February 2018

Here's a bit of what we were up to in February...

First Row:

• We got together twice with our friend, Cassy, for lunch.
• We hiked Tiger Mountain with my friend, Erika. Phoebe did great the first 5 miles, but protested the last two...
• Jon and I went mountain biking at Swan Creek. It was the first time I've gone in a year and a half and I LOVED it! Plus, the bike Jon got me for my birthday is awesome!

Second Row:

• The family went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the BYU v. Gonzaga basketball game. BYU lost unfortunately, but the food was good and Phoebe loved it (all those TVs and noise, you know?)
• Jon took a day off work and my family came to watch Phoebe so that he and I could go skiing. I learned that I appreciate skiing more than snowboarding, though I still pretty much fell down the mountain the whole way.
• While my parents and Kate were in town to watch Phoebe, Kate got creative and invented the "Swami." #mysisteriscoolerthanyours

Third Row:

• While in town, my dad helped us do a lot around the house. For example, he hung this beautiful shelf he made me for Christmas. He also helped us fix our kitchen light (it needed more than a new light bulb), hang a shelf in Phoebe's room, and hang a plate in our kitchen. Yay for handy/awesome dads!
• Phoebe and I met up our friends--Lui and her daughter, Suri--at a yummy Asian bakery. I love Lui and Suri...we happened to meet each other at a library baby storytime, and since then have become really good friends. Yay for yummy treats and awesome friends!
• It snowed in Tacoma! For a whole week! We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves.

And then because I can't help but make a collage of Phoebe pictures...

Holly

Terrorizing a fellow third grader is one of the best things I ever did. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but it went something like this:

We were both standing outside of our teachers' doors waiting for the recess bell to ring. Even though we were in different classes, the doors were right next to each other so we were close enough to talk. I don't know who struck up the conversation, but somewhere in the middle of it all I opened my big Mormon mouth and related to this other little girl about how back in the day Mormon pioneers were persecuted, tarred and feathered, and driven out of their homes. I don't think I was graphic, but as this other girl recalls the experience several decades later, she says it kinda freaked her out.

Luckily, it didn't freak her out enough to stop her from talking to me again. That second talk turned into me coming over to play at her house. Which lead to her coming over to mine. Which lead to years of sleepovers, eating lunch together every day in middle school, sharing head lice, birthday parties at the beach, her taking me ice skating for the first time, me dragging her along to church activities, "studying" together, rooming together on high school band and gov & pol trips, keeping in touch after high school, me asking her to be a bridesmaid, me freaking out when she told me she is engaged and an all-around awesome 16 years of being best friends.

Terrorizing nine-year old Holly Engh is one of the best things I ever did because Holly is one of the best people I know and I am grateful to have her as a friend. Growing-up she proved herself to be the perfect partner to have fun with at the park and to talk to about boys with on the weekends. Now that I'm older and we don't get to spend as much time "playing" together, I value her even more not just for what she does, but for who she is. 

Holly is quite possibly the most thoughtful human being I have ever met. Her reaction to me getting pregnant is just one example of this. When I announced Phoebe's birth online she called me (not texted) within five minutes saying that she was so excited. A week later there was a "Glad you're having a baby because the world needs more people like you" card in the mail. From then on she has showered me with love and support in my journey being pregnant and in having baby Phoebe in more ways than one. My personal favorites have been the postcards she has thought to send Phoebe while on vacations--one a few weeks before Phoebe was born and one a few weeks afterwards. She's on her vacation and she stops to take time to think about me and my baby and to send said baby a postcard. Who does that? Oh yeah--Holly.

There are so many other things I like about Holly. She cherishes family. She's hilarious. She hates flying United (not that I have anything about United, but her story about why she hates it is pretty funny). She chooses to be happy regardless of what life throws at her. She lets me pester her about becoming a Mormon. She goes to Disneyland too much. She takes me for who I am.

So while I very much plan on teaching my children to be kind to others and to try and not terrorize their fellow students, if one of them happens to terrify a fellow third grader with a story about how the Mormons got tarred and feathered back in the day, I just might let it slide. The possibility of them getting their own Holly would be too invaluable to interfere with.

Lunches with Friends

I have had AWESOME lunches these past two weeks. Not because of the food (though there was a lot of good food!), but because of the people I've been blessed to eat with. 

Last week on Tuesday my amazing friend, Loree, and I took Phoebe to Pick-Quicks for some good ol' drive-in food. I love spending time with Loree because she's so good at taking care of Phoebe and because I can tell that she loves Phoebe very much. Phoebe loves her too! Every time Loree plays with her, Phoebe calms down. I told Loree to watch out...if I ever have a stressful night with Phoebe crying, I might be calling her for reinforcements!

The next day, Wednesday, Phoebe and I drove down to Chahalis and met up with my mom, Abby, Kate, and my second cousin--Louisa, and her new baby--Elodie. It was so much fun! Pretty much I showed up and the aunts and Grandm took over and Louisa and I only had to worry about holding our babies when they wanted food. This meant that she and I not only got a break, but we're able to talk and catch up, and it was so nice talking to someone else who is going through baby craziness like I am! It was a perfect afternoon.

Thursday of last week my good friend from teaching, Joy, came over to my place to eat and meet little Phoebster. After seeing me pregnant for months at work, it was really fun for me to get to show her what I'd been hiding under my shirt for so long! And it was just plain good to see her. I admire Joy for her relationship with God and her willingness to do His will. In a world of casual believers, it's refreshing to have a friend who lives her faith.

