news!

I'm moving!

See details: http://jasonity.blogspot.com/2008/06/jeeoooooorrrb.html

So sad to say goodbye to Boston.

SO happy for Jason.

p.s. Thanks to all of your for your wonderful advice. I am taking extensive notes.

t minus 1 month

So. One month from today I will be getting married.

BIZARRO.

One month from right NOW I will probably be laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what I am getting myself into, but also probably so excited I could pee my pajamas.

Married friends: do you remember what this felt like? A month away and not sure if you have time to do everything and get it done right? Any words of wisdom for the experientially-impaired? How do I keep sane in my last month of engagement?

Not-so-married friends: you know this feeling of having WAY too much to do and WAY too little time to do it in? How do you, in particular, find balance?

I read this quote the other day: "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom in life consists in the elimination of the non-essential."

All: I loved this quote, mostly because it's something I strive for but don't quite achieve. How do you learn to let go of things and leave them for another day? How do I decide what's essential and what's not? How do I let go of guilt when I don't get all the things done that I wanted to or felt like I should for that day?

Virtual penny for your thoughts.

how to get happy in the next half hour

I read this article online today... super good!

Check it:

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1734800-1809876,00.html

And then go have a bunch of yogurt pretzels.
That was my happiness package of the day.

DELICIOUS.

drunk call

A few months ago, one of my coworkers told me about how when he and his friends get smashed, they try to make sure one of them is not super drunk so that he can prevent the others from "drunk calling" their ex-girlfriends or girls that they have crushes on and saying stuff that is ridiculous.

I could've used one of those preventative persons last week.

Tiredness and I make a dynamic combo. After a couple weeks of going to bed late and getting up early, I was both sick and tired. One night I got home late--again--and Jason and I decided it was too late to try to see each other, so we read scriptures over the phone and then I went to bed. I say "we read scriptures" but I mostly fell asleep on the phone--both while Jason was reading and while I was reading. Yes, I fell asleep reading aloud. Incredible. I was wasted.

We said good night, apparently (I have no memory of this) and I fell asleep for realz, with my light on as always. An hour later, Jason looks at his phone and it is on silent but ringing, and it's me calling. It's 1:04 in the morning. He answers: "Hello?" I say an exuberant but slurred "Good MOHRGNING!" He's like, "Um, what do you need? Are you okay?" - totally confused as to why I am calling and not saying anything. I respond, "Mumble mumble mumble mumble." Jason: "Um, what?" Me: "Mumble mummbbblle..." Jason instructed me to go back to bed. "Okay," I say. "Bye!" He looks at his phone confusedly and replies, "Bye..." waits for me to hang up... I do. Conversation over.

The best part is that I remember about 2 seconds of this experience. I remember being on the phone and saying "Good morning." I must have dreamed that it was the next morning and Jason was calling me to wake me up, as usual... but then, how did I grab my phone, open it, and call him? UNKNOWN, my friends. The mystery of being drunk that will never be solved. I have made my first drunk phone call. Drunk on lack of sleep. Drunk on LOVE. Hahahahahaha. I'm a dork.

But it does make for a really funny story.

lahv, the sequel

Yup. Tis true. Jason gave me the best present for my birthday yesterday: he gave me his heart. (aghhhh, CHEEEEEESY!)

He also gave me a beautiful ring! Here are some photos:

Among the lilacs in the Arnold Arboretum

The ring! It is gorgeous!

Take 2: side profile.

What is a Laura and Jason photo shoot without a crazy shot? Seriously.

Dear friends at my birthday picnic

Happy birthday to ME! Such a fun day. Such an eventful day. Such an unforgettable day. Ahhh, it is good to think about spending eternity with my best, best friend.

The big day is Saturday July 19 in the Seattle temple. That day can come as fast as it wants. :)

fo-tos!

HERE THEY ARE, the much promised photos! Of course many more can be seen at my picasa site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/laura.pugmire
You're welcome to browse through those, they're fun.
Some of my favorites from the Utah trip:

J and I on Sunday afternoon. Oh, sunshine!

This is my favorite picture EVER of my sister Melissa and her husband Ammón. I LOVE them.

Yay, family! Mom, Grandma, Melissa, Ammón, Dad, Me. Congrats Meliss!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE. My grandma adores Jason.

Aw, we so cute. :)

My goodly parents. They are rad.

Ma girlz... Mad Mordigan and Tawni.
And a little of the deliciousness that is Cafe Rio.
Love you ladies, thanks for makin time.

