We're ENGAGED!!!!!!!

So as of last night I am officially someone's fiance!!! YIPEE!!! We started talking about marriage a few nights ago... We came to realize that that there is one break in April that is a week. Well, my dream wedding would be in Nauvoo, Illinois so to cram a wedding, plus 2 receptions (one in FL an one in Missouri) all in a week would be way too much. After lots of prayer and decisions in two days, we realized December was our best bet. So what better time for the family to get together than for a wedding at Christmas!! The date is December 21st!! YIPEE!! I've never been so happy in my life! It helps so much to have a supportive family who is excited for me even though everything has moved really fast. I think it would be really hard to have waited another 6 months after knowing that we wanted to be with each other and especially with my crazy schedule and not getting to spend tons of time together. He's a really amazing man. Everything I could possibly ever ask for and more. I am unbelievably excited to spend eternity with Michael Paul Egloff!!











So here's the story of how it all happened... Well, obviously I knew it was coming just didn't know when. Yes, he called my dad :) Wish they could have met beforehand!! He asked me to go eat dinner with him and we both LOVE sushi which is a great thing!! It was fun and we got in the car and he told me he had something for me. So he pulls out a Jensens Jewelers bag and I'm thinkin no way!! Well I open up the ring box and it has a piece of Ghiradelli chocolate in it! He's so NOT funny lol. I asked him where he was headed and he said he wanted to go on a walk. We get back to Rexburg and head up to the gardens on campus. He starts power walking and I'm practically running to catch up with him. I say, "Uh this walk is enjoyable" and he goes oh! haha. So we slow down and get up to this patio with a bench swing and as you can see there are flowers and what not. He tells me to sit down and when I look down to move the flowers out of the way, I look up to him being on his knee. I think my heart melted!! I couldn't have asked for anything more! It was PERFECT :) Luckily, his roommate loves taking pictures so he helped Michael out and caught it all on camera :)

It's so funny how life works though. I remember driving though Missouri and thinking WOW this state is boring!! So NOT marrying someone from this state. He's from Missouri. I NEVER wanted to get proposed to in the gardens on campus. And I remember meeting him and thinking he was really cute and finding out he had just got off his mission. I said I was NEVER dating him because he was going to be wanting to get married ASAP!! HaHA! And of course I told myself I would NEVER marry someone unless I knew them for at least 6 months! It's funny how when you think you know exactly what you want God gives you a wake up call and reminds you that He's in charge and actually knows what you need/want.

So about Michael... He is from Hartsburg, Missouri. He served his mission in Detroit. He's 6 foot tall so no worries mama!! He opens all of my doors. He treats me how I've always needed to be treated. He has more patience than anyone I've ever met. Especially since he can put up with me!! Has some really cool eyes!! They have a goldish ring around his iris which is so cool. He loves football and it's pretty funny to watch him jump up and down when his team is winning. He would do anything for me in a heart beat literally!! He likes talking about his feelings and stuff which is a good thing since I'm not good about that. He's my heart!! I really can't picture him not in my life. I never saw this coming but it has been the biggest blessing in my life!! I love you Michael Paul Egloff!!

We're finally dating officially!!

So this morning as I was going to my car to go to church, there was a note on it. It told me to meet him after church somewhere! So I went there and there he was all dressed up in a suit looking handsome ;) and he asked me to be his girlfriend!! Then we met this really cute stray lab and fed him salt & vinegar chips (that's all we had to feed him) and went back to his apartment where he had made me Chicken Alfredo which was yum!! Needless to say, I'm one VERY happy girl! School is going great but very stressful! There is only 9 weeks left though so it has flown by so far! I love both of my jobs and I technically have a third one grading papers! My life is crazy busy and adding a boy to the equation makes it even crazier!! But I'm not complaining :) It's nice to feel wanted and having someone tell you they think you're the best!! I'll take it while I can!! Love and miss you family!!

Life lately!

So I decided to come to school for the Fall semester which I haven't done yet! There are SO many people here right now! I'm taking 5 classes and have 2 jobs which I LOVE!! They are a lot of fun and some of the time I can do homework while I'm there which is really nice. I'm getting really burnt out from school and am very ready to graduate! I have 4 more semesters which I keep telling myself but it doesn't make it easier. I hope I gain so motivation sometime soon! I'm loving it though! I have new roommates except 2 and they are cool. I'm not really ever home but from what I know of them, they are awesome! It's nice to kinda be on my own. Of course mom and dad help me out a TON but it's nice having a place I can call "home"! I do miss my family a ton like always! Especially my puppy Riley :) I have 12 more weeks of this semester which the first 3 have already flew by! I love how fast school goes by here... I should be doing homework right now that's due in less than an hour but I really don't feel like it. My brain is really just fried! I can't concentrate on anything to save my life! I really need some advice on that... Anyways, hope everything is going good with everyone! That's pretty much it for me :)

She's 20!

Ok so I've been 20 for 2 months now so I'm behind on writing this... So guess what? I've learned a lot this year!! Surprising huh?? lol. Well I've really come to rely on my family a TON this year. They are really amazing and I love being able to look up to them. I figured out that sometimes it's better to just keep my mouth shut when I really didn't want to. People don't think the way that I do and no matter how much I explain the way I think, they will never get it. I gotta give people slack because being raised down south is a different ball game than being raised out west. I found that when people pretend they want to hang out with you but never show up, to let it be than get mad. I guess it's ok to be shady sometimes. I'll never really understand that! I figured out that forgiveness is a two-way street and even if you forgive someone doesn't mean that they do the same. People can make promises but that doesn't mean they'll keep them. I really came to realize I have to believe in myself and rely on myself always. I came to find that I can handle my own problems and some times I may want/need advice, I pray to find out what I should do. Coming to rely on the Lord was the thing I really needed this past year. Complaining doesn't really help anything so there's no point. Talking about your feelings isn't near as hard as I thought it was.

