He Asked, I Said Yes. (The Proposal)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Well hello there :)
This whole being engaged and planning a wedding thing is a whole new world to me.
A couple months ago, I would have had each blog post planned and known exactly when I would post it.
Then planning a wedding in less than two months happened and suddenly this little blog of mine has become way less of a priority. 
Sorry about the delay, but I'm really really loving this time in my life :)
I can't believe it will be over in a little less than 13 days!

Alright, on with it:

So, Hunter is in Utah attending Brigham Young University and waking up at 5 in the morning almost every day for football workouts. It's still beyond me that he was on a mission like 6 weeks ago. 
I'm in San Diego planning our wedding, working, and getting ready to be a wife!
Yep, we're apart again. But what's new right?
So after the week of pure bliss, we had to leave each other again. 
As mentioned in my previous post. 
But, he came home to give me my sparkly ring about 2 weeks later :)
(by the way, it is a really fun feeling looking down at the keyboard and seeing my diamonds sparkling away on my finger!)
When the ring was purchased, it was quite a bit bigger than my midget fingers. 
So it all ended up working out because Hunter and I were apart while the ring was being sized.
We clearly were in a time crunch with the date we chose to get married, so we did pretty much everything out of order.
We've always been just a little different anyways :)
Most of the big parts of planning were out of the way, but we only had one weekend to get everything done that needed to be done together. 
Hunter came home on January 24th and practically right as his plane landed we were in the car on our way to get ourselves a marriage license.
That was an experience.
You will find all sorts of characters in a place like that haha.
I think half of the people were looking at us thinking we were babies and way too young to get married while the other half probably thought I was pregnant.
But $70 later, we were licensed to wed in the state of California :)
(You really have to pay for that? So stupid.)
We then spent the evening walking around downtown San Diego where we found the USS Midway where we went to our first prom together.
We even found the pier we slow danced on.
(and this time we realized how unromantic the atmosphere was hahaha)
Afterwards, we went over to my parents house for dinner.
It was delicious and it was a lot of fun spending time with them.
Once dinner was over it was time for Hunter and my dad to have their "talk."
My mom and I grabbed milkshakes as they discussed whatever they discussed. 
Luckily he survived, ha
So now, Hunter was officially able to give me my ring and the biggest news of our lives could finally be announced.
On January 25th we had a full day planned.
It was an interesting feeling waking up and thinking "Today I am going to officially be engaged. What should I wear when I get proposed to?"
Haha, like I said we do things a bit differently.
I knew Hunter would be proposing that day, I just didn't exactly know how.
So, we were off to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond to register for wedding gifts.
yes we totally did that before we were "officially" engaged but I already felt like I was :)
Let me tell ya, it was a blast having Hunter scan all the fun little things we needed for our first home together.
Well, I think I had more fun but he was a good sport :)
Afterwards, we went back to his parents house to quickly grab lunch before we headed out to the beach.
As we were on our way to the beach I had a little feeling in the back of my mind that he would propose there but I wanted to be just a little surprised so I played dumb haha.
Once we got there we laid on the sand and enjoyed Hunter's first time at the beach in over two years.
We walked down to the water to play around.
We were all smiles being in 75 degree weather in January at the beach together.
Then... I uh split his lip open.
Haha yes you totally read that right.
Hunter was standing behind me and I was holding his hands. In my head I thought, "oh if I lift myself up a little bit he can hold me." So, I jumped up (I'm a spaz) and my head hit his chin. He was smiling, so once my head hit his chin he bit his lip.
There was blood, and I felt like crying.
Lucky for me he is the sweetest boy and didn't make me feel bad for ruining all his plans.
Go me.
We laid on the beach together and I pretty much felt horrible, but being with him made it a whole lot better.
We decided to go to a few other memory spots once we left the beach.
We went to a park where we had a fun little date and reminisced on old memories. We passed by another park with even more memories. Then we went to a park that overlooks all of San Marcos and pointed out where our first kiss was, where we went to high school, my parents house, and his, and other spots that were memorable to us.
I was on the verge of tears thinking of all the history we have together and looking over the town where we made each of those cherished memories and fell in love oh so young.
(We always say that Tattoos On This Town is totally our song)
We talked about how far we've come and how much farther we have to go.
Then, it got better :)
We started walking higher up the trail when I heard Hunter say, "Hey Aleigh, Catch!"
I turned around to see him tossing me a football with the sweetest grin.
I almost didn't, but luckily I caught it :)
I quickly noticed that my beautiful ring was attached with a pink ribbon tied on the ball.
Then he ran up to me, got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife.
 To be his for time and all eternity :)
My eyes got teary but I of course said yes and jumped into his arms.
Yes, kisses were involved after he slid the ring on my finger and we took a moment to look back at the city where I cheered him on several Friday nights as he led our football team to victory.
Back then, I had only dreamed of him asking me to marry him.
But that day, my wildest dreams became a reality as I joined his team forever and became his receiver scoring the most amazing man in the entire world to be with for eternity. (So much better than a touchdown haha)
The Lord just knows us so much better than we know ourselves.
Although it involved a bloody lip, he led us to that park to remind us of the amazing journey He has led us on.
He led us to one another and we quickly figured out we were perfect for each other, and now I get to say that I am marrying the man of my wildest dreams in the most beautiful temple in the world.
Nothing brings me greater joy than knowing I will be HIS Mrs. Moore and that we get to share eternity together.
I constantly ask myself how on earth I got so lucky.
I didn't know it was physically possible to be so passionately in love with someone and to be so completely happy.
The rest of the day I was giddy beyond belief.
He was too :)
We couldn't leave each other's side for more than five minutes without feeling like the other half was missing.
We were totally that annoying couple, and I'm so not ashamed.
Sunday January 26th Hunter finally gave his homecoming talk and I sat there amazed at what an amazing man he is.
He is so in tune with the spirit and knows exactly how to make sure there isn't a dry eye in the house.
I looked down and saw my sparkly ring on my finger as he was speaking and was suddenly reminded that that amazing man is mine, forever.
My eyes welled with tears as I once again felt like the luckiest girl in the entire world.
We had to say goodbye once again that day, and that was truly the hardest goodbye yet.
We both got quiet in the car on the way to the airport when the tears did the talking.
We spent a little while talking about our future eternal family and the happiness and joy that would bring us.
Then, it was time to say goodbye once again.
We blew kisses as I drove away and the tears leaked from my eyes the entire way home.
So it goes, we have been apart since.
Thank goodness for facetime and phone calls because truly, this is torture.
Somehow, the two years we spent apart were easier than this is.
But, I cannot wait to marry my sweetheart and never have to say goodbye for more than a few hours again :)

