Beautiful

Even though dance isn't usually my creative medium, I have always felt like it can evoke human emotion better than anything else - art, music, literature, whatever. Case in point.

Good Times in December

I am getting behind in this blog - mainly because I am lazy about uploading pictures and feel like I should have some when I post. Oh well.

We've been having a little bit of fun despite the stress from finals. Last weekend, we:
* Went to Temple Square and did sealings
* Saw the beautiful lights
* Stopped by Bruges Waffle and Fry shop so Scott could experience a taste of Belgium. Unfortunately, they were out of fries... but the waffle was good.
* Hung out with Jolyn and Todd and got to meet TJ Laney.
* I got to go to my sister-in-law's party, eat delicious treats, and win a cute headband.

This weekend, we:
* Well, I, went to lunch with Sarah - always a good interruption from studying!
* Studied like crazy people for finals
* Volunteered at the Camp Kesem auction. I got to play the piano while everyone ate - definitely my favorite way to volunteer. :) If you are interested in Camp Kesem, ask me about it.
* Studied in the library til 12 am - hopefully the last time in the history of my life that I will do that, but it might happen again this week.
* Danced to the library music when it came on
* Were visited by Jared and Kendra in the library
* Went for a scooter ride to church
* Ate biscuits and chicken noodle soup

This week, we will:
* Try not to die as we take all our finals! Pray for us!

Scott's dream last night

When I woke Scott up this morning, he was sad because I'd interrupted a "really cool dream." In the dream, we were superheroes. Here's what he said about our powers:

"I could hear really really well and disappear in hallways. You were unusually strong for a woman. Oh, and also we could both turn into wolves."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love my husband.

yet another reason why I love my husband

I was sad because I lost my phone and have an endocrinology presentation tomorrow that I'm pretty much going to biff. But Scott:

1. Got me a cupcake from here

2. Made me dinner - a simple Italian dish with pasta, pecorino cheese and black pepper that is my new favorite comfort food

3. Did the dishes.

Love him!

We survived!!

If you haven't been listening to KSL the last few days, let me update you - yesterday was one of the worst blizzards in years. And we drove right through it and punched it in the face.

Originally, Scott and I were planning on driving to Idaho with Jenna and her roommate Ariel in our little Hyundai (whose name is Bond). But on Saturday, my dad called and told me that he had been reassigned to Salt Lake and he would be in the area both on Tuesday and on Sunday, and could therefore drive us with his truck. We of course appreciated this - not only did it provide a safer way to travel but free gas (shameless mooching).

Then on Monday, my dad kept calling me throughout the day to give me updates on the weather. We kept hearing worse and worse. We had been planning on leaving at 3, after Scott finished teaching Italian, but Scott decided to cancel it so we could just go to our morning classes. My dad called at about 10:30 that night and I could tell he was really concerned. He wasn't going to ask Scott to miss his classes but he was pretty worried. After consulting for a few minutes, Scott and I decided to miss all our classes the next day and leave first thing in the morning.

The first two hours of the drive were uneventful. However, shortly after we got to Idaho, my dad pointed out a white wall moving toward us. It literally came up from the road. He said, "Ok guys, we are about to enter the mouth of the beast." (My dad can be dramatic. And my mom. That's where I get it. But this really was dramatic.)

At first, it was ok. Wind blowing, for sure, lots of snow, very slow travel, but we could see where we were going. Then, everything went white, except for a few tiny dots of taillights. We kept moving and got through to a clear spot. There was a lot of wind and snow for about 45 minutes, but we thought we were on our way out.

Then we got to what I have affectionately taken to calling the Ninth Circle of Hell (if you are unfamiliar with Dante, it is the deepest part of hell where everything is frozen over and kept cold by the flapping of Satan's black bat wings). We started seeing cars pulled over on the road. We reached an underpass with about four cars taking shelter - and these were mainly SUVs with four wheel drives, take note. They weren't wimpy little cars like Bond (sorry, little Hyundai). As we drove through the underpass, we could look into the windows of the cars pulled over, and they were looking at us like they thought we were crazy and were going to die.

