First glimpse at the Missionary

This was posted on the Poland Missionary Blog. I was so happy to finally get to see Elder Raines! He looks great and looks like he is having tons of fun! I cant wait to see more pictures of him :)

I LOVE MY MISSIONARY! <3

ONE WEEK!!

Wow! It’s seriously already been a week? Sure, 7 days isn’t that much but when I’m used to talking to Mike basically every second of everyday I take that as a HUGE accomplishment. Honestly, I’m doing so much better than I expected. The first two days were rough adjusting to everything but everyone has been so supportive. Thanks to anyone who sent me a text message just to check how I was doing, you have no idea how much that meant to me. Thank you Kami for bringing me a milk shake and movies the night Mike left. I haven’t watched any of them yet but hopefully soon! Thanks Mike’s parents for giving me a key to the house and for making me feel so welcomed :) THANK YOU SNIDER AND RAINES FAMILY! I LOVE YOU ALL!!! :D

Yesterday was such an amazing day! I couldn’t have asked for anything more or less. It was perfect. I went to work, it was a super easy day, I went to school and got to leave early. I came home to find my mom and Grandpa outside, I asked my mom if she had gotten the mail yet, she said no so I thought I would (since the day Mike left I check the mail religiously hoping for a little envelope addressed to me). I walked to the mail box, my heart racing but on the inside I knew that there wouldn’t be anything there because Mike told us in his email not to expect anything until Wednesday. I opened our mail box and to my happy surprise… A LETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thee best feeling ever! I couldn’t stop smiling! I ran home as fast as I could, smiling the whole way. I saw my mom and screamed while jumping up and down “I GOT A LETTER!! I GOT A LETTER!!!!'” Apparently I was loud or something because my neighbors heard me and cheered for me as well :) haha. I thought that was pretty funny. I ran inside and ripped that sucker opened as fast as I could. The envelope was basically ruined but that’s okay. That letter was exactly what I needed. Michael is so amazing. He is doing fantastic! He’s enjoying every minute of it and he is already a zone leader! Crazy! I really don’t know what that means to be a zone leader but it sounds pretty important. Fun fast, he learned that Zupas is Polish for soup. Go figure! I’ve probably read that letter like 20 times and every time I fall more in love with him. Michael is the most amazing person in the world. He means everything to me. I am soo proud of him. I love you Mike. Well.. after that FANTASTIC part of my day my new phone came that I only had to pay 5 dollars for! Thank you phone insurance. Then I went to Mike’s house and got to read the letter he sent to his parents which was amazing :) Then it was off to Misty’s house for none other then the famous GLEE NIGHT! Say whaaaat? We had not watched it for the past 2 weeks so we had 3 episodes to catch up on. It was so much fun! And to top it all off Brian made his famous breakfast burritos (you’ve probably never heard of them). They were AMAAAAZZING!! :) Thanks everyone who is keeping me busy while my boyfriend is away serving the Lord. I appreciate everyone so much.

This was me yesterday

FINALLY!!!!! :)

I finally heard from Elder Raines! After what feels like FOREVERRR of waiting. Mike wrote a letter to his mom and dad his first day at the Provo MTC (April, 18, 2012) and it didn’t get here until Saturday the 21st. I checked my mail box every day hoping that there was something for me. But no not yet. But that’s okay! At least I know he’s doing okay, that is all that matters. I miss Mike. I really do. I know he is were is supposed to be though. In his letter he said he already has a buddy :) Which made me happy but I wish I knew his name. One of his companions is from Provo, UT and the other one is Australian! I can just picture Mike talking to him in Mike’s Australian accent. Haha. That Michael… Also he is already learning lots in Polish and some of his teachers only speak Polish which would be super hard! I know he can do it though. At the end of the letter it said “Let Ash know I love her and not to miss me much” It’s not much but those few words meant the world to me,  it’s great to know that he is still thinking of me. Because he is ALWAYS on my mind. I write Mike everyday on DearElder.com just hoping that one of these days I hear back from him. Stay safe Elder Raines and remember..

Kocham Cię!

And so it begins..

Well! Here we go! DAY 1! and what a day it has been. It’s so crazy to me to think that he’s gone. My best friend is gone. Wow…not a concept I ever wanted to have to deal with. But! Through all the sadness and tears, I am so so proud of Michael. He is so excited and happy to serve the Lord. He’s such an amazing kid. I can’t imagine him not being in my life. Mike’s last day started with a big breakfast at the Raines house. It was delicious! Then Michael, Misty, Nicki, Cassie and I played a rousing game of Uno. The whole family started watching home videos of when the siblings were little. Can I just say Michael was thee most adorable little kid I have ever seen? I mean he was cute! Cubby little thing when he was little, high pitched voice when he was a pre-teen and now the most handsome young man ever? Yep that’s my boyfriend :) Well those couple hours of watching the home videos were full of laughs and great memories. I love the Raines family. They are my family. I love being with them. and I hope over these next few years I have lots more memories with them! Mike’s family had the idea to have everyone write him a letter and put it in a box to drop off at the MTC so there could be something for him when he unpacked his stuff. I really wish I could see his reaction with it but I’ll just have to hear stories. Mike’s mom and dad took him to the MTC while the rest of us all stayed at home.

OH! Let me show you my “replacement” Mike.

This is what Mike gave to me before he left. Haha. It’s a body pillow that Mike drew a picture of himself on. So I can still hug him while he’s away. I love it. Mike’s just so clever and thoughtful :)

Also I bought myself this awesome pillow case!

Mike’s goodbye was a lot easier than I expected. I thought I’d be in hysterical tears. But Mike told me something yesterday that stuck with me. It’s not goodbye. It’s just goodnight. I love Michael more than anything. This is what should be happening in my life. And in case anyone is wondering. Mike did not ask me to wait for him. We’re just going to see how things play out and we both just know that “Things Will Work Out”. Get ready Mike! Here comes the best 2 years!