The Poetry of Pranks

I have to say, it is just no joke when people say the little things matter. I have had SO much fun trying to surprise James with the littlest things: leaving little army guys all over his room for memorial day, putting gummy worms in his bed, bringing him a little cupcake when he needs a little break...just things that would make him laugh or even just smile at how ridiculous I am. My most favorite I had to say was putting a whole pad of stars all over in his car about things I just love about him while he was fishing with some friends, and saying it was because he (warning: you are about to be totally cheesed out) "lights up my life." It was pretty fun to see his reaction when he came over afterwards. "You sneaaaky little girl..." and had a big smile on his face and wrapped me up in a big hug. I was way too proud of myself for pulling it off, but that made it all the more fun. He's just as awesome as they come.

Why yes, this bag is already empty.

But don't think I get all the fun. He's a spoiler himself. James does little things too like stops and gets me my ALL TIME FAVORITE groceries when he's shopping at Walmart.

Basically, all I am saying is that it really is so fun to serve someone else and make their day. So even if it's the littlest thing you don't think will matter, trust me. If it makes them give you that adorable, knee-weakening smile, it's definitely worth it.

In Family Foundations today, we talked about "expressions of love" and our teacher asked us if there was one thing that you would do every single day to keep a marriage happy, what would it be? And we said things like "pray together, say I love you, talk to each other in the eye, cook for each other, read scriptures together (I mean, hello. It is a religion class) but I loved that he talked about the little things. Making the bed for the other person when they are in a rush, packing a little lunch for them, giving a good morning kiss right when you wake up. He also showed us this video (and yes, okay. I got all choked up. But I just love the way Elder Scott talks about his wife. He is the ideal spouse and I hope I am the same way for my husband)

Our teacher also told us that Elder Scott was approached on campus recently when he came to speak a little while back by someone who offered him part of their chocolate bar and he said "No thank you, Janine wouldn't approve."Brother Chambers said that even after death, those two are still growing together and that is what a celestial marriage is all about. That's what I want. And that's exactly what I am going to strive for. I may look like a crazy hopeless romantic..and I am..but at least there won't be any doubt in my other half's mind.

 Gosh, I just love love.

Moving Right Along Down the Bucket List...

I got to help pull off an engagement today!!! Oh my heck, it was so much fun!! (Although, I have to say, the suspense was killing even me! I can't imagine how poor Jake was feeling all day!) We had my amazing, hilarious, sweet, beautiful roommate, Thais, believe I had to do a story on her (about how she is from Brazil) for my class and it was urgent because it was last minute. So we (me, Jake, Thai, Grant, and Alex) all get set up in the Crossroads for a nice little friend meal and I started filming Thai, asking her about how things are different here than in Brazil. Then I went into dating life here at BYUI ("Are you dating someone?"..."How has Jacob changed your life here?" etc) Unbeknownst to Thais, her ring was sitting in the little bag of peanut M&Ms that Jake was holding, but every time he offered her some, she shook her head politely...We all held our breaths...after wrapping up the "interview," Jake finally is holding the ring behind the bag and pulls it out to show her. She gasped, he got on one knee, they exchange a moment (I was so sad you couldn't hear ANYTHING) and ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, they are engaged!! And you'd think in a public area, there'd be a lot of attention, right? No. Grant, Alex, and I all clapped and cheered and only two other guys at a nearby table glanced in our direction long enough to know what was going on and they clapped a bit. It was so fun though!! Thais said she was sooo nervous about the interview and could not BELIEVE Jake was eating M&Ms in the middle of it. So hilarious. She said she absolutely had NO idea and that she thought it was going to be tomorrow (Friday) Anyway, I am SO happy and excited for these little preciouses and I LOVED talking to Thais about all night long. She is so happy and excited. :) Congratulations guys!! Thanks for letting me be a part of your fun day and I can't wait to edit the video into something amazing for your wedding!! Wee!!

You can't see the ring very well, but mark my words: GORGEOUS.

In other news, MATT YIM GOT HIS MISSION CALL!!!!! He is going to Beliz, El Salvador!! I know, everyone better watch out because he's coming. This guy is going to shake up the mission!

Best Friend Birthday Bliss

I haven't posted in a long time. (In blog world, 2 weeks is literally a lifetime) Anyway, some very exciting things have been going on!

But I need to rant for a second. I NEED some form of constant picture taking at all times. My blog is so lifeless because I don't have my camera (and let's face it, probably won't for a very long time) and I don't have an iPhone, an iPad, an iTouch--iGotnothin. So until I can get my dreams to come true, I hope you guys like reading and seeing pictures that you've already seen on facebook.


Sunday was my best friend in the WHOLE wide world's birthday!! I know, I'm sure you all saw it on your calendars. I mean, it is pretty much a national holiday...or at least, it should be. Her boyfriend, Grant, and I had been setting this in motion for like a week and we went to great lengths to make sure she had NO idea. 

• We went to the store and picked everything up while she was at the store
• He came over after church to hang out with her and had Thais and Jake there
• While that was going on, Andrea & I drove over and met Angie and Grant's roommates who were more than willing to help decorate the place while I made a cake
• Grant had made chili dogs and those were waiting patiently in the oven
• We had told her that we might be able to go to the cabin
• I told her I was going to James' apartment for a minute when I went to Grant's
• Grant took her out to dinner the night before
• I secretly texted all of her friends about it. So did Granty
• And best of all, everyone kept their mouths SHUT!

