Tons of News!!

ok so the biggest thing that's going on in my life right now is...

I'M ENGAGED!! Matt proposed to me on November 2nd, 2008 in Rexburg, ID.

We were visiting Alyssa and Ryan that weekend for Halloween and on Sunday morning, before church, we decided to take our weekly "Sunday Stroll." We usually take these at the end of the day, but I had checked the weather and found out that it was supposed to be raining on Sunday night in Provo, so we agreed that we would just go early in the morning before church and before we left Rexburg. We got up super early, got all ready (we always go in our Sunday clothes), opened the door, and LO AND BEHOLD it was POURING down rain :(

We stayed optimistic and braved the bad weather, agreeing that we would "make it short."
A few minutes into the walk, Matt stopped, told me how much he loved me (which, luckily, is a lot) and then knelt down in the middle of the street in the puddles and everything (!!!) and asked me to marry him! He gave me the COOLEST ring, which is just a huge button on a band he picked up from the mall. We later picked out a "real one" and are getting it on Thursday the 13th (tomorrow!!)

And so here we are, happily engaged and anxiously awaiting our wedding, which will be on July 25th, 2009.


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Some other big news is that I have recently been accepted into the Foreign Language Housing for BYU and will be moving into the Italian house for Winter semester!!

It's a really intense way to learn Italian, but I am so excited! Basically it's just a house for students where only Italian is allowed to be spoken, and we all eat home-cooked meals 5 nights a week together (we have to take turns cooking, so I won't only be learning Italian, I'll be learning to cook too..) to encourage complete immersion in the language as much as possible.

I'll move in the first week of January after Christmas break, and will live there until April.
I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY sad to leave Dani :(
but I feel as if this is a reall good opportunity for me and that I'll regret not taking it. It'll be my last HUGE thing that I'll be doing for myself before I get married and settle down. Also, I took my Italian class this semester to begin learning Italian, and I am still very passionate about it, and this surely is the way to prove to myself that I can stick it out and finish what I've started.
VIVA ITALIA!!

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Anyways, a lot of big things happening! Life is getting crazier and faster everyday, and for the first time in a long time, I'm LOVING every second of it! Of course I really miss swimming and competing, but I can truly say I've never been this happy. HOORAY FOR LIFE!!

I just know that I owe my Heavenly Father so much! He has given me all of this happiness, along with the strength and courage to tackle every obstacle that may come up, eventually leading to personal growth and further happiness! It's just so amazing to me how much He loves me and how much more I can feel that love nowadays. I am also so thankful for the love and support of my family, Matt, Dani, and all of my other closest friends. I just love EVERYONE!!!