Wedding and Rodeo?!

Saturday, June 29th

Do you know what I love? Waking up, and not putting on make up until 6pm in the afternoon. Saturday I got up early to help around the house and get some jobs done. I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to do baptisms, which was super good because I got to do some family names for somebody. I know that obviously the temple names are family names, but it is just nice to meet the people who's ancestors names you are helping out with. 

After the temple I hung out with the boys an took them to the pool! It was so dang hot that I could NOT lay out. I ended up just playing with them in the pool for awhile. We played monkey in the middle, and had swimming races. Baylor is such a fun kid! Staci just has the cutest boys ever.
 That night I finally decided to get showered and ready for the evening. Bryan and I went to Tanner and Amanda Hansens wedding reception. They had their reception in Tanners backyard and it was gorgeous!!! There was a pond and a waterfall and lots of space. The decorations were very pretty too. It looked like Pinterest :) Merrill and Heather were bridesmaids and they looked absolutely gorgeous in their outfits. there were just so many friends there! I was so happy to see everyone in one place together. We really just have such a good group of friends. Everyone seems to still be making great choices, following the gospel, getting married and finishing school. It is so weird that we are all growing up. Man, it will be nuts once we start having kids. Ah! Little Heathers, or Mandas or Chelsea's! So fun. But NOT yet. haha.

Bryan and I left the reception around 9ish so that we could go get changed for the rodeo in Riverton. We were really late, but we still got to see some horse races, and bull riding! We met up with his family when we got there. Everyone except for Erika came. Summer is just so fun! Everyone is so happy and there are so many activities to do. Bryan and I drove around and talked until we finally got back to his house. We got to sit and cuddle and talk some more in his basement until I finally went home. I just really enjoyed that night with Bryan! We just had such a good time together and everything felt right and in place again. I seriously just love us!

Manti Pageant

Friday, June 28th

So today I worked from home and boy was I busy! I couldn't believe how busy I was. I would walk away from my computer for not even 10 minutes and have 4-8 new emails. I actually really enjoyed being that busy though because it made the day go faster and I felt very productive. Bryan called me during lunch after work on his way to priest camp. I was happy because everything was feeling much more like us again. 

Around 6pm Janet called me to let me know that they were ready to leave for Manti. I went on over and we were off! We stopped at In N' Out for dinner. Janet wouldn't let me pay! I felt bad. She's so sweet though! She was like "are you kidding me?! You are a poor college student!" The drive down was good, and I really enjoyed talking to Erika, Jake and Janet. Janet is so nice, and she's actually super funny. She was telling us way funny stories from college and the weird people who she had been on dates with. I even told her a couple funny date stories of mine. 

The Pageant was good as always. Erika didn't want to sit by Jake, so I sat between the two of them. It's funny how I still get something new out of it each time I go. It is so cheesy, but has such a good message. I love it. We got out of there really fast, and didn't even hit any traffic! I couldn't believe it. Erika and I completely fell asleep on the way back. Jake was talking to his mom about work, and what he does there. Probably half of the reason I fell asleep so fast. Man, that boy is a talker! He is so nice though. 

When we arrived home, Janet talked to me for a bit before I left. I 'm so glad that I went! I was pretty skeptical about going because I didn't want them to think it was weird, and I wasn't sure if everyone would feel awkward about me being there. Everything went great, and I am glad I got to spend that time with them! 

Running time.

Monday, June 24th - Wednesday June 26th 

So,  I always mix up when Pioneer day is. Why? Because my old best friend Laura Farr's birthday is June 24th, and Pioneer day is July 24th. Random fact, but there you go! I don't think I will ever forget her birthday! 

Well, today was pretty good. I went to work and Brandon was finally there. He hadn't been in all last week so it was nice to get caught up. Ron took Brandon out to lunch to make sure he was doing allright, which left Angela and I here alone. We decided to take a girls lunch out to Zupas!  Fun huh? I love my Angela! Zupas was yummy, but I stuffed myself so bad I wanted to die. Work was hard to focus on after that because I just wanted to fall asleep. I survived though! When I got home I chatted with Staci, but I ended up falling asleep and taking a nice nap! They woke me up for dinner and that was yummy - enchiladas and salad. We had FHE and this week we were on the 6th article of faith! I still can't seem to say that one without singing the song they taught me in primary. Tyler made us some REALLY good banana bread for our FHE treat. 

