Jeremy and Karlee

I guess I should start from the beginning.

Our Story:

The year was 2006 and Jeremy Evans was in need of a date for the Mormon prom. Jeremy's grandparents have been in my ward for almost as long as we have been there, so they knew me quite well. Grandpa Passey had the idea that I might be a good date for Jeremy. There started his mission to "hook us up". He talked each of us up to the other (making me feel bad for a boy who needed his grandpa to set him up) and finally created a way for us to meet at a fireside on New Year's Eve. I was having a party that night and so I invited him. Surprisingly he said yes. Even though I had invited another boy to the party as well, Jeremy and I spent the whole night talking. After that night we were hooked.

Our first picture together! Ice Skating on New Years Day!

We spent the next two years dating, seeing each other through both of our graduations from high school, several semesters of college, and finally a two-year farewell for Jeremy's mission to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. During these two years Jeremy and I had many experiences and though we were apart, we were being prepared for our future together.

Elder Evans at Eduardo's baptism in Miami Beach

Cuban Fishing!

It didn't take long for our together to begin! But I was worried in the beginning. Jeremy got home December 30th 2010 but I didn't hear from him until the next day: New Year's Eve four years after we had met. He was so weird but the high-five at midnight made me laugh! But it didn't take long for him to adjust because 11 days after he came home he proposed on top of the Oakland Temple. Three months later we were married in that same temple.

ENGAGED!!!

Our Wedding: Prepare for pictures...it was really hard to cut.

We were married April 9th, 2011. It was great to have so many friends and family there to celebrate with us and support us in our marriage. We had a very special sealing ceremony performed by Alan Johnson. What a neat feeling it was to know that we were finally and officially bound together for eternity. We were then able to to celebrate with even more family and friends at our reception that night in our neighbor's backyard. The whole day was absolutely beautiful and perfect. Just what we had always pictured. We cannot thank our parents enough for everything they did to make our day so special! We are also so grateful to all our family and friends who were a part of this step in our lives. Thank you for being a part of the festivities and helping us make it to this huge moment in our lives.

Oakland Temple

They planted tuplips at the temple in preparation for our wedding!

I think I laughed 80% of the photo shoot!

I submitted this to G.Q. for Jeremy. He is such a stud!

So happy!
This is one of my favorite pictures from the bridal shoot. Anie and Bobby made this so much fun! Oh and Jeremy too! :)

Coming out the doors. It was such a beautiful day!

I absolutely love this picture! I didn't technically have bridesmaids, but I had to have flower girls! They made me feel like a princess. After carrying my train, Ani said she did not want to wear my dress because it was too heavy! I agree with her :)

I had to stick this picture in. I did not want a train on my dress but my mom convinced me. I told her she had to be in charge of it then. This is her trying to wrangle my bustle before pictures so people would stop stepping on it.

So many people there to support! (This is jst the family. The whole group was too big and far away for the blog.)

Rudd Family

Evans Family

I don't think this picture needs a caption...classic!

I had to throw in a picture with our classic pose. This was in the car right after we got married...SO HAPPY!

Jeremy got to choose the menu for the luncheon. He chose Panda Express hands down. This is the Asian version of Lady and the Tramp.

Boy's Photo Shoot

Girl's Photo Shoot

Boy's Photo Shoot

Girl's Photo Shoot

The traditional Evans Pyramid

Two of my best girls!

First Dance

Father-Daughter Dance
"You're Gonna Miss This"

Mother-Son Dance
"You're Gonna Miss This"

I have to again thank everyone that had a part in this special day. I especially want to thank my mom for everything she did to throw such a rockin' party. Thank you for putting up with my crazy, catching me when I fainted, cleaning up my throw-up, driving all over California, and being my best friend through it all. I love you! And I love that we are twins! :)

After completely washing the car of all the shaving cream, we were finally off to our honeymoon.
(We actually realized after only driving a block that we had forgotten a couple things and had to sneak back into the house. This was our first and official exit.)

*All of these wedding pictures were thanks to Samuel Potter. What an amazing photographer! We had a blast hanging out with him!*

Our Honeymoon:

Again our parents were so generous to provide us with the perfect honeymoon! We spent our first night in the Lafayette Park Hotel. This was a surprise from Jeremy's Dad. Jeremy's parents then sent us to a bed and breakfast in Mendocino. We spent two days spending time on the beach, enjoying the Fort Bragg and Sea Glass Beach, and the beautiful scenery of the Northern California coast. We then spent two nights in the Lighthouse Hotel in Pacifica, which was a special gift from Mom and Dad Rudd. It was great to spend more time relaxing on the coast, and our last day Jeremy was able to get in some surfing before heading back home to get ready for our trek up to Idaho and for our new life together!

