two easters, two darling families, 2 unforgetable weekends

So this past month has just been heaven on earth.

Tanner was with me and my family for Easter this weekend.

We went to church together, opened our Easter baskets together and went to my Nana's and Papa's house for dinner and an easter egg hunt.

Me and Tanner even hid the eggs in the backyard for aiden and aislyn and it was so fun!

And then the next weekend we went up to Bear Lake with Tanners family.

We had so much fun!

Tanners family has about 15 motorcycles (I wish I was kidding)

so that weekend consisted of a lot of driving around and being outdoors.

He also took me to this darling pond and it was seriously so pretty it almost looked like it was straight out of a painting.

It also happened to be conference weekend and so we cuddled up in blankets and watched conference with his family. It was seriously so fun. I loved every second of that weekend with him.

this motorcycle ride was probably the coldest one ive ever been on haha

Also, today I decided to surprise my handsome with some new ties

(because who doesn't love a sharply dressed man?)

and I left it on his bed with a note and I seriously cant wait until he gets home and sees it!

the suspense is killing me!

-shona xx

Off the map

Guys....

Can we all agree ive been pretty lax about keeping my blog updated?

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED LATELY.

So, I quit nordys. 

Even though I am sad to leave, im so excited to take this next step in my life.

I am now working with Lorraine at Oakwood Homes.

I am just working as her assistant right now 

and also training to be a licensed real estate agent.

I feel like this will give me a good push in the right direction.

So sometime between the pageant and valentines, i got a job modeling for simple addiction. its a local /online clothing boutique based out of alpine ut!

And tanner took me snowboarding for the first time in my life.

it was so fun!

im not good by any means but it was so fun and exillerating!

(even though i was the slowest on the mountain)
But Tanner was so sweet and patient and made my first experience actually very fun.

Tanner and I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit together and its been SOOOOO fun.
Our first little outing together was a couples trip to his cabin up at bear lake.
It was freezing you guys.
I could see my breath In the cabin almost the whole trip hahah

And then our second trip was to St. George/Vegas with Leo and Kate!
It was fun to road trip with him for a long time because when he gets focused or tired from driving, he usually doesn't talk much, so we played question games and that forced him to talk to me ;)
The first night we were there we stayed in St. George and watched Calum play baseball and then the next morning before heading to Vegas, we went and watched his little brother Travis play soccer.
He has the absolute cutest family!

Yummiest Crepe shop!

Some guy on the strip made this for me! Its made from palm leaves. Apparently, he climbs to the top of palm trees every morning to pick these leaves so he can make people these little bouquets. He was adorable.

when we finally got into the show. Tanner was happy again haha

the second or third night we were in Vegas, Tanner took me to see a show and went shopping with me.
We had to wait in line for like an hour and Tanner was not having it.
I thought I was standing in line with a toddler because he was just whining and whining.
Its a good thing he's cute


very thankful for this handsome in my life and for all that he teaches  me.
He's my better half for sure

lately...

Oh my heavens, has it really been 2 months since my last blog post??

Guys life has been absolutely crazy lately.

I am running in every different direction everyday.

A lot has happened since the pageant.

I started dating this new guy named Tanner, who is the SWEETEST sweetest sweetest guy ever.

He is so much like my dad.

He is SO funny, but kind of shy and reserved.

He is not at all like any of the guys I've dated in the past, and I kind of like that about him.

It definitely sets him apart from everyone!

I am still working at Nordstrom and going to SLCC.

Not much is new there!

So remember back in like September when I couldn't wait to quit my job at the boutique, and start at Nordy's??

Guys I am so ready to leave Nordstrom.

I loved it for like the first minute and then we got a new manager and my life there has been miserable ever since.

I adore and love every single girl that I work with, but I am just not as happy as I was hoping I would be.

SO I am talking to my moms friend who is a very successful Real Estate agent, who is looking for an assistant.

I don't know if I see myself being a real estate agent in the future, but I definitely think this will give me a good push in the right direction.

So we will see what happens with that.

I definitely feel like since the year started, I have grown so much already and I can't wait to see the person I become between now and the end of the year.

It is so exciting to start from point A and continue to point B and point C, etc.

I love seeing how far I have come

It gives me a sense of appreciation for challenges, and opportunities and especially for accomplishments.

Yay for growth!