We were following a white van that I'm going to call the brave little minivan because it was pushing through everything. It's taillights were one of the only things we could see and we were going about five miles per hour, so if something bad happened, it probably wouldn't be us (first, at least). As we continued picking our way down the road, we lost all sense of where the road was. We came upon a car in the middle of the road, windows iced over. They thought they were on the side. We edged around them, uncertain of where we were. At first my dad had been feeling the side of the road by the "wake-up bumps" but now the snow was too deep and we couldn't find them. It was spooky. It felt like we were in Day After Tomorrow, I Am Legend, The Road or some similar post-apocalyptic tale. Eventually we came to a point where all the cars were stopped and there wasn't really clear path to get through. Even the brave little minivan stopped, so we, at a loss, did so too.

My dad decided to get out to get out of the car, because one of our ward members was a little ways behind us and he wanted to go talk to her and see what her plan was. He was out for about two minutes and came back dripping. When he opened his door the wind slammed it shut and he had to use all his strength to pry it open. We all sat silently, receiving texts from BYU about how the campus was closing early and there was a severe winter storm so "be prudent in your travels." No kidding?

I was trying to read and ignore the situation while Ariel documented with her Flip, my dad told us stories about people going crazy, leaving their cars and being found naked in the snow (um... yes, comforting) and Scott and Jenna sat quietly, although Jenna was hyperventilating. I could see nothing, but all of the sudden out of the front window I could see a cross. It was one of those highway crosses when people have been killed on the highway, and I have always been a little disturbed when I see them. It's scary to think you are in the same place, doing the same thing as the person when they died. It was the only thing I could see out the window and I couldn't decide if I should feel comforted or completely freaked out. I think I was feeling a little more freaked out at that point.

My dad started to feel impatient. He and Scott got out of the car for about 10 seconds to beat the ice of the windshield, and they were both completely soaked. (And Scott's iPhone is missing so it potentially was blown out of his pocket or out of the car at that time). We saw a semi trudging by and decided that if we stayed there, we would never get out. Scott unrolled the window and kept an eye on the side of the road, revealed to us by the occasional glimpse of a blowing sagebrush. (Yes, it was freaking cold with the window open!) In about fifteen minutes we pulled out and saw the blue sky! We all cheered. A few minutes later we saw the other side of the freeway closed, with cars going on for a mile or two. A few minutes later we heard that they closed the freeway right behind us - we were probably one of the last cars to make it through. We didn't see the brave little minivan, but I think he made it - I hope so, because guided us through the worst of it!

So, this Thanksgiving I am grateful to be alive! And grateful my dad brought the truck to save us.

Just some thoughts

Even though Scott hates it, I have to love the snow because it reminds me of when we first started dating. I can feel it in the air.

Never buy cheap shoes. They just fall apart in a year, and then you are sad because your boots have holes in the soles and your feet are wet. Shoes are worth a splurge.


Blogging is better than studying for biochem.

Scooter for Scooter!

(Scott's sister Ashleigh calls him Scooter)

We bought a scooter.

Its name is Milo.

It is a Leike 2008 "Milano."

Must be fate. :)

Halloween

The week before Halloween was really stressful with tests for Scott and I, so we didn't plan on costumes or any decorations or anything. However, we knew on the evening of Halloween we were going over to Scott's brother John's house, so we got a little treat for our niece Meghan. Because she is only a year old, she can't eat much candy, so John recommended we get her animal crackers.
We had some tiny pumpkins on our table that I had gotten for decoration, and I decided to make Meghan a tiny pumpkin that was her size. When Scott saw me making Meghan's pumpkin, he wanted to join in too.
Scott ended up making a vampire pumpkin.
Mine was just supposed to be a girl pumpkin, but I put too much paint on it and the eyes dripped down. So it looks pretty creepy, but not in the way I was going for...
After we finished our pumpkins, we went over to John and Sarah's. Meghan looked absolutely adorably in the amazing creative costume Sarah made for her. Sarah and I took Meghan around to some houses while John, Scott, and Scott's dad Bill, who was visiting for the weekend, watched the Giant's game and answered the door.
After trick or treating, we had some pizza, watched Clash of the Titans, and Scott and I (mostly Scott) made this pumpkin. Can you tell Scott likes the Giants?
He wants to use pumpkin carving as a sign of his manual dexterity when he applies for dental school. He did a pretty good job, maybe we'll include this photo with his application. ;)

WIN!!

