Sunday, January 27, 2013

.: My Wedding Day:.

I have wanted to post about this for the past oh... 3 months! Lol well.. better late than never right?

 
My wedding day!!
 
10.11.12

I woke to the most beautiful sunny fall day! My mom and sister stayed over and were there helping me get ready. I was having such a fun time listening to music and doing my makeup... until it came to doing my hair.. I wanted to look perfect for Scott. I just started crying because my hair wouldn't go the way that I wanted it to and I was starting to feel the stress. But then my darling showed up and saved the day with one look! He melts my heart! And he lookes so handsome in his tux!

 
 
We got to the temple and they "checked us in" and then my mom and I went to the Brides room of the Salt Lake Temple. It was so beautiful and there were so many other brides there but I still felt like I was special. Like I was the only one! They lady that was helping me was so nice and she helped calm my nerves.
 
 
A funny little side note: well it's funny now looking back on it but it wasn't so funny then... I had asked my mom to hold Scott's ring before we even left my apartment.. we I had this thought in the Bride's Room that I should make sure that my mom still had the ring. I looked at my mom abruptly and asked her where Scott's ring was.. She looked at here hand and it was GONE! I felt so bad becuase I almost had a breakdown right there.. My mom rushed off and searched for it while the cute little temple worker took me to meet scott in the Celestial Room of the temple.
 
 
While sitting in the Celestial Room with Scott, I felt such peace. I knew that no matter what happened that everything was going to be okay because I was marrying my best friend! While we sat there hand in hand talking about our future and about how excited we were, I couldn't help but feel like we were as close to Heaven as we could get. 
 
We got called to go into the Sealing room and when we got to the door and saw our fanily and friends there, the spirit hit both of us so strongly. I still get choked up to think about it! One of the things that was so special to me was that my older brother, Seth, was able to be there! What a wonderful joy to see him make such wonderful changes in his life! I only wish that my whole family could have been in that room! I don't remember most of what the Sealer said but I remember the spirit being so strong. I remember when he said those special, sacred words, I felt so much love for Scott. I didn't know that I could love someone SO much!! As we looked in the mirrors I had so many sacred impressions go through my mind but the biggest one was that this is eternal!! Scott is now my forever!

After we were sealed we went and got changed. I put on my wedding dress and I felt so beautiful! One of my favorite memories of that day was the look that Scott gave me when he saw me in my wedding dress for the first time! I wish that I had a camera to capture that look!

After the sealing we took a lot of pictures and our photographer captured my day! I am so grateful to Suzie Bishop for doing such a wonderful job!

Here are some of my favorites.. well they are all my favorites.. but here ya go! Enjoy!


 


 My wonderful new parents! I couldn't have asked for better! I love the Johnson's so much!
 
 
 
The Johnson Family!
 
 
 
My wonderful parents
 

My family
 

 
My siblings.. minus my little brother
 
 
 
My big little brother
 

 
Scott's Siblings

 
 
 
 
Wahoo!!
 
 
 Two of my mission companions!
Maggie Shumway and Jillian Wood
 

 
My gorgeous ring and flowers!
 
 



 
I love the colors of this photo!!
 
 

 
We're sexy and we know it!

 
I pinky promise!
 

 Shaylyn & Scott
Johnson
Est. 10.11.12

 


.: Falling in love with myself :.

Sometimes when we are on a journey we experience pain. It comes in many different ways. Physical. Emotional. Psychological. And the worst part is that it will undoubtedly come at you from the middle of nowhere.

This past week I have been dealing with a few different kinds of pain. I have been trying so hard to eat right an exercise and I have been doing very well. I even lost 1 pound so far.. I know.. 1 pound seems like nothing to some of you but 1 pound gone is one step closer to my overall goal of being healthy. Unfortunately I have had a major setback with an injury from my Pilates class.. It caused severe pain from my hip to my foot and felt like a numb burning sensation (like when your foot falls asleep) all the way down my leg for about 2 1/2 days. I am still babying it but it IS getting better.

Somethings that I have learned from this is that I am not as tough as I think I am and that I have to take this journey at a slower, healthier rate. I can't push myself beyond my own physical limitations. I also learned that I set so many unrealistic expectations for myself. I am extremely hard on myself when I can't do something. Recently I was reading in a magazine about living with your whole heart. It really struck a chord with me. Have I been living with my WHOLE heart? and what does that even mean? A couple of quotes that have stuck out to me from that article are:

"no matter what gets done and what gets left undone, I AM ENOUGH!"

" I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn't change the truth that I am BRAVE and WORTHY of LOVE and BELONGING!"

One concept that I had never thought of before is SELF COMPASSION!

Self compassion basically means that you are as compassionate with yourself as you are with other people. You would never tell someone that they suck or that they are ugly or imperfect. You would never dare tell someone that they are a failure just because they couldn't do something. So why one earth is it OK to tell yourself that? It's not!!! I have decided that I am going to be more compassionate towards myself and strive to fall in love with myself again. There have been glimpses of true love of self before. Like when I was on my mission. I felt like I could do anything. Be anything. I felt good about who I was and what I was doing. I want to get back to that kind of confidence. I will get back there. So this journey is more of self discovery than anything else. Care to join me? Let's fall in love with ourselves and be proud of the women (and men) that we were created to be.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The beginning of a Journey

This year I am finally going to do it! I am going to lose the weight that I have been PROMISING myself that I would lose for the last.. oh.. i don't know FOREVER.

What lead to this determination to be healthier? Weighing myself for the first time in months and seeing a number that I am less that happy to see. It's truly depressing. So I decided that instead of curling up in a ball and crying my eyes out (like I really want to do).. I am going to DO SOMETHING about it!! I am in charge of my heath and my fate!



I have set certain goals that I am hoping will help me accomplish this:

* Track what I am putting into my body(food) and what I am putting out of my body (exercise). I have heard tons of people use weight watchers but honestly I don't want to pay for it.. I am using WebMD which is $FREE.99!! Yah Buddy!

* Stop focusing on that darn number on the scale and start focusing on how I feel. Am I feeling stronger? More energetic?

* I have set a goal to run (yes RUN!!!) a 5K in May! If you'd like to join me, I am doing the Race for the Cure on May 11th! And it's for a great cause which is even better!

* I am striving to give myself the positive affirmation that I need to feel that I am succeeding. If I can't give it to myself why should I expect someone else (i.e. my husband) to give it to me?

Speaking of the husband!! He has been such a HUGE support to me in this! He has told me over and over that he loves me no matter what and I know he does! He helps me get my lazy bumb out of bed in the morning and stay motivated to exercise at night after I have worked a long day.. and I'm exhausted. I am so grateful to have him and I consider him my SECRET WEAPON!!!

So one day I might get brave and post before pictures but for now I am going to leave you with a little motivation that I have found on pinterest!



 
 

Happy Healthy times!!

Love,

Shay J