A Trip to the Zoo

Hi everyone!

These have been some wonderful past few weeks, but it isn't without lots of trials. I'm so happy that Kiley and I only have 20 days to go! That means that tomorrow, we'll be in the teens. Crazy! :)

Anyways, school went really well last semester, but both Kiley and I were very ready for it to end. We were pleasantly surprised that both of us got straight A's this last semester! That was amazing, especially since it was the hardest semester that either of us had experienced so far.

Now that we're out of school, we are doing our very best getting ready for the wedding that's coming up. Kiley is frantically working with her family to plan the details of the wedding, and I'm helping where I can. I recently applied for and received a nursing position in a nursing home (Princeton Place) where I am working almost full-time. It was a great blessing to receive this job before Kiley and I are married so I can save up and be able to support a family. I am making $24.50 per hour, so I think this is my highest paying steady job as of yet! What a great blessing!

Sadly, I haven't taken too many photos. Kiley and I are pretty sick of being engaged -- we just want to hurry up and get married! The idea of eloping sounded very good to me, but sadly, I think we're just going to have to wait another 20 days or so.

One of the activities that Kiley and I did shortly after school got out was a trip to the zoo! We had a fun time searching for animals whose name started with each letter of the alphabet. Here's Kiley modeling our "f" animal, the flamingo:

This is the cutest, hugest rodent ever! This is a capybara, the largest rodent in the world:

The only bad part about going to the zoo was that we left a little late, since I had a meeting to go to that morning. Since the afternoon sun was pretty hot, many of the animals just wanted to lie around and do nothing! Hmmm.... Sounds like me! :)

Actually, the tigers weren't quite resting. They were roaring and clawing at each other after the female tiger got upset over a *cough cough*, umm, an unwanted encounter with her male counterpart. Then they were just hanging out in different bedrooms, angry at each other. Oh, the drama of the zoo!

Here I am pretending to be like this cool looking bird:

The polar bears were super funny! They had a little dance routine going on. Especially the one on the right. He would do the same thing over and over in rhythm, moving his head around, walking back and forth, and even doing a complicated "grape-vine" step where he'd put one paw underneath the other to walk. So cute!

Here's a majestic peacock modeling what just happens to be our wedding theme colors:

And of course, the future wife and husband to be, sitting on our thrones, getting ready to take the spotlight: :)

All of the cool animals made me feel like I was part of the Lion King! There were hippopotamuses, warthogs, hienas and lions (see above), and even beautiful cheetas!

The giraffe came so close to us I could almost stick out my hand and pat him on the head! He was looking for food to eat, so he extended his super long neck and tongue and tried to grab a branch that was close to me and Kiley. I think he succeeded:

This was really cute, too. This elephant was thirsty, so he stuck his trunk into the water and sucked up water. It then sprayed the water into its mouth. The cutest thing was the huge smile it had on its face and the fact that all of the water just poured out of the elephant's mouth while it was trying to drink! We nicknamed the elephant "Mason" for Kiley's little nephew, who always seems to smile and drools more than any other kid I know. It was the cutest thing! :)

Of course, ever since I was little I've wanted to ride on top of a dragon. Little did I know that the only dragon at the zoo was a komodo dragon! Kiley, knowing of my wish, tamed this wild komodo dragon with her sweet kisses so I could hop on its back and go for a spin!

And, last but not least, my favorite part of the zoo -- the gorillas! They aren't the cutest or the sweetest creatures, but they sure have personality! Just look at this one (I'm sure he's the one who angrily throws things at the crowd):

Thank you so much for taking me to the zoo, Kiley! I had a blast! :) I hope you enjoyed the photos!

How's this for an engagement photo?

Update on Life

Hi everyone!

I just want to give you an update on my life, though it's pretty stressful, as usual. We're getting into the last few weeks of school here at UNM, and the work is piling up. Not to mention the wedding plans and making homemade invitations! But I don't mind that part as much. It's more exciting! We already have our marriage license, and we're trying to finalize bridesmaid clothes, men's ties, the wedding dress, my suit, decorations, food, cake, and all that jazz. Crazy!

One of the most exciting things that happened was going to get our engagement photos taken! We went to the Botanical Gardens here in Albuquerque a few weeks back, and I think we went at the perfect time when everything was in bloom. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Isn't this one just adorable? :)

This one's more artistic.

I love the waterfall in the background!

The bamboo really brings out the Asian in me, doesn't it?

This hollow tree kind of looks like a heart. <3

These are some beautiful blossoms! :)

Peek-a-boo!

