3

3 days!

I can't quite believe that we're at this point...

I got to stay over at our flat last night as Ben was staying at his parents and I just can't get my head around the fact that we'll be living there together soon! Yesterday we even had our first proper sentimental moment- with neither of us throwing in a joke to relieve the seriousness. It must be love!!! 

With no further ado, I give you the 3s of 3 days to go: 

1. My Three white dresses. I've loved this poem since I read it at my baptism as an 8 year old but it has come to mean a lot more to me since going to the temple and since being engaged. I have it hanging on the wall in my bedroom. 

   

My mom bought me a white dress,

Not red or pink or blue.

She said it was a special dress

Like very other few,

There has been just one before,

A dress now put away,

That I wore some time ago

Upon my blessing day.

As a little baby clothed In my first white dress, 

My dad held me in his arms,

There to name and bless.

So pure and clean was I just then,

With time to grow and learn

About the Father's plan for me.

My glory I must earn.

Now I've reached the age to judge

The wrong road from the right,

And I am here to be baptized

In this dress of white.

So once again I'm free from sin.

The path is clear to me.

I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.

Just as mud would stain my dress,

Sin would stain my soul.

The key is to repent or bleach,

For whiteness is my goal.

And if I try my very best,

Then richly blessed I'll be,

Wearing inside God's holy house

White dress number three,

So today I make this pledge:

I'll strive to choose the right,

Through this sacred baptism ordinance

In my second dress of white. 

(Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993)

At the blessing of the granddaughter of one of the Young Women's Presidents in our ward the Young Women sang this song that was inspired by this poem: 

It's kind of cheesy but listening to it recently gave me goosebumps. I'm so richly blessed to be where I am in my life right now and to be marrying the most incredible person. 

2. The Three members of the Godhead. For those of you who don't know, unlike most Christian religions we do not believe in the trinity as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). We believe in three separate beings: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I'd be lost without the things I've learnt about and through each of these individuals. I certainly wouldn't be where I am today.

3. As Jack Johnson says: "3 is a magic number" - it is used for all sorts of things; fairy tales very often effectively use 3- The three little pigs, Goldilocks and the three bears - three seems to create bite-size chunks in a story that we can easily ingest and that seem to create a fulfilling conclusion. Unlike Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" there weren't three caskets to choose from or three suitors that came to try and take me away. Nevertheless, this is my fairy tale and my happy ending. It's a story with a special 3 words and with an ending of: "happily ever after"... at least, that's what we anticipate! 

3 DAYS TO GO!!!!