Me being Optomistic.

Yes sadly, this is yet another post from me Jackie. I write this hoping that it will motivate Jan to write one. He wants me to update the blog, but since my life is so wildly exciting, I don't know exactly what I should write. I really wanted to motivate him, so not only am I posting a blog but I updated the whole entire blog. (Jan I hope your proud, and I cross my fingers that you will blog more often now:) )..

Since I last posted not a lot has happened.... My parents and I were lucky enough to babysit my niece and nephew (Payton and Paige) while Aubrey and Mike when on a snowmobile trip. This house is not very exciting, so putting those two kids in it was a lot of fun. My parents love playing Grandma and Grampa so it's funny watching them cater to their every need. My favorite is watching my Dad play hide and seek with all of the grand kids. I love watching my Dad get into interesting places and interesting positions to hide himself. Another example of the power my nieces and nephew have over them, is seen in this picture:



Yes it's true. A tent in my living room. I am not going to lie though, I may have taken a small nap in the tent. But it is not my fault. I was only watching Horton Hears a Who with Payton, and if you know me well enough, you know that I can not last long in animation. I got woken up at the end of the movie by a little voice saying "Jack you didn't stay up for the whole movie."... I felt bad, but maybe third times a charm for that movie....

Also on Monday my Mom and I decided to fight the snowstorm and go to the Open house of the new temple in Draper. I went to the open house of the Bountiful temple when I was younger, but I don't remember very much from it. Being a kid, I mainly remember saying hi to my mom (she was volunteer paramedic) and the booties we had to put over our shoes. But that pretty much sums up my memory. So it was exciting to have another opportunity to go inside the temple again. Everything was so gorgeous. Even though it has not been dedicated yet, you could feel the spirit so strong. We got to just sit in the Celestial room and think. It made me so excited for when I will be able to go though it with Jan. It made me miss the temple too because the last time I went was in the Madrid temple and that was far to long ago. We also got sit in one of the sealing rooms. Naturally as I walked in I scoped out the seat I wanted to sit in and I as I went to sit my mom goes "You know, that is exactly where the bride sits." I guess that seat is calling to me ;). I think one of the best experiences we had there was when we were in the sealing room, there was a really old lady in a wheel chair and she wanted to stand up to see in the mirrors. So they struggled to get her up and when she looked in them she started to tremble and cry and she covered her mouth with her hand. She simply said "It's so beautiful" in a gentle, whispering voice. She was so happy to be in there. I really don't like to cry especially in public, but I really had to fight the tears. I love seeing the happiness things like the temple brings people..... I think the temple really connects your heart and your mind together. You get in there and you wish you could give everyone the feeling you are feeling. Lots of things are so hard to understand or don't make sense at all, but when you are in there, it's ok that you don't understand everything. All you have to know is that you are in the right place. Everything is clear and calm.... After the temple was me and my mom's favorite part, refreshments! Dang genetics... (And ignore that my eyes are closed in the picture. My mom is way good at telling me when she is taking the picture).


I think if there was one word to describe me right now it would definitely be nostalgic. I couldn't be more homesick. You might call me crazy because I am home now (and I have been for a very long time) but I have had a lot of time to think. And it finally hit me when I was in relief society. They were doing a spot light on an older lady and they asked her if she could go anywhere, where would she go. I sat there, and my mind raced to all these different places I can't wait to see, like Turkey, Africa, Egypt, New Zealand, China, Japan, Russia... (so on and so forth).... and her reply was "I would just rather be at home. I like to be at home." I just sat there wide eyed and thought to myself that lady is definitely crazy... Then I sat there some more and thought to myself when it hit me. What people call their home, is not the same for me. Yes I live here (and I have my whole life) but to me the world is my home. Everywhere but here is my home. "Home is where the Heart is." The world has my heart. One of my biggest fears is having a "normal life". People crave that kind of thing, but not me. I hate being chained down when there is a whole world out there waiting to be shared. Why do we always have to be in the back seat? Why do we always have to hear about these places and see pictures of them, but why can't we go see them? (lol and lets put the whole money thing to the side right now so I can continue my train of thought). I think the world holds so many experiences and lessons! There is so many different people, with so many different ideas, so many cultures.... and lets not for get, art. There is so much art to see. I am crazy for art. Individuality is so interesting and art brings that alive! Through art you can tell so much about a person, and their views of the world. Art is a treat for the soul.... but now I am getting off subject. I want to see the world and experience everything I can, we only get one shot. Just this one life. I want to experience the world so it can shape who I am. My experience abroad was one of the best experiences I have ever had because I was, for the first time, almost truly happy. The only thing that kept it from being "truly happy" instead of "almost", was Jan of coarse. Too bad he couldn't be there with me... It was so nice to get away from everything I have ever known. The only thing missing was Jan and my nieces and nephew. If it wasn't for them I would have "missed my plane." By the end of the trip I was ready to meet the rest of the world and strangely enough, I was the only one not missing home. Because I was finally home.


