Life as of Late

Well the blog has been neglected... time to cover some ground.


ADDICTION.

Why has the blog (and so many other things) been neglected lately?

Because I'm doing something that I think is a COMPLETE and utter waste of time... yet I do it anyway.

Yup- I'm addicted to a TV show. So dumb. But so great. Vampire Diaries. When I got home from my mission, my closest friends were all obsessed with Vampire Diaries. I wasn't interested. Quite frankly, I hate TV. It's crap. All of it. Little good comes from watching TV these days. About once a year, I will find a TV show to preoccupy my time with... whether "Friends", "LOST", or "Prison Break"... just great addicting ones. This years TV show is Vampire Diaries for sure.

Why do I love this dumb show? Well I guess besides the fact that I have a TV show crush on Stephan Salvatore... oh wait, there is no other reasons.... oops. I LOVE THIS CHARACTER! I love his way of thinking, I love his dedication to the love of his life, I love his calm composure... he's just great. Oh and Dan knows all about this. He watches it with me. He thinks Elena is dreamy... among other things. Plus who doesn't love the endless problems and drama? It makes real life look like a cake walk.

So this addiction all started because I have the best worst job ever. My boss was gone for 2 weeks pretty much, which left me with a WHOLE lot of time to do nothing... I don't do well with nothing. So hello to my first Netflix account. Good thing the first 3 seasons of Vampire Diaries were on there... 6 hours a day goes by quickly when you have 3 seasons to get through! I'm not proud of it people. But what's a girl to do for 80 HOURS?!?! You can only check Facebook so many times a day, play on Pinterest, etc. etc.... don't judge... at least not too harshly. I was going crazy sitting in front of a computer. I had too much time on my hands. It was scary.

AN ARMY.

The new missionary age change.... I about squealed for joy and wanted to freak out... but I was at the in-laws and somehow found myself alone sitting watching conference (I don't remember where everyone else was...) and didn't want to make my mother-in-law think I was crazy!

What a freaking cool thing. AH I just can't even comprehend the effects this will have... so many missionaries filling the Earth.. literally the Earth... with truth. I saw this video yesterday and it filled me with JOY! So many lovely ladies in my life have put in their papers or are making arrangements to do so... my heart just swells with each one!

BUSINESS.

Portland, Oregon--- 3 nights and 4 days--- lots of Farmers.

I had to go to on my first "official" business trip... like the ones where they pay for your airplane ticket, hotel, food, etc. It was an agriculture conference and my hilarious co-worker and I were in charge of the registration. It was a nice change of scenery but definitely not my cup of tea. I found myself in my hotel room watching re-runs of "Full House"... my favorite middle school TV show. I forgot how many great life lessons that family taught me, haha. Plus, it was the only non-crap TV show on at night.

I got some overtime in, (hopefully to help us recover from the cost of christmas presents!) had yummy food, and even used the hot tub once. But traveling will just never going to be that great without my significant other. Plus, it pretty much poured the ENTIRE time we were in Portland... I could never handle living in that kind of weather! It's depressing!

HOLIDAYS.

Thanksgiving was pretty great. My mom came with me to the Wouden's for Thanksgiving dinner, then we turned around and had the DeVries Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday-- we got 2 of them! Dan and I contributed by making the mashed potatoes and a homemade cheese ball... both turned out quite tasty if we do say so ourselves. It was a lot of fun.

I love Christmas. I love pretty much everything about it. I love Christmas music, I love wreaths, I love the smell of Christmas tree scented candles... I love the focus on Christ I feel, and I think my favorite part of Christmas has become giving.

I feel like I've become an awkward receiver of gifts since my mission. All I did was GIVE at that time, still receiving incredible blessings from our Heavenly Father of course, but no so much in a material way. I don't know how to properly accept a gift without feeling awkward anymore. Giving feels so much better. It makes me think about the people I love and am closest to-- who they are and what they like. I get to stop thinking about me and my daily routine. Christmas has saved me so far this year. It's gotten me away from things of non-sense (like Vampire Diaries) and back to reality if you will.

Granted there are still 12 days till Christmas, but December has been amazing so far. There have been miracles for me and for dear people I love.

SERVICE.

