Anxiously Engaged

So.. it happened!  Shawn finally got his butt in gear and asked me to marry him - I'm engaged!!  Of course I have to tell everyone the story, so here it goes:

Shawn and I were able to go to the Christmas Devotional in SLC last night.  Afterwards, we walked around Temple Square and it was beautiful!  I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but not being able to feel my toes and fingers made me kind of cranky..  We walked around for at least 20 minutes before we headed back to the car.  By the time we got back to the car I was pretty crotchety because I was freezing cold.

I had to text my mother though, because apparently my father had thought that Shawn would for sure propose at Temple Square - the lights, the snow, the Christmas spirit - it was the perfect setting and very cliche.  But that did not happen so I texted her, "Guess dad was wrong."  She was sorry and then we chatted for a bit.

While she and I were chatting, Shawn had a brilliant idea:

• Shawn: "Do you mind if we take a little detour?  I want to go up to the zoo and get a better view of the city lights."
• Me: (probably answering very cranky like) "Sure.  Why not."

I did not even think about the fact that the zoo is where we went on our first date...so maybe THAT'S where it will happen.  No.  I was cold and wanted to go home.  But up to the zoo we drove.

When we finally got there though, instead of turning right into the zoo he turned left and went up the mountain some more to the "This is the Place Monument."  At that point I was even more frustrated.  It's the middle of December.  It's snowy outside.  And I cannot feel my feet.  He must have not noticed any of that though because he parked the car and made me get out.  Yes, he made me get out of the car and hike up to the monument in 6+ inches of snow.

It was beautiful, I must admit that.  So we are up there looking over the city and he turns to me, tells me he loves me, and gets down on one knee - IN THE SNOW!!!  He then asked me to marry him and of course I said yes!  Woot woot!

We were both freezing at that point and so we started penguin waddling back to the car (we were being cautious because we did not want to slip and fall down the mountain.  The cherry on top of this whole story is the fact that as we were penguin waddling back, on flat ground, through the icy parking lot, Shawn tripped over a slush ball and did a rollie-pollie roll.  I could not help but laugh at my new fiance.  That would happen!  I felt bad if that means anything, but it was just what I needed to know that this was going to be an adventure of a lifetime, and one that I could not wait for.

Of course he had to go and propose to me the same year that EFY's theme is "Anxiously Engaged!"  That kid.  What would I do without him?  It is only fitting though since that IS where we met.  Thanks, hun!  Now everyone can make memes about us.  Oh well, I can take it!  I am definitely "anxiously engaged!"

So there you have it folks.  I am engaged to the man of my dreams.  I could not be happier!!  Now, enjoy some pictures!!

 

Birthday Boy - Amric

This will be quick since I am just now getting around to saying Happy Birthday to my "little" brother.  I love and miss you, Amric!  Happy Birthday, kid!

Machew, Amric, and I

Cousin love

Dinner before the mission

Sporting our SUU!

Oh, Amric!  Remember when I was bigger than you!  You outgrew me at some point..

Prom in Omaha

I ran over Amric with this once..  My bad..

Good ol' mission prep movies

I just "happened" to run into him at the temple one day.  So we took advantage and had lunch and did a session together.  Funny how that worked out.

Just taken care of my lil bro.

I love this picture.

Young Sobczak's

Well, Amric, you are the BEST little brother a girl could ask for.  Thanks for being so great and one of my best friends.  Love you!  Hope you had the best day.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Here are my ABC's of gratitude for 2013:

A = Apryl, Austin, Amric, Anona, attorneys, air, art, apostles, apps, aunts, arms, airplanes
B = blue footed boobys, banks, brigham young university, baseball, basketball, blankets, Book of Mormon, Bible, boots, boats
C = college, candy, caffeine, cruises, calendar's, christmas, children, clothes, counsins, cars
D = daddy, dug the dog, disney, donuts, Delia, dance, dessert, Doctrine and Covenants, dog show
E = Especially for Youth, education, employment
F = Farm Credit Services of America, family, football, Facebook, feet, fall