I have a very, very happy husband tonight.



GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!! :)

Packages are the best

Yesterday, I came home from my tough test and arduous day of studying to find a big package in our mailbox - so big it was hard to carry up the stairs with my backpack.

The package was from Nana, my maternal grandmother, who pretty much spoils me rotten. Scott said he felt lucky to be a part of the family so he can now join in the spoilage.

In the package was

* A set of white sheets
*An assortment of goodies from Trader Joes (which I wish they had in Utah!)
- dark chocolate covered peanut butter cups
- dark chocolate covered raisins
- dark chocolate covered caramels
- spider and pumpkin fruit gummies
- cinnamon almonds (which are pretty much my favorite thing ever, thanks to Zupas)
- honey roasted nuts

And the best thing of all....

MOCHI!!
Time to make some frozen yogurt!
(I was going to upload a picture but my computer won't let me so... maybe later).

Thanks Nana! We love you!

Honeymoon

So... I finally figured out how to use Scott's SD card reader, so I am writing about our honeymoon tonight! (Sorry about the non-chronology of everything!) We stayed in the Anniversary Inn in Boise the night of our wedding. The rooms are very fancy and it was fun to stay in such a beautiful place! (And we really appreciated the cheesecake that came with the room because we didn't get to eat very much at the reception!)

The next day we headed to California. We were staying at the Grand Californian, which is actually inside the California Adventure Park.


Our room was Disney-fied and cute with rose petals everywhere. When Scott was asking me if I had any expectations about a proposal, I told him I thought rose petals were romantic. He told me that they wouldn't be a part of the proposal, but might show up later. Here they were! That night we walked around Downtown Disney and ate at a really good pizzeria similar to Terra Mia, which is one of my favorite restaurants here in Provo.

The next day we went to Disneyland! Yay! We had a two-day park hopper pass so we could basically do whatever we wanted in each of the parks for two days. We decided to start with Disneyland because there was more to do.Here is Scott at the Toy Story ride (you get to shoot at things with lasers and get points!) He totally defeated me.

One of the favorites was Indiana Jones. We had to wait in line a long time, so we took some pictures. After many failed attempts at trying to take a picture of ourselves, a lady in line took pity on us and took some pictures of us.

In the Tarzan Treehouse. Scott really could have hit his head on that beam - he is 6'4"!

For lunch we went to the Blue Bayou, which is probably the most delicious restaurant in Disneyland. I had a Monte Cristo sandwich like always and a mint julep (when I was little I was scared of how dark it was in there, so my Nana bought me a mint julep to cheer me up). I can't remember what it was that Scott had but I remember it was really good. We had a ton of food. I don't remember if we even had dinner that night because we ate so much. I think we just ended up getting ice cream at Ben and Jerry's later.

After Pirate's of the Carribean! I think Scott looks better than Jack Sparrow though. (Also, see his little pin? It says we are on our honeymoon, and it got us some free stuff. After we were so full at Blue Bayou, they brought us some chocolate mousse and of course I ate it. And people everywhere just kept telling us congratulations).

Gotta get the castle picture with my handsome prince!

Scott was a really good sport about letting me do all the cheesy rides that aren't actually exciting, just nostalgic. We rode on the Storybook Canals, the Finding Nemo submarine ride, and the carousel.

Scott may or may not have been slightly bored on the carousel.

That night we watched the Fantasmic show with the huge dragon and then the fireworks. We went and got some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's in downtown Disney and then crashed because we were exhausted!

The next day we got up early to go to California Adventure so we could get our tickets for World of Color. After getting our tickets, we had to wait around for the park to actually open so we got a picture by the L... Yay for the Lemmons!

We went on all the big rides and attractions of California Adventure. This is the Beast's Library - basically my dream.

We also took pictures by the beginning of this exhibit ("once upon a time"). The same man who worked there took both pictures. He was full of marriage advice (as were many people). It was funny to hear different bits of advice contradicting each other.