I am so grateful for good... two days ago in Walmart, it was a mad house. I was trying to pick up some pictures I developed and the staff was short, the line was long, every customer had a special need... it was stressing me out! When it was finally my turn, I got the pictures, paid for them, went to pick up my wallet to put my card back in, and dumped every little bit of change I had ALL OVER THE GROUND.

It was just like a movie. There was a man with a little boy standing in line behind me. This man set his little boy down, and they both started helping me pick up my change-- the little boy was like a little vacuum, clenching as many pennies and dimes in his little fists as possible, so cute. A Hispanic man joined in and we had a mess of car wash tokens, Canadian pennies, dimes, and so on cleaned up in a jiffy.

As I thanked them and walked away, I was so grateful that there is still good out there. People still have compassion, empathy, love. If I were to have been 3 people behind myself in line, I wonder what I would have done... would my irritation escalated rapidly and an annoyed sigh let out? Or would I have joined in the game of "pick up 100 of a strangers pennies"? I dare say I would have done the first one. But now having been on the other end, I will choose to make the second choice.

And what do you know, this last Sunday I got a new calling as the Compassionate Service Leader... coincidence... I think not.

Happy Holidays my friends.

Dear Logan,

Dear Logan,

There are just a few things I have a serious need for.

 
 
 

A Decent Shopping Mall!

Hope this isn't too much to ask for....

Sincerely, Megan

Why Am I a Mormon?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.... What is it to me? Why am I a member of it?
With all the news reports, Broadway plays, political candidates, interviews, etc. I feel like the world is still missing what the "Mormon Church" is all about. I feel like even sometimes as members we forget what it is REALLY all about.

I feel like the same things are consistently brought up- all the "Do's & Do Not's" we have.
- Don't have sex before marriage
- Don't drink alcohol
- Don't go grocery shopping on Sunday
- Pay 10% of your income
- Go to church every sunday
- Blah Blah Blah

Everyone always wants to know WHAT we do, but few people ask the bigger question... WHY?
Why do we choose to live the way we do? Why do we have these commandments? Well I'd like to let the world know WHY I am a Mormon.

First, forget the list mentioned above. Forget the rumors, stereotypes, etc about the LDS church. For me it comes back to one thing: LOVE. I know that God is my Heavenly Father, that I lived with Him before I came to this earth. I know that God knows me personally and is aware of me. I know that there is life after death. How do I know this? Because God loves me. Because God loves you. Because God loves all his children. Through much time, studying, and effort I've developed a relationship with Him- I want to return back to Him! I love Him! When you love someone, you want the best for them, you do anything you can for them, you want them to be happy, you want them to be successful.

I think of my mom, or of my friends parents. The rules I was given in my youth I didn't always understand or agree with at the time. However with a little more time under my belt, and perspective, I can see WHY my parents enforced the rules they did.

My parents weren't perfect, and still aren't. But God is a perfect parent. Not just perfect in the sense that he never makes a mistake, but is also perfect in the sense of being perfectly understanding, perfectly compassionate, perfectly forgiving, perfectly loving. Because God knows you and I, His children, perfectly- He knows perfectly what will make us happy. Perfectly what will make us sad or bring us unhappiness. God gives us commandments because he sees the bigger picture- because he has a little more time under his belt and because he knows what will bring happiness to us. The hard part for us at mortal beings is not knowing everything as perfectly as Him.

I met a lady in Los Angeles named Victoria VonRoth- and she loved the commandments, but she had another name for them. She call them "Happy Rules" because they are what really brings happiness!!! True, pure, heart bursting, happiness. What I love most about the commandments, is that they help me become more Christ-like or closer to God, I'm able to feel promptings of the Holy Ghost more often, they keep me on track to returning to live with God! How amazing is that!? What a huge blessing or reward for keeping the commandments. I don't understand perfectly the reason behind every commandment, but I know enough. I've tested them enough and seen the outcome. And because God loves us, anyone has access to the perfect way to find out enough.

Any soul, any human being, of any background, of any age, of any culture can know WHY. The trouble is most people just won't take the time to find out. They might be caught up in the "mormon culture". Perhaps they rely on outside media to feed them their information. I know a few people who have felt judged in their lives because they aren't living the commandments or "mormon way". Because of this they feel resentful or bitter towards Mormons. But WHY would someone live the commandments if they didn't understand or know WHY others around them were? I can't judge or hold someone accountable for that. All of these reasons I just listed can distract people from the real meat of what the Mormon church is about. For those who want the real meat,  I can invite them to find out WHY I and others do believe and live the way they do.

