"Open When" Letters :)

Happy Holidays!!! :)
I've been working on these Open When letters for a couple weeks now. I had about 15 ideas written down but I only ended up doing 8 because it's finals week and the end of the semester is just too busy. And I'm such a perfectionist and if I know I don't have the time required to make them as good as I want them to be, I just won't even try haha. With that being said, I can't believe it's the end of the semester already! My mind is blown. Time flies. Is anyone else wondering how the heck this semester went by so quickly? Christmas is in 20 days!! I get to (hopefully) be there to Skype my sweetheart in only 20 days! And then, I leave for Hawaii in 27 days! I've been counting down to those two dates so much lately that I haven't even looked at my Jared countdown. I've found that counting down to little events along the way helps soooooo much. 

Anyway! Here are the letters I did for this package. Keep in mind, I will be sending more eventually :) 

Open When...

1. You get this package
2.  You're going to sleep
3. You're bored
4. You need to be reminded how much I love you <3
5. You need a laugh :)
6. On New Years Eve!
7. You're sick
8. You had a hard day/Need motivation

I also put some items inside the envelopes along with the letters. If you want to see some of the cool stuff I put in the letters, you can watch this video :)
I'm really excited for him to open them :) I'll be posting soon about everything I sent him for Christmas. 

 

7 Months Down!

It has NOT been seven months already, has it?

I've said "this month has been the fastest yet!" before. But seriously, this time, it's for real. Yesterday I was going out to dinner with my family because I'm home for fall break. And as I was talking about Jared I realized that today would be seven months down and I was so surprised because I forgot! Usually I'm counting down the days till we hit the next month mark. This time it just totally surprised me. This month flew by. But isn't that to be expected? It's October :) The beginning of the best season, and best time of year! October, November and December are in my opinion, the fastest/best months of the year. And because of that, I'm really excited for the next few months :) 

Here are some pictures I took to celebrate today :) 

I love my sweet missionary SO much!! And honestly? The waiting part isn't even hard. The not dating other people part? Piece of cake. Not getting to hear from him every day? Eh, I got used to it. Waiting isn't that hard. I'd wait forever for him. Yeah it's hard not having him here when I'm having a bad day. Or, when I need someone to talk to. Or when I just want to cuddle and forget about the rest of the world. But the actual waiting part? Not that hard, because I know who I'm waiting for :) 

Here's to month number 8! :)

Get to Know Me

I decided to do a post of 50 things that most people might not know about me :) You obviously know I'm a missionary girlfriend, but that's only part of who I am :) So here are a bunch of random facts about me.

My name is Desiree! :)

1. I was born in Las Vegas and have lived in multiple different states and countries. I guess you could say that's why I hate staying in one place too long. Traveling has been distilled in me ever since I was little.

2. I absolutely love candy stores. Whenever I'm walking around a city and see a candy store, especially in foreign countries, I HAVE to go in. I actually think a perfect date as well. Take me to a candy store and I'm a happy camper :) 

(candy porn right there ^)

3. I would love to get married in September or October :) 

4. I'm not really a party person. I don't exactly enjoy going out to parties. I'd rather go on a walk under the stars with just one person, and have some good conversation, rather than being surrounded by a ton of people. 

5. I have the smallest stomach in the world. I can never completely finish a hamburger, or most of my meals for that matter. I get full after a few bites and then I have to wait a bit before I can continue eating. 

6. My favorite words are: Harvest & Serendipity.

7. I document EVERYTHING through video. Literally, everything. (ie killing spiders, cool looking meals, conversations with my mish, my thoughts, etc...)

8. I'd rather have conversation with kids than adults.

9. I hate confrontation and arguing. Like, more than anything in the world. I'm a very passive person and I just can't handle it. I have to leave the room because I hate arguing back with someone.

