Goals Before December

Guys!!

 

To help these next three months go by faster, I have decided to preoccupy myself with some personal goals. Here are my goals for the next  3 months:

 

1. Read the Doctrine & Covenants

 

This goal is my number 1 goal for a few reasons:

     -I've never read it before

     -I'll be teaching it next year in Gospel Doctrine

     -I'm not necessarily interested in early church history

     -I'd like to strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith

 

I have a goal to read 1-2 sections each day for the rest of the year. If I do this, I'm hoping I'll be able to bear testimony (witness) of the good that comes by studying the Doctrine & Covenants.

 

2. Stop Eating Out!

 

Ugh. I love to eat out. And it's adding up, in pounds and dollars and I need to stop because...

 

3. I Want To Lose 10 Pounds

 



Jarvis wakes up at 5:00 (most) every morning and goes to the gym. This is not something I'm willing to do, lets be real. But during the 2.5 hours I have between when the boys leave and when I have to be at work, I can do something at home. So I've been doing a little bit here and there, but I want to do more. I want to push myself. I want to prove to myself that I CAN DO THIS!!!

 

4. Replace Dr. Pepper with H2O

 

Let's be honest, I'm not super stoked about this one, but it'll be good. Hahaha

 

5. Re-listen to The 10 Commandments and take notes this time.

 

My cousin's pastor puts his sermons online and I LOVE them. I have learned so much about the scriptures listening to his sermons. I listened to the 10 Commandments series in July and would love to go back and listen to them and take notes this time. Who knows when I'll get this done, but it's important to me to do it so hopefully I can get this done by the end of the year.

 

 

I'll update everyone as I go, but for now...

 

Find Your Cause & Be An Advocate

"The hill you die upon."

I read that tonight in an article. At first I was confused. I'm not sure I love the delivery of the message, but as I continued reading, I realized it was a statement very applicable to my life right now.

You know how people say to pick your battles? Which issues do you believe are worth fighting over? In my marriage, friendships, and family relationships I let a lot of stuff slide… "like water on a duck's back," as my dad would say. But there are some things that I've realized I am waaaay too passionate about to let go of. Those are the issues I'm willing to fight about. Those are the hills I'm willing to do battle on and die on if necessary. No matter how tough the opposition, I will stand my ground.

Adoption is one of those issues.

I can't talk about this (or apparently type about this) without getting tears in my eyes. I educated myself about abortion oh, less than a year ago (maybe a year ago) and sobbed myself to sleep for a few nights. I'm not going to argue against it, but I will promote another option that I believe will get you a first class ticket to heaven. It hurts my heart to think of all the babies in this country being aborted every year and although I have the heart to love and adopt some of those children, I don't have enough love in my heart to adopt all of them. BUT! I DO believe there is enough love in this country to love all of them. So I will promote adoption to every person I talk to. Whether that's giving an unplanned or unwanted baby up for adoption or promoting adoption to each couple that wants to talk about family planning, you're gonna hear it from me and that's a soap box I'll never apologize for getting on. ;)

Autism, Down Syndrome, and other genetic/developmental mental or physical disorders are another.

I have never had direct experience with mentally or physically handicapped children or adults, but it seems everyone else in my life has. My best friend worked at a special needs preschool for years, my husband worked with special needs adults during college, and his whole family has been involved one way or another with mentally or physically handicapped individuals. When my husband's fraternity was starting out at USU, they were inspired to choose RODS as their philanthropy. RODS, Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome, is an organization that raises money for families looking to adopt children with Down Syndrome from countries all over the world. (Children in second and third world countries that are born with mental disabilities are usually abandoned at birth and grow up in an orphanage so overwhelmed with special needs children that they are neglected and usually die at a very young age. If that's not enough to soften your heart then there's no hope for you. *wink*) When Jarvis and I were engaged I let him know that adoption was a passion of mine and that I had a goal to adopt one or more children into our family. He was 100% on board with it and asked that at least one of them come from the RODS organization. That was the beginning of our beautiful "dream family." Autism is also dear to my heart and I get heated when it's used as a reason not to vaccinate, as if having a child with autism is the worst possible thing that could happen to a child, worse than polio, measles, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella, mumps, tetanus, etc. I seriously could kill over an ignorant statement like that. (God, help me love my enemies.) I have caught on to the wonderful, loving spirit that mentally disabled children bring into their families and when my aunt announced that my cousin was diagnosed with mild/moderate autism, I was not at all surprised when my initial reaction was "How lucky. Their family has just been so, so blessed." Physically handicapped children also have some of the sweetest and most loving spirits. I have a cousin whose daughter has Spina Bifida and watching the emotional and physical struggles can be heartbreaking, but watching the triumphs is the most inspiring thing I've ever experienced. I would never wish that on anyone. It's up to God to give that trial/blessing to someone because He knows who has the strength to handle it. But boy, it sure seems like the blessings out-weigh the struggles sometimes. Through my experience watching family members, it's probably one of the most beautiful things one could experience in life, to associate with the mentally and physically handicapped. What a blessing!

