Monday, January 24, 2011

My Wedding :)





Okay, I am starting this entry on December 6, but I doubt I will finish. I am just in a class where everyone is doing presentations so I figured I would try to use this time wisely. I am going to go through my whole schedule the week of the wedding, so if you just wanna skip to the day of, go right ahead. I have scattered photos throughout of the Bridals/ Groomals and the Wedding Day shots, but I didn't include the reception pictures from either because they aren't on my computer yet. I may add them later... we'll see :)

Wednesday, November 17:


Dahl, Heather, and I frantically finished packing and said goodbye to my cute roomies and friends that were around. Sweet Amy and her mom drove us all to the airport. We flew pretty much all day, because we started out going to Vegas and had a layover. We arrived in MD midnight their time, hung out with my family, and collapsed into bed.

Thursday, November 18:

The next morning, we woke up early and I ran to Sister Davis's house to get my make up and hair done for bridals/ groomals. Heather did my hair and did a fantastic job, and Sister Davis did a great job on my make up, too. Dahl and my dad ran around getting Dahl's tux, and we ended up getting to the temple pretty late for our photo session, but in time to have about 1 1/2 hours of photos. Kellie Nuss did a great job on our pictures. (Those are links to her website and blog entry about us!)

Tangent on her: We already knew her because she is our Bishop's wife, and we were all very impressed. I am really glad we chose her. She was flexible, had great ideas, and did a great job with combining directing and listening so we could get great photos. She had already done weddings at the temple, so she knew lots of great places. She was also great at editing and getting the pictures back to us soon.

Anyway, it was kinda funny because my Daddy saw me come out of the temple (he drove with Dahl), and at first he was like "Okay, I'm gonna go home now!" but then we started taking pictures and he got so excited he followed us around the entire photo shoot, snapping pictures on his phone all the way. It was so cute. Heather also came and was super helpful with carrying my dress, arranging my hair, and giving suggestions. She is, after all, the best MOH ever!

After we finished pictures, Dahl went to play in DC with his family, and I went with Heather to an awards assembly at Jacob's middle school! It was literally the funnest awards assembly ever. I think a lot of that was because we didn't care what anyone there thought, and hardly anyone knew us, so we cheered loudly, sang along to the awesome choir and jazz band ("Santa's Going on a Diet" by the choir and "Don't Stop Believin'" by the Jazz Band were some of our very favorites), and giggled about basically everything. We were more enthusiastic than anyone else in the whole crowd. We also had more fun than anyone else. For the students that got straight A's, Mr. Fairbanks read aloud some things about them, and the band would play a celebratory tune to welcome them to the front. We yelled compliments to them about their clothes, hobbies, and grades. Jacob came to sit with us in the middle, and we fed him fries and a sandwich. This was probably the best stress reliever I could have gotten.


That night, Heather and I went out with our mom to get my wedding jewelry and other last-minute things. That night, we continued to prepare other last-minute things.


Friday, November 19:

The next morning, I got my endowments out at the temple. For those of you who are curious about what that is, you can click here or here. I was really glad I could have my parents, Dahl's parents, my Grandma Connor, my Aunt Carol and Uncle Brett, and, most of all, Dahl, come with me.


We went back to the house, changed, and went to our rehearsal dinner. Since there really wasn't anything to "rehearse", it was mostly just a nice get together with all the family that was in town for the wedding. Brenley had the idea to have it really personal, with musical numbers, and we also had speeches and showed our wedding video that Dahl's cute cousin, Stephanie, made for us. (She did a wonderful job, by the way, we love it! Thanks Steph!)

This dinner was basically a sob-fest. I think almost everyone who went there cried. Maybe not Uncle Brett, and maybe not some others, but an overwhelming majority cried at one point or another... or ten. Haha. When the eating was winding down, Eric stood up and announced the beginning of the program. Cute Sarah sang "I Love to See the Temple" with Heather accompanying, and sweet Nicole played "Abide with Me Tis Eventide" on the flute. Then we had both dads and Heather give speeches, and they were wonderful. Heather's is posted on her blog. It was really nice :)


Tangent (The Dad Speeches):
My dad said:
"Before Kelly was born I had a lot of people tell me that when I held her in my arms the first time, this feeling of fatherhood would just envelop me. Yet, when Kelly was born I didn't initially feel like that. I just held her and said to Melody that "I guess we are going to have to get to know her." But then, when I put her in the car with Melody to take them home to our apartment for the first time, it all hit me. I was taking my little girl home! She was our daughter! We now had a family. And every part of my being wanted to protect her and help her. I was a father now. My life had changed forever. And when I drove that car home I drove it like I had a goldfish bowl on the hood. I wanted to make sure that she and Melody and I all got home safely.

As she grew up I learned a lot about her. I soon realized that she was far more advanced than I was spiritually and intellectually. I was her dad but, it was a privilege that Heavenly Father had given me. She was His daughter too and I knew that he loved her and had given me a great responsibility and had put a lot of trust in me to care for her and to raise her.

Kelly was so smart and diligent. As a baby in her crib she would constantly work her hands and her feet and it seemed that she was very determined and desirous to learn all she could about this body she had and how to work it. Every day it seemed that there was something new she would do and this diligence carried on beyond the crib into every aspect of her life - especially school.

