The Best

I know people say this a lot. Especially newlyweds. But let me follow that trend.

I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER.

I know you thought you did. Or that you will at some point. But for me personally, I could not have asked for anyone more perfect for me if I wanted to. It's like we were made to go together, like puzzle pieces. We fit.

Let me demonstrate.

Yesterday was my day off. I had big plans, including a quick job interview, doing laundry and dishes, and taking a shower. Oh yeah, it was going to be an awesome, lazy day off.

But alas, it was not to be. I had one of the busiest, most wonderful days off. I did go to a job interview. I did start the laundry. But for most of the rest of the day, I cuddled with my husband, went and ran errands with him, and saw a movie with him. We just spent time together. It was amazing.  I realized at one point, when he had tucked me under the blankets because I was cold, and he started folding the laundry, that I love him more than I though was possible.

It's like my heart has expanded, taking in and giving out more love than I ever though was possible. Mushy, I know. But it's an amazing feeling to both love and be loved so much.

I love taking care of my husband. But I am so grateful that he also loves me and loves taking care of me when I need it. His concern and love shows in everything he does for me, whether it's taking me out on a date or scraping my car in the morning. And I am amazed every time, because it means he loves me. His actions every day show me how very much he loves me and wants me to be happy.

In some small way, I can glimpse what my Heavenly Father feels for me in the love I have for Thomas. I know one day I will have children, and I will feel an even greater part of His love. I am so grateful for the love of my Heavenly Father, and for the love of my incredible husband.

Busy!

It's been a busy few weeks! At the beginning of October Thomas and I had the privilege of going to my friend Anne's baby blessing. It was beautiful, and I very much enjoyed getting to see Anne and her family again. I did her wedding cake a few years ago, and it is so fun to see her and her husband and their adorable little William!

That same weekend, Thomas took the SAT. He is applying to another school that has a great Computer Science degree, and they require the SAT to get in. We are waiting to hear back about his scores, but I know he did well!

I am still working at Thanksgiving Point, and liking it. I enjoy doing something I am good at, and I feel I am learning more every day. My boss is forgiving and fun to work with, and we get along really well, which I am grateful for.

Thomas and I have discovered that Provo and the surrounding area have an abundance of small theaters that have plays almost every night of the week! This past weekend we took advantage of two of them. On Friday night we went and saw "Mousetrap" at the Lehi Community Theater. The play happens to be the longest running murder mystery in history, and it was very well done. We enjoyed it immensely, and loved the intimate atmosphere. For those of you who went to BYU-Idaho, it was similar to seeing a play in the Black Box theater in the Snow building.

Last night we were just walking down University Ave in Provo, looking to get some Gelato after a yummy sushi dinner. As we walked, we spotted a small theater called The Echo Theater. It was playing Jekyll & Hyde, and we were intrigued. So we bought tickets. It was incredible! The theater company that put it on was very professional, and the actors all had impressive backgrounds in theater. We very much enjoyed both plays, and will be seeking out more opportunities in the future to see any and all stage performances that we can while we are here. It is great that stage productions are so prolific here! It makes it easy to find a date activity, and most of the tickets are very reasonable!

Stay tuned for our Halloween activities, I am excited for this kick-off of the holiday season!

WHAT?!

So...this is going to be an interesting post, but considering most of my readers are women, I figured you guys would understand.

A few days ago I was complaining to my boss about how annoyed I was with my jeans  situation. For several months, my jeans have gotten baggier and baggier. (I know, sob story.) But seriously. I no longer had to unbutton them. They just pulled right off. And it was getting ridiculous.

So I was going on and on, and my boss asked what size I was. I honestly didn't know, but my best guess was a 12 or 14. That was what I had always been, and the jeans I had were a 16, so I figured a couple of sizes down would be perfect. She said she had a few pairs of jeans that she didn't want anymore, and I could try them on.

A few days later, she brought them in. They were 10s. I laughed. "These will never fit me!" I thought to myself. From the time I was 12, I have been a 14. Forever and always I have been at least a 14, if not bigger. It was unthinkable that a 10 could ever fit me. But not wanting to seem ungrateful, I thanked her and took them home with me.

Just for grins and giggles, I tried them on.

They fit.

WHAT.

Had to be a fluke. I am not, have never been, will never be, a 10. They were just streched out from being worn, they were old, they weren't right.

So today, I went to test it out. I walked into Old Navy, and pulled some size 10s.

They ALL FIT.

It was real. It was true. I am a size 10. I have no idea how it happened, but apparently marriage works for me.

I know it's silly to do an entire blog post about my pant size, but I am a girl. Who knows why we do what we do, right? ;)

No News

Is good news, right?

Well, I think so, anyway! Life has just been moving on as usual lately. Thomas has settled into his school and work routine, and I have somewhat grown used to getting up horrendously early in the morning. ;)

We have managed to do a few things that aren't work or school related, and I guess I can recount them for you here...so here goes!

