Decreasing the Distance

I don't really have tons to say about this week. I've been consumed in homework because it's midterms and it's only going to get worse as next week goes on.
On a happy note, Nathan is back in Utah! He drove up yesterday. So with any luck I get to see him next weekend.
On another not so happy note, His boss told him he wasn't allowed to go to work for 2 weeks, and after those two weeks he may or may not have a job. So life feels all up in the air.
I am sick of school, and the semester is only halfway over. Hopefully next Sunday I can post pictures of me and Nathan actually together!

Salt Lake Photo Shoot

So my sister Rachael and her family went to Temple square last year to get pictures taken. So on the first Sunday of August they wanted us to go again and get more pictures. We invited Nathan to come along, and so I was with Nathan at temple square. It was really fun for me to finally have someones hand to hold as we walk around temple square. It was fun to take pictures and get pictures taken. I let Nathan have my camera, and that was when I realized what a wonderful photographer he is :) Here are some of the results :)

 

I think this is my favorite picture of the Salt Lake Temple, and Nathan took it!

 I love how strong he is and how he can just pick me up like I weigh nothing!

 Apparently me walking around with out shoes on is really cute...he took a few pictures of me just holding my shoes, despite how much I didn't want them.....haha. Just kidding, I didn't mind, it just seemed awkward to me. :)

 It's he one of the best looking men in the whole world?

 Just sitting there talking together, I secretly love this picture

 And the three boys. Jed is wearing a tie because Nathan said ties are awesome. It made me laugh because Jed hardly wears ties to church.

 I just love the look on my face here. Haha!

And in this one I love Nathans. He was very helpful getting me on and off the ledge. :)

Valentine's Day

So I was thinking Nathan wasn't going to do anything for Valentine's Day, because well, he was in New Mexico. I texted him the day before asking if we could have a Skype date, and he wasn't kinda like, maybe maybe not. Well we did have an hour long skype date! 

That wasn't the only surprise though. I loved it. His blues eyes stood out like crazy, and it was wonderful to see his face again!
While we were talking he mentioned something about money, and how he paid off his debt to his mother. And so then I naturally asked him how much money was left on his car payment. He said "Do you want the truth, or what you want to hear?" I responding "Of course I want the truth!" He said. "Alright, let me look it up. He took a few seconds and then held up his hand with a "zero" He then said "Happy Valentine's day babe! Your husband to be his now officially debt free!" I started crying I was so happy. He had been debt free for 2 weeks and waited that long to tell me. He said it was really hard keeping it quite. When he went back to New Mexico after Christmas break they paid him a welder's wage instead of the helpers wage he was getting before Christmas. He waited 7 weeks to tell me that, when he said he really wished he could have bragged to me! I'm so excited to start our marriage without credit card (He paid that off right after Christmas) car or other debt! The only debt we have is the $2000 I have in student loans that don't start interest for another year and a half!
I feel like New Mexico is more worth it now! It makes it easier to bare again. I'm so happy! Nathan told me they really want this next Friday to be his last in New Mexico. So if they get the job done, I could see him in two week from now!!!!

To the Top of the Hill

So the beginning of August I get a text from Nathan about something he hadn't been completely honest with me about. I got frustrated because he was texting me at work and we couldn't talk it out. I took a few walks that day, including walking to his house just to see how long it would take me (It takes about 25 minutes). When he finally got home from work, he felt like he didn't deserve to see me. I love him so much I decided I'd just walk over to his house. I knocked on the door. When he answered it, he had his phone in his hand, and the through it on the couch and he just swept me up and gave me the biggest hug ever! We decided to go on a walk and talk it all out.

So we hiked up this little hill. The view was gorgeous, and it was so fun to just talk about anything and everything. We ended up laughing and cuddling after all was said and done. Watching the sun set together was really fun. Prior to this we invited him to come to Montana with us for my grandparent's 60th wedding Anniversary. This night he wanted to make sure I still wanted him to come with us. I'm so glad I said yes to this wonderful man!
After our talk we went and had dinner together, and when he went to drop me off, the song that came on the radio was Keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us" I laughed because the main line was I'll earn your trust making memories of us. And that's just what Nathan and I had talked about doing.
Gotta love the radio. This is not the only time a song like this has come on and it totally explains our lives. I love this country red-neck man of mine!