10. I have to drink orange juice every morning with my breakfast :) 

11. For the past 4 years, I listen to The Main Title from The Notebook one time through before falling asleep every night. Music is very important to me and helps in so many different ways. In this way, it helps me prepare to fall asleep :)

Click here for a link to the song

12. I am mildly dyslexic. Which causes me to be terrible at math, spelling, and reading out loud.

13. I absolutely hate flying. I'm constantly imagining ways the plane could crash. Yeah, It's a problem.

14. My favorite song of all time is Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. If you've never heard it, I'm sorry, and here's the link to listen to it.

Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles

15. I am a perfectionist. 

16. Purple, teal, and champagne pink are my favorite colors :)

 

17. I am a somewhat reserved and shy person. A lot of people think I'm not a nice or friendly person because of it. 

18. This basically describes me every time I check the mail.

19. Overcast is my favorite weather. I'm actually not a huge fan of sun.

20. I'm a night owl. Night time is when my mind is most creative and productive.

21. I listen to The Osmonds the way some girls listen to One Direction. And it's my dream to meet Donny Osmond.

22. My favorite city is Venice :)

23. I hate spiders with a passion... I know most people hate spiders. Especially girls. But me? I really REALLY hate them. 

24. I have a dad crush on Victor Garber and Denis Quaid.

25. I am obsessed with old movies! Especially Jerry Lewis. When I found Rock-A-Bye Baby was on YouTube I acted like a 13 year old girl meeting Justin Bieber. Click HERE to watch it. I promise you won't regret it. It's absolutely hilarious with an adorable love story :) 

26. I'm a snowcone and hot chocolate addict. During the summer I could get snowcones every day. And during winter, it's the same only with hot chocolate :)

27. I eat homemade popcorn (not the nasty microwave stuff) weekly, and I have to have my salt and vinegar seasoning to put on top. Basically anything salt and vinegar flavored is just amazing.

28. Besides the scriptures and textbooks, Nicholas Sparks books are the only ones I read.

29. I hate the word, "someday." ex: "We'll definitely go there someday!" It's just a word with not much promise to it.

30. I like making forts and camping in the living room :) I really don't think I'm a very high maintenance person. I've slept all night on an airport floor, lived without wifi or internet for weeks, went 4 months with no tv or hair straightener, plus more. I think life is more fun that way anyway :) 

31. Every time after I get gas, the first thing I do when I get back inside my car is put hand sanitizer on.

32. I have a constant love affair going on with Canon cameras.

33. I absolutely hate going out by myself.. Shopping, or even going to the post office. I prefer always having someone with me. I've been an extremely needy person ever since birth (my mom can attest to that).

34. I love cheese. Like.... a lot.

35. I don't know any other languages, but I can have full conversation in movie quotes.

36. The 4 months I spent teaching English in China were the best 4 months I've ever experienced in my life thus far.

37.  Half the music on my ipod is that of Nat King Cole, Sam Cook, Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, The Temptations, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Steve Tyrell, Seal, Elvis, The Beatles, The O'Jays, Lionel Richie, etc.. Basically everything 80's and earlier. 

38. The Gospel and the church is everything to me. My reason for living. My happiness. And I honestly don't know who I'd be without it.

39. I've met Taylor Swift :)

40. I've ridden an elephant.

41. Autumn is my absolute favorite season :) Everything about it makes me so happy :)

42. One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is waking up in the morning to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade :)

43. I believe animals have feelings and emotions. Especially dogs.

44. I don't watch much TV. But when I do? It's gotta be Fresh Prince or Full House.

45. I never get sick of hearing songs on repeat. In fact, when I do homework I have to have one song on repeat the whole time. It drives my sister nuts, but it somehow helps me focus :)

46. I'm a hopeless romantic, but at the same time, I have issues believing in true love and happy marriages.

47. I had to go to the ER once for getting a pill stuck in my throat. 

48. This boy right here has my whole heart :)

49. One of my favorite pastimes is playing guitar :) 

50. And last but not least.......

6 MONTHS DOWN!

Wooohoooooooo!!! :D

I am so freaking excited. I'm writing this post a bit late, but I still figured I'd write it. On September 20th Jared hit his 6 month mark! Finally. It's about time. It definitely feels like it has taken forever to get to this point, but I'm just glad we're finally here :) I can testify that the first six are by far the hardest. So if you are in the first 6 months right now, just remember to look up, and know it will get easier :) I promise! So in my opinion, this is how the timeframe has broken down for me.

