ward calling!

On sunday, I was called to teach the 5 and 6 year olds in primary! I got to sit in on their class on sunday and see how things go. I'll have 6 or 7 kids in my class! It's going to be so much fun. I sure hope that I can keep them in control and be able to have fun and interesting lessons and activities for them! I need to brush up on my primary songs for sure though! It's been a while since I've been in Primary..

moms.

So, I was searching through some blogs to find old friends and I came across this one woman's blog and she had a post about an email forward that she received. I read it and I really wanted to share it! This is the reason that I am so excited about being a mom and why it's so hard to put it off. I've heard all of my sister-in-laws tell stories just like this. I hope you guys enjoy!!

“People think I'm crazy when I tell them I love childbirth. It's not that I like pain-I don't. But there is just something about working really hard to get something really good. My husband and I have the routine down: we do whatever it takes to get through a contraction, then I slump back on the bed, as limp and peaceful as a noodle (as peaceful as a noodle can be) and rest before the next one hits. It's hard work, but when the baby is finally born, the pain doesn't matter anymore-and I experience joy beyond description. (Then I swear I'll never do it again.)
It has recently occurred to me that childbirth can be one huge metaphor for motherhood. We ‘labor’ day in and day out, moment by moment-scrubbing, brushing, wiping, flushing, buckling, holding, washing, folding-it's a wonder more mothers don't drop dead from pure exhaustion!So here's my theory: Heavenly Father knew how challenging motherhood would be for each of us-physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. So He sends us ‘mother mercies.’ You know the moments-the ones that sneak up on you and make you smile or laugh-or teary-eyed. It's like the time I caught a whiff of my five-year-old and realized he'd put on his daddy's deodorant that morning. Or when he used to pray nightly, ‘Please bless that morning will come in five minutes.’ It's the time I found a bar of soap in my bathroom with one (and only one) set of teeth marks in it. Or when my preschooler asked me, ‘Why did Jesus cover our bones with skin?’
Perhaps these little mercies are like the pauses between our contractions of motherhood-the moments that make us say, ‘Oh yeah. I really love this mothering stuff.’

Contraction: Baby spits up.
Mother Mercy: Three-year-old cries in alarm, ‘Mom! She's spilling!’

Contraction: Five-year-old climbs on counter to find sweets.
Mother Mercy: He explains he was simply finding desert for ‘Family Home Ming-Ming.’

Contraction: Patting your squishy tummy left over from pregnancy.
Mother Mercy: Patting your baby's squishy tummy that you got in return.

Contraction: Feeling overwhelmed and grumpy.
Mother Mercy: Oldest child says sweetly, ‘Mommy, if you say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help you feel better.’

Think about it-what an interesting phenomenon-in our very hardest moments of mothering, Heavenly Father sends us these little flashes of reprieve to help us keep going with a smile. True, we have diapers and back-talking and tantrums and spills, but we also get kisses and first steps and stick-figure drawings and hand-pulled bouquets.Look for the Mother Mercies in your own life. I promise they will pop up everywhere-when your toddler trips the alarm at the library (like mine did) or when he pours pop down the bowling alley lane (yes, mine) or when you find your envious child stripped down to his nothings at the park, staring longingly through the fence into the city pool (Whose kid is that? Oh, it's mine). The Mother Mercies are always there. Don't miss them!
One Sunday while I was juggling my three little ones, an older sister in my ward leaned over and said, ‘This will all end someday, believe me.’ To which I replied, ‘Oh don't tell me that! I'm having so much fun.’ Who knew that doing something so hard could bring me so much happiness? And just like the finale of childbirth, I'm hopeful that this mothering thing-this exhausting labor of love-will someday bring us joy we could never comprehend was possible.”

crazy eyes.

I just got home from the eye doctor and I was going to take a picture of my dilated eyes because they look freaky! Buuut... it's really hard to keep your eyes open in bright light long enough to snap a decent picture. haha. So, no picture!
I think the heat wave is finally over. It was soo hot here for a few days there. It's killer with no A/C. Here's an example of just how hot it was here in our apartment on saturday.. I was wanting to bake some cookies and Jake was craving some Snickerdoodles. The recipe I found said to have the butter be at room temperature. So, I set two sticks of butter on the counter while we went to the store real quick. When I checked on it later, the butter was starting to melt! Ridiculous.
(the snickerdoodles were quite tasty though!)
I found some fun new dinner recipes online today that I'm excited to try out! I'll for sure have to post the recipes if they are a hit. Pepperoni rolls and Crescent Chicken roll-ups...sounds good! Can't wait to make them! Tonight for dinner is Pizza Chicken! Yum.

Another anniversary!

Happy 2 year anniversary to my wonderful sister and my awesome brother-in-law! I miss Heather a lot since we live so far away from each other but I'm so glad she has such a great husband! I'm grateful to have Tom in our family, he's been the perfect addition!

I hope you two have a great time in PA with the in-laws! I love you both!

This one was taken when Tom proposed to Heather in France!! ^^^

6 whole months!

Happy 6 month-a-versary to Jake and me! The time has gone by so quickly!

Life is so wonderful and I'm so grateful to have such an amazing husband.

I love you so much, Jake!!

new hair cut!

I had about 6 inches cut off of my hair! It's still considered long hair but it feels soo short to me! I put in some more brown to match my natural color that seems to be getting darker and darker the older I get. I wanted a little less blonde than the hairdresser put in but I still like it! She also styled it for me so it's styled a bit different than I would. Most importantly, Jake approves! ;)

Here's some pictures! (Thanks to Jake and his amazing photography skills! He shot them in manual mode!)

All done.

I finished Breaking Dawn last night and I looooved it! Ah!
I can't wait for the Twilight movie to come out now!
I'm going to have to find another book series to obsess over now.

No sleep.

Last night was sooo hot here. I couldn't get comfortable in the heat so I kept tossing and turing all night long. Boo. PLUS! I'm halfway through Breaking Dawn and my mind was racing trying to think of what was going to happen next and this and that and UGH! What a crazy night. I can't wait to find out what else happens in this book! I really should be focusing on writing my talk for sunday...yikes! I haven't spoken in church since high school! Wish me luck! ;)

wahoooo!

I just reserved a copy of Breaking Dawn for me to pick up tomorrow!!
I'm so excited! :)

decisions, decisions..

Okay, let me start from the beginning.. A girl just moved into my ward who I actually know from when I lived in Vegas and we know all of the same people and even hung out with the same group of friends a few times wayyy back in the day. We have been hanging out a bit lately since she gets off of work at noon and we both need some social interaction every now and then. She's 6 months pregnant and hates the part time job she is at right now. She has been looking for another job and interviewing at other places so I told her that I would love to take over her job she has now when she finds a new one! It's from 8-12:30 M-F and I would be scanning in files for different companies. Sounds boring and tedious but I love busy work! It would be perfect because it gets me up and going in the mornings but I still have time to come home and clean things up and bake! ;) Buuut, this girl has also mentioned that she would love to have me nanny her little baby boy when she has him in November so she doesn't have to take him to the day care on the military base. That would be so fun but so scary! It may curb my baby hunger or it could make it worse! Right now we live so close to this girl but we aren't going to be in this apartment for much longer and I don't know where we could be moving to. Also, there's the option of taking a photoshop class and improving on my pictures and getting my photography going up here.
There's just soo many options!! I'm going to go after this part time job and see if that falls into place. If not, it's time to try out a different option. I'm not liking all these big decisions. Boo.