To Eternity & Beyond

I’ve already told the story a million times: to Brian’s YSA ward, my family, his family, his extended family, and all my coworkers today, and ya know what? 

IT. NEVER. GETS. OLD.

I’m sure to everyone else who’s within earshot is sick of my excited screams but too bad, I won’t apologize for it.

So everyone else that I don’t see on a daily basis wants to know how it happened and I figured this was the best way to share it, so here we have it…

Saturday, July 25, Brian and I went to a Bees game. For all you non-Utahans, the Bees are the minor league team for the Anaheim Angels. And Mike Trout played for the Bees, which makes them significantly cooler. 

Brian was super excited for this game which should have tipped me off that something strange was going on. My soon-to-be husband is all too happy to play sports, but when it comes to watching them he’s less than enthused. He is a great sport (pun intended) when it comes to accompanying me to various sporting events though. 

Brian packed drinks, snacks, and a blanket and we picked up Jimmy John’s (because I was feigning for a Turkey Tom) and we planned a picnic dinner outside the stadium. We were sitting on the southwest side of the stadium when a foul balled flew behind the stadium and landed in front of us. Brian then proceeded to ask me if I had ever caught a foul ball and told me how he never had but wanted one, and maybe we sat in the right spot. I told him “I doubt it, it’s kind of like the saying ‘lightning never strikes the same place twice.’” Little did I know…

The second thing that should have tipped me off: Brian "wasn’t hungry.” This doesn’t happen. There has only been once instance where this statement was accurate and it was for a period of 12 hours when he was upchucking constantly. Secretly I think that’s why he proposed: the sight/sound of vomit doesn’t make me run for the hills.

So after I’ve sufficiently stuffed my face, we go inside to watch some of the game. During our time at the game, Brian was on his phone constantly texting his friend Austin “about Elders Quorum business.” After the 5th inning, we went back outside because Brian’s appetite had suddenly reappeared. We sat down on our blanket where we had left our drinks and Brian opened his sandwich that was completely swarming with ants. Third reason I should have known: he didn’t even seem mad about his lack of dinner, he just started eating a granola bar as though his stomach wasn’t growling like he hadn’t eaten for a year. 

While sitting there talking, all of the sudden another foul ball drops about 15 feet in front of us. Brian jumps up and runs over to pick it up. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Wow, I guess lightning does strike the same place twice. You got your foul ball.”

B: “Yeah, but I don’t think its for me, it has your name on it.”

<insert my thoughts about how this is something cheesy Brian would normally say when giving me something to convince me to take it from him, even though he secretly wants it>

But then he got close enough that I could see the ball. Apparently my expression was entirely blank as my mind started screaming “OH MY GOSH, IT REALLY DOES HAVE MY NAME ON IT.” He got down on one knee, pulled the ball apart (he had cut it in half, had the Relief Society president from his ward hand stitch my name into the ball, and fashioned it into a ring box), and there was my ring. Then as you can imagine:

Me: “OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH <tears, laughter, more OMG’s>

So he asked me to marry him, and it was sealed with a kiss… or 50.

Afterward, I learned that the texts to Austin had nothing to do with EQ, but read something like, “Make sure the ring is in there tight…. Don’t throw it too hard… Make sure the ball is sealed shut… Dude are you here?… Ok you're in the right spot right??…” Etc. Austin of course had thrown the ball, and luckily, he’s an incredible photographer that captured it all on camera for us.

It’s been two days and it still doesn’t feel like real life. I don’t think I ever imagined to feel the way I do about Brian. From the moment we started talking and dating, I never had a single doubt that he was exactly who he says he is. I’ve never doubted him or questioned my ability to trust him, which I thought would be unheard of. From the day I met him, I’ve always known he cared more about me than himself. Not only because that’s how he is with everyone, but because he’s shown me every single day since that he will always honor me, cherish me, and fight for me. 

I didn’t know that relationships were supposed to be so fun, carefree, and easy. I guess you never realize how good it can be until you’re out of a storm and onto better things. I am so happy to spend eternity with the man of my dreams. I’m blessed to be marrying into the most incredible, loving, and Christ-like family and to have the CUTEST nieces and nephews. I've already been looking at wedding dresses online and planning out the fine details with my soon to be mother-in-law and I'm so excited for this next step of our lives. 

I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and all the positive changes joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has had for me. It has been the greatest choice of my life.

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My Career at 23.

As mentioned when I first started this blog, I have a bad habit of only posting when extraordinarily exciting things are happening. While my life has been exciting the last couple weeks, I haven’t taken any photos of it, something my family has reminded me of. So here’s what’s been going on…

4th of July weekend. Friday night we went to the drive-in movies with Randy, Sabra, Megan, Ryan, and some of Randy and Sabra’s friends from church. We saw Jurassic World for the second time and part of San Andreas (I wasn’t impressed..)

Saturday, we had a big BBQ/pool party at Brian’s house and watched fireworks in Clearfield, which was one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen yet.

