Or Not...

Well, this was going to be a post about how awesome it is to have the key to our apartment and have a lot of my stuff moved in...  But when I went to get the key to the apartment yesterday, the day that they told me to come by to get it, the office was closed.  Ya, really cool huh?  I was planning on having all the big stuff moved in today so I could have time to organize everything and clean what I need to in my old place before I check out.  Well, looks like I'm just going to be really busy this week with moving and cleaning and organizing.  Oh well.  I'll survive.

Among the obvious reasons why I'm so excited to move into our new apartment, there is one reason that most of you don't know about...

(Thank you Google for auto-save...  I tried dragging and dropping this picture

 and instead of adding it where I wanted it, it went away from this page and 

opened the picture up instead.  Again, thank you Google for auto-save.)

No, my house isn't infested with tons of flies...  Just two.  Two flies (I thought it was just one for a while, but was proven wrong when they decided to tag team me) have been terrorizing me in my apartment for the past few weeks.  They're pretty slow, but just fast enough that I can't catch them.  They like to hang out where ever I am.  If I'm making myself some food, they'll come taunt me right beside my plate or the sink or on the cupboard door (Thanks again Google for voice search!  When spell check fails to read my mind, at least you can understand what I'm saying...).  Or I'll be hanging out on the couch and they'll just land right next to my feet and start walking on them...  Ya, that's obnoxious!  Or my head, they seem to like that too.  Like I said, they have been tormenting me for far too long and I'm so ready to be rid of them!  Yes yes yes, I know...  I should just go get a fly swatter.  Two things: One, I'm lazy. Two, I never think about it when I'm not at home and the flys aren't teasing me.  Now, what I need are one of those electric bug zapper/fly swatters that everyone seemed to have in Taiwan.  When I was on my mission, I was sure that you wouldn't ever be able to buy them in America because, well, let's face it, it's a bunch of exposed wires with electricity going through them!  But low and behold, Amazon has them for sale for $12.99!  Not that I'm going to buy one...  Anyway, good riddance to those stupid flys!

I love the dentist

So yesterday morning I had a dentist appointment. Just a regular exam, the kind you get every 6 months or so. A while ago, I decided I really love the dentist. He's always able to get the yucky stuff off my teeth that I somehow can't get myself. He also compliments me. I love compliments. :)

Yesterday he said, "Julie, you have beautiful teeth! I think you're the best we've seen all day."

I actually talked about this with my brother a few days ago. I told him how the dentist compliments me on my nice teeth every time I go see him. My brother claimed that he says that to everyone, just to be nice. So after my dentist told me that my teeth were beautiful I asked, "Are they really? Or do you just say that to everybody?"

He laughed and then said, "NO! I think you've got the best set we're going to see today, and I would totally rank you in the top 10 for the week."

So at least for now, I once again absolutely love my dentist. He tells me I have pretty teeth :)

Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord

Today was going to be an epic day. I was going to go to the distribution center in DC to pick out my special LDS underwear. Hooray! Though I wasn't feeling too hot and had a lot of other things on my mind, my mommy and I started our trek to Washington.

Definitely wasn't an exciting trip though. We had to take my dad's truck, which doesn't have air conditioning. In case anyone doesn't know, it's been over 100 degrees out here every day for the past week. IT. IS. HAWT! Starting at 3 in the afternoon, we made the 2 hour drive to DC. Mere minutes away, we find out that the bridge we usually take to get there is closed. We have NO IDEA how to get there now. And we forgot the GPS... cool. Luckily my mom and I see this woman walking down some residential road, and we stop to ask her for directions. She turned out to be LDS. Blessing #1. She told us how to get there, and we got there quickly. I am VERY thankful for this lady. When you get lost in DC, you can EASILY waste an hour trying to find your way. We couldn't afford to lose this time because the distribution center was going to close at 5:30. We got lost at 5. Bad news. But we found it and got my special unders just in time.

Speaking of those, I didn't know it was going to be so stinking hard just to choose what kind I wanted! I walked out of there with a billion different styles, cuts, and fabrics. I hate trial and error shopping. I would much rather buy something I KNOW will fit and that I'll like. But I'll get over it I suppose. Does anyone have any suggestions by the way?

