Life is Beautiful

One of my favorite movies of all time, despite its title, is really quite depressing. I've never been very excited about watching films with subtitles, but this one is worth the sacrifice. If you get nothing else out of it, you will at least learn to say, "Good morning, Princess!" in Italian. :) I think about this old movie a lot when I feel like life is hard. I remember the mind power the protagonist was so sure of that gave him the optimism and courage to make life beautiful when everything and everyone around him screamed that life is miserable. I really do have a beautiful life. I am so blessed. Some days are just a little more challenging than others. Today has been one of those days. It's not any different than other days really; my perspective is just slightly warped and things like dropping the freshly seasoned and cooked meat on the floor and having to start dinner over again (which seemed like an overwhelming task the first time) or scorching the taco shells to little black piles of charcoal become much more dramatic issues than they genuinely are.

I've done a lot of reflecting today about the way life is and the way I think life should be. I am afraid to say that the only thing in my life that is not perfect is...me. I've always known that. Some days it is just a more difficult reality to accept. I have been on a quest for a long, long time to become the perfect version of myself. Most of the time I am just fine to smile about my imperfections and keep on hammering out the dents as I go along. Today was just one of those days that I looked around me and saw nothing but mistakes and shortcomings. It's days like this that I have to remind myself to take the situation I am in (which I have little control over) and make choices about me (which I have all control over) that will lead to a more beautiful life. Life, after all is supposed to be beautiful with all of its surprises and disappointments...not necessarily perfect. I don't have to be perfect yet. If I were perfect, I would be done. I would have no reason to stay here to enjoy the perfectly beautiful life I have been given. We spend so much of our lives searching for the key to happiness. If only we could see that the door requires no key. It's always open.

Month of Mayhem

What an adventure this month has been! We have seen it all! The week after David proposed, the craziness began. On Friday, the 16th of April, Denae bid farewell to her cute (and not so cute) 6th graders at Sunset View Elementary School. She survived student teaching! That afternoon, David drove her straight to the health center for her to perform a small surgery. He then got to spend the rest of the evening taking care of his very high fiancée who remembers very little of this particular experience. :) David headed back up to Rexburg for our last Provo/Rexburg separation and started his first week of spring semester. The week before he had taken all of his final exams for the semester. He ended up with an impressive row of straight A's even during the craziness of a long-distance courtship! Denae is so proud of him! While showing off his mad academic skills, Denae packed her whole apartment...which is no small feat as you know if you've been friend's with Denae for more than five minutes. Never fear, it only required a suburban and an entire trailer to load her up. :) Denae and Deonna went wedding dress shopping...together...and both found dresses! Grandma and Cathy braved the dubious task of serving as our official counselors, and Cathy went a step further as my faithful dress-lacer/fluffer. We found mom's dress first at a shop in Provo. She looked just beautiful. Denae's dress search took a little longer, but not much. She knew it when she saw it. A picture will be added later so as to not ruin the surprise for David. Each night of the week we had a fun dinner or reception to attend. We met the rest of the Telford clan, wished David's cousin and his new cute wife a happy life and enjoyed some Olive Garden with Mason and Dad. Denae's graduation from BYU flew by like a blur, but she did it without tripping in her white heels that matched the white stole mom couldn't figure out. At BYU there is a longstanding tradition to wear a white stole of gratitude during all of the pomp and circumstance and to finally give it to the person who has meant the most and provided the most support throughout your university experience; the person you are most grateful for helping you through college. Naturally, mom was the deserving winner. I never would have been able to make it without you, Mom! In between commencement and convocation, we loaded up the trailer and prepared for the journey North. Almost right after convocation was over, our caravan made its way up to Rexburg. We stopped at Shannon's house for a few good-byes and a bite to eat. My stand-in Lindon family made my Utah life possible as well. They helped me more than they will ever know during my BYU years. We ended up arriving in Rexburg as the sun was setting and unloaded quickly with lots of help. Saturday morning we got up early for mom's big day only to find zero hot water in the hotel because of a broken gas line! While inconvenient and typical for a wedding day morning, the hotel was helpful enough and paid for us to go shower at another hotel and load up on a hot breakfast buffet at a local restaurant. Denae started acting as mom's personal secretary as everyone in the city decided to call her for details about the day. We all made it to the temple on time however and were privileged to experience one of the most magical moments this earth has to offer. Denae felt especially grateful and honored to be able to act as her mother's escort and spend a few precious minutes with her in the bride's room. The sealing was wonderful and we are so excited to add Jim and Jimmy to our family. I couldn't ask for a better man to love and take care of my mom. With a cute luncheon, we sent mom and Jim off and finally went home to take a breath and a nap! Denae started teaching piano lessons the next week and the official job search began. We are so grateful to have survived the four month student-teaching semester and to finally live in the same state! We are so grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends that not only make our lives and adventures possible, but so much more fun and joyful.

