Can I Have This Dance?

THIS.
This moment was absolutely priceless.

Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life. I married my best friend in the whole world! How could it not be the greatest day of my life?? This moment was one of my favorite moments from that perfect day. Here is the story:

Kyler and I were having trouble choosing a first dance song. We had millions of songs that we loved. We both kept suggesting songs, but they just didn't quite seem right. After days and days of debating, we settled on the song "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls. It was one of our songs, and we both loved it. It seemed to work, but it never seemed "perfect" like I wanted. 

Then one day, we were listening to the High School Musical 3 soundtrack and belting at the top of our lungs (normal every day occurrence, right? Well... it was for us...). The song "Can I Have This Dance" came around. Kyler didn't say anything that night, but the next day, when we were talking about first dance songs, he mentioned it. He seemed timid, maybe afraid I would think it was silly. I did at first, but then I listened to the lyrics. They were so perfect, just like I imagined! We decided we wanted that song to be our First Dance song. 

Well, a couple of days before the wedding, we started worrying that people would think it was dumb and that it was a little too fast anyway... So we jumped back to the original "Boys Like Girls" song we had previously chosen. It was a good song, and it seemed to fit just fine, but I was still disappointed we weren't dancing to the adorable HSM3 number.

Finally on the wedding day, it came time for our first dance! I was so excited. I had always dreamed of this moment. I walked onto to dance floor with my handsome husband, and waited for the song to start. It was when the first beat of the song started playing that my heart stopped. The song playing was "Can I Have This Dance". I can't say how ecstatic I was when I saw that our amazing photographer had captured my reaction! (Thank you Moxie Photography!) He had surprised me by telling the DJ right before the dance that there was a change of plans. As we started dancing, I asked why he changed it. His response was that this was our day. If our song was more upbeat, if people thought it was goofy or ridiculous, that didn't matter! What mattered was what made us happy on the biggest day of our lives. And this made me SO happy. We danced the night away to this pretty tune, and I had the time of my life. The night was now officially perfect.

He is a keeper. I am so happy to know that he is mine forever and ever! October 17th, 2014 was by far the most amazing day of my entire existence. 

Won't you promise me that you'll never forget
To keep dancing wherever we go next?
It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you.
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do.
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better.
So can I have this dance? Can I have this dance?
Can I have this dance?

Moab 2015

'Bout time I got around to putting together this video! Moab was a blast this year! I mean, come on, who doesn't love warmth, red rocks, and great company?? Enjoy this video I whipped up tonight!

For My Husband

I just wanna give a little shout out to my absolutely amazing husband. I have had a huge dream to be a photographer for what seems like my whole life. In middle school I got my first camera, and in high school, I started my own little business called Heather Marie Photography. It was not a huge success and I had to work SO hard for a few years to always be stepping up my game to learn all the skills I needed to be the photographer I knew I wanted to be.
I had started to be a little successful just a couple of years ago, getting word out, and started actually charging people for photo shoots. I got a nice camera and saved my money to get all kinds of different accessories for it.
About a year ago, I had kind of given up on this dream. I felt so discouraged that it wasn't taking off like I had hoped. I wasn't just instantly becoming famous like the few photographers I aspired to be like. I took jobs as they came, but I didn't promote myself, and basically just gave up. Then I met my husband. He took a look at my work and told me how great it was. He told me he didn't think I knew how good my photos were and how blessed I was with such a talent. He told me that I couldn't give up, that I needed to keep trying, and I could be just like the photographers I loved! I doubted for a couple of months, thinking he was just being nice. Then I took it to heart. I started promoting myself. I decided to try again. I started to "fake it 'til I made it". I redesigned my website, my Facebook page, and advertised in all the ways I thought possible! And guess what. I'm making progress. I have more weddings and photo shoots than I can count booked just in the rest of this year!! I am even taking a HUGE step and getting paid to take a trip to California to be the photographer for a beautiful wedding! I'm SO incredibly grateful for that push my husband gave me, and for the support and love he gives me each and every day. Thank you, Kyler. I wouldn't be where I am now without you. I love you!

#summerlovell

Hey everybody! Long time, no see. Well, it's finally summer, and I am SO EXTREMELY EXCITED. Our first summer married, and it's the best thing ever.
PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS: We bought a new camera for Kyler to second shoot for me as a videographer! (SO EXCITING! I love working with my partner in crime as a career!) We went on an adventure to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon to test it out, and here are the results...

Every Day is a New Adventure: Our Love Story

Chapter 1:

     Life is full of unexpected adventures, and I just so happen to be living one of the craziest adventures of my entire existence. About two years ago, I had my life completely planned to a tee, and absolutely NOTHING was going to change that. Stick to the plan, and your life will be perfect, I thought. Little did I know that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was going to change.

     I was 18 years old when my boyfriend and very best friend left on his LDS mission in February 2013. (Maybe many of you remember that post.) I had promised to wait for him. It was going to be a long two years, but we were planning to be married when he returned home. Everything was going as planned, but my life was going to take a quick and drastic turn without a moment's notice. At least that's what it seems like now... but back then, it was a long, drug out, relentless, and painful process that I thought would never end.

     Let's start at the beginning. I met Kyler when he came over to my house to hang out with my older brother. They were both 16 years old, and I was 11. Obviously, I was just "Corey's chubby little sister", so we didn't pay much attention to each other, but I do recall sometimes asking Corey when his new friend was gonna come over again. (I thought he was cute.) During high school they hung out quite a bit, but then they both went on their missions, and their lives for a while went separate ways. The next time I saw him was at his missionary homecoming. My brother had said that he was going, and I said I wanted to go as well. In fact my thought process was this: Hey I remember him! He was that one super cute kid. I wonder what he is like now... We finally got to talk to him when we went to the luncheon at his house following his homecoming talk. We talked for about 15 minutes, and then went on our way. I thought he was super duper cute, but I didn't really think anything of it. Fast forward a couple of years, and out of the blue my brother brings up that Kyler is going to be moving in with him as his roommate. The following Sunday (March 2013), I entered the kitchen when it was almost time for dinner, and lo and behold, this super attractive man was sitting at the dinner table. Being the obnoxious and boisterous human that I am, I went up to him and said "Hi! Do you remember me?!" He smiled so big and said "Of course I do, Heather!" Oh! Well then! Ever since then, he came over for family dinners and just basically became part of the family.
   