Months 1-3: 

So slow. So hard. But I at least got letters during the first two. I really struggled with learning how to live without him during these months. But can ya blame me? It's a major adjustment to make.

Month 4: 

A definite change from months 1-3. Went a lot faster and I finally starting learning how to be okay and happy without him here. My testimony also grew a ton during this month.

Month 5: 

Fastest month yet! I couldn't believe how fast it went. This month I realized and learned how to turn being sad, and missing him, into something positive. If any of you would like me to write a post about how I did that, let me know. I also realized that this time is about him, not me. It's all about him. And when you put it in that perspective, you won't be as sad about not getting letters or emails. But ultimately, month 5 has been the fastest and easiest yet :) 

Awesome stuff that's happened during these 6 months:

• Jared has his first baptism in his first area! :) 
• Jared was made District Leader in his second area :) 
• He was able to meet Elder Ballard 
• He has been able to become (in my opinion) completely fluent in Italian. Sometimes now he struggles to speak English... :) 
• I was able to spend the summer teaching English in Italy and Austria
• I received a calling as Sunday School teacher and I love it!
• I finally bought a nice camera and have started developing my passion for photography :) (a good thing to do while your mish is gone is develop talents and passions that you've always had but never done)
• My family moved to Provo :) (right across the street from the MTC)
• I got accepted to return to BYU-Hawaii in January :)
• I've met some amazing people who have made this wait such an easier process :) Ya'll know who you are ;)

There's a lot of other experiences I've had these 6 months that have just strengthened my testimony, and  also my love for Jared. I wouldn't change a thing :)

Here's my 6 months celebration video :) 

(don't judge the cheesiness of it. I'm a cheesy person, what can I say)

Jared's 20th Birthday

Jared's birthday was July 2nd, but I realized I never wrote a post about the package I sent! So here it is :) I sent it from here in Italy, with only items that I brought over from America. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, all he could say was "American snack food" haha so this is what he got :) Some of his favorites. 

Beef jerkey

Cheez-Its (his fave)

Combos

Oreos

Popcorn

Some Italian candy

Balloons

A birthday card with 5 euros inside telling him to go buy some birthday gelato :)

a Memory card with a birthday message from me.

And of course, a long letter.

Also, I made a shirt that says, "This is My P-day Shirt" that I thought was pretty funny. It also has a little message on the inside of the shirt. I used fabric paint and painted a heart right where his heart would be when he wears it. On the inside of the heart I painted "Your Desiree" because he has my heart :)

And last but not least, this tie that I made before I left :) 

I know he's gonna love it if the Italian mail system ever decides to let the package show up at the mission home. Keepin' my fingers crossed. 

ALSO

I celebrated his birthday even though we couldn't physically be together :)

Only one more birthday away from each other until we'll be together for all of our many birthdays to come :) 

Busy Summer in Italy!

Hey Everyone! :) 

Yes, I'm still alive. Just in case any of you were wondering. I realized I haven't blogged in forever. But I have a good excuse (kind of) I promise. 

I moved to Italy June 5th and have been going, going, going non stop since then. I'm working here for the summer as a tutor/camp counselor at English camps all over Italy, and will be moving to Austria next week until August 13th. But that's besides the point :) I've just been so busy. Today is the first day in a month and a half that I've had time to sit down and relax. I haven't even had time to send Jared letters. Yeah, it's sad. We've been communicating primarily through email. But honestly, I really miss getting/sending letters.

