This and That-

THIS:

I gotta say, May 24 is one of the best days of the whole year. Why? It's the day Shawn was born. I love his birthday so much! I don't know why I get so into it, but this year I feel like I failed as a fiance. His first birthday back, and I'm poor as ever so I couldn't do anything over the top. But I still wanted to make him feel special. I can't help but to text him exactly as the clock strikes midnight and wish him a Happy Birthday. I've done it ever year since we've been together, and I always just want to be the first person to tell him. and then I'll tell him a million + 1 times during the day, and then I'm always the last person at 11:59 to tell him Happy Birthday. Stupid and silly, I know! I'm really grateful for this day also because Shawn wasn't even supposed to live.

   When he was born, he was so sick that his mom even had to write his obituary. Could you imagine writing that as a mom? I can't even think about it. But I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father helped him live so that one day I could be sealed to him forever. 

So this birthday all he kept asking for was a snickers. A freakin' candy bar? Are you kidding babe? So of course, that's not all I got him. He loves surprises. I remember one year, I surprised him by taking him up to PC to do the Alpine Slide and stuff and he absolutely loved that. He loved driving, but not knowing where we were going. So this year, he came over after work, and I gave him the biggest hug and smooch and I said "Okay want your present?" And I handed him a Snickers. He laughed. I told him to turn it around. and on the back, I taped a piece of paper on it. Written on that paper it said "Get in my car and do not ask any questions. I love you". BABE WHAT??? I said don't ask questions.

So we got in my car and started driving. Little did I know this 20 minute drive kept getting longer and longer. Obviously I'm not good at finding out driving time before hand. I just figured ahhh Kaysville to Midvale, No big deal. Well, my GPS took me on 215 and of course, OF COURSE, with my luck, we were stuck in traffic. And on the radio the guy said, a huge roll over car accident southbound on 215. Of all car accidents, of course its on the same road we are on. so that 20 minute drive turned into about 45-50 minutes. Grrrrrr.

But it was still fun.

Then we got to the place and he said "Where are we?" and I said "We're going to get you an under armor hoodie!!" (He's been wanting one since he got home) That smile on his face was priceless as he jumped out of my car. He was so excited. Well, they didnt have any hoodies. :/ more luck. But that smile, was so worth the drive. We then went to Dicks because my parents got him a gift card there so we got him all new clothes. Underarmor shorts and tshirts. He is so cute in that stuff. Before the mish he was all into FOX and VOLCOM and stupid cute stuff like that and now I'm lovin my man in sports stuff!! Then we went to sports authority, nothing. So last resort, Scheels. Amazing by the way. And we found one!! SO cute on him.

Then I took him to eat at Hires-so yummy-and then went home! I love his birthday. It was a fun day together.

THAT:

Today Shawn and I went to his buddy from the mission, Elder Haacke's, homecoming! K, can I just say that I loved that I waited for him?? Let me back track a little:

Thursday night we went to his mission trainers wedding reception. That was a BLAST! Elder Roman Huerta. What a stud! And after he gave Shawn a hug, he grabbed me and gave me a hug and said, "You freakin' waited for my boy! I love you!" haha. I just loved that I was well known in the mission. But I'm glad he put the Lord first of course ;) Then he ran into another buddy from the mission there and he told me "you were like a freakin' celebrity in the mission. Shawn talked you up so much. He's a lucky guy." Isn't that cute or what? I couldn't help but smile at him the whole rest of the night. (I always do anyway).

ANYWAY! Back to the homecoming, that was so fun. That kid is such a stud. I love hearing Shawn and Haacke talk to eachother. They really are like brothers. Its cute to hear them talk about the mission and all their stories. Shawn really did love his mission so much. I can tell he misses the people a bunch. I love that when they talk about it, I know exactly what they are talking about from emails, and letters! It's fun to kind of 'been in the mission' with him.

After the homecoming, we went to my ward for temple prep!! Just me, Shawn, and the bishop. But let me just tell you, I adore my bishop. What an awesome guy! And he challenged us two things.

1. To read this temple book he gave us together before we get married.
2. To pray together. Take turns. Whenever he prays, he has to pray about all the good things about me. and whenever I pray, I pray about all the good things about Shawn. What we love about eachother and grateful for.

