Seattle

Hey ya'll! Just wanted to post another update, since I actually have time to post now that the semester's over. Maybe this time, I'll actually be able to get Scotty to post a word or two!

1. So, we're living in Seattle now. The freeway is down the road, and the city center is very close, visible just over a hill after entering the freeway. Jennifer lives about 2 hours from us, and we plan on visiting her this weekend for Mother's Day and Marian's baby blessing, as well as next weekend to celebrate both mine and Scott's birthdays.

2. Our apartment complex has a pool, and our apartment is actually right above it, so we have a really good view. We also have tons of nice windows and a balcony. Since Seattle is cloudy and rainy a lot of the time, not to mention cold, we haven't really thought about swimming much, but we found out yesterday that the pool is heated! How exciting is that? Needless to say, I went out and bought myself a bathing suit today.

3. The internship is going well. I am still a little confused about what I'm supposed to be doing for the internship class (there are like 5 different syllabi online and I can't figure out which one I'm supposed to be following) but work is going well. We haven't had too much to do so far, except set up the office and settle into our apartment, but today we started calling people and setting up appointments. It was a little scary calling people at first, but I just act like I expect them to cooperate, and that usually works out pretty well.

4. The city is pretty cool, but we haven't really visited much of it. We took a two hour tour when we got here (our tour guide was Dr. Day, the primary investigator of the research project we are here carrying out) and we visited some really pretty spots. Seattle is cool because even though it's a city, there are tons of trees! AND they all look like Dr. Seuss trees, which is a major plus. I'll keep you all updated on all of the fun stuff we do, if we ever get around to it.

5. Hey everyone this is Scott! Camilla gave me the sad eyes so I guess I'll write something... Well, Seattle is really cool. It's the first big city I've lived in and it's pretty nice. Camilla and I are excited about swimming in the pool here, especially since she just got a new bathing suit. We've also got some interviews set up now which I'm looking forward to doing. It's cool to see how other people live and to have the opportunity (possibly) to tell them about the church and how we live and stuff. I look forward to the family coming out here this summer! It'll be really cool to see you all again!

Well, I got Scott to post! It took a while with the puppy eyes, but it finally worked. Hope you enjoyed it!

Update

1. So, last week it was warm. This week it's snowing. Go figure.

2. Before it started snowing, it was raining, and the sidewalks were covered with worms. I was the only one on campus trying to avoid stepping on them. I looked like a drunk person playing hop-scotch.

3. Classes are over. Thank goodness. Now, if I live through finals week, I can start to think about next semester. Will it ever end?

4. Actually, to answer that last question, I am almost done with school. This summer, I am taking an internship. After that, I only have 7 classes left before I graduate with my BS in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. Anyone need any family/marriage/parenting advice? BYU bonus: we learn the research facts in conjunction with gospel principles.

5. After finals week ends, Scott and I are moving to Seattle for the summer, where I'm doing my internship. Scott is doing it with me, but he's not doing it for the internship credit, just for the money. Actually, if Scott didn't get hired as well, I wouldn't have taken the internship, 'cause that would mean seperating for 4 months, and I just could not do that.

In case anyone's interested, the internship is for the Flourishing Families Project, a longitudinal research study that is investigating the new frontier in family sciences. The research is invaluable, and is one of the largest, most comprehensive research projects studying family processes at this time. It's purely academic, not affiliated with the church, and will be a very credible source in the world of academia. Soon, professors and researchers all over the country will be citing research findings from this study. Part of the study is also dedicated to researching LDS families, and it is the largest study ever done on LDS families.

6. I think I have convinced Scott that we need a new couch. We got the one we have now from Deseret Industries, which is like a thrift store kind of deal. It's an ugly pinkish color and old with birds all over it, and it's squeaky. Not my dream couch, but it only cost $45 . I saw a deal in the newspaper today that said if we buy $500 worth of furniture, we get $500 worth of groceries free. RC Willey outlet store couches aren't even that cheap!

7. Scott and I are doing well. I love being married and am very happy, and I get the impression that Scott is as well. He is a very sweet man. Everyone needs their own personal Scotty to brighten up a cloudy, snowy, wormy day.