I read Harry Potter for awhile, and then Heather and Merrill showed up at my house to visit! Man I love those girls. We were just laughing and chatting for an hour. I am so lucky to have them! Heather just pops down on my bed and gets under the covers with me. I just started laughing ha. Bryan texted me around 10:15pm and told me we could go running, so then I said goodbye to the girls and went over to Bryans. Here is where I regret how much banana bread I ate! OH my hannah. I thought I was going to die. Bryan made me keep going though. I need to improve lots.... He's a good running buddy though!

Tuesday I went to work and got a lot done again. After work I came home and made dinner. This time I made BBQ chicken with Pasta salad! The boys said the chicken was really good, probably just being nice again! That night I went to play ultimate frisbee with everyone (Kyle, Carl, Bryan, Mark, Garrett, Brooke, Parker etc). It was fun, but we played for forever, so by the end I was definitely ready to be done. I did get to go see Heather, Mandy and Merrill while they were finishing up some crafts for Mandy's wedding this saturday. When Merrill and I left we her to her house so that I could borrow Harry Potter #6. I was a bit excited. Bryan called me later that night, which I always love. I feel bad because I was

kind of moody... I was just feeling frustrated with everyone around me getting married. I don't want to get married super fast, and I know I feel good about Bryan, but it's not like I have my answer either. I guess I just wanted some kind of affirmation that he is wanting the same things and is dating me with marriage in mind. I hate when I let my emotions get the better of me. He sent me a really sweet text, but I feel bad because I fell asleep before I even read it.

Wednesday I went to work, and it was a slower day, but I did my best to keep myself busy. I got my hair trimmed before I went home. After dinner I went to Heathers and we did a project that we found on Pinterest. We used wood shutters to make something to hang pictures on! We accidentally didn't buy enough spray paint, so we made a mad dash to Hobby Lobby. We walked in at 7:59pm, pretty dang lucky. On our way back to her house we saw a lady selling dogs... I had to hold one!! They were adorable. I wish they stayed that small! Anyway, we won't home to finish and I think they turned out pretty dang cute!


So I was planning on seeing Bryan after he went to the temple that night, and he didn't end up calling me until 10pm. I was frustrated. I don't need to see him everyday, but I really just needed to talk... Hopefully I didn't drive him to crazy.. we ended up going on a walk and talked and I felt better. It was awkward talking about those feelings I had about everyone getting married except for me because I didn't want to freak him out. He was so good about it and said that it's totally okay for me to feel that way, and he did tell me that he wouldn't be dating me if he wasn't hoping to marry me. So, that was good and what I needed to hear. Dang, sometimes I'm a pain in the butt. He's pretty great for putting up with me.

Stripes Stripes Stripes

Thursday June 20th - Sunday June 23rd

Dear Diary,

Once again, another great weekend!

Thursday night I went to play with Heather :) We took a little trip over to Forever 21 and did some shopping. That place is like heaven to us! I may have bought 3 striped shirts and an adorable white shirt, a belt and a necklace. Whoops. Good news is, I spend less than $50. Heat and I just did the usual girl talk! When we got back we shoed Netty (Lynette, Heathers mom) our new clothes. It's tradition :) Heats Dad even liked what I bought! That night  when I got home, I decided I couldn't take my mess of a room anymore and I finally put all my clothes away!! Happy day. I like being able to see my floor!

Friday night after work I decided to go to the Draper Temple.  It was a really pretty day, and I love how the sunlight comes in the baptismal font windows. It is so gorgeous. Besides the SLC font, Draper is my favorite. When I was finished and ready heather and I decided to go on an adventure. We went to Hobby Lobby to pick up spray paint for a little project we are gonna do. We then decided to go to Ross, where I used my store credit for a pretty cute shirt and cardigan. The shirt may have been striped as well... whoops. So Heat and I called it an early night again. I went home and got some reading in before I went to bed.

