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)