where to start?

I haven't seen Interstellar in a really long time, but the idea of time dilation where years pass in just a few minutes feels so real to me sometimes. The fact that I'm closer to 30 than I am to 16 absolutely terrifies me, but I guess it just means that I'm enjoying my time here (time flies when you're having fun eh?). I turn 24 in a little over a month, so in true Stephanie Hess fashion, I figured I'd do 24 bullets of 24 fun moments/life events from the past few years to get all caught up on my journaling. 

1. The summer before 9th grade, I went with the choir to LA to audition for America's Got Talent and had such an amazing experience. We performed at Dolby Theatre in front of a live audience, and got to meet the judges & Nick Cannon, and just had the most surreal experience in the world. Howard Stern really loved us, and ended up giving us the golden buzzer to put us through to the next round, so we headed off to NYC in August! This was my first time in NYC, and I absolutely loved every second and just fell in love with the city. We practiced for hours and hours, but also got to wander the city and see so many cool things as well (my mom loved the trip because she got to do so much more while we stayed in to practice at Radio City). Performing at Radio City for the next round is something out of a daydream... definitely something I'll never forget. We ended up making it to the quarterfinals, but got inevitably got voted out and went home right before school started (I think they were sick of taking care of 100 kids haha). One of the coolest experiences of my life for sure.

2. Christmas of 9th grade, we got invited to sing at the White House for the President and First Lady, another experience straight out of a movie. We practiced for weeks and weeks, and then flew back to DC for a week to perform all around for Christmas. This was also the first time I'd been to DC, and I just loved everything about it... I'd love to live in Virginia if I could because I love the area so much. We performed at a few malls, some monuments/historical sights, and then at the White House for their Christmas party (it was all decked out and was gorgeous inside). Just getting to see the inside of the White House was crazy enough, so it was such an incredible experience to perform there for visiting dignitaries and politicians. We sang for an hour or so for guests walking by in the main gathering area, and then President Obama requested a private performance for him and Michelle, so we went into the blue room and sang a few songs and chatted with both of them for a few minutes (he asked me how my grades were and I gave him a thumbs down hahaha), and then came and shook all of our hands. Such an unforgettable experience. 

3. Went on lots of fun trips during high school. California to visit the Jones's, Hawaii to visit the Cottles, Washington for Lobster fest and Disneyland for band trips. North Shore of Oahu is literally the dream vacation, and I miss going to visit.

4. Junior year, the choir got invited to perform in some D-Day celebrations in France, so we headed over to Europe! I absolutely fell in love with Europe, and loved every place we got to visit. We started in Normandy (the French countryside is an absolute dream) and performed at a few national cemeteries, festivals, parks, and celebrations, and it was incredible to see such patriotic celebrations. We filmed a music video on the beaches of Normandy one day, and then travelled to Mont St Michel to film another video a few days later (one of the coolest places I've been) Performing was so much fun, but I loved getting to visit Utah beach and other incredible historic sights to sing the national anthem and honor our soldiers in such a unique way. One of my favorite parts of Normandy was staying in this beautiful old inn in a tiny village and having the most delicious meals all together in their giant sunroom... we had our own sacrament meeting on Sunday and got to have the sacrament with homemade chocolate croissants; what a dream. My mom and I would walk the cobblestone streets at night, wandering through all of the colorful houses that literally looked straight out of a fairytale. Such a dream. After Normandy, we travelled down to Paris and had such a fantastic time. We performed a few more places, and even filmed another music video in a park that had lots of little rollercoasters that you could ride for free (step it up USA). We did all the touristy things; went to the Eiffel tower, visited the Palace of Versailles, wandered the Louvre, shopped at the Champs Elysees, and even went and did baptisms at the Paris temple a few weeks after it had opened. I especially loved visiting the gardens of Versailles (I could've spent a whole week there) and exploring on a little golf cart with my mom. After we finished the choir stuff, my mom and I took the chunnel over to England for a few days and stayed in the most darling British flat (they served us breakfast every morning and I loved getting a whole tray of toast hehe) and wandered all over London. We did the touristy stuff there as well, but my most favorite thing we did was visit Warner Bros studio and see a bunch of Harry Potter sets, costumes, props, and I was completely nerding out the whole time. We headed back over to Paris for a few more days, and then headed back to the US. Some of my fondest memories of my mom were from this trip, wandering the streets of Paris at night, finding the yummiest pastries and homemade ravioli, and exploring the little villages by the beach in northern France... I would give anything to be back there again with my momma.