When Heather was born Kelly had a new best friend. She would feed Heather her bottle and drag her around like a little rag doll. She loved Heather and over the years they became inseparable. I loved to see them grow up together and to see their friendship and mutual admiration grow.
Kelly was always a peacemaker. She never wanted to fight and avoided it with great care. She loved every good thing and would hold onto all the good around her. And Kelly was super loyal. Once you were her friend, Kelly was always in your camp, always on your side and cheering you on.


When she was little and would go to friends houses she would go to their book case to see what books they had. The first thing Kelly bought with her own money was a book. She loved to read and study.
When she turned 8 years old she was baptised. About a week later, our family, which now consisted of our 4 oldest daughters and Melody and me, went on a ward campout to Patapsco State Park. It was a lot of fun. On the Saturday that we were about to leave Melody decided to take the girls and some friends kids down to the Patapsco river to see the water. Julie had to go to the bathroom which was about 1 mile away so, I took Julie there and Melody headed to the river with the others.


Some horses had been walking on the trail to the river and some of them had left some horse poop on the ground. Heather (6) later wrote: "No one stepped in the horse poop except Kelly - she did." That may have contributed to what happened next. When they got to the river Melody told them not to get too close to the edge of the river. But, Kelly stepped on a rock and slipped and fell into the river before Melody could catch her. Kelly was quickly carried away on her back by the swiftly flowing river and she looked back at Melody for help. But, Melody was helpless.
A little distance down the river from where Kelly had slipped were two priesthood men in our ward - Robbie Windley (14) and his dad Dennis Windley who was a High Priest. Robbie had been swimming in the river in a little area where the water was calm and he was now sitting on a rock next to his dad, shivering and asking if they could return to their tent so he could get warm. Dennis told Robbie, "no - just sit here for a few minutes." And then while Robbie sat there downstream from Melody and the children, he and Dennis heard Melody's call for help. Dennis said "Get her Robbie, get her" and without a moment's hesitation Robbie was in the river swimming after Kelly who, miraculously was buoyed up on her back as the current swiftly carried her downstream facing backwards with her head above water still. Robbie swam hard and soon caught up to her. Dennis ran alongside the river calling to Robbie to bring her to the side so he could pull her out. Robbie fought with the current and now the river was a bit shallower and he could put his feet down on the bottom to try and work his way to the side but the sharp rocks on the bottom cut his feet and legs. Still, Robbie fought on and Dennis kept shouting encouragement to him. Finally they got close enough to the edge and Dennis grabbed both of them and pulled them out of the water.


I arrived a few minutes later to find Robbie and Kelly and Dennis all on a big rock overlooking the river with Melody and the other children there. Melody told me that I had missed all of the excitement and then related the story. At that moment I was overwhelmed and I turned to Robbie and made the greatest gesture of appreciation I could muster. I said "Robbie, someday you will serve a mission for the church and when you return, you will need to find a wife. I hereby offer you my daughter's hand in marriage." Kelly (8) and Robbie (14) both looked at me kind of funny and Dennis, Melody and I had a nice laugh.
My point in telling you this story is this - God protected Kelly as a little girl and soon, you will have that privilege as you take her hand in marriage. I hope and pray that you will protect her. She is one of God's choicest daughters.
Now as Kelly continued to grew up I learned a lot of interesting things about her. She was not going to just marry any old guy. He would have to work to get her attention and to convince her to marry him. I remember on one occasion that we were at the swimming pool and Kelly was sitting on a lawn chair by the side of the pool. She was about 14 years old at the time. Three young boys about her age came by and saw her there and they were clearly interested and wanted her attention. Finally they all three jumped into the pool in front of her and splashed her with a little water. She looked up and seemed a little bored with these juvenile antics and then put her head back down on the fully reclined lawn chair. After seeing that I told Melody that Kelly was going to drive some poor guy nuts one day and he was going to have to work extra hard to get her attention and interest.
One day Kelly called me from college and told me that she had a boy friend. I asked her then if she was sure she wanted to have a boyfriend because it meant that she would have to stop dating all of these other guys and she became very firm with me and said - "Dad, you stop it - you're not going to talk me out of this!" At that moment I thought "wow, this could be something serious."
Then she told me how Dahl had asked her to be his girlfriend and I knew Dahl was a serious contender. Here was a young man that knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to put his whole ego on the line and tell her. He had carefully thought the whole thing out and how he would present it to her and that really impressed me. And he was also a bit of salesman and he was patient with her. I thought, this guy could be a match for Kelly. He is intelligent and knows how to approach her. He's gentle.

As I got to know Dahl a little more in our phone conversations, my appreciation for him only grew stronger. Kelly would tell me things that he would do for her and Heather and I liked that. He was kind. She also told me that he would go have lunch with his beautiful high school sister once every couple of weeks so that the boys at the school would know that she has a big brother. So, Dahl was also protective and I liked that too. One of the first things he wanted to do was to take Kelly to his home to have dinner with his family. And again, I saw the salesman in him - Dahl knew that if he could get Kelly around his family she would see how great they were and she would like him even more. He was very smart.
Finally, when Kelly was struggling over whether to marry Dahl he again showed her his patience and love. He gave her all the time she needed. And so I knew it was just a matter of time before Kelly was ready. Dahl was wise beyond his years and all of that patience and love paid off.

