The Honeymoon: Day 1

Take a trip to Hawaii as I describe our amazing experience!

Sunday July 17th 2016

  Departure Day! This day was filled with excitement, stress about remembering all the details and finally peace. Dustin's parents dropped us off at the airport and the ride up was pretty silent, I think because we were all tired and excited at the same time. When we got to the airport, boarding the plane was SO simple, first class is definitely the way to travel if your trying to have a truly relaxing experience.

At the Airport, waiting to board Hawaiian Airlines!

Blurry excited picture of us walking into the plane! 

   When we got on the plane they immediately offered us a non-alcoholic drink with quite a fancy name, and so of course we took it. I spilled though, I swear you cannot take me ANYWHERE. They also gave us fuzzy blankets, pillows and we had plenty of leg room. 

                                                            

         

                                              

   

   The food we had was mostly delicious, some of it just a bit too fancy. (I do not like brie) They gave us a really fancy brunch menu, that pretty much just told us what we are eating. They fed us mixed nuts as a starter, then followed two courses and dessert. 

Our first course which I assume was the breakfast part of "Brunch".

To the left you will see a cinnamon swirl danish, and to the right you will see baked brie in phyllo with honey berry compote and a crispy prosciutto chips. To the left, it was delicious, to the right an acquired taste.                                        

Our second course was so amazingly delicious I just wish I had 10 times that amount because it was so good. You will see a caramelized butter nut squash and onion bread pudding with chicken apple sausages and a wine poached pear. 

And this was the beginning of the weight gain.  

I gained three pounds, I did not ask Dustin how much he gained. 

For dessert we had pineapple upside down cake... classic. 

Another cool part about first class is that they give you these little I Pads and you can watch movies, tv, play games or listen to music. That helped pass the five hours of excitement and impatience.

 Our cute little headsets. 

Not gonna caption this one. 

LAND HO!

  When we arrived in Honolulu, a lady greeted us with leis and took us through a shortcut to get our baggage, yes! I remember in this moment a door opened outside and I took a breath in humid climate for the first time, I thought I was dying. But as we were there I began to love the humidity. 

    

    

   We arrived to the Disney Aulani resort!  

    Our hotel room was huge! It could be an apartment. They had adorable mickey shaped towels!

                                                

    After that Dustin showed me around the hotel we put on our swim suits went to the pool\beach and ate chicken nuggets on the beach. After that we then went to swim in the ocean at the resort that had really calm and warm waves. Magnificent, especially for someone who is used to swimming in the Pacific ocean! 

Here is us protecting our fragile white skin from the sun with our rash guards, a life saver. Brought out the cute swimsuits too, but I figured the beginning we should be extra careful so we do not spend the rest of vacation burnt to a crisp. 

We then went back to our hotel room to get ready for our buffet dinner at the Maka Hiki! 

We got a complimentary congratulations dessert and there was a lot more where that came from the rest of the trip!

After dinner I dragged Dustin to the pool again, even though we were both really tired from the plane and the sun! We floated on the innertubes of the lazy river, a river solely meant to rest and float in circles. Nice and relaxed, we went to the adult only hot tub and watched the sunset!

After that we dried off, kicked off our shoes and slept so deeply that night, because exhaustion! 

Wedding Planning Update

Man have I been busy..this is part of the reason I have not done the many things I have been planning on doing, such as write my Engagement story and many other plans I have had.

A wedding does this thing where it chews you up and spits you out. Bad metaphor. A wedding is like a never ending list of tasks, and you do as much as you can until time runs out. That is where I am right now. A couple weeks back I was doing details, details, details, it is beginning to calm down the closer we get. That is why I am blogging , or else you would not be hearing from me!

