The Proposal.

Alright so I know you guys are just dying, and if not dying then just curious to know how Kyle "popped the question." Kyle and I have known for a LONG time that we were gonna get married. I mean, we're perfect for each other and it didn't take us very long to realize that. But marriage was the last thing on my mind! I was 18 when we met! I refused to talk about marriage with Kyle cause I didn't want it to happen...yet. Finally I realized I couldn't deny it anymore and had to come to terms that I had met Mr. Right very early in my life. We wanted to get married but our school situation was so messed up. We finally worked it out so we could go to the same school in HAWAII! While he was in Hawaii and I was in Texas we missed each other ALOT. It's true what they say about distance making the heart grow fonder cause in June we set a date to get married! We decided December would be too hectic of a time and summer was just too long of a wait so we picked Friday, November 23, at the Laie, Hawaii Temple! (AKA Black Friday, one of my favorite holidays)

Honestly, when Kyle called me to tell me he had set a temple date I panicked. I thought to myself, no I am way too young, I wanna go on a mission, and what's the rush?! Well, that weekend I went dress shopping at David's Bridal with all the ladies in my family. There they have this tradition when you find "your dress" they give you a bell to ring to make a wish for your future marriage! So she gave me the bell and instantly I choked. I just burst into tears because I was so happy of the thought of being with Kyle for the rest of my life! I couldn't deny how right it was! And after that is when I stopped freaking out about getting married and actually got excited!

So this dress I "picked" was very beautiful, immodest, too expensive, and had some beading(yuck) so I was not in love with it. The sales associate was very displease with my decision to "wait" but geez B I am not going to make a rash decision on MY WEDDING DRESS. Long story short, I ended up ordering my dress from a Chinese wholesaler online (scary sounding I know) because I didn't want to have to add sleeves, I needed it quickly, and I didn't want to break the bank. It came in the nick of time before I left for Hawaii and it is amazing! The quality is so much better than I expected and my cousin Julia even took some bridals before I left :)

Wow, so a temple date, wedding dress, and bridal shoot later...I finally get a ring! So the second day I came to Hawaii I was playing with Kyle's phone camera and ended up looking at the pictures. Soon enough I came across a picture of my ring! The ring I had shown him while we were online shopping that he could tell I loved so he got it, ring! The ring that he said wouldn't be coming in for another month! BULL! I barely glanced at it and went to the next picture. I was mortified. What had I done?! I ruined everything. Well, I felt so guilty that I told Kyle that I saw it. He got super bummed and told me I shouldn't have told him but I couldn't help it. The poor thing. Since he found out I saw the ring I thought he would wait a month or two so I would forget about it and be surprised. NOPE. The next day was Saturday and he had a big date planned for us. Now, this wasn't suspicious to me because he always plans big dates. I know, I have a keeper. We went to breakfast then we went to Hanauma bay. So we were snorkeling and having a great time then we came back on the beach. Out of nowhere Kyle finds this HUGE seashell that he showed to me and I told him it was fake. He was like, "nah I bet there's something in there!" and gave it to me. I looked at it, shook it, felt something heavy inside, thought it was rocks and sand, and said "nope, nothing in there" and gave it back to him. You'd think I'd be suspicious at this point but it didn't even cross my mind. So he keeps fiddling with the seashell...ON HIS KNEES...and then I see this GORGEOUS ring fall out onto his hand. My first thought was, "Wow I can't believe we just found a beautiful ring on the beach! Some one was probably gonna propose!" Then the next thing I know he says, "will you marry me?" I WAS SHOCKED. I was like oh...I'm the one getting proposed to. I was seriously so shocked and speechless I made it awkward. Here my boyfriend goes out and plans out the most perfect proposal and I don't even have a good reaction! I felt so bad. I even saw the ring on his phone and I didn't put two and two together when I saw it! Anyways, it just goes to show that marriage proposals aren't always like the movies. Even though everything else that Kyle does is like the movies. I could've elaborated and said I started crying and was all emotional but I hate lying so that's what it is. I'm sure so many proposals have gone like that though.

All that matters is that I am FINALLY, OFFICIALLY engaged and don't have to hide the fact that I'm getting married! WAAAHOOOO!!!

Breakfast at Moena Cafe

Hanauma Bay

My Ring

Venting.

Sighh...So I decided to take a break from packing and decided to share my thoughts. For those of you who don't know I am leaving tomorrow to go to school at BYU-Hawaii. These past few days I haven't been very excited to leave because I have had such a wonderful time in Texas spending time with my family. While I've been home I was able to take care of my mom in and out of the hospital, go to my cousin's sonogram, see my cousin graduate, have movie nights with family, and just hang out with my sister. Before I left for college I took these little things for granted, but now I realize how precious these moments are and I'm really sad to leave home. I realize how much I need my family and how much they need me, especially my mom. haha. I can't wait till I graduate college and finally be close to family and make memories with them. On the plus side, I do get to see my AMAZING boyfriend! This month and a half apart has be so good for us in so many ways. I can't wait to see him at the airport and finally hold his hand, hug, and kiss him! I have totally forgotten what it's like to have a boyfriend physically. Anyways, I am so excited to see what this new chapter brings into my life because I don't have a clue what's in store for me!

