I ditched my single blog and got a new one with Ste at stewhitpoulsen.blogspot.com

I hope Nick appreciates the URL.

16!!!

Last weekend Ste and I helped his roommate, Brock, propose.  Brock did such a good job and she loved it.  I of course cried. Does that surprise anyone??  Him and his fiance, Mary Kate, asked us to be in their wedding.  They are a super fun couple and I am really excited to be a part of their wedding!

He proposed at Glen Park. Same park that Stewart proposed.  Also, they have these cool mini rock climbing walls that we sat on. It was pretty cool.

So, I got that job at Rise.  The lady that interviewed me gave my resume to a lady hiring for positions just above mine.  I had an interview and I got it! I will be over an adolescent boys group.  Soooo if you have any suggestions of activities to do let me know! I'm gonna need some ideas, but I am so excited for it.

Stewart's old scout master took us to lunch and the Saturday afternoon sessions of General Conference. I always enjoy it! Sunday we made cinnamon rolls! Thank you Janet, Sara, mom, dad, and Lindsea for your help. We definitely appreciated it and they turned out soo well! Probably not as good as Janet's but they were pretty good. haha

A couple weekends ago Marissa was able to come down!! She hosted an awesome friends bridal shower.  It was fun to be able to spend more time with her before I get hitched. Weird that it is actually happening. Thanks again Riss! I loved it! And I am so excited for the one in two weeks!

Also, we have 16 days until the big day. Holy crap. It is crazy to me! I got my dress today and I love it!! I was so ready for it to be done that I stayed at the place for an hour and a half waiting for all the little touch ups to be done.  Can't wait!! And Sherry, Kaitlyn and I went and ordered the flowers which I am really excited about.  I may not be the best at it but it was actually pretty fun!

I don't even know what else needs to be done... I am just so ready for the semester to be over!

35 Days.

Last weekend we had a nice little teaser of some springtime weather.  Ste and I took advantage of it and went up to Rock Canyon Park and hiked up a fake little trail.  It was so nice to be in the sun!

 Later that night we went on a double date with his roommate up to the Y.  I never thought I would enjoy hiking at night as much as I have. It is so much fun!

I had a job interview on Monday for a summer job. The interview went really well and at the end of it the interviewer told me that if she can get a hold of at least 2 of the 4 references and things check out, I have the job.  About two hours later she called and said I had the job! So I will be working kind of as a mentor for kids who have a hard time staying at home or who need to get out of the house during the summer. I will be working with a wide range of ages and disabilities, behaviors, and life situations.  Pretty much you do fun things with them but work toward certain goals. It goes perfect along with my major.  I have done 12 hours of training this week already and have 15+ waiting for me next week and the week after.

Tuesday night was the NIT basketball game. Thank you, Sherry, for letting us use your parking pass again! Also, thanks for letting us use your tickets for the Gonzaga game. It was so much fun!

The game was sweet. Ste's friend saved us seats on the 3rd row and we even made it on ESPN. Definitely worth not finishing my project for.
Thanks, Nick, for going back online to get a picture of us when we were on TV! You're awesome!

It is so unreal to me that the wedding is in 35 days! My mom, dad, sisters, friends, cousins, aunts, and whoever else have been awesome with getting all the invitations and decorations done since I am absolutely terrible when it comes to choosing those kinds of things. So thank you everyone!!
Also, my bracket is so bad. I am in the 1.3%. And it is ranked the 8,000,000 bracket. Good thing Ste and I made a deal that the winner takes the loser to dinner of their choice! haha Even though he made a bogus bracket so I am going to win in the group.

"I want to play my gps..."

The last few weeks have been insanely busy but so worth it!

First, we got our engagements done and the invites finalized! Now we just need to order them, address them, and send them to all you wonderful people.

