My Rick Rock

If you don't know my husband, you should. He's funny, intelligent, artistic, generous, kind, loving, spiritual, friendly, sensitive, strong, calm, hard working, determined, handsome, and 90% of the time he smells awesome.

I know that every person is different, and every relationship is different, but Rick is the most unique person I've ever met, and our relationship is unlike most. If Rick was in a room with a lot of people, you would think that he was quiet, shy, or uninterested. He is sensitive to his surroundings. He is a listener. He absorbs everything around him and just as you forget he is there he chimes in and says something profound and important. He is the most centered person I know. He is steady. He is a rock. He is my rock. He's had many trials already in his life.

When he was on his mission, his knees would swell up every night causing him a lot of pain. He told his mission president, who made him go see a Doctor, who told him that he needed surgery on both of his knees. He was sent home the next day, against his wishes. He was referred to a Doctor who was supposed to be the best Orthopedic Surgeon in Utah. That Doctor took one look at his knees and said he was fine, and that there was nothing wrong with him. Rick was given an honorable release from his mission, and was told to get back to living his regular life. He still had the pain and swelling in his knees, unanswered questions, and had lost trust of those around him who thought he was lying. Friends and family would ask him why he was faking knee pain, what he really did to be released, and what he was hiding. This went on for a year, and during this year he didn't fall away or falter or become bitter and angry. The pain was getting worse, and he finally went to another Doctor who examined his knees, took xrays, and immediately scheduled him for surgery. After his surgery, Rick's dad came to him and said "Son, I'm sorry I doubted you." Rick does not hold grudges or get angry. He felt his Dad's apology was unnecessary. That's the kind of man he is. It did not shake him.

Six years ago, Rick was working as a counselor for Youth in a Wilderness Therapy Program in St. George. One day he received a phone call from his little sister, Marci, telling him that his 4 best friends had passed away in a tragic accident. This was the first time Rick had experienced the death of a loved one, only this time it was the deaths of 4 loved ones. Rick became the support for his friends during this time. He wanted nothing more than to take away the pain of those around him who were hurting. He will laugh, cry, scream, dance, drive, or just sit in silence with you, if it will make you feel better. I've often wondered how I would handle it if my 4 best friends suddenly passed. Without Rick by my side, the thought of surviving that is impossible. Rick is not afraid of feelings. I can openly ask him anything and I will get an honest answer. Every year on the anniversary of his friends death, we talk about it. It's not a topic of sadness. Rick shares memories of his friends with me. He can't wait to see them again, and he knows that he will. It will be a beautiful reunion.

Last year when Rick was working at the State Hospital, he was the first responder to a Code Blue where an employee had hung himself in the bathroom stall. Rick watched helplessly as this young man died in his arms. When he came home, we stayed up all night talking about it. We processed through every action, and every emotion. Rick wrote the following about what happened that day.

"You will have pain. You must pick yourself up. No one else can. I have an ear, as well as you. Listen. I have a mouth as you do. Talk. Your heart needs love. Receive. 

Don’t bury yourself. 

If you need help find it. 

I held a dead body in my hands and I did everything possible to keep it alive. Talk about being helpless. Life is fragile. So live it good.

Rest in peace." 

He has a beautiful way with words.

Rick only gets mad when he's trying to fix something (just like his Daddy) and then he usually says lots of swear words (just like his Daddy). While he's working on the car/toilet/closet door/anything the only thing I hear him say the whole time he's fixing it is "you stupid son of a bitch" (just like his Daddy). And then I sit in the other room and laugh quietly so that he can't hear me.

I'm not sure why I felt the need to write this post. Maybe it's because I miss him a lot and I hate not being able to see him and not knowing when I will see him again. Maybe it's because it's 4 in the morning and I'm watching Romantic Comedies by myself while eating half a jar of marshmallow cream. Maybe it's because all around me relationships are crumbling. Some for reasons that anyone should leave a relationship for (abuse, cheating) and some for stupid reasons (he isn't romantic enough, he doesn't clean enough, he doesn't like my friends, he doesn't make enough money, he doesn't have his priorities straight, he's not fun anymore) and it makes me want to shake people and say "Enough!" If your relationship is falling apart for small stupid reasons, for goodness sake pull it together. Sit down on your bed with them, face them, take turns talking, listen, and repeat what they said. And then hug them, because right now there is nothing I want more than to be able to see my husband and give him a hug every day.

