Mr. Right

So, I've been feeling like blogging a lot lately. I've had a lot to say apparently. I have also been asked a lot what my ideal, perfect guy looks like/what I'm looking for in a guy. I don't normally make these lists because I think they limit you in a lot of ways. Sometimes, it takes a while of getting to know someone before you realize their value and how much you actually are attracted to them. At least that's the theory right? Well without further adieu allow me to introduce you all to Mr. Right (for me).

I think confidence is the sexiest thing in the world. You could be a solid 6 in the looks department, but you show up with some confidence and personality and I'm going to automatically bump you up to an 8, maybe even a 9. When someone can own a room, just by their presence and charisma.......nothing sexier. I like to describe this as social confidence. You don't necessarily need to be the socialite of the year. In fact, that can get overwhelming. No one is trying to win a popularity contest here. But, if I take you home to meet the fam, it is crucial to know you can hold your own. There are a lot of strong personalities in my family and it's easy to get overlooked. No wallflowers that won't interact. I need someone that will be comfortable shooting the breeze with my cousins, aunts, and uncles about heavens knows what and that won't resent the fact that strangers are talking to you.

I'm done babysitting. I need someone who knows what they believe and sticks to it because that's what they want to do. I am all about being with someone who makes you a better person. I mean that's the point of the plan of happiness and eternal marriage right? However, that in no way means that I want to carry the spiritual burden for the rest of my life. I need someone who I can trust to follow his beliefs and morals without my pushing and prodding all the time. Also, honor your priesthood. I didn't grow up with the Priesthood in my home and so that is super important to me. I need to know that when I ask you for a blessing for me or our children, you'll be there to give it. Worthy and ready. This might sound wrong but guys who honor their priesthood and use it without hesitation are so attractive. Something about it.......yeah.

Looks cannot be the most important thing in the world to you. I know this is hard. Let's face it, you guys are visually stimulated. However, one day, I'm going to have had a few kids and I'm not going to look 21 anymore. Not that I do now......I need to know, that you aren't going to take off just because the going gets tough in the looks department. This in no way means I plan on "letting myself go" or becoming some grotesque slob. I just need to know that you will be around if let's say I get paralyzed or burned, or whatever. I need to know that you can look beyond the physical to the person that is inside.

I need someone who can stimulate me intellectually and will let me do the same for them. I don't want someone who I feel I can outwit. It's kind of a turn off for me. My family is sarcastic and all pretty quick witted. You gotta keep up. I love it when I can banter back and forth and a guy doesn't get upset but can dish out just as much as he can take. I'm not talking full blown arguments nor do I think you should be disrespectful of your significant other. Just, the mind is a terrible thing to waste, so you gotta be able to keep up. Also, I don't want someone who is intimidated by my obvious intelligence, hahaha I kid, I kid. But for reals, don't put me down because you fear I'm just as smart as you.

Sense of humor. I love to laugh. I need someone who I can laugh with. I need someone who can make me laugh. I love random humor found in every day life. Life is too short to always be uptight about it. If something happens embarrassing, let's laugh about it. Don't be overly sensitive.

You gotta love sports. Why, I'm not sure. I have this ideal image of my life and it consists of Saturday football games, I'm making all the food and we have a ton of friends over to watch the game. I want to be die hard fans and love the team together. I think this comes from my need for a man's man. I promise to keep the house stocked with chips and dips, bbq, cold dr. peppers, and whatever else you want, if you promise to always have the game on and be cheering super loud.

The man's man is so important I've realized. I'm not a super girly girl. If I feel like in some situations I'm more of a man than you are, we have a problem. I need someone who is comfortable enough to understand I'm just as capable in a lot of areas of life as they are, but also that wants and needs to feel like they are taking care of me. I love feeling like someone cares enough to do the little things that show you care.

Affection......can we talk about how much I love this. I'm not some huge PDA fan, but I don't mind holding hands in public, or the occasional kiss in public. My favorite part of being with someone is having access to kissing them whenever I want. I love just being grabbed and kissed, so feel free. Also, if we're watching a movie, please cuddle with me. I love it.