Now, Valentine's Day.  The day that I have never really been a fan of until this year. I never thought I would say something this cheesy and actually mean it but it is definitely different when you are in love with the person who is doing all the cute surprises and thoughtful things.  Ste surprised me with Zupa's for lunch. SOO good! He had used the car to go to "work" that morning and since we were going to Boise to see his family he told me I might want to clean it out so we have room for everything.  When it was about time to pick him up so we start our little trip together I went down to my car to clean it out.  I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't the kind of "clean out" that I was expected.  He had bought me white roses, boxes of chocolates, three 12 packs of Mt Dew, two bags of Hershey's kisses spread out throughout my car, and a sweet note.  It was awesome.

I then went and picked him up to head to Boise to see his sister and her family and finally meet his wonderful parents.  One of the first things his mom told me reminded me of Grandma Helen (having your future mother in law remind you of Grandma Helen at the very start was comforting. haha).  She said that she did mine and Lori's husband's genealogy and guess what! We are fourth cousins! haha

We had an awesome weekend.  We went to the open house and wedding for his cousin (the reason that everyone was in town), rode horses, did some work on their land, played with his nieces, and got to know his family a lot better.  He had told me before that my mom reminded him of my mom and I can definitely see that too.

The next weekend was the Ragnar Relay!! WOO!! To be completely honest, I think I only ran three times in  February before the race.  And I didn't die! Yay!!! I did get some color that's for sure. Mostly on my right side.  I never in my life thought I would enjoy running 14.3 miles within a 24 hour period without proper training and running your first leg of 7.8 miles in the sun in the middle of a desert.  But every single part of that trip was super fun! I loved the time with family that I haven't seen for awhile.  I am definitely looking forward to it again!

Last Wednesday we were in the dodgeball championship game... again.  And guess what!!! WE WON! WE WON! WE ACTUALLY WON! After four years of playing intramural sports I finally got the coveted t-shirt!! A girl commented on one of our pictures and said "There are only two reasons to go to BYU 1) Get married 2) win a shirt." Who knew I would be accomplishing both in one semester? I still have to graduate though...

This past weekend my mom and Ryker came!! It was tons of fun going to Chuck E Cheese's, getting wedding stuff planned/purchased/decided, and spending time with them.  

It was fun seeing Ste interact with little Gyker... even if he was quickly worn out from all the fuss...

The moment you have all been waiting for... but me mostly

So, I want to take a step back and give a brief background of our story before I get to the proposal. It might get a little long so you can skip to the proposal if that's all you want to know :)

Senior year in high school I got the news that I got accepted to BYU in Provo... but for summer.  Sorta bummed, okay so I was pretty upset, I was talking to Shannon Toolson at church one day just kinda telling her how I was feeling and she told me that her thought about all of it is that I am gonna meet my husband that summer, he is going to go on his mission and I will kind of forget about him then he will come back, we will date and eventually fall in love.

I didn't believe her.

Then.

We met that summer. I saw him come into religion and I thought he was so so so cute.  I even got up the courage to try and talk to him one day.  We ran into each other at the WyView creamery where he pointed out we were actually in two classes together, I felt special because he recognized  me and saw me in two of his classes. I am a nerd, I know. haha

I then moved to WyView for fall and winter and that's where he lived.  We would run into each other a few times and he was best friends with a guy in my ward, Alex Teemsma, and I eventually was cochair with Alex for FHE.  He would always tell me that I should get to know his friend Stewart.  I was kinda shy and felt stupid around the guy (Stewart) so I was always kinda timid when it came to him being around.  I soon realized how hilarious he was.  I honestly thought every word out of his mouth was funny.

This is the only picture we were in together Freshman year. :) haha This is actually the picture that came up when we were FB official the first time.. haha He is behind Chris!

He then left on his mission that summer.  I never expected to write him because I honestly didn't know him too well.  The  letter writing started when I was home and helping with the Brian Burnett for Sheriff campaign.  Stewart had liked the page supporting Brian and would always ask how he was doing.  Riss thought of the clever idea of sending Ste a shirt as a joke.  So of course I did.  We wrote throughout his mission.  Nothing serious.. I didn't know what to tell him in the letters.  I am terrible at writing missionaries because I never know what to say.  I would mostly write him to send him pictures... and part of me just wanted him to know I was single. Is that bad? haha But whenever I got one of his letters I would be in the best mood.  They were so random, on the best stationary, but always included something spiritual.  It was awesome to get to know him through his letters.