Two Years According to Rick

This is Rick the other half of this wonderful marriage. I probably should write on this blog more than once a year. I'll work on it. For you all, here are my thoughts and feelings about our life together thus far.

It is very interesting to me that two people come together, in union, to propose a life long commitment to each other. In our marriage it is more than a mortal existence, it’s eternal. Our two years together have only been the start of our lives as a married eternal couple. We have learned the importance of caring for each other to the fullest and we make sure we are eye to eye and carrying the balance of our marriage equally. There is not one person who is designated to carry more weight than the other. We do it together as a team. Thus, Team Brimhall.

I can still say that our marriage is beautiful and will always be that way. I often think of how fast these two years went by, this only means one thing. We are enjoying each other’s company! There is no ball and chain in this marriage only a wife who I can proudly say she chose me and that I waited for her. Together we both wanted the same dream. Because of those important decisions we are now married and living in Arizona starting the life we have been dreaming about since we said “Yes”. I love her so much. I cannot even express in words how much she means to me.

In the last two years, but especially these last few months, we have proven to ourselves that we can make it through anything that comes our way. We have laughed and cried on many occasions because our relationship lets us. That is beautiful. We laugh at each other’s jokes on a daily basis. That is comforting. We disagree from time to time then find a way to bring our ideas together, which I find amazing. We will go out any time of the day or night to make sure we can help each other feel better when we are sick or having a bad day. The best part of our marriage is knowing we are in love. Each kiss and hug given is a sign of our love that is cherished on both ends.

I can’t wait to see what this next year brings. I know it will bring us closer. The idea of getting out of debt and preparing ourselves for a family excites me. If anybody knows me, then you know the idea of having little kids scare me. Not because of the responsibility but because they throw up in your face when they come to tell you they don’t feel good. I hope that both of us working will strengthen our marriage to prepare us to bring little Brimhall’s into this crazy world. I know Jodi will probably freak out because I am talking about babies on the internet, because usually the talk of babies doesn't happen in our house hold. We can now talk about our future family with my new job. What a relief. The next few years will be the start of why we are married. Two years down in the book. I love Jodi to the fullest. She is my life and my light. I am here to protect her heart.

Bring on year three!

Below are a few pictures of our anniversary dinner at The Melting Pot. It was amazing.

This is what it looked like when we arrived.

Even though we were both tired from work, we were very happy to be celebrating.

Our first course. Bread, apples, and vegetables that you can dip in the cheese fondue.

The main meal. They would bring the food out raw and you would cook it yourself in the fondue pot. We ordered chicken, duck, shrimp, steak, and pot stickers.

Jodi's favorite part - the dessert. You would pick a chocolate flavor (ours was s'mores - chocolate, marshmallows, and crushed up graham crackers) and then they brought you a plate of all sorts of sweets. We asked for 3rds or 4ths on the bananas. It was delicious.

Happy Anniversary to us!

My Wife

I told Jodi that once in a while I'd write on this blog. So hello blogging world. My name is Rick and I am part of Team Brimhall. My introduction may sound like I'm starting a twelve step program. I'm not. I'm introducing myself as the water boy to this team. I work hard to keep the captain happy.

This last weekend was my wife's birthday. She turned 22. Shout out to my wife! We still high five, no age limit to the high fives or "go team" slaps. Here is a list of twenty-two things I love about my wife. There is no importance to this order.