Speaking of Europe, I got to hang out with a couple of my bestest friends from Europe. I love them to death. Me and a few of the girls clicked within one day of the trip and you couldn't separate us after that. It was meant to be. They definitely made the trip worth it... But a couple of weeks ago we went an saw Bride Wars (my second time). And it was still good. But we saw Previews for He's Just Not that Into You and we had to go see it. It was so so good! And it has made its way up to the top of my list! A romance comedy that I think guys could definitely handle (wink wink Jan). I can't wait to see it again.




Well enough from me. I wish I had some magical story for you but everything is just the same. I go to work sometimes, eat, sleep, wait by my phone hoping to hear from Jan, and sit at my computer. I even mixed things up a little today and cleaned my room. Amazing, I know. I wish I had an update for the wedding or something about me and Jan but we haven't really talked much lately, so hopefully that will change soon. But in our short conversations we talk about how we both just need to cheer up and be optomistic about our situation. So this post is dedicated to a few things that make me a little happier to live life...

End of the month

well it is the end of the month, it is hard to say that it has only been a couple of weeks! But now to brighter subjects! since jackie has posted so much on this blog i thought i would join in and put in my two cents! by now u all know we are getting married we still don't have a date but i am sure we will come up with one soon! this week was supposed to be my weekend of of snowboarding but now i found my self in my room for the weekend due to some stupid ice that got in my way of dashing out the door! all is well though, don't worry to much i will be back on my feet in no time! so in stead of snowboarding me and my good buddy josh are taking scuba lessons starting monday, i have never been but always have wanted to go! we are just getting certified so we will be in a pool, i would love to do some scuba in the ocean but only if all the sharks stay to one side of the ocean! since that is never going to happen looks like i am limited to the pool but it is still cool! maybe one day i will man up and face the sharks.....but unlikely! it has been a long long week, me and jackie don't talk a whole much due to time diffrence, work, my pills (they make me goofy) and i am tired alot so.....we don't talk a whole lot but we are still hanging in there. we are looking foward to planning this wedding and i can not wait to get started! well i am not very good at these things, jackie is a lot better than me but i figured i should write one or two! take care!

Do we have to take her home?

Tuesday we got a little gift from heaven! My sister-in-law Kristyn was started Tuesday so she could have her second little girl, Brooklyn Sage Steele. So I woke up early to go take care of their other little girl, Kali Jade. Me and Kal are buddies. Its been hard because they used to live in our basement apartment and she would wake me up in the mornings by knocking on the door yelling "walkie!" till I came and got her. Even though its been only a few days, its sad how quiet its gotten here since they moved... But she was very good to me all day, she didn't even use her high pitched scream. Better yet, she even was wispering some of the day, oddly enough.

Brookie was born around noon and she only weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches! My brother Ryan sent me a picture telling me she was born so i had to show Kali, haha I did not expect her reaction. I had been trying to warm her up to the idea of a baby sister all day because little did she know, that her whole world was going to come crashing down... I wish I could explain her reaction, but you just had to be there. (If you know Kali, she has her looks down, even for her young age of 2). She looked at the picture with a mixture of emotion: disgust, frightened, confused.. and she mumbled/sighed/grunted/wined.





