June - Fiance and Friends

You're all aware that i take a supercilious amount of pictures. all the time. and you're all dealing with it, which i'm grateful for. 

I had so MANY pictures, that i've split them up.  

The first section being this one. Fiance and friends. Karl is my best friend, and i think he's super cute. So that's a lot of pictures. My siblings and i are all very close, and this summer we were lucky enough to have 6/8 of us living in Utah, so we saw each other a lot. More pictures. I started working at BYU Sports Camps again in early June, this time as a "DC". A Dorm Counselor, there are only 10, and they work very closely together, literally all day every day. So the 10 of us became thick as thieves very quickly. a few more pictures. 

here they are, out of order:

Karl and da homie. she's a stinking cutie and he LOVES babies. they were little buddies all night when we babysat for my sister Rebecca. 

Karl with Babies. STAHP. He's adorable. 

not. helping. 

my ovareeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. 

I continued to send him little love not text messages because i was a sports camps all day every day, and he was working at the MTC a lot and we missed each other a whole bunch. 

But! We got to see each other for 30- 70 minutes a day on weekdays depending on both our schedules. We'd use that time to read the scriptures together and talk about our days. 

Karl and I went to see our friend, my boss, Rachel O in an opera at BYU. 

During the overture, Karl leaned toward me and whispered, "can we please be one of those artsy couples who goes to plays and symphonies and stuff?"

"uhmm, YES. please."

"okay, cool. I'd like that."

i found a random painting of mah BFFL in the HFAC

Rachel was in "Hansel and Gretel" as the mother, and i was BLOWN. AWAY. I knew she was an incredible singer, and i knew she was in the vocal performance program, and i knew she loved theatre, yes, yes, yes. 

But golly, i was floored by her voice. The score and her role perfectly suited her abilities. 

me and my DC friends!

A bunch of us went to see rachel together. 

Me, Erin, Seth, Rach, Kyle, and Amber. 

these humans. 

i spent most of my time this summer with Karl and these people. It was the best summer of my life. 

I like graffiti. 

Very early on in the summer, i got to meet the president of Karl's mission. Karl served a mission for our church in San Jose California for 2 years, and the man who presided over it now lives in Utah, about an hour north of Provo. He invited several of the missionaries he led over for dinner one night, and asked Karl to bring me, too. Being a fiance has its perks. 

This man and his wife are outrageously generous, and two of the most genuinely cheery people I've ever met. They are stellar humans. 

I love hearing people speak highly of Karl, because i feel so proud to be his. I also love being able to see the look in their eyes, and know that they love him, too. I feel connected to them because we share deep regard for a mutual person. 

That was a great night. I was so proud of Karl, and he was showing me off like a Christmas toy, haha. I  was flattered and i felt valued, and even the sun smiled that night, so i took a picture as we drove past because i wanted to remember that feeling. 

so so happy. 

more love notes

we liked to sit outside the temple at sunset or in the evening. To keep our goals in literal view, and to have a quiet private place to talk and dream out loud about our future together. 

at the beginning of the summer, Karl was still in school. so most our time over the weekends was spent next to him on the couch while he did homework and i read or napped. I kept getting distracted by his cute little face. slash distracting him with kisses. 

one week, i was a normal counselor instead of a DC! So i got SIX HOURS OFF in the middle of the day every day! It was heaven for me and Karl! We had a lot of fun that week, but mostly just enjoyed the extra time to talk face to face. 

sunday naps. precious. 

post-engagement photo ice cream truck bombardment. 

i was only ever home on saturdays and sundays. and when i say home i mean at Karl's house. So i didn't feel bad being openly disgusted with the stench and filth of the apartment i lived in. (I didn't even live there. i slept there.) I knew i didn't make any of the mess. 

one morning, i took an old toothbrush and scrubbed a path down one side of the sink to raise awareness of its putrescence.

no one noticed. 

speaking of cleaning, i got lucky. 

Karl is a very clean boy. 

not absurdly clean, but he is clean. he cleans up after himself and has good hygiene and know HOW to clean, and he helps ME clean, and i'm just grateful for his cleanliness, alright?

plus, how cute is he doing dishes? 

our wedding announcement. 

(We used vistaprint in case you were wondering, and were pleased with what we got for the price we paid.)

and yes, we WERE actually "elated" to announce our temple marriage, mom. 

I like specific adjectives. sue me. 

testing out my front facing camera. typical melissa face. 

on the way to an interview for a random miraculously opened job perfect for our situation.

nerves for days. 

aaaaaaaaand....

AFTER the interview:

we totes nailed it. The owner was impressed with Karl, as everyone should be, and i'm still convinced that Karl's former position as an Assistant to the Mission President is the main reason why we got the job. Karl does not brag. So i do it for him. He is incredibly capable and handles even the most daunting responsibilities with confidence that still astounds me. 

love this boy. 

after the interview, we were at the grocery store, and this cute old man kept talking to Karl. Karl told him we were getting married. the man gave him lots of marriage advice. 

and then proceeded to give parenting tips to all the families passing him in the aisle while his wife shopped. i laughed, because the old man and Karl were wearing similar shirts, and had the same ears and smile. 

Karl's "GQ pose"

my little bedroom when i first moved in.

bae caught you slippin'

cafe rio cafe rio cafe rio

It's my favorite place in Provo. We don't really eat out a ton, but i will always make an exception for Cafe. stinking. Rio. 

My Niece's first birthday party at a hidden gem duck pond! 

THOSE MOUNTAINS. mmmmm, utah. 

the birthday cutie.

Karl has one white eyelash on his right eye. 

I love it. 

sometimes i kiss it. 

He hates it, but he tolerates it because i think it's cool. 

and by the way, i think it's incredibly cute when he takes pictures on his phone. These are ones that i forgot he took, but i found one day, and immediately sent to myself. haha. 

June from Karl's point of view:

I. LOVE. HIS. EYES. 

When he smiles in pictures, they usually get too squinty to see, but i love this resting face. because he has some giant eyeballs, and they deserve to be seen. 

also, that mouth. 

perfect. 

He braids my hair.

we saw "Inside Out" with my DC friends. (we really enjoyed it. Karl because it was funny, and me because hello cartoon, kid friendly depiction of the developing child. dass mah jaaaaam!) and they had a little teaser for the upcoming Pixar movie, "Good Dinosaur", which i have been waiting for since 2000 and dang 12. 

after we nailed our interview.

we love holdin' hands. 

After the Payson temple dedication

June was fantastic! I got to be with Karl again, i made friends, and i spent a lot of time with family.