We're Engaged!

We're engaged! We couldn't be more delighted with the way life is working out and the happiness we find together! David's cute proposal was all I have ever wanted and so much more. We met at the Gateway in Salt Lake where we had our very first date with the idea that we would be going to dinner and a show at the planetarium. We enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner of Chicken Parmesan at Biaggi's where we are pretty sure the Mafia is alive and well. :) With some time to kill, we wandered around the mall looking at new and exciting things like the iPad just released, which I feel like I will never understand. We ran around the fountains with a little more enthusiasm than we did back in cold November. With another "hour to kill," David suggested that we go into Barnes and Noble to find Percy Jackson which we went to see at the theater last week to read together. We walked around the bookstore for awhile and read children's books to each other just like we did on our first date. After our first stack, we each went in search of a few new books. When we returned to our bench, David started showing me my options:

Skippy Jon Jones

Splat the Cat

or... It Began With a Fairy Tale's Ending by Denae and David Love

Needless to say, we decided to read that one. David took a poem that I had written for him and added his own "Part Two" to the story and published it as a book! As we read we laughed and had a wonderful time reflecting on some of our favorite memories together. When we reached the last page, David snatched the book away because he wanted to read it to me. He started and in his adorable flustered manner forgot the rhyme and said, "Wait! Let me start again!" And with that, he pulled out a beautiful ring, and knelt down as he said,

"I want this fairy tale to be for forever"

Said the prince as he got down on one knee.

"Denae, I love you."

"Will you be my princess for all eternity?"

And guess what...I SAID YES!

After taking a picture on our Barnes and Noble bench, we finished the night by going to the same restaurant we went to on our first date, The Red Iguana, for a celebratory treat. I am one happy princess and feel so grateful to have finally found my perfect prince.

The book David used to propose to Denae!

It Began With a Fairy Tale's Ending by Denae and David Love | BOOK INFO

Easter

We want to keep it short and sweet, just like all of the candy we stuffed in the eggs for the annual Love Family Easter Egg Hunt! It was fun, Denae looked cute as always, and Mom did a great job cutting my hair (and her finger). Conference was wonderful as always...and as always we should probably read a lot next month. We are so excited for the upcoming events this month and how bright the future looks. This month alone we will have: an engagement, a new semester for David, a double-wedding dress quest for Denae and Deonna, a graduation (finally!), a move to Rexburg and a wedding! We have our work cut out for us!

I just love Denae! She is so amazing! I love you Denae:)

Another Colorful Weekend

This weekend, David and I discovered that we are perfect. Just kidding. We did, however, find that we are apparently a good match: a fact that we were already pretty set on. We sat down and took the classic color code personality test together. Denae, always more complex than she means to be is still a red-blue "the most difficult" combination. David, a blue-yellow mix is said to have a "dual personality." The mixture of the two gives us what they call a "hand-in-glove" relationship:

"Blue-Yellow relationships are the most intimate combination of different color personalities. They represent the entire spectrum of emotions and, together, they can experience explosive synergy. Blue-Yellow combinations are primarily concerned with quality relationships (genuine human connectedness). Blues most commonly represent the depth, sincerity and compassion of intimacy while Yellows display the excitement, warmth and eternal optimism of relationships...Blues and Yellows frequently seek and enjoy each other's companionship. Their is a strong bonding of the heart." So, according to Dr. Taylor Hartman, we are going to make it. :)

For the remainder of the weekend, we were able to attend an interesting theatrical treat featuring David's buddy, Andrew Joy, in Frederico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding. I was excited to see something from Spain and to remember the Garcia Lorca park that I walked through every single day as I served in Granada. We were also able to go play at a diamond store (who gave us cookies fresh out of the oven!), try out the new PizzaPieCafe, visit our dear Cathy and whip up a few new culinary masterpieces. Denae tried out her own imaginative version of lemon chicken and David learned that she has a very high sour tolerance. :) He is trying hard to gain assurance that he will be nourished in life.