We have finally got the invitations done, but you know, not really...we still have a few more to do...as we get addresses and slowly remember people. In fact I just remembered someone right now, oh my gosh. It is proper etiquette to send out invites six weeks in advance and the majority of them were but you know what such is life. I am starting to get to the point where I am just excited for my wedding and nothing else matters. I have not taken a photo of the invitations yet or I would post them here. Good news is we are already starting to get RSVP slips back which makes me so excited! I have truly done nothing but wedding lately and it has been absolutely insane. This wedding is going to be amazing and its because of the hard work that has been put into it.

We have got the Food, Venue, Band, Flowers, Cake, the Whole nine yards...and I am so thankful we planned ahead of time and did the majority of our planning way before...SO THANKFUL.

I am also thankful Dustin and I have found time to be alone and have not lost sight of each other in the planning process. Although most of the things we do is work, we make a good team. Lately we have been going down to our soon to be house and setting things up getting the hot water started and all that jazz. We have been getting many gifts sent to us, and so we have been actually taking many of our gifts down there already and making less work for us after the honeymoon. We also have a spreadsheet of every single person invited with a section for their names, whether they are going or not, if they are children and even what gift they gave us, this will help us tremendously in the long run.

I am thankful I have not lost it. It is truly not a walk in the park, but it has been fun.

We are only 34 days away from our Marriage! We are so excited.

It is really surreal and a little insane. We only have four more Sundays and that next Sunday we will wake up a married couple! It is hard to believe. These six months have gone by so fast but at the same time SO SLOW. I have a bridal shower next week and a hair and makeup consultation. I am very excited for this next month but I truly cannot wait to be relaxing in Hawaii with my Husband.

Mom's 50th in Disneyland

I am a little behind on my blogging..I will say very behind. With the many trips I have been on and on top of planning this wedding I just have not found the time. Truthfully their probably has been time I just have yet to use it on blogging it has been going to things that require less mind such as Pintrest and Facebook.

Well back in  May, it was my mothers 50th birthday! Of course this birthday is extra special and needed some extra special attention. That being said we had to go to Disneyland, it has been my moms dream to go to Disneyland for her 50th (she has not been in about 15 years). Financially my mother never thought that it would be possible to make it but our friends Brittany and Candy made it possible. The three of us surprised her and she was SO excited! We surprised her through a scavenger hunt which is far to detailed for me to explain.

Leading up to the trip I do not think we ever really had a set plan on when we were leaving which was foolish. We were not sure if we should leave at night or very early morning. We ended up leaving at night, which was not what I expected so I had to quickly pack my things, shower and GO.

I remember relaxing in the car, as we began our six hour trip to LA. After we reached about thirty minutes away, I had a thought to ask my mom if she remembered the tickets. I did not think much of this thought because what kind of person forgets TICKETS. But I thought to ask because we normally do not put those kinds of responsibilities on my mother, she forgets.

Sure enough, she did forget.

We flipped a U-EY (U-turn) and eventually made it all the way back home only for my mom to have to tear her room apart in search for the tickets, that luckily we found.

So we made it. 

We made it to the hotel at about 3 AM, if I remember correctly and the poor hotel staff looked so tired. We were too..all we wanted was a warm bed to stretch our legs and get a good four hours of sleep. We got four hours of sleep, and then we woke up at 7 am...we were a little tired but the adrenaline kicked in and we were ready to go! We started at California adventure and went on Screaming California, of course...my mother and Candy had never been on it, so they were thrilled...the lines were very short we did not even have to wait for the roller-coaster, which was a big plus. Due to the short lines we hit all the big rides, including The Tower of Terror, which Candy and my mom had not been on either...so it scared them good! We hit mainly so many rides in two hours we felt like we had already gotten our moneys worth in two hours, which does not happen often in Disneyland. Many people only get on three rides a day. We went fast though and were hitting everything. We went to Rain-forest Cafe and had a great lunch and then went to Disneyland after we had an amazing day but really really sore feet by the end. Walking back to our hotel was dreaded but we did it and our beds felt so amazing.

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The Castle

Its A Small World After All is such an inspiring ride...but a little to inspiring because you cannot get the song out of your brain!

Snow White's Wishing Well...I think that is how you spell that I have never spelled well in that context..forgive me.

