eShakti Special Offer and an Update!

As of lately I've been super busy getting things ready to leave on my mission! I can't believe that I have about 21 days left until I enter the MTC! I'm headed to the Germany Frankfurt mission to serve for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 18 months! I'm working for one more week and then it'll be full speed ahead into craziness! I feel like I've got too much to do and not enough time! But once I finish working, it'll be a blast filled with birthday celebrations, goodbye celebrations, and so much more!

As part of getting ready, I have been buying things left and right. Skirts, shoes, rain coats, luggage, and  so much more. And it has been seriously hard to find things that work the best for me. Not only am I picky, but it's hard to find things that look good, feel good, and fit just as good. Something that I'm super excited to introduce today is an exclusive offer from eShakti.com just for my friends, family, and readers! 

Here's the scoop:

 you can get

20% off*

 when you shop

 from February 26th to March 20th! 

Just use the promo code: LELLSNL

Here's what I love about this: 

-You can customize any of their pieces for your size. You can measure yourself and get your exact fit in an amazing style of your choice! 

-You can add length, change the sleeve, or change the neckline on almost all of their designs! 

-You get an perfect item for you at a great price! And with this exclusive offer, you get an ever greater deal on fabulous clothing! 

There's so many great things about eShakti. I really love everything they offer. Because for once, it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about fitting into a generic size of clothing. I can get something that is made exactly for me and I love it! 

They have tons of choices perfect for any occasion. I recently picked out a dress that I got custom sized with length added so that I can take it with me on my mission (review to come soon!) and they have a new line of bridesmaids dresses which I adore!

I hope you all find something that you love from eShakti and use this great offer, because it doesn't get better than this, and it doesn't get better than customization! Happy shopping! 

*Code has to be entered in the 'Promotional Code' box. No Minimum Order Value. The discount code is not case sensitive. The code can be used any number of times until the validity period. This code can be clubbed with any other gift coupon or gift card in the same order. This discount code is not applicable on our Overstock category. Not applicable on previous purchases. 

2012 in Review!

This is the first picture of 2012.
 But our friend wanted in on the couple's action too. HA!

January:  We started the year off right with kiss and then jumped into crazy semesters at school. I took 13.5 credits and Brady took 12 credits while we both were working. We would sneak in date nights on the weekends and had a few adventures up in Salt Lake City at the Jazz games. New Year’s resolutions were set and followed….for at least January.

One of the Jazz games we went to! 

February: We celebrated Valentine’s Day this year as two people actually in a relationship. The year before, we had just barely started watching dating so we watched The Bachelor with Brady’s family. This year I was spoiled with roses and other lovely gifts, dinner at my favorite restaurant, and tickets to The Vow. We also went to another Jazz game that month. 

Birthday Dinner at Tucanos! 

March: I turned 19 in March! This meant a lot of celebrating. Brady and I celebrated by going to Tucanos and by watching one of my favorite movies, and then getting spoiled with gifts from Brady. We also spent some time watching rugby games with my family. We went to The White Tie Ball at BYU and saw Alex Boye perform there. Then we celebrated our ONE YEAR OFFICIAL Anniversary together! I made dinner for us, and then we played some rugby together at the park, followed by movie watching. We are huge movie watchers. 

April: I survived finals and finished the semester! Whew, was I glad to be done. We spent some time watching the Jazz in a playoff game and enjoying more of the warm weather we were having. Brady worked on his mission papers.

Jazz playoffs! I decided I needed to be properly dressed and
made an investment in a jersey. Best money spent.
 The look on Brady's face when he saw it, was priceless. 

May: Brady finished his semester the first week of May, and then finished his papers! He left a week later to go on a family cruise to the Caribbean, while I stayed behind working two jobs for the summer.  I partied with my amazing roommates and we found ourselves in the biggest prank war ever.

Right after Brady opened his call! 

June: Right at the start of the month, Brady’s mission call arrived! We were anxious! He opened it up to find out that he was going to the California San Bernardino Mission in October! And he would be learning Spanish! I couldn’t be more excited for him! I also started playing on my ward’s co-ed softball team! It was fun to have something to get me playing again.

July: We spent the month boating and camping, and enjoying the sun. I spent a ton of time at the pool. We watched fireworks at our favorite park in Cedar Hills and spent a ton of time taking walks, watching sunsets, and stargazing. We enjoyed the time we spent together not stressing out about doing crazy things, knowing that it would soon come to an end. I loved the lazy summer evenings we spent together!

Drive-inn movie with Brady's family at the cabin. 

