december package

so my dallin is almost home. so what do you send when he'll just have to haul back? i wasn't going to not send anything!
so i sent mostly candy and treats, chocolate, brownie mix, hot chocolate. you know. christmas stuff.
then i have his real christmas gifts here wrapped under our tree.
i think i'm pretty clever. i'm doing the same thing for his birthday next month!

christmas catch up

this year's christmas was great!
i generally have an issue with christmas, i love all the prep work and the excitement and warmth and decorations and hustle and bustle dec 1-dec 23. love it. and i looove christmas eve. in fact i would rather have christmas eve be christmas. as soon as christmas is over, everything goes back to boring and cold, the decorations come down and make me feel emptier than ever. well thats my blah for today, but enough of that.
i love all my family's traditions. they really make christmas eve/christmas what they are. i love spending so much time with my family!
we all got a haul this year, everything we asked for. i love to watch my family open my gifts i like to see their reaction and see if it matches my excitement for them. we had a lot of really thoughtful things this year. we drew cousins on both sides to give to, and that was so fun to see what we could think of to get to know them better, and on one side, to make for them. i was impressed with all the cousins and what we came up with!
i'm also grateful for my friends, and the special things they thought of for me.

cousin braden and me in our nativity scene costumes! he was a wise man and i was an angel :)

my favorite cookie to make for christmas is ginger snaps dipped in white chocolate. with mom! i think we've only been doing it for a couple years, but i want to make it a tradition. they're just so good!

love my mama :)

yum :)

this christmas eve was also special because exactly 50 years ago, on a cold christmas eve, my sweet grandpa doug asked my sweet grandma char to be his eternal companion. so we had some trivia to see who knew most about their relationship and their early years together. it was so fun to hear those stories and to see how strong their love still is.

the very best part of this christmas was getting a short but amazing skype with my love! he's home in 27 days from today!! i'm so lucky to have him. i loved not saying goodbye, but saying 'love you see you soon ' :) :)

my handsome missionary :) coming home so sooon :)

39 days left

i have 39 days left! i can do that :) easy. i am so proud of my babe he is doing so well and is so busy serving the Lord!
i love this picture. last winter and this winter i have changed my phone wallpaper and screensavers and desktops to this picture, loving the memories of last christmas with my dallin and the beautiful night seeing the lights at temple square in 2010! i hold tight to this picture and can't wait until next year when we can see the lights together again :) until then, i will stare at this cute picture and pretend we're going there this year hahaha :)

49 days left

this is insane. 49 days left?? forty nine until dallin gets home??
and today was week 98 of macaroni.
6 more weeks. what the.
ONE more fast sunday.
and in 20 days i will be talking to him on the phone for christmas!!
absolutely amazing. every two hours i realize again that time has flown. i'm so grateful for him and all he does for me. and for the power of prayer. always having a prayer in my heart is what gets me through my loneliest days. i'm so thankful for the spirit and for my Heavenly Father. time has gone swimmingly, and i know it's because this is right. and it will be worth the wait.
loves xoxo

november package, and 22 months down!

i haven't had time to write about my 22 month party! only 2 left! i can't believe that. sooo so so soon. and for my party we went to see breaking dawn part 2 :) which i loved. i can't believe i only get one more month party before my giant ultimate party!! :)

for his thanksgiving package, i tried to find thanksgivingy colors, and things that came in 2s. which turned out to be candy. which was fine because he loves candy! i love being able to do countdowns in packages now, i crack myself up with this candy bar stuff haha!!

reeses pieces :) 

haha :)

2 in each! plus they arent making them anymore hahahaha

inside this, it said "you are the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie of life" haha :) so true he is my sweetheart :)

more november thankfuls

i have time for a few more thankfuls today!
i'm thankful for:

• my job! i love to be able to share my love for dance. dancing is one of the biggest things that has shaped me to be who i am.
• hair school! i'm so grateful to get to go learn and practice what i love. and i'm so thankful for my many friends and family that are willing to come in and let me play with their hair!!
• the mailman. he always puts my letters on top where i can find them fast! and everytime one of us is outside when he swings by he asks how i'm doing and how my letters are :) haha. and he delivers mail safely and promptly! ps 67 days left :)
• friends weddings. i'm lucky to have friends good enough to want me to share and help in their special day! i got to be a bridesmaid in a beautiful wedding yesterday. i was there for the temple and pictures, the luncheon, and the reception, but one of my favorite moments of the day was in the morning. we were standing outside of the bountiful temple freeeeeezing cold taking pictures, when my cute friend called to her new husband to come over by her. watching her face while she realized that she can call him her husband from now until eternity was adorable. i'm so happy for them! and that leads me to:
• i'm so thankful for the gospel and temples. how fortunate are we that we can be sealed to our familes forever?!

