Monday, May 14, 2012

Making moneys and memories

Ahh...summer is almost here. Time to drink lemonade, lay out by the pool, and read lots of books. Well, unless you're working two jobs and planning a wedding. But hey, I certainly can't complain. In the mornings, I work as a sanitation engineer (ok...custodian) at Heritage Halls and in the afternoons I head up to the McKay Building to work as an Arts Implementation Specialist for the Elementary Education department. I was really lucky to land both of these jobs because they are both super flexible. And the latter is great for my resume! I basically work on projects that promote the arts to Elementary Education majors at BYU. Right now we are preparing for a conference that will have lots of different classes on how to integrate arts into the classroom. I'm loving it. They also gave me a Macbook to use as long as I'm working for the department! Score. Lendrum is also working taking care of mentally handicapped people. It's a good job, but the hours are long and don't really line up with my schedule. He works till midnight three days out of the week, and by that time we are both usually dead tired. He also works a graveyard shift one night a week, which is awful. But we are both working hard to make money for our future life together, so it's all going to be worth it.

Wedding planning is definitely overwhelming, but I have an awesome mom who is doing so much. AND she is keeping her cell phone with her more often, which is a miracle in itself. It's kind of fun planning for the best day of my life. Lendrum and I are getting pretty excited about our Hawaii honeymoon as well. We have hotels and flights booked! On weekends, we usually have more time to do fun things and I try to manage my time so that I'm not caught up in wedding planning when we have time to spend together. Details that I've ironed out so far: wedding dress is bought, reception location is planned, sealing time is reserved, photographer is booked, colors are picked out, and announcements are coming along. We've still got a long way to go, but at least it's a start.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

South Carolina. Day 6. I'M ENGAGED!!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I've thought long and hard about how I would start this post. How do you introduce the best day of your life? I really could not have asked for a better day, a better proposal, or a better man to spend the rest of my life and beyond with. Lendrum Morrow is the man of my dreams. I am so incredibly lucky to call him mine. Here's our story...

I really was hoping that he'd do it in South Carolina. What a perfect place to get engaged! I even mentioned this to him one evening, and he shut down my hopes by telling me that he wanted to wait until I had met his family first. I was still secretly hoping he'd propose in South Carolina though. Every time we went out, I'd quickly look down at his pockets just to check if there was a ring box. So when Lendrum told me he wanted to take me out to RB's, I did my usual routine. No ring box in site. Dang it. Well we went to the restaurant, which was stunning, and ate a nice seafood meal as we watched the boats come in to Shim Creek from the Ocean. Then Lendrum said he wanted to walk along the beach on Sullivan's Island. This particular part of the beach faces west, so you can see the sunset over the ocean and the city of Charleston in the background. When we arrived at the beach, there was nobody there except for a little old lady with her dog. But don't worry, by the time the sun started going down, she was gone. We walked along the beach for a while and took a few pictures. And then it happened. Lendrum looked at me and started saying a bunch of nice things. At first, I just thought he was being his normal sweet self, but then he got down on one knee and pulled out the prettiest ring I've ever seen. He said, "Christine, I can't imagine going another day without you in my life. I want to spend the rest of eternity with you. Will you marry me?" It all happened so fast, yet I remember this moment so clearly. I never thought I could feel so happy in my life. I was just overcome with emotion and so incredibly excited to have Lendrum forever. Nothing could have wiped that smile off my face. He stood up and slipped the beautiful ring on my finger. We stayed on the beach for a little while; I just didn't want that moment to end. We finally made our way back to the truck and to my surprise, there was a bouquet of roses on my seat! I actually didn't see them at first, I was too busy looking at my ring. Lendrum had to point them out haha. But they were just so beautiful! Everything was just perfect. We got back to his house (his mom and all his brothers knew he was proposing that night) and everyone was so excited! So many hugs haha. His mom gave me a South Carolina blanket and Quinn gave me a sweet grass rose and necklace. We took some more pictures, had scripture study and prayer (honestly, all I could think about was the fact that I was actually engaged!), and then it was time for the phone calls. Lendrum and I probably spent a good two hours just calling our friends and family to spread the good news. By the time we were done with the phone calls, we were exhausted. I went to bed that night knowing that I was the happiest girl in the world, and that feeling hasn't gone away since. And I don't plan on it ever going away. I am so in love with Lendrum and I can't wait until August 4th when we will be married!

