Playing House

I love making dinner...

Setting the table for two...

And waiting for him to come through this door after work.

Met August 2007

First Date: December 16, 2008

First Kiss: January 17, 2009

Went exclusive: February 14, 2009

First "I love you": March 18, 2009

Engaged: April 18, 2009

To Be Married: July 10, 2009

New House!

So I moved into our new place at the beginning of this week and thought I'd share it with you. These pictures were taken when I was first moving boxes in, so please excuse the mess and the lack of organization.


This is what you see from the front door: our living room. Kraig's parents and brother were so wonderful to loan us a bunch of furniture (couch, tv, side tables, lamps, mattress).



This is our teeny tiny kitchen.



Another view of the kitchen.



The hallway to our bathroom and bedroom.



Our bathroom.



Another shot of the bathroom.



The bedroom. All my clothes (other than the ones in the closet) are in stacks on the floor because I'm waiting for Kraig's dresser to arrive so I have somewhere to put them. Also, we don't have a bed spread yet, so currently I'm sleeping on top of one blanket with another one on top, both of which actually belong on a twin bed. perfect! ha ha.

Can you believe I'm getting married in three days?!?! I sure can't. I don't think the magnitude of all of this has really sunk in yet...give me a few weeks.

moving

my whole life has now been packed into a dozen or so various bags and boxes.

strange, so see my whole life summed up in this containers.

in 13 days i start a whole new part of my life. i wonder what my life will be like years from now.

i never guessed, even a year ago, that my life would be taking the turn that it is taking. but i'm absolutely loving it.

i'm happy with the 19 years and 12 boxes that my life has been so far.

can't wait to see what fills the next 19 years and 12 boxes.

Engagement Pics!!!

A couple of weeks ago we had out engagements taken by Meredith Carlson (www.merephoto.com) and actually had a really good time doing them. I think they turned out great! Here are a few of my favs.

another mushy post...

so this morning Lynnette, the cute CNA I work with, asked me why I like Kraig so much. What was it about him that made me love him and want to be with him forever? Hmmm...

He's comfortable. I feel so comfortable around him. He's probably seen me in sweats and no makeup more times than he's seen me all done up. And he loves me in spite of that. I feel like I can really be myself around him. I know that that is a very cliched thought/response, but it is so true. I've always been the kind of person that I feel as if I have to play up to other people's expectations. I act the way they want me to act or dress the way they want me to dress. I attempt to be the person that they want and expect me to be. I don't even know who the "they" is, just the world, I guess. The people that appear like they've got it all together. Anyways, with Kraig, it's like I can just be me. And not JUST me, I can be the me that I really want to be, that I know that I need to be.

And that brings me to my second reason: He makes me want to be a better person. When I'm with him, I feel closer to the person that I've always desired to be. He makes me want to be nicer to those around me, to be closer to the Lord, to have more righteous desires, to really strive for perfection. I love that.

I have never felt insecure around him about myself or the way that he feels about me. I've never doubted his interest or love for me. And it's been that way ever since day one. After my dating experience in high school with C., I've been really insecure and uncertain of the sincerity of the guys that I've dated. I've had a really hard time trusting anyone. But with Kraig it hasn't been like that even for an instant. I have complete trust in him and his love for me.

So there's just a few reasons that I love him.

catch up post...

So I realize that I've been vacant for a while as far as blogging goes. So I'm here to catch you all up...

I'M ENGAGED!

Woot woot! I mean, I'm sure that most of you already know, but for those of you who didn't, now you do.

Here's how he did it. It was April 18th. He called me up in the morning and asked if he could pick me up at around 5 pm for a date. (side note: I totally could feel the whole proposal coming. I was pretty positive that it was going to happen that day) I said yes, of course. Then he called me at 2 pm and said that we'd have to push the date back until 5:30 because he was working on homework with a lab partner and he could forsee it taking longer than expected. So I said, "okay" because I knew that he probably wasn't really studying and that he was just needing more time to plan/figure out the proposal. Then he called again at 3 and asked if the time could be moved back again. This happened a few more times. I was starting to get frustrated/anxious because I knew it was coming, but it just kept getting postponed!

Well, he finally came and picked me up at around 7 pm. We drove downtown and parked in front of the Macaroni Grill. Now, here's the significance of that: Kraig and I went on our first kind-of date there. The reason I say kind of is because we weren't actually with each other. It was a double and he was with my friend, Jessica G and I was with his roommate, Isaiah. So we've always had this little joke that our first date wasn't even with each other.

So anyway, there's a huge line of people waiting outside of the Macaroni Grill and I'm thinking "Oh great, we're going to have to wait forever because Kraig NEVER makes reservations. Perfect!" But lo and behold, we walk in and they have a table for two ready and waiting for us. (Turns out that he went in earlier that day while he was "studying" and asked to make a reservation. They said that the earliest that they could get him in would be about 8:30. He told them that that simply would not work; he was PROPOSING tonight! Things had to fall into place chronologically in order to work out just right. He ended up offering the hostess a bribe in order to get an earlier reservation. She finally just told him that she would figure out a way to have a table ready for us at 7:30.)

So we ate dinner (which was delicious!) and at the end of the meal, the server brought Kraig the bill and handed me an envelope. It was a letter that Kraig had written and delivered earlier that day.

It said: "Hailey, This is where it all began. I will never forget how much fun we had or how beautiful you looked during the first night that I met you. You left an impression upon me that I've never been able to forget. I am so grateful for how our relationship has developed. Like a rose it began as a seed. Slowly with time it has grown in a foundation of friendship through laughter and respect and now has begun to bloom and blossom through love. I love you Hailey. I'm lucky to be in love with my best friend."

Then we drove out to Draper. We started heading towards the Draper Temple (we went to the open house together and that's also where I met his parents). We drove a little bit past the temple and pulled off at the beginning of this hiking trail. It was about 8:30 by this time, so it was getting a little bit dark. We hiked up the trail for a bit and then got to a point where we could look out over the temple and the city, which were both lit up beautifully! It was so gorgeous. Then he handed me another letter, which he had been hiding in his shirt. (Quick backstory: about a year ago, when we were just friends, we started talking about love and marriage and I asked him how you're supposed to "know" when you've found the person you want to spend eternity with. Just FYI)

It read "Hailey, Do you remember when we were driving in my car and we talked about how we could know when we have found somebody that we could spend eternity with? Well I didn't have much of an answer that day, but I have an answer for you now. You know you've met someone you could spend eternity with when every minute you long to be with that person. You know when you can spend hours, days, and even weeks where you are constantly around that person and still dread the thought of having to be separated from them. You know when you are in the other person presence and feel a desire to achieve, inspired to do you best, and to make the most of yourself. I've also learned that once you have found such a person, your love and relationship may have a beginning but through our Heavenly Father's plan, it never has an end. I hope I've answered your question. Now look up; I have another question for you."

(Kraig told me later that the real reason that he was so late was that he wanted the letters to be really special and to have some real significance. So he went to the temple and asked the workers if he could sit in the chapel and write them there. Right as he sat down to write, a cute, little, old man sat down at the organ and started pounding away! So Kraig got writer's block and it took him almost 3.5 hours to finish the two letters.)

Then he got down on one knee and opened that perfect, gray, little ring box and asked me to marry him.

Of course, I SAID YES!!!

We're getting married July 10, 2009 in the Manti, Utah temple. Our colors are black, white, and red. We'll be having a reception in Fairview and an open house in SLC for all our city friends.

I couldn't be happier! I can't even wait! He is the love of my life and now I get to spend the rest of my life and the rest of eternity with him! Yay!