Proposal!

**disclaimer - this very well may be the gushiest blog that I have ever written. Beware...**

If you haven't already guessed by the title... I AM ENGAGED!! After two years of friendship with Lucas, four months of wanting to date him, and one year of exclusively dating him, it has happened. :) I am completely and utterly in love with Lucas Duraccio, and I am exciting to spend the rest of eternity with him. He is everything that I could ever want in a man; he is kind, caring, funny, sweet, compassionate, athletic, musical, spiritual, intelligent, understanding, sensitive... and I know that he loves me unconditionally. There is something special in knowing that you can be completely yourself around somebody... that you can tell him anything, confess your deepest darkest corners to him, and be your dorky self in front of him. Agh, I love him!!!

OK, ok, on to the proposal story. :)

So, in the beginning of January Lucas and I went ring shopping together. I picked out my top 3 rings from a few jewelers, and told Lucas that he could pick (though he knew my very favorite, lol.) So for the last month I have just been waiting for the signs that he was going to propose. The sunday before he proposed, he told me that he was going to get my parents numbers from my phone eventually... well, later that Sunday, I was playing Zelda by myself in Lucas' apartment (he was talking to his parents in his bedroom) and all of the sudden I get a call from my mom.

Mom: "Why did Lucas just try calling me?"

Kara: ".............. mom, I don't think I'm supposed to know that."

Mom: "Why?.... oh crap! Is he there?"

(Lucas peeks his little head into the room.)

Kara : " .. .. . uh... "

Mom: "Ah! Don't tell him I told you, DON'T TELL HIM I TOLD YOU!"

Kara: "... uh, ok see you later!"

Lucas never suspected, MWAHAHAHA.

Later that week my dad called and spilled the beans. Bless Lucas' little heart, trying to keep this all from me while my family can't keep a secret. So from Sunday forward I was suspicious of everything Lucas did.

It's a tradition for Lucas and I to go on a real date at least once a week. So on Wednesday Lucas tells me

Lucas: "Oh, I have a date idea for this weekend! Let's go to this concert in Salt Lake."

Kara: (instantly suspicious.) "Oh, what is the concert?"

Lucas: "Um, it has violins and singing in it."

Kara: "OK."

Lucas: "We have to dress up fancy though.
Kara: (even more suspicious...) "Sounds great!"

So Saturday arrives, and I curl my hair and put on my witch dress. (It is black and purple and always reminds me of what a witch would wear.) Lucas came over, and he was looking as handsome as always. As you are probably aware, last Saturday was BEAUTIFUL (50 degrees is February? Yes please!) so just as Lucas and I are about to head up to Salt Lake City...

Lucas: "Hey... since it's such a nice day outside, why don't we go and enjoy it?"
Kara: "Ok! What do you want to do?"

Lucas: "I don't know, ... go to the park where we had our first kiss?"

Kara: INSTANT SUSPICION ONCE AGAIN. ".... sounds good to me!"

So we go to the park (little do I know that our friends Dawna, Sean, and Emily are watching/taking pictures of this whole event) and we walk around the park a few times. Eventually, we end up at the bench near where we had our first kiss.

We sit there for a while, kissing and saying sweet nothings to each other, when suddenly Lucas says, "Kara... what if I told you I loved you?

Kara: "Well, Bear (my nickname for Lucas has and forever will be bear) I would have to say that I love you too."

Lucas: "What if I told you... I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you?"

Kara: (so suspicious that I'm practically screaming) "well, I would say that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too."

Lucas: "What if..." (Lucas gets down on one knee) "I got down on one knee..."

Kara: Pure excitement radiating through face

Lucas: "and what if... I took out this little box from my pocket..."

Kara: (Still saying nothing, but getting more and more excited.)

Lucas: "and what if... what if THIS WAS TOTALLY A FAKE PROPOSAL?" (Lucas opens ring box... and there is no ring.)

Kara: "wha...."

(notice how I am gently poking the box...)

Kara: (now realizing this is a prank and that engagement is not going to occur): "Gaaaaahhhhh!" (slaps Lucas and jumps up.)

Kara: "Are you serious right now?"

Lucas: "Hahahaha, I totally got you!"