Truthfully, took this photo for Dustin he loves Sword in the Stone and I have yet to see it. 

This is one of my favorites, Brittany and I probably laughed at this photo for a half an hour..and we laugh every time we see it. You see, we did not know a photo was being taken of us and we were way to into the game. Also, I am sure you notice how low my score is, that is because I was shooting the wrong thing the whole time. I am a dork and should probably listen to directions more clearly. 

Back to our trip those are some great photos from just the trip in general. 

So the next day we had a character breakfast yay yay yay. They had good food, which I found surprising I figured they would feed us cheap nasty food, because we really are there for the characters. They could have gotten away with that but no...DELICIOUS. There is just something about having a mickey mouse shaped waffle in Disneyland. 

Heres some pictures. 

Minnie Mouse, the ONE AND ONLY. 

Tigger was one of my favorites as a kid.

I love him so much, but they did not make his butt realistic! He was probably one of the funniest characters though! 

Max, he was so sweet and cuddly. 

The second day we had a great day, but the evening was where everything was super prefect and magical. After watching the Wonderful World of Color at California Adventure we were considering going back to our room because California Adventure was closing even though we knew that Disneyland would be open for another few hours. Candy and my mom decided they would go back to the Hotel but Brittany and I being the young ones, decided to go to Disneyland, even though it will probably be packed. There was supposed to be a Firework show at Disneyland that night and as we were walking to the park someone told us that the Firework show was canceled due to harsh winds, but nobody knew that yet besides me and Brittany. Meanwhile everyone is sitting on the floor waiting for fireworks, Brittany and I are getting in lines for rides for when they open back up again. Once it was announced that the fireworks were not happening everyone left, there was practically NOBODY in Disneyland. Brittany and I went on a few big rides and there was a long line for the Matterhorn but two people insisted that we come stand in line with them, which felt like cheating but those people were very adamant. We went on a few rides after, we totally made a dudes night in the Peter Pan line because we were making him laugh so hard. And at 11:55 we thought we should be heading back but something told us to hit Indiana Jones and we did. We only had five minutes left in the park, and we got on the last ride of the night. (This was really rewarding because we love that ride and we went on it the day before and the BALL the best part was in REPAIR. But it was working this time and were so happy! The minute we got out, the DOLE WHIP people were closing up right in front of us. They gave us FREE DOLE WHIP. Dole whip was something we had been wanting t do but never had the time and were so happy. At that point we ran back to the hotel in order to save Candy and my mom's Dole Whip from melting. We are so thoughtful. It was all perfectly planned and I am so happy we stayed out extra that night.

The next day was the day we were leaving we went on a few rides in the morning, then went to breakfast and head home. I think it was a magical trip and perfect on crowds and everything. Everything fell perfectly into place for my moms 50th and I am really glad. I am mostly thankful we remembered the tickets though! Happy Birthday MOM. (Even though I am writing this a month later.)

My Conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints

(Ignore the white highlight, I had to copy-paste do to technical difficulties)

Now this is not a missionary story, I was born with a family who were members of the church. Although I am not a convert, I still recognize the growing of my testimony as a conversion story  because I am my own person and could never rely on another's beliefs. From the day I was born to the day I was baptized I was taught of Jesus and his atoning sacrifice. I was taught that I had an older brother who loved me so much that he died so that I might live. I was taught that my sins may be washed away through the great power of the atonement. I was baptized at the age of eight and I remember my thoughts during the process. I remember not exactly understanding sin. I remember thinking I had not sinned very much and that there was no point in making me clean. I remember thinking if I got baptized later in life, (after I made more mistakes) it would be more worthwhile for me. I was obviously  missing some very key elements about the atonement. As a child, I did not realize that every week during the sacrament I renewed my covenants and my sins were washed away. I did not realize the positivity of God's Plan. (Parents out there I beg you to teach your children this one element of the Gospel!) I  remember finally learning that the sacrament was to renew my baptismal covenant and I was so happy and overcome.

