To say that the past couple of days
have been calm would be the biggest lie EVER! It's not an awkward or awesome
moment just something that made me take a step back and have a breakdown. I
think I'm doing better today. Monday I was getting some documents ready for the
wedding and came across a paragraph that made me freak out just a little bit. Come
to find out B needs to have additional paper work to get married in the temple
again and we had NO idea. So here I am freaking out because I've been engaged
since March and now we are only 7 weeks away and who knows if it will happen.
Needless to say on Tuesday I cried and cried, and tried to get everything in
order so we could get the ball moving ASAP. Hopefully by tomorrow all the
paperwork will be in and then we will just pray, a LOT that it gets here in
time. Essentially we need a lot of prayers and faith from everyone to ensure we
can get married on August 16th. My grandma even called me last night to tell me
to buck up and have some more faith because they had to wait a year to get
married in the temple, and grandpa's temple recommend came the night before
they were supposed to leave (hand delivered by an Apostle nonetheless). She's
like I just knew that if I have faith it would show up because we wanted to get
married the right way. Oh grandma, if I only had faith like you! She's like the
Lord knows what you want, and yes it is paperwork, but it will all work out.
Everyone has said it will be ok or I feel like it's going to be fine, etc.. but
I can't feel it. Then B told me that you can't have fear and faith in the same
place. He's like you have to let the doubt and fear go, and then you can feel
confident that we will be able to get married when we want. So that's my
challenge for the next 7 weeks. Plan my wedding and just pray that when we
enter the Rexburg Temple on August 16th it will be perfect! So here goes
nothing! As for awkward moments this week:
We floated the river this weekend and there was this girl
who accompanied us. She never stopped talking, and we were on the river for 3
hours. That would be ok, but it seemed that she had to one-up every story ever
told. If you jumped 7 feet she can jump 8 etc... Then after all that she
proceeded to complain about how I had lied to her about how far the float was
and how starving she was. In fact she asked me 7 times in the space of 5 minutes
where the cookies were.
Seeing someone's bathing suit top come pretty much off, also
while floating. Yeah it's one of those moments where you pretend to be
"resting your eyes"...
Who floats down a river but you can't swim? Then instead of
telling us that you're aren't that good you almost drown like 3 times. Eek!
Not being able to understand the Asian lady doing my nails,
and then getting irritated when she insulted my awesome pedicure I just got.
Claiming she could do something for cheaper, and it would look better than
"that".
B and I went to Craigo's on Saturday and we were super
exhausted. Still nothing tops seeing two girls pretty much taste every type of
pizza at the buffet line before deciding to get another piece (ew), then
another gaggle of girls talking about how much they LOVE being single (liars,
please I was single for 26 years and even though it was fun, you know you're
supposed to finding someone).
My doctor using "Fertile Myrtle" in a sentence...
haha!
Awesome:
Even though I had the above mentioned scenario happen to me
this week I learned how big of a cheering section B and I really have! A lot of
people care and are worried about us.
Finally getting a Madison Library card. I love books!
I got to see B a lot this week. I love it! Plus he freaking
rocked at selling this week too, AND even mowed my entire lawn... oh swoon!
Going to Parma this weekend to see baby Grace. The wedding
is FAST approaching.
I'm marrying the most amazing person, who loves me even when
I am probably a little (or a lot) dramatic.
Planning our honeymoon. We are going to have so much fun!
So B and I talk a lot (yeah just look at our phone bill). But it's always so much fun to Skype too, this night we both started brushing our teeth at the same time, while Skyping. Precious I know!
We had a ward party on Saturday that B and I were in charge of. I'm so grateful he is able to help me because it's a big thing to do by yourself. Originally he planned to leave early Saturday morning from Twin Falls and just come up and we would go from there. Imagine my surprise when I woke up Saturday morning and he was already there. He drove super late the night before after getting off work. It was so good to see him, even if he did scare the crap out of me because I'm used to living alone!
