Love to me is spelled N-A-T-E

An entry from one of my old journals dated February 16, 2014:
"Today in branch council I found out that they switched up the Elder's Quorum Presidency...Nathan Larson is now the new president...I actually kinda think Nathan is cute even though I literally know nothing about him, which is weird too. It's not like he's new in the branch, I just haven't crossed paths with him yet...."

That's how it all started and how little did I know that I would eventually cross paths with Nate in a really big way. I was serving as a counselor in the Relief Society presidency in the Dayton YSA branch and, as evident in my journal entry, once Nathan was called as our branch's EQP he left an impression on me. I had a crush on him immediately though I never thought anything would come of it, he was quite clearly out of my league.

I made a few really small attempts to be around Nathan during branch activities (Like asking my Relief Society President who knew I had a crush on him if I could take the sign up sheet to feed the missionaries into Elder's Quorum after it was passed around Relief Society so I could give it to Nate) My initial small attempts went undetected so I just accepted the fact that he was out of my league and figured it was best to move on.

It was almost two full years later that I showed up for a carpool at the Fairborn building for a YSA temple trip. Nathan had also showed up to the carpool and was showing off his new Saturn Sky (a sporty looking car with only two seats. Hmmm....) I asked if I could ride up with Nate, really having no hidden intentions, I knew I had struck out in getting any sort of attention from him but he was always such a nice guy. My only thought was that he would be nice to pass the time in the car ride to Columbus with.

The conversation up to the temple went over better than I could have ever expected. I remember thinking Nathan was so smart and he told me a lot of funny stories from his mission. Towards the end of the ride back to Dayton he was telling me about a funny story involving watching a scary movie at his sister's house when she lived in Texas. When he dropped me off back at the church building he told me to let him know if I ever wanted to watch that movie with him.

I of course jumped at the chance and thought this movie watching date would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. No way there could ever be more dates. Less than a week later Nathan asked me to go to King's Island with him (What?! A second date?? No way!) and we've been together ever since.

Nathan and I have really been through a lot together. He's definitely seen me at my worst and I've always been in awe of how patient and loving he's been towards me in those moments.

Which brings us to yesterday....

I took the day off work and we planned an all day date to Indianapolis since the Columbus temple has been closed for cleaning. I was thrilled to be able to spend the day with him exploring a different city but really didn't expect anything more than that.

After our session at the temple I asked if we could walk to the front of the temple so I could take a photo of the building.

Right after I took this picture I turned back to Nathan, only expecting to head back to the car and he then pulled something shiny out of his suit pocket and dropped down to one knee! It was a perfect proposal because it was at the temple, it was very sweet and private, and I was genuinely surprised by it.

Since I was a little girl my mom has always been advising me "Marry your best friend." I'm so happy to say that I am following her advice. Nathan is my everything: my rock, my friend, and my love.

All I can say now is September 2, 2016 can't get here soon enough....