You have to be playful. There is something about wrestling around that just does it for me. I go a little nuts about it. Maybe it's the whole, kind of like being man-handled a bit thing, But let's be honest, I like to feel like a woman and so the fact that you can hold me down and there's nothing I can do about it, but you wouldn't do it for real because you are a gentleman thing is totally hot. Work it.

Gotta be open to new things and easy-going. One of the biggest turn-offs for me is temper. If you are quick to anger, forget it. We're done. If it takes a lot to get you angry and then you don't like to show it in front of me, I will respect you so much more. You're a big man, you're scary when you're angry. Keep that in mind.

I think that about sums up Mr. Right. There's more, but I'm tired and who knows what will come out of my mouth/fingers at this hour.

Roomies4Life!

So, coming back into the single world was a scary experience for me. One of my greatest fears was living with a bunch of strangers. I had lived in the dorms my freshmen year, and then with one of my cousins for a very brief time, but that was the extent of my experience living with females that weren't related. I was worried about stupid drama that could come about. What if I hated them and hating being at home. What if it turned out be not be a good situation. I had all these fears coming out here and living with girls. Well those are very real fears that some people have to deal with. Fortunately, I have had the best luck in the world with my roommates. I have literally lived with the best of the best. Let me take you on a journey through my life with these wonderful ladies.

101 - Caitlin and Nicole asked me to live with them...ok begged me to live with them because they had previously lived with a foreign roommate who loved incense and constantly smelled the place up. Their only request was that I wasn't smelly. Winner! I loved living with them. One Sunday we were all at home,  Caitlin was cooking, Nicole was sewing, and I was reading the Ensign. Caitlin, I think it was, looked around and said "oh my gosh, we're the relief society!" This describes us perfectly. Not really, haha. It was such a good feeling in that apartment. Caitlin then got engaged, and I moved out to live with.......

118 -  Lora! Let's be honest. I love this girl, with all of my heart. Not only because she's related, but she is just one of the sweetest, smartest, funniest girls I know. She had gotten engaged right before I moved in with her and so I got to live with her until she got married to the fabulous Bryce Romney. It was so fun coming home to her all the time. It felt like being home right here in Provo. I love that she's here still. I would never have moved here without her and so I was so blessed to get the chance to live with her for a while and get that much closer to her. Getting to spend that time with her truly was a riot. She is and always will be one of my best friends. I just can't describe to you enough how much I love her!

Then Justine moved in with us. I think everyone should have their own personal Auzzie. She is so fun to come home to. She will always ask how your day was. She also throws the cutest, most Martha Stewarty parties this hemisphere has ever seen. It's so cute how meticulous she is about them. She's definitely a worrier but it pays off well. Nicole also moved in with us. She couldn't resist this. We had bonded over late night food runs and movies. It was inevitable. Our best friends were both leaving us to marry great guys so all we had were each other. :) She had threatened to move complexes but when it came down to it, she couldn't leave us. Good thing, since she met her Husband here that year....more on that later. Justine had to leave us to do an internship in New York so enter Shelby.

What an energy this lady has! I love living with Shelby. She's always up for anything and everything. You never know when she'll show up at your work and insist you go skydiving with her. Or moon you when you're least expecting it. She's hilarious and brings such laughter to any place. I've seen this girl go through some hard times and her perseverance never cease to amaze me. I've watched her grow and develop into an amazing person over the time I've known her and I'm so grateful that she moved in with us.

Justine moved back for a while and Nicole moved out to save money to marry a fantastic guy that makes her so happy.

Enter Erin. We didn't know Erin that well and so it was different for all of us who had known each other. Erin could not have fit in any better. She is leaving on a mission in January and we are truly going to miss her terribly. Justine moved away again so now it's just Shelby, Erin, and I. We miss all the girls that have lived with us in the past. They all moved away because they were moving on though. I could not be happier for them and could not be happier with the two roommates that I have now. I love being home. Most nights I'm 100% content to sit here hanging out with them. I love it when we're all home. These two fantastic ladies bring such a wonderful spirit to our home and never is there a dull moment. I came home and these two were dressed up ready to go to the temple. What great examples! It's a Wednesday night and they could be doing anything else but they are at the temple. See why I love them! They aren't afraid to let their hair down either. I wish everyone could just experience one hour in our apartment and experience the fantastic time we have. We're pretty amazing.

