The best love story is your own

Well, I promised our love story. Bear might tell it differently, but here it goes.

I was a little giggly freshman at SVU the Fall of 2010. Bear was back at SVU after his mission and was on the baseball team. I went on a couple of dates with other guys, who promised me second dates and then left me out to dry. My little heart was broken. (Don't promise me and then ignore me!) Anyways, I was interested in a guy on the baseball team...a few of them actually...sadly, none of them were Bear. The baseball team would go lift weights for an hour at 5:30 in the morning. So being the silly little freshman that I was, I would go to the gym at 6:30 am towards the end of their workout, and then go to breakfast in the cafeteria not long after they headed over there too. 

Thinking back on this, it all seems so silly. I would never ever wake up at 6:30 to work out any more. And I thought I was being all sneaky, but HELLO, they probably noticed I was only working out 10-15 minutes. Quite frankly, I was shamelessly creeping on them in public. Gosh.

So I met Bear a couple of weeks later at a game night. We both happened to be invited. He was wearing a light denim jacket and light denim jeans - something straight out of the 80's - in a bad way. (Don't worry, I buy his clothes for him now). Bear seemed friendly, pretty cute and fun. We all played a silly game and went home. I facebook stalked him that night. He kind of seemed too good to be true. My roommates started coming with me in the mornings because they started realizing how cute the baseball players were too. I don't know how I missed Bear before, but he was always at breakfast. After the game night, we always sat with him. We were in different sections of the same class and went on a field trip to Monticello together. I started to have a tiny crush on him, when one morning my bold roommate said to him, "you're pretty cute, you should ask me to homecoming!" Immediately, my jealousy flared because I would've never been able to be that bold and because I felt like I had more claim on him because I met him first. But my little heart was crushed again when he told my roommate that he already had a girlfriend.

A long-distance girlfriend, in fact. She was all the way in California and we were in Virginia. But I wasn't going to be a home-wrecker so I decided to stop liking Bear then and there. So we stayed friends and hung out in big groups. But one day, two weeks before Thanksgiving, Bear announced that he was taking his girlfriend home to South Carolina to meet his family during the break. All of the sudden, I freaked out. That sounded pretty serious to me!!! What if he's going to propose soon? They're going to be kissing and hanging out and having fun...and...At this point, I realized how much I still liked Bear. I was jealous. Way more jealous than when my bold roommate asked about the dance. If he got married, I'd lose his friendship. Even though I had tried to stuff those feelings deep down, I knew that I needed him in my life.

I was torn between letting him know before he left, because I knew this was probably my last chance, but again, I didn't want to be a home-wrecker. I stressed out so much about it, until one day I couldn't even sleep because I was over-thinking it. I HAD to tell him. So I texted him, "what if I told you I was jealous of your girlfriend?" What does that even mean? Gah, Lexi. Come on. 
He texted back, "I like you too, but I have to be fair to my girlfriend and talk to her. I haven't seen her in a few months and I still need to give her a chance." Wait, what?! He liked me too???!!! And now I'm turning into a girlfriend stealer. Awesome. And now I'm in a super awkward situation. I shouldn't see him before Thanksgiving.

I didn't say anything else. I went to my roommate's home in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. And I didn't text Bear the whole break. It was torture for me. But he never said anything either, so I figured that things must have gone well with his girlfriend. I was starting to feel my little heart break again. Finally, the Saturday after Thanksgiving (which is the day Lachlan was born, now that I think about it), I couldn't stand it any more. I casually texted him asking how his break went. He didn't text back very quickly and was vague. So this is it. Things went well with his girlfriend, and he just doesn't want to break it to me. 

The plan was to go to church in the morning and drive back to school. But all of the sudden, Bear texts me asking if he can follow us back to school. He had been having car troubles lately, and his mom wanted him to travel with someone just in case. I started freaking out again but didn't see through his plan. Nothing happened on the way home, except that he shared his Thanksgiving leftovers with us. I had no idea what to say to the guy. But as we're getting near to the school, he asks if he can talk to me once we get there. What?! Oh no! He's going to break the news to me! I can't handle this!!!

It ends up that things had not gone well with his girlfriend. She had been keeping some stuff from him, including the fact that she kissed a bunch of other guys and girls (WHAT?!) Bear wanted to end things, and she went home early because she was upset. We talked about how we liked each other, and ended up kissing that night. Everything had happened so fast, I couldn't take it all in.