     Being used to him coming around only lasted for about a month, and then things started to get a little (a LOT) complicated in my brain. One night, (March 30th, 2013, to be exact... but only crazy girls remember silly dates like that!), I stayed up late with my mom and Kyler and just talked. I heard all about his life as he spoke with my mother about some of his very personal family history, and some huge struggles he had experienced. I just listened. I saw his reality in an instant. I was seeing this simply "cute boy" as now an incredibly strong, sweet, and amazing man. I was in awe at his strength, and at the fact that he had gone through what could classify as “Hell and back”, and STILL was this outstanding man! There was a light that shone through his eyes. A light and a spirit about him that just drew me to him; not just me, but my soul.

     

     Wait a second… Am I having….feelings for him?? No. No way…. But he is pretty cute… and really amazing… I may or may not have heard the song “Died In Your Arms” by Cutting Crew and stared for a little while.

     

     That night, when he left I felt like a little part of me had gone. I felt as if I had this new bond with him, and I didn’t understand. He wasn’t even talking to me, he was talking to my mom, and I was just sitting there at the kitchen counter listening. Yet, I felt this strange connection with him that I couldn’t shake off. This was ridiculous! My missionary had just left, so I convinced myself that I just KNEW that I WASTN'T having feelings for this guy, I was just missing male attention. So I decided to simply speak of this to no one, and lock it in a chest within a chest within a chest with, I don’t know, 7 locks or so.

     Days passed, and I was having a hard time being so confused and frustrated with myself. I went over to my brother’s house A LOT with my friends. I liked hanging out with Corey a ton! But there was always that longing to be near Kyler. One specific night, only a few days after I “locked up” my feelings, my friend and I went over to Corey and Kyler’s place. We were sitting on the couch watching a movie. I really don’t even remember what movie because I was a little distracted. But frankly, so was he, and it was all my fault. I made it a point to sit by him. I just talked to him, tried to be funny (found out we had the same sense of humor!), stole his rings off of his fingers and put them on mine, took pictures with him, took selfies of me on his phone and set one as his background, AND more. Yeah. I was being a flirtatious maniac, and I knew it. But I later convinced myself and him that I just had that type of personality. This flirting definitely worked because he was becoming so much more comfortable with me. I could feel that connection I had felt a few days earlier grow even stronger. We were bored of the movie (as if we were actually paying attention), and he said he was hungry and he wanted to go to Del Taco. He asked if anyone wanted to come with him and get anything. Shoot, I was nervous now, and I was so scared that people would suspect that I liked him if I went with him. I said nothing. But I was OVERJOYED when I heard him say “No one wants to come? Okay, well Heather, you’re coming with me.” OKAY!!… I mean, yeah sure. That’d be fun… I was excited, but played it cool. We jumped into his noisy black Camaro, and drove off. He told me to pick a song on his iPod. As I scrolled through the artists I saw Jesse McCartney appear on the list. “Um EXCUSE ME? You have Jesse McCartney?!” “Yeah…” he replied in a seemingly embarrassed way. I’m sorry, Kyler, but are you TRYING to make me love you? I played the song “How Do You Sleep?” by Jesse, and just sat there with a gigantic stupid smile on my face as we listened and drove with the windows down. He started to sing it. I melted in his passenger seat. NO. NOOOOOOOO!! He knows every word! He IS trying to kill me, isn’t he?  “Sing it! I KNOW you know these words!” he said to me. There he was, secretly slaying my heart one word at a time. We sang all the way home! Looks like I would have to put a few more locks and chains on that chest with all my forbidden feelings…

     After this, Kyler and I texted and talked ALL the time. We became pretty darn close, which made it even harder for me to ignore my feelings. That is, my feelings that I convinced myself were fake. I wanted to talk to him all the time! I wanted to be with him all the time. What in the world was wrong with me? I've never been one to feel like begging for attention from someone... Yet, here I am wishing I could follow him around like a puppy! Not even for attention, just because I constantly craved to be in his presence.

     One of the very important moments that I definitely would consider a starting point to our relationship was the night on the porch. You see, my family volunteered to move in with my grandma because she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and could no longer live alone. My parents, my little brother and I left our childhood home and moved in with her. Since that home was now vacant, my parents rented it out to my brother, Kyler, and another friend. This was hard living with my grandma who didn't even seem like my grandma anymore, and not having the same habits and lifestyle as usual. I was also struggling because I wanted to go on a mission, but I didn't know if I would be able to because of some health problems.

     I decided I wanted to go for a drive on a particularly hard night. I decided I wanted to drive over to my old house and just sit in it. I felt safe there. I texted Kyler and asked if he was still awake. I was so happy when he said yes! (and surprised since it was like 1:30 am) I told him I was having a hard time and that I was coming over because it made me feel better to be in that house. He was confused because I had been over there previously that day and had acted as if there wasn't anything wrong. I just had fun with everyone there. Regardless, he just told me that he was cool with that. I drove over and walked inside. I just sat in the family room on the floor and took everything in. Suddenly, I got a text from Kyler. He said he was sorry that I was having such a hard time and that he was going to sit outside on the porch to look at the stars, and invited me to join him if I wanted to talk. I was SO incredibly nervous. I didn't know if I could do it. Maybe I should just leave. What if I've been leading him on and now this will make it worse? I can't do this. I shouldn't do this. But I just couldn't bring myself to pass this up, even though I was having one of the biggest internal battles of my life. I heard the front door shut behind him. I walked into the bathroom and I just stared at myself in the mirror. You can do this, it's gonna be okay. Should you do this? Maybe you should just go home. No, I want to do this. I'm so scared.... Will you regret it if you don't go out there? Yes? Well then here goes nothing! I walked over to the door, put my hand on the cold metal handle. If you don't go now, you never will. I pulled the knob, and the door slowly creaked open as I creeped onto the porch. He turned around all snuggled in a blanket, and smiled that beautiful smile at me. I sat by him and we just talked. We talked about my problems first, and then we just kept talking. We talked about everything, and nothing; from movie making to our childhood. He eventually wrapped his warm blanket around me. We were sitting so close to each other, and my heart was pounding. Was this happening? We sat there on the porch sharing a blanket, saw several shooting stars, and talked until 4:30 am. There was never a silent moment, we both just kept talking. We talked, we laughed, we cried. I was in paradise sitting next to him and sharing such a memorable moment. This was when, he says, that he "really, truly, MADLY, DEEPLY started to .... like [me] quite powerfully."

