Engagement Pictures

There is not much to say except that Shalem is an amazing photographer and we cant wait for him to do the actual wedding photos.

So here are some of our engagement pictures...

Graduation

Wow, it's hard to believe I finally graduated. Glory to God that I did make it. Five years ago, I never thought I'd be here, graduating one year early and being so happy! It is truly a miracle.
This whole year I have felt so confident and prepared. Even the day before graduation I felt fine. Things just hadn't sunk in yet. Then, a couple hours before graduation, when Steve and I were jumping on the trampoline... it started to hit me. And when we got dressed and ready... it hit me even more. And when I showed up to the school and put on my gown... it was overwhelming and the nerves started. I didn't even know I could get that nervous for something. I was thinking of every little thing that could go wrong and I was frightened.
But when I walked across the stage (and they even said my name right) and moved the tassel on my cap from the left to the right, my nerves were gone and the excitement kicked in. I have to be honest, throwing up our caps was a lot more fun then I thought it'd be.
And just like that, I was graduated. It's still sinking in. A couple times I've caught myself thinking "when I go back to school..." but for the most part I'm getting used to it. It's really really exciting.

And then we went camping...

The Engagement

Our real engagement seemed to confuse people since we have been planning our wedding for a while now. The truth is, yes we have known all along that we would get married and earlier this year we decided when it would be. However, through the beginning stages of planning, we weren't "officially" engaged. We didn't want to deal with the drama or hear any rumors. We decided to keep our planning quiet ( which didn't really happen) and then get engaged later.

On our 3 year anniversary, Steve finally proposed.

After school, Steve had our whole day planned. First, we went to the zoo. We had so much fun just laughing and talking that it felt like our first date all over again. After some driving around and just hanging out, he took me to one of my favorite spots in Alaska: Beluga Point. I just love it there and think that it is so beautiful. We went there last year for our anniversary too and got some really great pictures. So there we were, on the rock just like the year before, and Steve was setting up the camera. He told me to get in the perfect position, and when I thought I was only posing for a picture, he turned on my favorite song, the song we first danced to nearly 3 years ago. Then, he walked over to me and got on one knee. Since I kind of got the idea this was coming, you would think I'd be prepared and not cry. Wrong! I was not prepared at all. And as soon as I teared up, he teared up and then we both began to cry. To be honest I can't remember everything he said. But what made it so special was that it was more then asking me to marry him. He was promising things to me about the future and really spoke from his heart.
After that, we danced.
And when he kissed me, it felt like the first time. When he held my hand, it felt like the first time and when he looked in my eyes, it felt like the first time.
And all these silly feelings from Jr. High came back to me. And I will never forget it.
May 1, 2008, I fell in love again with the same boy I fell in love with years ago.