8. Scott has decided to become an archaeologist. We want to live a life of adventure and glory, just like Indiana Jones.

Our Wedding

Yes, I am finally writing it down. I’ll begin the story about 8 days before the wedding. On Friday the 19th of December, Scott, Heidi, and I took off from Provo, Utah, and made our way to Huntington Beach, California. We arrived there late Friday got about 5 hours of sleep (or less) after staying up and talking for a few hours. Scott and I then caught a plane from L.A. to Houston, where we had a layover. Unfortunately, our plane out of L.A. was delayed because of weather, so we ended up missing our flight out of Houston. Before leaving L.A., a lady who worked for Continental assured me that she had gotten both me and Scott on a standby ticket, and that they definitely had extra seats, so we shouldn’t have a problem getting on the flight. Well, after arriving at Houston and waiting in a customer service line for who knows how long, we were told that we weren’t on any standby flights and that we would be put on the waiting list for the next two flights to Richmond. We were told that we wouldn’t have any trouble getting on a flight.

Twenty-four hours later, after a sleepless night on some chairs in the terminal, and after not being able to get on the next three standby flights, we finally caught a plane out of Houston. Scott said he could tell that I was really frustrated whenever I talked to a customer service representative, but that I handled myself surprisingly well considering the circumstances. This surprised me because I was trying so hard not to be rude to the people who worked there that I thought for sure I was being every customer service employee’s nightmare. Well, we finally arrived in Richmond, greeted the family, and then drove home. Scott was really impressed with the family. He and Brayton got to spend some time together and he thinks Bray is really funny and admires him for his humility and gentleness despite his large stature. He had nice things to say about everyone.

A few days passed and on Tuesday, the 23rd of December, we all hopped in the car and drove to the Washington D.C. Temple so that I could receive my endowment. What an incredible day! What profundity can express the happiness and perfection of such a day? I imagined that nothing in the world could possible be better, and found it hard to believe that even my wedding day could be more perfect.

After the session, we met with Cassandra at Friendly’s to have dinner. It is always so much fun to see those kids and that family.

The next day I spent all of my time with Scott shopping for Christmas presents. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring, and I was ready for it to be over by the end of the day. By the next morning, however, I was rip roaring ready to go! I came down, opened my stocking, had some good breakfast, and then we opened presents.

Christmas day was a lot of fun, but that night I suddenly came down with some kind of illness. Two days before my wedding, and I was up all night puking my guts out. It was incredible! I hadn’t vomited like that since I was a child, yet there I was, two days before my wedding, throwing up. It only got worse from there—everyone started throwing up! Michelle called and said her kids were throwing up, Amanda and her kids got sick, and so did Brayton and Elisabeth. Scott even got sick, although he didn’t throw up. It was right when everyone was sick that Scott’s parents and Heidi flew out. Needless to say, they didn’t visit for very long, and quickly escaped to their hotel after arriving at our house.

When I was still sick on Friday night, I started to really worry because I was supposed to be getting married the next day. How would it be if I threw up in the middle of the ceremony? Well, I was well enough by Saturday morning that I knew that I at least would be okay. So, at about four o’clock a.m., we all got up and drove to the Washington D.C. Temple once more. Michelle and her family were able to come to the wedding despite her kids having been sick, and Amanda came as well. So did Mom and Dad, Jim and Chrysa (Scott’s dad and mom), and two other people on Scott’s side of the family who’s names I don’t know. Here's a picture of me with their little girl. Right after this picture, she said, "I already got my picture taken with the princess." How cute is that?

Before getting married, Scott and I were waiting in one of the sealing rooms and we started making faces at each other in the mirrors. It was so hilarious, although I was a little afraid that we were being sacreligious. I had a hard time not laughing out loud when the sealer came to talk to us, and worried that I might just burst out laughing in the middle of the ceremony at the thought of us making faces at each other. However, once we were at the altar, I was not thinking about that silly moment, but about the covenant I was making and how much I love Scott. The moment we were declared husband and wife was, without a doubt, the best moment of my life. Words cannot describe it, but all of you who have been married know what I mean. It was perfect.

My father-in-law will do anything for a good picture.

