First Package!

One week from now Travis will have been gone from 4 months! He has been working so hard in Argentina opening up a new area and finally finding a place to live in that area! I decided to put a little package together for him. I was doing some research on the best company to send the package through and I found this awesome company that only delivers packages to missionaries in Argentina! They do trips to Argentina about once a month and the main drop off office is in SLC but they do like 3 different drop off areas as well. So I just had to go to the Provo City Center Temple to drop it off which is right down the road for me so I didn't have to make a special trip to SLC. It was also pretty cheap which I like. I paid like $17.00 for the package and then $11 for shipping and handling! It seems like a great little company. The family who does it is from Argentina and they actually have a son serving in Argentina as well. Super nice people! So in the package I sent a cute tie that has a picture of us on the back. I forgot to take a picture of it but this is what it looks like! I was so cute. I'm so excited for him to get it!

Then I just got one of his favorite bags of candy, mints and some Valentine chocolate with a letter and some pictures! So hopefully Travis will get his package soon! <3

I also just stared my 4th semester at UVU and so far so good! I feel like I no free time with the classes I'm taking which is good for me to stay busy. 

BIRTHDAY BOY!

Today was Travis’s birthday!! Woot woot! We celebrated by going to Olive Garden with his parents and siblings. And for his birthday I sent him a little present back when his parents went to Argentina to pick up his older brother and dropped it off at Travis’s mission home. I got him a cassette tape player with a cassette that had his family and my parents and a few friends saying Happy Birthday to him and a little message if they wanted! So hopefully he was able to figure it out and how to work it! And I hope he liked it!

And the best part is that in a short 4 days I get to skype with him!!! 4 DAYS! Ahh I’m so excited to talk to him and see his face in real time and not just pictures!

Well I hope that Travis has a good birthday in Argentina. He said that he had an investigator who was a pro soccer player here in the U.S. invited him and his companion over for dinner. So I’m sure he loved that. But I’ll get to hear all about it on Christmas!

Also here is a cute little video I made to remember Travis on his day of birth! I’m so grateful I was able to have the best of the best when it came to having an adventure buddy, best friend, support with anything,  a therapist and so much more! I love Elder Cullum!

Blessed!

Travis has almost been gone for 7 weeks! woot woot! He has been out of the MTC for almost a week and I have yet to hear from him and it's been driving me crazy. So I'm hoping tomorrow I will get to hear from him and how he's doing! *fingers crossed* But even though I wasn't able to get an email from him this week I did get a hand written letter in the mail which was the BEST THING EVER! And he also got my letter so yay! I love sending letters!

This time with Travis's being gone has been the hardest yet also the best thing ever. I have been so blessed. I read Travis's letters and emails and he is still the funny goofy boy who is always making me laugh but you can also tell how much he has grown and his faith. This time we've had apart I have also been blessed with one of the best friendships and time I've been able to spend with my family. Before Travis left I was so scared and worried because he wasn't only my boyfriend but also my best friend. We did everything together, like EVERYTHING. I was so scared to loose my best friend for 2 years. Even though Travis's still is my best friend he's still over 6,000 miles away.. BUT I've been so blessed to have gotten so close with my friend Talia. We do everything together and she seriously has been such a life saver to me ever since Travis left. I have been able to develop a relationship with her that I know is going to last the rest of my life. She has helped me so much through the hard days and we do so many fun things to help the time go by, but is also always reassuring me that waiting for Travis will be worth it.

I was able to take a trip to St. George just Talia and I after Travis had been gone for 3 weeks and it was so much fun and so needed!


I have also been able to grow so much closer with Travis. We do a challenge each week to each other like doing a random act of service, giving a compliment to a random stranger or even just reading a short scripture and writing down your thoughts on it like it can be anything. Then we talk about it and it's been such a cool and fun experience. I have also been able to go to Travis with questions or if I need advice he's been able to help me out so much and I'm so grateful for that.

I seriously love this goofy boy! 

I mean as hard as it has been having Travis gone it has also been the best and most rewarding experience ever. Since he has been gone I've been able to develop a life long friendship with my home girl Talia, spend a lot more time with my family all while still falling more and more for Travis everyday. I have been so so blessed and I know that I wouldn't have had these amazing opportunities and experiences if Travis's wasn't on his mission. I am so excited to keep growing myself over the remainder of the next 2 years, and watching Travis do the same!

2 Weeks down!

Has it been the longest 2 weeks of my life? Absolutely. However, I got quite a few pictures which made my day! Travis is looking better then ever.

Enjoy these photogenic pictures of Travis!

This is Travis' soccer buddy who he plays soccer with everyday!

Isn't Elder Cullum the most handsome elder you've ever seen?!

A few days after Travis had left I sent him a letter and he has already received it. Which makes me happy to know he actually got it because I will be sending him plenty more letters!

It has been sooo weird to not have Travis around, and there's always those moments that are hard with your best friend being gone. But overall there's defiantly more happiness when I think about him and all the wonderful experiences and opportunities that he's going to have. Travis defiantly has always been my rock, and still is even from 6,000 miles away! Extremely grateful for this cute boy.

Luckily I've been able to stay plenty busy with changing jobs, school work, and being able to hangout with my amazing family so I usually have something to do. I've also been able to see and spend time with Travis' family as well. We had a girls day up at Gardner Village with my momma, his mom Wendy and sister Paige. It was a lot of fun! 

Very grateful to Travis' family for all their support and kindness! And especially grateful to my amazing Momma Julie too. I'm seriously blessed with the best family and friends! 

Sweetest boy ever!!

