One Month Down, Eternity to Go...

Yes, it has already been a month since Loren and I got married. As I think about that day so much of it was a blur. I honestly don't remember everything Brother Portie said, but I can remember the feeling I had while in the sealing room. I remember being so upset because I couldn't wear my wedding dress. When Loren saw me before the wedding he told me I looked beautiful and I started to cry and said but I don't feel like it. As soon as we were in the sealing room though nothing mattered anymore, all that mattered was that in a short amount of time Loren and I would be sealed. Now I can't tell you who all was in that room either, but I can tell you how happy I was to see my old Young Woman's president Melanie in there. She was the only person I looked for, which probably sounds terrible, but she made such an impact in my life. I think that if she hadn't been there for me in high school who knows if I would have been sealed in the temple. Even though I didn't really get to talk to her it meant to world to me to see her there. And I know you're reading this Melanie so I hope you're smiling right now :) So in my past month of marriage it's been interesting. Something I'm glad Loren and I did was be completely honest with each other from the get go. Everyone says it's hard to live with someone because no matter how long you've been with them you still learn new things, and although this is true I haven't had a moment where I've thought man this is too much. Then again I feel like something I'm learning everyday is accepting Loren for who he is good or bad. Now I'm not saying there's all these terrible things about Loren, because there's not, but I've learned that I have to love him regardless of anything. I've also learned that my confidence has grown so much since being with Loren. I've never really felt very pretty in my life. When we started dating everyday Loren would tell me I looked beautiful and everyday I'd say no I don't. He'd always say he'd keep telling me until I finally started to believe it, and every now and then I look at myself and think man I look pretty today. It's actually a good feeling to like the way you look, and I'm so thankful to have someone who won't allow me to put myself down. Now I remember someone telling me one time the worst advice they ever got was don't go to bed angry. I can't tell you how many people told me this, and she said it was bad advice because sometimes you just need to cool down. Before you know it you're so upset you're saying things you don't need to when the best thing is to sleep on it and wake up the next morning and realize how ridiculous the argument was. I love that someone told me this, because I think it's so true sometimes more than anything else we just need to sleep instead of making things worse. I guess I'm no expert at marriage but maybe at the end of next month I will be :) What I can say though is I wouldn't trade this in for anything, I have no doubt in my mind I was supposed to marry Loren, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. Our adventure has just begin but I hope to fill our personal scrapbooks with so many wonderful memories all the while being honest, loving each other unconditionally, realizing sometimes we need to just let things go, and boosting each others confidence. This whole marriage thing isn't too shabby.

The Dentons

For some reason our house is the only one on the street that doesn't have our street number on it. This is something I've been wanting to fix for a while because when we invite people over they always have a hard time figuring out which place is ours. I also wanted to make a sign to hang on our mailbox saying "The Dentons" mainly because I feel like every other day our mailman asks what our last name is. Now he can just look at my beautiful sign :) Last night we went to Hobby Lobby and bought the stuff for the sign. I decided to include Loren in this project since it is his house too, and let him pick the colors. Of course he picks BYU blue and white, which I'm ok with but everything knows Kentucky blue is much better. That's pretty much his only contribution to making the sign although while I was painting he'd hand me the letters and started singing a song. It went something like this:
"D is for Denton cause that's your new last name
E is for the second letter of your new last name
N is for Nicole cause that's your middle name
T is for Thomas cause that's your daddy's name
O is for Ochoa cause that's your mom's old name
N is for Nicole because I love your middle name

T is for Thomas again because that's still your daddy's name
H is for Hoffpauir cause that's your old last name
E is for everyone loves Maggie!"

I bet you didn't know Loren was such an amazing songwriter :) He actually makes up songs all the time for me, which is fun because I make up songs all the time too. Between the two of us we're like our own little musical everyday, and that's how I know I really married the right guy. He likes to sing with me but most importantly he likes to listen to me sing :) Anyway here's the finished product, yes we know we need a new mailbox.

This was a fun little thing to do and I like the outcome of it.

