Time & All Eternity: May 2008

Well, Cody & I have now been married for 9 days! We were married last Friday in the Nauvoo LDS temple. It was absolutely amazing! We arrived at the temple around noon for our 1:00 sealing. When we drove into Nauvoo, it was cloudy & rainy & nasty. We had several umbrellas & were prepared to have them in our pictures. Not fabulous, but do-able. As you'd probably guess, however, the weather was very low on our list of concerns. All we wanted was to get in there & be married already! As I stood in the bride's room with my mom, preparing to go up to the sealing room, it was hard not to cry. But, knowing that my mascara was not waterproof, I fought it hard & somehow won! Walking up to the sealing room & waiting in an empty room with Cody before our sealing, I'm sure his hand was going numb from my holding it so tightly. The excitement was overwhelming & the whole day was highly surreal. Knowing that in just moments, I would be Mrs. Miner & I would never again have to worry about losing him. The sealing was perfect & I couldn't have asked for or imagined it to be any better! Then, as we came out of the temple, we looked out to find blue skies with the sun shining brightly & the most perfectly beautiful weather we could have hoped for! No umbrellas were needed. We took tons of pictures & never once had to force or conjure a smile. In fact, we couldn't get rid of them. Well, except to replace it with a few silly faces, but that's what Cody does best! The reception on Saturday was beautiful & as always, mom's cake was amazing! Several people pitched in to decorate & prepare food. Overall, it was fabulous! Aside from now being married, though, the best part of the weekend was getting to have my family around, all together (minus Amber, who we missed greatly.) & getting to spend time with them! I miss being around them all the time, so it's so great when we get a chance to all get together again & just have fun together! So, now, after the first week, & going to church in my new ward, it's finally hitting me... little things like the fact that when I introduce myself, it's no longer, "Hi, I'm Keira Shelby," it's "Hi, I'm Keira Miner." Having to remember to sign things (like checks) as Keira Miner, instead of Shelby. Telling people "This is my HUSBAND, Cody" instead of "fiance." Things like that. It's tricky at times, but it's fun, & never frustrating, but simply entertaining! I love being married. It's truly amazing! Never waking up alone anymore, but always next to the man of my dreams & actually feeling like I am the woman of his. Today was Cody's first day back at work. He's only been there a few hours & he's just 2 min. up the road, but I miss him terribly, which is a surprisingly wonderful thing. When he's not here with me, I feel the void. He is so wonderful, & always treats me like a princess. He does everything he can to make my life easier & to make me as happy as possibly, which right now, isn't hard at all. All he has to do is smile at me & tell me he loves me, but he does so much more. He is the greatest part of my life & I love him with all my heart. I'll get some wedding photos posted as soon as I get them back! I know, I can't wait to see them either! I love you all! & for Mom & Dad, all my brothers & their families, Mom & Pop Miner & all my new brothers & sisters in law & everyone else who helped out: Thank you so much! You have no idea how much Cody & I appreciated all you did to make our wedding beautiful & special! You took over & did everything & took all the stress off of us (which is big, because I SUCK at letting people do things for me!) & even just you being there made the weekend perfect! We love you all! Keira Miner

K so, basically... I'm sure no one really ever comes here to check out my blog anymore because I pretty much SUCK at keeping it updated! My apologies! So, here's the deal: It's Monday, May 5Th, 2008. On Friday, May 9Th, 2008 (as in, 4 days from now) I, Keira Shelby, will no longer be Keira Shelby, I will be married. So I, Keira Shelby, will be I, Keira Miner. Did that make sense? No? Perfect! As most of you know, Cody & I met at EFY in '05. We got to be pretty great friends & kept in touch. He got his mission call that fall to Seattle, WA, so before he left, we got together & hung out a few times. -I call them dates, he does not. We were totally twitterpated & he had his heart set on marrying me. Yes, I am just that charming! No, just kidding. I just fooled him. Mwahaha! So... we wrote (at least) weekly through the first year of his mission, then lost touch, as I was dating someone else & he really consumed himself in his work of spreading the gospel. Plus, a misunderstanding between us & a random 3rd party caused some tension. In other words, I thought he was being a jerk & got rather angry with him. In my mind (& words) any chance he may have had of marrying