So, my sweetheart and I both have "see as many Temples as we can in our life time" in our Bucket List. Great plan, yeah? Max knows this and says to me about a week ago:
Max: "Hey, we should go see all the AZ Temples this weekend,...make a road trip out of it"
Me: "eh, I'm down to see one each weekend,...seeing all 3 working Temples in one weekend is too much driving"
Max: "C'mon, please,...we both have been working so much and need a mini get away. I'll plan it, let's just do it and see them all"
Me: "hokay honayy!"
What a sweet man to plan it all! haha! So Saturday Sept 14th comes around and after he gets off work, we hit the road to our first stop: Snowflake, AZ.
I love hitting the road, like A LOT! anything that gets me away from the city melts my heart, and he knows that,...so he said he wanted to drive the whole way so that i could unwind from my first week at my new job and enjoy the scenery. Thoughtful man of mine :)
*(i'm a weirdo, i know)*
So we drive up to our hotel (don't think bad) and checked in and realized, "Oh heyyy it's kinda dang cold right now and we have no sweaters". It was fine though, cause the cold weather was VERY welcomed after being in the blazing valley!
We were eager to see the Temple so we quickly dropped off our stuff and drove about 5 minutes to the Temple. Coming around the hill and seeing the majestic beauty of the Temple on the hill, with the breath taking lighting....ahh...we got CHILLS! it was one heck of a view!
*(This pic doesn't do it justice. Just go and see it for yourself!)*
Temple ground gates were opened so we walked around it like two little kids at Disneyland for their first time. It was BEAUTIFUL! I can't describe it enough to do it justice,...it was all just perfect. The building, the spirit there, the weather, my sweetheart....ahh what a good idea of his to see Temples this weekend!
It was around 830pm when we left and decided to explore the town and find a "hole in the wall" restaurant to check out. I LOVE finding cute "hole in the wall" places to eat at,...like a LOT! We drove around and called a few places that my sweet friend Alyssa Duff recommended. Sadly, they were closed so we continued to drive around until we came across this gem:
My sweetheart and I played pool and i totally won! It was fun...probably seems like "EH" to anyone else but this was all so perfect for me. Road tripping, finding cute friendly "hole in the wall" places to eat and shoot pool at, nice friendly people....I was so happy! (if you're wondering, yes this place also had computers for people to hop on and the other side had big screen tv with the boxing fight streaming,...super cute!)
We finished dinner with a satisfied belly and continued to drive around just exploring. They had gorgeous church buildings too! Anyways, we called it a night and went back to the hotel to say goodnight.
Day Two: September 15th, 2013. Life changing day :)
I woke up excited to continue our road trip to the Gila Valley Temple. We got ready in our Sunday Best and decided to hit up the Snowflake Temple one more time before hitting the road.
We ran into a sweet elderly couple that traveled from Utah to see the Snowflake Temple, and we took turns taking each others pictures. From here, we hit the road.
There were many fields of pretty flowers and i kept saying how pretty it was, so my sweetheart did the following:
*(I wished i recorded it because there were lots of bees, like a LOT and my poor babe wouldn't give up on shooing them away just to get me my pretty flower. It's love! )*
Okay so it's Sunday, and we gotta eat...so we broke the sabbath by hitting up McDonalds. (there wasn't a lot of options for breakfast so don't judge haha).
While in the drive through line, an elderly lady backed up into the car and hit us. I felt bad because she felt so bad and was nervous, so after exchanging full information (with the help of a Snowflake PD officer), i gave her a hug and wished i could take away her anxiety. Poor lady, accidents happen...all that matters is we were all safe.
*(Thank goodness for insurances and for this being so minor. I've never been in any kind of car accident so i'm grateful this was a tiny collision)*
My sweetheart got us some grub and we hit the road to Pima, AZ for the Gila Valley Temple.
*(ahem, sooo i secretly hated the drive from snowflake to Pima. It was SOOO windy with narrow roads around the mountain,...and with the blazing sun in our face, it was just a scary drive. Still, we loved the beauty of the Arizona road)*
We finally got to the Gila Valley Temple around 2:30pm but unfortunately, Temple ground gates were closed! So we still walked around it and enjoyed the view!