I have so much I should update, so many stories and experiences I could share, but that would turn into a massive novel I know none of you would read, lets be honest. So I'll stick with the important stuff.

• Jared had his first baptism on June 1st and was asked to be the one to perform the baptism. He was beyond excited :)

• Teaching English over here in Italy has done wonders for making time pass. Not only is time going by quickly, but I've learned and grown so much just by living here. The only downside is that I haven't been able to attend church because my host families don't like driving far distances and the churches are always far away :( But there's always a positive way to look at a situation. I have realized the importance of attending church every single week, and how big of a blessing it is. I will never take it for granted again.

• Call me a little 13 year old girl, but I love Cody Simpson's music, and this song has been on repeat recently. "Wherever you are, no matter how far, I promise that I won't give up on you. They say 'out of sight' means 'out of mind' but that couldn't be further from the truth, because I'm in love with you. I'm still in love with you. Even if there is an ocean keeping your heart from mine, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you all of the time. I'm counting the days till I see you, and somewhere I know that you are too" He gets us MG's ;)

• Yesterday we hit 4 MONTHS DOWN! I can't believe it :) The first three went so slow, but the fourth just flew by. And what better place to celebrate than Venice, Italy? :) I am seriously so blessed to be having this much fun while he's gone. I'm living my dreams and couldn't be happier with everything in my life :) Waiting isn't about "waiting" It's about growing, changing, becoming, having fun, traveling, making friends, fulfilling callings, working, developing hobbies and skills and ultimately, becoming who Heavenly Father knows you can become through righteous living. 

• Click here to watch my 3 Months Down Video :)

• Overall, I am so happy, and loving life. Jared is amazing. So dedicated to the work, I've never heard him complain, and he is loving the people. He writes the most loving emails, along with amazing stories and spiritual experiences. He never breaks the rules, and he's just basically the perfect missionary :) I couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend/missionary. I couldn't have asked for a better experience in my life. Waiting is hard, but amazing at the same time. We're both growing so much and I've seen it bless our relationship tremendously. Basically, I got this :) 4 down, 20 to go! 

I Miss Us

I decided that I'm randomly going to start doing throwback Thursdays here on my blog.
(yaayyyy)

This is the second to last video we spontaneously recorded before he left. We were trying to act as each other. So, I was saying stuff Jared would always say, and he was saying stuff that I always say. Ignore the fact that we're just really weird people..

This is the very first video I ever made of Jared and I together. Half the videos were taken before we even started dating. The second song in the video pretty accurately describes how I was feeling at the time. This video also contains our first "on screen" kiss. HA, I totally laugh at it now but I was sooooo nervous to kiss him in front of the camera. You can see at 2:46 that he kinda says, "Forget the camera is even there" Oh good times. These are the good ole days here. So these are over a year old, all filmed in Hawaii.  Thanks for reading/watching :) Come on, you know you enjoyed it. Sometimes I go through and watch all these old videos on days when I'm really missing him. Videos have been my life saver.

Skyping for Mothers Day!

It's this time of year again. The time when flowers bloom, the grass turns green again, and missionaries get to call/skype home for Mothers Day! :)

Jared's family is amazing and invited me over to be there when Jared would be Skyping them. Mothers Day was on Sunday, but he said he'd be calling on Saturday (May 11th). I woke up so early that morning, I was too excited to sleep any longer. It's like it was the airport phone call all over again, but even better! I got ready, tried to look as cute as I could, and rushed over to their house at 9:30am. I brought my laptop because his mom didn't have skype. When I got there, I gave his mom a little gift I made. I messed around on Photoshop and created this little gem.

Right as I turned on my laptop and signed into Skype, Jared was online and my heart started pounding :) I messaged him and said...

