our love story.

Alright, here's the story of how we met and the proposal (:

Caution: it's adorable.

Jay and I met the second semester of my freshman year of high school.  We didn't talk a ton but I thought he was hilarious and nice.  We danced with each other at some church dances over the summer but nothing crazy.  At the beginning of my sophomore year we ended up being in the same seminary class again.  We had some common friends and began to hang out almost every day.  We formed a singing group called Quatro with some buddies.  We sang in various wards and at church Christmas parties.  We became best friends.  On Valentine's Day he told me he liked me (which is a whole other hilarious story).  I wasn't 16 so I didn't want to tell him I liked him as well.  He ended up asking me to prom at the end of the year.  It was a week after my birthday.  We ended up holding hands and as the awkward kids we were, we slow danced to every song that night (even rap).  We had our first kiss about a month later at the Quercus Rober tree on the greenbelt behind his house.  It has been history ever since.  We are the best of friends and talk to each other about absolutely everything.  I love him.
He left for his mission on October 6, 2010.  We are so grateful for the mission.  We already feel it blessing our lives and we have both grown so much over the past two years.  He came home on Wednesday October 10, 2012.  I got a call from him in the airport (that cost me $35, I think it was well worth it!)  We immediately hit it off again.  We had all the same jokes and chemistry.  I got to see him the following Saturday night.  It was perfect and we both knew it.  He came to Rexburg the next weekend and we had a blast!  We went ring shopping and found the perfect ring.  He kept telling me he didn't have enough money for it yet.
I went home this weekend with some roommates.  We went to Flying M on Saturday morning.  Flying M is Jay and I's favorite spot to hang out.  We went there for our first date (before prom).  It has a lot of good memories.  We all ordered drinks and sat down.  Then an employee came out with a brown box.  He said "Melissa, we have a complimentary peanut butter bar for you."  I was totally confused.  Jay and I always get peanut butter bars.  At the time I just thought that my mom bought it for me to be nice because she knows that we like them.  I put the box down without even looking in it.  I continued taking funny pictures with my friends.  Then my mom asked me to open the box.  Inside was an adorable note from Jay.  It ended with "I want to spend the rest of my life with you..."  Then I got a text from Jay.  He said "Hey, can you meet me at the popcorn machine."  I walked over to the popcorn machine, totally in shock of what was happening.  He came down the staircase near the popcorn machine with a dozen beautiful peach roses.  Then before I could think he was down on one knee asking to marry me.  I said YES!  It was amazing.  I was definitely surprised and totally in love.  It was a wonderful day.
I'm so excited.  Jay is my best friend.  He is the best guy I've ever met.  He is so kind and obedient.  He is on fire with the gospel and he makes me laugh.  He is gentle and respectful and we have so many similar views. I can't wait to marry him on December 28th of this year.
Hope to see you there!

(:

Conference Weekend

my oh my!

it has been a marvelous weekend thus far (:

on friday night my roommates sat around watched cheesy wedding shows on TLC.  always good girl bonding time.  then we went to a hot tub near by.  we did personality tests which were super super fun!  haha.  then we made homemade hot chocolate, re-organized our fridge, and cleaned our kitchen.
yesterday morning raschelle and I woke up early and picked up bountiful baskets.  we got tons of berries and spinach and potatoes.  so much good stuff!  oh!  and our favorite bread in the world.  then we went back to bed.  an hour or so later we woke up and got ready to go.  with sweats, sweaters, and blankets we headed to "R" mountain.  we picked up our FHE brother and some snacks along the way.  we hiked up the mountain and found a little piece of ground towards the top that was flat with a beautiful view.  we pulled out the snacks and blankets and made ourselves comfortable.  we got out my IPOD and some speakers and tuned to BYUI radio to listen to the first session of General Conference.  it was freezing cold...like 27 degrees cold, but we loved every minute of it.  the whole time we hoped that they would sing "High On the Mountain Top."  no such luck!  haha.

