If I Die Young

This is kind of a morbid one…but also not because what I worried would happen did not and I am still gratefully alive. I had the interesting experience of contemplating what exactly I would do if I was shot at work by an angry employee. Would I have enough time to write a note to Sel or my parents? What would I even say in said note? Would I die quickly and have almost no chance to quickly reflect on the beautiful parts of my life? What would I hope Sel would do should I exit this life so soon? Since I realized shortly after the likelihood of getting a chance to pass on my dying wishes were pretty slim if I was going to get shot at work. All week since I have been compiling things I would want to tell my family and Sel if I only had a few seconds left. Number one, of course, would be to tell all my loved ones how much I loved them, how much I would miss them, and how grateful I was for every single person that had a positive influence in my life. I would want my parents to adopt an African baby in my honor and name it Faiden because they love that name so much :) I would want my little sister to live a happy, full life and never, ever give up on her dreams and marry someone that would make it feel like Christmas everyday for her. I would want Sel to get married to someone else that made him so deliriously happy and someone who would have a cute, little Sel-like family with. I would also want him to still go to medical school this semester right after my funeral. Oh and speaking of my funeral, I would want everyone to wear neon green. EVERYONE. Even my grams. And I would want them to save the ridiculous amount it costs for a plot and casket and instead sprinkle my ashes anywhere in the Utah mountains.

If anyone ever missed me, they would just have to take a hiking trip and come up with all these poetic comparisons about the beautiful mountains to me. Maybe one of my loved ones would even write an amazing poem that became famous and then they would make bank (you're welcome unknown loved one to whom I will indirectly guide your future for the better). At the funeral, there would need to be a minimum of three Josh Groban songs played or performed. Ideally, Josh Groban would attend cause we are pretty much best friends and everyone would have to eat one piece of a Rittersport (even Mugs and Jen who refuse to eat chocolate). I have been going back and forth on whether I would want a picture slideshow..and decided against putting any pictures that are adorable. I would want all pictures to be of me making ridiculous faces or doing something stupid. And then everyone would release neon green balloons into the air and no one would feel angry at the person who killed me.. Someone would, of course, have to take on the task of writing a book about me and how awesome I was. I would probably leave it to my sister or dad. Okay, definitely my dad so then he and the author that shares his name could battle it out for who is the best.

I know all of this sounds kind of silly for a funeral, but I am dead (bad choice of words) serious. I actually do want people to wear neon green (preferablly the men would wear neon green bowties because bowties are cool and the women wear neon green tights) to my funeral and eat Rittersport in my honor. Again, very much grateful that I am still alive and the worst didn't happen (even though it was such a stressful, awful situation). I am even more grateful I had the chance to write all of my last wishes down so that people won't wonder what to do if something bad ever did happen.

A Farewell to Provo

I have been posting a lot over here lately, but I promise it will be less soon since I need to spend every last minute of the next 20 days soaking up my surroundings. 

I accepted a job offer in Toledo that starts July 8th which is only 20 short days away. 20 more days of Provo life. It's so crazy how fast and real all of this is becoming. 

It is so bittersweet. I am going to miss P-town a whole bunch. So much of who I am I owe to this little town. I am going to miss the mountains and the creamery and running and biking on the Provo River trail. I am going to miss BYU campus and Banana Leaf and driving down Geneva Road at sunset. I am going to miss having so many temples so close and seeing people I know at the grocery store. I am  especially going to miss my incredible friends and family. I have spent five years laughing and smiling and crying with so many exceptional friends I have been blessed to meet here. I am lucky to have one of the best of my friends moving 90 minutes away from us in Ohio, but I still wish I could pack up all our favorite people and take them with us. Oh and our dear families. I have loved having a home in the Riv with the Milks. I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home with them and my roommates. I slept over there after Sel and I's first date and told Mugs all about this eerily perfect guy I was infatuated with. I spent those somewhat lonely, yet beautiful summers that made me love Utah even more in the comfort of their wonderful house.They have so lovingly let me call their home my own and it will be so hard to leave all of that. Oh and my Grams. I start to cry every time I think of the miles that will separate me from her. I will so desperately miss playing with our adorable cousins and talking with Sel's aunts and uncles. I will miss hearing all the stories Sel's wonderfully kind grandparents always have to share. 