Crazyness

Due to my long over due post, and the fact that I'm sick and don't really feel like moving anywhere, I'm finally posting!! First off it's 3 days til the wedding. I can't believe how fast time went by. I feel like my summer didn't even exist, but I guess that's what happens when you become a slave at Chick-fil-a. The past few weeks I've dreaded going in to work. All I've wanted was to be home, but it's been crazy since the beginning of July. First we had a family reunion with Loren's mom's side of the family out in Heber City. We stayed in a big house which was cool, but we drove so much back to Provo I feel like Loren and I should have just stayed in Provo instead of driving back and forth everyday. Then Loren's parents, brothers, nieces, and sister stayed at our place. We got the keys to our duplex on July 1st. I'm absolutely in love with the place, it's so cute and little. Just perfect for newlyweds, and the price is even better. Our rent is only $475 a month when most other one bedroom married housing in Provo is anywhere from $550-800. I was a little mixed on having Loren's family stay at our place cause I didn't really want other people in there before us, but on the positive side because his family didn't have to get hotel rooms his parents paid for our bed. In the end it was definitely worth it, they also stocked us up on some food. Then I had a clarinet lesson with my new teacher. I'm officially a music education major (once again) at Utah Valley University. For those who don't know I contacted the clarinet teacher, Dr. Nelson, about auditioning. He used to be one of Dr. Wright's (my clarinet teacher in Kentucky) students a long time ago. I knew he had to be pretty good if he worked with Dr. Wright, and he also got his masters from Rice, which is a pretty incredible music school. I went and auditioned for him and he says yep you definitely sound like a Dr. Wright student, I'd love to have you in my school what do I need to do in order for that to happen? I said well I need money I'm an out of state student. He says well we only have 3 out of state scholarships, but I'm 90% sure I can get one of those for you. So I accepted the offer put in my application and it's all been amazing since. I really like Dr. Nelson. He reminds me so much of Dr. Wright, I feel comfortable during lessons and he's teaching me different ways to view the music I play. Mainly I'm just excited to be able to finish my music degree. I missed it so much this past year, music has always been my passion since high school. It feels amazing to be back in it. Now I'm home getting ready for the wedding. Monday we got our marriage license. I thought the questions were a little funny. They asked have you been married?, Do you pay child support?, and Are you related? We just laughed at all of them but especially the last one. Last night I had a "special" party with my friends, it was so much fun. Tomorrow we'll set up for the reception, and Friday we leave because I'm getting my endowments out that night. Then Saturday morning we have our sealing. I'm just definitely ready for it to all be over. I can't believe that in 2 days Loren and I will have been together for a year, and in 3 days we'll be married. I can't wait though to start our next adventure together :) Next time I post I will be married!

My cupcake tower Lanee made!

People say we look like each other, I don't know where they get that from.

The two most amazing women in the universe! I  love my mom and granny!!

I Can Help Whoever's Next!

Well I guess prayers are answered when you least expect them. I'm been looking for jobs again and I hate this process. In this area where there are so many candidates in order to get a job you pretty much need an "in". That I really don't have. A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from school and a girl gets on the bus at the stop in front of Chick-fil-a. I look at her hoping she won't take the seat next to me and said hey she looks familiar. As she looks around she glances and starts to say, "Can I... Ah I want to sit here!!" I ran into a girl named Rachel Griffith. We knew each other in high school from both school and church but after Hurricane Rita I never saw her again. Come to find out a year or so ago she moved out to Utah. We're talking and catching up, then we exchange numbers. I mention to her how I need a job and she said well I'll be on the lookout we just hired some people so I don't think I can help you out but I know lots of places in American Fork are hiring. Well that would be great if I knew people who worked at these places to get me in. Today I wanted to go to American Fork and get ice cream at Maggie Moo's. It's definitely my favorite ice cream place ever, and this was the closest one. At the last minute Loren says let's go to Chick-fil-a I know you love it and we haven't eaten lunch. We walk in, order, and then I see Rachel again. She came over and gave me a big hug then gets really quiet and whispers, "Hey do you still need a job?" I told her yeah and she says, "I think I can get you one here." She disappears for a little bit and comes back with an application and sits down next to me. She said, "Ok fill this out to the best of your ability and do you think you could do an interview today?" I said yes and sat there and filled out the application. The store owner Katie comes out and looks at my application and said, "Do you mind if we go into this room so I can interview you?" We go away and Rachel talks to Loren for a little bit while I'm being interviewed. About 30 minutes later Katie brings in the shift manager Melanie who asks me a couple of questions and they leave for a little bit. Katie comes back, sits down and says, "I'd like to offer you a job, do you accept it?". I was soo excited!! This was such a blessing, Loren and I talk about money all the time especially since we're getting married but I never imagined finding a job would be this easy. Loren just found out he'll be working almost full time at the creamery this summer so for me to be able to work and save money too is going to make such a huge difference for us come July. Katie was absolutely sweet and understanding too. I told her I'd be gone from the 19th-26th and she said that's ok we can work around it. She also knows I'm getting married in Texas and will have to take off for a couple of weeks then and she just said how exciting where is it going to be and what not. Positives about this job: 1.) Chick-fil-a is never open on Sundays. That's definitely a day I don't want to work on so it's perfect! 2.) I love Chick-fil-a it's like my favorite place to eat! So when I'm working if I decide I want a meal I get it for free 3.) I actually have a friend there and we'll probably be working a lot of the same hours! 4.) I have a job. That should probably be the first thing but yeah. 5.) I'm starting off at $8 an hour. Loren only makes $7.75 an hour hehehe Anyway, I feel like today is surreal but Loren and I are both excited. It takes a lot of stress off of the two of us about what I'll be doing this summer. It's so amazing how Heavenly Father blesses you when you least expect it. I just keep thinking how we were in the right place at the right time. I got there while the store owner and shift manager were both there and while Rachel was working to recommend me. In fact as soon as Katie interviewed me and gave me a tour of the store she was off of work. If I had come in even 20 minutes later she could have been gone. Well that's all the exciting news I have for now. I can't wait to go to my orientation and start work!!

