So I have some awesome news....

             No I am not pregnant...just had to calm you down before you got too excited. But don't worry, my news is still super awesome. In January I decided to change my major as college students often do. I changed from Exercise Science (I was a Pre-Dental student) to Pre-Nursing. As I was completing the prerequisites I realized how passionate I am about nursing. I really want to help others and the material for nursing is SO interesting. I mean seriously, I am in love with Human Anatomy, and I think I'm going to be a TA for the class next year (even though they don't get paid). Anyways, I completed my application to the nursing program this fall, and ever since September I have been waiting anxiously to hear back. Now the BYU Nursing Program is EXTREMELY difficult to get into... so I was super duper nervous about applying. Yesterday I was minding my own business when all of a sudden I get this email...

 

AHHHHHHH! I'M GOING TO BE A NURSE!!!!!!!!!! :)

The SWKT aka Home of the Nursing College

The End of our Single Lives - We're Engaged!

             Of course telling the proposal story is always so exciting and ours is no exception! We got engaged on the Del Norte Beach in Monterey California at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve... and yes I will give more details than that! 

              But first things first... buying the ring. So I had this huge fear of the day Clark would ask me to go ring shopping. I'm sorry, but I really really really don't like the idea of ring shopping together! I had always wanted my ring to be a surprise, and luckily, Clark felt the same way. After dropping me off at the airport one at the end of fall semester, Clark had a secret meeting with my roommates about the ring. I had become a little suspicious that we might get engaged soon, so I had totally discussed what types of rings I like and what I don't like, so they were fully prepared when the time came. Anyways, armed with information about cuts, halos, and pave diamonds Clark was prepared to go shopping!

             Clark had originally planned to purchase my ring around Valentine's Day, but it just so happened that his dad had an invitation to a jewelers market. So on Christms Eve Clark his dad, and his sister Lauren were off to San Francisco to buy a ring. They were hugely lucky and found the perfect ring. Seriously, it is everything I have ever dreamed of wanting in a wedding ring.  While they were waiting for the diamond to be placed in the setting and the ring to be sized they went to a small Mexican restaurant… and unfortunately both Clark and Laur got MAJOR food poisoning and were sick all Christmas. But they were such sweethearts and didn’t even care because they were so excited about the upcoming engagement! As soon as Clark had the ring, he called my dad and they planned to meet for breakfast in Vacaville (halfway between our home towns) on the 26^th.

Where Clark and my Dad met for breakfast

            Clark was super nervous to meet with my dad, so on the way to the restaurant he listened to a book on tape called…. “You can Negotiate Anything”. Ha! I love it. Well apparently it worked, because Clark got permission!!! My dad promised to keep it a secret so the whole thing would be a total surprise. In fact, when he got home from meeting with Clark I asked him where he had gone and he told me he had an emergency patient that morning. I was not suspicious at ALL! And what’s funny is my Mom found out, who then told my sister, who told a cousin, who told aunts, who told my grandma… and my friends all knew about it too. So basically I was the only one who was completely in the dark. Thanks for that you sneakies..

           

            Anyways Clark and I spent some time with my family in Los Altos, and then we were off to Monterey for New Years with his family. Now Monterey is one of my favorite places along the California Coastline. I love it. It’s so beautiful and I love the small town authenticity it has. While in Monterey we stayed at his family’s beach house on Del Norte Beach. We rode those cool “car bikes” (I have no idea what they are called), we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we spent tons of time on the beach building sand castles and playing in the ocean. It was wonderful!

            Ok that’s probably enough background info and I’m sure you’re all dying to hear how it happened. So New Years Eve (Day) we went biking along the coast to Lover’s Point. For a while Clark and I got ahead of everyone and we were just having fun on our own. Little did I know, everyone had slowed down to give Clark and opportunity to propose then… but the time wasn’t right. Then we went and played on the beach for a couple hours. Clark and I went on a walk, and when we came back everyone kept asking how our walk was, and what we did… they thought he would propose then too! But Clark had other plans. He asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner or do something special on our own for New Years. I said it would be more fun if we hung out with his family and then we could go off on our own right before midnight.  So we went ice skating in Old Monterey, and walked through all the street parties going on for New Years. It was so fun! And it was funny to learn that Clark had the ring in his pocket, but he got nervous I would feel it so he put it in his mom’s purse. Anyways, we got back to their house, had a New Years Eve feast, and played Just Dance. Have I mentioned that I love his family? It was such a blast, and they are all so great and I’ve always felt like I belonged in their family. Well they think so too.  Anyways, about a half hour before midnight, Clark asked if I wanted to go for a walk on the beach……

Del Norte Beach

Riding those cool "car bikes"

Lover's Point

            

