Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Wedding Day: Temple

May 6, 2011
Tyrel and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We believe that families can be together forever, even after this life. We love each other so much that we didn't want our marriage to last only until "death do us part"... we wanted forever. We chose to be sealed for time & all eternity in the Las Vegas temple.

Our ceremony was perfect.
It was what I had always dreamed it would be.
Sacred and beautiful with my best friend and man of my dreams kneeling across the alter from me.

The amount of people that were there was overwhelming.
To this day it makes me tear up thinking about how many people loved us enough to travel all the way to Las Vegas just for one day... just for us.

After the ceremony, as I slipped into my wedding dress, I felt that floating feeling again.
I was now a daughter in law, an aunt, a sister in law and most importantly a wife.
Tyrel was now mine forever.
And I was his.
Nothing could break that sacred promise we had just made to each other.
Eternity.
I turned around to look at myself in the mirror.
Mrs. Beckstrand.
Perma-grin :)


Our wedding videos:
I hope you'll enjoy them as much as we have...
I've probably watched the DVD about 50 or 60 times now... and that isn't even an exaggeration
<3
I loved this day.




A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY BROTHER IN LAW AND SISTER IN LAW FOR MAKING THESE BEAUTIFUL VIDEOS AND KAYSHA HOBBS FOR MAKING THE MONTAGE!


Sunday, July 3, 2011

The best start of the best year ever...

Tyrel is my life... my forever. Secretly, I think he has been since day one. I knew early on (embarrassingly early on) that I loved him. I wanted him forever.


I knew it was coming.
I was getting impatient.. really really really impatient.
I was madly in love with him.
He was madly in love with me.
It was only a matter of time.


December 31, 2010.


I woke up with butterflies in my stomach. 


Could it be happening today?
No, the ring wasn't ready yet.


Tyrel had told me that my ring was supposed to be ready by New Year's Eve but some things had come up and it would be at least a couple more weeks before it would be completely finished. 


I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was devastated. 
I had waited for so long and for some reason, another couple weeks seemed like a lifetime


I wanted to be his and I wanted him to be mine.


As the day went on, it seemed like any other day. 


We went to dinner with my family and came home to watch the different countdowns around the country. Pretty normal, right?


As midnight came closer, Tyrel and I left to find a special spot to watch the firework show on the strip.


I still had those crazy butterflies but I just couldn't let myself get too excited. The ring wasn't ready.


We ended up at a little park not too far from my house. We were proud that we found such a perfect spot that wasn't overly crowded.


We kissed and cuddled as we waited for the fireworks to start.


As midnight hit, the show started and we had our first kiss of the new year. 


I started snapping pictures as Tyrel held me close.


Has tonight been as wonderful as it would have been if the ring was ready? He said.


Of course. I said with a smile. 
After all, nothing mattered more to me than being in his arms.


So, how would the night have gone?
I probably would have gotten down on one knee right?


Probably. I said.
(I was still turned around taking pictures. I love love love fireworks)


And then I would pull a little box out of my coat pocket?


I turned around to find my sweet Tyrel down on one knee.


That's all it took for a thousand butterflies to turn into a hundred tears.


Bay, will you marry me? He said with a huge smile.


Yes! Yes yes yes!
Saying yes had never felt so right in my entire life.


We kissed and cried and marveled at the ring and cried and kissed again.


It was perfect that way.
And it only got better.


We laughed.
And giggled.
And I couldn't stop staring at my left hand.


We're engaged! He yelled as he picked me up and spun around.


I love you, I said.
I love you, He said.


And the best part is, we get to love each other forever.



Our song
When You Got A Good Thing
by Lady Antebellum

Everybody keeps telling me I'm such a lucky man
Lookin' at you standing there, I know I am.
Barefoot beauty with eyes that blue,
Sunshine sure looks good on you, I swear.

Oh, I can't believe I finally found ya baby.
Happy ever after, after all this time.
Oh, there's gonna be some up and downs,
but with you to wrap my arms around I'm fine.

So baby, Hold on tight.
And don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know, when you got a good thing.

You know you keep bringin' out the best in me,
And I need you now, even more than the air I breathe.

You can make me laugh when I want to cry.
This will last forever, I just know.

I know.

So baby, Hold on tight.
And don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know, when you got a good thing.

We got a good thing, baby.

So Hold on tight.
Baby, don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're makin',
'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'
you gotta know,
We got a good thing Baby.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Once upon a time...

True story:
Driving from Salt Lake to Provo 2009.
Me: "Mom, do you think I already know the person I'm going to marry?"
Mom: "I'm not sure, why?"
Me: "Just wondering... I wish I knew who it was"
Mom: "I kind of have a feeling he's serving a mission right now..."


But seriously though.. this is where the real story begins :) 


I was done with boys. So done. Tired of boys only acting like gentlemen. Tired of not clicking with anyone. Tired of lame dates. Tired of believing there really was a prince charming out there waiting to sweep me off my feet.

I had started a list when I was about 16 titled "Qualities of my future husband". (Original right?) That list was getting longer and longer. I truly believed that there wasn't a guy out there that would live up to all of the qualities on my list. (Little did I know!)

Anyway, I was working late one night when I got a text from a friend inviting me to go to a singles ward pool party with her after work. (I was done with the singles ward too, home ward is the way to go) She tempted me with "there are new cute guys in the ward that will be there!" Eh. No thanks.

After getting off work and going home, my mom asked me what plans I had that night. I told her there was a pool party but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. Being the supportive mother she is, she suggested I go... even if it was just for a few minutes. And I did.

I arrived at the party, feeling awkward as usual, (you'll soon find out just how big of an akward magnet I really am) trying to quickly scan the crowd for my group of friends. And guess who was with them... the "new cute guys in the ward". Great.

We all introduced ourselves and after a few minutes of talking, decided to move to the hot tub. I climbed in wondering how much longer I should stay before it would be appropriate for me to leave. And that's when it happened...

Oh, Alexandra this is Tiny!

Tiny? I whispered to my friend.

He's one of the new cute guys in the ward, nobody can remember his name so we call him Tiny because he's so tall.

Actually, my name is Tyrel. What's your name?

This is the part where my face starts getting really red and really hot. I start getting super clutsy and I stutter all over my words. (Awkward right?)

Alexandra. Nice to meet you.

I was so done for. Instant crush. So much for the whole being done with boys thing right? He was seriously the cutest guy I had ever seen which was definitely a plus, but what was even more attractive was the fact that there was something different about him. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to be his best friend. There was a special feeling that he carried with him. I knew he was a good guy.

We talked the rest of the night about nothing and everything all at the same time. He was a small town boy from Fillmore, UT. He had just come home from a mission to Montana and was now in Las Vegas for the summer selling food storage.

Like I said, major crush.

When it came time to say our goodbyes, I didn't want to leave and neither did he. We flirted and he asked for my phone number, which I excitedly gave to him. He walked me to the back gate and we said our last goodbye. I walked away feeling like I was floating on air. I really liked this boy. I turned around to see if I could get one last look at him only to find him peeking over the gate to get one last look at me too.

Twitterpated.