     A part of me wishes I knew what The Lord had in store for us in the long run that night on the porch, but at the same time, striving to know the correct plan for us was all part of the wonderful journey that we now call love.

Our very first photo together.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G & I Love You's

Well people, it is the 10th of September. You know what this means.... (Actually you don't, and if you did I would be pretty freaked out...) This means that Kyler and I have been OFFICIALLY dating for 4 months! (Yes, I am that girl.) Okay, yep that's not very long. But those of you who know us have known that we have been doing this love dance for over a year now... ANYWAY! We used May 10th as our official date because that is the day we had our first kiss! ...Well...the day I punched him in the mouth with my mouth that turned into a kiss.
Interested? Good. Cause here is the story.

Once upon a time, I had had the worst day in the history of the world. I was already having such a hard time with some situations that I had been going through and some major changes in my life, and this day just flat out sucked. I was at my friend's pageant until about 9:00 that night and I was texting Kyler the whole time. I told him that I was having a bad day. He told me to not worry and that when I was finished he would come and pick me up and he would take me on a treasure hunt. Sweetest thing ever, right? Now, keep in mind that we were not dating at the time. We had held hands, and we both knew we loved each other, but we didn't really know where this thing we had was going.
Needless to say, I couldn't wait to see this guy. The pageant ended, and I got home only to put on some warm clothes and meet him at the door. :) He hugged me, and said "Hey, let's go have some fun!" He explained in the car that we were to find "The Treasure Of Ultimate Cuteness". I had no idea what that meant. I didn't know if he had planted a treasure, or if he was just trying to take me on a walk to make me smile and feel happier. Heck, I didn't care what it was, being in his presence made me the happiest little girl in the whole entire world.
We drove up to a random spot and parked. He told me to pull out the treasure map from his bag and tell us where to go! I was so confused. Like what?... Anyway, he grabbed my hand and lead me to a trail to hike up. We passed the twin caves, and many more "landmarks" that he named himself. We had made it to the destination of a beautiful waterfall. He turned on his flashlight and told me to hurry and look around for the treasure! I had NO IDEA what on earth I was searching for. After about 5 minutes of wandering aimlessly being timid and not knowing what I was doing, I saw a little soggy box hidden under a pile of rocks. "You found it, Heather, we did it!" he said. (Why is he so adorable tho?) we opened it up and I found things in the box including a set of tiny Uno cards, the teensiest little Tabasco bottle in the world, an itty bitty baby shot gun, and so many more cute mini things! I was dying. Those of you who know me know that I have heart attacks when I see cute tiny things. Taped to the lid of the box decorated in poinsettias and mud was a note that read, "Out of all the cutest things in this world, Heather Marie Woodcox is the very cutest!!!"... But I didn't discover that adorable note until about a month and a half after...
After we basked in the glory of the "Treasure of Ultimate Cuteness", we found a flat spot on the ground and laid down together with blanket he came prepared with. Nervously, I grabbed his arm began to cuddle up next to him. We laid there and talked and stared up at the bright stars and the tiny sliver of a moon. This whole laying on the ground with our faces inches away from each other became a reoccurring thing, and it was getting cutely annoying that we hadn't kissed yet. Now, I knew he wasn't going to make the first move because he knew that I had a boyfriend on a mission, and he didn't want to start anything with me unless I was totally sure that it was a good idea. I was so nervous but guess what. I WANTED TO KISS HIM SO BAD. I mean, COME ON. His mouth was RIGHT there, inches away from mine. Our gaze kept switching from the sky, to each other's eyes. It became silent. I asked what he was thinking. He said "I just really love this moment. I love being here with you." Yep, melted. He then asked, "What are you thinking?" I hesitated for a little bit and said "...You sure you wanna know?" He responded with yes. I hesitated again, and got up the courage to say, "I really want to kiss you right now." I took a deep breath because that was super hard for me to get that out of my mouth because I was so nervous. I thought he would kiss me. I have never been so nervous!
"Oh."

OH? OHHH?!?!?! THAT'S IT? He said "Oh.", smiled, and turned his gaze back to the stars. Excuse me, but if that wasn't asking for a kiss from you, I don't know what was. I felt really stupid. I then turned and looked up and the stars. "Yep." I said. After another pause, he said, "I want to kiss you too." THAT TOOK FOREVER! But STILL he didn't make a move or anything after. He just laid there starring into the stars. WHAT WAS THE DEAL! I didn't get it at the time, but he was actually trying extremely hard to respect me and holding himself back.
All of the sudden, we were rudely interrupted by the rustling of bushes and voices of teenage boys. We sat up to see them, and they responded "OH MAN, I'm so sorry guys. You can continue, don't mind us. Sorry to ruin your moment." Guys, for real? Well, we became very uncomfortable after they started lighting up their Pot. Awesome. So we just laughed at the strange situation, and started walking back down the mountain.
I wasn't too butt-hurt about the "Oh" comment. I knew now that he wasn't going to pull a move until I did first. He later told me that he was terrified because then next day I would talk to my missionary over Skype for Mother's Day and he didn't want to make things more complicated for me. Hence, the 2 "oh's" and hesitations. What a respectful man. I loved him even more.
We continued talking and headed down the mountain. When we got in the car, it was about midnight. I didn't want to go home yet. I didn't want to leave him just yet. We sat in the car and talked. We played "The Question Game" where one of us asks a question about the other person, and they respond, but then the person who asked the question has to respond with THEIR answer for that same question. We played that for a while and got into some deep stuff. That made me love him more. Could he be anymore irresistible? Clearly he couldn't, because we found ourselves in that silent situation again. He asked "What are you thinking?" I hesitated again and giggled. Well, I was gonna be honest! "I just.... really really want to kiss you."
"Oh."

