I Love Blogging.

Blogging is the greatest thing, ever.  
I started blogging to keep a journal.  And the more posts I wrote, the more followers I had.   At first I was a little embarrassed that people were reading some of my my personal thoughts, but the more comments I received the better I realized what an incredible thing this blogging is.  

I got the best E-mail the other day from a reader, Kelsey, and it made me so happy to hear that people are reading and it's actually helping people.  Helping.  Who would have thunk that my little story and my personal trials have helped people?   It's such a fun feeling.

I love little blogger land.
Super much.
Much.
Much.
Lots.

Mormon Message: Rambles.

It's late.  And I'm tired.
But, I wanted to share.
So, if you don't mind the ramble,
then please, continue reading.

As I sat in sacrament and listened to the lesson, I was holding hands to the man of my dreams.  I was holding the hands of my future husband and my partner for the rest of my forever.  The person who never, not once, judged me.   Who accepted me with open arms immediately, through everything and all that I am.

I sat on the same bench as my in-laws, who are some of the most incredible people I know.  They took me into their family and loved me as their own from the get-go.  They've made me feel loved, accepted, appreciated.  I've never been a home that is more welcoming and more inviting than the Hall home.

And I sat in the middle of a ward made of congregation of some incredible, incredible people.   They all know each other, they support each other, they know what each other are doing in their lives and always are asking about one another, making sure everyone is taking care of, everyone is doing well.  

It's an incredible feeling to be a part of that.  It's a feeling that I've never felt any other time in my life.  I feel completely accepted for all that I am, and I feel a huge amount of support for the things that I'm doing.   I feel support from my husband-to-be, from my in-laws, from my ward, and support from my own family.   I feel an unconditional amount of love and I'm so grateful for all that I have.

Several weeks ago, a young girl stood up in church and shared her love for the gospel.  She told us that she was a convert and that she had just moved here from Florida just to be closer to those who practiced her faith. She talked about her trip to SLC to finally see a temple and what an incredible experience it was.   People in Utah often talk about going to the temple and how incredible it is, but this was a different story.  This girl didn't even get to go inside, she just stood outside and stared at the temple and felt blessed to be that close to a temple of her faith.

As she shared this story, I felt this incredible feeling of gratefulness that I live where I do and I can experience that things that I can.  I've driven by that temple a billion times in my life, and I've never felt more proud of the temple than I did that very day as this girl shared her journey from Florida to the temples.

My life hasn't been a "molly-mormon" life and I've had to work for my testimony.  I wasn't born into the church like several people from Utah are.  I wasn't born into a family who raised me to know everything and anything about the church.  But, I'm so grateful that I wasn't.  My testimony means so much more to me know than it ever has before because it's one that I've created for myself.  I've discovered what works for me and what I believe to be true.  No one has filled these thoughts in my head except Callie, and to have a testimony at all is a HUGE blessing to me.   I'm grateful for that and I'm so glad that I have the people in my life that I do.  I have an incredible, incredible, incredible support system.   My husband, my in-laws, and my own family.  Each and everyone of them has loved me and supported me through all my wild and crazy decisions and I can't thank them enough for that.

 It's been a wild ride but it's been MY ride and I'm happy of the final destination.

Puzzle Pieces.

You know when you buy a new puzzle and you have tons and tons and tons of pieces.   And you think it'll be so much fun, because you love puzzles.   So you drop them all onto the table, and you try to sort them by color.   It seems chaotic and makes no sense, you can't tell what anything is, just a mess of colors.  You know that eventually it's supposed to be a pretty sunset, but you aren't sure how it's going to get there.   So, you start with a border and you hope that it will just flow nicely, piece by piece.   And once the border is done, you start getting more pieces to fit.  Faster and faster.  Quicker and quicker.   And now, all the sudden, you've got a sunset and you don't know how it happened or how all the pieces fit together so perfectly but, you're dang happy they did despite all the chaos of a billion pieces.