August: We spent some time with my family up at our condo in East Canyon. We even went fishing with Brady’s Dad and Grandpa which was so fun!  Then school started back up at the end of the month, and Brady’s birthday shortly followed after that. I spent the day at school and then rushed up to go to dinner with Brady and his family. Gotta love Tucanos for birthdays!

September: This month brought more school for me, and Brady counting down the days til the MTC. Brady’s farewell was the second Sunday in the month and he gave a great talk. Then we went to the family cabin one weekend for some adventures at the drive-in movies, four-wheeling, and lots of game playing. My little brother also got baptized! But I also happened to total my dad’s car and got in a huge accident and hour before the baptism! Then we filled the rest of the month with some of our last dates. We spent a day in Park City, and day at a Bee’s baseball game, and then we had our very last date seeing Pitch Perfect. I was a very lucky girl to get to spend so much time with my man. We had so many adventures that month....and of course I forgot to get the pics from Brady's phone before he moved them of his computer and packed up all his stuff. 

Cheesy handshake. Our faces are so ridiculous.
Probably the funniest goodbye ever. 

October: Brady went into the MTC on October 3^rd. After being tricked into dropping him off with his family, we said our last goodbye with a handshake and a wave goodbye. Three days later, the age change for sister missionaries was announced and my decision was made. I always wanted to go on a mission, but I felt like 21 just wouldn't have been the right time for me between school and Brady coming home. I started my papers in the midst of mid-terms, knowing that I was making the right decision to go now.

November: My papers were submitted the second Sunday in November, and my call showed up exactly a week and a half later! But, ironically, my family spent that entire week in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving so it sat in my mailbox for three days waiting for me. We got home to open it two hours later with my family and friends; I've been called to serve in the GERMANY FRANKFURT MISSION! The exact same mission that my dad served in 30 years ago!

After opening my call, with my close friends with me! 

December:  Brady arrived in California the first week of December and was learning so much. The last two weeks of school flew by. Between homework, studying, final projects, and work….I was a little swamped. My sleep schedule was so messed up after I finished finals. Christmas brought a bunch of surprises and I also was present for Brady’s phone call to his family! It was so good to talk to him! We spent Christmas with my sister and brother-in-law here from Boston in our newly finished family room in our basement, a dream of all of ours for a really long time.

2012 brought many changes but many blessings too. I was so blessed to be able to attend school, have a steady job all year round, and to be surrounded by amazing friends and family. I’m truly blessed and grateful for all the learning experiences I had and all the curve balls that were sent my way. It was great to learn more about myself and strengthen my relationship with that amazing boy of mine this year. I head out March 20^th to the MTC and then I’ll be off to Germany after that. It’s crazy to think of how fast things changed for me, but I couldn't be more excited and more anxious to serve a mission! I’m excited to see what a mission has in store for me and for Brady. We’re so lucky to be sharing this experience together. And it sure has made waiting so much easier. For 2012, life was definitely more than just peachy. And I know I can say that for 2013, life will be more than just peachy too! Happy New Year’s everyone! 

I've fallen of the face of the social media world....

So here's the thing.....

.....Brady went into the MTC on October 3rd. Crazy it's been two weeks already. I've just been so busy i haven't had time to put up the awesome pictures from that day....

.....school, work, and other things have taken up all my time.....

......I'm going on a mission! Yes, I'm going on a mission. It'll be about two more weeks before I can get my papers submitted....but i'm still busy filling them out and getting ready....

.....so for now, I don't really know what i'm doing with my life besides that fact that i'm going to be leaving for eighteen months.....

.....that's enough for now. More details later.....or not...maybe....just depends on things.....and on if I can motivate myself to post things.....

.....I'm going on a mission! That is more than just peachy enough to keep me happy for an incredibly long time.....so i'm all good.

Here Comes Goodbye

We made each other promise not to listen to this song for so long. Mainly because we knew it would come, and didn't want to be sad. It's a song we both love yet we both hate at the same time. Today I will give my last hug to Brady for two years. Tomorrow I'l watch him walk into the MTC and give two years of his life to the Lord. I couldn't be happier. But the reality of saying goodbye is here....so here comes goodbye. I love you Brady, see you in two!

It's Better to Look Up

Things haven't been the greatest lately. I got in a car accident on Saturday (which also happened to be my fault), I had to give my car to my dad (because I totaled his car in the accident), and then I haven't had a huge amount of motivation this week (even though I have to study for my mid-term coming up). It just hasn't been peachy, and Brady leaves in six days. I just haven't felt like myself this week.

