Congratulations to Pedro and Leah Mendoza!

Leah and Pedro got married! It was such an exciting weekend! They got married in the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, September 21, 2013. They are a gorgeous couple and they were just radiating with happiness. I am so glad I got to be there for them, and I wish them all the happiness in the world! The actual sealing was so special and so spiritual, and I know that they will never forget those moments in the temple. Congrats to Pedro and Leah Mendoza! (It's still kind of weird to call her that).

I flew down to California on Thursday night, and left bright and early on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Greg couldn't come with me; it was just too expensive to fly both of us down, and it would've been too short of a weekend to drive down together. Even though I missed him so much, it was still a blast!

Thursday night after I flew in, I got to spend a lot of time just talking with my parents all night. I miss them so incredibly much. They are the best parents in the world (I know I'm biased). Then Friday I ate lunch with my dad, and then went over to the Stanford building where the reception was going to be. A ton of Leah's family and friends were there to help set up, but even with all of the hands, there was so much to do! We all spent all day perfecting the cultural hall. It was hard work, and we were so busy, but it turned out great! I got to spend time with Brianna Caddy, Leah's friend, and Lexis, Leah's sister. It was so much fun. We also got to help put the bouquets and flowers together with Sister Campbell, which was great!

After helping at the church, I ran right over to Greg and Karina's apartment in Costa Mesa. Oh my goodness, Savannah and Sterling are the CUTEST little babies. I just can't even handle it. They melt my heart. If there is any family that I love and miss SO much in the world, it's Greg and Karina's family. I know I probably am over-dramatic about how much I love those guys, but it's true! Karina is so awesome too; she made dinner for all of us. I just love her. Here are some adorable videos of Savannah (my mom, my dad, Karina, Greg, and I were trying to get her to sing and do hand motions to the songs with us).

I am so bummed I didn't even get ONE picture of Sterling! How lame of me! He was a little angel though. So perfect.

Well, right after I was done at Greg and Karina's, I zoomed over to BJ's on Main Street in Huntington Beach to have a girl's night out with Leah, all the bridesmaids, and some of Leah's cousins. It was Leah's last little hurrah before she was married. Her last night as "Leah Hicken." It was so fun! We all just chatted and tried to calm some of Leah's nerves (really, she was so excited, but a little nervous). It was so great!

Our amazing Pizookie. Just a little piece of Heaven. I think it was a cookies and cream cookie, a red velvet cookie, and a chocolate chip cookie all on one plate with some giant scoops of vanilla ice cream. Best dessert ever.

The beautiful bride.

I know, blurry and a pretty terrible picture, but here's the group.

And here starts the beginning of my unofficial pictures of the wedding. No kidding, there were like 3 photographers there. Many of Leah's relatives are photographers, so of course, they all had their cameras out. Even her dad, Scott, was taking pictures. On his daughter's wedding day. Haha.

Beautiful Bailey

Lexis and Fayth, such beauties. Fayth did a few of the bridesmaids' makeup. She's such a fashionista. She even did my hair and makeup for the reception. She's awesome.

The amazing Brianna Caddy. She is just so sweet. I love her!

They're married!

All of the bridesmaids (except Pedro's little sister, Karina).

What's a wedding without a jumping picture? Especially with the groom! I love this picture.

Just the bridesmaids in the Bridesmaids Mobile (Brianna's mom's Suburban). That thing carted us all around everywhere.

Here's professional hair styler and makeup artist Fayth Hicken doing my hair.

You better believe that if you take a bunch of crazy pictures on my phone, I will post them for the world to see. Thanks Lex.

She's still beautiful, despite all of the funny pictures :)

This is a really bad picture, but we did sparklers (like at my wedding) when Leah and Pedro left the reception. It was fun.

Some more pictures of the gorgeous couple.

Leah was a babe! Her dress was so pretty.

Oh yeah. The Bridesmaids Mobile.

Leah and Pedro at their reception. We all, including the bride and groom and the wedding party, sat on the stage during the reception while we ate and listened to toasts and stuff. We all felt pretty special.

So happy for them. Look at Pedro's triumphant arm in the air.

Now, here's a picture of the entire wedding party (minus the bride and groom). 

 While all of these girls were beautiful, I will say that Darsi looked like a super model. She was absolutely gorgeous.

Family picture.

I love this picture of Pedro looking at his mom. He just looks so happy.

