A dream come true...almost!

It's funny that the last time I blogged I was a little heart-broken, a little confused, and a lot wondering when and how it would finally work out for me. Relationship-wise, I mean :) Little did I know that Heavenly Father had already gotten the ball rolling. Little did I know that the most perfect man for me was getting ready to ship out to Augusta (where he didn't want to go). But I DID know that all along He's been preparing me for this. Even though I was kind of blindsided, I accepted it with open arms because it's right.

So here's the story about Tim & Kim (unabridged):

Tim moved into my ward in the middle of August (can't remember the exact date...:). I thought he was cute from the beginning, but I didn't want to be the girl that goes after all the fresh meat that comes in :) But I was definitely interested in getting to know him. The first week at FHE we didn't really talk. Just introductions. The second week, he claims he couldn't stop staring at me, and did all he could think of to keep our conversation going. :) Again, I was a little stand-offish because I didn't want to come off desperate. I found out later that Tim assumed there was something seriously wrong with me, for these reasons: 1) I'm not ugly, but am 24 y.o. and still single. 2) I'm not ugly but I went through 4 years at BYU and didn't get married. 3) I went on a mission. 4) I'm not ugly, have been home almost 18 mos and am still single. Little did HE know that I was just waiting all this time to find him! ;)

A week later at FHE Tim finally got my phone number...but also got everyone else's who was there. We as a group decided to do something the next night. This was the week of Aug 30. I saw Tim that Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, and we went with a small group to ATL that Saturday. I really felt myself being drawn to him, and when I didn't see him, I missed being around him. Then we had church and FHE the next day, Sunday. Again we decided as a group to do something the next day, since it was going to be Labor Day. Tim and I went to lunch, just the 2 of us, and met up with the group later. I had to go to work, but that night I came back to his place and we watched a movie together, just the 2 of us again. But after the movie we sat and talked for a little while. Before we knew it it was 4:00 am! The time really flew by b/c the conversation came so easy! This late-night conversing happened again 2 days later after coming back to his place after my soccer game, which he came to to cheer me on even though he doesn't like soccer at all. :)

The next night, 9 Sept, he made his move while we were watching a movie. Later that night we shared our first kiss. I had a couple of dates lined up for the upcoming weekend, but cancelled b/c I really couldn't see myself with anyone else. I wasn't at all interested in getting to know anyone else better except for Tim...yes, this early in the game--crazy! So Tim and I had our "official" first date on Saturday, and made things facebook official. :) We even dropped the "M" bomb a couple of times, talking about it as a possibility. On Monday, 13 Sept he told me he loved me, and that night we decided to get married! Two weeks later he proposed.

PROPOSAL STORY:
In preparation for our wedding, I told Tim that we probably shouldn't go out to dinner anymore to save money. I didn't know this, but he wanted to take me out to dinner and propose in a nice restaurant. But since we already had gone ring shopping, I knew he had the ring, and we had scheduled an appt for engagement photos, I knew the proposal was coming. He still wanted to surprise me, though. So he said that before we stop going out to eat, he wanted to go to Red Lobster's seasonal shrimp fest, all you can eat.
On 20 Sept, a Monday, we decided to go out. We'd both had a pretty bad day. I didn't look very nice, or even good, but we went out anyway. We enjoyed way to much shrimp, and the server was really nice and friendly. As we were winding down, feeling uber full, Tim asked me if I wanted to dance to our song...in the restaurant. I gave him a "are you crazy?" sort of look, which said it all. There were people there, and music was already playing in the background. He was persistent though in asking, and when the server came back he asked her if SHE thought we should dance. When she saw that I was hesitant, she said that sshe thought I was scared. I couldn't back down, so she offered to turn off the background music. ( I know most of you would have known that something was coming, but I was still totally oblivious at this point! I just thought that Tim was being weird!) So we hear the music fade out, and Tim says, "There's our cue." As we're about to stand up, the waitress brings out a slice of cheesecake, her treat, and behind her comes the manager of the restaurant with a big bouquet of a dozen red roses and a card. NOW I know what's happening... So Tim and I get out of the booth, we play our song on his phone, and he starts to tell me a story about $40: (relatively short version)
In his exit interview w/ his mission president, the President gave him $40 cash and told Tim that he wanted to pay for dinner for Tim and his future wife. For 3 years Tim carried around that $40 in his wallet, wanting to make sure he spent it on the right girl.
So then Tim knelt down, pulled my ring out of his pocket, and asked, "Kim, can I spend this $40 on you?" I laughed and said yes, gave him a big hug and kiss, and we finished dancing to the song.

Since then things have been coming together really well. We have been so blessed to have friends and family be willing to help us with arrangements for the reception, pictures, announcements, etc. Planning a wedding in 3 months isn't impossible, but it would be impossible for me to do alone. I'm blessed with a wonderful fiance who wants to help plan, and a family who is more than willing to do whatever they can to make this day for Tim and me a dream come true!

(cheesy ending, but i don't even care! sometimes cheesy is the best way to express the truth! :)