Our Life 'Til Now

OK, so here's how we met...

Charles is from Maryland and is attending Weber State to get a double major in Automotive Technology and Technical Sales. But, he had a hidden agenda - to find a hot, LDS chick in Utah! He believes he definitely found one. :-) In November 2008, we were set up on a blind date by a good friend of a friend (who Chandra also dated). Our first date included holding the Front Runner train to SLC while the other couple ran from 2 blocks away to catch it! Then we ate dinner and watched "The Four Christmases" at Gateway. We then bonded by talking about our heights (we both happen to be vertically-challenged). We also had to save our friend from being hit by the TRAX train as he was eating a sandwich. Cheating at Phase 10 together on the train ride back to Ogden only sealed the deal. Within a month we knew we wanted to put up with each other for time and all eternity.

It was really hard once we made the decision because neither of us had very good jobs. Health insurance was also a huge thing because of Chandra having lupus. We never thought the bad economy would ever really effect us personally until then. After a very long job search, we found pretty good jobs in our professions and Chandra was able to get health insurance. These were huge blessings in our lives. Next was the search for the perfect ring. We found one and ordered it in Chandra's size, 2.75 and were so excited to get the ball rolling! Two weeks later, we got a call... it had been discontinued. So we got to go ring shopping again (this is a super fun date by the way)! We found another one that Chandra fell in love with even more and ordered it in a size 3 this time. The two month wait for the ring to come seemed like FOR-EV-ER.

Here's how Charles finally proposed: On May 2nd, 2009, we went to the Bountiful Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead, something we tried to do once a week while dating. We then ate at an Indian restaurant in Salt Lake (we both LOVE Indian food). After this, we drove around in Salt Lake for a while before Charles finally asked, "How do we get to the temple?" Chandra pointed him in the general direction, trying to hide her smile, anticipating what was coming next. We parked the car by Temple Square and Charles put in a CD as he said that there was a new song out with my name mentioned in it! The artist happened to be Charles, and he had composed the sweetest song ever on his guitar. :-) After listening to "Chandra," we got out and walked around Temple Square. After a while and a lot of wandering, Charles asked, "Where is the temple?" Apparently he had lost the temple in his nervous state of mind!!! The Salt Lake Temple is a pretty hard thing to miss! Chandra helped him find it, we walked to the Reflection Pond where we first said "I love you" 4 months previously, and Charles got down on one knee to 'tie his shoelace.' He then got back up and sat by Chandra as we talked for a long time. Eventually, he got back down on one knee and we were engaged.

Two months later we were sealed in the Bountiful Temple, and we now 'have marriage...'

We have a home in Ogden, which we are very grateful for. Having a backyard to make snowboarding hills and a fireplace to smoke out our room is all that we could ever ask for! Charles is a service advisor, working at a little automotive shop in Bountiful where he sells things people don't need (haha, just kidding! He's really good at what he does, and he is always very honest). He's also planning on graduating with a double major in August 2010. Chandra is working as an RN at Primary Children's on the Neuro Trauma Unit. Not having to worry about homework is so nice! This is her first year not having to go to school for 16 years! The commute is hard sometimes, but it's worth it to be in a home.

Our newest addition to the family is a previously neglected, starved, abused little kitten who Chandra rescued. He shows his love by biting our feet and attacking our faces during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. We named him Voldemort, and he's living up to his name! His white fur and eyes that shine red only add to his character. After he was neutered and declawed, he is still our little monster.

Married life is pretty much awesome. We often ride together to work, Charles does the cooking, Chandra does the cleaning, Chandra is getting Charles hooked on the Harry Potter series, and we love watching The Office before we go to sleep. We stay very busy with our callings in a young married's ward - R.S. Secretary and Assistant to the Ward Clerk (there will probably be many more "Office" references in future posts!). We spend a lot of our time goofing around, being dorky together.

We have a lot of pics to post, so hopefully we can keep this thing updated!