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.......

Goal: Not Be So Judgmental

I've realized something lately. You know how people will say, "Don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my shoes" or something like, "Don't judge me until you're put in my exact situation"? Well, I think that's still wrong. People should just try to judge. period. Every single person is different. Everyone has different experiences. And even if someone walked a mile in their shoes, they'd still act differently because they aren't them. Sometimes people do things that even they don't understand. Sometimes things go "wrong" so that Heavenly Father can put it back together the way it's supposed to be.

I used to judge other girls easily. Terrible fault of mine. I'm trying to get better. I think Heavenly Father has been teaching me this lesson. Because I realized a year ago if I would have looked at myself now, I would have been like, "What the heck? That's not me... What am I doing?" I would have judged myself. It goes to show that we never know what other people go through, and what makes them the way they are today. Even if we think we know, we usually don't. 

^^ We never know the story of what other people go through because we really only see what they are willing to show us. Usually there is so much more. That's something I've been trying to remember.

We all struggle. We all go through trials. We are always growing and learning from our experiences. It's so easy to sit back and say, "Oh look at her. She's making a mistake. She's doing the wrong thing. Doesn't she know better?" But we have NO idea why they are experiencing what they are experiencing and what they need to learn from it. Even when we make mistakes, we learn from them. We wouldn't learn if we were always perfect. It was a real eye opener to sit back and look at my life, to see where I would judge myself. Which is why I'm trying to never be as judgmental as I used to be. 

p.s. It's a good day :) Be happy :) there's always something to be happy about :) 

<3

New Goal/Update

Alright ladies, I have set a new goal. Here it is:

Blog once a week

Doesn't seem that hard of a goal, right? But it totally is for me. It's hard enough living in Hawaii and going to school at the same time. But I'm also working at the Polynesian Cultural Center. And then I live across from the beach. So... where does blogging fit into that? Yeah, it comes in last on the priority scale. But I just wanted to give kind of an update :) 

I love living in Hawaii. I love going to BYUH. And more than anything, I still LOVE my missionary more than anything in the world. Exactly a week from today, we will be hitting the highly anticipated one year mark. I can't even believe it. Another thing is that recently I started casually dating. I prayed about it and felt like I should go on some dates and make friends and what not. I mean, I didn't date at all the first year, so I feel like it's the right thing to do for me. Preston on the other hand, wasn't so happy about my decision. But before he left, we both decided that me dating would be ok to do while he's gone. But he kind of changed his mind since he's been gone. Which is totally understandable. So recently we had a little rough patch, but we worked through it and I believe we're stronger because of it :) He thought I was getting serious with other guys which is totally not what was happening :) I just want to say that fighting for what you love, and what you want most in the world is 100% worth it. Waiting for Preston isn't even hard because he's what I want :) I've always known that, and I know it more now than I ever have before. Will I continue dating? Yes. Why? Because it strengthens my love for him every time :) Alright. Enough with boring words and sentences. Here are some pictures of my recent life :) 

La'ie Hawai'i temple :) 

Working at the PCC :)

The people I hang out with every day :) 

Hukilau Beach (1 min from my house)

Sunset Beach on the North Shore :)

My bedroom :) 

Night swimming :) 

My church :) 

Entering campus :) 

Sorry such a long post. But it's been almost a month since I blogged. I didn't want anyone to think I was struggling with waiting or anything :) I've just been so busy. 

One last thing.. You didn't think I was going to have a post without including a couple recent pictures of my adorable Preston, did you? :) 

He loves Hamburger Helper :)

Pretty sure this is against mission rules.. whatever :)

I love him so much :) :) 

And for any of you who are following my youtube channel, I put a video a while ago but if you didn't see it, you can view it here :) 

ONE MORE WEEK till ONE YEAR DOWN! :) 

*insert happy dance*

I'd like to end with something my friend and creator of the Beehive Organization said yesterday, "Sometimes doing the right or best thing isn't always the easiest, however you can rest assured knowing that you will be blessed somehow for choosing the better option. . . This is what I will tell myself & all of you today! Before committing to a decision think about what will benefit you eternally or make you a better person. If there's any doubt, don't do it."

Thanks for that Linsey :) There's so much truth in that. Don't do something if you have any doubt. Because you want to be able to do it 100% and feel completely at peace with the decision :) 

Until next week... 

New Goal: The Hunger Games

Now that my boyfriend is on a mission, I do stuff like this. Spend nights in the library reading depressing books.

