And What Part of "Off Limits" Do You NOT Understand???

It's the first day of chemistry and our professor asks us to stand up, introduce ourselves, our hometown, our major, and one interesting thing that happened to us over the break. When it came my turn to do this for the third time that day, I said, "Hi! I'm Taylor Thetford and I am from Puyallup, WA... it's near Seattle. My major is Exercise Physiology, and I got engaged over the break!" "Oh fun! When are you getting married?" Brother Rawlinson asked. "December," I replied. He then asked what day, and I replied that we were getting married on the 28th. My point is... we discussed the fact that I was engaged to be married. We thoroughly discussed that I'M ENGAGED.

Skip forward one week as my chemistry class is walking out of the lab. A young man approaches me as I'm making my way down the stairs in the Romney and asks, "Are you the engaged one?" "Yes," I replied. "Well I can see why!" he said.  "...thanks?" I replied, a little uncomfortable with the remark but figured he was just being nice and took it as a compliment. I told Derek about it. "Tay, he was flirting with you." I tried to deny it, but deep down I knew it was true.

Okay, now skip to today. During class, my friend Rebekah leans over and shows me her phone. It's a text message from the third member of our lab group. It says, "This guy that's sitting next to me will not stop talking about your engaged friend. He's going to go up and ask her how serious it is."  ...Um, excuse me? Did I read that right? He's going to come up to me, an engaged and completely committed girl, how serious my engagement is?

WHO DOES THAT?!  I mean, come on! What part of "I'm engaged and thus completely in love with fiance." Saying yes to marrying somebody isn't just "Oh sure, let's give it a shot!" You're committing your life and the rest of FOREVER to spend with them. 

FOREVER... FORREEVVVEERRRR!!!!

And he wants to know how serious it is. This is one instance when I will not hold back Derek from giving this guy a good "punch to the face, or a pile drive to the face" if he ever asks me that.


And now just something light hearted and somewhat related to my post. 

3 Months, 3 Days

Two months ago today, Derek proposed to me in my backyard. It was the perfect day, I was wearing one of my favorite dresses, and he looked as handsome as ever. I love that when I said yes and he put the ring on my finger he picked me up and spun me around like in the movies. The ring is beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the thoughtfulness of him proposing to me in my backyard was overwhelming. 

I have always wanted to have my wedding reception in the backyard. However, we're getting married in December and it's obviously not an option. He figured since I couldn't have my reception in my backyard, that he would propose to me in the backyard. So cute!
This morning as I woke up and realized what day it was a smile spread cross my face. However, my day did not turn out too well... sad, huh? None of my roommates were home and Derek was busy, so I just sat on my couch read my book and studied chemistry. Then I got ready to go to the General Relief Society Broadcast. In trying to figure out what I was going to wear, I took about half of my wardrobe off the hangers, tried them on, and then threw them on the ground. Needless to say, when I finally decided on an outfit, my room was a mess. I was grumpy because I hadn't seen Derek all day, my mind was tired of focusing on school, and I just wanted to go home to Washington.

Derek came and picked me up at 5:35 to take me to the church building where I was meeting Abbie. Once I got in the car I felt a little better. Just seeing him takes away a lot of the grumpy-ness. I got to the church building and sat down between Abbie and her friend Michelle. Being in the chapel full of women who were all waiting to hear the words of the prophet helped uplift my spirits.

The messages of the broadcast were wonderful; Sister Beck and her counselors are inspired women of the Lord and their words are always powerful and uplifting. But my favorite speaker of the night was the prophet. When President Monson got up to speak, he had a smile on his face and throughout his talk he made us laugh, smile, and cry. While sitting there listening to this wonderful broadcast, my thoughts were directed toward how lucky I was to have a fiance who loves the gospel and loves me.
We're getting married in 3 months and 3 days. Two months ago, two months seemed like forever away. But now here I am two months later and it has felt like it's only been a few weeks. I have a feeling the next 3 months and 3 days will fly by... at least I'm hoping so!

Is That Necessary?

I'm walking down the hallway on my way to chemistry class and a young man whizzes by me on my left. As he goes to round the corner, he slams his hand against the wall before he turns. Almost like he needs to push himself  off the wall to muster up the motivation to turn himself so he doesn't run straight into the wall. It just so happened that he was walking to the classroom right next to mine, so I saw him do that very same thing on the next three corners. ...Is that necessary?

Then as I sit down in my chemistry class I look across the aisle and the young man on the end of the row has his feet out in the aisle... and he's not wearing shoes. He had stocking feet. The white socks with the gray toe and heel. No shoe on the feet. Maybe I'm having a Seinfeld moment, but that really irked me. Who takes off their shoes in a college class? Do you have claustrophobic feet?

IS IT REALLY NECESSARY?

I Love My Ankle

Today has been... well, a day. 

A day full of volleyball, re-sprained ankles, hobbling to class, embarrassing myself in chemistry class, and Pickett's Bambino. But lets start the story at the beginning.

It was the year 1999... 

and I at the spry age of 9 was at my house on a typical Friday afternoon. My parents were readying themselves to leave for their weekly date that night, and the baby sitter was on her way over. She arrived and my parents left. We all sat around, talked, and watched a little TV. Then it was time to go outside and play. The toy of choice: the trampoline. As we jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped jumped jumped, we decided that the kids would sit and the baby sitter would jump up and land so that we would go flying into the air! Sounds awesome, right?! 

Well, she jumped. She came back down. We went flying. And I landed on my right foot while it was bent sideways. The result: a sprained right ankle. I distinctly remember trying to walk inside and upon trying I fell down and crawled to the house. I quickly got placed on the couch with an ice pack on my ankle and big bowl of ice cream. All was well. 

