Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged, but I've been busy and enjoying the Spirit of the season. This letter is here to inform you, although most of you know, about the events of the past year.



On October 5th of last year, I met a boy. I developed a relationship/friendship with said boy. I fell in love with him. After the new year, I kisssed and became official with him.



Just before Christmas (the 23rd to be exact) my beloved grandma passed away. Last Christmas was less than joyful as we struggled to say goodbye and plan a funeral. I am grateful for a loving family that still brought a spirit into the room as we mourned the loss of such an amazing woman. I am grateful for funeral home workers and slideshow makers who worked through the holiday season with us to make sure we gave my grandma a proper farewell. It sure put things into perspective, though. I am grateful for the legacy she left all of us.



As the year came to a close and I struggled with the loss of my grandma, I developed a stronger and better friendship/relationship with Zach, which was a huge saving grace during that time. We became the closest of friends and I really started to rely on him. I also delved into my second half of the teaching year--teaching 5th grade. The second half was FAR FAR worse than the first, for various reasons which I won't delve into here--let's just say I wasn't quite as happy as I had been. By the close of the year I learned that I wouldn't be teaching fifth grade but rather fourth with a new team and a new classroom (which entailed quite a move and a lot more packing than I felt was actually fair: )



After the school year came to an end, I packed up my things and took off for Georgia with Zach. I went to visit his family and I had THE BEST time. Honestly, I love his family so much. We played games, ate great food, and even took a little trip (actually two...one to Nana's and one to Charleston, South Carolina :) I fell in love with South Carolina! I thoroughly enjoyed it...and can't wait to get back to the south.



In July, Zach proposed, it was no big surprise, we had been talking about it and planning it for what seems like forever. We set the date for November 6th and began planning the next element of our lives together. We had a great summer, we enjoyed the weather, our friends, and our families. We packed up my little apartment at the end of the summer and I moved home with my parents prior to the wedding.


The school year started and I immediately fell in love with 4th grade. Okay, so I was still hung up on last year's class for the first week, I missed them so much, but after the first week, I fell in love with my new class and new team and I've been on cloud nine ever since! :)

On November 6th Zach and I were FINALLY married!! :) I say FINALLY because it honestly felt like I had been waiting forever. Probably because we're soulmates and I had been waiting a lot longer than I had realized. We have enjoyed this past month of marriage. So much. You know, growing up I realized that I looked up to my young women's leaders and such--I wanted happy marriages and homes like theirs, I always have. The other day I actually had to ask myself, were they THIS happy? I don't know..if they were they didn't tell me how amazing it is. I get so excited still, when I realize whether we're home or out doing something that when it's time for bed, he doesn't have to leave at the end of the night and neither do I. Our home feels like a home, it really does. We're liking our new ward and we're getting into the Christmas spirit for sure in our house. I love my new husband so much, so much it's kind of ridiculous. I am so grateful for the blessing of that kind of love. It has truly changed my life.

I am grateful for this time of year. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who love me more than I can comprehend. They bless me with far more than I deserve. I love this time of year, where I can openly truly celebrate my Savior's life with music on the radio, a Christmas tree, and most importantly, the spirit of giving. We are all so blessed to have His love always and to feel it so abundantly at this time of year!

"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining,
'Til He appeared and the Soul felt it's worth...
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn...
Fall on your knees...."

Naughty or Nice

Well, I had an awesome bridal shower. I just wanted to share a FEW (maybe more than a few but definitely not ALL the pictures from my shower)--especially for those of you that couldn't make it. I feel so blessed, Misty had an awesome theme that she really did a great job with. It was a lot of fun and I felt blessed by the people who showed up to show their excitement and support!

Here's the gift table and the theme...

This is the "nice" side

This was the "naughty" side ;)


Playing games(I put these in backwards, technically this was the last game but oh well) This was a game where I had to answer questions about Zach. If I got them wrong I had to put a JUMBO marshmallow in my mouth. It was actually gross by the end. There were 21 questions or something like that. I did OKAY.

This is me at the end, however, keep in mind some of the mallows had dissolved by then. After all, it's just sugar, EW!

The guests played the traditional, 'make a dress out of toilet paper game' There were three teams. All did great, but you have to truly appreciate the work done here!

This one was good!

This one just made me happy! :)

I chose this dress as the winner. Here all of the group is...nice work ladies! :)

All of the brides! :)

Gift time!

I don't know, but it made me happy :)

Jessica gave me this AMAZING soft robe that really made me tear up. It's in purple and everything. I can't wait to wear it!

Mom of course, gave me sheets!

As you saw, there were many more gifts. You also saw the theme, I will keep the others just between the girls and myself...oh and maybe Zach eventually ;)

Thanks for an awesome shower, Misty!! And for everyone who attended. It was really great, I truly enjoyed it, and it meant a lot to me. It was a much needed mini, girls celebration!!!

*One thing I didn't get a picture of, but I thought I did was the cupcakes. Misty made 'Naughty and Nice' cupcakes. White one with white frosting (I can't rememer what was on them? :( But then the DARK (stain your teeth dark)chocolate cupcakes had red bras and thongs on them :) It was all very creative! I was very impressed by Misty's thought and creativity!

