Our Story Continued... Again (The last one)

I know this whole blog is about Sean and I, but I have to take a minute and talk about my friends. Could I have better friends? No. As I have been writing about 'Our Story' I've realized none of this would have been possible without my four best friends.

I'll start from left to right. Monica: We met at age 5 and grew up together. She was there the day I met Bryn (who introduced me to Sean) and she was there the day I met Sean! Chloe: When Sean and I were still in our "pre-dating" stage, she always encouraged me to follow my heart and go for him despite all the things that were in the way. She also was sweet enough to go on a whole lot of double dates with Sean's random friends. Bryn: I'm pretty sure I would have never met Sean if I had never met Bryn. (I'm sure we would have found each other, but Bryn made this all possible). Growing up, Bryn was there for me in all my trials. When I first started dating Sean, she really took care of me and made sure Sean was being good to me and gave me what I needed. Ashley: She was there the day I met Sean too. I'm so happy she invited me to go to Zupa's with her that day. While Sean and I were getting really close during Spring semester, just her and I were rooming together. Sean, Ashley, and I spent a whole lot of time together. She always says she watched us fall in love, and she really did. I really love these girls. They mean so much to me. I wish I could take the time to mention all my wonderful friends that have come and gone throughout my life, because honestly, none of this is possible without any of them either. They have shaped me into who I am. You know who you are. I love you guys.

Dating continued:
There are soo many stories I want to write about while we dated. But I'll just share one more quick one. Sean and I were hanging out in his sister's basement, and we started wrestling. Well, Sean had me pinned, and he was chewing gum. Can you guess what happened next? I doubt it, because I was appalled. He spit his gum on my neck. ON MY NECK! This nasty gum was just chillin there on my neck. Sean thought it was so hilarious. Later that day I got him back (unintentionally). We were walking to the couch and he was behind me poking my back, lightly pushing me, being the teaser he is. On an impulse, with my back to him I grabbed his shorts and pretended to pull them down to scare him, except I fell down on my butt and the shorts came down with me. I was so embarrassed! I quickly covered my eyes (I didn't see anything, don't worry) and Sean pulled his pants up. We laughed about it for days.

How We Got Engaged:

Like I mentioned earlier, Sean and I were never on the same page with the whole marriage thing. He's going to get mad at me for saying this because "it makes him look desperate", but he is far from desperate. I'm pretty sure I have been the one desperate for him our whole relationship. But he was hinting marriage around December-ish, January and I just wasn't ready. I knew I loved him, but marriage is a huge decision. I prayed about it daily and the Friday before Valentine's Day it hit me. Sean made me happier than I had ever been in my entire life. I knew I could marry him and be the happiest I could be for eternity. But Sean started feeling a little uneasy. He loved me, but he was aware of the huge decision we were making. Finally in May we both were ready. We didn't talk about engagement much. My whole life I wanted to be surprised when I was proposed to. I didn't want to be like one of those couples who had the ring picked out and knew exactly how it was going to happen. He knew that too, so we really avoided the subject of engagement. We talked a lot about marriage, but not engagement. He really wanted to surprise me, and he sure did. I didn't have any idea it was coming. It was my birthday May 22. He had spoiled me all weekend, and my birthday fell on a Sunday. Remember where we had our first kiss? The bridge in Rock Canyon. Sean and I had been there several times since and we called it "our bridge". He took me there to have a little picnic in a pavilion close by. It was a gorgeous day. I could tell Sean was acting a little different, but I still had absolutely no idea what was happening. 

We forgot a bottle opener for our sparkling cider, so Sean had to open it with the table and it exploded all over. 

After our picnic, we took all our stuff back to the car and walked up to our bridge. While we were walking to our bridge, he told me about a time before we hardly even knew each other.  He was at my apartment and I walked out of my room in old pajamas, no makeup, and glasses. He said he couldn't get over how beautiful I looked. I don't even remember this happening. He kept saying all these sweet romantic things that made me melt. We stayed on our bridge for a little while talking (Sean was waiting for some people to leave) then he asked me "How much do you love me?" I said, "A whole lot. How much do you love me?" "Enough to do this" He knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him. Before he could finish asking, I jumped up and down and yelled "Yes! Yes!" like a little girl. After that is a blur (a wonderful blur). Calling our family and friends, picking out my ring the next day, planning a wedding with my sister in 2 1/2 months, and the perfect wedding day of my dreams. I look back and know that God really has a plan for me. Ever since I was 14 years old, he's been leading me to the love of my life. I believe in soul mates, and Sean is my soul mate. I am one happy girl.