  I always had a testimony of Jesus Christ, the power of the priesthood and the power of prayer. My testimony of everything else leaned on my mother's testimony and I had faith in her that she knew what was right. However Brigham Young once said that he fears those who follow blindly. As I matured I did not follow blindly, I  followed with a steadfast yearning to learn. It was not until a significant moment in my life that I truly knew the church was true. I had always hoped it was true and wished it was beforehand but I never knew for sure. When my father died, I finally understood the atonement and the healing powers it beholds. While my father was sick, I was a brat and I was neglecting church a bit and not holding on to the iron rod. The irony here is in this moment I needed the gospel the most. Heavenly Father had made it known to me my father was going to die, long before he actually did. I did not give up hope, though I knew the truth deep down in my heart. Having that revelation helped me get through it immensely, because it made it hurt less. I feel sorry for those who were taken by surprise by his death because I know how much harder it must have been. During this time the spirit world was very close to earth and felt open to me. Heavenly Father was reminding me of my purpose here on earth and he reminded me that I saw this coming before I was born and that the pain will pass. Heavenly Father reminded me of all these truths while breaking the news that my father will die. The mourning process for me was much earlier than everyone else. After my father's death, I truly knew that Heavenly Father knew me personally because he gave me that revelation knowing it would protect my heart. This allowed me not to fall in the category that many mourning people do, those that are angry at God. Instead of being upset, I clung to Him and allowed myself to be healed. I did all I could to serve Him and learn of Him. Throughout this time I gained a great testimony of the church as  I read the scriptures, studied conference talks and went to do baptisms for the dead. I was on fire and everyone pleasantly wondered "why?" And "how?".   I can say it was because I owed it to God to learn of his teaching. I owed it to God to serve his children and be a light to those who maybe only saw darkness. I owed everything to Him because he carried me in my time of trial and even gave me knowledge of the future.  I know that He knows if I had not received that knowledge I would have fallen down a path of unrighteousness and it would have taken me a long time to get out. In my life now I look at where I am, and I look where I have been and I am so thankful that I went through such a trial and came out so positively. It shows me that no matter the place we are, we can overcome anything  through Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I encourage all to put there trust in Him and nothing worldly will hurt you. You can be unstoppable through Jesus Christ, this truth Heavenly Father has made known to us over and over again. Studying the scriptures, serving others, praying and learning about the great promises of the temple help our testimonies to grow and become larger and larger and larger. I am so thankful for my experiences thus far and so very thankful for the hand of the Lord in my life. Because I have had the Lord so close and clear to me,  there's no doubt in my mind he came to a young boy to finish his work and bring forth the Book of Mormon. There is no doubt in my mind the Lord is near and He will do anything to bring forth his great work. I am forever thankful to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am thankful for our prophets and apostles. I am thankful for the temple. I am so thankful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is my "conversion" story, what's yours? Comment what you think and please no negativity. 

Our Love Story

I snatched him.

How we met and fell in love. Our story is quite interesting, I will tell my side to the story because I am not sure if Dustin wants his side on the internet. 

I first met Dustin after church one Sunday, I do not remember catching his name completely. He had a beard when I first met him so naturally he looked older. He had his sister in law with him and she had kids, me not knowing much of the family ties, I thought Dustin had a wife and kids. I remember when I first met him I had this odd feeling of desire and I wanted him for some reason and I really was not sure why. Not even knowing his name, I went home after church slapping myself for desiring another woman's husband. I slowly forgot about the experience. 

A few months later, Christina (Dustin's Mom) told me her son thought I was pretty and wanted to take me out on a date then she proceeded to laugh and say "But I told him oh my gosh she is only fifteen!" I was flattered and laughed at the concept.  I still did not yet make the connection who her son was. I thought  maybe her son was a boy I saw frequently at the BBQ's they had at their house, who I later realized was actually Dustin's cousin. I remember wondering why this "Dustin guy", who was actually Dustin's cousin never even tried to talk to me. Little did I know Dustin was actually in Utah and would soon come home for the summer.