After the ceremony, we exchanged rings and spent some time in the temple as Mr. and Mrs. Scott Holdaway before going outside to greet everyone. Then we took pictures and went home, where we partied for a few hours with family and friends. Unfortunately, Cassandra couldn’t make it because her kids also got sick, and our own house hadn’t seen the end of the illness either. Just as Scott and I were leaving, and everyone was scrambling to get their cameras, little Trinity threw up all over Scott’s dad! Well, I thought it was pretty funny because I know Jim pretty well, and I knew he wouldn’t be disgusted by it, and that he would probably think it was funny if he didn’t feel so bad for Trinity. Mom, however, was horrified! It was ironic because Mom would always say to me, “You know Camilla, whatever goes wrong—if the cake falls apart or whatever—we’ll just laugh and make the most of it and have a good time.” I don’t think throwing up on the in-laws was something she had considered when she had given me that advice! I’m sure she’s embarrassed by it, but it will be one of those moments that we all look back on and laugh at, and it will also be in our repertoire of embarrassing stories to tell Trinity’s future husband. Well, after that fiasco was over, Scott and I drove away in our balloon-covered car and retired. In sum, Saturday the 27th of December was the most fabulous day of my life!

Austin and Brayton

The story doesn’t end here, though. Scott and I spent a few more days in Virginia on a sort of mini-honeymoon before flying back to California. Dad took me, Scott, Mom, Heidi, Jim, and Chrysa around where he works to see the ships. That was a ton of fun because I love seeing the shipyard. We also drove around and looked at the cool things you can see from the road, like the Hampton Coliseum, Langley, Nascar, NASA, and the wind tunnels. Right afterwards, Jim, Chrysa, and Heidi had to go back to Washington D.C. to catch their flight back to L.A. We said goodbye and they left, but I wasn’t sad because I knew I’d be seeing them all again in a few days. I did feel bad for Heidi, though, because I heard that she had gotten really sick on the way home.

Well, the time finally came for Scott and me to leave and fly back to California. This time, we didn’t get stuck in any airports, so that’s good. Back in Huntington Beach, we had a lot of fun lounging around with the Holdaways. For New Year’s Eve, I watched Countdown with Clint Eastwood and saw The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for the first time.

The next day was our California reception, and it was beautiful! Chrysa did such a good job with all of the decorations, and a lot of sisters in the ward pitched in to help with it. Black cloth was draped across the ceiling, and silver ornaments were hung at different lengths using fishing line. The centerpieces were also amazing. They were crystal containers, much like large flowerpots, filled with artificial snow, holly and berries, silver-tipped pine cones, and white lights. They were very festive. My cousin Wendy made the cake and it looked like a present gift-wrapped in frosting. There were also Christmas trees with silver ornaments and white lights. The snack table was also very good: the cookies were deliciously decorated with silver candies and edible red glitter, with some dipped in chocolate as well. There was an entire hot chocolate bar, with different flavored syrup and marshmallows to put in the hot chocolate, along with chocolate shavings and whipped cream. It was a dream!

Scott's brothers

The hot chocolate bar

Cake #2 - I loved them both!

Well, for the first half of the reception we stood in the line, and then we socialized a bit. After the speech, the toast, and the cake cutting (no, we didn’t smear the cake all over each others’ faces—we’re boring like that), we had our dance. We danced to a song called For The First Time from Tarzan, the Broadway Musical (the song featured at the top of my blog), and then socialized some more until we were snatched off to another room for pictures. That night, we opened up all of our presents before going to bed, and we got a lot of really good stuff.

The next morning everyone had to pitch in and bring in all the stuff that was used for the reception. It didn’t take long, and then Scott, Jim, and I cleaned out and checked over the car to get it ready for the trip back to Utah. We stuffed all of our gifts and luggage into the back before taking off, but we were up so late the night before, and had so much to do the next morning, that we got a really late start. On our way to Provo, we had to stop in St. George to get a hotel for the night before continuing on our way. Finally, we reached Provo and got into our new apartment. Since then, life has been wonderful. I love being married, I love having a home and a family here, and I love Scotty more and more each day!