Our Story Continued

Here I am, blogging again when I should be writing a paper. In my defense, this is developing my writing skills, right?

Our First Kiss:
It was June 7, 2010. No, I am not one of those girls who documents every single kiss she ever had (...not that there's anything wrong with that). I was just able to look back and figure out what day it was because of surrounding events. Sean and his friend Logan drove from Rexburg straight to our apartment. Sean dropped Logan off to hang out with my roommates while we went to the theater to watch Prince of Persia. The whole night I knew he had plans to kiss me. Sean claims he didn't have any plans, but I could tell from the way he was acting. After the movie, we took a walk up Rock Canyon. There is a little bridge over a river we walked to and talked for a while. It was there that he kissed me. Apparently we kissed a little more than Sean was expecting. He thought it would be a little peck, but I sure surprised him. While we were on the bridge, we heard a noise in the bushes, I got scared and despite Sean's wishes, we left. We started driving back to my apartment, but I saw sprinklers and told Sean how much I love running through them. He pulled the car over and we ran through the sprinklers together. Lame? Well I think it's cute. I came home from the date feeling really thrilled, but also guilty. Remember that girl that liked Sean, and the guy that liked me? I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out without someone getting hurt. I talked to Ashley about it and she was sure it would all work out okay.Well, it actually did. I was able to talk to the girl and she was so mature and sweet about the entire situation. I was still stressed out about the guy though... A few days later we went on another date, but it was a double date this time with my friend Chloe and his friend Logan. These boys were so creative, they wrote three date ideas down on three pieces of paper, then we picked one and did that activity. The one we picked was playing games in a park. To this day, I still don't know what the other two were. While we were playing games, it started raining, so we put the blanket on top of us...

The four of us spent a lot of time together.

How He Became "Mine":
Sean asked me to visit him in Idaho again, so I took Chloe and Bryn with me this time. We had a complete blast! We went to parties, climbed on top of a train to watch the sunset, and hiked 6 miles to a beautiful lake with an awesome rope swing.

Can I be totally lame and cheesy for a minute? While Sean and I sat at the campfire by the lake (see picture above) all I could think about was a Taylor Swift song called "Mine". It fit our situation perfectly. We were sitting by the water with his arm around me and I knew he was the "best thing that's ever been mine" (even though he wasn't mine yet). 

While we were in Idaho, Sean and I had many, MANY long conversations about whether or not we wanted to become "official" or if we wanted to date other people. I remember one night at his apartment in Idaho after watching Across the Universe everyone fell asleep and Sean carried me to his room so we could talk about us. We both knew we wanted to exclusively date each other, but I told him I couldn't do that until I was able to talk to my 'long distance guy' so I wouldn't hurt him. Being the sweetheart he is, he understood and allowed me some time. Little did he know it would take about two months. I was really scared to give my heart to someone. Fast forward two months, Sean flew out to Colorado to be a groomsman at his step brothers wedding. While he was gone, I sent this guy a letter and told him I had met someone else. When Sean came home from Colorado, on July 4th I surprised him with the good news. That same day while we were sitting on the letter "U" in the mountains (one of our favorite places), we became "official", "boyfriend and girlfriend", "exclusively dating" whatever you'd like to call it. He was "Mine".

How We Said the L Word:

When we started dating, we were definitely in that puppy love stage, but we never said "I love you". We both had the exact same viewpoints on that: It's special; when you don't mean it, don't ever say it. When you mean it, say it a lot. We both knew we weren't in love yet, so we never said it. We really had a good time together. Sean's semester ended mid-July and he moved to Salt Lake to his sister's place. I was living at home for the summer in Centerville. There was a 20 minute drive between the two of us, but one of us drove it every single day. Yes, we spent everyday together. We went boating, went to arcades, took walks, hiked, went to hot springs and hot tubs, drove to a cute town called Daybreak (where we had our bridal pictures taken a year later), went to parks, and spent a lot of time with his sister and brother in law Ashley and Karl. When we weren't together, we were talking on the phone or texting. Obsessed with each other? Yes! And dang proud of it.