Saturday I woke up around 8:30am to clean the house. Staci was picking the boys up from Payson Canyon. She's a sweetheart and won't let me pay for rent anymore. She just wants me to help out, so I figured it would make her happy if I got most of the saturday jobs done before she got home. Man that place smelled like cleaning supplies by the time I was done. Might have been a bit intoxicating! ha. Everything looked fantastic though! Heat and I went to the pool around noon, we got some good sun in and lots of talking and reading. It was a perfect day to be outside! We also cleaned her car!

That night Bryan picked me up at 6:15pm or so to go to his family party. Two of his cousins were in town that he hadn't seen in awhile. Bryan made it sounds like the party was going to be awful and incredibly embarrassing  It honestly wasn't that bad!  Maybe because I secretly like those jokes... ha. I thought it was great to finally meet all of these people I've heard so much about. Uncle Gary is SO funny. Bryan has some awesome cousins and just a great family in general. I wish we could have stayed longer! We already had a date planned with Mark, Heather and Trent. We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to go hiking, but the hike we wanted to go on wasn't open yet. I was frustrated though because they didn't wait for us to follow them when we were driving up, and they didn't wait for us to start the hike. We ended up finally finding them and then we sat down to eat. We went to my house after. Carl and Brooke met up with us! So that was fun. We had a bon fire, s'mores and sparklers :) Heat and I mostly played with the sparklers... ha. We are children.


After the date, Bryan and I were talking. I showed him my cute $50 couches! We even tried them out for a minute:) Dang I love us.

Sunday I was running late because I couldn't get the awful campfire smoke smell out of my hair. I ended up telling Bryan to come inside while I finished my hair. It was kind of funny letting him watch me finish getting ready. He looked pretty entertained by how I curl my hair. I asked him to help me find the pieces I had missed. Anyway, pointless random tangent there. He did tell me I was beautiful, and we know that makes me smile like crazy!

Colton's homecoming was nuts! LA Norton gave his homecoming talk right before Colton, but he fainted!!! I guess he had been sick or something. He was able to give his talk by sitting and speaking into a microphone. He is a champ! But yes. Colton did awesome. He made me cry like 3 times. I don't know why missionary stories just get to me like that!

Carl's homecoming was after that, and he did well also. Funny thing happened, some guy comes up to me and says "I know you don't know me from adam, but these girls want to know where your dress is from." It was so random.

I went to Bryans house after that for dinner with his family. Dinner was super good! Man, they feed me a lot. We went to World Wide Missionary training broadcast with Jake, Janet and Rick. The broadcast was really good. I mean, lots of the same information about being member missionaries. But if they keep telling us to do it, then it's definitely not happening the way it should! I enjoyed all the talks a lot. But I have to say it was just a good day because Bryan was holding my hand and being so sweet through both homecomings and the broadcast.

After that we went to Colton's' house to eat and chat with friends. it was SO fun to be with everyone again. Dang I missed Colton! We also watched 17 Miracles. So, thats it! Just a fantastic weekend filled with seeing good friends, the spirit and fun! I have a pretty great life.

Happily for Eternity

Friday, June 21st

So I was just sitting here at work, got a little bored and noticed a video that had been reposted on facebook from mormon messages. One of my other friends had posted it the other day but I didn't have time to watch it. Today after seeing it posted again I decided to see what it was. The video was showing the love this adorable old couple has for each other. They are both frail and each have medical difficulties, one more than the other. The husband loves and cares for his wife by doing things and showing his love. Words don't even have to be spoken to see how much he loves her. I seriously could not get through half of the video without crying.

I started looking through the videos and found another called "Love Her Mother". It was based off of the talk that Elaine S. Dalton's talk from general conference a little while back. I just love this talk, and the points she makes. I hope to find a husband who will love me, and show his love for me. I hope that I can do the same for him, and show our children what an Eternal marriage should be like.  Obviously we won't be perfect because we are human, but I hope that we can still be examples of what Sister Dalton describes. I guess both of these videos just got to me because of everything going on with my family right now. The way my dad acted towards my mother always kind of made me sad, and it makes me even more sad to find out that my mom can hardly believe it when a husband does something kind for a wife. She mentioned being amazed when she would see my grandfather bring something home for his wife, or make dinner for her. I feel sad that my mom hasn't known any better. 