That night we went to Napa Rose, a restaurant inside the Grand Californian. It was the nicest restaurant I have ever been to, and it was very expensive. I felt like an imposter being in such a nice restaurant. The food was absolutely amazing. I blogged about it in a book review here. They also gave us free dessert - a little box of chocolates.

After Napa Rose we went to see World of Color. It was really, really cool. If you are going to California Adventure any time soon, make it a priority to go to this show. As you can see, I am still learning how to wear garments...

The next day we flew to Modesto for our open house. For some reason I can't get Shandi's pictures on the campus internet, but once I'm on a computer that will let me access them I will post those. It was a lot of fun and Kathryn and Ashleigh did a great job making everything beautiful and delicious.

Our flight home was a bit of an ordeal. There was a lot of turbulence and it made me really sick. We ended up flying to Vegas to refuel and then back to Salt Lake, so by the time we got to our home it was very late and we were exhausted. Scott had been really sweet, planning ahead to make me dinner for when we got back. We didn't end up eating it the Sunday we got back, but he made it the next day - spaghetti carbonara, one of his gourmet Italian pastas.


Do you love the millions of boxes in the background?

Baseball

The Giants are going to the World Series! There is much happiness and rejoicing in the Lemmons household!!

School for the Lemmons

The idea of posting wedding pictures is overwhelming to me right now, because I haven't saved them yet to the computer. So I thought I would just update you on our semesters for today.

Scott is taking some really hard classes this semester. He has:
* An Italian class on Dante, which I think he loves. He has been telling me all about which punishments all the different sinners receive in Dante's circles of hell. I'm reading it once I finish my library books.
* The second half of O Chem. This is probably one of his toughest classes. I can relate having taken it a year and a half ago. However, Scott is also taking it in conjunction with the O Chem Lab, which is a lot of busy work. I took that separately - I can't imagine taking them both together. He has to spend a lot of time writing out the labs because he isn't allowed to bring anything into the lab but his writeup.
* Animal Diversity - He gets to dissect all kinds of creatures and memorize facts about their cell structures.
* LDS Marriage and Family - I took this one a couple of years ago too. Scott has Brother Richardson, who is the father of one of my former roommates and a great teacher. He has to grow a seed for the class - I think to represent our marriage and nurturing it?
* Scott is also teaching Italian 101, which takes a lot of his time. According to my sister, who is in the class, he is a great teacher and everyone loves him.

I am almost done with my time here at BYU - this is my last full-time semester! I have:
* Endocrinology - This is a pretty tough course that actually has a lot of graduate students in it, but so far I am enjoying it, even though I usually don't understand anything during lecture and have to re-teach myself when I go home. We learn a lot about signaling pathways and I am surprised to find that I love them! Cell bio and molecular biology were both tough courses for me but I guess once those principles are applied I really love it.
* Advanced Neuroscience - this is the capstone for my major. I have Dr. Brown, whom I have had for almost every neuro class, so I am finally used to his tests and teaching style. My goal is to get an A in his class because I haven't gotten an A in any other class I've had with him. It is pretty interesting, mostly what I have learned before in neuroscience classes but in a LOT more detail.
* Bioorganic Chemistry - This is the "easy" O chem for nursing. I could have used my other chemistry courses but I didn't do great so I am taking this course to hopefully make me more competitive for nursing school.
* Physiology lab - I am just taking the lab for physiology. This is a neuroscience elective and nursing prerequisite. It is all right - a lot of busy work, and the computer simulations can be annoying to figure out, but every once in a while we learn something really interesting.
* Nutrition in the Prevention of Chronic Disease - this class is reasonably interesting. I like finding out about the different risk factors for disease. We read a lot of primary literature and interpret it in class. I don't love it or hate it.
Other than that I am getting started on my application for nursing school and trying to find a place to do my phlebotomy externship. I am glad that I will have a few months where I won't be going to school full time before I start my marathon 14 months of nursing (fingers crossed).

Favorite engagement pictures

I don't have a lot of time to post tonight, so I thought I would just put up some of our favorite engagement pics (credit goes to our lovely photographer, Jennifer Ashby).

