My Last Visit to America's First Zoo

(Before I even get into it... Yes, this is the same title I have listed for my photo album on Facebook)

I had a bucket list, as most people do. Only difference, I had a known deadline. Knowing the deadline makes checking things off a bucket list a lot easier. I knew I couldn't put anything off because the longer I waited the closer and closer my deadline got.

One of the biggest things I wanted to cross off my checklist was a trip to The Philadelphia Zoo.

America's First Zoo. :)

I had been planning this for a while and new that I was going to be bringing three of my younger siblings. I had invited anybody in the YSA branch who would attend. This ended up being a couple more than a few people. We had a nice little group. I came with my three siblings and one person from the Branch, and Neil came with two others from the branch and one who had brought her family as well. 

The half of my family that came to the zoo.

The zoo was a mighty fun time. It was on this day that Neil and I were finally able to talk to each other. I had the opportunity to ask him many questions. I was also able to see how well he got along with my siblings. 

Our first official picture together. Awe, how cute!

After a very long, hot day at the zoo, I had learned so much about Neil and I was ready to learn more. He was a wonderful help in keeping an eye on my rug-rats and making sure they didn't get lost or lose an arm somewhere. This is the day that I like to say that our friendship officially started, Saturday, June 22, 2013.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED....

The following pictures are completely unrelated to the purpose of the blog, but they are the result of an adorable child being followed around by a camera in the zoo. Be prepared for amazing adorable-ness.

She was tired, so she used the backpack as a chair.

Love At First Sight... Not

When I was younger, I always worked hard to ensure that people liked me. As I grew and reached high school, I realized that wasn't going to happen. I had a very over-bearing, loud personality and I built walls that only people who really liked me could break down. In fact, some of my best friends were people who originally didn't like me. That became so much the norm that I wasn't very surprised when I found out that initially Neil didn't like me. The story goes a little something like this...

It was December of 2011, right before I left for my first semester out at BYU-Idaho. I had gone to my last Youth Conference and had met a friend who I thought I was really good friends with. As the summer progressed into the fall, I realized that I was losing touch with him. I was desperately trying to gain my friend back. I had no idea that Aaron (name has been changed) had fallen in love with a girl, who ended up taking most of his time, preventing me from being able to talk to him. Neil, of course, knew this already so he saw my efforts to keep my friend as efforts to steal this boy from a girl that Neil was madly in love with. This girl had obviously chosen Aaron, and Neil wasn't going to let me take Aaron from her and break her heart. He just wanted to see her happy (I know, so romantic right?).  From that point on, Neil didn't even want to waste any time getting to know me.

Flash forward one and a half years... It's now June of 2013. Neil was back at the Singles branch mingling it up again. One of my dear friends decided she wanted to have a bonfire on a Friday night. She plans it all, Neil shows up and somehow I end up there as well. By the end, my loud boisterous personality had effectively been shown (no thanks to the wonderful game of Quelf...). And from what Neil tells me, this was the night he realized that maybe I deserved a chance to get to know him, maybe I wasn't all that bad.

The Beginning

When I was in Young Women's and my Young Women advisers would teach the lessons on "Celestial Marriage and Your Eternal Companion", I could always expect to be given a piece of paper and asked to write down the qualities that I want in my future spouse. The usual, righteous priesthood holder, return missionary, eagle scout, good sense of humor, great with kids, etc. Years passed and different qualities would be added, some removed, as I encountered friends who had those qualities and I realized that I did or did not like certain qualities about them. 

I went out to BYU-Idaho with the expectation to be married, if not engaged, by the time I returned home after my first two semesters. But while I was out there, I just couldn't find anybody. I had friends, some really good friends, but I wanted more. I wanted a best friend. I didn't click with any of them in the way I wanted to click with my eternal companion. I even came home fully expecting to go back out to Idaho four months later to continue onward in my search for that person who I would spend the rest of my life with. Little did I know, the Lord had something else in mind. 

In November, my Dad informed me of a job he had applied and was interviewing for. I was so ecstatic for him! It was a wonderful opportunity that would allow both of my parents to reunite with the siblings they left 11 years prior. In order to help my mom while my Dad worked out in California, I decided to put my education on hold for at least 1 semester. That semester passed and I realized that I would not be able to return to school for the Spring Semester either. Looking back at the past 12 months, I have come to believe that most of the events that happened were to prepare me for something bigger, something even better than I could've ever imagined. 

If you had asked me before I left for Idaho where I thought I would meet my future spouse, I would've told you Idaho. If you would've told me that I was wrong, I probably would've laughed in your face and said, "Where else am I going to meet them? There isn't anybody here in Pennsylvania for me!" My thoughts couldn't have been more incorrect. 

I have found the person I am going to marry and spend the rest of eternity with, right here in the Kutztown YSA Branch of the Reading Stake of Zion. I have found my best friend, my confidant, my eternal companion. I'm not sure I could be more excited. Our story is a unique one, and I can't think of any better way to share it. I've realized that scrap booking and journal writing just aren't for me and this is the way I want to document our life together.