This week has been just as much fun as the last! This past Monday Phoebe and I had a picnic at the park with Jenna, a young woman from church, and her friend, Alyssa. Let me tell you--I am so glad that I had Phoebe during the summer so that Jenna was out of school and could come spend time with me and baby. This past Monday was mostly fun and games (Skip-bo, to be exact), but there have been other days when Jenna has come over to just hold Phoebe which allowed me to shower or clean or eat. And she's so good at it too! She tells me that she's thought about working with babies someday as a career in the medical field and I'm confident that she would be fantastic at it if that's what she decides to do.

Tuesday a woman I used to visit teach, Sharron, invited me over so that she could finally meet Phoebe and so that she could make me a yummy crab sandwich (a new dish for me!). It was great to catch up with her and her daughter, Diana. They are so generous and I'm grateful they are willing to share their generosity with me.

Wednesday this week I ran on over to my friend Meaghan's place for lunch. She had prepared some Indian food and it was delicious! I love Meaghan because she was the first person in Tacoma that reached out to me. When we moved here I was still trying to figure out the whole being married and making friends thing, and she made it easy. There have been multiple conversations I've had with her where I've walked away feeling lighter and like God cares. Yesterday was no exception.

Today I whipped up some squash soup and ran it over to my friend Carlene's for lunch. Carlene is one of my favorite people. She has a love for living and having fun that I hope I can have when I "grow up!" Since having Phoebe, we've gotten together about every other week to eat or work in her garden or to pick her blueberries or swap summer adventure stories. She has made the transition to motherhood so much easier because I know I have her help and support and friendship there to back me up just around the corner. Plus, it's so much fun to come over and help out on her land and get yummy produce from her garden! I hope that Carlene and I are able to continue spending the weeks together because For me it always makes things brighter.

For someone who was afraid that motherhood was going to be lonely, God is sure proving me wrong. How lucky I am to live a life blessed with so many people who love me! I'm reminded of a quote that I have hanging on my fridge:

"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs." -President Spencer W. Kimball  

I know that this is true because I've seen it in my own life these past two weeks.

July 2016

July was BUSY, but filled with so many good things!

Jon and I started off the month by going to one of our new favorite places in Tacoma--Swan Creek. Swan Creek is a local park with trails that you can walk through for several acres. What has attracted us to it recently, though, is the mountain biking trails also found at the park.

Jon grew-up in the brown, flat, desert region of Southern California were he learned to love dirt biking. He misses it dearly, but I'm fairly certain that I would not enjoy the activity if I gave it a go, so we haven't attempted it yet. That, plus we don't have a bike and they're rather expensive. Mountain biking has become the middle ground that Jon and I have discovered that we both enjoy, and so since finding Swan Creek, we've been back to visit many times!

For the Fourth of July, Jon and I took a break from mountain biking and went on a hike instead. We went hiking to a place called Perry Creek in the Mr. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of Seattle. It was a cold and rainy day, which was nice because it meant less hikers were on the trail. The down side of this though was that the last 2 miles of the 6 mile trail was in a cloud which meant that instead of getting a view at the top, all we could see was more cloud! On top of this, the snow still on top of the peak made it very cold! Despite this all, we still got to see many beautiful waterfalls in the valley on our way up and had a fantastic time together!

Here I am at the top in the snow and the rain!

Towards the end of the month we escaped away for a fun weekend camping at Millersylvania state park near Olympia with our friends Nicole and Pierre. Nicole and Pierre have also been getting into mountain biking, so we spent a decent amount of our time there riding our bikes around on the trails at the park. When we weren't biking, we were eating yummy food and playing games around the campfire.

We are so grateful to have become friends with Nicole and Pierre during our time here in Tacoma. Like us, they enjoy watching sports, playing games, and having fun outside. We've had many game nights together and have spent several evenings watching basketball games with them. At a time of life when Jon and I are just starting out, don't have any kids, and are figuring the whole married things out, it's been comforting having friends in the same boat who we feel like we can relate to. Our friendship with Nicole and Pierre has been a testament to me that Heavenly Father is aware of my circumstances and will take care of me by sending good friends into my life no matter where I am.

Lately...

The past month has been filled with friends and fun! Mostly, Jon and I spend our day at work and then come home to meet up with friends, the missionaries, go to a church event, or have a date night.

One of the highlights was bowling with our friends Pier, Nicole, and Pa. Once again, my utter lack of bowling skills was displayed. I'm resigned to the fact that I'm just not cut out for the sport.

Pa and me:

Nicole and Pier:

This past week, Jon and I also got in the Thanksgiving mood by making a gratitude turkey. Jon was a good sport and cut out the feathers while I made the body. It turned out pretty good!

Yesterday morning the two of us went on a hike. It was short, but super steep! Like, no switched backs...just 1500 feet up in a mile. Holy. Cow. Of course, once we got to the top we discovered that there was another way up that did have switchbacks and which is gentler, so we went down that way. I kinda' liked going up the crazy way, though! It was a great leg workout!

The mountain we climbed (more like a hill):

The two of us at the top with the sunrise shining through:

What other amazing/fun things have been going on? So many, I'm sure I'll forget some. But among the huge list...

-I met my mom in Centralia on Friday and the two of us went shopping, got a bite to eat, and just talked
-Our friend, Pa, got baptized!
-Today we have another friend getting baptized
-I got salted caramel frozen yogurt at my favorite place
-I visited with Laura, my sister-in-law, and her cute kids--Brooklyn and Evan--on Veteran's Day, a day off of school
-Also on Veteran's Day, I met up with Araceli--a girl Jon baptized on his mission--and the two of us had lunch

It's easy to count your blessings when they pour upon you unrestrained. I'm sure that with this week being Thanksgiving, many more are bound to come!