I never expected anything to happen. Ever. I wanted it to, yes, but I tried to not think about it or talk to anyone about it because I didn't want to look stupid in the end.

Anyway, he came back July of last year and we talked a little over Facebook and texting.  I really wanted to hang out with him but I was way too scared to ask him to do something but then I saw him on campus the first week of school.  Heavenly Father definitely didn't make us wait anymore time to start our relationship.

So I was walking to a class from the library.  A class that I found out the day before the drop deadline that I didn't need, but I am so happy I was in it for that little bit so I could just run into him.  Anyway, I saw him but he was wearing sunglasses and a hat and I hadn't seen him in two years so I wasn't too sure if it was him or if he would recognize me.. Then he smiled. My heart melted and I got all nervous.  But he didn't even say anything and gave me a hug.

We talked for a bit and I asked if he was going to Junior's birthday party that weekend.  He didn't even know about it! So I told him he should go and he said he would check on it.  He texted me a couple days later about it and asked the details and told me he wanted to go but didn't have a ride because his roommate Brock didn't want to go (later found out that Ste actually told Brock that he couldn't go because he wanted to spend time with me. Little sneaky.)  So I offered him a ride. Fell right into his little trap.

We went to the party then I gave Pepe and him a ride home.. Okay, so only Pepe.  Ste saw my basketball in the back seat and said he wanted to go play.  So we drove around trying to find a stupid court.  I was convinced we wouldn't and I couldn't show off how good I was.  But we ended up going to the Provo High basketball courts.  And played for a few hours.  I won the first, of course.  And when he had two point left to win he said that if he made this next shot he was going to kiss me.  Well, I sorta kinda let him go for the lay up with no defense.  What was a supposed to do? Anyway, our first kiss happened on the Provo High outside basketball courts.

We then hung out and saw each other pretty much every day.. He met my dad like two weeks after that, before we were even official.  He is definitely a champ.  We were able to go on a few dates and get to know each other better throughout September.

KC gave us two tickets to General Conference.  Ste served in West Valley for a bit when he was waiting for his visa so we went and ate dinner at the lady's house he lived at after the session.

A few days before GC I had been wanting to tell him that I loved him.  I felt it so strong but really wanted to make sure before I said it out loud to him and I wanted to see what I learned from GC.

Well, on the way home Ste told me that he could see himself forty years from now happily married to me.  Then proceeded to tell me he loved him.  First off, you CANNOT tell a girl you love her for the first time while driving, you may just be putting yourself in danger because she gets all jumbled and happy and so incredibly distracted that she could crash.  Obviously I didn't, but I don't really remember driving home after that... But once he told him he loved me I grabbed his hand and told him I had been wanting to tell him that all weekend.

So a few months went by and our relationship grew.  As most of you know we did break up for a couple weeks.  It was really good for our relationship.  I was able to realize I did really want to be with him.  It gave me time to go home and really think about what I wanted in the man I would end up with and if he matched that.  It was a stressful time but looking back I am grateful for it.  It made me appreciate everything about him so much more.

We got back together the night we got back into Provo. Thank goodness! haha

When I thought about marrying him and asking Heavenly Father if I was really supposed to be with Ste, I always got the same clear answer.  Clearer than I have ever had.  I knew that he would be the man for me that I needed, I just hoped I would be the wife he needed.

So, after Christmas break we went ring shopping.  I knew that it would take few weeks to resize the ring and they said for a few of the designs they may have to actually make the ring because my ring size was so small and that would take 6-8 weeks. Awesome. So I told myself it would probably be until like mid February until we would get engaged.  I didn't read into anything, at least tried not to.  I wanted to be surprised.  I didn't let myself be curious at all, okay, so for the most part. haha

Friday night we were at his apartment and he went outside and saw the cool fog.  We were supposed to be going on a hike the next morning but he mentioned that we should go then.  10:30 pm.  Why not? So we headed up the canyon to Glen park and went up a little trail there.  Half way up I asked him how far we were going. He took that as I wanted to stop so we did haha He brought along a lawn chair for us to sit on. We sat and talked for a bit about the future. I was bawling, happy crying of course,  as you can imagine.  I was too busy wiping the snot and tears off my face I didn't even realize he had slipped to the ground and as now kneeling in front of me.  No, he wasn't on one knee.  He was on both because the lawn chair was even with the ground and he was on a slight hill haha He then looked at me straight in the eyes and started pulling something out of his pocket. He pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him.  I of course said yes.

