EEEEEEEPPPPPPPP ENGAGED!!!

THIS IS NOT A DRILL- THIS IS REAL LIFE!!!! Part of me feels like I should write this whole post in all caps because I am beyond thrilled! I'm engaged to the most wonderful man, the boy of my dreams, the love of my life! May 6th is going to be the most magical day but we have so many magical days before that day and a life time of magical days after.

January 20th was a REALLY magical day. I have to hand it to Thomas he was really chill all day. Most of what we did was my idea so I wasn't expecting him to propose. Had I been wishing and hoping for weeks that he would?- yes, but I didn't think it was happening that day.

I called him after class and told him I need some time to finish some things before we headed out for what I thought was a low key night at Jayne's apartment in Salt Lake (Jayne is Thomas's sister who lives right down town. He was wasn't suspicious at all suggesting we go to Zupas. Then I had suggested running to the mall on our way out. Turns out Thomas faked a headache and went back to his house for Tylenol just to waste time. Really I was lied to sooooo many times that day haha and from a boy who is always honest with me I was so trusting. He said lying that day didn't count.

Again it was me that suggested we visit the state capitol while in Salt Lake. We wondered around and I was so happy just being with him. We sat and talked for a long time. He did pretty good a killing time and avoiding my suggestion to just go hang out with his brother at Jayne's apartment. After what felt like hours (oh wait it was hours...) at the capitol we headed over.

The moment I thought "well maybe he is gonna propose" was when he told me to leave all my stuff in the car and that we would come get it later. I had told my self not to expect to get engaged because if it didn't happen I would be sad instead of enjoying a fun weekend in Salt Lake. He told me he wanted to show me the view from the roof. You would think that was a dead give away but I just had convinced myself that it wasn't happening. He had me close my eyes and actually ran me into a pole LOL. He tells me that he was distracted by the set up.

When I was allowed to open my eyes the person I love most in this world was down on one knee. It is the moment that as a girl you dream about. I had wondered what it was going to feel like when that moment came and it was more than I could ever have imagined. I made some ugly crying sounds and I think I said a yes in there somewhere. The view from that roof top really is great and I was able to appreciate it for what it was the next morning covered in snow. But that night I didn't even look out at the city. I had two other things to look at. 1. the 'perfect in every way' ring that now lives on my left hand and 2. the face that I'll get to wake up to every morning in a short 102 days.

yes, I'm counting.

I love Thomas! I can't wait to be Mrs. Rich! He brings an unexplainable peace and reassurance to my soul. He makes me feel beautiful, capable and safe, I've never been so happy!

Photo credit to my sneak sneak roommates! It was fun to have them and Daniel there. They are a blessing in my life.

Thomas's family members were waiting down in Jayne's apartment and just like any normal Rich family get together we ate pizza and watched a Jazz game. It was fantastic!

I called home to St. George in a pretty emotional state. They of course all knew it was coming. I stayed in that kind of surreal state of mind through the pizza and celebratory cake. I've also never felt more popular as social media comments and text messages drained my phone battery in about an hour. It was fun.

I actually don't think I have come down from the OH MY GOSH WE ARE ENGAGED high yet. I'm struggling a little paying attention in class distracted by seeing how my ring sparkles in the different classroom lights. hehehe

Anyway.. There is the engagement story for ya. It's pretty joyful!!!! So in love! So happy!

Baby Brother

Hi blog.. I'm back again, which means I have something to say that I can't really put anywhere else.

I have a younger brother- he gets under my skin in mere seconds but boy I'm one proud big sister. It's funny because no one can put me in a bad mood faster than that 18 year old kid but he will never ever know just how much I respect his opinion. One of my greatest and kinda secret desires is for Michael to think I'm 'cool'. This last weekend I was able to attend one of his High School basketball games.
Watching Michael play is more exciting to me than any college or professional level game. I'm so emotionally invested in the handsome young men on the court. These boys now tower over me but it hasn't always been the case. I've watch the same group of once little kids run up and down a court since they could dribble a ball. I've always liked going to games and missing an entire season made me feel more homesick than most things while I was on a mission.
To help put things in perspective there are a few background details you should know.
It was Mom who told me about how the bottom of every pair of his basketball shoes have a sharpie written "MTB" on the bottom. She asked him one day why that was.
His response...
"Make Them Believe."
He reminded her of the time in the 7th grade he was placed on the "B team". It was that year I remember him spending hours a day at the church by himself shooting. Michael isn't the tallest or the fastest. He is athletic but doesn't have NBA future skills. What he does have is determination and the best attitude I have ever seen. He told my mom that his goal starting then was to 'make them believe' that he could do it. He could be the kind of player he needed to be to succeed. His hard work has been consistent since.
High School sports are hard. Athletics can teach us such great lessons of dedication and hard work but never did I put the kind of time or energy into running. Maybe it is because Michael loves it more but I think a lot of it has to do with the person he is.
He is the youngest and always expected to be the fun one or the funny one or responsible or is compared to his older siblings or expected to be a certain way as the Stake President's son. He is going to High School in an environment I believe is far worse than even just a few years ago when I was there. I consistently hear about him leaving parties or being the one to hold his peers to higher standards. He isn't a glory seeker- not socially or athletically. He is just good.
I watched him this last weekend walk to the middle of the court as a captain. Both teams were still warming up and almost no one watched him and his best friend shake hands with the refs but my heart skipped a beat and I thought
"Michael.. I believe"
He may still be working his tail off every day to make his coaches believe with every minute he gets on the court but he could not play another minute all season and the effects of what he has done thus far would be immeasurable.
He inspires me not only to dream but to do something about those dreams.
#12