Dinner with Holly, Alix, and Jules

This past week I was blessed with the opportunity to reunite with some old friends! Being back in Washington, I've kept thinking that I needed to get together with Miss. Holly Engh--one of my best friends growing up--because I was pretty sure that she still lived in the state. So I texted her to set something up and it so happened that she was getting together with another one of my good childhood friends--Alix Child--the following week and they wanted me along! And so Tuesday evening came, I left school as soon as I could, drove down to Portland, and we had a wonderful evening eating wonderful food!

Most the conversation was just catching up on each others' lives. I loved how easy it was to talk, though. Even though it's been years, we picked it all up like it was only yesterday. I look forward for more happy reunions like this in the years to come!



(Oh--and lest I get in trouble for not mentioning--Jules, Holly's boyfriend, was there with us too!)

Our Surprise Goodbye Party

The past month has been full of blessings for Jon and I! As my last post said, in mid-August both he and I officially graduated from BYU. Marking that off our bucketlist created a chain of new and exciting things in our lives.

Last winter, with Jon's graduation in sight, he figured he might as well try applying for jobs to see if he could get anything. If he didn't, it was fine because I was planning on staying to teach at the school I was interning with at the time and Jon figured he would wait until December to graduate and get a business minor. After what felt like an unpromising phone interview, Jon was surprised when he got called back to schedule a skype interview with a trucking company. He did the interview, and once again we were surprised when they called to offer him a job! It wasn't what we had been planning on, but after talking and praying about it, we decided to accept the offer. This new job set us off to Tacoma, Washington!

And so the past few weeks have been filled with all the fun and craziness of relocating and beginning a life somewhere new. There's so much to say about what has happened throughout these weeks, so rather than posting about it all at once, I'm going to break the events into individual posts and post about them over the next few days.

First, to see us off some of our good friends held a surprise going away party! We had planned a date night with our very good friends, Rylin and Shayla, and they decided to surprise us by inviting many of our good friends to join them in saying goodbye. We spent the time by playing minute to win it games (I think Jon beat me at every one) and playing cards. They even all signed a huge poster for us! It felt so awesome to know that we were loved and would be missed by the friends we were leaving behind in Provo. I'm so grateful to each of them for their love and for being a part of our lives!

Jon and Jacob (Jon's roommate):

Jess (Jon's FHE sister and someone I used to visit teach) and Joseph (Jon's roommate):

What happens when Jacob gets your camera:

Jon beating me at a minute-to-win-it game:

Shayla trying to win a game (I'm pretty sure she did win this one):

Shayla (a friend from Campus Plaza) and I:

Rylin and Shayla (the couple we hung out with more than anyone else once we were married), Jon, and I:

Thanks again, everyone!

Lauren

Today I had lunch with Lauren. Lauren is one of my greatest friends. She and I met our first year of college cleaning bathrooms together at 5am in the Tanner Building. The combination of being sleep deprived and working with chemicals in what were often messy situations (and I mean that literally) made us bond in a very special way.

My freshman year of college is like the black hole in my life, probably similar to what every normal person's middle school life was like (I'm not included in that group. My middle school experience was great!) I don't remember too much from that year besides feeling down a lot of the time. Lauren was the one bright spot in my day. I doubt the bathrooms in the Tanner Building will ever hear as much laughter as they did the few months we worked to clean them.

We joked about people wearing spandex and we talked about chick flicks. One day we created a verbal outline for an exercise video that we called "The Potty Training Program," which included many of the tasks we had to perform to clean the bathrooms. I loved Lauren for her spunk, her love for life, her ability to really listen and be open, and for being there when no one else was. I loved her so much that I pulled her along into my second and third way away from home and made her my roommate.

Lauren and I don't see each other much any more, but I will always be grateful to her for how she enriched my college experience and pulled me out of some pretty dark holes. And as with all good friends, if she ever needs an ear to hear or someone to swoon with during a Jane Austen film or a buddy to laugh with, I'm in. That's what friends are for.

Dinner with Jess and Sarah

Yesterday I got to see two of my favorite people for the first time in nearly two year...Sarah and Jess! Sarah and Jess both recently returned from serving missions for the church. Sarah was in Montana and Jess was in El Salvador. Jon and I knew these girls when we lived at Campus Plaza. They were both Jon's FHE sisters, and I worked with Sarah in the Relief Society presidency and visit taught Jess. It was so good to see them!!! I love having all my long lost friends come back from serving their missions!

We spent the evening eating chicken pesto wraps (one of my favoritest meals ever!), watermelon (one of Jon's favoritest foods ever!), and yummy chicken flavored rice (compliments of Jess; it was some of the best rice I've ever had...teach me your Tex-Mexican ways!) While we ate we talked about life and missions and school and being brown and just enjoyed the feeling of feeling like only two days had passed instead of two years. After dinner, we played an epic game of Rook. Turns out, Sarah's family loves this game and she's pretty good at it, so I felt lucky to be on her team. Jon and Jess barely came out on top, but we didn't play to 500 points, so we can't really say anyone won....

I was happy because I took a bunch of awesome pictures on my camera and was excited to put them on here so that I could remember the evening. Unfortunately, someone changed the settings on my camera to Spanish and I have no idea how to change them back. So while my camera was screaming:

"I HAVE NO MEMORY CARD!!!"

 at me all night, all I saw was:

"No hay tarjeta"

Which looks nice and polite and all, but doesn't do much good for the white girl who took ASL in high school and college. Hopefully, someone fixes said camera tonight so that this mistake does not repeat itself.

Cooking, Spiders, and A Fun Weekend

I have a bad habit when it comes to blogging. It's called "I go forever without writing and then when I finally get around to it I feel like there's so much to say that I'm afraid to say anything. And so I don't." Hence, I have not written anything over the past few months. But it's time to try again!