We hung out every night after that after we were both done working. After two weeks of this, I asked him if he wanted to go to the Christmas dance. My roommates got me ready, and I had a super fun time. There were still a couple of awkward things including his girlfriend calling him while the two of us were hanging out trying to get back together with him. Oh, and sending him a nasty letter. 

So there were three weeks of hanging out everyday until Christmas break started. He was going back home to SC, and I was going straight to Utah to spend time with my grandpa who had cancer. My family was going to meet me there. Even looking back on it now, everything happened so fast, but it didn't feel like it at the time. So I told him I loved him on the last day of finals. I really did love him. But he honestly told me that he couldn't quite say it back yet. Oh no! I've ruined everything! I look too clingy! He doesn't even like me! I cried into my roommate, exhausted from finals and throwing myself out there. 

So we were "dating" for 6 weeks, and three of those were Christmas break, spent apart from each other. I skyped, texted, and called Bear every day. My relatives joked about us and it bugged me. We've only been dating a few weeks and he hasn't even told me that he loved me! Leave me alone! Bear came and picked me up from the airport and he surprised me by taking me to a Japanese restaurant.  And he gave me my Christmas present - a box from a jewelry store. Is he proposing? Is that a ring? asjhfkjdbgnasilfuaj,mnbksfdjlbnkvh Freak freak freak! This is too soon! But it was just a pearl necklace. Phew! I really care about this guy, but we haven't been dating long enough. I wouldn't have even known what to say if it had been a ring. 

A couple of days after I got back to school, there was a back to school dance that we went to, and afterwards, he talked to me about meeting my parents. But he had baseball and had games during all of the breaks in Spring semester. Looking at our schedules, we decided there wouldn't be any parent meetings of any kind until after the semester was over. "Besides, I believe in dating for a long time, and then having a short engagement," he said. Did he just say engagement?!!! I can't handle all of this! He's thinking about marrying me? Well at least I'll have a few months til he proposes and think about my answer. 

The next day after church, I went to have dinner at his house. All of the sudden, he jumped up. "Let's go on a walk!" he said. I looked outside. It was a gloomy, cloudy, cold early January day. "Okay..." I said skeptically. We walked all the way back up to campus. Up the huge hill. It was freezing. My nose started dripping. Great. We made it to Main Hall, built in the 1860's. This big, red, Victorian building with a million turrets is the main landmark at our school. We stood on the old porch and looked down at the rest of the town. He held me close to warm me up. Out of nowhere he asked, "Alexa, will you marry me?" Oh crap. My mind started freaking out again. This time it's real. What happened to the long dating/short engagement talk we had yesterday? He needs an answer! I haven't had time to think about this! But, suddenly, I had such a good feeling in my heart. So warm and good. I immediately knew what my heart was telling me. "Yes." And I knew that was the right answer. I never doubted my answer after that. 

A lot of people criticized us for the way we did things.We didn't date long enough. Bear didn't ask my dad for permission, let alone meet them. He didn't have a ring. He didn't get down on one knee. (He did later, once he bought the ring). But I wouldn't have had it any other way. Bear went and prayed about it the night before and followed the Spirit. If he had waited, I would have over-thought it. And this way I got to pick out the ring I wanted. 

I didn't regret my answer while I was engaged, and I still haven't. Bear is the exact person that I need. We're living happily, and will continue to do so ever after.

All Grown Up

Poor Bear. During his first week of work he was exhausted and would basically sleep his afternoon work break away. By Sunday, he was so fatigued, he wasn't functioning at church and he told me he had never been that tired - except after the first week of his mission.

Bear doesn't mind the sun and heat. This is the perfect temperature for him. But all the walking and the sun do wear you down eventually. He's been working so hard. But he's made his quota for the month, and he's doing very well for it being his first 2 weeks of his first summer working for Dewey. I'm proud of him. Even though he gets frustrated with himself.

Well I officially joined bank accounts with Bear, and got my own debit card. They automatically made me one with the same design as his - the SF Giants. Oh well. It could be worse. Obviously we didn't need to consolidate, but at this point 2 bank accounts sounds to complicated for me.