I have a theory that making plans to live with me, you'll either get married, go on a mission, or land a fantastic job. I guess I'm a good luck charm. Any takers for when Erin moves out? How did I get so lucky?

Custom Made Life

Clearly, I've gone through some self-reflection lately. Sometimes that can get dangerous but other times it can be a great learning tool. I bought this book recently by none other than the fabulously amazing Sheri Dew entitled God Wants a Powerful People. I hadn't even gotten through the introduction, which is about a page long, when a very important truth hit me like a ton of bricks. In it she says "He (talking about the Holy Ghost) will reveal and translate truths in such a way that you can hear them, understand them, and apply them". I love this so much. Sometimes, I tend to forget just how well my Savior knows me personally. I also forget how custom made to me my trials, strengths, weaknesses, and my communications with him are. I got to thinking about what a great blessing, that not only the Lord but also the Holy Ghost is. How well he knows me. That he knows and cares enough to speak to me in such a way that I understand. I do not learn the same way someone else learns, and He takes that into account. It is no wonder that we are constantly urged not to judge ourselves based on other people's standards because they could not do what we do. They have the trials they have for the purpose of their life. I have had some pretty rough trials in my life and I now know what I am capable of handling. I know I'm a very strong person and sometimes I'm afraid of just what I am capable of. I always think it couldn't possibly get any worse. Invariably, it can and it will. However, just as much as the Lord is aware of what trials we need, he is also acutely aware of what succoring we will need to get us through these same trials. It is through these rough times that I have felt his presence in a very real way and have discovered that his love is all encompassing and knows no bounds. He knows exactly what I need in a moment of weakness and knows exactly what I need to comfort me in that tender time. I am so grateful for my Savior and for the Gospel and the blessings and assurance that it is in my life. I have lived as though I didn't know it was true and it was the most difficult climb back I have ever had to make. Some days, I feel so overwhelmed that the enduring to the end part seems like the greatest trial of all. Those are the days, I turn it over to the Lord and just let him know, I can't do it anymore. It seems like on my knees, confessing to him that I'm finished, that one more trial would surely break me, that is when he comforts me and I know that it's not over until I'm by his side. I have great faith that the Lord is preparing me for something. I'm not sure what it is and I'm not sure what else he wants me to do or go through to get there. But, I'll do it. I know I can do it. I need to learn to trust in the Lord and know that he does know me personally. He uses the Holy Ghost to teach me the things he wants me to know. For that I am grateful.

I hope this doesn't sound preachy. I just wanted to get this all down on........cyber paper?

Bucket List

So after talking to a friend recently I have decided that my own inactivity is a problem. Sometimes I get so caught up in the things that I'm not doing and the things that I want to do that I forget to actually go out and do them. I know that sounds weird but it's true. I think that's the case with a lot of things in life. I think that's why Pres. Uchtdorf addressed not waiting around for our golden tickets at women's conference. How often do we do just that? Do we sit around waiting on someday to come and hopefully we will magically be doing the things we want to be doing. Someday we will be the person we want to become. Well, I've decided no more waiting. Sometimes I miss out and forget to enjoy the amazing life that I have now because I'm waiting for this amazing life that I'm going to have later. No one is going to get me there but me and it's not going to happen unless I start having it now. I have an amazing life now. I have awesome friends who support me and challenge me. I have a good job. I'm doing really well in school and have a lot of potential. So my life didn't start or end up the way I thought it would or the way I wanted it to. So what. My life is mine to make of it what I will. I'm responsible for no one but myself. How daunting of a task! Or so I used to think. I realize now how easy it can be. I just need to let myself do the things I want to do. Work hard to get to the point where I can do it. That's my number one goal. However, along the way there are some things I want to do before I die. Introducing my bucket list. This is something that I mentally list very often. I need it to be more concrete. I need to be accountable to the cyber masses. So here goes kids.

