The End of A Journey and the Start of A New One

In honor of Leland and I starting our new lives together (next week!), I decided to rename the blog and give it a new look. There is a new address that is more about both of us than just about me. Hopefully everyone will visit The "Liu's News" Blog and check up on us and our new lives.

I thought I would kick of the "new blog" with a post about all the feelings that we have been experiencing in the past year as we have been preparing for our marriage:

There was a point in time where I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get married at all. I had always planned on getting married in the temple and he knew it. We were two people that were in love and had so many obstacles to get over to be able to get married. It was actually interesting because for a while there I wasn't sure if we should continue dating, I just felt so stressed inside.

Then when Leland told me that he wanted to be baptized it was like a huge weight was lifted and light was pouring into our lives from every direction. It felt so right that we should get married.

We knew that we had a long road ahead of us. There was the option of getting married civilly and waiting until a year later to get sealed in the temple, but that option was never really entertained. We both knew that the Lord has asked us to get married in the temple and that was what we were going to have to do. I know that other people have chosen differently, and that isn't a bad thing either. Every person should definitely consult with the Lord about their marriage, and after we did we knew that we were going to wait the year and get married in the temple together for time AND eternity.

After the decision was made I knew we were in for a challenging year. The only thing that kept us going was the thought that we knew that if we could just wait, we would be so happy on our wedding day being in the temple. I will admit that there were times I cried. Alone and together. It was hard on both of us. Sometimes the days and months DRAGGED on. It seemed like our wedding day would never get here.

We had known from the beginning though that we would be blessed for waiting. Leland and I were talking the other day and we asked each other if we had seen any blessings in our lives over the past year for waiting. Besides the obvious blessing of Patience, we have received so many blessings that we are grateful for.

We have learned more about each other than some people probably know after a whole year of marriage. Some people call getting married "taking the plunge" but now we feel like we have been wading in the pool and are already used to the water. The plunge wont be so scary now. I learned how spiritual Leland is and how lucky I am to be marrying my best friend and the person that I love. I know that he is going to be the rock in our marriage.

Overall we have received blessings untold. It's difficult to say everything we have been blessed with, but we know that we are so happy for this journey (now that its ending!) that we have been on this past year. We can't wait for what will be coming our way in just a few short days and the amazing journey we have ahead. We have made it through the most difficult and joyous year of our lives. I know that marriage will be just that, difficult but joyous. More joyous than anything I can imagine right now. We are walking hand in hand toward the finish line of our last journey with experience for our next one that we could not have gained any other way.

We have never been more in love and look forward to an eternity of our love growing together. I know that we can both say how grateful we are for our Savior and for our Heavenly Father walking besides us the whole time and carrying us when we could no longer do it ourselves. We are so happy for our family and friends who have supported us over this past year and we look forward to seeing everyone on the day of the beginning of our new lives together.

Here's to the journey