This also brings me to thinking about how incredibly grateful I am for my patriarchal blessing. In my blessing it is very specific about my husband and warns me of what qualities I need to stay away from, and it also gives me guidance on how my husband should treat me in respect to me being his equal partner and him having respect towards womanhood. Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE my father. However, I'm so grateful that my Heavenly Father warned me in my blessing to stay away from men like my father. I picked the wrong guys throughout high school, and I know it was because I didn't understand what an eternal marriage and equal marriage should look like. I'm so grateful for that warning and guidance. 

Right before Bryan got home from his mission, he mentioned a mormon message that I should watch called "Earthly Father, Heavenly Father."  He told me how he just could not wait to be a father after he watched this. No matter if Bryan is the guy for me, I'm so glad he grew up with these family and gospel values. Bryan isn't perfect, neither am I. But I know he would do his best to love me the way Sister Dalton talks about, and I know he would love his children the way this other video portrays. I have no idea what is going to happen with my family, I don't know what decisions my parents will make, or what effects they will have on us - but I know we will be okay. I know if I continue to live the gospel and communicate with my Heavenly father, I will be able to have my own Eternal marriage and family. I am going to do everything I can to be worthy of those promises and blessings. 

"Of all the  titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to Deity, He has asked us to address Him as Father."

                                                      -Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Blessings

Monday June 17th - Wednesday June 19th

Monday was great, I woke up and got to go golfing with work! Brandon said he was sick so it was only Angela, Ron and I. We went at 9am, and I have to say it was a gorgeous day! Not to hot, but still warm and sunny. All three of us weren't playing well, but we still get a laugh out of everything. Ron was of course making his usual sarcastic comments, Angela was swinging at the ball like she was swinging a baseball bat, and I was laughing at everything. Gotta love my job! We left early because Ron's daughter needed a blessing, but we got a good 15 holes in, so I was satisfied. 

I went back to work and worked until 5pm. When I was finished I drove up to AF to meet Linsey at the library again. We got two more chapters done, and some good studying. I'm glad Linsey is focused because it keeps me focused. I went home and had FHE with the Stouts after that, which was on the 5th Article of Faith this time. We are still using the cute videos on the website I mentioned earlier on in the blog. We also played duck duck goose :)

Around 10pm I went over to Bryans and we went on a run. Thankfully I wasn't on my period this time and was able to actually run and not die. Bryan made me run for forever! Ah. I do have to say its nice that he pushes me and I like to try and impress him so I keep going even when I don't want to. WIth Jade I would just say I needed to walk as often as I wanted. At the end I wanted to walk the rest of the way home to cool down but Bryan wouldn't let me! I did feel really good after the run, and I really actually find it fun to go with him. I have a new goal to run three times a week. I'm not gonna make a goal of everyday because I know its not really realistic. I'm lazy :) 

Tuesday was strange. We had NO idea where brandon was or what was going on. He hadn't answered any emails, calls or texts from us since 6pm the nigt before which is really strange for him. We were sending Ron to go check on him around 11am, but Brandon finally decided to email us and tell us he's alive. I spent most of the day in the office with Angela and Ron. I think I got a lot done! 

When I got home I made dinner. My new job is to make dinner every Tuesday night, which will be good practice for me! I made lemon chicken, pasta salad and cut up watermelon. The boys said I did a  good job, so I'll take that! I found out Byran's young mens activity was cancelled, so I went over to his house to watch part of game 6 of the NBA Finals (Heat vs. Spurs). Carl Prince, Garrett, Brian Larsen, and Daryl Warner randomly showed up! Carl and Garrett had gotten home last week! It's crazy! We are like only missing Colton and Mardi now. I'm so excited.

I left around 9pm to go to m grandpas for a blessing. When I got there Grandpa and I talked for a good 45 minutes or so. He's seriously a wise and loving man. I am so grateful for him, and sad for the times that my dad kept us away from his side of the family. My grandpa is like my best buddy. During the blessing he said some things that really surprised me. The words aren't exact and I just wrote down what I remembered and was impressed by when I got home. 

