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Summertime is...over?!

Today is one of my last few days at my parents' house before I head back to BYU for my senior year.  The long road of college finally has a light at the end of the tunnel, and it looks reachable!  But this time next year, if all goes according to plan, I will be married and living in Brazil.  The last couple days have made me look back on my summer and think about all that has happened...

So, this is going to be a long post, mostly because of pictures that are going to help me tell my summer 2013 story.  I came back to NH in April after winter semester ended, stayed for about a week and a half, and then I went to Brazil for 5 1/2 weeks.  And while I was there, some wonderful things happened.....

Renato proposed to me at the Recife Temple the day I got to Brazil (the first time we'd seen each other in over 9 months), and I said yes!  So (finally) we are officially engaged and planning a wedding for July 22 2014, in Brazil!

Our rings :)

We had talked for a LONG time about when we'd be able to go to the Temple together and we finally got to spend about 5 days in Recife together doing Temple work, and it was a dream come true.

The beautiful Recife Temple

We even got to see a mission friend, Danilo Torres!

Tamires and Renato and I made apple pie while I was down there, using Mom's recipe.  The only thing missing was nutmeg.  Note to self: when I move to Brazil, I need to bring nutmeg with me, because it's REALLY expensive down there!

And then we went to Salvador for a day and got to see one of my mission companions, Simone Silva, and we were basically tourists for the day, visiting a lot of tourist sites.

I just love this picture from our day in Salvador :)

My last night in Brazil was Brazilian Valentine's day, and there was an activity at the church for couples, which we went to...lots of fun!  But bittersweet, as we were just trying not to think about how I'd be leaving the next afternoon.

So that was Brazil in a VERY small nutshell!  I have over a hundred pictures from while I was down there.  It was amazing, and even better than I was hoping for.  I fell even more in love with Renato in the time I was there, and it was wonderful to be able to begin planning our future.  Our wedding is still far away for a few reasons (having to do with visas/legalities/government, and the fact that I am finishing school next year and we won't have to be separated again after we get married).  This next year is going to be very tough; the couple months I've been home from Brazil have already been difficult.  But I have no doubt that it will be worth it, for what is a couple of years compared to an eternity of happiness?? :)

The rest of my summer went like this:
I worked at Hannaford, of course.  Oh and Mel came to visit me a few times, as did other people I know!  It was fun; I made some new friends at work and just made it as fun as I could.

I went hiking with Kierra to Arethusa Falls in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I brought my rock hammer with me, of course, and even found some rocks to break.

living on the edge...

It is the tallest waterfall in NH!

I went to Maine a couple times to visit Memere, and stopped by Nubble

I went to the Temple lots, which was wonderful!  This and the next picture are actually from the time I went with Mom and Kierra and Melanie in April, before I left for Brazil. 

I also did some sewing projects.  I made myself 3 skirts (this blue one, the flowered one below, and another red one I haven't taken a picture of), and I am finishing up a dress hopefully today.  It's been fun to work with my Mom and learn some new sewing skills this summer! 

And Mikey even came to visit me a couple times!  My "little" brother...always will be my baby brother, no matter how much bigger than me he is!
Also, I cooked lots, worked as an ordinance worker in the Boston temple, got mono and got better (mostly), asked my grandmother if I can use her wedding dress, found shoes for the wedding, started making wedding and life plans with Renato, and lots of other fun stuff this summer.  I'll be honest...I'm not too thrilled about going back to Provo and back to school, but I keep telling myself that each day that goes by, I'm one day closer to being with Renato again, and one day closer to being done with school!  And that's how I get through the hardest days....there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  School is almost over, and the end of the long-distance is in sight.  

How was your summer?  What do you have to look forward to?

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