At this point, I had MAJOR butterflies. Knowing he was about to call. I was about to see his handsome face. I was about to hear his voice. Talking to me.. Looking at me... I was just about ready to pass out :)

He called and got to talk for an hour and a half! :) For the most part we all just sat in front of the computer and talked about his mission. I seriously loved every second. Getting to hear about his mission is my favorite thing to hear. I love hearing about his experiences, the members, his investigators, the food, etc... It was really nice though because at the end, his mom let me talk to him :) Just seeing/hearing him say, "Hey Beautiful! I've missed you!" was worth these two months apart. And I know that seeing him again after two years will have made the whole wait worth it :) And as you can tell.. We were both pretty happy :)

Here's just a little clip of our conversation when we were saying bye :( 

You know that awkward "We need to say bye but we don't want to.. so we're just going to sit here and drag out saying bye as long as we can" type of feeling.

It was also really nice talking to him because he gave me great advice about Italy and what to expect when I go there (In 21 days!!) Apparently I need to watch out for the Italian men. Yay.... Anyway! I am so grateful his family let me be a part of this :) My waiting battery is officially recharged and now I can't wait till Christmas! What? I didn't say Christmas.. I'm not already counting down till he gets to skype again. Psh, what kind of crazy person do you think I am? ;)

(232 days till Christmas.. :D)

Airport Phone Call from Jared!!

Girls, today was the big day. The day Jared got to call from the airport! :)

I'd by lying if I said I wasn't totally freaking out. I seriously could not sleep last night. I woke up at 5:14, 6:30, 7:02, 7:15, 7:45 and my alarm finally went off at 7:55. I guess you could say I was like a child on Christmas Eve. The stressful thing was that I had to spend my morning studying for a geology final. My final started at 11:00 and his plane was scheduled to leave at 11:15 so I was hoping he'd call me before my test. I was freaking out because by 10:30 he still hadn't called me. Apparently Heavenly Father is still trying to teach me patience. Basically.. Just watch this video and you'll see :)

We only got to talk for three minutes because there were so many missionaries who still needed to call their families. But it didn't matter, just hearing his voice tell me he loved me was all I needed to hear :) I'm just so excited that he'll finally be in Italy! I feel like these past six weeks he hasn't even really been on a mission. I feel like the mission really beings when they start teaching :) I can't wait to hear stories about the people, culture, investigators, his mission president, the wards, the members, and the FOOD! I know he's going to put his whole heart and soul into serving the people of Italy. He already has such a deep love for them and he's not even there yet <3 Like I mentioned, he left this morning at 11:15 and flew to Chicago where he arrived at 3:15 their time, and then he had a flight to London at 5:15. So as I type this, he's flying over the ocean and will land in London at 6:50am and then he'll have one more flight leaving at 8:35 for Rome where he'll arrive at 12:05pm :) He's going to be one tired missionary.  I just love him so much and can't wait to begin the next part of our best two years :) 

<3

Perfect Songs

These two songs are probably my absolute favorite songs for a long distance relationship.
They're seriously perfect <3 The artist here is "Us" aka, Carissa and Michael. They're married and probably the cutest couple ever. Before they were married, they were in a long distance relationship, which is why these songs are perfect for a missionary girlfriend :)

This one is called "Near or Far" (my personal favorite)

Lyrics: 

I'm here, you're there
But your love is with me everywhere I go
This I know
I'm near, you're far
Driving away in your little car
But my love will follow you everywhere

Best believe I'll make mistakes
But love won't stop, it has no breaks

Strong is what we are whenever we're apart
I'll be right where you are, I'm in your heart
So don't you worry about a thing, or all the miles in between
You have my heart, you had it from the start
I love you from afar...

I hear them say
That what we have may fade away but I refuse
We'll never lose
They say
It's a case of the honeymoon phase but I just smile
Cause I know this will last a while

Understand you'll make mistakes
But love won't stop, it has no breaks

Strong is what we are whenever we're apart
I'll be right where you are, I'm in your heart
So don't you worry about a thing, or all the miles in between
You have my heart, you had it from the start
I love you from afar or near
And everywhere I know that you will still be there
Deep inside my heart...
Inside my heart...