Ok, so on Sunday, my best friend of 18 years gave her farewell talk.
I could not stop crying!
I am so grateful for missionaries.
I don't think I really understood how much they leave behind until I was watching Nate prepare for his.
It just makes me so happy to know that The Gospel is so wonderful and perfect, that people are willing to leave everything for 2 years.

 

I'm going to miss her so much.

Guys glasses were so cool and we all had matching ones hahahhaa

and then, I was doing homework in my room this morning,
and my mom and sister walk in and aislyn looks like this:

hahahahhaa I died!
today is 100 year old day at school and this is what Aislyn thinks she will look like when she is 100.
is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen????

and speaking of aislyn,
she performed with Brekayla Wooley's drill team on Tuesday and it was so fun to watch her!
She did mini chatelles with me when I was on drill team, but I couldn't really watch her because I was out there performing with her!
So this time it was so fun.
She was looking up at us the whole time smiling so big you couldn't even see her eyes

my heart couldn't handle it.
I love my sis

I hope you all are filled with hope for the new year.

its going to be great you guys.

I can feel it!

-Shona xoxo

The family

So I know I say this all the time but I truly believe I have the best family in the world.

Calum gave the most touching talk today in church that my heart seriously wouldn't stop burning.

I was blown away by how comfortable he was up on that podium.

He was a natural!

I just kept thinking about how close we are to him going on a mission.

(he will be amazing by the way)

I was a little worried yesterday when I came upstairs to make breakfast.

I find him and his friend making breakfast for themselves

(an attempt to make breakfast at least)

He put milk in the pot for hot chocolate and the milk ended up like exploding out of it and then he burnt his bagel in the oven (from baking it).

All I could think was, he will need lots of prayers on his mission.

I know its a little ways away, but its still coming up and I can hardly believe that my stinky baby brother is as old as he is.

And now Aiden is passing the sacrament!

Aiden is the sweetest sweetest sweetest kid you will ever meet.

He is so mellow and calm and is just the cutest kid ever.

The other day, I was sitting at the table eating dinner

and my dad calls to the boys to take the trash out and Aiden immediately comes to do it.

And after a minute of waiting for Calum to take out some of the garbage, he says,

"well I guess Calum isn't coming. I will just take both."

LIKE WHAT 12 YEAR OLD DOES THAT?!

He is just so stinkin' easy going and I could just squeeze the life out him because I love him so much.

And then of course there is my little Aislyn bug.

She is a hoot

Such a G 

Seriously she makes me laugh all the time.

I love how little she is, but it makes me so excited for her to be older because I just know we will be the best of friends.

but that can of course wait because I'm not ready for her to get big yet.

She is obsessed with sparkly everything, and pink and lipstick and boys.

Oh my heavens she is so boy crazy my parents are in trouble. 

She makes me laugh so hard all the time and I am so lucky to have her as my sissy.

And then of course there is my Dare-Boy!

He is my other baby brother.

He is just the most polite and grumpy and funny boy you will ever meet!

I love when he comes over in the morning in his PJ's and has hair that is just sticking up all over the place.

One of my favorite things about Dare is he has this lisp that turns all of his "S" sounds to "Th" sounds.

So Aislyn is "Thithy".

 I will cry the day he grows out of it.

He is such a love and I am so grateful that he is apart of my family. :)

Thank goodness for baseball boys!

Well a lot has happened in my life these last couple months!

About a month ago, Nate decided that he needed to focus his time and energy on the mission.

It was definitely hard to hear, but nothing has been more clear to me in these past couple months except that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us.

Me and Nate plan to keep in contact and remain friends so we can still support each other :)

I thoroughly enjoy documenting my life on my blog, and since this is such a cute story, I am writing it down so I remember it!

About a month and a half ago, I was walking into the student center on campus to study before I had to go to my other class.

As I was walking in, I saw this group of about 10 boys walking out of the student center.

I am usually pretty social, but 10 cute boys in one group can be kind of intimidating

and being the brilliant girl I am, I looked right past all of them, and wasn't planning on giving any of them the time of day

(I had to play it cool duh)

As I kept walking, I started up the stairs and this blonde guy yells out

"you're gorgeous!"

I was beyond words embarrassed and flattered by this guy.

I'm serous he made  my whole day.

So fast forward about month, and things with me and Nate were really changing and I wasn't sure if Heavenly Father wanted me to date, or if he wanted me to faithfully wait for Nate.

