forgot to print out directions. So I give our cousin (I can say that now) Trever Pierce a call and get some details. Phew, got that done! Well, unfortunately as we are approaching our destination, we hear some sirens and realize that yes, we are in fact being pulled over, it was not a dream. Next thing I know there’s a police officer at my window. I panic and ask Brad what I should do. He tells me to roll it down. Oh. So I did and he asks Brad if he knows why he was pulled over. Brad says no but suggests that maybe he was speeding. The officer admitted that he didn’t know about this speeding, but that a headlight was out. So Brad explains that his wallet is in his other pants since he had had so many changes that day. The officer allows him to go to the trunk and look for it. Unfortunately Bradley cannot find it! But he tells the officer that we had just gotten married that day and since the trunk was full of gifts, i think he believed us. 😀 The guy cuts us a break and wishes us well! What a nice man! And we’re off again! Once we get to Park City, as we pull up to the resort, I ask Brad what he is going to do w/o his license, what if they need some ID?! So he gets out of the car and I suggest he starts pulling the luggage  out so check the seat for his ID. Funny part is, I had it all of the time! I didn’t know I did when the officer was there, but when I told him to check out the luggage… I knew… I was just being cruel! Anyways. That was our Evening! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

Alrighty, so I know most of you have been just dying to hear the rest of the story! Well, let’s get started then! Woot!

The morning of the day in question started off with me waking up around 7:30 (or was it 6:30…) AM, I believe. I then proceeded to take my shower to get that nice natural curl for my hair! Unfortunately it didn’t work. So I tried two more times with similar stories-no luck. I decided that I would just have to deal with it and be happy. Besides, my sister in law Ashley was being sweet enough to do my hair, and she’s amazing with hair, so what gives? She can fix it!!!

The next step was to get the other girlies up to get ready to go over to my other Uncle’s house to get ready for the big event!! This proved to be a lot easier than I anticipated.

Let the fun begin!

It did! Ashley worked her magic on my hair

I was able to figure out my make-up

I glued on some awesome fake nails (really, they were awesome, like I’m not kidding)

I saw the boquet, being carried by my Pappy

I looked at my dress

I looked at my shoes (well… Heather did anyways… ;))

Well, time to go! I made sure everything was packed up all nice and neat, and got ready to head out! I took another glance at my beautiful and wonderful bridesmaids and got in my carriage. It was time to go to the temple. EEEEK!

‘Twas raining a bit, but all was well!

Time for the ceremony. This part is, of course, sacred. So all I will say is that I am so glad to be a member of this church and to have the opportunity to be sealed to my family for time and all eternity. Knowing that I will be with Brad and any children we will have, along with our extended family, even after this life ends, really brings joy and comfort to my soul.

So here are the pictures taken after we were wed. (click on them to view them larger) (then click it again on the next page to get it even bigger! Wow!)

So that’s the wedding day! Now for a new post on the… evening!

So after writing this post twice already and having it deleted, I’m going to give the Spark Notes version.  We’ve been a little busy touristing here in the Big Potato (or is it Orange, I can never remember), and I thought we had knocked out all of the major stuff already.  Turns out I was wrong.

So with the weeks flying by, Heather and I decided to make a list of all of the places we still needed to go.  We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.  We’ve been all over the island, but there is so much to see in this place, its ridiculous.  In the last few days we’ve been everywhere from Chinatown to City Hall to South Ferry to the Museum of Modern Art to Columbus Circle.  The list is getting kind of long.  I think we hit 35 things we still need to do in the next 3 1/2 weeks.  But last count, we had about 35 things on the list and counting.  That includes restaurants, museums, landmarks, historical sites, TV locations, bridges, boroughs, ferries, and islands.

And I just remembered, I still haven’t been up the Empire State Bldg… so number 36.  Okay I better stop now before I have to start leaving work early to get the stuff on this list visited.  Here are a few pics:

We walked a lot, I hit Heather in the head with my elbow, we walked some more, got lost in Central Park, got mugged by some raccoons, got driven home in black Lincoln, moved into a tower suite, I hit Heather again with my elbow, and life was good.

Yes, we’re in New York, and yes this post is out of chronological order.  Read on and eventually you will get the wedding story as well.  Just thought I’d post some pictures of our recent adventures in the Big Tomato.

Brad speaking: thought I’d throw up a few pics from various random cameras that I’ve gotten in the past few days.  The real “legit” photos from Heather (Janis) are coming soon – I’m pretty they’re going to revolutionize wedding photography as we know it.

So, after many proddings and pokings (Trevor Pierce, Brad’s wonderous cousin) , I decided it is about time for me to update this blog. So much has happened, and I am afraid that it shall be a large post.

