I'm ENGAGED!!

YAY!! I wish I could write the whole story of everything but unfortunately I don't have much time, but yes I'm engaged to my sweet mexican love and he's amazing. i'm very grateful because my Heavenly Father has blessed me so much.

I also had the opportunity to go to the temple yesterday, I realized that I have been so selfish and now I must focus during these next 2 months in which I'll be away from my sweetheart -I have to focus on my studies and as hard as it is I owe that to my Heavenly Father - and also serving his children in the temple and in my new calling as a branch missionary again. Emily is my "companion" - well, not really but she's also a new branch missionary and I know that we can support eachother and help eachother in this calling.

This weekend I have learned to love all of my brothers and sisters even if I may not particularily like them or know them. and it makes me so happy and grateful to know that my Heavenly Father loves me.

anyway yes I'm so excited and no we don't know when or where but we are hoping that it will be in the Mexico City temple this coming May. I love my fiance with all my heart and I know that we are just beginning there is so much to learn but that our Heavenly Father is blessing me in school, in church, with my family and friends and in my relationship with my husband-to-be.

My friends and family have been SO encouraging - more than I expected considering I know noone knows him in person but they are so happy for me and supportive and encouraging so i also wanted to write how thankful I am for that.

Well, I should probably work on things, although I guess I just want to rest today, my mind and body have been through a lot of work - I've been sick :( but I'm feeling better and last night I slept extra.

Wow, my sweetheart is amazing. I love him! :)

Love,

Stephi

Pictures!

A tour of campus in the cold - Like the flag in the background? :)

Em using her make-up expertise on Debbie - note the Pride and Prej on the tv! :)

Model shot! hehe Me looking pretty gorgeous after my makeover - great job Em!

Our new orchestra shirts came today! Aloha! it's because our conductor is Japanese Hawaian and he makes jokes about it all the time. gotta love Uch. He was imitating famous conductors today while we were doing the dress rehearsal run of Bolero and I almost cried from laughing so hard!

Me and my darling Jamilyn at Lake Michigan in between the dress and concert for Southwest - the paid orchestra I'm in. We walked along the beach and got our feet wet. Good times!

Wow, conference!

I just have to say that General Conference was amazing!! Emily and I were both just so impressed by the clarity and the comfort that we could feel from the speakers. I love it!

Yesterday I was SOOO stressed. After getting a few of those stressful things out of the way and having a fun girls night with Deb and Em and confessing that I lost my folder - that was stressful but actually Mel and Uch were super nice about it! Uch said that even if I didn't find it that he wouldn't make me pay the fine which was, like I said, insanely nice. It's gotta turn up around here somewhere. Anyways, to add to that, conference was amazing and I just prayed to feel peace and guidance and I definitely did. Em and Deb were watching it with me though Debbie had to leave early because she couldn't get work off even though she tried. :( She seems happier lately I think. I just hope that she comes closer and closer to her Heavenly Father. These past few weeks I can see that she's making an effort to do what she knows is right. And It's fun to talk to her about engaged stuff. :)
Ricardo's still amazing. He sent me an e-mail that was really encouraging, and I could feel the Spirit and it helped me the whole day. And he was patient so that I could spend time with Deb and Em. He's been really patient this whole week. What a sweetheart.
Our girls night was so fun - we did makeup - well, Em did makeup, and we watched our favorite pride and prejudice mini series. we had to convert Deb! that was our excuse anyways.

Well, I am finally liking our concert program. I can play it better, that definitely helps. and the soloist! and there's something about being on that stage that was really nice.

Anyway, i gotta go. Hope everyone has a great day!
Love,
Stephanie

Updates!

