Lovely Little Story: Part 4

And so wedding planning began. I was a gracious non-bridezilla, in my mind. Sure, the party was important, but really it was the commitment that was most important.

Joe picked the colors: Blue and green.
We picked the Temple: Brigham City Temple
I picked the reception center: Ogden Union Station
We'd picked the date: April 25, 2013

And before we knew it, our families were all in town.

We had an amazing wedding dinner the night before. It was small, just our closest friends and family members. We got to know one another, we had amazing food, and everyone shared stories. The dinner ended, and our last night as singles drew to a close.

Joe held a shovel in hand, with my hand in the other, and in my other hand was a box holding my sweet pet lizard that had died recently. We buried him in the backyard of my childhood home and went inside to meet our families. Our fathers both gave us blessings, and Joe and I stood on the doorstep, saying goodbye one last time.

I brushed back my hair and got ready for bed, walking down the stairs, when those two best friends, Brittany and Jackie, surprised me in the basement with treats and movies, and we stayed up far too late and had a hurrah.

The next morning came far too early, but just on time. It wasn't as if I had slept the night before. 6:30am I was at the salon, after which I went home and helped load the car with reception decorations. And then I put on the last dress I would wear before my wedding dress, got in the car, and drove to the Temple.

Joseph on the other hand, had a very stressful morning. He was so certain the entire morning that he was going to be late, and traffic was not on his side. But when he got to the temple and we both got out of our cars and saw each other, and held hands to walk through the doors together, everything melted.

We had time alone together in the most beautiful room the temple has, the Celestial room. We talked about where we had started and how far we had come, and we talked about how excited we were to go the rest of the way together.

We walked into a room full of our loved ones and knelt across the altar, and made promises that sealed us together as one for time and all eternity.

And I had never been so happy.

Lovely Little Story: Part 3

So there we were. "Practically engaged". But we weren't about to stop the fun of dating in order to plan a wedding. We went ring shopping, so Joe could get an idea, and then he made me wait.

Two months passed, two months, no mention of getting married, nothing. And I was happy to date, I was, but who brings up marriage and then just drops it like nothing was ever said? I wasn't about to become the needy girlfriend who pressured commitment though, so I did what every girl should do, when waiting for a proposal.

I enjoyed my time with Joe. I got to know him. I learned all about him. I focused on each date like it was the best one ever, and there were some best ones in there. The fun thing about living an hour apart and seeing each other once a week made for a couple of nice things.

-We recognized how valuable our time was together.
-It made it SO EASY to surprise each other occasionally in the middle of the week by showing up on the doorstep of one another.

Finally, November came, and Joe told me he was intent on marrying me, he hadn't forgotten about it, but he wanted to talk to my parents and ensure they were on board. I had a football game one day, and Joe arranged to drive up to my parents' house and "ask for my hand in marriage."

All day long my stomach was rumbly and in knots. I didn't know how it was going to go. What if my parents hated him? What if Joe decided it was too much and decided not to pursue me anymore?

The Utes won that day.

And my dad texted me and said I couldn't have picked a better guy. They liked him, they really liked him! And really I shouldn't have been worried, but I was. Joe and I had spent a lot of time with my family, and everyone got along so well, things just seemed to click. I loved the harmony.

The ball was once again in Joe's court (had it ever left?) and now he had to pop the big question.

And boy did he make me wait.

The first weekend came and went, as did the second... we had a trip planned to Colorado for Thanksgiving with his family, and I thought if ever there was going to be a great opportunity to propose, it'd be on this trip.

But no such luck. It was still a fantastic trip. The Becars spoiled me, they really did, and I loved getting to know them all a little better. If ever Joe was going to ask me to marry him, I was glad I would be joining a family like them!

Thanksgiving ended, we came back to Utah and back to school, and still nothing happened. I started dropping hints. I'd tell people who may tell Joe different ways that it'd be nice to get engaged....

For example, my parents had pretty much gotten engaged watching Doctor Who, and Joe had introduced me to Doctor Who, wouldn't that be funny if we got engaged the same way my parents did?

One weekend we were watching the season finale of Doctor Who. This was going to be his chance. The show wasn't coming back for months. It was now or (in my mind) never. 

"Lara, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yeah? Joe? What is it?" Maybe I was on edge.

"Lara.... will you go out with me tomorrow?"

And then he laughed and laughed and laughed. The next day we had a date planned anyways, to a German Christmas festival. Maybe his opportunity was there?

And the festival came and went and NOPE. We were making dinner that night, and I was up on the stool grabbing some spices off the top shelf. I turned around to find Joe down on one knee.

"Lara?"

"Yes? Joe?"

"I'm tying my shoe."

And he laughed and laughed.

The next day was Sunday. Joe had been teasing me all weekend and I DO love to be teased but you can only handle so much.

Joe said that since an engagement would be coming soon, maybe it'd be nice to go for a drive and look at some places we could take pictures after the matter. We bundled up because it was windy, rainy, and cold out, and went for a drive, taking stops here and there to see what we thought of the location. 

He knew something I didn't. 

We ended up at Fort Douglas, on the University of Utah campus under a gazebo. It was freezing. It was windy. There were candles there that were no longer lit. There were little items representing dates and inside jokes laying all around, and there was Joe.

On one knee.

"Lara Jean Smith, will you marry me?"

And there it was, that feeling you dream of where your heart jumps and your life is there before you and you've never felt so confident in a one word answer.

"Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!"

Or maybe a 6 word answer.

April 25, 2013, the date was set.

Lovely Little Love Story: Part 1

Where do I even start.

It was Summer. It was July. I was working at a cleaners with one of my best friends, my other best friends were home from college, Bachelorette was airing (the season with Emily, the good one, you know...) and after having spent a semester living at home, I was really excited to be heading back to the University of Utah in a few months!

After having gone through a recent break up, I was in the process of "cleansing my palate" so to speak, and was going on a few dates a week with a variety of people. Guys I grew up with, guys I went to college with... and one day my dad gave me a call from work.

"Lara, I've got this guy here, his name is Joe. He goes to BYU, he's an RM, he's pretty tall, what would you think if I told him to look you up on Facebook?"

I remember my exact reply.

"What's the worse that could happen?"

Now, I've known Joe for a few years now, and he's not exactly the Facebooking type. I took the initiative and looked him up on facebook.

Here are the first pictures we saw of each other. (We were so little then...)

July 4th he messaged me, and asked how my summer had been. I talked about getting ready to move, he talked about camping and his internship. He told me once he had a very important question and that was if I liked tennis or not. When I said I did, and asked why, he told me there was no reason. And I laughed for so long at that. It was the first tip off that maybe I liked this guy, because really it wasn't as funny as I thought it was. He asked for my number one day, and called me, asking me out for dinner that night.

We went and got Chinese food, walked around the mall, talked about sports, about college, aboout friends, about hobbies, about high school. And then he dropped me back off at home. It was about 8pm. And I wasn't used to coming home from dates so early. I wasn't alright with this! Did he not like me? We said goodbye, and he left.

Now, Joe is a smart guy, turns out. This strategy of having a short date (he'd picked me up around 6:30pm) leaves the girl wondering these things. And it ensures that she doesn't get tired of him after a marathon-long date.

But he called me the next day and asked me out again.

And when he got home that night, he texted me and said "P.S., I think you're a really cool girl."

And that was it, I was smitten.