Back to 2010.

The ball was served. My teammate received it, the setter tried to set a 4, but realized quickly that it was far too tight on the net. By the time she yelled, "tight!" It was too late. I had already taken my approach and swung at the ball but got thrown off by the placement of it. When I landed, my foot once again was bent sideways when I landed, causing my to fall on my butt and once again, roll my ankle. I didn't think much of it at first, but as the day went on it got worse. 

I went to chemistry class and volunteered to do a problem on the board. It was a simple density problem, and I got it right. However, upon trying to erase the board, the eraser slipped from my grip, flipped against the chalkboard, and came back and hit me. My face, shirt, and neck were covered in chalk powder. Great.

After class, I went over to Derek's apartment to eat and then go right back on campus for his class. Then, I had my dress fitting. So after Derek's class we tried to hurry home, but my ankle slowed me down and it was starting to hurt like none other, so Derek ran and got the car and picked me up so we could make it to my dress fitting. At the fitting, we were measuring for the hem. So I had to bring my heels. Hooray for standing/walking in 5 inch heels with a sprained ankle. 

Afterward, we went back to Derek's apartment and I iced my ankle as I did some homework. Then came the best part of the whole day: we went to Pickett's Bambino. It's this little shop that has these scones that are stuffed with pizza! Cheese, sauce, pepperoni, canadian bacon, pineapple, olives, mushrooms, green peppers, anything you can imagine! They were DELICIOUS. 

So today was... well, it was a day.

A Trial of Faith

The persistent winds of Rexburg were at my back as I walked down the hill, assisting me in making my way quickly. With each step I watched as my worn black high tops landed on the sidewalk. I could feel the impact of each step and the way my backpack would shift on my back. I could feel the wind, smell the rain, hear Claude Debussy's classic Claire De Lune, and taste the piece of Raspberry Lemon-Dew gum that I was chewing. At that moment I appreciated all of these things more than I had any other day. 

My mood was melancholy and my heart reflective. I was engaged to my best friend and I had family close by me; I should have been happy. Yet, in the past six weeks I have come to make many realizations. 

First. 

The adversary will do all that he can to take away any chance at eternal happiness you may have. It was not even two weeks after I got engaged that trials and burdens were quickly dropped on my lap. I had recently made the choice to marry a man worthy to take me to the temple so that we could be sealed for eternity. We were preparing ourselves to take the next important step on our journey toward eternal life. That is something that the adversary does not want for us since he does not get that same opportunity; and he will do everything in his power to stop you. I have known that all my life; but never had I truly understood it with my heart and mind until I experienced it. 

Second.

 Life is precious. Within the last two weeks two people have passed away. One was a close friend from high school. A dear, sweet girl that I played tennis, swam on the swim team, and sang in choir with decided that it was her time to go; that the Lord needed her more there than He did here. The other was the older brother of one of my very close friends from high school. He was driving on Sunday evening and his small sedan was hit head-on by a drunk driver in an F350.  Tragic accidents happen every day around the world; but it never seems real until it happens to someone close to you. My heart grieved for these people and their families; but there was something unique about these two that really pulled at my heart: they were both engaged to be married when they passed. At any previous stage in my life, this would merely have made me sad. But considering my current situation, my heart was broken for these people. The thought of losing the one person you chose to be with forever before you even have a chance... it makes me feel completely empty. 

Third. 

Be grateful and show it. Don't let anyone in your life go without knowing how grateful you are for them and what they do. Don't forget to express thanks to the Lord for each day of your life and all that you've been blessed with. With the world that we live in being in such a state of confusion and unrest, I have decided to be grateful for each little thing that I have.

With these past six weeks and the trials and burdens they have brought with them seeming almost too much to handle I have been exhausted; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But I have also seen some of the biggest blessings come into my life. The biggest of them all being my best friend and fiancé Derek. May seem cheesy, but it's true.
To think that my friends that recently passed left behind fiancé/fiancées of their own makes me all the more grateful to be where I am, in the situation I am, and with the person that I am. 

So as I walked to class with my tired black converse, the wind blowing my hair in my face, and my music playing probably a little too loud, I was grateful. Grateful that I was there and could feel the wind, smell the rain, and hear music. Grateful that I was making my way to meet Derek after his class. 

At that moment, I appreciated all of these things more than I had any other day. 

Just a Fly By Kinda Time

I am back in Rexburg. Very happy to be so, but this past "summer" break felt like it lasted three days, twelve hours, and 27 minutes... but that's just an approximation. It just flew by. I went from being single, to being engaged, to Lake Roosevelt in Eastern Washington, to Collierville, TN. In between I was at work, spending time with Derek and his family, or hanging out with my family.  Life flew by, wedding plans are in the making, and I am excited for this new semester of school. My little brother is here, my sister and her husband and their adorable baby boy are here, my best friend is here, and my best friend/fiance is here as well. 

How could things get any better? 

As I sit on this air mattress in the second bedroom of my sister's apartment I'm trying to remember how it felt to be leaving Rexburg. And then I reflected on how much my life changed once I got engaged. It's like my life is on hold because nothing as amazing as getting married could possibly happen between now and December 28. So my current mission: stay focused on school and wedding plans to try and make these next 3 months and 23 days a fly by kinda time.

Here are a few select pictures from my fun times this summer:

None of use are looking at the camera... besides Jace. This photo also happens to be the only group shot where Jace is looking at the camera. Love it.

My brother-in-law, Adam, took some fun shots of Derek and I.

This is a shot from a night that my family, Derek, and I spent out on the Puget Sound.

Me holding my beautiful niece Riley.