(The following pictures show the fleeting emotions that I felt. Bummed - defeated - "you think you are so funny, don't you?" - "I forgive.")

Later that night, after taking me out to burgers to further throw me off from his real proposal, Lucas took me to the state capitol building. We found a secluded spot that overlooked all of Salt Lake City, including the Salt Lake Temple. We kissed, hugged a lot (it was kinda cold) and just talked until suddenly, Lucas was on one knee. At first, I kind of shouted "You better not be faking again..." Lucas just smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the same box he had earlier. With a smile, Lucas said the words "Kara, will you marry me?" (At least, that is what I think he said... I kind of don't remember what he said that very moment.. my brain kind of just stopped.) All I could do was look at the ring box and say, "There is a ring in there...". Finally, I remembered that a response was kind of necessary in these sort of situations so...

I said yes.

We are to be sealed for time and all eternity on June 15th in the Bountiful Utah temple. If you are reading my blog... you are probably invited to the reception. :) I have never been more happy than I am right now.

I'm butter

Why the title? BECAUSE I AM ON A ROLL! A blogging roll, but a roll nonetheless.

I was just at Lucas' apartment watching "How I met your mother" when I should have been studying, and I started to fall asleep. I ended up on the floor completely passed out. Lucas and I had to both be back on campus at four - me, to do some research assisting with my lab partner, and him to go to Men's Chorus. But I, for the life of me, could not get off of that floor. Lucas kept trying to pick me up, but I kept "dead-body"ing him. Finally, FINALLY, I put on my boots and we were out the door.

We were both already running late at this point, but as we were walking up to campus Lucas ran into like... a thousand people he knew. So we stopped and had a convo with every single person. We are slowly making our way to our buildings and... what do you know... I get a text from my research partner. She. Isn't. Coming.

BLAH. So now I'm on campus, and I'm blogging instead of studying, which is almost worse than watching "How I met your mother" as far as procrastinating goes.

That's all. I guess I can go study now. :)

Pants, people, pants!

I hate, hate, HATE when girls wear leggings as pants. Especially when they aren't even wearing a long shirt.

That is all. :)

I mainly just wanted to say that I blogged two days in a row. GO ME!

GASP! Sleepwalking?

Hola, senor! :)

For your information, I am writing this blog out of pure procrastination of studying for an exam that I have to take tomorrow. And I haven't really studied for it. But as I was just about to settle down to study for my test (aka, lay on the couch) I thought, "you know what? You haven't written a blog in a while. You should do that instead." So here I am.

I don't even know if anyone reads my blog anymore, but I hear one of the biggest ways you can get rid of stress is by writing every day. And so I think, hey, why not write in my lovely blog? Even if no one does read it?

Today I learned how to strap somebody up to a machine that will monitor their body waves. It measures, like, everything, and it was a bit over my head, but it was cool. :) I also got to learn some interesting facts in my social psychology class about gender differences. Some researchers conducted a survey in New York City where they had their research assistants approach random strangers and simply ask, "Do you want to have sex with me tonight?" After recording all of their responses, it was found that 0-1% of women agreed to this question. However, a whopping 99% of men agreed to having sex with a complete stranger. Mind. Blown.

Overall, life is just really busy. I know that is all I ever talk about, so I'm going to try to not focus on that anymore. Readers, did you know that I have the tendency to sleep walk? And sleep talk? And sleep laugh and sleep smile and sleep look-people-in-the-eyes-and-freak-them-out?

Once, I woke up sitting on the edge of my bed with my phone in my hand.

Once, I woke up standing in front of the fridge.

Once, in the middle of the night, I rolled over and looked at my roommate and started laughing.

I have walked into my living multiple times, only to go back to bed later.

...... oh what the heck, I think it is time to tell my favorite sleep walking/talking story of all.

So I was over at my sisters house when I was about 16, and she wanted to watch the movie "Donny Darco" or whatever it's called. (Really good movie, by the way, I would recommend it if I knew what it was called.) It was just me, my sister, and her roommate Hannah. Right before we started the movie, I distinctly remember telling Ashley that she couldn't lay down on the couch because she was going to fall asleep. Ashley assured me that she wouldn't.

She did.

