New York Dreams (and a couple of AZ)

Gracie and I got to travel during Lance's finals week. The reason for the trip:

Janey's Wedding!!

I met "Janey" my freshman year of college. We had some rocking music classes together and shared a love of music and dance. We took many a dance classes from our fav, Fleur, and really bonded while Janey helped me get through music theory. I was DEVASTATED when she decided to transfer to U of A the next year! So after much plotting and planning I convinced her to come back to NAU because I needed a roommate in my new apartment. Though her second stay in Flag was brief, she changed my life forever. From the food I eat, the music I listen to, or even they way I organize my closet. I have never been the same! I LOVE YOU JANEY! I am so happy you have found your true love! Thank you for the opportunity to share this special day with you! I felt very honored to be apart of every bit of festivities and would have traveled around the world to be there! To everyone else I can't even explain how much fun I had! The wedding was AMAZING!!!

I took Gracie to AZ to visit fam and stay with the Mollenhauer's while I ventured to NYC. We tried to cram every bit of family and friends into our AZ trip as possible but there were only so many days! THANK YOU TO GRUMPA, BELLA, ALEXA AND BRITT for taking care of my Gracie! She LOVED spending time with you (and sophie-the new puppy). Thank you to my mom and dad for letting us crash as their place for a few days! MUCH FUN! Thank you to friends for taking us to fun places and having us over to play!

Here are the girls that made my trip easier on my wallet (and a TON more fun!!) Gucci, Coach, Tiffany, anyone?? THANKS KYLIE, MALLORY, AND HEATHER!!

This is the view from our fabulous hotel! One of the nicest hotels I've stayed in, and even though the pic is blurry you can tell it had a GREAT view!

All of the Bridesmaids before the CRAZY Bachelorette Party!

Abby, Diana, Jana, Janey (the bride) Marie, Ashlee, Kristy, and me!

The wedding site! CAN YOU BELIEVE THE VIEW??? It was INCREDIBLE!!! This was also the backdrop for their wedding pics. This was the half of the room that was used for holding for the wedding party, the cocktail hour, and then later the other half of the reception.

Our bouquets! Aren't they GORGEOUS!!??

Just awaiting our big entrance

Janey and Me- LOVE YOU GIRL! (thanks for fixing your orange 4 1/2 inch blush work!)

The beautiful Bride and Groom! Congrats Liza and Jon!!

Playing at the Wilson's...this is the ONLY look Jaxon would give me!

Blake and Gracie (yep, she got a little hair cut--thanks NAT!)
Gracie LOVED playing outside with all of the boys! She thought it was the greatest thing to be able to play outside. Thanks to Grandma (Crouse) for providing summer clothes for Gracie to play in!!

Ding, Ding...All Aboard...Here We Go

First:

Then:

and:

We'll miss you Lance!! Good Luck on your finals!!

Addicted

Gracie watching a movie, with elephant earphones, while I attend bookclub.

Note: She didn't move the ENTIRE time we were there!

Run Prego, Run!

This week's accomplishment:

*1 mile run in 8:53 (of course the miles following at are at a MUCH slower rate, but I thought I would push myself and see what I could do. Be glad you don't have a membership at my gym and have to wach the 7 month prego woman running! ha ha ha)

Tag (thanks a lot Jada!)

10 years ago...
Holy Crap I was ALMOST 16 and had great friends who stood by me through all of the awkward teen years. Ok, this seems like AGES ago! It was my sophomore year at MHS. I was NOT… dating and did NOT … have a boyfriend …er…whatever! (I think we all know there were always 5 of us that hung out—thanks Mac !)

5 Places I've visited...
Mexico, Hawaii, New York (again in only 17 days!), Texas, Illinois

I enjoy...
-baking
-eating
-reading
-sunshine
-vacations
-music of all kinds

3 bad habits...
-stressing over details
-not putting ALL of the laundry away ( I usually get 85-90% done before I poop out)
-I’ve always thought a great weakness of mine was that I spread myself too thin and try to do too much


Jobs I've had...
-Mesa Frozen Yogurt (4 YEARS!!!)
-Front desk at Neurologist Office
-Resident Assistant at NAU
-Teacher (Elementary Music, Jr. High Music and Drama)
-ps I still know nothing about drama!
-MOM (this one is fun)

5 things you may not know about me...
-I have to sleep on the side of the bed that is furthest from the door.

-I have my bachelor’s degree in Choral Music Education and stopped 2 classes shy of my Master’s Degree in Bilingual and Multicultural Education (I HATED it!) Someday I want to go back and get my Master’s in Choral Conducting (but of course that’s AFTER I finish culinary school).

- Laparoscopic surgeries are scheduled annually for me. Ok, I’m exaggerating but I think I’ve had four surgeries on the stomach-ish region in the last seven years. Yepper, no gallbladder or appendix here!

