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