I'm Engaged!!

Soooo I'm engaged!! Before I start, I want to encourage you to listen to this song. You will understand why as you continue reading :) I guess I"ll give a little background first and then go right into the story of how he proposed! Here goes:

Background:

Me and Dahl met because we are in the same ward and have been for a full year now. I didn't really know him the first semester, but we started hanging out a lot towards the end of it, and even more at the beginning of the next semester (so December to January). Mostly our apartments just started hanging out a lot, and we ended up becoming "cuddle buddies" for movie nights. I wasn't really sure what I wanted, because I was having a lot of fun dating lots of different guys (I went on 12 dates the month he asked me to be his girlfriend). I always denied that I liked him, to my roommates, friends, and even myself, but I am so glad I didn't lie to myself for too long!

If you want to hear our whole long story, you can watch the video we made on our trip to St. George... it's pretty long, though (and I haven't put it up). But I am ridiculously entertained by it, probably because it is me and about one of my favorite stories in the world. You can also ask me. The point is, I did end up dating him (obviously), because I really did like him. And then, I ended up falling in love with him.

We started talking about marriage fairly early in our relationship- probably about 2 months in. That did NOT mean we were ready to get married, but we both saw it as likely. After about 5 months, we decided that that was what we really wanted to do. We knew we wanted to get married around the end of the semester, so that meant we needed to get engaged soon, so we would have time for planning! We told our families and a few friends we were going ring shopping (of course, he told a lot fewer than me, because I just couldn't help it, but still). We went to Zales, Jared, Sierra West Jewelers, Shane Company, and, lastly, Rocky Mountain Diamond.

Tangent:

I wanna pause for a second to say I am SO GLAD we went there. They are a wholesaler, so they are not allowed to advertise. They work strictly based off of referrals, and you have to schedule an appointment to meet with them. Dahl's adorable cousin went there when she got engaged, and so they recommended it to us. Their prices were a great deal less than they would have been at any retailer, and the quality was much higher than we ever could have gotten somewhere else. They are certified separately of course, and they also let you look at the diamonds under magnification, so we could really see a difference between those and the ones at other places. The only drawback is the cost must be paid upfront, and they have no financing options (of course, you can use your credit card), but if you (or your man) can do that, it is so worth it. I am totally in love with my ring (but not as much as I am with Dahl.)

This picture does not even do it justice. I think it is the most beautiful ring in the world :)

So, I knew it was coming. Dahl was going to call my dad before he proposed, and he told me he wouldn't tell me when he did, because once he did, it would be a matter of days until he proposed, and he wanted it to be a surprise. I LOVE surprises! I was super worried I would accidentally find out, but Dahl did an amazing job of making sure I didn't and randomly saying how he was scared to even after he had done it!

Proposal:

The day of, I was at work when randomly I heard a guy standing at the front desk say my name! I was curious, because no one ever asks for me there. Then, Rinda, our secretary, said "Kellllyyy!!" in this excited voice! I ran out, and there were a dozen roses for ME! There was no note, though. So I was 99% positive they were from Dahl, but not completely. A few minutes later the guy came up with the note (he had forgotten to leave it), and it was from Dahl :) He wrote me a sweet message.

So, all day my co-workers were telling me he was proposing that night. I kept denying it, because I didn't want to get my hopes up, and I thought maybe he was just teasing me and trying to make me think he was proposing, but he would do it later. He had asked me on a date the night before, so I was excited! (We were to the point in our relationship that he usually didn't formally ask me on dates, he would usually just ask if I was hungry and we'd go out to eat. Stuff like that.) Whenever he asks me out formally, I get excited and curl my hair and make myself pretty. So, that night, he was pretty late for our date, but I brushed it off, because he said something about parking and some other excuse and he told me he was going to be late. I was running late too, so I was in the middle of curling my hair when he showed up.

He hurried me out the door, and told me that his mom had been really nice, and had done his laundry, because he was out of garments. I was instantly suspicious, so I continued to over-analyze everything he did.

