So little time.

As of yesterday, we only have four months left! That seems like an eternity in engagement months. 

In between classes, rehearsal and shows, we spent lot of time together this time around. What's interesting is when we are together, I don't feel like we live so far away! It's like he never left. Although, if he did live here, I might be less of a monkey on him. 

Eh, maybe not. He's really handsome.

We had a packed week (partially my fault) because of all the planning we had to do. He is so sweet and most of the time, says I can just do what I want...about the house decorating. But when it comes to the insurance, bank stuff, and of course the garage, he's already gotten that taken care of. There's a lot of things you have to think about, 

it's not just wedding planning that takes forever! That's the easy part.

118 days until we'll be in here together!

Which is crazy to think about our first date 10 months ago...

We also went up to my cabin again, and shockingly there was two

feet of snow! Snowshoeing was pretty fun to get to the front door. No way my Buick would make that.

And of course had fun on the way there...

"Love does not appear with any warning signs. You fall into it as if pushed from a high diving board. No time to think about what's happening. It's inevitable. An event you can't control. A crazy, heart-stopping, roller-coaster ride that just has to take its course.” -Jackie Collins

And then...he leaves me love notes to find after his flight leaves. He loves to make me cry.

...is for the way you look at me.

Sometimes I can't even make anything come out of my mouth because of the ridiculous English language that doesn't have words even close to being strong enough to describe how much I am in love.

Many people skeptically ask me, "How can you be engaged to someone that you don't even live in the same state?" Well, my friends, love knows no boundaries. No, it's not because I couldn't find anyone here at BYU. (Yes, I've been asked that! Haha...) Of course we entertained all options of me moving there, or him moving here. But I'm in this thing that takes over my life called Young Ambassadors, and with his new job...until June 19th, it just would not be practical. Plus, long distance really does have it's pros! When we see each other, we are able to put everything else aside and focus on each other. I'm never stressed as to how to balance my time with him. Bottom line: it works perfectly for us. It's not like we planned it this way, but from our very first conversation on the phone, we realized we had to make it work from so far away.

I know, I know...I'll have some cheesy posts. Despite what I thought about myself before I met Kasey, I just want to shout it to the world. (And, I know I loved reading posts like these in my earlier college years to keep hope on flowing!) I do realize, that I'm still four months away from being married. What could I know about love? Well, I really don't know too much yet. All I know is that this is love, and I just care about making him happy.

Two more days.

A Divine Calling.

I came across this quote yesterday that puts perfectly into words what I want to shout to the world.

“Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." -Rachel Jankovic

Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve quoted this in his talk entitled, Children, from the October 2011 LDS General Conference. I find it so intriguing that people can think their workplace, the gym, or Whole Foods is so necessary that children can be a second thought. It's interesting how one thinks they are entitled to a certain "dream life," but who is to say that children aren't? They are as much, if not more entitled to the ultimate "dream life" of both a mother and a father. I am just so incredibly excited to be a mom, and I've had about ten friends give birth in the past two weeks, thus all of the blog posts about it. But don't worry, I'm loving this stage of my life. Sometimes, I do tend to look forward to the next big thing, but Kasey has taught me a lot about enjoying every second I'm alive. I'll never be in this stage of engagement again, and we'll only be newlyweds for a bit compared to eternity...so life is great. I'll be a mom soon enough.

But, remember the quote. It's our job as Latter-day Saints not to shout this message in our neighbor's ear, but to teach by example. Remember, actions speak louder than words. Don't tell them what we do, show them what we do.

10 Day Tour: Young Ambassadors

There aren't too many things more fun (and exhausting) than being on a bus for ten days with lots of extroverts. If you didn't catch it from Facebook/Instagram, I've been out of school the past week and on a long road trip touring with the YA's! 

This is how we looked 90% of the time...

And the other 10%...