• My relationship with my family and my family struggles will not hinder or harm my relationship with Bryan and his family. It will not change how they view me.
• I'm responsible as the oldest child to be an example, not only to my siblings but my parents as well. I was placed into my family for a reason. My influence can make an impact. My example and sweetness to my brothers at their young ages is important. Especially now before they grow up and don't want my advice.
• I will be blessed with good health during this trial.
• I will be blessed with peace and comfort
• I will be blessed to put the bad feelings and emotions away and replace them with ones from my Heavenly Father. When I go to him, I will receive answers and feelings of peace and love.

I'm so grateful that I have a Grandfather who is so worthy and wise and willing to give me blessings and be a guide when I am in need. He is a strength for me and my family.

OH also. I found out that the Heat won in OT by 3 points!!! I couldn't believe I missed that!!! AH. I watched the highlights at work the next day though. Man it was an intense game. I'm nervous for game 7.

Wednesday was a good day! Brandon didn't come into the office again, but I did get a lot of work done and even got to go work with Angela for awhile. After work I came home, kind of cleaned my room and took a nap. Around 8pm I went to Bryans and we finished his cleaning jobs, took Sam to a friends house and cleaned his room. I know that doesn't sound fun but for some reason it was! At one point Bryan was hugging me and he just goes "ah!" And I was like "what?" he finally says "I'm just so in love with you!" Yeah, that made me smile. I wasn't expecting him to be this sweet to me! I love that in our relationship we say exactly what we are thinking. Nothing is hidden or secret. I can be me and he can me him. This time we actually got his room pretty dang clean! We could see the floor! I was amazed. Now we can actually move onto other more exciting things on our list :) 

Overall, just a good night. Any night at the Frandsens is a good one. 

Fathers Day

Sunday, June 16th

Well today was fantastic. Bryan picked me up this morning, we met Melissa at the South Towne mall and the three of us drove up to Layton for Elder Austin Bowlingbrokes homecoming. Austin talked about missionary work and member missionary work. I got to see Sam Wright, and oh it just made me so happy to see her! I know how amazing it feels to be at the homecoming of the boy you've waited for. I also, loved not being in her seat anymore ha. It was so great to sit there with Bryan holding my hand, and being able to just be me with him. It's crazy. Bryan has been home 3 months on this coming wednesday. I have no idea where time has gone, and everything is better than I could ever imagine. I finally got to meet and hug Austin, which was great. It's so fun to meet these people because now we can actually be friends. 

We went to Austins house to eat and hangout. Elder Gage Taylor was there too. Sam and Austin are pretty adorable! I'm most definitely a fan.

Here is their classic Russian pose. Gage just looks like a redneck, probably because he is one. 

Bryan drove me home, he decided to go to the last part of his ward. When I got home, Staci and I were talking I thought it would be good to hand out with my mom until I went to Bryans house for dinner. Staci suggested I make cupcakes for Bryans family, so I decided to do that with my mommy! The Stouts went hiking, so we had the house to ourselves while we were baking. I made chocolate cupcakes with a good simple peanut butter frosting recipe. It was nice to spend the afternoon with my mom. I have to say I am really surprised how well she is handling everything with my dad. Obviously she's not perfect in the situation, but she is doing well. I can't imagine what I would do if I was in her situation. I love her so much. I just hope that she is able to get on her feet with a job and a place to live fairly soon. She will be going back to Denver to be with the kids on Wednesday. She said she's done everything she needs to out here for now. I think it will be good for her and the kids. 

I went to Bryans for dinner after she left. When I got there Bryan gave me my Ukranian present! It wasn't finished when he was leaving Ukraine, so he had Elder Bowlingbroke bring it back from him. The present is SO beautiful. It is a little jewelry box with the Salt Lake Temple painted on the front. AH. It is sooo beautiful! Man, this weekend has just been full of presents, I kind of like it!

Dinner was really good! We had meatloaf, salad and potatoes.  I need to learn to cook... Grandma and Grandpa Frandsen were there. They actually arrived at the same time as me. I made sure to go give Grandpa Frandsen a big ol' hug. He is so stinkin cute! It kills me. We looked at pictures from their vacation after dinner. Bryan was hysterical and fell asleep. Thanks to cute little Erika for capturing the moment. Isn't he precious?! 