G = grandparents, gospel, grass, genes, Gru, glass, Google, genealogy
H = Heavenly Father, hair, heat, home, hugs, hands, hiking, Hardin family
I = internet, independence, ice cream, insurance
J = Jesus Christ, Jimmy John's, job
K = kisses, kites, kindred, khakis, kitchen, kayak
L = love, lotion, llamas, legs, lollipop, lips, life

M = momma, mac, music, macey's, macy's, machew!, mustaches, makeup, money, minions, movies, marriage
N= Noyes family, Nebraska, news, nieces, nephews, nose
O = ocean, olaf, onion rings, oatmeal, object lessons, OBGYN, Olive Garden, Olympics
P = prophets, pi (3.14), pumpkin pie, pecan pie, Parker family, pajamas, plants, pictures, Pearl of Great Price, plants, parade

Q = quilts, questar, quirks
R = ren families, roses, Red Robin, radio, rafting
S = Shawn, Sean, Stephanie, sports, saunas, skiing, sunshine
T = Thanksgiving, turkey, temples, Tom Selleck, television, trucks, toys, traditions, technology
U = United States of America, uncles
V = Valley NE, Vermont
W = Washington (state)
X = xerox, x-ray, xenon
Y = yoyo, yak, Yahoo, yin yang
Z = zoo, zippers, zig zag, zip codes, zeal

anger - i feel it in my bones

I will not go into the hectic-ness of my life the last couple of weeks because I know most of you don't care and because it doesn't really matter.  Here is a quick summary of my week last week:

• four exams
• three papers
• a group project
• an exam to study for for this week
• yadda, yadda, yadda

Like I said - I know you don't care; I just wanted to whine about it one more time.

Anyway, I feel like I completely lost it today - maybe it was last night, or the night before...  Regardless of everything, my absolute final breaking point was today in my Marital Relations class - my group project.  I am just going to vent for a bit.

I HATE GROUP PROJECTS!

There.  Glad I got that off my chest.  But in all seriousness, I do not like them.  Granted, I did volunteer to assemble to PowerPoint Presentation - but my partner did absolutely nothing. NOTHING.  Scratch that, here is what she did:

• not attend class until the day of our presentation
• show up an hour and a half late to the meeting she and I had before our presentation, just to go over the final product
• oh yeah, and then she only had "a few minutes to spare"
• my comment: "gag me!"
• she decided to not show up to class on time today
• she was ten minutes late
• do you know who I am and that I freak out about things like that?
• bring cookies that she "made" herself (no, she went to Macey's, bought cookies, and threw them in a bag and claimed them as her own)
• she commented on literally one slide, which is equivalent to two minutes of our 25 minute presentation

Keep those things in mind.  The icing on the cake was not her fault (those were just stressers).  I was so confident in myself and my ability to assemble a presentation.  I was so proud of myself that I embedded my videos rather than switching the screen between my presentation and YouTube.  The presentation had started, I was on a roll, totally in control, and rocking it.  I was so organized and had my thoughts together - and then it happened.  I got to my third slide and I found that the videos would not play.  None of my videos played.  I was forced to switch my screen to YouTube, and therefore we had to watch the crazy Lady Gaga commercials (not what I was going for).  This is how I felt:

I was angry with myself.  I was angry that my partner had no idea what was going on.  I was angry because I looked like a fool.  There were lots of things.  And if you know me at all, you can imagine that the little girl pictured above was indeed how I felt.  However, I could not express those emotions.  I had to bottle those feelings up and find a way to just get through this presentation (without any help from my partner).  Thankfully we got through.  I was confident in my ability to get an "A" going into that, but leaving I know I most likely am in the "B" or "C" range.  

Thanks a lot.  See - it does not matter how much effort or work I put into something, I am just a "satisfactory" student who barely passes.  But hey!  I am here at BYU - suck on that!  (sorry, I had to find some kind of goodness in this day/week/semester).

But I have to thank my wonderful boyfriend Shawn for putting up with me and for taking me out to dinner tonight - yay for Cafe Rio!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  It's called...FOOD!

Birthday Girl

Everyone claims that they have the best sister.  However, I have some evidence about why mine tops all of them - and here they are:

1. She makes delicious food.  Take these cupcakes for instance.  We were celebrating St. Patrick's Day and she made GREEN cupcakes. Yum city!