Looking over the past few months, there's SO much that has happened and so much that I wish I could say, but out of all that's transpired, there are two moments that stand out that I really don't ever want to forget. They're both about Jon, and they both still make me laugh whenever I think of them.

The first has to do with making him lunches. One night for dinner we had soup. I asked him if he'd like some of the leftover soup for his lunch the next day and he said something along the lines of: "Very much yes!" So I took the leftover soup and put it into three different containers. The first was a small one, with one cup of soup in it for me. The second was a container twice the size of mine with at least two times--if not three times--as much soup as was in my container. This one was for Jon's lunch. The last container was two to three times bigger than that container, and it's the one I put all the soup that was leftover into.

The next day came. On my way out to work, I told Jon that his soup for lunch was in a container in the fridge. He acknowledged that he heard, but later that day when I got home, Jon's soup was still in the fridge. Jon wasn't around, so I couldn't ask him about it. I figured that he must have just forgotten to take the soup with him for lunch. It wasn't until I realized that the ginormous container--with all the leftover soup in it--was gone that I realized what happened. He'd taken the wrong container. The one with at least four servings of soup in it! As soon as he came home I asked him about it, and this was his reply:

"I took the wrong container? Oh. Really? Man! Well, I had no problem eating all of it!"

This story serves as a perfect example of how eye-opening it's been for me learning how much food a man can eat in one given day. Which reminds me of another story...

One day we were driving in the car and Jon just randomly started laughing. When I asked him what was up, he said: "I was just thinking about how crazy it would be if what I ate actually affected the way I looked and felt."

Part of me really hopes his metabolism catches up to him latter in life and that he gains 50 pounds. Not really, but kind of.

The second story happened one night when he and I were sitting on the couch at the end of the day. He was doing homework, I was doing something quiet, like reading a book. Suddenly, Jon leaps off the couch and flies to the other side of the room, hysterical.

"What?" I inquire.

"Diggs! Look!  THERE'S A SPIDER HANGING DOWN FROM THE WALL EXACTLY NEXT TO WHERE I WAS SITTING!!!!!"

Some Necessary Background Information For Those of You Who Do Not Know Jon Well: Jon hates spiders. A whole lot. When we got married, I gave him a "Jon's Spider-Killing Kit" in hopes of helping him overcome his fear. It was no use. I'm the spider killer in our family, which I'm okay with as long as he's willing to kill all the snakes (and heaven help me if there's ever a snake in our home! We will move to a different STATE the day that happens!) 

So I start laughing my head off while Jon runs frantically into the other room. "Jon?" I gasp out, between laughs. "Are you getting a tissue to kill it with? Or do you want to give it to me to kill it with?"

Instead of replying, he comes running back into the room, and before I realize what's happening he's spraying Raid bug killer all over the hanging spider until it falls onto the couch, at which point he sprays half the couch in attempt to squelch the life out of the poor little vermin.

After exclaiming: "Stop! Stop!" multiple times and coming next to his side, I finally calm Jon down enough to get him to stop soaking the couch in poisonous bug spray. The spider was definitely dead by this point. "Diggs!" I exclaim. "You just sprayed half the couch with Raid!"

"That monster was going to kill me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, are you going to get a piece of toilet paper to pick the spider up and throw it away now?"

"Heck no!" he exclaimed, standing up to go put the bug spray away. "That's your job!"

These two experiences are just glimpses of the crazy happenings of married life with Jon. It just keeps getting better.

This weekend was pretty awesome too! Jon and I wen to see The Young Ambassadors on Friday evening, and then I spent the rest of the weekend cooking....homemade rolls, two loafs of homemade bread, white chicken chili, enchiladas, and cookies. It's been pretty awesome. To top it all off, this morning I got to go to my lovely friend Amelia's homecoming talk with my other friends Rachel and Lauren. It was so fun to be reunited as old roommates and to reminisce about old times. Good stuff.

And as for those papers I was supposed to finish grading this weekend...

Another Week

This past week has been filled with many fun activities. On Tuesday we had Jon's old mission companion, Andrew Perkinson, over for dinner. It was fun to sit and listen to the boys reminisce over mission times and to tell stories. I love how much Jon loves his mission. It's one of my favorite things about him!

Thursday we join Steve and Milli again for dinner and to watch the BYU football game. Growing-up in a house of all girls, I never watched football (or any other sport) when I was little (my poor father!) Hence, I don't really have a love for watching the game. Since marrying Jon, I've tried to change this. It was so nice to have Milli--who was often similarly confused/clueless as to what was going on--while we watched the game. Friday, we made pizza and watched a movie. Saturday Jon helped our ward with Friends of Scouting money donations while I ran errands and we went to Stake Conference in the evening.

Okay, so I look a little excited
about the popcorn too...

Today we went to Stake Conference in the morning and heard the words of apostles and other inspired church leaders. I was very grateful for the inspiration and guidance I received by listening to their words. This upcoming week feels so much more doable and exciting because of the comfort and direction these leaders provided. And just because Jon has to keep things interesting, he brought a Ziplock bag full of popcorn to the meeting so that he could have a snack like a three-year-old. I thought he'd get there and be embarrassed. Wrong. He ate from the bag like it was a badge of honor. Children...

 Lunch after Stake Conference was one of the best lunches I've had in ages. We invited my friend, Anna Stewart, over to join us. Anna just got back from serving an eighteen month mission for the church and I hadn't seen her since she got back until today. Before Jon and I went crazy and decided to get married, Anna and I had been planning on living together when she got back. Now when people ask her if she moved into a place with anyone she knows she gets to tell them that she was going to but that instead her friend ditched her and got hitched. Oops. Luckily, she doesn't hate me, which is a rather wonderful thing because as wonderful as Jon is, it is rather awesome to also have girlfriends in my life too. I hope Anna and I get to see each other often and maybe even go to the temple together like we used to always do.