So there ya have it!
That is how we got engaged, and it was truly perfect in every way possible for us :)
I love Hunter with every ounce of my being and I am thrilled to be his wife!
Here's to eternity :)

Maybe I'll find some time to catch up on wedding planning now that we're getting married in 12 days!
aww music to my ears :)









All my love,
Aleigh Joy

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And Then What Happened?

Thursday, February 6, 2014
The month of January was a complete whirlwind.
I can't believe everything that happened in such a short amount of time. 
Hunter came home from his mission... and then what?
That seems to be the reoccurring question so I guess it's about time to answer :)

Thursday January 2nd was the night we were reunited.
It was everything I could have hoped it would be.
It felt like we never skipped a beat.
Hunter was still very much so in "missionary mode" and asked me to be back at his house at 6:30 in the morning so that we could talk.
Though I wasn't thrilled about waking up that early, I agreed.
That little talk we had as we walked to the end of the street, only reassured me that he must absolutely be the one Heavenly Father sent to this earth for me to be with for eternity.
I won't get into too much detail, but I will tell you that I was yet again feeling so grateful that the handsome man standing in front of me served a mission. 
As we spoke he looked me in the eyes, he genuinely cared about what I had to say, he shared mission stories that touched both his and my heart, he asked what my goals and plans were, he explained what he learned while being gone, and he was looking dreamier than ever.
In that moment we both agreed that we didn't want to rush anything and that we wanted to make sure every decision we would make from there on out would be between the two of us and The Lord and not anybody else.
It's an interesting thing having everyone around you wondering why you aren't engaged yet after 12 hours of being reunited after 2 long years apart. 
Talk about pressure.
Not only that, but we were supposed to somehow figure out if we really wanted to marry each other in like a week and three days.
No wait... now talk about pressure. 
We loved each other still, of course. 
In fact, it was intensified by like 5000 this time around and we both picked up on that pretty quick.
We were incredibly comfortable around each other and everything really did just feel right
But, it was still a lot to take in.
Especially for a returned missionary fresh off the plane. 
That weekend he was able to spend in California was wonderful.
I enjoyed spending just about every waking moment being able to actually hug him, hold his hand, talk to him, and just look at him.
It didn't take much getting used to at all having him home... except for remembering to sleep and eat.
I'm serious. 