Here is the invitation: It's as simple as trying. Try living the commandments, see what the results are. Try praying to God, see what His answer is. Try reading the scriptures- the Bible and Book of Mormon- to find out what Jesus Christ actually taught. Go to the source of all knowledge and truth. Don't let the interpretations of men determine your understanding of WHY Mormons live the commandments.

I am a Mormon because I have tried these things- and because I got results. This hasn't just happened one time in my life, but on several occasions. Through any change or stage of my life, I find myself reapplying the process God gave to all His children to know WHY.

PRAY -> READ/STUDY/PONDER -> LIVE THE COMMANDMENTS = KNOWLEDGE

It really is this simple. I have received answers numerous times. This process, this invitation, is a "one size fits all" if you will. The gospel, or teachings of Jesus Christ, will bless anyone's lives- will bring them true and lasting happiness.

I am happy - I know my purpose in life - I know God exists and knows me - I know how to be with my loved ones forever. And so can you. God will always be there to answer when you knock.

This is WHY I am a Mormon.

To see a little more about why I am a Mormon, click below!
Mormon.org Profile

PASSION- HOBBY- MY "THING" !

I need to write about something that has been weighing on my mind for a good 3 months or so... What am I passionate about?! What is my "thing"? What are my talents?!

How do we find out what we're good at? Does it have to be in elementary school when you find out if you are a soccer player or basketball player, a singer or an artist?! Because that is how it seems, most people have had hobbies since they were like 5 years old!

I'm 23 years old... and two of the most dreaded questions I hate answering are, "What do you like to do for fun?" and "What are your talents or hobbies?" .... I dunno! I've never known! For 23 years it's been a blank line, a big fat question mark!

I want to have my "thing"! My hobby, my talent, my fun thing to do when I need a break! Where is it?! How do I find it?! How does one go about this?!

Help. I have no passion, and I need some.

Write- How, What, When, Where, Why!

JOURNALS....

My failed attempts to keep journals has been great. In fact I have a whole box of journals only 1/4 or if I'm lucky 1/2 way full of entries.

Every once in awhile I'll get this sudden gust of desire to keep a journal. I'll get a new journal and start writing all the things happening in my life! But unfortunately this gust turns into nothing after a pretty short period of time. WHY? Well probably for a number of reasons. Don't have TIME to write everything I want to on a daily basis, and I can't decide what the most convenient way to keep a journal is.

Is the standard notebook and pen the best way to go? Should I go electronic using a word document or something? What do I really want to keep a journal of?

Well I googled some "journal keep ideas" and it seems like everyone has different kinds of journals to keep, but no one really talked about how to keep them. I expected to find something on the best way to keep a journal while living in the year 2012! Perhaps no one else knows the best way to do this either...

So here is my thoughts: I love memories. And I have a HORRIBLE time remembering them. I know I need to keep a journal. So, I'm going to try the old fashioned way for now. Reason being that I can tape tickets, pictures, stickers, receipts, etc. onto paper. I love adding those little details to my memories.

However, call me crazy, I'm going to try 5 different journals....

#1- Travel Journal. Whenever we travel somewhere as a couple, I want to have a specific journal of pictures, foods we ate, where we stayed, all the fun things we did! Probably starting with our honeymoon!

#2- Gratitude Journal. This will hopefully be my most frequently used. Something I want to try and do every night before I go to bed, right down what I'm grateful for that day! There is something different about a person who is truly grateful in their life.

#3- Dan Journal. Keeping the notes he's written, dates we've gone on, projects we've finished together, moments he's rescued me (like when I lost my car keys yesterday), all the new reasons I discover I love him every day!

#4- Bucket List Journal. Things we want to do and accomplish together! Fun and serious, far and wide! Write our experience when we accomplish them!

#5- Spiritual Journal. This will be with me every week at church, at firesides, baptisms, during my personal study and companionship study with Dan. Just to write thoughts, impressions, etc.

