Our engagement story

Neal really wanted to go to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo, and planned a date to go down there a couple weeks before Christmas.  We almost weren't able to go, but Neal worked really hard to find a time that we could go.  We finally decided on December 23, 2010.

We drove down to Denver that evening, and stood in line for about an hour.  It was FREEZING!

See?  This is me being "sad cute" because it was cold standing in line.

We finally got inside and wandered around the zoo looking at the gorgeous lights.  Neal kept trying to get me to go into a secluded place (and I must admit, I was convinced it was because he just wanted to kiss me in private).  He kept acting really strange and I couldn't figure out why he wanted to get me by myself!  It actually got to the point where he got kind of frustrated with me.  

Finally when we got to the polar bear enclosure, Neal convinced me to go down into the basement (where you can look through glass into the water of the polar bear enclosure...because ya know, polar bears will be swimming in the freezing cold water at 9:30 pm when it's pitch black...and you'll be able to see them through the pitch black water).  When we walked into the area there was another couple there and it became VERY obvious that we weren't going to be able to see any polar bears.  I immediately turned around and started to walk back up the stairs.  Neal grabbed me and said "No, just wait stay here and don't move!"  I was very confused, but listened to him and stayed put.  

When the other couple left, Neal started getting very fidgety, and kept fiddling with something behind his back.  I could NOT figure out what he was doing!  It finally started to dawn on me what was probably about to happen.  As he pulled the box with the ring in it out from behind his back, he looked at me and whispered,  

"Do you kinda sorta wanna be my wife?"

For some reason (which I still don't know, and Neal still won't let me forget) I looked at him and said "Are you serious?"  He kind of just stared at me and I exclaimed "Yes!" and started jumping up and down.  Neal swears to this time that he looked at me and said sarcastically, "No, I'm just standing here holding a ring for a joke," but I don't remember that part :)

After we had a group of girls take a picture for us, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings, for dinner.  No one from our family really knew Neal was going to propose that night, so we slowly started telling family members via phone and text, and dropped a few hints on Facebook (like Neal posting "So this is what being engaged feels like....)

I honestly thought Neal was going to propose on Christmas day, so it didn't even cross my mind that he might be proposing while we were at zoo lights.  It came as a complete surprise.

See the pretty lights??  Oh, and the super happy couple.

We dated for seven months before getting engaged (read out dating story here which will also explain why Neal asked me to marry him the way he did).  We were engaged for 5 months, and got married May 13, 2011.

We took our engagement pictures in downtown Denver, in February, on a day that it was FREEZING outside.  They still turned out amazing, though, and we love them!

On 16th St.  Copyright Kelsey Hansen Photography

In City Park.  Copyright Kelsey Hansen Photography

Some random brick wall that was awesome.  Copyright Kelsey Hansen Photography

Here are a couple other random pictures from when we were engaged :)

On Christmas Day

"Blue Steel"

So happy!!

I may have just almost kicked him in the face

Goofy faces :)

Our dating story

In April 2010 I started hearing a lot of rumors in the Single's Ward I attended about a guy named "Neal Johnson" who would be returning from his mission in Manchester, England soon.  I even had a few people I was talking to at church ask me, "Do you know who Neal Johnson is?"  When I replied that I didn't, they chuckled and said, "Oh don't worry.  You will."  I became very curious and so I found this mysterious guy on Facebook.  As I searched through the pictures he had posted on Facebook before his mission, I thought to myself, "Wow...this guy is kind of a dork.  Why is there so much hype about him??"  Nevertheless, for some reason, I was extremely interested in him, and thinking about meeting him when he came home made me nervous, and even gave me butterflies a few times.  I found it very odd.  I knew he came home on Friday, April 23rd, so that following Sunday I put on an outfit that I thought made me look good (because for some reason I was trying to impress a man I'd never met, and who didn't even know I existed) and went to church. (Note: I found out later that Neal really REALLY did not like this outfit, and that he thought it made me look 7 years older than I actually was).

This was his profile picture when I stalked him

The following Tuesday our Relief Socitey was having an activity.  We were going to our bishop's house to watch movies.  I found out that the Elder's Quorum decided to play Ultimate Frisbee during the Relief Socitey's activity.  Now, I wasn't a huge fan of the movie the girls decided to watch, and I LOVE Ultimate Frisbee. So, I decided to ditch Relief Society and go play Ultimate Frisbee instead.  I found out when I got there that Neal has the same love for the game that I do.  We were on opposing teams, and no one was guarding Neal, so I started to guard him.  Apparently this impressed him, and so we started talking.  After the game, Neal announced to everyone that he wanted to go to Sonic.  I, of course, was ecstatic.  My friend, Erika, and I rushed back to the bishop's house to get her car, and then rushed to Sonic.  When we got there, it was literally 1 minute after 10:00 pm, and Sonic had closed.  No one from the frisbee game was there, and I later discovered they had all left already.  I was bummed. (Note: Neal swears I never showed up, and that I, in fact, ditched him.  Erika - help a sista out, will ya?  Tell him I did!!) That night I requested to be Neal's friend on Facebook, and we talked for a while on Facebook about a whole bunch of things.  He then told me he was getting a phone the next day, and I gave him my number so he could call me.

