So this is the first time Nick or I have ever blogged, and we are pretty excited! I feel like my mom when she first started facebook and didn't know how to do anything...she's so funny and I love her so much! Anyways...we'll tell our story along with pictures (we love pictures!) and hopefully you will enjoy it!
Nick and I met outside our bishop's office the second week of fall semester at BYU in 2010. We were both getting new callings, and he said he went on his mission to Louisville, KY. I was so excited because that's the mission that I grew up in in Evansville, Indiana! The next week, Nick asked me on a date. We went shopping at Macey's for dinner supplies, went to his apartment and carved things out of potatoes, cooked the potatoes, ate dinner, played some games, and finally made brownies. It was a pretty fun night. We actually didn't see each other for a whole month after that!
Our stake had a Halloween dance at the end of October, and we just happened to walk home at the same time so we walked together and got to talk some more and I thought he was the sweetest guy ever! So the next week, our bishop challenged all the girls in the ward to ask two guys on a date during the week. I asked Nick to go rock climbing with me, and he said yes! It was so much fun! After that day, we talked almost nonstop throughout the week, and the next weekend he asked me on another date to babysit his nieces, Lily and Ella. We never wanted to be apart after that :) Here are some pictures from when we were dating:
On March 31st, Nick proposed, and I said YES!!! He took me out to dinner to Cafe Rio (my favorite restaurant in the whole world!!) and then to see the movie Tangled. I loved it! When we went home, I was going to change into my sweats (I always do that right before I go to bed), but he said that I shouldn't change yet, so I kinda thought something was up. He said he wanted to go on a walk, so we did, and he wasn't saying much so I really knew it was coming. We started walking towards my favorite place on campus, the gazebo behind the Hinckley Building. It's so gorgeous, especially in the summer when everything is green and there are beautiful flowers. I used to sit up there and write in my journal or talk with Mindy (my best friend!) as the sun was setting last summer. Anyways...we got to the gazebo, and on one of the benches there was a white table cloth with sparkling cider, cheese cake (my favorite!), and candles. He asked me if I wanted to sit down next to it, so I did, and then he got on his knee and said he wanted to make this the best day for me, just like on Tangled, and then he asked if I would marry him. I said yes!! I was so excited that I couldn't eat any of the cheese cake or drink the sparkling cider.
Nobody believed that we were really engaged because the next day was April Fool's Day. It was pretty annoying, but it was still an amazing day!
It wasn't hard planning the wedding. It's almost like everything just fell into place, it was so nice! The day before the wedding and the actual wedding day were the exact opposite, though. Almost everything had some kind of problem going on with it, the two biggest of all were that all of the flowers were dying and probably wouldn't last til morning, and my dress didn't fit the night before our wedding. The actual wedding day wasn't as bad, but it wasn't great either. The flowers looked a lot better than they did the night before, and my dress fit!! Those two things were probably some of the biggest blessings I've ever received! One problem was that I couldn't eat anything all day or my dress wouldn't go back on after the luncheon or for the reception. We took pictures in the morning, then went to the luncheon, and finally the ceremony at the temple. Everything was going well, but I was so hot, tired, hungry, and couldn't breathe in my dress. I just wanted to run away with Nick instead of getting through the rest of the day. I was so discouraged that when we got to the temple and were getting ready, I just did not want to be there. I wasn't happy at all, and I felt horrible feeling that way right before Nick and I were sealed for all eternity. I tried so hard to push those emotions away, and it just made me more frustrated because they wouldn't go away and I just wanted to cry. When we met the sealer and walked into the room with all our family there, it was almost an instant change. All of a sudden I felt so much love and peace, and I was so overwhelmingly happy. The ceremony was great and afterwards, nothing could change how happy I was. I didn't care if anything went wrong, I didn't care that I wasn't feeling well, and I didn't care if we even had a reception that night! I do want to say that the luncheon was great, though. The decorations, the song that Lily and Ella (Nick's nieces) sang for us, our video, the food (I think at least, I didn't really get to eat any of it), and everything was just perfect.
After the ceremony, we went to my uncle's house and set up the reception and hung out with my cousins and kind of tried to take a little nap on the couch. The reception was great. It was a gorgeous day and the yard and view was gorgeous, and I had so much fun talking to everyone that came. A lot of people from my ward in Indiana came, and that was so awesome to see them. I have missed them so much! Also, my friend Lena Peel and her husband and parents came. Lena was my best friend as a little kid. We lived in Minnesota together until I was about 8 years old, and I have always wanted to see her again. This was the first time I got to see her after all those years and it was really cool! And of course it was great to see our families. I'm so grateful for everyone who helped with the wedding, luncheon, and reception. It all turned out great, and I loved it. After the reception, I couldn't wait to get my dress off, eat some food, and get some much needed sleep!!