We went to the hospital and she was scared of the whole situation. It took her a while even to go see her Dad. She did a quick hello to her mom and then we left. I tried to warm her up to the idea again before we went back, and she took a little nap. She got a little more excited but then as we got there again she was overwhelmed. She did not want to leave my side. They let me hold her and I finally got Kali to come see her too and sort of hold her. But everyone was so excited she got shy again... but then Daddy came to the resuce and she started thinking "maybe this wont be too bad..."

Us Against Gravity

Another week passes were Jan is not feeling good. Sadly its always a variety of things... He got the call that his results were in (X-rays of his back) and he had to go meet with the doctor to see what the plan of action would be. So he was rushing to get there when gravity plus+ice took a toll on his back and yet again he was taken to the hospital. This did not help his situation. His back is going to give up on him if he keeps it up lol... We are still unsure what the verdict is because the doctor was German... Looking for the good in the situation, he is excited he gets another week off of work to recover...... but he is still wants to go on his snowboarding trip next week. ah... hopefully he gets feeling better soon!

Some one must have accidently pushed the slow motion button

Here I am again. Jan kept asking why I have not updated the blog. I reminded him that it was his turn since I did three in a row, he had to do three in a row, so he still had two more to go before I had to write anything. But I am a sucker for him so of coarse I gave in. (Hopefully it encourages him to write more). So here I go....

This time apart has been killing us. And it hasn't even been two weeks yet! And I still have about 54 days until I get to see him again :( Our story is a little bit different then everyone elses. Some people call it crazy, but I call it love. We meet each other a year and a half ago and out of all of that time we have only gotten the opportunity to see each other for a total of two months. So you should understand that time to us is very precious, and when we are together it means the world to us. I cant wait to spend a few days with him in Europe. But i am even more excited to get married to him so I can say good night and good morning everyday, instead of hoping for a phone call each day. .... we got so lucky to spend a whole month together I wanted to share some pictures and write a little about some of the good times that we had when he was here.....






This is the only picture we took of picking him up from the airport. Sad i know. Its not even of Jan.. but we get so excited to pick him up! But we felt a little bad because we were all standing in a circle talking when he arrived and luckily Hali sorta said something. It wasn't the most graceful pick up ever. Sorry Jan.







These looks are a usual for the boys. Tim with his creepy looks and Jan loosing control of his tongue.. We went to the pie in Salt lake with Jan's family, lol which was a good time, (thank you Hali) even though there was mention of the pink pussies and a wonderful chorus of "I'm too sexy for my shirt"... but once was not enough so we went back with Ang and Tim to have the amazing pizza!




Jan's birthday dinner! His family knows how to cook!








Miniature golf. "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye". We started out with a serious/fun game of golf. But some holes got quite frustrating. Lets just say getting some of our balls in their stupid golfing contraptions got a little violent sometimes. It wasn't as it easy as it looked. Some of us got a little too frustrated.





To the asians, building a snowman/women is no joke. (unless you pull out the questionable looking carrort) but it had to be 4 balls high and we even needed a ladder and many adults. It also couldn't be complete without asian slants and guns.






This is one of my favorite pictures. Aunt Janet is giving me and Jan a little push. haha.









Jan, Hali, and Hannah decided to create hoodlumism on neighbors snow. Lets just say they aren't as good as they once were.












Luckily when I took Jan on my surprise date to the Roof restaurant I had a sweet hookup so we got an amazing seat! It was really fun, and I even got Jan to eat a stuff mushroom that was to die for! (I guess some would say he is a sucker for me too).







Tree hunting with Jan's family made me realize how well I fit in with them. They are as indecisive as I am. Not one of Jan's favorite qualities about me.











Me kicking Jan's butt at one of my favoirte rides in Disney land. My game face is on.





Me and Jan being men. I decided that was the first and the last time i would have one of those.









We got lucky with the extra time so we decided it would be fun to take my nephew Payton sledding. The car ride turned out to be 10 times longer then the sledding trip. It was his first time going and he was a natural! Payt was kicking our butts!






