The Draught is Over & Two Weeks to Go.

This weekend was a good weekend, because after a month of separation (the draught as Zack likes to call it), Zachary and I were finally reunited on Friday. I woke up at 8 in the morning, despite the fact that I could have slept in, and since I still had about 4 hours till Zachary came. A car repair, car wash, and chat with Chris later, Zack called me as he stood outside of my apartment. I practically ran home from campus, walked inside my apartment, and there he was, sitting on my couch. Oh, glorious reunion.

First on our agenda was getting a license to wed. Which was slightly more difficult than one would expect because Zack kept saying his answers out loud while I was trying to fill out my own answers. However, we were successful, and could now run away to get married if we wanted to, but we won't because, two weeks.

After some moving, it was time to get ready for bridals. We took them at the state capitol, and it really was so much fun. I love our photographer Jalene, she is simply amazing! Here's a little sneak peek that my lovely bridesmaid, Jessika, captured. She was a gem coming to help us out all evening. 

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out at the Jarvis family reunion. I loved getting to meet the extended family and really feel so blessed to be joining such an incredible family. And a fun one, too!

They headed home today, but luckily, we only have to wait till Thursday to see each other again. And then till the next Thursday, and then we are married, because two weeks. Two weeks, people.

Love always,
Ems

Why I'll Never Say I'm not a Feminist Again.

My good friend Caroline posted this advertisement on her Facebook the other day, and ever since, I haven't been able to skip it when it comes up on my YouTube, let alone get through it without crying a little bit.

All through my high school career, I professed that I WAS NOT under any circumstances a feminist. Little did I know, I just had the wrong idea about feminism. Being a feminist doesn't mean you don't support stay-at-home-moms, it doesn't mean you hate men, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. Quite the contrary. To me, being a feminist means that women should be able to be whatever they want. So my friend wants to be a lawyer and I want to stay at home, that's great! We can both do that and be outstanding examples of femininity. Being a feminist means you want girls to believe in themselves. You want women to love themselves and every part of their bodies and personalities. Being a feminist means that we form a network of women who love and support one another.

The beautiful thing about this advertisement is that it empowers women. It shows us that there was a point in our lives when we believed in ourselves, and thought that we could do anything as good as the next person because we were girls. It reminds us to believe in ourselves like our ten year-old self did.

And that is why I'll never say I'm not a feminist again. I believe in all those things. I believe women should be able to go out and achieve whatever they want. More importantly, I want my daughters to know that they can win the race, they can be a scientist or a doctor, and they can excel at whatever it is they want to.

Love always,
Ems 

Surprise Surprise

Sometimes, the best things come from the most spontaneous ideas.

Flashback to July 3rd. I was talking to my little cousin, Megan, and she was asking about my 4th of July plans. She thought for sure I would be spending it with my wonderful fiancé because, that's what you're supposed to do, right? Except when you're in a long distance relationship... Anyway, I was sitting at work when I realized I didn't have any plans, and really just wanted to be with my new fiancé for the 4th. I walked into Sophia's office and said, "Do you and Will want to drive down to Arizona with me?" After some contemplation, they said yes!

We hopped in the car that evening at 6 pm and made the 10 hour trek to Mesa without Zack getting any wind of it, which was impressive given the amount of phone talking he and I do. When we were saying our goodnights, I made him really worried because I told him he needed to leave his phone on loud because I might need to call him. Little did he know it would be at 3 am when I was standing at his front door.

The look of surprise on his face when he opened the front door was completely worth the 10 hours it took to get to him. I've never seen him so shocked or so excited! Let me tell you, if you really want to feel loved, surprise your significant other with your presence, you'll never feel better!

We spent the weekend at the pool, in the lake, and eating delicious food from Cathy (Zack's mom, and my future mother-in-law whom I adore). The weekend was just lovely. Not to mention, exactly what I needed, because this month apart has been torture.

The good news is this: on Friday, the wait is over. Zack will be here for bridals, and then the next weekend I'm in Arizona, and the weekend after that, WE ARE GETTING MARRIED. Talk about madness.

Life is beautiful despite the madness.

Love always,
Ems

p.s. For those who asked, here's a ring pic.

What's not to Love?

Life is just darn beautiful. While being engaged has its moments of craziness, at the end of the day, when Zack calls me, and we get to catch up and just talk, every crazy moment slips away into pure bliss, because I am reminded that I'm marrying my best friend, and what's not to love about that? And whenever I get on Facebook, I make sure to go to his page, because seeing this:

makes me so happy. 

Something else I can't help but love: baby pictures of Zack. I'm making the traditional movie of the two of us through the years, and he recently sent me a handful of baby Zack pictures that I'm now obsessed with because he's almost too cute to handle. I mean, I know he's really good looking now, but childhood Zack is just adorable. Have a look:

Adorable, I tell ya.

Anyway, in news unrelated to engagement bliss, this weekend was spent in Sophia's classroom, helping her decorate it for the upcoming fall semester. Her classroom has also become one of my new obsessions, because it is also adorable, and we've put a lot of work in it. Helping her made me think that maybe I missed my calling in life and should be teaching, but I've realized I have a problem where I just want to do everything and can't. I want to be a teacher, a social media guru, an event planner, a medical assistant, etc. and there simply is not time in this life to do every profession I find interesting. I guess the good news is that above all those, I really do want to be a mom, and luckily, I'll be able to. Boohya.

Life is wonderful.

Love always,
Ems 

Engaged to My Very Favorite

If anyone has read my blog for a while, you know about my very favorite person. The person I've definitely written the most about, the person who's spent a lot of time in my life, the person who I call my very best friend and actually mean it. That person is Zachary William Jarvis, and that person is my fiancé.