We had our first dinner guests a couple of Sundays ago. We invited a friend of Thomas' and his wife over and had a great time. I made a pork loin, roasted asparagus, and creamy mashed potatoes and it all turned out great! I am excited to invite more people over and continue to make some new friends as we share meals with other couples.

We also got to go to a BYU Dace department recital, called Evidance. It was great! Thomas had to attend a dance performance for his dance class, so it was technically for school, but it was great! The dancers were very good, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the performance. If you would like to see a bit of what it was like, here is a trailer for it:



It was legit.

That's about it! Nothing much going on in the Tingey world! Stay tuned though, inevitably something of note will occur at some point.

Married Life

So it has now been a bit over two weeks since Thomas and I got married. It feels like so much longer than that! Since being married, we have moved to Utah, I started a new job as the Assistant Pastry Chef at Thanksgiving Point, I fell down some stairs, and Thomas has decided to keep me. ;)

I have to admit that I LOVE this whole wife thing. It rocks. I get to cook dinner for my handsome husband every night, which is actually super fun for me. I finally get to put my Pinterest to some good use! I have tried several new recipes, and all have been well received, luckily. But if anyone is wondering about the sudden explosion of food pins, it's because I'm obsessed! There are so many things I want to try! As I try some, I will try to document as best as I can what I tried and ow it turned out. I will also attempt to take a few pictures, although they might be from my phone. Which is okay, because the thing has an 8 MP camera on it. Oh how times have changed from when I was small.

The job is fun. It does begin a tad early for me (6 am) and is a bit of a drive (25 min), but overall I enjoy it. I get home early enough to take a nap and get some useful things done before starting on dinner, so it's nice. Most days I am just in charge of the deli goodies, which include four kinds of cake, fruit tarts, eclairs, tiramisu, chocolate-dipped strawberries, petit fours, quiche, brownies, lemon bars, strawberry crumb bars, and magic bars. Once I have that done, I generally start on any orders we have for the day, and sometimes we are super swamped with banquets, but sometimes we have it pretty easy. It's nice to have a job where I have fun and I feel like I use the skills I took out a student loan for...;)

As far as falling down the stairs, there is a bit of a story behind that. When we moved into our apartment, our landlord was having the outside of the house repainted. They were just starting, and our stairs were on the list. When I cam home from work one day, the dude who was painting asked me when I was going to be out of the house for at least 3 hours so he could pint the stairs without me needing to come or go. I told him a time, and as promised, I stayed away. When I got home I saw that it had been painted, and was supposedly dry as there was no signage to indicate otherwise. I made it about three steps down with my arms full of groceries before my foot slipped on the fresh coat of wet paint. I went down hard. There went my leather shoes and favorite pair of jeans, as well as the three new pairs of chef pants I had just bought. Not to mention my husband's new Avengers lunchbox. And, oh yeah, my shin. All bit it hard into industrial gray house paint.

All I can say is that it could have been worse.

When Thomas came home I related the tragic horror of my fall, and he cuddled me until i was sure he didn't mind the paint on his new lunchbox.

The next morning he made it clear to the painter that he wasn't happy.

I secretly smiled later that day when I arrived home from work and the painter apologized profusely, and offered to replace my pants. Of course I had forgiven him long before, but it was nice that he acknowledged his mistake and felt appropriately morose about it.

And that is the story.

Well...I think I have covered enough for now! More to come from the Tingey clan soon, I'm sure! I tend to be full of unexpected funny stories!

Mrs. Tingey

So. It happened. There were tears, laughter, one nap and at least a few hurting feet by the end, but I GOT MARRIED! I am now officially MRS Tingey. It's amazing, let me tell you. I love being married, and I am so blessed to have the most amazing spouse of all time! We had the sealing and reception on Friday, August 10th. We were sealed in the morning, which was incredible, and then partied the night away at the reception. It was a blast! My dress was beautiful, my husband was dashing, and I was ecstatically happy! The day went without a hitch, and Thomas and I were thrilled with all the family and friends that came out to support us!

We had a lovely open house the next day, hosted by Thomas's family down in Florence, CO. It was beautiful and I loved meeting all of his friends. It did rain a bit, but we all moved inside and had a wonderful time.

The following day we drove to Grand Junction and stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast there, and just enjoyed being together. At the end of our little honeymoon, we drove into Provo and set up house.

On Monday of the next week, I got a call from a job I had interviewed for and they said they'd like to hire me! I am so blessed to have a full-time job! I am now the assistant pastry chef at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT. I am loving the job, and loving being a wife even more! Finally a captive audience to cook for! ;)

Bear Lake Reunion

So this whole last week I have been in Utah. Why? Because Utah is where the love of my life is going to school, and this weekend we had a reunion. It was a lot of fun! So, like I once did for my European travel posts, I thought I might chronicle this trip day by day. Here goes!

