I received my endowments in the evening of August 11 in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. My parents, my brother Scott, and my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Linda were there from my side. My wonderful ELANG professor, Cynthia Hallen, showed up at the temple not long after my mom and I did and she came too. From Stephan's side, it was only him and his parents. My grandfather was going to come, but something came up. The temple is truly a beautiful place. I cannot tell too much because of the sacredness of it, but I will say that there is nothing scary about the temple ceremony. It is not nearly as complicated as I thought it was going to be--the ceremony itself is quite simple, it's just that there is A LOT to remember. My advice to those who are going to the temple in the near future is to study the scriptures, and I especially recommend reading The Pearl of Great Price because the endowment ceremony is almost entirely taken from that. There are other scriptures I highly recommend that I will put up at a later date. But let me say that if you have attended church and paid attention to what has been taught, read the scriptures, and attended seminary if you have had the chance, you will be prepared.
The next day, I went for a job interview at Western Governor's University in Murray, UT. I was interviewed by four people at once, and that was intimidating. I found out yesterday that I didn't make the next cut in the process. I'm doing all right, it's kind of a relief knowing that I won't have to commute to Murray everyday for work. But I am back on the job search wagon again, which is annoying, but now that I am out of school and almost done with wedding stuff, I can work right away.
I moved out of my apartment on August 13. I missed commencement, but I didn't really care that much anyway. After moving my stuff out of Park Plaza and into the new apartment, I went back to my family's rented house in Lehi and then we went to my uncle's for a family cookout. Stephan came along, and we left in the middle so he could go for his stake president's interview for his living ordinance recommend. Then we came back, and Craig and Brittney had shown up at my uncle's. Craig tried to intimidate Stephan, but was unsuccessful. I think they got along just fine :)
Then on August 14, I went to my college's convocation. In other words I graduated from BYU!!! My entire family was there and Stephan was there with his parents and his little sister. A few hours afterwards, we had a family lunch at Brick Oven, which was good. At the lunch, Stephan gave me my wedding present: pearl earrings! He got them so they would match my pearl necklace :) I didn't see Stephan for the rest of the day :( but I was okay.
August 15: the wedding. I got up early, ate breakfast, and then my stylist called and told me that she couldn't find the place. Uh-oh. But she did find it, thank goodness. She did my hair and she did Brittney's. Then my mom and I drove to the temple, and it was VERY windy and cloudy. I was afraid it was going to rain. On August 15? In Utah? No way!
Well, my mom and I got to the temple before Stephan and his dad did. Funny. Everything went smoothly, until Stephan stepped on my dress and part of the bustling came out. We spent most of the time in the Celestial Room trying to fix it. One of the patrons gave us her safety pin. After that, we were taken to the sealing room. My mother's Uncle Herschel (my great uncle) performed the ceremony. It was beautiful. And I am so grateful that Stephan and I are sealed for time and all eternity :)
And it did rain that day. Thankfully, it was only drizzling when we came out of the temple and it was a little chilly. I'm grateful we had such an experienced photographer! And he was really congenial, which was good because it was a very stressful day for me. Alex (Stephan's brother) forgot the bouquet, and Brian had to go get it. And then we forgot the guestbook and they had to buy a new one.
The reception went pretty smoothly. Good food, lovely string quartet, lovely ambience, and we had a lot of people. But unfortunately, a lot of my friends didn't show up. Apparently a lot of people got mixed up about the time. We did have an afternoon reception after all. But we still had a lot of people who showed up! And our car didn't get decorated, although Trevan and Heather are still determined to do it. Heather is still mad that theirs got decorated at their wedding and she wants revenge. Trevan wants to because it's tradition. I am now going to address them:
Trevan, I know it's YOUR family tradition, but you see, we're not in YOUR family, you're in OURS.
Heather, take out your anger on Trevan's sisters, not us. We didn't do anything to you. Don't you remember how you felt when Trevan's sisters did that to you? I'll feel the same way, only worse.
Anyway. We had the bouquet and boutenniere toss (no garter, I hate the garter tradition). My cousin Kerstin and my brother Paul caught both respectively :)
Then came the honeymoon. We spent the first night in Little America in downtown Salt Lake and then spent a few days in a cabin in Logan Canyon. The cabin was okay, except that it was about 70 years old, some of the furniture was out of date, and every time we went into the bathroom, there was a new bug. The last night of the honeymoon was spent in Anniversary Inn in Logan, and it was WONDERFUL. Stephan selected the Oriental Gardens room, and it was perfect. It was the perfect way to end a honeymoon.
Yesterday was spent driving to Orem, packing stuff for Houston, and flying to Houston. We got in late last night.
So far, being married is lovely. I love having someone to cuddle up with when I go to bed. I think I sleep better when someone else is in the bed...who would have thought? Stephan is wonderful and I hope he stays that way. I could not have asked for a better husband. I'm doing my best to be a good wife.
I highly recommend marriage--it's wonderful.
