Engaged.

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything since December. I know my 3 loyal followers are highly disappointed in my lack of posting.

Secondly, in case you live under a rock and haven't seen my flood of pictures - I got engaged this past weekend! The full proposal story is coming later - I need Scott to write up his contributing part to the story first. So, sorry - that's not what you're getting here.

I just need to tell you that being engaged is weird and is a flood of all kinds of emotions. Let me just fill you in on what my life has been like since Friday morning, the day of the proposal.

That day I woke up thinking, "It COULD happen today. No, it won't. But maybe... No. He won't propose today. But what if he does? What should I wear just in case? Don't get your hopes up. Don't get mad at him or be too sad if it doesn't happen today."

Then throughout the entire day, I was just totally clueless. Scott was freaking out on the inside and I had no idea what was going on.

Then we get to the proposal site and I still have no clue what's going on and I'm yelling at Scott that we can't just help ourselves to walk around the place! And then... it donned on me.

  

Then I was full of a whole flood of emotions - joy, surprise, shock, awe. I couldn't believe he successfully pulled one over on me. And the moment couldn't have been more perfect.

  

And since that day, I find myself crying all the time, gushing, smiling constantly... it's seriously so weird.

 

And I'm also freaking out that I now have to start making all these decisions. You know how I am about making decisions.

 

The best though is when you forget for a brief moment that you are engaged and then your sparkly ring catches your eye....

Sorry - I got distracted for a minute there.

No, but seriously -  being engaged is the greatest. And not to get too sappy here but I absolutely cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with Scott. He's my best friend and I can't ask for anything better than that. We're so happy and we're so grateful for all of the love and support and congratulations we've received in the past couple days.

 

 

The Paths We Take

It's hard to believe that it was exactly a year ago that my life took an unexpected and drastic twist. I was happily working at my first big-kid job in Dallas when I was suddenly laid off. WHAT?? I mean, seriously - my first job. 2012 was a year - let me tell you. And this was the cherry on top of an incredibly heinous year.

I remember going home that night and just thinking, "What in the world do I do now?" I had no clue where to start. I was so confused. I couldn't stop crying. I had a few, "Why me?" moments. And so Heavenly Father and I had MANY conversations about why it was happening to me.

And I was mostly really sad. I felt ashamed. I didn't want anyone to know. I felt like a failure. I couldn't even keep my first job. What did that mean I was meant to do? Was I not as capable as I thought I was? I felt like I was a huge disappointment - to my parents, my professors, my former co-workers. Etc., etc., etc. There was a lot of self-doubt going on.

But looking back I see how blessed my life has been because Heavenly Father redirected my path. I'm a planner and I usually don't do well with subtle promptings to make changes in my life, so Heavenly Father has to go to the extremes with me. I LOVED my job, but because of that, I was leaving hardly any time for anything else. Yes, I was happy. But I could have been even happier. I didn't fully understand what I was missing out on.

So even in the 6 months of job-searching (which was grueling and awful and I'm so glad it's over), I was SO happy. Because I had been forced to re-prioritize my life. I was doing the things I should have been doing all along and it was making all the difference in the world.

I had the opportunity to meet people and develop relationships and learn things about myself that I never would have if Heavenly Father had allowed me to continue down the path I was on. So while it was hard and depressing and wearing at times, I'm so grateful that I got knocked down a little bit. That I was humbled so that I learned to rely on my Heavenly Father again. That I was given the opportunity to become teachable. And trust me - I took the opportunity to learn all the lessons in store for me.

Nobody really WANTS trials and tribulations in their life, but they are necessary for our growth and development. God loves us so he allows things to happen in our lives for us to become better versions of ourselves. I couldn't be more grateful for the gospel in my life that allows me to have that perspective and for church leaders, parents, friends, etc. that help me through the trials in my life.

2012 sucked. 2013 has been awesome. And I cannot wait to see what 2014 has in store.

Santa's Coming! I Know Him!

As soon as November 1st hits, this is pretty much what happens to me:

It's time for Christmas, it's time for Christmas, IT'S TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

All I want to do is bake delicious things - with apples and pumpkin and all the most unhealthy foods you can imagine.

And the answer is yes. I have already started listening to my Christmas playlist - and I'm not ashamed to say it!!!! (If you find you have problems making it through your days - Christmas playlists will work wonders in your life. Srsly.)

I also turn into this shopping monster (yes, worse than the rest of the year) because I LOVE buying Christmas presents!

But come on - this is SERIOUSLY the greatest time of the year. With the parades and the lights and the trees and the weather and the coats and scarves and boots and gloves. OH MY GOSH. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. To those of you who don't feel the same way....

And to all the rest of you - I know it's only November and we still have one more holiday to go (I do also love Thanksgiving for the record) but....

 Santa is real, y'all. 

Feelings.

I'm not sure what's going on. I'm just feeling a lot lately.

I feel like everyone is married but me...

But I also feel really happy. Because I love love.

And I also love fall - so that makes me happy too.

But sometimes I still find myself crying about the most inappropriate things at the most inappropriate times...

And one of two things happen when I start to feel sad...

#1:

#2:

Is this what happens when you get older? No one warned me about this... This sucks.

Syncin.

This is my new favorite game. Srsly friends, this is going to happen at some point in the near future. Also, I love this video for several reasons.

#1: I have a big crush on Jimmy Fallon.

 

#2: JGL's suit is FAB.

#3: It reminds me of when John Krasinski and Jimmy had their lip sync-off (click here).

#4: "Take on Me" is one of my all-time fave 80s jams.

#5: JGL doing "Super Bass" at the end - 'nuff said.

25.

OMG. I've totes been alive for a quarter of a century. This is how I feel about that.

I am as old as America's Most Wanted.

 I can rent a car! Without having to sacrifice my firstborn child to the rental car company.

My senior year of high school was 7 years ago.

25 is really the perfect age - mathematically speaking.

I officially leave the 18-24 demographic behind. Now I'm 25-34.

 But the good news is that I'm still one of the youngest of all my friends! At least I've got that going for me.

So I suffer from a sort of conflict of emotions. No, but in all seriousness, I kind of like being 25. It sounds cool. I still feel young. And I get cool gifts for my birthday like vacuums and blenders.

Hell.

There is - I am certain - a special circle in Hell to which all of the bobby pins and earring backs I've ever dropped disappear to.

No, but like, seriously... where do they go?