Guys! Life has been crazy! The semester is winding down, Richard and I are making life decisions together, adventures with friends, the holidays are coming… It’s been nuts! I want to blog all about everything but right now, I want to tell what I did for Thanksgiving this year! It was so fun and enjoyed every second!

A few months before Thanksgiving, Ashley discovered that she wouldn’t be able to go home for Thanksgiving so I invited her to be my plus one to my family’s dinner. She excitedly agreed. We made plans to go hang out with my family and it was going to be wonderful. Fast forward to when I met Richard. Things were got serious and he invited me to come to dinner at his parent’s house. Well, I had already invited Ashley to join me and my family for dinner (this was before I had even met Richard). So, after talking to his mom, he personally invited her to come too. It was pretty silly.

He had an interview down in Utah a few days before Thanksgiving, so just picked us up so Ash and I wouldn’t have to worry about how to get to Idaho. The three of us were all crammed into the backseat of his dad’s truck with mom and dad up front. It made for some opportune cuddle time. 😉

When we got to Idaho we said hi to his family and gave hugs, then we switched suitcases to his car and went to my house. (That’s where Ashley and I were staying.)

His family has a tradition of doing a white elephant gift exchange for all of the siblings. I was able to participate in that this year. There was a ton of stealing and teasing. It was so fun! I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in forever!!

Kind of a side story here… Right after we started talking in September, he mentioned that his parents were moving to North Carolina and that his whole family (minus Tabba) would be at Mom and Dad’s house for Thanksgiving. This was the last holiday for a while that they’d all be together. After that conversation, I had jokingly invited him to do Christmas with my family. I didn’t even know this kid! What was I doing?! So because Thanksgiving was with his family this year, everyday for almost a week, I would go over to his parents house (with Ashley in tow). It was so fun to be around him pretty much all day. Goodbyes were the worst…and still are!! The more I was around him, the more I was falling in love with him.

A few days after Thanksgiving, he suggested we go look at engagement rings. WHAT!? I mean, we had talked about it but it didn’t seem super urgent or serious right now – it had all been hypothetical. I was excited to see what the future holds with him, but we had only been dating for less than two months? Either way, we went and I was able to give him an idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like. Apparently, we have quite the difference in engagement ring taste. It was a fun afternoon of giggles and kisses.

The whole week was fantastic! I love his family and they love me, so that’s good right? Hehe. There were so many laughs, so much food, and lots of happy smiles! I can’t wait to see what other fun memories we will be able to create together!

I was talking to Mom a few weeks ago after my first real-life-in person-date with Richard. (We had had a few date nights over skype but this was our first actual date!!) I was just going on and on before it hit me. I had a huge epiphany that I HAD to talk to Brad about! I texted him and told him that I had a crazy realization that I wanted to talk to him about…

Part 1- Remember the trip to Idaho that Brad, Ash, and I took really randomly about two months ago? Yeah, the one where Brad’s car broke down?! So, like I had explained in that post, our original plan was to just stop at my parent’s house for about an hourish. Well, because our transportation quite working, we had to stay overnight. When I was talking to my mom, I realized that I wouldn’t have matched with Richard if we hadn’t had to stay in Pocatello that night! (Okay time line real quick… This adventure took place a few days after Brad had set up my Mutual account and I was kind of obsessed. It’s a pretty fun “game.” Anyway, my little distance setting doesn’t reach up to Pocatello… Okay, carry on.) If the car hadn’t have had called it quits, I wouldn’t have played on Match that night before falling asleep, and I wouldn’t have swiped up on him! And because I had swiped up on him, and was in Idaho Falls the next day, the distance thing reached to Pocatello, he was able to swipe up on me! What?!

Part 2- So, when we were getting ready for the trip, Brad kept saying that he needed to go to Idaho but didn’t know why and that we were supposed to go with him. Shortly after we came back from Idaho, I was pretty sad. Brad noticed and asked if I wanted to go for what I call a “walk-n-talk.” (We do “walk-n-talks” quite often. It’s become a staple in our friendship!) On our walk, I expressed what was going on in my head, he listened and spoke when I was done. He gave me some reassurance about what had been bothering me.  He also admitted something I wasn’t expecting. During our talk that night, he told me that the reason we had to go to Idaho was for me. He had no clue why, but I was supposed to be with him on that trip. While we were in Idaho, he realized that I was the reason he had to go to Idaho. Okay?

Part 3- That next Sunday, I was talking to Gillian, Sariah, and Jen about what I had realized. Brad was standing in our group too, laughing at my explication. After I was done talking, he said, “And what she doesn’t know is that I had been praying to be an instrument in the Lord’s hand a few days before our trip!” The answer to his prayer unfortunately cost him his car, but hey, I got a guy out of it! Brad told me that when Richard and I get married, we owe him a car.

Obviously there are many more things that have happened throughout my life but these three have definitely helped me realize that Heavenly Father loves me. He knows who I am. He knows what I need. He has a plan for me and He knows exactly how to help me achieve that plan. He places people, trials, and blessings in my life to encourage me to become the best Sarah I can be. I know with a surety that I am who I am right now because of My Father. He has helped guide me to this wonderful man that I’m head over heels for.

Heavenly Father is involved with every aspect of my life. I’ve seen it! I’ve felt His love. I’ve experienced his hand in my life so many times. He has been there for me during my transplant journey, my first love/heartbreak, my schooling, my family…everything! I mean, why wouldn’t He be? I’m His daughter. When I think about how much my earthly dad loves me, I get overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation. Dad has done so much for me in my life. It’s the same for my Heavenly Father. He loves me just as much, if not more than my dad here.