If you read my last post on my sense of direction, you know that that is not my area of expertise. However, as we were driving, I kept feeling like we were going the wrong way. Finally, I asked Dahl if we were going a different way. He said yes, there's construction. Suspicious again. But I played along. He kept trying to get me to look at the sunset (he is incredibly observant, and he LOVES to see pretty things in nature). Finally, I was like, "Wait... are we going to the swing?" "Yeah.. it's a pretty sunset, we should watch it there!"

"The Swing" is a bench swing at this park in Cedar Hills (where he is from). The park is a 3-or-4-story park on the mountain. It has playgrounds and picnic areas, and at the top, it has a bench swing that overlooks all of Utah Valley. It is so beautiful.

We parked and Dahl handed me a poem he had written on a notecard. It said a bunch of nice things, of course, and at the end, it said that he had asked my dad and he said yes! I was SO surprised! I had no idea he had asked my dad. Before I had time to say anything, he took my hand and said, "Let's go to the swing!"

All along the way, his darling sister Savana had placed another dozen roses! Dahl picked them up and handed them to me as we walked up the trail.

"Dahl," I said, "Your guitar is up there..."

"What?!" he said, pretending to be surprised.

"And a video camera!" (Sad story: It didn't record- it was at the end of the tape. Oh, well!)

We got up there and watched the sunset and talked a little, until he got out his guitar and started playing. If you have read more of my blog, you will know that I am a huge sucker for Dahl singing to me. He played "Then" by Brad Paisley. It's the one I told you to listen to you when you started reading this. These are the lyrics:

"Then" by Brad Paisley

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you

You had me mezmorized

And three weeks later, in the front porch light

taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight

I hadn't told you yet

but I thought I loved you then

Chorus

And now you're my whole life

now you're my whole world

I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl

Like a river meets the sea,

stronger than it's ever been.

We've come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,

You were so surprised

There were people around, but I didn't care

Got down on one knee right there once again,

I thought I loved you then

Chorus

And now you're my whole life

now you're my whole world

I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl

Like a river meets the sea,

stronger than it's ever been.

We've come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way

And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray

What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more

But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life

now you're my whole world

I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl

We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in

And I'll look at you and say

And I thought I loved you then

And I thought I loved you then

Sweet, huh? Then he got on one knee and asked me to marry him :)

And I said.... yes!

I'm so glad I am marrying such a wonderful man. Dahl is the nicest, sweetest person I know, and he treats me like a princess. I feel very lucky, and I am excited to see what adventures we will go on once we are married! I love him :)

PS- to see a whole blog about why Dahl is so great, click here.

My Sense of Direction...

(My perpetual state)

... is the worst of anyone I have ever seen. Except maybe my sister, Heather. She will be mad at me for saying that. But it's true. I think we probably tie. Anyway, the point is, no one quite believes me when I say this. It's not their fault really, they just cannot fathom the magnitude of the problem. No one quite understands unless they are us. Or maybe my parents. And Dahl too. You know what? Throw in a smattering of my roommates. Basically, if you are a close friend of mine and have had any interactions with me having to do with directions, you finally start to understand the dilemma. But you still are boggled by it. And amazed. It's just such a profound disability. I was worried about this post, because it makes me sound really stupid, but I decided if you know me, you probably know this about me already, and anyway:

I like to think that part of the reason people are surprised is that they know we are, in general, smart girls. I have always done well in school, and while this is not always telling, I think in our case it is. We go to BYU, and I have maintained a scholarship the entire time I have been here. I am pretty good at most things, excluding sports and physics, and I am a good learner. My brain just malfunctions whenever directions are involved. It has gotten to the point where it almost shuts down when people start to talk about directions. My first impulse is to hand the phone over to someone else. As a result, I haven't really improved. It is almost amazing how whenever I think we should turn left, it is almost certainly right. Sometimes I just think I should do the opposite of what I think.

The inspiration for this post was getting lost in Texas. The second night we were there, Heather and I decided to go on a walk. Larissa had told us not to go, so we had decided not to, until we both ended up on the phone and had to go outside to talk so as not to disturb the other people there. It seemed easy enough. We had been on this walk before, but during the daytime. It was to a lovely little park about a five minute walk from their house. The directions we had been given the first time we went was to walk to the end of the street, turn left, walk another block, and then turn right and walk until you run into it (probably another block). See? Not hard! So, we walked there (we probably started around one) and stayed for somewhere around an hour.