1. Eat at an outside cafe in Europe
2. Scuba dive the blue hole in Belize
3. Hike to Machu Picchu
4. Read outside in the rain
5. Kiss in the rain
6. Visit Petra
7. Spend an entire week soaking up the sun in Santorini Greece
8. Hike Havasupai
9. Explore the Redwood Forest in California
10. Hold a monkey
11. Be there to watch a niece or nephew be born (kinda gross I know)
12. Buy the person's food behind me in line at a drive-thru
13. Pay for someone else to go on a mission
14. Go on a mission with my husband
15. Go rock climbing
16. Spend an entire day snowboarding (and not have it kick my trash)
17. Explore an underwater cave
18. Parasail
19. Paraglide
20. Swim with dolphins
21. Adopt a child
22. White water raft
23. Go to Bridge Day in West VA
24. Get my Bachelor's
25. Spend an entire day playing in the woods back home (don't judge)
26. Help someone that is oppressed
27. Help combat human trafficking
28. Hike Angel's Landing again (without almost dying)
29. Buy myself something with a diamond in it (just because I can)
30. Be able to change the world, for at least one person
31. Visit some hot pots
32. Scuba dive the crater
33. Zipline through the Amazon (is this even possible?)
34. Find out who my Dad's family is
35. Eat at the Melting Pot (any gentlemen wanna take me out?)
36. Have a romantic rooftop date
37. Meet a celebrity and not lose my mind (possibly the hardest on this list)
38. Bike Moab
39. Ride a bike to work
40. Drive an Aston Martin as fast as I can
41. Buy my own dirtbike (let's make it pink just for kicks and giggles)
42. Restore an old Bronco or Land Cruiser (this needs to be yellow)
43. Eat completely Gluten free for at least a month
44. Go on an archaeological dig
45. Take my mama on a cruise
46. Talk to the hot guy in my science class (just a personal goal so someone holds me accountable)
47. Take charge and kiss someone I'm crushing on (haha gotta find one first, or maybe science class guy? yeah right)
48. Find a cave behind a waterfall (oh come on. this just seems magical doesn't it?)
49. See Garth Brooks in concert
50. Be able to do ten pull ups without assistance (sad that this has to be on here)
51. Star gaze with someone I really like
52. Discuss the meaning of life with friends in a Tuscan vineyard
53. Take a bike ride down Provo Canyon along the Provo River trail (with other people obviously)
54. Bust out in song in a public place and have everyone join in (not a flash mob, i'm talking for reals here people)
55. Live in a foreign country
56. Drive all night to get to someone (Celine Dion fans you know what I'm talking about)
57. Go to Cathedral Beach in Spain
58. Attend an Opera at the Opera house in Sydney
59. Spend a week in the Outerbanks
60. Go watch the wild horses being run from Assateague to Chincoteague Island
61. Visit the Biltmore Estate
62. Learn a foreign language
63. Watch the running of the bulls in Spain
64. Create and attend a book club
65. Spend a day canoeing around a lake
66. Learn how to work on a motorcycle (redneck, I know)
67. Spend an entire Christmas serving other people
68. Take a temple tour and visit every temple from Idaho to Arizona
69. Have a picnic at a waterfall
70. Go up in a hot air balloon
71. Study abroad
72. Find the slot canyon where they drop into the water in 127 hours
73. Go to the speed tests at the salt flats
74. Drive across the country through Denver
75. Take a random roadtrip across the US and see all the weird, off the wall things that make each town famous
76. Stargaze from an Observatory
77. Take a camping trip on horseback
78. Visit the Grand Canyon
79. Go see the pueblos in our very own backyard
80. Write a book
81. Visit all the 7 wonders of the world
82. Go to Mt. Rushmore
83. Have a whirlwind weekend romance (in a foreign country, with a boy with a hot accent preferably)
84. Go on a yacht
85. Explore a used bookstore with no time limit
86. Dance the night away with the locals in a South American country
87. Go surfing
88. Try windsurfing
89. Spend an entire day at the temple
90. Play cops and robbers
91. Take my dad back to Greece (so he can have the gyros he loves so much)
92. Fall in love
93. Read all the classics
94. Sing to my children
95. Learn to play the piano (for real this time)
96. Learn to play the guitar
97. Go to Disney World (sad I know)
98. Go to Sea World (even more sad)
99. Vacation in one of those ice hotels
and last but definitely not least here folks..................
100. Grow old with a man I love more and more every day