The proposal was perfect and very personal in every way to the both of us.  I have never been more sure about anything in my life.

The last couple days I have just stared at my ring and thought, "is this really happening?!?" Am I really getting married?!?

Ste definitely makes me happy and I could not see myself being happier with anyone else.  I am truly grateful for having such a great guy in my life.

Happy birthday to my fiance!!! 

22

So far 2013 has been incredible. I was able to come back to Provo a little earlier so that I would be able to spend a little of the break with Ste but also get some of my online Microbiology done.

Sherry was nice enough to come pick us up from the airport even though she was supposed to give the opening prayer. Thanks Sherry for your sacrifice. We got to spend a few hours at her house to relax a bit until people came over for Grandpa's birthday! Sherry's parties are always entertaining but this one was so quiet without all the little kids running around! But it was still great :)

We had talked about going up to the hot springs in Idaho and going  to see the lights at the Zoo but neither of those happened haha We were both just wanting to be lazy and watch football all day.  We did go on a hike at  one point though! So we weren't completely lazy! haha

 We welcomed the new year by watching Les Mis in theaters at midnight.  We didn't know what we wanted to do for New Years because we didn't really want to go to any of the parties here so we thought it would be cool to spend it watching the movie.  I LOVED that movie. And he did too, which I was kinda nervous about.

My birthday was today and it was awesome.  I was able to see Grandpa yesterday morning when I picked up my present my mom had sent there.  THANK YOU! Even though I don't need two ;) Kindle Fire. I LOVE IT.

I got to sleep in this morning.  I usually try to wake up semi early on Sundays because we don't have church until one but I like to read and stuff but this morning I decided it was my birthday. And I was going to sleep until the very last second.  SO nice.  After church I went to Ste's for their traditional Taco Sunday dinner and watched the fireside that was given by Utchdorf.  Afterward Ste brought out jello he had made in a heart shaped pan and inside was a little surprise. Okay, not what some of you may be thinking... It was a wrapped Hershey's kiss with a note he had glued to the bottom.  Clever huh? haha One thing that I love about him is how random he can be and he didn't fail that tonight.  This is after he cut out the kiss...

I was able to end the night skyping with my family.  I miss the little ones at home! It was complete with the boys singing to me and blowing out my candles, Rock singing my name in a rock and roll song, seeing Hudson sit up, Jens standing up, my dad making weird faces at himself, my mom and I planning on what we are gonna do when she comes down, and hearing the loudness that my home is.  I miss it but I am still definitely enjoying my time here too.

Family!

So for Thanksgiving I came home with Riss to Manson! We were home for about a week and a half. Such a nice break from school!

Dad flew Santa into Manson!!

 Ryker wasn't so sure about Santa...

We were able to go shooting, of course. It was awesome! 

There is so much that goes on during Thanksgiving break.  Donut making, cider making, Turkey Bowl, shooting, and setting up for Christmas. I LOVE it! 

The semester ended well. Ste and I were able to make it up to Temple Square one night.  We were looking for the perfect spot to take a picture and ended up seeing Santa and Buddy the Elf.  We couldn't pass it up.  When we walked up Buddy was like, "Ohhh Santa, I can tell this isn't this couple's first date!"  Then we took this normal picture. 

Then Buddy said we needed to take one more! Then he picked up a stick that was laying right next to that orange bucket. That stick had a mistletoe at the end of it and he hung it over us.  That's why we took this next one for our mothers to enjoy.

I am now home and loving every minute with the little boys and Jensley. So much fun! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am so incredibly excited or Christmas to finally be here!