Then we saw this creepy guy watching us, and decided to go home. We were in such a hurry, we didn't pay attention to where we were going, and got very lost. So lost, in fact, that we did not get home until at least an hour later. We wandered around her neighborhood, trying to remember exactly where Kali's house was. We had looked at a sign before we left, and kept going back to where it was, but I guess it was a point on our way, because it was definitely not where she lived. We passed things we had never seen before. We even found Kali's elementary school, and almost got to the mall. We called Kali, Larissa, and Shelby. No one answered. We continued searching.

This is EXACTLY what kept happening. Except make the fridge a flag with a skull and crossbones in someone's garage. That made the experience less scary, let me tell you!

I was on the phone with Dahl for a good part of it, and he was getting more and more agitated. He was so worried. I think it must frustrate him when I do stupid things like this. I think it was hard for him because he couldn't do anything about it, and he was just scared, especially because of the weird guy we had seen.

Finally, poor Kali picked up the phone. She said to go to a street corner and read it to her. We did, and she was there in a good 5 minutes or so. Larissa was appalled we had left without telling her, and had not seen any of our calls; her phone was on silent (not even vibrate). We apologized profusely to Kali and went straight to bed, vowing to never walk outside in a place we didn't know again.

And that is a prime example of our sense of direction. I have lots of stories, so this entry could end up long, but here goes:

When I first started being a teller at PNC bank, they had me come to one branch, and printed out Mapquest directions to another branch that I was to go to after that. It said it would take 20 minutes. Instead, it took me 40 minutes, and then an hour to get home. I remember how stressed I was as I continuously took wrong exit after wrong exit and got more and more lost.

That's another thing. I get SO stressed when driving. I only enjoy it if I know where I am going, the traffic is minimal, and the weather is nice. I don't like it any other way. Therefore, I rarely enjoy driving.

My best friend from High School, Heather Gallagher, lived about a 2 minute drive from my house. I would call her about half the times I came over because I would get lost. It baffled her, but she always just laughed and reminded me for the millionth time.

My second year at BYU I remember calling my roommates while on campus, asking them how to get to the SWKT. That's the TALLEST building on campus!! Heather has called me to ask where the testing center is, so I think we are even. I also remember calling my mom in the pouring rain (this is a recurring event) asking her how to get to different places on campus. (She came here 20 years ago. She is so baffled, she has always has a good sense of direction and refuses to believe it is recessive. Except I think she does now.)

I also have no idea how to get home from campus, or how to get from home to campus. The other day I missed the bus to get home. Twice. Heather told me I could take a different bus, and gave vague, confused directions about which stop to get off at. I picked one that seemed kind of close to my apartment. It was near Brent Brown for those of you who live around me and actually have a sense of direction. I was on the phone with Heather, and then, thankfully, got a call from my home teacher. He wanted to schedule an appointment for home teaching. I just asked him how to get home from . He kind of gave me directions for my 10-ish minute walk, and I successfully got myself home.

Lastly, one time Heather and I decided to go to a Singles Ward activity in DC. It was really fun- they had dinner, talent show, and then a dance so basically the most intense, huge activity ever. We left pretty soon after the dance started. It takes about 40 minutes to get there, sometimes 30. It started pouring when we left. POURING. And it was really dark Heather had just gotten a ticket, so she didn't want to drive, so that left me in charge. We drove around in the rain for at least 2 hours, probably 3, and the majority of that time was literally spend in probably a 5 mile area. I was freaking out, more than I probably ever have in my life, the entire time.

(I am constantly asking for directions. The problem is, unlike Alice, I usually do know where I want to go, so, it does matter which road I take!)

That's another thing. It makes me legitimately angry and frustrated when I get lost. I am usually really happy, but nothing makes me angrier (except for people being mean to my siblings) than getting lost. It's mostly frustration with myself. Like, WHY can't I do this?? Why am I so bad at it?!

