It was a stressful day today. Two days before the wedding, and we spent about three hours driving around Spanish Fork trying to find stamp pads in colors besides red and black. Ben was cranky, I was cranky, and his little brother was in the back seat feeling sick the whole time.
The past few days have run the gamut of possible human emotions. Our families have arrived in town, and it's been great seeing them (especially my adorable freaking nieces). We've been scrambling to finish up things that probably should have been taken care of long ago. For example, Ben is out as we speak purchasing a wedding tie.
....Yeah.
I went to the temple and got endowed yesterday, so anyone who's done that knows the intensity of emotions that go with that. And then on the way home we almost witnessed a terrible car accident, so that shook me up a little too. I've hardly packed and I'm supposed to move in with a real, live boy this weekend, which will be awesome and probably traumatic.
But you know what? We're getting married the day after Thanksgiving, and I couldn't think of a better time to be grateful. SO many people have helped out with the wedding plans and will be helping out on the day. My cousin Rachel, who I didn't even know that well, took our engagement pictures for free, designed our invitations, is taking our wedding pictures, designed the signs for our reception, and is coordinating a lot of the decoration. My good friend Holli is making the cake, arranging the bouquets, and drawing the poster/guestbook. People have thrown parties, lent us decorations, given suggestions, taken me shopping..... I can't even begin to describe how incredible our friends and family are for all their help.
And on top of all of that, I am getting married on Friday. To Ben, no less. I am so excited I can hardly think. I am so thankful for Ben. He is sensitive, he's fun, he's musical, he's laid back, he's smart.....and most importantly, he helps me to be a better person. We can talk about anything, especially the gospel, and we've learned so much from each other.
One of the greatest things about Ben is that he is extremely selfless and caring. It's been a huge learning process not to take advantage of this. I am a naturally lazy and selfish person, so having someone around who cares so much about what I want is wayyy too easy to abuse. I've been kind of a jerk, but I'm getting better. He loves me even when I'm crazy.
Watching how he treats people has taught me so much. I love going to visit his grandparents with him. He is so comfortable and sweet and caring with them. He and his grandma will argue all the time because he insists on doing the dishes. Before his grandpa passed away, Ben was so good about helping him around the house, standing behind him and putting Grandpa's feet on his own as they walked him to the dinner table. I'm jealous of his relationship with his grandparents. I've never been very good at being comfortable with relatives, partly because I grew up so far away in Minnesota and partly because my family's super awkward. (You know it's true.) Ben has taught me a lot about the importance of family and love and charity.
I should probably get back to packing. It's been nice to put down a few words about how I'm feeling. This whole week has been a blur, but I still cannot wait until Ben and I finally are sealed together in the temple of the Lord at 12:00 on Friday, November 23rd. Until then, I'll enjoy family, some good food, and try to stay calm.