 

 

 

Bliss

2 beautiful weddings.

There really isn't anything more special than a temple sealing of two people in love.

Oh how I love my permanent plus one- Thomas and I spent a weekend in Salt Lake with his family and a quick trip to California with mine.

SALT LAKE

SAN DIEGO

**Disclaimer- "I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it." If you don't want to read about it- leave this page now.

It has been over a month since my last post and in that time I've come to understand the validity of phrases like

"took my breath away"

or

"weak at the knees"

all the sappy lines you hear in a nicolas sparks movie might not be that far fetched.

Life with Thomas Rich is pure bliss.

This Christmas vacation has been so special. We consider it a big blessing that we both are from St. George. It has made it possible to split time between both our families. I love the moments I spend with the Rich's and am always eager for Thomas to experience life at the Frodsham's.
I love him more than I know how to say and am so looking forward to all of the exciting things to come over the next few months. 2017 is gonna be a good year for us!
Everyone deserves a Thomas (but I'm not willing to share mine). He is good. kind. funny. handsome. hard working. driven. loving. thoughtful. respectful. just the right balance of silly and serious.
Every time the light hits those bright blue eyes butterflies jump inside me. I'm so lucky that those eyes so often look at me!
Going to weddings was a fun new first for us this break. I love nothing more than true love and witnessing "for time and all eternity" and found it especially magical when I got to be their with the man I love with all my heart.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I miss blogging. I can never seem to justify writing a blog post when I have papers and quizzes to complete. However, I worked super hard this week so I am rewarding myself before beginning the next set of end of semester projects. I can't believe how quickly this semester has gone by.

GRATITUDE IS SAID TO BE THE MEMORY OF OUR HEART

-Joseph F. Smith

My heart will cherish the memories of last weekend.Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Maybe it is because I have so much to be thankful for. I'm so blessed with wonderful people in my life.
While Thanksgiving truly is my favorite, my favorite part of Thanksgiving happens Wednesday night. We call it Pie Night- it is the best tradition. You see if you eat the way my family eats you get full to the breaking point with Turkey and all appropriate sides during dinner. You might be able to muscle down one piece of pie an hour later. It is for this reason we hold pie night. Pie deserves to be the center of attention. We include an actual meal but many people skip over it and dive into the pie. Everyone brings several and you eat until you're sick. The left over pies are served the next day as well. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving with a prelude of pies than in my opinion- you're doing it wrong.
The rest of the weekend was just as enjoyable as that pie night. We gathered for breakfast with the Frodsham family and dinner with the Marchants. I love those People more than I know how to express. For the last few days we headed to St. George and played played played. It was Coco's birthday! I hadn't seen her since August and about cried like she did when we pulled in around midnight. Some car trouble made us all grateful that everyone made it home to be together. It was fun to have Thomas over for all the fun. Leaving St. George was almost physically painful on Sunday. I miss living there.

 

It is a good thing He lives in Provo.

Even though the snow came down relentlessly on Monday it was one of my favorite days. Thomas's nephew was born so I ditched out on New Testament and tagged along to a fun filled day with the Rich family. Their family has been decorating a tree at the festival of trees since it opened. I had never been before and loved spending the day there meeting lots of family and taking part in such a fun tradition. They are good people.

The highlight of the day was watching Thomas meet that brand new baby. I've heard about this little guy since I met Thomas. He has loved him for a long time now. Meet Bentley Matthew Rich a beautiful baby boy who made it to the world in time to catch the Jazz game.

closet poet? probably not.

I am feeling extremely frustrated at the measly 486 words of my fiction piece for creative writing. I sat in the library and started it over and over again. I hated it and deleted it at least 4 times. Finally I gave up and went on a run hoping the fall air and probably the last bit of sunshine for a while would clear my head. Sadly inspiration didn't come on that run. When an idea (thanks to kira) started to appear on my word document I realized- of those 486 words not a signal one of them so far is made up.
Let's face it... making up stories isn't one of my talents. I have been nervous for this unit in my creative writing class all semester. I ate up the non-fiction like dinner on a fast Sunday. I gritted my teeth through the poetry assignments. I'm not a poet but I loved the reading my professor asked us to do in preparation for class each day. I didn't always find the confusing stanzas so incredible like many of my classmates and chuckled as my friend Matt whispered "do you think they would say the same things if I wrote that?" No Matt... if your name was E. E. Cummings you could write "red rabbit run" and they would say it was original and profound but until then, no.
And with that said here are a couple of my poems from class.