Strong is what we are whenever we're apart
I'll be right where you are, I'm in your heart
So don't you worry about a thing or all the miles in between
You have my heart, you had it from the start
I love you from afar...

This one is called, "Missin' You Like Crazy"

Lyrics:
When we're not together, I think about you all the time
I keep your picture in my wallet to remind me that you're mine
Life is not worth livin' unless you're right here by my side
I'll love you now and forever and until the day I die

Tired of being alone, calling you on the phone
I'd rather have you here with me

La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy
La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy

These arms they feel so empty without you here inside
This heart it can't do nothin' without your love supply
Your lips are so delicious, the sweetest ones I've found
These lips they get no lovin' when you're not around

Tired of being alone, calling you on the phone
I'd rather have you here with me

La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy
La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy

Just me and my morning coffee, thinkin' bout how you got me
Inside your heart, wherever you are
Baby now don't you worry, I'll come runnin' to you in a hurry
When you reappear, I'll be waiting here and I'll be singin'…

La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy
La la la la la la la la
Hey baby, I'm missin' you like crazy

Mmmm, I'm missin' you like crazy
Mmmm, I'm missin' you like crazy Lastly, this one is called, "I Will Wait For You"

  Lyrics:  Everything was fine the way it was
Normal and ordinary
Then there was you, so randomly too
And now you're staring at me
No one can choose who they fall for
Or when the fall, or how they fall, or why
I, well I fell for you and I must wait
it's only a matter of time

I will wait for you my darling
and I will wait for you
Oooh Oooh

Everything was cool the way it was
Just me, my thoughts, and I
and then there was you, so randomly too
the way that you walked by
No one can choose who they fall for
Or when the fall, or how they fall, or why
I, well I fell for you and I must wait
it's only a matter of time

I will wait for you my darling
and I will wait for you
I will wait for you my darling
and I will wait for you

No, No I don't fall in love
No I can't fall in love
It's much too complicated
Having tried it before
I don't need it anymore
So I thought, So I thought,
So I thought

I will wait for you my darling
and I will wait for you
I will wait for you my darling
and I will wait for you
They're seriously perfect, right? :) Go check out their YouTube channel to see more adorable videos and songs. 

Exactly How I Feel

I'm So In Love :)

Sometimes I have nights where I just sit here and think, "I'm so blessed, and so lucky to have Jared in my life." I thought I knew what true love was. But I honestly didn't know this level of love existed until I met Jared. For me, true love is when you can look at the person and just know that you love them, no matter what. Having no doubts, just knowing that your love for the person is stronger than anything else. Is true love perfect? Of course not. I used to think that love was about always being happy together and never arguing. While dating Jared, I realized I was wrong. Do we argue? Yes. But you know what? It makes us stronger. Jared challenges me. I used to think that maybe our personalities didn't match up. I realized though that our personalities didn't have to be perfect together. He challenges my weaknesses and helps me grow. The best kind of love is the kind that makes you a better person, without changing you into someone other than yourself.

I've never felt so comfortable with someone before. Not once have I ever felt embarrassed for being, well, me. As a matter of fact, he specifically loves the things about me that I used to try and hide. I can be hyper in front of him, I can cry when dogs die in movies, I don't have to worry about upsetting him by pulling out my camera to film him every 10 minutes, I can even dance in front of him (I'm a terrible dancer. Seriously). Jared builds me up unlike anyone ever has. I've never felt so confident in myself as I do when I'm around Jared. And let's be honest, I've a very needy person. I'm overly sensitive, emotional beyond belief, and super needy. Basically everything a good girlfriend shouldn't be. In past relationships I found myself constantly doing for them, what I secretly wished they were doing for me. I realized that sometimes I'd expect more from others because I'd be willing to do that much for them. But with Jared, I don't "expect" anything. The way we show each other love is so perfect. He loves me in ways that I feel loved, and I love him in ways that I know he feels loved. For example, he takes hundreds of pictures with me. He'll stay up at night with me and we'll just talk, for hours and cuddle. He'll randomly buy my flowers and chocolate. We'll slow dance to absolutely no music. He'll tell me every time he sees me without makeup, how beautiful he thinks I am. It was just the little things that make me feel so loved. But ultimately, he respects me. He is always a gentleman, and he's a worthy Priesthood holder. And that's what I love more than anything. 