B and I went to Broulims to get the rest of the things for our BBQ. I asked B to grab the bags of ice and follow me out to the truck. I looked behind me to here him zooming past in this cart.I had to take a picture, and everyone around us though he was pretty comical too. The best part, when he tried to back up it started beeping. So funny.
This is b's annoyed/serious face, you don't see it much so I captured it for those naysayers! HA!
Waiting in the truck before we float, it was already pretty hot by now!
Here is my love pre-sunburn! You can see the beautiful river in the back along with some of our ward members who came. If you come visit us we will take you floating!
We then had a ward BBQ with a ton of food then we got all ready to float down the Snake River. B was telling me about this waterproof iPhone case you can get. I've decided I totally want one now that we spent all Saturday on the water and I wished over and over again I had my phone, or a camera in general! We were half way down the river when I was told the lone straggler in the back didn't know how to swim. If you don't know how to swim why would you be on a river without a life jacket at least? So that was a little scary, but for the most part B and I just enjoyed a lazy but fun trip down the river. We both got pretty sun-burned though. I just told B it was a base coat for our honeymoon. For a black man, that boy is sure red! There were some interesting members of our float trip, one girl asked me when the river would end. B was like well when it dumps into the ocean. It's the Snake River!
You can't really tell how much sun he got, he just looks extra dark! I love this shirt and I love his glasses!
We were pretty tired after floating all day so we went out to eat then just relaxed afterwards. What a fun filled summery day. Loved it. We had a great weekend, it was so much fun, and reminded why I love summer and why I fell in love with B.
PS - on a side note if you want an invite to the wedding and you haven't given me your address yet, just leave me a little note! I know it's so exciting that it's coming closer!!
It’s Thursday yo! It has been an interesting and crazy week.
I hate long distance relationships can I just say that? Even if I do get to see
B on the weekends it’s still hard, and I get frustrated easily. It’s like let’s
throw everything at your way and see if you can handle it ok? Rude. Anyway, I
did have awkward and awesome moments which make me appreciate life when it’s
hard! So away we go:
Awkward:
If you haven’t guessed by now I work with some interesting
people. I know all people can say that , but I feel like I have an abnormal
amount in my workplace. For instance – people at our work LOVE to run on the
greenbelt during lunch. Which is just great, but wearing this all spandex
outfit while running out the door is weird; furthermore, after you get running
you come back into the office and lay down on the couch while you are all
sweaty is just an entirely different game. I tried to avoid eye contact at all
costs. Sick.
When we were stopped on the freeway for 3 hours on our way
home to Rexburg this past weekend I got reaffirmed why I think most truck
drivers are creepy. Telling us to run down a firefighter because the fire is
getting too close was pretty funny. Especially because well we can see the fire
and well the HUGE blaze across the road I’m sure take precedent.
Someone calling me uneducated. Wow, really?! Out of all the
insults you could have said you called me that? Comical.
A week ago I was running in the nature park behind my house.
I see the most interesting things there because a lot of college kids haven’t
really discovered it yet, so that is sort of a good thing, anyway, I saw a lady
walking her two pet ferrets. They had collars and leashes. She was talking to
them, and then asked them if they would like to go down the slide. Yes, and then
she took them down the slide, cheered at the end, and then lifted them both in
the air. I was laughing OUT loud.
The nightmares I keep having about my wedding dress. Ugh,
they are scary!
Spending time with my family. I love them. They each bring a
little bit of fun to the table and more importantly B fits right in.
Scotch and sodas from Boys Better Burger. You haven’t lived
until you have one!
Getting to spend an evening in Boise with B, it was so fun,
and we even found him a suit for the wedding. YES!
The Summer Solstice
That B works hard, he actually cleaned my mom’s kitchen and
helped my dad most of the day in the yard. Impressed.
Realizing that life is hard sometimes, and we lose faith in
our decisions and path, but in the end if we hold onto what we know is right
then it will all work out. It is all about enduring!
Our ward float trip this weekend. I’m so excited to kick off
summer. The best summer ever…
The new additions to our family. They are both so precious
and I can’t wait to spend more time with them.
