Oh my gosh, you guys. OH MY GOSH.

Jared has been out for....wait for it....2 MONTHS!! HOLY GUACAMOLE!! Can you believe it??
Neither can I. Whoa.

So something about Jared and I: We LOVE cooking. We would cook together every day. We made Salsa Chicken, Chicken Club Toasters, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chicken Katsu, and most importantly; Chicken Quesadillas. Those were our specialty. Now as you can see, we made a lot of stuff with chicken because that's really all we could afford. x]

So anyway...Since Jared has been out for 2 whole grand, amazing, super terrific months, I made chicken quesadillas!!

What I forgot was the fact that I usually get full after half of mine and end up giving the other half to Jared, who had already eaten 2 by the time i'm halfway done with one. Since he wasn't there to finish mine, I ate the whole thing. o___o

So in celebration, i'll share with you one of my favourite memories of us:
Once upon a time, Sam and Jared were at Jareds' apartment making Chicken Katsu. Sam is a little air-headed sometimes, and forgot that instead of frying the chicken in a pan, you have to dip it in flour, egg, then panko crumbs. So she put the chicken in the pan and started cooking it. Jared goes to check on the chicken and says, "Sam, why are you frying the chicken?" Sam freaks out and runs over to try and fix this mess she's made.
I'm so sorry! I ruined it! Dangit!" She starts crying. (She was having a rough day and really looking forward to this meal.) Jared looks from her to the chicken, walks over, hugs her, pulls her away and looks into her eyes, and just let's out the most sincere, hearty laugh ever. Sam doesn't understand. She just screwed up the whole meal! She's crying and just looking up at him while he laughs. But slowly, they both just fall to the floor laughing their heads off. Afterwards, he looks over at her and says, "Sam, sometimes, you just have to laugh at your mistakes, or else you're going to have a bad time." We had the best chicken quesadillas that night.

Thank you Jared, for teaching me how to laugh at my mistakes, even when I want to cry. To just look at the bad things and smile, knowing that something good will come out of it. :)

Thank you for 2 months, 2 emails, 3 letters, and all the love in the world. ♥

Keep your chins up, ladies! He's worth the wait!
-Samantha

I LOVE MY MOMMY!

OHMYGOODNESS MY MOMMY GOT ME SOME STICKERS.

I could die of happiness! (Just kidding.)

I put one on my phone like....The second I got them.

Here's the rest!!

From left to right: 

I ♥ My Missionary
Another Letter From Your Favourite Girl

Sealed At Arms Length

I'M STILL WAITING

Lengthen Your Stride

Ohmygoodness I love them!!

I think i'll write him a letter right now and put some of these friggin-cool stickers on it! 

WOOHOO!! :D

-Sam

ROAD TRIP TO REXBURG 2012!

          So, ever since the announcement was made that girls can go on a mission at age 19, I've been trying to get my papers done and everything. Bear in mind, I was already home, saving up and working, getting ready for my mission, but this announcement just turned my life upside-down! So with that, I had to go get all my stuff from Rexburg, since I wouldn't be returning! And who better to go with than my missionaries' Mom and sister?

          It was so fun. We went up in the St. Louis Arch, to Chimney Rock, Liberty Jail, Independence Visitors Center, and all over! His Mom has been such a source of support for me and I love her so much. <3 The whole trip it was always us talking, saying stuff like..."Well...if you marry Jared, we could...." or "For future reunions, we could have you and Jared do...." and other cute stuff like wedding ideas and all that. I loved it. So whenever I go somewhere cool, I always take my picture of Jared that I have and I take pictures with it so he can be there with me!
         Our road trip started with his Mom and sister picking me up from my house in Kentucky, from there, we drove to St. Louis, Independence, Liberty, the Pony Express Station in Wyoming, Chimney Rock, and a couple other landmarks! It was a very fun trip and lots of memories were made! His Mom has all the pictures, so i'll post more of them later.
          Being on that road trip with his family was bittersweet. I've been on roadtrips with them before, so it was nothing new. This time though, it was without him. It was just girls, so that was super fun! When we were driving home on Monday, eagerly awaiting his email, ( his Dad was sending it straight to me once he got it, because I was the only one with a smart-phone to read it ) I got an email DIRECTLY from Jared!! My very first email just for me! It was so wonderful! :) I giggled, screamed, and laughed in the backseat the whole rest of the way home. Ohmygoodness I still smile thinking about it. Then, his Dad sent his email that was directed to the family and I read that aloud to them, too. Both were great!
          Jared is doing very well in his area. Transfers are this week, but neither he nor I think he will be transferred. He doesn't have much time to relax on P-Days, because his SC works him really hard and doesn't give him much time to send ME mail. Jared promised he would find some time though to write me. <3 I love that boy.
          Anyway, i'll upload more pictures when I get them! Until next time, keep it up!
-Samantha

♥ Our Story ♥

The day he was set apart.