I think it really worries Dahl, too. He's asked me how I'm going to be able to drive our kids?? I just tell him I will get one of these babies:

I love them.

He also told me recently that he had a dream that I was driving his car, and had dropped him off somewhere. I was supposed to take it back to BYU. He said he suddenly was gripped with fear as he watched me drive away, because he was like, "She'll never be able to find it!!!" Poor fiancé. It's actually really nice, though, because he is AMAZING at directions. Like my mommy! So, I feel considerably less stressed when I'm with him.

Anyway, the point is, I am very bad at directions. As a result, I almost never drive. It stresses me out. BUT, I am good at other things! So, I guess it all evens out :)

Kali and Shelby's Wedding!

So August 21, Shelby and Kali got married :). First of all, I wanna say that I have basically been prophesying this for like 2 years, so I was sooo excited that it finally happened! Kali was the first of our freshman apartment to get married, which was really interesting because she wasn't the first on anyone's guess list (we definitely all made a list of guesses... don't act like you didn't girls!). I'm pretty sure most people guessed me to be first, which I adamantly denied. And I was right!! At least about that part.

Kali and Shelby were married in the Lubbock, Texas temple. I was a bridesmaid along with Larissa, my other freshman roomie, and 3 other girls including Shelby's sister, Mariel, Kali's sister, McKenzie, and Kali's best childhood friend, Alex. Heather also came with me, which I was soo glad for! I love her :)

So, I guess I'll start at the beginning. We had to drive there, so that's a good 15+ hours in the car, depending on how much you stop. The way up, Heather and I drove with a guy named Jared, who we didn't know. He was 18 and getting ready to go on a mission, and had just finished going to school in the summer at BYU. It was really fun riding with him, he drove the WHOLE way (don't worry we offered to take turns) and we just chatted with him about girls and our lives and stuff.

We finally arrived in Lubbock and were taken to our room around 4am. We were sleeping in McKenzie's room (Kali's sister). We were woken up around 11am, when the other group came in. They got basically no sleep, so we were glad we got there so much earlier.

That night we went to a rehearsal dinner type of thing, at a steakhouse. It was good, we got so full! We didn't really know what to do at the dinner, so we came up with a game where we all look at a boy there and go down the line and wink. You just hafta hope that he doesn't look at you when you do wink, or it's awkward. We didn't know anyone there, so it was kind of fun! We also made up a song for Kali and Shelby... but I don't know if they'd appreciate us posting it, so I won't... yet.

That night, Heather and I decided to go on a walk. We got so lost, and wandered around Kali's neighborhood for a good hour until we finally got ahold of Kali and she graciously came to pick us up. At 2 in the morning. It was pretty bad.

(Yep, that's us! We look much prettier here than we did when we were picked up, though :) )

The next day Kali's brothers, Kip and Micah, took us (Heather, Larissa, and me) on a tour of Lubbock. We saw her schools and banks and restaurants... we even saw Texas Tech! We ended it at a delicious shaved ice place, and it was a lot of fun to get out of the house.

That night the groomsmen invited us to come hang out at the hotel pool with them! It was lots of fun. Then we had a bachelorette party with Kali. We did butts on the wall. It's a tradition dating back to our freshmen year. It was super fun, I didn't know how much I missed it. Basically, you just put your butts on the wall and laugh. And we sang too. And did little dances with our feet :)

Then, Heather, Larissa, and I stayed up till 4 in the morning talking. I love those girls :)

The next day was the wedding!!! Larissa did her hair and sent her off early.Then we all got ready and helped McKenzie get ready, too. She is such a little Kali, it was so cute.

(See, there she is in the glasses next to me! Kali huh?)

We were ready to go when we learned that they were missing the waiver from the judge that said they could get married! People were searching all over the house! It was about that time that Mariel came in to tell us we were holding up the whole wedding party. Umm... no. The missing waiver was.

Moving on, Larissa and I went to get the flowers. We stashed them in the nearby stake center and ran to the temple. We were excited to discover that while we were getting the flowers, the sealer decided that as long as they brought in the waiver by Monday, he could seal them. Hooray! We waited for probably a half hour, becoming more and more disappointed as person after person who was not Kali exited the temple.

