Wedding Website Info (Getting to know The Chatwinners!)

Stephen and I made a wedding website before our wedding last year. It's still live on The Knot, but I don't know how long it'll live online. I wanted to preserve some of that info, juuuust in case it ever disappears, and I figured it would be a fun way for my RWL peeps to get to know The Chatwinners a little better. :)

Our Story

Once upon a time, in the year 1984, two little babies were born. Stephen came first, and Yándary followed 60 days later. 31 years later, it would take an iPhone, a Kindle, and a dating app called Bumble to bring them together.

As Stephen and Yándary got to know each other, they realized they had a lot in common and had actually had similar life experiences! Both of them majored in Political Science at the University of Utah. Both of them joined LDS sororities/fraternities in the fall of 2003. Both of them had spent time living in Yándary's favorite city, Washington, DC. It's a wonder their paths hadn't crossed sooner than the spring of 2016! In addition to their shared life experiences, Yándary and Stephen also share a love of thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers (even though Yándary is now lactose intolerant… sniff), all things Harry Potter, scoring good deals, winning online giveaways, and, of course, each other.

About Us

STEPHEN

Stephen was born and raised in Salt Lake City. He served an LDS mission to Lansing, Michigan and then earned a B.A. in Political Science, a B.S. in International studies, and a Master's in Public Policy from the University of Utah. (He's an over-achiever.) While he was an undergraduate at the U, Stephen was a collegiate squash player and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He currently works doing data management for the Neurosciences Department at Intermountain Hospital in Murray (aka he is really smart and is good with numbers and Excel). In his spare time, he enjoys sunning himself, playing squash (he actually played in a squash tournament the night he proposed to Yándary!), rock climbing, thrifting, and trying to teach Yándary how to sit still. His favorite snacks include Cheetos, Mountain Dew, and frozen pizza. ;)

YÁNDARY

Yándary was born in El Salvador and raised mostly in Riverdale, Utah. She served an LDS mission to Oakland, California, where she got really good at walking backwards (she served at the Visitors' Center ;) ). She also earned a B.S. in Political Science at the University of Utah (she and Stephen overlapped a bit in their college years but never crossed paths!), and she went to graduate school in DC at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. She lived in DC for five years before moving back to Utah two years ago to work for the Utah Democratic Party. She now works doing Communications and Community Relations for the Salt Lake City School District. In her spare time, she enjoys thrifting, baking chocolate-chip cookies, running, eating delicious things,and going on walks with Stephen. :)

Fun Facts

We filled out a questionnaire for a bridal shower game and thought we'd share our answers to help you get to know us a little better!

Yándary's Answers

1. What was your first job?

A: Baby-sitting (age 12) and Chick-fil-A (high school)

2. How many siblings do you have?

A: I'm the oldest of five kids. I have one sister and three brothers.

3. What's your favorite holiday?

A: My birthday!

4. How many languages do you speak? What are they?

A: 2.25: English, Spanish, and a little German (German was one of my college minors – the other one was Campaign Management – but I haven't used it since my study abroad in 2004!)

5. What musical instrument(s) do you play?

A: Violin

6. What is Stephen's best character trait?

A: He is so patient! Whether I'm running late (yet again), can't decide what I want for dinner, or am having an off day, he is so patient and loving and kind. (Also, he smells good!)

7. What is your favorite food and/or meal?

A: Pupusas!

8. What are your top three movies of all time, preferably in order?

A: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Legally Blonde

9. What is your "guilty pleasure" TV show to watch?

A: Right now? The O.C. with Stephen.

10. What is the best book you read in the last 1-2 years?

A: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

11. How long do spend getting ready in the morning?

A: At least an hour; maybe more!

12. If you had unlimited funds and could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

A: Everywhere! But Thailand and Europe first.

13. What is your favorite midnight snack, if/when you get the munchies?

A: Frozen balls of chocolate-chip cookie dough, which are always in stock in my freezer. :)

Stephen's Answers

1. What was your first job?

A: Paper boy

2. How many siblings do you have?

A: Five (one sister, four brothers). I'm the youngest of six kids.

