One Year!

One year ago, on a chilly afternoon, Michael and I got married in the Portland, Oregon temple.  I have thought to myself on so many occasions that I should probably post about that magical, perfect, beautiful day.  But.  I can't bring myself to do it!  I fear that no words I use could possibly do that day justice. So instead, I bring you the highlights of our first year of marriage!  There is a lot of traveling because when you're married to your best friend, how could you not want to see all the things together??

January 2015:  Got hitched.

Best wedding ever?  Possibly.

February: Vegas, baby!

Which one is the wax figure??  The world may never know.

March: A whole lot of nothing and it was great:)

The weather was perfect for Sunday walks together this month!  I went for the fresh air and conversation, while Michael went for the pics.

April: St. George.

Shoutout to Michael for being such a champ when I got scared hiking up the chain part of Angel's Landing!

May:  We do not speak of this time (aka Michael and I were separated for 6 weeks for his internship while I finished the school year).

June:  Sweet reunion! Nauvoo AND Chicago!

 Carthage Jail was one of the most memorable parts of the trip.  Well, that and the fudge.

The one and only Bean!  Darsh so kindly became our personal photographer on this trip.

July:  St. Louis and Indianapolis 

The traditional 4th of July at Grandma Gadberry's in St. Louis.  As per usual, Michael would not cooperate for photos.

Indy Temple Open House.  One of my favorite quotes was from my cousin-in-law, Mason, who asked when the decorative vases would be filled with candy...and also if we were looking at Jesus' diaper changing table in the sealing room.

August: Florida!!  So much fun with Whit, Sam, and Gina.

So grateful for Gina getting us into the Disney parks for free!!  (Stole this pic from your bloggy blog, Whitney)

September: Spontaneous trip to Arizona.

On a Thursday night, we toyed with the idea of going to AZ to visit friends.  On a Friday afternoon, we were on the road to the beautiful, cactus-filled state!

October: Oregon and Michael got an internship offer!

This will be our view this summer as we move down to Austin, Texas for Michael to intern for Dell!

November:  Oregon again!  I'm a lucky girl:)

Okay.  The cutest little girl in the world lives in Oregon and she just so happens to be my niece! 

December: MEXICO!  

Christmas in Mexico was such a blast!  Thank you Gadberries for this opportunity!

This year has been pretty dang fun and adventurous and will be real hard to live up to.  Regardless, we'll do our best to give that first year of marriage a run for its money!;)  Yay for being married to the funniest, sweetest, comfiest man I know!

LOLZ...{Brought to you by my ridiculous students}

Teaching.  The most stressful, exhausting, time-consuming career.  On pen and paper, teaching looks like one of the least desirable jobs out there.  However, what you don't get from that is the pure joy that students bring into your life.  I could write a whole long blog post about how fun it is to come up with creative lessons that your students love or about the feeling of success when a child finally grasps a difficult concept or how you want to cry happy tears when you see just how sweet kids can be to those in need, but this is merely about the funnies.  It's about those times when it takes everything in me to keep a straight face and to hold my giggles until I can properly let them out away from the chillins!

A Sampling of my Daily Joys

A first grader raises his hand during individual work time.  I walk over to help the lad, and am quickly reminded that six year olds are usually off in la-la land.  
Boy: "Is it your birthday today?"
Me: "Um, no.  It was three months ago."
Boy: "Can we pretend it's your birthday today?"
Me: "No."
Boy: "Pleaseeee??"
Me (quite curious at this point): "Why?"
Boy: "Cuz on your birthday, you get birthday spankins!"
Me: "Uh...."
Boy: "I just wanna spank you!"
Me: "Get back to work."

---

Me: "King Henry III had a problem at this point.  What was it?"

Fifth grade boy: "Well, he's pretty ugly.  I'm thinking he couldn't find a girl."

---

Me: "Class, let's review what we learned yesterday.  What happened when the balloon was rubbed on Sally's head?"

Student 1: "It made her hair stick up."

Me: "Exactly!  Why did this happen?  What happened with the electrons?"

--Crickets--

Me: "Guys, you know this!  The electrons were no longer...?"

--Crickets--  

Me: "What is the B-word I'm thinking of??"

Student 2, who had previously been doodling and was seemingly in his own world, stands up and announces: "THE B-WORD?!? BUT I CAN'T SAY THE B-WORD!"

Me: "Balance, kids, balance."  {hangs head in defeat}

---

While on recess duty before school starts, I witness a second grader sprinting after a wall ball, which was rapidly bouncing into the "big kid" part of the playground.  

