watermelon in winter

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 ...

You know when you're doing something and you KNOW it's the right thing to do, without any doubt whatsoever? And then the trials and challenges come, and people tell you you're wrong. But really, you're right, and you know you're right. So...just remember that you're right :)

Words of wisdom.  This is gonna be a long post, because of quoting a couple things... Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: "People are often unreasonable and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you.  Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous.  Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.  Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway." Martina McBride sang: " You can spend your whole life buildin' Something from nothin One storm can come and blow it all away   Build it anyway You can chase a dream   That seems so out of reach And you know it might not ever come your way Dream it anyway God is great but sometimes life aint good And when I...

I love you so much it hurts... We've all heard this phrase, many of us have said it, but how often do we think about it? Tonight I was just thinking about this.  What does it even mean, to love someone so much it hurts?  Does it mean that love=hurt?  Nope. Here's what I think.  Loving someone so much it hurts means you feel it when they hurt.  When they are sad, you genuinely feel sad.  When someone hurts them, you feel personally wounded or hurt as well.  You feel what they feel.  It goes the other way, too.  When they are happy, you are too.  When they accomplish something, you feel proud!   It all goes back to Genesis, in the Garden of Eden.  You really and truly become one, feeling each other's joys and pains, and you work through things together.

Hello friends. Long time no contact, right? Yeah, my bad. Here's a very brief summary of the last 2 1/2 months of my life: -Christmas -New Years (started that off right!) -Renato's birthday -came back to school -got a new job (I'm back at BYUTV, hooray!!!!) and quit my old one -school is keeping me ridiculously busy, more than I'd even thought it would -I only have one roommate this semester -I'm cooking more -I have my first Portuguese student (I start teaching on Monday) -I've learned a lot about trust in the Lord (again) and about how having priorities in the right place can make a huge difference in all aspects of life -bought a plane ticket to Brazil- I'm going there in May! -fell even more in love with Renato :) So, that's the short list of everything that's happened.  There has been a lot going on.  I'll try to be better about keeping this updated again, especially now that I have a few big things to look forward to, es...

It's that time of year again!!!! As I sit here, my mom just commented that we have a peaceful house.  Pops already went to bed for the night, I am sitting here reading some things, the cat is sitting on the couch and purring, Mom is knitting, and the clock is ticking.  We really do have a peaceful house, and it's really good to be home again!  It's nice to not have to worry about school, though I am still keeping busy with my end of a deal with my parents.  :)  I love my family, and I love how supportive they are to me and the decisions I make. Today was busy, but this evening has been nice and relaxing.  I got to talk for a little while with my other half (Renato), and then I set up the Christmas tree with Mom, while listening to Josh Groban Christmas music.  After that, we worked on some Christmas planning (you know, getting in touch with Santa and all), which is great.  Tomorrow should be another bu...

So once again I am blogging from somewhere new.  Well, it's not really new to me...this is somewhere I've been far too many times, but I've never blogged from here!  I'm in the Salt Lake airport, heading home for Christmas! And the best part...I get almost  MONTH at home with my parents! I even get to spend my birthday with them! So, finals are behind me, stress is behind me, and now it's time to relax.  I'm on freedom time right now, and can do whatever I want!  I've got a list of miscellaneous things I want to do while at home, people I want to see, projects to finish with Mom, walls to paint with Pops, movies to watch, books to read, and obviously probably the biggest chunk of my time: lots of Skype time with Renato!  It'll be nice to just relax.  This last semester was all kinda of crazy with all kinda of stress in unexpected places and times.  Surprisingly, it wasn't even all about school.  It was a lot of learning that as much as I pl...