A few weeks later, as summer approached, Christina asked me to begin working for her, teaching her grandchildren swimming lessons and pretty much whatever else she wanted me to do, I agreed. My second day of work I was sitting on the couch talking to Christina, and out comes Dustin and he introduced himself as Dustin and I finally knew exactly who the mystery boy was. Because he had shaved, I did not make the connection he was the same boy I met in the church hallway half a year before. Christina invited me to come to Ikebana's with them for dinner and I said yes. I remember I was adventurous, I tried shrimp for the first time! Dustin flirted with me a lot that night and we really hit it off. I forgot to mention what I wore that night, I was wearing yoga pants and a shirt with cats on it, I looked awful. That night I went home and looked through his whole Facebook to do a background check and had butterflies in my tummy. 

Because I was now sixteen, Dustin despite our age differences decided to kind of, sort of ask me out. My mom warned me that he may ask me out and that we would just be going as friends and see what happens. I was a little surprised but I went with it. Dustin first invited me to a family birthday dinner at the Chart House, yes I met most of the family all in one night. I was not sure if this was a date because we were with all the family and I do not know I was really stupid and refused to believe a boy liked me. After that, Dustin asked me out for our real first date, he asked me while I was in the pool giving swimming lessons and I remember my mascara was running down my face. He wanted to take me out to dinner but he did not tell me where we were going. Our first date was at the Shadowbrook, which was  such a  nice restaurant and I was not used to the super fancy stuff. I was pretty shy but I got pretty talkative towards the end. 

In the Shadowbrook cart.

We went on a couple more dates after that, we went to Monterrey and walked down Cannery row and that was the first time we held hands. It was the nineteenth and Dustin was hanging out at my house pretty late, we finally talked about our relationship and became in a relationship. We also kissed that night too! Dustin left around one, so we say our relationship became official the 20th. It was not until a few weeks later that I realized Dustin was the man I had met so long ago and felt attracted to. It was not until then that I realized he was not married with kids, he was my boyfriend! I realized that the woman was his sister in law. When I realized this, I realized that I was going to marry Dustin, my instincts that day long ago knew it and I did too.

The summer ended and we had great times, we seriously did some really fun things all summer long. but our relationship would be put to the test, Dustin had to go back to Utah for his last semester of school, last one! I would not see him besides a few visits until December. He came to visit once or twice. Once he brought me a car home that he bought as a token of his love and it was really sweet but I was more happy to see him. He came for thanksgiving and after that we had the long stretch until Christmas and then he would be home for good! 

We went to his families ranch for Christmas and had some really good times in the snow. Dustin took me on an off-roading trip in the snow with many different stops, the last stop he proposed to me. This particular spot overlooks the entire ranch. We were soaking wet by the time we got there because the snow was so harsh. Besides the fact, it was very romantic.   I said yes!

 And now we begin this new journey of wedding planning and I must say we are closer than ever! I am very happy with Dustin and very thankful that he found me and I found him. I cannot wait to be sealed to him and to be with him forever! I know that God placed Dustin right in front of me and we were meant for each other. I thank Heavenly Father everyday that I have this wonderful man by my side always.

And that is my compact version of our love story.

I am going to write a detailed blog of our proposal and other elements touched upon in this blog.

Comment things about your experience with love stories! 

Let me know what you think of my blog!