Fast. Like... within the first 15 minutes of it.

So me and Hannah, this roommate that I don't really know but kinda knew but not enough to not feel kinda awkward are watching this movie together. It gets to a part where the main male lead is just walking around, and my sister jolts into a sitting position and somewhat screams,

....

Now, for those of you who have seen this movie, you will know that there are no penguins. But my sister looked and was acting so awake, that both Hannah and I were waiting for the penguins to appear on the screen. Within seconds, my sister falls back onto the couch in a heap. Hannah and I started laughing, and I couldn't wait for my sister to regain consciousness to tell her this story. (It was extremely funny at the time.)

So, I waited until the movie was over, and then shook my sister awake. She sat up and looked at me, so I suspected she was awake. I proceeded to tell all about her penguin story and how she had been sleep talking. Hannah and I are laughing; meanwhile, Ashley looked something like this.

So.. I realize that Ashley, who normally would have laughed and asked "Did I really do that?", was still asleep. So I started tapping her on her forehead, pushing her around, until finally she shouted at me "I'M TIRED, KAR-UH!" This only resulted in Hannah and I laughing until we were drooling.

All of the sudden, Ashley (who was wearing a pink night-gown at the time) throws her night gown over her head and shouts, "OH GOOD, you didn't change me. I would have been PISSED if you had changed me." She looked something like this:

So, after much convincing that she hadn't been changed and that she really needed to go to bed, I finally got her tucked away into her bed. As I was tucking the blankets around her, Ashley looked up at me with the most concerned look on her face and asked me, "Kara........ what color are the socks?" Fighting back laughter I replied, "Purple, Ashley, the socks are purple." With that, Ashley's face beamed with happiness and she finally closed her eyes to go to sleep.

HAH! I did it! I wrote the sleep walking blog. It wasn't as good as I imagined it would be, but at least I attempted!

Enjoy life!

3 Day Weekend!

Things I am grateful for (right this very second)

1. Three day weekends. I love being able to sleep when I want and for however long I want, love being able to procrastinate homework until Monday without any consequences, love staying up late, love spending time to do nothing... I love it all. Well... until I try to go to bed by 11pm tonight... my body might have a hard time readjusting to my previous sleep schedule.
2. Yellow flowers. A week ago Lucas got me a bouquet of all the yellow flowers... yellow just makes me so happy, especially when it is next to freezing outside.
3. Friends, even when they are all the way in India.
4. Blankets where one side is velvety and soft and the other side is fluffy and soft (aka, the blankets you get from COSTCO.)
5. Healthy hair. My hair was getting so long, but I cut a few inches off of it. Now I have healthy medium length hair.
6. Education. I love learning, and I love being able to learn skills that are applicable in the real world.
7. Lucas. (I am about to get a little gushy here, so skip ahead to #8 if you want to skip the gush.) I absolutely love that boy. Why? Because I can be my absolute self around him. He also lets me put my freezing cold toes on his stomach to warm them up. THAT is true love, dear readers.
8. My family. I am grateful for wonderful parents that raised me right, grateful for a set of siblings that couldn't be more different, and grateful for my little ones that I love more than anything in this world. :)
9. My Savior.
10. All the little things, like warm socks, hairspray, my new phone, nice carpet, boots, scarves, books, music, my guitar... all the little things that could make my list so much longer.

I could go on and on, but I do have homework to do that I have procrastinated this three day weekend. This blog is far from being awesome, but I want to get back into the habit of writing more than three times a semester.

Bye!

New Year!

Ok, I don't have a lot of time to commit to a blog today. So what we will do here is a quick and schnappy rundown of what my semester is going to look like!! and... here we go!

1. I'm taking 16 credits, all classes for my major. The class that I am the most excited about would have to be my health psychology class.
2. I am also doing about 6 hours of research (unpaid) with Dr. Steffan, and we are researching all the things. He literally has several large experiments going on. I get to wear a lab coat and stare at people until they get super nervous. Should be fun.
3. I am going to be doing research for another prof. (Dr. Dyches) for about 5 hours a week. Paid. yah baby... :)
4. I am also working 25 hours a week, mainly at my two beautiful stores Legends Grille and Blue Line Deli. :)
5. I will also be volunteering about 3 hours a week (I wish I could do more) at either a suicide hotline call center or at a women's abuse shelter home. Both of which require about 12 hours of training. I am really excited to keep volunteering!
6. Going to try to get a good 2 hours of studying in each day.
7. Be in love with Lucas and spend time with him.
8. Oh ya... I guess I am going to try to have a social life. No promises though.

