moldy face...

well, it's happening. it's here. FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

i left utah last week. it was a crazy feeling leaving utah. it was different than usual. i can't explain it.

i landed in portland, oregon on the 22nd, went straight to the distribution center for a few things that i needed. mick met me and my parents there. it was amazing being in his arms after what felt like a lifetime! i totally cried in deseret book. it was a busy day. i was embarrassed. lol. anyways, we went straight to the temple after that. i had my endowments taken out (is that how i phrase it?). it was amazing!!!! i loved being in the temple with mick. wow. i am now wearing an extra layer which i have mixed feelings about. it is a little uncomfortable but i still love wearing my extra layer. :)

i spent a week doing wedding stuff with my mom and maid of honor/sister, nichole. now i'm sitting in an amazing house about a block from the ocean in Lincoln City, Oregon. IT'S SOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

all of mick's family are here. his parents, and 5 siblings and their spouses and children. so awesome!

mick and i have four days until the wedding. people keep asking me why i'm so calm? haha. i don't know why. i'm really trying to focus on what matters most. the temple. i cannot wait for the day i will become MRS.MICK SWENSON! for TIME AND ALL ETERNITY!  sheesh. why didn't we decide to get married this weekend? oh well. haha.

well, i probably wont be posting anything for a couple more weeks. maybe i'll have some amazing wedding photos to share! definitely amazing honeymoon photos. i still don't know where mick is taking me. i have my passport ready though! :D

until then...

xoxo
jessica larae hunt (for only four more days)/soon to be...jessica larae swenson.

p.s. i've been in the pacific northwest for a little over a week. i feel like my face is molding. GROSS. i think i wash it about 3 or 4 times a day.

with love,

To my family and friends:

Mick and I are very excited and are looking forward to our temple marriage. We hope and pray that you will come to understand our decision in choosing to be married inside the temple. We KNOW without any doubt that it will bring us the upmost joy for the rest of our lives and for all eternity.

I would like to tell you a little bit about my fiancé Mick. He grew up in Salem, Utah. He is the youngest of 6 children. Ken and Debbie are his parents. He has three older brothers and two older sisters (Laura, Sam, Shelly, Matt, and Rob). He grew up playing lots of sports, his favorite being hockey which he played most of his high school years. He was a part of a group called “Ambassadors”. They performed by singing and dancing (has anyone seen Glee? lol). He graduated in 2006. Shortly after graduation he went on an LDS 2 year mission to Chihuahua, Mexico. There he learned to speak fluent Spanish and he taught the people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He returned worthy to the U.S. in 2008. Since then he’s been attending Brigham Young University. He is working towards a degree in Business. He has recently become a Mason. He is now working very hard in Salem, Oregon selling Dish Network and Direct TV.

Now I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have lived most of my life in South Dakota. There I was adopted by Robert and Robin. I am the oldest of 6 children. I started playing the cello in 4^th grade and still bust it out and dust if off every now and again. Lol. I love being creative, particularly in the areas of scrapbooking and sewing. I have tried my hand at fashion design but decided to go a different route. I moved to Washington at age 16 and lived there until I was 19. At age 19 I moved to Utah to attend Utah Valley University. I’m studying photography and I hope to have my own photography business in which I’ll be able to share my talent with those around me.

Mick and I met last year (2009) in January. My old roommate and he were friends in high school and they performed together in Ambassadors. We didn’t start dating until July of 2009. It was a bumpy road at first but over time we have grown to love and care about each other very much, hence the decision to be married! We got engaged December 2009 and are looking forward to our June wedding. We love playing games (banana grahams and killer bunnies are our favorite), we watched 5 seasons of LOST in about a 3 month time period, and we LOVE going on drives and turning up the music and singing really loud. People probably think we’re crazy!

We have chosen to be married in the Portland Oregon temple. The main reason we want to be married in the temple is that we want to be together not just until “death do you part” but for time and ALL eternity! When you love someone so much you would do anything for them, die for them, wouldn’t you want to be with them forever? I know I do. I can’t imagine not being with the man I love so much only until I die.

Matt 16:19 – “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shalt be bound in heaven.”

Another reason we want to be married in the temple is that when we begin adding to our family (mini Mick’s and Jessica’s) we also want to be with them forever. We as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in Eternal Families. We believe that after we die we will be united again. What a wonderful thing!

In order to be married in the temple we are asked to live a certain lifestyle. There are guidelines and other things that we must do before we can enter into the temple. For example, we must live our lives worthy by refraining from drinking alcohol, smoking, doing drugs, defiling our bodies, being chaste (not having sexual relationships before marriage), serving others, going to our church meetings, etc. If we do not take these steps to be counted as worthy we cannot enter the temple.

Anyone may enter and ALL are invited to go to the temple! But there is a process and there are things that have to be done before you can. Those things take time. More time than you have left before the wedding. Mick has been preparing his entire life and I have been for the past 11 years for this day.

I hope you read this letter with an open heart and mind. Please know that we love you. I have been very blessed to have such wonderful people who have accepted me as a part of the family. I truly do love you guys with all my heart. I hope you understand why Mick and I want to be married inside the temple.