And apparently, Agriculture is another cause I've become passionate about. (I can thank Jarvis and the Farm Bureau, specifically the Young Farmers and Ranchers organization, for that one.)

Where does our food come from? Farmers. Livestock. Production. And what would we do without it?… STARVE. So it blows my mind how our society (government and citizens) is smothering and fighting against the industry! The average farmer is over 50 years old and I don't know if you've noticed, but there aren't very many children hoping to grow up to be farmers or ranchers one day. Farmers are the only people that buy their supplies at retail cost, sell at wholesale, and pay the cost of shipping both ways. And then you have companies like Chipotle and Subway striking fear into people's hearts about safe food production procedures. Farming is a lose-lose-lose business and that needs to change. Between the years 2000 and 2050, our population will double and we will need to produce as much food as we did from the BEGINNING OF TIME up to the year 2000. We will not survive if our society keeps attacking farmers and ranchers for producing food in the safest and most cost effective way. And we won't survive unless people learn to get involved and become hobby farmers. Farm Bureau is a great organization that supports the career and hobby farmers and it promotes "agvocacy" to community and state leaders. People need to know about the issues facing the 21st century farmer and how they can help keep the industry alive. I knew nothing about Ag 2 years ago. And now I do. It's a great industry to be a part of so if you have any questions about how to get involved, text me!! I'd love to help you.

I've realized over the last year or so that I believe in being an advocate. That supporting a cause dear to my heart will be an incredible life work and one of the most satisfying uses of my time and my talents. Besides raising a large, loving family, I can't imagine anything more important.

So I've recently added to my list of priorities:

"being an active advocate for the issues I'm passionate about."

I'm so glad that these issues came to me in my younger years.

It'll be great to look back on my life when I'm super old and be proud of the things I fought for.

My New To-Do's (with excerpts from my journal)

I spent a lot of time writing in my journal yesterday. 

I read an article from Time.com a while back titled "18 Behaviors of Emotionally Intelligent People" (you might have seen the link floating around on Facebook. You can read it here if you'd like) and I really enjoyed what I read. It's important to me to be introspective and honest about myself and to always be looking for areas to improve in. That list had a lot of great stuff and I wanted to make sure I could look back on it so I spent a lot of time summarizing that list into my journal for future reference.

I also wrote about Lexi and how horrible and helpless I felt during the attack and afterward at the vet while she was having surgery. It wasn't until I was writing down the whole experience that I realized something very important:

"Watching her on the ground was one of the most terrifying moments of my life and it hit me while we were at the vet... this is just the beginning. There are going to be moments, terrifying moments, when my children or husband or pets are hurt or in trouble or in danger and I won't know if they'll be ok. There are going to be times when it feels like my world is spinning. I hope my first reaction is to call on my Heavenly Father. I said a prayer on the way home from the clinic thanking my Heavenly Father for Lexi's strength and resilience and health, but that was the first time I thought to pray. I hope I learn to lean on Him sooner, always."

I am usually pretty quick to thank my Heavenly Father for everything, but I am SLOW to ask for His help... and I don't particularly like that about myself. Why do I try to do everything on my own?? I am a very independent person. I don't like showing weakness (I'm not sure anybody really does), but why do I feel the need to hide my weakness from my Heavenly Father?? That's impossible. He already knows about them and He's the most capable at helping me... helping me through them and helping me overcome them. 

