I'm Engaged!!!

I really can't believe it, but yesterday I got engaged to my best friend Josh Wilde on top of a mountain!!! We went snow shoeing to Lewis Peak, and when we got to the top he wanted to take a picture of us. So he set up his camera on the trail sign and said that he was setting the timer. He ran over to where I was standing and we were both smiling and getting ready for the picture. He kissed me on the cheek and told me that he loved me, then he asked me if I enjoy climbing mountains with him, and I said yes! Then he asked if I would climb mountains with him forever, and I said that I would like to. Then he got down on one knee and said "will you marry me then?" It was so cute! I was so surprised and didn't know how to respond. I just started jumping up and down and he got the whole thing on his camera. It was really funny! He is such an amazing person, and I am so lucky and grateful to have him in my life. I am so excited to be his wife and I couldn't ask for anything better! :)

Messy Cupcakes!

Sorry I haven't updated for so long, but you know how things are when school starts. I have a short hilarious story though, so I thought I would share! So Josh and I were at his house the other day, and his mom made this delicious, home made chicken noodle soup, and she even made the noodles from scratch! It was so yummy! Then after dinner, we decided to have some cupcakes that Josh brought home from work. They were really cute, with little smiley faces on them, and usually I'm not a huge frosting fan, but it was actually very good and kinda tasted like pudding!

So here I am enjoying the deliciousness when all the sudden Josh pushes my head down a little and gets frosting on my face! He didn't get that much on me, but still... So my reaction was to shove his cupcake in his face, ha! So I did, and then it was all out war! I got him pretty good a couple of times and he still hadn't gotten me, but then his mom came in, and I guess she whispered to him that he should kiss me. So he planted a big gooey one on me! It was so funny, and we were laughing so hard! Then after that he got me pretty good and it even went up my nose... I think I had chocolate boogers for a day after, ha ha! Here's the end result...

Europe and some EFY moments...

So I haven't updated this for awhile and much has happened! First of all, I was a counselor at EFY a few weeks ago, and it was an absolute blast! Josh and I did it together and it was his first time ever going to EFY, and I think he really enjoyed it. I had the cutest girls in my group and some way awesome co-counselors too. It was funny because all of my friends little brothers and sisters were there because they did EFY for their youth conference. So I had lots of fun teasing them, ha ha! It was really cute too because one day was love note day for EFY counselors, and I was just sitting in a devotional and all of a sudden a paper airplane lands right on the chair next to me. It was a love note from Josh and it was really cute and so hilarious! He said something about how life without me is like life without a prophet; directionless and meaningless, ha ha! He's great.

So after EFY, I went to EUROPE!!! It was absolutely amazing, and I had so much fun! I went to Ireland, Scotland, and England with my friend Jessica and her aunt Rosa and cousin Jennifer. We had a blast and got to see so many cool places! I think Ireland was my favorite though, mainly because everyone was super nice there, but also because I loved their accents. We stayed in Dublin first and then we went up to Coleraine where we met up with some members who knew Rosa's brother in law because he served his mission there. They were so awesome! They fed us tons of delicious food and took us up and down the coast to see all the sights. We also went to chuch with them on Sunday and it was so much fun! They just have a small branch in Coleraine, but everyone there was so nice and we got a bunch of hugs and felt really welcome. Stella, the member that we met up with, taught both Sunday school and Relief Society and did an amazing job. She was so cute and you could tell that she would do anything for anyone. In fact, I was telling her that I was upset because I wanted to buy this tie that I saw in Dublin for Josh, but we didn't have enough time to go back and get it before we left, so she said she would knit one for him and send it to me! She is amazing! Her grandson, Josh, was also staying with her for the weekend, and he was such a funny kid. He would just make comments that made us laugh so hard, and it was hilarious.

After Ireland, we took a plane over to Scotland. We only stayed there for a couple days, but it was really fun still. We got to see some really cool places and did some great shopping there. Then we rode a train down to London to stay for 3 more days. It was a long train ride, but we sat next to this girl that was our same age from Edinburgh and she was super nice! She told us all the places we should go and what the best candy was to buy, ha ha! I was just amazed by how nice people were. When we got to London, I was a little nervous though because there were so many people and everyone was just in a hurry all the time. It was a big city and traffic and pollution was terrible! The first night we were there, we saw Wicked which was absolutely fanominal! I love plays, so I really thought it was cool that we got to see it in London! Then the next day we got to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I thought it was really cool to see, but we had to stand there for like 2 hours and it started pouring rain right in the middle. It was still fun though :) My favorite place in England was probably Windsor Castle which is where the Queen still goes to stay on the weekends. It was beautiful and it was fun to see a palace that is still up and running.