We would like to invite you to join us on the temple ground for photos and to ask any questions you may have. Please join us also at our ring ceremony where Mick and I will exchange rings. And we hope you will be able to make it to the reception held that evening. We will be cutting cake, dancing, taking more pictures, doing that garter and bouquet toss. We want to celebrate our day with you!

I wish you all the very best.

With all of my love,

Jess

this saturday i'm going....

{here}

i can't wait.

*yawn*!!!

i'm going to go pick up my dress today. :D i cannot wait!! i'm still trying to figure out how i'm going to get it to Washington this Saturday. haha. i'm going to try to take it as carry on. its pretty big and bulky. wish me luck! lol.

i can't believe that i'll be flying home THIS SATURDAY!! i will finally get to be back in the arms of my sweet fiance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'll get to spend more time with my familia! and it'll be just GREAT to get all the wedding stuff DONE!

i really miss mick. i'm so ready for this week to be over so that he and i can be together. we're going to the temple this saturday! i can't wait!

i went to try on my wedding dress yesterday after the alterations were done. if fit SO MUCH BETTER! she took one and a quarter inch off on both sides. yeah. i'm still feeling angry feelings toward that witchy woman who i argued with for over 15 minutes about what size i really needed. oh well.

can you believe i only have three weeks until the wedding? i still have a ton to do. :p i'm trying to decided if its okay to just do white tablecloths and chair covers (which i can borrow) because to buy or rent ivory ones will cost a lot...A LOT of money. i'm doing all the lighting with christmas lights (which i don't know how well that will work for photography. :p i'm a little nervous about that).

i'm trying to refocus. i'm getting married in the temple. that's all that matters. ;)

i have a busy day today. it looks pretty nice out. that makes me happy.

i've been a pretty laid back bride so far. i do tend to change my mind a lot.

i wish i could start over.

there was this place i wanted to have the reception at. but it felt like it cost too much money. guess what. i've spent more than what it would have cost to just have it there. i wouldn't have to worry about decorating, food, drinks, chair covers and table linens, how to set up. it's in a great location with lots of parking.

i'm freaking out right now.

i still haven't gotten the flowers, decoration stuff, chair covers, or tablecloths.

i have 24 days. TWENTY FOUR DAYS!!!

if you haven't guessed, i'm a perfect at procrastinating.

i want more yellow in my wedding. yellow makes me happy.

the very worst thing...i really miss mick. :(

Happy Mother's Day!

so, sometimes i don't get around to blogging when i should. LoL.

this post is for mother's day. i was pretty excited about mother's day this year. i got to talk to my brother for over an hour! it was so good talking to him on the phone! i really miss him. he's doing so good though and is loving being a missionary.
i didn't get to talk to my mother, i didn't want to tie up the phone when we weren't sure when tim was going to call. but i did get her a gift which i gave her last week.
i did get to spend mother's day with my future mother in law. :) we had yummy leftovers, and yummy cake, and got to sit out in the warm sun!
i went to my old singles ward. it felt like home! i love and miss that ward a lot. i loved the talks!!! they were so great! i loved sunday school which was taught by a really really good friend. i left church feeling super excited and full of hope. how do i make every sunday like that?
i'm super duper excited to be a mother of children someday! it feels a little closer now that i'm 3 1/2 weeks from getting married. :D wow...
THREE AND A HALF WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this picture was taken last year. it was funny. i was walking home from work and thinking about motherhood and how scared of it i was. then i saw this out of the corner of my eye. it made me laugh.

this is the fifteenth one now...

wish me luck!

i really want this. it's so fun and pretty. :D
plus i don't have one yet. how awesome would it be if i could have if for free?

{here}

hahahahahaha!!!!

i forgot about this picture. i found it on my sisters blog again. hahahah! it makes me laugh. i miss my kitty!

monster and i bonded right away after i moved in with the hunts. he would sneak into my room and sleep there all day, run around at night for a few hours and then come sleep with me more. he seemed to always know when i needed a shoulder to cry onto. i know that sounds kinda funny, but its true! he would always come lay beside me or sit on my lap and just purr when i was feeling way down. i literally told him everything. poor cat! haha.

he's pretty old now but still going strong! (mostly)

sometimes...

…you just know

i'm really really missing him.

crepes...

crepes are amazing.

crepes are one of my all time favorite foods

crepes were the very first food/meal mick and i made together.

we had so much fun making them and then eating them. haha.

debbie has decided to do a crepe bar at the open house here in utah. i am sooooooooooo excited!

i found this today.

{here}

ONE MONTH

i'm getting married in one month exactly. one month! why do i feel like i have a billion things to do?

i'm working on the invitations right now.

{photo taken by Ashley Hawkes}

i'm on my hunt for the wedding shoes. it's hard. i did order a pair. i wasn't able to look at them in the store so i just ordered them. if i don't like them i'll return them.

if i don't love them then i think i'll get these ones.

debbie has been working on the little girls dresses. :) they are going to look amazing!

my dress is getting its alterations done!

i bought all my bridesmaids jewelry. i have all my jewelry & they're way pretty.

i bought mick's ring yesterday. i can't wait to actually have it! it doesn't look exactly like this but its super similar.

i had a bridal shower in Washington this last week. It was great! I'm having another this week, and one next week. haha. and i'll be doing something with my girls.

mick booked our honeymoon. he wont tell me where we're going. he said to get my passport and pack my swimsuit! AHHH! i cannot wait!