Engagements :)

My Man....

Okay...so I have to brag for a minute. It might get a little mushy, so you can just skim if you want. But seriously, Jason has been so wonderful to me, especially these last couple of days!

I have been really sick with a migraine since Tuesday. It got so bad Tuesday night that I literally was in the bathroom throwing up like every 15 minutes from 10:30pm to 2:30 am. (I know kinda gross, but it's part of the details. So... Jason was so amazing! He had ran some errands earlier for me, to get presents for my Dr.'s offices. Then, he stayed all night by my side. He kept refilling my water time and time again (I swear I drank like 20 glasses of water that night!) and re-heating my damp cloth, and would just sit with me while I was heaving. It was SO not a pretty sight...not really a high point of glamour for me if ya know what I mean, but I really didn't care at that point! It was so great to have someone there, just comforting me. He stayed till about 3 am and then came back the next day.

My head was still hurting really bad, and my room has all these open windows, so there was a ton of light, even with the blinds closed. I had just been hiding (and suffocating) under my blankets all day. Well, Jason came over with lunch ( a Wendy's frosty) and then proceeded to migraine proof my room. It's hilarious. I'll show some pictures. We put mattresses and blankets over the windows, shoved pillows in the smaller windows. It was so funny. But, wow! It helped so much!

The mattress that should have gone to DI like a month ago really came in handy today! The other blanket is a pillow stuffed with a blanket and shoved into one of the little box windows

Once there was a window.... and now just a wall Dixie State College hanging (aka a blanket) held up by push pins!

Another pillow shoved into the window.

I'll have to do an after shot once I take all of this down, so you can really see what my room looks like!

Then...he brought me soup later that night, told the H.T.'s to come over to my house instead of his (we have the same HT so we do it at the same time) and then just sat again in the semi dark with me. Plus, later that night I went to go get something out of my car, and....he had heart attacked it!! Isn't that adorable? I few months ago, I heart attacked his car, and he kept all the hearts. Every so often he writes a note on one of the hearts and leaves it where I can find it. It is so sweet, and i just love him for how amazing he is. He is so good to me: so thoughtful and kind, willing to help whenever he can. He is so accommodating and seems to always put me first. I am so grateful to have him in my life!

So that is my sweet story about my sweet boy! I love him so much! He is so great to me :) I'm going to post some of our engagment pictures later....stay tuned for the next post :) hahaha!

School and stuff.

So, what was I thinking going back to school? I am so sick of writing papers I could die! I swear that is all we have done this semester...write, write, write! And I HATE statistics! I have no idea what the garbage I am doing. Thank heavens it'll be over this semester and I won't have to do it again (hopefully!) Honestly, I just have to keep telling myself "You've gone to 4 years (now five) of school and you want your dang bachelors degre. It'll be easier to do it now than down the road when you have a fam." I only have one week of school left of the semester and then only one more semester to go! Hurray! I can't wait to have a whole month off from writing papers and doing research! Yay for Christmas break :)

And...even better than finishing school this semester is seeing Sheryl and the Kiddos in two weeks! (and Ian soon after) I'm seriously missing them so much. Blake sang "You've got a Friend in Me" and "I am a Child of God" medly. It was hilarious. I miss my Blakey so much! It's going to be great to be home and be with the family. I really need some family time right now! I love the holidays!

Family

So I don't have time to put any pictures up right now. In fact, I'm kind of putting off some homework to update my blog.

BUT...I had to say how wonderful it was to be home with family. I have the most amazing family in the world. It was so great to have Jason share in that this past week. We missed Sheryl and Ian and fam terribly, but we had such a blast the rest of us all together. I love laughing until I either cry or almost pee my pants. My face is constantly exhausted from laughing and smiling so much! Not to mention I as a whole am exhausted from staying up till at least 1 or 2 am every night. It was great! I wish I could just stay awake and never have to sleep so it would give me more time to hang with everyone. 4 days is not enough!!!

There honestly is no place like home. My parents are the greatest and most supportive parents ever! I just love them. It was great to hang with friends as well. Jason and I tore it up on the volleyball court and in the soggy grass at Vernon Werthen playing Ultimate Frisbee..thanks Reese!! I love ya babe! I have some fun pictures that I'll have to put up this week when I get a chance. If not this week, then at least by next week after finals wrap up.

I am seriously so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. Thanks fam for all you love, support and understanding! I love you all! And Beryl...I can't wait to see you in just a few weeks!!

Halloween

Halloween was pretty fun this year. Nothing too exciting. Jason was "Jack in the Box" and it was pretty funny, except that the costume party we went to, you can't have any masks or anything fully covering your head, so that was lame because that was his costume! I threw some stuff together last minute and was a "mad scientist"...pretty lame I know! Deal with it! JK!
So here are some pics from that night

Jason as Jack

Me as a mad scientist

Our friend Krystal's rad costume! I was very jealous!

Jason and friends chillin outside waiting to get into the Haunted House!

Fall Festival

This is just a little bit about hanging with the friends at our fall festival. So...I'm not sure what I was thinking about the jousting. I thought it would be super lame, but we had so much fun just messing around with these stupid overstuffed mallet thingies. Way juvenile, but so fun!