I wish we'd taken photos at Joy and Pace's... (thanks so much again guys, and I LOVED seeing everyone who came!) and I wish I'd remembered to take my camera in to my grandma's birthday bash... maybe Melissa will post photos? (gentle urging... oh so gentle... ha)

It was a pretty awesome trip. Just the best trip ever of all time. My cousin's sealing was beautiful. It was SO fun to spend time with so much family, who I love and miss. I saw old roommates and friends from Boston and BYU alike, met the people Jason loves and who so obviously love him, and just generally enjoyed a smooth, natural, comfortable, amazing trip.

I love everything.

i know i promised pictures...

... but I haven't had time yet. But I will! Totally forthcoming. In the meantime, here are my thoughts from today, copied from an email to a friend.

It's interesting... on the mission your sense of purpose is keen; you know clearly what you're supposed to be doing and there are very clear ways of identifying if you are completing your mission or not. It gives you a nice feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day to know that you did your best and obeyed all the rules and put all the little pieces in to make the perfect missionary day. Yet that time as a full-time missionary is just preparatory; as the mission progresses and when we return home, we have to start to learn to not live by checklists and instead to live by the Spirit. There is no longer anyone telling us what our mission is--we now have to discover it by revelation, and find out if we're fulfilling it by acts of faith and the later confirmation that what we've done is right. This was really hard for me when I got home. I wanted the checklist! I wanted someone to just tell me what to do, and boy howdy would I do it. I'd do it wholeheartedly, and especially if it involved teaching the gospel all day and serving people. The Lord now needed me to prepare for and find my new mission, however: He needed me to educate myself so that I could better serve Him. He needed me to be lonely a few hundred times so that I could better empathize with those whose hands hang down. He needed me to choose for myself a career path so that I could advise my children on how to do it for themselves later, so that I could find my passion on my own and feel the accomplishment of discovering it for myself and not the feeling of being forced into a career and resenting the Lord on the bad days for having "made" me do something I didn't like, and He needed me to learn to make important decisions on my own, because He's training me to be like Him, and He makes these kinds of decisions all the time. So gradually I'm starting to feel like my life's mission is as beautiful as my full-time mission was, even though it taxes me and tests me just as my mission constantly did, though in different ways. Once we've shown the Lord we want to be obedient to Him and to do His work, He trusts us to make of our lives a masterpiece, as Elder Wirthlin said, and to do many good things of our own free will. He knows we'll do good things, so He just lets us choose what we will, because He knows it will be awesome and that we won't forget to counsel with Him and listen to His gentle guidance.

ya monkey

This is what Jason calls me when he thinks I'm being ridiculous. He'll just shake his head and say, "Ya monkey!" I laugh a little because he can use it when he's either entertained by my craziness or else annoyed by my...craziness (read: bad mood). In either case, it comes off as funny and he comes off as chill instead of cruel. Thing #572 that I love about Jason.

But check this out... Now. Which one of us deserves the title of monkey? Is it me? I submit that it is not.

PEARD

So I have had a lot on my mind lately. (Oh, and promised pics will come soon; sorry for the barrage of texty posts. I know, I'm boring. But they're comin.) A lot of my mind. I found out Friday afternoon that I did not get in. That information catalyzed a series of interesting emotions in me, including rejection, disappointment, and confusion. Yet right on the heels of those more heavy emotions came the lift; peace and calmness were surprisingly the most lasting of all the emotions I felt that day. A beloved friend had taught me just days before that peace and excitement accompany righteous decisions (PEARD!), so I had this on my mind already. When I found that my supposed disappointment actually brought me peace and a strange excitement for the future, I was surprised, but knew that peace comes from only one Source, so I am going to trust it. Hmm. I am wondering now what the future will bring, but whatever it is, it's bound to be an adventure! I feel that this new turn of events is the Lord's way of guiding my life in a place He wants it to go. I've already committed it to Him; now my task is to trust His path and not wander around in the misty darkness anymore. Forward!

The weekend was full of fun and good times, too. Pics will come from that as well! Let me just say that temple sealings are the best BEST thing in the world, receptions with dancing are fantastic, and sunny days can lift your spirits like nothin else.

Ok. Photos a-comin.

tgif

Today Jason and I woke up early to go watch the sun rise over the harbor from "our spot" on the wharf. It was soooo romantical. What a lovely morning. I'll post pictures latah. We decided to start the day together now instead of ending it... this will be fun.

In other news, today is the day. I find out somewhere around 8pm if I was accepted. If you want to know, call me or email me after that time and I will give you the deets. Be prepared for emotional instability on my part, regardless of the outcome. :)