"Oh" again, huh? Well, must be time to take matters into my own hands.
I could tell he was thinking of saying something, but I knew that if I didn't do this now, I never would. Here goes nothing!!
I LUNGED out of my seat and smacked his mouth with my mouth. He wasn't kissing me back.... What in the world? Well, maybe if you just keep kissing him he will kiss you back. Just keep kissing him.
I was correct. He did kiss me back. :) We kissed, and I didn't know until this very night that fireworks really were a thing that happened when you are kissing the love of your life. I believed in a spark, but some people believe that a first kiss will tell them everything they need to know about a relationship. I wasn't so sure about that, but now I am. The fireworks that were felt when my lips touched his were unexplainable.
When I pulled away, I backed up and said "....Sorry..."
He was just so surprised. I will never forget that face. He laughed and said "Don't be sorry........wow........" This was bliss. We were both smiling so big. This had finally happened.
I sat there staring at his smile and I knew that everything was okay.
"You realize this is going to make things a lot more complicated, right?" he said.
"Yep....." I said quietly, and we both giggled. He grabbed my face delicately, and pulled it to him slowly and kissed me more. (Boy, is he a good kisser...)
He pulled away and said, "I don't really know if this is okay to say right now, but Heather I have waited so long to say it. I love you, Heather Woodcox. I'm sure I do. ...You don't have to say it back, I know things are complicated, but I love you, and you need to know that. I have loved you for the longest time. I love you!
It was like the love in that car was tangible. I could almost physically touch it. It was the most romantic moment I have ever experienced, I wished I could stay there forever with him.

And the rest of that night was history. We drove home, and listened to "On Top Of The World" by Imagine Dragons on repeat and said it perfectly described that situation. :)

Kyler is the love of my life and my soul mate. Every time we kiss, those fireworks are still there and sometimes ever more are there! Every kiss is still as thrilling as the first time, and I wouldn't change a single thing.

I love you, Kyler.

{Feeling Crafty} Canvas Quote Project

Now that I have given this awesome present to him, I can now POST about it!!

For Kyler's Birthday, I gave him some lovely pearl cuff links that he pulls off like a CHAMP. (How did I get so lucky to get someone with such an amazing personality AND dashing good looks??) The cuff links match the pearl necklace he gave me for my birthday last month. :)
ANYWAY, along with those, I gave him this lovely canvas that I made for him!

Sorry the pictures aren't super awesome...

Since the beginning of our relationship, I started saying to him "You are my favorite human being." I think he always thought it was just a weird way to say it like that, but I always liked it because it was different. I guess it grew on him, and he one day said it back to me. So it has just been this saying that we use. :)

So, there's the back story. NOW FOR THE TUTORIAL!


Supplies

- White canvas
- Reusable letter stencils
- 2 foam brushes
- Decoupage glue
- Paint in the color of your choice
- White paint (optional)
- thin paint brush (optional)




STEP ONE:
Lay out the letters on your canvas to make sure they fit. Nothing worse than starting to glue on your stencils realizing there isn't enough room for all the words!

STEP TWO:

Remove some of the letters, and spread a thin layer of decoupage glue over the whole surface. Then press the letters onto the surface. Since I was starting from the right side, I had to press on the letters backwards. (Don't mess up!) I also found that it is easier if you spread the glue only in the place where you are placing the letter currently, since the glue dries so quickly.

Finish gluing. Very little drying time is needed.

STEP THREE:

Begin painting! I started painting the area with no letters first to allow a little more time to dry, but you can paint really anywhere. I don't have a picture of this, but just paint right on over the stencils! It actually looks awesome...

Let the paint dry, and paint multiple coats if desired. I painted two.

STEP FOUR:
After it has dried all the way, used a tack or some tweezers to peel up the letters. You don't want to peel up the paint at the same time, so be very careful.

It should look something like this:

After all the letters are peeled, this is what it should look like! 

STEP FIVE (optional):

I don't have pictures of this final OPTIONAL step, but there were a few spots where the blue paint had gotten underneath the stencils. I just took the white paint, and a skinny paint brush, and painted inside the letters that needed it so they all looked white and correct. 

AND THAT IS HOW IT'S DONE!

Thanks for reading, and HAPPY CRAFTING! :)

Heather and Kyler

I love this man more than anything.

The Answer is "Yes"

Well hey there!

I have been asked lots of questions about my life lately. And when I say lots, I mean LOTS. 

The answer to all of them is "Yes."

I am dating "this Kyler guy" as he is commonly referred to (even though he is much more than that). I have gotten many judgmental comments, and messages, and I am quite surprised with a lot of my "friends" to be quite honest. I'm not going to tell the whole story, but before you jump to the conclusion that I have left my missionary, Tony, or that I am cheating on him with someone else, or even that I'm just lonely and I just need to have attention, keep in mind that maybe it's not entirely my fault or decision.

Lately, I have felt that so many of you have viewed me and a terrible person for "messing up his mission" or "distracting him", but have you ever thought that it's just as hard, if not HARDER for me than it is for him?

Anyway, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, with ANYTHING, jumping to conclusions about someone can be very hurtful. Everyone does it, it doesn't make you horrible. Heck, even I catch myself doing it. We are human and it's just how we work. I have been hurting so bad about the situation with Tony, but I decided I wanted to stop keeping mine and Kyler's relationship a secret, so we went "Facebook Official" (haha;) for lack of a better phrase... and I got SO many great comments like "Finally!" or "You two are very cute! I'm so happy that you are happy!" or even "It makes me happy that you are doing what makes you happy, even when it's probably really hard." I can't tell you how relieved that made me feel. But it was the comments like "What about Tony?" or "You're screwing with his mission." or even a few choice swear words directed toward me, that's made me laugh. I laughed and tried to not let them get to me because I knew that this would happen from the beginning. I was prepared. But I can only do that to an extent. Those of you who REALLY know me know how hard it is for me to hurt people, and how hard it is for me to be hurt by someone that I love the most. If you know me, you should know that I don't take this lightly, and I wouldn't throw away something so wonderful for something temporary. It's those people that I really should care about.

I would like to thank EVERYONE who is supportive or even if you aren't supportive, those who were still kind about it. I would like to tell everyone who keeps up the messages and comments that are hurtful to please consider thinking about all of the possibilities that are going on before you jump to conclusions about a situation, or a person.

