Mrs. Love

We are so happy and busy! This has been such a fun month! More pictures and stories to come!

Directions

Hello friends! Thank you for visiting our blog! We are so excited to see you at our reception this month! Below are links to either reception on a map. All you need to do is click on directions and enter the city or address you are coming from. Thank you for all your love and support.

Directions to the:

July 24th reception at Denae's grandparent's home from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

July 31st reception at David's parent's home from 6:30 to 9:00 pm

Can't wait to see you!

Love, Denae and David

In Love with Love

David and I are getting more excited with each day for our big day! It's getting so close! This weekend I was able to see just a little more of the wonderful man I am marrying. Saturday for some reason, David had the worst luck I have seen in a long time. We got home from lunch and headed up the back steps to the patio that leads into my apartment. David went first. He stepped hard on to the bottom step which apparently was ripped from it's nicely nailed-in place due to his muscular leg strength. I was able to witness one of the most classic examples of weight displacement physics as the board flew up and was the perfect length to hit just below the belt. David literally knocked himself to the ground with my back stair. After trying to make sure that he was okay, I couldn't help but laugh harder than I had in days.

After this lovely episode, we decided to go to the water fun day that the University was putting on. On his way down the slip n' slide, his hand got stuck in one of the holes created by previous sliders and was jerked back in an unnatural way. (I hit my head the next time down...we are quite the pair!) Later, we were walking around and someone kicked a ball which skidded across the top of his head and knocked his glasses, bending them to a unique new crooked style we are contemplating keeping around.

On our way to the grocery store on our bikes, he hit an unexpected curb and mangled his gears, scrapped his leg and got grease all over his khaki shorts. :)

I don't remember what else happened, but it just got more and more dramatic as the day went on. While I am in no way reveling in the pain my poor finance experienced I share these stories because of what I learned about him. One thing after another went wrong and we started to worry about David's physical safety a little more seriously. By the third or fourth instance like one of these, I would have quit the day and possibly life. I would have likely been sulking and wanting to just go home and curl up in the corner hoping that a spider didn't decide to eat me alive. But not David. As the day went on, he not only kept a smile on his face, but he started laughing harder and harder and joking about the tragedy that would strike next. We enjoyed every minute together and had one of the best days we have had together. By the end of the night, we had cut his hair, cleaned up and enjoyed a fun David Archuleta concert and our favorite treat: ice cream!

I am just so grateful that I am marrying a man that is more mature and more able to cope with life's little mishaps than I am. He makes every day such a joy. I really am getting the better deal on this one. I am in love with David Love.

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.