Oh my weekend was amazing. So much fun, and always an adventure! I took lots of pictures so I'll let them tell the story!
We arrived in Twin Falls to pick up B. He had been selling all day so he was a happy to see smiling faces! Here we are heading back to the apartment and he we waving his sign around! He had Mariah and I laughing pretty good!
Naturally we stopped at Sonic for a quick bite, and what do we have here but a family of Cherry Limeades!
As soon as we got into town Hyrum and Emma came over so we could see precious Grace. First, she is so tiny, so little, I was afraid I would break her. Second, little girl clothes are so cute. She has so many cute little dresses she's like a little doll. I can't wait to watch her grow up into this cute little princess!
HA! I absolutely am in love with this picture. Here is my love holding our little Buddha of the family. Reece is beyond chunky, but who doesn't love a chunky baby? He looks just like Austin did too!
One of B's hidden talents is that he can cut hair really well. His grandpa taught him how and so he's really great at it. So why not use those skills to trim up Eddie? Eddie was a good puppy and sat there the entire time while B made him look like a little lion. A nice summer cut!
Here is my fab fiance experiencing the Parma Pool. The highlight of my summers when I was little and also a former employer. He had all the hooligan children laughing and clapping as he made the biggest cannonball EVER off the diving board. I love these glasses, he looks extremely cool in them! (Plus I can check out my hair when talking to him)
This summer my sister Maddie is working as a lifeguard at the Parma Pool so Liam spends most days there. Here is his cuddling up to Maddie and Mariah. They had a lot of fun playing with him. He's a super cute little boy!
B took the ever amazing scooter up to the pool and then drove it to Apple Lucy's for some lunch and scotch and sodas! Mariah was laughing the entire time he was driving it and had to capture this picture of him getting off of it. I find scooters very manly! Not to mention when Mariah drove it home she about crashed it and honked at every person walking.
I'm so happy we got to spend Father's Day with my father. I'm also so grateful for my brothers and B who are all amazing fathers. They all do so much for me, and I love them for their sacrafice and hard work. We had a BBQ that was so amazing. Hamburgers, corn on the cob, grilled pineapple (that was amazing), potato salad, jello and of course watermelon. This picture of Liam makes me so happy. It's the joy of summer in one picture. Watermelon on a hot day! Not to mention that boy is eating half of a watermelon!
We were a little late leaving from Parma. Just because we were having too much fun and didn't want to head back to real life. Anyway, we were about 30 minutes outside of Boise, almost to Mountain Home when we came to a complete stop. There was a huge wild fire and it was right on the freeway. At first it looked like we might be able to just drive slowly through the fire, but then they stopped us. We were 5 cars from the beginning. Ugh. We sat there for about 2 hours before making it to Twin Falls. Good thing B lives there for the summer. So we crashed in his apartment, then we got up at 5:00 this morning to make it to work and class. The following pictures are of our adventure! The best part though was that towards the end Mariah and B had to pee really bad, Mariah almost resorted to asking the RV a couple cars back if she could use their bathroom. HA!
It was SO windy!
This was fire fighter Bob. If you know B he makes friends with anybody. He became fast friends with Bob. Bob single handily put out this median fire with his boots. I was impressed, but also relieved. I could have taken off and we would have been right in the middle of it. The trucker behind us kept yelling at us to put the fire out. With what? My little water bottle?!
5 minutes earlier and we would have been home free...
Happy Father's Day! Spent on the freeway, but thanks to modern technology his kids still got to Skype him and talk to him. Thank you iPhone!
Oh Bob you know so much!
These crazy kids are sure funny!
When we saw how bad it got we knew we would be there for awhile!
Here we are!
This is Mariah's video. Just to warn you there are some inappropriate jokes just in case you get offended. It's pretty funny though!
These two kids being well, crazy.
I had a great weekend. I feel like we got a lot accomplished too with the wedding planning. Hyrum's yard is going to look amazing! We even found B a suit, so I can stop freaking out so much. The wedding is less than two months away. Pretty crazy! I am so excited though! Happy Father's Day!!