Day 1: I left early on Tuesday, July 24th. I drove all day, only stopping for gas, and made it to Provo at around 6pm. It was a fairly uneventful drive, and I made good time. I met up with Thomas, hung out with him for a bit, ate some Brick Oven pizza, and then went to my friend Katy's apartment for the night.

Day 2: I woke up refreshed, and got ready for the day. I had a job interview, so I put on my snazzy clothes and headed out to find breakfast. I got lost finding breakfast, so I just went straight to Thanksgiving Point where I had my interview later that day. I was three hours early. So I went and got some food, and sat out in the grass. I was also tasked with finding a storage unit for Thomas and I to put our stuff in until we could move into our new apartment in Provo. I figured all of that out and continued waiting for an acceptable time to go find the woman I was being interviewed by. I wandered around Thanksgiving Point, did some window shopping, and finally went to the interview. It went well, I think, and so I proceeded to wander back to Provo and waited for Thomas to get off work. We made some dinner, went for some frozen yogurt, and then I once again headed to Katy's.

Day 3: I woke up late  and just chilled out until Thomas was done with classes for the day. Of course, I was cheating with Katy and ended up being late meeting p with him. We hit the road and made it to Woodruff, Utah by late afternoon. We were camping in Bear lake, not far from Woodruff, for the next few days, but he wanted to show me his Grandparent's  ranch before we went. We drove around, looking at everything. It was fun to see where he spent his childhood. We headed down to Bear Lake
And found the family at the local KOA camp ground. I set up my tent and got everything situated, and met the family. Of course, I didn't remember half of the names that first night, but I tried my best! We all went to a local burger stand for dinner, and the raspberry shakes were amazing!  We sat around the propane fire for a few hours talking, then I went to bed. Thomas set up a cot outside next 
to my tent, but by the time he went to bed, the wind was howling and it was raining, so he ended up sleeping in his car. Poor guy!

Day 4: I woke up early and talked a bit with some of the Aunts and Grandma. Eventually, we began cooking breakfast and Thomas woke up. We all ate breakfast and then headed down to the lake. It
was a blast! We rode jet skis, played in the water, and sat in the shade. It was a blissful day, and I only applied sunscreen four times...;) I should have put more on Thomas, as he got a nice amount of sunburn on his legs and shoulders. We all went back to camp around 6pm and had dinner, which consisted of slow-cooked beef, scalloped potatoes, and corn. It was so good! After dinner we roasted marshmallows for s'mores and taked a bit more. We set up Thomas's cot again, and this time the weather was pleasant enough to stay the night outside.

Day 5: We all woke up later in the morning, as pretty much everyone but me had a nice sunburn. We ate some breakfast and again headed down to the lake. We got there just in time to get the last good
spot on the beach, and Thomas and I went out on a jet ski. It was a lot of fun to be together out in the middle of the lake, away from the family, and just take a break. We spent the day much like we did the day before, swimming, playing on jet skis, and lounging. The only moment of panic happened when all three of our sun shades got picked up by a random gust of wind, upended on our neighbor's shade, and destroyed it! We felt really bad, but there was nothing we could do about it. As the crash had also taken out a couple of our shades. So the day ended pretty early, and we headed back to break down camp. After dinner and a family picture, we put away the tents and sleeping bags and all 
headed back to the ranch in Woodruff. There we showered and parted ways. Thomas and the rest of his family (including me, of course) stayed the night there, with the intention of leaving the next day, his family for Colorado, and us back to Provo.

Day 6: His family hit the road early, and we kind of just lazed around for a bit. When we decided to leave, we loaded up and headed out. About eight or ten miles down the road, the car died. It just
stopped working. It would turn over, but you couldn't accelerate at all, and then it would die. We were stuck. So we called a tow truck, and got towed back to the ranch. There is a small repair shop close by, and we dropped the car and then Grandpa came and picked us up. Since the shop wouldn't open until the next day, we just resigned ourselves to leaving the car situation until the next day. 


Day 7:  We were awoken by Grandpa early the next morning asking if we would like to help with the cattle drive that day. Of course we both said yes. So we got all geared up and left with a trailer full of trusty steeds. When we got to the location, Grandpa, Thomas, and I mounted up and set out to round up the cattle. Thomas and I found the herd and the other herders and helped as best we could. We drove the cattle about a mile from where the were, and neither Thomas nor I got in the way. We were helpful, I think. Of course, being in the saddle for the first time in years did take it's toll on both of us, but the soreness we knew we would face that night and the next few days was totally worth the trip! When we got back to the ranch, we were exhausted. We got some lunch, found out that the car was fixed, and went and picked it up. Once again, we headed out, but not before I sprained my foot. Which was annoying. But the car ran perfectly and brfore long we were back in Provo. We went to see our new apartment, which is wonderful, and then parted ways. That is the last time I will get to see him until the wedding. It was a great trip, all things considered, and though it ended with a broken down car, we did have the very fun experience of helping with a cattle drive because of it. So I would count that as a success. ;) 


So that's the story! Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I seem to forget I own a camera a lot. I will have to rectify that soon!

