On Wednesday, I decided to head up to Jackson Hole to meet up with Will’s family before they drove up to South Dakota to visit Will.
Spur of the moment trips are always my fave.
I took a van from Salt Lake City.
My driver was a transvestite named Thomas.
So, there’s that.
Fake nails, earring studs, blasting Miley Cyrus, chewing tobacco, the whole sha-bang.
Truly an experience.
Will’s cute mom, Jeni, is ADVENTURE QUEEN.
We saw everything there is/was to see in South Dakota.
Love his cute sissies and mom.
These are the “BAD LANDS” in South Dakota.
…… typical.
On our way we went to Martin’s Cove.
So grateful for the pioneers (and that I didn’t have to go through that…)
22 mile bike ride to Crazy Horse Memorial!
(if you don’t know what Crazy Horse is please look it up. it’s a monument the Indians have been carving for like 30 years and all they have completed is the face. they say it will be the biggest monument on earth once completed….. in 239812 years….)
Did you know Mount Rushmore was supposed to look like this?
it all still feels like a dream but i am getting married!
seriously so excited.here’s the story….
on april 10th i flew to daytona beach with my dance team to compete in the NDA college national competition. i was hoping to fly home with two national titles… but instead, i flew home with 2 national titles PLUS an engagement ring!
it’s safe to say i had the best week of my whole life.
on thursday, we competed in the preliminary round in the open dance division. we placed 1st which meant we would make it into the finals round the next day (only the top 10 teams can go to finals)
on friday we competed in finals around 3 p.m. and had the awards ceremony right after.
let me just say that waiting to find out the results at any competition is quite possibly the most heart wrenching thing.
then we found out we won!!
seriously the happiest feeling in the world.
so much hard work, tears, sacrifice and effort went into our nationals routine.
the feeling that it all paid off was indescribable.
after finding out we won, we celebrated for only about 5 minutes and then had to immediately get dressed and get ready to compete in the hip hop division.
and what did we do?
win again!
once again, hearing that we won 1st place was so rewarding and unbelievable.
after that, i never thought my week could get any better.yep, i was wrong.
on saturday we had a free day.
my family and i went to some outlet stores in orlando and hit the beach.
l relaxing after finals is like HITTING A WALL. i was literally a beached whale.
later that night we had a team celebratory dinner.
after dinner, my family dropped me off and i said goodbye to Will and said i would see him in salt lake. then i went up to go to devotional in my coaches hotel room.
after devotional we were packing our bags (we had to wake up at 4:40 a.m. for our flight) and my coach called me and told me to come up to her room.
she was staying in the penthouse suite of the hotel so i went up to her room and she was sitting outside on her balcony. as i was up there she was asking if i was feeling okay and other really odd questions… i was seriously so confused.
as she was talking to me, Will called me and told me to look down at the beach..
this is what i saw
i started crying right away!
he told me to hurry and come down because he needed to ask me something
(gee, wonder what)
i ran towards the elevator and, might i add, that it was the longest elevator ride of my WHOLE life.
once i got to the lobby i sprinted out to the beach screaming Wills name.
once i jumped on him he started to play “marry me” by train.
then he said some stuff. i said some stuff.
and it was the happiest moment of my LIFE.
after 10 minutes or so my family ran towards me and there was just lots of happiness.
my team came running and SCREAMING moments later!
(we were just a little sad my best friend won’t be at my wedding)
sharing this moment with my Will, my family and my team was such a special thing for me!
i am finally engaged to the love of my life.
the boy i met when i was 15, he was 16.
when we were young, careless, and naive but the only thing we knew for sure was that we loved each other.
The first is a Memory Box for me and Will.(Confession: I keep EVERYTHING!)
I keep every movie stub, concert ticket, note, wrist band, bracelets.. you name it! I love keeping it all so I can look back to see all of the fun we have had together! It is so neat through once a year to open it up and see all of the adventures we had throughout the year.
I just bought an old Shadow Box at Hobby Lobby and found some cute paper and pasted it to the back of the frame. Seeing it hanging in my room is a great reminder of all of the fun times we have had.
The second is my “Be Grateful” board. Last year I made this board to always remind myself that I have something to be grateful for every day. It is great to look at my board every morning and know how blessed I am to have a close family, team friends, and the gospel to keep me going throughout my day.
and of course my third is my photo strip board. What can I say, I am a sucker for photo booths!
here are the two absolute best things about march..
cadbury eggs and basketball.
besides that, it’s almost like you have to constantly come up with fun things to do.
luckily, i had lots of fun things to do all month.
march is usually my absolute busiest months preparing for nationals and finals and all.
but here are my top five favorite moments from march.
1. BYU made it into the NIT championship so i (officially) danced in my very last BYU basketball game.. EVER! i am so sad that cougarettes is coming to an end so fast. cougarettes is easily one of the biggest parts of my life and i can’t believe after nationals i am DONE.
2. my beautiful sis bella celebrated her big 22 in germany. how is it possible for a sister missionary to still look as pretty as she does?
3. will’s family had tickets to some of the NCAA tournament games that were in SLC. my bracket was absolutely destroyed from the beginning but watching wichita state play was so neat! can you believe they are still in?!
4. i hiked the y with some of my friends for our friend taylor’s birthday.
5. will and i went to st. george… twice! the first time for a macklemore concert
and the second time because we just needed a break
jensen’s outfits CRACK ME UP.
this is will’s guilty face… (note: if you try to push me in the pool, you are going down with me)
buckets list # 37. carve our initials into a tree.
disregarding the fact february has less days than any other month…
i feel like the whole month zoomed by in a blink.
here are some of my highlights of the month
on a wednesday night, my roommates and i definitely filmed a music video around provo.
because… why not?
karli and i wished everyone a proper happy valentine’s day.
Will and I celebrated by going to our all-time favorite restaurant Sixth and Pine.
(if you haven’t been to sixth and pine you HAVE TO! it is the Nordstrom at City Creek)
Their french dip sandwiches and sweet potato fries are our FAVORITE.
i received this darling bridesmaid gift for Ralph & Abby’s wedding.
so excited!
Cougarettes in Concert was from February 21-23! It was a stressful couple of weeks leading up to concert but all paid off in the end. I had so many friends and family come support me which was amazing!
Last night i said my farewell to the Marriott Center. BYU had it’s last basketball game of the season which meant it was my last day performing. Definitely a bittersweet moment! They put up a great fight against Gonzaga.Another month here and gone.
i have always absolutely loved peoples ability to give up everything they have and serve the Lord for either 2 years or 18 months. with William being my first missionary….
and isabelle being another…
i am now sending off my best friend!
i LOVE having Will home, love hearing about isabelle’s mission and can’t wait for karli’s adventure up ahead too!
i am a firm believer that missionaries do not only bless the peoples lives they meet on their mission…
they bless their own life
as well as the people they love that they leave behind.