feel twinkly

love this. remember there's always something to feel twinkly about! never lose your sparkle.

november thankfuls

i love autumn and thanksgiving. so much. i love to be around family and i love a hot busy kitchen that smells delicious. and i love having the excuse to think of things you're thankful for! something we really should be doing more often.
i knew there was no way i would actually do my thanksgiving thankful every single day. and i was right haha. so here's a chunk. there's so many more but that would take ages. maybe i'll remember to do a better job and put them up. but no promises :)
i am so thankful for:

• my family. my big crazy loud family. i''m so blessed to have so many good examples for so many different things. and i'm so lucky to have so many people that love me unconditionally. i learn so much from each of them.
• my dallin. i'm so thankful for his willingness to serve! i'm so thankful for his incredible example and i'm so lucky to have all his love. (ps 72 days left!!)
• sister bestie taytaybaby. i'm so thankful for tayler. she is ALWAYS there to support me in everything. she's there for the laughter and the smiles and the crying. whatever i need whenever i need. i'm so blessed to have such a good friend.
• all my other friends. i'm so thankful for their support and ears that listen and shoulders to lean on :)
• my car, dancemobile. she's a silly old thing but she works like a charm, and gets me everywhere i need.
• my DVR. i'm thankful i can watch all my shows that i can't make it to in real time!
• my trusty combat boots. they have been everywhere with me. plus they go with everything :)
• my missionary bear. what a good cuddler. he's always there for a hug and to wipe my occasional tears :)
• christmas music. christmas music rules all. like the knicks. i'm so happy that christmas music comes on the radio so early, its months late in my book. and while we're at it, lets remember to be thankful for michael buble, and all his music, christmas or not.

china.

so excited for my cousin and one of my best friends to serve her mission! she got her call yesterday, to HONG KONG!!
she will do so amazing! i miss her already. i'm so proud of her and so excited for her to start this next great adventure!

overwhelmed.

can't sleep! my mind has been going a million miles a minute about a billion different things.
so thankful i remembered this. love it:

maid of honor

yesterday was a beautiful day! i got to go with bestie tayler to find her wedding dress! i went over early to do her hair, and she gives me this:



aahh!! such an honor! commence screaming yes and hugging. i am so excited to be such a big part of my best friend my sister's wedding. i'm so happy for her and so happy to be right there for everything she needs!
back to dress shopping. SHE FOUND ONE!! the perfect dress. absolutely made for her. in under 2 hours. and i helped :) i told everyone the sniffling was from the cold i have :)
sorry no pictures! you'll have to wait and see.
love you forever sissy poo xo

21 months down + a skype

i have been so busy i havent even had time to blog about my 21 months party!! i am so excited and so happy! only three months left!! i am so so proud of my sweetheart. he is working so hard out there to make every day count. i can't believe its been so long. time really does fly. i say that alot, but it seems like every time i realize how fast time is flying, it flies faster! well time, fly away. i'm ready for a hug :) i can wait though. three months left! every time i say it my smile gets a little bigger. seriously can't believe it it shocks me every time.
AND. my dallin's little brother tyler is leaving on his mission in a few weeks. so they won't see each other for 4 years! and ty wont be here for dallin's last phone call on christmas. so dallin got special permission for him to skype home to talk to tyler! so last monday i got to talk to him almost face to face. magical. i'm awkward because i dont want to talk and talk i just want to listen. i always do that with his phone calls, but this time was better because i could stare at him too! i was worried that seeing him would make it harder, but it wasnt any harder than a phone call. phone calls always make me so happy to hear his voice and hear him tell me he loves me and he really is ok, but they also make me miss him that much more. but i'm ok! i'm just so happy and lucky i got to talk to him :)

love you babe

xoxo

october package

i love october! i was so excited to send this package. well every package ha ha! this package is for halloween and for 21 months down, 3 to go, which will be this friday officially!!
i did fun halloween candy, a skeleton, lots of spider rings, crazy halloween straws, candies, some zingers (convenient that they come in threes!!), and 3 muskateers!