Our engagement

So to continue our story...

Scott and I went to Modesto to visit his family on Memorial Day weekend. The first day, we got in a little late and went to his sister's house and met the family. They were so nice and I felt like I fit in right away. It was very loud and exciting with 9 of Scott's 10 nieces and nephews showing us their favorite dance moves.

The next morning, Scott and I got up early to ride "Bart" into San Francisco and spend a day in the city. I had been wanting to go to San Francisco ever since I had flown over it on the way to Hawaii a few years earlier, so I was very excited.

We started the day out on the wharf, where Scott took me to get his favorite crab sandwiches and clam chowder (in a sourdough bowl of course). After that, we wandered around through the shops. We got a little seashell mobile from this awesome seashell shop and decided we would have a seashell bathroom (it is hanging up in there now!). It had been abnormally chilly in Modesto and San Francisco is usually a little cold in the morning so we had coats on. Scott was wearing a huge black coat. I was carrying mine and asked him if he wanted me to carry his once it warmed up, but he continued to wear it even though it was getting very warm. That should have been my first warning...

After walking around on the wharf, we went to Ghirardelli Square - probably my most anticipated event of the day! We got a delicious caramel ice cream sundae and I was in heaven. I wanted to buy some chocolate to take with me from the shop, but Scott was in a hurry. We had tickets to see Wicked at 2:00, and it was 12:30, so I wasn't sure why he was in such a rush, but when he suggested that we walk by the ocean, I wasn't too suspicious. I had told him earlier that I wanted to walk by the ocean if we had time, so I thought he was just making time to do that. However, it was much more than just humoring my idea!

We walked down a bit pier that curved around. There were lots of people fishing and running. As we slowly walked down, I started to feel more and more nervous. One second I thought he was going to propose, and the next I would tell myself, No, I don't think he is going to do it right now. We looked out at the ocean once we got to the end of it and talked for a while. I was just enjoying the moment and thinking it was very romantic even though he wasn't proposing. Scott suddenly said, "Look, can you see the Oakland temple?" I couldn't and told him. He said, "Oh, I think it's right there! Can you see that glint of light?" I still couldn't see it. He said, "Just keep looking!" and at that moment I could feel his heart beating really fast (he was standing behind me). He knelt down and proposed and obviously, I said yes! We were very lucky because a lady running offered to take some pictures of us. I was so happy and couldn't stop giggling - I was glad I wasn't a crying mess, because that is what I would have expected of myself. It was the perfect, romantic setting, but more than anything I was just happy I was with Scott.

After our romantic proposal, we had to rush to get to Wicked! We took a trolley to the theater while I called my family members to tell them what had happened. Wicked was absolutely amazing but I couldn't help getting distracted by my ring. It felt like everything was too good to be true - seafood, Wicked, Ghirardelli Square AND eternity all in one day?

After Wicked, we were picked up by Scott's dad to go to a Giant's game with the whole family. We hadn't told any of Scott's family that we were engaged because we wanted to surprise them (although Scott's dad knew that we were planning on getting married). We got to the game first and I got more and more nervous as we waited for his sisters and their families to show up. They had only met me less than 24 hours ago and I was worried that they wouldn't like that we got engaged so quickly after meeting them. I was trying to hide my hand once they did show up until I could work up the courage to flash the diamond and hear the surprised screams. Scott's dad even told Jenna, Scott's niece, to look at my hands but all she noticed was that my nails were painted. :) When Scott's sister asked what we did that day, Scott gave the list and then grabbed my hand and held it up. Cue surprised screams. But they were excited ones too. :) And to top it all off the Giants won - by a lot (but I can't remember how much... Scott could probably tell you). And that was the best day of my life up to that point.

quote of the day

Lorren: You're kissing me to death!
Scott: Wouldn't that be a great death?

Dating

Ok, I'm going to switch to first person now. Haha.