My Beautiful Bridesmaids; May I Introduce Some of The Most Important Girls In My Life

The Maid of Honor; Kelly Cruchett

Meet Kelly one of my most treasured friends. I moved into her aunts rental when I was one years old, she lived right up the street. We had a tea party and the rest is history. Her family is family, we have had countless of our holidays conjoined and countless trips together. Not a day ever went by that we did not see each other or speak to each other. We have done just about everything together, laughed together, cried together. She has been there for every single important moment in my life and I cannot imagine not having her by my side on my wedding day. We have been to countless concerts, camping, random road trips and none have ever been a bad experience. We went on countless valentines day dates out of spite of not ever being in relationships. We manage to have pizza on national pizza day annually.  We have fun everywhere we go and can find good in all we do. Kelly does not care if her opinions differentiate from others, she embraces them. She has been to Haiti and has helped Haitian orphans find happiness. She an aspiring writer and loves journalism. She loves to write, which will really come in handy when she has to write a speech for the reception, it is now the public speaking she must work on. She is so accomplished for a seventeen year old girl, she is nothing but the perfect maid of honor. 

Meet Amanda Reber 

Now this is Amanda, the short spunky one of the bunch. I met Amanda in the third grade at Starbucks this was  before Starbucks was cool, we go way back. When we met I did not really expect much of it we just hung out because we were the only kids at Starbucks. I remember she ordered a Chocolate Chip Frap and I remember thinking her order was so much more sophisticated than my simple hot chocolate. We did not continue the friendship until she switched to my school and on the bus we realized we live on the same road and shared the same bus stop. Everyday after school she stayed at my house until her mom made her go home and when she did I came with her. We were always together, and it was not until we realized we also go to the same church every Sunday that we realized this friendship was really meant to be. We had very active imaginations and often I wish I could go back to the state we were when we were together, it was like we were in a different world. Now we are too old to ever understand that imagination we had. We played many games, we made chalk civilizations, played Cowboys versus Indians, played Pirate War in the pool and there was even a time we were convinced we were both mermaids. (It is no wonder why we are both such great swimmers.) I can't say all the games we made up because many of them are hard to understand in words and this will just become a plethora of inside jokes only Amanda would understand. Amanda too, has always been an amazing writer. She is the most honest and trustworthy friend I have. She is now an amazing volleyball player and off to college in the Fall. She has accomplished many things and always will be, I cannot imagine a life without her, and I cannot wait to have her as a bridesmaid! 

Meet Elisa Ibarra

This is Elisa we met later in life, but immediately became soul mates. We met at Girls Camp, the best place on earth. She was put into my tent at last minute, and I thank Heavenly Father for that. At first the people in my tent did not like her,  being judgmental at the new girl in the tent, typical. But soon we grew a great bond. We found out we would both be starting at the same middle school in the following school year, and we were super excited to have a Mormon friend at school! When the school year started Elisa and I became best friends, we went to after school program every single day and had so much fun. We were seriously insane when we got together and not like hyper insane, like we would talk to ourselves insane. We bring out this weird personality in each other that only comes out when we are together. In high school we had P.E together both years and most of our memories involve us being sweaty, moving and normally talking while being out of breath. We have many funny memories of hitting our heads on the locker door and other ridiculous things that happen in the locker room. We used each others socks, deodorant and hair ties all the time. We always went into the locker room hunched over from cracking up about something nobody else would ever understand. Elisa and I have a bond that I have never had with anyone before. As soon as we get together we flip into a new universe and we always worry for a moment if people think we are legally insane. She is an amazing runner and I don't know how I survived P.E being her running buddy. She going to go big places, she is such an amazing athlete. I cannot imagine never meeting her and I am so happy she will be a bridesmaid at my wedding.  I know one day we will be hunched over and cracking up at our crazy behavior on earth whilst making more ridiculous memories in the eternities. 

Sarina Bivins

Meet Sarina, yes Bivins, yes she is my sister. Yes, that is an adorable baby photo of me and a young Sarina. We really do not have many pictures of just her and I, there is always a kid in the photo or something, but that will change at the wedding. Sarina has been a really good sister, we have had our ups and downs as they all do but she has been there in the hard times. We have had so many good times and most them include shopping. She is a wonderful mother to three adorable children whom I love like my own. She has been through many hard trials in this life and continues to but she always rises to the top and I admire her for the strength that she has. If it were not for her I would not know all the words to many old school raps songs, I would not have ever been scared of monsters under my bed and nobody would ever tell me if my make-up is not my color. She is an honest, hardworking woman who practices tough love and is compassionate as well. She is also a genius, her mind is very powerful and she is amazing at math. I do not think she knows just how talented she is yet, but the day will come and her talent will smack her right in the face. I cannot imagine my wedding day without her there. 