But then on Tuesday, my best friend came down to Provo and convinced me to go donate blood with her. We laughed and talked about everything. It was just like old times. (No, literally it was. We used to donate blood together all the time) Her boy is also on a mission, and so it was really nice to have someone who knows how I feel right now. But anyways, after she left, I just felt so much better. I felt like things were so much better, and I knew I could keep going. She reminded me of the important things and helped me forget things that don't matter.

Then on Wednesday while I was waiting for one of my classes to start, I texted Brady and he asked me how my day was. After I told him, he texted back with just a whole bunch of sweet things. It's like he just knew that I needed it and he just helped me see the positive things about my day instead of the negative ones. Which also included Brady coming down and taking me to dinner. Hooray for Wednesday date night!

So after having a hard time seeing the good in things this week, I was reminded of one of my favorite talks from the October 2011 conference. Elder Carl B. Cook tells the story of how he felt so overwhelmed after his first week of being a general authority. He talks about how he was standing in an elevator leaving the church office building and someone asked him what he was looking at? He recognized the voice as President Monson, when he replied that he was looking at nothing, President Monson said while pointing upwardly "It is better to look up!"

It just reminded me to look up and keep my eyes on the most important things. I can't change what happened last Saturday. I can't change the fact that I don't have a car this week. I can't change that i'm overwhelmed and can't handle it all. But I can look up. And I know that when we do look up, and we keep the eternal perspective in mind, things are so much better. I know that it's these times when I feel like this, that I just need to look up and ask my Father in Heaven for a little help. And it's when I do that, I know things get better. I know that when we let Christ into our lives he can heal our broken, hurting hearts. And I'm grateful for that knowledge.

So here's my goal for the next little while....look up! Stop focusing on the bad things that have been happening lately, focus on the good. I'm so blessed and I'm so grateful for all of the amazing things in my life. I have an amazing best friend, I have an amazing boyfriend, I have an amazing family (who are the most supportive family in the world!), and I have an amazing Father in Heaven who is looking out for me and is always there for me. I'm just going to focus on the good for now....well i'm going to try at least. That is more than just peachy.

The Lucky One

I probably could watch this movie a million times over and over again. I love this movie so much. So much that I read the book before it came out in theaters (good story, but I like the movie better), so much that I went and saw the midnight premiere showing of it and managed to drink a very large soda and eat ridiculous amounts of crazy good popcorn (i'm a little crazy about movie theater popcorn), so much that I dragged my boyfriend to go see it with me after I had already seen it (he's a good boyfriend, he didn't even put up a fight), so much that I bought this movie the week it came out (and then proceeded to also download the ultraviolet version onto my computer so I can watch it at all times). I also have the majority of the soundtrack on my computer downloaded. I think i'm a little obsessed. But all in all, I just love The Lucky One. That is more than just peachy for now.

Music I Can't Stop Playing Lately

Music has been so bittersweet for me lately. Some songs make me so happy and remind me of Brady, while other songs make me so sad, I start to break down. It's so hard to listen to such a happy love song, but it doesn't make you feel that way. We've had a few evenings where we both end up sad while listening to our favorite songs in the car together........what am I going to do after he's gone when I can barely stand to listen to stuff and he hasn't even left ye? But either way, I love music no matter what. Sometimes, you need some sad music. Sometimes, you need so crazy music. Most of the time I just need to listen to music. So here's what's been playing over and over again for me lately:

I love this girl. She opened at a Peter Breinholt concert I went to two weeks ago, and she's a amazing. Her name is Ellee Duke and she's really talented.

A Little More Like Thee by Mindy Gledhill. I have this one on a church mix that I gave to Brady and it has become one of our favorite songs to listen to.

Hunter Hayes just says it perfectly in this one. Another favorite of mine and Brady's. It's nice to have a boy sing this to you and for him to mean it.

Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts. Of course I put a Rascal song on here. haha! I probably could put a million of their songs on here. I know it's an older song, but I love it so much. It always puts me in a good mood. Also, I've been listening to Secret Smile of theirs. But not listening to Here Comes Goodbye. I've told myself I'm not allowed to listen to that one.

I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons.
Trouble by Coldplay.
She's So Mean by Matchbox Twenty. I'm so loving their new album.
Home by Phillip Phillips.
It's Time by Imagine Dragons.
Blood by The Middle East.
Anna Sun by Walk The Moon
Stolen by Dashboard Confessional.

Here's a new one that I literally just discovered and I love already! I love Tyrone Wells, I can't believe that I missed this song of his!

And finally, here's one song that I couldn't handle listening to the other day, but I so love this song. Ron Pope writes the perfect love songs. He's amazing. I love this one of his.

Music always has the power to make my terrible day amazing. It really has helped me have More Than Just Peachy moments multiple times and it's helped me created many memories. I love it!