When my bishop said that, it brought tears to my eyes. Not only because I now get to hear how much Shawn loves me when he speaks to our Heavenly Father, but I started to tear up because I know that I have the best man in the world. I know that he loves me more than words can describe. The spirit was so strong in that room as a confirmation that we were always meant for eachother and that we are going to be together forever. It started to sink in a little that I finally get to marry the man of my dreams. I've waited so long for this and I truly know that my Heavenly Father blessed me immensely with Shawn.

-27 days-

So, I'm getting married.

In case you all were wondering, I get to marry the man of my dreams in 30 days. DAYS. Is this real life? I get chills just thinking about it.

The wedding plans are coming along great. We've done so many fun things to get ready. Those who are coming to my reception will walk in and say to themselves, "this is a pinterest wedding". And we'll take all the credit. My mom and I (with the help of many others) have gone craft crazy.

I feel like I've been engaged for 12943827 years. But really like, 3 years. Because we have. We knew we were getting married when we were 16. People laughed, people doubted. And we just brushed it off. Now look at us. HA! I love that I can say that I'm marrying my highschool sweetheart.

Now I'm sitting here, listening to music, and looking at my photographers website trying to decide on a location for our Bridal/Groomals. Groomals, what a weird word. This Wednesday are my Bridals. and why they are called Groomals is because Shawn WILL be there. AH! Why is he seeing you in your dress before the wedding???!

Well I'll tell you.

I was once super against the idea of that. I'm so old fashioned in the idea of 'bad luck'. I wouldn't even let Shawn see my prom dresses. But when I was at a Bridal Showcase (before I was even engaged) we found our amazing photographer/videographers and Barlow (the videographer) convinced me of this amazing beautiful idea.

When the groom sees his Bride for the first time in her wedding dress, it's in the temple. Where the memory is all they have. No videos, no pictures. And as special as that would be, how special would it be to have pictures and videos of the first look- to look at for the rest of my life, to show our kids. So Wednesday, May 29th, Shawn will see me in my dress for the first time. and it'll be on camera for us to remember forever.

Butterflies.

I'm getting married to the man of my dreams. The man I'm crazy about and fall more in love with every single day. I love him and not only because of how perfect he is, (and I can say perfect because he is. He's the only perfect person on this planet) but because of how perfect he treats me. I couldn't ask for anyone better. And for that, I can't wait to be his Mrs.

Emily Larkin.

6 more weeks-

I am officially the worst blogger ever! But can you blame me? I've been busy planning a wedding and going to school! I've had so many things on my mind that I completely forgot how close the big day is. My beautiful maid-of-honor texted me yesterday and said:

"Dog. You're wedding is in 6 weeks."

Right when I read that, my heart felt like it was about to pop out of my chest! I got the text on my way to Shawns house, and as soon as I saw him I couldn't help but be super giddy! Peeps, I get to marry my missionary in 6 WEEKS! Is this real life?!

Oh. We got our engagement pictures back. Here's a few. I'm obsessed.

Alright. Can I be his MRS already?!

He's so dang cute I can't stand it. I'm so lucky to have him forever. I met him when I was 16. That was one of the best days of my life. 

I love him.

I love his green eyes.

His buff arms.

His laugh, his feet.

I love his hands, his little ears.

I love when he calls me Emmie.

when he kisses my forehead.

I love when he looks down at me and says,

"You shrink".

I love that he's so tall.

I love when he holds me.

when he tells me he loves me.

The list goes on and on. and I'm just rambling. K goodnight. 

xox.

Jusss thinkin'-

I'm laying in bed, it's 10:50 pm, thinking about what I should blog about next. Nothing is coming to me. So maybe I can just type what's on my mind. Let it all out.

Well first off, I'm sick of saying goodbye to Shawn. Why can't we just skip the next 61 days and be married already? Its tough waking up in the morning thinking 'Oh I can't wait to see him in 12 hours'. I can't wait to see him first thing when I wake up. And then once 7:30 pm hits, I'm the happiest girl in the world because the next 3 hours, it's just me and Shawn. And nothing in this world can get between us. The world stops, and it's just pure bliss when I'm with him. I always text him saying 'Babe, I just want to snuggle'. That's my favorite part of the day. Getting out of school and falling into his arms.

Alright, what else is on my mind? The wedding. Of course. We're getting a lot done. I finally finished engagement picture shopping today. I don't know why I'm so nervous and stressed about engagements. I think it's just because you get one day, and they better be perfect. That'd suck to hate your engagement pictures.