At Rockaway Beach

Just Married sandals from Karyl Leavitt

View from our balcony at the Lighthouse Hotel...mom and dad got us an upgrade for an ocean view...so fancy! Thanks guys! :)

Driving over the Golden Gate on our way to the third honeymoon destination!

Funniest story of our honeymoon. We decided to stop at this "museum" and ended up being invited in to the owners house (which was a part of the museum) to see his deep fryer. Super nice guy but I was scared for my life. I think he just wanted some company.

Stevenswood! This place was secluded in the Redwoods just off Highway 1 on the California coast; we actually missed it on our drive there. Absolutely beautiful!

This was the coolest beach. The whole thing is covered in sea glass. We totally filled our bag with it! :)

We nabbed somebody to take a picture for us.

I was a little obsessed with the sea glass!

So now that we are happily married, this blog is a place to document all our adventures together. Stay tuned!

UPDATE

Let the blogging begin! :)

The Two Greatest People I Have Ever Known

I couldn't resist a blog post after the experience I had this weekend. Those who know me know two of my most dominate qualities are number one stressful and number two emotional. Really I think they tie for first. So it is no surprise that I have many things that are stressing me out right now and on Friday night one of the stressers expoded in my face. Of course I immediately get emotional and I'm freaking out and breaking down. I won't go into too much detail since that isn't the point to this story. In the midst of this disaster I found myself in, two people were there, throwing me down a rope of salvation. This isn't the first time these two people have had to bail me out of the messes I get myself in. Time and time again when I call out for help, it's these two people that come to my rescue. They help without payment or want of recognition, but strictly out of pure love. So I decided I couldn't go one more day without making known my love and gratitude for them and a Facebook status just wouldn't suffice.

These are the people to whom I owe my life. These are the people to whom I attribute the person I am today. These are the people I love more than life itself. These are my parents.


My Dad: the first guy I ever loved. I have his eyes, his teeth and of course his hair. I wish I had his selflessness and dedication. I will always be his sunshine and he will always be my hero. Since I was a baby he would sing to me everything from "You are my sunshine" and "Lemon Tree" to "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" and "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog". It's because of my dad that I will always have a love for 70's music. His voice was what would always calm me down and made me feel that everything would always be ok. Well that and his magic sand paper hands.

My Mom: my best friend. I have her smile, her hands, and of course her body type (though she is in much better shape than I). I wish I had her compassion and drive. I will always be her baby girl and she will always be my idol. Since I was little my mom would always say "remember who you are". I never thought much of it until now. It's because of my mom that I have always known I am a child of God. This knowledge has always been the basis of my testimony. Now, living on my own, I say that to my roommates as they leave the house. Like mother like daughter...I hope.


Nobody will think I'm as beautiful as my dad thinks I am. He thought I was the prettiest girl at the dance even without any of my front teeth. He always made me feel like a princess whether it was dancing at Anie's prom, or dancing around the kichen at home. When I was little I would say that I was going to marry my daddy. Now I say I will marry someone LIKE my daddy. He is kind and loving, harworking and selfless, wise and charitable. Plus he won best dressed in high school and passed it on to me, as is apparent in the above picture.


My mom and I were born with similarities. We are both the babies, we have the same middle name, and we are both a little crazy. And I mean that in the best way possible. It is these similarities that brought us together. Though we are a lot alike, there are still many qualities that I aspire to achieve. She is giving and compassionate, talented and strong, courageous and faithful. We have shared so much together and I know we will continue to have many experiences as life goes on and she will the one walking by my side.


As I sit hear thinking of the 20 years that I have spent here on Earth with these two people, I am remembing some of my favorite moments. I remember when my parents wanted to do away with Santa. We were all older and knew that Santa the person wasn't real but I wasn't ready to let go. I started crying and giving my argument that though Santa the person isn't real, his spirit is and we just can't do away with his spirit. I curled up on my dad's lap as I often do and he held me reassurring me that it was ok and then sang me my favorite christmas songs until I could calm down. I remember our road trip where Bobby slept in the back and I sat in the front and kept dad awake with my stories and we rocked out to 70's music the whole way. I loved all the times walking in at 12am on the dot to find dad waiting for me asleep in his recliner. Then waking up the next morning to find dad had done a midnight Winco run and brought be back a 3 Musketeers. He is always thinking of others and is such a wonderful example to me of service and charity.


