Conference, Temple and Car Show

The day after Valentine's Day I had my big conference that I had been working on for the past 2 months. I actually woke up before 5:30 a.m.! It was a crazy, busy day, but it was a success! Over 150 people attended and we had about 30 volunteers helping us. The case competition went very well, with Purdue winning 3rd place. My feet were dead tired after the event, but it was worth it. My boss was very pleased and told me this conference was a lot better than last year. She also surprised me with a gift certificate to a spa for a manicure and pedicure. I love those type of rewards. :) If you want to learn more about the conference here's the website: http://www.gscmi.org/

Caught---The photographer took this picture. It's kind of cute. When my boss saw it she said, "Aw, the happy couple." I'll take that as a compliment. :)

This is where the conference was held, the Purdue Memorial Union North and South Ballroom.

I won't bore you with other pictures. Sooooo....

The next day (Saturday), after sleeping in we headed to Chicago. We went to the temple and we found a way there that we didn't have to pay any tolls! It was very nice to be there. Afterwards we went to the Chicago Auto Show. Nels and I have been to a car show every year that we've been married. Last year I endured two car shows! One was in Indianapolis and the other was in Chicago. We had a good time and Nels loved showing me all the things he loves and doesn't like about each car. Here are some pictures:

SWEET WHEELS!!! Nels is always looking at wheels so I took a few pictures for him.

Here are some pictures of the new concept cars. The top is a new Honda, the second row is a new idea for Jeep, the third one is a new Hummer and the last one I don't remember but I thought the orange color was awesome.

Give me some Ice Cream and I'm good for a little bit longer.

These were pretty cool--Jeep strollers!Last, but not least, Nels in front of the Volvo wagon, one of his "most" favorite cars that day.

Whirlwind of a Week!

To start off-Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a fun and maybe even romantic day! This year Nels did not do his normal flower and ice cream tradition and I actually did something for him. I had this crazy idea the day before Valentines of setting up a scavenger/treasure/challenges hunt for him to do at school. I worked all day so I asked Erik Christensen if he would help me out and be Nels' "guide" during the hunt. I also wanted Nels to have a guide so that pictures could be taken for my enjoyment later. :) I asked Nels the night before Valentine's day if he would do anything for me and if he would be a good sport the next day. He said he would, otherwise I probably would have done something different. Nels knew something was up, but he didn't know what.

This is how it went. Nels and Erik got out of class at 1 pm. Erik explained that he wanted to show Nels something after class. Thankfully, Nels went along with it and followed after Erik. Then Erik gave Nels the first clue which was written on a paper heart. Nels was definitely surprised. He figured out the clue which was "Dance, Dance, Dance for the world to see." (Behind the clue. Last year Nels, tired of studying, got up on the window ledge in a study/break room and did a little dance.) So Nels went to a break room and Erik video taped him dancing and singing a country love song. (As I had kindly requested on the next heart.)

The next challenge was a puzzle that Nels had to put together. The puzzle pieces had little love notes on the back of them. It was only a 25 piece puzzle with candy hearts on it.

The second clue led him to where I used to work in the Development office. One of my friend/co-workers had the next clue and gift. Nels received a huge Hershey Kiss and had to take a picture with his lips puckered. The next clue led him to where he works in the undergraduate career service center. The secretary there is so funny and she had the next clue. Judy is her name, and she kind of embarrassed Nels. The challenge was to hold a rose that I had left there between his teeth.

And the last clue was to go to the top of the parking garage and there Nels professed his undying love for me. Then he received a gift card to Cold Stone. Here are some pictures and the video of his efforts. Aw, he really does love me! He was definitely a good sport and I think in the end he had a good time.

Nels surprised me as well. His was a lot nicer than mine. When I got home from work he had dinner all ready for me. He grilled out steaks that he bought and did a special seasoning rub on them. He also salted the baked potatoes like Outback Steakhouse. Everything was delicious! He also rented a chick-flick movie. Isn't he sweet!

We were thinking about our gifts to each other and realized that we gave each other what we really wanted. I gave Nels, chocolate, a rose and ice cream (which is what I want) and Nels gave me a steak dinner (which is what Nels loves.) Oh well, in the end we share everything anyway, does it really matter who gave it?

More about the week and weekend will be posted later. :)

1st Kiss and Meeting the Parents

Our first date was on a Saturday, so the next day after church Nels called me. He asked if I wanted to go to a fireside that night. Of course, I said yes. He picked me up and then I don't really remember what happened next. But, the fireside somehow got cancelled. So we ended up going back to Nels' apartment. We talked for a long time again and then I had to go because I had class the next morning at 8. Nels had this big, huge bean bag chair which was actually called a love sac. We were both sitting on it and then I went to get up and Nels reached over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. It was so quick that I barely realized he had kissed me! So, I said innocently, "What was that?" Then, he gave me a better kiss; don't worry, he's a good kisser.

From the day we met, we saw each other pretty much everyday after that. Nels had class at 8 in the morning, too. So, he would come pick me up at my apartment and walk me to class. We studied together, ate together and tried to spend as much time as possible with each other.

