Chapter 5: A New Step

As of February 14, 2010 I have taken a step that will change my life forever. I said, "yes" when he said, "will you please." I feel good about this decision. The transition has come about in a way that I knew undeniably, from deep down inside that I wanted to marry him. As I thought and prayed about it while we were apart over Christmas break, I was reminded of all the little instances and circumstances that have made our relationship what it is. When I returned to Duluth after almost 3 weeks, my resolve was solidified by several things. 1st--chronologically, he attempted to surprise me by canceling my shuttle trip home, taking the day off work, driving the 2.5 hours to the airport, and picking me up with some beautiful flowers. (The shuttle company blew his cover by sending a confirmation email of the cancellation and me freaking out and calling them about it. He still gets lots of point for it though.) 2nd, as we spent the rest of the day together I realized how much I had actually missed him. I felt a refreshment that I wasn't aware I had needed. It just felt good. We decided that night that we wanted to get married.

The official proposal took a while longer however. In the mean time, we decided where we want to live so that I could find an internship out there, the idea being that it's a good idea to intern at a place you might actually like to stay. So, since we both had no long term plans of staying in Minnesota and we've both always been attracted to the west coast, I found an internship in Vancouver, WA. I called up the cardiac rehab center of one of the hospitals out there and talked to them about the possibility of doing an internship there this summer. Within a week they said they'd take me. I'm starting June 17. Joey is in early childhood education so, he can pretty much find a teaching job anywhere. Finally we decided to get married June 4 so that we could move to Vancouver together. We called the temple and set the date. However, he still hadn't proposed...

I knew that he would probably try to surprise me and that it would probably be on a weekend and that he had been looking at rings for a while and most likely had one. So after a couple of weekends passed and nothing happened, I thought he might do it on Valentines day. It started out like any other low-key, Sunday Valentines. We made breakfast in the morning and exchanged gifts. He got me this really cool halite lamp and a giftcard to a department store. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. We went to church, came home, made dinner and watched some Olympics. Later that evening as they announced more figure skating he said that he didn't want to watch it and suggested we watch some video he took of the preschoolers from his work on their favorite parts of the school musical they had just done. I said, "OK" knowing it would probably be just long enough to get past the figure skating to some other event that we both like. As we watched, I noticed that sometimes there wasn't a question asked at the beginning and I assumed that it was probably the same one as the previous child, however the answer didn't make sense. I disregarded this thinking that they're preschoolers and often give strange answers. Finally, at the end I heard the question. "Why should my girlfriend, Melissa marry me?" and the little girl answered, "because she likes people!" Before I had completely processed what was going on, Joey had slid off the couch and on to his knee holding out the ring. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. He then he brought up some sparkling cider and chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas to top it all off. I thought it was a nice touch and on the whole really thoughtful and sweet. I feel lucky to have found someone willing to to go so much effort for me :) Here are some of our engagement pictures and of course--per request--a picture of the ring. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Finals!

They come up every year. Finals. They are usually so crazy that you barely have time to think. This year however, things have worked out nicely. Granted, my two hardest finals are on Monday so, I'm going to be spending a lot of time studying this weekend but, on the other hand, I had two days with no classes this week. That was wonderful and, because Spirit Mountain (the local ski resort) is hosting "pass holder appreciation week" I've gotten to go snowboarding for free thanks to some friends from school who have passes. No, it's not anywhere near as cool as the resorts in Utah but, it's still fun and it's still good exercise and, it's still fun to go with friends. I'm seriously tempted to get a pass now though...we'll see how all the financial stuff plays out. I probably should have studiously prepared for my finals (and written a short paper or two) but, such is the life of a college student. It all gets done somehow.