5. Went to NYC again with my high school choir my senior year, and just had the best time. All of my friends got to go, so we just wandered the city together and saw some amazing plays, ate the most delightful bagels, and did all of the touristy stuff together. We got to sing in a few cathedrals, on Ellis island, and even did some workshops at Julliard. It was probably the best senior trip I could have asked for (we lucked out because usually the choir just goes to LA or San Diego haha)

6. Survived high school! Sophomore year was mostly about theater, and I loved it all. The director that I have known since being little and doing the high school plays was retiring that year, so I got one last year with her. We did White Christmas (and I learned to tap dance... I LOVE tap now) and a fun musical review, and it was just a blast to hangout everyday after school with such a fun group of people and sing and dance. It definitely threw me back to my childhood and spending long days at the high school for plays. Junior and senior year were completely consumed by student body officer which was also a blast. I ran for SBO Tech (I was the only one that ran haha) and won the two year position! I filmed and created videos for assemblies, ran all of the lights and sound for assemblies, prepared announcements, as well as go to all of the sporting events and school activities, and it was so much fun. I absolutely loved being so involved, even if it meant that I sometimes had to be at the school from 6:30am-10pm.

7. Had my final performance with One Voice... so freaking sad. After 7 years of weekly practices, countless performances, loads of friends and happy memories, it was so hard to leave. Such amazing memories singing with the MoTab for their Christmas concert, singing the national anthem at lots of Jazz, Bees, Utes, and Real games, America's Got Talent, music videos, early mornings singing on the radio or news, singing for countless non-profits and charities, and traveling all over the world.

8. Had the best freshman year ever up at USU... I liked high school, but college exceeded every expectation I had tenfold. I lived in the dorms with random roommates, studied math education (I realized pretty quick that math was tough and I didn't want to do it for the rest of my life, so I switched to Business the next year haha), and tried to get involved in a bunch of ways. I didn't love my roommates first semester, so I really branched out and got to know a lot of people in my building and within the complex, and started videoing things for the Statesman (the school newspaper) and made so many new friends and had so much fun going to activities and learning in class. I never thought I'd be the one who wanted to stay out all night at bonfires, go to random parties or even camp out for football games... I loved doing everything and anything in Logan. Second semester, I switched rooms and ended up with the best roommates in the entire world. We did so much together and made some of the happiest memories in our little cinderblock dorm :,) I definitely get home sick for Logan and my freshman year often.

9. I was sitting in my Calc II class one day when I got a call from Masa (director of One Voice), so I rushed out to take it and he asked if I'd be willing to be a "chaperone"/performer in Tokyo with the choir in a month or so, and I said ABSOLUTELY YES! I shuffled around my schoolwork (my professors were SO helpful and I really didn't get docked on anything), and headed out to Japan with the choir in November! We went over to perform for Miss International Pageant in Tokyo, and it was amazing to see such a cool culture. I've grown up performing at lots of Japanese things since Masa is from Japan, so I was a little familiar with the culture and language, but I soaked up every minute there. The performances were amazing, but the food and people were just outstanding. I loved how kind and polite every single person was, and how they were so gracious and excited to see us wherever we went. America can definitely take some things out of Japan's book on how to function as a society. This was officially my last hurrah with the choir, and I just sobbed all the way through our last performance... I loved my years in the choir.

