.: 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.

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

I'm Engaged!!!!

Scott had planned for us to go on a small hike and then come back to his house and have dinner with his family (at least that’s what he told me). I showed up to his house after work, got changed, and we watched tv for a little bit… So, secretly I had kinda been hoping that he would ask me.. But then when we just sat there.. I thought.. Ok maybe not? Bu at 5:00 on the dot he says “ok you ready to go?” Meanwhile I am thinking.. Yah ok? So he opens the car door for me as usual, but then pulls this blindfold out of his back pocket and says “Oh and by the way, I am gonna need you to put this on.” I was thinking.. Ok maybe this is really it.. But knowing how Scott likes to tease, I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much.
Scott had made a Proposal Playlist for the drive to our secret destination and as soon as I heard that first song I was in tears! I knew that he was gonna pop the question! It was so sweet to hear all these songs that had played a role in our relationship. As he is singing to me, I am just crying and telling him that my make up was gonna get messed up! LoL.
So we get to our destination and he opens the door for me and takes the blindfold off and we are just in this random neighborhood… I’m thinking… ok.. Maybe he isn’t gonna ask me? We walked down the road and there was this hidden little narnia path.. So we start hiking up this hill and we get almost to the top and I start seeing little signs.. The first one said, Dear Shay, remember that one time at Zone Conference (which is where we met for the first time 18 months ago to the day!) So we keep walking and there are more signs. Each one has a little saying or a little memory on it! I am just laughing and crying at the same time! We get to the top of the hill and I see his 2 brothers hiding in this little cave(scott says.. More like patiently waiting!) .. And I was thinking.. Ok.. Is there just the two or are his other family members gonna pop out of the bushes like daisies?! But there were two stools and a beautiful picnic basket waiting for us. Scott tells me to take a seat and the he grabs his guitar. His little brother, Matt, had his guitar too. Scott starts singing me a song that he wrote for me!! (AAAAWWEE!) Meanwhile I am just shaking as I try to hold the lyrics still.. I’m just crying and his other brother, Lars, is taking pictures of the whole thing. So after the song, he puts his guitar away and he grabs the ring. He got down on one knee and said.. “Shaylyn, I have loved you for so long. I couldn’t imagine my life or forever with anyone else. Will you marry me?” and of course I said, “YES!!!!” then we kissed.. a lot!
It was the most beautiful special moment! I am so grateful to have him in my life! I am so happy!! My cheeks STILL hurt from smiling!!! We are getting married in the Salt Lake temple on 10/11/12 and having our reception on the 13^th. More details on that to come.. But thanks for all the love and support and well wishes!!! We couldn’t be happier!! :D
Pictures to come soon!!

Our First Date!

I finally got to see my Scotty J!!!

I wasn't supposed to see him until Sunday.. he was busy with his family and I was working. I even had planned to go out with a guy friend that I had met a couple of weeks ago.. But plans fell through and I was super bummed.. so naturally, I called my best friend to vent to him about my disappointment and about how much I missed him and just wanted to see him. He asked if he could call me back in a couple of minutes.. to which i reluctantly agreed. But he called back in about 5 minutes and said that he had arranged to borrow his parent's car to come and pick me up and that we were going to go on our first date. He said it was a suprise! I thought that my heart was going to jump right out of my lil chest!! I was so excited/ super nervous to see him after 3 long  months. I waited and waited for him to get to the store where we were meeting.. he called me and said that he got lost.. he had passed it and was turning around.. so i had to give him directions to the store again and eventually he got there.. He pulled into the parking lot and all i saw was the HUGE smile on his handsome face! He parked the car and gave me the biggest/tightest hug I think I have ever had!!! I MISSED THAT BOY!!!! He said he had a surprise for me and walked me to the passenger side of the car. He pulls out a huge beautiful bouquet of flowers! 

(insert "awe's" here!)

He then hugged me again and we headed on our date! I was so curious to find out what we were going to be doing. He said that we were going to go to his house and have dinner with his parents and his younger brother! I was SUPER excited! I had been waiting to meet his family for a really really long time!! He said that his dad made steak! YUM!! Even better! lol

As we drove in the car, he reached over and grabbed my hand!! I had wanted to hold his hand for over 6 months!!! Yet again my heart did a backflip in my chest! We just talked like we had been together forever! I am so amazed at how comfortable I felt with him! I told him I was super nervous to meet his family and he assured me that they would love me and that I would love them. And guess what?! I do love them! Oh so much!! 

We got to the house and he opened my door! ("aaawe!") We walked up to the door and I had to pause for a minute.. My heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. We walked in the door and his younger brother, Matt, was standing right inside. He introduced himself and me, being me, asked if I could have a hug. Then his mom heard that we were home and she comes right up to me and gives me the biggest, warmest hug!! His dad came in and said, "don't forget about me," and he hugged me too!! We were already off to a good start! 

While they were finishing up with preparing dinner, Scott and I sat on the couch, (next to each other!! *gasp!*) and looked at pictures from the last 3 months of his mission that I had missed. We went outside and ate on their beautiful back deck and talked. Favorite moment was when Jan, Scott's mom, said something about his sister-in-law wanting to still be the favorite daughter-in-law. Scott leaned over to me and whispered, "welcome to the family,babe!" Another triple backflip from the heart!!

We had wonderful conversation. We ate wonderful food and we took some wonderful long awaited pictures. Scott and I ended the night with scripture study and a snuggle. I am so grateful to have someone that I feel so comfortable with. Someone who will study the scriptures with me and will talk about the gospel with me. We ended the night with a prayer together and I knew that I had made a good choice! I knew that God had truly led us to each other and that I for a million reasons, I was so grateful that I decided to serve a mission!

Scott, I know you probably won't see this, but thanks again for the best last first date I will ever go on!! Thanks for being the guy that I have dreamed of since I was a little girl. Thanks for being a man of integrity and a man who is humble enough to recognize God's hand. You are the best babe!! Can't wait to see where this crazy journey will take us!!

Here are some pictures!! Hope you enjoy!!

*yah, i've wanted to do that for a very very long time!!*

I am SO happy!!!

When you've got a good thing!!