Now how's that for the happiest sentence of my life?

After six long years of friendship, nintendo, soccer games, Michigan poker, teasing, and love, we're engaged to be married on August 16th in the Manti temple, in the same sealing room as my parents.

We got engaged at Lake Powell, after the most perfect weekend with his family, and he proposed with my grandmother's ring that I've been in love with forever. Everything about the evening of our engagement was perfect, including being pulled over by the lake police, because what's life without a little bit of adventure?

Lots of people have been surprised at how quickly everything has happened: Zack had only been home for a month and a half when we got engaged, and we are getting married on his three month mark of being home. Surprising people has been awesome and so fun, because we've just decided that we know this is the right thing for us, so let others think what they will. I've never been happier in my entire life, and we're not even living in the same state! However, knowing that I'm marrying the person I've loved since sophomore year of high school is an absolute dream come true, in the most literal sense of the phrase. I've waited for this for six long years and it all seems too good to be true that I get to call him fiancé, and in a month, husband.

Zachary William Jarvis is my very favorite person in the entire world. He's funny, and he thinks I'm funny (which is a plus), but he's also caring, adoring, full of service, sensitive, hard working, and determined. Above all, I know that I'm marrying my number one fan, my greatest confidant, my biggest adventuring partner, and my very best friend. Lots of people say they're marrying their best friend, but I seriously doubt they know the meaning of best friend the way that Zack and I do. We've been there for each other through some of our hardest moments in our lives, and now, we get to face those hard moments together.

I'm beyond elated to marry this goofball of mine, and I really can't express my gratitude for the paths our lives have wound to bring us to this point. Everything I've ever wanted in a husband is in that man at the top of this post, how could I ever ask for more?

Life is wonderful!

Love always,
Ems

p.s. Just for fun, here's a picture of when we (essentially) first met on my 16th birthday.

Happy Sunday, Folks.

Happy Sunday, internet friends.

As I was flying into JFK airport today I had a thought that relates to this Mormon Message video (one that is possibly my favorite Mormon Message).

You see, as we were flying in, I was looking at all of the houses and from a high altitude, a heavenly view perhaps, everything looked relatively the same. I could not tell the difference in class and wealth, they all looked like nice houses and I thought, "I'm sure good people live there". Sure, the houses were different shapes and sizes, but they all looked relatively the same- like houses. It wasn't until we got closer to the ground that I could tell a difference in wealth between the houses. How like life that is.

When we are close to the ground, heavily influenced by worldly possessions and descriptions of worth, it's easy to tell a difference between different people. It's easy to judge; however, when we try and view people from a heavenly perspective, when we look at their self-worth as our Heavenly Father would, we begin to see fewer and fewer differences. We realize that God loves all of his children as precisely that, his children. He does not discriminate based on wealth, religion, race, appearance-- he simple loves everyone. To him, they are all children, just as to me, flying high above, all the houses were just house. And that's such a splendid thought to me. God is our loving father. He is a father who cares for all of us. He cares about the tiny things we think nobody cares about. He wants us to be happy, and He's trying his very hardest to lead us to that happiness- it's different for everyone.

 I'm going to try and remember this with every person I met. Because while I've known it's true for a long time, it's always hard to implement in real life. I know we're all children of God, and I'm so thankful for that knowledge, and for God's love.

Oh, it is wonderful to me.

 Love always, Ems

When the Best Friend Returns. . .

We party.

My very best friend in the entire world got home from his mission on May 15th, 2014, and it was extraordinary. Zac Velarde, being the good friend he is, sent me snapchats of the entire airport meeting, because I threatened to hurt him if he didn't. Oddly enough, my heart was pounding when Velarde told me they were waiting for him, and then I was elated when I got these first two snaps.

But the burst of happiness came when I got the picture of the two best friends united after two long, hard years of separation. It was always hard to hear Velarde talk about how much he missed Zack because something about their friendship just sort of pulls at my heart- they really are the best of friends. It's like at our high school graduation, I only started crying when I saw the two of them hug and tear up.

Anyway. I got to go out ATVing with Zack's family the day after he got home. He taught me how to drive, and while I'm no expert, it was pretty darn fun. Personally, I think we really rock the helmets like nobody's business. #thuglife

Then, for Memorial Day, the Jarvis family was gracious enough to invite my roommates and myself down to their cabin in Munds Park for the extended weekend, and we had such a blast. It was the perfect weekend. We played a lot of Michigan Poker (and had a game where Zack lost ALL of his chips which I have never seen happen), rode around on the ATVs, played LOTS of volleyball, and told some pretty ridiculous jokes. Oh, and ate lots and lots of good food. Which is always a big plus in life. Also, can I take a moment to say how much I adore my roommates? There is never a dull moment in this apartment, and we all get along amazingly well. We're supportive of each other, we laugh, we cry, we party, it's just the best, and everyday I'm thankful. Also, we really missed Cicily on our trip, she went home for the weekend. 

So yes, life has been a party since Zachary William got home from his mission. It's still a bit unreal that I can just ring him on the telephone and talk to him whenever I want. It seems like eternity has passed, and at the same time, it seems like he never left- we're still that good of friends.

Friends are what make the world a better place. I'm convinced of that. Luckily, I've been blessed with some of the very best and everyday, I just wonder how I got so lucky- I guess God must really love me or something. #boohya. But in all serious, I'm so thankful for these people in my life. They make everyday better, brighter, funnier, and more exciting. I'd be pretty lost without them.

Life is good.

Love always,
Ems