(So as well as working on those 18 Behaviors of Emotionally Intelligent People I am going to be working on this.)

As I wrote about needing my Heavenly Father and remembering that I need him, I pondered on the relationship I already have with Him. I say it all the time and I'll say it forever: my relationship with God is my greatest blessing. I have always felt loved by Him. I have always felt like He knows me and needs me and loves me. And these feelings reminded me of the conversation Jarvis and I had on Sunday night with our friends, Jenny and Jesse. "Jesse made a comment about how God gives and then takes a step back and lets us build with what He gave us. I love that. It illustrates the idea that God trusts us. I like to think that God trusts me. Some might think, then, that when He steps in to suggest a change in our plans that He doesn't trust us anymore, but I think that is another great expression of His love. That He loves us too much to not give us the best."

"I know God wants the best for me. I absolutely, 100% believe that. It's incredible to feel that kind of unconditional love. I hope that I can learn to love the way God loves me."

So in addition to the 18 things and being quick to ask for help, I want to know if it's possible to love others the way that God loves us. And if it is possible, how do I accomplish that??

That's my new study subject. Wish me luck. :)

My 1st Mother's Day

Just wanted to share this absolutely perfect song in honor of my first Mother's Day.

Thanks for making me a mommy, Luke. I love you. XOXO

#DeathByKayla

Right after I found out I was pregnant I was introduced to @kayla_itsines on Instagram... which was good and bad.

Good because for the next 7 months I saw motivational before and after pictures of girls using her 12 week workout guide and it really inspired me to get healthy.

Bad because I got pregnant when I was the biggest I had ever been in my life, I was only going to get bigger, and I was going to have to wait MONTHS until I could finally start doing something about it.

So I patiently waited to not be pregnant anymore and just before Luke was born I bought Kayla's e-guide. (You can buy it here.) And then after Luke was born, I waited again to get cleared for exercise. 8 weeks later and I'm finally starting the workout guide!!

I am so excited. I'm currently debating whether or not to post my before pics in this post, but I think I'll wait until I finish the 16 weeks of workouts (I'm doing the pre-workouts, too) and then I'll post my before and afters. Or maybe I'll post some progress shots along the way?? I still haven't decided.

Anyway, I did the first workout today and my legs are DYING!!! It's true what they say... it's #DeathByKayla

But I'm excited about it.

Goals aka My Vision Board

Well, I'm back to blogging (at least for now) and the first thing I wanted to share was something I've been working on the last couple days…

I made a vision board a couple years ago so I could visualize the goals I wanted to accomplish. I spent an afternoon finding pictures that represented my goals, I organized them on a paper and printed it off. I kept the paper in my wallet and looked at it often. It wasn't anything super crazy, but after about 6 months I realized I had accomplished just over half of the goals I had put on that paper. So a couple weeks ago I decided to do it again. I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish in the next year or so and I've put the pictures on paper. I'm going to be keeping it in my wallet again and hopefully I can cross some of these pics off as I accomplish them.

So here's my vision board: (I added numbers to the pictures so I could explain them easier for you)

1. I live across the street from the temple, but haven't been since my sister-in-law went through for her first time. I want to attend the temple more often.

2. Money. Who doesn't want more of that?! (We want to pay off debt or…)

3. Go on a cruise!! Jarv and I have both been on one, but I want to go on one together.

4. Riding horses. I've only done it a handful of times in my life, but I really enjoy it. Jarvis' family has a few horses and I want to ride them more often.

5. I struggle with this… I get worked up about stupid stuff and I want to stop. I need to remember that some problems aren't mine and any of my own problems I can handle with God's help. He will take care of me if I just let him take it all.

6. I haven't really decorated our place and we've lived here for over a year. Decorating isn't one of my strengths. We have a huge pile of pictures to hang up and I want to get them on the wall!!

7. Kayla Itsines Workout Guide (and a before and after of my friend half way through it.) This workout guide is legit!! The before and after pictures on Instagram teased me throughout my whole pregnancy. I'm so excited to not be pregnant anymore so I can start it.

8. AT&T. Because I work there and I'm going back in June and I want to do the best I can when I get back.

9. My Savior. I put this in the center because I want to live a Christ centered life. Everything I am and have I have because of Him. I don't want to forget that.