2.  She makes faces like this - such a "Sobczak" thing to do!

3. She lets her kids help in the kitchen.  I know that this is an irritant to some, but not to my sister!  She goes out of her way to include her kids and make sure that they are having fun!

4. She is almost as wonderful as my mother.  I know she will be one day.  She is such an example to me what a loving daughter and mother should be.  I thank her for that. 

5. This kid.

6.  This pose.

7. This face.

Point: she taught him to be awesome, like her.

8 and 9. Her other two children.

Point: She has the most wonderful kids an aunt could ask for.  And she lets me pamper them and run them ragged.  She loves them!!

10. She loves her siblings too.  Can't go wrong with that.

11. She likes the color green (note all of her shirts thus far...)

12. She lets me post old pictures, take this picture to the right for example.

13. She is one of the most supportive people I know.  I admire that so much!

14. She taught me to be awesome:

"I AM AYRIS, AND I AM AWESOME!"

Of I could say right back to her now:

"YOU ARE APRYL, AND YOU ARE THE BEST SISTER EVER!"

Point: she inspires me to be better and to do better.

15. Last, but certainly not least, she is the best friend a sister/girl could ask for.  She lets me vent when I need to.  She gives me advice.  She is concerned about me.  She wants to know what's happening in my life.  She loves me for me.  She makes sure I am checked on and taken care of.  I know that I can turn to her an anytime for anything and she will be there. Always has been and always will be - thanks, sis!

There you have it folks.  Obviously there are more reasons than the ones listed, but these are what came to mind today as I've been thinking about her.  So, thank you, Apryl, for being the best sister out there.  You are the greatest!!  Keep up the hard work - YOU CAN DO IT!  I sure love you.  And miss you.  Hugs to you on this you birthday.

Love, Ayris Joan (can we count this as my birthday card for you...?)

Veterans Day

Today is a holiday, as many of you know.  But I feel like BYU has forgotten that today is Veterans Day.  I was discussing this with my mother last night, and she reminded me of a time when she kept me home from elementary school because it was Veterans Day.  The school called and asked where I was.  She explained to them that it was a federal holiday, so she kept me home.  Needless to say, they were not happy; also, BYU is the only other school I know that makes you go to school (and work) on Veterans Day.  Here are some reasons as to why I should not have to be on campus today:

1. Banks are closed
2. Mail will not be delivered
3. Federal offices are closed
4. We should be honoring Veterans
5. IT'S A HOLIDAY!

Are those good enough reasons?  If not, maybe this will change your mind - President Dwight D. Eisenhower said the following in regards to Veterans Day:

"...it is well for us to pause, to acknowledge our debt to those who paid so large a share of freedom's price.  As we stand here in grateful remembrance of the veterans' contributions we renew our conviction of individual responsibility to live in ways that support the eternal truths upon which our Nation is founded, and from which flows all its strength and all its greatness."

One last thought for good measure.  When proclaiming this a holiday in  1919, President Woodrow Wilson said this:

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

There you have it folks.  Veterans Day is a holiday.  And we should be spending our time remembering that, the people who have fought and died for this country, and for this land we live in.  Thanks a million veterans!

Say "no" to BYU Police.

Do you want to know my feelings on the BYU Police?  Well, here you go:

I don't like them.  Not one bit.  I could leave it at that, or I can explain myself.  I will use just one story, from today.

I work in the Conference Center on campus.  Today we had a work party and I was asked to bring food.  Because it is a 15 minute walk from my apartment, and because I was carrying food, I decided to drive.  This is rare first of all.  And second of all, when I got to work there were no open "Y Lot" spots (student parking).  Knowing that I work in the Conference Center, seeing that there are open Conference Center parking spots open, and realizing that I've parked there many times before and have never been cited, I decided to park there.

Bad idea.

After work, I went to my car and had a $50 parking citation.  Are you kidding me?  This is how I felt on the inside:

So now I have an important decision to make:

1. Appeal it
2. Pay the reduced amount of $35
3. Appeal it, not get that approved, and pay whatever amount they set

Thoughts anyone?