Conference was inspiring!  the mission age being lowered was definitely a highlight!  young men can now serve at age 18 and young women at age 19.  This is huge.  I can feel the blessings of this announcement.  Missionary work is going to increase in preparation for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  What a blessing!  This means that my brother will be heading out fairly soon.  It is crazy but I am so excited for the blessings this will bring to my family and to those who hear the message of the restored gospel and come to know their Savior.  This gospel is brilliant.  I'm excited to see the fruit of these labors.
After the session of conference we explored the top of the mountain and then hiked back down.  We came home and ate lunch.  Then the second session started shortly after! (:  Woo hoo!  The first talk was great.  And then I think the late night, early morning, and long hike caught up to me and I totally fell asleep for the rest of the session.  Don't worry!  I listened to all the talks this morning!  They were great!  After conference my roommates and I were not feeling productive enough to do homework so we headed into Idaho Falls.  We windowed shopped at the mall for a little while and then headed to Winco.  We got our 2 weeks worth of groceries.  It was very fun!  We were under budget again too!  Woohoo!  Then we headed back.  On the drive home we talked about holiday traditions.  I love the holidays!  I'm so excited it is finally fall!  Mmm.  I love it.  The smells, the sights, the traditions, the family, the friends, the overall happiness.  Good stuff!
Today is another two whole sessions of General Conference.  The cinnamon rolls are rising and I am just excited.  I love this weekend of relaxation and inspiration.  If you don't know what General Conference even is let me know!  It is a time for our church leaders to instruct us on how to become more Christlike.  Who doesn't want to know how to do that?  Tune into BYU TV or search for it on your local channels.  You can also find stream it live from lds.org.  You won't regret it!  I promise. Tune on in! (:  

Today is going to be a good day! (:

I Was Blind But Now I See.

I know I know, it's been awhile.  Yet, here I am to tell you about a life changing experience I had today.

I am currently taking a 7:45 educational philosophy class.  So far I have really enjoyed it.  Right now the education department of BYU-I is looking to hire a new staff member.  My class was chosen to be the audience of the candidates observed lecture.  Their topic was "How can we follow the Savior to become master teachers?"  Pretty legit right?  I think so.  Anyways, the second candidate came to our class today.  He is a short man with wispy blonde hair.  For all you Harry Potter fans, just imgaine Professor Flitwik and Professor Lockheart combined!  He was a brilliant teacher and the lecture went well in my opinion.  But nothing struck me as life altering until he introduced his lovely wife.  His wife is blind and has been since birth.  She has a degree in music composition.  Let's just stop there for a second.  Seriously, music composition??  She is blind.  She still had to master all of the concepts of music theory, aural skills, scoring, and arranging that I currently have to, but she can't use her eyes.  That's incredible.  Anyways, towards the end of the lesson, Mr. Elliot's wife played us a song that she had written.  As she accompanied herself on the piano, I struggled to hold back my tears.  First off, the music was brilliant.  It was simple but emotional.  The lyrics were beautiful beyond belief.  She sang from the heart.  She sang about how she has never seen the photographs of the ones she has loved and lost.  She has never seen the smiles on her children's faces.  She has never seen the sunrise from a mountain top.  And yet...she can see.  Through her faith in Christ she testified of how she knows that she is loved and will be able to see again.

I felt so guilty.  How often do I, as an insecure girl, sit and criticize my body?  I am always dissatisfied.  It seems easy to always find something about myself to despise.  Why?  Satan does not have a body.  He wants us to find every reason to hate and defile it that we possibly can.

Today...I found exactly the opposite.  I found a new sense of gratitude that I have never experienced.  I love my body.  I love that I can walk with ease.  I have complete control over my emotions and muscles.  I can see.  I can hear.  Why do I take those things for granted so often?  I am so blessed.  Honestly,  I cannot explain how deeply grateful I am for all of my blessings that come from my functioning body.  It is a wonder to me.  The human body is so incredible.  May we all take time to cultivate an innate gratitude for this truly glorious gift we have been given.  Hopefully some of you don't have to be struck into humility in order to realize the splendor we have before our eyes.

Today I will take a little extra time to truly look around me.  To see the colors, the light, the dark, and all the beauty the world has to offer.