The Beginning of Forever

Cheesey line? I know. I can't help it, I'm happy. On Friday, October 2nd, I had the opportunity to go through the temple for the first time. I will admit, I was a little more than overwhelmed with everything. Zach and my mom were very supportive. My friend Jen came to support me as well. In the end, it was the best experience! I love the temple! I've already been back once, and I have plans to go tomorrow and then again next week! It has made such a difference in my life and it has definitely enhanced my relationship with Zach along with (of course) my Heavenly Father. I only bring the Zach part up because I always wanted to go through when I turned 25 (two weeks ago) and I didn't want to go because I was getting married. I wanted to do it by myself. As I've thought about it, having Zach with me has been such a blessing and it's yet another bond we share. I feel so blessed to have the support of my family, Zach's family, and friends, as I went through. I cannot express how much I love it. I am so grateful to have a temple close by, so that I can experience it frequently and feel so incredibly at peace and uplifted. I love my Heavenly Father for providing a temple for us today! I'm just grateful and I needed to document it. It was a milestone in my life and I hope to remember the feeling always.

Farewell,

Well, I've moved back with my parents...This move includes some mixed emotions, as I was sad to see my little place go. I really almost teared up as my mom and I cleaned it out and I locked the door for the last time. But it comes with some good benefits:

1. I'm closer to Zach so we don't have to drive all over the place or worry about how late one of us it at the others house.

2. Zach gets along with my parents REALLY well, so hanging out there is really no problem

3. The gym is on my way home from work...hello TWO MONTHS AWAY!

4. We're hoping the money we save will go towards some appliances in our new HOUSE...still haven't heard back from the bank...waiting (patiently?)

5. It's really good for me to be in the environment at my parents' house right now. I'm stressed, that's where most of the planning has been taking place. It's just better on so many levels that way. However, I still am sad. That was my first place of my VERY own. It's honestly the first place I've been truly sad to leave since I started going to college and moving. I loved it....so please give me a minute to share with you, some memories there:

*I moved out about a month after I met Zach so I spent a lot of time with him here, but I am just now remembering the very beginning things.

*When I moved, my grandma purchases all of my laundry stuff for me, because my grandma loved laundry and it was her specialty. She passed away while I was living there. I still have a bottle of Downy and a box of Tide that I haven't touched since.

*I hosted my VERY OWN game nights in that place. A couple that come with some really good memories :)

*Zach and I watched Wicker Park on the Papason chair together as the first movie we watched i in there

*I had Austin and Natasha over for dinner

*Zach and I made dinner, especially in the summer, oh it was so fun!!

*We had epic fights in that place, (I think we got a lot of them out of our system...:)

*Zach proposed to me in that living room.

*I truly fell in love, grieved, graded papers of my first year students, cleaned, tanned, read incessantly this summer, LIVED, in that house. Although, my stay was a relatively short 10 months, I really experienced a lot in there.

The only thing that gives me solace to saying goodbye to a place that is actually dear to my heart, is that I will be LIVING WITH ZACH in TWO MONTHS! I cannot wait. It is going to be amazing! AH! I am truly TRULY blessed!

We've Started!

School has resumed....and I am SO thrilled to be back into a routine. I must admit, I didn't know there was such a need for routine in my life. The first day was difficult because I missed my old students and there's so much reviewing rules and such! Today was good, though. I went to bed at 9:30 last night (I was exhausted!) and I felt so refreshed. My room is more organized than it was last year and so far, I'm ahead of the game with some really great kids. My year in fourth grade is starting out GREAT!

Family Blog

Let's see how many people actually read my blog posts. Aside from sending a few select people invites...I'm just going to see who reads and cares : ) I am starting a blog for my soon-to-be new family (Zach, Me...for starters). That way I can keep this blog to vent/share my little personal philosophies and such. Our blog will journal our beginning of our new life together as well as contain some fun sneak peaks about our wedding. Comment me with your email address if you'd like to be invited. I have set comments to private for now...I'll give it two weeks and then I'll delete those and display my comments again! Our new blog will be set to private and can be found at ourhappybeginning.blogspot.com :) Enjoy


P.S. I have a slight obsession with Beyonce..expect some Beyonce at the reception! ;)

Goodbye Summer!

It is time to (just about) bid farewell to our summer. We have some more fun underway before I completely get swept away with school: 1. Taking the boys to Roaring Springs 2. ENGAGEMENT Photos! 3. Spending some time together in any way we can! :) Oddly enough, I'm ready for school to start. As much as I will be busy...and even though I still have SO much to do with the wedding (quickly, but not quickly enough) approaching...I cannot wait for school to start. For a number of reasons. The main reason being I CANNOT wait to marry this guy! The more I plan the more I'm excited. If you are reading this and you pray, please pray that things will fall into place and happen the way they are supposed to. I would really appreciate it. Here are a few pictures of the happenings since I last really blogged... We spent a day at the lake with our ward and came back FRIED...we followed it up with some Settlers with Austin and Natasha...always a good time! :)

We took an impromptu trip to Lagoon with Misty and Ken and I truly had a blast!


Goodbye summer! You've treated me well. I will welcome you again next year...as a married woman!