Random Ramblings

I am now 28 1/2 days from being married. How crazy is that? It's even crazier how time works when you are so excited/nervous/ecstatic. I find that my days move slowly, but my weeks are gone in a flash. It seems like I wake up on Monday, and then suddenly I'm waking up on Friday. The middle just doesn't exist. Which is weird, because I can look back and although I know what I did each week, I feel like I did it all in one weird middle-space. Not the three weekdays that come between Monday  and Friday.

Now you all think I'm crazy.

Which is probably true.

But still. Time is a fickle thing. It goes too quickly when you want to take it slow, and too slowly when you would give anything for it to speed up.

Take car trips for another example. Whenever I drive somewhere, it seems like it take hours longer to get there than it does to get home. Even smaller trips seem that way. Especially if I am driving somewhere new. It's weird.

At the same time, there are some things that happen so fast but feel like they took forever. Like me and my awesomely handsome fiance. We met in February. February 13th, to be exact. Only one month later, on March 16th, we became a couple. Considering we had only been on four dates, that was pretty quick in my book. We were engaged on May 8th. We're getting married on August 10th. So from the time we met to the time we are married we will have known each other for six months. SIX MONTHS. And yet it feels like I have known him my whole life. I am closer to him than I have ever been to anyone, and I can't imagine my life without him. And yet I have actually only known him such a short time!

Sometimes I wonder if Heavenly Father laughs to think about how much His children misunderstand time and the rules that apply to it. And just misunderstand things in general. I know I am constantly staggered by the thought of how little I know about everything in this world. It's all so fascinating (well...except math. That not so much.), and I hope I get to continue learning and exploring. I'm sure the more I learn, the more I will understand how much there is left to learn. But that won't keep me from finding out all I can.

I have this fascination with watching travel shows. I have done a fair bit of traveling myself, but there is still so much left to see. There are so many amazing places on the planet, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to explore as much of it as possible. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about. Some people call it the "Travel Bug". I'm pretty sure I caught something a bit more severe. Like the "Travel Flu" or the "Travel Fever" or something. It's not a little bug. It's a full-blown passion. I was always amazed by the friends I had in Germany that did all of their shopping at the US grocery store (or Commissary, if you are familiar with the lingo) and only made friends with other Americans. I feel like they missed out on some of the most amazing food, culture, and people. Germans are some of the most generous, kind, hardworking, and interesting people I have ever met. They are so much fun, and I have several friends in Germany that I can't wait to go back and see.

The world is made up of so many incredible people. In all of my traveling, I have learned that people make the place. Places are beautiful by themselves, like Paris and Barcelona, but the people make it incredible. Some of my favorite places became my favorite because of the people I met there. In Edinburgh, our tour guide through the city was so fun and enthusiastic it just made the trip amazing. Our guide on the bus to Loch Ness was also just awesome. In Rome, I met a few families that went on tours with me and a couple of girls at my hostel that really made my trip amazing.

Of course, those places are fascinating with their history and the beauty of the country. But the people I met brought them to life. And the more I met people, the more I realized how much our Heavenly Father loves them. Growing up, I always thought I was special. On of the "elite" because I happened to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. I was better than other people, and they deserved to be pitied. I didn't understand at all. In fact, I am ashamed that I ever felt that way. Because it isn't true. It absolutely isn't true. People are amazing. Every person ever born on this earth has just as much worth as everyone else. And the more I learn about the gospel, the more I understand just how much Heavenly Father loves His children. Not just the ones that know and accept Him and the sacrifice of His Son. But ALL of them. Every person who has ever lived and will live is an individual to Him. As much as that blows my mind, I know it's true. I know that His capacity for loving His children is not limited by our ability to understand it.

And now I'm getting a little bit deep. So I'll stop for now.
I hope you enjoyed my random ramblings. ;)

I'm trying, okay?

So, for those of you who actually read my blog, you know I am horrible at updating it. This is my attempt at being better. Two posts in one week-unheard of! Believe it! ;)

So now is the part where I write something witty and hilarious...

Yeah, about that...

There is NOTHING going on. Seriously. I work about 4 hours a day (if I'm lucky), and the rest of the time I try to either get wedding stuff done or sit around moping because I miss Thomas. Sometimes I try to eat something. This usually ends badly.

So instead of trying to tell you about my day-to-day life, I thought I would take a page out of my friend Anne's book and do a list of 50 very random things about me that nobody really ever needed or wanted to know.

1. I can't eat salad. Not won't...can't.

2. I enjoy being outdoorsy, which you would never be able to tell by the amount of time I actually spend outside.

3. Somewhat because of not spending a lot of time outside and mostly because I am just heinously pale, I have always been unable to tan very well. I don't really count this as a tragedy.

