July 29, 2010

A year ago this week I was getting ready to marry the man of my dreams. My head was swarming with countless emotions. Through the hustle and bustle of it all, it never seemed like I had a minute to breath. The one moment when things slowed down for a while was when I had the opportunity to go through the temple. This was a time I had looked forward to my whole life. I tried my very best to live my life in a way that I could be worthy of such an incredible blessing. I was so excited to learn and know. I look back on that day with such gratitude to my Father in Heaven for loving me so much. I did not understand everything that day (believe me I still have so much to learn) but the one thing that stuck with me is the deep sense of peace and the knowledge that I am a daughter of God and he has a plan for me. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family members. It was such a tender mercy having my mom right there beside me every step of the way. More than anything, I loved being there with Sam. I loved looking into his eyes while in the temple knowing that I was soon going to be sealed to him for ETERNITY. Family makes everything in this life worthwhile. I don't know where I would be without those I love. 

WE HAVE A BLOG!! :)

I've been trying to figure out what to post for months, and finally decided to post on this special day. Sam and I got engaged a year ago today! We had dated for a little over a year. Sam sent me on a scavenger hunt when he proposed. At each location there were friends to greet me, a small gift, a description of the location, and my next clue. Enjoy my journey through memory lane. (All the writing on each page was written by him.)

I found this letter and my first clue sitting on my bed when I got home from work. Needless to say I knew what was coming. I was a little nervous, but SO EXCITED!!

Sam and I were set up on a blind date by our good friend Mike (pictured above). He was Sam's freshman roommate, and a good friend in my ward. On our first date we went to Sammy's, which is an awesome whole-in-the-wall burger joint in Provo. We enjoyed getting to know one another and clicked right away. Sam obviously felt very comfortable talking to me right away, because one of our very first conversations consisted of Sam telling me that he had learned earlier that day that Nutmeg can make you high for a week. Why I agreed to go out with him again is still a mystery to me! Haha jk! We had an amazing first date!

We love bowling! Sam thinks he wins all the time but that is NOT the case! I scored my all time high while bowling with him and got a TURKEY! We are both super competitive people and don't like losing no matter what. Often times he won the first game by a landslide, but I would bring it home on the second. We love each other all the time, but are "loving enemies" when it comes to games. 

As mentioned before our first date went extremely well. Sam even had the guts to call me the next day and ask me out again. I was originally going to go with 5 guy friends to the BYU vs Utah basketball game, but ditched all of them to go with Sam. (Running into them that day was a bit awkward.) I guess you could say I thought he was pretty cute. We love going to BYU basketball games, especially this year! GO COUGARS!!

Sam and I have always loved taking walks around campus together. A week after we met, we took one particular walk to the Bell Tower at the Marriott Center. I was pretty sure Sam was going to kiss me that night. I had never kissed anyone before and I was NERVOUS! Even though I really liked him, I wasn't giving the right body language. But don't worry, I got my act together and he kissed me the next night :) 

The "Ugly Tree" is one of our very favorite places. The tree got it's name simply because it is an odd looking pine tree surrounded by very normal looking trees. We felt pity for it and made it "our place." As I pulled up to my last location I saw a strikingly handsome young man standing next to a very familiar tree. I began running towards him. I had been waiting for at least an hour to see him since I had found the first clue. Long story short, he got down on one knee and asked the question we had both waited a long time to be asked. I said "ABSOLUTELY!" Our friends then popped out of surrounding trees to congratulate us. It was PERFECT!!