 

 

double.digits.

i have 99 days left until my sweetheart comes home. 99!! i cannot believe it. i've been waiting so long to be in the double digits and its finally here! yes i have an app for that. i'm so grateful that time has been going so wonderfully. love him so very much.
xoxo

getting the bestie engaged

last weekend, my best friend in the world got engaged! such an exciting time! and to the greatest guy. i love this kid, i absolutely approve of him marrying her and becoming my brother-in-law haha. we got to spend time together ring shopping for her. they knew which one she wanted, but i got to secretly go back and get it with him! he also let me help him plan his proposal, map it out, and be their secret photographer! i'm so glad i got to be part of this special day! and today as a thank you, they brought me my fav vanillabeanfrappewithacaramelswirl (you say it fast :) ).
i am so grateful for everything tayler has done for me and been there for. i'm so happy that she is so happy, and i can't wait for their beautiful future!

love you guys

xoxo

conference weekend

i love general conference! i have been so excited for this conference for a while now! its probably my favorite weekend :)
you know the challenge, before conference you think of like three things you want answers to and you always get answers? well i've never done it before, but my friend told me to try it. her and i got to go to the morning session at the conference center! anyway, i didn't think of three questions, i just had one thing on my mind, something that has been really hard for me lately. my grandma has been having some extra complications lately, and i've been having a really hard time with it. so i just prayed for comfort and the ability to understand and cope. and i swear, the entire conference, all four sessions, were directed to me and my family. how incredible.

 

saturday october 6th was my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. how great are they? we had a party at their house, took pictures, and watched a beautiful slideshow of them together dating and as newlyweds. then we got to hear both sides of the story of them meeting, and what it has taken to get to 50 years together. they are so amazing! it was beautiful to see them laugh and talk like that, about their eyes meeting and just knowing they were meant to be. what good examples to me.

 

relief society general broadcast

tonight i got to go to the relief society general broadcast with my mom. i've never been to one! but i loved it and i will make sure to go from now on! the speakers were the new general relief society presidency and president eyring. it was amazing. they were alot about love for each other and love from heavenly father and service. the opening hymn was let us all press on, which is officially my new favorite song. i don't think i've ever heard it just with women and it was amazing. so beautiful. it was really a good way to start the meeting.
sister burton talked about the love our father in heaven has for us. she had a few principles on that. the first one was: all that is unfair can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ. challenges seem unfair, anyone would agree. why? that is always the question. its part of the plan for growth and progress in this life. she said the enemy knows when to attack us, but the savior knows when to save us. and i'm so grateful for that. principle 2: there is power in the atonement to overcome the natural man, and be worthy to return to our heavenly father. we need faithful hearts. that was mentioned quite a few times. principle 3: the atonement is the greatest evidence of heavenly father's love for us. which is immense.
sister stephens talked about service as daughters of god, like the pioneers before us. she said be wide awake to our duties. we are different. we are daughters of god. i like how she explained the blessings of how we are comforted by the holy ghost and the savior. she said since jesus christ suffered through every single thing we will go through, he can say come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. she told a few stories of the pioneer journey across the plains, and asked us to think what is my sacrifice for this?  how can i be like the pioneer women? they truly were an amazing people.
sister reeves also talked about the love for us from our savior and heavenly father! which is great because ive needed it lately and maybe so did some other ladies :) she talked about how in the middle of our suffering or disappointment or loss, as we pray for comfort, the answer isn't oh its ok because it will end fine. heavenly father and jesus feel the depth of our suffering and we feel the depth of their love and compassion. and that is the true comfort. never wonder if they know who we are. she said something i need to work on, because i tend to want to tough things out myself. she said cast your burdens on the Lord. there is none else save god that knows our hearts the same. we are never alone. he has not forgotten me. he loves me. and he will carry me through. cast my burdens. tell him how i feel tell about my pain, then give them to him.
we sang i stand all amazed. ive always loved that song, but again it was amazing to just have the women voices.
president eyring is so great. he said cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, that we may sit down in heaven together. i loved his talk about serving others. he had stories of service, and one of service to his daughter in the past month. someone who is diligently serving others will ask what comes next for willing hands to do? he quoted matthew 25:40, inasmuch as ye have done int unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. he said you will find that often the time to serve is inconvenient, or someone could do it better. keep the faith. he talked about the good samaratan, and how even when the task was too much for him to bear alone, he asked for help from someone else, the inn keeper, and they could both help him. heavenly father loves you for any part you play. the savior is always where we invite him. did i do enough service?

i loved this meeting! i'm so happy i was able to go. and take lots of notes :) i am so ready for general conference next week! i love this gospel.

september packages!

i got a great birthday package from my dallin this month, very classic missionary :)
clothes he's tired of hauling around, old holey no soled shoes, and silly birthday things :) i love him! and such a cute letter and birthday card.

