Yes I'm Engaged!!

So this last 2 weeks have been so great! I got to stay with Robbie's sister and brother in law and really enjoyed their two children Carter and Juliet! Robbie and I got to spend a lot of relaxing time together and fun family games. However I am sure you all don't want to hear about all that I think you all want to hear how he proposed =)
December 26 2011 is the day that he proposed.
this day is also Robbie's Birthday so I got up that morning and told Robbie I would take him to lunch, so he came over and said that he wasn't hungry yet and that he wanted to go to Kohl's to look "fresh" haha. I said okay and we went to Kohl's and he got a t-shirt and a jacket I also got some gorgeous boots!
We then drove around and Robbie seemed to not really want anything, so we ended up at McDonald's haha go figure. He was really quiet the rest of the day and I was a little worried but tried not to think to much of it.
We went to Robbie's aunt and uncle's (Brad and Wendy) to celebrate Robbie's birthday. We had corn chowder which was a amazing and then we played charades which was pretty intense! However I really enjoyed it. We then went to the table and Robbie blew out his candles and opened all his presents. After he opened his presents we all had cake. As we were all standing around Robbie's dad Jeff said to Robbie "Hey I forgot a present in the car for you". So he started to open it and he said "I know what this is" "And I think Shanel will like this". He then pulled out a little red box and got down on one knee in front of all of his family!

I was so excited and just jumped and gave him a hug! Its been wonderful to be engaged and now I head to Houston tomorrow to plan a wedding! Wish me luck! =)

Christmas Vacation Begins

So if you didn't know I am spending the next two weeks with Robbie and his family in Utah. I got here Saturday with my roommate Stephanie, Jordyn,and Kendra, plus Ashley Lyman came with us. We(Girls) stayed in a hotel in Orem and then headed to Midway to Erika's wedding reception. Her reception by the way was beautiful! I was very impresses with it. Then we all headed back to the hotel and went swimming and into the Jacuzzi. That was so relaxing and wonderful.

Well the next morning we got up and checked out and went to church with Diane and Aaron (Robbie's holder sister and brother in law). Stephanie was really tired so she just made it through sacrament. However during sacrament Juliet (There one years old daughter) had so much energy and was passed from isle to isle she had a lot of fun. Well after church I went back with Diane and Aaron and we started to make dinner and then Robbie, his brothers and Dan's friend Lisa came over. we all had a great time getting to now each other and eating. The food was really delicious. After dinner we decided to go to Dan's and watch a movie, then Robbie and I came back to Diane's and read our scriptures and had a great time talking.

Well Diane's two little ones are my alarm clock which is pretty nice and I got up and had french toast. Well I the got ready and Robbie eventually came over and we spent all day running earns that Robbie needed to do. Then Robbie and I came to Diane's and took a nap and watched some TopGear. After Diane and Aaron got back we started to make gingerbread houses old school! It was so fun and we all have such different houses and ideas. It has been a gresat break so far and I look forward to the rest of the break =)

Having Jessica at BYU-I

So these past 2 1/2 weeks have been pretty crazy and exciting.. Like any girl I want to know my future however I get scared at the same time. Especially being in a parenting skills class here at BYU-I and learning how even a toddler thinks!! And men say girls are complicated! I think children have us beat. However as I have learned how to communicate with children (in a way) I thought it would be good to use what I learned on my sister when she came to visit... haha bad I idea? I think no! So let me tell you a little bit about Ms Jessica. She is the baby of the family and has always been a little spoiled (What am I saying we were all spoiled) However since she is the last child at home and my parents are a little burnt out, her life is pretty easy! She is brunette brown eyes(that glow and are turning green) SO basically beautiful! she is A sophomore in high school and loves lots of attention (just not from her family haha) what teenager does.. Boys are becoming a new thing and she's a Sorensen Girl we just have that thing about is.. haha She figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life.. She is very different from me.. I love playing sports dancing, love being apart of the LDS church and love BYU-I (which is a small country college town) She on the other hand gets her nails done, always looks good, and does what she wants when she wants.. SO a little high maintaince (there had to be one in our family ;) ) She is pretty amazing at art, even though she doesn't think so, she can play the piano out of all four kids! And she stands up to people that do things wrong (Which can be a challenge sometimes).. However after hearing about something a little hard for any 15 year old girl to go through I was more then willing to let her come visit!
She would get to see how boring and exciting college can be at times..And hopefully gain a even stronger testimony! I also thought it would be good bounding time for us because we don't get much of that..
So she showed up a few days later not used to cold and freezing her little toes of.. The best part is she got to meet Robbie and spend some time with him! I really loved see that part, Robbie was very patient with me and her.. Our family is a little rough around engdes so we all push each others buttons and it can be hard to handle sometimes.. However Robbie always looked out for her and me and made sure everything went well.. I can remember us going to the straw maze that became haunted after a while and one of the "Monsters came after Jessica and Jessica ran into a corner drag me in front of her and then Robbie went between me and the "Monster" SO we wouldn't get to scared.. It was a relief that he could do that, and think oh you two are just a bunch of girls.. instead he followed us and let us go where we wanted and ran from the places we didn't want to be haha..