I merely hear: "I REGRET NOTHINGGGGGGG!"

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Male Student (Fifth grade):  "I like you even if you are ugly,  Miss Abriel!" {said in a completely innocent and sweet way.  After further prompting, I figured out that what he was trying to say was that he would like me even if I *was* ugly.  Thus we discover the importance of one word.}

---

Male Student (Fifth grade): "Miss Abriel, do you and Michael make out?"

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Yes, people, this is real life.  I love my job.

  

The Perfect Proposal (in way too much detail)

     Warning: Long post.  Feel free to skip to the video of my proposal {that never fails to make me cry} at the bottom:)

     A year ago, Michael and I started dating.  I knew pretty early on that this boy and what we had was special.  He gave me crazy butterflies, we could talk forever {well I could...he is a super good listener}, and things just felt natural.  When I say natural, I mean that every step forward we took in our relationship seemed obvious and expected.  Like, of course we're dating. Duh, I love you.  And are we seriously discussing spending every day together for the rest of eternity?  Why even talk about it because you know I want to marry you?!

     Our first marriage talk took place in April 2014.  Even though we both realized this was something that we wanted for our future, Michael made me be patient.  I tried to remain cool and not go wedding crazy on him, but my patience broke after we looked at rings for the first time in early June.  Pretty much every day following that shopping experience, I asked him if this would be the day that I would "get something shiny."  He had way too much fun with this.  The silly boy would pull out pieces of aluminum foil and hand it to me asking if that's what I wanted.  Or he would ask me if he could engage me.....long pause.....in conversation.  Or Michael would check to see if I was wearing our friendship bracelet, and if I wasn't, he would claim that as the reason for not proposing that day.  Sigh.  It was a rough couple of months for my little heart.

     He knew I wanted to be engaged before school started, but we were running out of time for that to happen!  Summer was winding down when we went to his hometown of Effingham, Illinois {shoutout to Michael's dad for the tickets!} at the end of July.  The trip was super fun, but with each passing day, I realized I was not going to get engaged in the Midwest and I would have to wait til we both were in Utah again in two weeks.  Double sigh.

     On Monday, August 4th, I woke up, went for a run, showered, and went to look for Michael.  He was on his phone a ton and being way protective of it when I tried to jokingly take it from him.  I thought it was kind of weird, but moved on from that so we could discuss that day's plans.  I knew that I was going to hang out with his really good high school buddy, Nicole, so I asked him when I should do that.  He told me that I was all set to go over there to do a Pinterest craft at one and he would pick me up after "Bachelor in Paradise" was over at 9.  SERIOUSLY?  EIGHT HOURS??  Nicole seemed like an awesome girl, but I barely knew her!  I was annoyed at Michael for making these plans without my consent, so he agreed to push it back an hour.  Gee, thanks.  (Side note: Nicole, if you're reading this, I now realize I had nothing to worry about!  You're the best!)

     We started our marathon hangout session with Michael at an Effingham classic, The Homewood Grill.  Delicious food always puts me in a way too happy mood, so we were off to a good start!  Michael then left us, and we headed to Wal-Mart to get supplies for a couple of Pinterest crafts we were planning on doing.  Nicole and I got to her house and got right to work on a picture that I am supremely proud of!  It was very easy to talk to her and I had a fun time all around while there.  The only downside was that I was missing my boy, as he was sending me sweet texts all day that made me excited to see him again.  I now realize he was just buttering me up.

See?  So cute!  Can't even believe I made that!

     Michael picked me up with another couple at 9:02 so that we could go on a late night dinner double date at Steak n' Shake.  A whole other blog post could be dedicated to how much I LOVED that place.  Their garlic double burger and fries cost $4 and tasted beyond amazing.  IS THIS REAL LIFE?  Anyway, the dinner was filled with lots of laughs, happy tummies, and fun times.  I was having such a great day, I was visibly giddy.  

     We hopped back into his friend's car around 10:20 and we brainstormed what we could do next.  Someone threw out the idea that we could go mini-golfing, claiming that we had to hurry because it closed at 11.  Sounded fun enough, so we drove five minutes over to the park it was located at, only to find almost all the lights were off.  It closed at ten apparently!  We didn't want to end the night yet, so Michael suggested very enthusiastically that we play "Sardines-- Hillbilly Style."  Ever played?  No?  Of course not.  Because the boy made it up, so that I could have the world's most perfect proposal.

