I have awesome friends.

I have such great friends. They sure know how to make a girl feel special.

Like throwing a quint-engagement celebration (5 girls from London got engaged within 3 weeks!).

some of the London girls. 

Four of us that got engaged, Devri couldn't make it. 

photos via: Grace

And like giving you the following presents as a congratulations on your engagement. 

An engagement party with french toast, diet coke, and cracker barrel? My friends know me too well. 

Finally!

Last Thursday, March 15th, Mike and I got engaged!! 

Since the weather was perfect, I ditched my last two classes and we headed up to Rock Canyon Park. We hiked through the canyon until we "found" (Mike had been there the day before and made a trail to climb up) a beautiful spot off the trail on the side of the mountain.

It happened to be 2 years and 8 months from the day we went on our first date, which also happened to be hiking. Mike laid down a tarp and a blanket so we could sit on the snow, and we ate lunch: Subway and Teddy grahams, the lunch we had on our first date. 

When I stood up to take a couple pictures, Mike started telling me all those pretty little things every girl hopes to hear when she's about to get engaged. 

After telling me how he felt about me on our first date to now he said, "There's actually a reason I brought you up here today." "There is??" I said and then came the waterworks.

They started as tears in my eyes but by the time he finished saying more pretty little things and was down on his knee, I was in all out sobs.

I never thought I would be a crier, but there I was sobbing on his chest.. so much so that I forgot to say yes! He had to ask, "Does this mean a yes?" 

The rest of the day was spent calling family and friends and experiencing moments of complete bliss and extreme hyper-ness and then moments of exhaustion from an overload of emotion. It was perfect.

Since we spent the afternoon hiking, which is Mike's thing, Mike made dinner reservations at The Roof, so we dressed up all fancy, which is my thing. 

I may or may not have stumbled about 15 times on our hike down the canyon because that shiny thing was distracting me! I love it :) 

As I mentioned above, Mike and I got engaged 2 years and 8 months after our first date. Although it was a long process with lots of bumps along the way, it couldn't have been more perfect for us.

Mike let me grow up.

Mike grew up.

We learned invaluable lessons about each other. 

And now we couldn't be happier. 

As cliche as this may be, I can truly say I am marrying my best friend. Through all of the fun times, the loving times, my many, many freak outs, and the "experiences" I have wanted to have, he has been there for me, even when he probably shouldn't have been. 

We are so excited to finally announce that we are engaged and couldn't be more thrilled to start our lives together. 

The Date: Friday, July 20th in the Newport Beach Temple 

I'm a pretty lucky girl marrying this guy. I am so so so so so happy :) 

Here's a little video we took just after we got engaged. It's stupid and cheesy, but I kind of love it. Mike's not too sure, but he was a gem and let me put it up.

Commas.

DISCLAIMER: I have a horrible comma problem. I almost always put them in the wrong spot.
                         Semicolons? forget about them. I don't even try.
My English teacher recently cleared up a comma rule that I had always been confused about so I thought I'd share.
             
When making a list, it is always debated if you put a comma before that last and. Is it:
    1. Today I need to go to class, watch the Bachelor, grade some papers, and teach my lab OR
    2. Today I need to go to class, watch the Bachelor, grade some papers and teach my lab?

According to the new APA style guide #1 is correct! At least I will now have one comma rule down. If you want to know the reasoning I can tell you, but I didn't want to bore you. Happy Tuesday!

Quarter of a Century

In case you aren't aware, I have one of the best brothers around. Seriously, he is awesome.
Not only is Brad one of the most insanely accomplished people you'll ever meet:

Won BYU's Model UN competition 2 years in a row,

Was selectively invited and participated in a global Model UN competition in Switzerland,

Was asked to work with every professor he took classes from in his undergrad department, 

Hasn't had to pay a dime of college tuition and he is in Law School (holy scholarships!), 

Just took first place in a Mock-Litigation competition against 2nd and 3rd year law students - he's a 1st year, 

And just picked up a rad clerkship for the summer...

He is incredibly kind, thoughtful, and insightful,
is insanely brilliant and driven,
has a hilarious sense of humor,
has an uncanny ability to make friends,
has an amazing testimony with great depth,
makes every situation more fun,
cares deeply about the people he loves,
is an incredible and loyal friend - he will be there fighting for you til the end,
makes every person he meets and interacts with feel better about themselves....

and on top of ALL that, even thought he has every reason not to be, he is incredibly humble.
     *he is probably going to die after he reads this post... and after I post it on his facebook wall for       all of his friends to see ;)

He is just one of those people we all try so badly to hate because they are so amazing that they suck.

But no matter how hard we try to hate them, we can't because they are just so awesome and nice and kind.

but then that sort of makes us sick... so the cycle starts all over again.

I am so beyond blessed to have him as a brother. Although his example is something I can never live up to (I gave up trying years ago, friends!), I am so grateful I get to watch his life. He is a man of such strong character; he is going places. He inspires me more than anyone else has. I feel so lucky to have him as my brother and just love him so much.

Happy 25th Birthday, Brad!
Love, your little sister.

Texas Roadhouse birthday dinner before his surprise party.

(I have a green, glow in the dark case on my phone so it sometimes gives pictures this hue - don't worry, green haze isn't the look I'm going for)

An iPhone Update.

I got an iPhone in November, the battery is great but Siri hates me. She refuses to respond to my requests half of the time, I guess I got a sassy one.
The best part about having an iPhone is having a decent camera with me at all times. We all know that we can't go anywhere without our phones so an 8 megapixel camera is always at my side. 

Here are some pictures from my life as of late.