One last thing I will tell you about Kelly is that she has always been very honest. This is so important in a marriage. You will always be able to trust Kelly and she will love you forever. When I was a young man I told my best friend all of the character traits that I wanted in a wife. It was a long list of things. My friend, who was also 18 or 19 at the time listened intently and then after I was done he said "Don't you see man, you need someone you can trust!" My long list didn't include that but what he said rang true to me and so I scrapped my list and put that as my new first and most important trait in a wife. Trust is the foundation on which all relationships are based and especially marriage. Dahl, congratulations, you have got a woman that you can trust.
I am really grateful that you two have found each other. I know that the Lord has had his hand in this. He has prepared and helped both of you to find one another. There are simply too many things for this to have been a coincidence. Someone asked me how I felt about my daughter getting married and I answered - "I feel great since she is marrying Dahl. It is every dad's dream to have his daughter marry a truly good man who will protect her and love her and treat her nicely and I believe Dahl is just that man for my daughter Kelly. I love how happy she is with Dahl and if I had to make a choice of all the men in the world to marry my daughter Kelly, it would be Dahl."
Marriage is a romantic thing and everything in marriage can be romantic as long as you are doing it together, whether it is washing the dishes or having dinner - it can all be romantic.
May God continue to bless you two that your love will for each other grow each year. I think God is smiling on you both today.



Dahl's Dad:

Dahl's dad talked about how when Dahl was born, they were excited to have a boy, especially because his older brothers had only had girls so far, and so Dahl was the first grandson. It was kinda funny how he said the next part, he talked about how right after Dahl was born, he saw him before his mother did because of the angle... haha, and then he went into the point that wh
en Dahl's Mom saw him for the first time she said, "He looks just like me!" He also talked about how
the day he was born, Dahl's Grandmother came to the hospital and held him and said, "Our first missionary!"
[ Me: I'm gonna do it in quotes not because I'm tired of changing it to third person.] "W
hen Dahl was a toddler and a young boy, he was always happy and laughing, and he had tons of friends.
I remember lots of times coming home, and when I walked in the door, I could hear Dahl laughing. [Me:Dahl still has a very infectious, genuine laugh. It's super cute... it's just so loud and he simply doesn't care who can hear him laughing.]
W
hen he was in 6th grade we went to parent teacher conference, and his teacher said, 'Dahl is a great kid, but he needs to learn when to laugh and when not to laugh.'
Dahl is always nice and always kind. He always took good care of his younger brother, Jacob, and even shared his friends with him, so Dahl's friends were also Jacob's friends. H
e has a special quality-- that you always feel good when you are with him; he is fun to be with.

H
e is also good at fixing things. When Dahl was 12, we were at Father's and Son's, and his Uncle Jim Low came with a brand new tent. It was a very dark night with no moon, and I tried to help Jim set up his tent and we just couldn't do it. I said to Jim, "I'm going to go and get Dahl!" So as Jim and I stood there holding the flashlights, Dahl put the tent together all by himself! [Me: I love this about him. I am not very mechanical, but he is. Just today we were putting together our Christmas Tree, and he was so smart about it... I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it without him!]
H
e was a great missionary, and when he got home he said two things that were awesome for a Dad to hear-- he had no regrets, and he always did whatever the President asked him to do. I have always said that
the Lord blesses his missionaries, and that is so true; 5 months after he got home from his mission he met Kelly!
Kelly is a huge blessing to Dahl and to us, and they really complement each other. I know her family and friends will understand that everything is better and more fun when Kelly is around!"

Then the floor was opened up for anyone to talk, and Nicole began to talk, in a very cute-sie tone. "I was kind of wary of Dahl at first, because I am Kelly's sister, and I'm protective, but then I started to hear about the nice things he would do for her, and talking to him on the phone, and I started to really like him. Then,when I met him, I just knew...." at this moment, her incredible composure totally broke. It was really quite funny. She hadn't even had the smallest quaver in her voice, and suddenly she was bawling... we all thought it was pretty hilario.
Then, we watched the wedding video Stephanie made. I had to leave in the middle to practice my song that I was singing for Dahl, "From this Moment" by Shania Twain. If you haven't heard it, you should listen to it here, but the music video's kind of dumb IMO, so you should probably just keep reading my blog instead of watching it. I hadn't practiced it in months, and I had never practiced it with the particular karaoke version I was supposed to be using, so I ran off to the other side of the building to practice. I couldn't remember all of the words while I was practicing, and I vaguely felt like I was forgetting my favorite line, which, I was. Miraculously, I remembered as I was singing. Here is my favorite line:

I give my hand to you with all my heart
Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start
You and I will never be apart
My dreams came true because of you


That's so nice, huh? I am really glad I remembered it just in time! One thing I didn't remember was not to cry. Dahl started crying at the very beginning, and I could not even handle it, so I teared the whole way through, and randomly skipped sections while I composed myself. By the end, I totally lost it, but I think considering the lack of practice and emotional-ness, I did a pretty good job. I am sad, because no one video-taped it. I guess I just assumed someone would, but I didn't ever give someone the assignment.

After that, we all hurried to the Bridal Shower. Sister Walburger, Sister Johnson, and Meghan Toler all helped organize it, and they did a great job. The food was amazing and the company was even more so. I was late, and when I walked in I was greeted by a multitude-- that's right, a multitude-- of amazing sisters, friends, and family I had grown up around. There were a few people who weren't able to make it, but an overwhelming majority of them did, and it was really fun for me to see everyone. This was by far the chattiest bridal shower I have had so far! There were so many ladies talking so much that we didn't do very many activities aside from giving advice and opening presents, but that was okay with me :) Aunt Carol did a fun thing at the end-- she had written down all the things I said as I opened my gifts like "Thank you!" "Oh that is so cute!!" "What a perfectly made set!", and "We will definitely be making pancakes!" , and read them aloud in the context of what I would say on my wedding night. It was pretty funny.

