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!

#23- Hopefully It's as Lucky for Me as it was for Michael Jordan

My 23rd Birthday is fast approaching and it's really freaking me out! Last week in church, all of the graduating high school seniors were invited to the singles ward. It dawned on me how seriously weird it is that I have been graduated from high school for 5 years... I remember being 18 and meeting people who were 23 at college and thinking, "Wow, they are SO much older than me..." My how the tables have turned... I feel like time has aged everything but ME! I still feel like the same me with a few more life changing experiences under my belt.

I can remember thinking at age 18, "In 5 years, I #1 want to be graduated from college, #2 Serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, #3 have a good job, and #4 be dating a really great guy." Each of those 4 things were certainly achievable, and would take some work! Now that my 23rd birthday is in 4 days, it's dawned on me that I'm where I wanted to be when I turned 23! That is a huge relief, and for some reason almost a little bit surprising.

The first two, graduating and serving a mission, I never had any doubt about achieving. The second two have been tender mercies. Yeah I have a bachelors degree and I'm only making $12 an hour... but I don't have to work Sundays, the economy is TERRIBLE and I know so many people who are jobless, college graduates. I mean I just read an article that said 53% of graduating college students will be jobless. I'm gonna count this as a good job and a huge blessing! 73 people applied for my job, and when it came down to myself and one other girl, they told me they hired me based on a lot of experience from my mission... the Lord takes care of me!

Number four, dating a really great guy. I was so absolutely against the dating world when I was preparing to come home from my mission. At the time there was no prospects, and no good reason to start dating just one person. Boy, have I put my foot in my mouth! Dating Dan has been so unexpected and I've never felt so comfortable around another soul in my life. Honestly Dan just dropped into my life a puzzle piece, and happened to land in the exact place where he fit with everything else in my life so that things would work out perfectly.

The last 5 years of my life have been pretty fantastic. Living in Atlanta the summer after my first year of college was probably the biggest turning point in my life. Just one of the best experiences I've had, loved it all so much. Nothing will ever compare to my experience of serving a mission in Los Angeles.  I've been to Colorado, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, and California, each one of those visits were huge tender mercies as well! Internships, day care jobs, living with a girl every second of my life for 18 months, making friends across the globe from all walks of life...

All of this has molded me, and humbled me into this "almost" 23 year old woman who needs a plan for the next 5 years of her life! So where do I start? These are a few ideas roaming my mind...

#1- Be Happily Married in the Temple!
#2- Be a Mother of one, with maybe another on the way
#3- Run a Marathon
#4- Find a new hobby I love and become really good at!

Here's to the next 5 years...

Service is the Cure for Wedding Dress Trauma

I may have had one of the most traumatizing experiences in my post mission life... I went and tried on wedding dresses today (no I'm not engaged yet, this is a whole other topic for another blog). It was awful. First off I wasn't in a very good mood because I was stressed about my mom making it down to the dress shop in time for us to actually do some looking around before it closed. Then some other events just added onto my bad mood... whatever!

So I make it into this first dress store called "The Gallery by Lynette". I was on the phone when I walked in, but no one greeted me or said anything. There were only 5 dresses in the front on display so I start wandering back to where the rows of dresses are, still on the phone. About 30 seconds after I've been looking up and down rows of wedding dresses, my mom appears with the sales lady out of no where. This sales lady starts talking to me and asking me questions while I'm on the phone, while I'm trying hard to end this phone conversation. I'm a little annoyed. So I get off the phone, turn to this sales lady as she finishes explaining that we not allowed to be back there... that we sit in the front while and describe to her what I want. I think she could tell my the look on the face that was not gonna go over well at this point. She then adds on, but if that is what you really want to do, you can stay back here as long as you have a sales associate with you the whole time.

Oh my.... what do they think I'm gonna shove one of these 30 pound dresses in my purse? So this lady stands there watching me like a hawk as I'm looking through these racks. Honestly, I just dont' think we got off to a good start. But it continues. I'm a girl who needs her freedom when she shops, I don't like being pressured, I don't like to worry about shopping at a fast pace if I'm with someone else, I just like to enjoy the thrill of finding an amazing bargain! Well this was breaking all my shopping rules and not helping my mood. So finally I pick out three dresses (cuz that's the max) and the hawk shows me to my dressing room... or should I say, OUR dressing room.

I get in this dressing room and she puts me behind a curtain and tells me to only leave on my underwear... I'm wondering at this point if she's planning on slipping a dress to me through the curtain or what. Oh no, she makes me walk out in my garments and neon green bra. Lovely. I feel like an idiot. So she throws on the first dress over my head, managing to some how unhook my bra... that was a bonding moment for the hawk and I as she helped me hook my bra back on. This seriously could not get any worse!!!
I get through 2 more dresses, not even caring what they look like anymore cuz I'm never coming back to this place! Oh and just to add on the cherry on top, another sales associate walks in after the hawk has just pulled the last dress over my head to see me standing in my garments and neon green bra again... She laughs and says, "Well there's a fashion statement for ya!", and closes the door. Couldn't have agreed more.

My mom asks me if I want to try on any other dresses, and the hawk quickly interjects, "I think she's tried on enough, they were all really different styles and I don't want her to get confused with what she likes by trying on more dresses." Um, what? I think that is code for, I'm done helping the girl in the bad mood. My mom asks if she will write down the dresses we tried on for us and the hawk replied, "Oh I'll remember them if you come back," and closed the door of the dressing room. May I add, she never even asked my name. How would she know what dresses I wore?

I booked it out there as fast as I could get the zipper of my pants up. NEVER AGAIN. I won't even go into detail about how the next store we went to kept telling me I was 2 sizes bigger than I am... no matter how times I told her I was a size 6... dress shopping is a joke! Note to self, never go dress shopping in a bad mood, or in a neon green bra.

Tonight has ended with going to do relief society visits for an hour and a half. There is nothing like serving others to lift your spirits. I have such a testimony of working when your grumpy. It's always so therapeutic to focus on others instead of yourself. I love that true principle. The gospel applies in our lives all the time. I think I'll end this crazy day with a couple chapters from the Book of Mormon...

So... I'm Joining the Blogger World!

I've always thought blogs were for married people who've outgrown facebook... somehow I've convinced myself that I now need a blog!

I feel like my whole life I've always been told I'm too secretive, I don't communicate enough, blah blah. Honestly, I don't mean to be that way! I just don't find my life fascinating enough to talk about with others. I'd rather hear about their life that always seems to have story after story of something that should be turned into the next hit TV series.

However I'm turning a new leaf! I need a way to communicate my life with all the incredibly lovely people in my life who I can never talk to enough. I also have had this goal since returning from my mission to keep a journal... it's just not happening. So this is my alternative.

So get ready for all my secretive "mischief" to finally be revealed...