For life at the moment... I'm in FLORIDA!! I have a 6 week break from college before I have to go back which is WAY nice! I've spent 2 weeks at the lake which was AWESOME! My cousins came to see me and it was a lot of fun tubing! I got to see my sisters and Aunt Tami :) I also got to make my lil nieces Halloween costumes which turned out really cute! Dylan's was too small which was a BUMMER :( We had a cousin slumber party which was fun and I got to spend tons of time with Tabitha before she started working. I missed my family tons and I'm glad to spend a few weeks with them!!

Grudges!!

I sometimes wonder how these ever came about... I wonder why instead of people talking when sometimes that can fix the problem they hold a grudge. I like to think that you'd rather go up to someone's face and tell them how you feel than tell everyone else how that make you feel. I guess sometimes it's just better to be nice. But what happens when being nice isn't the story anymore? What happens when that grudge has built up so much inside of you that all you want to do is turn to violence? I don't like grudges. That's all I ever see them do. Turn in to violence. Grudges = a long time of anger. Grudges = misery. Someone once said that when you are angry at someone, they are closer to God than you are. So why do that? Why not be the bigger person and forgive them. For some reason I've never had that problem. I've been pushed around, shoved around, lied to and for some reason I can pick up the little pieces that end up being left and make them fit back together. I can let go of my anger and be the bigger person because after all, I'm no where near being perfect! I can't criticize and ridicule someone for lying to my face because I've done that before. I can't get mad at someone for ditching me for someone else, because I've done that before. I've made the same mistakes that other people make to me. Call it karma or call it life. Because it's my eyes, it's a lesson learned. I hate people being mad at me and I hate being mad at people. I want to go out of this life saying, "Well not everyone loved nor liked me but the people who did, I tried my hardest to put their happiness first and make sure they knew I loved them." Isn't that all that matters? If I have a problem with someone and know it'll fester inside of me I'm not scared to say something. I want people to be the same way with me. Come talk to me if I hurt your feelings. Let me know so I can learn and not let it happen again. If we go about keeping all of our feelings in, then no one will ever understand why you do the things you do and say. I know that's hard for a lot of people. But don't be afraid to let someone know how you feel! Just say it. You feel better and they'll know how you feel. That way it doesn't lead to a grudge or an ugly argument!! After all, life's too short to spend it upset at people for the wrong doings they've done to you... Keep in mind, you're not perfect either :)

Lately...

Well I haven't blogged in a while! I have 3 weeks left in this semester before I get to go home to Florida!! 18 days until I'm home :) WOO-HOO!! This semester hasn't been too hard. Started my official Computer Information Technology major. It is a lot of fun and I have met a lot of new people. We started up a study group for one of the classes and it's a lot of fun! I love meeting new people! This past weekend I went to a puddle of water that's considered a lake up here! It didn't go past my thigh which cracked me up! But hey, its water and that's all that matters to me. I saw my first leeches EVER at that lake! Those things are super gross! I was freaked out and didn't dare get back in the water again. I don't really know what else to talk about. I'll try and put up pictures later :)

Smallwood...

What does this name mean? To me, it means someone who makes the best out of EVERYTHING!! To me, it's someone who takes their trials with a smile. To me, it's someone who doesn't let anyone bring them down. To me, it's someone who loves with EVERYTHING they have, regardless of how they are treated. To me, it's someone who ALWAYS overcomes. Someone set a good primacy and we've forgotten that. Yeah maybe they made a few mistakes but you won't hear a bad word come out of their mouth. They made some dumb mistakes but they loved regardless. Maybe they are stupid. They helped create satan. Satan wants more than ever to destroy us. Satan wants us to fall apart. If anything would make IT happy, it would be to watch my family fall apart. If there is anything a Smallwood should do, it's prove we are better than that. Show IT we are better than that. Show IT we don't care what IT does. We are a SMALLWOOD!! We stand strong. We love more every time something does happen. Our lives aren't bad. Yeah we have to deal with some dumb things, but that's life. We pick up and move on. We have faith and hope that things will get better. WE stay STRONG! WE hold it together. WE have each other's back and stick together to the end. So why are we falling apart now? IT has been around for years. IT has tried to destroy us from the beginning. So now we decide to give up? Now we decide to stop trying? If anything we should be fighting harder. Don't let satan(IT) win!! I can't sit back and watch IT destroy my families lives anymore. TRY HARDER!! NO GIVING UP!! Even if you're last name isn't Smallwood anymore, you're still a SMALLWOOD!! YOU STAND TALL!! YOU HELP EACH OTHER!! WE NEED YOU TO STAY STRONG!! WE NEED OUR MOMS, DADS, COUSINS, SISTERS, BROTHERS, AUNTS, UNCLES.... HOLD IT TOGETHER and if not for yourself, it's for me, it's for your kids, it's for your best friend which is your husband. WE NEED YOU!!! PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP!!! WE LOVE YOU!! Stand up for yourself! Don't let IT bring you down anymore. REMEMBER YOU'RE A SMALLWOOD!!!