Kasarah Carlson 

Kasarah is also my sister, we have grown up together and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding! She was always a pretty good example she always got me to eat my carrots and obey the rules. She always vacuumed the house and it made my mother very happy because she did it so well. She is very hard working in everything she does and has a really good work ethic. She loves what she does and she is not afraid to tell you if she hates something either! She hates reading! Shes an amazing cupcake maker and one day will open her own cupcake farm, yes a cupcake farm that is how perfect they are. She and her husband like to play video games and have a huge collection making their house very fun for binge gaming. She has always had really horrible allergies and so we understand each others great pain. Believe it or not she has always enjoyed metal music, but she does not look that hardcore? Well just a few years back she had her whole head bleached with colorful hair. Did I also mention she is pregnant with a little girl named Kaddison and will be having the baby a month before the wedding but still agreed to be a bridesmaid? She is amazing!

Laurel Sota

Laurel is also my sister. She has always been a protective older sister and she sure showed it when I began dating Dustin. Now that she has approved, I am so happy she will be a bridesmaid in the wedding. She has always been such a great example of what a good wife and mother are. She is very family oriented and loves to research family history. She is really smart and opinionated. She owns a bakery and has always supplied us generously with delicious cake on every special occasion. I admire the love she has for the family. She is a grandma of one cute little girl, Sophia! I will always remember the fun we had at Laurels house growing up.  I will always remember hearing her jingle her keys and we would fret it s time for her to leave. I am so excited for her to be a part of this big day!

Drea Cruchett

Drea is Kelly's older sister and practically mine too. We all know she will one day rule the world. She always kept us out of trouble growing up. She is the protective one who pushes education and self determination. She is an avid example of where it gets you, she is graduating college this May with a degree in teaching. She is going to teach special needs children and I know she will make a huge difference in this world for them. I admire her work ethic and aspire to have the same kind of ethic in my schooling. She will always be the loving protective older sister. She would take Kelly and I on adventures all the time when she got her license and treated us like her friends. As we got older we went on many adventures and road trips. Often Kelly and I visit her at her college for a get away! She is super organized and an amazing planner and I am sure she is assisting Kelly, the maid of honor in her plans. She must use her talent! I do not know who else will shove clam chowder down my throat while telling me to enjoy the beach but also get an education. I cannot imagine not having her as a bridesmaid, and I can trust she will make sure everything goes as planned. 

Rose Batistich 

This is Rose, we do not have any pictures together yet because I have only know her as long as I have know my fiance Dustin. She will be my new sister! I absolutely love her already! She is a free spirit who is very outgoing and fun! She is so spontaneous! She is wonderful with animals and amazingly talented in caring for them. She is very fun to talk to and has very strong opinions! She knows how to hold her ground and I really admire that about her. She is witty and funny! Not to mention she has the most beautiful dog I have ever seen. She emulates sunshine and happiness!  She is very sweet and seems to have such good honest intentions in everything she does. She is capable of more than she knows and is off to big things! She is a very talented girl and I am excited to make memories with her over the years! I am excited for our first big memory, when she was one of my bridesmaids! 

Destiny Hansen

Meet Destiny. I remember when she first moved to Prunedale, all the way from Utah. She and her brother both moved into my school, I met her brother first than learned that she was his sister!  I saw them at school and saw them at church and it took me a couple weeks to finally realize they were the same people! They were Mormon! Hallelujah! Destiny and I became great friends, she was a year younger so I never had any classes with her but I saw her at church and at recess. She always wore pajamas to school and I admired that. She is an amazing confident young women who has the most amazing qualities. Her mother is so lucky, because Destiny is a perfect child. The past year she has really succeeded in sports and different activities and I am very proud of her. I am also very proud of her love for the gospel. Destiny was the only one who ever heard my songs I wrote, when I was too shy to share with anyone. I have always felt so comfortable with Destiny. She is like my little sister and I cannot imagine her not being one of my bridesmaids!