Ya know, I'm really glad I waited for Shawn. I was a stupid girl to have doubts while he was out and to be worried. Now that I know how happy we are, I'd do it all over again. A million times. Thank GOODNESS I never do, but I would. As long as I get him for eternity. I was thinking a lot about that today while I was driving, or had down time at school. He's too good to me and I'm so happy. As some of you know, I dated while Shawn was out. And I'm so glad I didn't end up with one of those guys. Even though they had no chance against Shawny, it's still blows my mind that I even 'wasted my time'. We can all argue that I guess. I learned a lot and I learned that Shawn is my perfect soul mate. But still, those boys are lame. I'm just glad that even through the hard times, I always stayed strong. The Lord kept his promise to Shawn. When he got set apart as a missionary, his blessing said, "As long as youre obeying the rules, everything at home will be the way you want it when you get back". And he kept His promise to me. I prayed every.single.night that our love would become stronger and stronger. and it did. and at times, it was tested. but it never crumbled. It NEVER went away. and I'm so grateful to have such an amazing man that loves me and has so much patience with him. Who 'held my hand, and held my heart' for two years. Even though at times, he probably wanted to walk away. Ladies and Gents, I'm the luckiest girl in the world. You all just THINK you are. I could go on and on about this, but really, I just feel blessed. If you didn't know this already, I am so glad I waited :) I wouldn't want it any other way. When Shawn was cuddling me tonight, he kissed my cheek before he gave me a kiss on the lips. He has no idea how much that meant to me.

My time management sucks. All I want to do is plan my wedding. And then if I'm planning my wedding, I just want to go to school and get school done. But then I go to school, and I just want to be with Shawn. and then when I'm with Shawn, I want to stay up all night talking to him. But then I wanna wake up early to work out. Then its the morning, and I want to just sleep in. And then I decide i just want to go tanning. and while i'm in the tanning bed I think, what should I do to plan my wedding? and the cycle starts all over again. It's fine guys, I'm way organized. HA!

Well I'm tired, Night.

xox

He's too good-

I never thought I could be this happy and so in love. I can't even begin to tell you all how glad I am that I waited for Shawn on his mission. He's the most selfless man I've ever met and so sweet. He's such a hard worker and I already know he's going to be the best husband in the world!

Yesterday, I was laying in bed. It was 7:30 am, and I always wake up to text Shawn while he is getting ready for work. I know that sounds silly, but he goes to work all day and I go to school so we don't talk. So if I want to talk to my fiance, I have to wake up. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was: I HATE WAITING ALL DAY TO SEE SHAWN! I can't wait to get married and see him right when I wake up. Because right now, we don't see each other til about 7:30 or 8 at night. It's hard. Because then he goes home/I go home at 10:30. I can't wait to say goodnight to him instead of goodbye. 66 more days.

Last night, we were at Landmark and a lady came up to me and Shawn and said,  "What do you two want most out of your marriage?". and Shawn's reply was perfect. "I want to always have great communication, and everyday to just get better and better". How did I end up with such a great guy? He's too good. And I want the same thing. I want to always be falling in love with eachother. And I know we will be that way because it's how it is now. Every day, we are more in love. That might sound cliche but it's true and it's amazing.

I want everyone to find love. It's the best feeling in the world.
I can't wait to spend every single day and night with him for eternity. I can't wait to be his bride.

Homecoming Video

Did I not post the homecoming video?!

Someone commented and told me I didnt! ahhh

Here it is!!

http://vimeo.com/57047681

Grown up stuff-

It's weird. We're like, adults and stuff! I'm getting ready to graduate hair school, Shawn found the most amazing job in the WORLD and we are getting ready to move on with our lives as Husband and Wife. (that sounds too good).

Shawny started his job yesterday and absolutely loves it! He is working at IHC and it really is the biggest blessing. Not only is the pay fantastic, it has incredible benefits and it'll look awesome on his Resume when he applies for Med school. I miss Shawn all the time now. Even though we aren't together during the day anyway, (because I'm at school), for some reason it sucks even more now knowing he isn't home and he's a working bee all day. Why can't we just be millionaires and be together all the time? I'm so glad he got this job though and most importantly, I am so glad that he LOVES it.

I'm working my tail off at Cosmetology school. I'll be done this summer and can't wait to be out doing hair. I love what I do!
I also have a job interview Thursday at a Hair Salon as a receptionist so we are crossing our fingers I get this amazing job to pay the needs while I go through school!

Shawn and I did round 5 of apartment hunting yesterday! Still no luck. But I know that the right place will come at the right time. So if anyone knows of a play Layton-Bountiful Please let us know. (preferably Centerville/Bountiful area)

Well, that's all folks. Wedding plans are great, everything's great. :)

Catching you up.