4. I really like Oreos. So therefore, I will not buy them. This goes for any kind of food I very much enjoy. Like Triscut crackers, HoHos, and any kind of potato chip. Mostly because any time I do buy any of these, I end up eating the whole box/bag/package. So I just don't. Very often.

5. I like to feed people. Most probably already know this about me, but still. It's my favorite thing. When I am married, if you happen to live in the general vicinity of Provo, I will most likely invite you to dinner. Just expect it at some point.

6. I hate spiders. Unless they are tarantulas. I'm okay with tarantulas.

7. I really want to step foot on every continent. Four down, three to go!

8. I love kids. Which is great, since Thomas wants 6.

9. When I am stressed out, I usually go to the worst case scenario. When I was in college, every time I had to take a test, I would tell myself that if I flunked out of college, I would just have to marry a guy named Bubba, and all of our 12 children would go shoeless because we were so poor.

10. I tend to be a bit dramatic. In case you missed that.

11. I love gardening. The fact that you can plant a tiny seed and it will become a huge plant fascinates me!

12. I love dogs. I have wanted one since I was five, and at eighteen I finally got one! Now I have to leave her behind, but I'm positive I will have dogs in the future. I even think about what I would name them...currently the top choices are Milo and Ruby.

13. I have never broken a bone, and hope to never experience that.

14. I used to love roller coasters and things of that nature, but recently they just give me a headache. I will always, however, go on those rides that take you up high and drop you. Like the Tower of Terror. Best. Ride. Ever.

15. I also love Splash Mountain.

16. And Disneyland in general.

17. I have been to Disneyand in California and Paris, but never Disney World.

18. I can make awesome wedding cakes, but I have vowed never to make one again. Too much stress. I mean, I could ruin someone's wedding!

19. For this very reason, among others, I have decided not to have a wedding cake at my wedding. Nope. Not doing it.

20. When I was growing up, I seriously thought I would be married at 19 or 20. Ha. Hahaha. Ha.

21. I LOVE Sundays. They are my favorite day of the week. Probably because any time someone asks me to do something on Sunday I get to say, "No can do. It's the Sabbath."

22. I also love church, just in case you thought I sat around like a lazy blob all day Sunday.

23. I love olives. All kinds of them. Green, black, purple...mmmm...

24. At one point, I could have sworn I was going to die on the side of a mountain in Thailand. Long story.

25. I hate making phone calls. Given the choice I would rather email, or text, or talk face-to face. Unless your name happens to be Thomas, in which case I would listen to your sexy voice on the phone any time of the day.

26. I am madly in love with a boy named Thomas Tingey. Luckily, he loves me back, so it's not a weird stalker relationship where I creep outside of his apartment and spring out at him adoringly. At least, not all the time.

27. I don't like cooking for myself. If I have to do it, most of the time it will be a grilled cheese.

28. I eat like a two-year-old. Not messily, but not very much at once.

29. In fact, I have been out-eaten by a two-year-old. Touche, Gabriella.

30. I have a favorite child at work. We're not technically allowed to have favorites, but he is just the most awesome child ever. I found out yesterday that he named his teddy bear after me. How adorable is that?

31. Whenever I decide to paint my nails, inevitably I will be doing something in the near future that will mess them up. Just my fingernails, though. Weird.

32. When I was in kindergarten, I decided it was my life's goal to own three horses: a brown, white, and red trio. Their names would be Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry, respectively.

33. In college, I took all the horseback riding classes BYU-Idaho offers. I can rope, jump, barrel race, and herd. I'm legit.

34. In the 25 years I have been alive, my family has only ever owned Mac computers. If that offends you, you may fight me.

35. I can wiggle my ears, curl my tongue, and raise one eyebrow. That's talent.

36. I am also a champion whistler. However, if other people whistle, it drives me crazy. So I try and keep my whistling to a minimum so as not to be a hypocrite.

37. I hate being called Sammy.

38. Some of my nicknames are: Sis, Sammy Sam, Spam, Samwise, Sammy Sosa, and Ghetto Booty Girl. Don't ask about that last one.

39. My GPS unit is named Jarvis, and answers to that name. Thanks, Thomas! ;)

40. I LOVE museums, aquariums, botanical gardens, etc. They are so much fun!

41. I have eaten Haggis. Yep. That happened.

42. My hair has been every color that happens in nature (blonde, brown, black, red).

43. I don't do well on very little sleep. In fact, I become narcoleptic and start falling asleep randomly in the middle of sentences if I am up too late at night.

44. I really love sleep. I will consistently sleep nine hours a night.

45. I have had 12 jobs since the age of 18. Before that I would babysit, but as far as actually getting paid by a company, I have had 12. That seems like an inordinate amount to me. But hey, I moved around a lot.