Then, I went home and packed and went to sleep so I would be ready for my wedding day!

Saturday, November 20:

This is the BIG DAY!!! I woke up and started my day off right: by eating bugs! Someone didn't close the cereal, and I ended up accidentally eating some ants before I realized what was going on. Gross, right?? But that was probably one of the worst things that happened all day, so it was alright. Then I ran over to Sister Davis's again, so she could do my make up.

Tangent: I want to take a moment to talk about how helpful she was. She did my make up, helped with my hair, and had her girls take pictures and video the whole time we were getting ready. She had extra hair spray and make up for after the ceremony and before I went outside the temple, and fixed me all up so I looked perfect when I left. She also brought her Canon camera to the wedding and took pictures afterwards. She said she likes candid shots better than posed ones. I love candid shots, too so I am super excited to see how they turned out. The thing is, I only asked her to help with my make up, but she did so much more!

By the end of it, we were running behind, so there were 3 or 4 people curling my hair so I would not be later than I already was. Heather, Bana, Sister Davis, and I think Desiree were all helping curl my hair at one point. It was pretty funny. I ended up still being 15 minutes late, but it worked out just fine. We hurried into the temple and almost instantly I saw friends who were there for the wedding. It was so fun to see so many people there who loved me who came to support me.

Dahl's Grandpa was our sealer, which was pretty cool. Dahl and I were taken to a different sealing room than the one we were actually going to be sealed in, and he talked to us a little bit, but since he already knew us, it wasn't for too long. He said something that I thought was kind of interesting. He said when he walked into our sealing room, he said, "There's something really special about this room in particular." Later, we learned that President Spencer W Kimball had said those exact words when he had walked into that room years earlier. Pretty cool, huh?

The sealing was nice, not very long at all, and I honestly don't remember much of what was said. People told me I wouldn't because I would be so excited that I was finally getting married I wouldn't be able to concentrate. The thing is, I thought I was concentrating, but I guess I wasn't because I don't remember much. After the sealing, we stood by the door and got to greet our guests. We got in trouble a little, because I hugged pretty much everyone there, and so did my mom, and it wasn't supposed to be a reception line, but I was really glad I got to hug them all, anyway.
I was really touched by all the people who were there. Sister Walburger, my Young Womens president for years, said something really nice. She said, "Oh, Kelly, I feel like my own daughter just got married!" I thought that was so sweet, because she and all of my young women's leaders really did have a huge impact on me and the decisions that lead up to me getting married in the temple.

After a few minor mishaps, and with the help of my wonderful mom, Aunt Carol, and Sister Davis, I got dressed and ready to exit the temple. When we walked out together we were greeted by cheers of the excited guests. I also had some friends who were waiting for me, like Heather Gallagher, Meghan Toler, and Brittany Eisinger. I was so glad they could make it!

We took tons of fun pictures (Sara Nuss was super helpful with making sure her mom had everything she needed) and then rushed home to eat before we had to be at the reception. In the meantime, someone lost the thing that was supposed to connect the iPod to the speakers, so we ran around frantically looking for them until Dahl saved the day and found them in the car. Then we rushed to the reception. I really needed to re-curl my hair (it doesn't hold well at allll) and unfortunately all of our curling irons were at Sister Davis's house. We couldn't get a hold of her, so we just went to the church and I started getting dressed. I found a black mark on my dress in the front top part of the skirt!! I was super nervous, but then Sister Saunders came to the rescue with a Tide to Go pen! It worked wonders :) Then Desiree came to the rescue with a curling iron. I actually ended up being about 20 minutes late to the reception even though I was in the building because of the fixing of my dress and hair.


Tangent: At this point, Brother Davis (our videoographer) became very helpful-- not only did he video the most important events, he checked up on us every few minutes and made sure we didn't need any food or drinks. Dahl later told me that he had told him to not leave my side the whole night, no matter what he felt needed to be done-- he said to get someone else to do it. I will be eternally grateful to him for that. True to the advice, Dahl was with me pretty much the entire night. I felt awkward whenever he wasn't around (at the beginning when no one had said that to him yet and at the end when we were both changing and I lost him).



For the first 1 1/2 hours or so, we had a line, where everyone came up and said hi. It was so fun to visit with all of the wonderful people who came to celebrate with us. When the line died down, we cut the cake. I wish I remember what it tasted like, my Daddy said it was some of the most delicious wedding cake he had ever had. That was all the cake I got, though, and I was too busy figuring out how to cut it and who should feed who first (someone shouted out at the same time, so we did). We fed each other nicely, mostly because I know my Mommy wanted it to be that way, and I didn't really want to get cake all over my dress anyway.