But seriously, I have an announcement. Ok world. I've officially given in. I just finished the 3rd chapter of the first book in the Hunger Games series. I was always against reading it because it's what everyone else was doing. But my MG roommate (Kaydee :)) somehow talked me into reading it. So this was how I spent my night. Reading. In my local library. With my sisters. They'd always look up and say, "What part are you on?" and then smile and nod their heads when I told them. I figured it's something new to start and enjoy while my boy is gone :) I'm always up for setting new goals. Which is why I'm going to finish this book before the movie comes out, and then see the movie. I'll let you know what I think of the books.. So far, as of Chapter 3, I'm not that big of a fan and think it's pretty depressing.. But I will admit, it's addicting. 

New Goals

• Get the job that I want
• Get A's on the first BYUH online classes
• End the school semester with at least a 3.5 
• Start the Book of Mormon and read a chapter every night. 
• Make a new friend :)
• Read over my patriarchal blessing again 
• Send a letter once a week like always 
• Work on learning Chinese 
• Not cry when Preston calls me from the airport :)

TWO ♥

I have officially lived through 2 months without the love of my life. (Technically it was 2 months 4 days ago..) So I have lived 2 months and 4 days without him :) I feel like I've really learned a lot these past two months, and my testimony has been strengthened beyond belief. Remember how I had a list of goals for last month? I accomplished probably 3/4 of them :) I finished D&C, I sent a letter every week and a Dear Elder everyday, I baked something new once a week, saw Never Say Never again, decided what job I want over the summer, blogged once a week and tried a new food :) (it was cuban food, super yummy!) The ones I didn't accomplish were: I didn't complete 10 volunteer hours (I only completed 4) I didn't work out three days a week, and I didn't watch Titanic... Although I did see Titanic the Musical :)

This month was easier but also still very hard. It seems to have gone by slower than the first month, but I know it'll speed up :) 

This month I have received:

• 4 letters
• 2 memory cards (videos!!) 
• 1 cassette 
• and 4 personal emails along with the family email :) 

I feel extremely lucky being able to get the stuff that I've been getting. I know some girls don't get near that much. I know that once he actually leaves for Hungary (in 12 days) the mail will probably get a little slower. But I seriously cannot WAIT until the call from the airport! I am counting down the days :) Probably because I've decided to do something this fall that involves leaving Utah and I haven't told Preston anything about it yet. So that's one of the main reasons I can't wait for the phone call :) But overall, this month has been really good :) I want to thank ALLLLLLL the MG's who talk to me on a daily basis to make this whole process 100x's easier. I really have come to love you girls :) You are all amazing and you mean more to me than you know. You guys are always there for me and always help pick me up when I'm feeling down. I really couldn't be doing this without you :) In conclusion, this is what 2 months down looks like:

Eh, I'm getting there :) 

I love you Elder Wright <3 <3 <3

ONE ♥

Preston has officially been gone for one full month :) I'm so proud that i've even made it this far. Back at day two I can fully remember saying to myself, "Can I please be at one month already? I will be so happy when that happens" And here I am :) Time actually flew by. I hope it stays the same :)

This month I got:

• 4 letters
• 3 personal emails
• 2 cassettes 
• and 32 pictures :)

It has indeed been the hardest month of my life, but also one of the best :) It's an amazing thing to only communicate with someone you love through letters. It has brought me and Preston so close. I also believe it's because Heavenly Father is blessing both of us so much. 

And of course being a girl, I am pretty creative! I absolutely love sending packages. It's kinda my thing. I'm gonna send one every month. It'll just be as a celebration that it's been another month down :) This is his "One Month" package. 

There was a reason for almost everything I put in it. Here's what I put in: New cassettes, tissues, pirouettes, mentos, pictures, missionary action figures, a letter and a memory card with a couple video's of my on it :) 

So I decided to make some goals for this month. I have a lot of stuff that I need to accomplish while my man is gone :) So these are going to be my goals for this month (I'll probably add some as the month goes on) 

1. Finish D&C (I started the day Preston left)
2. Complete 10 volunteer service hours
3. Work out at least 3 days a week
4. Send a letter every week and another package at the end of the month :)
5. Bake something new once a week
6. See Never Say Never again (hehe)
7. Decide what job I want to have over the summer
8. Blog once a week :)
9. Watch Titanic (I've been wanting to watch this since Preston left but I haven't been able to do it..)
10. Try a new food :)

There will be more goals to come :) Overall....

What a month it's been :)