Well, friends, that's me.  That's my life.   Started out as chaos and a hundred different puzzle pieces.  I didn't know how they were all going to fit.  Or where they were all going to fit.  I didn't know where to start, what puzzle piece to put first.  But, I started with a border and all the sudden my life of a puzzle has come together into the most magical sunset I've ever seen.   I don't know how it happened, or how I figured this puzzle out, but I'm so grateful that it's turned out exactly how I hoped.

I'm the luckiest.
and I love my little puzzle of a life.
and that's all.

Catsup. Catchup. Ketchup.

Hey there, blogland.

Long time, no see.  Let's have an update, shall we? 

It seems that's all I do, is blog updates.

I never blog anything current, these days...

First, I'm engaged!

...oh, is this old news?  Don't need to go back that far?  Okay.  Let's fastforward a bit.

Wedding plans are coming along nicely.   5 weeks from today I will be a Mrs.  EEEK!   I almost can't even believe it.  Everyone asks me if I'm nervous, and my answer is always no.  Which makes me nervous.   I'm nervous about NOT being nervous.  How can a person not be nervous about getting married?  Well, because Caden is perfect. That's how come.   I haven't even became a bridezilla yet, so that tells you how great things are going.

Things for the wedding are just falling into place.  We are getting seriously good deals from friends, and friends of friends.  Everyone has hooked us up with sweet awesome deals.   We got our engagements for cheap, our cake for free, our invitations for pennies and cents, our music for cheap, our tables and chairs for a steal.   We really lucked out.   And if you were part of this giving spree, we thank you.

We went to register for all the fun things we want in our home.  That's the funnest thing we've done thus far.  Scanning all the things you have ever wanted and hoping and praying you will get them.   It's like a dream come true.   I think we scanned everything in the whole entire store.   Including all the seeds to start a garden.  

We started moving into our apartment piece by piece.  I thought it'd be easier to move a little at a time, rather than one full day of hauling back and forth.   It's not even decorated yet and I think it's the cutest little apartment I ever did see.   It's the basement of a darling house with a sweet lady who lives alone upstairs and an old adorable church in our backyard.   We have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fireplace, a laundry room and a dishwasher.   Uhhh, can you say steal of the year?  Yep.  We thought so, too.

This isn't our bedroom, 

but I wish that it was.

I'm still looking and hunting for a nursing job.  LPN jobs are hard to come by, these days.  Although, to be fair, I haven't given job hunting a real strong effort yet because wedding plans seem to be on the brain 100% of the time.   I keep telling myself I'll go look for some jobs next week.   And then next week comes and I decide to go the week after that.  Job hunting ins't my favorite and it's always akward as heck trying to promote yourself and trying to sound like the best candidate.    Just pick me already.  

Caden and I celebrated ONE YEAR together.  One year with the love of my life.   I'm such a lucky girl.  I can't believe how much has happened in just a year, how much Caden has changed my life for the best.  I couldn't have pictured my life any better than what it is right now.  Things have come together so perfectly and Caden is a big, big, big part of that.  In celebration, we got our engagement video done and went to dinner.  He deserved so much more than that.  I should have bought him his own island or something, that's how great he is.   Instead I just bought him Final Fantasy, which is not nearly as cool.   But, he was still excited.

We went festival of colors for the second time since we've been dating.  That place is a riot.  This year was much, much, much too crowded and I had a mini panic attack being in the middle of all the dust and people. However, still a blast of a good time.  Who knew throwing chalk at complete strangers could be so hilarious?  Seriously.  It's a fun time.

In the last bit of news, I turned 25.  Twenty-five, guys.  This is a weird thing for me, because now I've hit the mark where it's no longer cool to be older.  At 16, you want to be older.  At 18, you want to be older.  At 21, you want to be older.  Now I'm 25 and I just want to stay here or be younger.    It is ironic, though, because I've always told people I wanted to be married when I was 25 or 26 and graduated from college.   Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy, eh?   Love that.

So, that's it.  That's all my news.  Mostly life is incredible.  The wedding plans are working out perfectly.  I'm more in love with Caden then I ever have been.  Graduation is just around the corner.  Our apartment is completely adorable.   And, I'm a happy girl.   I thank my lucky stars for the way my life has turned out and I'm more than excited for the things that are ahead.   

Hooray for being me.

Woot Woo.