Then, we had our first dance. We danced to "Then" by Brad Paisley. If you don't know this song, you can listen to it here. It is "our" song, because that is the song Dahl sang to me when he proposed. I think the first dance is a nice tradition, because the whole reception is just so rushed and busy that you're hardly interacting with each other at all. It's nice to just be with each other :)

Right after that, we had the Daddy-Daughter dance. I have been looking forward to/ dreading this moment for a long time now. I thought I would just bawl my eyes out, but I actually amazed myself by keeping my composure the whole time. I only teared, but I don't think any even fell from my eyes. The reason I didn't cry was because my Daddy talked to me the whole time, just about nice things, and didn't let me listen to the song hardly at all. The song, by the way, is "I Loved Her First" by Heartland. If you haven't heard it, you definitely should click on that link right now.
Tangent about the song and my Daddy: This song makes me cry every time I actually listen to it. It is such a sweet, tender song. I like it because the father in the song does not say anything bad about the groom, like that he is not good enough, but just talks about how he loves his daughter and how he prayed that she'd find him someday. That is exactly how my Daddy feels. He is really glad that I found Dahl, because he is a good man who loves me and will take care of me. He has always wanted that for his girls, and he is just grateful that now I can enjoy the blessings of marriage to someone who could take me to the temple and who is a worthy Priesthood holder. He also thinks Dahl's family is wonderful, and that makes him happy as well. My Daddy actually had a really big role in me feeling brave enough to marry Dahl. I always knew I wanted to, but fear held me back for a few months. My Daddy definitely did not even once tell me what to do, but he did talk me through a lot of my fears, and told me it was okay if I was scared. He told me it was okay if I didn't want to make a decision right then, and he just listened to me. When I was having the hardest time, he would talk to me almost every day. He gave me great advice, and really helped me. I will always be grateful for his help. It's not like he didn't have anything else to do with his time; he is one of the busiest men I know. This showed me what a priority I am to him. He really is the best Daddy ever! Anyway, during the dance I didn't even get to say "thank you" to him, and I kind of wonder if he intentionally steered the conversation away from things like that, because he knew I would cry.

Even though I didn't cry too much, I know that my cousins and sisters did, and I'm sure other people who I have not heard about. It was because their daddies weren't there to distract them! Throughout this dance, Dahl and his mother joined, and I think some other daddy-daughter/ mother-son couples, but I honestly don't know.
After that, free dancing was allowed, but we were pretty much ready to go, so we did the bouquet and garter toss. I think that Alexis Gallagher caught my flowers? I could be wrong. She is Joseph's age, so probably like 14. Haha. There were about 30 girls in the crowd to catch my bouquet! Crazy!!

Tangent: One of the nice things about this reception was that everyone came and stayed; we had a pretty big crowd that was there even when we left. That made me happy!

Dahl didn't have quite that many people in his gathering, however; there were only 5 eligible bachelors who tried to catch the garter. Jack Beath was the lucky winner!

After the throwing of the bouquet and the tossing of the garter, we changed in order to prepare to leave. I couldn't find my cell phone anywhere, so Nicole offered to let me use hers for the honeymoon, which I did. It was a big stress reliever!! For a few minutes, I couldn't find Dahl, which was kind of funny. I remember my mom asking me where something of mine was, and I said, "Yeah... where's my groom?! I dunno!" Anyway, he was found (he took longer changing than I did... whoda thunk??) We were cheered out to our car, which was decorated amazingly by the wonderful Brittany and Meghan, with a lot of help from a lot of other people who were in attendance. I don't have any pictures... I hope someone took some!!
Tangent: I think this is as good a time as any to stop and say thank you to everyone who helped with anything for my wedding. One group that I would like to add right now were the decorations. I know that Sister Franco, Sister Saunders, Sister Tucker, Barry from down the street, Toni, her friend from China, Russ and Jennifer, Dahl's next door neighbors, and my sisters, especially Nicole, were very helpful in making it beautiful. I know that more people than I have mentioned helped with so many things! I am truly grateful for your help-- It was very touching to hear about how kind and helpful people were to me and my family, especially my mom. I wish that every couple could be greeted with such love and service as we were. We truly have amazing, wonderful friends!

We were supplied with food from the reception-- Sister Johnson and Sister Ferguson, who were in charge of the food, packed us a plate each!! The food, by the way, was AMAZING!! I loved it! There were chocolate-covered strawberries and pretzels, Sister Johnson's famous mint brownies, chicken salad croissants, veggie trays (which Sister King brought at the last minute when my mom forgot them!), and the most amazing punch ever!

We had to pull over fairly quickly, because Dahl was worried we would get in trouble for the cans on the car, and then again because couldn't see anything so we had to move the balloons to the trunk. The first time we stopped, the Candlands saw and stopped to help. The second time, someone just honked... wonder what they were thinking!

When we got to our hotel, my parents started texting me, saying they had found my purse that I had left, as well as my phone. They asked us to bring the other cell phone and the keys to the car to the front desk... we were... busy, though, so we didn't end up being much of a help at all with that. Haha. But it all worked out! The next morning, we left for our honeymoon in Miami!

But that my friends, is another blog entry :)



Monday, November 29, 2010

The/ MY Truth About Being Engaged

[Note: I know all of you probably wish this was about my wedding or honeymoon, but this was basically already done when I got back, so I decided to just publish it. I'm getting to the other fun things, I promise!]


So, when you're Mormon, you hear a lot of rumors about what being engaged is like. I know I am not the same as everyone else, so this is not over-arching. I just thought I would write what I think about it.

I am starting this post on September 27- we have been engaged 1 month and 1 day, but I am not posting it until after I am married. So, it is accurate, but for fear of proving myself wrong, I will wait to publish.