It was so cold my eyes wouldn't really open


Me and my Stud!!!

Anytime Robbie and I went on a date or out he always included Jessica, which it was fun dragging her around and letting her get to know all our friends!
Jessica would even go off with my roommates and begin to build bonds with them! I think it was a little bit of a culture shock for her and sometimes a little boring but hopefully it opened her eyes a little bit and made her look forward to college!
However she has left to be some of our family in Arizona and I am a little sad.. I miss her following me around like my own personal puppy.. And just being goofy and silly and laugh so hard that we almost fall on the ground. I think that is the great thing about family.. Is they always bring your true side out! Even though they maybe crazy they still love you and care about you! That is the great thing about families!




The joys of Pumkin Carving and Wii Dancing!!






The grande days of Sunday!!


















Snow Day!!!

With the holidays just a week away I have so much excitement going through me! For one Robbie is coming to Texas with me for Thanksgiving and Then Christmas I get to be with his family! What can I say! I'm excited! Love is in the air and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Life Just Keeps Getting Better!!

So since I have been back in Rexburg I have enjoyed the free time I have been able to have. I get to see my roommates in the morning and as they come in and out through out the day. I have time to run up to campus to see Robbie before work which is so nice. Then I go home and have been reading lots of books! I know crazy, however my Friends and roommates have been recommending great books such as "First comes love" Which is great for single, pre-engaged, engaged and married couples. It just helps you to prepare for that special someone in the best possible way. Plus it has a lot of entertaining stores to read.


Well this weekend was pretty great Robbie and I set Kendra up on a date with his cousin to Guitars Unplugged. She really just needed a break from things. So we all got there and then Christian and Amber met up with us. It was truly so great to see her and her new hubby! They are doing great and enjoying marriage. Well after the concert we went back to my apartment where we had sugar cookies and homemade icing ready for a decorating game. We split into to couples and each had a cookie and one of us would pick a piece of paper from the bowel and we hand to draw that scenes. It was a challenge but A LOT OF FUN!

Robbie and me =)

Which cookie would you choose?

Thumb war

Explosion

Robbie's helicopter

The girls

Robbie and I are loving the moments we spend together and how close we have become. It has been great to have someone that is my best friend that I can share my fears and happiness with. I'm excited to see what this next year has in store for us.

So you all know that I went to Turkey and Greece with BYU-I and we studied the journey of Paul and his missions in those countries. It was truly amazing and I learned so much about myself and the world around me. I really loved Turkey, I could just feel the love that Heavenly Father had for the people there even though they are Muslim they have such
good views and morals that are very respectable. Our tour Guide Attic ended up at the end accepting a Book of Mormon and having a priesthood blessing. I learned the importance of missionary work and saw why the people of the world need the gospel. Paul went to these country teaching the people he loved them and truly wanted them to believe in something that is so important in this part of our life. Greece was a
different story, we had a guide that was not interested in us our what we had to say. So we just let her speak and then she would leave and give us time to speak on our site reports. Which I felt sad because she is a daughter of God and really think we could have made an impact on her. However there is still agency in this world, so hopefully one day she will have the chance. I also really didn't like all the porn every where and how it is acceptable to just show everywhere. However this is another reason why the gospel needs to reach this country. Over all the gospel was testified to me and reassured me that the gospel is true and that I am on the right track.



I am happy to be back in Rexburg though! I love my roommates and my boyfriend! I came home to a bouquet of flowers in my room from my wonderful boyfriend. Also to Kendra waking up and asking me for a big hug! It was great!!! I loved it! Now I am just waiting for classes to start and my little sister to come join me here at school for a while!! Its going to be a fun filled semester!!

The trip to Turkey...