We all have our trials, we all deal with them differently, and I know without a doubt that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing right now. That's what is happening, so now you know.

"Yes." 

There is my answer to all of you. :) And I am truly happy with the situation because I am trusting in The Lord and His plan for me. I have no idea what is going to happen in the long run, but I do know that He always knows what I should do better than I ever will. 

One year ago when we were "chickacritt".

And then we went on an adventure and attempted to fish with a homemade fishing pole.
(As you can see, it was unsuccessful.)

This Memorial Day weekend in Moab.

Rainy Day Playlist

It has been so cloudy lately, and I really LOVE rain, but when it's just cloudy, I just feel so sad. I have wanted to make a playlist of songs I can listen to on gloomy days that won't make me depressed, and I wanted to share a few of my absolute favorites! So if you are also seeking songs that fit the rainy mood, but won't make you want to crawl into a hole and wallow in your grief, here are 20 of the best ones! :)

1. "Stop This Train" - John Mayer
2. "By The Grace Of God" - Katy Perry
3. "Wonderful" - Gary Go
4. "3x5" - John Mayer
(Pretty much any song by John Mayer...)
5. "Love Me" - Katy Perry
6. "Crazy Love" - Mindy Gledhill
7. "All The Pennies" Mindy Gledhill
8. "Crack the Shutters" - Snow Patrol
9. "Snails" - The Format
10. "Slow Love" - Michael Alvarado
11. "Underdog" - Imagine Dragons
12. "You & Me" - Dave Matthews Band
13. "Sweet Love" - Megan Joy
14. "Stolen" - Dashboard Confessional
15. "Lost Year" - Mute Math
16. "King And Lionheart" - Of Monsters and Men
17. "No Matter Where You Are" - Us
18. "The Heart of Life" - John Mayer  (a personal favorite)
19. "The First Single (You Know Me)" - The Format
20. "Closer To Love" - Matt Kearney

And there you have it! 1 hour and 19 minutes of pure goodness for that dull, cloudy day of yours.
Spotify Users!! I am on Spotify, and you can have access to this playlist on my account by clicking HERE. Listen to this playlist at home, or on the go with your mobile device!

I hope this makes your dreary days a little more sunny and bright. :) Enjoy!!

Yours Truly,

Heather

Jumbled Thoughts: No Regrets

Well, here I am! I'm alive and kicking! I have been having a little bit of a blogging rut, and haven't known what to write. Heck, I STILL don't know what to write! But here I am, plastering some words onto your screen.
My favorite songs this week have been "What Now" by Rihanna, "Cheer Up!" by A Great Big World, "Magic" by Coldplay, and "Hold On" by Colbie Caillet.  Can you say "emotional roller coaster"?
My best friend, Zoey, left on her mission on Wednesday, and I have made it almost a whole WEEK without my other half! Surprising, right? I would not have been able to do this without my OTHER best friend, Sydney, and without my friend Cassidy, AND without my parents, for sure. Those people are my rock. I have had so much drama lately, that if you were to crack open my brain and take a look at my thoughts, it would look like this:

Cool, yeah?
This week was filled with happiness, depression, anxiety, excitement, confusion, and every other emotion that one could ever feel, and after all of that, I do not regret one single thing. Crazy, right? Every day this week, (maybe even every hour!) I have said something along the lines of, "I shouldn't have done that." or "Why did I just do that?" And then proceed to beat myself up. Guess what. I am done! I don't regret anything! Everything that has happened this week has happened for a reason. I am stronger because of it. At the moment, I don't feel so strong...in fact, I feel very weak and vulnerable...but I have faith that I will be so much stronger in the long run. I remembered why I do the things I do. I doubted myself. I doubted my feelings, I doubted my words, I literally doubted almost everything. I felt embarrassed and stupid about some things that had happened, and that they had happened because of stupid decisions I have made, but I now know that our Father in Heaven has given us free agency. He wants us to CHOOSE! He has a plan for us. And according to our choices, that plan changes. But there is ALWAYS a plan B for us. He gives us this life to make mistakes. He gives us this life to be stupid! (Not to be taken in the ways of YOLO.) Because how else would we learn what to do without being completely idiotic? ;) Trial and error, right? I would not be where I am right now if I hadn't said the things I said, or done the things I had done this week, good or bad! Sure, I still don't feel totally great about them, but I know that I have made my choice and there is no going back. I will never regret something that made me smile. When you live with regrets, you are living in the past.
Don't look back with regret, look forward with hope.


"We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future."
-Steve Maraboli

Yours Truly,

Heather

Become as a Little Child

One day, I was walking around Downtown Park City, Utah with my best friend, Zoey. We were wandering around all over the strip mall, and I noticed that there was a big building that, in huge letters, read "FAMILY TREE CENTER". I was ECSTATIC! Being a missionary for the FamilySearch Library in Riverton, Utah, I was so elated to see this tiny little building woven into all of the little shops of downtown. I told Zoey that we HAD to go inside. We went into the center, and were greeted by a sister missionary. She introduced herself, got to know us a little, and asked if she could give us a short tour. Of course I said yes! We were introduced to different paintings on the wall, and a massive tree that was"growing" inside the building, with its branched intertwined with the things in the room. (Like so...)

We spent a few minutes at each spot in the room and learned a little bit about each thing. We then came to a painting that I had seen many times before. In fact, if you are "Mormon" (or religious in any way), I am almost positive you have seen this painting before. It is titled "Christ and the Children" by Harry Anderson.

I had never paid too much attention to this painting before. I have always really liked it, but it wasn't my favorite. I always liked the religious paintings that were more majestic looking, for some reason. I looked at this photo expecting the sister to tell me something along the lines of  "Christ loves everyone, but he always calls upon the children to see first." I had heard that many times, and I know that Christ loved children, which is very tender to me. But what that sister missionary said definitely changed my perspective on this painting. She told us what I expected her to, that Christ loves the children, but then she also pointed out something that I had never noticed before. There are children in the front that are all happy to see Christ, but in the background, there are adults just looking at Him. Maybe they are thinking it is strange that the children love him so much, maybe they are longing to be near him as well... Whatever they may be thinking, each one of those people have something in front of them, holding them back, if you will. (The woman with the vase, the men with the donkeys.) Whereas, the children have Jesus Christ as the first thing before them. For example, the little girl with the vase behind her, and Jesus in front of her. In Mark 10:14-16, it reads, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." We must become as a little child in order to enter into Christ's presence. How do we become as a little child? Children are innocent. Children are have a willingness to learn. Children are humble. Children are accepting, and full of love.