46. I would rather be cold than hot. There is only so much you can take off to escape the heat, you can always put more layers on if you're cold. Or, you know, cuddle with another warm body...

47. I would rather eat fresh fruit than dessert. I absolutely LOVE fresh fruit. I also make a bomb awesome fruit dip. Don't ask for the recipe...it's a secret! ;)

48. I love to sing, and am randomly singing at all times of the day. Including in the shower. And in the kitchen. And especially in the car.

49.  If you have read this far, give yourself a pat on the back for staying awake this long!

50. I am a generally happy person, but the thing that makes me so happy is the amazing and merciful gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Heavenly Father, and I know he loves me! I wouldn't be the woman I am today without the loving guidance of my earthly and heavenly parents, and I am grateful that I was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.



Well, if you made it through the whole post, kudos! I will be better at posting, I promise!

I think you underestimate the sneakiness...

So last weekend I was super sneaky. Ninja. Stealth. Under the radar.

I managed to surprise Thomas (the love of my life).

I must admit, it was difficult. I am the kind of person that has a hard time with surprises. If I get you a Christmas present, chances are you will have to open it in front of me long before Christmas day, just so I can have the pleasure of seeing the joy on your face when you see how perfect the gift is. This probably stems from the fact that getting people gifts is my favorite thing. I LOVE it.

So anyway. It was hard. I knew a week ahead of time that I was going to surprise him. And because he is my one and only, obviously we talked quite a bit between the time I knew about the surprise and when it actually took place. I almost told him so many times, it's not funny. Every time he said he missed me, or that he was tired, or bored, or hungry, or annoyed, or any other complaint, I ached to let him know that soon I would be holding him in my arms! But I held strong, and it was worth it.

This is how it all went down.

On Friday, June 22nd, I got a phone call. A girl in my ward who I also happen to Visit Teach was the caller, and she asked me if I would like to go to Utah with her. She was going out for a wedding and needed a driving buddy. Struggling not to scream in exultation at her, I agreed. We would leave the following Thursday morning and stay the weekend, driving back on Monday.

That week was torturous. Every time I talked to Thomas, I knew in the back of my mind that I would soon see his handsome face. It made me want to climb through the phone and cuddle him. But because there are currently no available modes of instant transportation, I would just have to wait.

Thursday rolled around quickly, which was a blessing. We left early in the morning and drove almost non-stop to Provo. We arrived around 5pm, and then i had to wait. I was staying with my amazing friend Bethany, and the poor girl had to put up with my craziness for the afternoon. I called Thomas and asked him to let me know when he was going to be home from work, as I needed Bethany to  drop something off to him. He called at around 7pm. I was in a frenzy of excitement. I jumped up and down, freaked out, and the drive over in the car was almost too much to bear. Every red light was an eternity.

We finally made it to Campus Plaza. I sent Bethany up to get him, and she told him what she had for him was still in the car. They began walking down the stairs.  They rounded the corner. I popped out from behind a bush.

He was surprised.

We hugged, kissed, and just clung to each other. After four weeks we were so happy to see each other! I know all I wanted to do it sit on the couch and cuddle for four days straight. Unfortunately, he had some things to do, and we were staying a few miles apart in Provo. But the weekend went swimmingly (no, seriously, we swam...) and at the end it was hard to say goodbye. Fortunately, we are going to see each other at the end of the month, so only a few weeks remain until I see him again.

I seriously love that man.

In case you missed that.

A funny story...or two

I just remembered two funny stories that I want to remember forever...so I figured I need to wirte them down.

The first story (well, both actually) begin a while ago. First, I was coloring at work with some of my kiddos (I work at a daycare center) and the paper I was coloring on had "My Dream..." written at the top of it. So I drew my dream. Which consisted of me getting proposed to be Prince Charming. Yep. Did I mention I was coloring with 5-year-old girls? I drew it because I knew it would make them squeal. It worked.

Fast forward a few months, and I am teaching a lesson in Relief Society. It was the beginning of the year, so I was teaching on making Resolutions and obedience. I wrote some people's resolutions on the board, and as a joke, I wrote "find a husband for Sam" on the board. We all had a good laugh and it was forgotten.

Now fast forward to last month. I had forgotten about both of these occurrences. When I announced my engagement at church, a sister in my ward pointed out that I had fulfilled my resolution! How funny!

I was at work around the same time and one of the little girls overheard me talking about being engaged. She shouted, "Miss Sam! Your dream came true!" So funny!

Those were my funny stories. I though I'd share.

The Rest...And Then Some

So, in case you hadn't heard, I'm getting married. Yep. Me. It's actually happening. On August 10th, 2012 I will be sealed for time and all eternity to the most amazing man I have ever met. And it blows my mind every time I think of how blessed I am and how much I am indebted to my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for loving parents, amazing friends, and the gospel.

