Recent happenings.

Sounders vs. Real. Due to our bet and the fact that the Sounders lost, I had to go home wearing that nasty RSL jersey. 

Britt modeling our runway-ready toiletpaper wedding
gown at Danica's lovely wedding shower.

Onesie party at B206?

Ryan took me on a surprise Cinnabon date after I
96%-ed one of my midterms.

Sunset runs. Don't worry Dad, I had a buddy.

Seeing Kirsten at Temple Square!!!!

My coworker and I have special bond. 

Saying goodbye

When President Monson made the announcement 

that the acceptable age for missionary service would be lowered, 

I didn't really know what it would do to my life. 

Today I said goodbye to my two best friends on earth.

These are the girls I wanted to live with for the rest of my college experience.
The ones I wanted to go dress shopping with, ogle over wedding stuff with, and be one
another's bridesmaids. The ones I wanted to go on crazy road trips with during the
summers between school years. Run home to after an awesome date and gush
over a guy with. Freak out over first kisses, awesome test scores, and
engagements with.

It's really hard to accept that none of these things will happen now.

Australia and Brazil will be forever changed by the testimonies and pure
love radiated so naturally by these girls. What they are doing is incredible. I wish I could
follow, but I've received a different answer than they have. Maybe I'll post about that
someday. Or maybe it'll just stay in my journal. But by the time two years pass,
I'll be graduated, married, and probably in a different part of the world. I
don't know when I'll see these girls next. Timing is a funny thing.
I have to take a moment and be selfish. I've never been in a situation where
I've been separated from all the people I've depended on, confided in, and gotten
 to know deeper than anyone else in my life. Aside from my family, Molly, Mariah, and
Ryan are those people. I've come to see that making deep friends is difficult for me, not because
I'm shy, but because I take awhile to open up and feel a deep connection with someone.
It takes a lot of time, usually a lot of prying by the other person, and when it's finally
reached that point, that relationship is absolutely invaluable to me.
And that makes losing it even more painful.
 Today I'm more thankful than ever for my Savior, who can help me bear all pain that
I have ever felt, including some of the most crushing loneliness that I have ever experienced.
Then comes summer. Ryan leaves for L.A. for his internship. I'd be lying if I said I
wasn't sick with fright. It's going to take a whole lot of getting outside my comfort zone. There's
a whole lot I can say, but that's for my journal, not here. I'm scared. In many ways I'm completely
starting over. I have no idea what's going to happen this summer, but I do know
that it's all up to myself, my attitude, and my knowledge of the most important
relationship there is - the one between me, Heavenly Father, and his Son.
I'm ready to learn.

"A wedding? I love weddings! Drinks all around!"

Captain Jack Sparrow said it best.

After four days of sunshine and Disney, we made the four hour drive to Las Vegas, arriving at the wee hour of the morning and crashing in our designated room of the guesthouse. It wasn't until the next day that we actually got to see the beautiful place we had slept. My grandparents had rented a vacation home for us all to stay in and also have Dani and Hank's reception that evening. It was huge, it was gorgeous, and it was filled to the seams with family. The morning hours were full of greetings and laughter as 25+ Congers, Krops, and Jorgensons all wandered the massive hallways and rooms, finding out who was staying where and most importantly of all, where the showers were.
After the family brunch, it was off to the Las Vegas temple for the sealing. It was a beautiful day, with the stunning blue sky looking incredible against the white and gold spires of the temple.

{That constitutes the only three pictures I personally took of the day.}

As a bridesmaid in charge of the {absolutely gorgeous} flowers, I waited inside and handed them out as family members trickled out of the ceremony, all beaming and saying things like "They look so happy," and "Just wait till you see them!"

Boy were they right.

And the award for whitest legs goes to... me.

Then it was back to the house for an elegant reception with delicious food and wonderful friends.

As the only bridesmaid with a potential husband attending the wedding, the entire audience was rooting for
my catching of the bouquet. Check out that air, people. I'm proud of it.

A perfect day. [:

A trip full of happy places.

This past December, our parents stuck tickets to Disneyland in envelopes, handed them to us, and had us all open them at the same time. {Okay, I knew what was going on because my parents and I had to plan this trip around my school schedule, but none of my siblings knew.} The resulting reactions were pretty awesome. And with that, it was official. In February we would be spending 4 whole days in the happiest place on Earth {Well, actually that place is Yellowstone, but Disneyland is pretty darn close} before driving up to Las Vegas to attend our cousin Dani's wedding in a different, but very real kind of happiest place, the Las Vegas LDS temple. 

Flash forward to February 26th. After a very stressful afternoon starting with a call at 4pm from Southwest Airlines telling me that my 7:10 flight was delayed to the point that it would miss my connection, and that I wouldn't get to California unless I got my butt to the airport by 5 o'clock for a different flight, I finally landed in Orange County at 11pm, feeling like my heart was going to explode with happiness after running into my daddy's arms. Repeat that feeling when I was reunited with my brother, whose flight came a bit after mine, and then with my family at the hotel an hour later. So much HAPPINESS!

And then, for the next four days, we partied.

 {Waiting for Adventureland to open after spending our Magic Hour on Space Mountain and Small World. We got nervous sideways glances from other guests as we whispered our family strategy to get to Indiana Jones first: "Remember, V-formation guys! Show no mercy. Mow 'em down if you have to. Ready, break!"}

The weather was warm and sunny and the food farcically expensive, 

but we ate, we laughed, we wandered, and we rode those rides.

That's Sarah's California-Screamin'-accelerates-so-fast-your-face-rips-off face.

Sarah. She just couldn't handle it.

 And after two days, Ryan arrived. Cue MORE HAPPINESS. I literally did

not think any more of that stuff could fit inside me. But somehow, it did.

Disneyland/California Adventure at night. My favorite. {PS the World of Color show is INCREDIBLE.}

My family is amazing. Life is good.