Scott asked me to be his girlfriend on December 11, 2009. This date was also significant because it was a reading day. While I'm very glad I started dating Scott, I would not recommend starting a relationship during finals week. It is very hard to focus on studying when you are excited about dating someone! The next day was also a reading day. We spent the day apart and then went for Scott's favorite dessert at Applebees, the maple butter blondie. Then we went to a park and talked for a while, then we went and played smurf with some friends. Everyone thought Scott had already kissed me, and so that was a theme of the night. They were all very surprised when Scott asked me if I had "smurfed" that day and I said no. A little later he dropped me off and went home. But about fifteen minutes later (after I'd already changed into my pajamas) he asked if he could come back over because he forgot to give me something. I already knew exactly what was up. A few weeks earlier, Scott had been looking at my "bucket list" and seen that being kissed under the mistletoe was on it. When he knocked on the door, I looked up and sure enough, there was mistletoe hanging there. He told me he wanted to help me out with my bucket list and kissed me. He was so cute and so pleased with himself. :) He was even cute when he tripped as he walked away.

A few days later we separated for the Christmas break but we talked on the phone every couple of days, a couple of times holding out because we hoped the other would call first! I was very happy when I opened my suitcase because Scott had put a mix CD in there when I wasn't looking, full of romantic or funny songs that seemed to fit in perfectly with our relationship.

When we came back our dating was really able to begin. I always appreciated that Scott made an effort to plan creative dates and ask me on them. Some of the favorites were making painting on canvases, making edible peanut butter play dough, "Italian night" when we made me delicious spaghetti carbonara and then took me to the International Cinema for an Italian movie, and the festival of colors at Spanish Fork. While the dating was a lot of fun, I was very freaked out by the idea of marriage. Scott made no secret of the fact that it was on his mind, but he also didn't push me to talk about it. He told me he was as ready as I wanted to be, and I told him I was NOT ready!

In early March we both participated in the Rex Lee Run. This was a particularly special experience for Scott because he ran in honor of his mom, who passed away from cancer 8 years ago. However, about a mile into the race, I was in extreme pain due to that too-familiar monthly visitor. I tried to keep running, but it was so bad that I had to sit down for several minutes. I felt bad and told Scott that he could keep running. I didn't want to ruin his special race. But he stayed with me until I felt better. At the end, he wanted to run faster and I didn't, so I told him I didn't mind if he went on ahead. He said, "I've gone this far with you, I'm not going to leave you now!" That was one of the first moments when I thought that I could possibly marry him.

A few other changes also had to take place before I was ready to marry Scott. I had been planning on going to pharmacy school pretty solidly. I had gone through most of my undergrad education and figured that I probably wouldn't be married by the time I graduated, so I thought, why not pursue higher education? However, as things got more serious with Scott I wondered if my academic goals were compatible with my eternal goals of marriage and a family. I also started to think about the financial realities of going to pharmacy school. I shadowed a pharmacist and found myself envying the nurses as we rounded with the doctors. After talking to my roommates (who were nursing majors) and some other personal experiences, I decided to change my post-graduation plans and apply for a spot in U of U's accelerated nursing program (It is a fourteen month program where if you already have a bachelor's degree you can quickly complete another for a BSN). It was a very hard decision and it freaked me out (even though I knew it was the right one) and so I couldn't think about marriage for another several weeks.

However, there came a point where I knew that I felt how I wanted to feel. I was still really scared (and continued to be really scared up until we got married) but I knew that Scott fulfilled every hope I could have for a husband and that I felt strongly enough about him to be in love with him for the rest of my life. I wasn't sure what to do once I came to this realization because he knew I was freaked out about marriage and was hesitant to bring it up. One Saturday morning after going to the Provo Farmer's Market, after hugging me for a long time I asked him what he was thinking about. I felt his heart start beating really fast and he said, "I want to marry you, Lorren." I felt so happy and said, "I think I want to marry you too but I'm not sure how to be sure about it!" But we started taking steps forward. He asked if I wanted to go ring shopping before or after we visited his family in California (a trip that had been planned for a while and was coming up in a couple of weeks) and I freaked out. But a few days later I told him I was ready to go ring shopping. We did and it was super weird and super fun. I wanted to try my ring on again so bad but Scott wouldn't let me see it. Then we went to California... and I was left wondering if we would end up engaged at the end of the trip or not!

To be continued of course!

How We Met

But first... quote of the day!