3. What's your favorite holiday?

A: Memorial Day, because I get a day off and don't have to do anything.

4. How many languages do you speak? What are they?

A: 1: LOVE (English)

5. What musical instrument(s) do you play?

A: None

6. What is Yándary best character trait?

A: Her niceness.

7. What is your favorite food and/or meal?

A: Pupusas

8. What are your top 3 movies of all time, preferably in order?

A: Willow, Thoroughly Modern Millie, What's Up, Doc?

9. What is your "guilty pleasure" TV show to watch?

A: The O.C.

10. What is the best book you read in the last 1-2 years?

A: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

11. How long do spend getting ready in the morning?

A: 10 minutes

12. If you had unlimited funds and could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

A: Thailand

13. What is your favorite midnight snack, if/when you get the munchies?

A: Cheetos

The Last Seven Months

The last few months have been a wild ride, such that... I haven't even blogged since February. 😅😬 I suppose the quickest way to give an update is via bullet points. In no particular order, here's a recap of my last seven months:

• In February, I got laid off. :( Naturally, we were super bummed about this. Applying and interviewing for jobs is THE WORST!

• A few weeks later, we got engaged! I knew Stephen had bought my ring at the end of January, and he didn't propose until MARCH 3rd. 😵😱 It was the longest six weeks of my life!

• My Tío Jose passed away at the end of February. :( He had been sick for a few months, and I know he had been in pain, but it was still really sad. I'm glad I was able to use sky miles to travel to his funeral in California. And actually, Stephen proposed just a few hours before I flew out. It was really lovely and comforting to be gathered with family to celebrate my uncle's life that weekend. And it was nice to have some happy news to (tactfully) share amid our sorrow.

• We celebrated our one-year dating anniversary!

• I learned how to ski! Two winters ago, I had purchased a lessons + season pass package to Snowbasin. The silver lining to getting laid off is that I had more time to actually use my pass. I updated briefly on this two posts ago, and I'm happy to say things improved after that post. I'm definitely still a beginner, but I felt a lot more confident towards the end of the season and even managed to make it down a blue run (albeit very, VERY slowly)! AND I didn't run over any more children.

• I moved out of my little apartment! This was harder than I imagined it would be. I was so excited to be marrying Stephen. My lease ended at the end of April, and we decided it made sense both logistically and financially for me to move into our duplex first (Stephen bought a duplex last fall, and we'd spent the previous few months fixing it up, so he hadn't moved in yet). It was hard for a few reasons. 1- I loved my little apartment. I'd put so much care and effort into fixing it up and decorating it just so. It was hard to let that go. 2- While I was beyond excited to marry my bestie, I was concerned that I would have a hard time adjusting to living with someone else again. Living alone had been such a treat! (I'm happy to report that living with Stephen is an even more delightful treat!) 3- Stephen is amazing and always kept a "we" mindset about things, but part of me still felt a little bit like a mooch living in "his" house by myself? I've definitely gotten over that, but it was an adjustment. I've had an entire life before this chapter. I'm used to being on my own, taking care of myself, etc, and while I know I wasn't giving that up, part of me felt like I was. (I wasn't. I just had to get over myself a little bit.)

• We spent months and months and months working on our house. We're still not quite done, but we're hosting family for a birthday brunch for Stephen this weekend, and we're at least to a place where we can mostly do that. Ha. :) If all else fails, we'll just shove everything into the second bedroom and shut the door. ;)

• We planted a little garden, and it's still alive! I've never successfully kept plants alive for longer than a few weeks, but so far, we've eaten cucumber and zucchini, and we hope to have some tomatoes soon! We have a watermelon plant that might not have anything for us, and we planted a baby nectarine tree that will hopefully bear fruit in future years. Our lime tree got moved to my office yesterday, where it will live out the winter next to my big windows.

