Another Year Flies By...

Well, it's that time of year again. I wanted to do the same thing I did last year and write a post about the past year, but I don't want to forget to do it, so I'm doing it now, even though there are still a couple weeks in the year.

Boy... this year has been one to remember! That's for sure! So here we go. My top 5 for the year 2013.


5. So I think number 5 is going to have to be a tie. It's between the weekend I went to California to "surprise" Andre, and the week we spent in Virginia before we got married. So, if you want to read about that weekend in California, go back to my last post and read it. Otherwise stay here and read about our trip to Virginia.

So, we went to Virginia at the end of August where I got to meet Andre's parents and siblings. Oh my goodness. I love them! I felt a part of the family in an instant. The love they showed towards me was way more than I had even hoped for. I knew from the moment I met them, that I was going to love being a part of their family.

Mary has the most caring heart and the love that pours out of her is just unbelievable. I can't even express to you how loved I felt from the beginning. Andre told me the other day that the first person that comes to his mind when he thinks of someone who has inspired him to be better, is Mary, and I can totally understand why. She is literally one of the most kind-hearted, soft-spoken people I have ever come to love. I am grateful to be able to call her my sister :)

Alex would make conversation with me everywhere we went. She would ask me all kinds of questions, and I felt like she was trying so hard to get to know me. She even trusted me to take care of her newborn baby, Alessia, for a while during Mary's wedding! Only 1 hour after she met me! haha.

Pie is just... awesome. From the moment she saw me and ran to me to give me a huge hug, I could tell I was gonna love her. It was like she had been waiting forever to meet her soon-to-be sister-in-law and she made me feel so extremely loved, it's incredible.

Chris is so much like Andre, I feel like. He seems to be calm and quiet, but has a great sense of humor. He and his best friend, Zach, picked us up from the airport at 5:00 am! It was kinda funny to meet them for the first time when they were pretty much still asleep. haha But later that day I got to talk to Chris a little more, and he was there to help me take care of Alessia for a little while. Chris simply has a sweet spirit. He is definitely Andre's brother.

Nikki and Sebas are Mary's boys. I'm not sure how they felt about me at first. I think Sebas is just a little shy and was scared to talk to me. I think by the end of the week though, he was starting to warm up to me. Nikki on the other hand is hilarious! See, I have this problem where I always seem to be cold. So Nikki liked to call me "cold-blooded." For some reason, I really wanted Nikki and Sebas (and Alex's son, Adrian - but he's like 2) to like me. I mean, they are my first nephews and I want to be classified as a cool aunt! So, when Nikki would talk to me and even tease me a little bit, I liked it because I felt like he might actually like me! haha I know, I'm weird.

Gloria is Andre's Mom. I love her so much. We have a hard time communicating just because she speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish. So... it's hard to carry on a conversation without someone else there to translate. Sometimes I really wish there was an easier way to talk to her, but I can feel the love she has for me just in the way she acts towards me. She has such a kind, loving spirit, and the love and respect I have for her is so immense.

Jimmy, Andre's dad, went out of his way, every chance he had, to make me feel a part of the family. He was always making conversation with me, getting to know me and including me in everything. He said something to me one day that almost made me tear up because I felt so loved. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly what it is was that he said to me, but I remember how I felt, and how much love and gratitude I felt in my heart!

4. Number 4 is something that is very personal and I'm not sure how many details I want to share, but at a time during this past year, I went through quite a few emotional struggles. One in particular comes to mind that was one of the hardest trials I feel I have had to go through thus far in my life. It was something I was completely overwhelmed with. I felt heartache, sadness and confusion everyday, and I got to the point where I just didn't know what to do anymore.

In the L.D.S. church, we have something called the Priesthood. All men in the church who are worthy to hold it and use it and have been given that authority, can use it when they feel it is necessary. My family has been blessed to always have a father who is a worthy Priesthood holder. At this time, I felt like I needed extra help, so I asked him for something called a "father's blessing." In this blessing, I was told I would feel peace... very soon. Not even 5 minutes later, I felt peace, and I went throughout the rest of the day feeling content and happy. I didn't even realize it until later that night when I sat down and realized what happened that day, and I knew what I needed to do.

I have always had a testimony of the priesthood and the miracles that it can work, but this was the first time that I felt like it helped me on a very personal level. I know this doesn't seem like much of a miracle, and without details, it's hard to put enough emphasis into the story, but this was an amazing enough experience to make my top 5 list of experiences in the past year. I mean, it's up there with getting married and graduating from college. haha I can definitely say my testimony of the priesthood grew immensely this year because of that experience. I can even say that it was a life-changing experience. I don't know if my life would be completely different now if I hadn't received that fathers' blessing. In summary, I am so grateful to my father for always being the amazing man he is and for enabling me to have this experience.