So Sunday night I spent as much time with Robbie as I could and then finished packing, and then waited in the living room till it was time for Stephanie to take me to the bus stop. So at 1:45am Stephanie and I left and waited for the bus to get there. She walked me to the bus gave me a hug and wished me off. Once I was on the bus and ready to go I fell asleep till our one break, then went back to sleep to the air port. Well after getting through customes at the airport we sat at the gate because our flight was delayed and then when we got into the plane and were off to New York. I feel asleep all the way to New York also! Well we got off the plane and I was hungry so Madaline and I went to the end of the terminal where I found pizza! Well after eating we boarded our plane and then had to wait to leave because President Obama was landing so all the planes came to a stand still, however I got to see Air Force One which was pretty cool. Well then we were off and I pretty much slept through that flight off and on so it wasn't to bad and I got dinner and breakfast. Then plane ride was pretty cool because we had some guys that were our age who were from Turkey teaching us phrases to say like Hello, Thank You, etc.
Well once I got off that plane I was happy and ready to sleep. However we had to get visas and then get our baggage then get onto the bus. So I sat with Diana and we drove all through the city. We stopped for lunch in the New City of Istanbul. The guide toward us around and actually brought us to the place where there was a Christian Church where a counsel was held to determine what nature Jesus Christ was, either Immortal or Mortal. Well after that we were allowed to explore a couple of the blocks to get what we wanted to eat. I noticed a few things about the people 1st they are very trusting people and have stuff just laying out every where. 2 Alot of people smoke here and all the time! 3rd that they really dont use any spices in the food that I have tried so far. 4th the women are very modest and the people seem to be very nice. We actually ran into this shop where they spoke pretty good english and we learned that you order first go sit down then go and pay after you are done. It was really amazing to see these things. Well after that they took us on another tour of the city going over bridges and so forth and back into the Old City where we went to a market place where thet sell a lot of things. I noticed that Turkey is very much modern and they have almost all the same stores as we do. However we eventually found everything I was really looking for! The true Turkey! I bought this amazing hand painted plate that is gorgeous and a bracelet. We all just walked around just getting to know the culture which is not to far off from ours. However I don't think I can handle the smoking so much. But we will not be in the city that long so it shouldn't be too bad! I am excited to see what tomorrow brings. (Pictures will be added).

Rexburg then off to Turkey and Greece

So being back in the Burg has been great and exciting. I got off the bus to my wonderful boyfriend there to see me. As I looked towards the back of the bus I see his smiling face and I light up. We are reunited and have had a wonderful time together. I think I have learned so much with Robbie. He is completely opposite from me and I really do love that. He is calm, thinks through everything, and always seems to be there just when I need him. He is comforting and probably one of the funniest people I know. Robbie and I can just laugh for hours. But the most important thing is that We are still figuring everything out and we go through times where we don't know but I think that is the point of life is taking chances and hoping that it turns out right. When creating a relationship there is so much to learn, the ups and downs, and manly me figuring out things about myself I never knew. However those choices in life that change our life and set the path to a new adventure are never easy and it's always a "process" it's taking steps in life you never thought you would and taking chances that you have no idea if they will ever work out or not. However it's when we make that choice that the path is set. I have learned that making choices are hard but are so worth it. So going to Turkey and Greece will be ultimately life changing for me, I'm not happy leaving Robbie here however I know this is something I need to do.
So that is what I am doing I leave on probably the most amazing trips, I can take that will help define me and make me who I am. I can't tell you how strong the Holy Ghost is when I read my scriptures, pray, and learning about the New Testament and the things that Paul did. He is inspiring and a true disciple of Jesus Christ he has taught me to not fear the future but to embrace it with righteousness. That as we go through life with righteousness we should not fear. I have so much to look forward to and I know that Heavenly Father has a pretty amazing plan for me as long as I have the desire to do his will. I know this trip will do wonders for me but it makes me even more excited for what is in store for me after that.
One thing I remembered today is this sign my mom had up all when I was growing up. It was a statue of Jesus Christ and a quote that said "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it". That is something we have to remember all through life is that we will have good and bad times but there is always another chapter awaiting us. There is always something better awaiting us. Brother Call one of my teachers going on the trip with me said Friday "We must learn patience in our Heavenly Father, and have faith in our Savior Jesus Christ". I will hopefully always remember that and what my purpose on this earth is and that is to prove myself to my Heavenly Father.
The big day is Monday when I leave to Turkey!!! We will see what happens!
Love Shanel!!

What the Future has in Store for Little Miss Me!

So as I have sat here at home spending time with the family and seeing how much my family has changed and how much I have grown has made me realize a lot of things. Life i full of surprises and I can still remember being 8 years old and telling my dad that I wanted to go to BYU no matter what, that I wanted to have my own dance studio, to serve a mission, to go somewhere out of the United States and find my prince charming that would sweep me off my feet and take me to the temple where we would be sealed for all time and eternity! To think that an 8 year old had those kind of dreams! However as I have grown up I have found that no matter how much I plan and trying to manage my life Heavenly Father always has a different plan in mind for me and it is usually better! However I am accomplishing all those dreams but in different ways. Such as when I applied to the BYU schools I knew that I was supposed to go to BYU-Idaho! And oh how a blessing it has been! I have made the most amazing friends that I will have for the rest of my life, I have a stronger testimony then ever and I have a boyfriend that is so understanding, funny, and brings out the good in me in so many ways! I am heading on a New Testament Study Abroad to Greece to travel somewhere I have never been and to see a different part of the world and come to better understanding of the start of Christianity! I have realized that when you are obedient and willing to listen to Heavenly Father and let him guide you on the right path everything will always be happy! I can say that my life has been pretty happy, yes I have had trials and tribulation but I have always relied on my Heavenly Father and I always knew it will get better even if it gets worse! Nothing is more important then following what our Heavenly Father wants! And that is what I am doing full heartily! You have to learn to enjoy life before you can be happy! Life is short but there is joy in all things! Happiness comes from God! Sorrow and Sadness come from Satan! So be happy!

