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 :)
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.
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!
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.