I guess essentially this blog can count as some form of a journal. Probably more of my random thoughts journal for friends and family to read!

Wish me luck on this endeavor and if you have any helpful hints or tidbits on what's worked for you, I'm all ears!

Now I've got to go purchase some journals...

Wedding Helps!!!

So planning a wedding isn't exactly easy!

There were so many things to do and some of them I had NO CLUE where to start! So this is a blog dedicated to anyone who is planning a wedding and needs a direction or place to start!

Before you do anything- print this TO-DO LIST off! It gives you a timeline of where you should be and saved my life!!!  http://www.ldsweddings.com/articles/4months.html 

Photographers:

Amanda Proudfit: I saw that one of my friends was getting some cute portfolio pics done as she was getting ready to graduate college. I saw that she had them done through Proudfit Photography. I check out there website and found out that they did engagements for a SUPER good deal! ($75) They are currently running 50% off portfolio building prices. Amanda is SO artistic. She has a great eye for uniqueness and making things beautiful. Can't go wrong here. Check her out!
http://proudfitphotography.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/proudfitphotography

Videographer:

Katie Nielson: Katie is the MOST reasonably priced, creative, beautiful videographer you'll ever meet! I met Katie about 3 months before I got married when she started working at my last job. She does videography as a second job- I thought it was pretty cool. I personally wasn't planning on having anything to do with a videographer. I thought they were just another "wedding tradition" that sucked peoples wedding funds. BUT THEN I WATCHED KATIE'S SAMPLES on her blog... I almost cried they were so amazing. She has her own style. It's not just like a home video. It's super classy. I'm telling you, YOU HAVE TO go through Katie! I can't rave about her enough! Check out her blog below and watch for yourself, then look at her AMAZING prices. It's a no brainer. Her email and facebook link are below as well. PS- Katie is hilarious on top of being amazing at this! You'll have so much fun with her!
Blog: http://kchristinevideography.blogspot.com/

Email:katiechristine1989@gmail.com

Facebook:http://facebook.com/kcnielson

Wedding Decorations:

Kris Larsen: Meeting Kris was a miracle. Her daughter worked with my mom at the hospital and told us we should go over to her house and check out her stuff. Oh my did she have the most amazing wedding decorations we'd ever seen. Hiring Kris to do my wedding saved my life!!! She took care of pretty much everything! This was one part of my wedding I would do exactly the same again. It made things stress free and everything was exactly how I envisioned. I loved our reception thanks to Kris!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Fine-Day-Wedding-Event-Planning
Email:
Phone #: 801-668-0433

Massage:

Abby Stuart: The best thing you can do for yourself is get a massage! When it's the week of your wedding, go see Abby. She will change your life! She is right out of Weber Canyon and has a massage studio in her home. Abby is THE nicest lady you'll ever meet. She only charges $40 for a full hour, head to toe, massage. I think that is an awesome deal, the best I have found. CALL HER!
Phone #: 801-479-1027

Ring Shopping:

Here are my feelings about some of the places we went ring shopping and where we found the best deal:
- Shane Co: Sales guy didn't give a rats left ear about what we wanted. Wouldn't help us, just kept handing us rings we didn't like after we told him several times what we were looking for. Waste of time.
- Jerricks: Jerricks was awesome. Had some of the greatest variety I've seen. Really really cool guy. Very helpful
- SE Needhams: SO OVERATED. They had hardly any selection, had hardly any room to sit. Was a huge disappointment.
- Jonathan Jewelers: This is where we got our ring! Jonathan was so willing to custom build our ring and not charge us every dime. He was fast, great to work with, really respected us and did everything he could to make us happy! SO GREAT!
www.jonathansjewelry.com/
(801) 943-0303 
6900 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84121

Wedding Dresses:

This is a hard one for me to talk about- I had horrible experience, after horrible experience wedding dress shopping! It was awful. Simply because I didn't feel like the customer, I felt like the farm girl taking orders. Every dress shop told me when I could come, how many dresses I could try on, some wouldn't even let me touch/look at the dresses they had. I could only describe what I wanted. I hated it. I like freedom, choices!

My advice is to go to the small less known shops- avoid David's Bridal and major Utah dress shops. Way over priced, and look like every other dress I've seen. The two dress shops I liked the best were Fairy Godmother Bridal and Fantasy Bridal. They were still way pushy, but had the most unique and variety of dresses I'd seen. 