We ended today by spending dinner at the house of one of Jon's coworkers--Nathan. Nathan has severe autism, so rather than serving a full-time mission, he works with Jon's BYU ground's crew as a service missionary. The food was delicious and spending time with Jon's coworkers/friends was super fun, but the best part of the evening was hearing Nathan's mom express her gratitude to Jon's crew for letting her son work with them. She talked about how many people get easily annoyed with Nathan, making him feel unwelcome, and about how it's been hard for their family to find places where he feels loved. Jon's crew, however, has been one place that Nathan has felt welcomed and loved. As her eyes gleamed with tears the Spirit whispered to me: This is what life's all about...helping the heavily burdened, welcoming those that others turn away, loving everyone--especially the outcasts, and making people feel the way that Nathan's mom feels about Jon's crew. 

It was the perfect way to end my Sunday. My life is absolutely perfect right now: I love my job, my husband, my ward, my apartment, my calling, my family, literally everything! However, even though it's absolutely perfect, everything is so new, which makes life sometimes hard to figure out. Along with all the joys of my new married/being-a-teacher life, the past few weeks have held their share of tears, frustrations, and moments of feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing and/or like I'm messing everything up. As these crazy moments have come, I've found myself wracking my brain, trying to find the secret answer to knowing how to fix everything. Today, though, Stake Conference reminded me that there's one fail safe source I can always turn to for help, and Nathan's mom reminded me that there's always one fail safe solution that will help me feel better: Christ is the fail safe source--I can always turn to Him for help, and charity--loving others as He does--is the fail safe solution that will always make me feel better. In the busyness of getting married and starting teaching I've lost track of these two things. After this weekend, though, I feel humbled and I'm determined to be better at remembering Christ and living with charity in my heart. I'm so grateful for the answers that the gospel provides. After 22 years it has never failed me, and for the rest of eternity I know that it never will.

A Letter on My Wedding Day...TO YOU!

Dear YOU,

A few weeks ago at work, I was listening to a talk by Sister Dalton while I was picking weeds. In her talk, Sister Dalton shared a story about a group of young women who trained and prepared all summer to walk from the Draper, UT temple to the Salt Lake, UT temple--a distance of 22 miles. Each week as they prepared, they learned about temples. Sister Dalton describe the day when they made their final trek. They had leaders with food along the way. They received encouragement from family and friends. The young women participating in the walk helped each other. And at the very end awaited their families--there at the Salt Lake City temple.

Sister Dalton concluded her story with this statement: "The temple walk is a metaphor for your life. Parents and priesthood leaders stood guard along the route. They provided support and aid. Young women guarded and encouraged each other. Young men admired the strength, commitment, and stamina of the young women. Brothers carried sisters who had been injured. Families rejoiced with their daughters as they ended their walk at the temple and took them safely home."

As Sister Dalton spoke these words, tears came to my eyes. I began to reflect on what a wonderful place in life I was at--engaged to a wonderfully righteous man, about to start a full-time teaching internship, feeling closer to God than I have at almost any other time in life--yes, life was so good. And then tears came to my eyes as I thought of all the people in my life that sacrificed and gave and helped and encouraged and uplifted and inspired me here. Gratitude filled my heart to the brink and I could not deny the love of God and His hand in my life.

And that is how I feel today. Amid the excitement and nerves and happiness and butterflies and joy, above it all what I feel is an immense feeling of gratitude for everyone who has helped me get here to the temple with the man I love. For the primary teachers and young women's leaders. For the home teachers and visiting teachers. For the bishoprics and stake leaders. For the school teachers and classmates and band council members and NHS friends. For the priesthood leaders. For the family friends. For the friends that grew up with me and the friends I've made at college. For the family--extended and close, old and new. 

Today, as I enter the temple to get married to the man I love for time and all eternity, I think of all of you. To any of you who have helped me in times of need, been a listening ear, shown and taught me the way, blessed and uplifted me, laughed with me, cried with me, encouraged me, touched me in any way--to you I must say thank you. Thank you for helping me become the person I am today and for helping me find my way along the path of life so that today I am filled with more happiness than can possibly fit in my heart. 

This past week, with the culmination of today, has been the best week of my life up to this point. Why? Because it's given me time to realize how many, many people the Lord has blessed me with throughout my life and how, because of all those people, I'm very, very loved. 

Here I go, my friends! I hope to see many of you tonight at the wedding reception! And for those of you who can't make it, know that I'm just as equally grateful for you're influence and love you just as much. 
Teachers, friends, and family like you are the thing that make life worth living. 

Lots and LOTS and LOTS of Love,

Lindsey (Soon to be Self!)

Letters

Dear Holly, I loved getting my daily dose of you via phone on Monday. You have such a beautiful smile! 

Dear Ryan and Shalyse, Thank you for the WONDERFUL dinner on Tuesday evening! I loved catching up with you! Good luck with getting things moving forward towards your move to St. Louis over the next several months, and thank you for the books!

Dear Kathleena, Even though it was quick, I was glad I got to see you Tuesday night. Thanks for always being a listening ear; you have been one of my saving graces this semester. I hope to see you before you leave for your trip in a week and a half, and then I'll see you when you get back and we're in the same ward!

Dear Sarah, The chat with you on Wednesday night was wonderful. I'm always amazed by how we often seem to be at the same place in life. I love you! 

Dear Teaching Lit Class, Thanks for the discussion yesterday. I'm still trying to figure out what sort of books I want to read and what kind of books to have on the shelves in my classroom. Leading everything back to having the Holy Ghost and letting him be our guide, like you guys pointed out in class, I think is a key to finding the answer.

