Rexburg is Dreary, but Life is Good

Living in Rexburg, I have learned to take advantage of the sunny days. You never know what the weather is going to do here, but when summer finally comes it will be beautiful! This past weekend we had some really nice days and now it's back to cold and rainy :( oh well...

Life is Good!

Last week I was stressing out BIG TIME about wedding plans, job hunting, and finding an apartment, but this week is looking up. Jake and I found an apartment! I got a phone call a couple nights ago from an apartment I applied to live at and we were accepted. We're moving into a cute little two bedroom apartment and I'm very excited to make it our own place starting August 1st. Jake and I signed the contract together as Jake and Darcie "Nalder" Wilcox and I'm going to go up to the office today and put down our deposit. It's going to be a beast moving in since we are living on the 3rd floor, but we'll survive.

After we looked at the apartment yesterday, Jake had to go back to work and I still had an hour before I needed to go to work so I went over to the D.I. I found a chocolate fountain for $18.00 and I'm thinking we might use it at the reception. I heard they get kinda messy though, so we'll see. While I was texting Jake about what I had found, I told him that I loved him and his response made me laugh.... he said: "Well that's good cause you have to live with me for the next year. You signed a paper saying so..." Haha. He is so witty-that one. He makes me laugh every day.

I'm still looking for another part time job for the summer and a full time job for the fall, but something will work out sooner or later. As for the wedding plans- they're coming along. Jake and I are hopefully going to take some engagement photos this weekend and then we can design our announcements. Everything is getting done and I will be a lot less stressed now that we have a place to live when we get married. Thank you to everyone that had to put up with me last week...my major stressor is gone now and I will be more pleasant to be around from here on out! 

Just Sitting Here Thinking...

I have a few different topics on my mind right now and here they are:
(these are my ramblings, so if they don't make sense-get over it. haha)

FAMILY:
I am so grateful for every person in my immediate and extended family. Each person is so different from one another, but have so much to bring to our family. It makes us well rounded and has taught me to see things from other perspectives. I have my own opinions about things, but I have never once thought that things are "my way or the highway." I like to step into other people's shoes and see how they perceive the world and my family has taught me how to do that.

To my Mom and Dad: Thank you for raising me right. Thank you for continually supporting me even when you haven't agreed with my decisions, and thank you for helping me out even when I don't ask for it. I tell Heavenly Father how grateful I am for both of you every day.

To Adam, Brian, Chelsea, and Erica: You are my best friends and I will love you forever no matter what. Some of us talk to each other more than others, but I value every minute we share together. Please remember how much I love you even when I forget to call. I miss each one of you so much.

To the Wilcox's- You are my home away from home. I am so grateful for your open arms and the support you have been to Jake and I while we have been dating and now as we are planning to be married. I have always been treated like a part of the family and I appreciate everything that each of you has done for me over the past year.

JAKE:
He gets his own category box because he is my fiance. I have finally found my soul mate. I don't really believe in soul mates because I think it's kinda stupid to think there is one person on this Earth that was put here specifically to find you, but Jake has become my soul mate. I cannot imagine being apart from him because we are best friends. We understand and support each other in every aspect of life. We laugh together every day and we can (and do) talk about everything. We love one another- and not that artificial/superficial kind of love, but the kind of love that you makes you want to do anything and everything for the other person. The kind of love where you pray for the other person more than you pray for yourself because you put their needs and feelings first. It's a two way street- I'd say we both give and take equally, but really we both spend our time giving to each other more than we take. I can't help but smile when I see him. We are happy and that is a blessing. When we get married we'll probably have just enough to get by, but it doesn't matter because we are gonna have so many good times. Jake is a hard worker and puts other people before himself. He has 4 jobs right now (yes...4!) and goes to school full time, but he makes sure that he sees me every day.

...Ok, I could talk about him all day, so I'll move on. Just know he is a dream come true! and if you ever read this Jake I hope you know how much you mean to me. August 13th can't come fast enough... I want to be married so I can spend more time with you and be with you forever!