3. Coming in at number 3 would have to be August 29. That is the day I went through the Washington DC Temple. Though at the time I was not too sure of what was going on, I came out with an incredible feeling in my heart. What made it even better is the fact that my parents were able to be there with me. My mom was even able to be right by my side the entire time. Andre and I even got to sit next to each other in the session, which doesn't get to happen in many temples. It was a wonderful experience, once again, to do something I've been looking forward to for many many years. I'll never forget that day and the feelings I felt while being inside the Lord's House.

2. I graduated from college. Yup. the excitement of it is over now, but at the time it sure was exciting! I have been the owner of a Bachelor's degree for about 8 months now and what have I done with it...? Well... I have gotten a couple different jobs. I suppose the word "degree" helped, but only one of them cared, even a little bit, that it was interior design. That job only lasted the summer until I got married and moved back to Idaho. Then I got the job I currently have where my Interior Design education is slowly fading into my past life.

Anyways, I feel accomplished either way :) The skills I obtained and the lessons that I learned from that Interior Design program will help me through the rest of my life. Those four years were extremely hard, but I would never ever take them back for anything. If I don't do anything with the degree I hold, I will at least always remember the experiences I went through and the amazing people who came into my life throughout that program. Even if nothing comes of it, I am, and will forever be, classified as a college graduate, and if nothing else, I can always look back and be proud of what I accomplished.

1. This one takes the cake for sure, no doubt about it. It was a huge, life-changing event that I have looked forward to for as long as I can remember, and it happened to me this past year. I got married! And let me tell you, I got married to the best man in the world. Holy smokes. How did I get so blessed? Let me just brag about my husband for a few minutes here. He:

a. Is one of the most patient people I have ever known
b. Has a huge, loving, caring heart
c. Wants nothing but for me to be happy
d. Serves me in any way he possibly can, no matter what day, time or circumstance.

I could go on and on, but let me sum it all up by saying this. A few weeks ago, we were talking about our marriage and how we've been doing living together and such and he asked me to tell him anything he does wrong and how he can fix it. Ok seriously, I would have told him if I could think of anything, but I just couldn't! I mean, ya, he plays video games...but only like an hour per week! And sometimes he spends time doing homework instead of spending time with me but...come on... I can't actually complain about that. My point is, I have the best husband :)

I know this is an insanely long post, but I feel like this past year deserves a lot of recognition. It has been one of the most memorable years of my life. If you read through this entire post, thank you for taking the time :) I hope you enjoyed learning about my life.

Love,
Wendy

To learn more about temples and the priesthood, you can go to: http://mormon.org/

The Proposal

Alright, so this is how it happened. I went to California (where Andre is this summer) a couple weeks ago as a surprise to Andre. I had it all planned out with his roommate Richard. They were all going out to dinner as roommates on Friday night, so I went to surprise him there at the restaurant. I walked in behind him and put my hands over his eyes. When he finally turned around and saw that it was me, he acted so surprised, "Babe, what are you doing here?" "Oh my gosh I can't believe you're here." I thought I was the best girlfriend in the world! So, dinner was over and he says, "Hey, I want to take you somewhere!" So I said, "Ok let's go!" Of course I didn't suspect anything because he didn't even know I was going to be there. So he drives me around Santa Clarita and we finally end at this place where he has lights and paper lanterns and all that cheezy, romantic stuff setup. I look around very confused for a few seconds and of course the first thing I say is, "You knew I was coming?!" He ignores my question and proceeds to pour his heart out to me. He said something about happiness and making me happy and making him happy and something else about happiness. I don't remember anything because the entire time I was trying to figure out how he planned this when he didn't even know I was coming! So he gets down on his knees and asks me to marry him and I just say something to the effect of, "I can't believe you knew I was coming!" And then I say, "Of course I'll marry you!" Then we kissed and got all mushy gushy and then his friends came out and I wanted to hit Richard for telling Andre I was coming, but at the same time, I couldn't be mad! How could I be?! Yes, he stole my thunder! It was supposed to be MY big surprise, but they turned it around on me and made it an even better big surprise. Then I got to spend the next 2 days with the love of my life as an officially engaged couple! Life is goooood! Also, I love Andre :) The end!

