I must have done somethin' right...

This song talks about how I feel as of late. Since I've last posted, a lot has happened. Another wreck, 3 different jobs, a birthday, an engagement, a 4.0 semester, a grandma in the hospital, a wedding, a honeymoon to Canada, a move to another state, an internship, and a transition to being a good wife. Wow! Let me start.

While in Provo I got a job working at an attorney's office as a receptionist for two different attorneys. Mr. Chris D. Greenwood and Mr. Guy L. Black. That was an interesting few months to say the least. They were the most "PMSey" men I have EVER met! I'd come into work one day and they would be happy and kind and very complimentary on the smallest details. I liked those days, but some days I'd come to work and they were ticked off about the practically nothing. There was one perk to those days, the girl I worked with. Natalie Rae Russell Hall. Her and I

were really good friends from the moment we met. I love her! We have a lot in common. We would talk about our individual experiences with each of the crazies that we met. Sometimes it was a story about one of the attorneys or sometimes it was a story about their crazy clients. On the whole, I did enjoy working there but I'm glad it was a short term job. One of my all-time favorite stories from working there was Tiffiany. She was one of Mr. Greenwood's clients and I loved her. She was from West Virginia and I loved it when she'd call or come into the office. My most memorable experience of her is the day I stapled her butt. Yes, I did just say that. She had an appointment and when she came up the stairs she was holding her pants. She said that she "ripped her britches" getting out of the car. I looked around for some safety pins or something when she suggested to staple her pants back together. I thought she was just going to take the stapler and go downstairs to the bathroom. NO. I stapled her pants back together but as I did, I accidentally snagged her bum. She squirmed and said, "No Julia, there is supposed to be a crack there!" We laughed for a long time. Long lived the days of Greenwood and Black. One day when I was on my way to work I was stopped at a stoplight on University Parkway and the exact same situation happened. I got rear ended. I'd had my new bumper about a month and it was crashed. I felt like a pro at what to do since I remembered to do everything I didn't do from the month previous accident. To make a long story short my car was in the shop a lot longer because he did more internal damage and as it turns out the auto shop "damaged out" my car. Which means that they just paid me for what the car was worth. That was great because I got a $2,000.00 check which paid for a lot of my schooling but didn't fix my bumper. To this day my bumper isn't flush with the car. It drives fine, but doesn't really look fine. Oh well.

My first semester at UVU turned out quite nicely. I got all A's. I was so proud of myself the last time I was home I printed off my grades and hung them on my parent's fridge just like I was in first grade. I really had worked so hard and it paid off. I had Psychology, social psychology, applied sociology, alternative methods of dispute resolution, and sociology of the family. I really did enjoy all of the classes. If I had to pick a favorite I'd have to say psychology. I liked the

information I learned in class and I really enjoyed the teacher. That is one thing that I really like about UVU. I've had a positive experience so far with all the teachers. They are creative with their assignments and fun to listen to. I actually learned something! I decided that the more pressure I have in my life the better I do.

School started on my birthday this year. It was quite exciting. I had just moved into a new apartment with new roomates, going to a new school and I had a date with Cameron that night. I loved it. School was great except the building where I had my psychology class was hard to find. I was 40 min. late. It was only a 50 min class. After that I went to work with Isobelle. She was a 97 year old lady that I worked for for a few weeks in Lehi. I just ran her errands and cleaned her house. I loved working with her! She was so kind and just absolutely wonderful it was just to much driving and not enough work. For my birthday she took me to COSTO for lunch after we

went and got her nails done. After work is when the real magic happened. Cameron. I met him at his house just after 5. The whole night was a surprise for me. We started off going to a place to get massages. H.E.A.V.E.N. I'd never had a massage before. I loved it. After that he took me out to eat at a delicious place called the Brick Oven. We had a little bit of time after dinner before my next surprise so we went to his house and ate jellybeans. Next he took me up to BYU campus to the Carl Bloch Exhibit. We had both been wanting to go and he was sweet and got us tickets. It was fun walking around looking at wonderful paintings of the Savior with someone I loved. After that, (Yes, I am spoiled!) he took me to the sociology building on campus where I opened my gifts. The first one I opened was a blue scarf that he had knitted himself for me. Then I opened up two tickets to the BYU production of Peter Pan. I loved all of it! He was so thoughtful. After I opened all of those things when we were just sitting there on the couch cuddling he brought up our relationship. After finding out that we were both on the same page he asked me if I wanted to go ring shopping. YYYYEEEEESSSS!!!!! We decided that we'd go that next Saturday.