1. Her curly hair.
2. She still gives me high fives.
3. Her taste in mexican food.
4. Her spirituality.
5. Her eyes.
6. The way she laughs.
7. Her little stretching noises she does in her sleep.
8. The way she looks at me when I do something childish.
9. The way she makes me laugh.
10. Her cleanliness.
11. The way she takes care of kids.
12. Her emotions.
13. Her sarcasm.
14. Her honesty.
15. Her attempts to get me to dress better.
16. Her vacationing skills.
17. The way she secretly admires the wedding ring I gave to her.
18. Her smile!
19. Her hard work.
20. How she doesn't like loud things but lets me play my drums in the house.
21. How she tells me she loves me.
22. How kindly she tells me she is turning twenty-two and not twenty-one. (My bad!)

So there are a few things I love about my wife. I hope that you can find some enjoyment in these truths. I'm sure there is a post coming up of her birthday weekend. Which happened to be awesome. Blog on!

Happy Birthday Babe, I love you!

-Rick

Cheezy Post - Engagement Edition

Did you know Rick is an artist? Cause he is. Artist, musician, photographer, folder of the laundry, the man does it all.

When Rick and I were dating he found out that my middle name is Nicole and he started calling me "Nikki". When he was bored he would write me notes and he would always write "Nikki" at the top of the page in graffiti.

Fast forward to March 14, 2009. I knew that day was going to be the day Rick was going to propose. I knew because I kept asking(begging?) him to tell me when he was going to do it. Romantic, I know. He gave me a time frame and said that the proposal was going to be sometime in a 2 week period, and March 14 was the last day of that time frame. Luckily I'm super good at math and was able to figure it out. I was anxious all day. All freaking day. I hung out with Lacey to try to calm my nerves. Rick would say "okay be ready at 5" then 5 would come and he's say "be ready at 6" etc etc. Lacey and I went for pedicures and then headed back to her house. I hung out with Lacey and Jake until somewhere close to 9 pm. It's a miracle I made it that long. While we were patiently waiting there was a knock at the door. Jake opened the door and there was a piece of paper. It was a note from Rick. He was sending me on a scavenger hunt. Which I later learned was actually just to buy him more time because he still wasn't done and he knew I was about to have a heart attack. It made sense after he told me that because the scavenger hunt alone was pretty subpar.

He told me to bring Lacey and Jake. He told us to go to the store and buy my favorite chocolates. And then we did and we waited in Lacey and Jake's jeep wondering what was next. I'm still not quite sure how we messed that step up. As the hunt was slowly but surely falling apart Rick ended up texting Lacey instead and our next step was to go to Rick's house and blindfold me. Check. So then Rick is texting Lacey and we start driving. Since I know Provo pretty well I was able to focus and figure out where we were going. Maybe I'm related to Magellan? Who knows. We ended up at my church. And then it went quiet. This was the moment where I was ready to jump out of the jeep and take the blindfold off and be engaged. But instead Rick handed Lacey a note that said to drive around until Rick texted them to come back because he still wasn't ready.

Are you kidding?

So Jake, being the master of the jeep that he is, went off-roading. Sounds fun? Not really when you're blindfolded and not sure what's going on. Good thing I trust Jake's driving because off-roading while not being able to see is a pretty crazy feeling. Try it sometime. I want to say we were doing that for about 30 minutes. Maybe that is a total exaggeration, but I actually think that's close to how long it was. Lacey got a text from Rick and it was a riddle for me to figure out where to meet him. The answer to the riddle was the train yard. Odd? Not really. Seriously the guy loves trains. Because we had been off roading for so long I had no sense of direction. Like Dory from Finding Nemo but less funny and more anxious. We didn't drive for very long before we stopped and I had Lacey be my eyes as she led to a place that I knew wasn't the train yard (because we were inside) but I had no idea where we were. She sat me down in a chair, told me to count to 30, and when I was done counting I needed to take off my blindfold and press the space bar. Confused? So was I. Don't worry it gets better. I did what she told me to do and when I took off my blindfold this is what I saw.