Dear Nate, Dinner and seeing "Pride and Prejudice" performed in the HFAC with you last night was so fun! And we were so cool that we even coordinated wearing "Run Against Caner" bracelets! Thanks for the splendid evening.

Dear Today's Lesson Plan, It's the last time I'm going to be in the schools for my practicum class. Next time I'm teaching in a classroom I'll be the real teacher. Hope you go well today and that my staying up until 1am to get your gone was not in vain!

Dear Weekend, I love the idea of all you hold, waiting before me. Homework, teaching, going to the temple, watching the Women's Broadcast, break the fast, my last fast Sunday in the BYU YSA 41st ward, and who knows what else! I'm excited to get things done! 

Letters

Dear Anna, Thank you so much for joining me at the gym on Friday and for running with me at Nate's run on Saturday. I love being with you because you always have the Spirit with you and because you're always striving to do what's right. Thanks for chatting and for being a good example.

Dear Nate and Jon, Thanks for coming over to make cookies, play Monopoly Deal, and watch "Frozen." I had lots of fun and feel very alright with the fact that I won that last round. You two are both super fun and really good friends. It's so comforting to know that there are people in my life that I can fall back on when things get rough.

Dear McKell, You are so awesome for organizing the 5K for Nate on Saturday! I love your proactive-ness and your willingness to put so much work into helping those around you.

Dear Lindsey, I had lots of fun at the BBQ on Saturday afternoon! The food was wonderful and it was nice to have friends to just sit under the sun and chill with. I hope that we can keep doing awesome things like this after you graduate and we go separate ways.

Dear Wardies, The Talent Show was so fun! Thanks for all your love and support and help in pulling it off.

Dear Scott, Thanks for listening to me next to the drinking fountain on Saturday night. You're a good home teacher and an even better friend.

Dear Lauren and Ethan, So. Umm. Even though I didn't realize that I was interrupting your on-a-date-walk-home-from-the-HFAC when I ran into you on my walk home from Harold until halfway through, I'm grateful that you guys were there to protect me from any groper attacks (there have been many on BYU's campus over the past month). I'm sure that you two were similarly grateful to have me there chaperoning. I'm happy to chaperon on any of your walks home any time; just let me know when I should plan on walking home from the library in order to interrupt your otherwise pleasant evening.

Dear Tyler, Natasha, Dale, TJ, and Dylan, I was so grateful when you guys let me sit around and chat with you guys on Saturday night. Originally, I had planned on going to the library to finish my reading assignment for class today. After standing in the library entrance for about two minutes--feeling super alone and like a poor soul with her priorities mixed up--I walked back out and went straight to your apartment, hoping to find a good time. I did. Thanks.

Dear Roomies, I love having waffle Sunday with you guys every week. It's one of the best roommate ideas ever and I will miss it when I leave.

Dear Ally Lake, Our talk on Sunday morning was probably the best talk I've had with anyone in months. Seriously. When I started rattling off about how I've been struggling with my relationships with those around me you just reminded me of who I am and of who I want to be: someone who people love because they know that I genuinely care, someone who people can trust will listen when they're having a hard time. Not only was this exactly what I needed reminded of, it is a testament to me that God is involved in my life, because even though you didn't know me well before yesterday, you were able to say exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for being worthy and able and willing to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

Dear Brandon, Your lesson on Sunday was so uplifting and taught me a lot that I needed to hear. I am definitely going to try and make it to your class every Sunday that you teach in my remaining weeks at CP.

Dear John Christensen, I had so much fun at the game night on Sunday. Thank you so much for inviting me and for being a good host. Hope to catch up again soon!

Benefiting from His Hands

Yesterday it was very easy for me to see the Lord's hand in my life.

This past week has been a hard one for me. I've felt very lonely and confused and frustrated and sad. Yesterday, however, that all turned around.

On her way to work, Ems stopped by to say hi.

Melissa and Shonay came over to visit teach me because they're awesome.

Joseph Scoville stopped by our place--randomly--to help us fix our internet.

I went over to Joseph's to bring him cookies to say thank you and talked to him and Evan and Ally and Charlotte. They invited me over to watch a movie and do homework. I accepted.

Before going to bed, Elora and Elicia talked to me about life.

Yesterday, I felt very loved by the people reaching out to me. They were being the Lord's hands here on earth.

"A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.

Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: 'You are my hands.'" -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "You Are My Hands"

Things I'm Grateful For

These are just a few of the reasons why today I am feeling so grateful...

I got to read my scriptures this morning.

Aunt Martha and Uncle David invited Jon, Ems and I to their place yesterday evening for a Pioneer Day BBQ.

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend time cooking and playing games with Jon, Ems and Jacob.

Yesterday morning Sarah, Ems and I got to go hiking up past the Y. It was perfect weather. It was perfect scenery. It was perfect company.

Tuesday night I went up to South Fork Park and had a bonfire with a bunch of friends from the ward.

Before the bonfire on Tuesday I got to grab ice cream with Kathleena and then the two of us talked for a while. It was so good to catch-up with an old friend.

Last week I was blessed to be able to go down to California with Jon to spend the week at his house. His family was amazing and it was an absolute blast hanging out with his little brother, David, while his mom and sister were at girls camp.

In a couple of days I get to go home for a week to go backpacking with my family!

I am dating the best man I have ever met.

In the past 24 hours I have laughed, cried, pondered, been silly and felt immensely blessed and loved. In essence, I have felt human.

I have used and seen the power of the Atonement in my life more frequently this past month than I have in a long time.

These things and more leave me sitting here at the computer, thinking and writing about them all, with a feeling of deep inner peace.