Scott: I'm cold.
Lorren: Is that why you're wearing socks?
Scott: No. I was going to put shoes on because it makes me more productive.

And now, the story.

Once upon a time, Lorren had to do her visiting teaching, but when she went to her teachee, Kellie's, apartment, she was informed that Kellie was not there but was in fact playing games with some new guys in the BYU 138th ward who lived in apartment D213. Lorren and her visiting teaching companion decided to just stop by for a few minutes because Lorren had been out of town for 3 weeks and they would not be able to visit Kellie at any other time. Kellie was a good sport about it and came outside for a few minutes. She told Lorren and April about how she had a big crush on one of the boys inside, Steve. Lorren and April felt guilty for interrupting the evening and let Kellie get back to playing games.

Unfortunately, when Lorren returned to her apartment, she found that her roommates had left to go hot-tubbing at Glenwood. Lorren did not have keys with her and was not sure what to do, so she went back to apartment D213 and asked if she could play games with Kellie, Steve, and Steve's roommate.

The game was Scattergories and Steve and Kellie were enjoying the competition. Steve's roommate, Scott, was sad because he could not remember very many
good words in English because he had recently returned from a mission to Italy. At the end of the night, Lorren and Kellie went back to Kellie's apartment to wait for Lorren's roommates to come back from their hot-tubbing adventure. Kellie asked Lorren if she thought Scott was cute. Lorren said yes because she liked his glasses.Throughout the summer, Lorren would occasionally hang out with Kellie's group of friends. Kellie and Steve started officially dating, and so the group always included Steve and his roommate Scott. Lorren began to notice that Scott was very fun but also a very deep thinker. She liked the way he took important things seriously and wasn't ashamed to analyze the meanings of deep things. She also enjoyed being at dance parties with him because he was a crazy awesome dancer. However, she was a little distracted because she was dating the wrong boy. A few weeks later when the wrong boy broke up with her, she hung out with Kellie, Steve, and Scott and they tried to cheer her up. Steve told her that she should date Scott and she laughed it off because she was tired of dating. However, she did think Scott was cooler than anybody else she hung out with that summer. Unfortunately, on one of the last nights of the summer, they all went to a movie and Scott put his arm around another girl. Even though she couldn't explain to herself exactly why, Lorren was annoyed by this and hoped that the relationship wasn't too serious.
The fall semester started and Lorren dated another wrong boy. She also was put on service council, which Scott was the council chair of. Lorren also wanted to start a kickball team, and Scott helped her put it together and became the team captain. As they spent more time together, they became better friends. When the wrong boy was out of the picture, Scott and Lorren had a long talk about relationships and why dating was frustrating. Lorren suggested that they do something fun together to get their minds off their dating situations, and Scott invited her to watch the clean flicks version of Slumdog Millionairethat evening with a big group of friends. Lorren had a great time and couldn't remember the last person she had that much fun with. Still, she didn't want to have a relationship due to the tumultuous summer of dating wrong boys.

A few weeks later, Lorren got sick with the swine flu. Scott came over and brought her hot chocolate and they talked about music and personality tests. After a few evenings of "hanging out" they asked each other to go to BYU's acoustic night (it really was a simultaneous asking... kind of funny). After that, Scott took Lorren out amost every weekend. Her feelings for him kept growing, especially after sh learned more about his life and his testimony. They started spending more time together to plan the Sub for Santa auction, a big activity held by the service council.

One of the items being auctioned off was dinner with Lorren's apartment. At the auction, Scott got in a bidding war with someone and ended up buying the dinner for $80. At this point, Lorren started to feel like maybe it was time to move from being just friends. However, she was very nervous about dating someone exclusively. She and Scott went on a couple more dates and then one very cold night when they had been studying together at the library past midnight, Scott held Lorren's hand. A few days later, on a ward temple trip, Scott asked Lorren to be his girlfriend officially on a bench in Temple Square, surrounded by falling snow and the Christmas lights. Lorren said yes.
To be continued!!

Quote of the day

I think this is an appropriate way to start the chronicle of our life together:

Scott: You are my wonderful waffle-batter-eating princess queen wife adorable person.