One Long Weekend

So the week after I got engaged, we went to my Grandfathers funeral. They scheduled it on a Thursday. Kathryn flew in to Salt Lake and rode to Libby with Rachael and her kids. Korth, Jeremy, Matt and Nathan all had work going on, and Matt had a class on Wednesday that he couldn't miss or he would fail. So Nate picked up Matt on his way home from work, and they met up with Korth and Jeremy in Eagle Mountain, and they left about 6 pm. I got a ride from a friend to Idaho Falls around 9pm, the time that Nate and everyone got there. Then I rode with them, I kept Nate awake for the next four hours. Then Matt took a turn, and Korth finished off the last hour when Matt got too tired, but we made it to Libby around 4-5am. Then the 5 of us took a nap until 9-10am and got up and got ready for the funeral. Here are some of the pictures my sister took of the day.

 Holding me in the Relief Society Room where Grandad's Casket was before the services

 Nathan being the tall man helping carry the Casket

 During the Ceremony the wind blew a few leaves around, one landed perfectly on the casket, as if we were in a movie.

 This is the Gun and Helmet that people wore during the Korean War, which is the one my Grandad served in.

 21 Gun Salute

 Presenting of the flag. You can just see Nate holding me and resting his head on mine in the Left.

And her his Nate holding little Joseph. It's amazing! Nate rarely holds kids.

And then after the funeral there was a big luncheon. On Friday morning, Kathryn, Matt, Nate and I took off for Utah. We dropped Kathryn off at the Missoula Airport. Then finished our drive to Utah. Nate and I went to Provo to drop Matt at his house, went and switch Jeremy and Sarah's Car for our Nadia, and headed up to Bountiful to spend Conference Weekend with his Mom. I listened to the Announcement that Men can serve missions at 18, and Women can serve at 19. Nate was outside helping his mom take out a big tree. We then had to leave and go to a wedding rehearsal. That took up through the second session. Then we spent the night there again, and drove down to Eagle Mountain for the Morning and Afternoon sessions of conference. I listened to the morning, but slept through most of the afternoon. Needless to say I didn't get much out of conference that weekend. Then I meet up with my Roommate Bethany and she drove me back to Rexburg, since she was in Utah for conference. :)

This Is Real

So I went to Rexburg for my Junior Year of school. I had it in my head all summer that I needed to go off to school before I could make a decision between Nathan and Carl. Nate came to visit me the middle of September. We went on a walk around the Nature Park. I saw our shadows and just had to take a picture. As I was walking with him, there was just a feeling inside that I knew Nate was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. 

The next day (Saturday) we went to Monkey Rock to swim behind the waterfall...we never made it, 1 the water was freezing, and 2 the current was to strong to really get there. But it was really fun. Then we drove around and ended up at the Teton Dam. We cuddled in his back seat. It was quite and I looked at Nate, who was staring off toward the dam lost in thought for a long time. I finally asked what he was thinking. His response? "Will you marry me?" I was excited but still scared. I told him yes, but that I wasn't ready to make it official yet, that I wanted to tell Carl about it and all that. But we both knew then that we were going to get married.

Well, a week or so later my Grandfather was taken to the Hospital. He was the one we went to Libby for the first time around. My family just knew it was going to be time for him to pass on. It was a Friday, and my mom left Utah with one of my sisters and they drove down to see him. I was having a hard time and I called Nate. He left to come to Rexburg to be with me. I told my mom Nate was coming. She called him when my grandfather passed on, and since he was within 20 minutes of me by that time, my mom waited to call me until He was with me. He picked me up and we were on our way to his car Nadia, when my phone rang. I knew what was coming, but it was so nice to be able to cry in Nathan's arms. He's so big I get swallowed up. That night we drove out to a place in Parker that's pretty secluded and just talked, and I cried, and he held me. When it was almost curfew, he drove me back to my apartment. It was really hard to say good bye.

The next day (Sept 29th) he picked me up and we went and bought sandwich food. We went to Park Street Park and had a picnic. Before we had left my apartment that morning, I handed him an $8 walmart fake engagement ring and he put it in his pocket. So then we went to the park. We played on the merry-go-round and then set up a blanket and our food. As we were sitting there, Nathan pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him. I  said yes!

Then we made all the phone calls you make to friends and family when you get engaged. And then just spent time together being happy, even with so much going on in our lives.