At Daybreak, can you see how happy I am? I knew Sean was special because whenever I was next to him in a picture, I got a huge, really cheesy smile.

This picture right above is quite a hilarious story. It was a Sunday afternoon, and we took a drive to this pretty river. We were just playing around and Sean found this 'playground'. It really wasn't a playground, but he made it one. It was a little area of wheels and bars. He was sitting on a ledge, grabbed a bar, and swung on it. Well, he swung really fast, right into a pole.... that went between his legs. Poor Sean was on the floor almost in tears and I was up on the ledge laughing so hard I had tears too. Well, he recovered, and we were able to get this picture of us. On to the purpose of this part of the story, how we said the L word. About 2 weeks before we told each other, I knew I loved him. I can't pinpoint one moment when I found out I loved him, it just came to me gradually. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. Every time I was about to see him, I'd get so nervous and have crazy butterflies, but the second I saw him I immediately became calm and relaxed. He made me so comfortable. He was my best friend. I knew I loved him when I realized I wanted the very best for Sean, even if it wasn't me. I wasn't going to be the first to say it, so I just waited patiently until he did. I knew I loved him and I could say it back whenever he was ready. It happened on a Sunday afternoon, I can't remember when, probably around the month of August or maybe September. We were in Ashley's basement (Sean's room for 6 months) falling asleep to a movie. I was half asleep when Sean said "I think I love you." I woke up fast. Real fast. My heart was racing. All I could say was, "Really?" He said he did, and I told him I loved him too. From that day on, we have said "I Love You" about a million times a day. It never gets old. No matter if I hear it in person, over the phone, even in texting, or when he mumbles it while he falls asleep, it means the world to me.

Dating:
I could talk about our year of dating for hours. I'm just going to share a couple of good memories. Something I'm so happy we did, is we never gave up. Not once did we break up, or even have a conversation thinking about breaking up. I don't think we've even said that word. Ever since we started exclusively dating on July 4th, we've been in it together. We had a lot of difficulties, problems, and differences to get over. It hasn't been easy, but we've been in it for the long haul. Even before we thought we'd get married, we were fully committed to each other. As for the whole marriage thing, we were not in sync. When he wanted to get married, I didn't. When I was finally ready, he wasn't. I'm a big believer in timing. When we were both ready, we got engaged, but that's a story for later. One of my favorite memories with Sean is when we went to Del Taco at midnight. It was a Sunday night and we were starving, so we waited until midnight, got bundled up in our hoodies, and went to get some gross mexican food because it was the only thing that was open.

Why is this one of my favorite memories? I don't know. It just was fun. I felt like I was with my best friend, not my boyfriend. We were tired and silly and I looked absolutely awful. Another good memory was Halloween. We carved pumpkins (Sean had to buy the biggest pumpkin that weighed over 20 pounds) and dressed up together as a cowboy/cowgirl when we went to the Utah State Howl party.

To be continued again... Sorry.

Our Story

When I think about blogging, it sounds a lot more exciting compared to sitting down and writing in a journal. I'm a horrible journal writer, aka: I never do it. So I've officially decided that our "blog" is going to become our "journal". I'm going to print out each post and put them in our giant scrapbook I'm in the process of making. I figured if this is our journal, I should probably tell our story. I'm not going to make this a "long story short", so prepare yourself for the "long version" because that's how I want to remember it.

How We Met:
I guess I should start way back when I was 14 and headed to EFY at BYU with my friend Monica. The first day, we met two awesome girls (Bryn and her cousin Shelby) and completely hit it off. The four of us became really close and kept in contact even after EFY ended. Bryn and I got even closer despite the fact that she lived in Colorado and I lived in Utah.  We went back to EFY together the next year, and the next, and the next. We'd also fly to each other's home towns and visit for weeks at a time. One time when we were 15, Bryn told me a story about some boys from her ward who made fun of her for something really embarrassing she did (I won't post that part). Well they made up a song about her embarrassing story, and I have to admit it was really funny. As Bryn and I were laughing about this funny experience, I didn't have a clue she was talking to me about my future husband... While visiting Colorado for New Years Eve in 2008, I met Ashley and between the three of us, a real friendship formed. When we turned 18, we decided to all go to BYU together and be roomies! I also made friendships with a lot of other people from Bryn and Ashley's hometown who came to BYU, and they would tell me all about their friend Sean Beardsley (he was on his mission in San Antonio at the time) and how excited they were for him to come home! Well, a couple days after Sean got home from his mission he came out to Utah to visit his family and attend an old mission companion's wedding. A few of his (and my) friends were meeting him for dinner at Zupa's and I decided to tag along. We'd both like to say there were sparks when we first saw each other, but there definitely was a lack of 'spark'. I thought he was really rude, and he thought I was a snob. In all reality, I didn't realize he was just being funny and teasing everyone, and he didn't realize that I was just being reserved and shy. Well, from there I'm ashamed to say I didn't have any interest in him. I'd come home from dates and find him at my apartment hanging out with Bryn and Ashley but I never said more than a couple words to him. One time he was at our place and he was being his usual, silly self and put on tons of layers of Bryn's clothes. He came into my room to show me and I just bust up laughing. He was the weirdest, funniest guy I'd ever met.