-I told Mexican authorities I definitely knew how to drive a moped right before almost crashing into the rest of the scooters for rent. Don’t worry I said I almost crashed and I quickly drove away and toured Ensenada without any other troubles. (By the way that was from a cruise I took while in college with a bunch of young single adults, of which some became my life long friends. Love ya “cute girls”.)

-I was a cheerleader in 9th grade, and LOVED it!

-Lance had to convince me to date him. I told him I was going on a mission and he said, “Sweet, I’ll marry you when you get home; it gives me a chance to go to school.” This really freaked me out because at that point I didn’t know how I felt about him. Don’t worry we were engaged 6 months later.



I tag Mac, Kathy, Crystal, Julie

Oregon Zoo

Thanks Girls for the fun!

As Requested...

Happy Helper and Hello Park

This is what I get for asking Lance to help me make cookies for fun. I thought it would be a great way to spend time together and he was ecstatic I let him play and make shapes out of the dough!

This was his creation: (promptly followed by, "I'm cute, aren't I?" Yes, honey you are cute and I love you too!)

Gracie and I went to the Park TWICE this week. It turns out the sun does shine (once in a blue moon) here in Portland... Gracie and Kaylee (aka kayy-eeee)
Ahh, the good times

Something to Talk About

Not too much to blog about...but I downloaded pics today and found some fun ones!

Notice all of the teeth!! We're almost done teething--HALLEUJAH!

Not the best pic--but I LOVE this dress!!

If you haven't been around Gracie during a meal, DON'T COME CLOSE! She is only second to her cousin, Tyrus in making messes. We have to sweep AT LEAST 3 TIMES A DAY!!!

THE BIG GIRL BED!! We found a cherry bed on craislist that just happened to match the crib we have EXACTLY!! SHE LOVES being a big girl! Although, she does get smacked in the head when she stands too close to the door and we rush in to check on her!

Daddy putting the big girl to sleep. Take note of 3 things: 1. Ted (can't sleep without him), 2. the cocoa spilled on her pillowcase (she is addicted to cocoa and can't sleep without it, just like Aunt Alexa), and 3. random pink gorrilla that came on Valentines Day from Bella and Grumpa. It's not that she has a pink gorilla that whistles on cue that's random, but that she now can't sleep without it!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday (and half b-day) to my two favorite people in the world! I LOVE YOU!

Gracie is now OFFICAL NURSERY AGE (18 months)! Although she has been attending for a while now...but now I'm guilt free about it. She RUNS after sacrament (and sometimes during) to the room. She could care less what I do-SHE LOVES IT IN THERE! She's such a big girl. She's much taller than when we got here and her hair is much thicker too! Her fav words lately are "Co-Cooooo" (of course her dad got her hooked!) and "Snuggles" which really comes out "guggles". She is starting to sit on the tiolet...hopefully the whole potty training thing will be mastered in the next few months (BEFORE the baby gets here). She is now in a tumbling class (more of an extreme intro to gymnastics) with her friend Kaylee. She has only been a couple of times but she really likes hanging on the mini bar, walking across the balance beam, jumping on the trampoline and now she attempts somersaults on her own. I think we're going to have a dancer! I am so proud of the growth I've seen in this little spirit. She is so kind, and thoughtful, and always is trying to share toys and food with friends (don't worry she's still got a sassy every so often but I'm really trying to focus on the positive here). Sometimes I just laugh when I'm watching her and I can't wait to hear the words that will come out of her mouth.

And now my tribute to my Lance:

This lucky boy got a mode of transportation for his birthday. But now that I think about it, it's kind of a present for me. You see, Lance got a job at school that requires him to leave for work by 6:30 AM!!!! So Gracie and I have been dragging ourselves out of bed to take him to work/school every morning this quarter. Quite frankly it SUCKS! and we realized that in the next 3 years he's going to need to travel a lot during the day and I won't be able to keep chauffering him around with the kids. Hence the Lance Venice!

Oh yes, this scooter brand is Lance, so it has his name written all over it. I haven't seen him this giddy since our wedding day!

Vroom, Vroom, baby--ENJOY!!

Happy Birthday to my best friend. Here are a couple of reasons I Love Lance...read on at your own risk. (and yes sweetheart I stole this from the anniversary present I gave you last year but really I thought of them all by myself anyways, why can't I use them now? Especially when this baby is sucking out all of my brain cells!

*You eat anything I cook, even if it’s a gross three squash soup
*the Priesthood
*Because you are “Trying to be like Jesus”
*You “have great hair”
*You think I am the most beautiful woman in the world-and you mean it
*you are dang funny
*you let me believe I am funny
*You support me
*You make great chocolate milkshakes
*You love to serve (me!)
*you are a spectacular Daddy

*you give me foot and back massages even when I’m not pregnant
*You make the best chicken fingers EVER!
*You take me out of my comfort zone
*You love to read
*You think about me
*You’ve got me all figured out
*You are concerned for others
*You like to find shapes in the clouds
*You love to play, in fact you never stop

I hope your birthday was a special one!

I LOVE YOU!