I know that if we have a desire to one day be in the presence of our God, and to feel His presence around us even today, that we must try our best to become as a little child. It is easy to have anger outweigh the love you have for someone. It is easy to be stubborn, and not want to learn. It is easy to judge people by their appearance and past experiences. Jesus Christ and our loving Heavenly Father do not want this from us. In Mosiah 3:19, it says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Become as a little child. I promise you, to be in the presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is incomprehensibly wonderful. It is true when everyone says that we are to be examples to the children around us, but more importantly, we must let those little ones be an example to us.

(Jean A. Stevens, the First Counselor in the LDS Primary General Presidency, gave an AMAZING talk titled "Become as a Little Child". If you have the time, read it!)

Just a little smile:

Here are a few photos of my most favorite kiddos in the whole world! :)

Yours truly,

Heather

Most Embarrassing Moment

Once upon a time, I was a senior in high school. I attended Paradigm High, and it was really a great school. We were in my most favorite class in all my high school years called "RISE", which was what Paradigm called a "Core Class", where we learn leadership skills and such. Well, we were doing a scavenger hunt, and we were outside in the back of the school where the previous clue had led us. There is a little valley in the back of the school that fills up with water when it rains that the students call "Paradigm Lake". It was summer, so thankfully it wasn't all soggy. We had to run down into that valley, and up the other side to reach the fence on the other side to get the clue. My whole team started sprinting across the field to get to the clue as fast as the could. I  really...really hate running, but I was falling behind so I just decided, "It's downhill, it will be easy." So I started running. About 5 steps in, I hyper-extended my knee. OUCH. That being done, I launched myself across the field. No, I didn't just fall, I flew. I flew right into the grass, head first. I don't really remember much after that other than opening my eyes slowly and seeing a bunch of legs running toward me, and my head felt like it was cracked in half. My vision finally focused, and I started laughing because before, it looked like there were twice as many legs running toward me. Then I started laughing even harder because I just pictured watching myself dive down that hill. That must have been SO flipping hilarious. But then my head started throbbing when I laughed, so I started crying instead. I'm not sure how long I was out on the ground, but I'm sure it wasn't too long. To add to the fall, Tony, being the one watching me as I threw myself onto the ground, he told me that I landed head first, and my head bounced off the ground a couple of times. Boy, I'm glad that I was unconscious at the first knock on the head so I couldn't feel the other two... (at least not that I could remember.) He also said that he laughed for a second, until he realized that I wasn't getting up.
Meanwhile, everyone was circled around me and laughing not-so secretly, and asking if I was okay, and what happened. Yes, because I wanted to answer all of their questions right then...
I was still laying on the ground face down because I was afraid that if I got up, I would pass out and/or throw up, so I just laid there. I told them I was okay and that I would just lay there for a second, so they read the clue that lead to the next place to find the next clue. Once they had found out where they were going to go after this clue, a kid in my class asked, "Are you going to get up, of just lay there to get attention?" I wanted to stand up and puke all over his face, but I refrained. They just stood around me talking, and then moved on, after asking if I needed help to go to the office to get some help. Tony offered to stay back with me, as he helped me up. He put my arm around his while he carried me to the office, since it hurt like a mother puma giving birth to walk on my sprained knee.
I think the electricity in the school was about to blow up the building, or something, because the lights were so darn bright.Before we went into the office, I remember Tony setting my down on a chair, and with his big beautiful green eyes, he looked into my eyes to see if my pupils were the same size. He said it was hard to tell, so we went into the office. He told them what happened... The office ladies tried not to laugh. Tony asked to stay with me, but they told him he needed to go back to class. (Rats, I could have gotten some cute, quality time with my love...) He agreed, (that was his favorite class too, so he probably wasn't too heart broken to go back.) kissed my forehead, and left me to the ladies. They checked my pupils and told me that I most likely had a concussion. They put me in a dark room, with some ice packs for my knee and head, and told me to not sleep. Oh boy, I wanted to sleep so bad, but apparently, right after you get a concussion, you aren't supposed to sleep, so I just sat. It was the most fun I had had all day. (It's times like these when I wish there was a "sarcastic" font.)
Well, anyway, that is my most embarrassing moment. I do lots of things to embarrass myself, but I really don't get embarrassed much. This one definitely takes the gold.
To read another embarrassing moment that is CLOSE second to this one, just click here, and read that if you haven;'t already.

Now, I wish you a great day, free of embarrassing moments!

Yours Truly,

Heather

When I Grow Up...