10. Me and Jarvis. I want to take more pictures of the two of us.

11. I don't have a piano, but I love to play… even though I don't really know how to, haha. If we can get into a house I'm going to beg my mom to let me bring her piano up here and I want to start playing. In the meantime, I'll have to settle for playing my stepmom's piano when we go out to visit her.

12. Oh, Luke. I put his picture on here to remind me how my life has changed for the better since he was born and to help me be the best mother I can be.

13. I want to read more. I made a goal to read 5 books and I've finished one and am almost done with another. I'm gonna have to add more books to my list because I think 5 is going to be too few for 2015.

14. Writing in my journal, of course. Just keep it up. :)

15. I want to read the New Testament this year. So this is to remind me to read the Bible every day.

16. I'm trying to improve in so many different areas. I figure as long as I remember this I'll keep progressing.

17. I want to get out and walk Lexi more often. She's pretty lazy and is an inside dog so it can be easy being lazy with her. We play a lot out on the grass, but I want to take her for more walks.

18. Play my cello more. The last time I played was for my grandma's funeral. That was almost a year ago. :(

19. Another picture of my family. Just because.

20. I want a new car. We don't need one, but I want one. So this doesn't HAVE to happen, but I'm putting it on here anyway.

21. And last but not least, clouds and trees always give me that attitude of gratitude. Seeing them always makes me grateful for what I have, for where I live, for my life. So I put that picture on there to remind me that no matter what I still want to accomplish, my life is pretty great as it is.

So that's it. My goals for the next year or so.

Why Are We So Focused On The Line??

My mind is kind of all over the place right now so don't be surprised if this blog post is too. :)

I read an article earlier today...

http://thisweekinmormons.com/2014/01/stop-it-with-the-r-rated-movies-thing/

... and it got me thinking about why Mormons do what they (we) do and I wanted to share my thoughts. I found the link on Facebook, but I didn't think that was the right place to express my feelings about this. That's when I remembered my blog!! (My poor, forgotten blog...) This is definitely a better place to express myself. :)

Like I said, my mind has kind of been all over the place so forgive me if I'm not making sense, but what started out as a moment of pondering the rated R movie thing turned into me pondering lots of other things that I've been taught since I was little.

So first off, rated R movies. You can ask anyone, I don't watch them... usually. I'm grateful that, for the most part, an R rating at the end of an amazing movie trailer is enough for me to say "Nevermind. I don't want to watch it anymore." My mindset has kind of always been "I don't need to invite any more vices into my life. I have enough already." And that's gotten me through almost 25 years of life with few rated R movie interruptions. :)

I do own a couple, though, and I'd love to own a few more. I love The Green Mile because, like a commenter from the article said, this movie "inspired me and taught me a great deal about mankind, hope, redemption, forgiveness, love, family, etc." Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers humbled me a gave me a greater respect for what members in the military have gone through to defend freedom. The Patriot taught me about the lengths people have gone to in order to do the right thing and reminded me that I'll probably never have to do so much in order to stand up for what is right. The Hurt Locker helped me understand why someone close to me changed so much while being deployed and why coming back to civilian life wasn't the release I thought it was going to be for him.

I have learned a lot from those movies and they're all rated R, but I feel like I'm a better person for watching them. I can't say the same for a lot of the PG-13 movies I've seen. And that's the point that the author of that article was making. Which is why I've adopted this as my standard:

"The Lord's way is that we hearken to our leaders' teachings, understand correct principles, and govern ourselves" ("The Lord's Way" by Stanley G. Ellis.)

I feel like as I've grown up I understand the purpose behind the suggestion to not watch rated R movies. I understand the WHY. Why should I not watch movies that are crude, vulgar, violent, and sexual?? Because they don't fit with the Christ-centered life that I'm trying to live.

I feel like so many people don't understand the WHY so they argue that crude, vulgar, violent, and sexual PG-13 movies are fine, as long as they aren't rated R. That's the danger in focusing on the line drawn instead of why it was drawn in the first place.

I'm not really sure at this point where I want to go with all of this. I'm remembering what Elder Bednar taught in St. George a couple years ago about the Lord's side of the line. He cautioned us to stay away from the line. Don't focus on the line, with Satan on one side and our Savior on the other. Turn your back to the line and focus on the Savior. And follow Him. By doing so, you will always be walking away from the line, moving farther and farther from Satan and closer and closer to our Savior.