My Birthday; One Sick Fiance, Two broken Down Cars, Three Shattered Phones and a Fabulous French Manicure

 Well, my birthday this year was unusual to say the least.

This year when I woke up from my slumber on the morning of my birthday, I received a text from my fiance, Dustin that he is horribly sick and we are going to have to post-pone my birthday plans. I will admit I was a little upset, but I had to be compassionate of his illness. My mother came to the rescue and took me to get my nails and toes done, and that was very relaxing! Next we went to lunch at the Wooden Nickel in Watsonville, with my best friend, Kelly. We proceeded to just do a few errands we were needing to do and came home.

When we arrived home I was feeling pretty tired for I did not get any sleep the night prior. Somehow Kelly talked me into going out with a few friends, and we had no idea we would be in for such misfortune.

Ever since I left my high school for independent study, I feel I have left the high school world and jumped into the adult world. ( I am getting married in July for goodness sake) But on my birthday I got of taste of teenage life again and I think it may be my last taste, but at least I ended with a bang.

With completely good intention, we took two separate cars to Sonic in Salinas. There were seven of us, three in one car and four in another. I was blessed to be in the car that decided to die at a stoplight, in Salinas at about 11 pm. We call the driver of the other car, which was Kelly and tell her to come back for us. We put the car in neutral and pushed the car to the side of the road. Kelly had jumper cables and began to attempt to restart the car but after many minutes of this we decided it is all down hill from here, literally. We put the car in neutral and took it to the closest parking lot, the IHOP parking lot. Some of us had to walk to the IHOP from here, which I will admit was scary because Salinas is not the safest city. I knew how to keep safe, we had to stay in a group, look strong, cool, calm and collected, we also had to look like we had a destination. I told the girls this, and they agreed, besides one, the youngest. She proceeded to go running and screaming to IHOP and we just let her go. We made it to IHOP and in an emergency situation had to pack into one car. We made it back but missed the turn to the road we were supposed to go down. We began to make a U-turn that we make quite frequently without using the three point turn method. But the three point turn method should have been used this time. Due to one side of the car being completely over packed we flipped our car into a ditch. Yes, a ditch with water running down. As the rain poured down on us we feared someone would stop who was not a nice character. After about a half an hour, we were rescued, pulled out and no damage was done to the car. We went back, to drop the girls off at their house. Kelly's phone was missing, we searched her car inside and out and still could not find it. Whilst searching for Kelly's phone, two girls dropped their phones and shattered them. After searching we gave up and left for our houses, only to find Kelly's phone on the side of the road also shattered and wet. Yes, Happy birthday to me, one sick fiance, two broken down cars, three shattered phones and a fabulous french manicure.

Arriving home at 1:30 in the morning, I knew daylight savings was starting and I had to teach the Primary children at church the next day. I slept and somehow awoke alive and well. Primary went smoothly although my voice was lost and my body was tired. The same night we had a birthday dinner for me, it was my nephew River's actual birthday because he was born a day after me. His party will be the following week, but he still helped me blow out the candles.

So maybe my 17th was not exactly what I imagined. I mean I never imagined having my last teenage "hooray" on my seventeenth birthday. I never expected to meet the love of my life and desire to get married before my seventeenth birthday either. I do not regret any of my decisions to grow up fast, graduate early and get married. I am happy as I could ever be. Now I sit on a Monday evening, sick as a dog (Dustin did it) , thinking of how lucky I am to have the life and family that I do. I cannot imagine my life any different than it is right now. I am so happy and thank Heavenly Father for another amazing year. I love my friends and family and I am thankful that all our bad luck the night of my birthday did not get us hurt. Happy birthday to me! 

And River of course.