Utterly in Love.

You guessed it. I have a new blog. Well, the Utterbacks have a new blog :) Rachel's Life In Provo is no more. It has had a good run. But it's always been looking for it's other half. And it definitley found it.

Check us out here. 

finally.

It's finally here. Todd and I are getting married. Tomorrow. I have been waiting and preparing for this day my whole life. I cannot wait to be sealed in the temple with my best friend and sweetheart. 

Also- I cannot wait to jet off to Paris and be with Todd for a whole week without any wedding to do lists. 

So goodbye all. Just for a little while. 

♥

chromeo.

Last week, Todd and I let loose and left all wedding plans behind us. We took our friends Bree and Cory and went to a VIP Chromeo concert in SLC. My wedding planner was in charge of planning this retirement  party for the president of Jansport. She is the best and got us in for free! We got unlimited free diet cokes all night and danced our hearts out. Todd and I love Chromeo so we have been looking forward to this for a while. It was so fun to just dance and sing and be goofy all night. 

All the men in the room were wearing mustaches and bandanas in honor of their Jansport boss. Somehow Todd got a hold of a mustache and wore it all night. Fit right in. 

We even took photobooth pictures and pretty much failed at it. 

♥

the hills are alive.

Sundance Summer Theater. One of my favorite summer activities. Todd surprised me with The Sound of Music tickets! I had been looking forward to it all summer! I aspire to be Maria. 

It was a clear sunny day up until the sun went down...the clouds started rolling in and thunder started roaring. The whole audience kept looking up and putting on their jackets and hoods. The rain started to pour down. But the actors kept on acting and no one in the audience left. Except Todd...who went to buy us Sundance ponchos. They were very much needed. Even though it rained most of the time it was so great. The actors were amazing and I was smiling pretty much the entire time. 

It was great to get away just the two of us and not have to worry about wedding plans. 

Before the rain.

After the rain.

We stopped by the place that Todd proposed almost six months ago. 

10 days.

♥

busy bee.

I can say right now that I have never been so busy in my entire life. This never ending to do list is bigger than any school assignment list I have ever had. There are 13 days left!!! I just got butterflies writing that. I can't believe how soon it came. It seems like yesterday we still had five months left!

My favorite movie of all time is "Father of the Bride". It's my go to movie and I know every.word. This is one of my favorite scenes. I can relate completely.

Note to the world: RSVP to every wedding invitation you get. PLEASE! It makes the bride and the mother of the bride's life MUCH easier. This is why it is important:

I worked on these all weekend and I am proud to say that every table is perfect and it is all done. 

We took bridals/pre-temple pictures last week. After a few dress alteration fiascos...it finally got finished and it is perfect. I hated taking it off and I cannot wait to wear it again soon!!! Here is a tiny preview:

And my bouquet. It makes me swoon. I am obsessed with it.

♥

cherries and stuff.

I am loving cherries lately. Especially because of the sale at Smiths. 2.99 a pound? Yes. Please. There are lots of other things I am loving lately too. 

homemade oreo shakes

grey suit fittings

cookie dough stuffed cupcakes

gold wedding bands

the awful waffle 

cooking recipes with onions while todd is away

Here's the past few days through my iphoney. Go buy some cherries. Eat them cold from the fridge. They'll do your body good. 

♥

one year ago...

On this day, exactly one year ago, Todd took me on our first date. I never thought that from that day on my whole life would be different and wonderful and fun and full of love. Todd is my favorite. There is nothing that I would do differently about the past year. I love him. And I know he loves me. That is just about perfect.

{the first picture of us taken together in AZ.}

{our latest picture taken. Park City}

23 days. 

♥

phew.

Thank you for all your kind words and texts about my dress fiasco. You are all so sweet and thoughtful.

I have good news- well great news!- I found another dress. I love it even more than the first one! We are rushing the alterations and it will be done before my bridals in a week and a half! AMAZING. 

Thank you so much to Alta Moda Bridal. I love them and their boutique. 

I wish I could post of picture of my dress on here! It's so perfect and lovely and ivory.

In other news- Todd and I are loving our south of campus neighborhood. We walked 8 blocks to the South End market last night from his apartment (it will be OURs soon!) where shave ice is and other yummy things. I am loving shave ice. Cannot get enough tigers blood. Rawr. Yum.

♥

it happens.

So remember how my wedding dress is gone? Yeah. I found out today. It's a long story. Basically the company/designer who was making it went out of buisness and they don't have my dress. No one knows where it is. 

Along with that- I ruined dinner for Todd and I tonight. I hardly ever ruin food- I am just not in it today I guess. 