• I started a new job in July! I was grateful to a good friend who passed along the job link to me shortly after I lost my job in February. It's a great opportunity for me, and even though the learning curve has been steep, I'm really enjoying it so far.

• I free-lanced this spring/summer, and I learned I am not cut out for being an entrepreneur. (I think?) I also worked as a Matchmaker for a hot second, mostly because it sounded like fun. What I learned is that being a paid matchmaker is the WORST. Matchmaking for fun is, well, fun! 

• Two weeks after I started my new job.... WE GOT MARRIED!! :) Wedding planning is one of the worst and most unenjoyable things I've ever done, but our wedding was SO much fun! We were actually a little sad to leave at the end of the night, because we were having such a great time. It was so wonderful to have the people we love most gathered in one place to celebrate with us. I loved meeting people who love my Stephen and have played an important part in his life, and I loved getting to introduce him to my people. It meant so much to have so many of our loved ones travel from so far to celebrate with us. We were married on July 21, 2017 in the Ogden, Utah LDS Temple. I'd love to write more about our wedding day in a separate blog post, but it is the most wonderful thing in the world to be married to my best friend. I count my lucky stars every day to have found him and to be his wife forever. The actual wedding day felt like a blur (I can barely even remember our sealing), but these last few months have been the greatest adventure.

• We just got back from our honeymoon! This deserves its own post also, but we went to London and Paris and just had the best time. :) 

Since I last posted...

• I became an aunt! 😆

  

• we both turned 32

• 9 + months strong with this dreamboat! 😍 

• I just finished my time with the Utah Democrats and am looking for my next Comms/Digital opportunity in SLC. (So if you know of anything, let me know? I'm open to FT opportunities as well as contract/consulting work.)

• We voted! (#WithHer, of course. 2016 was actually my first year voting a straight Democratic ticket.) 

Unfortunately, we lost bigly on November 8th, so....

• I took refuge in Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Brugges for 10 days) and had the time of my life with Stephie and Nif! #misadventuresineurope

Amsterdam ❤️ 

• Every time I read the news, it feels like the country is up in flames. But also, it's been incredible to see the goodness of the people around me in response.

March 4 Refugees in SLC

SLC Women's March

• I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It explains a lot, and I'm grateful to A- still have health insurance, B- to have found just the right therapist, C- for modern medicine and all the ways in which it improves our lives, D- for an uber-supportive boo. I am so blessed! <3

• Went to DC for Kathryn's wedding!

• Spent our first holiday season together

• Some shopping. ;)

• Started ski lessons at Snowbasin. It ain't going so well. 😳  Last time I was there, I ran over a small child, got yelled at and shamed off the mountain, and basically cried all the way home.

Hope your 2017 has been good so far!

Miracles Happen: Erika & Matt's Wedding!

(warning: slightly mushy post ahead.)

Payson, Utah LDS Temple

I mentioned in my last post that my friends Erika and Matt got married earlier this month. I'm SO, so happy I was able to be there for their sealing and to celebrate their big day!

Erika and I became friends almost three years ago in the DC 2nd ward. She was a newly-baptized convert, and I was the lucky duck who was called as her visiting teacher. :) We quickly became friends, and it's just another example of the blessings that come from visiting teaching. I love Erika so much and am so grateful I got to know her and become dear friends with her.




I also mentioned in my last post that Caitlin came out from DC for Erika's sealing. There was a beautiful spirit in the sealing room, and Caitlin and I may or may not have cried through a good portion of it. ;) We were both struck by the beauty and simplicity of the sealing ceremony and by the miracle – the SERIOUS MIRACLE – it was that Matt and Erika found each other.

Erika grew up in Brazil. Matt grew up out here in Utah. He grew up in the Church; Erika did not. Who could have ever imagined that somewhere in São Paulo there was a little girl growing up, and that she would be the eternal companion of this little boy growing up in the middle-of-nowhere Utah??

The path they each took to get to the place – physically, emotionally, spiritually – where they could meet, date, and fall in love is a miracle to me. Honestly, any time two people fall in love and get married is a miracle to me.