Chapter 3: Life

I've been a horrible slacker about updating my blog. I guess that sometimes it's harder to find the adventure in life with the monotony of school and the ever increasingly cold weather. However, I've been able to find some. On nice weekends Joey and I go for walks/hikes along the many--and I mean many trails in Duluth. They're cool because you don't feel like you're in the city when you are on them because of all the trees. This last weekend we were on one that ran along a creek that was partially frozen. It was so beautiful--even when we found the biggest rocks we could dislodge from frozen ground and threw them in attempt to break the ice. It's kind of like the game only cooler :). During the week when it's dark and cold we cook. We're always making random foods--which can be an adventure in and of itself. Finding the recipes, tweaking them, making mistakes all contribute to cooking adventure. We discovered an amazing apple pie recipe on allrecipes.com (I love this website! If you ever need a recipe this is the place to go) as well as pillsbury pie crust. They are amazing! They taste good and are fairly easy to work with--at least it was a lot easier to make the lattice top with this than frozen ones or even homemade ones. It worked out great. I've also been learning about staple midwest meals (or maybe just northland meals, I wouldn't really know the difference) such as chicken and wild rice soup, and honeycrisp apples that stay crispy for several months in the fridge, top the tater--a sour cream with chives in it that tastes really good with potato chips and, tater tot "hot dish" aka casserole. You can learn so many things in new places. Speaking of learning, I do study--a lot. I complain about school quite a bit but, in reality I like it. I like learning so many new and interesting things. Sometimes the process is a little challenging but isn't everything worthwhile? Sometimes, I don't really feel like I'm in graduate school. I'm a master's student right? I should be an expert right? Wrong. I still don't feel like I know anything. If anything it feels like a strange extension of my undergrad work except that everybody is something of an over-achiever. Even those who are less so than others are still over achievers. I suppose it comes with the territory.

Chapter 2: The Move and Settling In

I've been horribly neglectful of this blog. So much for good intentions. Here's a recap of what's happened the last month.

We began the grueling 2 1/2 day trip Wednesday (September 2). Picture this: My little Nissan + the bare minimum of my things packed in as tightly as possible+ 4 people and their individual stuff for the trip + many hours in the car. We drove the length and width of Wyoming, all the way across South Dakota and diagonally through most of Minnesota. I now feel like I am familiar with the Midwest. We tried to make the trip more fun by giving it a road trip sort of feel. This was good, and essential for stretching our cramped legs. We stopped at Martin's cove, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and, explored Duluth once we got me settled. Here's a few pictures.
My School

My Apartment

I have now been in Minnesota for a month and it feels like I've been here a lot longer. I'm getting to know the city and I like it. I'm used to being in cities about this size, however, I'm used to there being lots of cities this size surrounding the one I am in. So, it feels almost like normal and the lake definitely makes up for the lack of mountains. School has been good, and about what I am used to. There are 13 people in my program and it's been fun getting to know them all. The whole being out of the bubble thing hasn't been too shocking either. Perhaps this is because the only people I hang out with outside of school are the very few LDS young single adults in the area. Small though the group is, it's nice be be able to make friends with the same beliefs and standards. It's also nice--and I didn't expect this at all--to have found a wonderful boy who has shown me around the city and helped me feel more at home. His name is Joey Nath.

Chapter 1: Summers End

Before summer even started my friend Candice and I put together a list of goals that we wanted to accomplish. This was going to be a fun and eventful summer. I wanted to make sure that I did things this year because, I love doing. I didn't want to become a lazy bum just because I graduated and only work 30 hours a week. I was going to ensure a productive and enjoyable summer full of my favorite activities and people. In lieu of this I took on the following motto:

"One must live, not only exist; he must do, not merely be; he must grow, not just vegetate" --Spencer W. Kimball

This can mean a lot of things depending on ones definition of what it means to live and do and grow. I took it to mean that that in order not to vegetate or "grow moldy" in a sense, a person should be proactive, persistent, and productive. This creates growth and growth is proof that one lives.


As a result of all this, my summer was awesome; a kind of relatively carefree and enjoyable time before I return to the demands of school and experience the challenges of moving away from friends and family to a new state. I learned a little Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu--which is not only good self defense but fun and good exercise; hiked all kinds of canyons and mountains throughout Utah, learning a lot about myself as I went and; enjoyed small adventures with friends and family such as swimming (a lot), canoeing, barbecuing wonderful food, singing, painting, watching movies, camping and, general fun. Thanks to all those who helped make it great!

I move to Minnesota next Wednesday. I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time. However, I am determined to make this a good experience where I live, do, and, grow.