Finally, Shelby led his bride out the doors! They were so cute and happy. Shelby turned to Kali and said something like, "I'm gonna kiss you now, okay?" And this is how that picture turned out:

Ahh aren't they adorable?! I just love them! They are just so in love... I loved watching them.

We then proceeded to take pictures for about an hour.

It was so hot that once we got back in the car everyone got in a fight. That was awkward.

(This is Robin, Shelby's brother and one of the groomsmen, in the car. It was hot! (temperature haha... or maybe both :) ) )

Then, we went back to our room and waited for the luncheon. I fell asleep, but Larissa and Heather claim to have stayed awake. McKenzie came in awhile later, and I woke up and asked her if the luncheon had begun. She said yes, it had been over for awhile. We ran to the kitchen, where they told us the meat was all gone, but we could have some potato salad, cole slaw, and jello. At first I thought they were kidding but they weren't... At first we were kind of disappointed, but then we learned that we were not the only ones who had been left out; the bride, the groom, 2 groomsmen, 3 bridesmaids, and 1 Heather were not fed. Oops! The others had already gone to Taco Bell. I thought it was an interesting choice since that's where Kali and Shelby work, but kinda cute at the same time.

We decided to make ourselves useful, and went to Walmart to get things to decorate their hotel room. We got Hugs, Kisses, Dove chocolates, red roses (we already had petals from white roses), red and white balloons, and pretty candles.

We couldn't decorate until the reception, so we went on over to the church building. We stood in the wedding line for awhile... I've never really understood why people who aren't relatives stand in line, but I kind of enjoyed it. One guy told me it was "great to have [me there]" and I almost started crying because it was pretty much the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day. (I am not usually so emotional, but it was a combination of stress, hunger, sleep deprivation, and one too many snotty comments.) Luckily, I was able to compose myself before the next lady came through the line.

Kali and Shelby then did the cutest thing! Shelby has been wanting to do it for a long time now. This is how it went down:

They announced the cutting of the cake. First, Kali fed him very nicely. Then, he fed her, and smeared it all over her face. She acted really mad, and stormed off. He yelled "HEY!" At this point, half the people around us were thinking it was a real fight, so everyone was saying things like, "It's their first fight!" and "Wait, what did he do to her??" Then he started to sing Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel! chasing her around the room until she finally stopped and let him dance with her. It ended wonderfully, with the most perfect kiss I have ever seen in my whole life. Seriously. More perfect than any movie.

Then we left to go decorate the hotel room. It looked pretty awesome. Take a gander (haha that's funny to say huh?):

We got back just as Kali was about to throw the bouquet! And guess who caught it?! Yours truly!! :) Yay! I've never caught one before! I felt pretty special :)

After that we went back to the house and packed everything (including a lot of presents) in the car. Multiple adults came up to try to convince us to sleep before we left, but we were ready for home!

The drive home was really fun! For awhile, as in probably 8 hours, I was in charge of keeping the drivers awake. So I chatted it up with Heather and Larissa while the other would sleep in the back. It was really fun to catch up, and I love talking, so I was glad I had such a great job. I think I talked too much, though, because my throat started to hurt. I also drove for about 2 hours, so that was fun too.

We stopped for breakfast around 6 or 7, and it was amazing. Our waitress was really cute, probably 30s or early 40s. It was funny because she asked Larissa if she was our mom. Ummm.... awkward. For both of them. We decided it was because we look pretty young, and were acting pretty young (Heather asked for egg with the pokey thing... Larissa translated this as over medium). But Larissa does not look old, she is just pretty (see how pretty she is in the pictures?). Also, pretty sure the waitress also thought we were retarded because I went to the bathroom and when I came out she was waiting in line, so instead of going out the main door that lead from the restaurant into the bathrooms, I turned the wrong way and walked straight into the men's room! Cool...

After eating, exhaustion hit me so I fell asleep almost instantly. I slept for a good two hours and then was up again, talking and such. We finally got home around 3, and I am still recovering from my weird sleep schedule.

Going to Texas was way fun, and I'm so glad I got to see my dear friend Kali get married. She was such a beautiful bride and I just love her and Shelby together. They are perfect for each other :)

That being said, I am sure glad to be home!!