On the appointed day I picked him up and we went to Wilson Diamonds in Provo. What bling they had! After looking and trying on a bunch of gorgeous rings I narrowed down the ones I liked to 7. I didn't think that Cameron was planning on getting engaged anytime soon so I honestly had no time table of when to expect one of these 7 pretty rings to be placed on my finger. Sometime in those weeks he asked me if I wanted to go to a youth philharmonic orchestra concert on Temple Square. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun so on the 22nd of January we set out for the concert. We met my sisters in Murray on the way to Salt Lake because Uncle Gus was in the hospital because he'd had a few strokes. After the hospital Jamie had invited us to her home for dinner before the concert. We went and, as always, we had a lovely time. After dinner we headed for Salt Lake. We got to the concert and had a great time. The kids in the orchestra did a great job! After we were walking around temple square when I had to go to the bathroom. We stopped in the South Visitor center to look around and so I could relieve my bladder. Good thing we did or I wouldn't have made it through the next part unsoiled. As we were walking towards the car, Cameron came up with this brilliant idea we should reenact the moment we saw each other after our missions. I thought it sounded great so just as before when we saw each other we ran and hugged. However this time, he didn't let me go. He held me tight and told me how much he loved me. He whispered in my ear that I was everything he wanted physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. He told me how special I was to him and how he wanted to be with me for all eternity. I still didn't' believe what was happening but it was then that he got down on one knee and opened a small box with the most GORGEOUS engagement ring I've ever seen. He said, Julia will you marry me? I was distracted and before I answered the question I had pulled the ring out of the ring box and put it on my thumb. I realized that that was the wrong finger and I didn't give him an answer. I said yes and he got up to hug and kiss me then put it on my finger. It was perfect! We hugged and kissed for a long time trying to soak in the moment of what had just happened. I was so thrilled. My heart hadn't been that full ever. I was so excited and had never been more sure about saying yes to a question that was asked of me. It just so happened that I had my camera with me so I ran over and got a stranger walking by to take our picture. After taking in the moment a while longer we then started calling people. I first called Georgia since she was just about as excited as I was for me to be getting married. I called my other sisters and parents. I honestly don't know who he called. We stayed there a bit more laughing and as we were laughing he pulled me in tight and said that was one thing that he really loved about me was how happy I was and how much he loved how often I laughed. He was adorable. In the car on the way home is when we picked our date. He got out of school for the semester a week before me and we wanted to wait until after school to get married. That is how we settled on Friday, May 6, 2011 as our wedding day. We picked Logan Temple because President Nelson was a sealer there. I had no clue that this was coming. Most times I can tell he has something to say because he gets nervous. I love that I make him nervous but he was so calm about proposing it was a shock. But, Let the plans begin!

If I've learned one thing it is that weddings are expensive. I didn't mind planning what and where and how I wanted everything it was just expensive to do it that way. I knew that I wanted blue to be one of my colors because Cameron and I both have pretty blue eyes. Selfish much? We (when I say we I mean me, Darci, and Georgia) wanted a darker blue called Commodore, but that was next to impossible to find so the wedding colors were eventually decided on turquoise and lime green. I went dress shopping at two places. David's bridal and Alysses's Bridal. At Alysse's I tried on a lot of different styles of dresses but when I found "the one"I didn't like it when I first saw it but after I put it on and saw how sparkely and shiny my hoots were in the pretty lights I was sold. We had our engagement pictures done in Logan by Darci and my parents. They were super cute! How could they not be, honestly, it's Cameron and I. The other plans went well until we got to the announcement part. I HATED doing them. I was so stressed over them I literally made myself sick. I was really sick for 2 weeks because they stressed me out so bad. I didn't have a problem picking out what I wanted but I must have expensive taste because what I liked was over a dollar an invite. No thanks! I'm not paying over 500 bucks for a paper that they are throwing away anyway. This is what we settled on. My friend Resa's husband designed them. They are wonderful. The only thing that isn't wonderful is my dyslexia with the Washington zip code.