          I guess the best place to start is at the beginning! First of all, welcome to my blog! I've never done this before, so it's a very fun, new experience that i'm excited to do! I guess i'll introduce myself! My name is Samantha. :) I'm a 19 year old college student from Ohio. I attended BYU-Idaho for a year. I am currently at home in Kentucky taking online classes and working! I'm a yo-yo enthusiast, an artist, a missionaries girlfriend, and most importantly, I'm a Mormon.
          My Missionary: his name is Jared. He is my very best friend in the whole wide world! I love him to pieces. He is serving in the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission! He loves it out there, loves the people he's serving, and loves the gospel. He is 20 years old. He left on his mission on August 29th, 2012! He is the coolest yo-yo'ing, fire juggling, slack-lining, shoe-painting, sweetheart of a man and it's unbelievable I get the privilege to call him mine.

The first picture I have of us. I look like a dork.

          Anyway, back to this 'starting at the beginning' part: Here we go! 6 years ago, on a crisp day in October, I never would have thought that my life was about to change forever. I met the love of my life on October 13th, 2006. I was 13 years old; he was 14. We were at a birthday party of a mutual friend of ours. He still remembers the outfit I was wearing when we met. A couple stake dances later and emails were exchanged and the rest is history. :) I remember that first phone call, the first email, the first everything. But mostly, I just remember falling head over heels in love with this kid. But, as a 14 year old, nobody really believed I was really 'in love.' Heck, I didn't really know if I was either. I just knew that I wanted this boy to share every experience I would ever have in my life with me forever. So for the next 6 years, we did just that. He was my first date on my 16th birthday, my first kiss, and my first love. He's been my best friend, my confidante, my first thought when I wake up and my last thought before I fall asleep. For 6 years, he'd always told me that "we shouldn't date, we shouldn't date, not before he left on his mission, I think we should just continue being best friends. If I ever have a girlfriend before my mission, it will be you. You're everything to me." I would just smile and count myself lucky that I was his everything, regardless of what we called each other. In the summer of 2008, I moved to Kentucky because my mom got remarried. Holy crap. That was a hard thing to do. There were many countless nights I spent crying myself to sleep, missing him, missing home, but he helped me through it. I went back to visit all the time though, so it wasn't as hard as moving across the country. I moved back to Ohio during my senior year so I could graduate with all my friends. That was a very fun year!
          He graduated high-school 1 year before I did, so I was home in Ohio for my senior year in high school while he was a freshman out at BYU-Idaho. It was hard having him leave, but I knew it would be ultimately the best thing. While he was out there, he admits to having a crush on a girl. Being his best friend, of course I had to fully endorse it! I was genuinely happy for him, yet at the same time, hurt beyond comprehension. Time goes on and he asks me if I think he should ask this girl to be his girlfriend. Of course I say yes. How could I deny him that happiness? He was growing so much, becoming someone I was so proud of, my best friend was really growing and I wasn't going to stunt that growth! So I told him to do it. He does so, they get together, and my heart breaks. Oh boy does my heart just...break. What was I? I masochist? Who was I to him now? His best friend? I couldn't be, that was her role now. I was confused, lost, heart-broken and hurt.
          Time goes on, they're happy together. I start to ask him what's going to happen when I come out that summer. (He and this girl had began dating in the spring and I was coming out in the summer.) We were both confused. I wanted him to be happy, regardless of whether it was his girlfriend or myself making him happy. So...I get out to BYU-Idaho. Surprise surprise, we're still just as in love as we always had been. I tried not to let that show, though. I tried to bury everything down so that he could be the happiest one. Drama drama drama. A LOT of drama ensues. The semester ends, he goes home, his girlfriend goes home, and they try to figure out if they want to stay together or not. While all that is going on, I stay out at BYU-I and meet someone else. He asks me out, I say yes and we date. My whole thought process through this was: ' Jared didn't want me anymore, he had a girlfriend, he wasn't showing any interest in me, but we were still the best of friends'. The guy that I start dating asks me to marry him. .......What? I said yes. Why did I say yes? I was settling. I didn't think anyone else would want me. Turns out, he was an abusive, cheating, lying jerk who got kicked out of school. During all this, I didn't tell Jared a lot of details, I would keep a lot of secrets and I really lost his trust during this time.
          Jared comes back to school the following winter semester. YAY!! Being re-united with my best friend was the BEST. And, long story short, he fights the big bad monster away. He had my heart all along. Then...after 6 long years of being best friends, of always being there for each other, of phone calls until 4 in the morning, 100's of saved text messages, many sleepless nights and many other things: He asked me out. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. HE ASKED ME OUT. I think that was one of the happiest nights of my life. My best friend was now my boyfriend, after 6 years. Wow. I still smile and get chills thinking about it. :)
That was in January of 2012.
          Life has never been better after that. We were inseparable. Communication and love thrived in our relationship, everything was going better than we ever thought it could be. I spent this past summer on vacation with him and his family right up until the day he left on his mission. He is my everything. :) Waiting for him has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I do miss him, I do love him, I cannot WAIT for him to come home, but over all? I'm totally fine. And here's the twist! I'm going on a mission, too! He's always loved and supported me going, and cannot wait to hear where i'll be serving. I can't wait, either!
          So I guess in this blog, my main posts will be about things i'm doing during the wait, special things he says or does, good times, bad times, happy memories, songs, etc.

I'm just a girl, in love, and waiting for her best friend, her love, her missionary. 

If you have any questions about anything, just want to talk, or whatever, feel free to ask!