We played Disney Uno after the cute grandparents left. I was happy because I won twice. I NEVER win games with that family! I have to say I was very proud of myself. Prayer and scriptures were good. Bryan and I were talking in the living room afterwards and he kept asking me if I wanted to talk to his parents about my family situation. There was this part of me that really wanted to because I just felt like it would be really nice to have normal parents to talk to, and Bryan has the best parents. I just had no idea what I would say you know? I didn't have any questions to ask. I just wanted to vent, think and talk through what is going on. The other part of me didn't want to talk to them because I didn't want them to see the vulnerable and not strong side of me. I guess I don't want them to think I wouldn't be a good person to marry, or that I'm unstable emotionally. And yes, I definitely over analyze everything. I know this. I really did appreciate that Bryan was concerned about me, and that he knew that it really was what I wanted.

Bryan's parents came in the kitchen and were telling us all about how they met each other and about their first couple of dates. I seriously was laughing so hard. They are the funniest! And I swear Rick and Bryan are SO similar. Bryan was a dork and kept whispering to me, and asking if I wanted to talk to them. Of course they noticed and kept telling us they knew we were whispering. Finally brat child just said "Chelsea wants to talk to you." Seriously?! ha. And then he walks out of the room to go to the bathroom, so here I am all alone with his parents. Ah. Well, I just started talking and somehow it got easier. They asked lots of questions that helped me think more, and get out what I was feeling and what was going on exactly. Rick suggested that I get a blessing from my Grandpa, which I actually hadn't thought of. I guess I usually try to ask for blessings when I'm sick, and I tend to forget that I can ask for them when I just need comfort or guidance. He also gave good advice for what my mom should do when she is able to get settled into a ward. He said as a bishop, he would want her to come to him and tell him the whole situation. If he doesn't know what is going on, he can't help. He also said it would be good for the kids to see counselors, and if they are tight on money - bishops can have fast offerings be used to take care of that expense. I would never have thought about that. Seeing a counselor my senior year helped me so much! I was able to work through a lot of my bad feelings towards my dad, I was able to be more emotionally stable, and realize that what my dad said was my fault growing up actually wasn't my fault. She was awesome and gave me so much clarity and strength. Rick and Janet both said it would be good to continue to work on my relationship and keep my relationship with my dad as best I can. If there is any hope of him changing and coming back, it will because we have shown him love. They also said that it will be easy to pick a side, but that I should be an example to my siblings and show love and respect for both parents. 

I also was grateful that they validated how I was feeling so well. They didn't make me feel silly, or dumb. They told me they thought I was handling it well, and that I was doing a good job. They said I've had to grow up really fast, and that it must be hard trying to be my moms confidant and support. They said it was a lot of pressure that I shouldn't have to deal with at this age. I guess it was nice for me to hear that they thought I was handling things well. I shouldn't have worried about what they thought, but it was really nice to find out what they were thinking. 

Janet gave some of the most comfort to me. She started talking to me about the atonement and how she hadn't honestly realized that Christ really did feel every pain that we ever felt. She talked about how Enoch and Moses saw and discerned each person who has ever been and ever will be born. They saw me, and they knew who I was. She was saying how in God's realm of no time, he can show these things. She went on to talk about how while christ in the garden of Gethsemane, he not only atoned for our sins, but he felt my pains, my trials, my emotions and heartache. It's like he walked by my side through my whole entire life. Something about that just made me feel so much peace and love. By the end of that, both Janet and I were bawling. She is such a sweetheart, and I'm starting to see that her and I have lots of similarities. She's pretty great. They are both great. I seriously love them so much. We ended with a prayer, and of course Rick got some jokes in at the end to lighten the mood. Janet gave me a big long hug, and I didn't realize how much I needed that it until then. 

Bryan walked me outside. I was embarrassed about crying so much, and he was so sweet about it. He wasn't awkward, just kind and patient. He let me hug him and he held me for awhile. We were laughing and then he just like looks at me and starts saying how even though my dad kind of sucks, that my Heavenly Father loves me and is always there for me. I was like "Seriously bryan? I'm crying again." I have to admit it was adorable, I just didn't want to start crying again! He also told me that I needed to write in my blog when I got home so that I wouldn't forget about what was said. So basically I have the best boyfriend/best friend. I left just feeling so much better and so grateful for all of them. Oh. No big deal, but he did tell me he was in love with me :) It only took a little bit of me pulling it out of him :)