Yeah, he caught me

So about for Pioneer's Day we went down to his buddy Brett's parent's home. It is in Fairview Utah, a few minutes north of Manti. We arrived the night before, had dinner and joined their big family get together. The next day Nathan, Brett and I went to their fishing hole and went fishing. I got car sick on the way there, so for the first half I kinda just laid down on the shore. Then I started feeling better and we went for a walk. Nathan braided my hair, and we just talked and laughed. It was sooo much fun! Then we went back where Brett was fishing and Nathan wanted to try. Apparently it was his first time fishing with that kind of pole in a long time so when he went to cast, it hit his fingers and flew behind him, and hit me in the leg near the knee. He was in so much shock he kinda just stood there. Luckily Brett came to help me get the hook out of my pants.
After fishing we went back to Brett's parents house and had lunch. It was really fun. Then Nathan and I started to feel crowded and we decided we'd go back home. He drove me to the Manti temple, and we took some pictures.

I feel in love with this temple the minute I saw it. This is the day Nathan told me he'd always wanted to get married in the Manti Temple. He also told me all his brothers and most his friends wanted to get married there, but it never worked out for them. So when we got engaged, I tried hard to make this dream come true! We are getting married in this beautiful temple!


After than he took me the long way home to show me some stuff. I feel asleep, and he didn't want to wake me, so I didn't see everything he wanted me too. It took us a super long time to get home, but it was really fun. Although, when we got into Provo, a cop pulled him over for speeding. He said he thought it was the first time he'd ever been pulled over with a girl in the car with him. He got away with a warning. :) He then proceeded to tell me he has been pulled over around 40 or more times, and has only gotten 2 tickets in his life. Haha

And the Long Distance continues...

So when we first got engaged, it seemed like it was going to be forever since we actually got married.  A little while into the relationship I made this sticker chart to help countdown!

And today it looks like this:

It's coming right along! Instead of around 200 days when we started, we are down to 74!
I love Nathan soo much!
Tonight his lovely mother sent me around 50 pictures she scanned of him when he while growing up so I can work on putting them in our wedding video.
And this is my favorite, or at least the one that made me laugh the most!

I love my dearest Nathan! I am getting excited. They gave him another tentative date of March 4th to leave New Mexico and go back to Utah. I am excited. I hope that comes soon. I'm ready to see him again and go on a real date! It's been 6 weeks since I've seen him. I hope I can last!
As for my life right now, I just had an amazing Stake Conference with a member of the 70. I just love being spiritually uplifted! I cannot wait until I can enjoy these awesome moments with Nathan.
I'm barely surviving trying to juggle school, homework, tutoring, and some relaxation time so I don't go crazy. This is a tough semester, and I just hope I can survive!

DTR

So our 5th day together we went to Bountiful Utah. He told me we were going to meet his horse. He then mentioned after the fact we where having lunch with his mom. So I met his mom, younger brother, step dad and step sister. They are way cool and amazing people.
Then we went and saw his horse after his family all had to take a spin in Nathan's new to him '99 Camaro.
After that he introduced me to his Brother Robert, Robert's wife Jordy, and their son Finn. We watched the movie "Bucket List." My lungs were in tons amounts of pain, so I laid on their couch cuddling with Nate with a heating pad around my chest. I was happy with theirs because it was a home-made heat up in the microwave kind that fit all the way around me. It was awesome, because it could heat up the front part of my lungs and the back part all at the same time.
That night we drove back to Eagle Mountain and went passed an elementary school to look at the stars. After a discussion of what each of us wanted in a relationship, and after me promising to being honest with Carl about Nathan, and honest with Nathan about Carl, we decided we would be in a relationship, and call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. It was the best decision of my life. And started me on a path to happiness I never thought possible.

 These were the first pictures taken. I don't remember exactly when, but they were sometime in the first week, so we could but pictures on facebook when we started dating :)

Temple Night

So the night after our 2nd date was ward temple night. I asked him if he was going to go, and he said sure. Later that day he told me he promised his friend Brett (Who is also the owner of the house Nathan lives in, and the place I will be moving after the wedding) he would fix the car. So he made a deal with me, I come hang out with him tonight with the cars, and he would take me to the temple the next night. So I agreed. I watched him as they worked on their cars. I had never been to Beto's before, so Nathan and I went and bought Beto's for everyone. I was addicted and absolutely love that place!
After Beto's we watched the movie Sahara, since I had also never seen it. I really enjoyed it. It was fun cuddling.
The next night was Friday, and just as promised Nathan brought me to the temple to do baptisms. It was so wonderful, and he got to confirm and baptize me. I pretty much loved it. He's an amazing man. He jokingly told me afterwards he was half-way expecting to have lightening hit him because it had been too long since he'd been to the temple. We decided to change that and went to the temple together almost every week. Let's just say that made him many many points. It was so wonderful going to the temple again with a male every week!

