You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've been through some things the last few months.
I took a road trip to beautiful Oregon with my best friend to drop her off at home for her last month before leaving on her mission.


On the road again!

I got my ticket for the long way 'round, the one with the prettiest of views. It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers, but it sure would be prettier with you.

We were cranking that bass!



Wonderful service in Oregon!

It was so fun and Oregon is beyond gorgeous. Her family was so sweet and hospitable and the whole trip was relaxing and simply perfect.


We stayed the first night with Katie's high school friends at their college in Idaho

The second night we stayed with Katie's sister, Anna, who got us into  her school to watch Pitch Perfect on the projector 

There were snacks involved, naturally.



We enjoyed some of Mama Zimmerman's famous home cookin'

And some of our own.

I took this same best friend of mine to the MTC to begin her 18-month mission to Vina del Mar Chile, accompanied by the pruning crew, all of whom are like family to us. In an instant she was gone, suddenly embarking upon her journey over the course of which she will learn and grow so much, but not nearly as much as the people whose lives she is going to change and bless through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Words cannot express how proud I am of her, how happy I am for her, or how much I'll miss her. The only way I know to express all that is to cry, which is what I do pretty much any time I think or hear about her.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has been so kind to me during her absence, anticipating that I would be missing her and needing friends to keep my mind off of it. I know I have been blessed to cope with her leaving, and I know I am one of many of her loved ones who have already started to receive blessings as a direct result of her service to the Lord.

 Katie Zimmerman has got to be one of the best people on this planet, and I can't think of anyone more deserving of the happiness she will get to experience over the next two years. If you would like to keep up with her during her mission, you can read her emails to home on her blog.

Since then, I've been able to do some things I enjoy (like yoga, cooking, eating) with some people I enjoy (Buck, Britney, Matt, Megan, and Hailey, to name a few.)

For my event planning class, I worked at the Adobe Summit, a conference Adobe holds for its big-shot clients. On Monday I had a draining 13-hour shift and came home prepared to spend all night finishing the  PR midterm that I'd been working on for weeks with some cute, smart, hilarious peers of mine.

I came home that night to a beautiful, gigantic, spontaneous floral arrangement from one of the sweetest men I've found.

It was such a surprise and such a sweet gesture that I literally sat staring at it stunned for a good ten minutes straight trying to figure out how anyone could be so kind and thoughtful to do something that would make me so happy. I'm still not over it. Thank you Zac :) :) :)

Somewhere in there, I got my very first speeding ticket. I'm not bitter about it. Honestly, it's been a long time coming, and the officer was pretty merciful.

I've been running like a fiend in preparation for my second marathon on June 8, but not nearly as diligently as I ought to have been.

There have been ups and downs and more ups. My life is busy and full and I couldn't be more thankful for it. I've been doing a poor job of keeping track of these beautiful memories on my blog, but I hope never to forget them.