It was fun to see this temple because the last time i saw it, was on the way to Thatcher and it was under construction. My baby was so amazing to plan this weekend for me, we LOVE to see the Temples!
After our time at Gila Valley, we hit the road and found lunch at good o' Taco Bell. We then continued to hit the road until we got to the beautiful Mesa, AZ Temple...
We didn't take as many pics here cause we have tons already from living here! haha! But these were special since it ended our road trip of the working AZ Temples. We fell in love with the Mesa temple all over again! it is definitely HOME. So special and gorgeous and we dropped our jaws at its beauty, all over again. It was a sweet appreciation for what we have in our own backyards! the Mesa temple is HOME and its PERFECT!!!
It is now 5:30pm and I am flaming hot from my cardigan and tired and wanting to go home. We left the Temple and went to QT to fill up. Now, every time we go to QT, it's tradition that my sweetheart buys me the Spongebob ice cream. (i'll grow up eventually, okay!?) As he fills up the tank he says, "Do you want your spongebob?" to which i reply in a silly kid voice, "nooooooOOoooo, me tired, no wanna walk". he laughs and says "Please? go get your spongebob, it'll make you happy"...to which i repeated "Nooooooooo me no wanna! me sit here". (hahah yeah, i talk funny when im being cute okay?). I faced forward as he was outside pumping gas, and then i hear the back seat door open. I didn't look back. When he opened it again, i looked back this time and saw him putting his duffle bag back in the car. I asked him "what are you doing?" to which he responded "oh, nothing". I didn't think ANYTHING of it. He gets back in the car ...
Max: "ehhhh, I don't wanna go home"
Me: "well then let's go to my house, im exhausted"
Max: "I don't want to go to your house either....I have an idea, let's go to the Greenfield park. I know if I go home i'll fall asleep and i need to stay awake or i won't sleep tonight"
Me: "hokayyy honayyy, but not for long cause i'm so tired"
Background info: The greenfield observatory park is where I took Max to on the VERY FIRST night we ever hung out. We sat under the gazeebo and he shared his conversion story, and we had great deep conversations there. very special place. Okay continue.,...
We get to park and walk around the pond, over the bridge, and up to where our gazeebo is. We saw two teenage boys sitting in there so we awkwardly stood there until they left. haha suckers!
We sat up on the steps under the gazeebo and I happened to say "aww remember when i took you here for the first time and we sat right here? awww" ( I was being silly). Max was kinda antsy but I didn't think anything of it cause, hello, my ring is being fixed and this was just a bucket list roadtrip. We chatted and hugged and kissed and I, being a girl, began to complain "okay let's go home now, it's flaming hot and im sweaty and tired" (when i complain, im not mean, i say it playfully and silly so don't think im a brat haha)
anyways, here's where it gets good.....
Max jumps down from the steps and holds his hand out to help me down. We hug and kiss and right as im about to take a step to start heading out,...he says , "hey,..."....and gets down on one knee!!
At this point, i have a million thoughts running through my head! butterflies were going crazy in my tummy!
He starts to smile and grabs my hand as he begins to speak.....now out of my own nervousness and freaking out,...i began to smack him on the head and said "ohh my goshhhh what are you doing!!!!" hahahahahahaha!! guys, it's hilarious!! He smiles so big and begins to say (im paraphrasing, remember i was freaking out and attacking my poor man while he's trying to propose)...
Max: "I know you wanted to see all the Temples, so I took you to see all the Arizona Temples this weekend, ....and now, I want to take you back to the Mesa one for time and all eternity. We have been through a lot together, and this is the spot where we began chapter one of our relationship,....and it is here that I want to start Chapter Two *puts the ring on my finger* Will you marry me?"......
Okay so as he's talking to me these sweet loving words, im still freaking out, crying, smacking him and kissing his forehead and then petting his face...hahaha i freaked out okay?
He stood up and we hugged and kissed and of course i said, YES!!
Ohhhhh my amazing Max pulled it off! He totally tricked me into thinking my ring wouldn't be fixed till this upcoming week. I was surprised and he definitely made this entire weekend a DREAM! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with my best friend, and soon to be eternal companion. We are in looooove :)
December 14th, 2013
Here's to the beginning of Chapter 2 in our lives: Engaged !
