A Sunday Together

Sara and I spent the day together today.  We went to church and it’s kind of sad that it will probably be the last time we will attend the ward together as ward members.  Today was also my last time teaching primary in the ward and I will miss the kids and especially teaching alongside Bishop Skinner.  He is a very spiritual and humble man and I am grateful for his kindness and friendship.  Sara and I were also able to attend a fireside this evening where he was the guest speaker.  We learned that the two most important things in a healthy relationship are trust and self-worth.  If both of us live by gospel principles we will also have a very healthy and successful marriage.  We are both striving to do the best that we can.  Sara and I also went to the Evergreen Cemetery in Springville, UT to visit the gravesite of Grandpa Lowery.  Today was a very spiritual and enjoyable day.

The Next Two Weeks

One week from today will be the first time Sara and I will have ever been to the temple.  We are planning on taking out our endowments together that Saturday evening at the Salt Lake City Temple.  Sara’s parents are currently serving a mission for the LDS Church in Silver City, New Mexico and will be flying in early that afternoon so that they can be here for this very special occasion and will be spending a week here including the wedding on Friday June 12.  They will be leaving again the next day.

Sara and I are very excited to be taking out our endowments together and then being sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.  It’s been a long hard road, for both of us, to get to this destination.  We are very grateful for all of those family and friends helping and have helped in planning and preparing for our special day.  We thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.  We look forward to seeing all of you at the wedding, open house, or in the years to come.

The Story of Our Courtship

Our story began somewhere during the summer of 2005 surrounded by the beautiful mountains and lush agriculture of Cache Valley, Utah.  Technically, the story could possibly begin earlier if we want to really dive into an interesting and longer story.  Sara had just recently graduated from Mountain Crest High School and through a neighbor she discovered an employment opportunity at a large office supply company in Logan, Utah.  This neighbor just happened to be the wife of the store manager and in a short time she was hired and that’s about the time we first met.

At first, Sara thought that I was 25 years older than her and maybe it’s because of my thinning hair or the faint traces of grey hair on the sides of my head.  Later she would learn that our age difference was only 9 ½ years and we still tease each other about it.  The most vivid recollection I have of Sara, and she hates it when I bring it up, is the way she use to make an announcement over the store intercom.  She would begin by saying: “Attention, attention!”  Only later would I realize, ironically, that she was trying to capture my attention. 

Sara continues to remind me of the fact that she was smitten by me a year before I even got around to noticing her.  For her, as she claims, it began on the day after Thanksgiving 2005 when I was wearing a blue shirt, looking delicious, according to her, and rescuing her numerous times at the cash register during the most hectic shopping day of the year.  She was stationed at the most temperamental and faulty computer in the store and I had to constantly help her out.  I think she just wanted to be near me since she realized that she did have a crush on me beginning that morning.

I was at a point in life where I was having fun traveling, being very adventurous, and enjoying the life of a bachelor.  It wasn’t until returning home from a trip to Akumal, Mexico in November 2006 that I realized numerous things were missing from my life and companionship was one of them.  Even though Sara and I weren’t dating at the time we had been flirting a little before my vacation and she wasn’t happy with me for missing her birthday.  I was ready for a change and began the stressful task of getting back into the dating scene.  It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later and pursuing the wrong girl that I was figuratively kicked in the butt and a feeling came over me that I needed to pursue Sara.  A few people even added to the pressure and kept telling me to ask her out.

One day Sara and I were teasing each other in the break room about not having each others cell phone numbers and how we were going to acquire them from each other since she was a little reluctant giving hers up.  Fortunately for her mine was posted in the office but in our flirting that day she decided to call my phone so that I would have her number.  Sara wasn’t feeling well on one of the following Sundays and to my surprise sent me a text.  We sent texts back and forth for a little while that day and somehow the discussion of me putting up my Christmas tree and lights in my apartment in the next few days came up.  This text conversation would eventually lead me to asking Sara out on our first date.

I asked her if she wanted to go with me to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square only to have her decline my invitation.  After saying no to me she was criticized by a friend of ours that she should stop being so stubborn and say yes to me.  On December 12, 2006 Sara came over to my apartment to help me set up my Christmas tree and lights and we ended up talking for a little while as well.  This was our official first date.

In June 2007 I moved down to Springville for new employment which made things difficult in our relationship but somehow we managed to keep it alive despite the distance.  We finally agreed that we needed to be closer to each other and Sara reluctantly became adventurous and moved to Provo in the spring of 2008 leaving her parents and home of 21 years behind.  We continued dating and on February 18, 2009 I proposed to her, on bended knee, in front of the Logan, Utah LDS Temple and I’m grateful she never hesitated to say yes.  I almost didn’t even have all of the words out of my mouth before she voiced the answer.

We will be married on June 12, 2009 for time and all eternity in the Logan, Utah LDS Temple.  And so, a new journey begins.

