Country vs. City

*Disclosure: Please do NOT be offended as I am about to hardcore bash and over-emphasize on Idaho. I recently just admitted that Idaho is actually growing on me, but I still have to keep my California roots alive. These observations come from a California girl stepping into the Idaho world.*

Happy New Year! One year ago, I officially moved up to Idaho... And boy was it a change! As this past year has gone by, I was and still am in a culture shock. People are different, styles are different, and it is a completely different lifestyle.


While visiting Idaho and living here I've attended many rodeos, and I mean MANY! It's one of the few things there is to do here. Believe me... I've googled night clubs and they don't exist in Southeast Idaho! Wacy and his family have been in every one I've been to up here, so it's fun cheering them on and getting my adrenaline pumping from my nerves. While cheering for them all I can smell is horse & cow sh*t and get blinded by the enormous, blinged-out belt buckles. The events in a rodeo are, well... different.
Events:

Bullriding- the rider has to try to stay on top of the bull for 8 seconds. Man vs. animal...and nothing less than a bull, whose ass is stained a brown/green because it sits in it's poop all day and snots all over the place when it bucks. Wacy is a bull rider. And I'll admit, it's SEXY!
Barrel Racing- You ride a horse that goes around 3 barrels.

 

Similar to Barrel Racing is Pole Bending- You ride a horse that goes in between poles.

Goat Tying- Girls jump off their horse, run around chasing this little goat and when they finally get it on the ground, they tie its legs together. I can't help but laugh out loud as they chase the goat. It's just funny watching those girls run after a... goat!
Even though the events are different than watching football, baseball, or soccer, they're pretty cool.

Enough of rodeo, I want to talk about the style! I'll start from top to bottom.

The hair! I happen to love big hair but Idaho girls gives big hair a completely different meaning. The girls and women tease their hair HUGE! We call it "Helmet Hair". It is NOT cute. Ratting your hair to get volume is one thing, but to rat it to the point that it makes you look 4 inches taller is just not okay.

The more bling and thick stitching the better. Jeans are studded with a million rhinestones on the back pockets and the sides run with extremely thick stitching. This was popular when I was in high school! In California, it's all about the designer jean that no one else has, making you look unique and classy.

Animal prints are huge here. Actually, any kind of prints are trendy here, but I'll focus on animal prints. It is not okay to mix animal prints! If you're going to rock cheetah print and match it with a purse, please don't pull out a zebra wallet! You ruin everything you have going. That's as bad as having a Michael Kors purse with a Coach wallet. It doesn't work and ruins both names.

Looking at pictures from Wacy's school dances, the prom dresses are so different than what I wore to prom. Granted that it is an LDS community and the dresses are very modest, which mine should have been, but the girls look like they are wearing a funky colored 1990's wedding dress. The bottom is like a full skirt of tulle fabric with the same fabric on the sleeves. We always wore beautiful, tight fitting gowns, or short party dresses, and they were never close to looking like a wedding dress.

Moving on to their English. This mainly pertains to country folk, but I often wonder who teaches them English. Many have trouble with grammar...
"Them was"
"More gooder"
"These ones"

Since living here I've had to learn that some things are pronunciated different than what I'm used to. Also, some words are different for certain things.
 For example, what is the thing that drops down on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat? I've always called it a glove compartment, while some people in Idaho call it a jockey box.
While I say soda, they say pop. While I say truck, meaning like a Dogde Ram, Chevy Silverado, F350, they say pick-up.
Creek: California pronunciation is Cr-eek. Idaho pronunciation is Cr-ik.
Chaps: California pronunciation is Ch-aps. Idaho pronunciation is Sh-aps, which is correct.
Root: California pronunciation is Roo-t. Idaho pronunciation is Ru-t.
Vehicle: California says it with the H silent. Idaho excentuates the H, VeHicle.

Now that I've completely chewed up and spit out the Idaho culture/lifestyle, and Wacy's family will probably disown me, maybe even Wacy too, let me redeem myself. Even though there are so many differences and things that I'm not used to doing or seeing, I have really enjoyed being here. I've gotten to know a ton about rodeo and even though it's not my thing and I'd never want to participate in it, it is pretty extreme and dangerous. The people involved are highly dedicated and so passionate, I commend them for that. Just for the record, I do plan to attend lots and lots of rodeos to support my family and be their biggest cheerleader in the stands.

The nicest people live in Idaho. From working with a great group of ladies to talking to random people, I've found everyone to be extremely nice and friendly. Among these people are Wacy's family. They are such a great family and their love for each other, including me, has been profound. I enjoy all the time I get to spend with them and am grateful I have them here.

Even with the odd style in Idaho, there's not much to say about California either. Most everyone from Idaho will knock California for their extreme styles due to it's diverse population, and I don't blame them. Confession: I did buy a pair of jeans with bling butt pockets.

I don't believe you can say what's good or bad about Idaho and California. They are just different. It comes down to how that person is comfortable living and how they choose to express themselves. I love California. I love all the fun things there is to do there, my family and friends are there and I don't have to drive forever to get someplace. But I do love Idaho as well. Idaho has a sense of wholesome living, hardwork and a good spirit of tradition. In an LDS environment, you don't have 'bad' things thrown in your face and out in the open as much. Yes, this makes people more judgemental, but who cares. Just live your life the way you feel is right and don't let others break you down for that.

As for where Wacy and I will be in the future... who knows! We are focusing on the journey, not the destination!

Our ❤ Love ❤ Story

I decided that my New Year's Resolution would be to start a blog! I've never done one before so I'm excited to write about Wacy and my life together as a married couple. :)

First, you'll want to know about how we met and fell in love. In my biased opinion, it's the most romantic story ever...

