The beginning of Forever...

Endowments:.:.:.:.:.June 14, 2011

I went that day to the Timpanogos Temple to do my endowments. It was such a wonderful experience and I am so grateful that I had the love and support of my family. I wanted to keep this special day small and intimate, so I only invited my siblings, parents, & grandparents, and Mike's siblings, parents and grandparents.  I asked my sister, Dannielle, to be my escort. It was really neat to have her there with me. I am so grateful for her example to me over the years. I know she loves the temple with all her heart and I wanted that love with me while I went through for the first time.
Afterwards, Jacen, Brooke, Jared, Dannielle, Mike & I went to enjoy some Applebee's.

Wedding Day:.:.:.:.June 21, 2011

Holy Moly, I can't believe that it has already been 2 months since we got married! It has been the best two months ever. I thought I'd take some time today to write about our wedding day.

The morning of, I went over to my sister's house to have my hair done. She did such a great job. We just talked about how exciting this day is and all that good stuff. To my surprise, I wasn't nervous at all. I didn't have cold feet, and I wasn't worried about anything that day. I just felt calm and ready to marry Michael. I was so grateful to have that time with my sister before the chaotic day began. I love her and I couldn't have done it without her.
I went back to my house where my friend Brittany came over to help me with my make-up. It was fun to talk to her because she just recently was married in April.
My mom drove me up to the Draper temple to meet Michael there. The car ride up is when I got slightly nervous, but mostly just anxious. I couldn't wait to be there with him! My sweet mother helped me to stay calm with her light humor (she was teasing me, telling me I couldn't pass out) and her great advice. She is so strong and I admire her so much. I'm also grateful for her reassurance that I was doing the right thing and that she was proud.
When we got there, it took all I had not to just run in the temple, find Mike and get that show on the road! I was so relieved when I found Mike inside, and not a run-away groom.
The ceremony was beautiful, spiritual, peaceful, humbling, heavenly. I can't even describe to you the way I was feeling. I admit, I was a crybaby. I couldn't contain my tears, not even for a minute. From the second I walked into the sealing room, the tears began. The room was full of many of those that I love and care for. And the one person that I love the most, Michael.
After the ceremony, I went to change and then went to find Mike. One of the temple workers said to me something like "lookin for your husband?" I remember feeling so caught off gaurd. HUSBAND? I have one of those? lol. Mike and I met up again and headed on out the front doors. Let me tell you, it is quite the experience to see everyone outside of the temple, cheering for you and congratulating us. I was so anxious to see my Dad. It was really hard for me to not have him at the sealing with me. However, my dad was extremely supportive of me achieving our goal of being married in the Temple. Anyways, as soon as I got there, I went straight to my dad. I am really close to him, so I'm glad I got to have my first moments outside of the temple with him.
We did pictures for a while and headed on over to the church for our luncheon. Mike's family put it on for us. Mike's parents and aunts and uncles all helped to provide a delicious lunch for us. The place looked amazing! It was fun to be there with all the family and to spend some time with everyone.
We did a ring ceremony after the luncheon. It was simple. We had the bishop talk about marriage and the importance of loving each other and serving each other. Afterwards, our fathers said some things about us. My dad's speech was so special. He just talked about how much he loves me and how he and I always had such a special connection. Both my father and Mike's were really loving and I am so glad that they were able to speak.
Our reception started that night at 6. It looked amazing, thanks to my mom. She spend so much time and money into the reception. I was so pleased with the way that everything turned out. A little side note, I really wanted a photobooth at our wedding reception, but we didn't have the money for it. So Matt, the photographer, found out about this and decided to set one up right before the reception started. HOW COOL!
We left the reception about 8:45. Mike's friends decorated our car full of sticky notes and wrote all over the window. It was done so well, and not skanky, not one bit! We walked through all our friends and family, through an outpour of bubbles, waved our goodbyes jumped in the car and drove off into the sunset...
Kinda. We actually went to the car wash, grabbed some Panda, Mike dropped me off at my parents house so I could pack for the honeymoon, then he went to our apartment to pack, THEN we met up and drove off into the sunset...

I will have to say, being married in the temple is incredible. After being sealed, we had a ring ceremony for those family members who were not able to be in the temple with us. The ring ceremony was wonderful, don't get me wrong. But we did get the chance to have an idea of what it would be like if we had a civil ceremony. For any of you reading whom have not had the opportunity to be sealed in the temple, do NOT settle for anything less. The experience that I had there, I would never trade. Not for anything in the world. Knowing that no matter what happens, as long as I am faithful and worthy, I can be with Michael for all eternity is such a wonderful blessing. I don't know what I would do if it were only "till death do us part."
I am so grateful to be a member of this church. To have the knowledge that my family can be together forever. I am so grateful for Mike, for his testimony, example and the dedication that he has. I couldn't have done it without him. He is my everything. Mike --Thanks for taking me to the temple, for being the wonderful husband that you are to me and I know that you are going to be a wonderful father to our children (one day in the far future).