Busy Busy

 Easter Sunday

Playing outside with the bug...

I love her wispy hairs

 loves being thrown! Laughs and smiles the whole time!

And Daddy sure throws high... I about died!

ugh... a lot of needed yard work. Who knows what the people before us did with the grass?

Went up to Temple Square for a fun lunch date. It was a bit chilly so we stayed inside at the Visitors Center. It was beautiful, if only I had gardens like those. 

 Such a cool model of the SLC Temple. So intricate- its unbelievably identical to the real thing. This temple is very special to me. My family was sealed here when I was 16, what an amazing experience as a young kid to enter into those doors and have my very first experience in the temple. Before my mission I came back again to receive my endowments, it was such an overwhelming feeling as I prepared for my mission inside the temple walls. Then three years later I entered the temple with my sexy Man of God. Knelt across the alter and made promises to God.  

I love the Temple, it helps me keep my eternal perspective in life. We get so caught up with such menial things.  I'm so thankful for my special family, I know that we will be together forever. 

  

Ah this little girl brings such joy into our lives. What did we ever do without her?!

 

Every time she smiles she wrinkles her nose. I love her positive attitude and happy personality. My little Sugar Booger.

 

Annie is so tired after church. We teach the 4 year old's and boy do they keep her busy! She isn't very reverent.  In sharing time all the girls are oohing and ahhing over her.  She loves little kids, it's hilarious anytime a kid walks pass at the store or in church she stops everything she's doing, stands up and stares. I can do something 'funny' and she'll be stone face, then my nephew Harley will do it... she'll laugh like crazy. Precious.

 

 She's such a cuddler with Daddy. She wont go to sleep with out him rocking her. they are too cute together! 

Daddy was watching her and she fell asleep in the car holding her basketball... he was sure proud, maybe she wont take after me with height and possibly be a basketball player? Ha, I pray!

 

Had to tear up the front yard to fix the sprinkler system. Good thing Mike could do it. It's working great now! Thanks Kelly and Stephen for your help.

 

It was a mess! 

 

Sunny Sundays. Those are the best! Laughing and playing. Geez her eyes are so sensitive. Always watering and rubbing. 

 

We got a visitor from Aunt Jewels... Did some hair and laughed with my girl. 

 

 Have I ever mentioned I love DI- Exciting new project! $10... you just wait...

Got all ready to go to Chilis! She was so dang excited. She loves people! 

 

She screamed the whole time with excitement, trying to get everyone's attention. 

p.s. at church we sit at the very back of the short bench seats so she can greet everyone. She waves the whole time and just smiles her big smile. 

 

My baby is now a walker! She started at about 10 1/2 months. It's amazing to see her progress everyday. Her little mind is constantly going, I love it! 

She kisses me all the time. And even initiates them too. 

 

So excited for summer! We're going to have a blast, I can already tell! 

Oh yeah, Daddy graduated from the U with his Masters Degree! whoot whoot.

Hes now studying to take the 'Series 7' (Stock Broker license) and then he will become a financial planner. We sure are proud of him and all his hard work for our family! 

 

Be Mine

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! 

Geez its been a while and I swear there's always a million things to document! In a nut shell on Tuesday 12th I was at work and almost passed out from pain... I have kidney stones :( So I wasn't all that prepared for Valentines Day. It turned out to be wonderful! Our little family went to Macaroni Grill and stood out like a sore thumb. We're still not ready to leave our little AJ. How could we even enjoy our evening knowing she isn't there with us? Basically she had a blast, she loves to scream. We're obsessed.  

Yup still bald as ever. 

She stole my heart- literally, my heart necklace ;)

She always does this face, we love it!

Constantly moving

Saddest Story....

Our little bug had a temperature of 105.5 so the Dr. sent us to Primary Children's Hospital. One of the scariest moments- but apparently the Dr. said that babies over 3 months are fine to have high temp. They had to put a catheter in so they could check her urine. She didn't have a bladder infection, she just had a virus. So sad to see her so uncomfortable and in pain. Broke my heart. I wish I could have taken her pain away. Thankfully she is all better now. 

2nd Sad Story...

I bought Anna's crib off of KSL and I knew it was old- after working so hard on updating it and painting the craziness out of it I found out it was recalled! Devastating. So we said "good bye" to her cribby and purchased a brand new one! I have big plans for the old crib... 2 twin beds. 

My partner in crime, what would I do without you?

Christmas, Halloween and a Move

So it's been a busy while.

I look back at my pictures and I've hardly taken any!!

Heres my attempt to catch up...

This was Christmas Eve at Mikes parents. We all got together and had a family picture. This one was adorable of Anna- we'd been out there for probably 3 min. and her nose was bright red! 