The first time Wacy and I met, Wacy was on his mission. My friend Kaitlin and I signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner. We made pizza and talked about their home life for a while. I had a boyfriend at that time & he was writing two girls at home (Yes, he was a little player ;) )so we never thought of being potentials quite yet.
He served in the single's ward, where I was going, for 6 months. I got to see him here and there and we became friends. Then one day, my friend was moving in to my house and the missionaries just stopped by. It just so happened to be Elder Johnson! He got transferred to my home ward, where my family goes to church. He served there until he went home on October 11, 2012. My family always has the missionaries over and I saw him pretty often. We talked about everything, he would give us lessons, and we even celebrated each other's birthdays. We became even better friends and feelings started to grow.

 

 

 

 **Just to clarify, as a missionary it is a NO girls rule. I couldn't tell him how I felt about him and vice versa until he wasn't a missionary. Through the entire time he was on his mission, he was still focused and obedient, as was I. (People always question...)**

He wanted to me to add his moms on Facebook. I did and started talking to them. They would give me messages to relay to him, mainly about rodeos, and I turned into the middle man. His mom and I would talk more and more and told me I could stay with them whenever I wanted to come up. Time was coming close for Wacy to come home and he wanted my family to go to Idaho when he gave his Homecoming talk. I told his Mom he wanted us to come up and we had a master plan for us to go up and surprise him!

I was so sad the last time I saw him as a missionary. I would always tell him he has to come back and visit, but I wasn't sure the next time I would see him.

 The night he got home, I got a text from a number I didn't know... Yup, it was him. I was at the gym running on the treadmill and I swore I almost tripped because I was so excited. We texted for a while, and he told me he'd call later. I remember I got a blanket and layed on the driveway waiting for his call. We talked for hours and at last were able to tell each other everything! We were both so happy to finally get to hear how we felt about each other. We were both on cloud 9.

Little did he know he would see me that weekend. My Mom, Carolyn (a lady he baptized on his mission) and I flew up on Friday. His mom and Wacy went shopping that day until they got a call from his uncle saying that he needed luggaged picked up at the Pocatello Airport. This was all planned, of course (Thanks, Jared!) I was so nervous and excited. The butterflies were going crazy! As we're walking to the luggage area, I saw his Mom and she pointed me where to go. Wacy was sitting and when he saw me, shock was all over his face. He jumped up, hugged me, my Mom and Carolyn. I got to meet his Mom for the first time then too. Wacy has a hard time showing when he's really excited or happy, but I knew he was. He wasted no time in holding my hand and didn't leave my side.

During this weekend, I got to meet the rest of his family, visit his grandparents, and go to his Homecoming talk and party. Each night while I was there, we had alone time where we got to talk some more... and duh, kiss! (Had to write it!) It was just as hard saying goodbye that time as it was when he left. He left his party early to take us to the airport and I cried the whole way.

A couple weeks later, he came back to Cali. He baptized quite a few more people and got to meet my brother who had just got home from his mission!

We had such a blast together. We went to the beach, which was his first time, spent Halloween together at Knott's Scary Farm, and went to the LA Temple.

 After this visit, I went up to Idaho every couple of weeks. He came down as well. For us being in a long distant relationship, we saw each other quite a bit. We wanted to see each other more though. I told him once I got a good job, I'd move up there.

A late Sunday night, coming home from a visit, I was intent on finding a job. I applied for a position at a hospital up there. I got a call on Tuesday wanting an interview on Wednesday. I didn't want to tell them I was in California because I thought they'd just overlook me, so I told them I could do an interview Friday. I flew back up that week, had my interview and got a call a couple days later saying I got the job. I was so excited! I also applied to BYU-Idaho and got accepted. I knew I had to be in Idaho; everything was falling into place.

So, I moved up here and lived with Wacy's Mom. People always wonder how that was...living with his Mom, but it was great! We get a long great, never had a problem, and I still miss living there. A couple months later, Wacy caught hold of a job offer in Washington DC ALL summer long! Ugh! He took the job and I told him before he left I had to have something on my finger for me to wait for him.

 

On February 11, 2012 he proposed! We celebrated Valentine's Day on that day and we went out to dinner and a movie. He barely ate anything and I asked him why he wasn't eating. The poor boy was nervous haha! After the movie, it was around midnight and we stopped at the Idaho Falls Temple, where we had our first kiss. As we were walking, he dropped down and asked. I responded with "Are you serious?!" Haha. I said Yes! When we were in the car to leave, we realized we had been locked in. The gate was closed and locked. Finally, someone inside the temple came out and said I saw all that on camera, very sweet! He let us out. :)

We planned on getting married in October. He was supposed to come home from DC in September so we figured October would be good. Well, the job wasn't all that it was cracked up to be so he came home early. You'd think that we'd move the wedding date up, but no. The venue was set and things still needed to get planned. 8 months seemed like the longest engagement ever.

We got married on October 19, 2012 in the San Diego Temple. It was the best day ever! Everything was beyond perfect and beyond beautiful! We shared our day with so many friends and family and partied the rest of the night! The next day we left on our honeymoon, a cruise to the Western Caribbean.

We are so in love. We don't waste time fighting, in fact, I think we've gotten in a fight maybe twice, which hasn't lasted longer than a few hours. We both can agree that our love is natural and it's easy. We are best friends and tell each other everything. We have so much fun together and spend lots of time laughing. We can't wait for what our future holds for us and are enjoying the journey together.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