Well, I'm sure there is a lot more I could write about my trip, but there's just so much that I'm not sure what to write about, ha ha! But here are some of my favorite pictures, and a few from EFY too ;)

Here's me and Josh at EFY! Aren't we so cute together? ;)

Here's me and my crazy co-counselors. We had so much fun! Loved them!

Here's my girls! Loved them all so much! They were great!

We hiked on a trail in Coleraine that had all these gorgeous waterfalls!

This is a castle just off the coast in Coleraine. So pretty!

Here's Josh and Stella! Aren't they so cute!

Powerscourt where the Count of Monte Cristo was filmed! So cool!

This was also at Powerscourt. They had so many cool things there!

Hope you enjoyed! :)

Snowbird Weekend

This weekend Josh's work had a study retreat up in Snowbird, and they've all been wanting to meet me so they invited me to come along. It was so beautiful up there and the weather was perfect! We stayed in a condo that was more like a hotel, and it was really nice. When we got there we looked around, ate lunch, and headed off on a hike. It was so pretty and we saw lots of little squirrels and even a couple of deer. Then we got free passes to go on the tram that takes you all the way up to the top of the mountain. When we got up to the top there was still a ton of snow so we couldn't hike any of the trails up there, but we just wandered around a little and took a bunch of pictures. It was really fun!


After we got back from riding the tram, we decided to hike around a little more and found a really pretty river. Here are some of the pictures we took (Josh was really scaring me)...



After hiking around all day, we finally got settled into the condo. It was so funny because Josh's boss brought a bunch of fun little toys since her grand kids were coming up later the next day so we played with bubbles on our balcony and it was really fun! We made some huge bubbles too and there was a wedding happening below us so I'm sure we just added to the festivities, ha ha! Then we went and ate dinner at a Mexican place downstairs and it was delicious! After dinner, Josh and I went hot tubbing for awhile, but we were bummed because the one on our balcony was broken so we had to use the community one. Then we went back and played games with his coworkers until like two in the morning. It was a blast though! And while we were playing we discovered that there was a mouse in our condo and it scattered off into the bedroom I had to sleep in! But I survived the night with no mouse attacks, thank goodness! So overall it was a really fun adventure and it was nice to get away and spend some time with Josh :)

Once again... Accident Prone

So on Wednesday, Josh and I spent most of the day together and had lots of fun! He made me lunch at his house and then we looked at his mission pictures for like an hour, and I didn't even see half of them. I really enjoyed looking at them though and listening to his mission stories. Then later, we went to his sister Kylie's high school graduation. It was so weird because they only had about 200 kids graduate so it was really small. And being a Wilde, Kylie was the second to the last person, so we had to wait a long time to see her walk. It was really fun though, and then Josh and I decided to go country dancing. Bad plan... We had a blast dancing for awhile, and then the unthinkable happened. We were being nerds as usual, and we decided to do an exciting entrance onto the dance floor, so I was supposed to run out into the middle and do a leap thing and Josh was supposed to slide in on his knees. Well, I did the leap, but got off balance somehow and landed right on the side of my foot. It hurt so bad! I just stood there trying not to cry when Josh runs over and I tell him I hurt myself. So he picks me up and takes me off the dance floor and over to rest by the wall. It was so weird though because all the sudden I felt like I was going to pass out. I couldn't see or hear very good, so I sat down and Josh went and got me some water. After a few minutes we decided to go, and he carried me out to my car, put me in the passengers seat, and drove me back to his house. When we got there he carried me inside, got me an ice pack, put it on, got me some pain medicine and water, and then he wrapped it up for me. He was such a sweetheart to take care of me! He also gave me his lucky penny that he's had for like 5 years because he said I need the luck more than he does, ha ha! Then he wouldn't let me drive home, so he drove my car to my house and his dad followed us so he could take Josh back home. They were so incredibly nice to do that for me considering I live about 30 minutes away. Then when we got to my house, Josh carried me in and put me on my couch. What a good man! So needless to say I now have a sprained ankle and I've been hobbling around on crutches for the past three days. Not such a fun way to spend my summer days :( But it was so nice to have Josh take such good care of me :)

My Fun Weekend!