Sunday January 5th was the day we headed out to Utah to send Hunter off to school.
Remember how I said January was a whirlwind? 
Are you starting to see why?
Just wait though, the fact that Hunter was right back at school just a few days after coming home isn't even the biggest news I have for ya.
So we spent a full week up in Utah with Hunter.
It was hands down the best week of my life.
And now I'm like, slightly at a loss for words.
Each day got better and better.
Each day the hugs got tighter, the kisses got sweeter, the talks got deeper, the feelings got stronger, the hopes got bigger, and the dreams started to come true. 
I had day dreamed about these moments with Hunter for 5 years.
And then there I was living them.
And they were better than I ever could have imagined. 
We were happier than ever before, and it was noticeable.
But, each day seemed to come and go far quicker than we wished.

Suddenly it was Thursday January 9th, literally a week after Hunter had come home. 
We decided to go on a little day date beginning with Cafe Rio and ending at the Provo Temple. 
We walked around Temple Grounds and a pretty little snow storm decided to grace us with its presence.
We hurried back to the car and decided on talking instead of driving back. 
I'm pretty sure I'll never forget that talk.
It got deep, and it ended exactly how I had hoped.
It entailed a few memories, a few personal things, a bunch of "I love you's", a couple kisses, a few hopes and one big dream. 
It was that day that we were able to honestly look in each other's eyes and say that we absolutely, undoubtedly, knew we wanted to marry each other for time and all eternity in the San Diego Temple. 
We began to set a date, figure out how on earth we would make it work, and how soon we could make it work.
We were both giddy beyond belief and happier than anything.
That night we talked to his parents. 
We told them about our little fairytale plan and they were quick to jump on board and help us in any way they could. 
It was a dream come true, and I went to bed with a happy heart.

The next day, Friday January 10th, I found a ring after only trying two on.
He did too, and they were purchased that day. 
It was all beginning to feel so real, but it also became the hardest secret I have ever had to keep. 
My parents didn't know all our big plans because we were still in Utah and they were still in San Diego.
I really didn't have the intention of going to Utah and practically getting engaged, but when you know you just know and we absolutely knew.
Hunter didn't officially propose while I was still there because out of respect for my dad he wanted to wait to talk to him and ask for his blessing. 
Have I mentioned that I really love him? Cause I do. 

Sunday January 11th, I left my Prince Charming in Utah and had to go back to California to plan this wedding. 
The goodbyes never get easier, but it did feel a little better knowing that he would be home in 2 weeks. 
I told my parents about our dreams and all that we had discussed while in Utah the night I came home. 
Of course it was a lot to take in for them, especially when I told them that we were thinking the end of February/ Beginning of March but they also quickly began to do nothing but help me get ready for the big day. 
Slowly the biggest secret of my life began to trickle out to friends around town as my bridal showers were planned, the reception venue was decided upon, the caterer was booked, the florist was contacted, the invites were made, the dress was picked, the cake was ordered, the photographer was booked, decorations were bought, bridesmaid dresses were ordered, my hair appointment was made, and the temple was called and confirmed. 
Ladies and gentlemen, all of that was done in a matter of a little less than two weeks and I wasn't even "officially" engaged. 
In the mean time, Hunter and I would FaceTime just about every day and he found a new love for snapchat haha (thank goodness for modern technology) but being apart just really never got easier.
It was anything but fun being apart again and we were counting down the days until we would get to see each other again.

So, is your head spinning yet?
Cause mine hasn't stopped haha.
So you're probably thinking to yourself that we did exactly what we said we wouldn't do by "rushing" this wedding.
But to us, we don't feel that way one bit.
After 5 years of waiting for our wedding day to come, we are beyond ready for this new adventure. 
We are desperately, hopelessly, and crazy in love with each other. 
Yes we're young. 
Age is but a number.
Yes we are broke.
These will be some of the best years of our lives.
No we don't have everything figured out.
But, we don't have to just yet. We are figuring life out with each passing day and who better to figure it all out with than your very best friend?

So, all of this being said and done... I have one more post to finally get myself caught up on life as of Hunter coming home.
I'm sure you can guess what that post will be about. 
Yes, the proposal :)
I can't wait!
See ya soon.

Oh, and here's some pictures from the week after :)



























All my love,
Aleigh Joy


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