Google their names if you are interested!

Wedding Cakes:

Ingrid Roeschmann: Ingrid is from Chile and she is SO cute! She is the wife of one of my former co-workers. What I loved about Ingrid is that she is a perfectionist. I showed her what I wanted my cake to look like and she went and bought a Cricut to make the details sharp and crisp! She is one of the only people who actually does REAL fillings in cakes. She did Nutella & Strawberrys, Nutella and nuts, IT WAS SO GOOD! I love Nutella! Contact her over facebook! OH and she is a GREAT DEAL TOO!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ingrid.roeschmann

Reception Music:

Marny Proudfit: This girl is LEGIT!!!! Oh my gosh I couldn't have asked for a better voice! She will make it big someday! Listen to her and make the decision for yourself!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marnyproudfit
Listen to her Music Here: http://www.soundcloud.com/marnyproudfit

My Last Advice- Over all I would say, keep it simple. Don't forget the true meaning of what this is actually all about! Don't get lost in the details of napkins and the color of your nails. But keep a healthy balance of having fun planning and preparing yourself to make the biggest commitment to the love of your life! Your wedding is only ONE day in this huge grand scheme of things, your marriage is eternity. Being married is the best, you'll love it!

We Be Married!

Life is back to normal! My crazy summer is coming to an end! A lovely fall and winter are ahead!

Being engaged was such a whirlwind... all the planning and fussing made time go so fast!

I've been a married woman now for almost 3 weeks, it's been such a cool experience from day one! I've loved being married. It's so fulfilling, so fun! Getting married was a bit of a hard step to take for me- no one in my family that has ever been married, has stayed married. Everyone has been divorced at least once. So with that being my first exposure to marriage, I had to really really really think and pray a lot- overcome a lot of fear. And I'm so GLAD that I did!!! I feel so much peace and so content with my life and where it's at! By no means is it a perfect life, we are still figuring out how to be married, how to budget our finances, our coffee table is a cardboard box, and we don't even have a table to eat on! But it's amazing and I love always having someone to do anything and everything with. I totally know this was the right decision for me at this time of my life and that I married the right person.

Our apartment is a gem. I love going home after work everyday! We have a 2 bedroom apartment with a little gas fireplace- perfect for these frigid winters here in Logan! Our gas bill is included in our rent, so we can crank the heat all we want- but not now! We sweat in our apartment even with the AC on. It's just so expensive to get the basics of life in order! We have our kitchen and bathroom in order for the most part as far as appliances and things go! I made my first "offical dinner" as a wife last night. Conveniently I wore a skirt, pearls, and my hair in a high bun to work yesterday- so I threw on my apron and jumped into the kitchen experiencing what the wives of the 50's did every day! I didn't burn anything, my Shepherds Pie came out lovely. Dan said, "I hope this doesn't sound bad, but I'm surprised how good this tastes..." I'll take that as a compliment I guess!

School starts on Monday for Dan, and I'm working about 30 hours a week at a Podiatrist Office (foot and ankle dr). I LOVE MY JOB!!! Finding a job in Logan is one of the most heinous things ever. I was so lucky to get this job. The Dr I work for is SO incredible, just such a GOOD man. His name is Dr. Huff, he's got to be Superman... I don't know how he does everything. But I have loved working for him these last 2 weeks, I wish it was full time though. I'm looking for another part time job to get a few more hours in during the week. Wish me luck.

I'll give some more updates on life when we have some pictures to post! Until then.

Me, Myself, & I

Wanted to write a quick thoughts to recap the last few weeks!

Weddings are a lot like Christmas, all the true meaning gets lost in stupid traditions!

Visiting my mission after 6 months of being home was bitter sweet.... It's not the location that makes your mission great, it's the people who touch your life and who's lives I've touched. Los Angeles is a special place in my heart, but everything about it makes me crazy! The constant noise, the constant feeling of watching your back, the constant lack of parking... not exactly a vacation spot to me! LOVED going back and seeing members from Culver City, loved feeling the spirit in the Visitors Center and seeing the temple, Loved all the yummy food!

