.being.engaged.

Trent and I got engaged on July 14, 2014. Our initial plan was to get married in October and have a nice fall wedding. A winter wedding was never an option for me. I hate the cold and I refused to be shivering my rear off outside the temple.

I knew that once September hit, I would be in full swing with my student teaching and getting ready to graduate. Getting married in the middle of all of that gave me really bad anxiety. I wanted to be able to be married and not worry about my portfolio or my tests. I wanted to be a good wife and take care of Trent without that stress. January 3, 2015 it was. 

Here are a few reasons we chose to wait:

> I will have graduated from college and gotten a job to help provide for us. 

> My sister and brother in law who live in Switzerland would be able to come out for the wedding and stay much much longer for Christmas and the New Year. 

> My 2 cousins who are also my best friends are coming home from their missions {Sarah: 12/17/14 and Rachel 1/2/15} I wanted them to be there for this special day. 

> Time = being able to save money

> We will be able to spend the holidays with our own families one last time before getting married.

> Who wouldn't want to be engaged to their best friend for 5 1/2 months?!

Now once we chose this date I felt nothing but peace about it. However, the following Sunday after getting engaged, we went to church and when people asked what the date was...you would never believe that reactions we got....

... "Oh...good luck with that one."

..."Why on earth would you do that to yourselves?!"

..."Good luck not screwing up and not being able to make it to the temple!" {Verbatim}

..."You guys probably won't make it."

..."Just getting married sooner. That's the smart thing to do."

..."Oh....so like 6 months eh?...that sucks."

I'm not kidding on any of those comments. I drove back down to Provo that night in full on tears. I called my mom wondering if waiting 5 1/2 months was a good idea. I was able to talk to my sister, Jessica, about my feelings towards this. She was engaged for even longer and said it was the best decision she ever made. She just told me to wait and see and realize that we made the right choice.

She was 160% right. Being engaged to Trent for this long has been the best thing ever. Has it been easy? Nope. Has it been worth it? Oh you betcha. I have had a few friends call/message me and ask what it has been like to be engaged for this long. I could go on and on about this but here are a few thoughts...

> Trent and I have been dating for 3 years. Being engaged is so much more different than dating. I have been able to get to know him in a completely different way.

> Time to plan. I look at girls who have 2-3 months engagements and I don't know how they do it without ripping their hair out. People are always asking me if I am ripping my hair out/stressing about plans. I have the privilege of saying... "Nope!" I have had 5 months to plan my dream wedding and they have been 5 incredible months. 

> Family time. I have spent more time with my family than I have in the last 5 years. I have grown to love and appreciate them even more and that didn't happen until I got engaged. I hang out with my mom every day whether it's for wedding plans or just snuggling on her bed to watch a movie. My sister Jessica and I have spent a lot of time chatting about plans. She even threw me a bachelorette party that was amazing!

> Temple preparation. I am not endowed and the temple {besides baptisms for the dead} has always been a scary and unknown thing for me. I have no idea what to expect. Trent and I attended temple prep classes taught my a cute couple in our ward who watched us both grow up. It has been such a treat to meet at their home every Sunday at 11:00. I have learned so much and I can't wait to go through the temple!

> Being a fiancé. I LOVE being a fiancé. It sounds silly but I am always finding myself wanting to serve Trent in some way. Whether it's taking him a quick Diet Coke during a stressful day at work, or rubbing his feet when he isn't feeling very good, or just telling him how much I adore him each and every day. I also love making decisions with him by my side. Taking the job I just took was not an easy thing. It was scary. But Trent was right there with me all along the way. We just went apartment hunting today and that was a fun thing to do TOGETHER. Even picking out his wedding suit was a joint effort. I just love making decisions that involve us working together. 

> Planning our future. Like I said, Trent and I went apartment hunting today. This hasn't been an easy process for us but I have loved doing it with him. We have been talking about finances a lot more lately and it's been fun {and sometimes stressful} to plan this together. You know the saying, "What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours."? Love it. So true for us. 

> Being loved by him. I have loved being loved by my fiancé. Trent is constantly showing me how much he loves me. He really is my best friend and being his fiancé has been a real treat.

There ya have it folks! Again, I have NO idea who actually reads my blog but it's nice to get these thoughts out so I can always remember them.

Being engaged has been blast and part of me might miss it, but I can't wait to start a life with Trenton and become his wife!