2nd Date

So, the day after our first date we texted while he was at work. We both talked about how much we enjoyed the night before. I sent him a text asking if it was bad that I already wanting to hang out again. He replied no, and asked when our next date should be. I told him that we should go out that night, because we are both just too much of a chicken woose to admit it. So we went out. On a hike, well, more like a walk on a dirt road. We walked and talked. Of course he did a lot of talking. I loved listening to his stories, I was enjoying time with him. I was having issues with my pleurisy, so occasionally I'd have to stop because of the pain. The first time he didn't know what to do, so he patted me on the back. We nicknamed it the "toddler pat." It was enjoyable. After the first time I told him hugs and lots of pressure helped. So I finally got a few hugs. We went to walk up this hill, and it got really steep. He told me later he lead me that way on purpose. Anyways, he offered to hold my hand to help me up. So we held hands. He helped me back down and we continued to hold hands. Me with my past experiences with holding hands, let go, afraid he only wanted to hold me hand to help me, not because he actually wanted to hold my hand. We continued walking, and the next thing I knew he touched my arm between the wrist and elbow and slid his hand down into mine. I grabbed on tight to his hand, and didn't let go this time. I was really starting to fall for this guy. This summer I had kissed a few different guys, and come to find out, most of them were just using me. So I was kinda leary at this point, wondering if Nathan was legit, or if I was just going to get used again. On the way back to the car, some sprinklers turned on across the street. I said I wanted to run through them. Nathan told me to go for it. So I did, and he followed me through the sprinklers. We were laughing and having a good time, and again we held hands. He was a gentleman and opened my door. He drove me home, but I didn't want to go inside. We stood outside talking, holding hands and hugging. There was one point he leaned in for a kiss, and I kinda backed out, afraid of getting hurt. The next time he went to kiss me, I decided to go for it. I kissed him back. It felt amazing, better than I'd felt in more than a year. I could tell he genuinely cared about me, and that he enjoyed it. It was the first time I had kissed someone with facial hair. Definitely a new experience. He dropped me off that night, and gave me a big hug. I was falling hard for this 6'7" 'mountain' man.

1st date

So I canceled HE because my sister had her baby 5.5 weeks early, and I wanted to visit her in the hospital. Nathan joked about how he had nothing to do with his Monday night. I told him I was super sorry, but that I needed to visit my sister in the hospital. Well, the next day we texted ALL day. And he told me about this little mini vacations he takes because his work gets overwhelming. I asked him if he enjoys people tagging along, and the next thing I knew he asked me to go for a drive with him. (He was too chicken to call it a date) Well, I was on my way to the hospital so I told him sure, but that he'd have to pick me up from the Hospital. He accepted and texted me when he was on his way. I anxiously waited outside and he pulled up in his "nice fancy" car. (He has a '99 Camaro named Nadia) We went and drove out Timpanogos canyon. And we just talked. It was pretty much amazing, conversation just flowed, and we found we felt the same way about many things. He was impressed that I didn't like cats, and I just loved how easy he talked and what he calls his "redneckedness" I really enjoyed myself. As he dropped me off I went to give him a hug. When I stepped a little bit forward, he stepped a little bit back. I said good night and awkwardly went inside. He left, and I wondered if he had as good as time as I did.

Skype Dates

So, let me tell you, long distance relationships are way harder than I'd thought. That moment when I thought, "I've been in a long distance relationship for 18 months, it's going to be no big deal." Never have I been more wrong in my life.
Although, it does encourage me even more than I made the right choice between the two men. I definitely miss Nathan more than I did Carl. But thank goodness I can Skype, text and call.
Last night was my most recent Skype Date. Nathan bought a new computer a few weeks ago, and we have tried to Skype a bit....lets just say internet and Baronnessa sucks worse than it did last semester.
But last night it worked great! Nathan and I could actually see each other! 1000 miles didn't feel so far then.
All I know is I'm really excited for whenever our next real go out to dinner and an activity date will be. Right now, he thinks he has about 6 weeks left in New Mexico. Let's hope it's not more. I'm ready for a few weekend visits like last semester before he was shipped off to New Mexico to make good money. On a happy note, his credit card balance is officially zero! On and indifferent note, he has TONS of his paycheck going into taxes. Good thing he's getting married this year and will get more in tax returns next year. I'm kinda liking this whole getting married in April idea. Perfect time for tax returns on our anniversary.
Well, I'm kinda winding down on my thought processes.

I have survived 5 weeks without seeing my dear Nathan in person. It's the longest we've been apart since our first date, and I hope that this will be the longest we ever have to be apart until the end of our lives. And then we will be together forever.

Here are some pictures....
I decided one day to put the jacket he gave me on an extra pillow...then I decided to stuff the arm so he can cuddle with me with I miss him so much! I call it the boyfriend/Nathan pillow.

On Thursday I was complaining that I didn't even know what his face looked like especially in regards to his facial hair. The next day while he was at work I got this picture:

I love you so much Nathan!!!! 81 days until our wonderful wedding day! That's 9^2