Well, it's been a little while since I've written, or at least it seems like it. My last entry was pretty emotionally high strung - well, I can imagine! I've just come to terms with the fact that I'm just going to be emotionally crazy during this time. And I'm pretty sure I'm pmsing, of course - I think I'm noticing a trend in important events and hormones.. it always makes everything more dramatic. I was telling AL, why do I have to go and make my own drama! lol. Monday evening was pretty rough to be honest, and I had 5 friends including my dad help me get through it. They were so sweet and Daddy was amazing - he took the time to listen to me and talk some sense into me when I wanted and needed to hear it. Tuesday and yesterday, however, were great - although I was pretty tired. I got a decent amount of sleep last night though! yaaay! Well, Ricky has been incredibly sweet this week - I could tell that he was really putting in the extra effort to make me feel happy and loved. I think he kinda put on my shoes because on Tuesday he was so encouraging and acknowledging and that was something I really needed. of course! Well, Tuesday night he completely surprised me and told me that he bought the ring! He said that he bought it that day because he wanted me to know how much he appreciated me being so "valiente" and to know that he would love me no matter what. I was totally in shock but I wasn't complaining. :) Apparently from what he tells me this is a real 10-cow ring too, which is something that I wasn't expecting at all because we are poor and have a few plane tickets to pay for but he said that he has a (non-interest) payment plan so that he can have some cash handy if we need it instead of spending it all at once, which I think is pretty smart. (oh wait, it was partly my idea O:) So that's our update.
I have a viola lesson today which I feel so unprepared for! aaahhhh! I am definitely behind on schoolwork and orchestra and practicing - Jamilyn helped me out on Tuesday and I was able to practice 3 hours yesterday and Tuesday and today if you include my lesson in that.
This weekend Em and Deb and I are giving ourselves makeovers - yaay!! Next weekend is Em's birthday and my trip so both of us have occasion to spoil ourselves. I love it that Emily and I can do things together. Last year we really didn't so much because I was always gone and I'm still gone a lot but I always come home for dinner and she's there, and then at night before bed we talk too so it gives us a chance to plan fun things like makeovers with rag curls! lol. It's been a crazy semester so far - we deserve some self-tlc! I've been excited about it all week.
Well, I should probably get back to my homework. I hope everyone has a great day!

Love,
Stephi

So I'm officially planning on getting married!

We've been talking about it for a while and last Sunday both of us got confirmations and I wanted to wait to tell people until October but right now it's hard because I want to be with him already and because this past week has been challenging to say the least. I need support and encouragement! Ricky is doing the best he can to support me (well, of course he wants it too!:) he is the best future husband ever he's so sweet and he puts up with me and truly loves me and he gives me opportunities to learn. Already I've learned so much; that's what I love most about him I think. My family and friends have been really supportive too. Especially Debbie because we can talk to each other now that we're both engaged and I think we're having a double reception if we can. It would be fun and we would be inviting the same people pretty much. So.. yay!!!!! I'm really happy these days and just looking forward to seeing him and now I know what Debbie meant about looking forward to having a shiny ring on her finger, not because it's pretty or expensive but because of what it symbolizes - love, sacrifice for me, commitment, and forever. :)

Today something wonderful happened. Annalaura came to visit me at work right before she was about to leave and she gave me a big hug and told me that I could call her anytime for advice and I felt sooooo encouraged and I just had to write that I was really grateful to see her because she's going through a crazy engagement as well and I have always looked up to her and she has definitely been an example and inspiration to me because she knows that it's right and so do I and she didn't hesitate, she had to act. Well, me too. And I am so grateful that I am. And just the way that she smiled at me today was just so encouraging - I felt truly blessed because I wasn't feeling so great yesterday and I was just searching for just a little extra help from the Lord. And I got it.

Anyway, so I have to go because Debbie's waiting for me now. :)
Love,
Stephi

Internship Class - Expectations

I'm writing this entry for my internship class - this is a class that involves hands on service. My specific job will be to work in a Spanish immersion middle school! Yay!

Que espero de mi trabajo este semestre?

En muy poco tiempo yo he aprendido mucho en esta clase, de la historia de los hispanos en los EU y de las oportunidades que hay para los que hablan espanol. Pues realmente espero que haya hispanohablantes nativos en mi clase porque me dijeron que mi clase es de "Spanish Immersion" y la mayoridad de ellos seran gringos pero tambien dijeron que habra una mezcla entonces ojala que sea asi porque me encantaria ayudar a las personas a aprender espanol pero tambien quiero practicarlo y aprenderlo. Tambien espero que pueda estar feliz por estar en un ambiente lleno de ninos y ojala que quieran aprender y esforzarse en sus clases.