Rick had set this up to look like one of the many "Nikki" notes he gave me, with the big graffiti Nikki on the top and the note in the bottom. The writing on the sides are notes from my family and my closest friends. The middle section served as a big tv screen. This is where the "press the space bar" talk came into play. I hit the space bar (actually I hit something else and it wouldn't work, don't worry, Rick fixed it) and a movie began to play. It was a slideshow with pictures of us, narrated by Rick, and he was telling the story of how we met and fell in love. Are you crying yet? Cause I am. As the movie was wrapping up a song started to play, and Rick came out of nowhere (he was hiding in the closet behind me) and he took my hands and stood me up. He said words, and I honestly do not remember them. He cried, I cried, and he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked me to be his wife. I said yes. Then he got back up and as the song was still playing he asked me to dance with him. We danced as we cried, laughed, I-love-you'd, and oh-my-gosh!'d and even though I was feeling so happy and excited I remember having an overwhelming feeling of peace and calm come over me. It was so perfect. Everything I ever needed in my life was holding my hands crying like a little girl and stepping on my freshly pedicured toes.

Rick is so creative and so thoughtful. He puts time and effort into gifts and makes them personal. I've never met someone with such a creative mind or a beautiful way of thinking. He wants all of his gifts to be personal and unique, much like the proposal. Same with my wedding ring. Rick was engaged once before and it didn't work out. He wasn't able to get money back for the ring that he bought so instead he traded the ring in for a diamond that they placed on a thin band for him. He told himself that when he got married he would put that diamond on his wife's ring. Rick traveled a lot after his first engagement didn't work out. And everywhere he went he took the diamond ring with him. It made it unique. It had traveled the country. When we were talking about getting engaged he asked me what kind of ring I liked. I told him I like the 3 stone rings a lot. The rest was up to him. When he proposed I was lucky enough to get this beauty.

The main stone in this ring was originally a round one like the other diamonds in it but Rick had them take that diamond out and replace it with his Princess cut diamond.

Again, the story behind the Princess cut diamond and the fact that it's not the original diamond makes this ring unique. We decided to not do a wedding band with it for 2 reasons. First, we're not rich. Second, it looks pretty just the way it is.

One of my favorite things about the ring is the "PS" you see in this picture. "PS" stands for Passion Stone, it's the type of ring style it is. The two tiny diamonds have now been replaced with our birthstones.

I don't give Rick enough credit. Like right now I'm blogging and eating cookies and he's on hour 13 of his 16 hour shift. He's been working a few doubles a week so we can get out of debt fast and in case I have to quit my job when I do my externship.

What would I do without him?

Cheezy Post

So next month is our 1 year anniversary. This makes me think 2 things. First - holy cow, I can't believe it has already been a year. Second - frick, I haven't done our thank you cards yet. Don't worry, I've started working on them. I'm pretty sure that they are mostly wrong but hopefully since it's been almost a year people won't remember what gift they got us and they'll just be like "hey, they gave us a thank you card for the blender we got them, sweet!" Even though no one got us a blender. In case you were wondering, we are still accepting presents, and we are in need of a blender. No pressure.

I started working on the thank you cards last week (actually I started working on them like 6 months ago, then we moved, then I forgot about them until just barely) and it's got me thinking about our wedding day, marriage, and when we were dating. In case you don't know, I love Rick. A lot. And not just because he smells good and has big muscles. If you don't personally know Rick, you should, cause he's seriously the best person I know.

I met Rick almost 6 years ago. His younger sister, Marci, is one of my good friends who I have known since we were little and we played recreational soccer together (I hated being the grey team, being blue was my favorite. I loved those reversable jerseys). When I was 17 I had heard of this "Rick" guy that all of Marci's friends talked about. From what I had heard, he was older (by almost 6 years), had long hair, was in a band, and was in the "hardcore" music scene, but was still an awesome Mormon. He was quite the stallion of Provo. All of Marci's friends were in love with Rick. I had started to talk to him a little here and there and had a huge crush on him, but Marci made me promise that I would never ever EVER date her older brother because she was sick of all of her friends using her to get to him. We pinky promised. And I meant it. Why would he ever like me? Plus he was 22 and I was 17 and if I brought home a guy who was that much older than me and had long hair my mom would kill me. Rick and I talked every once in a while, we became pretty good friends and it was super easy to talk to him. He moved away to Kansas to go to Railroad School and I started dating someone. We would send each other texts every once in a while just to see what the other person was up to. He was working in Kansas, then in Provo, then in Arizona, then back in Provo, then he got a job offer to work for the Union Pacific Rail Road in Tucson, Arizona and so he packed up his things and moved.