 

and then i got to send his 20 months down, 4 to go package! i can't believe i only get to send 3 more packages now!!

so now that we're in the countdown stage, thats what i'm sending in his packages. so i did things in fours!! silly things :)

four delicious rice side dishes, four twixes, four kit kats, four single serving salsas, four sports ball mazes, four puddings, four monster trucks. you get the idea. plus if he can eat it he wont have to haul it around!

 

missing

missing this boy right now.
plus side: 123 days left!!

xoxo

20 months donzo.

4 months left. fooouuuur. wha?? time is flying and its only getting sweeter. i love him more every day. i'm so proud of my dallin for all his hard work!
i love you, always forever.
near and far, closer together.
everywhere i will be with you, everything i will do for you.

xoxo

book of mormon

so i just finished reading the book of mormon again. such a blessing. and i have been reading out of the book of mormon that my dallin sent me, that he wrote his testimony in the front and marked some favorite verses. those little notes made it so fun to read :) i love when i can tell there is a highlighted verse coming up, so i keep reading so i can get to it and see why he loved it. it was good to want to read it, and have a brand new one from my sweetheart, and it was a challenge, so of course i had to take it! its what we do. at the very end he left a note so i was so excited to get to the end and read it! i knew he would be so proud of me. and he is :)
i am so lucky to have someone that would do that for me. he is amazing at encouraging me to read it. it was such a testimony builder to finish it again! its been a long time.
i love this gospel! i know this church is true. i know it.

starting over tomorrow :)

twentyone

birthdays bum me out. i don't know why. they have for a long time! they're just not my favorite. i dread my birthday. and alot of the bumming out this year and last year probably had alot to do with missing my dallin on my birthday. so we'll see how bummed i really am next year!
so saturday my mom and sister and grandmas and my aunts had a birthday party. something about 21 being a big deal and it being the last one with me living at home? haha i don't know. we went to olive garden for dinner and then back to grandmas to watch gone (second time seeing it and its still terrifying :) ) and eat popcorn. it was so much fun! it was so nice to get to eat at my favorite place with my favorite people and just sit and talk and laugh. my grandma brought balloons for my chair and a very sparkly 21 tiara for me to wear. we got fancy drinks and yummy food and just got to visit. then when we went back to grams house for the movie, she had it all decorated cute it was lovely :) i'm so glad we had the party and i'm so grateful for these women that care about me always!
aaannnddd the utes won the holy war during my party so that was a giant plus and a smash ending to the day :)

our bella limonattas :)

the party :)

 



yesterday was my real birthday. i don't know why i hate birthdays so much! i just do.
but it wasn't bad! we had stake conference so we only had to be there for 2 hours so that was fun :) i missed my nursery kids though! i had donut holes for breakfast and got to sleep in! after church i put on my most comfy lounging clothes just in time for my very best bestie and her sweetie to come visit me! they brought me beautiful bright daisies and my favorite treats :) they completely made my day!

then my dallin's mom and sister came to sing and brought me a brand new big box of crayons and a giant coloring book of toy story, dallins fav. i got to pick sunday dinner, so of course i picked burgers and jello and steak fries! my sweet grandparents came to eat too :)
i'm so thankful for everyone i have in my life! i am so loved and so lucky!

fab friday one day late! :)

i was up too late watching greys last night to post my fab friday, but fab saturday just doesnt work! :)
here's what i found this week that i just cant stop thinking about!

i'm so looking forward to:

boot season!! i love fall :)

i have been loving:

colored skinnies for fall! i've been worried i'd have to put away my prized mint jeans for the fall/winter, but i'm finding new ways all the time to turn them into autumn!

 

i will never stop loving:

maxi skirts! (and denim shirts, very 90's and i am a 90's baby:) ) seriously i can't get over my new found love of maxis! dresses and skirts! they're perfect for spring and summer because they're breezy and not too hot, and perfect for fall/winter/spring because you're covered up and warm! they're cute pregnant and they're cute skinny, with heels or sandals! perfection if you ask me.

 

stay pretty

xoxo