The Ending of a Summer (a year late)

So before I left for school last fall, Nathan and I spent a LOT of time together. We did baptisms for the dead together a few times and the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. After one trip we saw Hunger Games was playing in the cheap theater, and since I hadn't seen it yet, we went together. It was there that I had the first stirrings of strength of being able to leave behind what I had planned (mostly Carl out on his mission) for what I was enjoying then. This feeling came from knowing who was Peeta and who was Gale in my life. But I still wasn't completely ready to let go of what I'd know for the past few years.
The weekend before I left, Nate went out with his friend Brett to pick Pine Nuts...I really missed him, and was confused why he wanted to leave me when I was going to leave myself in a few days. But I understand as well, we spent everyday together since our first date, and I could see how he and I both needed that time without each other to figure out more of our feelings. They had car trouble, but ended up making it back before I left for school, to say good bye. I'm so grateful for that chance, and I'm grateful for Nate's patience with me.

Life Update

Alright, as Nathan and I have been married for 4 months...and my last post was 5 months ago....I guess I should use my time off to catch up a little. I'm sure I'll do a post about the wedding day, so I'll skip those details right now.
After the honey moon Nathan and I came back to Eagle Mountain to start off our lives as a married couple. Can I just say the fact that we don't have to say good night and drop me off at my house is wonderful!
He worked a swing shift for a few weeks, so when he came home we could just go to bed.
I found a part time job as a janitor at a company called Xango (my janitor company was called RBM) at Thanksgiving point. I worked from 6pm to 10 pm. Well, Nate's swing job decided since he worked so hard it made everyone else look bad and so they replaced him. He found a job at Car Quest in Saratoga Springs, and then at Cabela's unloading trucks and shelving items and what not.
Around June I decided to go back to work at McDonalds, so Nate and I both had 2 part time jobs, so we hardly saw each other, except at night and Sundays.
I was able to take my Math and Physics Praxis tests for student teaching. I took them on the computer and both temporary scores they gave me where passing, but I'm still waiting for my official scores to come in.
On August 7th, we moved to Rexburg! We found a contract starting in August so we moved so Nate could find a job before all the students moved in for the fall semester!
On the 16th he found out that he got a job! He is an iron worker again, which he loves! Right now he is working on a job in Jackson, WY that is behind and they are supposed to be done with the sight on Friday...so he was been working 12 hours a day, plus the commute. So he leaves around 5 am and gets home around 9 pm. So again we see each other at night and on Sunday. But the paycheck is going to be wonderful, he works the same hours, but now its the same company so he'll get overtime pay! Plus he makes more an hour to begin with than in Utah.
As for me I've been spending time with my sister and her 5 kids to keep from going crazy. As well as watch a ton of Netflix. I have found 2 new shows that I love! Life and The Glades....I finished Life because Nate had already seen all the episodes, but I can only watch Glades with Nate, which saves me from watching it all day long.
Another show I've loved since we started watching together in Eagle Mountain is Numb3rs. I just can't get enough of Charlie and the Physics Professor Larry. Plus all the Math and Science they use to help the FBI solve crime. I love it! (Although, Nate kinda got bored of it, so I'm not watching it as much anymore)
And that's about how our life is right now.

Taxes

This week has been mostly uneventful. I felt more on top of my homework than I have all semester. So that's been a plus.
Nathan found out he is officially laid off and is looking for work.
He filled his taxes today and gets over $900, so that will definitely be helpful.
In other news I called the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple last night. I have now scheduled my endowment session for the evening before the wedding. I'm so excited I can't wait! They are to send me a letter with all the details. I think my favorite part is that they told me I can't get endowed without Nathan, it made me happy. I'm getting so excited to spend eternity with my dearest loving, redneck Nathan!
That's about all, except my spacebar fell off my laptop...so typing lately has been a slight pain...I am definitely going to go to the computer help desk tomorrow to have them help me fix it. :)

Date Night(s)