I'm also thinking about how judgmental we can be sometimes when we hear about people standing so close to that line... and how judgmental we can all be in general, I guess. I'm reflecting on my own attitudes and actions towards others and I wonder how I can become more Christ-like.

So back up to the top where I wrote that I've been pondering a lot of other things I've been taught since I was little...

I've thought a lot today about WHY I do the things I do? Not just about WHY I don't watch rated R movies and WHY I go to church on Sunday? But, WHY did I decide to get baptized when I was 8? WHY have I continued to choose Mormonism as I've grown into adulthood? WHY do I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church of Jesus Christ back on the earth? WHY did I decide to make covenants with my Heavenly Father? WHY did I want to get married in the temple? WHY?!

I can assure you, and J will back me up here, I absolutely hate to be pushed to do things. I don't appreciate being forced to do anything and I will straight up FIGHT back if I feel pressure. So it's definitely not because I was told to. My parents were great about teaching me correct principles and letting me govern myself. And that's exactly why I gave my BYU-graduate mother the reasons I did when she asked me why I didn't want to attend BYU. I told her that I wanted the freedom to dress modestly because I WANTED to, not because it was a school rule and I needed to know for myself that I WANTED to do it. I needed the freedom to choose.

I know WHY I did (and still do) all of those things because I had the freedom to choose. I didn't make covenants with my Heavenly Father because it's the "it thing to do" in my Mormon young-adult years. I didn't get married in the temple because I was afraid if I didn't I would be judged by my friends and family. And I don't go to church because my mom and dad make me.

Because I was taught correct principles and was allowed to govern myself I feel like I am converted so much more than I would be if I had been told to do all of these things. So I guess that's the moral of all of this... (I'm rolling my eyes because I don't even know if that's the point of my rambling...)

Instead of focusing on the line that divides what I can and cannot do, I'm going to focus on the Savior. I'm going to focus on His teachings. And I'm going to decide for myself if what I'm doing is in harmony with a Christ-centered life. I'm not going to let a movie rating or the cultural norm influence what is right and wrong. I think that's how I interpret the article's last headline "Rate it yourself with better resources."

Anyway... I've ignored Jarvis for long enough.
I'll write again soon. :)

Currently

Listening... to country. Megan, Jarvis and I are on our way down to St. George for the marathon (to watch, not run!! haha) and Jarv is in charge of the music. :)

Loving... that J sings to every song that plays even when he doesn't know the words. He has a really good voice and it's fun to hear him mess up. I also love that he knows which songs I just want to listen to. Goll, this man is good. Love him!!

Thinking... about this product called Protandim that I was introduced to a while back and if it could possibly help with the arthritis in my left hip. Exercise was helping for a while, but the pain is starting to come back and it's showing up every now and then in my right hip, too. My family doc said that eventually I'll need a hip replacement. Yeah, that wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it didn't bother me until I googled "hip replacement scar." WT...!!!! I do NOT want one of those... or if I'm right about my other hip, TWO hip replacement scars. No thank you. So yeah, doing some research now on a product that might be able to help.

Wanting... to be done driving. I've been in the car too much this week. :/

Needing... to be a little more positive. Haha, I feel like I'm not being very positive and/or grateful right now. "Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." I think I'll put some extra effort this weekend into expressing my love and gratitude to my Heavenly Father and also my family, since I'll be around them all weekend.

OLW... one little word... scared.



Sorry bout the pic. I know it's gross, but having one (or two) of these someday scares me so bad. Can I just stop collecting huge ugly scars already?!! :(

Our Story

So I don't know quite where to start... I mean, I DO... but HOW to start... that's the question... 

Let's see, let's see... Oh I know how I'll start this story...

"Once upon a long time ago in a pretty little town called Logan, Jarvis and Tierra dated."

Yep. :)

It was a couple years ago and it was casual, but they stayed friends, so last year when Tierra came up to visit me in Logan, I wasn't surprised when she said she wanted to go out to dinner with Jarvis and a couple of his friends. It was fun. We went to Texas Roadhouse and we all talked and laughed and that was basically it. That was the first time I met my future husband.