It was a beautiful experience to watch the culmination of this miracle in my friend's life. I can remember so many conversations we've had where one of us has felt discouraged in dating; like it was never going to work out for us.



And being able to share in her special day just gave me so much HOPE that one day, I'll get to have my big day. That I'll be able to see this miracle in my life, and that somewhere, there is a special guy being prepared to be my eternal companion. (And umm, if you happen to know where he is, feel free to set me up with him! ;) Heh heh.)



Congrats again, Erika and Matt!! :) xo

#TwinBlanco: Maricela's Wedding Day!

I went to LA two weekends ago to attend Maricela and Peruvian's wedding! (Sure, I got to do a few other things while I was there, but the real reason for the trip was to be part of their big day.) Maricela was my supervisor at my internship when I first moved out here to DC four years ago. When I was hired full-time, she was no longer my supervisor and instead, she became my friend. We shared an office -- just the two of us -- for two whole years, and I couldn't have found a better officemate, if I'd handpicked her myself!

Every Monday, we'd sit in the back, in a total lack of productivity for at least the first hour (shhh! don't tell!) and recount our weekend adventures. And then I'd go through my Facebook, and I'd show her photos of all the new babies and all the newly engaged couples in my feed. Lol. I still remember when she started dating Peruvian. They met at a bar when a buddy of his spilled beer on her (whoops!). I remember when she dropped him (ouch!), and I remember when he made his way back. And of course, who could forget this momentous occasion, when the commitment-phobe, single-summer-lovin' Maricela made the relationship "Facebook official." (gasp!)



It's been quite the journey watching these two lovebirds, but I love them both and was truly happy to be a part of their wedding day.

Maricela and I worked a lot of events together back in the day. Events are Maricela's "thing." She's good at them, and she enjoys them. Me, on the other hand, I can totally do events. I just don't love them. (ha ha) BUT for Maricela, I made an exception. We made a deal, you see. I stage managed her wedding (meaning she planned all of it, and I executed the day of), and the hope is that someday (hopefully in the not too terribly distant future?), she'll do mine. ;) Honestly, though, she did such an INCREDIBLE job planning her beautiful wedding, there really wasn't much for me to do on the actual wedding day. She was probably THE calmest bride I've ever seen, and next time I see her, I plan to grill her on HOW she did it!

It was really fun to spend the night before the wedding with Maricela's family and to spend the morning with her while she got ready.



It was even more fun to help her put on her dress and to watch her family's reactions as they saw her for the first time! :)

Oh, and it was pretty cool to sneak her into the church without anyone noticing. Heh heh!

Sidenote: I tried gel nail polish for the first time on this trip, and I really liked it! It lasted much longer, AND I did it myself!

They used the hashtag #TwinBlanco (Maricela is a twin, and Jose(aka "Peruvian")'s last name is Blanco), but for the ceremony (at St. Joachim's Church in Costa Mesa, CA), they asked everyone to "unplug." Call me a rebel, but I couldn't help sneaking a rogue shot of the wedding. I mean, come ON! I was sitting on the first row, and I KNOW the photographer didn't get this angle! Unfortunately, because I was trying to be sneaky, I snapped the shot without looking or aiming. :-/



After the ceremony, we headed to Newport Beach's Balboa Pier for some incredible photos. The Twin and I sacrificed our hair to the humidity, but the shots they got were amazing, so it was worth it!



The reception was literally right across the street from the pier, at the Harborside Restaurant. This was the view:



It occurs to me now that the busiest part of the day for me was actually during the wedding, so I don't have a lot of photos from the reception. Plus, most of the photos I took at the party were on Maricela's phone (I was the official bridal purse holder). I even left her a surprise selfie for when she looked through. ;) Heh heh.

My friend Garrett (the one I stayed with) met me at the party, buuuut we didn't take any pictures together. I know. Fail... So I'll leave you with a photo of me and the happy couple.



Felicidades, Maricela and Peruvian!! I love you and wish you ALL the best!! xoxoxo