Mormon 5:23 says, “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?” If that’s correct, then  Heavenly Father cares about me. He loves me. He wants me to be happy. I know with all that I am that He is very much involved with me meeting and falling in love with Richard.

Toward the beginning of the September, Brad convinced me to get a Mutual account (basically Tinder for Mormons). He set it up for me and he did a fabulous job, might I add. About two weeks went by and I was getting messages from some really great guys. They all were super sweet and I really liked talking to them…but it was all virtual. I didn’t know who these guys really were.

One afternoon, I got a “Hi Sarah. How are you?” in my inbox on this app. I replied, “Hey Richard! I’m amazing. How are you,” totally thinking not much of it. Well, this guy pretty much immediately messaged back…every time I replied. It was weird but I really liked it. Haha. So we spent a few days constantly talking on this app. Soon, we were friends on social media and using FB Messenger as means of communication. We did that for a couple days before he asked me for my phone number. We texted on our personal numbers that day. Right as I was getting ready for bed that night, I get a text from this guy asking if I’d be okay with a phone call. Obviously, I was an anxious nervous mess. I was so excited. I told him yes and took a deep breath. A few minutes later, his phone call came through and I answered. We were on the phone for THREE HOURS that night…. After about a week of talking on the phone every night, we started doing video chat! (Since then, we’ve talked or video chatted at least every night before bed!!! Plus, obviously, constantly texting each other throughout the day. It’s been crazy!)

As we talked, I found so many similarities between us. I’ll tell you about when we met later in this post but after he met my friends I asked what they thought. My friends say that he’s a creepy clone of me. I asked if that was a good thing. Gillian said, “Well, we love you…and he’s basically you? So of course we like him!! He’s perfect for you!!” Like he’s literally me but a boy. It’s pretty funny.

Throughout our numerous conversations, the topic about what “we” were doing came up. I mean, that’s going to come up eventually. We both expressed that we really liked the other person and even though we were video chatting and seeing our faces it was all virtual. We needed to actually meet and make sure that the feelings we were having were real and not just twitterpation or the anticipation of potential feelings. A few days after that conversation he told me he was going to be in Utah for family stuff and wanted to know what my schedule was. I had class the Friday he was going to be here but I was going to be done after 11. We planned to meet up about noonish. Oh my gosh. I couldn’t sleep the night before. I was just way too excited.

Friday came and I couldn’t concentrate in class. I needed 12 to come faster!!! When it finally came around, he called me. The plan was for him to come get me and then we’d park at the school because I get parking for free! Yay for student perks!! Anyway, I got a call from him. He was lost… He had been right where he needed to be but didn’t think it was the right place so he left. It was pretty funny. I got him back on track and waited. I got a text telling me he was here so I headed downstairs. As I was walking out of the elevator, this tall guy walked in the door. He had a huge grin on his face as he hugged me. Guys, he gives THE best hugs!!

We walked over to City Creek for lunch and window shopping. Oh! The day before our date, he had asked if I would be okay if he held my hand. I admitted that I was hoping we would. Hehe. So, as I expected, he took a hold of my hand as we were walking. I don’t think we let go of each other’s hand all day…unless we absolutely had too. We wandered into the Disney store and he surprised me with buying a little Piglet zum-zum. He lives on my bookshelf where I can see him every time I walk into my bedroom. We then walked over to temple square where we walked around and talked. We touched the temple and took pictures too.

We made our way over to the school to meet up with some friends for dinner. One of the things Richard wanted to do is make dinner for me. Well, because he doesn’t live here and I don’t have a kitchen he’s allowed to be in, we asked Ashley if we could come invade hers. Obviously she said yes. In return, we decided to feed her too. Then we thought it would be fun to have more friends so Ben, Ashley, and Brad all tagged along to the store with us. After that adventure, we went over to Ashley’s house! Richard made dinner while I helped…when he let me. We talked and laughed. At one point, Ashley asked if we were “official” yet. Richard and I looked at each other and he grinned. “I’d be okay with that. Sarah, would you like to be my girlfriend?” “Yes!!” There were hugs and giggles. Ben and Brad returned from what they were doing and knew exactly what had happened while they were gone. It was pretty funny. We ate dinner and headed over to the dance that the ward was having. There we danced, laughed, I saved him from accidentally drinking pineapple punch (he’s really super allergic!), and met more friends. After we got bored with the dance, we gathered a bunch of friends and went back over to Ashely’s house for games! There we also met up with Sam, Jacob, and Warren. About 11ish, people started to trickle home. About midnight we said our goodbyes to friends and left. We still had a little bit before he had to leave. So we went back to my home and sat in the commons and talked. We talked about what our favorite parts of the day were and how happy we were.

It was such a wonderful day. The whole day was weird though…but definitely a good weird. It was weird because it wasn’t like I had just “met” him. It felt like I was reuniting with my best friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It wasn’t awkward, ever! Any silence we had had during the day was full of peace and comfort. The whole day while I was with him seemed perfect. Just everything about it seemed natural and normal!

We’ve only “dated” for about two weeks and only “known” each other for twoish months. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that short of a time. It feels soo much longer. Plus we just kind of automatically clicked from the very beginning!? We were talking about that the other night. I don’t think any of it is a coincidence… I’m pretty sure we knew each other before we came to earth. I know Heavenly Father helped me find Richard. The things that have happened in my life have helped me prepare to be the woman that I needed to be in order to deserve this wonderful man. There have been wayyyy too many tender mercies and divine interventions that could make me deny it. He’s special and I’m so glad he’s mine! I just love you, Richard Jay!!