So much change is taking place in my life, I think I'm going numb! Getting Married, moving to Logan, switching jobs, switching wards, switching lifestyles, gaining in-laws, it's a LOT to take in! All really really great changes that I'm excited for, but when they all happen at the same time... I'd compare it to standing below a huge 4th of July firework that just boomed in the sky! You just stand there and let it overwhelm you as sparks go in every direction and the vibration of the explosion physically shakes your body! Everything in my life is going a completely new direction, and I think the reality of it all will hit eventually, just the way the boom of a firework hits me!

Clear communication is so absolutely essential at this point in my life. There are so many people to communicate with about so many things! Bachelorette parties and bridal showers, photo booths and hair styles, alterations and airlines, job interviews and apartment managers, photographers and cake makers, in-laws and extended family, the list is quite extensive! Of course the most important communication is between me, God, and Dan. I've found that if those 2 communication lines are clear, the others become a bit easier.

I've discovered that this point of life is a little annoying, I hate thinking about myself and my wedding, and my future every day! Thinking about only you all the time does not make for happiness. Serving in the Relief Society, doing Visiting Teaching, making time for my dearest friends is really difficult to manage time wise these days, but literally these things have kept me from going crazy! It's been great having Garet come home from his mission, another momentous event that has brought much happiness to our family.

Well, 24 days and all the silly traditions, dresses, cakes, and things will be over. I will be sealed to my love and that is all that matters! May it be a swift, productive, and enjoyable 24 days! :)

Bethrothed: Enter Into a Formal Agreement to Marry

Alright I'm finally getting around to putting the story of how Dan and I became engaged! Here it goes!

My birthday was on Mother's Day, May 13. Dan came up and we had dinner and cake with my family, opened presents all that good stuff. Dan gave me a sun dress and that seemed like a great present to me! Dan then said the rest of my present would come on Friday, he couldn't make the reservation to where we were going any earlier. I assume a restaurant of some kind and was looking forward to Friday.

Friday, May 18 came. Dan asked me to get off work early so I could be to his house in time for our reservation. I still have absolutely no idea where we are going. Dan has been trying to throw me off the whole week, telling me to bring something to get wet in, etc. So I'm clueless as to where we are going and what is going on. We leave Dan's house and head towards West Jordan. We make a pit stop at Arby's to get a chocolate shake, just like we had for our first date. Cute moment I loved! We keep driving and where do we stop? At an airport!

My first thought was skydiving? My second thought was plane ride? My third thought was, "Is Dan trying to throw me off again and delaying our dinner reservation somewhere?" Turns out my second thought was the right one! Dan says that we are going on an airplane ride! FUN! This is a huge birthday present!
We go in and get all checked in, and have a little pow-wow with the pilot named Randy! This kid Randy is an oscar award winner in acting. He acted like he'd never seen Dan in his life, asked us why we decided to go on a plane ride, etc. We get our headsets and head out to our aiplane named, Charlie Bravo!

Randy proceeds to check everything on the plane, makes sure we have enough gas, etc. We get on the runway, and up we go! I could tell with in the first minute of being in the air, this was going to be an interesting plane ride! Charlie Bravo was a small plane, only 4 people could fit in it! Come to find out, theses little planes don't fly quite as smooth as the commercial airliners! Any slight turbulence is felt so much easier and made me quite air sick!

We fly over to downtown Salt Lake and talk about funny memories we have together at different landmarks, see the temple, etc. It was fun! However I'm starting to break out it cold sweats and I can feel my chocolate shake more than ever. We start to head back to the airport when Dan says to Randy, "Hey I hear you can do magic tricks in these planes!" Randy asks him what he has in mind and Dan replies "Let's do zero gravity!" I was like, "HECK NO!" Zero gravity is when the pilot stalls the airplane and lets it freefall for a moment, making everything float in the airplane! Super fun right? Except when you are about to ralph...