I dated my ex boyfriend for a year before he went on his mission. My plan was simple - go to school and work while he was on his mission and then get married when he came back. My boyfriend had been gone for a year, he was halfway done with his mission. Around this time I developed a case of insomnia, which I had never had before. Not being able to sleep, I would get on the computer and my MSN chat account would automatically log me in. Rick was online too, apparently he was a night owl. We would talk and fill each other in on the details of our lives. I remembered how easy it was to talk to him even though I hadn't seen him in a few years. We would talk and text more and more. He was currently working for the Railroad and was loving his job. One day he told me he had been laid off (when you work for the UPRR you get laid off then called back and it's a cycle until you build up enough seniority that you stop getting laid off) and he would be coming back to Utah to visit family and friends. We made plans to hang out while he was here. The night he got to Utah we decided to hang out and go on a drive in his sweet little convertible for a few minutes. We ended up driving around and talking for several hours (90% of our conversation was about throw up. Seriously.) Rick didn't know how long he was going to be in Utah, he wasn't planning on it being long term, so we figured we'd hang out until he had to go back to Arizona. We spent almost every day together. It was so easy to be with him because we had been friends first and we could talk easily.

The more time I spent with Rick the more our feelings for each other grew. As cute as this sounds, this was actually a hard time for me. I had a missionary coming home in a matter of months, and he knew that I was seeing Rick, and Rick knew I didn't know what to do about the situation. Sometimes I felt like I should pick Rick, sometimes I felt like I should pick the missionary. I felt a lot of pressure to choose, but I knew that I couldn't make a decision based off of how I felt being able to spend all my time with Rick and receiving only one email a week from the missionary. I prayed and prayed. I knew that I had to wait until my missionary came home to make any decisions. My missionary told me that the first week he was home he wanted me to just spend time with him and not see Rick. Fair enough. A few days before my missionary came home, Rick's grandma passed away. I knew that I couldn't not see him during this difficult time in his life. The missionary came home, and we started to hang out. Every second that I was with him I was uncomfortable. I couldn't be myself. Conversations didn't come naturally, they were forced. After we would hang out I would feel sick to my stomach and just want to sleep forever. I had my answer.

A few nights later I was with the missionary and we were talking about the decision I would soon be faced with. I was not planning on breaking up with him that night, but as the conversation progressed, I knew what I needed to do. It was the most awkward and uncomfortable breakup ever. If you want the details ask me sometime, this is the super vague version of the story.

That night I went home, went into my mom's room, woke her up and said "we broke up". My mom really loved the missionary so I was surprised when she said "Oh good, you both looked so miserable." She was right. I don't want to rag on the missionary, because really, he's a good guy, but those few days we spent together made it very clear to me that we wouldn't work together. That night I also called Rick and told him to come to my house. He came over and I told him what had happened that night. I told him I wanted to be with him. I felt like 100 pounds had been lifted from my shoulders. I could finally breathe. The next day was Rick's Grandma's funeral and I went with him. Everyone in Rick's family told me they were so happy and they asked when the wedding would be. I laughed. But turns out the wedding was 5 months later. We were engaged in March and Married on May 23, 2009 in the Draper LDS Temple.

Best decision of my life.

I love this guy.

What We've Learned

So earlier this week it was our 8 month anniversary. We don't normally celebrate monthly anniversaries, but we'll take any excuse to go out to eat. We've had a lot of changes in the last 8 months, like moving from our apartment to the house. Okay, we've had just one change, but still, it was significant. Lets take a look at some things we learned over the last 8 months. Rick's comments will be in blue.

I've learned that Rick likes to eat boring/gross things such as tofu and plain cheerios.