So Nathan surprised me on Friday! He had kinda hinted that he was going to come visit me. He called me around 1:30 and talked about how he was driving to different places in the Eagle Mountain area. At one point he ran out of gas, so when I asked him which gas station he was at he said "Do you want the truth, or what you want to hear" I said, "both" and he said "North Rigby" I had to go to class right then, so he drove to Rexburg, parked at the temple and walked to my building where my room was. He waited for me to get out of class, and I ran out of class and down the hall to where he was. I gave him a huge hug, introduced him to my 2 favorite physics teachers, and then headed off to my tutoring appointment.
After that we went to dinner at The Manderine Chinese place by Walmart, which was amazing! He also took me to Big 5 and bought me new shoes and a pair of boots that where on sale for $8. Then we went back to my apartment and watched movies for my World Foundations class.
We went for a drive and talked. It was so wonderful to be in his car again, just the two of us like on our first date. I love how good about myself I feel when I'm around him, and I loved just being able to hug him and hold his hand!
Saturday we started out eating left overs of our Chinese and doing homework in the lounge. Then we went to dinner with a guy who served his mission in Alaska with Nathan when he was the Ward Mission Leader. It was really fun. After lunch we took off to Idaho Falls and did a wedding registry at Walmart and Target. Target seems to have a better program, plus they had a gun with a trigger instead of just a button. It was really fun. Somethings on the registry are really random, and some things really expensive, but it was fun to just go with Nathan.
Next came homework, more movies for my class. I fell asleep during part of it though. Afterwards we went to dinner at Wingers and had a meal for two. I had sticky fingers, ribs, fries and beans. It was really good.

We went for another drive, and then back to my place and watched "How to Train your Dragon" Then he went back to his Dad's house until the morning. He went to Sacrament meeting with me. I was feeling really sick, so he took me home after sacrament meeting, and was going to leave...but I forgot to grab my keys and was locked out. So he drove me to the Nature Park. I took a nap, and then we fed some jerky to the ducks and squirrels. I had a squirrel come and take the jerky right out of my hand. It was so fun. I felt like the luckiest woman in the whole world! Just sitting in his car talking about nature and stories of him with wildlife, things I want to experience. It made me realize how much I am really looking forward to our wedding in 53 days!
He brought me back to my apartment when my roommates got home, and I fed him lunch. I gave him some snacks for the road, and sent him on his way!
I am surprised I haven't cried yet, but I just feel so happy that I got to have him with me after so long, I'm not missing him as much. I miss him, but I don't feel as miserable, and I feel like I could survive 6 weeks if I don't see him again.
The biggest loss is my engagement ring. He took it to go get it sized. I'm happy I still have one, but I miss the shiny one already! I'm soooo excited to have it fit the correct finger though, and to be ready before the wedding!
Now back to the rest of my semester!

Our First Libby Trip

So my Grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary was on August 19th 2012. To celebrate, my family was going down from August 9th through the 13th. My mom told me I should invite Nathan, and I loved the idea. I asked him and he said he would have to check with his boss. Well, he got work off, and so we went!
On the way up Nathan and I wanted to get their earlier to set up sleeping arrangements and all that. So he and I drove down with my 2 oldest Nieces and Nephews. It was a lot of fun!

I made him a really big sandwich and he loved it! It was the first "meal" I made for him. Haha.

The sun was in our face, but Nathan and I had the sun visors in the car to block the sun for us...so we gave the sunglasses to Jeffrey and Adanya...It was a lot of fun!

We also stopped in Thompson Falls to stretch our legs. While we where there we found my dream truck.

So Thursday Night, Maga gave Nathan and I money to go get a pizza from Pizza Hut. It was fun driving with him in the town I grew up in.
Friday we went to the Libby Dam and took the Dam tour and swam at McGillivray with my family, and it was super fun! Here is Nathan and I driving home with Jeffrey. I look like I was looking at the phone, but I was looking at the Road I promise. It was so good to be able to drive in Montana!

The next day the family took a trip and saw the swinging bridge and the Kootenia falls. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Here is a rock Nathan found that looks like an ax...he found a stick later and put it together. He is soo excited to make is nature ax.
While we were in Montana, Nathan and I got into a discussion. He told me that he promised he would never break up with me, I'd have to break up with him. I got mad and told him that made me feel like he was forced to be with me. He kinda got upset, grabbed my arm and said "Emma, It's because I've been wanting to ask you a question. Will you marry me?"
At this moment I wanted to say yes, but I wasn't ready for that commitment yet. I had a hard time accepting giving up a person I had liked and been friends with for 4 years, to someone I've only know for like 2 months, and only dated for 1. I told him that I wasn't ready to say yes, that I didn't want to say yes until I was sure, but that I felt good in our relationship, and that it had a very likely chance of getting to that level with a little more time.
He told me a few weeks ago he had convinced himself he would run away if I had said no. I'm so glad he decided to stick around!