So tomorrow is a new day. With a wedding comes problems and I am sure this is not the last of it. I am trying really hard to have a positive attitude about it. I have bridals in two weeks. So that is stressing me out a little bit. 

My mom and my wedding planner are being amazing and doing everything they can to help me. I don't know what I would do without them. 

Tomorrow I am going wedding dress shopping all day. And I will find the perfect dress. Even more perfect than the last one. It is going to be beautiful. And my day will be beautiful. 

Obviously it happened for a reason- either for me to learn patience or to learn how to deal with trials in stressful times. I am grateful for trials. I am going to keep my head high and put a smile on my face and I will come out on top. 

♥

the remote caddy.

This was my latest little project. I am not very crafty so whenever I make something I am very proud of it. I found this on pinterest but it is originally from Martha's website. Click here for the link. It was so easy and took maybe 15 minutes. There is a great video tutorial on the website on each step.

 It is sitting in Todd's apartment (our future apt) on top of our cute new coffee table. Our apt is slowly coming together...luckily we have time to get it all into place before I move in.

Did I mention there are only 34 days left?? Less than 5 weeks! SO excited.

♥

let freedom ring.

Have I told you how much I adore our country's birthday? Something about country music, pancake breakfasts in parks, and awfully wonderful parade floats makes me so happy.

We had another amazing small town celebration in Huntsville this year at my parent's house. It was the first year that I got to watch fireworks with a handsome guy that I love. He held my hand the entire time and I realized that this was my favorite Fourth of July ever.

Another reason that made this 4th so fun, was a bunch of our friends came up to stay and play with us! I have been raving about Huntsville's 4th to them for a while and they just couldn't resist not coming! They all ran the 5k in the morning and they entered into the sand volleyball tournament and won second place!! It was a blast watching them and yelling at the ref when he made stupid calls.

We ate great good. Rode the jet ski's on the lake. Swam in the pool. Played latter-ball. Roasted marshmallows. Pet lots of doggies. And had the Forrest Gump soundtrack playing all day. So American.

Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting all of us. My family is so great. The fourth wouldn't be the same without them. We missed the Walkers over in NYC!

Thank you George, Thomas, Alexander, Benjamin, John, and James. You guys are the best.

♥

poolside.

There are great perks to having your fiance work as a mechanic at a public pool. Not only does he get extremely tan (eye candy) but I get to lay out at a awesome pool and go down slides for free. And occasionally he brings me diet cokes and we get to talk on his breaks. Win/win for everyone. #ilovesummer.

♥

it's our vacation.

Summertime in Utah. Nothing beats it. It always makes me wonder why students leave in the summertime and come back for winter? It doesn't make any sense to me. 

Todd and I had a fun filled weekend. We went on a picnic up Vivian park canyon on Friday and saw the Manti Pageant with Taylor and Abbey on Saturday. The Manti Pageant was really fun and... interesting. Lots of protestors. 'Nuff said. 

Another couple of great milestones in our relationship happened this week. We got the keys to our new apartment! Todd is moving in at the end of this week! We are so excited and happy about our own little space. 

We also recieved our new apple green KITCHENAID!!! I have never been happier. Todd snapped sneaky photos of me not wanting to leave its side the other night... Let's just say, my hand mixing days are over!

♥

oh hi.

Got my stitches out.

Had my wonderful family bridal shower hosted by Meems. 

Waited at two DMV's for hours. 

Finally got my handipass. 

Future FIL came into town. 

Saw Midnight in Paris and loved Scotty Fitzgerald. 

Trying to walk without the boot. 

Working a lot. 

Went suit shopping with T for the wedding. 

Enjoying this wonderful weather.

♥

the jeff holt.

My dad rules. Seriously, he is a man of all trades. I cannot even begin to tell you all of his hobbies. They are ENDLESS. I'll just name a few...

making mailboxes for us and neighbors
belt making
wood carving
shooting and hunting (mainly magpies from his office window)
hair braiding
bird watching
singing
cooking omlets
restoring old cars
painting and drawing
bike riding
running
snowboarding and skiing
eating sleeves of ritz crackers with squeeze cheese
writing and memorizing poems
investment banking
crazy ideas (life size Sorry board and hedge maze in our yard)
james bond movies

The list goes on. I am convinced that him and Thomas Jefferson were besties in Heaven. Thomas Jefferson had crazy ideas and millions of hobbies too and was one of the smartest men in the world. My dad knows EVERYTHING. I honestly don't think there is one question he cannot answer.

I love my Dadaruso. He is such a wonderful father, provider, and husband to my mom. I cannot wait for our father/daughter dance at my wedding!

♥