To sum up the wedding details:

I had a wonderful Bridal Shower, hosted by my sister in law Elena, and helped out a lot by many more; like another sister in law, Ashley, my sister Holly, my mother, and of course the lady who owns the beautiful house in which it was held, my Aunt Barb. So many of my friends and family were able to attend. It meant a lot to me. We had some fun times and great gifts! (Not to mention the delicious food!!!- Chicken salad croissants, AMAZING fruit pizza, fruits and veggies…. YUM!)  After the girl part was done and my man arrived, I was informed that Brad had been sent an email of questions to answer, and I was to guess his answers. It was a fun game, and I have to admit that I had done pretty darn well! It was a fun little game and it made me feel like I knew Brad well enough to marry him. 😉

The next day we had a small get together at my cousin, Brielle’s home, where I was pampered beyond reason. There were treats, great company, pedicure, hand waxing, make-up and hair doings. It was great and helped me know what I was going to do on my big day. It was nice to be made to feel royal. I really appreciate everything everyone did to make me feel that way.

Next was my Endowment Session. It was pretty stressful for me before heading out to receive my Endowment because I could not find my recommend for the life of me. I was upset and stressed, but in the end it all worked out.  Let me just say that the temple is an amazing place and I am so glad to be able to attend it whenever I want to or feel the need to. There is no greater place in the world today. To be able to escape the stresses and evils of the world and feel at peace and at home, full of love and joy, is priceless. I know with all of my heart and being, that the gospel is true and a blessing in my life. It has the power to bring so many people together in love and friendship.

Friday came, and I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to finish packing and cleaning by 2 o’clock, which is when we were supposed to have our cleaning checks. I was super stressed and had to call on my parents for help! Luckily they love me tons and were willing to put some elbow grease into cleaning and packing my stuff w/ me. As time went by Mom and Dad Hall came with Josh, Brad’s little adorable brother (He’s 9) and also helped me to pack! I really don’t know what I would have done without both sets of my parents! It was packed up quickly and loaded up ready to go! I then had to go and get a new temple recommend from my Bishop at his work, that in itself was an adventure!! I got back home and had no clue where my roommate was, and started freaking out. We were supposed to have been gone by now, and I had no way to get ahold of her! She was supposed to be the one to take me up to my aunt and uncle’s house to meet up w/ my family, but she was no where to be seen! I waited for probably an hour before she got home. She arrived and finished her chores quickly. Everything was pretty much ready to go! Yay! We have our cleaning check, which was done by a man (and he didn’t really check much…) and were off! We spent some time back up at my uncle Lowell and aunt Barb’s again and got to see my Grandma and Grandpa Camp!!! That made me very happy! We sat and talked with people and then decided it was time to hit the road! We were going to have a girls night my last night of singlehood, and make it enjoyable. So we went down to my Uncle Marc’s house and started the party… kind of. We met up with my sister in law, Nina, there and decided to go shopping for some treats and pampering items. We were hoping to be able to find our way around in the dark, and I’d say we did a pretty swell job! It was fun, and we got some snapples and some chips and dip. Oh we got some fake nails for me to apply for my day too. We got back to the house w/ no harm done, and waited a bit (while eating the chips and dip) for the other two girls to arrive. So far it was Chesney (my freakin’ amazing roommate) Nina and me. We were awaiting the arrival of my friends Joy and Heather (the photographer!). Brad was actually picking Joy up from the airport and going to drop her off at my unlce’s. Joy flew all the way from Texas just to be with me the night before and during the day of my wedding. I am so glad I am blessed with such great friends. So finally Joy arrived with Brad and a reunion had begun. Brad was forced to leave and we patiently awaited the arrival of Heather!…. Heather arrived! We then debated about which movie, out of about 700 my uncle has, to watch. (Of course, we didn’t end up watching any…) Instead we talked and laughed (at least I did) and caught up w/ each other. Finally, Joy couldn’t take it anymore. She asked if there was anything in that house with meat in it. She hadn’t eaten anything all day except the peanuts on the plane. This is when we snuck around to try and find some real food. We ended up deciding to order pizza….at 11:55 PM. The guy taking the order was NOT very happy… When my uncle and brother (Tyler) found out we were ordering pizza, the had us order one for them as well. (We were ok with this and hoped that they would answer the door when it came). So around 12:30 our dinner arrived!!! We ate and then went to bed. Heather and I shared the bed in the guest room, while Joy stole the cushions off of my uncle’s couch and laid them on the floor. See, she wanted to be in the same room as us for closeness. Chesney, on the other hand, stayed in the other room sleeping peacefully on the comfortable couch all by her lonesome. The night came to an end!

Finally it arrived! My special day had come!!

TO BE CONTINUED…. 😀