FRIENDS:
I have met a lot of people throughout the years and for those who know me really well, you know that I LOVE the books and movies by Tyler Perry's character "Madea". I like her quote about friends:
"

Some people are like leaves on a tree. The wind blows and they are over here, the wind blows again and they are over there. They are unstable and when the season’s change they whither and die- they’re gone. Most people in the world are like that-they are just there to take from the tree. They are only there to take and give shade every now and then. That’s all they can do, but don’t get mad at people like that because that’s who they are they were put on this earth to be a leaf.  Some people are like a branch on a tree and you have to be careful about those branches too because they will fool you. They make you think they are a good friend and they’re real strong but the minute you step out on their arm they’ll break and leave you high and dry. But if you find 2 or 3 people in your life that are like the roots at the bottom of that tree than you are truly blessed. Those are the kind of people that ain’t going nowhere. They aren’t worried about being seen, don’t nobody have to know that they know you, they don’t have to know what they are doing for you, but if those roots weren’t there that tree couldn’t live. A tree can have a hundred million branches but only a few roots at the bottom to make sure it gets everything it needs. When you get you some roots hold on to them. But the rest of them… let ‘em go. Just let folks go"

Thank you to all the roots in my life. You know who you are.

My moose

Last fall Jake used to text me whenever he saw a moose because he knew that I had never seen one before. He lives in the woods of Idaho (woods of Idaho?...I know, before I met him I didn’t think there was such a thing either) and moose like to hang out back there near the river. After awhile, Jake decided to prove to me that moose really do exist, so one Sunday afternoon we went on a walk. We walked back to the river and as soon as we got there, there was a moose on the other side of the river! It was a girl moose because it didn’t have paddles…but it was a moose either way! Then when we turned around to walk back towards the house we saw 3 more moose! 2 full grown girl moose and a baby! The baby was so cute and it was one of the first moose I had ever seen. So it has been over 8 months since I’ve seen that moose, and Jake had been spotting it in the woods again. Last Sunday he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk (cause we like to go through the woods and see all the animals on occasion), so we bundled up and started walking. Earlier that week Jake had been working on a bulldozer cleaning up the rocks in one of the canals, (he taught me how to drive it too) so we were walking towards the canal and he saw a tree stand. Naturally one of us was going to have to try out this tree stand, and Jake volunteered. Once he hopped down from the stand, he spotted something off in the distance. All I heard was a “I hope that’s not what I think it is”, which scared the mess out of me because I figured there was a live bear or wolf or something that could trample my body coming towards me, but then I saw it…
MY MOOSE!
But here is where the story takes a shift. I saw a huge furry lump of something lying on the ground and I asked Jake to make sure it was what I thought it was. We walked closer because we saw it wasn’t moving and there laid my baby moose… dead… its legs had gotten tangled up in a fence. It was really depressing. Jake told me he wanted to go on a walk because he had seen the moose around that area all week. Jake wanted to name the little guy after me if we saw it that day because it was one of the first moose I had seen. To make things worse, I’ve never seen a male moose and this little guy’s paddles were just starting to bud! If that fence hadn’t caught his legs he would’ve grown up and I would’ve seen a moose with paddles, but who knows… now I may never get my chance. How sad… :( 

COUNTDOWN!!!!!

The planning has begun. We've started making lists for invitations and we're trying to figure out locations for receptions and all those fun details! I don't let myself get stressed or overwhelmed because all the little details don't matter... We just want to get married!!! Here's the official countdown. I can't wait!


Wedding-Countdowns

This is the start of a new chapter :)

I'm really excited about my new blogging adventures. I think I'm going to change this into a Jake and Darcie update page because WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!! Here's the story for all of you to read :)

Because it is Spring and we've had some nice weather we've been planning a trip to Palisades Reservoir to take some pictures together. Little did we know that it was going to blizzard the day of and before we planned to go, but we still decided it would be a fun trip to go on. Its only about an hour away from Jake's house, so we drove up there and found a spot that would be nice to take a few pictures at. I set the camera up on his truck and ran back to take the first picture together. Jake wasn't looking so he told me to set it up again and when the camera started beeping he dropped down to one knee and pulled out the ring box. I think I was so surprised that it really didn't register in my brain what was going on until he actually opened the box! I saw the ring and I was SHOCKED. I had no idea that he had the ring! What a sneaky guy! Apparently everyone knew he had it and that he was going to propose that day except me! I am so excited.