Picture taken by the nice old lady

Beautiful sunset on Sullivan's Island.

I'M ENGAGED!

I couldn't be happier

My beautiful ring

South Carolina. Day 5.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I've decided that Cypress Gardens is the prettiest place I've ever been to. Look familiar? That's because this is where The Notebook was filmed. I wanted to see some gators while I was in South Carolina, so Lendrum suggested Cypress Gardens. There were these huge, beautiful cypress trees growing in a marshy creek. We rowed through the water in little rowboats. Quinn was our tour guide, and we definitely wouldn't have spotted all the gators that we did without him. It was just so beautiful; I could have spent all week at Cypress Gardens. Funny story: when we first arrived, we hadn't eaten lunch and were starving! We saw a sign that said "refreshments" and followed it to find a couple vending machines. Fail. We were expecting a restaurant..haha. Later that night, we had a bonfire on the beach with some family and friends. Then, the moment I had been waiting for: Waffle House! I had to do it. My bacon wrap was super greasy and the guy who made it didn't wear gloves. It was all part of the experience!

Quinn, me, and Lendrum in our boat

Gator watchin

Spotted: big gator!

Beautiful Cypress Gardens

Yep.

Swamp People

Waffle House baby!

South Carolina. Day 4.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Downtown time! Lendrum and I met up with Quinn and a few other friends in Charleston and took a bus tour of the historic city. Charleston was actually a lot different than I imagined. There were no skyscrapers, no city skyline, and lots and lots of churches. We got to see lots of famous sites on our tour, including Rainbow Row, The Battery, Calhoun Mansion, The Citadel, The College of Charleston, Riverdogs stadium, the slave market, and some pretty awesome famous houses. After our tour, we explored Waterfront Park and got some dang good gelato! That night, Stephanie, Kim, Lendrum, and I went to Chase's baseball game. Lendrum and I went to the beach later.

Fort Sumter Monument

Famous Mansion

East Coast!

Charleston crew

So cute and Southern

Waterfront Park swings

Pineapple fountain..and Sperry's

South Carolina. Day 3.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sunday was the day of meeting more people than I can remember, smiling a lot, and hoping that everyone liked me. Quinn gave his farewell talk, which was excellent. Stephanie's two other sisters, Stacy and Faith, are also in their ward so there was a lot of family there. It was fun to see everyone all together. That night we had a big family dinner. The food was absolutely delicious. Ham, cheese potatoes, rolls, pretzel salad, lots of other salads, cupcakes, and eclair cake. Everything was so good! The Morrow house was full of family and friends. We were all eating, laughing, telling stories, and playing games the whole night.


I seriously love them

Morrow boys! Minus Mckay.

South Carolina. Day 2.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

My first real day in South Carolina proved to be quite the adventure. First on the list: wakeboarding! For those of you who don't know, one of my life goals has been to get up on a wakeboard. Now granted I've only tried one other time, this goal remained unaccomplished until this day. Lendrum, Quinn, and I were fortunate enough to go out on Dr. Merrill's boat on the Stono River. I remember being blown away by all the trees along the river, not to mention all the docks! Every house along the river had a dock. It was beautiful! Lendrum and Quinn busted out some moves on the wakeboard, and then it was my turn. Everyone was very patient with me. But alas, I finally got up! I can check that one off the list now. I'd really like to get better at wakeboarding and go more in the future.

On Saturday night, we went to North Charleston to see Wicked! Such a good show. We got third row seats too! We went to dinner at Longpoint Grill  before the show, which was deliciously Southern. We thought the show started at 7pm, but it really started at 8pm so we were a little early. We took some pictures and chatted for a while before it was time to go in the theater. It was a great way to spend my first day in the South!

Out on the river

Air

Woo! Outside the wake baby.

Love this boy

Goofing off before Wicked

Stephanie, Kim, me, Lendrum, and Quinn at the show