Note: Some of these things might seem rude. Sorry... it's not meant to be, it's just how I feel, and it's really blunt.

Rumor #1:
Being engaged drags on and onnnn: TRUE.

Holy cow. We have only been engaged a month and I'm like... seriously that's it?! Most people would automatically assume that this is because we're oh-so-horny and just wanna make babiesright now!! That's not true. While that would be nice, and probably relieve some stress, honestly, it's just annoying to not be able to be alone together when we want. I hatesaying goodbye at night. I hate that there is literally nowhere for us to be alone ever. His roommates do not leave the living room area of his apartment for any reason. They are literally glued to their Halo Reaches. So that's out. My apartment usually has girls in the living room watching TV or talking. (Note: I love my roomies. This is nothing against them whatsoever. Seriously.) So there's really nowhere to go. I mean the car is okay, but we are sitting far away from each other in the car. Outside is literally our only option. But it's getting cold, and parks love to give out tickets, so our options continue to narrow, and that will be out so soon. I am sad about it :(

Rumor #2:
Keeping your hands to yourself is SO MUCH HARDER when you're engaged: FALSE.

This rumor has spread far and wide, everyone is so convinced of it. Even our Bishop warned us about it when we told him we were seriously considering getting engaged. Honestly, I bet if you have already had a problem with it, it could increase, but I don't think it changes that much at all. It's really just a matter of self control, though. Luckily, we both have quite a bit of that, so I was pleasantly surprised. I was seriously bracing myself for the sudden urge to rip his clothes off that would be nearly impossible to avoid. That, my friends, never came. I'm not saying I didn't want to, I'm saying it's not so horribly dramatically hard as people make it out to be.

Rumor #3:
You will be judged for how quickly/ slowly you got engaged and how short/ long your engagement is. Also, for how late you stay out at night, among other things- basically EVERYTHING you do, even if you are outside when you are out late which is totally not breaking the Honor Code. (Or if you have broken curfew. Whatever): OMG TRUE.

I don't know how common this is, and probably none of you engaged people have been accused of such things, but one guy who I barely know told one of my friends that the reason we had such a short engagement (a little under 3 months) was because I was "obsessed with sex" and we "wouldn't make it to the temple if it was shorter" and we "probably still wouldn't". Also, that I "wasn't prepared to go to the temple" and that we would "probably go inactive after 6 months". So... yeah people might draw outlandish conclusions, but you should definitely just ignore them. Clearly he doesn't know me or us, and they don't know you either. [Nov 29: We don't really care anymore, but at the time it really hurt my feelings and made Dahl really mad. Now it's kinda fun to just laugh about it. That would be my advice to anyone who has problems with this. Because guess who was wrong?? Him. And guess who got married in the temple without any issues whatsoever and are still totally active?? US :) You know that new song by Taylor Swift, "Mean"? This is the chorus: "Someday I'll be living in a big old city, And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me, And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so mean?" That's kinda how I feel about him.]

Rumor #4:
You will get a TON of advice. Some nice, some not, some called for, some definitely not: TRUE!

Some of the advice we got was really nice. I loved all the silly and sweet things people said at my bridal showers, and I enjoyed hearing counsel from my parents and his parents, even from some close friends and from Heather as well. I had no problem listening to my Bishop and to my parents and sometimes my friends. I enjoyed talking to people about things like wedding plans and how to arrange things, what kinds of food and decorations would be good, where we should search for an apartment, how to sell my contract, how to deal with new financial stresses, how to prepare to go to the temple, and how to help the other feel loved and appreciated. I truly appreciated and was touched by the thoughtful advice and notes.

That being said, there were also TONS of unnecessary comments from well-meaning people I'm sure, who could not stop telling us what to do. It's like once we get engaged, everyone became experts on the topic. Even my friends who have never been engaged felt the need to put in their 2 (or 10) cents, and it got pretty old. Even more annoying were the newlyweds who were now officially experts on married and engaged life, and felt the need to spew their thoughts everywhere. The thing is, every couple is different, and no matter if you were just engaged, you don't know what it's like for us. It was so ridiculous that I wanted to kick the next person who told my (now husband) to "keep it in his pants" so hard that they had to permanently keep it in their pants. It's like this: Are you my Bishop? Oh, no?? You aren't? Well that's weird... How about my Daddy? Didn't think so. Last time I checked I had ONE Daddy. So your stewardship over me is just about zero.

Rumor #5:
When you're engaged, you don't need to spend as much time with each other, because it has already been decided, so you are more able to go do other things: FALSE.

Whatt?! I want to spend just as much if not more time with Dahl than ever.

Rumor #6:
It is super stressful: TRUE.

It is so stressful. I am seriously constantly juggling stuff. I am spoiled, so I never worked during school. Now I have to, and I actually quite enjoy the work part. It does add stress, but I love my job. It is awesome. [Edit: My job became WAY more stressful... so not as great as it was at the beginning]. The problem is, I have to add it to my list of things to do. The problem is, I'm trying to plan a wedding, go to school, work, and play all at the same time. And I need to maintain my relationships with my friends, family, and, most importantly, Dahl.

Rumor #7:
You will not want to do your schoolwork: TRUE.