I've learned that Jodi likes Kraft American Cheese slices, which I thought was only for little kids.

I've learned that Rick doesn't like to cut his toe nails because he can't breathe when he bends over. Haha.

I've learned that Jodi puts lotion on her feet every night, but she doesn't like to touch feet (including her own) so she rubs her feet together with the lotion on it.

When I had my Bridal Shower I got a pair of socks that said "Boys Stink" on them. After the shower Rick's sister, Marci, came up to me and told me my socks were a true statement. And she was right, boys do stink.

I've learned that if I don't take a shower every night then my options are to either sleep on the couch or in the guest bed. If I don't take a shower I'm not allowed to sleep in bed with her.

I've learned that Rick talks in his sleep and frequently complains that I take up too much space when really, he is bigger than I am, so how can I take up too much space?

I've learned that Jodi thinks that I'm taking up the whole bed when really I'm clinging to the sheet every night so that I don't fall off.

I've learned that rain or shine, good day or bad, I can always make Rick laugh.

I've learned that the way Jodi says "Hi" to me when I see her tells me whether or not she needs food.

I've learned that what I consider "way too freaking loud to play when I'm trying to sleep", Rick considers perfect volume.

I've learned that Jodi likes it when I have a beard.

I've learned that even with a full beard, barrel chest, and huge arms, beneath the tough exterior is a huge heart that will make Rick cry while watching 24.

I've learned that I like to think that I wear the pants in our relationship but we all know thats a lie.

What a smart man. Stay tuned to find out what else we will learn during the coming weeks, months, and years.

I love it when...

...I come home from a long day at work and when I walk in the door I see a clean apartment, I smell dinner cooking, and I see this...

A beautiful vase full of my favorite flowers and a card. I was not expecting it at all and it was a wonderful surprise. Rick sure is a great husband.

MARRIED!

Well friends, family, blog-stalkers...it is official. We are MARRIED! I am officially Jodi Brimhall. Well, that is a lie, I have yet to change my name, but that will happen eventually.

Our wedding day was perfect and we had so much fun. Nothing better than getting together with friends, family, and delicious cake to celebrate a wonderful occasion! We had a photographer and a videographer and I can't wait to see the pictures and the video, but my very talented cousin Marie Zamora also took some pictures and dropped them off to my house while we were on our honeymoon. She did a great job with them and here are some of my favorites.

I love head-kissing pictures. And I love that this picture shows off my hair :)

This is us with our brand new niece, Ella. Props to Jaime and Teresa for making beautiful kids. This picture was taken as we were getting all of the nieces and nephews rounded up so we could get a picture with them. All the girls wore pink and they looked adorable. I love pictures like this where it's all in black and white except for the pink. So cute.

Our wedding cake and the cake buffet. I loved how everything was set up, it looks awesome. And delicious. I would highly recommend White Willow to anyone. All you do is tell them what you want and what the colors are and they take care of everything. I will add a close up of my wedding cake later, but it was amazing. A very close family friend made it for us and I absolutely love how it turned out.

Here we have a picture of my handsome husband. Do I know how to pick 'em or what? I absolutely LOVED Rick's tux. After we got engaged we were looking through a tuxedo magazine and we saw a guy with really dark skin wearing this same tux and we were sold. When we went to Mens Wearhouse to have Rick try it on he got compliments from all the employees there and from the other customers too. After Rick tried the tux on he went to go change back into his clothes and I sat out in one of the chairs and waited, and I overheard this conversation:

Customer - "Okay that guy that was wearing the white tux just now, I like how the tux made him look like he had really big shoulders, like it had a lot of padding in it, I want my tux to look like that too."

Employee - "I don't think that tux had a lot of padding in it, he just looks like that cause he's Polynesian."

No, Rick did not have padding in his tux, and no he is not Polynesian, he is just one buff Indian. Haha.

I love this picture of our nephew Brekken looking at the fish. They had a fish pond that kept all the little kids entertained. I went from having one niece and one nephew to 27 nieces and nephews total and I love being their new aunt.

More photos to come soon!