Now fast forward 11 months... Jarvis and I met again on Tinder.

Yep. :)

I didn't recognize him, but he was super cute and was wearing "I ❤️ USU" glasses. Of course I swiped right. ;) We started texting back and forth. Jarv was hilarious and I liked talking to him. When we first started talking he made the comment that I must be cool considering our mutual friends (Tinder links with Facebook for all you married folk out there.) I hadn't even noticed our mutual friends before so I went and looked and as I was scrolling through I saw Tierra. It only took a second. Almost immediately I realized "Oh my gosh... THIS IS TIERRA'S JARVIS!!!!" A flood of Texas Roadhouse memories came rushing back to me and I wrote back "Haha I didn't even realize it until you said something, but Tierra is my best friend... and we've met before."

I called T. Davis immediately and filled her in on how small the world had just gotten. It was pretty funny, actually, but she was really cool about it and told me to go for it. "Why not??" she said. "You never know what could happen." So I agreed to go out with him... but I never planned on dating him. He had dated my best friend and that would just be weird. 

For our first date, Jarvis took me to the Red Iguana. The wait time is always long (and worth it) so we had plenty of time to talk before dinner. We walked a little ways and talked and I just remember thinking "this doesn't feel like a first date. It's so easy to talk to him." By the time we were seated I felt like we were really good friends. We could joke around with each other and laugh. It was a lot of fun. At some point during dinner movies came up. I think he asked me if I had seen any good movies lately... I had just seen The Great Gatsby for the fifth time in theaters, so yeah. I was a little embarrassed to admit it, but I told him about it and he laughed. He said he hadn't seen it yet then added "but if it's really that good we should go see it." I figured he meant some other time, you know, because everybody does, but he pulled out his phone right there and looked up show times for that night. I think that was the moment I fell in love with him. ;) jk, but really, he scored serious brownie points. One of the first things I learned about him that night was that he was a "doer" and I liked that about him. :)

And the doing didn't stop there. Before I knew it I was going on all these dates with him. We went to lunch together, we went to a drive in movie, we went miniature golfing... I never planned on dating him, but the night that we went miniature golfing changed my mind about him. We opened up a lot to each other and towards the end of the night I realized I really liked him... and I wanted him to know. I wasn't sure how to tell him, though, so I waited... and I waited... and I waited. We drove all over the place that night and talked about everything. I told him about the Brandi Carlile concert coming up and asked if he wanted to go with me. It was at the Red Butte Gardens and I figured we could just hike up the mountain and listen to the music and enjoy each other's company. He said he had never heard her music, but it sounded like it would be fun. So we pulled over and looked up Brandi Carlile on Spotify. We were listening to The Story and talking... and then we stopped talking... silence wasn't awkward with him, but I looked over at him and he looked at me and then he kissed me. Finally!!! Haha, I had been wanting to kiss him all night. ;)

After that we started doing even more together. We drove to Draper and watched the Utah symphony one night. He took me to his house to go horseback riding. We drove all over one night trying to find parking for this huge firework show in Midvale we found out about way last minute. He took me to the Fiesta Days Rodeo in Spanish Fork. He became one of my best friends almost overnight. We talked about everything and even though we came from two very different backgrounds, I felt like he totally knew where I was coming from when I talked about why I am the way I am. Every day I spent with him, I realized how perfect he was for me. That didn't make me any less scared of commitment, though.

Jarvis and I joke around that I'm a slow poke. He gets to a place in our relationship, waits for me to catch up, and by the time I do he's already moving on without me. I am a little more cautious and wary when it comes to commitment because I feel like I've messed up two, I mean, too, many times before. ;) I really did make Jarvis wait. Then again, this has happened pretty fast, so I didn't really make him wait THAT long. ;) Right before we went down to St. George I told him I wanted to be exclusive... something he had brought up weeks before. I knew I was in love with him then, but I wanted him to say it first. So I waited... and I waited... and I waited... all weekend I waited and it almost killed me, but the night we got back to Salt Lake he told me he loved me. And I said it back. :) A week later, he said he wanted to marry me...

