Missionary #2 - Meet Sister Jones

This is Emily

She has been called to serve the people of Chicago. 

And she's basically my favorite person ever. 

Tomorrow, she leaves for the Provo MTC. 

Today, we said goodbye. 

Let's just take a second to talk about Emily. 

Once upon a time (sophomore year), all my "friends" just kinda left me behind. I would see all of them hanging out at my friends house down the street, and I hadn't heard a thing about anyone getting together. I went through my entire sophomore year feeling like poo. I sat at home every night, wallowing in self-pitty the majority of the time. Then, at the end of sophomore year, my choir teacher asked me to be next years choir council vice president. With the president, we picked the rest of choir council. "We can pick anyone but we have to have Emily Jones as secretary." she said. Uh okay....I work with her, but I don't really know her so if you say so.  

Before I knew it, it was the first day of my junior year. I walked into US History with Mr. Berger (terrible teacher, but one of the best humans you will ever know of) and sat down in the back. Soon after, Emily came and sat down next to me. And that was the beginning of a lot of good things. 

By the end of that trimester, we were pretty close. I had Berger for one more tri, but she had a different teacher for the second half of the class. It's kinda crazy to think that we went from basically strangers to best friends in just 3 short months. So many amazing memories were formed over the next 2 years. 

Berger's life lessons, her constantly telling me to relax, the choir quote book, "separation anxiety", choir trips, early morning seminary, late night Berto's runs, going to see Frozen together, getting excited about new choir music discoveries, jumping in puddles after work with Justin, going to every concert possible, making movies at Choral Rendezvous, eating lunch in the choir room every day, "our wall", Lagoon, matching rainboots, teaching her how to roll her r's, birthday trips to Utah, having conversations over text, snapchat, email, and facebook at the same time, and so so much more. 

I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't come into my life. Probably still wallowing in self pitty... :) 

We made a rule a while back. We were talking about me and Justin and our plans for the future when Emily said, "No matter what happens, you're not allowed to get married until I'm back." I told her I can do that, but there's not guarantees I won't be engaged by the time she gets back. 

So a few weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that I will be waiting for two missionaries now. :) She's just as important, if not more, that Justin. :) 

She's my person. 

Oh how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. Let's hope these next 18 months fly by!! Until then, I will remember some of the best words that came out of Emily's mouth: 

"You should be happy more. You need to excercise your cheeks!"

Oh man, I'm gonna miss this girl. 

Summer Nights

I always heard that college was the best time of people's lives. It has been pretty good so far, but not great. I have my small amounts of fun, but nothing like the things I did with my friends in high school. Tonight, my roommate and I sat outside our second story apartment just enjoying the weather. Then my mind flashed back to almost exactly one year ago. 

On May 24, 2014, I subsonsciously fell in love with Justin. I had no idea what was to come.

We spent almost every evening together over the next 2.5 months. It was when I realized how many perfect summer nights we spent together that I realized why this warm weather has been so bittersweet. As I stood on the balcony, all my senses reminded me. The smell of the air in the summer, the perfect temperature nights, and the amazing memories formed. Not to mention having Justin's hand in mine. 

Winter wasn't bad. But I also think that's because I've never experienced that time of year with him. Every little thing about summer reminds me of the limited time we spent together. 

Oh, how I wish we had more. 

9 months and 1 day

9 months and 1 day. 

That is how long it has been since I saw Justin's face.

That's a long time. 

It actually hasn't been too bad lately. I've missed him quite a lot, probably more than ever before, but I have been able to handle it pretty well. It kinda hits me hard sometimes. Like tonight. I wasn't even doing anything that reminded me of him. I was just sitting in my apartment watching Friends and then he popped into my head. I thought of all the late night adventures we had when I got off work. The hugs that never seemed to last long enough. The simple goodnight kisses. The random phone calls. Texting until 3 or 4 in the morning. (You know someone means a lot to you when you are willing to stay up that late just to talk to them) 

I just miss him being here.