I am tripping out, that was exactly 2 years ago. There is my fiance, at my house, at a party I threw (and he even jumped in a picture), and I spelled his name wrong. HA! I vaguely remember him being there, but not really. If you would have told me then I would be marrying him two years later I would have laughed (really hard) in your face, even if back then I totally thought he was really good looking. Isn't it funny how life turns out? How decisions we both made kept us in the same ward for two years until we could meet and fall in love? Coincidence? Nah, it's fate. We just needed some time to work other things out.
Good thing I was at the right place at the right time.
What a great weekend. I cherish them because that's the only time I get to see B. He had a rough week this past week for numerous reasons so I'm glad that he let me take care of him for a little while anyway. He worked all day Friday and Saturday so he didn't get into town until around 4 or so. So it wasn't a super long time with him, but I'll take what I can get! Since B is a SUPER sports fan I decided to take him to Firehouse Grill. He was so excited because the whole thing is decorated in Boston Red Sox. We ordered dinner and watched the basketball game and just made fun of this gypsy lady:
I wish you could see her better because I cannot tell you how many jingle and jangles she had on. A purple long skirt, pioneer boots, a banana clip and of course a pink puffy vest!
We went shopping at the mall and I found my wedding sandals for $9! Booyah, even if B had to steal some jewels off the other sandals, I managed to get them! Also, another trip to WinCo at 10:00 at night is ten times better than any Wal-Mart action you will see. There are so many interesting people, and we were super giggly so that didn't help either.
We are totally addicted to the show Revenge. It's SO good, and even though I get super anxious and can't watch too many B insisted we finish the whole rest of the season this weekend. So that's what we did!
Sunday was great. I love going to church, and being able to commit yourself to be better each week! My time is fast approaching where I will graduate from that singles ward and I don't think I'm ready! We came home and I made dinner and we watched Casper. I cannot tell you how long it's been since I've watched that. All I know I was in LOVE with Devon Sawa at the end of that movie and now I think, wow really? Funny. B then suggested we talk a walk since we live right next to the nature park. We had so much fun there. B always makes me laugh and we made good memories there! I even managed to get pictures!
Ducks at the park, you can tell they are used to being fed!
This one liked to follow us!
Look at that cute face... ugh I just love him!
I love summer!
One of my new favorite pictures of us. This kid just melts my heart!
Sporting his new Jordan shorts... he was proud when he bought them because they are "wedding colors"!
B skipping rocks, he's seriously good!
I hate when Sunday night rolls around, because I know the next day is Monday and I have to say goodbye again. We are half way there though and even though we have drama and set backs we are counting down the days until we are married! We have a precious little garden growing and a house that is looking more and more like a home everyday! I will have to take pictures.
PS - we finished Revenge late last night. So good. The season finale, ohemgee!
Whoa… I’ve taken a little bit of a hiatus for this week just
because work is killing me and I’m trying to unpack my ENTIRE life before the
weekend! Never fear though I’ve had some GREAT awkward moments (and awesome
ones too) this week!!
Awkward:
You know that moment when you accidentally touch someone’s
butt in public; the normal thing to do is just ignore it right? I mean that’s
the universal rule. Well I accidentally did that going out of Wal-Mart the other
day, and this guy made this huge scene. He said “if you are going to touch my
butt at least ask permission, I really don’t mind”… I just said sorry quietly
and ran/walked to my car. Really?!
Now that I’ve moved into our house (an actual house in an
actual neighborhood) we have a little neighbor girl who doesn’t know
boundaries. It has come to the point
where I have to keep my door closed or she thinks she can just wander around
the house at her free will. Yesterday I was unpacking the kitchen and talking
to B on the phone. Here she comes walking on in to the house like she lives
there, I calmly but firmly told her I have two rules (1) – always knock and if
I don’t answer that means I’m not home or I can’t come to the door (or don’t
want to). (2) – If she does come inside she needs to stay in the living room or
kitchen she isn’t allowed in the bedrooms. Then she asked me if she could go
potty, I was like you live four steps away you can run home. She’s like oh ok, then
she rode her bike two feet down the sidewalk and crashed her bike. Did I help
her? No. Now I think I will go to hell for not helping a child in need. Great,
I better make some cookies…
Today I have 2 Instagram awkwards:
$8 in change. Seriously. I don’t know what it is but I just
feel so well “white trash” if I pay with coins. It’s still American money and
it’s still the same, but its like I’m a bum who collected money off of the
street and used it to buy whatever. What is Jenn ever going to do with those
coins? Because now she’ll feel awkward too. But I do like that she feels like a
pirate… arrrggh!