The reception was a success! My sisters and mom were so great in helping get everything put together. I can't begin to say how thankful I am for such wonderful girls to help me. I owe them all big time. I honestly couldn't have done it alone. What a party! Cameron and I learned a dance to the song "everybody dance now" from the movie Superstar. It was a lot of fun to mix up the normal wedding reception. We had a good turnout and lots of wonderful people to help. That night I didn't sleep much. I had a lot to get done and a lot going through my head that night. I had to pack for the summer because Cameron has an internship in Seattle, Washington this summer so after our wedding we were flying out to Seattle to live for the summer. While packing I had to make piles for what I wanted to take with me on the plane, what I wanted my parents to drive up to me, and what I didn't want until we moved back to Utah for school. Crazy! I was so exhausted when I did finally get time to sleep but my mind wouldn't let me. I kept thinking of all the things I had to remember for the next morning and what needed to go where. Jodi did my makeup for the reception and wedding beautifully and Christi did my nails and hair. I looked SMASHING! They both are talented girls!

The morning of the wedding I had my makeup done at 5am and hair done at 6am so that we could leave Bear Lake by 8 because we had to be at the temple at 10 for our sealing at 11. I was so excited! I must have had a lead foot driving there that morning because we got there a lot earlier than expected. Grandma Sorenson had back surgery a few weeks prior and I hadn't seen her so we stopped in to see her before we went to the temple. I love Gram and I'm glad she's doing better. At the temple we went in got dressed and went up. Before the sealing it wasn't very eventful, just followed directions of what the temple ladies said. When Cameron and I were in the room before going into the sealing President Nelson came in and just told us how it was going to work and logistical things like that. But before he left he kept mentioning what an honor it was for him that we had asked him. I felt good about that. When it was time to go into the sealing room where all our friends and family were I was surprisingly calm. Before the actual sealing he talked to us about sacrifice. He mentioned that in the scriptures it talked about how the offering needed to be perfect and such. He related that to our marriage. What am I sacrificing to be a good spouse? He called the sacrifices that weren't accepted by the Lord a "sack of spuds" I thought it was really good and insightful. After being sealed for time and all eternity our first kiss as a married couple was awesome. Mostly because we had practiced from time to time during our engagement. Seriously! Sometimes after we'd kiss he'd say, "that was a good alter kiss." After we got to hug everyone there. What wonderful people we had to support us. It really was a glimpse of heaven. After we got ready and walked out! We took a ton of pictures and had a lot of fun being together finally married. It was a perfect day! I know that's cliche to say but the weather was perfect, it didn't snow! After the temple we went to the luncheon held at the church at my old singles ward. It was gorgeous! Cameron's mom did so much work putting that together! We ate delicious food prepared by my old roomate Sarah's inlaws. The program was the best part. I still tear up thinking about it. Cameron's little sister Kayla and little brother Quinn sang a fun song. They did great. Then all my dang cute little kids that I love and adore sang one of my all time favorite songs. They sang "I Will" Made me cry it was so cute. I can't say how much I loved it. If I were trying to fly to Neverland with Peter Pan that would be my happy thought. I miss my nieces and nephews so much. They are the best kids ever! After the lunch Cameron and I set off for Salt Lake. We were staying that night in the Spring Hill Suites Motel by the airport. I won't go into detail about that night because it is awkward and no one really cares, but just know that it was so special and wonderful. I have the best husband ever!

The next morning we flew to the SeaTac airport where we rented a car and drove to Anacortes island where we caught the ferry over to Roche Harbor. It was wonderful! I loved staying there. There wasn't a lot of people so we felt like we were the only two people on the island. We explored all the gardens, docks, mausoleums, and mount something or other. We had so much fun learning the history of the harbor and talking to the nicest people. We were walking on the dock on Mother's day when we met Gary. He was this guy that lived on his boat. He was fun to talk to. After a few days we caught another ferry up to Victoria British Columbia. We stayed in a hotel pretty close to the parliament building. We had a tea party (super nice, it was like 50.00 a person!) went window shopping and had lots of fun just being together. That next day we caught the ferry and came back to Bothell where we helped set up for our reception here. That reception was a lot of work but was gorgeous. I liked meeting all of his friends that I've heard so many stories about. Washington people are very kind. We moved that night into the basement of his Grandparent's house. What kind people to let us stay.

Since then, Cameron has started his internship at Milliman. It's an actuarial firm that works with numbers. He has his own cubical! He has worked so hard. I'm so proud of him. I've been trying to find a job here, but nothing as of yet.

Today is our two week anniversary and I love it. I love being married. He is such a wonderful man. I'm extremely blessed to be able to call him my husband. I love him very much. I love Washington and am happy to be here.