10. Came home from Japan to head off to Oahu with the family for Christmas :) We stayed at Turtle Bay on the north shore and did all of our favorite activities (Hanalei Bay, Haleiwa paddle boarding, lots of shrimp trucks, temple beach night walks, sunset beach, Waimea Bay, swap meat) and the funnest part of this trip was staying up late playing games with the Cottles, and watching all of the fireworks going off on New Years on the roof... the island really knows how to party. Such a fun trip.

11. Came home and got my mission call!! I was sitting in class when it came, so I ran to the institute building to have them print it off, and I drove down to Bountiful to open it that night with all my friends and fam! I still remember how excited/nervous I was, and also how strong the spirit was letting me know that this was absolutely the right thing to be doing. As soon as I said Seattle Washington, I was overwhelmed with emotion and the spirit, and I couldn't picture myself going anywhere else... I was also so excited to go Spanish speaking because I just wanted to learn a language so bad. God knows me so well :)

12. Went to San Diego with college buddies for Spring Break, and had such a fun time. We drove through the night (bad idea), stayed in quite a sketchy hostel (it was like $10 a night hahaha worth it) and all slept in one room, almost crossed the border without any identification, and got absolutely fried even though it was 65 outside haha. Good memories.

13. Went through the temple in preparation for the mish and absolutely loved it. It was so special to walk into the celestial room and be greeted by my family and friends... I even got to go through with my best friend Lauren which was amazing. 

14. My dad was at a work conference in Las Vegas, so my mom and I met up with him for the last half of his trip. We drove down, and stopped at a bunch of temples on the way down to do some temple work which was amazing. We went to Bountiful first, then stopped in Manti, Ceder City, St. George, and then Las Vegas. We stayed in Caesar's Palace for a few days and had lots of fun hanging by the pool and wandering the strip. The last day of the trip, I looked up how far the drive was to drive to Disneyland from Vegas (it was like 4 hours), so I talked my mom into going with me the next day hehe. We woke up at 4 am and I drove while she slept all the way to California! We got there when it opened, and rode rides and ate good food all day and had so so so much fun together. Definitely one of the happiest days with my mom (I cling on to memories like this), and such a fun day at the most magical place riding all the rides. We stayed until close to watch the fireworks, and then hopped back in the car to drive aaaall the way home haha. I stayed up and drove us to St. George where we crashed for a few hours, and then my mom drove us the rest of the way. I look back on this trip quite often and think about how lucky I was to have a mom that would do something like that with me... from stopping at a bunch of temples on the way down to do temple work, to waking up early to go to Disneyland all day, she was just so much fun to be around. She was genuinely my best friend in the whole world and I lucked out having her as my mom.

15. Gave my farewell on Father's Day, and then headed out for the Mexico MTC on June 18, 2019. I don't even know where to start to talk about my mission, because I just loved it so much (I have my mission blog attached to this blog with all my mission emails ;)). It genuinely was the catalyst for my forever conversion. I woke up early on that Tuesday morning and took some pictures with the fam out on the lawn, and then they took me to the airport to drop me off. I didn't cry up until I was hugging everyone goodbye and my mom just started bawling haha, but I luckily got all my tears out before I made it to the other missionaries (couldn't look like a whimp). Mexico was amazing and wild and hard, and I learned a lot, and ate a lot of pineapple and cereal because my tummy couldn't keep anything else in. Lots of crazy rainstorms, beach volleyball with the district, and lots of Spanish. Washington was out of a dream... so green and lush and just gorgeous. I got there in the summertime which is just pure magic. Perfect weather, so green, and sooooo sunshiney every single day for 2-3 months. If it didn't rain for the other 10 months of the year, I'd live there forever hahaha, but the rain was tough sometimes. I served around Mt Rainier in the country during the summer and fall, and then moved to Kirkland during the colder months and I loved my companions, I loved mission life, and I loved teaching (and teaching in Spanish. The people were so amazing and kind). I was loving every single second up until my exact 9 month mark when COVID hit the US right in my area (the care center where someone died was right down the street from us)... I still remember being out knocking one day and people were so scared to open their doors because it was all over the news that someone had died and people were absolutely freaked out. It felt straight out of a movie. Since I have asthma, I got booted home because we didn't know how COVID really affected people with underlying health issues, and it was one of the worst days of my life haha. I was so devastated, but God definitely knew what He was doing (like always).