This weekend was so much fun! On Saturday, I went and did baptisms with the young adults in my stake. It was lots of fun, and a really neat experience since I haven't done baptisms for awhile. Then after that, we went to Farr's for some ice cream! Yummy!
After ice cream, Josh and I went back to his house to change out of our church clothes. Earlier that day, Josh told me that he went to the DI and bought a shirt, shorts, and some shoes. So after I was dressed, I came out to wait for him to come up from downstairs. He came in wearing a crazy, ridiculous, loud shirt that was multicolored and buttoned up the front. I was in shock at first because it wasn't what I expected, but then I decided that I actually liked it in a weird way, ha ha!
Then Josh and I headed off to an activity that his ward did for all of the sisters to show appreciation for them. It was probably the funniest thing I've ever been to. A really cute old guy brought my plate of food just filled to the brim with spaghetti, and told me that he made it himself and I was lucky, ha ha! Then all of the guys got up and sang "You Are My Sunshine" and afterwards, Josh gave me the piece of paper with all the words on it. He's so cute! Then, a quartet got up to sing, and they were so incredibly terrible! I couldn't keep myself from laughing the entire time, and I felt kinda bad for them. At the end of the program, they played this hilarious video that had some of the guys in the ward lip sinking the words to a song while doing household chores. Josh was washing a car to the beat of the song and it was way funny, and then there was a shot of his dad next to their garbage cans, and all of a sudden Josh popped out of one of them... hilarious!
After the ward thing, we went to Smith's to run some errands for Josh's mom. On the way in, we saw this cute little girl riding a little merry-go-round that was in front of the store. I made a comment that it looked like she was having so much fun and that I wanted to ride it. So Josh said maybe we could on the way out. So Josh paid for the groceries with cash and got some change back, so we decided to ride it, ha ha! It was seriously so much fun! We took a bunch of pictures too and just had a blast!
Then we went back to Josh's house and played Dr. Mario. I hadn't played it in so long and I was terrible, but I did manage to beat Josh once, ha ha! Then we watched a movie that a lady from Josh's work wanted him to watch. It was called "Something the Lord Made" and it was really good! It was about a black man in the 1950's who developed a surgery method to save kids with some type of heart problem.
On Sunday, Josh had to speak for a ward in his stake, and he invited me to come listen. I wasn't sure if I would be able to because I was supposed to teach, but then my mom and dad offered to teach my class so that I could go! Thanks parents! I walked in a few minutes late and stood by the door during the prayer looking for a place to sit. I couldn't see his family anywhere, and all the seats in the back were full. So I ended up sitting pretty close, about 3 or 4 rows from the front. Josh did a very excellent job speaking, and he didn't even plan it until the night before! He spoke about the plan of salvation, and that we tend to forget why we are here. He emphasized a lot about how we are here to progress and learn instead of just float through life doing the minimum. It was a really good talk. I went up to him after and told him that he did a really good job, but he said it was the worst he's ever done. So I'm thinking if that was his worst then he must be an amazing speaker ;) His little sister came up and started talking to me after too; she is so cute and super nice! Then his mom invited me to come eat lunch with their family, but I told her I couldn't because I was fasting for my uncle. She is so sweet! It was so funny because on my way home, I got a phone call from Josh, and he just called to tell me that I looked cute and to thank me again for coming. He's so adorable! :)

Here's the pics we took on the merry-go-round, and notice the shirt...

Today at Work...

This summer I have been scheduled to work at the brutal hour of 7:30 every morning, half an hour away, and had to get up at six to make it on time. Would you call this summer? I think not! This is an earlier hour than I had to get up for school this past semester. So I think after my first day of 7:30, I'm already anticipating fall semester. Sad, but true... We also have not had one single person come in to take a test and it is now 25 minutes past the hour of 9:00. Blah! I have decided that in my bordom and anger, I would try to do something positive and compile a list of things I wish to accomplish this summer in no particular order...

1) Become unafraid of backflips while country dancing
2) Be the best EFY counselor the world will ever know
3) Travel to Europe without fearing the dreaded 14 hour plane ride
4) Hike up Waterfall Canyon
5) Learn to fly fish
6) Become more confident with who I am and in my chosen field
7) Make earings with Nat, and go on our shopping trip that was supposed to take place about 3 months ago (It will really happen someday Natalie! Ha!)
8) Build my lean muscle mass
9) Kiss a certain boy :)
10) Buy some jelly shoes
11) Become a pro at building bonfires
12) Read a ton of books
13) Go ice blocking
14) Dance in the rain everytime weather permits
15) Go swimming as much as possible
16) Learn to play more hymns on the piano
17) Learn a COMPLETE song on the guitar
18) Eat at Maddox, Peach Pie in August! Yummy!
19) Go see a play
20) Do things that I am initially afraid to try

After completing this list, I am still finding myself doing nothing at work, so here is some exciting news I would like to share!