The Past Few Weeks in Pictures

Dear Jon, Thank you for taking me to the Summer Fest in Orem a month ago. You should not stress over planning fun dates--you're really good at it! I love how easily amused you are by the carnival games. I love that you make me want to eat goingtokillyouscones because it means I get to share something with you. I love how sick you got on the one ride we went on and that you let me laugh at you when we got off and you tried to regain a grasp on reality. It's doing the small and simple things like this with you that make me love spending time together so much.

Dear Ward Groupies, The water kickball activity in June was the best. I was so exhausted when we started from having just run 12.7 miles with Jon, but the cold water and all of your cheery, fun countenances energized me and by the time the activity ended, I was running all over the place. Thank you for being nothing but smiles and laughter and everything sunshiny!

Dear Emily, Marissa, Gabbie and Jess, Going to Stadium of Fire with you four on the Fourth made for one of the most fun Fourth of July's I've ever had! The Kelly Clarkson, Carly Ray Jepsen and Cirque du Soleil were highly entertaining, but your company was even better. I cannot tell you how good it was to be among friends that I could just let go and be goofy with. You ladies rock!

Dear Jon, I was so happy that we got to sit together and watch the fireworks on the Fourth because you were in charge of cleaning the very area I was sitting in. Best. Coincidence. Ever.

Dear Tyson, Adam, Mike and Jon, Hiking Timp with you four on Saturday was one of my favoritest things I've done all summer! The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. Your commentary was absolutely hilarious. The view was absolutely breath-taking. I can imagine no better way to spend a Saturday than exhausting myself by trekking out into God's beautiful world to explore it with good people and the best of friends. 5 coworkers/friends, 12 hours, 13.6 miles and perfection all wrapped-up in the mountains of Utah Valley. It truly was the best.

Letters

Dear Alex, Logan and Jon, The rooftop concert on Friday evening was very enjoyable (even though the slanted seats weren't). Thanks for the fun evening!

Dear Jason, The food you made for us on Sunday was SO GOOD!!! You are a top-notch cook! Thank you so super very much for sharing your talents and your food.

Dear Jon, Hanging out at the pool after running 9 miles has to be one of my favoritest things you and I have done yet. It was absolutely divine. Thank you for humoring me by getting in the (not very, but I'll amuse you) "cold" (*cough, cough*) water. You're kinda' the best.

Dear Sunshine, Phew--you're sure staring to get hot! Bring it on!

Dear FHE Family, The hike on Monday night to Battle Creek Falls was fun, chill, and gorgeous. Thank you for the lovely evening.

Dear Ward Soccer Team, Watching you guys play Tuesday night was SO FUN! Thanks for playing a game that was worth cheering through and that got me to hold my breath more than once!

Dear New Car That Belongs to Me, Wait--what?! I own a car?!!! Oh. Yeah. Still getting used to that thought.

Dear Karianne, It made me so happy to see you Wednesday at work! Sounds like you're having quite the crazy adventure up in North Dakota. I'm sad that you have to leave and go back today, but hope you know that I've missed you like crazy and can't wait for you to come back in the Fall!

Dear Scott, You are such and absolutely AMAZING friend for taking me to pick-up my car and then for being willing to be late to work when things went slightly crazy. You are a top-notch guy and a superb friend.

Dear Rachel Smith, I loved talk with you on Tuesday while walking to my car. Let's talk more again soon, okay?

Dear Jon and Coworkers, I had so much fun joining you guys on Wednesday for lunch! It was quite the privilege to be able to sit with ya'll in your little shed and to participate in the vital conversation about Disney movie music. I'm glad that Jon has such happy, upbeat and awesome people to work with.

Dear Emily, Eating dinner with you on Wednesday and coloring with you last night was pretty much one of the bestest things I've done in a very long time! Please, please, please say you'll do it with me again!

Dear Jon, Sometimes I wonder why on earth you still want to spend so much time with me when, after a day like yesterday, I look back and realize how dramatic I can be. I mean, I was even starting to annoy myself! Whatever it is that keeps you around though--even with all my dramatics--I'm extremely grateful for because I really like being with you.

Dear Thursday Temple Visits, You're one of the best decisions I've made all summer. Thank you for the peace and clarity and calm which you bring into my life. I plan on keeping you up.

Dear General Conference Talks, Sometimes you hit it right on the spot. I love how easy you are to access and how wonderfully inspired you make me feel.

Dear Half-Marathon Training, You have not been the best of friends lately. Let's change that, yeah?

Dear Amelia, I really need to write you a letter. I promise, I'm working on it!

Dear Landan, WELCOME BACK HOME!!! I can't wait to hear your homecoming talk this coming Sunday!

Dear Wonderful and Amazing Coworkers, I'm so grateful and blessed to work with people as amazing as you guys. Thank you for providing me with a workplace where I know my needs are just as important as the needs of the office. Thank you for your kindness and for lifting me up when I feel down. I'm so lucky to get to work at such an amazing place.

Dear Heavenly Father, Only two more days until Father's Day! I hope that the way I live my life over those two days can be, in the smallest way, a gift to You. Thank you for giving me the most wonderfully blessed life in the whole world. I love you so very much.

Dear Friday, I'm so super very extremely much excited to make you the best day that I've lived of my life so far! Here's to productivity, living with purpose, looking out for and lifting-up others, feeling the Spirit, choosing to be happy, using my agency wisely and responsibly, keeping a prayer in my heart, loving unconditionally and being just plain all-around awesome!

Letters

Dear Bed, I really do very sincerely miss you. We have not been spending enough quality time together lately! As much as I miss you, however, I do have to admit that the things taking your place have been quite worth it. Maybe in a couple of years (or probably in the next life) I'll actually have enough time for you. For now though, hope you enjoy the little time that you do have with me!