It was awesome. Phil (Grant's roommate) tried to get it on video, but they came over so fast that we forgot to push record and just had to roll with it. BUT. She was surprised. And so happy. That was the best part. It was such a FUN day and I hope she knows how much she is loved. We all ate food, hung around, chatted it up, and it was just a good day. Eventually, we all retired to homework (which was awful) but Alex woke up to streamers around the apartment and I had taped them ALL across her door so she could break through them when she woke up. Plus, Nathaly and Taylor made her a trail of paper hearts into her room when she came back from her party. Ms. Alex Pinkham is one amazing best friend people. Let me tell you. She's a hilarious, sweet, thoughtful, smart, honest, giggly, friendly, nurturing, good listening, stylish angel wrapped into one petite, cute little package. If you ever get to meet her, you should consider yourself one lucky person.

She seemed pleased. :)

Side note: It was soooooo sad to see her a little sad that nothing was really going on for her birthday. I just wanted to shout "We didn't forget!!! I promise you are just going to DIE of birthday happiness today! Just wait like 2 hours!!" but obviously, I couldn't. I just had to think it at her. Broke my little heart strings that she thought we'd just let the day fly by. Ha. She should know us better.

Best friend. Forever and ever.

I love these hilarious girls. 

He better be looking at those chips.

High fives for Granty and I for pulling off one amazing surprise party!

I love you Alexandra Lin Pinkham! You are more than what is expected of a best friend and I can't wait to laugh when we're 53 about how we were freaking out when we turned 23! You are the greatest person I know! I hope you had the most fun and fabulous birthday! I can't wait to be there at the next one!

Rapids and Wrecks

It was quite the interesting day today.

For our ward activity, we all went to Rexburg Rapids! There weren't that many people at first, so everyone was kind of bummed, but then later so many more came, including all the bishopric! Last spring when they opened, I had thought about going, but Bronson, Alex, Ben and I had all decided it looked pretty lame and would be fun if we were like 4 years old. So I never ended up going. 

However, when you are reaaaally bored on a weekend, you reconsider a lot of options and I decided that I was going to go with my cute little roommates, Taylor and Nathaly. And it actually turned out to be pretty fun! We went straight for the slide when we got there (which turned out to be a great decision on our part because don't let this picture fool you--it got cold and it got windy) and we floated around on the lazy river a few times...plus, everyone brought lots of food so we all had fun munching on chips and homemade fortune cookies and getting to know people in our ward! I was so glad they asked me to go with them because it really was a good time!

But.

Then when I was sitting down--eating, talking, and trying to dry off--Scott (who was sitting across from me) noticed that my phone was ringing. Good thing he told me or I wouldn't have saw it. James was calling me, which was weird because he was supposed to be out mountain biking with his best friend, Jacob Pitt, and a few other people. So I answered and right away, by James's voice, I could tell something was wrong. It was pretty windy and I had to keep asking him to repeat himself, to which he said "Would you mind going somewhere you could actually hear me please?" and James has never talked like that before. So I go off and he told me the worst news.

Jacob had been going off a jump and crashed...hard. He had been wearing a helmet and everything, but he was knocked unconscious. They had to life flight him out to the hospital in Idaho Falls and everything. James was calling to tell me that it didn't look good so he would be at the hospital the rest of the night. It was soooo sad and scary. If you knew Mr. Jacob Pitt, you would know that he is just a hilarious ball of energy. So when James sent me this picture, my heart totally sank to the bottom of my stomach. I'll keep you updated, but today definitely took a turn for the worst. Pray for this little guy.

I Love Luke...LOVE.

I promise I am not a TV junkie! However, I do watch the Bachelorette religiously. And I just have to say three things.

1) Emily totally has a best friend named Ashley!!! Coincidence? I think not.

2) LUKE BRYAN GAVE THEM A PRIVATE CONCERT?!?! Shoot! I'd date Emily!! (Sigh. My true love playing for my "best friend." Doesn't get much better than that.)

Have I mentioned I am in love with Luke Bryan? Like in an unhealthy way?

Swoon. My heart just exploded.

It's my dream to go to one of his concerts. Keep that in mind around my birthday or Christmas time.

Okay. Anyway, today was SO stressful!! Holy smokes. I actually had to miss one of my classes to take a midterm and it took me so long (2.5 hours) that I missed anchoring for today's show. I'm so depressed. That's one of the things I definitely look forward to during the week. I also finished my first special news report so I was pretty excited about that. AND I got all my homework done before 2am. Busy, but productive day? You better believe it! Random, but it's still an update. Stay tuned to see all the final products!

We All Do It?

I got to go to another wedding this weekend (I know, I am pretty lucky), and boy oh boy do I LOVE weddings! They are so freakin cute and so much fun! Especially when you have a couple as cute as those adorable lovers. I'm gonna tell you all about it.

But. Before I begin, can I just say THE most embarrassing thing happened to me before our day trip even started? So Aaron (who was kind enough to give me a ride down to Logan) called me and told me he was out front. So I walked down the stairs and out the door and saw the silver car sitting out right in front of our doors. I saw some guy in the front seat and was like "Oh that's weird. He didn't tell me someone was coming with us...Eh. Whatevs." and I tried to get in but it was locked. So I went over to the other side and they unlocked the doors for me and I sit inside. And I start to talk when I notice that Aaron was looking really tall...and super skinny.....and kinda tan....OH MY GOSH. And that's when it hit me that I did not know EITHER of those guys and I was most definitely in the wrong car.

So as fast as I possibly could, I casually say "Wow. This is not the right car." (Oh please tell me this happens all the time! Right!? Am I right?!) and try to make light of it by giggling on my way out. I was way too mortified to noticed, but I'm preeetty sure they laughed too. Probably to make things less uncomfortable all around. But I jumped out and ran over to Aaron's actual car, parked the next row over, and jumped in and just absorbed what had just happened. And Aaron asked," Did you just do what I think you just did?" as he's cracking up. And we both had a good laugh at how I could be so embarrassing. I shouldn't be allowed out into society.