Oh, I love my Kiley! She's such an amazing girl. :)

It is most definitely the most exciting time of my life. Can you believe that there are only 60 days left until the wedding? There's just so much to do!

I've decided, however, that I do not like being engaged. It's horrible! I know we need to plan and send out invitations and everything, but if we could just forget about all of that, I would marry Kiley right now. I love her with all my soul and am so grateful for the temple ordinances and knowledge that we can be together forever.

I love you all and hope to see you soon! Time is flying by so fast, we just have to make the most of every moment. :)

Engagement :)

Hey everybody!

I want to let you know how amazing these past few weeks have been, despite the normal stresses of being a full time college student. I'll tell you why. I have been going out with an incredible girl named Kiley Kartchner, and we have grown really close over the past few months. We literally haven't spent more than a couple days apart! Of course, I have been praying over our relationship for some time, and I have felt that Kiley is the girl that I want to take to the temple. However, I didn't know the timing or the Lord's will, so I decided to wait and see how everything played out.

Kiley and I started talking about marriage last month, and I could tell that Kiley had also received the same witness that I did about our relationship, so I decided to start doing some ring shopping! Here's the ring that I found:

When I saw this ring, I could picture it on Kiley's hand and decided that it was the one. I put in the order to buy it, and then it was just a matter of how to ask her! I called her parents and asked their permission for her hand in marriage, and though it was a little intimidating and nerve-racking, they were amazing and very supportive. After that huge step was over, I decided that the proposal had to be entirely original and catch Kiley off guard. I wanted her to be totally surprised, even when we had been talking about getting married. So, I designed a cookbook!

After the many inexpensive cooking dates that Kiley and I had over winter break, I decided to make a collection of the recipes we had made. I arranged them all into a cute little cookbook, filled with pictures of us cooking together and the meals that we had made. However, towards the end, the cookbook had a "Memories" section where I wrote a few entries that I had written in my journal while we were dating, along with some pictures of the two of us together on different dates.

The final page was as follows:

So, the Friday before Valentine's Day, Kiley was over at my house doing homework with me. I got a message that the ring had arrived, and I already had the finished version of our cookbook in hand. I told Kiley that I had to run an errand, so I headed out for the ring shop. I hurried as much as possible to get home with the ring in hand! A few might ask why I didn't just wait until Valentine's Day itself. Well, I believe that it would have been way too cliché. Okay, and maybe I just couldn't wait. But that's beside the point. :)

After helping Kiley finish her psychology homework, I told her that I wanted to show her something. I led her down to where I had the cookbook wrapped in birthday paper. She first opened my silly birthday card, which explained why I was giving her a birthday present a month early (to make sure it was a surprise!). She then opened the cookbook and flipped through the pages. It was fun reminiscing with her about all of our different dating adventures. She then read through the "Memories" section of the book, and I started getting nervous. This was it! She turned to the last page. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the picture of us together. She read, and I could tell that her heart was racing just as fast as mine. When she finished, she glanced up at me with a puzzled look on her face. I said, "I guess that's the part where I get on my knee..." I got down, took out the ring, and asked her to marry me.

The best part is: She said yes! :)

I couldn't be happier -- I am going to be married to my best friend! Kiley Kartchner is very special to me. Since the time we first met, we have grown together like I could never have imagined. We have made it through some interesting trials and come out all the more unified. I am crazy excited to be sealed with her for time and all eternity! The greatest adventure of my life lies just ahead.

On another note, after Kiley and I got engaged, we had a some really fun Valentine's Day dates. Kiley sent me on a scavenger hunt where I followed clues to a few different places around Albuquerque (like where we had our first date, where I asked her to be my girlfriend, etc.) until I found her. It was lots of fun! On Valentine's Day itself, we held a marriage ceremony for Violet the viola and Eugene the cello, our dear instruments. Here's the invitation that we gave to a few friends:

I know. We're kinda silly. But it was a lot of fun! And yes, Eugene and Violet are now officially married. They beat us! They were very excited also. I think that they're a little bummed out, though, because they can't move in together until Kiley and I get married, so they'll just have to wait! Here are a few pictures we took at the wedding ceremony, held in the Albuquerque LDS Institute of Religion:

Dillon Moss, who played the wedding march on the piano to start us out, was also in charge of the ceremony and marrying the two love birds:

"Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew... today. That bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam..."

I thought Eugene's cummerbund was a nice touch. :)

I love you all and hope you enjoy the news! We are planning on getting married on June 24th in the Albuquerque Temple.