16. I had a little summer vacay during my COVID break from the mission and it was honestly way nice. I had to quarantine for 2 weeks up at the cabin with my dad and Chito before I could come home so I didn't get my momma sick, and it was so much fun, but also so hard to not see my mom for so long. I kept teaching with my companions over zoom (I wasn't released yet), and I just hung out and relaxed until I could come home again and give my mom a big hug. While the rest of my mission was in quarantine and stuck in their apartments, I had a super fun summer going swimming everyday, going to the lake, and doing a bunch of random stuff with my mom while everyone else was working/in school, and this turned out to be the biggest tender mercy of my entire life. I was so mad I had been sent home, but I was happy to spend time with my mom before I went back out, so we just enjoyed our time while we had it. A few weeks before I was set to head back, my mom and I were headed to the lake for a day of paddle boarding when she started throwing up in the back seat. She couldn't keep anything down after that, so she was so sick right up until I left, and then my dad ended up taking her straight to the hospital after they dropped me off at the airport. She was so sick for the rest of the time I was out, and they were taking her in for surgery to help clear blockage when they nicked her intestine and sent her into sepsis. She called me at 11pm one night to tell me that she loved me and that she wasn't going to make it through the night, so Chito booked me a flight and I flew home the next morning on the earliest flight and I made it in the room right as she passed away. Looking back now, I would've had a way harder time if that was the last time I got to see her after not seeing her for 12 months straight, but God knew I needed those few months of being together all of the time when I got sent home to be okay. This is absolutely one of the biggest testaments of God's love in my life... He knew what I needed, even when I wasn't happy about it at first. You can see the stars align in His plan when you look back on your life.

17. I came home from my mission in September of 2020, and I started chatting with a cutie boy in November or December. Etienne and I went to high school together, but weren't ever super good friends (we had classes together and I took him to a dance our sophomore year, but that was the extent of our friendship haha), but he started swiping up on my snapchat stories and we started chatting. He started coming over to my house every day to hangout and put together puzzles, and then he slowly worked up the courage to ask me out officially ;) we hung out every single day up until he left for summer sales in April (he decided he hated it after a week and a half so luckily it wasn't a long separation), and then hung out every single day (minus a few trips I took) after he got home until we got married! So I guess that means we at least liked spending time together haha. In the first few weeks of August of 2021, we went up Mueller Park one afternoon to read our patriarchal blessings together and chat about the future, and then one week later, Etienne brought me to the same spot to propose :) I had -0000 clue it was happening, and he did such a good job. He told me we were taking family photos up the canyon so I would get dressed up (we actually did take family photos), and then we went for a walk up the canyon afterwards and ended up at our hammock all set up with pictures strung across it. He played one of our favorite songs and danced with me, and then asked me to spend forever with him. It was seriously so perfect, and I was just sobbing the whole time hahaha.

night of our first kiss hehe

18. Before we got engaged, I went to NYC with my high school bff and her sister/all her college friends and it was such a blast. We stayed in Jersey City in a little airbnb, so we were sleeping all over the place on the couch and the floor (there were 13 of us). I think that's the sign of a good trip :) later that summer after we were engaged, I went with my fam to visit my cousins in Alabama and had such a fun time. They live in Auburn, so we wandered around the small towns, boated in some gorgeous lakes that were as warm as a bath, and then went down to Destin, Florida for the rest of the trip to hangout by the beach. Such a dream trip honestly (it would've been better with Etienne though)

19. Got married on November 12, 2021 at This is the Place to the man of ma dreams. We started our morning at the temple reading our vows together, and then got some breakfast with just us two which was amazing, and then the festivities began. We both went home to get ready, and then came back for our ceremony which was so lovely, and then started the reception later that night. I planned the whole wedding myself, so I got to pick and choose exactly what we wanted to do and we loved it all. We drove up to Park City afterwards to spend the weekend relaxing, watching Avatar the Last Airbender, and hot tubbing. It was such a dreamy weekend, and being married has been the best thing ever.