We had so much fun. It was one of those weeks where I wanted time to stand still and 

just be "in college" for awhile. It went way too fast! So starting off...this is me and MegSack about 3 hours

into our journey. That's why we are so happy...

Our first night, we stayed with the guy who draws the Pickles comics, 

Brian Crane and his lovely wife. I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Another MegSack photo, making any other face but smiling! Our cheek muscles hurt.

Our first stop on the day tour to San Francisco, the City Hall! 

Just me and a big head. That's all.

Chinatown....yeah.

I practically went to China without going to China!

Whitney and I on the Pier looking out over Alcatraz.

...and Tanner bought us a bread alligator at the world-famous Boudin's! 

We try to be as mature as possible when we are taking pictures.

After a great FHE and fireside with the Singles Ward, the next day we woke up

and went to the Redwood Forest! 

With a performance every night except Sunday, it was great to come to our Host family

and be completely welcomed in! Those little kids in Santa Rosa are adorable.

And for more mirror reflection pictures, of course we watch The Bachelor when we

get ready for our shows! This was in San Jose:

And this was the stage in San Jose...SO FUN!

I guess you could call it a success when you make the front page of

a Napa Valley Newspaper.

And for our last show...a great dressing room shot. This was our favorite dressing room 

only because we had enough outlets for our curling irons.

Within these ten days, I hadn't heard of so many miracles since my mission. For real. We helped with some re-activating, with decision making about baptism, and lots (and lots) of introduction to the LDS church. We brought the Spirit in ways that I couldn't do on my own--even when I was a missionary. I heard the exact same things when I was wearing a nametag, which convinced me even more that what I'm doing right now is an extension of my mission. But this time, I get to SING! 

Music brings something to some people that is not explainable. And one of those people is me. It gives me strength to go on, but more importantly, enough confidence to know that I'm a daughter of God. I know for a fact I gave that confidence to one little girl that I met in Oakland, and that was enough for me.

It's amazing the money, the time, sweat (and tears) Heavenly Father will allow one person to go through to help another come back to Him.

We do not doubt.

Who knows if I've posted this before...I don't think it really matters. It's just like reading the scriptures, different things jump out at you at different points in your life, and I guess that's just what happened to me today. 

In the last part of Alma 56, Helaman is talking to his brother, Moroni. Now, to put it in context just a bit, there are a million things that Helaman could have said. There was a huge war going on against the Lamanites, and if I were him, I'd probably tell him my war strategies, maybe something funny that happened...I don't know! But look at what he immediately tells him:

"And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, may, not amongst all the Nephites." (v. 45)

He is referring to these two thousand little boys that are in his army. Okay, the only people that make up his army. He calls them "young" men throughout the chapter, and I really start to think of what he means by "young." Remember back then how it was normal for girls to have babies at age 14? And how you became a real person at age 12? I might be exaggerating, but probably not by much. Helaman keeps on commenting how extremely young these men are, and I figure that he would lightly dust over the topic if they were of a mature enough age. Apparently they weren't. Here's just one example:

"For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young)... 

And check this out, this is what they were thinking while in the middle of the war...no wonder God told us to be like little children:

"...even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth..." (v. 46)

Wow. All of them said that? Well, look at what else Helaman has to say about them. And another thing to remember...he really wants us to know this because he is not just typing this all out on a Word document, he is etching into brass/copper/gold with a hammer all of these letters one by one. You think they're important? Yeah. Anyway, check this out:

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death..." Whaatttt?! "...and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea..." and this is my favorite part, "they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

The moral of the story is not that we should travel back in time and be like the two-thousand stripling warriors, it is that we still have time left to be those mothers and fathers they are talking about. Obviously, I think about this subject a lot! I am so excited to have my own family. I want to teach them principles like these from the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I want to give them life experiences that will help them grow farther than they ever thought possible, just like these very young strippling warriors. I know it will be challenging, and I'll won't be able to take one day off.

But from what I hear, it's worth it.