Inspired by Love Poem with Toast by Miller Williams

  

Love Poem with (Chocoloate Peanut butter and Banana) Breakfast Essentials Smoothie

Some of what I hope, I hope

to see shoot star wishes come true.

that I’ll get an A, that I’ll find a job I love,

that I’ll have a happily ever after.

The rest of what I hope, I hope

to come out on top.

that I’ll graduate without too much debt, that depression will stay where I left it,

that old wounds with new layers of skin heal completely.

With hundreds of forks in the road

shaping my journey through life,

I make decisions, the best I can, experimenting.

deciding what to eat,

deciding what to wear,

deciding who to love,

deciding how much or how little,

deciding to keep trying,

deciding when to quit,

deciding what time to set the alarm,

deciding to pick up an extra shift,

deciding what is appropriate,

deciding when to make the jump,

as I wonder and worry

not knowing what to expect,

as I evaluate the coming day,

as the to do list gets longer and the dreams get wilder,

I sip my breakfast drink and anticipate.

One of the many things I planned on but never got around to blogging about inspired this "imagistic poem"

The lights go down slowly,

as energy quickly rises.

Hundreds of strangers

brought together for a few hours to never see each other again,

standing shoulder to shoulder anxiously gazing into glaring lights.

Lights flash first blazing white then fire red,

blinding and mesmerizing.

Burning your eyes but holding your gaze.

Soaking in rhythmic drum beats

enchanting hips and heads to sway left then right.

The mood drops to something sentimental.

Stars twinkle from iPhone flashlights

as robotically arms go into the air.

Throats soar, feet aching

backs and necks sticky with sweat.

The final cord is struck in a fireworks of lights

and fan girl screams.

The lights go back up,

the energy  drops,

the arena empties.

Jacob Lake + Facebook Official

I spent a few incredible days in one of the most beautiful places with the most charming guy.
I'm a pretty lucky girl if you ask me (or if you ask anyone who knows Thomas).
It is hard to explain what that weekend was like- struggling to find words to describe the way it felt to be there. (And to be blunt a lot of it was also too special for the blog anyway but my journal and I had a good time.)
It was so fun to see Thomas in the place I hear so many stories about. His family has owned Jacob Lake for a couple generations. Growing up Thomas spent every summer there and you can tell he loves it. I had the opportunity to meet most of his immediate family. The idea of meeting them actually terrified me but I had nothing to be afraid of. They were so nice and easy to be with. I think I probably spent more time with them without Thomas than I did with him there. He was busy that weekend and I was lazy. He worked as a waiter and I creepily watched him charm every table. I knew he was good at it but it was fun to watch just how good. I made a few salads and wiped off a couple of tables but for the most part I just ate a lot and chatted with T's mom or sister.
If you are looking for a good vacation location I would highly recommend a Grand Canyon get away.
http://www.jacoblake.com/
Everything I ate there felt like the new best thing I had eaten. I couldn't get over the trees or how perfect the weather was. It was nothing short of magical.
The first night we went to look at the stars. I don't remember exactly how many shooting stars I saw but it was a good number. There were so many stars in the sky and in my eyes. I felt a little like I was living a scene of a romance movie; curled up next to the most incredible boy under a sky that looked photo-shopped my heart raced a million beats per minute. I truly was star struck and stayed that way all weekend. I can't wait to go back.
It was dreamy to have T kiss me goodnight and then be the first person I saw the next morning when he came to get me for breakfast. His college apartment really isn't that far away from mine but compared to down the hall it might as well be in the next city. We were spoiled. I picked the movie one night and fell asleep in the first 10 minutes and of course he didn't wake me up because he is nice even if I put his arm to sleep. He treats me like a queen. I'm so lucky to call him mine!
I always said I would never make a relationship Facebook official. I had my reasons. However, when Thomas asked me about it all those reasons didn't seem to apply. Sooooo we are Facebook official and as silly as it seems I couldn't be happier about it. He is wonderful in every way and I will gladly call dibs on him- Facebook and all.
It is crazy to look back on the last couple of months and think that he hasn't been around as long as I feel like he has. We joke all the time that we have been dating for years not months. I've never been happier (insert corny heart eye emoji)

Narrow Lights Photography

Her name is Alisa Bench, she has been a big blessing in my life and she can make anyone feel photogenic. I loved being her model for a day. I would highly recommend her.

Check her out HERE

and 

HERE on instagram