And..I cut Bear's hair for the first time. I didn't have any men's hair cutting shears, but he just needed a little trim. I'd never done anything like that before, but I watched a Youtube video and went to work. It turned out fine. (The picture above is before the trim). Luckily, he has curl to his hair, so even if my trimming is a little off, you totally can't tell.

And finally...I officially changed my last name. The social security office is right down the street and was surprisingly painless. It was free, I got to keep my old social security number (which I didn't know beforehand), and all I needed was my driver's license and wedding license. I didn't even need to wait for my parents to send me my birth certificate. And then we were stressed out, because we had been keeping the marriage license safe, but when we pulled it out the day of, we realized the temple took the certified one and we only had the one from the temple. The guy didn't say anything about it. Considering everything else in getting married and settling down is so expensive and stressful...it was nice I kept my middle name instead of my maiden name. Gah I'm crying about it right now. I'm so happy to be a Price now, but at the same time it's hard to let go of my name. I hate being conflicted.

But I officially kind of feel like an adult now.

Belated Wedding Speech

Bear's brother Scott that couldn't make it to the wedding sent this speech to us to be read at the reception but it didn't work out:

"As you all know I am a man of few words....(wait for
it).............................................................
................................ok I know that got a few laughs..... If not,
...there must have been a wry comment or two.... Anywhoo,

I wanted to express my deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep,
deep, deep, regret for not making it to this certainly lovely wedding. I am
beyond honored that I was asked to be your best man barrett, it really meant
a lot to me. As far as Brothers, Best Friends, and great men go, there are
none better. That's why I'm so sad that I can't be there in person to show
off my fabulous tux which is certainly better than anyone elses in the
wedding party.....

I am not a man beyond arrogance, selfishness, ignorance and forgetfulness.
Part of the reason why I admire you so much Bear, because you don't exhibit
those things, well perhaps a little forgetfulness but that's neither here
nor there. You are a better man than I and that's why I love being around
you. You've somehow turned your older brother who used to change your
diapers into a middle aged groupie.

Part of the reason we share such a close bond is because of our love of the
celestial game of baseball. It really is a microcosm of just about any life
lesson you can learn, or even life itself. The struggle of competition, the
actual aesthetics of the game, all combine together to make a ballplayer
feel like everything is right in the universe when we're on the field, even
when we lose the game. We play for victory every time we step out on the
field but understand that we will individually fail more often than we
succeed. Yet victory can be achieved in many other activities, other sports
or games, but baseball... ahhh baseball is different. It's much more about
actually playing the game, enjoying the friendships made by the bonding of
your teammates in between the lines and in the dugout. And I certainly never
enjoyed playing the game more than when I was privileged enough to actually
have you as a teammate for parts of two seasons and last year for the entire
summer.
It's not just because you have a rocket arm, a sharp eye and a quick bat
that you will be successful in the game of baseball, but because you possess
Christlike abilities that make you the person who can perform at the highest
level.

A great baseball player must possess several redeeming qualities that
usually make that player a better person as well as a better player:

1. Toughness of the mind~ the ability to press forward through the
refining fire of failure and never give up
2. Confidence~ he knows he's done it before, so he can do it again on the
very next pitch.
3. Loyalty~ he's there for his family, so he's there for his teammates in
a pinch and more importantly, he's rooting for the others on his team to do
well, even if he doesn't get the credit for it.
4. Courage~ it's much more than not being afraid. It's having the
proactivity to seek out the big moment and do the right thing, whether to
win the game or help those in need.
5. Love~ He must love the game and others so that it becomes a part of
who he is.

Barrett I know you possess all of these and certainly these are things
praiseworthy and of good report and Christ is proud of those attributes in
you. Because of the person you are, I know that Alexa is at least as
wonderful a person if not more than you. Because that's the kind of babe you
would attract. (wink) Alexa by all accounts I've heard that you are a
magical person and I'm anxious to get to know you and we'll need to meet up
sometime before the summer is over.

I'm so proud of you. I'm a very nostalgic person and like to live in the
past so it makes me miss the days we used to play stickball with broomsticks
and homemade tin foil balls in the yard as kids. I'll never forget your
first homer when I took you down to Gattini Field in Hayward and you knocked
it over the 200 foot fence when you were 11 years old. I'm also grateful for
all the pitches you made to me when I wanted extra batting practice, I
apologize for abusing you and saying "Just one more...ok just one more....ok
really just one more this time..... Ok last one for sure for sure this
time..... And that time I bribed you with a cheap fastfood burger in
exchange for you going into the muddy creek to retrieve that ball I hit at
Stenzel Field.