As a side note, since I was the "Matron of Honor" (doesn't that sound like I'm so old? I guess I wasn't a maid because I'm married), I got to give a toast at the reception. I basically talked about an embarrassing story of Leah and I sneaking out of my house one time when we were like 16 so we could go toilet papering. I just emphasized that it was all Leah's idea. I ended telling Pedro that he was a lucky guy, and that she is also lucky because he treats her so well. I'm really happy for them.

I know that some of these pictures are not that great, but luckily there were 3 photographers, so I'm sure they will have so many great ones. I am so excited for Pedro and Leah. They are so awesome. I know that they will be forever blessed because they chose to get sealed in the Los Angeles Temple of the Lord. Congrats Leah and Pedro! I love you guys!

The California Girl Who Came to School With Her Loving Husband

Playing Cards:

I have always been a home body. I love being at home in 

        C A L I F O R N I A.
I love the smell of my old room, I love the games my family and I would play every Sunday night, and I love the comfort of a warm fire on a cold night. I constantly miss my home and my family. These cards represent my love for my family and for my home. These cards are a symbol of the comfort and safety and happiness that I feel when I am at my home where I grew up. They are a reminder to me of the laughs and good times that I have shared with my family, and they are a treasured commodity.  They represent the most important priorities in my life, which are my husband and my family. Sometimes, my husband and I play with these cards to remember how fun it is and how much we both miss my family, and playing also brings us together as a couple, just like it has brought my family and I together.

Pen:

I highly value education, and I try my very hardest to get good grades and really learn.This pen represents my belief in working hard and succeeding in school. I haven't always valued education the way I do today; in junior high and high school, I didn't care about whether or not I truly learned anything, and my grades certainly weren't a high priority. As soon as I left home to go to college at BYU Idaho, school and education became one of my top priorities. It moved even higher onto my list of priorities when my husband and I transferred down to BYU; this was because I realized how competitive and difficult school was here at BYU. Now, this pen is a symbol of my hard work and success in learning and gaining a great education.

Netflix:

Netflix is a symbol of my love and gratefulness for the time I get to spend with my husband. We often love to come home after a long day of work or school and watch our favorite shows together, or watch cheesy horror movies, or watch movies that we both have been dying to see. Watching Netflix at the end of a long and hard day has become our bonding time, and I have had such a fun time with my husband doing this activity. Netflix isn't necessarily a symbol of my love for television, but rather, it is a symbol for my bonding time with my husband, which is something that I truly love.

Boating with the Livingstons Summer 2013

Greg and I got to go boating right before Labor Day with his family. It was a blast! Here's who went: Diane, Lance, Alisa, Lauren, Grandma Sisco, Shaun, his girlfriend Wave, Shaun's roommate Alex, Sammy, Greg, and I. We got to wakeboard and tube. Lance and Diane went water skiing. Unfortunately for Alisa, she couldn't come on the boat because the doctor told her it would mess up her back too much. Bummer. She just sat on the beach for like 4 hours (it really wasn't THAT fun Lisa.......). Poor girl. Here are some fun pictures!

Blurry, I know.

My handsome husband.

So, anything Greg tries, he automatically becomes a professional. He ended up being the first one out on the water. After he came in, everyone else was too nervous to go out because he pretty much made us all look bad at the very start. He is amazing.

Meet Wave. She is Shaun's girlfriend. And she is awesome!

Lauren and Alex

Shaun, the boat driver.

After Greg, I decided to get out there, despite how lame I looked compared to him.

I'm really good at looking like I can catch some air.

I'm also really good at falling.

Lauren wakeboarding! Go Lauren!

Here are some pictures of Greg and me tubing. It hurt our arms so much. Lance was driving, and he was an awesome tubing driver. He just really whipped that boat back and forth.

I know how this looks, but I was actually holding onto the tube as Greg was skidding across the water. Surprisingly, he held on and got back on the tube without falling. It was HILARIOUS. We were both laughing so hard, probably hard enough to pee our pants.

I know we took way more pictures of everyone tubing and wakeboarding, but unfortunately, that's all I have on my phone/camera. I'll put them up when I get them. I know we have some of Shaun, Lauren, Lance, Diane, Wave, Alex, even some of Sammy on the tube. It was soooo much fun!

After boating, we went to the BYU Women's Soccer game that night with Shaun and Wave. BYU played Nebraska. Apparently Nebraska is one of the only teams BYU lost to last year, but this year was different! We creamed them 3-0! It was great. Such an awesome game. I had never been to BYU soccer game before, so it was a real treat.

We had a blast that day. It was a great last activity to do before school started (school.... don't we all just love it....). But really, it was way awesome and a perfect end to the summer!