Lyn's Homecoming!

This summer Lyenne had the opportunity to go to Europe with the People to People Ambassadors program! She was gone for 20 days and went to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, and London! I'm pretty sure those are all the countries. She came home on Thursday and mom and I went to go pick her up at the airport!

The pathetic sign I made her. The blob is supposed to be a house. I lack artistic abilities. 

And apparently she made some new friends...

Off to the Zoo!

Here's a little video my trip to the zoo last weekend with my cousins!

Fireworks!

Wow I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened in the last week! On Tuesday, I met my mom at work and we decided to go see the Addison fireworks on top of the Galleria parking garage! This was our first time to go to the top of the garage to see the fireworks and there were tons of other people there so we figured we had landed a prime spot! Well to our dismay, the fireworks ended up being behind the buildings to the right of my head in this picture! Lame! So we left a little after they started and I got stopped in THE WORST TRAFFIC EVER!!! I kid you not. I am usually pretty patient when it comes to traffic but I was so irritated. All the traffic lights got turned off and were directed by cops. My car was literally in park cause it was so bad.

 

Then, the next day was 4th of July! We had a bomb lunch with burgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, etc...with the fam. Then we all went to the movies. Some of us went to see Brave and some to see Spiderman. I went to go see Spiderman since I'm not a big Disney Pixar fan. I don't know why "adults" get so hyped about little kid movies. Anyways, Spiderman was pretty good. I think I liked the first one better though considering I fell asleep at the end...idk why I fall asleep in movies! I am becoming like my mother!  Then we went back to my aunt's house and celebrated Dulce's birthday! I used a Martha Stewart recipe and made a bomb trifle cake with raspberries, blueberries, and cream! I was so proud of how it turned out!

Then...we to Stewart's Peninsula by the lake to watch the fireworks! I saw like 20 people I knew from high school. Joy -_-. Reminds me of why I left The Colony after graduation. But anyways the firework show was super long and was really good!

Minnesota Roadtrip!

Wow so last week me, my grandma, uncle Kelsey, uncle Jimmy, and auntie Dulce went on a road trip to Minnesota! The whole reason we went was because my uncles used to be part of a group called The Singing Strings when they were youngins and they were having a reunion! But we also had many other agendas and adventures! I basically went along since I don't do anything all day and so I could play with the group so my grandma could brag about me :). So here is what we did and saw...


 Once we passed the Minnesota border my grandma INSISTED that we go visit Faribult Wollen Mills Co! I vaguely remember going there when I was little and it used to be a HUGE warehouse but it closed in 2009 because of the recession and just recently opened back up. Now it is puny little blanket shop. When you first enter the store you can smell the unpleasantness of the wool. The blankets were super expensive too! Like, $237 but they were gorgeous!

In Minnesota everything was green and the sky was so blue. The weather was absolutely perfect!

 We stayed at a family friend's empty house and everyone morning they would come over and make us breakfast! Denise, the wife, makes jams from wild berries she picks on her property in another town. She also had legit syrup she got from an actual maple tree! It was sooo good omg. These were our toppings to these whole wheat pancakes she made for us! They were the best healthy pancakes I had ever tasted. Usually whole wheat/buckwheat pancakes are disgusting and have no flavor. But these were so good because she put in coconut oil to make them sweet! I am dying just thinking about it. Then another morning her husband made us some mean omelets with peppers, bacon, broccoli, onions, and everything else you can imagine. For dinner another night he grilled cheese sausage, ham, turkey, and beef, and we ate it with corn on the cob and omggg it was better than Texas Roadhouse. IT WAS SOO GOODD. Okay, I'm done talking about the food now.

This is the log cabin my mom, aunt, and uncles grew up in! My grandpa and grandma built it all by themselves! I'm not sure what year though. Anyways, we were poking around and the current owner found us and he was super nice and let us see the inside! It was absolutely gorgeous! 

 Now to The Singing Strings part. My uncles played their violins, danced, and sang in this music group when they were young. A Finnish lady named Ms Paccella (sp?) and her twin sister started it in the 80's and still run the program! Boy are they characters. Anyways so since the sisters are Finnish the kids in the group wear traditional Finnish clothing. I am so glad I didn't have to dress up like a little peasant girl when we performed. The kids even sing in Finnish! It is soo funny. I still even have one of the tunes stuck in my head. 

My grandma is sooo proud of her outfit! By the way, she played the accordion with the group! Hahaha soo funny.

 I cannot wait to torture my kids like this! Hahaha! Poor things..

 Finally, on our way back we stopped at an Action Figure Museum in Oklahoma. I didn't think it was very interesting but my uncles are into that kind of stuff. I was bored and found a little dress up area and decided to put something on...haha.

Congrats Grad!

This weekend my cousin Daniel graduated from Little Elm High School! It was probably the shortest graduation I've ever been to. His class only had 250 graduates, but I'm not complaining. I can't believe these two years since I graduated have gone by so fast! I hope these next two years go by that fast! Our family has six grads down and two to go! Anyways, congrats Daniel we love you!