Livin’ and Lovin’

 Hey guys. 

Okay. My life has changed 1000x over since I last wrote. I’m not even sure where to start. Probably with the summer?

Okay. Soo. I went to Florida a second time, tickets were CHEAP. It was a fun fun trip full of self-care. Beach, skinny dipping, massages, pedicures, exercising, bike rides, etc. It was great. So grateful for my friendship with Carlie. She a day one homie. Well, not a day one... but a day one mission homie. 

August... we were gone every weekend, and all but one were out of state for me. It was a whirlwind of fun, that’s for sure! The first weekend of August I was in Arizona for Sydney’s wedding! It was so so much fun! I had the travel home horror story from hell, (a five hour day turned into 14), but it was okay. 

Second weekend we drove down to Utah for my girl Kaylee’s wedding. It was a great time! We did some hiking, hung out with the Young’s, and just enjoyed the love that is Utah. 

Third weekend we went down to Southern Oregon to go to the Wildlife Safari. I haven’t been there since I was little little, and it was so fun going there with Oliver, Daisy, and baby Iyla. I drove, and Ollie and Daisy took turns sitting on my lap. Oliver loved the lions and the giraffes. Daisy loved the giraffes and the elephants. Mandy hated the buffalo 😂 And grandma’s driving. And our hotel was kinda sketchy, but honestly it was so so so fun. Grandma came as well as Share and her kids, and Aunt Shannon. It was a blast. 

The next weekend we drove down to Utah again for Kora’s wedding. Her wedding was so so so beautiful! I loved every minute of it. She was sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos temple, and had her vow ceremony and reception at the ampitheatre next door. I’m got some great quality time with my old college roommates, and hung out with Tat and her adorable little girl Harper for a good chunk of the day. 

That night, when I was driving back to the Young’s, I passed the temple. It was dark, and the white lights of the temple contrasted against the sky. As I glanced over that direction, looking at that beautiful structure, the spirit hit me with the impression, “Move to Utah”. A quiet peace filled me, and finally the patient waiting for the go-ahead from God was over. Conveniently, I matched with my boyfriend on mutual the very next day (more on that story later). 

I planned on moving to Utah in January, be home for the Holidays and ShaeLee’s wedding... but God had a different plan in mind. (More on that later too). 

Okay. So one of the Monday’s in August. ShaeLee got married (what?), and that was a fun small and simple wedding. 

The first weekend in September, we went camping over Labor Day weekend up at Detroit Lake. It was super fun! Amanda and the babies came, and so did Kylee and Daisy. Aunt Shannon came over the weekend, and we had a blast. We ended up leaving a day earlier than we anticipated, which was so so good because it ended up being evacuated a day later due to the fires. 

The next week or so was filled with Oregon being engulfed in flames. The night was red and orange with fire all day. The smoke was tangible... the air quality index was in the 500’s. I can’t quite remember if it jumped into the 600’s... but it was bad. It was painful to breathe outside. My nose would become stuffed, my eyes water... and it was sad thinking of all the people who lost their homes, the hikes that were destroyed, the habitats that were engulfed. Anyway. 

So. I’m living my life. I’m enjoying being home, I have a great relationship with the people in my family, Brandon and I would still get together and play pickleball every now and again, I got as many baby snuggles as I could muster. We hiked, and adventured... and then I got an email to interview for a job that I had applied for... in Utah. I interviewed, and I accepted the offer. And instead of moving to Utah in January, I was packing, and completely a cross country trip 3 weeks later. 

It was so hard saying bye to the fam. I sobbed when I said bye to Kylee and Daisy. Full-on ugly sobbed.  I just love them so much and I absolutely cherish the time I get to spend with them. 

We packed up Grandpa’s truck, and drove down to Utah on a Sunday. We got there that night, unloaded at my apartment in Lehi, and later I went on my first date with Trevor Jake Haynes. This boy. Wow. I was kinda nervous, but we went back to his house (met his parents on our first date... didn’t scare me apparently haha), and then we took the truck and went star-gazing. 

When I say that I have never connected with someone so well, I mean it. I felt immediately comfortable, felt like I could talk to him about anything and everything, and felt like I’ve known him forever. I may or may not have pulled an all-nighter (yikes), but it was amazing. 

That morning mom and I caught a flight to Virginia and spent the next two days visiting with friends and seeing some of my favorite places in Virginia. We hiked Sharptooth, and we went to Monticello. We visited Kenzie and my best friends and I loved every second of it. It was hard to leave that place that meant so much to me, but it was good closure. 

Mom and I made a 30 hour trip in two days, stayed in a murder hotel, and had a great time. I heard her sing some songs a capella 100x, but it was great. We got back to Utah, got moved in, made 894032 trips to Walmart, and settled in. Mom drove home the following Sunday. 

I started work on Monday, and it was great. I absolutely love my job. I love my housemates. And life in Utah is great. 