He added me on facebook, and that same day a good friend of mine got his mission call to Sean's mission. I wrote on his facebook wall that my friend just got called to the San Antonio Texas mission (when I look back, I have no idea what provoked me writing on his wall for something so insignificant, but I'm so thankful I did). He wrote me back and we talked a little bit then he got my phone number. The next day he texted me and from that point on, we texted almost everyday for hours. Texting... romantic right? Well, it almost... kind of was. We really got to know each other. I found myself telling him things most my friends and family didn't even know. He told me things he had never told anyone before either. We'd play this game where one of us would list a bunch of random facts about ourselves, then the next person would go. We'd do that for hours. He started school at BYU-I but we continued texting constantly. I was too embarrassed to tell Ashley and Bryn that I was talking to THEIR friend a lot more than they were, so they didn't have a clue how close Sean and I were becoming. I also had a friend who wrote him his whole mission and liked him, and I was currently doing the whole 'long distance thing' with another guy. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt these two people, so I really fought my feelings for Sean for months. (Side Note: This girl is married to someone else now and is very happy, and this guy is serving an LDS mission and is also very happy, so things turned out for the best). Sean would visit Utah often to see his friends and family. It was weird seeing him, because I felt like I knew him so well, but no one else understood how close we were becoming. One night we had Sean and his friend over at our apartment to watch King-Kong. It was a tough night for me because my uncle had just passed away from cancer. Throughout the entire movie, Sean made jokes that were so hilarious. He was making me laugh during such a hard time in my life. I really felt myself falling in love with him.

Our First Date:
Whew! This is becoming such a long post. Sorry.
In April, Sean asked me out for our first date. We still fight about how this happened, but I'll tell you my side. Sean texted me saying "We should go out sometime." And I responded "Maybe, you're going to have to call me up and ask me out like a man." Well he called me up and asked me out on a date. I said yes. I couldn't hide this from Bryn and Ashley any longer. I finally told them Sean and I were going on a date, and they were very surprised. Pleasantly surprised? I'm not sure. But they didn't have negative feelings either. It was just a little weird for them, but they were excited for me. Sean and I had plans to go out on a Friday night and he was picking me up at 7. I got home from work at 5, and was completely exhausted from a horrible night of camping in the snow without a tent with some friends the night before (that's a long story). So I came home from work and passed out on the couch, setting my phone alarm for 6:30 so I could have a half hour to freshen up for our date. Next thing I know, it's 7:30 and Sean is in my apartment hanging out with Ashley. I must have been really tired. I slept through my alarm, Sean knocking on the door, Sean calling me a couple times, and Ashley letting him in our apartment. Sean told me much later on he thought I was standing him up. I totally wasn't. I jumped off the couch, ran to the bathroom, got ready and we left on our date. It was an extremely awkward beginning to our first date. I felt awful, but I was also humiliated I slept through everything. Things got better, we went mini-golfing at Trafalga. We were finally alone and able to have our 'texting conversations' in person. It was really nice. I felt like I'd known him for years. We went and got ice cream after, then sat in his car in front of my apartment for hours... literally hours... talking about everything you can possibly imagine. I shared things with him that amazed me. He made me feel so comfortable. It was at this point that I realized he became my best friend. He knew me better than anyone. At one point of our conversation we were talking about eye color (like I said, we talked about everything). I told him how jealous I was of his blue eyes. I've always wanted blue eyes. He said "Your eyes are pretty. You're my brown eyed girl. Uh! I mean THE brown eyed girl." Now, one of our many songs is "Brown Eyed Girl". Finally we went into my apartment and watched Transformers while he fell asleep with his head on my lap. I was smitten.