As Baseball has brought us closer together I know it will keep us close
forever, and when we're old and gray and can only remember what it felt like
to run, dive, throw, catch and hear that special click when we've caught one
just right and you know it's going to go a long way, the day will come when
one of us will die, and begin playing in that other world. If it's my turn
to go first, I'll make sure I appear in a vision to let you know before it's
your turn to join me that you're catching the next day and we need a guy.
It'll be the same game, I promise......minus the chewing tobacco.

God bless you Barrett and Alexa,

No matter how you look at it, we'll be playing together again soon."

I've Got Emotions Dripping Out My Pores

Yes, I wish I could blog everyday, but there is no way with the craziness in my life right now.

I've got emotions dripping out my pores and I thought I would let you knowwww

This should be the most important time in my life and I should be writing down every little thing but everything is just a blur. There is never enough time in the day but the days go by slowly at the same time. Some days I just want to live with my family forever, some days I just want to be in California with Bear.

I'm super emotional and on edge lately. Which doesn't make sense because I really have nothing to stress about. The planning is done, and things are going smoothly thus far. I told myself I wouldn't be a crazy bride but I'm still fiesty. Not about wedding details, just about the huge change in my life in general.

I went through the temple today. Um I definitely need to go back soon. I can't remember all of it but I felt happy and I felt the Spirit so strongly which the temple workers told me was more important. Grandma and Gloria were there. And of course Bear was too. My cousin Jordan will be going through the Nauvoo temple next Friday also, and I'll get to be there for that too. Yay.

Me and Bear are on our own phone plan now.Yikes. I feel grown up. Things are starting to sink in.

We're planning on living with a couple with two young kids recommended by a bishop from a ward in Lancaster. They are willing to let us live in their basement and eat their food for $300 a month, and the company's going to be covering $500 a month for rent. So we'll get to eat with them and go to FHE with them so things won't be so lonely or hard right at the beginning. I want to turn around and help a newlywed couple like that someday.

I haven't been taking many pictures but I'm getting my bridals done at 10 am on Monday. Yay.

Well Tash just got back from a two-day High School band trip to Chicago so I must go talk to her.

Something blue

My mom, Tash, and me went shopping yesterday for my bridal shower and Tashi's graduation party. And we bought me some wedding shoes. My mom says they're so 80's she can't believe it, but she likes them. They have a really low heel and are blue and pink, my wedding colors. And they're kind of vintagey like my dress. And now they can be my something blue ♥

Veil

We ordered my veil today and went and talked to Robert Saint about flowers. I'm getting things worked out with a local wedding photographer too. It is a beautiful ivory lace mantilla veil. The size is 36" long and is a elbow length. It features a 4" beautifully embroidered Alencon lace edge. This veil is made of soft bridal illusion material that allows the veil to drape beautifully. A metal comb is attached to the veil for easy positioning. We bought it off of etsy - my new best friend.

We had a long debate about whether to get a matte bircage veil, to mix in a little modern-ness with the dress, but the mantilla looks a lot like the one my grandma had and I think is more elegant and will match the lace on the dress more. We'll have to see. I'm so excited!

More Wedding Goodness

More things that I like. I love that guest book.

And I love these little cake toppers that you can customize to look like you. I probably won't get them, but I like them anyway. People tell me it's my Japanese side showing through.

I love these vintage lacey veils.

Short pearl neckalce. I'm old-fashioned I guess.

I like this guest book too, but it's less Japanese-y.

Something blue.

Is there anything you like?

Martha Stewart Wedding Inspiration

Dear Martha Stewart, I want all of the below for my wedding for free.
Thank you, Lexi

Flower girl wands

I WANT THIS BOUQUET!

This is my favorite. If only I was getting married in the spring!!!!

Love the drink colors

Cherry blossom cookies!

Sakura mochi!

Um...yum.

Edible Cherry Blossoms! How cool is that?


I love the giant pom pom flowers!