Man alive, I'm just like Keith. This thing could easily turn into a manuscript...

To make a long story somewhat shorter? My mom surprised me by telling me we were going to stay in DC a while longer. The youth were coming to do baptisms at 7:30. We were going to stay. Not going to lie, but after driving around in that freaking hot car for 2 hours and getting a bit lost, I was NOT in the mood to waste 2 hours in DC and then stay for baptisms which always take FOREVER! We were all going into the baptistry, and I just wasn't in the mood to be there. I waited until the end of the line, still hoping that somehow I wouldn't have to go inside and I could magically transport home? One of the YW leaders actually forgot her recommend, and the entire time, I was hoping that she wouldn't be able to go in. That way, I would have an excuse to go out and do something with her. (STUPID! I KNOW! GRRR...)

They ended up getting everything with her straightened out, so I had to do the baptisms. As soon as the man scanned my recommend and I walked inside, I was overwhelmed with this feeling of love. The very second I stepped inside the baptistry doors, one of my friends was there to meet me. She squeezed my arm and said, "I'm happy you're here." I started bawling. I think I'm a little stressed? I was so ashamed of myself. I couldn't believe that just a few seconds earlier I had been so selfish. Why in the world would I not be "in the mood" to go to the temple?! It's not like it's going to do me any harm! I had forgotten what kind of work goes on inside those hallowed walls. It is the work of the Lord. The temple is His house. I was served a piece of humble pie to the face, while still feeling the Lord's love for me. (It's crazy how He can do that!) I needed to forget myself and my stresses and just do some service for a while! It made SUCH a huge difference in my attitude the rest of the night.

Basically, I love the temple. And even though I prefer to start my temple trips in a better mood, sometimes you really just need to walk in the doors anyway. I felt so peaceful, and after a few minutes of crying, I was totally happy. I also loved the fact that I was there with my 12 year old sister. I realize that we don't spend much time together. I loved doing her hair after we were baptized and her telling me how beautiful mine was. She is SO FUNNY, and I absolutely ADORE her.

I can't wait until the next time I get to go. I'm sure I'll be a bit more excited seeing as I'll be with my fiancee! And the next day we'll go again, and he'll become my HUSBAND! For time and all eternity. Incredible work really does go on in there. Holiness to the Lord.

Bridal Shower

I had my bridal shower this morning, and it was a blast!

My good friend Amy threw it for me. In all honesty, I think she has done more to plan/prepare for my wedding than I have. I couldn't thank her enough for everything she's doing for me. She's ordering the flowers, arranging them and taking care of decorating the venue (which needs a LOT of help) I love her and her family to death and am inexplicably grateful for their help.

Anyway, my bridal shower was at her house this morning. It was a brunch, so we went, socialized, talked about the new harry potter movie (which most of us saw at midnight of course), and ate delicious food. After a while, she decided to play a game called how well do you know the bride and groom. Everyone got paper and pencils and had to answer questions about Keith and I such as where/how we met, what our first official date was, what we're studying, etc... I am proud to announce that I am the only one who got all of the questions correct. A lot of my close friends only missed one or two.

After that was over, Amy pulled out a package of napkins. She split everyone into 3 groups and announced that they would be making me a wedding dress out of said napkins. One group was to make a skirt, another a bodice, and the last group was supposed to make a veil. It was SO funny to watch everyone try to put the pieces together. After all of the pieces were assembled, it was then time to actually put them on me! Not gonna lie, I've never seen a better looking napkin dress in my life! Seriously, my friends were super creative and really got into this. My waterfall style skirt has a train covered in roses, I have a braided napkin belt across the bodice, and a rose on the front of my veil to tie the whole piece together. Not to mention, I had some rockin shoulder pads as well. Here are some pictures. Let me know what you think!




Next was the gifts. I got some great recipes I'm looking forward to trying out when I finally marry my cute boy (3 weeks from today! AHHH!) I got mostly gift cards because everyone knows we won't have much space when we move back to Utah, but there were some other surprises thrown in there as well. ;-)

Thank you SO MUCH to anyone who made an appearance in person or in spirit. The love I have for you is immeasurable.