Jack Johnson and the Alpine Slide!

This weekend was amazing, as usual :). Sometimes I look at my blog posts and I like... my life is a party! Because, I mean, it is!

SO on Friday we went to JACK JOHNSON!! I got Dahl these tickets for his birthday! You can read about that here. (Pretty cool that I figured out how to make that link huh?!)

Funny story about me getting those tickets-- Dahl's birthday was the day after mine, so it was kinda fun because we were both hard at work thinking of presents for each other. He was debating between getting me the very same Jack Johnson tickets or an iPod Nano. I had already gotten the tickets, and Heather knew this. So, when he asked her which she suggested, she said that I had already seen Jack in concert and had said it was reallly lame! Dahl instantly was suspicious, because we had specifically talked about that concert and how much I loved it. BUT, the really important thing is, he got me the iPod instead, so we didn't have extra tickets :).

Anyway, when I got these tickets, we had only been dating 2 1/2 months, but I was pretty sure we would still be together :) And I was right! (Just in case, though, the will call was under my name, haha!)

As you know, two weekends ago we went to the Tim McGraw Concert!! You can read about that here. What I didn't mention was that it took us 2 1/2 hours to get there and then something like another half hour to get through the will call line. So we missed most of Lady Antebellum which was SAD.

This time, we were worried because we had to leave a lot later. This is because we were going to Dahl's friends' wedding reception (they both served on his mission with him). It was at 6. The doors opened for the concert at 5:30. The concert started at 7. The route was 1 hour without construction or concert traffic. We expected it to take 2 hours.

So we went to the reception, intending to quickly say congrats and leave, but the bride wasn't there for at least the first half hour, so we left at 6:30 (we never did see her at the reception). We sped up a different route, and made ridiculously good time until we got super close to the concert... it took about 1 1/2 hours total. AND I switched the tickets from will call to mail so we got in very quickly! We even got to hear some of the opening act G-Love... of course he sang his most popular song, "Booty Call" (I've worked concerts he's opened for). It was funny.

This time, also, we went with our awesome friend-couple, David and Amy. It was fun to have them there, and is the reason for the many pictures you see!

The concert was AMAZING!! I have seen Jack Johnson once before, and that time I was working Virgin Festival and didn't know who he was. I instantly loved him, and have ever since. As I said in my Tim McGraw post, Dahl is the funnest concert buddy. He loves to dance with me and twirl me and sing to me and I love going with him :)

So, also for my birthday, Dahl learned a Jack Johnson song, "Angel" (words and guitar), and he sang it for me. I LOVE that song! I always did, but now I love it more. So, while we don't really have a "song", this is pretty close to ours. So, we were really hoping that Jack would play it. Actually, we had a list of 3 we wanted: Angel, Better Together (another song he sings to me sometimes), and Banana Pancakes.

We knew he would play Banana Pancakes, it is one of his most popular songs. He did somewhere in the middle, and then he kept playing all these new songs of his that we didn't really know. So, when he left the stage, we were a little disappointed. The crowd cheered him back on, though!! And then he played 4 or 5 more songs!! And the last two were Angel and Better Together. How ridiculously perfect is that?! We were so happy :)

On Saturday we went to the Alpine Slide! I've been to the Coaster before, but never the slide. It was really fun, especially because we got to drive a long way to get there. Driving with Dahl is my favorite!

Fun story: A couple that was behind us in line had just gotten engaged that day! They were adorable. Right before we started to go down the slide, the girl said, "If I win, I get to pick the honeymoon, and we're going to Tahiti!" She won. Go girl!

We also ate some pretty good food Saturday: Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch (they had a special: $5 for their whole buffet!), a Tigers Blood Snow Cone (which I got all over the seat when I was trying to break apart the ice... poor Dahl!), and Hogi Yogi sandwiches for dinner (club for me, Philly cheese steak for him). It was soo good! What a yummy day! I had never been to either of those places (Pizza Pie Cafe or Hogi Yogi) and I was SO impressed!

Anyway, really fun weekend! I am spoiled :).