Everything was perfect...

Except for one thing...

We came home to a flooded, not once, but three times apartment. Once we entered the good old USA, I received a text from my brother about the situation. LUCKILY, we had him housesit and he was able to get everything out before it got damaged. So upon landing in Salt Lake at midnight, we learned we would not be spending the night at our apartment. Instead, we set up shop at Nick's house with the whole famdamily!

The next morning, we looked at the apartment, smelled the AWFUL mold, nearly tripped over the warped wood floors, and realized this was NOT the place for us (because my dad, as a general contractor, knew this was NOT the first time this has happened - even though our innocent-looking 92 year old landlord tried to tell us it had never happened before, well, maybe 2 or 3 or 7 times...)

Now I want to bring you back to about 3 weeks before our wedding. Follow me...

We checked out this place Nick's uncle suggested, which turned out to be my friend's old place! But, it was not terribly desirable. So, despite this VERY strong feeling that this was a good place for us, I decided I wanted to keep looking around, just to see what else was out there. Well, I found a place I liked and we jumped on it. Despite my pushing to get everything moved in before our wedding, I couldn't get my other half to do a dang thing! So, we were half moved in as we boarded the plane to Mexico.

Back to present...

We decided THAT day that this place was not the best place for us and it wasn't where we were supposed to be. We felt strongly that we needed to call the other place we had looked at before. That night, in adherence to Nick's REAL SALT LAKE soccer obsession, we decided to go to the game last minute even though we were still homeless. We sat RIGHT IN FRONT of the people we were planning to call about their apartment! They said they were still doing some work on it so no one had taken it. We nearly shouted, "we'll take it!" They needed a week to finish their work, but said we could have it.

They re-did EVERYTHING and it's SO LOVELY! We are so happy here and finally have a place to call home. Moral of the story: The Lord knows where you need to be and He always takes care of you if you wander too far from His will. I feel silly for ignoring the prompting the first time, but grateful for second chances.

We had a perfect honeymoon...

We went to the Grande Occidental Xcaret (about an hour south of Cancun).

The resort was WONDERFUL! We had so much fun!

And we had a reception...

It was the most perfect day ever.

And we had the most wonderful photography EVER!!!

http://demandphotography.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

Mand - WE ARE SO HAPPY WITH YOUR WORK!!! She was quick and so on top of things - especially because Nicholas is SO impatient when it comes to the heat (he was done after about 20 minutes). We've had so MANY compliments on the pictures. My family especially loved how efficient you were at the temple and reception. Thank you!!! You made our day just that much more perfect...

We got married...

The proposal: June 20, 2011

WARNING: THIS IS PROBABLY NOT WHAT YOU'RE EXPECTING...

I knew the ring was ready as I was with Nick when he received the phone call. So, when Nick picked me up at 8:30 PM and took me up the mountain , brought dessert and a blanket while we watched the sunset (something he’s never done), I knew this was it. Plus, I could tell he was nervous. After sitting there for what seemed like an eternity, he told me the ring shop was closed today and that he wanted to do something nice for me because he felt bad because he knew how heartbroken I was that he had not yet proposed. I believed him for about 2 seconds and then realized that was not the case. But I played along and got a little sad, since I know that was probably the best he could come up with. We packed up the stuff and headed toward the car. He then told me to set everything down, held me tight as he told me he loved me more than anything in the whole world and that he wanted to be with me forever. He then got down on one knee and proposed. I said yes. By this point, I was exhausted and not looking cute because I was in my comfy cozy clothes. Plus, I found out neither of my parents knew he was proposing – so I had no idea how to go home and tell them that we were engaged and would be married 6 weeks later. My dad was good with it (even though it’s too bad Nick didn’t get the memo that you should probably ask or at least hint to the father of your interest in marrying his daughter – but who am I to be all traditional?). My mom’s reaction was interesting. I’ll leave it at that. If you know my mom, you know exactly what I mean. I went to bed not knowing exactly what to think and didn’t call a single soul to tell them. I waited until the next morning. Needless to say, my excitement levels were not usually where they ‘should’ be after a proposal. I love Nick very much and there are many things about him that cause me to know without a doubt that I want to marry him, but he has no romantic side to him whatsoever. So, was I kind of disappointed in the proposal after I TOLD him some great ideas and that he had lots of time to plan it while I was in Florida for a week? Yes. But, did I expect something more? No – although I hoped. A girl can dream can’t she? At least I know without a doubt that Nick will love me forever and do the best he can to take care of me and our family. And that’s the most important thing. However, I still pray for the day when Nick’s little surprises are more than a loud burp or something… Haha.

Now I understand that some of you have even better (and by better, I mean worse) proposal stories than me, but it's all the same idea - it wasn't quite what we had hoped. But we love them anyway, right? :)

Before:

I only have before pictures, because we found a place to live! It was one of my biggest stresses and we feel very blessed to have found something so great. Our landlord is 92 and moves better than my 70 year old grandma. Haha. I am nervous, but excited! Stay tuned for the after pictures!

The living room:

The kitchen:

The bedroom:

The bathroom:

Here goes nothing...

Date night

Even with a 6 week engagement, we found time to have a date night. Something very fun and VERY needed. The best part - Nick planned the WHOLE thing! He was so excited about his authentic picnic basket. I'm not sure what bands we were listening to, but we were up at snowbird and had lots of fun spending some quality (as opposed to 'let's get wedding things done') time together.

Yep, we're in love

Man, she made us look good!

Check out her website: www.bigacci.blogspot.com