Engagement Day

The following post was initially posted February 19, 2009 on Cordell’s personal blog but we thought it would be appropriate to include it here on our blog as well since it’s part of our story:

Wow! I’m officially engaged to the love of my life and my sweetheart, Sara Roxanne Lowery. It’s been in the works since November of 2006 and finally the day came to put a ring on her finger.

Yesterday started out quite early when the alarm went off at around 6:00 A.M. but I didn’t roll out of bed until around 30 minutes later. I had to get up and ready for the day as it was going to be a big day for me. I took an inventory of everything that I needed to bring for the big day and left the house around 8:45 A.M. I was headed over to Sara’s apartment to pick her up for our big adventurous day.

Sara looked gorgeous when she opened the door to let me in. She had sent me a text earlier that morning asking me if I could help her with doing her hair. I thought, “no big problem, she just wants me to brush it.” Nope, she wanted me to help her braid it. As you know, I’m a guy and didn’t grow up with any sisters, so you can imagine that braiding hair is not in my bag of knowledge. Just because I’m an Eagle Scout and had to learn how to tie knots doesn’t mean I can braid hair. After the failed hair-braiding attempt Sara decided just to leave it the way it was after we brushed it again.

We left Sara’s apartment and headed up towards Draper for the Draper LDS Temple open house. We had tickets for 11:00 A.M. and halfway there realized we were going to be about and hour early so we decided to see which parking lot we were meeting at to get on the shuttle bus and then were going to go get Sara something to snack on. As we were driving towards the parking lot we noticed a police vehicle with its lights flashing in front of a car wash. As we drove past we witnessed a Toyota truck that had somehow managed to smash its front end into the change machine and through the brick wall. Crazy!

We found the chapel parking lot and drove to a nearby convenience store and got Sara a blueberry muffin. She made quite the mess in the front seat of my truck but I didn’t mind because I love her and proceeded to tease her about it. We drove back to the parking lot where a parking attendant directed us where to park probably noticing the mess of crumbs on Sara’s dress as he was talking to us.

Tickets were scheduled in 20 minute increments and we were able to sneak in at the 10:20 A.M. timeslot as there were not many people at that particular time. After watching a 12 minute video about temples, introduced to us by 3 Sister Missionaries, we then boarded a bus that would take us on the short 6 minute drive up the hillside to where the temple was located. Sara likes to sit at the back of the bus and I don’t know why but that’s okay because I love her and I would have wanted to sit back there for a long trip anyway.

We got to the temple and took the short tour and it was amazing and very beautiful. The last room we visited was one of the sealing rooms where we and the group were able to sit down and listen to a missionary couple talk to us. I started to tear up because I knew that in a few months I would be kneeling across an alter, just like the one in front of us, and being sealed to Sara for time and eternity only if she would say “yes” of course.

After we left the Draper Temple we drove to Logan to spend the rest of the day together. At that time I think that Sara knew that something was going on and she was getting a little restless. She even admitted to me later that she thought that I was going to propose to her at the Draper Temple. I had some other plans, though, that would be more meaningful.

We arrived in Logan just before 2:00 P.M. and we went directly to the Logan LDS Temple. We walked around the temple grounds for a little while as I was trying to get the strength up to ask the big question. I kept fumbling with the ring in my pocket until finally, on the east side of the temple, near the water fountains, it all happened. After freezing ourselves outside for about 30 minutes I finally got down on one knee, looking into her eyes, and asked the question: “Sara Roxanne Lowery, will you marry me in this temple, for time and all eternity?” Before I could even finish the question or get the single solitaire diamond ring on her finger she said, YES!

I got back up and gave her a kiss as I held her in my arms. We stood there for a few minutes in the embrace of each others arms as tears were filling both of our eyes. At that moment we were the happiest couple in the universe and I was the luckiest man on the face of the planet having the most beautiful fiancé I could ever imagine.

We stopped a younger couple coming out of the temple and politely asked them to take our picture as we were just recently engaged. They asked us when we got engaged and we told them that it was only moments ago. That’s when they told us that they were engaged in almost the same location just shy of a year ago. Both couples thought that it was kind of funny.

The rest of the day consisted of calling family members and showing off the ring to family and friends in the Cache Valley area. We also went to the jewelers and decided on a men’s band as well. It was a glorious day and we are extremely happy to be engaged. I am very happy to be a part of Sara’s life and I love her family very much.

Cordell & Sara Larkin est. 2009

We met for the first time while employed together at an office supply company in Logan, UT. We started dating in December of 2006 and after over two years of dating and falling in love with each other we were engaged on February 18, 2009. We will be married for time and all eternity on June 12, 2009 in the Logan, UT LDS Temple. A longer, more drawn out descriptive story will be forthcoming when we find the time to write it and will be posted here. We will be making our first home in Provo, UT.