*an interesting tidbit- notice Mike in every family picture... he's either in this shirt (the one I bought him for our engagement pictures!!) Or another button up shirt I bought for pictures last year. It's hilarious, the kid owns 2 nice shirts and only wears them for pictures!! He prefers Golf shirts. Haha I love this man!! 

Heres our little angel. 

I put up the tree Nov. 17 (our 3 year anniversary). I was extremely late this year... I normally get started the day after Halloween.  

She's a roly poly!! 

How embarrassing, 1. My camera is so ghetto 2. I'm just now posting pics from  two months ago! 

Don't judge me... we had no time to carve the pumpkins, but i insisted that we take pictures of Anna with hers.

She's always so happy- such a big mouth!

Examining Daddies face. She loves his scruff. 

Big news... we've moved from our beloved duplex in Alpine to Traverse Mountain. We're Lehi residents!!

We started our search back in July and wow I never knew how exhausting house hunting could be! We found a few great houses but nothing just right until October. We closed Oct.24th and started moving in a couple days later. It's amazing to have so much space and more than one bathroom!! The list goes on as to what I'm grateful for! I Love my little family. We're such geeks :) 

Cosmetologist = Psychologist

“Your clients will tell you everything about their life. They’ll tell you even before a best friend or family member.”

Miss Ev prepared us.

I thought that was rubbish, there’s no way.

Until I graduated from school and jumped into my career...

My hair girl talked me into going to Cosmetology school. She sent me in the right direction, told me I’d absolutely LOVE Miss Ev (owns Evans Hairstyling College).

She was right! It was the most perfect fit. I met wonderful girls, friendships that will last forever.

The months leading up to graduation freaked me out. I’d made it to the end of the tunnel. I looked into a bunch of Salons, never 100% sure where I’d end up.

The last week of school my own stylist (Michelle) came to me. She told me that she had to quit doing hair. She had become allergic to the chemicals and realized she had to say good bye.

She asked me if I’d take over her clientele. Excitement and fear came pretty quickly. How could I fill the shoes of Michelle?  She’d been doing hair for about 6 or 7 years and had built up a pretty amazing client list.

Long story short, she began training me the day after school ended. She left me a month later and there I was In her basement taking over her full schedule. Everyday around 8-6.  I was still so brand new! What she was thinking… I’ll never know. But I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Women after women, sad story, happy story. You name it, I heard it.

It began to wear on me.

I didn’t really know how to react. Everyone’s problems I made my own.

I never would have guessed Miss Ev was right!

…The Kardashians have nothing on this.

I’ve been doing hair now for 7 years and I’d like to think I've mastered the Psychologist in me.

I love to experience these special moments and chapters in each client’s life. Whether it be a trial or a triumph, I love watching them grow and I feel like I grow right along with them.  I get such great advice. I know what to do when my baby’s going through the terrible twos, when a teenager sneaks out, when to have ‘the talk’…. I could go on forever!

Now many of whom will read this are my clients…I love you. I cherish the friendship and trust that we have. You’re amazing!

Geez I’m grateful for where my life has gone. I’m very blessed that I’ve gotten to know so many amazing strong women who continue to push forward and show me the type of person I want to be one day.

My Piece of Heaven

It’s Sunday morning and oh how I cherish mornings like these. No need or rush to get out of bed and scurry off to our daily responsibilities. We’ve always been lovers of 9 o’clock church, but now our new ward starts at 1. I guess either one works but its refreshing to stay in pj’s till the afternoon (something that really never happens).

When I was a lil tot I absolutely loved to read! The Boxcar kids, Bailey School kids (‘Pirates Don’t Wear Pink Sunglasses’), Goosebumps, Babysitters Club and anything with a horse in it. It didn’t even matter if the horse was apart of the story, I was sold.

Those days quickly passed when school got tougher and more of my attention was dedicated to who knows what. I joke about having ADD- but I swear everyone has it. The fact is, my love for reading faded away. I regained that love once I began preparing for my mission. Hours and hours of studying and preparing for lessons and searching for answers in the scriptures- I  created a deep love for the bible. It’s something I never really read before my mission. Of course the obvious books about Christ birth and life filled the walls of my home and Sunday school growing up. I guess when the other books were spoken of I apparently wasn’t listening. The New Testament spoke words of missionary work and the same love I felt for the people I served in Pittsburgh. I felt as though I knew Paul, a missionary- just like me.

Since then It’s been so hard for me to find the right genre. I’d felt a sense of guilt anytime I’d pick up a book that wasn’t gospel oriented. I’ll never forget the first time I read my most inspiring book… ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’. This book touched my heart during an English assignment in Mr. Davis’ class. Since then I’ve read it so many times I can’t count. It makes me feel so grateful for all of the blessings that I have in my life. The book is full of life lessons- I could actually get something out of it.

Anyways… One of my clients told me about a book that she had recently read. I figured I’d take the plunge again and attempt to finish a book after starting it. (That’s usually my MO I’ll start all gung hoe and then it’ll quickly fizzle after a few days).