So Much Excitement.

My first exciting news is I only have 2 more weeks left of school! It can't come any faster though, I'm ready for it to end. Next, I'm coming home in less than a month. I originally planned on coming home in June for my shower and girls camp, but we found a really good deal in April so I'm coming home then. I'm having my shower on April 22nd, I think. I'm still not exactly sure what's going on. Another thing is Loren and I have made it through a month in the countdown. In exactly 4 months we'll be getting married :) I still think it's too far away but I'll deal with it for now. Friday is Loren's 22nd birthday! I keep telling him he's an old man because I'm still only 20, but that's only for another month and a half. I can't believe I'm turning 21 so soon :( We kind of already celebrated his birthday. We went to Wyoming this past weekend to celebrate both his and Gracie's birthday. It was a lot of fun, I was so excited to see Gracie and Olivia but everyone in that family was sick. Mason was in the hospital when we first got there. He was having problems breathing and his wheezing was so bad, I felt awful when I saw him. I don't think I've mentioned Mason on here. This is Lindsay's 3rd child. He was born in January but he was about a month early, so he was tiny. He's now 3 months and only 9 lbs. I weighed more than that when I was born, but yeah it was sad to see him. Gracie was hilarious all weekend (probably because she was the one person who wasn't sick). She finally understood that I'm not her Aunt yet. Loren asked when I was going to be and she said in like 5 days. I wish it was only 5 days away. She also told me before we left that she wanted me to stay at her house longer. I said how much longer and she said like 7 more minutes. I just laughed and said well I'll be here for another 7 minutes at least. Lindsay told me Gracie has no concept of time, it just made for a lot of memorable quotes. Olivia had strep while we were there. It made me feel bad because I remember having strep so many times when I was little. She was still adorable and actually talked to me more than she ever has, but at the same time she was cranky. One of the funniest conversations all weekend happened with her. This is how it went,
Gracie: "Whose are these?"
Loren: "I think they're chub chubs"
Gracie: "I'm not chub chubs..."
Olivia: "I'm chub chubs!!"
It was so funny, but as all good things do the weekend came to an end. We had to go back to school which is not as much fun at all. Now for the most exciting part of the week yesterday to celebrate the fact Loren and I have been together for 8 months (it feels much longer than that) we went and hiked the Y. I'll let the pictures explain it all.

 

We went up 1000 ft in elevation

We went about 300 ft in elevation and I already thought I was dying.

The view was really pretty though.

I have never hiked at such a high elevation before. I felt like I was getting no air.

He finally got me to smile.

I liked the rock so we took a picture.

Another sitting point, and I was doing my hair twirl.

Still smiling for Loren.

View from the top of the Y.

