My Wedding Tag

Yikes this is going to be a LONG one....

Where did you meet your husband? I met Stephen at the Palomar Singles Ward FHE (Family Home Evening) in September of 2004 (yes, I realize that wasn't THAT long ago)(and YES, we have TWO kids!). It was at the Palomar Institute and I was talking to Stephen and his friend Scott. They asked me what my name was and I said, "Lola." I thought they were being dumb, already knowing my name. So I just played along. Honestly, he hardly said a word to me and I really wasn't that interested at all. I think he was only a few days off his mission. You could tell by his strong spanish accent too that he was still adjusting.

What was the first thing you said to him? It was probably something like, "Lola!" Silly I know. Growing up I always liked to lie about my name (and a few other things!), so it naturally carried through. Stephen always likes to say the first thing that ever came out of my mouth to him was a lie. =)

PS- The picture on the right here is a whole other story...ask me later about me dating and being practically engaged to his cousin!!

Where was your first date? Kiss? Our first "date", I guess you could call it one, was to see Napoleon Dynamite. How awesome is that? Only I didn't know that it was an official date (he says it was), because he said, "invite any of your friends." So I had invited a bunch of friends, one of which came, and was a guy. So it ended up being the three of us at the movie. Weird!

Our first kiss wasn't for a few weeks later. I probably would've kissed him before that, but it was his FIRST KISS, so he was a little nervous about the whole ordeal!! Yes. I was Stephen's first kiss, first girlfriend, the whole she-bang. We were sitting on his parents couch watching a movie (of course) after an activity that had just taken place there. Honestly? It was rather good for a first-timer!

Did you have a long or a short courtship?Very short. I never in a million years thought that I would be in such a fast courtship. I remember thinking I would be dating my future hubby for at least a year before we got married. Especially since I was a returned missionary, and generally, girls take a little while after that. Not always, and obviously not in my case! We started dating in October 04', we were unofficially engaged by December 04', and on February 5, 2005 he finally proposed and we married on April 23, 2005!! So all in all, from start to finish, it was only 6-7 months.

*What was amazing to me was that I was planning on moving to Provo to go to BYU (had my housing and was registered in classes). He kept telling me, "don't you want to go to BYU-Hawaii instead? Cause otherwise I have to move to Utah too." I thought he was just kidding, but he was serious. He had found housing with his best friend, Scott, and was planning on moving up there only because I was. That mad me seriously think. I realized that he really DID like me A LOT, and I thought that maybe I should re-think the Utah idea. So I ended up deciding (after many long prayers and waiting) that I probably was going to marry Stephen and that it made more sense to not go into debt to move to Utah and all, and just stay home in sweet San Diego and continue dating Stephen.

Where did you get engaged?Stephen took me to the Oceanside pier, which was nothing surprising, cause we always go there and walk along the beach at night or just talk. So we went on February 5 to Oceanside Pier. We were walking along the south side of the pier on the sand. He had just given me a piggy-back ride over trillions of rocks that were hurting my feet and then sat me down on a bank of sand. He started telling me how much he loved me and all that adorable yummy stuff that you want your man to tell you. As he continued he pulled out a beautiful (past-present-and-future diamond) ring. I was so excited and in shock that I immediately looked away (I know, I'm so weird) and was saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Of course in the end I was more than thrilled to put the ring on my finger, say YES! and give him hugs and kisses endlessly.

We then walked up to the pier, down to the end of it, where our parents were waiting to congratulate us and buy us dinner at Ruby's. It was so fun and I will always remember it. So happy!

Where did you get married? We got married at the beautiful San Diego Temple in La

Jolla, California. In the picture it looks like it was gloomy, but that wasn't true. It was beautiful and sunny, and a tiny bit windy.

How did the reception go? Itwas so much FUN! We had ours in the Chapman backyard in San Marcos. It was perfect! Lots of space for people, a playground for kids, etc. We had yummy food, L&L Hawaiian BBQ meats and then Pat & Oscar's breadsticks and salad. Too bad I only had a few bites!! The thing that made our reception so much fun was that at the end, EVERYONE was up dancing with us on the dancefloor (basketball court). Really, everyone was dancing and it kept going well after we left apparently.

How was the honeymoon? It was heaven on earth! I want to go back so badly still! We went to Cabo San Lucas (we actually stayed in San Jose del Cabo which is about 20 minutes east...it's where our timeshare hotel was based) on the tip of Mexico. We didn't go on our honeymoon until about 6 weeks after our wedding. I admit that I'm REALLY glad we did that, just for future reference! So we were there for a week and LOVED it. It made it really fun that we both speak spanish. We also rented a car and drove all around the southern tip of Baja. We went to Shipwrecks (famous surf spot) and then up the east cape where the beaches are empty and the water is warmer. We off-roaded for about 2-3 hours til we found the perfect spot. Then while Stephen surfed, I caught some rays, until some wild dogs and wild horses scared me a bit. You should've seen me- screaming at Stephen hundreds of feet away to come in cause I was scared. So funny now that I look back! LOL

I tag: Shayla, Rachel Hazen and Allison Weenig!