CHANGES: Hopscotch Edition

I made a blog at this time in our engagement because I knew LOTS of changes were coming and I wanted a space outside of my personal journal to document them.

Last night one of the bigger changes took place.

Yesterday was my last day working at Hopscotch Academy. In August, Jordan and I will get married and move up to Utah, so it is time to say goodbye.

Its been three years since my mom opened the school and asked me to be her assistant.

Its been work. Trying to teach 3 and 4 year olds is quite the task. There have been long days. There have been the "kids, if you keep screaming I'm going to jump off the roof" days. They have provided the best kind of birth control imaginable.

BUT I wouldn't trade it for anything.

If you have spent 5 minutes at Hopscotch then you know we have fun. The kids are HILARIOUS. We talk, we sing, we play, we LEARN. I could write a series longer than Harry Potter about the many adventures at Hopscotch, but I'll spare you. ;)

There is not a day that goes by that I don't have fun. Those 44 kids kids feel like my own. I'm proud of the little things that they do and think about them outside of school often.

Working with my mom has been the best experience ever. We are a great team. She is the good guy, I'm the bad guy. It just works.

It is the dream job.

So with all of that being said, you can probably understand the heart break that was last night, my last graduation.

I'm not emotional, but I knew months ago that this would not be a fun change.

This last week I was waiting for it to "hit me".

I'm not going to lie, it was a long week haha. The kids were crazy and I was feeling a tad burnt out. I remember thinking "I'm actually really grateful that they are being naughty this week, it is making me more eager to leave" haha.

Well, their "naughtiness" didn't work.
It hit me.
The last 2 minutes of our graduation program... in front of over 100 people (loveeeely).
The kids had just finished their last song and the program was ending.
My mom started saying something about me leaving... (oh no!)
My favorite  One of my favorite little boys walked up to me and gave me the prettiest flowers and a little box.

My mom was bawling.
I looked at the mass of people...
They were bawling.
Then, I looked down at the little boy..
he was crying.

que ugly cry.

yes, the girl with no emotions cried.
(my brother was SOOOO proud to have gotten this on camera. After, he was yelling "LOOK! SHE DOES HAVE A SOUL")


I think that cry alone tells you what Hopscotch and those kids have meant to me.

I will SO miss them and my job.

I know its time for me to move on.

Thankfully, these kids and their families have become sincere friends.

It is also nice that every time I visit home I can visit the school and the kids.

So i'm not totally leaving and that makes me happy.



now please no more crying.

The Proposal

I guess we could call this a throwback?
(It has been 8 months (holy crap!!!!) since Jordan got down on one knee.)
It was easily the best day of my life.
I think its only fair that a day this special gets a post.
So heres the story...

Shortly after Jordan got home from Ukraine we figured out that we would get married. I think we both knew way before this, but this was the first we had ever started to plan. At first we weren't in a hurry. We wanted to save money, graduate, etc. but then we started to look at the next few years and sooner started sounding better. My brother, Adam, would be graduating and leaving for his mission in 2014. I was NOT going to get married without Adam there. We had the option of summer 2014 or 2016 when Adam got home. The thought of waiting another three years was horrible, so we started planning for August of 2014. It just felt right.

While I was up in Utah last summer, Jordan and I planned everything out. We apartment hunted (later to decide to live in Salt Lake in my Uncle's basement apartment) and ring shopped. We knew that we would have a ring made by our family friend/jeweler, Johnny, but I needed to pick what kind of ring I wanted (yes, I picked out my ring. I think half of the fun is getting to try on sparklers and make a decision with your man. Jordan was the perfect ring shopping companion.). We shopped around and finally found "the one". Once that was found, we called Johnny and he started the diamond hunt.  At the end of summer, Jordan and I came down to CA for my family's beach house vacation. While there, Jordan and I went Johnny's to look at center stones that he had found for us. They were BEAUTIFUL, but we left Johnny's without deciding on a stone. I was disappointed because they were insanely beautiful,  but I knew we weren't in a hurry. 

Little did I know, Jordan picked a stone (the dream stone, actually) that weekend and the ring was ready a week later. 

Three months later, I was asked by my friend Kelsey to model for her photography blog. She said that her blog needed some revamping and she just needed me for some head shots. I agreed without thinking anything of it. Jordan had been telling me that our jeweler, Johnny, had found more options for center stones and he would show us the next time Jordan was in town. I was clueless but SO ready. It had been almost 5 months since I found "my ring" so I was losing it. Poor Jordan put up with a lot of whining. 

October 10th, 2013 was our 5 year anniversary. Jordan was in "Utah" so I was kind of bummed. Kelsey had scheduled the shoot for this day a good month before. I agreed knowing that I wouldn't have any plans. My mom tagged along with me and we met Kelsey at the shoot. It was very casual. Kels is hilarious so she just shot and we laughed. Kels took me to another spot in the trees and posed me. It was then that I heard someone walking. I was in a pose so I didn't look at the person but I could hear kelsey's camera clicking FAST. I looked over and there he was. I went into shock. I honestly don't remember what he said but he got down on one knee and I said "yes"! I was so happy. I even cheered like an idiot (see picture). It was perfect and the biggest surprise. Once the ring was on and I came back to earth, Kelsey did a mini shoot of us. We were so giddy. Our smiles were huge. 

We drove back home to show my brothers and dad. My dad, of course, knew, but the boys didn't. They squealed like girls when they saw us haha. My parents decided to take us to dinner to celebrate. When we got to the restaurant both of our families were there. It was the best surprise to see my ENTIRE extended family and Jordan's family all there. I love Jordan for thinking of that. It was the most perfect way to end a PERFECT day. 

October 10th, 2013 will always be one of the best days of my life. I'm so grateful for the sneaky people who made this happen. For Kelsey, for being so sly and taking the most perfect pictures. We will always treasure them. I'm also thankful for my grandpa for storing my ring for 3 months when NO ONE knew Jordan had it made yet.  I'm grateful for many others for making this engagement perfect. You know who you are...

And of course for Jordan. He really nailed it (asking dad, perfect ring, total surprise, all on camera, etc.).
 It was a truly perfect proposal and I could not be more excited to marry him. I really am blessed. 

Here are a million pictures. 

 

Photography by Kelsey Crowder

I did it...

I made a blog.

I am an avid blog stalker but I never thought that I would make one myself.

Never say never.

So here is our little corner of the internet to document this new stage of life.

We welcome stalkers.

xo