We like to say that it was love at first sight. And I guess that's the best way to put it. We just kept loving each other more and more.

Around February 12th or so, I mentioned that I wanted to go home to Idaho sometime ( I can't remember if I already said this or not, but we were both attending BYU) . My house was about 4 and half hours away. I wasn't expecting Nels to take me, but he quickly offered his assistance. So we planned to drive up on February 14th and spend the weekend there. Since it had been such a short time that we had known each other I wasn't expecting anything for Valentine's Day. I even told my roommate that I didn't think Nels would get me anything. Boy was I wrong!

When he came to pick me up for our road trip he had a bouquet of red roses and huge lilies in a vase and Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream!!!! That's the best gift ever!!!

I think we'll always remember our first drive to Idaho. We had a great time just talking. We made up a story together. I would tell the story for a while and then Nels would pick up where I left off and so on. We were so involved in telling this story that I didn't notice the exit signs. I totally missed the exit to my house. We looked up and I said, "These city names don't sound familiar." "Uh, oh!" So we were lost. I called my parents and said, "We are somewhere near Hamer (but I pronounced it hammer) ." My dad gave us directions back to where we should have been. Even now Nels will say, "Becky doesn't know how to get to her own house!" or whenever we're lost he'll say, "I guess we're in Hammer." Aw, memories.

Well, the weekend went very well. My family loved Nels. Another thing that we will always remember is that Nels ate all new things for the meals. I was craving some of my favorites and apparently they weren't normal meals. The first one was hawaiian haystacks. The second meal was breakfast with pancakes, but my dad does his pancakes differently. I don't eat them like my dad, but I wanted to "test" Nels to see if he would eat them like that. My dad puts butter and then sugar on his pancake. Then, he covers it with syrup and then pours milk over it. Nels actually tried it and didn't even say how odd it was. He just tried it with a smile. The third meal was my grandpa's enchiladas. I don't think very many people have tried these kind of enchiladas, but they are delicious. You fry a corn tortilla, then put a red tomato sauce over it, then lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese. Then you put another tortilla on top and continue to layer with the other ingredients. On the very top you put a fried egg. Mmmm, good. Nels was a good sport and ate his. He even likes them, but doesn't crave them like I do. Okay, so last but not least was a pork roast. My mom was feeling bad for Nels and said, "Don't worry, tomorrow for Sunday dinner we will be having roast." So mom puts out the white pork roast. Before that, Nels had only had beef roast, (he was curious as to how the meat was white!) so that ended up being a new meal for him too!

If you are still with me I have one last important detail that happened on our trip. On February 15, Nels and were sitting on the couch and he said, "I love you!" I said, "I love you too!" And that's that!

1st Date

So I'll probably be writing this a lot this year, but 5 years ago today Nels and I went on our first date. I remember before he picked me up for my date I was a little worried. I couldn't remember if he was taller than me. (vain, I know) So before he came I had a code figured out with my roommate. If he was taller than me then she was going to say, "Have a good night and a lot of fun." If he was shorter than me she was going to say, "Don't have too much fun." Or something like that. I don't remember the exact words and I must have a short memory. Because he picked me up and my roommate said goodbye to us, but I couldn't remember my own code. So for the whole date I was wondering if I was taller than Nels. I even tried to get Nels to say that he was taller than me. I did this in the following way.

Nels took me to Outback Steakhouse. There was a 75 minute wait. So he asked me if I wanted to wait or if I wanted to choose somewhere else. So with a sly smile I said, "whoever's taller can decide." He gave me this weird look and said, "Right." But he didn't ever say, "well, I'm taller so I'll decide." So I was still worried about it, but I still had an awesome time. I definitely didn't let it ruin the night!

We decided to wait and eat at Outback. While we were waiting we went to Barnes and Noble. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in a bookstore. Nels was so eager to impress me and I wanted to see what this guy was capable of. So we were looking at yoga books and I said, "I do yoga. Can you do this move?" I pointed to this handstand that had the feet crossed. Nels decides to show me how good he is at yoga by doing a handstand in the middle of the aisle. I was laughing so hard. Then I told him that I actually don't do that kind of yoga. He thought that was funny. Then we read a personality book together. While we were sitting on the ground by the books he slipped his arm around me. Aw...How cute! We answered different personality questions and learned that Nels is the color blue and I think I was white.

We went back to Outback and had a wonderful dinner. I was excited because I hardly ever get to eat steak. So I ate almost everything on my plate. Nels barely ate anything. He later told me that he was too nervous to eat. After dinner we went back to Nels' apartment and he played his guitar for me. Then we just talked for the rest of the night. I believe we talked for almost 7 hours that night. We just enjoyed getting to know each other and laughing together. Needless to say, we were definitely falling in love with each other.

So we decided to splurge and celebrate our first date today by going to Outback Steakhouse. Mmmm good. This time though, Nels was not nervous and ate all of his food. We are enjoying reminiscing the beginning of our relationship. So I will probably be writing similar posts as the days, weeks and months go by. :)