Save the Date

First order of business... I'M ENGAGED. But that's old news, and just now I'm getting around to telling all of my fellow bloggers and followers. What can I say, life got busy, and complicated. And let's face it, I'm horrible at keeping up with the significant events in my life and blogging about them. But, I promise, I will try to be better at this. Fingers crossed.

I am nineteen years old, with my 20th birthday soon approaching. My off track for school was in the winter, which means that from Christmas break until April, I was in Pennsylvania, working, 2 jobs, sometimes 50 hours a week. Not a big deal right? But anyways, I worked at Johnny Rockets as a waitress and also at New York& Company. I can't tell you how many times I would have a table at Johnny Rockets that would ask me how old I was and I would tell them 19 and they would say, "Oh my goodness! You look like you're not even old enough to be working, you look about 14!" And then they would notice my engagement ring, and that's a whole other story in itself. Let's just say that by the time I came back out to Idaho, I was so sick of hearing people tell me that I'm too young and that I don't know what I'm doing and worst of all, that I don't know Taylor well enough to be getting married right now. Which first of all, the people telling me these things were people that ... a.) I just met b.) I had a better relationship than or c.) were jealous that they were with their boyfriend for __ years and weren't engaged yet. Basically, this picture sums up what people thought about me getting married... They thought I was a baby.



It seemed like nobody even cared to listen to what I had to say about the matter. They thought I was getting married because I was either crazy, pregnant, or both. And they all seemed to have little faith that this marriage would work, making it sound like a divorce would be happening sometime in my near future. It amazes me how quickly people jump to conclusions. It doesn't matter that I have come to a knowledge that Taylor Daryl Williams is the man that I will spend time and all eternity with, it doesn't matter that the family, beginning with finding an eternal companion is the basis of our church, which is why it isn't an issue to take lightly. No, all that matters to everybody else is my age. People just cannot get past the number. To me, that is sad.

Another thing is that I am and always have been a shyer person. People take this information as a fact that I'm not ready to be married because I don't have communication skills. But actually, when I have something to say, I let my point be known to others. I feel like communication could potentially have been a weakness of mine, but now I believe that I have made it a strong point. I am able to communicate well through writing and also speaking, and for that, I am greatly blessed. Whether or not I choose to exercise that gift is entirely up to me, but it is not something that I should be judged for.

In taking this huge step in my life, I am learning and growing and preparing myself for marriage. In my Personal Achievement class last semester, my teacher asked the class how many of us had a spouse. Nobody raised their hands. He then stared at us and said "Everybody in the class should be raising their hands." Baffled at this, nobody in the class said anything. He then explained that each one of us has a spouse and has children. Although we may not have them right now, we still have them. He went on to say that somewhere out there is our spouse. They may be taking somebody else on a date, doing homework, or going running at that very moment, but our future spouse is out there. He told us that we needed to live our lives in such a way that would allow us to better ourselves, because our choices right now do not solely affect ourselves, but our future family as well. That was amazing to me. The simple choice of deciding whether or not to join a social dance class and at what time made all the difference for me. That is where I met my fiance. The simple choice of deciding to talk to Taylor made a difference.

I never intended to get married at 19. When I first came out to college, I told myself I wouldn't be one of those girls who put the meaning to the nickname BYU-IDO. I fooled myself. In the Lord's own time, I found and fell head over heels for Taylor. He truly puts life in color for me. Things that I wasn't so sure of before, are clearer now. Things just make sense. And being with him is so effortless. Like I don't even have to try to impress him because just being myself is enough. Nobody understands me like Taylor does, nor do I think anybody will ever understand me like he does. I hope that one day, all of the people who either silently or admittedly had doubts about this marriage working, will look back and realize that things aren't always just black and white. It's not always one way or the other. There's a whole spectrum of colors out there, but people make it too easy on themselves and they just don't try to think outside of the norm. They don't realize that my culture and the way I choose to live my life is a lot different than how most others choose to live. And until people can come to understand the way I have chosen to live, how can they possibly understand my choices. Taylor is my life, he is my choice, and I cannot even tell you how excited I am to start my life with him. August 31st, save the date. :)