Day 264: He asked me to marry him! In 11 days!!!!!!

Actually he has asked me to marry him every day for weeks and I’ve been saying YES for weeks too… But this time he had a beautiful ring and I was in tears.

This sweet man is so tender and loving with me… He makes me feel so loved and safe… And he is everything I ever wanted in a man. He is all my dreams come true. He is a best friend, he makes me laugh, he works hard and he is freaking hot! I can’t believe I have been so blessed!

I never knew that you could love someone so much that it hurt… I never knew what it really felt like to find your soulmate who literally is your second half. I never knew that I could really be this sure… In spite of the fact that a lot of people think I’m crazy and going too fast.

(We do realize that this opinion is going around with some of our friends and family – some of the most important people in my life are really afraid that I am making a mistake!)

I wish there was some way to let them feel what’s in my heart… So they could know why I’m so sure… But I can’t… So what do I do?

I must do what I’ve done so often before…trust my inner truth! Patrick and I are meant for each other and we knew it almost immediately. We knew!

I know that over time they will see that this is my “Mr. Right” – that we have a love that will be forever… But for now they are going to have to trust me!

I realize that they doubt my judgment because my last two marriages didn’t work out and at the time I thought those were the right thing too.

So these important people in my life no longer trust my judgement… I get that. I probably deserve it. But I’m not making a mistake this time.

I know that it seems like I haven’t known him long enough… But I know who he is at a level that most people take years to get to. I trust who he is… I trust his friends and family who have shared with me who he is. Dating him longer would be a waste of time because WE ALREADY KNOW this is right.

Some of the most important people in my life can see it though. My mom and dad met him once and could see this was right…apparently his parents feel the same way. My most spiritual friends and coworkers saw immediately that we are exactly right and meant to be. It would be great if everyone supported my decision but regardless… we are getting married in 11 days.

In 11 days I will be Mrs. Kimberly Giles. WOW

We are not going into this oblivious to the challenges ahead though. We are blending two families with seven kids (who are not all excited about it). We are going to have some tough times ahead and we are very realistic about what we are taking on. We also both feel that we are supposed to be here and that taking on these challenges is exactly where Heavenly Father wants us to be. He will help us through them… We are up to the task. There is a lot to learn and apparently this is the next phase of our journey.

I will still be writing on the blog but it going to become a journey of a different sort. I know that we won’t be the last couple to attempt this challenge and that we are going to have some crazy adventures to share with you as this unfolds. Just planning a wedding in 11 days is going to be interesting.

I will be writing about our adventures and posting pictures of our big day. I will also be writing about how are kids are adjusting and the things we are learning about making step families work. We have bought some great books on the subject and are reading them together. I’ll keep you up on the adventure.

Here we are setting off on the journey…

Day 251: Skunks, storms and love stories

I have really slacked writing the blog… so I figured I better catch you up on what’s happening in my crazy life.

I am still head over heals in love.

I fall more in love with Patrick every single day.

I know it is sappy… but it’s really true!  I love this man!

Every day I get to know a little more about him and every day I am more convinced that he is the right guy for me.  We are so alike.  We are on the same page on almost every aspect of life.  We parent the same way… which is a good thing since we will have 7 kids together if this works out!  (Yes, sweetie seven kids!)

We are on the same page as far as religion, intimacy and our goals in life… the only area we don’t agree about is which college football team we cheer for. (But I think I can overlook the fact that he’s a BYU fan!)

Yes, we have talked about the “M” word!

It came up when we’d only known each other a week… I know that may seem crazy… but there is just something there … something that neither of us can deny.  He just feels like “the one” I’ve been looking for my whole life.

I also quit looking!

(Which I never expected to do!  When I dated other men this last year… I still kept looking.  To me this was a sign that they weren’t the one.  When you meet “the one” you stop looking.  You don’t care about meeting anyone else!)

This time it was a no brainer to change my relationship status on FB and let everyone know I was off the market.

This girl has found the man she was looking for.

I have never felt so loved in my life.  Patrick loves me in the very ways I’ve always wanted to be loved.  He is very romantic and tells me constantly how wonderful I am.  (Gotta love lots of validation!)  He speaks my love language!  I am a blue personality who needs to be told I’m loved and appreciated a lot!

He is a blue personality too… he understands who I am and what I need… and it feels wonderful.  This has been a crazy adventure this last year and I never expected to find someone this soon.  I had big plans to keep dating and take my time before getting serious.  But when you meet someone who makes you feel this way… your plans change quick.   He is everything I was hoping to find… so I’m just done looking.

I keep looking back on this story though… how I met him and when I realized that this was something special.  I re-live that first kiss moment quite often and can I just say…it was perfect!  There were some big time fireworks!

But it is his character that I am most in love with.  I have always understood that in the long run, it is a person’s character “who they are” that you have to love… for a relationship to last.

Patrick is an amazing human being.  I respect him, I admire him and I look up to him.  He is wise and kind, hard working, loyal and he keeps his commitments.  He is a wonderful dad and really loves his kids!  He is a good man and I feel incredibly blessed that he fell in love with me.

One funny thing happened to us last weekend.  I took him to our cabin in the mountains and we were enjoying some snuggle time in the hammock when we heard a creature in the bushes.  We stopped talking and listened to hear what it was.  Suddenly two skunks came walking out of the bushes right underneath us.  He said, “Shhh, don’t move, don’t talk… if we startle them they will spray us… hold very very still!”

We laid there for at least an hour and a half… to afraid to move!

OK, it wasn’t exactly torture to lay in the arms of the man I love for a while… but it was hilarious that we were basically treed by two skunks!  When they finally left, we laughed out heads off at the crazy stuff that happens to us!

Then next weekend we took all the kids to Bear Lake and had a really crazy adventure out on the lake.  We wanted to take them all out on the water to ride the death tube.  But soon after we got on the lake the wind started picking up.  But not wanting to disappoint the kids we kept going.

All of a sudden it went from windy… to a gale force storm and serious rain.  We were getting pelted with water from every direction… the kids were soaked, scared and cold!  The waves were huge and the boat was really rocking.  We headed for the dock but so did everyone else on the lake.  So there was a long line to get out and we waited in the rain for quite a while.  It was an adventure that the kids won’t soon forget.

A McCullough adventure for the Giles kids!

We have realized that it will be quite an adventurous challenge to put these two families together… but we are still committed to making it happen.  It just feels right and I figure that if it’s meant to be… and we are willing to learn, work and love our way through it… we can do it!

I’ll keep you up to date on what happens.