I just love so much about that boy. It's kind of ridiculous :)

•  I love his testimony and desire to serve the Lord and keep the commandments. 
• I love that I know he's going to be a wonderful dad someday. He's so good with kids :) 
• I love that he's a hopeless romantic. Maybe even more so than I am <3
• I love that he's not the least bit controlling. When you truly love someone, you don't try to control them. 
• I love that he is ambitious. He has so many goals, hopes and dreams.
• I love that he would start random spontaneous water gun fights with me outside the cafeteria in Hawaii <3
• I love that he reads Dr. Seuss books to me when I'm not feeling well :) 
• I love that sometimes he'd tuck me in and tell me bedtime stories :)
• I love that he genuinely becomes interested in stuff that I'm interested in. (i.e. Pretty Little Liars, Taylor Swift, filming videos, etc..)
• I love that he's so talented. Guitar, cooking, snowboarding, singing, writing songs, long boarding, surfing, dancing, etc..
• I love that we both eat the entire sunflower seed, including the shell :) 
• I love how well he understands and knows me. He just gets me :)
• I love that whenever we make cookies, he saves me a little dough, puts it in a bag, and puts it in the fridge for me to eat later :) 
• I love that he's opinionated. We can discuss/debate about anything. Politics, beliefs, parenting tactics, or simply our opinions of a movie we recently watched.
• I love that he's outgoing. Unlike me. He's everything I'm not :) 
• I love that he'd come over to visit me at 12:45am after getting off work, driving 15 minutes one way to drop a friend off, then driving 25 minutes the opposite direction just to hug me for 5 minutes, and then 20 minutes back home. 
• I love that he'll randomly stand up in the middle of a movie, leave the room, and come back 5 minutes later and sits a bowl of popcorn in my lap. He just knows me so well :) 
• I love that he holds my hand during prayers.
• I love that he stands up for me.
• I love that he wears purple just because he knows it's my favorite color.
• I love that we do pinky promises <3
• I love that he has always been so patient with me. Whenever I had doubts about our relationship, he never gave up on me. 
• I love that he's excited to adopt a little girl from China someday <3
• I love that when I know he's having anxiety, or is just stressed out, all I have to do is pull him close and hug him. 
• I love that we did FHE together, just us :)
• I love that he's the only person who can make me feel this way <3

I love that he is my best friend. The person I can tell everything to. The person who will pull the hair out of my eyes when I cry, and wipe away my tears. He's the person who will stand there and wrap his arms around me to let me know he's there for me and never letting go. He's the one who will call me in the middle of the night just to tell me he loves me. He's the person I can have fun doing anything with. Whether it's surfing in Hawaii, or laying on my couch just talking. We still have just as much fun and enjoy being with each other no matter what we're doing.

I'm so grateful for his decision to serve a mission and serve the Lord for these two years. I'm grateful to know that a love like this doesn't just go away, or change. It's something that will continue to grow stronger the longer we are apart. I know that to be true because it already has :) Basically.. I love Jared Lee Burnham. Basically, this is how I feel.

<3

Emails & Letters :)

I always knew that Jared would most likely not be allowed to email me at all during his mission. At least, that's what I tried to prepare myself for. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Low and behold, I woke up on the morning of his first pday in the MTC and his name popped up with an email from him! I totally freaked out :D

How lucky am I that the week he entered the MTC is the week they changed the rules about emailing? I feel so blessed :) I'm so proud of Jared. He's been in the MTC for 3 weeks now and is working so hard on learning the language and how to be a missionary. He's one of the most dedicated and hard working people I know. He's so obedient and follows all the rules. I know that being an obedient missionary will bless him in ways I can't even describe. 