Monica lives in Switzerland. She posted this picture today.
I find it super funny! Just hanging my underwear up to dry for everyone to see…
uh ok!
Monday was 91 degrees, last night I had to cover my garden because
it froze. Whatever weather.
Awesome:
As I mentioned above that I moved. 2 times in the space of 2
months (I DON’T recommend it), but it’s done. I’m in the house that B and I
will live in when we get married and I can’t wait. It’s such an adorable little
house, with a lot of room for a great price. I can’t tell you how nice it feels
to have the kitchen all to myself. All of my dishes and cooking items wherever I
like them! We even have a garage so I can start a little bit of food storage
(because you know that’s all married people get is food storage for gifts). We
have a cute little garden in the back, that I’m super nervous I’m going to
kill, and a beautiful spacious yard that B works hard to take care of. It has
needed some TLC but it’s on the up mend and is looking fantastic. I even am
going to try and plant some flowers! It’s the small things that make life worth
it, like having a whole closet just to fill with my shoes… that’s the life
(even if I have to share my dresser)! HA!
B is selling like a mad man this week, I’m so proud of him
and how hard he works.
The wedding plans are coming along. Time to start collecting
addresses. My wedding is only 70 days away. It’s coming so fast and I have so
much to do, but it’s also so exciting!
I’m so in love with this picture, they are all so precious:
An item on my bucket list was to be a “regular” at a
restaurant or something like that. Just walk up to the counter and say “I’ll
have the usual”. Yesterday I fulfilled that goal when I walked into my daily
gas station run for a soda and the lady at the counter said “Just the usual for
you?”… I gleamed with an excited YES! Even if it was just a Diet Dr. Pepper
soda refill. I’m still a regular!! Again, it’s the small things.
In case you didn’t know, I’m totally in love with a man who
writes me silly but beautiful love notes. Pretty much perfect!
The show Revenge and Downton Abbey. Seriously where have I been?
Obsessed!
This week has definitely been better for me, even though I'm making some adjustments in life and work, and whatever else comes along. I guess I realized yesterday too that life is what you make of it, I mean yesterday my brother Hyrum and his wife Emma's life was changed forever. They welcomed their first baby (and my first niece) into this big scary world.
It would be easy to tell her how much life here is hard, stressful, and unpleasant, how you never stop worrying, or how life is never what you plan it out to be. The thing is, if you look at all the bad things you'll miss all the wonderful things in between. That's just it, if you didn't have failure, then you wouldn't know what success feels like. If you didn't have sadness you wouldn't know what happiness is. If you didn't have heart ache, you couldn't really appreciate real love. For all bad things there is always a good somewhere, the secret to life is trying to find the good among the bad. I'm sure in the pre-mortal life when we decided to come here we were like "bring it on, I want a body", but then it became murmuring like "will this trial ever end?". But, as I saw pictures of Grace and worried and anticipated her arrival I just knew it has and will be all worth it.
So my dear Gracie, thank you for teaching your aunt valuable life lessons already... its not about how much money you make, or about your job, or even about planning a wedding. It's about enduring it with a positive attitude and an optimistic outlook on life. Welcome to the world baby, you're in for one crazy ride, with amazing parents who will make you laugh (I can't wait to see Hyrum and Emma be parents), and a family who loves you very much!
Emma and Grace...
Cousins! Reece is only 2 months older, but you know he likes to eat so he's quite a big bigger! Love them already!