In the end just being together was the best time! Sometimes doing nothing was more then enough... Jan is still in Germany. He is still trying to get used to things there. I am still here in Utah. I am still trying to be okay with him being gone. I wish we could say we are fantastic, but I guess we have to climb over the hill to get there first.......... As for the wedding, not much progress has been made. lol. A lot of ideas have been put out on the table though. But we are just working on the main things. Date, dress, place... Wish us luck.. We will need it............. ( PS. Jan its your turn. How do you feel about a girl beating you. You should try to catch up and write the next few).

Good Ole Germany

Well i am back, this is my first post, i figured i would give it a shot! Jackie has already told you our story! Germany is great......kind of. i will be home in a few months and in that time Jackie and my self hope to have a date picked out for you all, everyone always says that is the hardest part.....not ours, the hardest part about our wedding is, Jackies dress! if you all know Jackie, you should know what that means! To our dedicated stalkers hope to hear from soon feel free to write i have a facebook! DOWN WITH MYSPACE!

Jedi Jan

ASScher

That title is just for Jan. He will enjoy it just as much as he enjoyed the ASSfault pie. He thinks he is funny lol... anyway..

My ring! I forgot to put a picture of it. Jan pick out my ring all by himself (with Tim by his side). I am very proud of him, he did good. It is so perfect!

Another cloudy day

Yes, just to put everyone at ease, Jan made it back to Germany. I am very happy he is safe, but it was hard to send him back. He left Tuesday morning and arrived Wednesday morning. We will get to see each other in two months, when me and my parents head off to the worldful world of Europe. But these will be two long months. We don't like being apart.

For an update on the wedding... We have decided on our colors. But that is basically it. Yeah.. We have almost decided on a date so we will let you all know! As for a dress and place.... you might have to wait a long while...

Our Beginning

Well since everyone else was doing it, we decided to finally get one of these time wasters so others can stock our lives. This is also a good time to start one since we just got engaged and this is a new stage in our lives, so it would be good time to write everything down while we have these crazy adventures together. So have fun stocking us!

Well for all of you that haven't really heard our love story I'll do a quick version to get you caught up... I helped set up my best friend Angela on a blind date with a guy named Tim (now they are married, thank you very much, but this is our love story not theirs). And when they were dating Tim's best friend, Jan, was in the Army and he was stationed in Germany. Jan was coming home for a two week leave before he was sent to Iraq. Because our best friends were dating we got kind of dragged along to hang out with them. But it was good because me and Jan got along good. At the end of his leave we kinda had a thing for each other. We kept in contact and things just got better and better. We both have awesome personalities so of coarse we fell in love. He had a short leave in February, which was crazy to see each other again, but so good. We fell even more in love and then it was so hard to have to say good bye again, this time for nine months. While he was gone fighting bad guys, I tried to keep myself busy and I headed off to Europe for a study aboard art history and I never wanted to leave... Finally the worst was over and the world was no longer between us! He came home December 6th and we have been having so much fun since.

Christmas night we headed for Cali with our best friends, Ang and Tim. The first night there Jan asked me if I wanted to go walk on the beach and watch the gorgeous sunset. We had always talked about walking along the beach together so I thought it sounded like a super idea, but he was extremely excited about it and he was really jittery. I didn't think much about it and went along with it. We walked down to the water where he stopped me. I was really cold, and when I get cold I put my hands in his pocket to warm them up. He usually lets me but this time when I slid my hands in he yelled "NO!" and pushed my hands away. I thought jerk, lol, but then I was like ohhh now I am catching on. Then there was no turning back for him and thats where he started telling me stuff and pulled out the perfect ring and asked if i would marry him. I guess I said yes because after awhile he asked me if I would actually want to try on the ring. I got caught up in the moment and totally forgot about the ring, but i jumped at the chance of putting it on. It was a perfect fit:)
We got back home from the much needed trip and it was time for Jan to go back, which is always the worst of times. But i took him to the airport the first time and his flight was messed up, so i got to spend four more days with him. I was so excited. Then I took him back this morning and they would not let him on the plane. So good news, I get him four more days!...

And that is the beginning of our long love story. We have a lot more to come, so feel free to come and stock! over and out.