See what I mean!! He gets somewhere, waits for me to catch up, and then moves on without me. ;) I'm surprised I wasn't freaked out that night that we first talked about marriage. In my head it seemed way too fast, but in my heart I knew it was right. I was looking at Jarvis as he talked about how much he loved me and I knew more than anything that this could really work. What he and I had was different. I knew I loved him. I knew I could trust him. I just knew. That night miniature golfing I told Jarvis that I was just waiting for a guy to come along that would make things different. And that's him. He is so amazing and has made it so easy for me. He is exactly what I needed.

So now we're moving forward, this time at the same rate. :) I'm excited to have him on my team and I'm excited to be on his team. I appreciate so much about him and I look forward to seeing him everyday. I've never felt like this before and that makes me so happy!!!

It's Official!!

Jarvis asked me to marry him last weekend and I said yes!! We're both pretty excited about it.

We roll our eyes at ourselves when we think about how fast it happened. Neither of us wanted to be "that couple." You know, the ones that say "when you know you know." But that's us!!! Haha, all jokes aside, though, I'm incredibly happy and I couldn't have found a more perfect man for me. I'm really excited to spend my life with J. He's the best. :)

Not very many of my friends and/or family know Jarvis really well so I'll fill you in on the important things:

-J likes milk chocolate chips in his cookies. It was our 4th date... We had just finished miniature golfing (where I kicked his trash TWICE!!) We were sitting in his car listening to Brandi Carlile when he turned to me and very seriously asked "what kind of chocolate chips do you like in your cookies?" We had opened up quite a bit with each other by this point, but nothing we had talked about thus far was as important as this question. I knew how much was riding on this answer. There is only one right way to answer this question and "milk chocolate" is not it. I was so disappointed in him when he shook his head at me as I answered... it's ok, though. I told him we could compromise. I'll split the dough in half when I make cookies so I can have semi-sweet and he can have milk chocolate. See, we're already compromising so well. ;)

-Jarvis is an Ag Science teacher at two high schools in Ogden. He's awesome and scored the jobs the day before school started this year. It made for quite an eventful week and I'm so proud of him!! He absolutely loves teaching and is having a lot of fun with his students. On the first day of school he told them he loves Dr. Pepper and I don't think a week has gone by that he hasn't had a student bring him a drink.

-Jarvis will be graduating from Utah State University this December. He was super involved on campus and in his fraternity and I'm sad for him that it's all coming to a close, but I'm excited that he'll be graduating and moving on... (more like moving on and THEN graduating in his case. Haha)

-Jarv loves horses and sheep and all things farm and country. He grew up in Spanish Fork and although I wouldn't say he's 100% cowboy, he's definitely more country than I am. And he is loving this whole "countrifying" business with me!! He's teaching me how to ride horses and identify different types of cattle. I'm still not great at identifying horse names, BUT I can now recognize George Strait and Johnny Cash when they're playing in the car. So that's an improvement. ;)

-Jarvis is so easy to be with. He is so much like me. We totally get each other. We are very different in a lot of ways, but we think the same, we react the same. I know I can look at him and he knows what I'm feeling or what I'm thinking. He is in my corner always and I know that I can count on him for anything. We don't always agree with each other, but he never makes me feel bad for thinking differently than he does. He's open minded and brilliant and so loving and caring. He is so good to me. He's respectful and kind and so much fun!!! He makes me laugh all the time. I love him so much!!

When I was driving through Idaho a couple weeks ago I was thinking about Jarvis and how great he is and how good he is to me. I got thinking about my past relationships and how those guys made me believe that the man I wanted didn't exist. I had been in two serious relationships before Jarv and after I ended those I seriously questioned myself and my priorities. I started to wonder if my expectations were too high, like I had been told so many times by one of my ex-boyfriends. I questioned myself and wondered if I would ever find the guy that could lead me in my relationship with God and Jesus Christ, but who would also know how to deal with my crazy, adventurous, wild side. I wondered if I would ever find the guy that was a little rough around the edges like I needed, but kind and loving, too. It all kind of flooded through me while I was driving and I was so overcome with gratitude that Heavenly Father sent me Jarvis, the perfect man for me. It brought me to tears to think about how blessed I am to have Jarvis in my life. 

So yeah, it's fast... believe me, I know that. But when you know, you know... you know?! :)