Invitations

These should be coming your way soon. I am in love with them. Bear stuffs them and I address them. That isn't m wording, (it's just the example), I just didn't want people to creep on me. I used the picture that's on my sidebar. Just remember the big day is June 4th, Saturday ♥ Email me with questions

You want to know the sad thing? I misspelled Bear's middle name on the invitations. Not the printing company, me. But I blame him because I had my parents re-check the wording a million times and then I asked Bear if he wanted to check it before I sent it in...he said no. They were expensive and we're running out of time so I'm not sending them back for my mistake. The only problem is it's his mom's maiden name...so we carefully had to fix all the ones for that side of the family. But I still love him.

If you don't get an invitation in the mail, don't feel bad. You should be invited on Facebook. If not, yell at me. I have just lived too many places and know too many wondeful people to send them too. You are loved whether you get one or not. We are turning into a technological world after all haha.

I love him.

Wedding Dress

Isn't my grandma cute? These are pictures back from 1968. I'm wearing my grandma's dress for my wedding. My mom wore her grandma's too, so so I guess I made a tradition.

I love the train. The only problem is I haven't tried it on yet. It's at home with my mom. The lace has yellowed a bit, but the temple approved it so I should be good to go. And me and my grandma are pretty much the same size and it fits Tashi. I'm not too worried.

And I'm not wearing because my family wanted me too or because of a family tradition. But it definitely saves a lot of hassle.

And now that my grandpa just passed away, it means so much more. Things are speeding up and I'm getting so excited! I can't wait to try on the dress!

I love him

I don't want to bore you with blogging about Bear all the time, but I am engaged after all and I feel like he definitely deserves a post to himself.

If he says he's going to be there at a certain time, he is. If he says he's going to do it, he will. If he has a responsibility, he does it. If I ask him to do something, he's already on it. Poor guy, I am kind of high maintenance. He does have his limits, but he does work really hard for me and he's really selfless. And he has gotten me out of quite a few scrapes.

One of these scrapes started with me and Rachel going to Burger King for lunch. I had to go to class right after and then noticed I didn't have my phone with me. I used Haylea's phone to call Bear and he took me back to Burger King. I was afraid that I had thrown my phone away with my tray. I figured that since it had only been a couple of hours it would still be in the trash. But no. They have a health code rule to take the garbage out every hour. So we had to go check the dumpster. Well the dumpster was 10 feet high. And it was raining. And we weren't even 100% sure the phone was in the dumpster. But Bear got down into the rainy garbage for me. AND my phone was on silent to help things out. We did find it though! And the rain hadn't gotten to it and there was hardly anything in that garbage bag so it didn't get and food or drink on it. It was a happy little miracle. Because I couldn't afford buying a new phone right that second. He made me quite happy that day.

Just like he does everyday. Our senses of humor are a little bit different, and so we misunderstand each other sometimes and can get out feelings hurt easily. But we still laugh a lot. I love him.

And we're going to southern California for the summer after we get married! Bear's going to sell door-to-door pest control stuff. Our cellphone, $500 of housing a month and $150 of gas money a month are all paid for us. So it's a good opportunity to save up some money. We don't know where we're living in the fall, but our plans are to come back to SVU at the end of August. This is exciting for me because I didn't want to get stuck in BV while Bear was at work all day all summer with nothing to do. One of Bear's teammates Andrew - the one that told him about the job - will be going there this summer with his wife Brandi too so I will know at least one person. And there should be lots of church members down there too. And now I'll be able to say that I've lived on the West Coast, Midwest, East Coast, and the Rocky Mountain area. All 4 time zones. I'm quite excited.

The SVU baseball team is 25-4 right now. I'm so proud of them. Bear is doing a good job. He does better when I can go watch him play at a home games though haha! Who knew I would marry a baseball player? I love him.

Pre-marital Bliss ♥

Kelsey Burton, a student here at SVU took our pictures for us between the Saturday sessions of General Conference.

We went to the baseball field and out to Lexington.

^ I really like this one.

We were kind of rushed on time and it kept randomly raining.

But our clothes coordinated really well without us completely matching.

And I'm really excited because the wedding invitations are in the mail on their way to me and I can start addressing them soon.

I actually like addressing envelopes. I'm really weird. I probably won't like it anymore after this.

We got lots of on base jokes. Just for clarification, we were on first base, not third haha

Tell me which one is your favorite!

Now that I'm looking through all these I just realized there's a lot of kissy pictures

There are a few more, but there are my favorites.

Enjoy!