Forever Family

I am 18 years old. The Oregon sun is warm but mild and I'm content. I'm carrying my cousin Nick. He's so tiny. I've been told I need to brush all the sand off of him before he can get into my grandpa's car. I lift him onto the gate of the car. While I brush the sand off his tiny little arms and legs he's saying funny things in his squeaky little voice and we're laughing. Something tugs on my heart that I've never in my 18 years felt before. Someday I want to be a mom. I have NEVER felt that way before this moment. It stands out so clear in my mind as one of those golden summer moments. Just sweet and simple, purely about the joy of family.

A few years later Nick's little brother Josh is born. He is a self proclaimed "mini-Nick." He's the first baby I've seen that tiny since my little sister was born when I was 9. I hold back tears the whole time I'm meeting him. The presence of our Heavenly Father is so unbelievably strong with him. It's a sacred moment I won't ever forget.

I love my little cousins. No matter how old they get they will always be little to me and when they move onto new adventures this weekend they will leave a little hole in my heart.

I'll miss Tyler. He's the sweetest of all the brothers. Born with a sweet smile and a mild nature that he still has to this day. He was such a happy baby. He's going to be a Senior in High School next year and I'm proud of him....I'm really proud of him. I'll miss Ethan. When he thinks Nick and Tyler aren't looking, he's the BEST big brother to Josh, sweet and attentive. Patient and helpful.

I just can't keep my fingers crossed enough for these precious guys. The little seaside town they're heading to will NEVER be the same again...mostly in a good way!!

Jonny's Birthday

Jonny turned 30 yesterday. His biggest birthday request; to go to Wendover with his buddies! I'm sure they had fun, I'm not even going to ask and even if I did I wouldn't get the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that's just fine with me. Jonny works hard, he is incredibly patient with me, my sister, his sister, my dog... most of all my cat! That man deserves some fun! Anyway, while he was in Wendover I decorated for his birthday and made him a cake. I have a limited budget, due to our impending wedding, but it still looked festive. The cake was kind of a disaster but you live and learn and I guess it's the first birthday cake I've ever made....next year will be better and it tastes good and that's really all Jonny cares about anyway!

New Years Feast

I really hate New Years, which is weird because I'm a girl who loves her holidays. This year to soothe the yucks I decided to make my family a New Years Feast. We had pumpkin curry soup, Salmon marinated in soy sauce and brown sugar, brie cheese with raspberry sauce wrapped in pastry, and a delicious green salad with the best veggies that can be found in Saudi! My dad even let me buy some fresh flowers from the commissary. I chose pink and white lilys and they smelled like heaven. It turned out really fun and my Uncle Greg even came and brought this really yummy ice cream. I'd never tried it before but it was a mixture of vanilla, chocolate, strawberries, caramel and peanut butter! YUM!

The Ugly Cry

Today I tried on my last and very favorite wedding dress. Okay, I know I said earlier that I thought I'd found "the dress" but I really did find it this time. I put it on and I just knew. It was SO ME! I still had a dressing room full of dresses left so I tried them on too. I was trying on all my dresses and my friend Kristal reminded me that I needed a veil. Now, I don't know what it is about veils that gets me so emotional but when I saw my friend Erica in her wedding dress for the first time and I was just fine but when the lady put her veil on HERE CAME THE WATERWORKS! It was pretty much the same thing today. At first I thought it was a controllable cry and nobody would notice but it got so bad the nice lady helping me had to get me a tissue! MY OH MY! It was a great day! Love to everyone..I'm just bursting with it!

Support Sluts

I saw this magnetized sticker on the back of a truck that often parks in front of our house. I was "in a funny mood" the other night and put it on my neighbors Morgan and Natasha's car. It somehow made it's way back to my car and I ended up spreading the love by putting on my friend Andrew's car. Don't worry he's paying it forward by putting it on someones car at work!!! Happy Holidays everyone and don't forget to support sluts!!!!

Coolest Thing Ever

Last summer while going through some old clothes in the laundry room of Jonny's house I found some dresses that looked to me like antique flapper dresses from the 20's. Jonny told me that he thought his aunts probably sewed them but I was convinced that they were the real deal. WELL, today I was in the basement doing nothing special and an old hat box caught my eye. Three hours later I was covered in dust but knee deep in treasures! Here's the best part, in an old trunk I found a stack of black and white pictures. I brought them upstairs to look at them in the light and guess what, I found a picture of a young women wearing the exact dress I found last summer. I was so excited my hands were shaking! How amazing is that??! More on other treasures I found later!!

Things I'm Thinking Lately.........

Lemons make me happy. I'm like Martha Stewart that way I guess. Unfortunatly the similarities end there. I just love that they're yellow and smell so good and make your water taste really good. A lemon slice reminds me of a little ray of sunshine. People always tell me, "You know, drinking water in lemons will eat the enamel off your teeth!" Thanks for the info. I don't care.

I love fresh ground pepper. Love the smell, the taste and the word pepper! Sounds peppy!

I wish we had a Trader Joe's in Salt Lake City!

I just saw "Julie and Julia" and it was SO CHARMING! I wanted to buy the book and made my way over to Amazon where I read readers reviews on the book, the news was not good. Apparently she talks about wanting to beat her husband with sharp rocks. I don't know...is that normal? I'm hoping no! She bashes Republicans, swears constantly and is a horrific housekeeper...something about maggots growing in her kitchen and cat hair sticking to everything. THAT IS BEYOND GROSS. Anyway almost everyone hated the book and said the real Julie is whiny and self indulgent (can't stand whiny!) So glad I didn't buy it. I wouldn't want anything to taint my new favorite movie.

Some other good movies that I've seen lately are as follows,
"The Secret Life of Bees"
Really sweet movie. I've been thinking about keeping bees lately and this movie made up my mind for me! After I get married I'm definatly going to try it.

"Orphan"
Okay I know this movie came out a long time ago but I just recently saw it and it was suspensful and creepy and I loved it.I love Peter Sarsgaard. He's sexy. I try to ignore the fact that he's married to Maggie Ghyllenhall(sp?.....not her biggest fan.

"Far and Away"
Tell me you remember this movie! Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. It's funny, touching, romantic and charming. Makes me want to go to Ireland. Definately worth pulling out the VCR and throwing in your old VHS copy of this movie!

"Parenthood"
The first time I saw this movie I was probably 9 and I didn't understand half of it and found the other half a little disturbing, I was beyond sheltered, but I recently watched it again and it's SO FUNNY. SO REAL.

I am ACHING to decorate our place but I'm waiting until after the wedding. Did you know we have maple floors under our carpet?? While we're on the subject Jonny and I clean the carpets all the time and they're still FILTHY. It's so frustrating. How can your home look clean and well taken care of if your carpet looks like something out of 101 dalmations? IT CAN'T. Anyway Jonny's Aunt Jenae thinks I can re-finish the floors myself and she'll show me how. I don't care how hard it is I'm doing it!!

If we ever live in a house where the exterior needs to be painted again we are hiring a professional. It was so much work and we have to wait until next spring to finish it. I hate not finishing things. Like no joke as I type about this my face is turning red in frustration.

Didn't I write earlier that I hate whiny. I do hate it, especially when I do it!


I turn 28 today. Weird. It should be an AMAZING year! It's the year I'm going to marry the most amazing person I've ever met!