                 We walked down to the sand dunes, and as we were walking we talked about how wonderful the past year was, how much fun we had as a couple, and we even talked about how miraculous our meeting was! You would think I would have realized that he was gearing up for some big question about our relationship… yep I still had no clue. After a while we reached a high place on the dune with a perfect view of Old Monterey and the ocean. It was breathtaking. The moon was full so the beach and the harbor were perfectly lit. We could see the Christmas lights from Old Monterey, as well as the stars, reflecting on the calm clear ocean.  Once we reached this spot, Clark asked to see my phone. He started playing, “Cant’ Take My Eyes Off You” (Remember our dance to this earlier? if not read my post about dating him!!!), and we slow danced on the beach. Now this is when my heart started to pound and I started to get curious. But I was still in total denial! It was so sweet and so romantic, Clark was even singing along to the song. Adorable. And he timed it perfectly! The song ended exactly at midnight, and BAM fireworks went off in Monterey! After admiring them for a minute, Clark got down on his knee… and asked me if I would make his dreams come true and marry him. Wait… What?!?! I was SHOCKED! I guess I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything for a couple seconds, but jeez, as soon as I realized that he was really proposing I couldn’t say “YES!” enough times! We twirled, jumped, screamed, and just danced around like goofs we were so happy. IT was the perfect proposal. After we had celebrated on our own we giddily made our way back to the beach house to share the news with our family. We were greeted with the loudest, happiest mob I’d ever seen. One of our cousins even said they were louder when we came in than at midnight when the ball dropped! It was a blast. And that my friends is how Clark and I got engaged.

My Beautiful Ring!

           

My favorite thing about October (and April!)

 This is always one of my favorite weekends of the year! It is such a blessing to hear inspired messages from our beloved latter-day prophets. This October's Conference has been especially exciting: young men are now allowed to serve missions as soon as they turn 18 and graduate high school! And the age for young women to serve missions has been lowered from age 21 to age 19! I have always admired those who choose to serve a mission for our church, and I am especially excited for all the young women who will be able to serve at this younger age! I am so proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I know it is true. I invite you find out more about our beliefs by watching our General Conference.

 

The Plot Thickens... We're Dating!

Our first picture together

     Clark took forever to ask me on our first date…Well it certainly felt like it. We met on a Tuesday, and he didn’t ask me out until Thursday at 6. Forever, right? He left a voicemail, and when I got it I was SO MAD! Because I had agreed to go on a blind date that night, and now I couldn’t go on a date with Clark! I called him back right away, and told him I was already busy that night. But then I told him I would love to hang out later that night, and told him I got off my date at 9:30. I still can’t believe I was so bold! But I did, and my poor blind date didn’t even stand a chance. I was way too excited for my date with Clark. As soon as I closed the door on my date, I called Clark and told him to come over! It was so fun, introducing him to my roommates. Right after introductions Brittany, my best friend, pulled me aside and told me that he was a keeper, and that I had better date him! (Such a good best friend! I obviously agreed).

At his Grandparent's House

      After chatting with my roommates for a while, Clark and I walked over to a nearby park (for you Provo residents we went to Joaquin Park) to play glow-in-the-dark Frisbee. I think we threw the Frisbee twice… maybe. We spent the whole time just chatting with each other! I still love just talking with Clark. He is so entertaining and captivating and I never wanted to stop talking to him. We shared so many funny stories and we found out we have so much in common. For example, we talked about how we love to harmonize to our favorite songs, I found out he likes country music, and that we had many similar childhood experiences. I loved getting to know him.

      During one point in our conversation I had all my weight on one leg, and I don’t know how he did it without me noticing, but Clark pushed my knee in so my weight shifted forward and it scared me so much! Because he was so stealthy I thought someone had come up behind me and kicked my knee in, and I’m pretty sure I grabbed onto him in fear! But it was a pretty smooth ice breaker on his part (Fellas: take notes, Clark is pretty smooth; Ladies: now tell me, did anyone think of the Hairspray song "I Can Hear the Bells"? I sure did! "and he knocked me off my feet, one little touch now my life's complete" - this is proof that musicals can totally exist in real life). Unfortunately it got too late to keep talking, so he walked me back home. But before he left, he invited me to watch the BYU football game with him. Of course my answer was yes!

 
Some favorite dates after that:
     On one of our first dates Clark and I went on a “hike” to Stewart Falls! I had never been to Stewart Falls before, and I had never even been up to Sundance, so the beauty amazed me! It is such a gorgeous hike, especially in the fall when the colors are changing. And the waterfall is beautiful! We had such a fun time talking on our hike, and enjoying all the fall colors. It was also one of the first times we spend a whole day together.



      For another date we went to this yummy hot chocolate/cupcake store (The Cocoa Bean) to get some tasty treats. Clark always teases me about that particular date because there was mistletoe in the store, and I refused to kiss him underneath it. I just am not a huge fan of kissing in public, but he still teases me about it, and it’s become a fun joke in our relationship. After enjoying delicious hot cocoa and cupcakes (P.S. - try their "Better than Whatever" cupcake. It's amazing!) we went to admire the Christmas lights at the Riverwoods.