And don't even remind me that our bi-monthly trips to Idaho Falls will be reduced to a mere once (if that) a year. 

We fell in love in this town. We were married in this state. We shared our first two blissful years of marriage here. 

The sweet part of it all is that we have had all this time getting to know and love our families. We are so grateful for everything we have experienced and grown to love. 

And I am excited for our new adventure ahead of us. I am excited to be close to my parents and our nephew and bro & sis-in-law. I am excited to leave our ghetto fabulous apartment and move into (hopefully) a little less ghetto town home. I am excited for my new job. I am excited to see Sel go through medical school. I am excited to spend most of our days under the beautiful gray skies of Toledo. I am SO excited to be 90 minutes away from Rochester. We have so much to look back fondly on and so much to look forward to. 

Belated Mom's Day

So we were in Italy over my mom's birthday and mother's day..and this is also another one of those posts I wrote in November that was just itching to be published so my mom could read it and think about how great she is :)

I could never sum up all that my mom means to me. All that she has done for me and taught me and given me. SO instead, let me tell you some superb things about my momma that make her the perfect mother.

My mom LOVES to read. Obsessively in fact. She made sure my sister and I learned to read ASAP so we too could share her love. I cannot count the hours spent at the library scanning through potential adventures. I am so grateful for her intellect and for so adamently sharing her love of it with me.

My mom is one of the most sarcastic people on the planet. Everyone she meets will comment on how easily my mom can make them laugh. Most cannot even say her name without a fond little chuckle .

My mom (my dad helped on this too) taught me to accept and love all. I am so grateful for the lesson I learned early on that everyone is different and should be appreciated for their differences. I will never forget one FHE where my mother was brought to tears remembering times in her life when people did not treat her the way she should have been treated. Or the other time during that FHE where she too cried that she did not treat another the way they should have been treated. This experience struck a chord in my young heart and reminded throughout the years that I never wanted to bring another pain simply because I was unwilling to look past labels of soceity.

My mom has made countless sacrifices to ensure I have had this blessed life I now lead. I am grateful for her selflessness, her warmth, her friendship and most of all, her love.

My parents being cute and in love

Our King family reunion last year and my mom being fantastic at the donut eating contest. 

Chicago 

Poptart

I actually wrote this in November last year when I was going to do the everyday thankful post that lasted for, um, one day :) But as yesterday was Father's Day and my dad's birthday was the day before that, I figured my timing to post this was impeccable :)
Happy Father's Day/Birthday Daddy!

My dad is hands down the best father that has EVER lived. He used to have this sign (might still have it) that says, "Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy"

I have never had a single day in my life where I doubted that I was uncondtionally loved. I love looking at old picutres of my dad as a new father and seeing the overwhelming joy he had and continues to have in the role. My dad never let anyone of us question that is number one priorty in life was us.

My dad is one of the most easy going indviduals I have ever met. Which, if you know much about the three females that make up the other 3/4's of my family, is remarkable. A miracle in fact.

My dad also has such a tender little heart. He tears up easily especially when it involves us. (Mostly me cause I am his favorite. Right Dad? Right?)

He is so very thoughtful and puts so much effort into our family. On Valentine's every single year, he would get home from work, park the car a few houses down, drop a bunch of flowers, chocolate and other goodies on the porth, ring the doorbell and book it full power back to the car. We would come out and observe the presents from the Valentine's fairy and then a few minutes later, my dad's car would roll into the driveway and he would act shocked when we showed him our presents.

My dad also made sure my family knew he loved Christ and His gospel. He never forced his belief upon my sister and I, but encouraged us to find out for ourselves what we thought was true. I cannot count the times I would peek into my parents bedroom only to find my father on his knees or reading his scriptures. He never had to bear his testimony of the gospel to me (even though he did on countless occasions) cause I saw him living it daily.