I'm the worst blogger ever!
I need to be better, sorry! Shawn and I have been having so much fun planning our wedding. And when I say we I mean I. haha. He just nods his head and says, "Yeah babe, sounds great". I have such a great fiance. The other day, my mom and I went out and bought a bunch of frames from the DI and Savers and then we got paintin'.

They turned out so cute! I'm lovin' the blue. These will be on all the tables with engagements inside. 

We have so much more to do, and I'll be sure to post our crafts on my blog! 

Shawn and I also had fun on Easter! We have an Easter egg hunt at my house every year, but this year we didn't search for eggs. We're too old!! But my parents had a great idea to have a money egg. All the aunts and uncles put there money together (30 bucks) and then they hid the egg. Shawn and I were going to find it no matter what! We need date money ;) And guess who found the egg?? I did :)

Oh yeah and did I mention I'm marrying a skater boy?

This & That.

THIS.

Yesterday was an exciting day for my brother, Austin, because he got his mission call! He's been anxiously waiting for it and so have we. It's crazy to think that my brother is going on a mission! I remember when Shawn opened his call! I'm so glad we're past that ;) I'm so excited for my brother to go though! 

So my mom is crazy. Wednesday, 2 boys in our neighborhood got their calls except for Austin. So what did my mom do? She went to the post office and gave our mail lady her number so that she could text my mom when Austin's call arrived. Hahaha my mail lady is the best. I remember when Shawn was on his mission, she'd make sure letters or packages got to me even tho sometimes Shawn put down 729 instead of 792 for my address. She just knew I had a missionary :) So yesterday at 7:30 the mail lady texted my mom and told her that the call came! Then, we had to wait anxiously for the mail to get there. Our mail came at noon, but Austin didn't open it until 7. We had to wait for family & friends to get there. 

7:00- we had atleast 50 people there waiting for him to open it. He was so nervous! My mom got a huge map and we all put sticky notes on the places we thought he was going. He opened his call and his eyes started scanning the paper and he said, "Holy crap." HELLO TELLS US ALREADY! 

Dear Elder Elkins
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission. 
Speaking Dutch, leaving July 24th!

The minute he said Belgium, I looked at Shawn and said, "Is that....?" and before I could finish my sentence Shawn said, "Holy cow babe, It is."

I grabbed my mom and told her.. "Mom! Shawn's uncle is his mission president!" My mom started crying and made a huge announcement. My brother was in shock! 

Me and Shawn just looked at each other in total disbelief as if we knew what the other was saying. That moment, it was such a testimony builder that things are pre-ordained. Of all the places in the world, my brother will be in the mission with Shawns family. The mission presidents nephew that I dated all of highschool and waited for on his mission. That I'm engaged to be married to. I don't believe in coincidences. Things happen the way they are supposed to happen. (Just like my dad married the mission presidents daughter. my dad was supposed to go to Brazil and he met my mom). Anyway, its amazing that he gets to go be with Shawn's uncle. We are so happy and excited for him! 

THAT.

Today, I did hair for my friends wedding. My favorite thing in the world is to do hair and make up for weddings. After I graduate from beauty school, I want to go forward with hair and make up for brides. I love being a part of their special day and making them feel like an absolute queen. 

My wedding bag. 

(can't wait to add more) 

The Beautiful Emily Sue Vega

The back (without veil) 

Such a beautiful bride. 

Congrats Adoni & Emily Vega 

St George

As you can tell, I've finally got around to changing my blog! I'm actually really excited about it! I was driving home from St George reading one of my friends blogs (Ali) and the more I kept looking at her adorable blog, I kept wanting to change mine. So I did. (with the help of others because I don't know how to do it on my own). I'm pretty good when it comes to computers, but Blogger on the other hand is a totally different story. I don't know why!

Ahh okay, so I just got back from St George. It was such a blast! Shawn and I went down with my family for my little brother's baseball tournament. My family left Wednesday, but Shawn and I left Thursday morning because Wednesday he had a job interview. (Still crossing our fingers, he finds out in 2 weeks :/ ) So Thursday morning we got up and left. My brother woke up early to charge his car battery because it's been dying a lot lately. We picked up Shawn and then went to the gas station and while we were driving Austin said, "Emily, don't turn off the car when we get gas. My car will die". So we filled up with the car on, and then decided we wanted treats. So I pulled up to a parking spot and what did I do? I turned the car off. Yup, it was dead. So after we got our drinks and treats, we asked a guy (and when I say we, I mean Shawn) to jump us. It turned on right away. Solid, we're golden. I called my mom to tell her that we were on our way and told her the funny story about the car dying. The second I hung up the phone with her, the lights in the car turned off and Shawn says, "The car just died". Good thing I wasn't driving! We were on the free way! So Shawn pulled over and after many phone calls to my dad, figuring out what to do, Shawns dad came to the rescue. Long story short, we fixed the car an hour later and we were on our way!