How We Grew Apart:
After our first date, we spent a lot of time together. We went to a foam pit with a few of his friends, sister, and brother in law. I was extremely intimidated that he was introducing me to family already, but that's just how Sean has always been. His family comes first. If they didn't like me, he wouldn't have spent another second of his time with me.

After the foam pit, we all went to In-N-Out Burger to eat. A guy came up to me and asked me out right in front of Sean. I knew I liked Sean but I still wasn't sure how he felt, so I had no idea what to do. I kindly turned him down and told him I wasn't interested. After seeing the relief on Sean's face, I became really glad I said no. While he was in Utah, we also went 80's dancing with Ashley and one of his friends. When we got there, we found out they only took cash and all I had was my card. I had cash in my car but Sean paid for me and I payed him back as soon as we were done. While walking out of the club, we were handed weird fliers about a 'girls night' that Sean made fun of. The next day, I climbed into my car to go to school, and I found the cash I paid him back with and the weird 'girls night' flyer on the ceiling of my car in the sun roof. It really made me smile.

80's dancing! I promise Sean wasn't high. 

Over time, we didn't really move forward, things came to a standstill. Then in May we started to grow apart. We both got busy with school, he found a couple girls at BYU Idaho, I kept writing and skyping my 'long distance guy'. I guess we didn't necessarily grow apart, but we just got busy. We still texted here and there, but things just didn't move forward. Then one day, he asked me, Ashley and Chloe (another good friend of ours) to visit him in Idaho. We went in the beginning of June and had a really good time. I felt like I was back with my best friend; things were completely normal. We went go-carting and played at an arcade. That's when Sean first saw my love for arcades. Now he takes me almost weekly.

Anyways, when it came time for us to leave Idaho, we said goodbye and got in our car. Sean ran after me, pulled me aside and said "I'm coming to Utah tomorrow, can I take you on a date?" I got really excited, but I played it cool and said "Sure". The drive home I felt like I was floating. Ash and Chloe were teasing me, but I couldn't even hear what they were saying.

The next day we had our first kiss...
To be continued... (because I have things to do).

And so it begins...

Well, here goes nothing! I'm officially a part of the "blogging world" now, although I do feel a little blog-retarded... I'm still figuring things out. I should probably start out by giving credit to my best friend. I love reading her blog, and today she talked me into starting my own. We'll see how it goes...  my life is everything I want it to be, but when I open my mouth to talk about it, I realize how lame I sound. I guess that's what happens when you get married. You don't need to go out to have a good time, staying home and relaxing with your husband is everything you need.
 Sean and I have been married for two months now and we're loving every second of it! We were married on August 6, 2011 in the Bountiful Temple. Our reception was at the Utah State Capitol. Our day was everything I hoped it would be. Everyone warned me, "Something always goes wrong on your wedding day. Watch out! It happens to everyone." Well, we must be that one lucky couple who beat the odds because our day was perfect. How many girls can say they got their dream wedding? I can. I owe it all to my sister who should be a wedding planner now, my dad who was sweet enough to pay for things that seemed unnecessary but were very special to me, and my husband who did everything he could to make our day what it was. How lucky am I?

How long are blog posts even supposed to be? I don't follow any blogs, I just like reading my best friends like I mentioned earlier. Maybe this is too long, but I want to talk a little about my weekend because it shows how incredible my husband is. Friday we went to his mission reunion in Salt Lake. I was surrounded by all these silly, dorky returned missionaries who looked me in the eye and told me how much my husband helped them. How he taught them everything they know about the gospel, hard work, and being a missionary. How he showed them that you can have fun and be righteous at the same time. That is the perfect description of Sean. It's what I love most about him, he lives the principles of the gospel and at the same time has so much fun with life. He's such an example to me. Saturday morning I woke up puking my guts out. (pregnant? nope! migraine.) My sweet husband made me a hot bath, carried our mattress into our living room so I could watch TV while I lay in bed, gave me a priesthood blessing, made me breakfast and lunch, and tended to my every need. Am I the luckiest girl or what?