I actually was happy this time because we were done.

Loren being goofy.

You can see all of the valley below me!

5/7 Months.

I officially have 5 months until I get married. I'm not sure if I ever explained why Loren and I chose July 30th, it wasn't a random day. Really we wanted to get married on July 29th, but Loren's dad is going to be flying back from South/North (I can't remember which one) Dakota that day. We wanted to make sure he had time to get back to Texas and at least rest a little, that way he'd be able to fully enjoy our wedding. Last year Loren and I started dating on July 29th, although it wasn't facebook official til 2 weeks later, and a couple of days before we left for Utah. Because of this we thought it would be fun to get married exactly a year after we started dating. Also Loren kind of has a not so great memory, well depending on what it is, so I thought it'd be easier for him to remember this date since he already knew it. In reality I'm just helping him out :) However it makes planning for the wedding easy. At the end of each month I think oh it's be *insert number* months, and I also only have *insert number* months before we're married! Which is why my title says 5/7 months. We have 5 months until we're married, which I'm beginning to think was a big mistake. I feel like it's going to take forever!! And we've been dating for 7 months.This next part is where I talk about Loren.If you don't want to hear about how amazing he is then you can finish reading here.

We've officially made it past the 6 months mark. It went by fast, but at the same time I feel like we've been together forever. However I'm definitely not complaining about that. Some of my favorite moments throughout the week are when we just sit in front of the TV and watch a show. I love that Loren and I don't have to do anything extravagant in order to be happy. I love that Loren does everything he can to make me feel better. I'm probably the most emotional person you will ever meet. The tiniest thing will make me cry, even if people are joking and I know they're joking I still cry. I've already cried at least 3 times about wedding plans and we're still 5 months away. (Word of advice: Please be as nice as possible to me in July. I will probably be an emotional wreck!) So last night when I was crying about something that had to do with the wedding Loren just sat there and said "It'll be ok, I promise everything will work out" as he held me close. If I were him I probably would have been running away a long time ago, but I'm glad he didn't. 

I've had people ask me lately what attracts me most to Loren, why I want to marry him. Every time they ask it's such an easy answer, his testimony. I know it sounds like a typical church answer, but for me it's so true. After our first date we talked about the church for a long time (probably because we went to Institute right after our first date). As I sat there I was blown away by him, I was like wow this guy knows his stuff. One of my favorite things about him is when we read the scriptures together he can always tell me the background story to what's going on.In my marriage class my teacher is always saying how the most important thing to look for in a person you're dating is whether or not they'll be a good parent for your kids. Because of Loren's testimony immediately I said yeah he's going to be a great father someday. He's going to be able to teach his children so many things about the gospel. I still believe that, but for more reasons than one now. I know I say this every month, but I just want to get the point across. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father placed Loren in my life. What was completely unexpected for the both of us has turned into the greatest blessing I've ever received. I can't wait to get married to Loren, mainly because I can't wait to begin the rest of our lives together. I guess that'll be enough for this time.

      

Words of Advice...

If at all possible, don't get engaged in the middle of a semester. All I want to do now is focus on our wedding. I wish I had a big fast forward button on life so I could just skip to July! Sadly I still have about 8 more weeks of school. Poo. Meanwhile I've been trying to find a good and reasonably priced photographer in this area so we can do engagement pictures. Woah are people expensive!! For the wedding and reception I have an awesome friend of mine who has agreed to take pictures for us. She's been a good friend of mine since middle school, and when we were in high school she took an interest in photography. She went to Paris and came back with these gorgeous photos! She's been trying to expand on this, but she works all the time at Walgreens, but she said she'd do pictures both at the reception and the temple for $150 and I know she'll give me everything I want because I'm special :) I think it's easier to take pictures for people you're close with so I'm excited Kristen is going to be there with me!! We just need to take care of those engagement pictures. Meanwhile yesterday was a nice day for once so we coaxed Steve into taking some pictures of us since we forgot to last week when he proposed. There ended up being some cute/fun ones taken. That's mainly what this post is for. Here's the pictures.

Steve kept making us laugh so much. If you knew this guy you'd understand why

This was definitely my favorite, then Steve kept going oh yeah money shot. It didn't last long.

This was Loren's favorite, which is actually a good close up.

I had to put this on here because I think it totally describes our personalities.