     After I begrudgingly agreed to play one round of "Hillbilly Sardines," Michael explained the rules.  The two boys would hide together and after seven minutes, me and Rachel would go find them in the dark park.  I had some legitimate questions about the logistics of the game, but they brushed over them and said I'd figure it out.  So, the boys ran off to hide and we hung out at the car and chatted.  When the timer went off, we start walking towards the deserted park.  Rachel stopped about six seconds into the walk and stated that she had to go get Tyler's iPad from the car because he's a freak about leaving his electronics alone.  I thought nothing of it.

    We started walking and talking again when she started rambling about something whilst signing on to Tyler's iPad.  I thought that was a little weird, but kept going.  Then she thrust the iPad into my hands, urged me to push play, and took off running.

    Then I knew it was happening.  After all of the waiting, wishing, and anticipating, the moment was finally here!  The ultimate, most perfect surprise that there ever could be!  I started smiling, crying, hyperventilating a little, and shakily pushed play to see the sweetest video that led me to my man, in a darling lit up gazebo where he asked me to be his partner for eternity.  Basically, up to this point, that was the best night of my life. :)  Also, the rules weren't incredibly clear, but I think I won that game of "Hillbilly Sardines."

Credit goes to Tyler Yocum at Scarlet Creative

The slightly poor quality of the video is totally my fault cuz I'm a dunce and don't know how to embed a video. The real one is much better!!

The best night of my 22 years of existence!

 The perfect ring for me:)

Re-watching the video because I was freaking out too much the first time to pay attention

   

--

A special thanks to all of those that helped make this proposal possible: 

Tyler Yocum, Rachel Gouchenour, Tyler Semple, Michael's family, Nicole Zimmerman, and of course Michael Taylor Gadberry:)

'Twas perfect!

   

Don't All Love Stories Start with Bowling?

     Once upon a time, Michael and I met as baby freshman {see this post}.   We didn't talk for a couple of years after that due to him being out of the country and all for two years on an LDS mission.  Honestly, I didn't really think I'd ever see the cute lad again.  I am so glad I was ridiculously wrong about that.

Mike in the Philippines {on the left}

    Michael got back from his mission in May of 2013 and I welcomed him back via facebook with a post I deemed witty and clever.  It actually wasn't.  Not even in the least bit.  So our conversation ended pretty quickly.  Boys weren't my thing, remember??  Nevertheless, we chatted on facebook a couple of times when he got back to BYU in the fall of '13, and mentioned that we should hang out sometime.  Nothing ever came of these occasional messages back and forth though.  Clearly, this boy was too cool for me.

     One night {October 24th, 2013 to be exact}, my bowling league team was in desperate need of a sub.  We're just going to skip past the fact that I was an official member of a bowling team for over two years and that is the only "sport" I've ever played.  Anyway, our team has had to look for subs before, but it had never been this difficult to find someone to fill in!  Everyone had work, midterms to study for, dates, or just wasn't feeling good.  SERIOUSLY??  DO PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND THE PURE BEAUTY OF THE SPORT THAT IS BOWLING?!  I digress.  Well, I had been denied by a friend for the 8th time that night via text when I decided to go on facebook.  I am NEVER on facebook chat, but I decided to turn it on to try my hand at being denied through another form of technology.  

     Michael Gadberry had a little green dot next to his name.  He was "online."

     In all caps, I asked the unsuspecting boy to please please please come bowling with our team.  I even used the hashtag "desperationtimez."  Who am I??  Apparently he thought I was just pathetic enough and agreed to come play that night.  

     We had an awkward "nice to see you again" hug at the bowling alley to start out the evening.  I later found out that Michael does not enjoy hugs or touch from just any old Joe.  Oops.  Regardless, we all had a pretty great time!  He was quiet, yet funny and chill.  I immediately was interested in him, whereas he thought, "Hmmm...Rachelle's a'ight." He texted me the next morning, teasing me about a Justin Bieber song I recommended {I <3 Mistletoe} and we were in constant communication via text and snapchat for the next three weeks.  

     On November 16th, I asked Michael to borrow his Sports Pass to get into a BYU basketball game.  He agreed and I went to the game with one of my best friends, Lottie.  For some reason, I decided it was a good idea to leave my sleepover with Lottie at 12:01am that night to return the pass to him.  He came out of his apartment to retrieve it, and sat outside my car window talking to me for a few minutes.  We live in Utah, so it was approximately -38 degrees outside, making this chat quite the sacrifice.  He brought up our whole J. Biebs debate, and I told him he must not have listened to the right song.  I offered to let him borrow my copy of J. Bieb's Christmas album {I honestly don't know why I have it, but I kind of love it!}, and he retorted that he wouldn't be caught dead with that in his possession.  The only answer was to come inside my car and listen to it there.  Smooth move, Michael Gadberry, smooth move.  