Dreams Do Come True :)

Well, it's that time. That time in my life that I have looked forward to ever since I first learned what it was. That event that I have yearned for and dreamed about. That time I thought would never come when all I saw was everyone around me (at least that's what it felt like at times) falling in love and living that "fairytale." Yes, it's true. I'm getting married!! I have fallen in love and continue to fall in love more everyday. I am planning a wedding. MY wedding! For real! Yes, I am very, extremely excited. How could I not be?! But the road hasn't been easy. Getting here hasn't been a "fairytale" all the time. Falling in love was a whole lot harder for me that I ever imagined it would be, but lucky for me, I got to go through it with one of the most patient, loving, selfless people i have ever known. These experiences have helped me to know that for the rest of my life, I get to go through happiness, sadness, trials, tears, joy, fear, heart ache and complete contentment with that same person. My Heavenly Father has blessed me with the kind of man I always dreamed of marrying. I prayed and cried over having someone like Andre in my life for what felt like forever but really was only a few years compared to the time I get to spend with him from here on out. We get to spend the rest of eternity getting to know each other, learning about each others' strengths and weaknesses, working through unbearable hardship and experiencing indescribable joy. I feel ready for anything life is going to throw my way because I know I will have Andre right by my side. I am completely blind to the trials that we will face over the next 100+ years together. There are millions of scary things out in the world that can potentially hurt us, come between us and completely destroy us. There are experiences that we will go through that right now, we probably can't even fathom, but we're gonna survive it together. Why? Because that's the only option we are giving ourselves! We're going into this together, and there's no one I would rather do it with! I'm not perfect. Andre isn't perfect. No one is perfect! We both have flaws, we both make mistakes, we most definitely will argue and disagree on things and will probably want to run away from it all. I know that there are things we will find out about each other that aren't so great. I'm not ignorant. I know marriage isn't going to be nothing but bliss and "happily ever after." But I do know that if we go into this commitment with the same desires, goals and determination, we'll be just fine :) In the end, I LOVE Andre, and love can be a very strong thing. I believe it can work miracles. I also believe that when Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives, He will never let us fail. It's not going to be easy, but it IS going to be worth it :)

Real Life is Coming Quickly....

Well look at that. It's done! My senior portfolio is done... and everything is really starting to sink in. I'm graduating in 5 weeks! This is crazy. I'm anxious, excited, scared to death and just plain nervous about what is next for me. I don't think I have ever felt so unsure about the future before in my life. I have some big choices ahead of me, but I am proud of what I have accomplished and where I am at in my life right now. Here's to the future!

Check out my portfolio: http://wcsdesign.weebly.com/

Wendy Wednesday: Sleeping In

Fun Fact #1: I wish I was a morning person. I want to be the kind of person that can wake up early in the morning and start the day with a positive attitude and get a million things done before 11 am, but unfortunately, when the time comes to wake up, sleep sounds so much better and I just end up sleeping until 11 am. Waking up has never EVER been easy for me, no matter how consistent my schedule is. It is a struggle every single day of my life. Saturdays on the other hand are great. When I don't have to wake up for anything, I love sleeping in, but it's a curse when something does come up and it seriously makes me mad when I have to wake up any time before 10 am on a Saturday. I want to be someone that doesn't mind waking up, or even someone that can't sleep past 8, but I have just never been that person. I love sleeping in way too much and then I feel unproductive and lazy! Waking up early sounds good sometimes, but then when that time comes, I never actually want to wake up. I need help!

Family and Friends Friday: Andre

Well, I suppose it's time to get started on this "daily dose" deal. Today is Friday and I know exactly who I want to talk about. My amazing boyfriend, Andre.

He treats me like a princess every single day, and most of the time I don't even deserve it. Yesterday, which happened to be Valentines Day, he kidnapped and blindfolded me and drove me 10 minutes away from Rexburg where he set up a campfire, had hot chocolate and stuff for s'mores and then played songs for me on the guitar. The day before that was our "1-month anniversary" (woo-hoo) and he got me my favorite flowers, lillies!

But he doesn't do those kinds of things for me only on special days. He does those kinds of things all the time! No matter what day it is. He seriously cares for me more than you could imagine and everything he says and everything he does, he does for me. I could not ask for more. I love him.

Daily Dose of Me

So I got this brilliant idea to start doing special posts every day depending on what day of the week it is. This is what I have come up with:

Sacred Sundays - This is the day when I will talk about the gospel and the importance of it in my life and specific ways that it has impacted me throughout the past week.

Music Mondays - This is the day when I will talk about the songs that have inspired me lately or just the ones I've had on repeat for the past week.

Time Machine/Traveling Tuesdays - on this day, I will talk about places and times, past, present and future, that I would like to visit or see and why.

Wendy Wednesday - This is the day when I will share one interesting or random, fun fact about myself.

Throwback Thursdays - this is the day to contemplate my past and the all the memories associated with it. I will reminisce about the good old days and talk about all the good times from my childhood and teenage years.

Family and Friends Fridays - I will talk about one friend or family member each week and why and how they have showed their love for me and why I care about them so much as an individual.

Serendipitous Saturday - On this day I will talk about discoveries I have made about myself or just life in general. I guess just lessons I am learning or seemingly coincidental things that have been happening that seem to teach me lessons or open my eyes to new discoveries.

Stay tuned daily! :)