I began reading it last week- wow. What a life changer.

‘Heaven Is Here’ –Stephanie Nielson

I find myself staying up late next to Mike both of us reading. When normally I’d be watching Seinfeld or begging to go to sleep. Michael LOVES to read! He can finish a whole book in less than a week- something that seems impossible to me. He’s slowly been rubbing off on me since we’ve been married. I can’t tell you how many books we’ve read together. Him reading of course, doing all of the voices J oh I love it, he’ll pause and look at me as if he’s acting the whole book out. He inspires me (in many ways). We’ll take long drives to St. George and he’ll read the whole time, we’ll finish a book in a day! I love listening to his enthusiasm and every other emotion he acts out. One of our favorite things is to visit DI and buy a bunch of mystery books preferably ‘The Hardy boys’ or ‘Goosebumps’. We can discuss for hours about a book and who we think is the bad guy and why. 

‘Daddy’ is my best friend (we thought calling each other by ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ would be so weird and hard to get used to. But it wasn’t at all! I’m ‘Mother Goose’ and will answer to it always).

My inspiration for writing down my thoughts came this morning while reading Stephanie’s words. She was in a plane wreck and over 80% of her body was badly burned. She speaks of her pain and anguish she felt while lying in a hospital bed after waking from a coma for over 3 months! She left 4 little children for those long months and hasn’t seen them yet (so far). Her eyes had to be sewn shut for over a week and she tells of her despair. Her life will never be the same.

Reading this book makes me take a step back and look at life as it is. Look and my two loves and appreciate every minute I have with them.

Just the other night Mike and I were watching my friends little girl. It was getting late so we got the girls in their pajamas and cuddled them with blankets and turned the lights out. The Chirstmas tree and garland going up the stairs were lit which gave off the perfect amount of light to set the mode. Brielle to the left of me, I ran my fingers through her hair as Anna laid on my chest fast asleep. Michael sat to the right of me and read ‘The Hardy Boys’. I took a mental picture praying that I could remember the feeling of that moment. Boy am I blessed. Michael, Anna and I… three pees in a pod. I love them so much and I’m so thankful for them in my life. Mike’s such a wonderful Daddy. He adores Anna, she kinda has us wrapped around her little fingers. It was the perfect night.

I love us.

Hair Upload

I've been working on my hair pictures... whenever I have a bride I'm always forgetting to snap a pic. So if I've ever done your hair please send me a pic of your locks! This goes for extensions too :) 

Here are some of my beautiful brides/formals 

AJ's Blessing Day

Anna Jane’s Blessing Day

July 8^th, 2012

I found the most beautiful dress at ‘Little Things Mean A lot’, Right when I saw it I knew I had to have it. Cute Mike came with us for support and commented that she could even wear it as her baptism dress. Yes I admit it’s a long lady, but that’s one of the things I loved about it. It reminded me of an antique. 

The day was so special, almost all of our family was there. Anna looked beautiful in her little bonnet, just like a doll.

The blessing was perfect, her daddy was inspired to say the things he said. I feel so thankful for the many blessings in my life. My amazing husband who is so supportive and just as excited about Anna as I am. He’s the best father any little girl could ask for. It’s been such a wonderful journey the past couple of months to watch him interact with our lil lady. 

So we were in class and she started laughing in her sleep, it was the cutest thing. Her tummy was moving up and down. It was precious! That was the first laugh in her sleep.

Anyways…After church we all met up and had dinner. It was great to chat and spend quality time together.

Special note: My Great Grandma Anna Ashton knitted the cream shirt that I’m wearing. I was wondering what I should wear, I thought it very fitting to wear her shirt while my Anna was getting blessed

Matt, Jen, Sarah and baby #2 were able to come visit. Sarah was adorable with Anna, she sure loves her little cousin. They will have great fun once Anna can walk. 

Anna-Bannana is such a happy baby. Her personality is so strong. Its crazy to think that she’s so young and we already have a pretty good idea about how she’s going to be. She started smiling constantly at 5 weeks and it warms my heart. She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks.

That little toothless grin, ah.  She has so much ahead of her. It makes me sad to think about her growing up, going to school, driving, DATING, and even MARRIAGE! That literally makes me sick! Now I know what my mom meant all those years. Not wanting me to grow up, I finally get it!!

I sit and think about all of the little spirits waiting to come down for their life experience and how so many of them get sent to such sad circumstances. Both Mike and I were blessed to have the gospel in our life at such a young age. I think a lot of us take it for granted. I’m so glad that Anna knows that she’s so loved and we were 100% excited about her joining our little family. We never knew what we were missing. Thank you my little AJ for choosing us

 What a great day! I Love my little family so much, I’m blessed beyond measure!