I can't count the number of times my mom and I have just sat and laughed. We always have the best talks and the best laughs. I remember her picking me up from school and asking me about my day and feeling like I could tell her anything and everything, and I did. Even when we didn't talk and we would drive and I would just listen to her clicking her nails on her Tanker I walked away feeling like we had a great conversation. I remember once after a fight, mom came to my room with a box of chocolate ice cream and two spoons and we sat in silence and ate and it all became ok. I remember spending the day with my mom in the hospital and talking the whole day...well she kept falling asleep but then we would pick right back up. I remember her letting me stay up late if I would rub her feet. I remember just snuggling and watching TV . I remember playing beauty salon with her long hair and all the times she did mine. I remember all the back rubs and baths and sick days we spent together. She has always been the perfect example of a mother and everything that I want to become.

Being the youngest gave me the great responsibility of 3 and a half years alone with the parents. They weren't the easiest years, but ones I cherish. We went on trips, and dates, and spent a Christmas with just us. We laughed and cried and fought and partied, but we always loved eachother no matter what. I could always count on a week full of ups and downs, an "I'm sorry" followed by "happy family hugs/kisses", on a Saturday of chores and DIY and a Sunday of church, naps, and a good meal.


In a year and a half I will be graduating from college but I can't help but think of all the things that I learned from my parents. How to balance a checkbook, how to say 3 nice things about somebody you talked bad about, how to make and keep friends, how to be a leader, how to juggle life, how to turn lemons into lemonaid, how to laugh, how to serve, how to be a missionary, but most importantly how to love. Nothing can replace the 20 years of memories I have shared with these two people and the good news is, is that we have eternity to make some more. I'll love you forever Mom and Dad!

UPDATE

It's been awhile eh? Let me explain...blogging to me is like loosing weight. It all starts with the holidays...everybody is making goodies and good food and its cold so all you want to do is stay in and drink hot chocolate while your wrap up in your snuggie. You get out of the habit of eating right and working out and start gaining those beloved holiday pounds. You decide that you need to loose weight so you make a resolution to eat healthier and work out. In the beginning you do pretty well. Then you miss a few weeks but you promise to get back on track. However in those few weeks of slacking you have already started to get out of shape so its harder to go back. Next thing you know weeks turn into months and you're fat and unhappy but still making false promises to yourself to be better. Then the holidays show up again and you relized you havent lost weight since October 12th 2008.

That's what happened friends...So I guess I will start the vicious cycle over again with a recap of the past 14 and half months.

October, November, and December 2008 were the last few months of my first semester at BYU-Idaho. It was a great semester...new place, new school, new friends...I loved it! My best friend Jeremy left on his mission to Fort Lauderdale Florida. We are all very proud of him!

Jeremy's Misson Call

Halloween
We were carrota and Jeremy was the cata piller from "A Bugs Life"

January-April 2009
Winter Semester...One of my best friends Kaite Krey came up to school with me to be my roommate. We had a blast this semester!

Katie Waters, Kaite Krey, Me and Linda Lafollet (missing from the roommate picture is Andrea Slaugh and Alicia Jones)Kaite and I on a cold Rexburg night

We took a trip up to Oregon to visit Grandma and Grandpa Rudd

I spent Easter with the Lucas family. I got my first easter dress as well as my first experience witht the Easter Bunny. I love having their family only 30 minutes away. (Refer to the Lucas Blog for pics...shes the photographer!!)

In April, after almost a year of being away, I decided to move home. I spent the summer working at East Bay Welding Supply and enjoying having a break from school.

Michelle and I over Summer....I can't find too many other pictures from this summer...I didnt do too good taking pictures!!

In August I took a trip to the East Coast to spend some time with the Calhoun and Jenkins families. I have never been to Washsington DC before so we did all the touristy stuff. The best part of the trip was spending time with my family. I don't get to see them enough. (Again refer to the Jenkins and the Calhoun blogs for all the pictures from our adventures.)

In september I went back to good ole BYU-Idaho. This past semester I finished up the last few general classes I had left and did really well. This Thanksgiving I spent with my family in Oregon. My sweet Dad brought my car up for me so at the end of the week Bobby and I road tripped to Boise to see friends and then continued on to Provo. After picking up Kaite, we headed up to Rexburg for another one of our many roadtrips. I finished out the semester with a bang and am now back home for the holidays.

Halloween 2009...we were Trolls
Christmas Card!
Kaite and I in front of our LIVE tree!
Thanksgiving...me and Grammi Ance...she tried to teach me to cook

These are some of my favorite kids!
Mom, me, and JenMe, Bob, and Jen

I guess that about catches everybody up and brings me to one of my new years resolutions....to blog at least once of month. Just like loosing weight I think blogging is about taking little steps. So lets see how we do with that.