On his second pday, I got his email in the morning and was happy about it :) Little did I know that I'd receive another email from him at 5:00! I was so surprised :) It's little things like that just totally make my day. Apparently he didn't use up all of his time in the morning and got to use the rest of it at 5:00. 

I was super excited this past week to tell him that I'll be living in Italy this summer :) He had no idea that I applied or anything. I asked him in a Dear Elder how he would feel if I did apply, and this is what he said, 

"I think you should definitely go to Italy if that is what you want to do.  I mean, why not?!  How cool would it be if we both could at least speak some Italian when I got back?  And I know you love Italy and you love teaching...It's the perfect combination :D Just follow your dreams Desiree.  Although, I am so glad you still asked for my opinion. That makes me very happy to know that we are still that close and you still consider me your closest and best friend...because you are definitely mine! :D :D"

<3

Now I feel even better about spending my summer working in Italy. I love that he's supportive and wants me to follow my dreams no matter what. That's just one of the many things I love about him :) To sum things up, he's loving it in the MTC but can't wait to finally start teaching in Italy. We're both happy and we love receiving letters from each other :) 

Dear Desiree, We are Pleased to Inform You....

I'm freaking out.

I've been accepted to work in Italy and Austria all summer long. And get paid to do so.

Is this really happening? Is this real life? 

I woke up 2 days ago to this email:

I'll get to spend my summer traveling every two weeks to different English camps throughout Italy and Austria. I'll be an English tutor working with kids from 7 - 14 years old. I'll be living with host families, and learning the language as much as I can :) Along with eating all their food... :)

Before Jared left on his mission, I told him I needed to get out and travel while he's gone. Then all of a sudden one day, the idea came to me. "Go work at a summer camp in Europe" So I started my research. Jared knew I was thinking about this as a possibility and totally supported it.

I know all you MG's will say, 

"Are you crazy? Why are you going to the same country your missionary is serving in? What if you run into him? Won't you wanna see him? Won't that be too hard?" 

But to them I say this: I have seriously been obsessed with both Italy and Austria ever since I was 10 years old. I was living in Virginia and an RM from Italy spoke in my home ward. That was the first time I'd ever heard an Italian accent. Since that day forward, I've come to love everything Italian. I used to tell my mom that I wanted to marry an Italian, I wanted to grow up and live in Italy, I wanted to go to BYU because they had Italian, unlike most schools, I would download Italian music, I would beg for Rosetta Stone in Italian, I have tons of books about Italy, etc.. Which is why the fact that Jared got called to serve his mission there blows my mind. Also, I do NOT want to see him while I'm there. And the chances of us just running into each other are so slim. It's not that small of a country. I have self control :) I'm not going to hunt him down. What girl in her right mind would want to do that? It would be distracting to the missionary, and I wouldn't get to hug him, so what's the point? 

I just couldn't be more excited :) I don't know where I'll be for all the camps, but I know I'll be spending my first week in Assisi. Take a look at this beautiful place:

I'm seriously dying over here. I'm so grateful for this amazing opportunity. It gets even better because my sister Paris has also been accepted and will be coming with me! :) 

I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had to travel and grow within the last two years. I have lived in China, Hawaii and soon, Italy and Austria. Traveling for work or volunteer/service work is such a wonderful thing to do while you're missionary is gone. It helps you grow and develop as a person, and also makes time fly by :) So if you get an opportunity, don't be afraid to take it. Don't be afraid to do the things you never thought you'd be able to do. Most people would say, "How cool would be to get a summer job in Italy?" but they never really do anything about it. DO IT! 

Just two short months and I'll be able to call Italy "home" :) 

I can't wait!!

(this was us when we got the news)

I Miss Him

It's just one of those days <3

He has my heart.