*My brother is becoming a Diet Coke addict lover and I couldn't be more happy about it.
*Mike and I found this dessert at Chilis. It is half vanilla, half chocolate cake with ice cream on top. Couldn't be more perfect for us!
*What our Oscar Sunday looked like. As my roommate Nicole wisely noted, "The Oscars is our Superbowl."
*I've been having a grapefruit every morning at breakfast and they have been divine.

*This was my alarm schedule the day I left for the East Coast. just plain gross.
*Diet Coke has been Boyfriend #2 lately. It picks me up, makes me smile and is always there for me. Pathetic, I know, but so, so true.

*Due to my dad's work travels, we buy our airplane tickets with airline miles. 

Unfortunately, when we bought my ticket the only seats left were in first class ;) 

It was my first time flying in first class and I didn't know how to act. They kept re-filling my drink, bringing me warm towels, asking if they could hang up my coat, it was great. I could definitely get used to that. However, I don't think I'll be seeing that first class cabin for another 40 years.

*If the Masters' have to have a layover we plan it at the Chicago O'Haire airport so we can get Garrett's popcorn. It is incredible. Get the cheese flavor, your mind will be blown.

*Pictures from Newport, Rhode Island. 

My New England Vacation.

Last weekend I was able to visit my best friend from high school, Sammy, in Providence, Rhode Island. She goes to school at Providence College and I've been dying to see where she's been the past 4 years.
Thanks to Papa Masters' airline miles and George Washington's birthday, I was able to take a trip out there for the long weekend.

Friday we went out to Newport, Rhode Island.
Newport is the quintessential New England summer town on the water - think polo matches and summer dresses. Newport is equipped with some of the most absurd mansions I have ever seen. Oh the life.

On the backside of the mansions there is a Cliff walk that is 3 1/2 miles long that takes you past the mansions and gives you their sea view. Newport is unbelievable. If you get the chance, you must go. 

Random fact: The Vanderbilt's had a home in Newport and the 1st Great Gatsby movie was filmed there.
We were blessed with perfect weather. We didn't even need to wear our coats for most of the walk!

Friday night I went out to dinner with Sammy's roommates and we went to her "Senior Night" at their on campus pub.

 The theme was Red, White and Blue so we went country style. 

We were supposed to go into Boston on Sunday, but as fate would have it, I came down with the stomach flu for the first time in a decade (literally 10 years, people, we're talking since 6th grade). We stayed home and took it easy Sunday and headed into Boston early Monday morning before my flight. 

This is Quincy Market, a food court type place with tons of cool shops and stores around it. It is right next to Faneuil Hall which is a meeting house from the 1700s.

After exploring Faneuil Hall Marketplace, we started on the Freedom Trail. The Freedom trail is a walk that goes all throughout the city marked by a red or brick line that takes you past all of the major Revolutionary war sites.

Above is a memorial to John Hancock in the cemetery he was buried in. 

My favorite thing about Boston is that it is a city that mixes the old and the new. You will be walking around a bunch of high rises and come upon an old church from the Revolutionary Era. It is an incredible city. I could just walk around for days.

Memorial to George Washington in Boston Commons (a park), Samuel Adams' grave

Ever since I was little, my Grandma has told me the story about my great-great-great(etc.) Grandma, Mary Dyer. She was part of the Antinomian movement in Boston in the 1600s, meaning she preached that God did not just speak to man through the Clergy, but that we could receive personal revelation from God.

This is her monument outside the Massachusetts State House in front of Boston Commons

Because of this she was banished from Boston and sent to Rhode Island. She came back to Boston 3 times to preach what she believed and was sentenced to death. She got out of her death sentence because she was well connected but on her 5th time coming back to Boston, she was hanged in Boston Commons in 1660. How rad is my too-many-greats-to-count grandma? 

Of course we had to stop by Cheers to get some food and a Diet Coke!

This was such an incredible trip. Sammy is one of those friends who you can not see for over a year and as soon as you get back together it feels like you haven't missed a beat. I am so lucky to have her in my life, she's been an amazing friend to me through the years.

I absolutely loved New England, I am dying to go back and spend more time. Next up: Foliage season, lighthouses in Maine, a few more days in Boston... a girl can dream, right?

A 90th Birthday.

My family has been lucky enough to have one of the cutest fathers/grandpas/great-grandpas around for so many years. This past weekend my grandpa turned 90 so my family threw him a huge party.

My grandpa is the funniest, happiest man you will ever met and he had more people at his 90th birthday party than I could ever dream of having at my next birthday. The man is a legend. He had well over 100 people in attendance, all paying tribute to his incredible life. 

I had to post a few pictures we had around the party.

My grandpa was born in Long Beach, CA in 1922. After his mission to Canada, he joined the World War 2 Navy. What a babe!

My Grandpa and Grandma got married just 3 weeks before he left for World War 2. Although they were apart for over two years, they wrote the entire time and had a secret system so she always knew where he was. When the war ended and his shipped sailed into the U.S., she was was waiting for him at the end of the Long Beach Harbor. All the men saw her and started hollering, he jumped off the boat, picked her up and kissed her as all the men cheered! True story. How sweet is that?

They went on to have a perfect marriage. Not a mean word was ever spoken. They are the greatest examples of true love and I hope to have a life just like theirs! I also hope to have a life filled with beautiful things like my grandmother's fabulous clothes. 

My grandpa is the most positive man you will ever meet. He makes everyone feel better about themselves than when he found them. Even though he has 31 grandchildren and well over 80 great-grandchildren, he has an incredible ability to make you feel like you are  the most special person in the world. I love him with all my heart and am so grateful to have had him as an example for all these years!

Cheers to many more years to come!