Missing my roomies.

I love these girls like crazy. Two years of living with each other and/or being friends has been amazing. Guys are great and necessary but there are needs that boys can't fill and that is why these ladies are in my life. It is funny how you don't realize how good you had it until it is gone. I was excited to leave Rexburg but the negative to leaving was that I would no longer live with my roommates. It is the last time I will live with girls in Rexburg because upon my return next January I will have a new roommate, a husband named Mike. That will be quite the new experience. Now that I am gone I am realizing that I had the best roommates a girl could have hoped for. I love them tons and miss them like crazy.

School is FINALLY over!

Well right now I am sitting in Las Vegas, Nevada in my future in laws home. It is hot here but manageable and it is nice to be in an actual home rather than a stuffy apartment. I have really loved visiting with Mike's family. His niece's and nephew's are all really cute and fun. His parents and siblings and spouses are all pretty dang funny and easy to be around. It makes me excited to go home and be with my family again.

The only downer about this trip is that I am miserably sick! I honestly feel like I am dying at times. I have a stupid sinus infection. So that translates into me dying of congestion and pain. I feel bad being sick like this because it is vacation and we are suppose to be doing fun things other than sitting and laying on the couch all day. Mike and I went to the Urgency Care today and they gave me antibiotics and pain relievers so hopefully I will be feeling better ASAP. I am so done being sick!

School ended with a bang. It was probably my easiest finals week ever or I guess the least stressful finals week ever. This is probably because of the whole semester worth of stress. I felt like every week during the semester was finals weeks and so the workload was normal and easier to handle when the real finals week arrived. So I think that the continual stress and pressure made it easier for me to handle finals and cleaning and moving a whole lot easier. But Mike and I were out of Rexburg by 10 am on Friday morning and gone.

It is weird to think the semester is over and that we will not return until 5 months from now. Just think next time I see the highway-green signs announcing BYUI again I will be a married woman. Mike and I will be a whole more than just fiance's. It is daunting to think of the prospects of the future. So many unanswered questions to figure out the answers to but somehow they will be answered. It is interesting to hear people ask us what our plans our because I can say we have ideal "plans" but there is so much that I am sure will change and evolve through time and circumstance. It is comforting to know that I will have Mike there to help me and we will have each other. If it wasn't for him I am sure that I would be freaking out so much right about a month ago.

One thing that I am excited for about marriage is just having each other and being able to be together forever and then some. For so long there have been guys that came and went, tearing me up and leaving me hanging, there was never that trust of them never leaving. But with Mike it is different. It has been different with him from the start. In our relationship I have never felt jealous or insecure. He has been the rock in my life for these last 5 months and I hope that he always will be my rock. He keeps me relaxed and calm. I am glad that we have each other to experience the good and the bad in life, and to overcome the difficulties together. I want to do everything I can to be the best I can be for him and nothing less. I love Michael Garrard more and more each day. It is crazy to think about how far we have come in the 5 months we have been together. Each moment has been sweet and it is only getting sweeter with time.

THE dress!

Well yesterday family arrived in town for our big Schwieder family reunion. My mom, Aunt Allison, Grandma, cousin Stephanie, and best friend Heather Soderborg, and I all set out to find the THE perfect wedding dress. We started out at a couple locations in Rexburg with one possibility that I really loved. It was simple and I think quietly glamorous.

But we went to one more location to make sure that the dress was THE dress. I was not about to make a rash decision by going to just one store. We went to a store called Margene's in Idaho Falls, which is an appointment only store but they were kind and let us have an appointment anyway because my family was here only for the weekend and we needed to find the dress this weekend because there are NO modest bridal stores in Oregon nor in Washington. Well I tried one on that was very similar to the first dress I loved and it was cheaper than the first one.

But as I walked into the dressing room to try another one on I happened to see a dress that I thought looked really cute, luckily they has the same dress in a size 6! Well we got the dress on me and at first I was unsure about it because it was not something that I had ever imagined myself wearing, like dress number 1 but the more and more I wore it, the more I liked it. I tried the dress that looked similar to my first favorite and immediately knew that the second dress I loved was THE dress. It just did not have enough pizazz to it like dress number two. So the dress that I will be wearing is ivory, and a drop waist skirt. I LOVE IT! It is glamorous and definitely makes me look amazing!