Dan persuades me to do it just once, and I agree to as long as I can hold something to throw up in. Randy then says, "just so you know, we charge $100 fine if you get any throw up in the airplane... I'm quite serious about that! If you throw up, make sure you get it in the bag!" Ha no pressure. So I'm holding the bag in my left hand, and Dan places a penny in the palm of my right hand. The idea behind this is that you can see the penny floating once zero gravity kicks in.
Randy stalls the plane and we drop! The pennies float, we get the zero gravity sensation, mission accomplished! Then Dan begs to do it just one more time! At this point I'm wondering what he's up to, I know Dan wouldn't make me go through this being so sick! I agree to one more time, what made me do it, I have no idea. I lost my penny after our first zero gravity experience when I used both hands to grab onto the barf bag. So I tell Dan I need another penny cuz I lost mine. I'm searching for something to use in the airplane, when I heard Dan say, "use this." I open my hand and he drops a ring in it!

If I wasn't sick before, I sure was then! WHAT?! I honestly couldn't really comprehend what was happening... I blurted out the question, "what is this!? I can't take this!" Dan just smiled and looked at me... so I said, " I think we need to talk about this!" Dan replied, "We can talk once we land the airplane. You can have a different ring if you want." So he drops a ring that is a lily pad with a prince charming frog on top of it in my hand. I looked at him again and he just laughed. Then Randy stalled the plane and zero gravity kicked in. I had enough time to slip the ugly frog ring on my finger, but not for the diamond ring. The diamond ring went flying in the air and all I can remember is swatting my arm through the air to grab this ring before its lost forever!

I grabbed the ring and through a tender mercy, didn't throw up through the second zero gravity experience. Come to find out later, me and Dan both admitted that we were praying so hard for me not to throw up and ruin this major event in our lives! We land the plane, and I've never been so happy to see solid ground. My legs were shaking, and I was queasy. My mind was in a whole other place for sure. Randy and Dan are parking the plane, pushing it into the parking space when I hear, "Watch your head." I hear it, but nothing registers, I'm still just thinking if Dan is trying to play a joke on me or if this whole thing was real. Then I feel a thud on the back of my head. Yup- you guessed it, I just got hit by an airplane wing on the back of the head. So at this point, I'm pretty beat up! I've got a head ache, stomach ache, and I can barely stand. Then next thing I know, Dan is next to me grabbing my hand, and kneeling on one knee, asking me to marry him!

Maybe he was afraid I would say no, so he trying to distract me with pain, I dunno! But all I could think to do was kiss him and say YES! He stands up, we hug, then start walking back with Randy. I can see a bunch of people just behind the fence of the parking lot as we were walking back and then it dawns on me, our families are here! And dear friends! Then I start to register that I actually just told Dan I would marry him! I'm engaged! I'm getting married! It's for real now!

We rejoice with our families and go out to eat with a couple of friends. Dan gets food poisoning and after everything that happened that day, he was the one that ended up throwing up!

Hands down the craziest experience of our lives, but it's an engagement story we'll never forget!

Engaged for the Last 48 Hours! To Eternity and Beyond!

Now that I have officially, publicly, declared that I will be Mrs. Wouden starting August 4, 2012 until the rest of forever, I feel the need to write! To express what my feelings have been the last 48 hours, what it feels like now that this moment of my life has happened and I now know who I'm going to marry!

I feel blissfully content and happy, I feel like life is oh so good, I feel like laughing and crying at the same time, I feel like I'm living what I've only dreamed about, but honesly didn't think existed. I feel this sense of pure joy, of knowing that I don't just have a good thing going in my life, but I've found the BEST thing I've ever had and he's going to be mine forever, and I'll be his forever. I feel anxious to be with him all the time, yet calm in knowing that we have nothing but time. I want to do everything I can to make him happy. I want to invent a teleportal so the distance of 40 minutes between us is shrunk to 40 seconds! I want to soak of up every minute of being engaged, cuz hey, this only happens once!

Those who've known me the past 2 years or so, (which prob isn't very many of you since I was a missionary for most of that time), know that I was a little bit... how should I say this... negative about the opposite sex? Had no desire to get married any time soon, laughed at the ridiculous ages young brides get married at, was really quite cynical about the whole married/dating world. As the end of my mission came, my bitterness turned into a little bit of fear as I realized how awful my attitude was about what potentially my next step in life could/should be. There were times I honestly didn't know if I could ever find someone that I could love and be around every day the rest of my life. That idea seemed so unrealistic. I watched families and couples in the wards I served in and prayed for help to be more open and accepting of others. Heavenly Father sent me 3 companions who helped me remember how to openly love people, and day by day, I could feel my heart opening up. That is a modern day miracle for me. Another evidence that God exists, because there is no way I could have done this by myself.