Country dancing this past Wednesday was amazing! Josh called to see if I wanted to go, and I responded with an excited YES (of course)! When I arrived, he was already there and had paid my way in; he's so thoughtful! It was hilarious though because anytime he left me unattended for even a minute, someone else would ask me to dance. About the third or fourth time this happened, I was talking to a guy I just danced with and all of a sudden Josh darts over, grabs me away, and onto the dance floor right in the middle of our conversation. Hilarious! Then, on our way out, we were dancing out the doors and just being goofy. I was spinning Josh with my right hand in his left, and after we got outside, he kept a hold of my hand and then clapsed his fingers through mine! Then we walked to my car holding hands; so exciting!!! We also had two bonfires this weekend, one of which was in the mountains, and we held hands again both times! :) He is seriously so amazing, and I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to get to know such a great guy. We have so much fun together, and I'm not afraid to be myself around him. So we'll see what happens... :)

I'm seriously accident prone!

I thought I would take this opportunity to share with everyone my embarrassing moments of clumsiness that I've been blessed with lately. The first encounter was when I somehow managed to convince myself that skiing is a fun pastime activity. Now just so we're clear, I haven't been skiing since probably sixth grade. My friend Keely and I headed up on the ski lift for the first run, and we both were freaking out from nervousness and the anticipation of certain pain that would follow. The first run was ok, we both fell getting off the ski lift, so we decided to go alone on the next run so we wouldn't run into each other again. So next run, Keely goes ahead of me and gets off just fine. Then, it's my turn... I brace myself, take a deep breath, and start putting my skis down. Apparently I put them down just a tad too soon, and all of a sudden I feel myself sliding backwards underneath the chair lift and down the steep hill. As I'm sliding, I feel the chair hit me in the head, knocking my hat off. Then my ski comes off and I instinctively dig my boot into the side of the mountain to stop this catastophe from going any further. I was so embarrassed. I couldn't believe what just happened and that I lived through it. The lift operator stopped the lift and came out to see if I was ok. I think my ego was hurt more than anything, so i told him I was good. The rest of the night my friend Keely couldn't stop laughing randomly at my unfortunate incident. Thanks Keely...
Event number two... I'm heading over to the institute to play a game of pool with Josh. He decides to encourage me to slide down the railing outside of the institute building. In my stupidity, I agree to the task and head off down the rail with my backpack on. As I get to about the halfway point, I feel my balance start to subside and I fall backwards onto a huge sharp rock! Josh just looks at me with his mouth wide open and says "You just fell!" Point of the story... I hurt myself yet again doing something that LOOKS fun, yet is not. I ended up having a huge bruise on my hip about the size of a softball, but it's getting better now :)
Although my adventures lately have been painful, I have realized that if you never take any risks then where's the fun in life. It can also make for some pretty good stories, ha ha!

One of my very best friends got married recently in the Bountiful Temple. It was so pretty, but freezing! So here are some pictures of us trying to stay warm in the bitter cold. Brrrr....

After waiting for so long we kinda got bored...

Tara's Beautiful Cake!!!

This is my best friend's little boy Kaleb. Isn't he so cute! I love the look on his face ha ha!

Thought for the Day

If a man rows a boat from only one side, no matter how hard or how long he works, he never succeeds in doing anything except going in a circle. He never realizes that it isn't his dedication or his strength but his method that is flawed. Until he puts both oars in the water, he is doomed to remain where he has always been: spinning aimlessly near the shores of discovery.

Why my blogspot is called enjoying the strawberries

In the Orient, there is a story of a samurai who is being chased by a bear. He literally runs off a cliff. As he's falling, he grabs a branch.
He looks up to see the bear leaning over the cliff, clawing at his head, missing only by inches. As he looks down to the ground below, only about fifteen feet, he sees two groundhogs gnawing away at it. He watches as his lifeline disappears, bite by bite.
As he takes a deep, long breath, he notices, next to his branch, a clump of wild strawberries. In the midst of the clump is a great, red, juicy strawberry. With his one free hand, he reaches over, picks the strawberry, puts it in his mouth, chews it slowly and says, "Ah-delicious."
Now you may be thinking "this guy is crazy!" but this little story teaches us that no matter how bad things get all around us, we can still enjoy the sweet things in life. We shouldn't miss out on the good, precious moments because of circumstances that are out of our control. We must enjoy each moment fully and live in the present because it is truly a gift.