The next day Neal texted me and asked if I would like to go get ice cream at Baskin Robbins with him and his family.  I, of course, said yes, and rushed up there.  He also invited his friend, Troy, and Erika.  After we ate our ice cream, Neal asked if we wanted to come back to his house to watch the Nugget's game.  We headed to his house and ended up getting in a MASSIVE pillow fight instead of watching the Nugget's game. It was honestly one of the most enjoyable dates I've been on!  As I was leaving, Neal gave me a high-five goodbye.  Now, before you go making fun of him, this is one of my absolute favorite parts of the first week we knew each other.  This was unbelievably endearing to me, and showed me how fresh off his mission he was. I LOVED it! (Another note: I later found out that Neal doesn't like basketball, and that his intent was merely to get us to come over to his house.)

We hung out for the next couple of days, and on Sunday, Neal came down to my parent's house for my birthday party.  That night as I was saying goodbye to him, I looked at him and said "Neal, I'm kinda sorta attracted to you." (That's right....say awwwww!)  After that he looked at me and said, "Do you kinda sorta wanna be my girlfriend?"  I (obviously) said yes :)

Our first picture together at my birthday party....awwww!

We dated for 7 months before we got engaged.  We did all kinds of things together: Elitches, celebrated Neal's birthday, went to a few concerts, hiking, wakeboarding, went to dances and other things.  We also found one of our favorite places to visit: Estes.  We found one of our favorite shows, Bones.  Neal taught me how to snowboard after many tears.  Here are some pictures of the fun stuff we did while we were dating!

A picture of Neal and I at his birthday party

Neal and I at Elitches

At Millie's wedding reception

Boys Like Girls concert

Celtic Women concert

Going dancing!

Hiking in RMNP

Snowboarding!



Social media fast and General Conference

A couple of weeks before General Conference, I was pondering how I could best prepare to hear the messages in the talks that were directed to me.  I was also wondering how I could be more in tune with the Spirit, so that I could have my questions answered and understand the things that Heavenly Father wanted me to know specifically.  As I was pondering on this subject, I had an experience brought to my mind from about 3 years ago.  A talk was given in our singles ward, and the topic was about doing a media fast to prepare for General Conference.  As I reflected on my memory of this talk, I realized how much time I wasted on social media each day - especially the days I worked when we weren't busy.  I decided that a good way for me to prepare for General Conference was to do a "social media fast" for the week before conference.

At midnight on the Saturday (or Friday night...whichever you prefer) one week before conference, I deleted the social media apps on my phone (including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest) and made the commitment to stay off the websites for the whole week.  It was hard at first.  I wondered to myself, "What in the world am I going to do with this idle time at work??"  There were even a few times when I almost accidentally got on Facebook merely out of habit (I caught myself before logging in thankfully).  I instead filled my time reading, working on things for committees at work, starting the book by Elder Bednar titled Increase in Learning that I've been trying to start since I bought it over 6 months ago, working on baby blankets, and playing games with my co-workers when we were slow.  I actually watched tv shows and actually listened to Neal when we were talking instead of zoning out on my phone.  I was able to spend AT LEAST 30 minutes each day studying the scriptures, and my prayers were more meaningful.  I felt less like I was rushing all the time, and more like I had the time to accomplish all of my goals.

Most importantly (because it was my goal) I was able to ponder questions that I had specifically for conference, and I was able to go into it listening for answers.  I truly listened to the talks and wasn't distracted by my phone buzzing with social media notifications.  I can truly say I felt strengthened, and that I received answers to most of the questions that I had pondered throughout the week.

To take it a step further: I ended my social media fast Sunday after the last session of conference.  Last night I was looking back on the past couple of weeks, and was thinking to myself, "WHY have I felt so rushed?  Why haven't I been able to squeeze in my scripture study, and why are my prayers so...sucky (because, lets face it...they have been because I've either been rushed that it's just been the "normal" things instead of thoughtful or so tired that I've almost fallen asleep while praying).  It suddenly hit me, that it's because I've fallen back into my trap of social media zoning instead of focusing on other things that I can be doing...like these very essential and important things that I was failing at.  Did I learn nothing?!?  Hahaha.

So, my goal is to focus a little less on refreshing my Facebook home page, or my Twitter feed on the off chance that maybe in the last two minutes a notification or tweet has magically appeared...at 2 am...when no one but me and my coworkers are awake... *rolls eyes*...

Tonight has been better.  I've read more of my book.  I've talked to my husband.  I've read my scriptures.  And it feels good!