When I was in pre-school, I was always so puzzled as to why people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I thought about all of the typical answers: Teacher, doctor, veternarian, engineer, etc. none of these seemed interesting to me in the slightest. I didn't understand the concept of college, and all the work you would have to put in to pursue a career... I mean, I was 4 years old. I stuck with the title "teacher". I wanted to be a teacher and that is what I told anyone who asked me. Occasionally I would mix things up a bit and say "doctor", but really I knew what I wanted to be. I knew from the time I was four years old, I was just embarrassed to say it because it wasn't a typical answer that kids I knew gave. I wanted to be a mom. I was a kid myself, of course it was crazy to say that. I had no idea what being a mother would be like, but I knew that my mom made it look so easy, and I just was drawn to babies for some strange reason.
Fun fact, I played with baby dolls until I was thirteen.
When I got to be twelve years old, I decided that an awesome way to practice my future career was to babysit! I decided that for a 10-hour project for my Personal Progress in the Good Works section, I would offer to babysit for people while they did Christmas shopping, and I would do it for free. This got me so many jobs, and I was IN HEAVEN. One day, I had three babysitting jobs in one day and I could not have been happier! Eventually I was at that age (14-16) that I would babysit almost every weekend for a neighbor. A typical teenage girl would say, "Man, I'm always babysitting, I never get to do anything on weekends." But I was strange and instead I thought, "YES! Who needs friends, I get to play with little kids!" I would babysit my cousins, neighbors, and I would even babysit for my friend's neighbors.
I got focused with graduating high school, my best friends and my boyfriend, and my job at a craft store, that those jobs started dying down. Eventually, I quit my job at the craft store because, frankly, I hated it, and it was too far away from the house we were moving into after I graduated. I turned 18 shortly after, and applied for jobs at multiple day cares. I just wanted to do something that I loved. I wanted to be able to say " I get to work today" instead of  "I have to work today." Those jobs at the day cares just weren't working out and I was really very frustrated.
One day, I saw a commercial on TV for Care.com. I thought maybe it looked a little sketchy... What if someone pretends they have kids, I come over for an interview and they kidnap me and kill me?? (Yes, I always think the worst.) Well, I decided to give it a go and sign up. I signed up and applied for a few jobs. There were a few that stuck out to me. One described the job as "A Mother's Helper". There were 4 kids, ages six, four, two, and six weeks. That description called my name! I clicked on it to learn more. I found out that one of the children was special needs. That made me think twice... I didn't know how to handle kids like that. I think they are the cutest, but how would I take care of them? I decided that I might as well try. I wrote her a message, and she wrote me back about 3 days later and wanted to meet me. I told her I would come over that next day and I would bring my friend for safety purposes. I was so excited, but I was really nervous. I met her and she was so nice! (She was not a scary kidnapper!) We talked about hours, responsibilities and all that grown up stuff. Then we go to the good stuff: Meeting the kids. Eden, the oldest, dark hair, and dark eyes, peeked around the corner as I was visiting with her mother. She was very curious to know who I was. She loved her dolls, and playing with her little brother, Holden. Holden comes right after Eden. They look like they could be twins, and might as well be. They are best friends, and I could tell by the moment I saw them. He was a little shy at first. He had trouble warming up to me but I could tell that he would be a cutie. Sebastian was next, with his long, stick straight, light brown hair and stunning blue eyes with lashes  three times as long as mine. I couldn't get enough of him. As creepy as this sounds, I just wanted to look at him! He liked to cuddle, he loved Pokoyo, and he loved his light up toys. Oh yeah, and he has cerebral palsy. He was born at 27 weeks, and had bleeding in his brain., which gave him brain damage. He was truly a fighter, and was the strongest little 2-year-old I had ever met. And last, but not least was little miss Ava. Being just six weeks old, she slept peacefully on the couch with her thick dark hair. I had never seen something more precious. I knew I was going to make a difference in this family. I knew that this was going to be part of my life. Chantelle, the mother, started showing me around and talking to me like I already have the job. She asked if I could start next week, and of course I said yes! I could not wait to make a difference in these kids' lives and to help out this busy, busy mother. Little did I know, that this was really going to change MY life forever. They were going to make a difference in my life, and help out this busy busy teenager.
I got this wonderful job in June of 2012. I am still nannying this family, and I love EVERY second of it.
Eden is now eight, and she and I are great friends. We love doing hair, playing with her Polly Pockets, and watching Sophia The First. Holden is now six (and a half, don't forget) years old, and he is like my little brother. There is almost never a time when we aren't teasing and tricking each other. He likes to ride his bike and eat food. Sebastian is four, and  just learning to walk. He says words, but not very often. He is so cuddly, very ticklish, and will laugh hysterically for no reason whatsoever. He is my angel. Ava is one and a half and is such a little kidster! She can talk, but she only will if she feels like it. She is sassy and hilarious. She is a champion at throwing fits, but can be such a funny little cutie. I love all of these kids to pieces. Tonight, I had a unique experience. The parents went on a date, and I was excited to be there. I like to be there during the day more, because then I don't have to put them to bed, but nevertheless, I was there, and I was excited to see them and play with them. Well, tonight, I wasn't really feeling it, and neither were those kids. Ava was throwing her dinner all over the place, Sebastian was crying because he was so hungry, but he wouldn't eat. Eden kept getting distracted, and Holden just kept wanting to eat! I was so tired of everything and getting very angry. I wanted anything but to take it out on those kids so I went and got a glass of water and hid in the bathroom for about three minutes. I came out and decided that I would make Ava sit there until she decided to eat like a good girl, and I had to sort of hold Sebastian down so he could get food in him. After three or four bites, he chewed down. Eden and Holden were finally finished with dinner and sat down to watch a show. I took Ava upstairs and sent her to bed. I took Eden, Holden and Sebastian upstairs to read stories and get "jammies" on.  They picked stories, and Holden was out like a light. I have never seen a child fall asleep faster than that! Eden asked for a piece I cheese after her story, so I got her that. (Strange request, I know. That's Eden for ya.) after I fetched her some cheese, I was heading out to take Sebastian to bed. I heard Eden say quietly, "Goodnight, I love you." She had never said that before. It was then and there when I realized all of these amazing things about my job. Sure, it is so hard, and sometimes you want to pull your hair out and hide in the bathroom forever, but in the end, I would not change a single thing. And as if that little "I love you" wasn't good enough, I went in to rock Sebastian in the rocking chair and give him a bottle. He snuggled right on up to me and held my hand the whole time. Sebastian shows affection by touch, and boy, was he showing me he loved me. How precious is it to be loved by a child? It is beyond comparison. Nothing is better than being loved by something so innocent and special.
Being a mother will be hard. Being a mother will be one of the most difficult things I will ever have to endure, and I know this... But if a night like tonight is how motherhood is, sign me up.

If only wanting to be a mother when I grow up is wrong, I don't want to be right.

