2 More Weeks!!

I've been counting down since day 178 so it's great to finally be at 14!!!! So exciting!! Everything is coming together nicely--family from out of town will be arriving shortly, bridesmaids skirts are almost done (the amazing Anndalyn is making them!), both my bridal showers were a blast and it has been so great to see so many old friends, I'm almost all packed and ready to move to Texas, and Shanam and I can't wait for the honeymoon!!! Mom loves watching the travel channel and just watched a show about the top 20 hottest Carribean islands to visit and St. Lucia was Number 1! We just can't wait!!

Say what!!!??

So, remember how in the last post I was just overwhelmed with gratitude? And the one before that shows all the beautiful pictures of our place in Park City? Remember how my life was just falling into place and I was going to live happily ever after? Well.....I'm still going to live happily ever after....only, it's going to be much different then expected. This is a picture of what Shanam and I will be surrounded by for the next two years. The week after our wedding, instead of moving to beautiful, lush, green, exciting Park City we'll be moving to middle-of-nowhere Andrews, Texas. This is a place where you literally have to watch out for the tumbleweeds so they don't scratch your car and where you can see a cow on the horizen one hundred miles away. Shanam and I were joking last night that there could not be any two places so different and extreeme from each other. Our first few years of marriage will be filled with characters that we've only read about in books. He's actually already moved there at the beginning of this week and won't be coming back until the wedding, crazy I know, but it's a great oopportunity for his career and our life will be full of fun adventures, I just know it :) I can't help but look at the positive side :) So, if anyone still wants to come visit, you'll always be welcome!

Gratitude

I just feel so overwhelmed with gratitude tonight! I could go on and on with a list of how the Lord has blessed me just in the past few months. It seems like everything is just falling into place and I really couldn't ask for anything more. I love life and all the dear friends and family I share it with. I love the amazing man I will be marrying in two months and for the life that lies ahead of us. And I love my Heavenly Father. He continues to work miracles in my life and I will continue to serve Him in all that I do! Life is beautiful!

We found a place to live!!

I am sooooooo excited!! We just found out today that we got the place we were hoping and praying for!! Everyone has to come and visit!! We are right on Main Street in the heart of Park City. Listen to this...1 bedroom/1 bath, hard wood floors, granite kitchen countertops, king size bed, queen size pullout couch, gas fireplace, balcony, jet tub in the master bath, underground parking, shared condo jacuzzi, free wireless internet and cable, and it's fully furnished to the max!! Oh and did I mention that it's got hiking and mountain biking trails leading out from the back yard!! So cool!! I am just soooooo excited! Seriously come visit and we'll go play!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

It's been exactly one week since Shanam was called out on an emergency business trip to Texas. He called me last Thursday while I was at work to tell me he was headed to the airport in an hour and that he might not be back for a COUPLE MONTHS! We were so distraught that we wouldn't get to see each other before he left, it was horrible! Don't worry, I pulled myself together :) But it really is strange to go from being with each other every single day to nothing at all! But to count my blessings...I've had so much time to prepare for the wedding! All the big things are ready to go, now I get to focus on all the fun details :) I hope ya'll are planning on coming because this is going to be one spectacular day!

Isn't it about...Time? NO!

Yesterday, as I was studying for my Sunday School lesson, the lesson mentioned how the Restoration was a combination of three things--the right time, the right place, and the right person. God had prepared every little event leading up to the Restoration in order for the Resoration to be perfect. I noticed, interestingly enough, the combination of those three things are what modern day prophets have said about marriage--the right time, the right place, the right person. This got me to thinking about relationships. Before I had met Shanam I remember thinking...WHEN is it going to be my turn...why can't I get find him right NOW...why do I have to WAIT so long? Here's my conclusion. Time is irrelevant to the Lord. Time is something that was created for us here on earth to measure the length of our probation, but the Lord doesn't run on time. The Lord runs on events. Just like the Restoration, everything has to be in order and prepared for the next step, no matter how long that takes. I realize now that certain things had to happen in my life, certain decisions had to be made, before I was ready to meet Shanam and before I was able to recognize the incredible blessings he brought into my life. This moment of meeting the right person happens at different times for everybody, but as long as we have faith that the events in our life are preparing us for that moment, it will happen. And when that moment "finally" happens, the rightness of it feels soooo good :)

You Won't Believe This!

LOL!! So, I have to tell you about our first ski adventure together! LOL!! Just a little backround first, though. Shanam is an amazing, amazing skier. He started skiing when he was 6 years old and for high school he attended an athletic sport school where he specialized in downhill speed racing!! We're talking flying down the mountain at 85 mph. He lived, breathed, dreamed ski every single day. He climbs up to the very tops of mountains just so he can ski down them and jump off cliffs! Think about those crazy videos you see on the extreeme sports channel and that's him. And then there's me. I've been skiing once, almost 10 years ago. We make a great pair, right? Anyway, ever since we started dating he's wanted to get me on the slopes, well the day finally came. News Year's Day we embark on perhaps the most nerve-racking, intimidating, exciting day of my life. He gets me all geared up and we start out on the bunny slopes, slowly but surely. Another thing you have to know is that he was never actually taught how to ski, it was almost as if he was born knowing how. So when he told his family and friends that he was going to teach me, they ALL tried to discourage him, telling him it would be better if I took lessons from someone else. I told him I knew he could do it. So, here we are at Alta. He's doing his best to tell me how to position my skis to make the turns and I'm doing my very best to follow his every word. We're on the bunny slopes for about an hour...that's a long time to be on the bunny slopes. And let me tell you, I was so impressed with how patient he was being with me! At one point, I told him to go for a run by himself and I would stay on the bunny slope and keep practicing, but he firmly said that he loved me and would not leave my side. That really meant a lot to me, and looking back on it, that was the most critical part of the day. If he had left me, I would have never made it on that mountain! Soon after that point, I was comfortable enough to hit the slopes. My first run down was a little shaky, but my second run was awesome!! It felt so good to finally get the feel of it, and Shanam loved watching me ski. It was a great moment for both of us :) But, that's not the end of the story. LOL. It gets better. After lunch we decide I'm ready for a blue run. I'm feeling pretty confident in myself and then we reach the very top of the mountain. The run is a lot steeper...I'm scared...and suddenly I forget everything I just learned. Shanam skiis down a little ways, so effortlessly I might add, and looks back up to me and motions with his hands to start skiing down. It took all the courage I had to start sliding forward. But remember, my mind's blank and I don't know what I'm supposed to do so I start going faster and try to turn but get thrown off balance and tumble down to him. This happens about three more times. Everytime he helps me get back up and we go over what I'm supposed to do, but I can't retain it, and my body's tired, and I just want off that mountain. I just nodd my head, try again, and fall. On one particular bad fall I tweaked my knee the wrong way and could hardly put any pressure on it...not good. It took us about 20 minutes to go 10 feet, sliding down sideways, and finally I asked him if there was any other way. I was just so tired by that point and sad that I had ruined our perfect day of skiing, and disappointed in myself. But there was Shanam, right by my side the entire time, giving me positive support and constant love. He's amazing. He said we could call the ski patrol and I said no way. Then he said we could try something else. He said he had never done it before, but it could work. And I said...ok. He instructed me to get right behind him and place my skis on the inside of his, wrap my arms around his shoulders as if I was going for a piggy back ride, and hold on tight. And I said...ok. And then we started moving, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. I couldn't see where we were going at all, so I just had to pay attention to his body movements and match it with mine. Can you get a good visual? LOL! We were wizzing past people who just stared at us as we made our way down the mountain piggy-back style. We made it to the bottom and all I could do was laugh! My hero!