20. Took a few more trips together :) Went to Costa Rica with my family for Christmas! We stayed at an all inclusive, so we ate tons of food and had lots of drinks by the pool, and spent all our time at the beach/pool. We left a few times to go on catamaran rides, ziplining, horseback riding, and even went to a little zoo near the resort to see a bunch of animals that were native to Costa Rica. It was such a fun trip with the fam and my brand spankin new husband. In March, we flew out to LA to stay with my cousin Jana and her husband, and went to Disneyland and Universal with the Cottles! It was Eti's first time at both, and so it was way fun to introduce him to all the magic. It was also way fun to be with the big group, because no one even checked to see if we all had fast passes haha they just let us through. So much fun. A month or two later, we booked a last minute trip to Washington DC to go to the temple open house and see some friends that were serving as mission president/wife, and headed off for a week with everything we needed stuffed in 2 backpacks. We visited all of the sights/museums, biked everywhere, visited the temple, got into the Capitol on a private tour, and literally had the time of our lives. Funnily enough, our favorite thing we did was bike to the zoo and spend the day wandering around looking at all the animals. The more zoos I visit outside of Utah, the more I realize that we got gypped in the zoo category. This was probably the funnest trip we've taken together, and one of the funnest I've ever gone on in my life. In August we went down to St. George for my birthday to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat with David Archuleta, and loved every second (except for the last night when our AC went out... that was a long night of snuggling the frozen jugs of water we found in the freezer haha).

21. Celebrated a year of firsts together and got sealed in the Bountiful Temple. First Christmas in Costa Rica, first 6 months celebration in DC, first birthday celebrations and first Halloween (we dressed up as Remi and Linguini), and our first anniversary in November. First year of many to come.

22. Both of us went through new jobs together (I went through a few haha)! Etienne decided he wanted to do nursing when he came back from his mission, so he started working at Huntsman as a CNA and he loves it. He's currently in his second semester of nursing school, and he'll be done next year! When I came back from my mission, I went back to working at Touche/Over the Moon on main street, as well as subbing for Davis School District and catering for Thirst Catering downtown. I then switched to dental assisting for a bit while I continued to work catering, and then I moved on to manage sales/marketing for Thirst, and finally ended up at Crisp Catering (a new catering company started by my boss from Thirst), and was managing almost everything for them which was wild. It was fun to cater weddings and parties, and I even dragged Etienne along to most events that I worked which was way fun to work together, but I finally decided to figure out something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was looking on Linkedin and found an opening at a law firm downtown for a legal assistant in their IP section, so I applied and got it! I've been here for just over a year, and I love it... I work with the best people in the world so it's been a blast.

23. Etienne and I have been trying to plan a cruise since we got married, and finally got on one this March to Mexico :) we started in TX, went down to Costa Maya first and spent the day biking to cenotes and then to the beach. The cenote was super fun, and we spent a good amount of time there before heading down to the beach which was disgusting... they've had a huge seaweed problem over the last few years, so it was so stinky and yucky. So Etienne and I just wandered through the town instead haha. We went down to Cozumel next to spend the day snorkeling and had such a blast. The water was amazingly clear and blue, and we saw so many turtles, fish, and even some sting rays. I definitely could've spent our whole trip down there. The days we were at sea, we spent lots of time soaking up the sun, eating food/soft serve, playing card games, and wandered around the boat. We had a full day to kill in Houston when we got back, so we of course spent the day at the zoo (we are children). It was a super fun trip together.

24. Moved into our first apartment together and are living our best lives :) We moved into a little basement apartment by the zoo and we have just loved every single second. It's the best neighborhood in the world, and the best ward in the world. Etienne is the primary pianist, and I'm in Young Women's, and we both have an insanely quick commute to work, so we never want to move. We bought a motorcycle around a year ago, so our commute to Bountiful to see the fam isn't too bad either ;) Life is so so good to us.