We are planning to get married Friday August 13, 2010. I love Jake so much and he is everything that I could ever dream of marrying. He really is my other half and I can't wait to be married to him forever.

July Adventures

We’ve already established that I really stink at the whole blogging thing, but I still like to put them up every now and then. So here are a few adventures in the month of July I thought were worth mentioning: (ordered oldest to most recent)

TACO BUS
I had never even been to a taco van when I stumbled upon this newly opened taco bus. It looked really cool from the outside, so naturally I needed to take a closer look. So a few friends and I drove over one night and checked it out…not only was the food good, but the bus had been transformed into a mini restaurant. All the normal seats have been taken out and two long benches were installed on both sides of the aisle along with little counters (I guess you can call them) under the windows so you have a place to eat on the bus.



FOURTH OF JULY
This year for the fourth of July I decided to stay in Rexburg so that I could see the Idaho Falls Fireworks Show. (Everyone said it was worth seeing…and they were right!) Most of my friends left for the weekend, but I was still determined to have some fun. Cliff left me his Wrangler since the weather was going to be nice and he knew how much I love driving it, and Jake had invited me to go with him to the Rexburg parade. So the morning started out with Jake and I walking all over Rexburg because every time there was a break in the parade we would walk further and further down the street to find the next attraction, which brought us to the fire station where Jake and I hung out with friends who we knew through the EMT program and Jake working at the station. Then we moved on to Smith Park where we watched his grandfather receive recognition for his service in the armed forces, bought a water balloon launcher and shot some balloons off the stadium with Erica, and then we headed down to IF to walk around until the fireworks started.

This is me laughing in front of the IF temple.

Having fun at the stadium and the fireworks :)

DEMOLITION DERBY
The weekend after the fourth of July, the roommates, friends, and I attended the Madison County Demolition Derby. We all, of course, HAD to dress up for the event. It was fun watching cars crash into each other, but I think the most fun came from finding the perfect outfit to wear.

The paramedic on the left was one of my instructors and someone that I really look up to.

These were the outfits, the cars, and Tom helping out with the tow truck :)


BRIDGE JUMPING
This is something I refuse to do. It looks like fun, but I still get nervous about things floating down the river that could potentially leave me paralyzed or brain dead for the rest of my life… that and I don’t really like the idea of getting a mega wedgie from hitting the water super fast when I’m hanging out with a group of guys. Anyways… I still go along for the adventure because I enjoy being in the water. I wouldn’t say that I love swimming or anything; I’m more of the wading type. Here are some pictures of the guys I went with jumping off the bridge:




YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Who doesn’t love the word “free”? On July 18, Yellowstone had a free admissions weekend where they waived the $20 fee to get into the park. The park is only 2 hours away from campus, so Erica, John, Jake, and I jumped into a vehicle and headed to the park for a day of adventure. It was really cool to see all the hot pots, wild animals, and Old Faithful. I’m glad I got to go with Erica since she had never been in the four years she had lived out west and now she’s graduated and who knows when she’ll be able to make it back out again.

Sometimes I don't know why he lets me drive.

The weather is FINALLY starting to get nice around Rexburg, so naturally that means it's time to cruise around in the Jeep again. Cliff lets me drive the Wrangler around town ALL the time, and last week I swore he was never going to let me drive it again. Around town the maximum speed limit is 35mph which is perfect for a Sunday stroll, but we had just made a sweet new "cruising jams" cd and when you crank up the tunes you naturally want to crank up the speed! So with Cliff's permission I drove a little ways out of town to Sugar city so that I could get up to 60mph.



Up to this point the drive was going perfectly, but once we got back into town we took a turn for the worse! I turned into a parking lot so I could start driving and the next thing I know the Jeep had mysteriously hit something and it kinda ramped up into the air! I really don't know who was more surprised because neither one of us saw that curb coming, but after the Jeep stopped bouncing around I realized Cliff's Powerade didn't have a lid on it and I was wearing it along with the rest of the car. I thought Cliff was going to kill me, but as you can tell he didn't. We had some good laughs about it and went back and took a picture. That wet spot on my jeans was Powerade... I promise!