But the most exciting part of my life currently is my new job. For those of you that don’t know, I accepted a new position as the marketing director at Smith Knowles Attorneys in Ogden, UT. Funny story how that worked out actually…

For the last couple months, Brian and I have talked about how when my apartment lease is up in September, I should move to Ogden. Not only is it an opportunity to live closer to him, but Ogden has a charm to it that Salt Lake City does not. Ogden is more rural and not as cramped. It has an old time feel to it and I think it’s cute.

After applying and interviewing with a company that I thought would be a good fit for me, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t financially what I was looking for and after not getting a response from them, I was annoyed enough to begin looking for another  position earlier than I had intended. 

Side note: I decided I did NOT enjoy B2B sales, and Ricoh, as the big company that it is, was going through some organizational change that made every single day of my job a headache and a half. I decided I would rather commute 45 mins each way to Ogden each day than stay at Ricoh any longer. 

I was searching on KSL.com for jobs sporadically when I came across a listing for a receptionist position at Smith Knowles. While there wasn’t any indication of what the position paid, I decided to apply anyway. I immediately got an email from Ben, the manager, asking if I was aware that the office was located in Ogden, as he saw my address on my resume was SLC. I explained I would be moving to Ogden soon, and he had someone call and set up an interview for me.

On the day of, I wasn’t nervous at all, almost assuming the position would pay too low for me to even consider, and I was proven right when halfway through the interview Ben stopped me and said “I have to say this now, you’re overqualified for this job and I don’t think you’ll be making the kind of money you’re hoping for.” My heart dropped a little when he said it. I was already making mental plans to live in the apartments beside the temple (literally across from the office) and dreams of walking to work seemed crushed. But then, he followed it up with this:

“However, we have a job I think you might be interested in. We haven’t been advertising for it in hopes that the perfect person would fall into our laps. We need a marketing director, and based on your sales experience and marketing work in Los Angeles, I think you’d be a great fit. If you’re interested, I’ll grab the president of the company and he can explain more about it to you.”

Obviously I said yes. And freaked out while he was out of the room. When the president came back in, he was holding my resume and the first thing he said was, “So Jessica, you’re from West Virginia.” I wasn’t sure whether to be offended that this was what stuck out to him the most, or scared that WV jokes were coming. It turns out, he served his LDS mission in WV and one of his best friends that he taught out there grew up in my hometown. SMALL WORLD. And on top of that, totally unheard of since no one out here knows where the heck Berkeley Springs, WV is. 

Giving me more information turned into me walking out of the office half an hour later with a formal offer letter in my hand. 

The first thing I did was freak out with excitement. The second thing I did was take the letter to Brian at work so we could both freak out with excitement. After a lot of speculation and prayer, it seemed like the offer was too good to be true. However, after two weeks I can happily say it is as good as I had hoped.

I market for 10 attorneys who are all LDS and incredibly nice. Everyone at work is helpful, uplifting, supportive, and extremely kind. My days fly by, my salary and commission are both significantly higher, and I have a renewed sense of happiness and accomplishment in work. 

I’m currently typing this from my brand new MacBook Pro the company provided me with. I have the freedom (both managerially and monetarily) to extend my creativity into any marketing idea I can think of. Best of all, I’m happily in a successful career at 23. 

Lessons learned here:

1. You’ve got to pay your dues. If I hadn’t struggled unhappily through 10 months at Ricoh, I wouldn’t have this job now.
2. God’s timing is spot on.
3. Prayer solves all problems, or at least changes your outlook on them so they can be seen as a blessing and not a problem.

I will try to remember to update on exciting events and marketing ideas I create at work. It shouldn’t be hard since I actually enjoy my occupation now.. Every aspect of my life makes me extremely happy. I truly have an absolutely incredible life with amazing people in it.

The only photos I've taken recently...

This was actually a snapchat but I found it amusing so here it is. Pre 4th of July party.

 New place of employment.

My pretty new MacBook Pro & Kate Spade case (:

 My cousin, Joe, his wife Julie, and their boys came to visit. These munchkins hold a very special place in my heart. & Here is a photo of 5 of my very favorite boys all together.

 I think I'll keep him.

XOXO.

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National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD

The last few days of vacation were spent mostly in West Virginia, exploring and dragging Brian around to all the scenic parts of my hometown and biking on the C&O Canal with my mom and stepdad (who recently bought a tandem bike and insisted that Brian and I try it out). 

 Fun historical fact for you: If you don't know what the C&O Canal is, it's the old canal that mules used to walk along and pull barges stacked with railroad equipment to build the railroad back in the day. It runs about 300 miles, including right alongside my hometown.

 Sadly, the weather before we got to MD/WV was less than favorable. Lots of thunderstorms and rain made the river rise high and muddy, so we weren't able to swim, kayak, or float.

Our last day in Maryland was spent at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, complete with dolphin shows and peddle boating out in the Inner Harbor to end the day. We touched stingrays and moon jellies. Here are tons of photos for your viewing pleasure.

 Yes, that croc is alive,

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