So. Let me tell you about this boy. 

He. Is. Amazing. 

He is a family man. 

He loves the outdoors. 

He makes me laugh. 

He treats me like a queen. 

He loves God. 

I’m in love with him

And I have every intention of marrying him. 

Anyway. That adventure is TBD. 

Love you guys. Thanks for reading. 

Life Updates and Break ups

Hello! 

Hi all. 

It has been a HOT minute since I’ve written. 

I graduated from college. 3.74 GPA. Not too bad considering how awful finishing classes online was. 

My diploma came in the mail, so I officially did it. Boom baby. 

The weekend after finals, I flew to Utah (Saw Kaylee and Sierra, and Tat), was there for less than 24 hours, and then drove cross country with Carlie! It was seriously SUCH a bomb freaking road trip. We saw a few temples, Carlie got pulled over within our first hour of driving (just a warning though), we saw friends in Texas and friends in Louisiana, listened to emo music, took tons of videos, and partied it up in Florida. I met a man while I was there, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. I guess I’m a little crazy, so I accepted. Yup. I started dating a man I had just met. (...and may or may not have accepted a promise ring from him). At the time, I felt good about it all. I connected really well with him. 

Well, we dated for about a month. I broke up with him because

• He was trying to control my time (would be defensive if I had something to do with my family in the evening, even if I had already talked to him for hours in the day)
• He was pushing me to make decisions I wasn’t ready to make
• Didn’t trust me
• Had a dysfunctional relationship with his mom
• Wasn’t listening to what I was telling him
• Struggled with mental illness
• Said the things that I wanted to hear, not what was real. 
• Rushing me
• Not solid in the gospel 

Anyway. There were lots of good things too. I felt wanted, pursued, and cared about. He was active towards attaining the future. And I think he genuinely loved me... as much as a person can after knowing them for a month, at least. 

Breaking up with him was hard, but it definitely felt like the right thing. And I feel that even more now. 

Okay. 

Let’s see. 

Amanda had her baby. Wow. What an experience that was. Amanda almost died, it was a miracle that she survived honestly. We were in Redmond at the time, and were getting updated from Brandon through phone calls  and text messages. There was a point where the situation became dire, that I thought the next call from Brandon would be him telling me that Mandy had died. But we prayed as a family, and I felt very overwhelmed with the feeling that “God is in control”. And I trust God. So I trust that. Iyla had to undergo therapeutic hypothermia in hopes to ward of any brain damage that would be the result of being without oxygen for nearly 15 minutes. She responded GREAT to the treatment, and now mama and baby are doing great! Iyla was born on June 28th. 

Hmmmm. So I’ve just been working! It’s a really good flexible job, and I love getting to work with Byron. 

I just bought another plane ticket to FLorida, and am sitting in the Denver airport during my 7 hour layover on my way home from visiting Carlie. And it was another great trip. 

Anyway, that’s about all I can think about right now. 

Here’s to constantly trying to get my life in order. 

rollin’ with the punches

Well then, within the last 14 days my life has been turned upside down and sideways.

In short, COVID-19 has done it’s deed at SVU and the state of Oregon.

All classes at SVU has been moved online, campus will be shut down by the end of March, and all students encouraged to return home. Commencement was cancelled. And within a week of all those announcements, I am home. I said good-bye to Virginia, packed up my things in 24 hours, and was on a plane ride home to Oregon. (Bright side of those flights, had the row to myself on both flights!)

Back to sad the stuff though (slight sarcasm):

Within a week I had to say good-bye to a place that has held my heart and been a sacred place in my story since 2014. My heart broke was hurt, and it all felt heavy. SVU is just such a special place to me, and it always will be.

I was already slowly mourning my goodbye to a place that had become so dear to me, but I wasn’t ready for my time there to end so abruptly.

Ironically, the day that this all went down, I woke up feeling an urgent prompting from the spirit that I need to be with my family. So at least Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me.

I cried a lot.

And then the high school girls (who’s program I have been a part of 3.5 years)  surprised me and came over with Virginia stickers, and a virginia cutout, and after they left I BAWLED. I broke. I left myself cry and then after that, I told myself no more tears. And so far, I’ve done okay with that.

(Uncle Shad, thank you for freaking mom out btw).

I’m curious to see how well I handle online school for the next 2 months, but may the odds be ever in the favor my GPA.

So far, I’ve spent lots and lots of quality time with my family (which I have LOVED), and am slowly adjusting to doing school online. So, although it is hard... all is well and I’m trying to see the bright side of things.

Some negatives: I haven’t ran a single time since I’ve been back (THAT IS CHANGING), and I’ve eaten absolute garabage... but don’t worry. Imma fix it.

Anyway.

Life is good. God is good. I’m grateful for the amazing things that I DO have... and that I have a loving family to come home to. All is well.