Jason and Adam (and me being the ref)

Mmm...Hmmm...that's right...don't mess with me!

Jason poppin me right in the face!

I was like..."that was so low!!"

....and so gave him a taste of his own medicine!!....

Like I said...don't mess with me!

Our best friends Adam and Monet

Okay...so those pictures were really staged. Jason is way too nice to beat me up....well at least without a helmet on. Here are some videos of us. It is so lame how hard it was to swing those things. I was exhausted by the time I got done, and when I look at the videos, it's like I'm moving slower than a turtle...enjoy!

This is a video of Adam slamming Jason after he had already fallen off....so funny!

Monet usually kicked my trash in anything athletic, so I had to get this one up of me actually winning for once!

So fun!!

AZ State Fair

So I know I'm a slacker! I don't know why it takes me so long to get a post up. So this post is dedicated to Megan...Well, here it goes...so this past month has been a ton of fun. Nothing too crazy, just fun times with friends. Here are some pictures of the AZ state fair...

Jase n me waiting in line. We went when it was only a dollar to get in and the crowds were insane!

Mmm....turkey legs...there were 8 of us, and I swear we all took a bite at some point...not sure what we were thinking...but the turkey leg was really good...

Taking off on a carnival ride, there were only 4 out of the eight that even wanted to ride....I don't really understand how you can't like carnival rides.

Adam and Monet...some of Jason and I's best friends

Hmm??

Getting ready for another ride....

Self Portrait

During the ride....

Coolest petting zoo ever! There were camels and giraffes and ostriches and four horned goats, kangaroos, huge bulls, llamas, huge turtles, yaks, bison, and a really funny black guy...not to pet...just listen to his funny coments! Jason and I followed him around listening and being entertained...and.... it was hilarious. Swearing really shouldn't be as funny as it is sometimes.

Oh yeah, and I totally saw the camel spit on a guy. It was so dang gross! The camel just turned and flat out spit on him. I was so glad that he picked someone else to spit on. I was right off to the side of the guy and was just happy it wasn't me!

The Ring...

Yay!! It has been such a long time coming and a lot of stress and a few tears, and even some nightmares...but we finally got my engagement ring! It's kind of a long story, and I'll spare you the details, but it was quite a process... Anyway... I love it now! It is just perfect and exactly what I wanted. Just a very classic 5 stone ring!

Here are pictures of it! I love it. It is seriously so beautiful and it sparkles...a lot...which was the main criteria for me :) haha!!

Engaged!!!

Well, everyone…

If you haven’t heard already…I’m ENGAGED!! YAY!! I just wanted to share with ya’ll the good news. Sorry, it has been so long in coming, life has just been super hectic!

Jason McBride and I have been dating since March of this year and he proposed August 30th! Here’s the story if you are interested! ...

It was pretty awesome! We had taken a trip to California over the Labor Day weekend. Jason had been gone the whole summer out in Glendale, AZ (like an hour away) selling pest control, and we just hadnt' had a ton of time just to chill together. So we headed to Huntington Beach and stayed at my brother Ritchie's house. Ritchie joked that it was our "engagement trip" and I was like "right...no way." Jason and I hadn't even discussed the topic of marriage. I mean we had talked about what we both wanted in a relationship and talked generally and individually, but never as a couple. So, I had planned on it just being a fun and romantic trip.

Well, we get ready to leave and Jason was kind of late getting ready to go and stressed, and I felt like maybe he didn't really want to go, and was going to please me. I was like "let's just stay home...we don't need to go" He said "No...I really want to go." And I said "are you sure, because we can just stay here and have a relaxing weekend?" He promised that he really did want to go, and said it had just been a stressful day and such. Little did I know, he was late because he was picking up the ring to propose with!

So we start our drive Cali, and Jason and I had discussed earlier that we were going to talk this weekend -- or rather I had made very strong hints that I wanted to have a "talk" about us...ya know, future plans and such. About a month earlier we had a conversation that was leading us to making some serious decisions, and then about 2 wks later I shared some things with him that made it clear where I stood. And...all he would say was "great" The next few weeks I kept trying to get him to talk about it. I would ask "So...what do you think about us?" and he would say "I think we're great!" AND THAT'S IT!!! For two weeks that happened. So, finally, I was like, "Jase..this weekend when we go to California, I want to have a serious talk about us and future plans" He was so funny, and was like "Fine, that's great. This weekend we'll talk." And that was it again.

As we start our drive down to California, I'm thinking...great we have 6 hours to talk...let's get to it! So I bring it up, and Jason basically says that he had planned on talking about it on the way home! I was so mad! I thought he was totally trying to avoid the subject, and I was like "fine, I'm not bringing this subject up again. I’ve been making it pretty easy for you, but not anymore." He said "Oh, Shandy, you'll bring it up again." And I was like "Nope! You're going to see how stubborn I am." He was just kind of laughing, and I was really frustrated because I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't talk about it. I finally just let it go, and was tried to convince myself it’s not a big deal…we’ll just talk about it when he is ready to!