me, was just lost. There was no way, that was IT! We did try to stay friends though, I wrote him a few times at random through the 2Nd year of his mission & received a whole 2 letters in return, so I finally gave up. (He says he sent more than that, but I never got them.) Well, the 2 years had flown by & I suddenly found myself in December of 2007, realizing that Elder Miner would be home any time! I still had some of his stuff he had sent me to hold onto for him, but I didn't want to contact him because I didn't where we stood. Was he still in love with me & would he try to win me back? Was he still heartbroken & trying to get over me? Did he hate me & not want to hear from or talk to me ever again? Was he completely fine with everything? I had no clue! I was afraid it would be awkward & I didn't want to send any mixed signals in any way. He called me the weekend after he got home, just to say hi & make sure I was still alive & healthy & let me know that he was as well. It was awkward & neither of us really knew what to say. Then, in February, he called me again on day at random, to tell me he was in Columbia with his family for the day & wondered if I wanted to come meet him & hang out, however we had just had our musical the night before, so I had a cast party to attend. Finally, the 20Th of February, I was preparing to go to St. Louis for the weekend for a National Leadership Development Convention. At random I thought of him & thought I should share this great opportunity with him & invite him to the Convention to learn about leadership & grow personally, etc. So, I called him & set up an appointment to come down to Lake of the Ozarks with my leadership mentor, Chris, meet him & tell him about the opportunity & extend the invitation to join us for the weekend. So, the next day, we went down & visited with him. It was OK. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. It seemed that everything was fine & that we would be able to rebuild the friendship that was previously there & not have to worry about any strings. What a relief that was to us both. Cody came with us the next day, to St. Louis for the weekend & opened himself up to learn leadership principles & how to apply them to life. It was that night (Friday) that our lives took a turn in an unexpected direction... After the Seminar that night, we returned to the hotel. Jeremy fell asleep very quickly as Cody & I sat, catching up with one another. He talked about his mission & things he learned & went through, I talked about what had been going on in my life. We talked about how we had both previously wanted to move on with the next step in life & get married, but that more recently that had left & we now felt quite the opposite. Neither of us wanted to even date at the time, let alone think about being married any time soon! I told him how I had decided I wanted to serve a mission & that I had started to prepare to do so. Next thing we knew, all the feelings we'd had when he left 2 years earlier had come flooding back. I found myself wishing I hadn't turned him away & he found himself, again feeling the longing to have me back that he had worked so hard to lose. Without even thinking, he kissed me, & from then on, neither of us could deny what was really there. He asked me to marry to him & I accepted. After some thought & prayer, his official proposal came & we became engaged. The date was set, the Temple was called & the sealing scheduled. Plans began & things got CrAzY! Life, these past 10 weeks, has been a whirlwind! Finding things out & getting things done. Going through all the plans & preparations. Picking a cake, designing a dress, (because of course, we're making it!) taking pictures, getting invitations, scheduling & reserving the building for the reception, acquiring bridesmaids & groomsmen, picking flowers, ordering a tux, picking decorations, meeting with Bishops & Stake Presidents to receive temple recommends... The list goes on. & through all of this, my greatest struggle over the past 3 1/2 years, has been resolved. Prayers have been answered & the Spirit has confirmed to me, that I am doing what's right. So, on Friday, 4 days from now, I will enter the Temple, the House of the Lord, to be married, not only for time, until death, but for all Eternity, to the man of my dreams & my Prince Charming, Cody Miner, & I will be the happiest person on earth. I can't wait to spend Eternity with him & I'm SO forever grateful for that opportunity! I love him so much & I can no longer imagine my life without him. Our Father in Heaven does hear & answer prayers! I know that with all my heart! He knows each of us, personally, individually, & loves us. He wants us to be happy, & I am. I love you ALL & I wish you the best! Keira Shelby (For now.) P.S. Here are some pictures from the last little while. If you don't know him yet, Cody is a goof ball!