Well hello everyone! :) It being the last day of the current year, I figured I should write a little bit of an update.
This year has been a big one for me! Last December I swore that I was never going to get married. All and any relationships I'd had in the past had been unsuccessful. There was no hope for me! Haha, yeah... well just as soon as I said that, that's when Erik came around my door...
Erik was in my ward at BYU-Idaho during the winter semester of 2011. We were in Bishop Hegsted's 23rd ward. As it happens in single's wards on campus, those first few Sundays of each new semester everyone's eyes wander around the room hoping to spot that special someone. Yeah, I saw some cute guys, but I didn't really have much hope. Yet when I saw Erik walking across the room during sacrament (our 3rd meeting of the day at that time), coming toward me to get a program (yes, I was the "Ward Bulletin Specialist" =P) his smile just made me melt! Literally! That is exactly how I put it back then as well. He was just SO cute!
I didn't talk to him, of course... :S I was WAYYY too nervous around guys to be the first to approach. So this pattern went on for a couple weeks as my life went on going to school and having hot chocolate parties at our apartment, etc...
THEN one particular Tuesday after devotional, I got that dreaded call from Bishop... He was asking me to give a talk on the upcoming Sunday. Nooooooo!!!!!!
Here, let me give you a little background: I HATE speaking... I mean.. I really do. It's not the talking to everyone part--I'm actually quite social once introduced to people--that's not the part that bothers me. It's something else. I still haven't figured it out, as I'm sure have not a lot of other people, but it's the thing about being the complete center of attention. Everyone's eyes on me. No distractions to ease the tension. I go hysterical, if that's even a word for it.
Immediately upon hanging up the phone I started to hyperventilate in a sense. My palms became sweaty in .001 seconds, and I was shaking. I could not believe I had said yes! Well, actually I could... :/ I knew Bishop Hegsted and his wife quite well. I had previously spent a week or so at their house after Christmas before school started because I had to come back to work early. During that visit he learned of my immense fear of speaking in church. On the phone with Bishop, he told me that "he kept saying 'no', but the Lord kept saying 'yes.'" See?! He TRIED to stick up for me... but to no avail... I was destined to speak in church that Sunday. Lucky me. :O
Back to hanging up the phone... immediately after the aforementioned, my roommate (Alexa) asked if I'd like to get a blessing. I said yes, but asked if she'd be willing to call for me. My voice was shaking! I couldn't possibly talk on the phone. ;) So, Alexa made the call for me. The home teachers would be over in a few minutes.
Well... as it turns out, one of my home teachers wasn't able to make it. Would you like to make a guess of who came in his place??? If you said Erik, then you were on the money. Yes, Erik is the one who showed up in my 2nd home teacher's place. When I heard the knock and opened the door I about fell over! In my head a high pitched voice went off saying, "It's HIM!!!" I wouldn't be surprised if Erik told me my mouth had dropped open. ...He was soooo gorgeous!!!
When asked who I'd like to give the blessing I said I didn't care, so Erik just ended up assisting. I did however try to make a lot of conversation (mainly with Erik, which he later told me his roommate noticed) so they wouldn't leave so soon. Upon leaving, I quickly told the guys, "I give hugs." My hands were sweaty from nervousness and I DIDN'T want Erik feeling them. =P
So I gave hugs and they left. I was still reeling from the encounter. It was January 25, 2011. In the days to come I looked for an excuse to text Erik--my roommates and I finding his number in the ward directory. Finally after a couple days (I figured it'd been long enough), I texted Erik and his roommate saying thank you for the blessing and whatnot. I texted his roommate too, trying to be sneaky. Giving Erik my number, but also making it look like I was just being gracious. ;P
In the weeks days to come Erik and I texted each other nearly every day, spending time together casually a few times, and then going on our first official date on February 12, 2011. We went skiing all day at Targhee and then came home to change and went to Idaho Falls to my favorite Italian restaurant, the Olive Garden. (His suggestion, not mine... which made me even more happy.) =D I had a TON of fun and couldn't wait 'til the next time I saw him. I was falling in love already. haha...
As it panned out, Erik and I became "official" one week later, on February 19, 2011. We dated the rest of the semester and got engaged on April 11, 2011 with our date set for November 11th, 2011 [11-11-11] in Portland, Oregon Temple. We spent the summer apart--from April til the end of August--seeing each other only twice during that time. Erik came to visit me in Idaho at the beginning of June, and I went to see him in Washington at the end of July. We were both completing our internships during the summer- his in Seattle and mine in Jerome. (Which of course makes life easier for us now.) During our time apart, we changed our date to September 1st because we decided that a cool wedding date was JUST a date and we'd rather be together sooner. It also made it easier to not have to mess with housing contracts ending part-way through the semester and all that.
We were married on September 1st of this year (2011) in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. We had a nice reception there, in Wendell the next day, and then 2 weeks later in Washington. It's been about 4 months now and we are thoroughly enjoying our life together. We are learning how to be married and taking it a step at a time. In my opinion, school is WAY easier once you're married. Well... maybe not easier per se, but easier in that you're more disciplined to do your homework, study, and get adequate sleep. Before being married I was quite the night owl--staying up 'til 1 or 2 in the morning, but now I go to bed by 11 or 11:30 and am up around 7 or so. It's much better on my body than having an irregular sleeping schedule.
Well, that about sums it up for the year! We've been enjoying our holidays and were able to go to Washington for the first couple weeks, and just got back to Wendell (Idaho) to spend New Year's with my family. Then it's back to Rexburg on Monday!