So before Travis left we would always send each other different pictures or videos of different things like foods we wanted to try or to make and things we wanted to do together. And I sometimes would send him like cheesy relationship quotes or stuff like that just to be funny.  And one post I had sent to him like forever ago was a picture of a necklace with a boys name on it with a note that said something cheesy like "here is my first name until I can give you my last." and I totally sent that to him because Travis is totally not the romantic type at all! So I sent it to him to be funny and like would tease him as to why he never did cute things like that for me, and of course I was totally joking because he basically did everything for me. (Travis always did super sweet things for me just not romantic things, he wasn't very good at that.) But after I sent that we would always kind of joke about it and what not. Then a few days before he left he told me to make sure I check the mail for the next week because he may or may not have ordered me something that would be coming in the mail. 

So when I opened this I almost started to cry.. He's such a sweet boy and I guess he does have a slight romantic side! I have no idea how I got so lucky to have him. And I'm not lying when I say that I will wear this necklace everyday for  the next 2 years!

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye for the next  years was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do.. This last week I wasn't able to sleep or eat anything at all. It was so hard to think about him leaving for 2 years.
I decided to say goodbye before he was set apart as a full time missionary because I know I wouldn't be able to hold back the tears if I was there, and I didn't go to the airport either for the same reason, I didn't want everyone to watch me crying my eyes out the whole time. And I just had to give him a hug goodbye..
 And I posted the very last selfie we took before saying goodbye :'}
Luckily last night my super sweet friend Talia came over to spend the night with me and was able to stop the tears for a while. She also brought with her some treats for me! <3  And luckily earlier that day Travis took me to wal'mart to get me some ZzzQuil so I would actually get some sleep the first few nights of him leaving. He's seriously the sweetest guy you will EVER meet!!
Though today Travis actually left to go to the Argentina MTC! It's still hard to think about. But I do feel peace because I know he's doing exactly what he needs to be doing at this moment!
Also my very sweet brother Mckay was there when I got home from saying goodbye and was super sweet and gave me the biggest hug and words of comfort. Then tonight my amazing parents came over and cooked me dinner and cookies. (Even though it's still kind of hard for me to eat) I have also felt so much love and support from so many sweet friends and family members. It's overwhelming how much love I have received, I'm so extremely blessed with such amazing people and their support towards me.
I hope Travis felt that same amount of love when he left and I'm sure he did because his family are some of the most amazing people I've ever met. Even though this has probably been the hardest thing I've ever done I feel so much peace and excitement for Travis and his wonderful opportunity to serve and to live in Argentina for 2 years!

May the letters and emails for the next 2 years begin!!

I Love you Elder Cullum!

Introduction

Hi so my name is Tyla Hunter and here is a little bit about me and my story with the one and only Travis Cullum.
My story is a little different from others. I first saw Travis at the end of winter/beginning spring my senior year of high school. He was playing on a rec basketball team with some of my very best friends and everyone was wondering who this 'mystery' guy was. The only thing anyone knew was that he had just moved here to Utah from California and that he went to Maple Mountain High School. I mean when I first met him I had no intentions of a relationship whatsoever! But some how one of my good friends McKay talked me into taking him to the last girls choice dance of the year which was MORP. After a lot of convincing I finally gave in and agreed to take him. (BTW we hadn't ever formally met and we went to different schools) Long story short I asked him and went to pick him up for the date and that was the first time we had officially met, so I didn't really know much about this Travis kid other then he had only lived here for a few months and he plays soccer!
The blind date actually turned out to be so much fun with Travis. We just got along so great and I was really happy with it. Even though I still had no intentions of getting into a relationship it was just different with him.
Then about a week later we planned to hangout again (I was so excited!!) I was going to hangout at his house after my golf practice and I got ready, wore my most favorite and cutest golf outfit, did my hair all cute and made sure to do my make up so after practice I could just go straight to his house. But I got in a pretty bad accident at the golf course that day before practice so I wasn't able to go to his house because I had to go to the doctors to get checked up on to see if I was alright.. I felt so bad that I wasn't able to go over. And a funny fact is that my phone got destroyed in the accident and so I had to use my moms phone to let him know I wasn't able to go over. But instead he came over to my house to make sure I was okay. And ever since then My feelings for Travis started to grow.
He ended up asking me to my senior Prom which was also my very last high school dance, and it couldn't have been anymore perfect.
Well back up a few weeks before Prom I still didn't know Travis all that well but I knew I kinda liked him and he was defiantly super handsome! I found out that he was actually a year younger then me in school.. I was kind of skeptical about that and actually kind of mad at my friend McKay for not telling me before I asked him on our first date because now I actually really started to like Travis.
Even though he was a year younger in school we're only 6 months apart in age. I eventually got over that he was younger then me and it wasn't always easy because I was starting my first year of college and he was going into his senior year. It wasn't easy but some how we did it! We have been dating just short of a year a half. (It's been 1 year and 5 months)

Travis has been one of the biggest blessings in my life and has been there for me through the hardest of times. He has the sweetest spirit and is so thoughtful and is always making sure I'm taken care of. He has always been so kind to me and has done SO much for me and I can never thank him enough for all that he has done and still continues to do for me.

Now Travis is leaving on September 27 to serve an LDS mission for the church in Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission. He will be gone for the next two years to serve the people in Argentina! Travis has always been so willing to serve other people, and the people of Argentina are extremely blessed to be getting his sweet spirit for the next two years! I couldn't be more proud and excited for Travis and his decision to serve and dedicate the next 2 years to the Lord. Even though these next 2 years will be tough I know we will both just be stronger and better people for when he gets home. We've been through some hard times together and we've always came out stronger!

So here's to the start of our 2 year journey!
I Love you Travis!