Bridal Shower

For my bridal shower, we played a game where everyone names their favorite word and then they get into groups to write a story about the bride and groom using all of those words. Here is the winning story (with everyone's favorite words underlined):

Deep in the ocean where the llamas murmur, a great baseball player tells the story of Camilla and Scott...
Once upon a times there was a young girl named Camilla who wanted more than her provincial life. So, she went on a quest to find the golden doorbell to save her family. She wandered for many days without food or sleep. Nearly a month after she left home, she came across a dark path leading to a dark castle. Being adventurous, she took the road and came to the door of the castle. Next to the door was the golden doorbell! She jingled it zealously and was flabbergasted at the enormous burp that emanated from inside. The beast, Scott, answered the door.
"What do you want?" he murmured.
"I want your doorbell to save my family," Camilla answered.
He took her prisoner, obviously, and she was unhappy. And then she learned of the anthracis from the llama. It said that Scott was under a spell to die of anthracis when the last petal fell unless he could learn his manners.
Camilla ran away, but on the front doorstep she went into cardiac arrest. Scott saved her politely and she fell in love with him. Just before the last petal fell, she said she loved him and kissed him. The spell was broken and the anthracis was gone! And they lived in harmony ever after.
Thus murmured the great baseball player from the depths of the ocean while petting his llama and singing Beauty and the Beast.

We played some other games and ate pizza and cupcakes with root beer. Then came the hard part. My roommates laid out about 6 pairs of jeans and 10 shirts, and I had to guess which ones were Scott's. I picked out the jeans right away with 99% certainty, and then had some trouble deciding which shirt was his. The reason is because Scott gave them a plain shirt that had no recognizable marks that I would be accustomed to seeing. I smelled all the shirts, and none of them smelled like him. When I smelled his shirt, I smelled it near the bottom of the front and couldn't detect his smell on it. Later, I smelled it again and realized it only smelled like him near the top. Well, after picking out the wrong shirt, they had me put the clothes on and they took a picture. After that, we opened presents. Of course, the party wouldn't be complete unless they'd gotten me something scandalous. Well, that was my bridal shower, and it was loads of fun. Thanks for all who planned and participated!

Great Lessons

This past weekend I have had some really great experiences, both fun and spiritual. First of all, it was Halloween on Friday, and then on Saturday, Scott, Heidi, and I went shopping at the mall. We also went to Target and Scott and I registered there and got to carry around the laser gun thing. That was all fun, but I learned some very important lessons this weekend as well.

On Saturday morning, we had Enrichment and were given a wonderful lesson. Its main idea or theme, in one word, was "Look." We need to see the heavy hearts of others, notice their loneliness and despair, and feel their silent prayers. If our eyes and hearts are open, we will be able to help so many people. The other lesson I had was in my marriage prep class on Sunday. It was about forgiveness. I now realize that to be a peacekeeper, I must be slow to take offence, quick to forgive, and be able to say "I'm sorry." I had heard all this before, but the Spirit was so strong during the lesson that I was changed and I now have a greater resolve. The third great lesson I had was in Relief Society. It spoke of doing three things: (1) strengthen your faith, (2) strengthen families, and (3) serve the Lord and His children. The Spirit was very strong during this lesson as well, and not only were the lessons of this weekend an answer to my prayers, but I have been so filled! It's nice to know that the Lord hears our prayers and is watching out for us. He knows exactly what we need to hear, and will always tell us if we only ask and listen.

Halloween

Halloween this year was really fun with all of my awesome roomies and Scott. We spent a whole ton of time getting ready, then we went to a dance party, after which we watched Secret Window. It was a really good movie and not too scary either. Here is a picture of me and my roomies. From left to right we have Minnie Mouse, Esmerelda, a white girl in a kimono, Aurora, and Megara.

Here are Heidi and me, trying to be in character.

Scott and I both dressed up Japanese. I really liked how well we matched! First you bow...

Then you fight!

Quotes

One day, I was at a devotional here at BYU and an apostle was speaking. He told us that everyone has bad days, even the apostles. Then he said, "So, if you're having a bad day, you're in good company." It was really funny and also very comforting. It gave me something to think about. Later on in his talk, he said that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." I also found that comforting. These past weeks, and over the weekend especially, I have had a really hard time, so it was nice to revisit these quotes. Keep them in mind next time you are having a rough time, and hopefully they will help you.