"love, it's a special day."

love to me is listening.
it's keeping your mouth shut sometimes.
it's keeping the candy jar full.
it's waiting for hours for someone who said they wouldn't be that long.
it's sacrifice.
it's spending money on others.
it's roommate birthday lunches.
it's last days together.
it's spending time apart.
(even on the one day a year you and your best friend hug.)
it's preparing.
it's long talks.
it's giving a "like"
and it's making new friends.
it's being you even when you know others are judging you.
it's support through everything.
it's praying together.

this year love means more to me than it did last year because i went through different things and i saw people love in new and bigger ways.
i saw more of what the Savior needed me to see
and that opened my mind and it opened my heart.
it helped show me more of all the different kind of loves that are out there.

happy valentines day.

love, j

no regrets.

says it all.
especially when i'm doubting it all.
love, j.

life is different.

but life is good.

it's made of feelings that i've never felt before.
of sadness and happiness all at the same time.
and of the unknown and the known.
it's little blessings and big ones.
and years spent together.
and years spent apart.
it's made of love and friendships.
and of knowing that today is the day
that changes the rest of my life.

happy halloween all.

love, j.

tell them.

love, j.

dear future husband XVI.

"There is a mysterious force which draws together those who constantly think of each other. Fools call it 'coincidence.'" - cecil b. demille 

love, j.

embrace life.

my roommates and i have been having lots
of heart to hearts lately.
mainly about boys.
and about learning to live in the moment of now.
about how this time of life is the best.
and the worst at the same time.
because we're free to have fun and party.
and meet new friends every day.
but about how really our next goal in life is
that temple marriage.
and someone that we love more than life itself.
and waiting for that is hard.
because is it ever really going to happen.
are we ever going to meet someone.
and we'll just click.
and without even knowing it we'll be as
comfortable with each other as it's taken
me in six years to be with him.
the one that i have to let go.
or is the pretty roommate going to keep
getting all the boys. and we'll be stuck
wishing that the cute ones liked us.
and wanted our numbers.
and our life wasn't most accurately described
by the ecard that says a list of all the boys
that want to date me. and it's blank.

but life isn't a pity party.
it's fun.
and we're in college.
and we're determined to love life.
now.
for what it is.
and what it isn't.

so read this quote.
and this girls blog.
because good things are found everywhere.
when we take the time to enjoy
the little things.

"embrace the current season
of your life."

gabrielle blair

       via.

love, j.

dear future husband XV.

“It’s a mystery of human chemistry and I don’t understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.” - nick hornby

love, j.

love.

"there is seemingly no end to the expansive capacity to love. the feeling of love from our heavenly father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. as we remove the distractions that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward him . . . i am confident that our heavenly father's arms are constantly extended, ever ready to embrace each one of us and say to each one with that quiet, piercing voice, 'i love you.'" - paul e. coelliker

love, j.

dear future husband XIV.

"i love you because the whole universe conspired to help me find you." -paulo coelho

love, j.

dear future husband XIII.

"do you want me to tell you something really subversive? love is everything it's cracked up to be.  that's why people are so cynical about it.  it really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.  and the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more." - erica jong

love, j.

dear future husband XII.

"far too many people are looking for the right person, instead of trying to be the right person."

 -gloria steinem

love, j.

dear future husband XI.

"I urge husbands and fathers of this church to be the kind of men your wives would not want to be without. I urge the sisters of this church to be patient, loving, and understanding with their husbands. Those who enter into marriage should be fully prepared to establish their marriage as the first priority in their lives." - President James E. Faust

love, j.

dear future husband X.

"and so, my dear young men, you may not think seriously about it now, but the time will come when you will fall in love. it will occupy all of your thoughts and be the stuff of which your dreams are made. make yourself worthy of the loveliest girl in all the world." - president gordon b. hinkley

love, j.

a wedding.

via.

weddings make me happy.

and this one was no different.

it was so much fun.

and i'm so happy for them.

she looked beautiful

and a dance party has never been more fun.

love, j.

dear future husband IX.

"a real lover is a man

who can thrill you

by kissing your forehead."

-marilyn monroe.

love, j.

dear future husband VIII.

"Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80's movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life."   - Olive Penderghast

lets have a love like in an 80's movie?

love, j

dear future husband VII.

i read this girls blog. and it's awesome. it's why i started doing "dear future husband." one day i want you to be able to read all these quotes and stories. i think it will make our marriage stronger. anyway, she wrote this. and i absolutely loved it. she's brilliant and i couldn't have wrote it any better myself. 

dear future husband:

i am no stranger to heartache.  i've been dumped [multiple times], and i've had to be the one who ends things. some times it really sucks. sometimes it's better.

in all my failed relationships, i have learned a lot.

- if you care enough about a person, you will make it work. no matter what.  this means that when things get scary or get tough, you stick it out.  you iron out the creases.

- don't let the little things add up to big deals.  yes, i would prefer it if you did everything i wanted you to, whenever i wanted it, but that's unrealistic.  so i'll forgive you for those small things if you agree to forgive me.

- relationships are unique.  don't compare the one you're currently in to any other relationship [you're past ones, your friends' or your parents'].  relationships move at different paces and are expressed in different ways.

- when they end, they end.  sometimes the end makes you feel like you are going to throw up and never breathe normally again.  sometimes, you're at peace with it.  whatever the ending, things move on.  you heal.  don't let the possibility of heartbreak destroy your hope in dating.

- in general, don't let your fears of anything get in the way.  fear is the opposite of faith.  you should go into all your relationships with faith.

- remember that you are worth it. you are a great, amazing person.  self-respect is key to a healthy relationship.

x leslie

love, j.

dancing away with my heart.

"for me you'll always be 18 and beautiful and dancing away with my heart."

here's to that night one year ago.

one of the best of my life.

love, j.

dear future husband VI.

love hard when there is love to be had.
love, j.

"taking 45 minutes to kiss goodnight."

today makes it two years.

 that's how long a mission is.
and that scares me.

it's weird to think back to that day.
and to see that in ways
that was the beginning of this all.
of so much of what we've gone through.
and learning that what we've learned
our whole lives really is true.

we've grown a lot though since then.
both together and apart.

the spirit has taught us lots.
and we've moved on to new chapters of our lives.

but we've had to deal with a lot.
and it's only made us stronger.
and that's what gives me hope.
when all of this is so hard.
and it seems like that was so long ago.

happy two years michael.
i hope you make it a good one.
because i sure am.
even though we're hours apart.

love, j.