summer semester

I just finished the first week of summer semester, my last summer in Rexburg as a student! I am taking some fun, but also hard classes: Organizational Communications, Outdoor Cooking, Religion, Program Management and English-I am not looking forward to this English class. It is going to a be A LOT of reading and writing, which is expected due to the name of the course, "Intro to Literature." Oh well. It will certainly keep me busy, and help take my mind off of Mark being gone. Yep, Mark is in Okalahoma for basic training and AIT for the Army National Guard for 16 weeks! He will have been in reception for a week on Tuesday, and Wednesday he begins his actual training. Basic is roughly 6 weeks, and then the rest is AIT. I am planning on going to his basic graduation in June!
Update: So basic is actually 9 weeks long. I am going to his graduation which is July 3 (with family day on the 2nd!) I am super excited to see him! Time is actually going by pretty fast. I'm being kept busy with all my school work, but thats good.

Eventful and Exciting

These last couple of days have been pretty eventful. Last Tuesday I bought Mark's wedding band. It is a Tungsten band from Whitehall Jewelers. I should have it by the second week in April! We are going to engrave the inside of our wedding bands with "Forever, For Always, No Matter What."
Monday was such a great day! Mark signed the contract for our apartment at school that we will be living in! So exciting! Monday evening the caterer came. Oh, the food he brought for us to sample was so amazingly good. He brought crab balls, chicken with a mushroom sauce, german meat balls, and so much more! The cake lady brought a sample wedding cake-chocolate chocolate mousse! Mm...it is soo good!
Tuesday was a hard day. I fell on my knee that I had surgery on back in January. It hurt so bad! I called the Doctor and he said to go to the ER and have x-rays done to make sure the screws (I have 2 screws holding my knee cap in place) were still in tact. My physical therapist said it looks like it just might be badly bruised. I see my Doctor on Friday.
Today, Wednesday, we ordered our invitations!! They will go out in July. Yeah! Things are coming together so great. I am so excited to marry Mark for time and all eternity!!!

Randy and Amy's Wedding!

This weekend I went to Illinois for Marks sisters wedding (Amy!) I met the whole Distelhorst family-they are fabulous family and are a lot of fun! I am really excited to be marrying into such an awesome family! While I didn't get much sleep, I had a lot of fun hearing stories about Mark as a child, spending time with him, and just enjoying my soon to be in-laws!

I am so excited to go back in April and see Mark and Dana, and to just be able to relax and enjoy the time we have!

Wedding Dress

I got my wedding dress today! It is absolutely beautiful and I am so excited to wear it August 30 when I marry my best friend!! It is a two-piece, A-line style from Gowns by Pamela.
We also got our marriage license on Monday, and the DC Temple has it! I am going to Illinois next week for Amy (Mark's sisters) wedding. After I get back, we are ordering the announcements which will be mailed out in July. Oh this all very exciting!

Check out my Slide Show!

Its Official!

Mark and I are officially getting married August 30 in the DC Mormon Temple at 11am! While on the phone with Mark, they called. After some questions, it was scheduled! Wahoo! I am super excited! I also ordered my dress on Monday and it should be here next week. :-)

The engagement story

Mark and I are officially engaged as of December 31, 2007. After meeting my family for dinner at Ruby Tuesday we went and looked at the Christmas Lights at the Mormon DC Temple. As we were walking around admiring the lights, we started walking under the beautifully decorated trees. As he stops, he takes my hands and starts telling me that I am his best friend, that he loves me and wants to marry me. While he is saying all this, I'm thinking to myself "What is he doing?" Next thing I know, he is down on his knee saying "Rachel, will you marry me?" I couldn't say anything but "are you serious?" He gets up, we hug and kiss. Mark then proceeds to ask, "So is that a yes or a no?" (Ooops, I guess I was just caught up in the moment.) I said that was a YES!

I am so excited to marry him, and even more grateful to have him in my life. I could not ask for anything (or anyone) better.

So now begins the fun part of planning the wedding. We are planning an August 30 wedding in the DC Temple!