The seventh bit, in which there is much love, joy, and a good helping of cheesy:

Being apart from Jared made for horribly long, wretched, and completely despicable days, in which I wished that I didn't exist.  After going through three such days, my Mom mentioned that I should marry someone nice, someone that I wanted to be with, someone that was my best friend.  Jared fit every description.  When I told Jared, his response was, "Does that mean I can hug you now?"  And then we both started living again.

Life was hard for Jared for the next while.  He was ready to move on, and I was dragging my feet.  And it wasn't until a couple months later, October 4, 1999, that I found what I was looking for.  I was reading scriptures on marriage, when I came to D&C 49. 

 15 And again, verily I say unto you, that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man.

"Hmmm."

I decided to read the rest of the chapter and was deeply touched upon reading:

26 Behold, I say unto you, go forth as I have commanded you; repent of all your sins; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you.

 27 Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward; and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded.

I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father had these scriptures written just for me.  Upon reading this, I knew.  I knew it wouldn't matter what life threw at us.  I knew that I would be happy married to Jared, and that the Savior would be right there with us.  I knew that this was the right path for me. 

Jared proposed to me 15 days later--on my 21st birthday.  Only the evening before, I had written in my journal some of the reasons why I love Jared Daniel Weston.  

He's strong but gentle.  He loves me.  He's fun to be with.  He's generous, patient, understanding.  Cares and listens to me.  Strong testimony.  Spiritual leader.  Teaches by example.  Hard worker.  Doesn't get embarrassed.  Likes to do things.  Builds things with his hands.  Smart.  Wants a wife that will stay home.  Not worldly.  Good with kids.  Respects me.  Shares his feelings with me.  Makes me want to become better.  Likes my family.  Doesn't worry about the opinions of others.  Loves the Lord.

Jared was a real pill during our engagement.  To put it lightly, no male on planet earth was ever quite so stressed out about being engaged as was our hero.  It's a good thing he had made such a good impression on me beforehand!    In any case, after all I'd put him through, I deserved it.  Being engaged (4 1/2 months!) made everything a lot harder, but the joys were deeper, too; we lived life to the fullest. 

I always said the worst thing each day was saying goodnight and letting him go home.  Finally, the day came when Jared didn't have to go home any more.  We made it to March 3, 2000, where we met at the Mount Timpanogos Temple and were sealed together for eternity.  In all my life, I'd never been so happy. 

And lucky me, I continue to find joy with my best friend every day.

I love you JD.  You're the most beautiful man I have ever known.

All posts were reviewed by Jared before I posted them to this blog.  He only asked that I make one correction (but he asked it after I published it).  Our mutual break-up occurred between our jet-lagged heroine and our mono-victim hero after completing a hike to the summit of Mount Timpanogos and back.  It's pretty safe to say that we were not terribly rational at that point.  Thanks for reading our story! 

And now for the real engagement pictures....

Jared was always thoughtful in super cute ways.  This was the day he filled my room with balloons in our wedding colors.  That's me holding the paper chain we made for the Big Wedding Count Down!  (As a side note, this is the same room you saw in the first picture in part six.  Jared and our friend Rex painted it and put in new carpet for me, and Jared built a bed frame--much improved, don't you think?!  And yellow :)

This is how happy I was to be marrying Jared Daniel Weston!

My very favorite picture from our wedding day.

Jared Daniel Weston and Kathryn Nyman Weston, March 3, 2000