I have not gotten my grades for this semester, but I'm pretty sure my GPA is going to decrease. Simply because I honestly do not even enjoy being at school right now. There are sooo many things I would rather do. I would rather spend time with Dahl, plan the wedding, talk to my roommates, eat, or even go to work than sit in a classroom. Seriously, if I could just quit school for the semester and have no repercussions, I would do it. In a heartbeat.

Rumor# 8:
You will stop doing as many fun things and start being all "serious": TRUE and FALSE.

While it is true that now we talk about the wedding more, our dating life isn't that different. If you suddenly stop playing and start working all the time, there is a problem. Now, I have a crap-load of stuff to do. It seriously seriously never ends. BUT, that just means that I have to play harder. Dahl and I still go on dates, we still do super fun things and go on adventures together. The wedding is not consuming our lives, and we do not talk about it all the time. Of course, we do talk about it sometimes. And we do talk about other serious things (finances, school, our views on how we will manage our future family, etc.) but we talked about that before we got engaged too... It just doesn't seem that different. There just needs to be a balance.

Rumor #9:
You will get to know each other a lot better through this engagement process/It is a great time to get to know each other: FALSE

Um, I hope not! Sure, we learn more about each other but comes naturally with spending time with one another. I know I don't know everything about Dahl, and he doesn't know everything about me, and that's part of the fun of committing to spend forever together. But, the basics, and the most important things, I know, and I definitely knew them before we got engaged. Some people might say that you get to know each other better because you see how they act under stress... but I think it's good to have already seen that. This is pretty much just my opinion, but I think it is also dictated by common sense.

Written Nov 29, 2010:

Rumor #10:
Being married is so much better than being engaged: TRUEST

I love it :)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

I am freaking out.



Constantly.

So it is exactly 3 weeks and 3 days until I get married. Yay! So I am kind of freaking out excited. But I am mostly freaking out freaking out. So now I'm gonna make 2 lists! One of why I am freaking out, and one of what I am grateful for. Because I felt whiny when it was just freaking out. If you don't read my whole list, PLEASE at least read the first one on my freaking out list!!

I am freaking out because:
  1. I can't sell my contract (If ANYONE knows anyone who would want to buy a contract at Raintree, PLEASE let me know! If someone finds me online I'm paying for a month of rent, but if YOU recommend them, I'll just pay you $100 instead! Pleasepleaseplease!)
  2. We still don't know where we are going to live!
  3. Figuring out how to get the right colors/ sizes/ prices on bridesmaid dresses is ridiculous. Not to mention that the color of the dresses determines the color of the decorations/ mother of the bride&groom dresses/ flower girl dress/ tuxes/ cake.
  4. Estrogen is being pumped through my body and so I cry way more than I should. I swear my sensitivity has increased 100- fold. Seriously. Sometimes it's not even sad crying. It's like Dahl says, "I love you" and then I start crying because I love him, too. Usually, though, it is like something stupid hurt my feelings, and then I start crying and can't stop because I am just so stressed so I don't even know what I am crying about.
  5. Because we are stressed, Dahl and I are both more cranky. Which makes us more stressed. Which makes us more cranky. This is a horrible cycle.
  6. I should be exercising more.
  7. I should be reading the scriptures more.
  8. I should have figured out which other pictures I want our photographer to edit.
  9. I don't know how I'm doing my hair.
  10. Someone needs to buy my contract.
  11. I still have some invitations I should send out.
  12. I don't know what we are wearing for Halloween.
  13. I do not currently understand economics. I keep getting lost in class.
  14. I have about a million group projects I am working on.
  15. I can't sell my contract.
  16. We don't have a videographer! And I want one!
  17. I am missing about 60 receipts for work. They are all due tomorrow. (This means the professors haven't turned them in. Grr.)
  18. I apparently overbooked myself and have 2 group meetings at the same time tomorrow.
  19. Signing up for classes is stressful.
  20. I still need to send in the marriage license.
  21. We need to figure out how to join our accounts.
  22. I should probably call the temple and ask them to make the room bigger.
  23. I need to apply for a Pell Grant.
  24. We need to get insurance.
  25. We still need to get Dahl a ring.
  26. I need to schedule a dentist appointment. With all my spare time.
  27. I also need to schedule salon appointments.
  28. I keep forgetting to use WhiteStrips.
  29. I am often running on less than 5 hours of sleep.
  30. People keep asking me questions!!
  31. I am sick of people giving me advice about being good while I'm engaged. I can handle myself. SHUT UP!
  32. I need to make a playlist for my reception.
  33. Interviews stress me out.
  34. Pretty much the only time I am alone with Dahl is in the car. Or at APX. In the library. Studying.
  35. I need to say something to BYU about how I'm getting married so I don't have a "non-compliance" fee.
  36. No one wants to buy my absolutely amazing contract!!
  37. I need to help run two focus groups before I go to MD.
  38. I'm already stressed about missing class.
  39. We need to buy a bed.
  40. I want to puke every time I think about almost anything offered in the Cougareat. They need to get totally new restaurants!
  41. I haven't done my visiting teaching...
  42. We only have 1 shower in the apartment because I accidentally broke the other one.
  43. I can't study unless I leave both my apartment and Dahl's apartment. So we always have to go to APX to study.
  44. It takes me forever to get my butt out the door. This stresses Dahl out which stresses me out.
  45. It is SNOWING!! Gross!
  46. Please buy/ find someone to buy my contract!!
  47. After I get married I still have to come back to school and learn and finish this semester.
  48. All my friends are leaving after this semester! Heather, Winnie, Christine, Jackie, Larissa? :( Everyone but Dahl! So glad I am at least getting married :) )
Basically, this is me right now:

Minus the counselor. I don't need one, but even if I did, I wouldn't have time for one.