      I also loved going country dancing with Clark. We went on a triple date with my roommates, and dressed up to go dance at the Provo Center. It was so much fun! I love to dance, and in PGY/Upstage (performing groups I did in elementary school through high school) my favorite thing to do was lifts. And Clark is great at doing lifts! We tried all sorts of fun flips, dips, and line dances. It was such a great evening. One thing that was so special, was they had a couple slow songs, and one of them was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Lady Antebellum. During that slow song Clark and I both had an overwhelming realization that we were falling head over heels in love. When we first heard the song we both had no idea what song it was but we were dying to figure it out because we realized it would forever be "our song". Luckily I was living with a country music expert (shout out to Britt again) and she was able to figure out what the song was. All I gave her to work with was something about eyes, a girl and a guy were singing, and it was a slow country song... Yeah it was a miracle we were able to figure it out! (FUN FACT - Clark and I got engaged dancing to this song! Stay tuned for our engagement story!)

      Obviously Clark and I have gone on many other wonderful dates (like the time we played Kan Jam and almost broke my nose, or the time we went to a Kings Game and then met JIMMER!) but I can't possibly list them all. The gist is we had such a fun time getting to know each other and falling in love!

Beginning Our Story

     

     Welcome to my blog!!! The purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends updated on the adventures Clark and I have as a married couple. So thanks for checking up on us! To start off my blog, I'd love to tell you all about how Clark and I met. It's quite a special story for us and although I can't possibly give all the details, I hope you realize how special our meeting was.

     To begin our story I have to start several years before Clark and I met. I first remember hearing about Clark when I was 15, almost 16. His Aunt Kristen had mentioned to me/my Mom that she has a fantastic nephew that just left on his mission. I remember after hearing about him when he first left on his mission, that my Mom would always give me little updates on how he is doing in Scotland, and that he is going to BYU. I never knew his name but I do remember driving in the car one day and my Mom saying how interesting it was that he was called to Scotland because I have always loved and been interested in Scotland. After that I forgot about him until the summer after graduation, when I was preparing to go to BYU. My Mom again gave me an update on Clark! I found out that he was at BYU, and that I should look for him on campus. I wasn't very interested in meeting any RM's my freshman year, so sadly I did not meet him my freshman year, even though we were in the same PDBio 120 class. 

     Apparently on the first day of school (Fall Semester of 2010) Clark was sitting in his PDBio 120 class when I walked in. He remembers thinking I was very cute and wanting to meet me.  A couple weeks into the semester Clark received and email from his Aunt Kristen telling him to look for me on campus with one of my senior pictures attached. After seeing my picture he realized, "That's Bio Girl!!!" (He referred to me as bio girl at this point). During the class he made several attempts to sit next to me but unfortunately I did not notice him. The time was not yet right for Clark and I to meet.  

FUN FACTS: Several times during my freshman year at BYU Clark saw me on campus, at Wendy's, and he even saw me camping out to get my Liberty Square apartment! That summer I also met his awesome sister Lauren while she was babysitting for Kristen, and we became good friends.

     One year later Clark had forgotten about me, and I had long forgotten about Kristen's awesome nephew. Here's my side of the story: I had just begun my sophomore year at BYU and was finally ready to date someone seriously. In fact, right before I came out to BYU I told my Mom to tell Kristen that I would love to be set up with her nephew. (But that's not how we met! She kept the information to herself because she felt that we would meet on our own). So on Tuesday September 13th I went off to my statistics lab. That day, I had a stats assignment due and I stayed late in class to make sure I had completed the assignment correctly. I had another huge paper due the next day and for some reason I kept thinking I needed to print out the pages I had done. Now that was a little ridiculous of me because I have a printer at my apartment and I only had two pages ready to print! But the thought wouldn't go away, so I walked down to the basement of the Spencer W. Kimball Tower to print out my project. But when I got down there a class was in session in the computer lab. I went back to the first floor, but I always get so turned around. (Have you noticed that the BYU buildings look so similar on the inside?! Especially the MARB and SWKT!) I walked out the wrong door! I was on the phone with my Nana when I noticed Lauren and a very cute boy with her. I ran up to her, gave her a hug, and she introduced me to her handsome older brother, Clark! 

FUN FACTS: Lauren and Clark were together because they were planning how to introduce Clark to me! He woke up that morning, realized he wanted to date "bio girl", and remembered that Lauren knew me. They were planning a party that Clark and I could attend so we could casually meet each other, but the party wasn't going to happen for a couple weeks. Clark said, "I wish I could meet her sooner," turned to his right and.... BAM there I was walking towards them!!! Crazy, right?! :)

     I thought he was so cute, and very charming! We chatted with Lauren for a while, and then she had to go to class. I was so nervous when she left that he was going to leave too and I did not want to stop talking to Clark! But I didn't want to annoy him by talking to him if he ready to go and I had to go work on my huge paper. After a few more minutes of talking, I decided that if Clark didn't ask for my number I would have Laur set us up. Luckily for me he asked for my number and I was THRILLED! And that's how we met!