So. I was able to go through the Temple a couple of weeks ago, and it was incredible. I felt the most amazing peace and the whole time I was sitting there, I felt the absolute correctness of this amazing restored gospel. I know with every fiber of my being that the church is true. And it's an amazing feeling. I know my redeemer lives, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and I know that if I keep the commandments and endure to the end that I will walk into the presence of my Heavenly Father again. I am so grateful for this knowledge, and I know that if you have any doubts or questions about life or what you should do, the Temple is the place to go. It has the ability to heal, to protect, and to bring peace.

I love you all, and I know that our Savior and Heavenly Father love you.

Until next time...;)

Is this a dream?

Sometimes I think it must be. I had honestly gotten to the point where I believed I was one of those women that General Authorities always mention when talking about marriage-you know, the ones that "will not have the opportunity in this life". I honestly did. I had come to terms with that, and I was okay with it. I had moved on, I had planned my life, and I was moving forward with it.

And then...

Along came the rest of my life.

It blindsided me. I was caught completely unawares. And I love it. :)

This is what happened:

I went to FHE to help out with an activity. I had all but stopped going to FHE at this point, because as I mentioned before, I had given up on the whole dating thing. However, I had promised to come and use my huge vehicle to transport people to the houses we were going to that night. I had not showered that morning, I had worked for eight hours with small children, and as such, was covered in kid goobers. I had also neglected to put contacts in, so I was wearing super-attractive secretary-style glasses. In a word: gross.

I was cutting out paper hearts with my friend Katy, and talking about how my awesome Party Van was going to be the car to be in that night. Right about that time, some new people walked in. In the party of new people was a guy. I didn't really take any notice of him, except he offered to help cut hearts out. We were almost done, so we didn't need him. After the lesson, we split up and got into cars to go Heart Attack some less actives in the ward.  He called dibs on the party van.

We went and did the Attacking, and headed back to the chapel. On the way back, I decided to go off obnoxiously about how I was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I couldn't believe I wasn't taken yet. I could cook, clean, handle several children at once, and I wasn't bad looking to boot! On and on I went, lamenting the dry spell I was experiencing, having not had a date for several months. Through all of this, the four passengers with me had to sit and listen to me be extremely annoying, and I was sure I wasn't making any new friends on the trip.

Boy, was I wrong.

When we got back to the chapel, I let my hostages out and started to walk toward the building. I saw a woman on the way, a good friend of mine, and started to talk to her about the cookies I had sent to her via my roomie. She and I talked for a good ten minutes about them, as she was interested in how I had iced them. The new guy hung around us for a few minutes, and then awkwardly walked away. I figured he wanted something, and I would find him later. After wrapping up my conversation, I walked into the building and down the hall. Not seeing the new guy, I turned around and walked out, got into my van, and left.

The next day I woke up and saw that I had a message and a friend request from the new guy. He said he would like to end my dating dry spell, and he needed my number to ask me out, as he has promised himself he would never ask a girl out through Facebook. So I grudgingly gave it to him. I didn't understand why he wanted it, and even tried to talk him out of it. He called on Thursday and we went out Saturday.

We both had a great time on the date. We went to dinner at my favorite place, went to a hockey game, and then got some ice cream. It was fun, but I didn't really think anything would come of it at the time.

Fast forward to a week later, I find out he is leaving for BYU in June. I knew at that point that anything that might have happened was now definitely not going to happen.

But then he asked me out on a second date.

And a third.

And a fourth.

And then we were dating.

And the rest is to be continued...;)

For My Brother

So, Jordan is my little brother. He is leaving on his mission to Brazil on Tuesday and I am so proud of him! He gave an awesome talk on the atonement today, and I know he is going to be a great missionary and bring many people to Christ. I know he doesn't read this blog, but I feel I need to write this for him.

Dear Jordan,

I love you! You are an amazing man, and I am so proud of you and your decision to serve the Lord for two years. I want you to know that I know that the message that you are going to bring to the people of Brazil, the good news of the Gospel, is true. I know that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. He died that we might live eternally with our Father in Heaven, and that we can be with our families forever. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove, and that he restored the truth to the earth in these Latter Days, and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of a loving Father in Heaven. I know that if we keep the commandments and follow Christ that we can be perfected and cleansed from sin. I know that the only way to have true and lasting joy in this life is to abide by the precepts laid out in the scriptures. I know that the Savior lives, and I know that he loves you! I love you so much!

Love,
Samantha ;)

Wrench

Have you ever noticed that just when you thought you had everything figured out, Heavenly Father decides to throw a wrench in your plans and you have to start all over again? This week I had a pretty big (albeit awesome) wrench thrown into my life.

You remember that date I told you about? Well. one date turned into two...then three...then four...and now I'm kinda in a relationship. And by kinda I mean definitely.