I think Heavenly Father knew that now he'd pryed my heart open the furthest it'd been in a long time, he had to stick something in it to keep it from closing... aka Daniel Robert Wouden! Within a week of being home from my mission, we went on our first date. May I add it was the best first date I'd ever been on! Everything was so natural, and so fun! Zero pressure, zero nervousness, I felt so happy! It was just like we'd been friends forever. I wasn't used to that. I went on a few other dates afterward that weren't bad by any means, but just didn't compare. We talked about everything, anything, no limits. Dan is seriously everything I could ever hope for. We are aware of eachothers weakneses, and love eachothers strengths.

The funniest phrase keeps coming to my mind- totally stealing the Toy Story quote, "To infinity and beyond" and changing it to "TO ETERNITY AND BEYOND!" I'm kinda new at this being engaged thing, but for all those who've wondered what it's like to be engaged, I love it! It's been a thrilling moment in my life!

Stay tuned for our engagement story! :)

Friendship.. A ship that has Never Sunk

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the influence of friends, who are my friends, what kind of friend am I... things of this nature. It's led me to a few conclusions.

I have constantly been blessed with having amazing people, literally placed right in front of me every where I go. It has happened over and over again through various times in my life. It happened every year at Utah State, it happened when I lived in Atlanta, I've found friends at every single job I've had including now, all of my companions from my mission I call friends. That is a miracle! Finding true-blue, genuine friends are miracles. Is it easy to find friends? Am I just quick to call people friends? I don't think so.

High School: For me, I have 5 friends from High School I still talk to often, they remember my birthday, they wrote me on my mission, they show sincere interest in my life. These are the friends that have seen me grow the most, and the friends I've seen grow the most. I feel like I can talk to them about my mistakes, my sorrows, my embarrassing moments and they won't judge me. I can count on them to be there, and I have done my best to let them know I'd do the same for them.  Love you Brittney, Kylie, Natalie, Brandon, and Luke!

Roommates: My sophmore year at Utah State, I decided to room with absolutely no one I knew. I was super calm about it, even though I probably shouldn't have been. Living with 5 other girls I didn't know could have been a nightmare. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I made in college. These were friends who taught me how to incorporate the gospel into my everyday living. These were friends who took me home with them on the weekends and whose families loved me like their own child! These were probably three of the most oustanding women I've ever met. This was the year that 5 out of our 6 roommates went on missions. This was the funnest year of college! I love and respect these girls so much. Thank you for the unconditional love Kalie, Aubree, Sheri, Kylie, and Jen!

Companions: Being paired up with a girl for a minimum of 1,008 hours at a time on my mission was another potential disaster. From my first companion, down to my last, I had the most amazing times with these sisters. I gained a very firm testimony of friendships and that the Lord knows what he is doing when he pairs companios together. Were their times I thought I might kill one of them? Sure! Did it ever last? No! These girls really changed my life and influenced me in ways I never thought possible, they taught me about the scriptures, about communication, about loving people, about staying optimistic, being a hard worker, being all I could be. Here's to my fellow soldiers in God's Army! Melanie, Marissa, Sheri, Brittney, Erin, Kate, Lacey, and Yuzu!

I feel I have only scratched the surface of good friends, many whom I have I not even mentioned! Having good friends has been everything to me! Friends have honestly saved my life many times! I don't know how a person is to go through life without good friends! To me a good friend is someone that doesn't put you in a bad situation, but is willing to help you get out of one. To me a good friend is someone that is willing to listen and take your side, even if you're being a little over dramatic and irrational! A friend is someone you've had disagreements with, disagreements that you can overlook and leave in the past and they are willing to do the same. A really good friend can help you see your faults, and only makes you aware of them in the most gentle and loving way. I love my friends, I love being a friend to others.

I ache for those who have poor friends, or who have no friends. Really when I think about it, everyone should always have one friend, Jesus Christ. What an incredible friend he is indeed. But I want to be better friend. Not only to those who I call friends, but to those I know who are in desperate need of friendship.

 So here is to many friendships, ships that for me I will never let sink!