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 :) 

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)

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)