So to celebrate we went to Olive Garden to eat yummy food, and we went to the mall and found some cute things for engagement pics. All in all a good day! I loved spending these fun moments with all of my favorite woman and finding the perfect dress definitely topped it off. We even found my bridesmaid dresses!

Heather in the bridesmaid dress, we are going to replace either the band or the rosettes with green to match the wedding colors.

Well....I'M ENGAGED!

So last night, July 2nd, I was proposed to by Michael Christopher Garrard. I WAS not expecting it to be last night. I had like a thought, oh it could be tonight, but passed it off as wishful thinking. I thought he was acting extremely calm and relaxed so I didn't suspect anything. He had been working all day with his mission buddy Chris, and I had been cleaning my apartment to distract from my load of homework I didn't want to do. So at like 7pm we drove to Idaho Falls for the delicious Cafe Rio. So yummy and satisfying after a long day of work.

We then went back to Rexburg and got ready to go stargazing at the Sand dunes. Again, no ideas at all that it was coming. So we laid out under the stars talking and laughing. I was really tired from cleaning that day so I was really relaxed and sleepy. He told me that he loved me, and I said I love you too. Next thing I know, he is slipping the ring on my finger, saying "I love you so much. I want to spend forever with you. Will you marry me?"

Well, I was completely taken off guard. All I could even thing to say is "wha, wha, Are you Serious?? YES!" Lol It was just a bunch of garbled words because I was so surprised! Well we immediately called our parents and family to tell them the news. All we could do is smile and laugh and kiss each other over and over again. All night it was that way pretty much. We called lots of friends and family to share the news.

Mike did an amazing job at picking out the ring, I LOVE IT!  He wanted to pick it out and surprise me which at first I was unsure about but the ring is spectacular. It is like he picked the exact ring that I imagined in my head and found it in tangible form. I love him so much. I can hardly wait to spend my life with him.

Here are pics of the ring and us from last night.

Mike and I after we got back from the Dunes.

The ring is amazing! I love it. : D

My amazing roommate Heather who was in on the secret the whole time and I had no idea! She is the best secret keeper ever!

Birthday Celebrating

Well the week of June 21st through the 27th was an eventful one. We celebrated Mike's 22nd birthday, and then made a trip down to Utah to see family for the weekend and also Mike won the men's competitive volleyball championship.

So I had a few surprises set up for Mike for his birthday which was on a Wednesday. His first present of the day was probably his favorite one, a Justin Bieber CD and a "Big Hunk" candy bar. 

 Present #1

So then I decided to skip my grammar class to celebrate with him, big sacrifice I know. He opened his parents present which was flip flops and money. Then we opened present number 2 from the girlfriend: a toy motorcycle that he is always telling me to buy him. So he got one that doesn't need gas for.

Then I disappeared for a period of time to work on a surprise. He coached his girls team in the final tournament. They lost. :( Well I had previously talked to his Mom and asked for the recipe for his favorite meal: Chicken Manicotti. It took FOREVER to make, but tasted yummy. I kept eating the stuffing while I made it and that made me less hungry at dinner but I couldn't help it. WE had fruit salad,, crescent rolls, and chicken manicotti. Brice Hunter, CT, Heather, and Daniella ate with us. But Mike was so excited when he found out what his surprise meal was, he ate four and half manicotti noodles!

He was sooooo excited. 

Well then we opened more presents. Daniella gave Mike a Snickers candy bar, and Heather gave him a Hawaiian punch wrapped in the shape of a rocket that said "You Rock!" lol

The rocket shaped present from Heather. 

His final present from me was a real one, not a gag gift. I bought him the game Bang! which he loves. We played a couple games that night. 

Well we had cake too. Funfetti! 

 All in all, it was a pretty great day! I loved surprising him with everything. The best surprise was definitely the manicotti. 

Happy Birthday Mike! I love you!