From Heather to Heather

Yesterday, while at the Riverton FamilySearch Library where I serve a mission, there were about 3 patrons there, and all being helped. I felt very useless. I was late that day (again) and felt really disappointed in myself. You see, I tend to beat myself up about silly things like that. Things that normal people forget about 30 minutes later. I was really slacking, and I had already been honestly very depressed that morning, and that past couple of days. I felt like everyone was so disappointed me for multiple reasons, and the feeling of disappointing people, for me, is the worst thing that could ever happen. I was about to break down into tears for reasons that even I didn't know. It was about 12 pm and I decided it was time for my lunch break. I was really sick of feeling this way, and I knew that I needed to snap out of it.
I knew that Satan was really getting to me. I realized right there, as I got up to leave for lunch, that Satan was succeeding in making me miserable. He is so jealous that I am on this earth with a body and so much happiness, that he was beating me down like a pinata. AND I WAS ALLOWING IT. 
As I walked out of that library, I walked straight into the ladies' room. Right when you walk in, there is a full body mirror. I made sure there was no one in the stalls, or standing by the sinks. I just stood there and looked at myself in that big mirror. It was almost like I wasn't even in my body; like I was staring at someone standing in front of me. I examined my body in the mirror for a couple of minutes. It felt very strange at first, but I stopped caring about how weird I felt doing it, and did it anyway. After all, no one knew what I was doing anyway!
After those few minutes, I looked at myself and said aloud, "Heather, you need to snap out of it. Do you know how strong you are?..."
Weird. This had never happened to me before. This wasn't the first time that I had given myself a mini pep talk in the mirror, to be quite honest, but this was the first time that it felt this almost indescribable feeling of not being in my own body. It was like my spirit was talking to my soul. I stared right into the eyes of that strange, yet familiar person who stood in front of me. She spoke to me saying "Satan is winning, and you need to shoo him away! You run your life, and all you need is the help of your Father in Heaven." That person in front of me reminded me that Satan is strong, but with the help of my Heavenly Father, I am stronger! That strong girl in the mirror reminded me that I am so much stronger that I think I am and that I am a daughter of God. She told me that for the rest of this day, I was going to be better. For the rest of this week, I was going to be better. And if I do something wrong, I don't need to carry that burden. All I need to do is pray to Heavenly Father and tell him how I didn't do my best, but I promise to try harder! Once I have done that, and I really do strive to be better, I don't have to carry that burden any longer. I don't have to worry about it because of the Atonement. Jesus Christ died on that cross and suffered for our sins to that we didn't have to suffer, and that is exactly what I was letting myself do: Suffer.
I didn't want to feel like this anymore. After telling myself that I was going to be better, and that the way to feel happier was simple as that, I felt as if I was in my own body again. I felt so much better. It was as if saying all of those things that I knew out loud instead of just merely thinking them made The Adversary disappear. I no longer felt that confusion, that sadness, or that guilt, but I felt comfort, I felt lighter, and I felt stronger than ever.

Through Christ, we can do all things. I know this is true. Satan pushes you, frightens you, confuses you, and discourages you, but God strengthens you, reassures you, leads you, comforts you, and encourages you. He loves you, and He will always be there.

Obviously, I struggle to remember these things all the time myself. From now on, I will remember this, and always know that I can be the best I can be, as long as I work alongside my Father in Heaven.


"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." -Joshua 1:9

Yours truly,

Heather

Blog Makeover!

Hello friends! I have just given my blog a facelift. I hope you like it. I really am hoping it doesn't look so amateur and juvenile anymore... I just wasn't feelin' it before. I hope you all enjoy is and look forward to the upcoming posts. Any questions about anything, or any recommendations for future posts, feel free to speak up!
Until next time, please enjoy this picture of a few famous people without teeth.

Yours Truly,

Heather

Happy Birthday, Jono!

Jonathan Alma Hill.

Never did I ever know that that man would mean so much to me.
I met Jon in May of 2013. I went with my big brother to a bonfire. These were held quite frequently during the summer. There were always different people who came, but I loved going with my brother, sister and her family, and a couple of my best friends.
This bonfire only had a few people there. One of them was Jon, who was one of my brother's good friends. When I met him, I literally could not control my laughter. In fact, almost everyone there was a little embarrassed by me because I didn't even know him and I cracked up at almost everything that escaped his mouth! He and I immediately became friends, and saw each other a lot after that! In a very short time, he became one of my very very best friends.

Now, let me pause for a second and tell you a little about Jon. He was 28 years old. He was adopted by his wonderful parents and older sister. He recently reconnected with his birth family, and he loved them all so much. He served an LDS mission in Canada, and spoke 3 different languages. He was hilarious (as you saw above), and he had an incredible eye for photography. He saw such beauty in all that was around him. He had such a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and he was never afraid to share that. He always had a light in his eyes that was certainly unforgettable What an amazing man! He struggled with depression and anxiety and many other mental and physical problems. He also struggled with a severe drug problem. He had been clean for a long time, and was doing so well. He always told us that we (me and my friends) were his light, and always helped him to do the right thing. He wanted nothing more than to not have this problem, and did everything he could to get away from this Demon inside. He had a detox procedure done and also checked himself into a rehabilitation center, "Turning Point", for six weeks. He LOVED it there, and my best friend Zoey and I went to visit him every Sunday, the day he could have visitors. He was the happiest I have ever seen him when he was there. It was so relieving and amazing to see him so happy. Every second with Jon was a memorable moment.
Well, the day he was released from rehab, he overdosed. He was found unresponsive two days later.
This was the most devastating news of my life. I have never cried so hard. I have never felt so numb. All of the sudden, those memories were all I had left. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

 Our first photo together ("official best friend photo")

Our last text messages

Now, I don't mean for this post to be a depressing one, because Jon was everything but depressing! I want to dedicate this blog post to him for his birthday, November 20th, because I know I would not be where I am today without him and his influence in my life. I wouldn't be the same without his amazing testimony of the gospel. He is still with me, and I can feel him every day. I believe that he wanted me to share that he knew that his Father in Heaven loved him, and he loves each and every one of us perfectly. He wants me to share that he knows that he was not perfect, and neither are we. We are only human, but through the Atonement of Christ, we can all be saved and made perfect. We can not sink lower than the Atonement. Our God is a forgiving God, and He wants nothing more than for us to return to Him. I know that I am going to be able to see my Jono again, and that instead of seeing him suffering in all of the pains and trials he had to go through, he will "stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle, or happier for (him) that (he is) fully perfect and finally 'free at last.'" (Jeffery R. Holland)

That day truly can not come soon enough. 

To say that Jon was an amazing man would be a complete understatement. Losing him was one of the hardest things that has happened to me, but in the eternal perspective, I have not lost him at all. He is still a best friend that I will surely see again, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will be able to hug so him tightly and laugh with him again one day. I can't express how much I look forward to that day! 

I wish you the happiest of birthdays, Jonny Boy! Thank you for everything. I love you to the moon and back.

Love always, 

Your Heather :)