Mr. and Mrs.

A month has gone by since the big day and what a month it has been. I guess I should start with a recap. One thing I learned is that no one can prepare you for your wedding day. I am not talking about the chaos or all the planning that has to go into building a wedding, am I referring to that feeling you get when you realize what a wedding makes. A wedding makes memories you will never forget. A wedding makes families that will last through the eternities. A wedding makes friendships grow. And a wedding makes an eternal love that will change and expand. That is one day and feeling that I will never forget. I treasure it more than any memory I have.
Anyways now that I have tried to sound all sophisticated and deep I can get into some more of the details.
 The one thing that everyone seemed to right about is that none of the particulars really matter. Yes it was pouring rain, and I mean pouring, the one thing a bride dreads on her wedding day but it turned out to be one of the funnest/coldest two hours of my life. The temple workers lost my flowers and I think I may have broke the record for the slowest bride ever. My hair was definitely stringy and my dress soaked and muddy but it was everything I ever imagined it could be. Looking back those little hiccups only make the memory more special. Everything worked out and I get to spend the rest of my life with the man I fell in love with and the man that gives me everything I have ever wanted.

Now we have been married more than a month and I have started my new journey and what a journey it has been. We have played so hard this summer and I am just eating it up. We have been to the desert, the deep forests, the beach and the mountains. We've camped, hiked, swam, and even zip-lined down a canyon. More than that we have grown to understand and love each other more. We love to travel and experience new things. Taylor is by far, better at it than me but we definitely have big plans for the future. One thing we think that so many young people don't understand is that we are at a time in our lives, right now, that we will never experience again. We have chances and opportunities now to go do anything we want with nothing holding us back. It may mean we live an unconventional life and we don't get the degree in four years or we don't have that house by time we are 25 but in the eternal scheme of things do those things really matter? No. No they don't. What counts is the knowledge and experiences we gain, the people we help, and the people we become. That was the goal we set after we were married and we are having the time of our lives achieving it. 

Sadie and Taylor Merrill 4.26.14

A Very Unconventional, Yet Perfectly Perfect, I Do.

I think I am a bit overdue for an update. The last time I wrote I was divulging the details about my very "in the moment", and illogical trip to San Fran. No matter how crazy it was, I am glad I went. That week was just the beginning of the biggest change I have made in my life. It wasn't many weeks after that, that Taylor got to fly home and meet my family and that led to one thing which led to another which led to this....

Not many people know our story from the beginning. It can seem either extremely boring and typical to any ordinary person but to me I finally got the fairy tale that I didn't think would ever come my way. We first met in our sales class during our last semesters at LDSBC. In order to absorb the full effect of this tale you have to understand the place I was in at this time. After a trying summer I was in a state where boys and dating were the last thing on my mind. I had faced the fact that my life wasn't heading the direction I had originally planned and finally coming to terms with what I had laid out for me once I graduated. Well for some very odd reason as I was sitting in class and Taylor walked through the doors, my stomach hit the floor and my eyes probably popped out of my head. Not two seconds later my best friend received a text from me that read, "I just met my future husband." Her response, "maybe you should try talking to him first before you jump to any conclusions." The irony behind all of this is that neither one of us talked to each other for weeks and I HAD just met my future husband. The text was meant to be a sarcastic joke between two friends as I was moving out of state in a few months and I had no desire to date. Little did I know...

All semester I hoped that he would come sit by me but was quickly turned off as he seemed to emanate a facade that he was "too cool for me." I refused to go sit by him because, after asking around, I found he had a reputation to be kind of a pretty boy player. I FOR SURE wasn't going to be sucked into that. Then came one of the many lessons that he has taught me. If you ever want to get to know someone then YOU get to know them. Put all other opinions you hear behind you and decide for yourself what kind of person they are. When he asked for my number I decided to give him a shot. Even though I was skeptical, he had impressed me all semester long during class. He seemed to be down to earth and was a very talented student, two things that I looked for in a guy. From there the rest was history. I decided not two weeks into our relationship that I wanted to go to California with him for Thanksgiving. From there my fairy tale only got better. I was told for the first time in my life, "I love you" and it just happened to be on the beach watching the sunset and laying in each other's arms. Yes it sounds like a cheesy chick flick and normally I would have made fun of any girl who relayed a similar story but what a humbling experience. It has been a journey for me, learning to be in love and understanding how to love. It is very different than anything I ever imagined. It is a little harder but also a lot better! These last few months have been a journey for us but I have always said since day one, I knew I was supposed to marry him. :)

From our first to our most recent picture together we have only fallen more in love as we are learning who we are and how lucky we are to have each other.

As much as I hate this picture, this is from the night he proposed. I don't think I could smile any bigger than I was. He knows my expensive taste and treated me to a FANTASTIC private dinner where he dissapeared and a huge bouquet of flowers was delivered to my table. Attached was all the reasons he loved me, when I was done reading I turned around to find him...but he was still not there...haha but he finally came around the corner and got down on one knee and proposed. He hired a photographer to take pictures of the whole thing and hid cameras throughout the restaurant. 

Now we are just counting down the days till we can spend eternity together. It was a crazy experience between waiting for the ring and proposal to come and having to wait for what seemed like forever to deciding not to do a long distance engagement and moving to strange new city by myself. 

Even though it hasn't always been rainbows and glitter, we have made our way down the mountain and are excited to see what the future holds.

Happy Moments

The past few weeks have brought some of the most unexpected and exciting events of the year! For Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to drive to California to spend the week with Taylor and his family. It was an incredible trip and I LOVED the warm weather. It was hard to come back to snowy Utah and face a long week of packing and finals. Just a few pictures from the week.

Redwoods

Muir Woods National Park

Santa Cruz sea lions

Downtown :)

Stanford University

Cats in China Town :)

It was an unbelievable week. We drove through the night from Salt Lake to Newark, Ca arriving at about 3 am and yes went to 9 O'clock church a few hours later. We visited Stanford University later that day and completed round 2 of church going to the singles ward there. It was absolutely breath taking and inspiring. I may never be qualified to attend a university like that but I can dream... 

The rest of the week consisted of beach trips, which were heavenly, cute shops along the boardwalk, the culture of the city, and even some time in the woods, not to mention a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and some fun quality time with people that I love. One of the reasons I love traveling so much is because it brings with it opportunities to learn and grow about yourself and others. That being said- things I learned this week

• I love the beach more than any other place on the earth
• I could never live in a big city
• I am so blessed to live in a clean place 
• I hate California drivers 
• Taylor has no patience on the road
• There is so much I don't know about other cultures and lifestyles
• I want to travel to see and learn everything that I can
• I love Taylor and his family

I am really not doing this trip justice in my description but those are the most important things to remember. Hopefully it is one of many adventures that I have coming the next few years of my life :)