Road trip!! I was so excited! I was never one of the lucky girls who went on vacations with her boyfriend in high school, so this was a big deal for me! The best thing ever while driving down to St. George was holding his hand. I love it :) Shawn's a fast driver, so four hours later we made it to St George, just in time for my brothers first game! 83 degrees and baseball games. We were kind of tired but that wasn't stopping us from having fun! My parents rented a Condo so after the game, we all went back to the Condo to unload the car and just chill before the second game! I kept getting these stupid butterflies thinking about four days with my man :) I think I was more excited than he was!

The weekend consisted of baseball games (he won 2 out of the 4) eating, swimming, tennis, basketball, soaking up some rays, swimming, video games, swimming, and oh yeah did I mention swimming? Shawn is adorable.

1. He would play with my brothers the whole time. In fact, I complained a couple times saying, "I feel like you want to be with my brothers more than me". But deep down, I loved it. I thought it was cute to see him playing with his soon to be brothers. Tyson (8) looks up to Shawn SO much, they even slept together the whole weekend. It was fun to watch them play basketball, or tennis against my parents, or get crazy on the video games.

2. He played tennis against my parents. I was laying out by the pool, and got bored and wanted to be by my man, so I went to watch him play tennis. Shawn and Austin vs Mom and Dad. HILARIOUS! I kept saying, "Come on babe!" but it didn't help. In fact, I think I made him nervous. He's so funny! And then we played lightening with my family and that was hilarious, no one can shoot a basket besides Shawn and my 12 year old sister! We all laughed the whole time.

3. One night, we were all hanging out by the pool in our sweats (swim suits underneath) but there were a million kids! I didn't want to swim because it was too cold that night, So Shawn and my brother Austin just hung out together. There were a million kids in the hot tub, and when I say a million, I mean you physically couldn't get in because kids were shoulder-to-shoulder. So Austin and Shawn thought it would be funny to crash the hot tub. They made room and got in and immediately Shawn and Austin started making friends with 5-10 year olds. Austin says, "Who's peed in here already??" And Austin and Shawn both raised their hands!! (of course they didnt, they were just trying to make the kids laugh). Man, I'm marrying someone who is gonna be such a cute dad.

4. He said thank you a million times to my parents and helped them so much. Without even asking, he'd just jump up and help my mom or dad. That's the missionary inside of Shawn. It was so cute to see.

5. Even thought he hung out with my siblings the majority of the time, whenever he got around me he'd make sure I knew how much he loved me. A hug, a kiss, a whisper "I love you" or "You look amazing". Those little things makes me love him more.

6. Listening to him cheer for Ty at his games. That was so cute, when Ty would come up to bat and Shawn would yell, "Come on TYSON!! You got this!"

Usually on trips, I have the hardest time being there because all I want to do is go home and be with Shawn, but this time, I didn't even want to leave. I wanted to just be with him every second, ignore reality, and just live life with him. This trip was filled with the most amazing memories, but do you want to know my favorite thing? The thing that tops everything?

Shawn and I (of course) had to sleep in different rooms. Right across from each other. We'd stay up all night and kiss each other goodnight, say "I love you" and go to our rooms. And then we'd text til we fell asleep and then the SECOND I woke up, I didnt care what time it was, I'd go in Shawns room while he was sleeping, and kiss his forehead or cheek and say, "Wake up, I love you!" and he'd have the BIGGEST Smile on his face and then he slowly woke up but it was so cute to see him so happy to have me there right when he woke up. I'm SO excited to no longer say goodbye, and only goodnight. That was the highlight of my trip and as silly as that sounds, it was the thing that I was most excited about-- waking up to him every morning.

And then of course after all that cutesy mushy stuff, Tyson (who was also in the same room as Shawn) would yell out EMILY GO TO YOUR ROOM! YOU'RE SO ANNOYING!! GET OUT!!!

and then Shawn and I would just laugh.

Best trip ever? You bet :)