The End of Spring Semester!!!

So as the semester ended the stress was on and a lot has happened. As the semester winded down Amber got all packed and moved which was really weird.. I will miss our long talk conversations I sure learned a lot from her! She was a fantastic roommate! Well I stayed an extra week up in Rexburg due to Ambers wedding which was nice because I got to spend some time with Robbie when there wasn't a lot of stress. We really opened up and got somethings out of the way which was nice! He is planning on coming home with me for Thanksgiving which will be a lot of fun. I really like that we have taken it slow and really gotten to know each other it has been a lot of fun!! However I will say I have been away for a week and we are already missing each other... I think being a part brings out your true feelings for someone and lets you have time to think about your feelings for that person. Well we finished the semester by driving down to Utah to go to Amber's Wedding which was a lot of fun!! Esppecially the drive haha Robbie caught me taking pictures of him so he put a pillow over his face =)


Well after the wedding and the reception


I left the next morning to Houston.... and Life has been a little complicated since I have been home but nothing I can't handle! Robbie is a huge strength and I cherish him very much at this point. I have realized the blessings in my life and how my Heavenly Father has prepared me for this point in my life! I have learned that when I listen and do what he says he prepares a way for me to accomplish the things I need to, and I am guided in the right direction. I love life and I love the people in my life they make me who I am today!

Erika's Proposal and Amber's Bachlorette Party!!

This is a long over due blog post so here it is!!!
So it was just a normal Friday night at BYU-I, Robbie and I finishing up homework, me fixing dinner, and then Robbie and I figuring out things to do. Robbie and I decided to hang out with Stephanie for a little bit and go get Twizzle Berry! Then we went and got a movie from RedBox. After the movie it was a chilly night as we walked back to my apartment and we sat down to hang out with the roommates when Chris Walker comes in and asked Robbie and I if we would like to go to Mesa Falls with him.. At first I hesitated but then I got the look.. I knew what that meant, he was going to propose! So I got many text messages about what Robbie and I needed to do and then I spent the whole night freaking out... haha I just wanted it to be perfect for Erika! So needless to say I only got 2 hours of sleep.. Well the next morning I got up and put a smile on and had a great time driving up to Mesa Falls and seeing all the really old cars taking the same drive! Then we arrived and took the board walk around to the waterfall!



Then once we made it around Robbie and I split off and left to the car to get the Rose Petals and roses with a card! Well we sprinkled the rose petals around and placed roses here and there then waited a few moments. Then I saw them coming! She had no idea what was about to happen. She walked down and then read the card, then she turned around and there was Chris down on one knee asking to marry her.!







She is so happy and so excited! Well after all that we went back home and I took a nap! I was so tired! haha

Well that night the boys left to have guys night with Christian and we took Amber out to Texas Road House! We had the waiter bring the sattle out and she got to ride the sattle! hahah After that we came home and Ashley had prepared some questions that she asked Christian and had him answer it! That was really sweet! Then we finished up with the fun gifts and ended the night with a movie.







Robbie called me in the middle of the movie and asked if I could go to the store with him. It was cute because when I got in the car there was a little shark stuffed animal that he got for me while he was out at guys night haha. He said he chose that one because it was the only one that had green in it =).

July 4th, 2011

So wow how time flies and it is already the 4th of July again! So up here in little old Rexburg they have a city parade which is cute and fun to be at. Robbie met me at my apartment at 9:45am then we walked over to where Amber and Christian were.




We sat there in the blistering sun! When Christian ran back to our place and got a umbrella!



So that helped a lot. Well after all the police and fire department went by we got to see some way nice cars! Which is always a great day!





haha Well eventually Robbie and I went back to his place and relaxed then left to go to my apartment and I made some lunch for us. It was pretty great then we took a nap watching Tangled. Well then we left to go with Robbie's roommate Jacob and is fiance Stacey to go to Idaho Falls. We ran some errands then we left to the Firework site we were at. We set up everything and then Robbie and I went and walked around the river and just enjoyed the sites.



Then as the sun went down we went and sat with the group and just talked and played some games till the fireworks started. The firework were awesome and we were so close that after the fireworks went off the remains feel on us... It hurt my eyes so bad but it was worth it. =)



Then we headed out and it took us about an hour due to traffic. I had a great 4th of July!