Estoy un poco nerviosa que sea dificil hacer todas las horas necesarias porque mi horario durante el dia es muy complicada pero Sr. Millar me ha ayudado mucho entonces creo que estara bien.

Estoy muy emocionada para el proyecto de servicio de 10 horas porque yo puedo escoger que sera. Yo realmente quiero hacer algo que me ayude a tener coneciones para mas tarde conseguir un trabajo pero tambien me interesa mucho ayudar a las personas a entenderse y ayudar a los mexicanos y tambien a los inmigrantes de cualquier pais hispanohablante.

Ahora estoy pensando mucho en como esto va a ayudarme mucho en mi relacion con mi novio porque el es queretano y creo que esta feliz que yo tome esta clase. Antes yo tenia muchas ganas de aprender el espanol y cuando fui a queretaro tenia aun mas ganas de ayudar a los mexicanos y a los gringos a entenderse y comunicarse bien. Pero ahora tengo aun MAS ganas por eso de mi novio de aprender de los mexicanos y hablar mucho espanol.

Tambien tengo unos medios hermanos que estan en una escuela de "Spanish Immersion" en Grand Rapids y por eso es muy especial que puedo ayudar a los estudiantes de Spanish Immersion a aprender el espanol porque cuando yo hacia eso en el verano con los del primer grado realmente fue muy divertido y todos me querian. Entonces voy con una actitud positiva aunque un poco nerviosa pero voy a esforzarme mucho y se que todo sera una experiencia muy buena para mi.

Saludos,

Stephanie

Never Lose Sight: Ricardo

I found this in my other blog - I didn't realize I wrote a bunch of other entries in there about Mexico too - I'm really grateful for that. Anyway, Ricardo reads my blog a lot so this is for him.
April 17th was about 10 days before we became official boyfriend and girlfriend I just think this is hilarious looking back on it now. And like I said, grateful.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Never Lose Sight: Monterrey and amigos
WEll, i'm not
going to write much. I'm writing only because i felt like if I didn't i'd be
punished somehow (I think I wrote this because I got a strong prompting to
write but I was tired but did it anyway lol). I was talking to
Ricardo today and I realized that I really like some things about him. And I
realized, what's the point of getting to know all of these new guys if I don't
learn anything from it? I like that he has a lot of energy. He's always funny,
he appreciates my sense of humor and life and I make him laugh. Today he asked
me if I read scriptures every day, he encouraged me to go to FHE. he was like,
you know that's important. now, there's someone who knows what's right and is
not afraid to encourage people to do it.. especially the ones he cares about.
unfortunately, I find that really attractive. but I don't think I'll have to
write that down to know it. I also like just how he is - just a really fun
person and also he compliments and appreciates me. I just really like that. I
think we are going to be good friends and I hope that I find someone with those
qualities when I go back to the US.

There were a lot of other things that I wrote in my other blog, because it was good for me to write things just for myself. But I had forgotten all about them, and I am so grateful to think of the times that I wrote and they were real spiritual checkpoints in my life and I can't help just being humbled and grateful. I feel truly blessed by the power of writing and reading our own personal history to see our progress and growth and to remember good times and hard times and lessons we have learned.

I talked to my dad today about Ricardo - and he was so much help!! He gave me ideas of possible plans for the future with him and they were better than anything I was coming up with myself so I am glad that he is supporting me because I need his help! When I told Ricardo about my conversation with my dad, he was so happy and he felt peaceful and he was really grateful for his support. We need all the support we can get.

Im home in GR right now and it is SO NICE!! I really missed my family. I just feel so loved when I'm home and there are 9 people happy to see you.

Well, I've been procrastinating reading scriptures for a really long time so I need to get on that.
Love,
Stephi