Well... we get to California Friday night late and then on Saturday we hung out on the beach with Ritchie and fam ...

Boogie boarding was a blast!

...and then decided to go out to dinner and walk on the beach that night. Ritchie bought pizza, so we decided to just go and get dessert. We went down to Newport, to Balboa Pier, and just walked around and got a funnel cake to share.

Mmmm...funnel cake!!

Us Chillin @ Balboa Pier right before we got engaged :)

Then we went to a beach called "The Wedge." Jason got out of the car with his backpack and I asked him why he was bringing a backpack. He said it was for the “talk” we were going to have. I said “no way…we’re not having that till the drive home,” and he was like “Come on Shandy…you know you want to talk.” Well, of course I did, so I said alright, but asked him again what the backpack was for. He said it had a notebook with a letter in it that he wanted me to read. I was a little confused why he needed the whole backpack, but was just so happy we were actually going to talk, I didn’t really care!

So, we walked down the beach, which was dark because it was night. The waves were crashing right next to the shore. It was very romantic. We sat down in the sand, and he had me read a letter that he had written to me after our 3rd date or so. We weren’t even serious at the time. It was very sweet and complimentary to me, and basically ended saying that he wanted to be the man to lead our family. I was so excited because I figured that this would lead us into the marriage conversation…I was like “Jase…that is really sweet.” I was kind of waiting for him to say something, but then all of a sudden there is a ring out on the notebook, and Jason says something like “This is what I think about us…what I want for us.” I was so surprised I covered my face with my hands and just started bawling. I had been waiting for him to just say he wanted to marry me, so full out proposing was not on my mind at all!! I was like “Are you kidding” and he said “Shandy…this isn’t something you joke about!!” I was laughing and crying for like another 20 sec or so until Jason finally said “Well, Shandy, will you marry me?” Of course I said yes!!

It was so amazing. I was completely surprised by the proposal, not surprised that we would get married, but just that he proposed before we even talked about it. It was so fun to have no idea it was coming. I loved it. So we just hung out on the beach for a while, just talking and laughing about him trying to plan everything so he could surprise me, and me almost ruining everything! He had known for like 3 months that he wanted to marry me! All of our close friends, my parents, and my sister Sheryl knew, but nobody even hinted at anything. I couldn’t believe it. So…we hung out the rest of the weekend in California, boogie boarding and surfing and just being with each other. It was really great! It was so fun to drive home together Monday and just talk about all of our plans for the future. I loved it!

Getting ready to drive home from Cali

Since then…life has been so hectic. I’ve been working full time and doing school. Jason has been going to school, looking for a new job, applying for school for next semester…yada yada yada. We barely have time to see each other. Sleep has been sacrificed!

BUT…things are so great! I am so incredibly happy. It really feels like it has been a long time coming, and I’ve been through a lot getting here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jason is such an amazing man. He is so loving and caring towards me. He is incredibly considerate of my feelings and needs and wants. He is always trying to do what will make me the most happy, and I love him for that. He makes me laugh so much…just the looks he gives are hilarious,

Just being silly!

and he is so dang witty. I don’t even come close to matching him in that area. He is a little stubborn (or a lot) but so am I, and both of us have done a pretty good job so far at compromise. One of the things I love the most is how open and honest our relationship is. We have had so many great conversations, and I feel that already we have such a deep rooted relationship. It’s amazing.

So if you can’t tell, I’m a pretty happy girl! I know it was a novel, but I just can’t tell it any other way!

Summer fun

So, I thought I'd just post some fun pictures of all I've been doing these past few weeks.

Going to the Lake and wakeboarding is about my favorite one so far. My friend Ashley and her parents are so amazing. They have taken us out so much, and it is such a blast!

First lake trip...such a fun crew :) from L of R

Marrie, Me, Tainui, Ashley, Tyler, Kawika, and Michelle

2nd Lake Trip...just us girls:

Me, Ashley, Breanna, Aimee

3rd Lake Trip....such a blast! It was Ashley's 21st bday! From L to R

Shaleese, Adam, Ashley Kawika (in the back), Galya (in the front), Hailee, Tainui, and Me!

Here are some pics of me wake boarding:

Out in the open water!

Crossing the wake! Heck yes! :)

....and then of course....biffing it!! lol!!

Also, my friend Charise came down a while back, and we had so much fun together just hanging out. One of the nights we had this total monsoon storm come through that knocked the power out, so we were walking around the house with candles! And it was raining so hard, Charise, my roomie Lauralie and I all went running through the rain! It was so much fun! here are a few funny pics from that:

Candles in the dark

Soaking wet after the rain w/ Reese and Loll

Oh my heck! What were we thinking! Gotta love the runny mascara!

Also Ashley's 21st birthday was so much fun. Here is a pic of me and Jason from that:

Jase n Me :)

So...this summer has really been a blast! I'm sad that it's coming to an end. I start school in like a week...bummer. All online through Dixie, finally getting my Bachelors. It'll be good I'm sure. I'm a little nervous to work full time, do school, and still try to have a social life...but I'm sure I'll be more than okay!