So, before I sound like a total bride-zilla:
( I am not like this. I promise!)

I am going to make a grateful list. Because I am grateful!

I am grateful because:
  1. I am marrying the best guy ever.
  2. My groups are mostly chill.
  3. I like everyone in all my groups. They are all nice.
  4. I have a good job.
  5. It is flexible.
  6. I like my co-workers.
  7. I have some pretty sweet roomies.
  8. I am not going to be completely broke when I get married.
  9. Dahl loves my family.
  10. I love his family, too.
  11. They love me.
  12. My family loves Dahl.
  13. Dahl might have found someone to buy his contract.
  14. Dahl is always nice when I cry, even when it is for a stupid reason.
  15. I get to go home in 3 weeks!
  16. I found someone wonderful to marry.
  17. Dahl will always love me.
  18. He will always take care of me.
  19. I love BYU.
  20. I only have one year left at BYU after this semester.
  21. I still have some friends here.
  22. I have some of my favorite friends getting married!! So we will have friend couples.
  23. Caitlin and Annalisa (my roomies) and Lori (who was gonna go on a mission) are staying here.
  24. I know I am really very lucky.
  25. At least we have a shower.
  26. It didn't snow today.
  27. It's warming up a little.
  28. Receipts are trickling in.
  29. Instead of taking me to do homework last night, Dahl took me to Denny's.
  30. I love talking to my roomies.
  31. Cornbelly's was really fun last week.
  32. We are going to a party at Amy's house this week!
  33. We get to dress up cute couple-y!
  34. I've basically always wanted to do that.
  35. I get to do that the rest of my life!
  36. Dahl is so funny, and he makes me laugh when I'm about to cry. And when I am crying.
  37. Dahl always thinks I am pretty :)
  38. I got some fun presents at my bridal shower.
  39. My mom and Dahl's mom are working tirelessly to make sure the wedding is wonderful.
  40. Dahl's grandpa is sealing us. That is so nice!
  41. Heather is the best MOH.
  42. I have not gotten sick this semester.
  43. At least the whole making decisions part is over. The important ones :)
  44. I'm having a family bridal shower on Saturday!
  45. Soon all this crap will be over, and I will be married...
  46. And it will all be worth it.
  47. I love my family.
  48. I love Dahl.
  49. I get to get married in the temple I always wanted to get married in!
  50. My dress is really flattering, so it's okay that I'm not totally in shape I guess.
  51. I get to sing Dahl a nice song at the rehearsal dinner!
  52. It will all work out. My mom said so.
  53. Dahl has a car. That's nice, because I don't.
  54. Dahl is good at directions. That's nice, because I'm not.
  55. I love being couple friends with David and Amy :)
  56. I have nice friends and family (and new family)
  57. I get food every day.
  58. I can sell my contract! I can!
  59. We will never have to say goodnight and go to our separate apartments after November 20.
  60. Dahl is handsome.
  61. So many people are being so generous and giving with their time and talents to help with the wedding.
  62. Heavenly Father loves me!
  63. I have the gospel :)
  64. I have so much to be grateful for.

So that is not it. But let's pretend. You probably haven't even gotten here. But if you have, I hope you enjoyed it? Mostly, though, I hope you will find a friend to buy my contract.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

I Have Nightmares About Losing My Ring... and Other Wedding Disasters

Seriously. I do. When we were in St. George I had two in a row:

First, I dreamed the diamond in the middle shattered. I kept trying to get all the pieces to put it back together, and I realized I would have to glue it together. I was so sad because it wouldn't be as pretty anymore! (If you want it in more official terms, it would have the BIGGEST inclusion ever!!)

The next night, I dreamed we lost the center diamond. At a playground. I was so distraught- I KNEW we could not afford to replace it. I kept looking but never found it, and just kept feeling horrified the whole dream.

Anyway... those were bad dreams. But the worst one was a couple weeks ago. I have been telling Dahl that we need to sign up for an interview with the Bishop so we can get our recommends! He always says he will do it, because he is worried I am getting too stressed with the millions of things I have to do. He is nice :). Except by this time, he still hadn't scheduled one.

So that night I had a dream. I dreamed it was the day before the wedding. In my dream I was begging Dahl to schedule our interview because we needed to get our recommends by tomorrow! He just kept whining that he was tired and didn't want to, and trying to cuddle with me.

He said could we please just do it tomorrow??

I was appalled! No! I am not interviewing to go to the temple on my wedding day!

Pleasee!

No.

Then I started freaking out because I realized I was totally unprepared for my wedding day! I didn't know how I was doing my hair! I didn't have a recommend! I didn't know where the reception was, or what food we would be eating! I didn't even have my dress! And it was tomorrow!!!

Just as I started realllyy freaking out, I woke up.

I wonder if I have weird dreams because of a change in sleeping habits. In St. George, I was clearly not in my bed. AND, I was with Amy, who is probably the funniest sleep-talker EVER. The night I had my stress dream, I had gone to bed at 7, fully intending to wake up in a couple hours, but not waking up until midnight, hanging out a few more hours, then going back to bed. So maybe that's why.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed another round of my dreams!