Dear Hook (the movie), I haven't seen you in FOREVER! I forgot how fun/silly/good of a movie you are! I'm glad that I got to watch you on Saturday night with my friends.

Dear Lori, Thank you so much for letting us come over to your place to plant flowers! I miss having a yard and being able to work outside in the dirt. The black beneath my fingernails was a happy sight. Thank you even more for taking us out to eat afterwards at the Trolley Cafe. That salad was so good!

Dear Latino Ward Members (and their white friends/roommates), Sunday's break the fast was one of the best break the fasts I've ever been to! Thank you so, so much for spending all of Saturday evening and Sunday morning slaving over delicious enchiladas, rice, beans and horchata. My stomach and taste buds were quite appreciative!

Dear Kate, I'm sorry it took me so long to call you back! I'm super glad that we FINALLY got to talk on Sunday and that you got to tell me all about the awesome girls camp and school and life stuff you have going on and that I got to tell you all about the crazy stuff going on in my life. I love you super tons!!!

Dear Half-Marathon Training, I'm surprised--besides the waking up super early to go running (which sometimes makes me feel like I'm gonna DIE) you're actually not that bad! After running 9 miles on Thursday evening, running 13.1 isn't feeling quite as intimidating. I might actually be able to do this!

Dear Activities Committee, I love being part of a group of people as amazing as you. Every single one of you is so kind, loving, serving, outgoing and all-around stupendous! Thank you for being who you are--it inspires me to be a better person and to love and serve those around me more perfectly.

Dear Ems, I'm glad that we FINALLY decided on a time to hang out. It's been forever! Tomorrow evening is going to be the best.

Dear Day of Rest, You really are my favorite day of the week. Thanks for always getting me ready for the other six.

Dear Tale of Two Cities, Lets see if I can get you read in two weeks. That's the goal, at least!

Dear Jon, Water coloring and coloring outside the lines and endless french toast at Kneaders and planting flowers at Lori's and going to Jamie's wedding reception and running and shopping and making yummy pesto-based food and painting my nails and watching Hook and making banana bread and reading general conference talks and talking and talking and talking all with you at my side are, I think, some of my most favorite things ever. Thank you for being so good and for always leaving me with a desire to be a better person. You're quite the top-notch best friend, and we make quite the fantastic team.

Dear Heavenly Father, I would be selfish if I didn't acknowledge and thank you for all the good that is in my life right now. Thank you for answering my prayers and for knowing exactly what I need and when I need it, and then for giving it all to me even though I don't deserve more than (maybe) 0.9% of it. You are the best part of my life.

Amelia Hope Theobald

Pretty much I'm missing this girl:

 today like absolute crazy.

I'm just sitting here thinking to myself:

"Oh my gosh so much new and crazy stuff is going on in my life right now and I'm stuck between being super excited and freaked out of my mind and I really just want someone to talk to about it all who I know would totally listen to me gab on for hours and understand and know exactly what to say and what not to say and would be okay with me crying or laughing like a crazy person or being frustrated with myself and still love me and want to be with me and go and be awesome with me at the end of it all!"

And then I realize that what I really mean when I'm thinking all of this is:

"What I really want right now is Amelia."

And then it really isn't fun because she's halfway around the world right now which is totally awesome because she's where she needs to be serving a mission for the Lord but that means I can't just pick-up the phone and talk to her about all the craziness and that instead I have to write her a letter that takes 7 days to get to her. And goodness, I didn't realize how super much I really felt all of this until I started typing it up just now while I'm sitting at work and started fighting against the tears because I miss my best friend so bad. So. Yeah.

In other words, what I really mean to be saying right now is that I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with people incredible enough in my life (AMELIA) that I could miss them (HER) so incredibly much when they're (SHE'S) gone. I mean, I just spent nearly half-an-hour looking through all her facebook photos because I just missed looking at her face so darn much. I never look though people's facebook photos!

But really. Amelia Hope Theobald is one of the best people I have ever known and associated with. More than almost anyone in the whole world, she has loved and listened to and understood me better than anyone else. We definitely had our hard times, but all the profoundly good times that we had more than far outweigh the bad.

Amelia was someone that I could be my complete self with. I had to worry not a single wit when I was with her because I knew that she loved and accepted me no matter what. We could do crazy stuff together--like stay up till 2am making cupcakes or act like little kids or talk about boys or try to go workout at 6am in the morning or build awesome forts, and at the end of it all, she still thought I was a semi-sane person. I loved having that freedom of self.

Amelia was an amazing example to me of service--of making baked goods and always giving them away to people or of cleaning the apartment when she noticed I was stressed because she knew that would make it better or of taking time to talk to someone who needed a friend or of working so hard to make sure that everyone else was taken care of and having a good time before worrying about herself.

Amelia also stuck with me through the bad. She dealt with me when I was cranky and she would listen to me and love me when I needed to talk and cry or she would help me be happy when I was stressed and when I was Relief Society president she always asked if there was more that she could do to help me.

Amelia always follows the Lord and wants to do what is right. I know that my association with her drew me closer to Christ because she was always striving to follow and love Him. The decision to go on a mission was tough for her to make, but ultimately she chose to do it because her love for the Lord and His children is just that incredibly great. She always has the Spirit with her. She is always striving to be good. She is always an example of Christ.

I've managed to get the rant out of my system and hold back (mostly) the tears that were threatening to come. I just hope that halfway across the world right now in the Spain MTC, there's a sister missionary there who knows that she is loved and that she has a best friend back at home who's missing her like crazy. She has made an incredible impact and difference in my life, and I know that that's exactly what she's going to do for the people over there. They don't know how lucky they are.