I also don't have my beautiful fish Gustavo (and he misses me very badly), I no longer have my best friend as a roommate (I miss her even more than Gustavo misses me), and I no longer sleep. Well, maybe a few hours a night.

Even with all this stress, and with big decisions in the future, I still am just so happy. I am where I am supposed to be, meeting the people that I need to meet to become the person I need to become. I love my roommates, love my friends, love my boyfriend, love my best friend, love my family. So much love. And I love you, whoever is reading my blog. I really do. :)

If your semester is going to be tough this semester, YOU CAN DO IT. :)

(Lucas and I in front of the "Up" house.) :)

Bonds That Make Us Free

In my gender class this semester, I was asked to read a book titled "Bonds that Make Us Free" by C. Terry Warner. This book has perhaps been one of the most influential and life changing books that I have ever read. Its pages are packed with ways that we can rid ourselves of the self-centered, pity-seeking habits that bind us. I read the epilogue, and I got shivers as I read the final words. Warner talks of faith - not faith in a God, or faith in a certain religion, but faith in "doing the right thing no matter what others may think." It takes faith to do what we inherently know is right, especially when those around us are shouting at us that what we are doing and the way that we are living our life is wrong. C. Terry Warner continues:

Some people misguidedly think that faith is for insecure people who cannot stand on their own, and who use it as a crutch. Those who think this way do not appreciate how dependent we are upon each other. Nor do they comprehend that theirs in the negative kind of dependency, a bondage maintained by comparisons, judgement, and generally unspoken mistrust.

When one lives a life full of comparing himself to others, judging those who do not accept the way that a life is lived or condemning those who "victimize" and "insult" a lifestyle, that person finds himself utterly in bondage in hatred and in self-victimization. He or she cannot be happy unless able to blame much of their heartaches and troubles on others that have occurred in their life. They let this hatred build the very foundations that they believe in. These beliefs are only built on hatred and condemnations of others. Warner states it so eloquently in the following few sentences:

Self-absorbed people never think as clearly or act as decisively as those whose conscience is clear. They see threats where none exist, often can't tell their enemies from their friends, and tend to surround themselves with allies who won't overshadow them. . . Moreover, they spur other people to resist them. They cling to others' failures in order to excuse failures of their own.

This book has focuses so much on putting the blame on yourself, asking yourself the question "could I be wrong," thinking of others before yourself, and having a "consistent readiness to yield to the truth in ALL circumstances, no matter what the apparent cost." When a person can live in such a manner, they find that they don't have to look at others failures and shortcomings in order to feel good about themselves. They don't have to dig around in the past and show how their circumstances created the horrible lives that they have lived or live. A person is simply able to accept what he or she knows to be true, and act on it.

I want to end with a fable and a fact stated by C. Terry Warner.

Fable:

The quality of life - the success we hope for - depends largely upon attaining what people have commonly called the good life. By this we mean competing for, obtaining, and securely holding on to certain externals - for example, pleasures, status, or possessions- which we regard as valuable, satisfying, and reflective of our worth.

Fact:

The quality of life depends upon the choices we make, moment by moment, to do exactly what we sense is right toward all living things, including God. To distinguish this from pursuing the good life, I would like to call it pursuing a life of goodness. This means a life of practical faith.

If you have a chunk of time to do nothing and want to be truly inspired, take a moment to read this book. It is not a religious book - in fact, the only time that it mentions God and Faith is in the epilogue. I promise you will get something out of reading it (Again, it is titled "Bonds that Make Us Free" by C. Terry Warner.) I loved what I have learned, and I love how much more loving and kind and free I feel after reading it.

Life is great people. :) I know I haven't written my sleep-walking blog - and honestly, I don't think I will ever get around to it. This blog has been neglected much this year, but everything is more than wonderful in my life.

Ya!