     After listening to JB, and agreeing to disagree about the singer, we continued to talk in my car til the wee hours of the night.  Nothing but talking, and I loved every single minute of it.  He left my car eventually, and I went back to my sleepover.  Lottie can attest to how twitter-pated and giddy I was upon my return.  I maybe got three hours of sleep that night because I simply kept replaying our long chat and wondering what might come of it.  

    I wish I could go back in time to tell little twenty-one year old Rachelle to close her eyes and get some sleep that night because there's no point in fantasizing about what might happen with Michael.  What happens in reality, young Rachelle, is so so much better.  Also.  Know that you will become a huge cheese ball.  Just go with it.

--

Moral of the story?  Go bowling.  It could change your life.

Note:  I'm not standing next to my main squeeze for the sake of color coordination of the shirts.

I realize this looks like a topsy-turvy date, but it was from when we became bowling league champions last year.

Bow down to us.

The Almost Never Beginnings

I'm quite convinced that Mr. Gadberry and I were destined for one another.  He is kind, funny, and pretttttty perfect for me in just about every way.  Even still, we almost missed each other.  LIKE ALMOST A DOZEN TIMES.


Missed opportunity #1:

I decided many months before starting college that I wanted to be in one of the few buildings in Heritage {on-campus housing at BYU} that had a 2-to-1 boy/girl ratio.  Everywhere else had double the number of girls than boys.  At the awkward age of 18 {if we're being real, the awkward stage lasted from age 11-22}, I had precisely zero game and needed everything in my favor when it came to the dating world.  Therefore, I signed up for that perfect dorm and had sweet dreams of ice cream dates with rosy cheeked Mormon boys.  

Meanwhile, Michael had absolutely no idea that he was signing up to live in one of the few buildings in Heritage that had a 2-to-1 boy/girl ratio.  This was a freshman boy's worst nightmare.

If everything would have gone as planned, Michael and I would have been in the same ward {local church congregation} that semester as baby freshmen.  However, my love of sleep was greater than that of boys {the ratio!}, and I switched into a dorm closer to campus at the last minute, so that I might have a five minute shorter walk in the morning.  THAT'S ONE MORE HIT OF THE SNOOZE BUTTON, OKAY?!?  

Missed opportunity #2:

Despite me moving away from him, we met for the very first time our freshman year of college at Brigham Young University.  Neither of us can remember that exact moment in August 2010 where we first laid eyes on our future companion, but we're 39.8% sure that it happened.  

At BYU, for your first semester of college, they require you to be in a "bundle," which means that you are grouped together with a bunch of other noobs for two general classes.  Michael and I had a Book of Mormon religion class and Ancient History together.  To be perfectly honest, I was barely awake for the first class and I did nothing but play Hearts during the second class, so we have approximately one memory of each other from the first four months of knowing of one another's existence.  What I DO remember is having a semi-serious addiction to Hearts, yet somehow still being indescribably awful at it.  How can one person play so much, but suck so bad???  My winning streak is two, people.  TWO.  

Actually, brb....imma go play some Hearts.

.....

Alright, I'm back.  I tried to "shoot the moon."  I failed to "shoot the moon." 

Missed opportunity #3:

Michael became friends with a bunch of people from my freshman ward of 150 people.  Not me though.  Clearly, I was not cool enough for him.  Seriously though...look at the difference between us:

Harry Potter nerd.  {11.19.2010}

Such a cute little Justin Bieber look-a-like! {10.12.2010}

Anyway, he moved into my ward to be with his friends.  Even in group settings, we very rarely hung out.

Missed opportunity #4:

Not only did he move into my ward, but he became my FHE brother!  For those of you who are super confused by this term, it just is a make-shift family our ward put us into since we were away at college.  The group only had 18 people in it and met once a week.  He even became the FHE father to me and my group.  {Insert ridiculous joke about me marrying my father here}.

He remained wholly uninterested in me, despite the frequency of seeing each other.

Missed opportunity #5:

Our church has a program called "home teaching" that pairs two guys up to visit a couple of people in the ward to make sure all is well.  I'll give you one guess as to who Michael was assigned to teach during our Freshman year.

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Michael and I FINALLY let destiny have it's way in the fall of 2013, THREE YEARS after we met.  I'm so glad I decided to stop being stubborn long enough to see what the universe was trying to show me all along. :)

{09.01.2014}