So I am driving to class one day,

and I just started praying and telling the Lord that if I was meant to date, he needed to put someone in my path to make it happen.

About an hour after saying that prayer,

I was walking out of the student center after studying, and I see a group of about three guys walking towards the student center.

I had recognized one of them as being the blonde guy that had embarrassed me about a month earlier

(I totally braced myself for him to yell something else again)

Once again, I tried to play it off cool like I didn't really notice this group of guys,

and just kept walking my way to class.

But of course, this blonde guy (who was dripping with confidence)

yells to me again

"Hey, you're gorgeous!"

my mind was just going a gazillion miles an hour at this point and so ya know, fight or flight instinct and I yelled back

"what?"

as if I didn't hear him ;)

smooth, I know.

Anyways, he ends up leaving his little group of friends and coming up to me!!!!

I was probably drooling.

not even kidding

this guy is a looker.

Anyways back to the story!

He asks for my number and proceeds to tell me he is playing baseball at SLCC (I died right then)

and that he was an LDS returned missionary (just died twice)

and that he was really interested in taking me out

(um yes please when and where)

after we finish talking and getting to know each other a little bit, he finally asked me out and once I said yes, he gave me the cutest hug in the world

(you know the one where he picks you up and spins you around? yeah that one)

I seriously had hearts over my eyes for the rest of the day.

I immediately texted my mom freaking out

^^^ Not even exaggerating I was dead hahahaha

We ended up going on a date that night and the rest is history.

He is the sweetest guy ever

like seriously the sweetest.

I am definitely one lucky girl.

We have been going on dates ever since and he continues to surprise me in the sweetest ways.

Hope that was a fun little love story to melt your heart this week.

Xo.

New Beginnings

Well this year has been a year of change for sure!

As I have experienced real life and gone through more challenges, I have gained so much gratitude for new beginnings. 

I have finally realized that nothing goes according to plan,

 and that's ok.

As I have gone through my latest challenge, I have felt so much love and comfort from a wonderful and loving heavenly father that trusts me enough to put me through challenges to grow and gain experience.

I have finally come to realize that these choices and challenges that I am facing are preparing me for something great!

I have been struggling with coming to accept the way things are in certain situations, 

but today, I woke up, and it all just makes sense.

I am being refined and molded 

into the person I am supposed to be.

For the first time in a really long time, I dont have a plan. 

I am open to whatever possibilities may become available to me

its so scary.....

but so exciting.  

I get to be S P O N T A N E O U S and bold.

Happy fall ya'll. 

Remember to be kind to one another xoxo

Nordy's Girl

I finally got a new job!!!

this job search really tested my patience but I could not be more thrilled with my new job. 

I am in love!

You know the beginning of the devil wears prada

when everyone is in cute heels and beautiful designer clothes?

That's pretty much Nordstrom faculty.

It smells like coffee all day thanks to the ebar, and there are endless amounts of clothes

and the floors are so shiny

and best of all.....

IT'S ALWAYS BUSY!

Thank the high heavens above. 

I was going crazy in the boutique.

don't get me wrong,

it was a wonderful job!

But I love that I get to see customers all day rather than 1 here 2 there, etc. 

I have learned a lot in the last week, and still have so much to learn

but I am feeling so confident about my abilities.

I feel like I fit in super well

and everyone is so nice and happy all the time.

It's just been such a tremendous answer to prayers.

ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL FOR GOOD JOBS!

So I can hardly believe that its almost november.. 

I didn't even notice it was October!

I torture myself because I order fall/winter shoes in August usually. 

(because I am over summer heat in like mid-august)

SO I shop online waaaaaaay too early, and then they come and they are so cute....

AND I CAN'T EVEN WEAR THEM YET. 

SO finally when the time comes to wear them,

I don't believe it 

because i am so used to waiting for fall.

hahaha

don't you love my little sob story??

It's crazy to think we are coming up on a year for Nate. 

I feel like he has been gone for seriously an eternity.

haha

So I am so excited to see that time is finally starting to pass!!

He is a district leader in this new area and he is so cute about it. 

He is working so hard to be the best he can be.

He just melts my freakin heart. 

LOVE LOVE love him 

Plus conference... tomorrow! 

Can't wait. 

It's the biggest blessing that we get to hear from our leaders and our Prophet every 6 months.

a little throwback to me and my sweet nate a year ago. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

xoxo