My dad is one of my best friends, my confident, and my hero. He truly is that someone who chose to be special enough to be called daddy.

Being sweet with his mom (Grams)

My dad LOVES babies. He doesn't know yet how much he is going to love being a grandpa :) 

Again, proof he will be the world's best grandpa on top of being the world's best dad

My dad is so lucky to have produced such an attractive, sane daughter like myself

Tender daddy-daughter dance (here's a whole three of the exact same thing for you because I love it so much)

hat someone who chose to be special enough to be called daddy.

Ich Liebe Deutschland

I knew I was going to love Germany. How could I not? My dad served an LDS mission in Munich so I grew up hearing all his wonderful stories about Germany and eating all the delicious German food he would whip up for us every couple weeks. And Sel, whoa, pretty sure he would have divorced me if I said one negative thing against his beloved Germany. That man is obsessed! :) I even dubbed myself an honory member of the German club in high school (most of my friends took German and Frau Barner was amazing and they had great food so I came to meetings despite not actually knowing a lick of German...).

We also got to spend a few hours in Austria, which was sadly not as much time as I was hoping for. As soon as we crossed the border from Italy to Austria our tour director blasted the ever rockin "The Hills Are Alive". The hills of Austria really were stunning. I could totally understand why Maria felt she had to run through them bursting with that melody. We ate a delicious lunch in Austria and then the Von Trapp family begged us to smuggle them out of there ASAP so we sadly had to part ways before I wanted to.

Our first night in Germany was spent at the famed Hofbräuhaus in Munich. Supposedly, Motzart, Lenin, and Hitler all enjoyed a stein at one point in their lives at the Hofbräuhaus and probably plenty of other famed humans have had their share of beer in here as it has been around for about 400 years. Case, our tour director, agreed to buy everyone a stein to go with our dinner. Not drinking alcohol in Europe is like a national offense. It is so integrated into the culture in almost every country and while most places were accomadating, few understood why. We still had an amazing time and a truly entertaining time being the only ones sober most of the trip.

We bought SO much chocolate (Milka and Rittersport of course) that night from a local grocery store. We spent 40 Euro just on chocolate and I regret nothing. We gave some of it away as gifts, but we still have a hefty stock of perfect, delicious goodness. I wish American chocolate was half as good as European chocolate!

After our night in Munich, we went to Rothenburg which is probably one of the most fascinating cities in Europe. It was built in the early 16th century and is the best preserved medieval walled city (thanks Rick Steves). It managed to miss some of the heavier bombings during WWII because the American Secretary of War remembered his mother telling him how beautiful Rothenburg was and told the American general to hold off on using artillery to take over the city. Sel and I took off on our own to explore the city and ended up having a little picnic by the moat and sharing it with some of the fishes. It was a shame they didn't have any crocodiles there too cause we totally would have shared with them too. I then took about three hundred pictures of everything in the city from the Christmas store to the city wall to every little adorable house we passed until Sel took the camera away so we wouldn't miss our bus. I guess he had no clue that it was my plan all along to miss the bus and live in Rothenburg for the rest of our lives...It was fun to know that both my dad and mom had visited this fun little city in the 17th century when they were about my age. (Get it mom and dad? Cause you are old and stuff ;)  

Auf Wiedersehen!

Our tour director and the Southern Belle of our group dancing drunkenly outside the Hofbrauhaus in Munich

Look at all that chocolate and Haribo! 

The home and shop of one of the cutest German ladies you will ever meet. This is where Sel bought a stein and my in-laws bought a gorgeous cuckoo clock. 

The Christmas store that every other Christmas store wishes it was

Rothenburg's moat that we had a picnic beside

Part of the city wall stairs 

Our future home

These are rocks that have been sculpted to look like little bundt cakes and then were topped with lavender and moss. 

View outside our window in Rheinland

We went on a water cruise on the Rhein and to see all these old castles and cities while being serenaded by a German third grade class on their field trip.