He is pretty much the best, and the fact that he puts up with me and my craziness and LIKES it is not only astonishing, but a completely new experience for me. I have to admit that it took a while for me to be okay with this new development, as I was still clinging to an old relationship pretty hard. But when I realized that I have never been treated as well or with as much respect ever in my life, I decided it would be okay to allow myself to let go of that old news and open myself up again.

I know most of you have probably gone through something similar, so you know how scary it feels to take a step into the dark and have the faith that everything will work out, but so far I am extremely glad that I did. Not only am I happier and less stressed than I have been in a while, but this new development feels so....right. I know I sound crazy (that's okay with me) but I feel like I have known him for a lot longer than a month. I have never felt so confident, so comfortable, or so open with any boy in my entire life.

Yeah, I know. As Bethany would say, "BARFO!!" Haha! But honestly, I am very excited to see where this wrench will take me.

The only major problem is that I have my final Temple recommend interview with my Stake President tomorrow, and now that I am in a relationship, I have NO idea what to do! I know Heavenly Father will help me to know which path to take, but it makes me nervous that basically as soon as I started down the road to the Temple, a fantastic boy shows up. What is the Lord trying to tell me here? Argh!

Can you tell I pretty much love my life? ;)

Anyway, I will let you all know what comes of this, so stay tuned. As always, I love you so very much, and I hope you know how very much more your Savior loves you!

<3 Sam

News

Well, it has been over a month since I last wrote, and a lot has happened!

• I went on a date (yes, this makes the list, since it is such a rare occurrence).

• I applied to UCCS, but haven't heard back.

• I bought a car!!! It's a 2003 Chevy Cavalier, and I love it! I named her Phoebe.

• I did not end up being the cook at the school I work for, so I am still in the classrooms. I work almost exclusively with the 2-2 1/2 year-old children, and it's fun!

• I applied for my substitute teacher license, but haven't paid for it yet (I'm broke, okay?).

I am excited that things are moving forward, and that everything I want to do is happening. Hopefully I will hear back from UCCS soon so I can apply for financial aid and get that going. I am feeling much more confident in myself and what I want for my life, and I have been much happier for it. I am just so grateful for the opportunities I have had in my life, and to discount all the things I have been able to do thus far would be very ungrateful of me. Anyway, that's the news for today! I will try to be more consistent for those three of you that read this blog! Haha! Love you all!

What's Next?

School. I have decided to go back and do something about that dead-end feeling. It struck me last week that I shouldn't allow lack of funding to hold me back, and so I am planning on enrolling in the Alternative License program at UCCS and get my Teaching License for Secondary Education. I want to eventually teach High School English. I have always wanted to teach, but my motivation just wasn't at the right level before now, and I figure I am at a stable enough point in my life to make it happen. Of course, it would have been easier to do when I was still and undergraduate, but I guess I'll just have to have faith that this is what I need to be doing right now. It struck me so forcefully that this is what I need to do, so I will trust that and move forward!

Contemplation

It's been a little over a month since I started my new job, and I still love it. The kids are just so fun to work with! I begin as the cook soon, and so I will not get to work with the kids as much as I would like, but the hours are much nicer, so it's kind of a trade-off. So that is my update as far as the job goes.

As far as everything else, it seems having a job that I like and am good at does not automatically solve all of my other problems. Lately I have just felt a little bit lost. Like there is no forward motion happening in my life. I suppose I have felt this way before, and every time I did, I would move. Move states, move apartment complexes, move out of the country, move back to the states, move out of my family's house. But right now, I have nowhere to go. I can't move. I don't know if I am just getting bored with where I am or if I am discontent with the way my life is going. Before, I could always escape. But there isn't an easy way out of the situation I am in now, and I don't know if changing my surroundings will be at all helpful to me right now.

So what I am left with is the monotony of a never-changing tomorrow that I feel powerless to change. I have a useless degree, a dead-end job, a student loan, and it looks as if very soon I will have to add a car payment to that list. I know I sound like a downer, but I'm not sad or upset, I am just at a loss of what to do next. I suppose I could find a way to keep traveling the world, but I don't believe that will bring me any more satisfaction in life than I have now.

As much as I harp on it, I want a purpose. I want to be needed. I need some kind of responsibility in life. I want to be a wife, a mother, a homemaker. But since thus far I have not even seriously dated, I doubt that I will be in that situation for a long time yet.

So then what? What does one do when denied what they have always viewed as the purpose of their time in this second estate? That is what I am trying to figure out. And so far, I am left a little confused and entirely at a loss.

I know what I want out of life. I know that I was born to a purpose and that I am an immeasurably valuable daughter of God. So what am I supposed to do? There has to be more than what I do now. I just have to find what it is that either I am missing, or that I haven't given enough thought, fasting, and prayer to have received an answer for. Until the day that I find it, I will remain a stalwart, faithful, and humble servant in the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. And if I say that enough times, maybe one day I will actually become all that I am needed to be.

;) Till next time!